Harshad Oak's personal blog about Society, Science, Reform, Religion, India, Pune, Politics, Books, Tech…
My recent presentation (Jan 2011) on Mobile Software Development at the RSS IT Milan held in Pune. The event was targeted at college students and so the presentation is meant for students and those just starting off with mobile software development.
You can find many more presentations on specific mobile software development technologies at the website for the annual IndicThreads Conference On Mobile Software Development that’s held in Pune, India. Read more
Been an IDEA subscriber for almost a decade. True to it’s ads, IDEA has always had good connectivity, at least in Maharashtra. So hardly ever have I had issues like dropped calls or a weak signal. So if you are a basic phone+SMS kind of mobile user, IDEA is a good option. However start venturing into more advanced features and IDEA starts to struggle. Read more
For the past 6 months or so, I have been associated with Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (ANS), an organization that aims to promote rational thought in society and works for the elimination of superstitions, blind faith & customs. Many social movements tend to peak in about 3 years since inception and then tend to die out in another 3-5 years. However the ANS has been at work for a remarkable 20+ years. Read more
The Indian media has been making a fuss about Indian diplomats being searched by US airport security. I honestly do not understand what the big deal is, if these people were being searched based purely on suspicion & not based on any racist or discriminatory reasons. Read more
If you wish to oppose Pune Corporation leasing out public properties for 99 years, you can use the format below & mail your protest to to stelang@punecorporation.org. Sorry to be posting this rather late. The last date for submitting your protest is 5pm today (3rd Dec). But it should take you just 10 seconds to mail. Copy draft below, edit as you find appropriate & fire your mail to PMC. Once all our public lands are leased out for 99 years, there’s no going back!
For more info on the issue just do a google search or I had tweeted at length about this from a recent Sajag Nagrik Manch meet at http://twitter.com/harshadoak Read more
I attended an event titled the “Lavasa Mahaghotala Sabha” or the “Lavasa Scam Meet” on 27 Nov 2010. This event was meant to launch a widespread protest against the Lavasa project. The speakers at the meet were prominent social activists Medha Patkar, Anna Hazare & many others linked to the protest. I have live tweeted at length at http://twitter.com/harshadoak (tweets reproduced at end of article) about who said what at the meet. Thought it would make more sense to go beyond the tweets & blog my take on Lavasa. Read more
IndicThreads.com International Conference On Cloud Computing will be held on 20-,21 August in Pune, India. The conference aims to demystify cloud computing & discuss migrating & implementing cloud solutions Read more
Vasant Vyakhanmala (Spring time Lecture series) is a most remarkable undertaking. It’s an annual event that was first held in 1875 in Pune by social reformer Justice Ranade and is being held every year since. Many of India’s top leaders & visionaries have spoken at the event and I am told that it was especially popular in the pre-independence era, with 1000s attending the lectures. Read more
नमस्कार. हा माझा मराठीतला पहिला ब्लॉग आहे. मी मराठी शेवटच शाळेत लिहिल आणि आता १५+ वर्षांनंतर परत प्रयत्न करतो आहे. अवघड जातय पण मजा पण येतेय. पहिला मराठी ब्लॉग कशा वर लिहू असा विचार करत होतो. मग म्हटल मराठीत टाईप / ब्लॉग / इमेल कस करायच तेच लिहुया. Read more
Yesterday I attended the book release of ‘Timiratuni Tejakadey’ by Dr Narendra Dabholkar, founder of Anti Superstition movement in Maharashtra, Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti. My notes & recordings from the event. I appreciate that the tweets / notes are currently in fairly raw form, hope to edit into more readable paras when I have some more time on hand. Do check out the recordings of the speeches by Narendra Dabholkar & Mohan Agashe. Read more
I recently gave a 15 min presentation followed by Q&A on “Trends In Software Development On The Java platform” at the Computer Society of India, (CSI Pune) InCSIghts conference. Slides below. The trends I touched upon 1) Power To Choose 2) Java Platform & not the Java language Is Java’s primary identify going forward 3) Convention Over Configuration 4) Mobile Apps Show Rapid Growth 5) Agile is moving from small companies & geeks to the mainstream. Read more
From the IndicThreads Education Press Release. You are welcome to link – share >>
IndicThreads, a technology media pioneer, creators of the IndicThreads.com software developer portal & the IndicThreads Technology Conferences, announces the launch of ‘IndicThreads Education‘ a novel initiative in business & technology education. The courses are path-breaking in their content & way ahead of their time as compared to curriculum of traditional education courses in India.
