Thoughts - Lotsa them this time

This time around it seemed like I don on a thinking cap bolstered by "wonderful" events around us kept me grappling with myself plus the joy of working Monday to Friday (!) kept me busy. So the thought below is what I had been questioning myself with, justifying and opposing myself, whenever I got a chance to think. Eventually I decided to write it down and there by throw the monkey off my back. Now that you would start thinking.

Thought 1 - The Indian Muslim doctor gets a meaty sentence in Australia. Prolly a good 15 years behind the bars and the guy is 27 years old and the lady to whom he is married to has just delivered a baby and they are in Bangalore, India ruing the misfortune. Now any sympathies for this family? I think what Australian folks have done is the right way to handle crime and extremism. I have nothing against anyone but they factual presentation would make sense what has happened thus far is the right step forward. Before that just to brief a few regularities which are followed in other countries so that it makes sense what people "innocently" do to expose their "ignorance". Penny wise pound foolish is the most appropriate adage for the context now.

Now, every other country other than India, has this extreme sense of their Identify protection. Even as a foreigner to any developed country, a little interaction is all it takes to understand what that means to you and your subsequent stay. Unlike here, any screw up with your score would be very very detrimental in the stay. In that lieu, the guy in context hands the SIM card and other related documentation to another "Indian" when he was leaving the UK. Atleast, if the guy had something called a brain, he would have called the wireless company to inform something like this and thereby the subsequent billing address changes and you can get off the hook. And wireless companies do approve of such move when you have leave the country, you can transfer the number and the instrument. Sometimes stingy and conservative Indians, would like to bring home or where ever they go the 'imported' handset and there by do an under table transaction and just get the SIM card transfers done to ANY other Indian and I have seen many a time something like this being done. Because of these cheap gains, a real culprit can go scout free ! So the hero of the story says he gave SIM card to his "Cousin - Terrorist" and not knowing what they were upto and let it go thinking all is well.

Now, the guy in question, is held back as an aftermath to what happened when his "relative" had bombed an airport in Glasgow. The Aussies have had their own unique way of interrogation and had concluded that, "Any allegiance with an extremist group either with an intent or unknowingly is culpable". Now this is a good eye opener to all immigrants/native people that make a mistake and the government is going to rap the finger. Fantastic decision but at the same time I feel awfully awkward about the family back home. No one ever wants to live 15 years in solitude and separation and life to them is not going to be the same after this. Trust me. I feel bad for them. Hey, that is what happens when we end up mixing with a wrong company. So don't blame anyone [OR] ask the premier to represent your case. Hats off to the Australian organization/working committee for taking time to frame charges.

I have this Plethora of thoughts as always on the efficacy of the Indian administration without sounding to deride their policies. What would we do when we had to encounter a decision making situation like this? What can we really do? July 07 2006, is a year old and we are still playing around with a huge list of documentation against the "supposed" terrorist list. This just sums up our ability as a country. By writing this powerful line, I don't mean to sound like a unpatriotic person. I love the country as much as any other fellow Indian. But I am clueless when the administration ends up being bemused as much as I am, as a citizen. It appalls me then and I lose hope on these people helping us out under any circumstance. Look how much time Australia took to protect its citizen with a futuristic thought playing their mind - What if this happens here in the future? And we would work on a situation when it presents itself to us.

To quote-unquote a business magazine once said, "India's development is despite the government whereas development in China is because of the government". What a powerful, meaningful line this is. Is'nt it? But sadly this is the truth with the government bending the back when it wants and flexing it when it feels. Shri. Narayanan Moorthy, Infosys founder said, "It is the red tapeism in the bureaucratic rule is the major impediment to the success". And now because of all these the damage is done - Indians are also going to be singled for each and every search when they try to board a plane that flies abroad. I wish the terrorists were of a different color to mine in that way I would not be forced to go through the brunt like this. Thanks to these moronic families and people. Just to make it official, "I HATE YOU GUYS !".

Run up of the events pertaining to the Glasgow attacks is "Here".

Thought 2: How many obese people do we find around us? They would confess for themselves that they look a bit different to the rest of the clan around. They want and feel the need to lose weight and every nook and corner now has a fair enough facilities with a Gym center. But the want speedy recovery so they choose several crude forms of removing body fat. Liposuction, the most common and the deadliest form of removing body fat. Your body after the operation undergoes so much changes and so much pain. Jeesh... If this was one sorry tale, there is something called Stomach Stapling, which is more about stapling and reducing the size of the stomach so that you don't feel hungry quite very often. And the last of all surgeries for this mess is through a Laparoscopic surgery.

My thought to all this, if you are so keen to shed weight there are ulterior better ways to do so. Why resort to such painful ways? The chances of survival because of the pain is unbelievable. Sadly, half the crowd that undergoes such surgeries don't know if for any reason they would be in a trauma later.

