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GEM (GEstures with Mouse) – a mouse gesture based input mechanism from CDAC, Mumbai

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CDAC, Mumbai has released beta-0.1 version of GEM (GEstures with Mouse). It is an open source input mechanism which uses gestures as input to the system. Gestures can be drawn using a mouse or some equivalent device like touch pad, joystick, pen tablet etc. Gestures can drawn either as single-part (continuous) or multi-part (discontinuous) as shown in screen shots below: Drawing a single-part gesture in input window Drawing a multi-part gesture in input window This Input mechanism is intended for people suffering with different kinds of motor disabilities, who may face problems in using mouse and keyboard in conventional way. Hence, it provides them with an alternate and effective mechanism for using the system to perform various tasks such as navigation, executing commands & keyboard shortcuts, and launching applications etc. on Linux desktop. More details about GEM can be accessed at http://www.cdacmumbai.in/accessibility . GEM related URLs: 1

National Workshop on Adaptive Instruction at CDAC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai during December 15-16, 2011

This workshop will explore the current trends in the field of personalization in the context of e-learning, particularly in instruction delivery. As we all are aware, e-learning has been around for quite a long time now. It is widely accepted by both the industry and the academics as a convenient medium for providing learning environment to the employees/students. E-learning can be made more effective by personalizing the instruction and adapting it to suit the individual learner. The workshop addresses issues and challenges in adaptive instruction and highlights the emerging trends in adaptive instruction. The participants will also get to experience the work of C-DAC Mumbai in creating and using adaptive instruction in education with Anurup . The workshop will also provide an opportunity to interact with participants from different organizations and industry practitioners interested in the emerging area. This workshop is being organized by CDAC, Mumbai at their Kharg

National Workshop on FOSS Desktop Accessibility on August 26, 2011 at CDAC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

In today’s world, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is growing day by day. We use these technologies very extensively in fulfilling our routine tasks like bill payments, banking transactions, reservations and many more to the extent that ICT is not a luxury, but necessity today. A large section of the society comprising people with disabilities finds it difficult to use ICT in the same way as normal people do. This includes the visually impaired (fully or partially blind), hearing impaired, people with cognitive disabilities (memory loss, etc.) and cerebral problems etc.. Such people have to be provided with different kinds of assistive technologies either software-based or hardware-based to make ICT accessible to them. A large number of software-based assistive technologies are normally in the form of applications running on desktops which make common desktop applications (office applications, browser etc.) accessible for the disabled person. Fr

National Workshop on FOSS Adoption in Education on August 27, 2011 at CDAC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

Many softwares have been developed for adopting technology in education for resource availability, sharing, and access to them even after school/college hours. There have also been developments aimed to ease other educational activities like course enrollment, conduct of examination from setting question papers to correcting answers and displaying results. Such softwares are available in the market in both forms proprietary and open source. Unlike the proprietary softwares, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) alternatives are free of cost, source code is available with the software, and the institution has freedom to modify the source code to customize the software as per requirement. For modification and maintenance the institution has full freedom to develop the required skills in-house with the help of faculties and system admin staff or they can choose to hire external help. However, one of the problems is there are many FOSS tools available and a novice institution/

Emergency @ midnight in Ram Lila Maidan

Yesterday, exactly 60 days were completed, when Anna started his fast against corruption and shook the govt. and won the hearts of entire country. Since then, it has been a hot topic of discussion in public domain. And, everybody wants to be that part of this debate and be the limelight in media. So, Baba Ramdev also decided to be the part of this wagon. Why to miss such sensitive issue. He announced his satyagrah on a very carefully chosen date. But there are some differences between the two. Anna's fast mainly appealed to the Indian middle class, while Baba's anshan mainly involed rural population for whom Baba is everything. But the major and most important difference is: While Anna team was not involved in any kind of secret and closed door discussions with the govt., Baba was holding such discussions with govt. and exchaning written assurances. When this came into open created a layer of confusion and doubt in general public about the commitment of Baba to the fight agains

Insensitivity of Kingfisher

Constitution of India gives equal rights to each & every citizen of India. There can be no discrimination against a citizen on the basis of his/her caste, creed, gender or anything else. It is supposed so to happen. Is it really the situation in reality? It doesn't seem so. Almost, one third of Indian population falls under the category of disabled. They also have the same rights as we have. They should not be discriminated due to their physical condition. But, at times, society shows bias towards them. However, as civilized, we are assumed to show some degree of sensitivity for them. In a scenario, when there are efforts at various fronts (government as well as individual) to include them into the mainstream, certain incidents force us to pay the attention and give them a thought. One such incident happened recently, one a blind women named "Shabnam Ansari" was not allowed to board the Mumbai-Goa flight of Kingfisher Red .  Reason: she being a blind can not board the

शायद ज़िंदगी बदल रही है|

जब मैं छोटा था , शायद दुनिया बहुत बड़ी हुआ करती थी .. मुझे याद है मेरे घर से " स्कूल " तक का वो रास्ता , क्या क्या नहीं था वहां , चाट के ठेले , जलेबी की दुकान , बर्फ के गोले , सब कुछ , अब वहां " मोबाइल शॉप ", " विडियो पार्लर " हैं , फिर भी सब सूना है .. शायद अब दुनिया सिमट रही है ... . . . जब मैं छोटा था , शायद शामें बहुत लम्बी हुआ करती थीं... मैं हाथ में पतंग की डोर पकड़े , घंटों उड़ा करता था , वो लम्बी " साइकिल रेस ", वो बचपन के खेल , वो हर शाम थक के चूर हो जाना , अब शाम नहीं होती ……….SIRF   दिन ढलता है और सीधे रात हो जाती है ……… शायद वक्त सिमट रहा है ……….????? . . जब मैं छोटा था , तब खेल भी अजीब हुआ करते थे , छुपन छुपाई , लंगडी टांग , पोषम पा , कट केक , टिप्पी टीपी टाप . अब internet, e-mail , से फुर्सत ही नहीं मिलती .. शायद ज़िन्दगी बदल रही है …… ?? … ………. जिंदगी का सबसे बड़ा सच यही है .. जो अक्सर कबरिस्तान के बाहर बोर्ड पर लिखा होता है ... " मंजिल तो यही थी , बस जिंदगी गुज़र गयी मेरी

रवीश की रिपोर्ट- 'वर्ल्ड क्लास' दिल्ली की सड़कें

http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/ravish-ki-report/video-story/190082

Thinking for some alternate

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Waiting for waiter

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Trying to hide

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Angel Enjoying Party

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