வணக்கம் தோழா / नमस्ते दोस्त / Hello Buddy!

लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु

Lokāḥ Samastāḥ Sukhino Bhavantu
may all beings everywhere be happy and free, may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.

I'm Balakumar Muthu, an International Award-winning Entrepreneur, Technologist, received Asia Innovation Award from SingTel – Singapore, Software Consultant, UI/UX Product Designer, and a Developer with 17+ years of experience in architecting Web Applications solving technology and business challenges. I've Strong expertise in designing + building Web products based on SaaS, eCommerce, Usability, Cloud Computing, Social Networking Services (SNS), CMS / Wiki, Passionate about Philosophy, Technology, Travel, Photography, TEDx Fellow, Hatha Yoga practitioner, Minimalist, and Creative DIY Hacker.


Awards & Recognitions, I have received


Awarded the "SingTel, Singapore - Asia's Top 50 Innovation Award” (winner lists) and the Winner of "Red Herring Asia Award" (finalists) for Technology Innovation.

My Startup was selected as one of the "Top 100 Startups" to get showcased at NASSCOM Product Conclave (NCP), Asia's largest platform for Product and Startup Companies to connect with Software Product leaders.

Selected at Google India - Interview as one of the Top 5 Finalists out of 16,000 + people applied. Created Google Kids – a search engine for kids prototype for demonstrating during my Google India Interview.

First Prize Winner of "Java Master Award " contest, conducted by Sun Microsystems and BenQ Siemens Germany.

Received Sun Microsystems Duke's Choice Awards - 10 Year Celebration of Java Technology and Sun Microsystems appreciation for my contribution to the early versions of Java Platform.

TEDx Fellow and Mentor for NurtureTalent Startup Boot Camp at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.

My Previous Startup LoveLogger, the world's first Collaborative Blogging & Private Network for Pairs, which received a great response from Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and China. LoveLogger was awarded the “Asia's Top 50 Apps 2011 Award” (winner lists) from SingTel, Singapore. It was also featured in many popular magazines & portals from Japan, Korea, and China. This product was launched even before the current popular pair apps like Pairy, Between, Hey, Cupple.

Selected as the Official Honorary Reporter for the Korean Culture and Information Service of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Early contributed member of World Wide Web Consortium (W3.org), W3C HTML 5 Working Group and Internet Society (ISOC) India Chapter.

My Expertise & specializations


I specializes in most aspects of Web business, including strategy, creative, design, development and it's growth. My strong expertise and experience includes Front-end development, UI/UX Design & Usability Expert, Branding, Content Management System (CMS), E-commerce, Software as a service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Singularity, Web Security, Firewall, User Onboarding, Typography, Developing Social Networking Platforms (SNS), Product Prototyping, SEO and Linux & Open Source Technologies.

My Personal Interests


I enjoy travel & photography, yoga, rock climbing, simple things — nature, reading. I love philosophy, art, culture, highly interested and passionate about the Indian, Korean & Japanese traditions, trying different flavors of tea, Wabi-sabi, Zen philosophy, making mistakes & learning from them, DIY hacks, and Western movies and Comics.

My Works featured at press / media


My works have been featured & covered by ZDNet Asia, Economic Times, British Council India, Times of India (TOI), Citizen Matters, Yahoo! Japan, MSN Japan, Infoseek, Japan.Internet.com, Livedoor.com, Google Blogoscoped, Netscape.com, Java.net, Webpronews, Planet Mozilla, Linux Toy, DeveloperIQ, Sina.com and many other popular Asian publishers. Java.net published my Java Duke Holiday Pictures from 1000's of submission.

Writings & My Contributions


Wikipedian contributed to more than 100's of Wikipedia pages in various topics in the Computer/Internet Technology category. Contributing writer of DeveloperIQ Magazine on the latest Web Technologies.

Curator of Casual Walker a Travel & Culture - Photography journal and guide, focuses on a wide range of visual stories - connecting travel, culture, places, events, art, reviews, technology & books. Casual Walker is ranked as the Top 75 Travel Blogs in India. view.

Co-organizer of Mozilla Firefox Party India, for the most early release of Firefox 2 and the IdeaCamp Pune. Regular to Tech meetups from BarCamp, BlogCamp, WikiCamp Unconferences to Sun TechDays, BEA Dev2Dev Days, Oracle Developer Forum, Google Developer Days and many other tech conferences. Attended Sessions with David Axmark, CoFounder & VP of MySQL and with Richard Stallman [RMS], GNU Founder Lectures.