Off late, the floating money around many a people is making people to endorse such operations which is a killer to a large extend. I detest and loathe such surgeries.

Follow the formula, Body work out = Weight loss.

Thought 3 : Ever spared a thought for a country as small like Japan? Oh you ask what about them? Well, then they are one country where Earth quake is a more or less a regular affair and their system which predicts it and eventually the Tsunamis and how they handle it. The natural killers. Oh the uneventful Nuclear Bombing and little over 60 years of that act and now the small country has gone leaps and bounds and one of the fore running champions of the world be it anything. But for English though :-)

Such a small country and so much of development. Sheer hardwork and passion to excel their personal lives.

Compare India with Japan. More or less same time we had for the development and what we have excelled so far is in the population and having extreme percent of Emotional thoughts.

I sincerely hope we make good use of the present trend and make a mark for ourself and not make a big fool out of ourself after the IT burst.

Heck! who cares what I think and say. But these are truth to a relative extend if you think about it with a sane mind and not with an emotional heart. Development is never attained by being emotional just being rational at this point of time is the only way forward to go anywhere. I, am really inquisitive now about where the development for Tsunami Warning System stands at. They said when they started that it would be in an execution mode by 2010 or so. I will do some research on that later :-)

Until then, these were my rustic thoughts for the past six days.

Adios and wish you all a successful and eventful week with lots of peace to your mind. Stay beautiful and smile as much.

Worship at will?

The news at a glance column in the "Economist" reveals quite a few interesting thought processes followed within a bunch of religious tolerant countries. ANY measure of freedom may be open to criticism, and combining three separate measures—religious, political and civil—may seem more arbitrary yet. But the efforts of the Religious Centre for Freedom, using rankings from other sources, provide some intriguing comparisons. It is no shock that the likes of North Korea and Iran are intolerant of all sorts of freedoms, while America is just as easy-going over religion as it is concerning political freedoms. But look at India, Indonesia and some European countries: tolerance of civil and political rights is not matched by quite the same freedom to worship.

Comparing Bangalore and Madras

No I am not going to call these marvelous cities as Bengaluru and Chennai :-( I don't like that very much. I thought the name was more suave to start with and they changed the name because of the linguistic feeling. Anyway, the thought was to just check why there is a disparity between the two cities when they are so awefully close to Madras. So I did a basic research on the temperature and a few little factual presentation from World Bank Site as well.

On the temperature front, here's is why Bangalore has the nose ahead of Madras. When it comes to the Average High(s), Madras is about 7-8 deg hotter than Bangalore PLUS there is a humidity factor which has a telling blow. On the average low(s), Bangalore is about roughly 10 deg cooler than Madras. Ain't that a big deal straightaway.

This is the tabular difference between the two metros (Oh Yea, Bangalore and Hyderabad are India's new Metros) - Per the stats from World Bank. But someone was saying that by year 2010, Madras would overtake Bangalore in the export revenues. But heck! Bangalore city has a better work culture and better crowd any day compared to Madras. My head is slightly tilted towards Bangalore as I wait to see if the change in infrastructure and everything surrounding it changes in Madras, then perhaps I will change my mind then.

Very touching article/slide show

This Article is about the Impact of July 11, 2006 blasts on an innocent family in Bombay in which the Father worked hard for his family, Mother was a happy wife and a good mother to her children and the two sons were the chirpy and dreamy about their future. This has changed ever since the attack a year back.

Sometimes we wonder who is responsible for spineless and culpable acts of terror and we are still soul searching - everyone. This is one reason why I think the premiers to each of the countries fighting terror to act responsibly. It is not about pointing fingers at some religion. But if the perpetrators are part of a religion then there is no harm we point fingers to stop the issue from proliferating. I was so hurt by the public statement made by prime minister Dr. Manmohan singh about feeling "hurt" and "could not sleep" seeing a "terrorist's" mother speak. Now, I want him to read the article and NOT miss any of the lines and tell me if he can sleep well today. I was so moved and touched by the family in question and how much of pain, how much of agony. I am spellbound and wanted to link this article in the site not to show what I think differently about the whole process but to be of some help to the family. The family has hope that some doctor, any where in the world would be able to provide a solution to their son who has been lifeless for 10 months :-(

Please spread the word and I am doing my part and I do it with a feeling of let down as well by the government. Here we are in the first year of the attack and there has been no news about the perpetrators. If this was one end of the blunt knife, the other end was equally appalling. The government has not reached out to the families of the victims of the blast and those who were killed in this dreadful blasts, what laid in front of the families of the kith and kin was unbelievable. The jobs to an extend of cleaner, porter and what not were offered to the families as a "replacement" job. I know the victim may not have held high posts but to have the women and children related to the victim do the work of a porter or a cleaner in a railway platform is demeaning. A cleaner job was offered to a victim's daughter who was holding a MCom degree !

