Social Search - Be Part of the Experiment

Social search or a social search engine is a type of web search method that determines the relevance of search results by considering the interactions or contributions of users (courtesy Wikipedia)

Well Social Search in simple terms is ability to search content (blogs, pics, reviews etc) uploaded by people in your Social Circle. These people can be your connections on Linked in, your friends on Facebook, your Twitter buddies etc.

Guys….Google is giving us an opportunity to be part of their experiments. These experiments cover fields like Search Wiki with sound, Key board short cuts Accessible View and Google Social Search – my favourite. Now this is something really interesting. Oops you still haven’t signed on for the experiment ?

What are you waiting for click here and sign up :)

GeekFest 2.0 - Great Meet :)

This one was a really well organized event at an implausible location like Shelters. Thanks to Alex for getting all the geeks together under one roof. This was an event which didn't require registration/entrance fees/'wasta' ;) Some of the highlights of the evening were …

Catalin Marin – He spoke on the High Dynamic Range, photography and how can we master it using Photoshop. Thanks Catalin for sharing the techniques, it was a great help

James Piecowye and Giorgio Ungania – The Tedx Dubai heroes were also present to share with us the back stage chaos they went through to organize such an excellent event

Narain Jashanmal – Shared with us his views on e books and how this business model is shifting from print to online. He also informed us that Jashanmal is soon stepping into the online world with the launch of online website to sell books based on a Barnes and Nobles model.

I had left by the time the 4th speaker was expected to take control of the smart, private screening room - though I was keen to listen to him :(

Looking forward to Geek Fest 3.0

Tedx Dubai – A Fulfilling Experience

Attending Tedx Dubai was just so fulfilling. For once I felt, yeah! Someone is thinking here :)

Tedx is an independently organized event which is a major success for Dubaians. We had 19 passionate speakers highlighting topics ranging from social media to marginalized communities to traditional food to biophotonics. TED is an annual global event where some of the people are invited to share what they are most passionate about. "TED" stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.

Conference from 10 am – 6:30pm with three short breaks

Where: Palladium, Media City

The event was well organized in a world class auditorium with good food, and superior seating arrangement…all this was done without asking for a penny from the attendees. Now that’s what I call exceptional sponsorship.

Some of the highlights of the events were:

Samar Jodha – He has dedicated his life to a marginalized community called phaneng in North East of India for their revival. He doesn’t believe in just clicking photos and displaying them in art galleries rather has gone ahead in rebuilding this almost extinct community. He has managed to set up eco tourism projects at the village and helps the community build business for their own survival.

Mohamed and Rashid Parham Al Awadhi – The Wild Peeta brothers did an excellently coordinated presentation and demonstrated the ability to create a world class Shawarma brand.

Leo Laporte – Spoke about how User Generated Content has brought an end to the monopoly of big media empires.

Joichi Ito – This speaker explained what exactly goes in the background of Internet content and its legalities. Being a venture capitalist he gave all of us some investment tips.

Paul Bennett – The speaker from IDEO inspired all of us to think about “Your Idea of Dubai”.

Dr. Naif Al Mutawa: He was undoubtedly the funniest presenter of the evening, who has managed to create The99, which is creation of dozens of animated super heroes representing different countries.

Masrat Daud – The 8 day academy girl, illustrated her determination to change the world in 8 days. She managed to at least educate gals in a village west of India changed their mindset about functional education.

Bashar Atiyat – The Bedouin in Hollywood explained to the audience the how does one accept change in culture.

Abed Ayyad- Explained to the audience the importance of Biophotonics and why UAE should look into introducing this latest technology in the country.

Dubai Abdulla Abulhoul – I was amused to see this youngest presenter at the event who remarkably is the Middle East’s youngest Director.

Check out this link for quotes from all the speeches.

In recent years, TED has expanded to include an international conference, TEDGlobal; media initiatives, including TED Talks and TED.com; and the TED Prize.

Thank you Tedx Dubai for the invite and hope to see you again next year.

Etisalat to launch Branded Mobile Phones

The country’s largest service provider will launch it own mobile phone targeting mass market as reported in Business 24-7. The phone will be launched in a week’s time as reported by the vice president of product marketing. The phone will be priced @ of AED 300 and feature mobile broadband applications, service portal Weyak and other customizations. Etisalat used to offer customized handset to its customers from  1994 – 1996. Etisalat had launched the iPhone packages for its Wasel and Postpaid customers earlier this year.

Elements of Humanity

Make magazine interviewed some of the greatest minds working in the field of science and technology. The people interviewed have various fascinations like microbes, chess, sharks, fossils, periodic tables etc. The magazine asks these great thinkers what they would like to do for the planet. Hey, if you do have any ideas about science and tech do share it with the site, to have you own space. Check out this amazing mutimedia website with great ideas http://elementsofhumanity.com/