Ever since Galileo got tired of spying on his neighbors in 1609 through his telescope and decided to turn the lens to the heavens instead, we became aware of other earth-like planets and hills and craters on our very own moon. And the human understanding of space was changed forever. Four hundred years later, the wonders of space continue to inspire and excite generations, geeks, and of course, governments.

Jina compares the ISRO and NASA stories.

The Macbook’s pricing and the presence of Boot Camp makes if appealing in India. But it is clear as mud that India is not  a priority market for Apple – especially for the iPhone. What gives?”

L. Bhat examines why Apple in spite of its cool design and intuitive user interface has never interested consumers in India. Apple hasn’t tried to woo the Indian consumer either.

• Most of the so-called hacks are in Windows (98). Show me one hacker/cracker who uses Windows. If you ain’t using Unix/Linux/Solaris you ain’t no hacker mate. Why? Coz Windows hasn’t got half the tools and features that one requires to do a successful system penetration. For a deeper understand read a book on the Hacking Exposed series.
• Registry hacks and tweeks are passed off as hacking

Sandip thinks that Ankit Fadia is fake and is far from a hacker.

The software should be a portable version that doesn’t require installation and would have the player and all the necessary codecs built-in. Moreover, it could self-destruct after a pre-specified time interval – 24 hours upwards – (again depending on the price paid to download it) to prevent further circulation. This can again be ad supported for extra revenue.

Soumyadip offers suggestions to curb rampant online movie piracy in India. Currently, the lack of options and necessary infrastructure in in fact encouraging piracy.

According to the father, the moment he gets home, the phone is usurped by his son, who is really serious about getting ahead in life. His aspirations for his son are for him to get a good job in the city, as farming is not profitable. Knowing English would give his son access to a better job, he felt.

Dina Mehta travels to the hinterland to examine the impact of mobile innovations on lives at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’[hat tip: R Jauhari]

And like DeMarco, I feel that this is wrong. No methodology can give you the whole truth. There are methods and techniques to help improve software quality and productivity. But there are never any silver bullets and we have to let go of assumptions that we can find sure-fire ways of producing perfect software. As the software field continues to innovate, we have to also innovate in ways of managing teams and producing better software.

Krishna Kumar, after  reading Tom DeMarco’s article on software engineering, writes about the complexity involved in managing a software project.

After two successful BlogCamps in Pune and Mumbai respectively, BlogCamp 2 comes to Pune on the last Saturday of this month. The organisers, Tarun, Priyanka and Abhishek have already attracted a large number of participants as well as promised speakers. Come sign up for the fun!

BlogCampPune is a FREE unconference focusing exclusively on blogging, organized by bloggers for bloggers. It‘s built upon the principles of the famous BarCamp (ad-hoc unconference) focused on sharing, learning and new ideas. This is going to be an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction between attendees. Any blogger who wants to contribute is welcome and invited to join. In the spirit of BarCamp, if you attend, be prepared to present something (even if it’s just 10 minutes).

Date: 27th June 2009

Time: 10:00AM to 5:00PM

Venue: SICSR (Symbiosis) 7th Floor Atur Center, Gokhale Cross Road, Model Colony Pune Near the OM Super Market

I believe technology will become effective as a campaign and outreach tool when it comes from the masses, and not a top-down initiative. People should have a stake in the tools, they should be engaged with it for them to succeed.

Mani Pande at the Institute for the Future analyses the use of technology and social media in elections and why understanding how to use such technologies is the key to success [hat tip: Dina].

Strat proposes a simple technological solution for increasing voter turnout in India. But can technology help apathy or lack of qualified candidates? Making such solutions hack-proof might just land us back in square one but definitely worth exploring.

Liability concerns necessiate use of paper ballots even in the developed countries where Internet penetration is not a problem. The Overlord addresses concerns of yet another disenfranchised group – the NRIs – and is seeking solutions to address it.

Widespread apathy was not the only barrier to greater participation in the political process. I left India before I reached voting age but my parents and relatives have shared with me their frustrating experiences with voter registration. Registering to vote was a tedious and time-consuming ordeal that involved multiple visits to the local municipal corporation whose bureaucracy was enough to dampen anyone’s spirits and deter the most enthusiastic voter.

Ashni Mohnot at the Pop! Tech Blog is enthused by the rising awareness of elections driven by enhanced technologies and increasing role of social media.