Who is to be blamed? I don't know. This CAN ONLY happen in India and that is one reason why I don't like the audacity of the people here. The take it easy attitude on each and everything around hurts. It is this callous behavior when you want the government to show they care that they turn their backs. What would have happened if it was USA? What would have happened if it was UK? Things might be different. We are yet to find solutions and remedies for actions that has happened a year back and we thump our heart to claim we are the largest democracy and people are happy.

Am sad and I am not a happy camper.

P.S - I was wrong to say there were no signs of the perpetrators. It seems that Anti Terrorists Squad had submitted 10,667 page charge sheet four months after the blasts. The link is "here".

2007 Urban agglomerated populace at a glance

I was looking at a rather interesting site "City Mayors" which had very many interesting facts on display.This bubble map below shows the global distribution of top 400 cities with atleast 1,000,000 inhabitants in 2007. (Courtesy Wikipedia - Metropolis)

Wow! Look at India and interestingly the East Asia for growth. For me the most interesting fact on this display is that of China. But for the already expanded cities, Beijing and Shanghai, there are not many cities which is growing at a break neck pace, in terms of population density. This surely means there are a few stiffer regulations in place in the communist country and they don't like being called "Most populous country" I reckon. Another parallel comparison would be look at the Asia-Pacific belt, look at the growth in Australia and New Zealand for a change ! And to while away your time places like Mongolia, Central Africa depicts a grim and a solemn picture and sadly so the life style and opportunities does not seem to change for any futuristic growth. Real sad facet in the world map at this point of time.

For your benefit, here's the Link to get the list of fast growing cities with respect to Urban Agglomeration.

Follow up blog notes

The news link "here" is the same absolute thought I had when I had posted a blog note on Thursday, July 05, 2007,and on July 09, it seems to have been a thought reflection from someone else.

The news link "here" is another representation on how callous the government of India is when it comes to celebrating the moment. This time it is about being a worry that Taj has become one of the wonders of the world !

Match day versus French Class and the big news !

Oh the weekend French classes that I have enrolled for seem to be very interesting both for the language and the class which is so cool with heavy enrollment from the opposite sex, which makes me not to miss any class ** Chuckle **

This is my first of the many foreign languages that I intend to read and feel comfortable about and it is very interesting language.

But today is a match day for me and I would not be able to attend the class - Boo hooo [:-(] since when I started to feel so passionate about any class. Is it because of the girls in the class? May be but heck nothing is going to stop me from the game today. It is the most waited game for me after I moved back to India and I was straight away into the Cricket Team as the most loved position - Wicket Keeper/Middle order right hand bad. The best part is that the climate too has been mild here in this part of the woods clocking about a 30-31 deg C. Hey this is REASONABLE in this place called furnace. Usually it is HOT.

If that was some news, did you know finally Taj Mahal is in the world's wonders. Finally. In a colourful ceremony in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to coincide with the date 07.07.07, the new wonders of the world were announced and it is quite interesting the details.

For the benefit to you, these are the wonders of the world from now on:

The Colosseum, Rome

The Pyramid of Chichen Itza, Mexico

Machu Picchu, Peru

Taj Mahal, India

Statue of the Christ Redeemer, Brazil

Petra, Jordan

The Great Wall of China

Among the places left out were Acropolis in Athens,The Statues of Easter Island in Italy, Cambodia Angkor, Hagia Sophia in Turkey, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Statue of Liberty in New York, Russia Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral and Australia's Sydney Opera House. But Pyramids in Egypt never tried to even nominate itself. Because they felt it is unique in it's own way and that it never has to be classified as anything. Interesting.

More news about this can be found in this news site - here.

I would want to see every place that is mentioned above to know what our civilizations in the past did for us. I don't care whether it is in the wonder list or not. It is so nice to see them I think. Hey, the mood is for the Match and in that high, expected note, I sign off.

P.S: Update at 9:30 PM - We won the game today though it was a HOT HUMID conditions to play, I was involved in getting a Run Out and was the highest scorer in my team with 48 runs and we won the quite comfortably. BTW we were chasing 120 runs [:D] in 20 overs. Now, don't forget to congratulate.

P.S Edit to include a song for Taj Mahal.

Weekend- Movie Preview

I, watched this rather very interesting movie - Apocalypto directed by Mel Gibson in 2006 which won quite a bunch of awards for exceptional work. This movie was a very interesting one indeed. Per an review for this movie - The plot of the movie was the desire to portray and explore a culture as it existed before the arrival of the Europeans led Gibson and Safinia to choose the Mayans for their high sophistication and eventual decline.

