The Chat Gadget

It's been a long time since I've reported anything here. Been very busy with the effort at ClassGrid. Or probably been lazy enough to pen something down.

So, here it goes then. Just added the alpha of chat gadget from classgrid to this blog. Yes the chat window you see on the right, is spanking new code from our friends (and me). This little baby has been let out in the wild to gain some real life experience.

And what an experience it has been. Thank you to all the other bloggers that have started using it without our prodding. And thank you for all the feedback. We will continue to incorporate it as we go along. I hope our constant evolution is adding the surprise element to your blogs. Readers like surprises, don't they?

Yes, we hear you on the theme suggestion. Since all the blogs don't have a white background like ours, this gadget will very soon sport various styles. We will give you a default "chrome" style and you can start customizing it to suit your blog.

Have fun then.

Help donate a laptop

The OLPC project is a fantastic concept. Only that the kids in countries with a per capita income of about $2 or below can not think of affording a $100 unit. But I guess it should be possible for expats from these countries to sponsor the kids in their homelands. Now the expat would rather sponsor kids in his/her hometown/village rather than somewhere else. That way she would get the satisfaction of contributing back to her people and the people would be better able to relate with their benefactor.

The following problems can be foreseen for a solution like that to emerge.
Firstly, how do we ensure that the donor's money does reach the place she desires? This can be tracked down by a central gis style exchange system that matches need for charity with the donors.

Secondly, how do we evenly distribute the collection in a sustainable manner such that it is not spread out too thin to benefit anyone? This is a problem that I have no solution for. One way could be to leave it to the prudence of the donor but making sure that she gets all the data about need and utilization of the region. Such data could be provided on top of the gis system suggested above.

Technologically, the system needs an online gis system like google/yahoo maps or like google earth. And could be made to work on top of data systems like google spreadsheet and various blog systems perhaps even blogger via the json api.

Any takers??

GWT and awe

When Google started out as a search engine company, they were fantastic with their core competence. And they have awed everyone since then. I feel compelled to commend them on their work on GWT. I had been thinking for ages about translating java into javascript. They have executed it well. I am sure it is very well architected. Let's play with it then.