The Future Looks Good

In a world where everyone has their phone, iPod, laptop, and every other personal toy out there, Joe decided to see if the people out there still gave a hoot about their neighbour.

And he made a film about it. It looks pretty inspiring to me, not that I would ever take on such an endeavour!



It's nice to know that we're all still human underneath it all.

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

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Little boy lost finds his mother using Google Earth

When I first read the tile of this article I thought that there would be a cutesy little story of a well dressed little kid in a supermarket in New York or Central London who had lost his Mommy and somehow had used an app on his iPhone to find her again a few hours later, when reunited everyone laughed and said trite comments like 'kids these days' and 'what will they think of next'. Hugs and chocolate biscuits all round and next story is of a panda falling off a slide.

But I was wrong.

So very, very wrong.

This is in fact a story of a man who has become who he is today through fate, luck and, unlike so many of his contemporaries, a graduation from the school of hard knocks.

Read it, and if you don't shed a tear leave a comment as to why!

From the BBC website:

An Indian boy who lost his mother in 1986 has found her 25 years later from his new home in Tasmania - using satellite images.
Saroo was only five years old when he got lost. He was travelling with his older brother, working as a sweeper on India's trains. "It was late at night. We got off the train, and I was so tired that I just took a seat at a train station, and I ended up falling asleep."
That fateful nap would determine the rest of his life. "I thought my brother would come back and wake me up but when I awoke he was nowhere to be seen. I saw a train in front of me and thought he must be on that train. So I decided to get on it and hoped that I would meet my brother."
Saroo did not meet his brother on the train. Instead, he fell asleep and had a shock when he woke up 14 hours later. Though he did not realise it at first, he had arrived in Calcutta, India's third biggest city and notorious for its slums.Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteI do not think any mother or father would like to have their five year old wandering alone in the slums and train stations of Calcutta”Saroo Brierley"I was absolutely scared. I didn't know where I was. I just started to look for people and ask them questions."
Soon he was sleeping rough. "It was a very scary place to be. I don't think any mother or father would like to have their five year old wandering alone in the slums and trains stations of Calcutta."
The little boy learned to fend for himself. He became a beggar, one of the many children begging on the streets of the city. "I had to be quite careful. You could not trust anyone." Once he was approached by a man who promised him food and shelter and a way back home. But Saroo was suspicious. "Ultimately I think he was going to do something not nice to me, so I ran away."
But in the end, he did get off the streets. He was taken in by an orphanage, which put him up for adoption. He was adopted by the Brierleys, a couple from Tasmania. "I accepted that I was lost and that I could not find my way back home, so I thought it was great that I was going to Australia."
Saroo settled down well in his new home. But as he got older the desire to find his birth family became increasingly strong. The problem was that as an illiterate five-year-old he had not known the name of the town he had come from. All he had to go on were his vivid memories. So he began using Google Earth to search for where he might have been born.
"It was just like being Superman. You are able to go over and take a photo mentally and ask, 'Does this match?' And when you say, 'No', you keep on going and going and going."

Google Earth image that helped Saroo find his way home

Eventually Saroo hit on a more effective strategy. "I multiplied the time I was on the train, about 14 hours, with the speed of Indian trains and I came up with a rough distance, about 1,200km."

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyLost and found

Saroo was taken to meet his mother who was nearby. At first he did not recognise her.
"The last time I saw her she was 34 years old and a pretty lady, I had forgotten that age would get the better of her. But the facial structure was still there and I recognised her and I said, 'Yes, you are my mother.'
"She grabbed my hand and took me to her house. She could not say anything to me. I think she was as numb as I was. She had a bit of trouble grasping that her son, after 25 years, had just reappeared like a ghost."
Although she had long feared he was dead, a fortune teller had told Saroo's mother that one day she would see her son again. "I think the fortune teller gave her a bit of energy to live on and to wait for that day to come."
And what of the brother with whom Saroo had originally gone travelling? Unfortunately, the news was not good. "A month after I had disappeared my brother was found in two pieces on a railway track." His mother had never known whether foul play was involved or whether the boy had simply slipped and fallen under a train.
"We were extremely close and when I walked out of India the tearing thing for me was knowing that my older brother had passed away."
For years Saroo Brierley went to sleep wishing he could see his mother again and his birth family. Now that he has, he feels incredibly grateful. He has kept in touch with his newly found family.
"It has taken the weight off my shoulders. I sleep a lot better now."

And there is something to make him sleep better - with memories of Slumdog Millionaire still fresh, publishers and film producers are getting interested in his incredible story.

kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

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Google - really? I'm that thick?

Oy! Google!!

Cut it out. Okay, I get it, you have access to my email, my photos and videos and even some of my purchases around the interwebs but now you are just taking the mickey.

As you may know I work in a Google environment. I love Google and all that they stand for. Google circles? Still getting my head around that one but otherwise, Google me blue, red, yellow and green.

But stop!

What is this?

I'm in the back end of a website doing statistical analysis of their traffic and you feel I need to know what an iPad looks like? And even if I didn't know, how will the look of a device help my analysis?

Yes Google, I love you dearly, but you caught me on a bad day.

kthanxbai!

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Song A Day: 1000 Days and Counting

I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn over the 'Season' and I found some very interesting stuff.

I found a great album by Jonny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways

I spent nearly 20 minutes creating my new Facebook timeline picture. With pictures from Facebook.