Fantastic indeed and it was truly a bloody movie and with powerful visual effects and obviously an interesting and the usual Gibson movie. Quite a serious foreign language movie I have seen so far. The character of Jaguar Paw was the best. Oh well he was the main character to say the least :)

If you really have to see how much the Mayan civilization was self sustained be it medicine, science and yet religious and blind beliefs. Gibson has taken the movie quite nicely and interestingly goes to even show the religious beliefs and human sacrifice to wade away ill and prosperity to the colony. Fantastic to see them on the big screen. But I did not know anywhere in my research post the movie, that Mayan Civilization actually did human sacrifices, it was the Aztec culture during the Incas [OR] was it that the people in Mayan Culture slaved to be the religious sacrifice in Aztec? I would really like to know the relation. Anyway, back to the movie, I liked the scene - "The Eclipse" where the heat priest over looks his men pull out the heart from the slaves and cuts the head and the head rolls down an atleast 200-300 step architecture, mind blowing. Critics too had a few interesting comments on the Solar Eclipse showed in the movie and it can't happen that fast but hey it just a 2 hour film !

If you like foreign movies, this is a must watch and quite interesting indeed. Here are some pictures from the movie:

Until later, Take it easy.

Friday Entertainer, The fun day

My most days at work is feeling like a zombie and hearing people talk to me but reacting as though I am unable to conjure anything beyond my regular ways of being stoic and cometh the Friday things get reversed. Ever wonder why? I don't know.

My usual work day and how I am during those trying moments is summed up by this poster below [:D]

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. When the moment comes, Friday, I feel so good about the day no matter how I am being treated. I walk like Peter Gibbons in Office Space [:D], nothing hurts me any more and I can't wait for the clock to strike 4:30 and this day of this week was fun mainly because the network connection in the Floor where we work, ok pretend we work, conks out. Everything comes to a stand still. And we see hypocrites standing up from their "cubes of lives" and give out a frustrated feeling. How much we would like to do that? I love that part so much just blame it on the network that the proposal was not saved when you had almost finished it. DARN! And make a big deal but deep down the heart, the feeling of liberation, nothing beats that and today I was not alone in the party.

The entire office was like FCUK I lost my work and our boss was no stranger and he had his script too. And BTW my boss is just a carbon copy of the character Bill Lumbergh enacted by Gary Cole in Office Space. You know what I mean. My Boss had such a melancholic face and pretending he was giving it everything until the dreaded thing that cleaned up his week's work. Can you beat this statement the guy made? LOL. We knew the guy was also frustrated working LOL.

But in real terms, why is it that Friday excites people that work more than any other day? Hey I am not here for a reason, but I am loving it [:D]

Interesting law abiding people

I am going to talk about two instances of activities that seemed to have happened in as many days.

To start with, this seems like a news to me about a Rajkot woman walking semi-nude to get her divorce. Reason, she had been abused mentally and physically by her husband AND they wanted lotsa quids as "Dowry" ! So she decided to walk the talk and talk the walk by stripping to her under clothes through the city. BULL !!

Now now, since when the Indian penal court was in favor of the men when it came to Dowry cases. Don't take me wrong for sounding like a chauvinist but the fact is it is so lopsided. Considering how women were treated before time, it was most appropriate that the government came in favor by passing a Anti-Dowry Bill. If a lady walks and makes a statement, the son and the in-laws are behind the bars straight away. This was the reason why it sounds lopsided coz all it takes is just ONE complaint and without any offense to anyone, the person (even before knowing if he committed the crime) is behind the bars.

The lady in context could have just done that without embarrassing herself. She even protested to walk NUDE to the commissioner's office, if justice was not provided.

I could not but empathize her. Just for the fact that someone misguided her. She is young, brave and she could have just walked the cross roads to the police office and lodge a complaint. Dowry cases are acted on much faster than any other case. Instead of this, what she suggested to was nothing short of cheap thrill. Who cares if she walks nude or semi nude, the law will take the course and if ever she did something like what she had proposed, what was her next plan of action? The whole village would have seen her nude. How about calling that a food and a show LOL. Sometimes, emotional decisions would only end up being a butt of ridicule.

Looks like the in-laws and the husband are now in the jail. May justice be given to whichever group that was saying truth.

If this was a bigot or a rush of the moment decision, there was something more in store. The premier of India has made an appeal to UK and Australia about not stereotyping the Asian community - thanks to the Muslim Bombers. It was not just that, there was also a statement which was preposterous. He felt offended seeing a mother cry over his son's alleged link to the blasts. The other populist statement that was aired was - "He said that this could create a sense of alienation within the Muslim community, adding that he believed that the focus on a specific community and on these families was very, very unfortunate"

Now, how many innocent Indians have been killed before and how many mothers have cried and lamented the loss of their kins, did the premier feel offended then that made him think and feel out of words? What irks me most is this double standards & whammy which is completely clouded by political instincts and beliefs. India has definitely not been a stranger to terrorism (Thanks to the "Good" neighbors) and India is not going to lose first blood for time immemorial for a cheeky issue. But what is important is when the premier makes a visit and it looks like he is taking side for the minor religion, Muslim, which the politicians believe has a say in their ruling future. Governance is a different story and there is no need to take anyone's side. Everyone knows and will not dare say it thinking it might bring some wrong doing but hey we are not stigmatizing a particular community for the heck of it. There are evidence for their action which is appreciated by their own clergy. (The Britain attacks in July was appreciated by their own Muslim clergy, who has lived in UK for 27 years in a live television show last year).