Designer of DevCamp India Unconference Official event brand and WikiCamp conference India event brand, participated by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.

Being a big supporter of Linux - Ubuntu & Open source movement, organized the "Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirts Contest" to create more awareness and interest for the early versions of Ubuntu Linux.

My blog is Listed as 'Favorite Blog lists at Sun Microsystems' Web Blog in 2005. Blogging since 2002 and listed as the 'Top 10 Tech blogger' by 'Blog Street India' and rated as the 'Top 50 Tech Blogger' by 'Blogs Top List' in 2005 – 2007. My blog posts have also been featured at Google Blogoscoped.com, Netscape.com, Java.net, Webpronews, Planet Mozilla, Linux Toy and few other popular blogs. Made my own blogging site at Yahoo! Geocities as geocities.com/i5bala (screenshots) in early 2002.

Published Usability report on Yahoo! Flickr, MSN Hotmail and Rediff.com.

My Travel & Culture Photography


Contact & Reach me


Want to work together, grabbing a coffee, or say hello? Good! personally, I have zero presence on Facebook or Twitter. You can ping and text me:

image

Self - made man
the statue I greatly admire & the principle I strongly believe

“... left to his own devices, man will use his god-given talents to be creative, productive, & prosperous. Using free will, he will better his own situation and that of those around him, thereby influencing in a positive way his own destiny...”

FREE Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirts !!!

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I am one of the Ubuntu Linux Lover. To show my love, I am planning to give away two New Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirts I have for absolutely FREE :) !.

 click to see the full size image

[click to see the full size image]

[Front View : click to see the full size image]

 click to see the full size image


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[Back View : click to see the full size image]

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T-Shirt specification:

Color : White
Type : Round Neck
Size : Large

This is what you have to do to get the Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirt, you have to comment here:

1. I Love Ubuntu because ...
2. Next, upload your screenshot of your Ubuntu Desktop at Flickr.com or anywhere you like and just add the Image URL along with your comment.

It's open to everyone and the contest closes on September 18th 1pm GMT and winners will be announced on September 19th. I will be selecting two winners based on their comments and best desktop screenshot who will receive the Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirts. I will also pay the postal charges and mail them the T-Shirts for absolutely FREE !.

Once the winners has received the T-Shirts; they have to send me their photos wearing the Ubuntu Dapper Drake T-Shirt, which I will be post it on this blog :).

So just drop in your comments.

--

If you still haven't tried Ubuntu, you can get the free Ubuntu CDs from
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/and give a try.

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Ubuntu is the most user friendly Linux ever created and easy to install, use, free of viruses, highly secured and perfect for laptops, desktops to servers, supports more languages. Even a novice can get started with Ubuntu in no time and it is supported with a rich documentation and lively active supporting forums.

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Visit http://www.ubuntu.com/ to learn more. To contribute to the Ubuntu Community, do check out http://www.ubuntu.com/community

NO more Windows, Crashes, Viruses, Security threats, Nightmares !

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Just make Ubuntu Linux, as your Primary OS today, you will LOVE Ubuntu :) and feel the power of Open Source community !!

----

-- UPDATE --

Contest Ends! Winners Announced !!

First of all Big thanks for all the participants. It was really a tough time for me to select the winner, as each one of the comments is really amazing and want to give away the T-Shirt for everyone. But I have only 2 T-Shirts .

And the 2 winners for the Ubuntu T-shirt Contest are:

1. Brent
2. Ed Stewart

Winners, please send me your Posting Mail Address to me at balakumar.muthu[@]gmail.com. I will ship the T-Shirts this week sharp. Winners please don't forget to send me the photo of you along with the Ubuntu T-shirts, to publish it in my blog.

Thank you to all out there, who have participated.

--
Balakumar Muthu



53 Comments:

At 7:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I want one. :(

allieweber@gmail.com
 
At 7:26 PM, Blogger M said...
I love Ubuntu because it's always unfailingly there for me. As is the community and the spirit behind it.
Above all. it just WORKS!
Screenshot here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34315378@N00/224449720/
 
At 9:43 PM, Blogger Paul Williams said...
I love Ubuntu because I love open-source. Ubuntu captures the open-source comminity's goals better than any distribution I know of: to make free and open-source software that is effective and user-friendly.
Here is my screenshot: http://flickr.com/photos/omgpaul/224533615/
paul [at] smoothweb [dot] net
 
