Todspace - Telecom on Demand

Ideas

2008-04-12T17:39:00.003+03:00

I`m about to buy a .com domain for a website about tech.
There are several ideas that about what site it would be, so here`s the ideas:

1. Mobile phone listing website, get an overview of newest mobile phones.
2. Community site covering technical stuff in a field of telecom.
3. A search engine algorithm I`m still developing.
4. Something else.

Give Your opinion, what would be the best?

Blinking LEDs recources

2008-01-04T11:00:00.000+02:00

Although the Christmas are over for today, it would be always great to learn how to build blinking LEDs by yourself. Isn`t it :)?

Here are some recources:

The "Hello World!" of Physical Computing

Small c program for led blinking by Nagnath Dhale (it probably is the shortest code in C for blinking)
Blinking LED with a Prototyping Board
HowTo: Blinking LEDs

If you need any advice with programming LEDs in C, then maybe I could help.. just let me know:)

Download any YouTube video as mp3. And more.

2008-01-03T11:00:00.000+02:00

Found a very rare and extraordinary video on YouTube with a must-have soundtrack?
Well I happened to be in a situation like that few days ago. The soundtrack was something that couldn`t be found on the net and probably not even be bought from anywhere.

So digging around I found a solution - File2HD, it converts any embedded video into mp3 and it`s even possible to download embedded videos. Nice.

Explosm exploded

2008-01-02T23:00:00.000+02:00

Are you familiar with Explosm.net - daily webcomics named Cyanide and Happiness?
These guys are sure talented.

BUT, there is on weird "but" - to paste the comic-strip above, I used the code provided at Explosm.net:

< href = " http://www.explosm.net/comics/1107/ "> < alt = "Cyanide and Happiness, a daily webcomic" src ="http://www.flashasylum.com/db/files/Comics/Rob/html.png" r ="0">
Cyanide & Happiness @ < href ="http://www.explosm.net">Explosm.net< / a >

See the address flashasylum.com inside the code? I typed it on my Firefox browser, and what happened? -
Text consisting of "lololololololol...Explosm" AND my Avast! Virus Software warning me of trojan horse! Wtf?

I understand that it was just my own curiosity that lead me to that Flashasylum, but still. Why do Explosm fellows need to mess with trojan viruses?

Relaunch

2007-12-30T19:04:00.000+02:00

Todspace will relaunch on 2th January, 2008.

Happy New Year & All the best to all of You !

¤ Summertime ¤

2007-07-15T19:36:00.000+03:00

Hey!
As its summer, I have lost my blogging rythm and also a chance for giving out Joost invitations :( Sorry for that.. I try to send out a new bunch of invitations around 24-25 July.

But I have also had serious thinking about the future of search and other that kind of stuff (see my previous related posts, for example Basis of an intelligent search engine). So I`ve moved on and now I am forming an idea of Artificial Intelligent, but can`t talk about it so closely at the moment. Anyway it would be located between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 , I guess.

Talk to You again as soon as possible!

Desktop Tower Defense wasted 2 hours of my life

2007-06-22T00:13:00.000+03:00

A web based (written in flash) simple war game named Desktop Tower Defense is out there - it`s genius , it`s easy and it has won the hearts of thousands of people (I checked the stats while writing this - last hour it was played 11206 times).

The point of this game is to prevent the little "creeps" to run through the play area by building defensive towers.

The best way to undersand it is to try it by yourself. So i wasted 2 hours playing it, and I`m sure there will be additional hours!

Google used new font ?

2007-06-18T22:03:00.000+03:00

I just made a search in Google and surprisingly the font of the results were different (bold?) from what it has been before. Now, as I`m writing this post, I tried the search once more and everything was back normal.

I made a sample search and snapshot of it (click on a image to see the original size):

Mobile phone trends

2007-06-17T22:49:00.000+03:00

Wanna know what is the most popular cellphone that everyone`s searching for?

