வணக்கம் தோழா / नमस्ते दोस्त / Hello Buddy!

लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु

Lokāḥ Samastāḥ Sukhino Bhavantu
may all beings everywhere be happy and free, may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.

I'm Balakumar Muthu, an International Award-winning Entrepreneur, Technologist, received Asia Innovation Award from SingTel – Singapore, Software Consultant, UI/UX Product Designer, and a Developer with 17+ years of experience in architecting Web Applications solving technology and business challenges. I've Strong expertise in designing + building Web products based on SaaS, eCommerce, Usability, Cloud Computing, Social Networking Services (SNS), CMS / Wiki, Passionate about Philosophy, Technology, Travel, Photography, TEDx Fellow, Hatha Yoga practitioner, Minimalist, and Creative DIY Hacker.


Awards & Recognitions, I have received


Awarded the "SingTel, Singapore - Asia's Top 50 Innovation Award” (winner lists) and the Winner of "Red Herring Asia Award" (finalists) for Technology Innovation.

My Startup was selected as one of the "Top 100 Startups" to get showcased at NASSCOM Product Conclave (NCP), Asia's largest platform for Product and Startup Companies to connect with Software Product leaders.

Selected at Google India - Interview as one of the Top 5 Finalists out of 16,000 + people applied. Created Google Kids – a search engine for kids prototype for demonstrating during my Google India Interview.

First Prize Winner of "Java Master Award " contest, conducted by Sun Microsystems and BenQ Siemens Germany.

Received Sun Microsystems Duke's Choice Awards - 10 Year Celebration of Java Technology and Sun Microsystems appreciation for my contribution to the early versions of Java Platform.

TEDx Fellow and Mentor for NurtureTalent Startup Boot Camp at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

My Previous Startup LoveLogger, the world's first Collaborative Blogging & Private Network for Pairs, which received a great response from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and China. LoveLogger was awarded the “Asia's Top 50 Apps 2011 Award” (winner lists) from SingTel, Singapore. It was also featured in many popular magazines & portals from Japan, Korea, and China. This product was launched even before the current popular pair apps like Pairy, Between, Hey, Cupple.

Selected as the Official Honorary Reporter for the Korean Culture and Information Service of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Early contributed member of World Wide Web Consortium (W3.org), W3C HTML 5 Working Group and Internet Society (ISOC) India Chapter.

My Expertise & specializations


I specializes in most aspects of Web business, including strategy, creative, design, development and it's growth. My strong expertise and experience includes Front-end development, UI/UX Design & Usability Expert, Branding, Content Management System (CMS), E-commerce, Software as a service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Singularity, Web Security, Firewall, User Onboarding, Typography, Developing Social Networking Platforms (SNS), Product Prototyping, SEO and Linux & Open Source Technologies.

My Personal Interests


I enjoy travel & photography, yoga, rock climbing, simple things — nature, reading. I love philosophy, art, culture, highly interested and passionate about the Indian, Korean & Japanese traditions, trying different flavors of tea, Wabi-sabi, Zen philosophy, making mistakes & learning from them, DIY hacks, and Western movies and Comics.

My Works featured at press / media


My works have been featured & covered by ZDNet Asia, Economic Times, British Council India, Times of India (TOI), Citizen Matters, Yahoo! Japan, MSN Japan, Infoseek, Japan.Internet.com, Livedoor.com, Google Blogoscoped, Netscape.com, Java.net, Webpronews, Planet Mozilla, Linux Toy, DeveloperIQ, Sina.com and many other popular Asian publishers. Java.net published my Java Duke Holiday Pictures from 1000's of submission.

Writings & My Contributions


Wikipedian contributed to more than 100's of Wikipedia pages in various topics in the Computer/Internet Technology category. Contributing writer of DeveloperIQ Magazine on the latest Web Technologies.

Curator of Casual Walker a Travel & Culture - Photography journal and guide, focuses on a wide range of visual stories - connecting travel, culture, places, events, art, reviews, technology & books. Casual Walker is ranked as the Top 75 Travel Blogs in India. view.

Co-organizer of Mozilla Firefox Party India, for the most early release of Firefox 2 and the IdeaCamp Pune. Regular to Tech meetups from BarCamp, BlogCamp, WikiCamp Unconferences to Sun TechDays, BEA Dev2Dev Days, Oracle Developer Forum, Google Developer Days and many other tech conferences. Attended Sessions with David Axmark, CoFounder & VP of MySQL and with Richard Stallman [RMS], GNU Founder Lectures.

Designer of DevCamp India Unconference Official event brand and WikiCamp conference India event brand, participated by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.

Being a big supporter of Linux - Ubuntu & Open source movement, organized the "Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirts Contest" to create more awareness and interest for the early versions of Ubuntu Linux.