At 3:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because there are no enterprise editions and because there's a great commnuity that will help you whenever you need it and will never tell you to RTFM! Ubuntu is relies a bit on the terminal, which is important, I think. It also has nice customizability, and it's getting new people into the Linux and Open Source world. Most people who switch just want "Linux", not a certain distro, and Ubuntu is probably that distro, at least for humans :)
 
At 3:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because there are no enterprise editions and because there's a great commnuity that will help you whenever you need it and will never tell you to RTFM! Ubuntu is relies a bit on the terminal, which is important, I think. It also has nice customizability, and it's getting new people into the Linux and Open Source world. Most people who switch just want "Linux", not a certain distro, and Ubuntu is probably that distro, at least for humans :)

Lest I forget, here's my screenshot: http://www.winkflash.com/photo/folder.aspx

Sorry for the dual post; I forgot the screenshot; don't count my first post, just this one!
 
At 8:30 PM, Blogger 甘先生 said...
Ubuntu is good linux.
I want one: cngump@gmail.com
Here is my screenshot:
http://static.flickr.com/54/143914946_aafa802403_o.png
 
At 3:28 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because it's neither patronising nor over-difficult, has an immense variety and quantity of software, is incredibly well-supported and friendly.

http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshotpu0.png
 
At 4:42 PM, Blogger Shane said...
I love Ubuntu because... I believe it is the true embodiment of the spirit of GNU software. What you see is what you get with Ubuntu. No pay-for-it extras. Pure and simple. Ubuntu is *my* distribution. I can make it and influence it exactly the way I want! Let me give you an example. I was looking for a medical dictionary for OpenOffice spellchecker. There isnt one... yet. Then on Ubuntu.com I found Medical Ubuntu, a version specially for the medical community... and I have volunteered to help with creating the first ever OpenOffice medical dictionary! There you go! Ubuntu is the distro for me, by me! (even if its just a small contribuion :-) )

Here's my screenshot:
http://drsjlazar.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-want-that-ubuntu-t-shirt.html
 
At 5:49 PM, Blogger andreww said...
I love Ubuntu because.... ok, i haven't used ubuntu yet, i have played with red hat and mandrake before, but they were so darn difficult to use that i gave up.
and now i'm in the midst of a severe internet marketing campaign so i have even less time.
is it really that easy to install?

btw, tks for visiting my blog. come visit often.
cheers!

Andrew Wee
www.WhoIsAndrewWee.com
 
At 11:44 PM, Blogger Shane said...
Hi Bala!

I have posted a reply to the comment you left on my blog with the address of the Medical Ubuntu forum.

I have a question for you though... Why do you have 'think > than god' in your blog title? What is the significance of that to you... I'm just poking my curious nose here :-)
 
At 6:40 PM, Blogger Suresh S SCJP1.4 said...
me too need a shirt i dont have shirt to wear to my office currently using 1 shirt and 1 pant for all 7 days
 
At 7:19 PM, Blogger balakumar said...
If you have 1 shirt for all 7 days ... I can buy you a new pair of suits to you... but not Ubuntu t-shirts, its only to Ubuntu users and If you really want it, please comment why you love Ubuntu and link me your Ubuntu desktop screenshot... :)
 
At 7:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Ubuntu is Simply, Free, FAST, and AMAZING!!!

Screen: http://www.roberto-studios.hu/Screens/ubuntu.jpg
 
At 10:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because it's userfriendly....in a human way.
Desktop: http://img.tar.hu/scout3r/img/25417022.png#3
 
At 12:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Good, besser, ubuntu :)

My shot here:
http://kep.tar.hu/pelach/50358851#2
 
At 6:26 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because it is my first Linux and it is inspire me to learn more about Linux. Ubuntu is the cheapest Linux of the world :))) Lot of my friends use it so they can help me...

This is my desktop http://flickr.com/photos/51533959@N00/?saved=1
 
At 9:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I want one, because I love Ubuntu so much, that I actually pulled off an ingenious hoax, to make the world think that I hate Ubuntu and love Windows, which is exactly the exact opposite. In doing so, I was able to stir up tons of raw emotion and compassion for Ubuntu, which was truly the intent of having done so.

I have also written about Blubuntu, or how to make your Dapper system look blue.

I have converted many to Ubuntu, and most truly prefer it over Windows now. They say "I like it the way it is. Please don't change it." I even got my Grandma using Ubuntu! Isn't that totally awesome?

So here is a link to my beautiful Ubuntu desktop. As an added bonus, I will also link to this post, to ensure pleasing you so much that you will not be able to resist giving a shirt to the world's truly greatest Ubuntu aficionado.