I started listening to Grooveshark all over the place.

I started using Tweetlogix for all of my Twitter needs (@jumblerant)

I started using Flipboard on my iPhone - and my son keeps deleting it. So I keep adding it.

And then I found this nugget of greatness. This amazing introduction to a chap who I will be keeping my eye on in 2012;



I'm looking forward to hearing some great, adequate and crappy songs.

kthanxbai!

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Steve Jobs RIP

It's very sad to hear that Steve Jobs, the creator and leader of Apple Inc., has passed on this evening.

He changed the world for the better, both in the creation of products that make life easier, but also in the way he treated his employees and the company as a whole.

Rest in peace sir.

I Do Like Me Some Angry Birds

Way back when, (well in mid-May) I mentioned just how much I like the game Angry Birds.

 

 

Angry Birds & Pomplamoose was a favourite post of many people.So here is proof that I am not a complete nutter;

 I guess its not 'proof' as such. It just shows that I'm not alone!

 Oh, and there's a movie coming out too.


 

kthanxbai!

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Allan McNish

In my last, earth shattering, blog post 'Twitter, iPhones and Fast Cars' which caused furor in the world of... well, nowhere really.

Anyway...

I have always been a fan of motor-sport so it was interesting for me to see this week that 'Le Mans 24 hour' was trending on Google, Twitter and YouTube.

YouTube? Here's why:




At the time of writing, this clip had over 2,400,000 views. Nice.

And the funky thing for me? I've been in touch with Allan McNish in the past, discussing Formula 1 stuff on Twitter.

Weird to see someone you 'know' going through such a crash.

kthanxbai!

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Twitter, iPhones and Fast Cars

I do love me some fast car action.

I have been a fan of Formula 1 for over 25 years (OMG!!) and I can always be tempted to watch some of the feeder formulae too.

There are some great Formula 1 blogs out there. I personally think that Sidepodcast and Formula1blog.com are two of the leading ones. In fact is was Sidepodcast's latest announcement that brought me to write this blog entry.

I follow Formula1blog.com's Todd aka 'Negative Camber' and Grace via my iPhone, and their weekly podcast.

And on Foursquare.

And Twitter.

And I comment on their forums and website.

Sidepodcast have just launched a great App for the iPhone which brings you the latest Formula 1 info as written and read. And they have a seriously awesome SERIES of weekly podcasts. And they have live race coverage. And tweet like crazy.

Image by lukehmuse via Flickr

Hey Toto, we're not in Kansas any more. Waving a flag and wearing a Ferrari top just isn't gonna cut it as a fan. This is some serious technology that's being used here - and all for free (to the end-user) and all created by fans without any advertising or business model.

This surely is the way the world is going. And as always, its the 'little people' with a passion who lead the way.

You heard it here first...


kthanxbai!

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Angry Birds & Pomplamoose

As I mentioned on this very blog back in November 2009, in the brief yet interesting post Put your ears back and listen I like cover bands and I especially like Pomplamoose.


I also like me a little bit of Angry Birds on my iPhone.

Image via CrunchBaseIts all harmless murder of innocent pigs with a catapult and a variety of birds as ammunition.

Yeah. That didn't come out as well as I'd hoped.

Anyway, Pomplamoose are a great cover duo, so good in fact that I have included a variety of their offerings below.

Enjoy!










kthanxbai!

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Angry Birds

Until recently I had an iPhone 4 from work and, if all goes well, I intend to have another by the end of the week for myself too.

One of the most fun and addictive games I have ever played on a was Angry Birds by Rovio. And it appears that I am not alone. International diplomacy is being feted with them;




kthanxbai!

iLike it

I don't think of myself as a techno-geek. My computer is 5 years old, my iTouch I won in a raffle and my iPhone 4 (ahem) is from work. My 'ipod' is actually a Sansa something-or-other and I love it.

So what is it that people so adore about Apple?

The iPhone is great. I get to send photos of my 2yr old from the camera directly by email to his grandparents, aunties and uncles. No need to wait until I remember to upload the photos from the camera - or, like we did 15 yrs ago - wait for the photos to be sent back by mail from the developer!

But here is something to explain Apple's secrets;




Its by College Humor so you just know its going to be a hoot! 

kthanxbai!

Busting an iPhone thief

I read this story a while ago and was very impressed it on a variety of levels.

The ingenious use of Google Earth and the iPhone applications themselves to find the thief just blew me away!


I think you'll like you'll enjoy the story too;

How to catch an iThief

kthanxbai!

Apple Does It Again

Over here at Jumblerant we are very conscious of equality, women's rights and are keen to promote any new product that helps 'humankind as one'.

Wirecutter, over at Knuckledraggin my life away, has blogged about an interesting new product from Apple, the guys who brought us the Mac, the iPhone and the (and my) iTouch;

Apple announced today that it has developed a breast implant that can store and play music. The iTit will cost from $499 to $699, depending on cup and speaker size. This is considered a major social breakthrough, because women are always complaining about men staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Laugh? I nearly had to change my trousers!!

Total thanks to Wirecutter - you are the best!!

kthanxbai!

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I af a iTouch

Mrs J and I just went to the local mall to pick up our new iTouch which we won in a lottery. Any hints and tips about accessories, plug-ins, add-ons and other detritus which surrounds the iTune?

Image by Rojer via Flickr

Its our first Apple product so I guess you can say we're iVirgins.

HELP!!


kthanxbai!