This was like a shot below the belt. I think as a premier, I, the representative and a common citizen would expect kill blow shots like the perpetrators would be pounded and those alive to see them getting pounded will not want to do such ignoramus act which would be culpable to an extend that death is not going to be easy. Instead of that take the premier takes an easy route and in a fear India be categorized as a Country which has links to Al-Qaeda, taking sides is not a solution and WE will no more be happy watching the stage puppet shows like this.

Anyway, these were two different personalities each overshadowed by emotions - One thought running Nude was the way to get justice while the premier thought taking sides of the group was going to bring some mental solace to the community. Eventually, everything else is not bigger than the country and the way it has to be governed.

But sadly it is the vote banks that sit in the minds of the governing body more than anything else. Come down to Madras and see the reservations and you will be flabbergasted to even construe the actual need for such big reservation percentages and in spite of that the community, people have not taken to any wrong doings and I do recall how many children killed themselves knowing that they did not get the right percentage to follow their dream career and how many mother wept then. Where were these politicians then? It is a sad day today that the premier has made audacious claims knowing they are the accomplice !

This is my independent thought which may or may not go well with the reader from any place. If you feel that my thought in this note has caused any qualm, I apologize for the same.

Security issues - No problem says India Inc.

I was reading a rather innocuous looking news which chilled my spine eventually and as a follow up to my previous post this is one the main reasons why no attacks should be taken against people in India.

The crux of the matter is that no single airlines in India has a reliable security network. Despite airlines being top terror targets and despite repeated warnings from Indian security agencies & things that have been happening around us, airlines continue to cut costs on security bills with impunity.

The Link to this post says more than this and it is not a great feeling at all. It is feeling to make real quick bucks that makes the "golden goose" (India), the most vulnerable one !

Currency popularity

I was again looking at the economics of each country in the world and I stumbled upon an interesting site - XE.COM and particularly the popularity each country had as for as their currencies were concerned and the amount of transaction, world wide, the currency from a particular country was used. And Indian currency - Indian Rupee was valued at world wide position of 15 - A chutzpah !

But on second thoughts, just goes to show the weight of the three big powers - USD, Euro and Pound sterling, seems to be so much in control of the transactions. I, still feel, India can still throw the weight around and get past a few other minnows there ahead of her. However, having said that I am not very sure what has been the scale using which the percentages are arrived at. But so far it has been because of sheer hardworking community who had propelled the unit forward thus far. What is interesting is to see the Zimbabwe Dollar ranked at 74th position when the inflation rate in their country is about 4000% ! And I am very serious about that. It is true that they have that bad an internal situation now. And it is expected to hit the upwards of 6000% by the year end. Wonder how the people survive there.

Zimbabwe
Currency: Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)
Inflation rate: 3,714 percent and rising
Exchange rate: Officially, 250 ZWD per US$1; unofficially, as high as 750 ZWD to the U.S. dollar.

If this is not it, I know ZWD is one of the worst currencies around - so a double header to be ranked as high as 74 for the transactions based on their currency and secondly to be the worst currency ! Look at their dollar bill for instance,



Anyway, I will cover this in a different note. Still a long way and long way of prosperity sans natural calamities, terrorists attacks, inflation and other insane scams internal to India yada yada does not happen in a big scale.

Another attack - Spineless!

We all now should be soaking quite well in the shocker of a news on the bombings in Glasgow airport. I am rather, shaken up big time on why people really want to be so dogged and punitive by being part of a meaningless mass destruction of this stature. It is really sad and appalling in the sense that we have gotten to a stage where we don't mind that much seeing the fellow human being dead and a bloody death, mind you. Really sad.

If you are angry at something, go bang yourself against the concrete wall. That would stun you and would bring the anger down instead of taking it against the innocent i-work-for-my-living mass. And strangely, the people who are culpable to this action so far is from the Middle East and by large belong to the community that caused the 09/11 heart ache. It is like a never ending weed, this group, is'nt it. The more you pull the more numbers keep coming out. I mean, there are more better reasons to pledge your life instead of this which is like hitting people below the belts.

In the end, who is to be blamed? I don't know what anger they have against other people/country/community. I only wish and pray for the families of the dead and injured and finally hope there be no more of bloody mess of this stature.

And what is even more chilling, is to think should something like this happen in India. I am very worried what we will do and things as small(in terms of the impact and not death), Bombay train blasts and community attacks, in itself took us a long time to grapple and come in terms with it. With larger population density and increasing number of people below the poverty line, would only mean more casualty, more things to blame & more places to point fingers at ! I only wish these mindless perpetrators don't look at the World Map to find out where the Indian Sub Continent is for the time being ! I hope.

