There’s been a lot of talk and hype about the Chrome browser on the internet. I gave it a spin too and felt that its really fast. It beats Firefox hands-down in start-up times. Javascript heavy sites like Gmail work pretty fast too, though I didn’t think there was too much difference as compared to Firefox.

What I really miss in Chrome, though, is the ability to extend it using plugins. I especially miss the Greasemonkey which makes some sites like Gmail and Flickr much better.

In all the hype about Chrome, Picasa’s new features seem to have been overlooked. I personally found the face-recognition feature really great. I uploaded a ton of party pics from ISB days onto Picasa Web to test it out. And I was blown away…

It automatically detects all faces in the uploaded pictures and asks you to tag them with names. After you’ve tagged a few it gets better at recognising who’s who and gives you appropriate suggestions. It doesn’t automatically tag photos though. There were a small number of false suggestions and non-faces, but not so many that you get frustrated. In about an hour I was able to tag about 700 faces in my photos. Once you’ve tagged photos, Picasa can display the names of the people in your photos on a sidebar and clicking on them takes you to a gallery of all photos of that person.

The privacy features here are cool too and you can select whether you want to show these name tags to the world or not.

I like this feature so much that I’m probably going to upload all my people pictures to Picasa instead of Flickr when I need to share them with others…

Picasa’s desktop software has also been upgraded to version 3 and one of the best new features is the ability to sync folders between your desktop and Picasa Web. Apparently, any changes you make on your computer will automatically be synced with the web galleries.

A replacement to Window’s default picture viewer is also included with Picasa 3. I tried it and am still not too sure whether I like it better or not.

I’m going to test both these softwares more over the weekend so stay tuned for updates…

Initially, you could enter the parking lot and go to arrivals without having to pay any parking charges since the first 15 mins were free. On one of my recent visits however I saw that they have changed that policy and if I need to take my car to arrivals I have to pay a minimum of Rs. 30!!!

Now that’s a pure rip-off! If my passenger is already waiting outside arrivals and I only have to drive up to pick them up why should I be paying at all??? I’ve not seen this happen at any other Indian or international airport. While I understand that GMR needs to recover its investment, I’m sure there are better ways of doing that rather than use dirty tricks.

Anyways, I doubt any amount of ranting is going to help, so here’s the trick to pick up your passenger without having to pay the stupid parking fees. Ask your passenger to come upstairs to the departure area. There is an elevator as well as escalators which the passengers can use. Driving up to the departure area is free. It might still be inconvenient for the passengers, esp. if they have lots of luggage, but atleast there’s an option.

Firefox 3 has got a ton of new features and is awesomely fast. Especially sites that use a lot of Javascript (like gmail) are much faster than FF2 or IE. I’ve been using the Firefox 3 release candidates for some time now and its great. Here are some links that go into detail about the new features:

• Top 10 Firefox 3 Features
• Why You Should Download Firefox 3 Right Now
• Field Guide to Firefox 3

And if you’re already using Firefox 3 here’s a Power User’s Guide to Firefox 3.

Now if only we could get our hands on the download and help Mozilla set a world record!

Edit: 0020 hrs IST – Its downloading!

I’ve been using it for some time now and it’s great to see some old pics I had forgotten all about

Here’s the link – Photojojo’s PhotoTimeCapsule

It shows the photos in a nice sphere where you can click to see a bigger version.

Its worth visiting – Tag Galaxy

Basically it says that the numbers that have been predicted for world-wide medical tourism (or the latest buzzword “medical value travel”) are inflated. McKinsey predicts that the total market for medical tourism is only about 60,000 – 85,000.

Part of this is also based on the fact that only about 40% of all foreign patients actually plan travel for medical needs. They say that the rest of the 60% foreigners getting treatment abroad are either expatriates or regular tourists requiring emergency care.

They have divided medical tourists into 5 distinct segments:

1. Patients looking for most advanced technology (without regard to cost)
2. Better quality care for medically necessary procedures
3. Quicker access for medically necessary procedures (esp. from places like UK where the NHS has long queues)
4. Lower cost care for medically necessary procedures
5. Lower cost care for discretionary procedures (like aesthetic surgery)

They’ve also done some research on the flow of medical tourists (from which areas to which areas) and this is presented in a nice map.

The report goes on to discuss the impact of geo-political events on medical tourism. It also discusses some of the strategies that leaders in medical tourism adopt and the changes needed to increase this market.

For anyone who is in the business of healthcare (esp. medical tourism) this report is a must read.

You can find it here: Mapping the market for medical travel – McKinsey Quarterly – You might have to register (its free) to see the whole report.

Here’s two of my favourite:

Vodafone – “Happy to help”

Now I just hope they really improve their customer service! Its pretty crappy here in Hyderabad.

Vodafone – “Elevator”

Airport Disaster Drill
Visit to the New Hyderabad International Airport

The new airport is one huge thing and unlike anything you would have ever seen in India. The current structure is supposed to be designed to handle 12 million passengers a year (current Hyderabad traffic is around 7 million passengers). When the whole airport is completely built it would be able to handle 40 million passengers a year, but that’s still quite a few years away. They’ve built loads of check in counters and huge baggage claim areas, so I guess long queues should be a thing of the past.

The only problem is the distance of the airport from the city. Currently it’ll take about 1 to 1.5 hours from Banjara Hills to reach the airport. The expressway is going to take ages to be ready. So if you’re planning day-trips to Hyderabad, think twice!!

Update: Right after the inauguration they announced that the new Airport’s launch will be delayed. It seems that the airlines are not ready to tie up with the new ground handling agencies since they are charging a bomb! Well whatever the reason, atleast I’m happy that Begumpet airport is open for a little while longer

Some photos:

Apollo’s Airport Medical Team:

The airport:

The departure area:

All our gang was back and we spent 3 great days together. Friends, parties, booze, Indian Ocean live, paintball and, of course, gyaan sessions (with anyone who’s company name had the word “consulting” the most sought after!) It was amazing stuff. And since a picture says more than a thousand words, here’s some snaps from Solstice…

All my Solstice pictures here.