Here is a link from the wider web on my concerns around Chrome and privacy..
There has been some activity on Twitter about this topic as well.
I am still waiting….

The web is atwitter with the release of Chrome from Google. The biggest thing out of all the hype is that it is one of the first technology release complemented by a comic documentation, that I have seen in a while. There is also the standard docs and Youtube video.
I downloaded the browser and played with it, but I am not going to volunteer my Firefox data (Chrome can import data - not just bookmarks etc. but also my saved password data etc.) to Google, yet. I am worried that Google that already knows about my web clicks, might also know more about my web behavior with access to what I see and view/ignore. I will wait for the community atlarge to shake it out before adopting it for my day2day use.
Privacy concerns aside, the technology innovation chrome brings to the table, seems to fuel competitive work in other browsers as well - a good kick in the pants.
In the end I am reminded that good CS students make the best/usable software.

via Reddit here

Today is India’s Independence Day. Normally I would write an essay during this anniversary, but I havent been able to pen my thoughts lately and will try to put a summary about my thoughts on this subject, soon..

As summer is closing in on me - I wrapped up the Tools of Programming course at UT and have a week break, before I start the Fall semester.
This summer has been very hectic and less of fun on number of fronts - but made the best I could. I am still traveling on projects to Hartford, Charlotte, Chicago etc.

In Fall, I am taking a course on security and program management, and working on my thesis - Formalizing Requirements, which seems to be taking a shape of its own.

In other news, we are getting involved as a family at the Corner Academy (which is a UMS program) - Stef being the primary contributor, teaching two classes and possibly administering the entire academy.

I am ardent (passive, albeit) supporter of OSCON. I have been watching it since 2000 or thereabouts and came very close to making it in 2006. Each year, I vicariously participate following the coverage on blogs, flickr and various video sites. This year, Greg of Railsenvy fame, condensed all of the work in less than 40mt video, which is worth watching to get a glimpse on the diversity of the track.

I shaved my head again yesterday (its been a while since I had done that), as I mourned the death of Randy Pausch - of Last Lecture fame. You can read more about him here and here.
My heart goes out to Jai, Chloe, Dylan and Logan. All our prayers in this tough time for the Pauschs — Makes you revaluate your priorities and life in general…

Here is a recap of a recent dream my 6yr old had, in his words-

I was on another planet. I was three years old. This planet had a rule against science and punished scientists. At 3 years I wanted to become a scientist and chose becoming one. So they arrested me and put me in jail for 11 years. I continued to be a scientist. So after the release they put me back in jail for being a scientist. I was released after that and given a house to live in..

He has been reading Galileo and Newton recently….

For those in Chicago, I will be presenting at the Open Group conference next week on Semantic Web Services. Its a short session and am excited about it. Drop me a note if you are in downtown and would like to meet for coffee or dinner.
For those of you in Amsterdam, I will be speaking at the SOA Symposium in October. Its a little far out, but its a well canvassed event (from the looks of it). I am planning on visiting Dijkstra’s birthplace in Rotterdam, if possible. Would love to hookup with geeks from around Europe who might be attending.
I am tentatively scheduled to speak at Logistics and Fleet Management conference in ATL in October as well. This is special because, I rarely get to speak in industry conferences, this being dedicated to fleet management folks.
I might go to Portal conference in Tennessee as well as the OOPSLA there..will know more later.

[via reddit] Steve over at Ithaca, has used TEX to create his program to solve the IFCP content. TEX was typesetting markup style language introduced by the great Don Knuth. A rough analogy I can give to layman is that this is like using HTML to write the software that controls ATM (the terminal you take money from). As insane as it sounds, he has proved many a things near and dear to both Software Engineering and CS. Hope he makes it to the top or gets a special award.
Way to go Steve…