According to Google Trends, as inserting terms Motorola mobile, Nokia mobile, Sony Ericsson mobile, Samsung mobile and Motorola mobile (I added additional mobile term, as some companies are dealing with other products as well) - the top 5 would be:

1. Nokia
2.-3. Motorola / Samsung
4.-5. LG / Sony Ericsson

Nothing suprising, as I`m also using Nokia :P. Although, if I had to buy a new cellphone today, it would definitely be Sony Ericsson (main reason of it is covered under codename Walkman).

But now, if going to filter by countries, the order would be quite different:

USA - first place: Motorola
UK, Australia, Germany, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India - first place : Nokia
France - first place: Samsung

See the full results in here

Basis of an intelligent search engine

2007-06-17T02:23:00.000+03:00

Here is a diagram for supporting the basis of my ideas for building a search engine. It`s very general and nothing specific - created with Gliffy (create and share diagrams online).
So the main point at the moment seems to be that it doesn`t get the input only from users (and from the internet), but it should retrieve it from anywhere possible. In my opinion, that kind of solution would just fit in the near future.

Thoughts about.. my very own search engine

2007-06-11T20:32:00.000+03:00

I`ve always admired the new search engine start-ups, those original and creative ones like Searchles, Accoona and Clusty. They might give much weaker results than Google (in many cases I`ve seen better results too), but still the idea remains that people are trying and giving the best they got. Feeling that you have done something, even hearing comments and advice from users can change the day.

I have also thought a lot about search engine innovation, what would be the improvements or how to take the web search to the next level. Still I guess that at the moment it is a bit too early to shout my thought out - I have to get it all more clearer to myself at first.

But if I`ve formed my thoughts and ideas, I`ll let you know! You won`t miss them!

Wireless handover and roaming on PDF

2007-06-10T18:14:00.000+03:00

Here are some links to pdf files describing wireless and mobile handover/roaming processes. These might be a bit too technical for a person with no knowledge about wireless networks, but still, take a look, maybe you find something helpful.

Cellular Communications - This tutorial discusses the basics of radio telephony systems, including both analogue and digital systems.
Tutorial on Intelligent Networks - This
paper presents some history of telecommunications technology, an overview of IN and its services and some
additional discussion on the future broadband IN.
Technical Issues on Roaming - Transparency, Technical Aspects and Data
Overview related to the Proposed Regulation on
Roaming (EU Regulations)

Great classic from Kurose & Ross

2007-06-03T11:26:00.000+03:00

For studying my Computers Networking exam I used a great book written by James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross, named Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet (the 2nd edition). That`s definitely one of the best in a given area - I read those ~700 pages just in 2 days (and nights), everything described in the book just made it all so damn simple.

It would have been a sin not to share it with you. And by the way, now after reading the book, it is a little helper for cooling my laptop down (sometimes it gets kind of overheated somehow, so i just put 2 thick books under the computer, leaving some open space for the vents - and it works!).

Here`s the detailed table of contents of the textbook.

Maybe You Got That Something for Electrolux Design Lab

2007-05-29T19:13:00.000+03:00

Electrolux has announced a call for entries for the Electrolux Design Lab 2007 - a competition for students to design economically friendly, sustainable household solutions and gadgets (for 2020).
The prizes are: first place 5,000 euros, second 3,000 € and third 2,000 € + fame, glory and nice experience.

Here are the winners of 2006 -
first place was (is :D) called Nevale Food Carrier, the gadget that could be useful indeed.

So that all gave me that kind of punch that now I`m thinking to apply too, maybe combine some kitchen stuff with mobility, networking and environment.

And also, check this cute video, where the father explains his little daughter why she can`t have a cell-phone yet (from a Finnish reality show Kitchen Stage - somewhat action in futuristic kitchen).

My Live Search Buzz

2007-05-29T12:15:00.000+03:00

TechCrunch writes how they got spammed by messages pointing to an article describing the new upcoming search engine named My Live Search. They are announcing on their web that using a new technology they will turn to be much better then Google.

"The search terms are put through Google, or other indexed search databases, but those results are treated as "starting points" alongside the user's bookmarks and other popular web hubs.

From there, the live search takes over, crawling through hundreds of web pages connected to those starting points in search of more information relevant to the search.

I also registered for beta testing, so I just hope that they won`t start spamming me (although it was said on TechCrunch, that they didn`t know who sent those >11 letters).