My blog is Listed as 'Favorite Blog lists at Sun Microsystems' Web Blog in 2005. Blogging since 2002 and listed as the 'Top 10 Tech blogger' by 'Blog Street India' and rated as the 'Top 50 Tech Blogger' by 'Blogs Top List' in 2005 – 2007. My blog posts have also been featured at Google Blogoscoped.com, Netscape.com, Java.net, Webpronews, Planet Mozilla, Linux Toy and few other popular blogs. Made my own blogging site at Yahoo! Geocities as geocities.com/i5bala (screenshots) in early 2002.

Published Usability report on Yahoo! Flickr, MSN Hotmail and Rediff.com.

My Travel & Culture Photography


Contact & Reach me


Want to work together, grabbing a coffee, or say hello? Good! personally, I have zero presence on Facebook or Twitter. You can ping and text me:

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Self - made man
the statue I greatly admire & the principle I strongly believe

“... left to his own devices, man will use his god-given talents to be creative, productive, & prosperous. Using free will, he will better his own situation and that of those around him, thereby influencing in a positive way his own destiny...”

Google Kids – My Google based Kids Searching Engine Prototype!

Please Note: This is just a follow-up post of my Google India Interview post. You can find more information about it here »

Google Kids

I have created the Google Search engine prototype specially for kids called Google Kids for demonstrating during my Google India interview. I have created the full prototype, google doodle myself along with the basic architecture of the search engine just before the day of my Google Interview.

I am just publishing few pages from my prototype document, which only show the very basic information without much of its internal architecture details.



click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]


 click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]


click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]

Google Kids – My Google based Kids Searching Engine Prototype!

Please Note: This is just a follow-up post of my Google India Interview post. You can find more information about it here »

Google Kids

I have created the Google Search engine prototype specially for kids called Google Kids for demonstrating during my Google India interview. I have created the full prototype, google doodle myself along with the basic architecture of the search engine just before the day of my Google Interview. Although I took my Google Kids prototype to the interview, I haven’t discussed about it with them.

I am just publishing few pages from my prototype document, which only show the very basic information without much of its internal architecture details.



click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]


 click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]


click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]


SVG for Mobile Phones

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SVG Tiny 1.1, the standard vector graphics format, used to create XML powered SVG format in all high- and mid-range GSM/UMTS phones. SVG-t files can be used for background images or startup shows, as well as embedded in a Web page, displayed in full screen mode, or sent inside an MMS or via Bluetooth. In most cases, SVG results in smaller images than animated GIF bitmaps and these take up less memory space on the phone.

Firefox 50 million downloads!!

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Firefox made a blazing 50 million downloads!! :), Firefox ROCKS !! I feel FF turns the world to the right side !!

" ... They said browsers were dead. They said open source would never penetrate the mainstream. But you've never cared much for rules, have you? And now we're blazing a trail to 50 million downloads worldwide. As we turn open source into a household word and reassert the supremacy of simplicity, we are making waves and starting fires ... "

- Blake Russ

http://www.spreadfirefox.com/

Apple Upgrades Power Mac G5

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Apple announced an updated Power Mac G5 line, featuring dual 64-bit PowerPC G5 processors running up to 2.7GHz. The new models are now available in dual 2.0GHz, 2.3GHz and 2.7GHz configurations for US$1,999, $2,499 and $2,999 respectively. The new dual processor Power Mac G5s ship with Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger and will be available this week. They each ship with larger hard drives, a faster 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support and 512MB of memory across the line.

FastSCAN Cobra Digitally Reproduce Skull

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The FastSCAN Cobra can digitally reproduce a skull in the lab or, even better, right at the crime scene. The portable laser scanner, bundled with new whiz-bang 3-D tissue-rendering software, is a huge leap forward for forensics. FastSCAN's advantage - besides its tiny size and even tinier price tag is its free-motion wand. Designed by Applied Research Associates New Zealand, the wand laser-scans the object while an electromagnetic sensor receives signals from a nearby transmitter. The wand and transmitter triangulate the object, building a 3-D framework. In minutes, software stitches together a likeness, rendering layers of muscles, fat, and skin onto a digitally scanned skull.

Happy Birthday My Dear JAVA!! :)

Last Friday was JAVA Day, Java's 10th Birthday. Java changed the world [and me] and keeps on changing. Surpasses 1.5 billion devices worldwide 250 Million Mobile Phones, 650 Million Desktops, 500 Million SIM and Smart Cards, and a Hundred Million Other Locations. Java Still counts... >> Still don’t have Java? Download Java NOW! to become part of the revolution.


The Amazing Adventures of Duke :)

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Read the amazing adventures of Duke, which was actually released during JavaOne 2001 Conference. The Story boards are quite amazing, I just LOVE Duke and feel the action along with Duke :). >>

MiniMate Hard Drive for Mac mini

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The Minimate, MicroNet's new external disk drive and port replicator created specifically to complement Apple's new Mac mini computers. With available storage up to 400GB, 4 USB 2.0 ports and 3 FireWire ports, the Minimate extends the capabilities of your new Mac to match the most capable workstations, all in a stylish aluminum and plastic enclosure that perfectly complements your computer. >>

Benchmarks of Tiger!!

