View from kriswiz -- WebRTC -- Technology

I have probably read a 100 articles on WebRTC. And everyone has something different to say. So this is my view.

First for all, for the people who don't know what is WebRTC. Well this is the standard definition --

"WebRTC is a free, open project that enables web browsers with Real-Time Communications (RTC) capabilities via simple JavaScript APIs. The WebRTC components have been optimized to best serve this purpose."

Basically it converts your normal browser (the one your using to read this article right now) into your very own phone without having to download anything. Now you may ask me, " Yeah right. But I do have to download plug-ins, right?" and you know what i would say zilch...nahh...none!! Plugins can be difficult to deploy, debug, troubleshoot, test and maintain—and may require licensing and integration with complex, expensive technology.

WebRTC is a set of javascript APIs you can use to create your very own "app" (going by the trend now-a-days) which will run on your browser and make audio/video calls. You may not need to make an entire App, it can be incorporated as a component in your website so that interested users can contact you easily. This can run on any OS which has a browser installed (Windows, IOS, Android you name it). And you can easily interop between any browser.

WebRTC uses VP8 video codec and opus audio codec (works with PCMA/PCMU as well). And all your RTP flowing during the call is encrypted (yeah baby SRTP with DTLS). Also if you have a firewall then there is STUN, TURN and ICE used to go through it.

Currently Firefox and Chrome support WebRTC and so does opera (I haven't tried it on opera yet though). But it is still picking up so probably in the near future it will be supported by all the browsers (hopefully by IE too). Two groups, the Web Real-Time Communications Working Group and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IEFT), are currently working on standards for WebRTC.

So the next time you go to a company's website and you want to speak to the customer representative just click on the click-to-call button and voila you are instantly connected. The call no longer needs to route through the phone system, so calls could require fewer hops.

I will end this post by leaving you with some quotes--

WebRTC is a new front in the long war for an open and unencumbered web.
— Brendan Eich, inventor of JavaScript

We can’t wait to see what cool new experiences leveraging WebRTC that developers will create.

— Maire Reavy, Senior Engineering Manager, WebRTC

pssstt.....WebRTC can also be connected to a legacy system (PSTN or IMS). But more on that later.

Review of The Wolverine (3D) -- Movie

Kon'nichiwa,

The experience of watching wolverine and Hugh Jackman on the big screen in 3D probably cannot be described in words. But I'll try my best to do justice to it. The film is largely based on Wolverine comics which appeared in 1982, the characters are also taken from these comics.

After seeing a lot of Japanese anime I went to see this movie, and what do I see! Logan in Japan too? Anata amarini Logan!

A mysterious woman named Yukio (who seems to be a mutant who can see the future) comes all the way from Japan to ask Logan to meet her dieing master Yoshida, who he had once saved during the Nagasaki bombings. Logan reluctantly travels to Japan to meet him.

Once there, he notices that the house is heavily guarded and he is swiped with the metal detector. Imagine a admantium filled Wolverine being swiped! A thousand beeps erupts into the air and Logan cheekily justifies saying "Hip Replacement".

A "dieing" Yashida offers Logan to "cure" him and making him a mortal again. He refuses blankly and storms out. In the Yashida household he meets Mariko, Yashida's grand daughter and something on the lines of  "love at first sight" happens. He also meets the femme fatale villain Viper, who is the old man's doctor.

The old man dies and at the funeral there is a kidnapping attempt on Mariko. The wolverine being the man...no...the mutant that he is, saves her, being shot quite a number of times during the process.

Quite a lot of fight sequence emerge from here. The bullet train fight sequence being the best and the highlight of the film. And especially in 3D it was mind-blowing!!

After that the movie takes a Hindi film turn. The hero and heroine are alone, trying to hide from the kidnappers in a seedy hotel where there is only one room available and they have their romantic moments together too. Deja vu!

Soon Logan learns that something is wrong with him. He is not healing as quickly as before. And figures out that the Doctor has something to do with it. He also understands why everyone wants to kidnap poor little Mariko. She is the sole heiress of the entire Yashida fortune after her grandfather's death!

Does wolverine regain his healing powers again? Can Viper and the Admantium Samurai be stopped? Who is behind the kidnappings? Is Yashida really dead?

You have to watch it to answer all the questions. And most of all you have watch it for the soul of the film....for Hugh Jackman.....and most importantly for wolverine.....who is, in my opinion,  THE ULTIMATE SUPER-HERO!

Yonde itadaki, makotoni arigatōgozai !

Note: The ending sequence of the movie indicates that there are going to be more movies in this series (waiting for X-Men:Days of Future Past). Also please don't watch the movie if you are not a wolverine fan or if you want to see mind-less action sequences.

Review of Dan Brown's Inferno -- Book

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crises"

It was some years ago that I went to see the movie "The Da'Vinci Code". It was totally by chance that I saw the movie. My aunt and her colleagues were supposed to go for the movie but some of them dropped out. As a "substitute", I filled in one of the empty spots. When I watched it I dint know much about it. I had only read in the newspaper about the controversy surrounding it.

After coming back I read the book. I was instantly hooked to the book and most importantly by his writing. And Robert Langdon was added to my list of favourite characters. After that I read Angels and Demons, The Lost Symbol and most recently Inferno. When you read Dan brown's writing you can instantly imagine everything in vivid detail. Even though you may have never been there, you still feel like your visiting it right at that moment when your reading it.

In Dante Alighieri's Inferno he describes his journey through hell and Professor Langdon also goes through a different, or if i may say, a modern kind of hell. It takes you through Florence, Venice and Istanbul. He describes all these places beautifully. Langdon again has to solve a series of  puzzles to get to his final destination. All these can be solved by the help of  "Dante" and his book Inferno. The protagonist is again joined by a beautiful woman Dr. Sienna Brooks. It gives you a James Bond like feeling. Well Langdon is no less than Mr Bond himself. He doesn't have cool gadgets but he makes up with his brain.

The book is filled with a lot of twists and turns. Just when you start believing something, it is turned around to such an extent you don't know what to believe any more. It also deals with a lot of current issues, but solutions to it is a little bit bizarre.

It has all the elements to make it into a thrilling film though. With Langdon having retrograde amnesia due to a gun shot wound to his head (or was it?). A beautiful but mysterious doctor Sienna Brooks helping him out(or is she?). A probable assassin behind Langdon. An entire troop of "black" soldiers chasing them (or are they?). The WHO(World Health Organisation) is also involved along with a secret group "The Consortium". A genius madman who is a villian(or is he?). All these things can be found once you read the book.

The entire book keeps you involved till the end. Though the ending seemed a little weird, I guess it is acceptable.

I wont reveal much because then you will not feel the need to read the book. And I believe everyone should read it. All I can say is "Seek and ye shall find".