IndicThreads Education kicks off with three courses, all of which are a first for education in India – 1) Internet For Business & Development 2) Internet Entrepreneurship 3) Information Technology Security & Compliance
The story begins many years back, on a beautiful sunny morning in 1997. I was playing cricket in the inter division cricket tournament in my college. I had bowled my quota of overs and we had kept the opposition down to a modest score. Later while batting we were within reach of the target with 10 runs to get and 8 balls to go. 8 balls 10 runs wasn’t easy but I did think we could make it. I took strike, the bowler bowled a delivery that rose to about waist height. I swung the bat in what is known as a pull shot, hoping to get a boundary. My bat moved, my chest and waist rotated in an attempt to generate max power, but my legs did not move. I heard and felt a snap / pop in my left knee and I was down in excruciating pain. I could not even think of getting up, let alone running. After a few minutes of agony, I was helped off the field. We later lost the match. Read more
Arun Gupta from Sun Microsystems interviewed me at the 4th IndicThreads.com Conference On Java about Java today, IndicThreads, the IndicThreads Conferences & the software developer communities in India.
src- Arun Gupta’s Blog
I ran the Pune Marathon 09 (10 kms category) and finished in 1 hour 26 minutes which was more or less as per my expectation. I think I could have shaved off 5-10 minutes from the time, but with few distance markers along the way, I couldn’t pace my run properly so left my final acceleration for too late in the run. Read more
My presentation on ‘Internet For Business Development’ at Barcamp Pune, Nov 2009. The learning was part of my preparations while designing the Internet For Business Development & Internet Entrepreneurship course for IndicThreads Education.The session gives an overview of how the Internet has changed business and business development activities forever & how today’s entrepreneurs & business development professionals need to harness the power of technology and the Internet to deliver better sales, stronger brands & a larger customer base for the enterprise.
The election results for the Maharashtra state assembly elections are supposed to be announced tomorrow (22nd Oct). Like every prior election, the Election Commission has again failed to provide a proper & functional website where you can get the election results. However your best bet still would be to try the Chief Election Commissioner for Maharashtra website http://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/ or the Election Commission India site for the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Results.
Most of the sites that provided election voter list search for the 2009 Loksabha elections seem to have bombed for the Maharashtra State Elections. Read more
No Indian has anywhere near as much scope to change the destiny of other Indians as an elected representative in government. So like it or hate it, we have to take our netas and elections seriously. The assembly elections (Vidhan Sabha) for the state of Maharashtra in India are upon us and 13th Oct 09 is voting day. My vote lies in the Shivajinagar constituency in Pune. So here’s my analysis of the top 3 contenders for the ShivajiNagar seat in Pune city. I do not think I have any deep rooted party loyalties and my choice of party in past elections has varied based on the quality of the candidate. I am attempting to provide my analysis of the candidates & not their parties. Also I do not claim to be unbiased, so please apply your judgement. Read more
I was resisting writing on the austerity talk that has sprung up in India. But the media has now taken the discussion in such a nonsensical direction that I feel forced to air my views. Not that my views matter, but just feel better that way. Read more
Michael Jackson, the ‘king of pop’ was today finally laid to rest, 10 weeks after his death. Michael Jackson was easily the biggest global entertainer ever. Through the 80s and 90s he enjoyed unfathomable levels of popularity across the globe and India was no exception. Thinking of MJ got me thinking of impact of western culture & entertainment on Indians, and it suddenly dawned on me that MJ was perhaps the last English superstar in India. Read more
The 4th IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology is scheduled for 11 – 12 Dec 2009 and will be held in Pune, India. The call for papers is now open. Read more
I recently traveled to the US and back to India. On my way to San Francisco I had a connecting flight at Frankfurt, Germany. The following is an experience at Frankfurt that I can’t quite categorize. Is it ignorance / insensitivity / rudeness / racism or maybe even an over reaction on my part? Read more
The final vote count for the Pune Loksabha election is now available. Sitting MP, Suresh Kalmadi of the Congress has managed to retain the Pune seat by a margin of about 25000 votes.
Data as on : May 16 2009 3:01PM
As counting for most seats is complete by this time, most the leads / results below should stand. The margins might change. Read more