Interview with YOU. Part One.

2007-05-29T11:22:00.000+03:00

Our first brave one to answer the questions asked in the series of Interview With You is Michael from Educated. Here are his answers and thoughts:

Why have you chosen to blog on technology topics?
I live and breath computers and tech. Blogging is a great way to share my knowledge and possibly help others find what they are looking for, like reviews of various products that I've used myself. Also, I love to tweak things, and the blog is yet another area for me to occupy myself with that.

Who are the people who should keep an eye on your blog?
If you don't mind reading slightly random and

out-of-place writings, my blog is perfect.

How many gadgets you have with you when leaving the house (mobile, music-player...)?
Usually I carry my Sony CLIÉ T665C, an old and long-discontinued member of the company's PDA series. Also I have my Motorola i855, powered by boost Mobile.

What are your plans for summer 2007 - blog through the summer, vacation, working?
Most of my summers are spent in camp. This year I will be holding a job there for the first time, which will bring me a little extra cash.

What`s the meaning of life?
This is a though one - not many can come up with a good definition. Perhaps we should take advantage of all that's given to us, and also try to give back to the world in some way or another. don't live your life like a hermit - share the joy.

About Michael`s blog, entitled Educated (http://www.nyceducated.info/):
"Educated brings you the latest scoop on computers, the Web, NYC transit, product and software reviews and more."

Exams, exams, exams ...

2007-05-28T00:39:00.000+03:00

So far I`ve written 2 exams, next week 3 to go and then the final last one..

Electronics seems to be the most difficult to me, at least at the moment I`m having difficulties with contsentrating on studying that. If I pass this exam then it would be like .. wow (it takes place on Tuesday, so I got one day - hope some magic would happen).

Update - just came from the exam of Electronics, and I feel pretty well, had quite suitable questions. I`ll get the mark in next few days, lets wait and see.

Screenshots of Broken Technorati

2007-05-24T02:49:00.000+03:00

Here are some screenshots that you might miss if you aren`t on the right time on the right place - Technorati is having some trouble or maintenancing at the moment I`m writing this post

Small promotion video for Joost invitations giveaway

2007-05-22T21:29:00.000+03:00

Here`s a small promotion video I made about my campaign of Giving away Joost invitations. Featured soundtrack can be listened and watched here: Amy Diamond - It Can Only Get Better.
And yes, there is a silly typing mistake at the end of the clip, sht happens :) I guess I`ll fix it in the future, but not now.. busy times in here as you might now.

Interview with YOU

2007-05-21T20:07:00.000+03:00

At the moment I have extremely busy times as I`m prepearing for the exams (first one named simply Computer Networks takes place on Thursday) - So, I came up with an idea how all the fellow bloggers could help me on this fast period - I`ll make an interview with You.

Here are the rules supporting my idea:

You have to be a TECHNOLOGY-related blogger.
You have to answer the questions listed down below.
Send your answers to my e-mail at todspace@gmail.com
I`ll publish your answers every day until Thursday (24.05.07) in my blog posts. But if there will be some great answers later at any time, I wouldn`t mind making exceptions and publish the answers at any time in the future.
When publishing your answers, I`ll add a link to your blog in a given post.
I would be grateful if you link back to my blog or to this post "Interview with YOU", after you have been listed and published in my blog.

Here are the Questions for the Interview:

Why have you chosen to blog on technology topics?
Who are the people who should keep an eye on your blog?
How many gadgets you have with you when leaving the house (mobile, music-player...)? If possible, name them specificly (eg: mobile - Nokia 3100)
What are your plans for summer 2007 - blog through the summer, vacation, working?
What`s the meaning of life?

Hope it isn`t too much =), so once again, send your answers (plus link to your blog and its short description) to todspace@gmail.com

I`ll be waiting!

Nobody calls you?

2007-05-17T21:42:00.000+03:00

Do you feel sometimes that you are left alone, got nobody to call to and your phone hasn`t rang for ages? See the solution brought to you by Phone Phony - humorous video with great ideas.

Skype on the moon

2007-05-15T14:33:00.000+03:00

Skype has made a deal with Wal-Mart, as starting to sell headsets, webcams and other stuff in more than 1,800 Wal-Mart stores.