[note] I have also given away hundreds of official Ubuntu CDs (for free of course).

And I wear a large. ;)
 
At 2:11 PM, Blogger pugoyal said...
Hi I heard about ubuntu but i dont have CD. So i can't give my desktop picture. But i heard from so many people ubuntu is better than previous linux versions. I will say I love ubuntu because i never used that. :)
 
At 5:00 PM, Blogger paracelsus said...
Hi!
I love UBUNTU because It's a simple and stable system. I think that it is the first Linux whitch will reform the using of oeration systems and people can learn it easy.
My desktop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84504207@N00/?saved=1
 
At 5:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because it is Linux for human being: it is simple and free. In the same time, under Ubuntu, I can get my dual monitors work easily.

My dual monitor desktop

ni2yue4 (at) gmail (dot) com
 
At 7:09 PM, Blogger balakumar said...
Hello all, that's really cool screenshot :), keep the comments flow and

To Shane about your question...I have coined the parse "think > than god" myself, direct from my heart.

I strongly feel we are the children's of God [or the nature]...

If our parents, the God is so great and most powerful. We have to inherit their characters, so obviously we are going to 'think greater than god'; our greater thinking drives us to do much GREATER things!!... That's the whole idea.

My concept may sounds bit wired... but only this thought have taken and pushes me to great extent in my life! :).
 
At 10:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love UBUNTU b'coz Open Source Rulez n UBUNTU is Conquering the new age :-)
 
At 10:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love UBUNTU b'coz Open Source Rulez n UBUNTU is Conquering the new age :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/88347390@N00/?saved=1
 
At 1:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Hi!

Ubuntu is just "Smooth and handy"

http://al.pmmf.hu/~roti/pics/roti/shot_clean.jpg
http://al.pmmf.hu/~roti/pics/roti/shot_full.jpg


Roti
 
At 4:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because....according to me its so much more than just another Linux distro! We all know that the name Ubuntu comes from the wonderful philosophy of Ubuntu (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_%28ideology%29), which I think advocates the very essence of humanity!! And our favourite Linux distro embodies this wonderful ideology in itself.In a world where the word 'values' is almost always synonymous with 'monetary value', stuff like Ubuntu linux brings forth a sense of asylum to people like me who think otherwise. That is precisely the reason I love Ubuntu...atleast something's there which teaches us to respect FREEDOM!!

On a more technical note (I'm not much of a techie though!), I love Ubuntu 'cause its easy to use, highly configurable, hardly causes any problems, and of course because of the wonderful forum of Ubuntu users round the globe who are always ready to help each other!!

oops...almost forgot!!! here's a screenshot of my HUMBLE desktop:
http://www.orkut.com/AlbumZoom.aspx?uid=&pid=4

The above is my fav, but plz also take a look at this screenshot:
http://www.orkut.com/AlbumZoom.aspx?uid=&pid=9
 
At 8:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
ADDENDUM
The screenshots I posted in my previous comment are hosted at my album at orkut.com! So, non-orkuteers may not be able to view them!! Here's the alternative link to my favourite Desktop screenshot (at flickr.com):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sayanriju/230975984/
 
At 11:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
first of all i don't ur tshirt...and now for your query...
it does not necessary that one should have reason of loving UBUNTU, so we love UBUNTU without any reason but for for those who don't understand what UBUNTU is all about for them we have reasons.. and they will themself get those reasons when they use ubuntu its needless to write it here....

some screenshots are here...

http://picasaweb.google.com/meravih/Ubuntu
 
At 11:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I Love Ubuntu because Ubuntu stands for humanity, togetherness and sharing - the ingredients for world peace.

The real phrase is (in zulu) “ubuntu ngmuntu abantu” which means, a person is a person because of other people, or rather a person is a person through other people

Lets take this opportunity to think about our contribution to humanity.

My Screenshots at http://picasaweb.google.com/prashmohan/ScreenShots
 
At 12:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
do i see....ahem.. Ben Goodger....looking for a Ubuntu Tshirt??

