Sameer Agarwal

Stumbled upon this preview of fonolo at RWW. It’s a cool service (still in private beta) that promises to take the frustration out of dialing any service provider (bank, travel agent, anyone who has an IVR) and waiting endlessly to talk to a real person. This service promises to do the dialing (and waiting) for you, and call you back once you’ve reached your menu option (or real person as applicable). Cool, huh?

I just hope this service or something similar is launched for India. Any takers?

“Proto.in is about giving entrepreneurs a platform to express their visions and showcase their imagination, with a working prototype, for the world to see. It’s about increasing partnership, collaboration and mindshare among a distinguished, qualified and well-connected audience. Proto.in provides a unique platform for promising startup talent to communicate their creativity and innovation potential. As a meeting place for the smartest entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and professionals, Proto.in stands true to its mantra “Create, Contribute, Collaborate.”"

Very interesting! So if you got an idea then don’t let it go baby!

I read this very insightful article by Shoba Narayan in today’s Mint. It’s about the L-Spot and hey, it is in no way related to the G-Spot! And the L-Spot I’m talking about is in no way related to lesbians – type ‘L-Spot’ in Google and see what you get as the first result!

The L-Spot is actually a catchy name for the lactic threshold. “This term — familiar to most marathon runners, athletes, endurance coaches and other superbly fit anomalies of humanity — has to do with the “burn” we experience when we exercise. It is a point on the treadmill when you are cursing fluently — in three languages — and then are forced to stop because you can’t even muster Bhajji’s monkey, not for want of trying but because some unseen hand is strangling you and you cannot breathe. When you are genuinely suffering during your exercise regimen, you’ve reached your lactic threshold.”

That is what the newly launched, Prototype Invest promises. Just submit your idea on their website. If they like your idea they will develop the application for you free of cost and in return take a share of your equity. In fact their catch line is “Apps for Equity”. Quite an interesting model I must say though there are several factors to be understood before one jumps into something like this – who will own the IP and can this setup work in a global environment (legal status of company etc).

More details are available on the exclusive review of Prototype Invest by Josh Catone here.

VerveEarth allows you to plot your content (blog, site) on an interactive map of the world. Down to the street. Check my plot here. A tool like this comes with several possibilities, the most promising perhaps that you can meet other bloggers in your neighbourhood!

Check out – Trendpedia, a blog search engine and trend tracking tool. Discovered this site here (a complete description of Trendpedia is available)

Stumbled across this documentary on Net Neutrality – “a provocative and worrying take on the future of the internet with some interesting historical precedents”. (quoted from this article by Dave Snowden)

Save the Internet Rock the Vote

Dave Pollard has a very interesting post on ‘the big question‘ *. He in-fact has been asking people this question, and his most astonishing find is that “Men seem to be more idealistic and conceptual, while women are more specific, practical, and particular”!

‘Particlular’. Women. Go figure! (pun intended)

* “Your Big Question is the issue, doubt, problem or struggle that keeps you awake at night because you know you are still a long way from resolving it, and without doing so you cannot achieve your life’s purpose.”

Now I know it’s not the best post to put if you are blogging after a long time but I was really impressed by the thought behind Dopplr.”* It allows you to share your trips in the hope of a serendipitous meeting”.

* http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/2008/01/meeting_in_the_departure_loung.php

Check it out yourself at http://www.dopplr.com/main/about