But what would be the next big steps for Skype?
Here are some of my ideas, maybe some of them are already in use, I can`t promise that anyone hasn`t thought about these things before! But please don`t take it all too seriously..

Skype on the Moon - Skype will definitely take a huge bite from the piece of space-based calls by releasing services named Space-in and Space-out.
Skype in Kazakhstan - on it`s next journey, Borat would probably take Skype to his homeland.
Skype to the Future - with a technology that was used in Back to the Future series, it could be possible to make a phone call to the future and vice-versa (transmission of an electronical signal through time should be theoretically simplier than transmission of an massive material object).
Skype Radio - make a call to a given number and hear your favourite radio station.
Skype Speech Recogniser - as millions of people are calling each other every day, then it would be a enormous source for development of speech recognisation.

Fellow bloggers writing about Skype and Wal-Mart union:

Is your webpage mobile friendly?

2007-05-14T14:33:00.000+03:00

How does your webpage looks in mobile devices and what can be improved for better user experience? You can easily get an answer from Dotmobi, a place to check how far are you and your site from conquering the world of mobile phones.

For example, Google seems to fit brilliantly on Nokia n70, but as moving to pages like blogs, then it wouldn`t be so nice at all, see Todspace on Sony K750

So how does your page or blog looks in a mobile?

Updated: Mobile-ID brought to the market

2007-05-13T17:54:00.000+03:00

Estonian mobile network operator EMT in-cooperation with AS Sertifitseerimiskeskus has brought to the market a new service - a Mobile-ID. The service allows a person to identify him/herself by using a mobile phone or give a digital signature.

”Since a mobile phone is with a person at all times, it gives greater freedom for performing transactions that require personal identification, like using internet banking services, and also signing documents digitally”, said Tõnu Grünberg, Director of Development and Technology with EMT.

General Manager with AS Sertifitseerimiskeskus Ain Järv shows optimism:

"Mobile-ID is a remarkable step in development of Estonia as innovative country – in the world we are at the frontline with this service. Already now, there is a great interest towards this service from different countries, foremost from European experts”

Official press release in English and in Estonian

Have a nice weekend

2007-05-11T11:30:00.000+03:00

I might be gone for a weekend, going out of the town :D
But if not before, I`ll certainly hope to be back on Sunday.

You can still request the Joost invitations, it seems there are unlimited number of invitations that can be sent.

So have a nice weekend and take care!

Music videos from Middio

2007-05-11T00:08:00.000+03:00

It`s interesting, today I checked my bookmarks list in Firefox and found a link that I had forgotten to take a closer look. The link was named Middio - Uniting music videos.

Middio is a search engine for music videos. It searches and indexes videos from YouTube, it seems that only quality and original videos will pass the indexing test.

Here`s what they tell about themself:

Launched in mid-2007, Middio makes an effort of properly tagging the most popular music videos uploaded by members to YouTube.com. Although the music videos are hosted by YouTube.com, they can be searched for and watched on Middio without ads.

For a note - the most viewed video at the moment is
My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words.

If you think that this post is some kind of paid article, then you`re completley wrong - it`s just that I personally like it so much from the moment i saw it and feel that the service has a great potential in the future.

Take a look and tell me what you think!

Giving away Joost invitations

2007-05-09T17:25:00.000+03:00

I have a bunch of Joost invitations to give away. If anyone`s interested then please use the comment form to let me know, i`ll send it to you as soon as possible.

(Joost had to officially launch in May, but now the take-off is delayed)

Update: Check out Joost Forums for other kind people giving away their Joost invitations!

5 ways to impress a girl using telecommunications

2007-05-08T22:04:00.000+03:00

The following is inspired by ProBlogger`s Top 5 Group Writing Project.

So, you have tried to impress a girl in all possible methods but still there`s no effect?
Take a look at the following, maybe it helps!

1. Using little bit complicated terms like WiMax, IPTV, RF Circuit Engineering or even just telecommunication itself could generate an image of yourself as educated and smart person. Although, you shouldn`t use these terms too often, once a day is good enough!

