Ancient Eastern Astrology enters the twenty-first century online with Panchang.com. The site launched in the UK a week ago as the ancient alternative to Jonathan Cainer's cringeworthy Zodiac Charts. Working under the slogan of "Panchang is to time as Feng Shui is to space", the site creates Panchang astrological birth charts for its registered users. Panchang originated from the Vedas of ancient India, 1400-1500 BC, when astrologers would use the exact position of the moon, the planets and zodiac signs at the time of birth to produce an astrological chart for each individual. Now, though, instead of imposing on a wise elder member of the community to painstakingly calculate all this over the course of six to eight hours, you just get a server somewhere to zap the whole thing together. Can C++ really tune into our emotional makeup with the help of only a simple questionnaire? "We have taken a baker's dozen of factors related to the emotional conditions of the person to present a fraction of their Lunar Chart," says Panchang.com chairman Michael Greary. "It's definitely not a random text generation". Personalised Panchang time planners can be emailed to you every day for free -- a quality score between minus ten and positive ten will show you at a glance how good the day is going to be for you (best hope you don't get a minus ten in the morning). If e-Panchang gets to be widespread, comments like "it's not a good time for important actions" could have end up having a drastic effect upon the stock exchange, one supposes. And despite Greary's reassurances, you might notice your time planner is pretty similar to the ones sent to your friends on any given day. Everything seems to work alright, and signup is painless, but the planners could do with being slightly more amusing. And the site also needs to recognise that people born in Scotland are still British -- though maybe Scots are considered immune to the influence of the planets. The site: Panchang.com
What it does: Creates Ancient Indian-style astrological chart from position of planets and zodiac signs at the moment of your birth
Who it's for: Apparently only those born in England or Northern Ireland!
Why the net?: Where else could you find 4,000 years of history boiled down to a few algorithms and some Javascript? Startup Spotlight brings you the best and worst new Web sites every week. For more see the Spotlight archive.