Indian teen in Finland, bringing Facebook, Twitter closer

HELSINKI - Want to know from your mobile phone where to hangout in Delhi or eat out in Beijing? Three teens in Finland, including one from India, are giving final touches to a system that integrates social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

They are part of a team of 30 brainy teens who have come to Finland from 16 countries to take part in the week-long Millennium Youth Camp being held in a forested area, abutting a lake, about an hour’s drive from capital Helsinki.

“Our’s is a GPS (global positioning system) that integrates social networking sites,”

Muhammad Zeeshan Samad, one of the teens from Kerala, told IANS here. “It collects information from Facebook and Twitter. It is then uploaded on mobile phones.”

The project was co-conceived by 18-year-old J. Nishida from Japan and 15-year-old Finn Wenlei Dai, the third team member. Their effort is already partly functional and in the coming months, the team hopes it would hit the market.

Using GPS and a software platform called Android, it seeks to add another dimnension to social networking sites, that of location. Accordingly, people can not only interact by using these sites, but also know where exactly the other person is, physically.

“I am very excited about this project,” said Samad, a die-hard soccer fan who supports Liverpool and is an avid amateur photographer with a quite an impressive blog — “The World in 35 MM” — which showcases his magic with an Olympus C-760.

“I am working in an international environment for the first time,” the 17-year-old added while sounding quite excited at being selected for the camp and thrilled at the progress of their project.

The camp ends Saturday and the teens leave for their homes Sunday.

“The participants are 15-19 year-olds who are keen on natural sciences, mathematics and technology. The camp is free of charge,” said Maija Aksela, professor at University of Helsinki.

“The target of the camp for these young students to is network with people from all over the world — with Finnish businesses and top scientists — and to increase the awareness of the Millennium Technology Prize”.

The Millennium Technology Prize was won Wednesday by Michael Gratzel, a professor from Switzerland who has developed an advanced solar cell that mimics nature.

(Rahul Dass can be reached at rahul.d@ians.in)