2. Share some tips, for example the tip for fixing cell phone bugs - again you might look like a genius.

3. Take her outside to watch the stars. Of course before you have located the overflying satellites.

4. Gift her a 3G cell phone. Video in addition to voice gives a chance for closer contact in any situation.

5. Ah, heck the telecom - just tell she`s the one and bring some flowers!

Lets track some satellites!

2007-05-07T21:31:00.000+03:00

Today I surfed through iGoogle gadgets and found one interesting fancy one - Satellite Tracking, built using Google Maps. You can watch and locate 5 satellites in real time (for example Hubble and ISS).

But moving on to the homepage of this gadget, it`s possible to track a movement of more than 100 satellites. So why should any normal person keep its eye on satellites?
The answer is simple and revealed by a category named The Brightest - it is useful for persons watching the sky with telescopes from their window or garden.

Anyway, take a break and have time to watch the sky, stars and satellites!

The simple solution for fixing cell phone bugs

2007-05-07T00:47:00.000+03:00

There could be many situations where the cell phone might just stop working, report stupid errors and so on. For example my mobile Nokia 3100 has shouted me at least 10 times "SIM card not working" or "Insert SIM card". It has happened while it was -20 degrees outside but also while I was playing basketball (as i want to be "avilable" all the time, then it was in my pocket while playing :P).

So what I did? The simplest thing - I just switched the phone off, and after switching it in again it worked brilliantly like never before. It`s like a restart to a PC.

To move on, one day I called to one of my friends, and guess what! - I heard my own voice in echo , quite strange i have to say. I wouldn`t recommend that kind of experience even to my enemy :D. The point was that my friend was using hands free and so there was some kind of bug in the connection with the phone.

So you can guess 3 times what I advised her to do!
...
Yes, right answer! You are fast learners :P
So she restarted her phone and everything was fine again - working.

My friend told she would have never come to an idea simple as that.
So maybe some of you find this little tip useful - just turn your cell phones off and back on again =)

(But it`s clear that the method doesn`t work in all cases, if so you better find your warranty or buy a new phone)

Techlivez - worth mentioning?

2007-05-05T13:16:00.000+03:00

I recently spotted a blog called Techlivez.com (their slogan is Irresistible Technology). It says they`re trying to cover the latest technology news and future technology updates.
But isn`t it just another gadget blog? Isn`t there already enough gadget and technology blogs?

Well, my answer would be:
Yes, there are thousands of writers who all think THEY are the next TechCrunch (my blog included:D) - many of them are pointless, but even if I happen to navigate to a random gadget-blog and find at least one useful article or tip, then it means that this blog has potential.

But when I find more than one topic.. - it gives me a signal that I might subscribe to that blog (but still not at the moment, I need to convince myself that it`s worth reading, sry Shashank:P)

So here`s what i found interesting for me from Techlivez:

So as you see, on a primar scan i found three topics, what is 3 times more than one:D
I`ll keep an eye on You! Lets see if we could have the Spark :P
(For fellow bloggers, maybe you`re interested in Shashank`s action around free pagerank 5 backlink)

Just a little bit about 3G

2007-05-05T10:02:00.000+03:00

The following is a snap from my presentation made for English classes (which isn`t my native language). SO the topic or the heading is simple: 3G networks
It just covers the basics, so for deeper explanations check Wiki or Sergey Gershtein`s opinion (translated from Russian using Google translation) - also see Sergey`s blog for other topics.

Firstly lets make it clear what are these G-s about:

1G - analog telephony system (NMT - developed in 80-s in Scandinavia)
2G – stands for GSM, most common at the moment
3G – besides voice it enables video-to-video calls, video on demand, music and internet services

To start with, 3G is quite different from 2G, the main difference is that 2G is circuit switched while 3G is both packet-switched and circuit switced.

What does it means? - Well, on a case of circuit switching the connection is established and kept through one certain route (through nodes – antennas). On a case of packet-switching there are packets of data used - packets are transferred through different routes.

Moving on to Planning a network - planning begins with preparations as researches are made for :
1) population working and living in specific area
2) vehicular traffic through and in the area
3) areas of concerts and sports events
Also landscape and locations of buildings shouldn`t be misnoticed.