Anyway, pray for peace to all - alive and dead !

Disclaimer: This blog note, and any comments hereto, is privileged, confidential and proprietary information of mine. And is intended for those who can make a discussion point out of it without getting personal. If you are not the intended audience, please immediately leave the blog note without vilifying and abusing anyone. Thanks for your belief in mine.

Page rank - Again Google !

I was strangely looking at a tool which claimed it could say how important your site - page is and stuff like that. I was kind of attracted to see how my blog site fared and it's ranking. Well let's not go there. It was heart breaking anyway. LOL

But what prompted me was to figure out how someone could randomly decide what each site was worth and if so the due. The inquisitive feeling got better of my and I visited my ever so trusting Wikipedia to find a solution.

Soon I landed there to find what the term "Page Rank" meant, I was in for some serious surprise. The complexity with which the page rank is computed is mind blowing. Visit the link above and try to traverse the picture on "How Page Rank Works"

Mind blowing arithmetic - perhaps it is so because Google is very protective about it's technology that it would not allow anyone know about the "How it works".

If you are tech savvy and want to know what they are please do check the following links on Page Rank algorithms at your leisure.

Hilltop Algorithm, TrustRank Algorithm, Power Iteration Algorithm, Page Rank of Zero, and finally the Eigen Trust Algorithm.

I am flummoxed and bemused everytime I see some thing as obscure as this be and yet it just satisfies me that there are so many great scientific inventions and technology never ceases to amaze me. We should be so very grateful to these great minds at work who make our life easy in moving from a limb to another in the big massive dino called Internet.

Fantastic ain't it?

Google hoaxes

I don't know why I am so inclined to Google and everything that goes with it - the success, the failure, the blemish, the errors, the hoax. I don't know. But I like Google. This time around I am going to recollect every bit of the hoaxes that had circulated on behalf of Google. I feel for the darn hoaxes twice so far - once in 2002 and the latest in 2007.

Come to think about it, there have been so wonderfully worded and marketed news about newer products that Google was fishing out and every time this happened and I got to know either by word of mouth or by an internet article, I would be dying to know more and if possible use that.

What happened in 2002 and 2007 were just unbelievable though very well marketed. Let's do a peek a boo at all the hoaxes that have come a long way and why and how I fell for the darn ones. The reason why it is very very misleading is because Google Inc, markets genuine products too during April Fool's day !

So lets date back a while on the April Fool's day in 2000, Google announced one of it's audacious expansion plan. This time it is not the internet, but it was through reading the readers mind. The tool Google MentalPlex was nothing short of expectation. The "MentalPlex" search technology meant that it supposedly read the user's mind to determine what the user wanted to search for, thus eliminating the step of actually typing in the search query. Further, the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) was full of it. It was a good set up for the users to fall in and I did not fall for it (Perhaps I was not much of an Internet savvy guy then) Who knows? Fact is I was not mis-led (proud!). Again, this is just a small example to show how much the computer sciences and factual jargons mis lead even the most educated one. For instance, read what this search engine was proposing to do, though ridiculous and tell me if you did not fall for it.

That was the end of 2000, and in 2002 April Fool's day, Google reveals the technology behind its Page Rank System — PigeonRank. I fell for it ! Though it looked lame yet I fell for it because it the reason that Google came up with. Google touts the benefits of this cost-effective and efficient means of ranking pages and reassures readers that there is no animal cruelty involved in the process. However now, when I read this the article makes many humorous references and puns based on computer terminology and how Google PageRank really works.

Then 2 years later in 2004, Google outfoxed everyone ONCE again. This time it was the Google Lunar/Copernicus Center. This was about a fictitious job opportunities for a research center on the moon. Luna/X (a pun to Linux as well as a reference to the Windows XP visual style and Mac OS X) is the name of a new operating system they claimed to have created for working at the research center. LOL ! Too funny.

Soon after this gimmick, in 2005, it was time for Google Gulp - A Google Drink ! According to the company, this beverage would optimize one's use of the Google search engine by increasing the drinker's intelligence. It was claimed this boost was achieved through real-time analysis of the user's DNA and carefully tailored adjustments to neurotransmitters in the brain (a patented technology termed Auto-Drink). The drink was said to come in "4 great flavors": Glutamate Grape (glutamic acid), Sugar-Free Radical (free radicals), Beta Carroty (beta carotene), and Sero-Tonic Water (serotonin).

This hoax was likely intended as a parody of Google's invite-only email service called Gmail. Although ostensibly free, the company claimed the beverage could only be obtained by returning the cap of a Google Gulp bottle to a local grocery store: a causal loop. There was a Google Gulp FAQ as well for this !