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The performance benchmarks of J2SE 5.0, shows and proves that J2SE 5.0[Tiger] is mush faster, having lesser footprint and better optimized. It has very good self-explanatory graphs to prove it. >>

System Beep in Java

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A beep sound can be use to indicate a warning or error. However, it is often better to give a warning dialog box with a description of the problem.

To Produce a Beep Sound, import the Toolkit class:

import java.awt.Toolkit;

Next use the beep() method:

Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().beep();

John Paul II and Technology

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John Paul is credited with bringing the Vatican into the Information Age. He used the Vatican's official Web site, launched in 1995, to publish his sermons and speeches. Paul II Used a Dell Laptop for his personal use. >>

Gui 3D API based Java

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Gui 3D API is an open source libraryfor 3D graphical user interfaces.written in java, based on the jogl apicurrently running onlinux, windows,mac and solaris. Think It works like the Project look Glass.>>

JTabbedPane in Java

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The JTabbedPane container allows to create tabbed pane and the user may select which to show by clicking on a tab. JTabbedPane can be created as:

JTabbedPane tp = new JTabbedPane(edge);

The edge can be:

JTabbedPane.TOP (default)
JTabbedPane.RIGHT
JTabbedPane.BOTTOM
JTabbedPane.LEFT


Add tabs to a tabbed pane by calling addTab and passing it a String title and a component (typically a JPanel) to display in that tab. For example:

JTabbedPane jtb = new JTabbedPane();
jtb.addTab("Home", Home);
jtb.addTab("Function", Funcion);
jtb.addTab("Help", Help);

Google Video Upload Program

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Google launched their Video Upload Program. It will allow us to upload our own videos and even charge for downloads/viewings of our video. Hey, that's a cool one. I will create and upload my own movies, very soon. >>

FontMetrics in Java

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The java.awt.FontMetrics class is used to determine the measurements of characters and strings. These measurements can be used to precisely position text. Font metrics are determined by the font and the graphics context. To create a FontMetrics object, where g is a Graphics object and f is a Font object:

FontMetrics fm = g.getFontMetrics(f);

FontMetrics methods:

fm.getAscent(); //Returns ascent for font
fm.getDescent(); //Returns descent for font
fm.getLeading(); //Returns leading for font
fm.charWidth(c); //Advance of char c.
fm.stringWidth(s); //Advance width for String s

Macromedia and Adobe are One!!

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Macromedia agreed to be acquired by Adobe for $3.4 billion. As with any multibillion merger, risks abound. Both outfits sell the bulk of their software to the same customers in the creative design and publishing professions, yet they have little overlap in products. Add to that strong revenue growth in 2004 and a complementary vision for which businesses will drive revenues. I am bit worried about my favorite Macromedia Fireworks. >>

Firefox Site Visitors Are Mostly Male

Get Firefox!

More than 2.6 mln people visited the FireFox site during March 2005 to download the browser and obtain more information. Males, often the early adopters of technology and gadgets, dominated FireFox’s site composition during the month of March 2005. Men accounted for 71% or nearly 1.9 mln site visitors, compared to the women who comprised of 29% or the minority population who visited in March 2005. >>

Mac Mini Colorized

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ColorWare plans on adding the Mac mini to its colorful line of products. ColorWare is best known for the extraordinary paint jobs they do on other Apple products such as the iMac, iPod, iBook and Powerbook. >>

Creating Temporary Files in Java

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The File class has a support for temporary files by the static createTempFile methods and the java.io.tmpdir system property, Also, by calling deleteOnExit, we can ensure the file will be deleted if the Java environment ends naturally. The general framework for usage follows:

// prefix and suffix
File temp = File.createTempFile("MyTempFile", ".tmp");

// use like any other File
temp.deleteOnExit();

Mac OS X Tiger

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My Favorite Mac OS X Tiger is going to be released on the 29th. Tiger’s polished appearance makes what’s onscreen as beautiful as the rest of your Mac a sheer joy to behold and use. I think there will be lots of great updates and features in Tiger and waiting for the realease to know more about it. >>

Nuvo Robot

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The Nuvo Robot available in red, blue, white and yellow color variations, for the 588,000-yen. It can be controlled by voice, remote, 802.11b, and even cellular phone and has a 0.33MP camera. >>

Simple Printing in Java

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Using Stream for printing simple text, first write it to a file and print the file.

try
{

FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("LPT1"); // LPT1 Printer name
PrintStream ps = new PrintStream(fos);

ps.print("I am print text going direct to printer.");
ps.print("\f");
ps.close();