There are 3 fundamental basis that should be considered on planning a network:
Coverage, capacity and QoS (Quality of Service), the trick is to find an optimal balance between these 3 parameters.
Firstly, Coverage – only places where high data traffic usage is predicted (as densely populated areas) will be covered at present.
Secondly, Capacity – Video on Demand services require. that there is a node after at least every 3 km, that`s the main reason for coverage limitation at the moment.
Thirdly, QoS – it is paramount compared to 2G systems - data rates might be high or low, depending on which service is used. So there are different levels of QoS (switching between different QoS)

After the network has been built and it`s fully functional, traffic analysis is essential.
For example:
Quantifiable traffic is calculated: = Call time / 1 hour

So if the subscriber makes 2 calls in hour (lets take an average length of a call 120 s) ... = 240 / 3600 = 66mErl of traffic generated by that user (Erl - Erlang - a unit for traffic measurment). If user density in a region is known, then the traffic density can be calculated and expressed as Erl / km²

Main Source:
UMTS Network Planning and Development: Design and Implementation of the 3G CDMA Infrastructure by Chris Braithwaite and Mike Scott

Getting up early, the high-tech solutions (using mobile)

2007-05-04T13:19:00.000+03:00

I, like many others, and others also have a serious problem with getting up early in the morning.
I`ve slept while there`s been important lectures, a training in gym and so on (fortunately have arrived to all my university exams on time:)).

So how i`ve managed to arrive on proper time to exams (these always start at 10 AM)?
The cheapest trick is to place the mobile phone to the other corner of the room. So when the wake-up alarm begins, you are forced to get up and walk to turn this noisemaker off. That may already help in some cases.

But not always!

Second solution: Ask somebody with early wakening to call you - it works on me all the time! Cause talking and THINKING are the best things to wake you up (well it means you have to talk and think during the proceedure of answering the phone).

Still nothing?

Maybe you can`t get up because you`re just too rich, you have no reason to wake up so early, money comes and there`s no worries. - If so, but you still wanna wake a litter earlier, you may try some wake-up services like The Awake Brothers or WakeUpLand (possible only in North-America).

Just woke up?
Better than nothing, good morning! :)

News site of the future. What about today ?

2007-05-03T10:48:00.000+03:00

CBS's president and general manager of Digital Media Group, Jonathan Leess, shows off a demo of what the television giant has in store for its Web site in the future, featuring a unique blend of broadcast and user-generated content. - from News.com

Watch the video

Although, Jonathan Leess talks in a way that it`s some Super-Blasting-New feature, still that kind of technology, where users can upload their videos and photos related to given news, isn`t new.

Moreover, it is happening today and everywhere.

Some samples: Updated on May 3

Weatherplus >>> Severe Storms Move Through N. Texas >>> Submit & View May 2 Storm Images
CNN I-Report >>> Upload your content >>> Browse uploaded stuff
Friction.TV >>> Example of personal opinion: Internet Providers Call Centres

On the other hand, providing user videos to be streamed full screen is a great step by offering a thrilling competition to Joost (the solution of CBS will also be open-source). So the predictions were right - year 2007 IS a year for video revolution via Internet.

Mobile-ID brought to the market

2007-05-02T21:38:00.000+03:00

Today (May the 2th) Estonian mobile network operator named EMT brought to the market a new (let us say revolutional) service, the Mobile-ID. The service allows a person to identify him/herself using a mobile phone or give a digital signature.

Possible useages for the service are probably making bank transfers, giving signatures for contracts and even using it on elections - e.g. making ones choice on parlament elections.

In the future we plan to cover this technology in detail and more specificly.

Official press release in Estonian

Hello World

2007-05-02T13:14:00.000+03:00

Here we are, launching the Todspace (define as Telecom on Demand Space), a place for news, reports and guides covering the world of telecommunications.

What do we mean with a term of telecom? - In simple: all kind of data transmission ways you could imagine. Mobile networking, interactive television, future - that`s what we`re here for.

As the name -Telecom on Demand- tells, we hope to feed you with videos, next to the usual news bulletins.

Let`s see what comes out.
Stay tuned!