This was a bigot or rather a funny sequence of events that Google managed to showcase year after year on the April Fool's Day. In 2006, it was Google Romance, this time it took time to take a dig at the online dating sites - more to www.match.com and few others who were pounding their drums at the helm claiming the match people based on 48 compatibilities ! Smart folks in Google is all I can say. It even claimed "Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance." It pretends to offer a "Soulmate Search" to send users on a "Contextual Date".

Finally for the year 2007, the real highlight, to which most of us fell for. It was the TISP. Google Toilet Internet Service Provider ! The way they marketed the product was unbelievable. This became the talk of the town for a little while at work, in the malls, among our friends in the US. This was a hoax nonetheless. But still. This is what they had to say about their product: This service would make use of a standard toilet and sewage lines to provide free Internet connectivity at a speed of 8 Mbit/s (2 Mbit/s Upload) (or up to 32 Mbit/s with a paid plan). A user drops a weighted end of a long, Google-supplied fiber-optic cable in their toilet and flushes it. Around 60 minutes later, the end would be recovered and connected to the Internet by a "Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher (PHD)." The user then connects their end to a Google-supplied wireless router and run the Google-supplied installation media on a Windows XP or Vista computer ("Mac and Linux support coming soon"). Cannot believe I fell for this !!

Also, in the same year, the most funniest thing of them all : Gmail Paper hoax was published across most of the Google sites. The crux of the issue was it was a service offered to allow users of Google's free webmail service to add e-mails to a "Paper Archive," which Google would print (on "96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum") and mail via traditional post. A pictorial representation of how it works !

Oh yea come to think about Google Moon too. This was the Lunar Landing sites with Google taking aim at NASA now to make fun of them coz they have had a very bad few seasons at work. Then there was Google Maps and Google Ride Finder (View taxi or shuttle locations in one of the following cities)

All this happened through the last 6-7 years and how vulnerable we are to complex jargons is all I could think of. But I still think it was a great marketing gimmick and the audacity and funny that a Corporation wants to take a dig at everyone around. A mockery at this point of time just continues to amaze me that Google still has not lost the funny bone ! also, at the same time, Google has ensured that it has a response for everything and anything that is available in the internet. Soon it is going to present itself as a major competition to Microsoft office kits.

Fantastic!

It was at the same time around that many more great inventions were made to help make our life more easier.

Wikipedia Mash up

I stumbled upon a rather interesting logo definition for Wikipedia. The logo in the site, Wikipedia has rather an earth like image with a character that piques to the alphabet "W". Now this "W" is a representation from several language and this has taken a beating from two languages - Japanese and Sanskrit.

The symbolism is not exactly ideal. Those on the lookout for errors at Wikipedia have flagged a few more — this time, however, they are not examples of vandalism at the user-created site but typographical errors in Wikipedia’s own logo. A globelike jigsaw puzzle with characters from various languages on the pieces. Two of the characters — one in Japanese and one in Devanagari, the script used in Sanskrit and several modern Indian languages — are meaningless because of minor slips.

The founder could easily cool his heels by saying "The nature of Wikipedia is such that because it is written by everyone, there are errors,”. Also, the logo, showing an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, Wikipedia was, “as far as I know, the only website whose logo is a disclaimer (‘This website is a work in progress.’)”

It seemed like they tried to pick characters that were from a wide range of languages (including Klingon in the far upper right) that looked interesting and generally represented a W sound. The Devanagari error was caused by a computer glitch, he said, which swapped the order of two parts of the character; the Japanese error was simply carelessness. Though the errors have been discussed among cognoscenti for more than two years, they have not been fixed, mainly because Friedland says he lost the original computer file and is too busy to start from scratch. “I can’t find the settings I used to make it,” he said. “Three years ago I was unemployed, in my room all day, finishing my degree.”

Now a software developer for a Microsoft subsidiary, Tellme, Friedland said he had moved on and wanted to hand off responsibility. Call that the boss ! Now the portal is making big strides has ironically no captain to take it to the shore !

FYI - Blood donor club

A fellow blogger, Aditi, had written about an internet site where you can register when you are in dire need for any Blood group and you get some donor responding to you within 30 minutes. That is amazing.

Please do look at this site for more information -Need Blood?

Also, the main site, Indian Blood Donors, and I don't know the veracity of the information on how quick you get the blood and how the blood transmission procedures and environs are. But I am trying to be a good Samaritan in passing the information to some or anyone that may need it.

Thanks for reading it and please do pass on the information to all you might know- may not be a receiver, a prospective donor too can help the cause.

I did my part and registered myself, did you?

Personal Trait observations

Very interesting observations these courtesy - Blogthings.com. These may be true or may not be true most times and should not become an object to judge anyone. On a lighter note, it is fun to know this coz this site gave me highest ratings on everything :-]

===============================================================
You Are An ESFJ - The Caregiver

You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first. A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change. You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project.You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people.

In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding. You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner.

At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people. You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher.