As for the Tshirt....I was wondering..... Ubuntu being Open source... can't we print Ubuntu Tshirts ourselves as well ? :D lol
 
At 12:04 PM, Blogger Dhruv said...
I love ubuntu bcoz this is one of those few distributions that have superb forum support, plus the easiest linux to install ever, plus everything under the sun works here, plus no virus/malware/spyware, plus itz resource usage is low, plus itz free, so everything about it makes me feel good

screenshot at
http://chopra.dhruv.googlepages.com/desktopscreenshot
 
At 5:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
http://kornel.zool.klte.hu/pub/banm/images/ubuntu_fluxbox_desktop.jpg

I installed on every computer Ubuntu in our office. Somebody asked why? Because I have no time to solve stupid problems. Ubuntu works and funny!
I have a firefox t-shirt; I would like an ubuntu t-shirt also :)

phabajin@gmail.com
 
At 2:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Mostly I choose it because my computer is too old to run others like SuSe or Fedora, and I feel it just fit me!
birdring@gmail.com
 
At 9:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Hai bala,

fantastic initiative. Thank you! Yeah, i'm too late to comment here, but you have really tried something different here and it works. Good luck!

- Bhuvan
 
At 5:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
hi bala! how r u!


i really want one:). thanx again
 
At 1:07 PM, Blogger Uaresmiling said...
hi, everyone

I like ubuntu, coz like linux, debian, ^^ no reason, just like it, anyway, my laptop is working prefectly, running ubuntu.
ok , here is my desktop
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uaresmiling/243675031/
 
At 2:06 PM, Blogger shixinyu said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
At 2:25 PM, Blogger shixinyu said...
I don't want to description my feel in English,so I will tell U why I like Ubuntu in Chinese,which is my mother tongue.
我喜欢Ubuntu是因为它极为易用、安全、快捷,并且高效,让我看到了“窗外”的风景更加美好。
我将会贴我的Ubuntu截图到Flickr:
http://www.mvpdream.org/blog/
 
At 10:30 PM, Blogger Krishnan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
At 10:35 PM, Blogger Krishnan said...
I love Ubuntu because it brings in the spirit of humanity in to others. In this mechanical world, such knowledge sharing and other human values have degraded as all are self-centered. Technically speaking, I like its software management feature as I don't have to check for software dependencies etc... It does everything by itself!

Overall, Ubuntu is my Passion from now on!

My Desktop Pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76413094@N00/244673555/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76413094@N00/244673550/
 
At 1:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I love Ubuntu because it has made linux easy for me to use. I have been with linux(several different distro's) since 1997 and have had a hard time getting everything to work at times. I installed Warty and could not believe what I was seeing. I am running Dapper Drake now and am very pleased. Micro$oft doesn't have anything to compare in my opinion, thanks to the Ubuntu team. I do a lot of computer repair and actually hate working on windozes stuff anymore. Thank you Ed Stewart
Screenshot url:
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e367/edstewart/Screenshot-2.png
 
At 6:49 PM, Blogger Shane said...
hi there bala!

just remembered its the 19th.... sooo... yesterday was the 18th... come tell us who won!!... i wanna know... lol

cheers

shane.
 
At 8:43 PM, Blogger balakumar said...
Hi Guys and Shane,

As I am quite busy .... winners will be announced tomorrow on 20th sharp ... No Change, I promise !! Sorry Guys.
 
At 9:28 AM, Blogger heston said...
hey bala its really cool effort man although i am too late ,,, appriciating your effort man,,
 
At 4:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I like ubuntu,it's easy to use!

email:wzhpro[at]gmail[dot]com

Screenshot:
http://www.wikiupload.com/download_page.php?id=25377
 
At 5:29 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Sweet! Thanks I'll send you the mail.
 
At 2:32 AM, Blogger Erik said...
I love Ubuntu because is simply beautiful and free.
 
At 8:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
I want one & i am willing to pay for it.
 
At 2:22 PM, Blogger itisIT said...
Yeah I Love Linux VERy much.spechialy Ubuntu. why? It is nice to use n operate. I Used it no longer now.but Igot more esier than other OS.
screen shot here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12935265@N08/1340224735/
 
At 8:52 AM, Blogger Unknown said...
I love Ubuntu.
How can I prove you that I am a Linux lover?
How can I get a T-shirt?

I want this.... Please can you give me a T-shirt?

synccoder (at) gmail (dot) com

Thanks,
Shamal
 
At 3:05 PM, Blogger balakumar said...
Dear Shamal,

I am really sorry dude, think u are bit late :) for the t-shrits...
 
At 12:33 PM, Blogger සම්පත් said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
 
At 12:39 PM, Blogger Uma said...
I love Ubuntu because it is simple,free,opensource and attractive.
 
At 3:08 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
i love ubuntu because its free, no verification require, no popup reminder of activation and pure user-friendliness. Plus on its cool graphical candy just never fail to attract the crowds attention...haha.

Photo Link:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30455346&l=c5366345d5&id=1229281005


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