Netbook For Developing Countries

Varadarajan Narayanan has a vision, a x86-based SoC netbook that is affortable, efficient and easy to repair. This innovative netbook is aimed for the develping countries. Though it is still in a very early phase of development it already shows much promise.

Netbook Unboxed



Netbook running Gnome desktop (now runs with more lightweight window managers)



Builtin AC Adapter, Just plugin in the cable




Powered by AA sized batteries



Under the hood: Motherboard SOC


What's inside: CPU Module





SODIMM CPU Connector

I thank Varadarajan for allowing me to share the pictures and content on this blog. Please do get in touch with him if you are interested in working on this netbook project.

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Ride On Theo

As I write this somewhere on the other side of the planet Theo M. Schlaghecken is making final preparations to head on the last leg of his motorbike trip around the globe. From the ageless land of Namibia he will now drive across Africa back into Europe two years after he started his journey.

When I heard that Theo would be coming down to India to spend few months working with us at IISE, I expected a weather beaten adventurer, a tough guy biker. Nothing had prepared me for this soft spoken former consultant who chucked it all to ride his motorbike around the world. 'It was a impulsive decision' he said almost apologetically 'I just had three days to decide'. Right away I could relate to the idea of leaving ones comfort zone and venturing out into uncertain future.

Over next few weeks I got to know Theo better. Whenever I saw him I would shout out 'Lets Swim!' and it almost became daily ritual. Over numerous conversations over coffee sharing our experiences, I realized that his journey was more than just criss-crossing continents. I know one day we all would read about your journey but for now you got to ride on, Theo!.

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Laptop Cooling Mat From Discarded Packaging material

Little ingenuity goes a long way to solve problem of waste. Its heartening to know that companies are reducing waste by turning their products packaging into reusable products. Meanwhile I use this discarded piece of packaging material as my laptop cooling mat. Its geometric surface allows easy circulation of air underneath the laptop allowing me to work long hours without setting my crotch on fire.

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Holiday Mood

Theo captured my holiday mood this weekend at Varkala. We are sitting outside our hut in Bamboo Village overlooking the beautiful Arabian sea.

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Jump-start Camp on Web Technology For Non-profits

A four-day workshop on the essentials of using open-source software for non-profit uses. Workshop content will not be demanding in terms of existing skills and will require only curiosity, enthusiasm and openness for successful participation. This workshop will act as a catalyst for concerned individuals, resources and urgent needs in the field of web technology for non-profit use. The potential for non-profits to use the potential of web-publishing, social networking, online communities and SMS will be explored through case-studies and examples as well as rapid hands-on exercises.

For this workshop the OpenSpace Pune website will be taken up and as an exercise and as a project and in the four days we will learn quick and effective ways of using free and open source software to address the needs of a network based organization like OpenSpace. Tools for networking, discussion, mass-action, advocacy and activism will be explored. Enthusiastic workshop participants will have the opportunity to continue an engagement (with a stipend and other benefits) with OpenSpace for the technology projects.

To apply email Renu Iyer at renu@openspaceindia.org with the required information requested on the events page.

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Documenting a Human Tragedy :: Documentary Review

The story of India's green revolution has a dark side. It is the shade of dark crimson, the color of blood. Between 1996 and 2006 100,000 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region in the north Indian state of Maharashtra. Since June of 2005 two to three farmers take their lives every day. The seeds of this problem were sown with the introduction of the green revolution in the mid 60's. Farming in India was largely organic, needing little investment. Farmers would use the seeds that they saved from the previous harvest. But the green revolution changed all that, now farmers had to buy seeds, fertilizers and pesticides by borrowing money at high interest rates from Sahukar's (private money lenders) and in the course of time farmers were trapped in huge debt. Such disasters don't go unnoticed--they rarely do. Headlines trumpeted, relief poured in before going to bed. One night during the and so did the politicians with their 'packages'.

Now just few years on, this issue is forgotten by the mainstream media. Suma Josson, a journalist turned filmmaker, documents the problem that took many years in the making. In her latest documentary film, "I Want my Father Back" she asks a few crucial questions. I managed to catch this documentary at the recent KAFISO Third National Short and Documentary Film Festival. The documentary managed to walk away with the first prize that it so richly deserves.

The film deals with the disastrous way in which India's green revolution pushed traditional farming practises aside in a mad dash to increase crop yield. New hybrid seeds were introduced with heavy subsidies. Fertilisers and pesticides were introduced at low prices, and attractive loans were offered for those who could not afford to buy them. Cash crops like cotton and soya soon replaced the food crops. Farmers went into debt to manage their homes and farms and were getting low prices for their crops largely due to corrupt and inefficient marketing practices of farmers co-operatives. Trapped in deep debt, the farmers resorted to taking their own lives.

Josson's film deals in detail with every facet of this problem, effects of globalization, economic policies of successive governments that helped create new markets for large multinational corporations. The menace of costly Bt cotton seeds with their false claims of high yield, its adverse effects on environment and the health of cotton industry workers. Lack of measures to protect and promote the indigenous seed variates that are resistant to pests and well adapted to local conditions. Also the erosion of traditional farming method of cultivating heterogenous crops which provided a safe net in case of single crop failure. Perhaps it is the director's early training as a journalist that played a large role in her investigative approach. The documentary provides a revealing mix of scientific evidence, farmers' insights and experiences, along with the voices of activists.

The mass suicides of farmers is not the problem of Vidarbha alone. In the other Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab farmers are commiting suicide in large numbers. Every day we hear similar stories from other parts of the world. This documentary forces the audience to think and to ask itself: Is this the state of the world to come?

Recently published in film review section of IISE Journal. You can watch the documentary online in an older post I Want My Father Back

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Running Ubuntu Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition

A big thanks goes to Rad for poking me to try out Ubuntu MID. Running the Ubuntu MID in virtual environment is pretty straight forward. Have a look at the Installing Ubuntu MID in Virtual Box.

The screenshots below show Ubuntu MID running gnome-terminal and firefox web browsers.

These presentation slides from CELF Embedded Linux Conference 2008 provides a quick overview about Ubuntu MID.

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