india

Strange things can happen when you call tech support.

But perhaps not quite as strange as what allegedly happened to Tara Fitzgerald. According to News10 in Sacramento, Calif., Fitzgerald wanted to send some pictures of herself to her boyfriend, but she couldn't find them on her Dell computer.

Her urgent need to find these pictures drove her, quite naturally, to call Dell tech support. Her call was answered, she said, by a gentleman in Mumbai, India, named Riyaz Shaikh.

Shaikh, who, by the time you finish this tale, might not turn out to be a gentleman, after all, offered … Read more

India on Thursday unveiled a prototype tablet computer that would sell for a mere 1,500 rupees, or $35, with the price possibly dropping even further as R&D efforts continue.

Kapil Sibal, the country's Minister for Human Resource Development, showed off the super-cheap touch-screen device in New Delhi as part of a push to provide high-quality education to students across the country. The tablet also comes with a solar-power option that could make it more feasible for rural areas.

The Linux-based computer at first glance resembles an Apple iPad and features basic functions you'd expect to see in a tablet--a Web browser, multimedia player, PDF reader, Wi-Fi, and video conferencing ability. It has 2GB of RAM (but no hard disk, instead using a memory card) and USB ports and could be available to kids from primary school up to the university level as early as next year.

Students from several branches of the Indian Institute of Technology co-designed motherboards for the computer, which the ministry would like to see dropping to $20 and possibly getting as low as $10. … Read more

We tried, I swear we did; we had the sincerest intentions not to talk about Inception again, but all three of us have finally seen the movie and while we're generally happy with the film, it wouldn't be The 404 without Wilson almost ruining the ending for everyone who hasn't seen it yet.

We'll have to find a chicken leg to keep him busy next time. Full disclosure: the first 5 minutes of today's show is about Inception (with a little more during Calls From the Public), but it's definitely SPOILER FREE!

The big … Read more

Skin color is an emotive topic.

Many whose skin is white desperately beach themselves for hours and days in order to look, somehow, less bleached. But some whose skin is naturally darker seem to believe, for so many subjective and, sometimes, cultural reasons, that the ideal is for their skin to be lighter. And I am in no way specifically referring to either Michael Jackson or Sammy Sosa here.

However, the emergence of of skin-whitening Facebook app in India, courtesy of Vaseline, has aroused much interest around the world. The headline on the ads for the app carries with it … Read more

AT&T is reportedly looking to get a piece of the mobile market in India, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported late last week that AT&T, the second largest cell phone operator in the U.S., is in preliminary talks with Reliance Communications, India's second largest wireless phone company. AT&T on Monday denied it is in discussions with the Indian carrier.

The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources and noted the talks are still in the early stages. Reliance officials said that its board had approved the sale … Read more

Thyagaraj Stadium in New Delhi has installed a megawatt's worth of solar panels on its roof, Suniva announced Thursday.

Suniva, which was chosen as the supplier for the solar roof, is an Atlanta-based solar-cell and module manufacturer. Suniva secured $50 million to build a commercial production facility in Atlanta in February 2008. The company licensed technology invented at Georgia Tech: extremely thin high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells that are less than 100 microns thick and claim 20 percent efficiency. Those cells, however, are not yet ready for market. Suniva's 200-micron thin (+/- 20) ArtiSun solar cells were used … Read more

Researchers have uncovered a spy network that stole classified and other sensitive documents from the Indian government, the Dalai Lama's office, the United Nations, and compromised computers elsewhere, according to a report released on Tuesday.

The operation, dubbed "Shadow Network," is detailed in a report that also cites evidence it says links the Shadow network to two people living in Chengdu, China, and the underground hacking community in that country.

The report is based on research from volunteers at the U.S.-based Shadow Server Foundation and Information Warfare Monitor, which includes researchers from the Citizen Lab … Read more

The Indian military plans to weaponize the bhut jolokia, the world's hottest chili pepper, by using it in tear-gas grenades against terrorists, defense officials there have announced.

The notorious pepper from Bangladesh and northeast India, also known as the "ghost chili," is ranked by Guinness World Records as the most piquant of peppers. It has more than 1 million Scoville heat units, way beyond tabasco and jalapeno peppers, which pack 2,500 to 8,000 units.

"This is definitely going to be an effective non-toxic weapon because its pungent smell can choke terrorists and force them … Read more

IBM is embarking on a research project to design mobile gadgets that are easier to use for people who have disabilities or aren't fully literate.

As part of the project, announced Wednesday, Big Blue will collaborate with India's National Institute of Design and the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology.

The goal is to develop a common interface for mobile devices that will make them easier to use. As digital information becomes more vital, IBM said, it believes the Internet needs to be more accessible to a wider range of people, including those … Read more