}
catch (Exception e)
{

System.out.println("Exception occurred: " + e);

}

Hugms : Hugs Using Mobile Phones :)

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Hugms is a device designed for sending someone you care about a hug using your mobile phone.Once hugms is connected to your mobile phone all you have to do is send it the phone number of the person you'd like to hug and then squeeze. sensors inside the device read how long and how hard you have squeezed and will format a text message based on your hug. For example, a long squeeze would look like 'hhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuggggggg' >>

Apple Mac G5 Helps in Stem Cell Research

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Dr. Sean Morrison’s at the University of Michigan, researchs the secrets of stem cells. The Power Mac G5 is so powerful with its 64-bit processing capabilities that they are able to do things on the Mac that people used to do on mainframes. >>

My Experience with Google Picasa

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As I am planning to buy a Digital camera, I thought of trying some Digital Image Management tools. I immediately thought of Google’s Picasa2 and installed it to give a try. At startup, Picasa scans all the images in my system and automatically organize it neatly and very Cool and faster interface even in my Celeron 466MHz System.

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Picasa has a simple to use set of Image filters like Sharpen, lights, Straighten, Tuning, great collection of effects. It’s really simple even a novice can create Great effects with one or two clicks. We can create backups CD, slide shows, Timeline, and even directly send it to Hello to Blogger.com.

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Picasa also has lots of great tools for creating screensaver, posters, making collage photos, even create movies, create web album, that’s really GREAT. In a fraction of section I am able to create my own version of movie :).

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I like my first experience with Picasa and will explore more. After all its part of Google Technology, so I just Love it! >>

Amazing Usage of Amazon API

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Take a look at the cool usage of the Amazon search API by amaztype website. That's great, I like the way the books are flying! >>

Time Magazine's 2005 100 MOST Influential Builders and Titans

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Time Magazine selected the 2005 100 most influential Builders and Titans. Just look who are in the top 2 levels; it's my favorite Steve Jobs and the Google Guys. >>

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Where Google Gets all the GMail Space :)

Where Google Gets all the GMail Space :), Source: JoyofTech.>>

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Web-Based Spell Checker: Speller Pages

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Speller Pages is a free, Open Source Web user interface and JavaScript library for a server-side spell check program. Available in PHP or Perl/CGI versions, Speller Pages allows us to bring the superior spelling suggestion capabilities of GNU Aspell to users of our Web site. It's really cool and has a very good dictionary. We can add to our web applications, like the G-Mail's spell checker. It’s also very simple to add the Spell Checker function into our Java Script code. >>

iPods Enter Duke University Classes

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The entire Duke University class of 2008 received Apple iPod digital devices as part of a university initiative to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life. This mix of pop culture, information technology and pedagogy has generated enormous interest from other educators as well as news media.That's very COOL, classes with iPod hhmhmm... >>

Yagoohoo!gle Search

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Yagoohoo!gle, a search site which shows the results in a split screen of Google and Yahoo. I think it will be useful in some comparison of search results between the two. >>

Incredibles At Pixar

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Found an interesting experiance of Drew McWeeny at headquarters of Pixar where the incrediables was made. One of my favorite Hot Spot, I will visit in future and meet all the people out their especially my inspirational, Steve Jobs. >>

Look at the part of the big server room, which has given life to all those fascinating characters.
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Useful to Useless Mails: PookMail !! :)

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PookMail.com, helps us to avoid give our personal email address to untrusted sites and people. After 24 hours, our received emails will be deleted from the system. >>

Using Class methods: Java

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The java.lang.Class has many useful methods, but two of the most useful are getName() for getting a string name of the class and getSuperclass() for getting a Class object for the parent class, or null if this is already the Object class.

String s = "abc";
Class cls;
cls = s.getClass(); // Represents the String class.
System.out.println(cls.getName()); // Prints "java.lang.String"

How to Fry an Egg on an XP !! :)

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Frying an egg for our breakfast has never been so simple, just using our own PC. I will try this out live and direct, before upgrading my system :). >>

Felling My Popularity and Web Presence!!

Last week [31/03/05], to check and feel my Web presence, I did a search for me ‘balakumar’ in Google, Yahoo, Technorati and also checked my Web counter Nedstat to know my Web Site listing. I got this results, think not bad :) .

Google Search [Click image for full Screen Shot]

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Yahoo Search [Click image for full Screen Shot]

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Technorati Search [Click image for full Screen Shot]

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Nedstat Search [Click image for full Screen Shot]

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Note: I did this search just to feel myself in the Web. This rank may vary from time to time, but must be within Top 10.

Gmail's Rich Text Editor

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Gmail now provides the most needed Rich Text Editor for composing our email. I think GMail has changed the way we are using our Mail Boxes and we will be looking forward for more innovations and surprises from the GMail team :). >>


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