Raspberry Pi, credit-card sized Linux PCs are on sale

The smallest Linux PCs, Raspberry Pi went on sale. The Model A and Model B will be priced at $25 and $35 respectively. More here at Engadget.

Megaupload file-sharing site shut down

Megaupload, one of the internet's largest file-sharing sites, has been shut down by officials in the US. Federal prosecutors have accused it of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue. The firm says it was diligent in responding to complaints about pirated material.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16642369

Further reading:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_of_Megaupload

World's Thinnest Ultrabook: Acer Aspire S5

Acer announced the world's thinnest Ultrabook, the Aspire S5, an ultra-slim device that measures only 15 mm at the maximal point. More here at Engadget.

The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin

In 2008, an enigmatic person or group named Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the concept of bitcoin, a digital currency, in a research paper. Bitcoin resolved the double-spending problem and eliminated the need for a central clearinghouse by using a public ledger called the "block chain." Early adopters embraced bitcoin, and it gained popularity outside the cryptography community. However, Nakamoto's true identity remains a mystery, and he disappeared after the currency's initial launch, leaving the project to grow independently. Bitcoin's decentralized nature made it immune to government and banking oversight, appealing to those seeking a secure and independent form of currency.

This article by Benjamin Wallace on Wired takes a pretty deep dive into the story of Bitcoin, its origin, timeline and how it works.

Google shuts down Google Directory

Google has shut down the human curated web directory named Google Directory last week, on July 20th.

The web directory - which was hosted at http://directory.google.com - was organized into 16 broad categories and further subcategories, and was based on DMOZ, an open-source project also known as the Open Directory Project (ODP).

During the early days of the World Wide Web, web directories were a preferred way to discover and find content on the web but with the advent of crawler-based search engines, the relevance of web directories have diminished. Below is a screenshot (for remembrance) as the page was on July 17, 2011 - also archived here.

The rival project Yahoo! Directory is, however, still up and running at http://dir.yahoo.com/.

Update 2014-12-31: Yahoo! has also shut down its web directory which I have logged here.

What happens after Yahoo acquires you

In this article, Matt Linderman writes about a downward trend with sites that have been acquired by Yahoo!. Interestingly, there is a pretty big list of sites that didn't do quite well after Yahoo! took over. Here the author talks in detail about Flickr, Delicious, MyBlogLog, and Upcoming.

Harshad Mehta: From Pied Piper of the markets to India's best-known scamster

Harshad Mehta, a charismatic and ambitious stockbroker, rose to fame in the 1990s, captivating the dreams of middle-class Indians with his rags-to-riches story. He became a symbol of success on Dalal Street, the Indian financial market. However, his questionable means and the Rs 50-billion securities scam tarnished his image. Despite attempts at comebacks, his flashy strategies and old charm failed to work, leading to his downfall. His involvement in market manipulation, bribery claims, and legal battles led to his decline. Despite once being a guru dispensing stock tips and creating speculative bubbles, his optimism waned, and financial troubles mounted. He eventually passed away in jail, marked by convictions and trials, ending an era of his influence on Indian markets. Sucheta Dalal chronicles the story of Harshad Mehta in this article.