How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

You Are 16% Control Freak

There's no way you're a control freak. You're totally laid back - and able to take life as it comes.
While you definitely have a healthy mental attitude, don't get suckered into letting someone control you.

You Are 90% Sexy
Your Sex Appeal Is: Off the Charts!

Let's face it... you're one of the sexiest people around. And you don't let anyone forget it.
You're crazy hot, and you deliver on what you promise. You are definitely one wild ride.

You Inner Gender is Female
You're sensitive, caring, and willing to connect with anyone who's open to you.
You make friends easily, and you enjoy all sorts of conversations.

You understand most people you meet - better than they understand themselves.

You're totally a woman... or at the very least, your soul is female.

You Have A Type A- Personality

You are one of the most balanced people around. Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want. You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you. When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back. Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love!

You live life to the fullest - incorporating the best of both worlds

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable
At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty
You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it
Your caffeine addiction level: high

You Date Like a Man

According to studies on dating, you date like a man.
You date casually and frequently, getting serious with select people over time.

Physical attraction and chemistry is very important to you.

And if there's nothing more than a physical connection, that's okay with you (at least for a while).
You are definitely looking for love, but you are in no rush to find it.
You figure love will eventually come your way, and you're not going to live like a monk while you're waiting!

You Are 40% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd.
You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

You Are Very Mature

Even though you may not always feel like it, you're a full fledged adult.
And while everyone should be as mature as you, most people aren't!

You Are A Jealous Ex

You're not quite over your past, and you are hurt that your ex is moving on
You're no longer in love, but you're not done with being pissed
Jealous of any happiness that comes your ex's way, you still can't let go

Your Personality Cluster is Extroverted Thinking
You are:

Organized and logical - a master at puzzles
Competitive in almost any arena of life
Objective when necessary, but passionate about what you truly love
Intolerant of excuses and incompetence

You Are 60% Open Minded
You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded.
Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints.
But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line.
You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

Your Life is Better Than 78% of All People

You really have things pretty good - so stop a minute and appreciate how great your life is. You likely have a cheery outlook, supportive friends, and plenty to keep you happily busy. You are usually content - and with good reason. You have a lot to be happy about. So when things don't go well, remember that you have it better than most people!

Your Sensitivity Score: 39%

In general, you don't let your senses overwhelm you.
You're pretty stoic, and you're good at blocking out what's going on around you.
However, you are still sensitive enough to enjoy all the beautiful things in the world!
You Should Learn Spanish
For you, learning a language is about career advancement and communication.
Knowing Spanish will bring you tons of possiblities for jobs and travel. Bárbaro!
Your Extroversion Profile:

Cheerfulness: Very High
Excitement Seeking: High
Friendliness: High
Sociability: High
Activity Level: Medium
Assertiveness: Low

Your Famous Movie Kiss is from Romeo + Juliet

"Has my heart loved 'till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw a true beauty 'till this night."

You Are 38% Addicted to the Internet

Internet? Please. You're definitely not geeky enough to be that addicted.
You have a full life off your computer - and the internet is just a small pastime.
You've Experienced 60% of Life

You have a good deal of life experience, about as much as someone in their late 20s.
You've seen and done enough to be quite wise, but you still have a lot of life to look forward to.
You Are 70% "Average American"

You are average because you support affirmative action.
You are not average since you do support jailing marijuana users.
Your Ex is Dependent

Your ex is dependent on others from almost everything - and has trouble accepting responsibility.
Your ex is not able to be independent and fears being alone.
People with dependent personality disorder feel helpless when a relationship ends and need constant reassurance.
Sound at all familiar?
You Are 84% Gentleman

No doubt about it, you are a total gentleman.
You please the pickiest ladies, and you make everyone in a room feel comfortable.

Interesting, rather Idiotic attempt for a job.

I chanced on a site and as I read an article which started off as a casual read became quite a serious one indeed. Visit this site "how-not-to-get-a-job". The guy has sheer audacity or was off mind to make a bigotry ruthful statement. I don't know where he was coming from. What knocked me off was what he said - "you only hire indians and pakistanis who don’t ask for a good salary. But dude, i am neither indian or paki and i have never worked for less than 2000 usd/month."

But this was a real shake up within my system on how much people hate Indians or rather how much our pride goes ashore before us. The point to note is a dimwit like Amir in the site, knows that Indians work cheap. Now, who would beat that statement. Not to say "Cheap" is the word but the fact is most of the corporations that leave the foreign shore and come to India to have their own shop set up never ever make a statement that they want an office of their own because Indians are hardworking [OR] a sizable population understand and speak English [OR] a good percent of the crowd knows what to do given a situation. Instead they market their moves differently. They say they want to come because it is "Cheap". Now a common person, regardless of being in a developed country or any part of the world, if he keeps hearing and reading the word "Cheap", then without an effort, he is going to mark the brown skinned person working in India is a "Cheap Labor". And to say Chase, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, BofA yada yada have their own offices here and cheap labor is not the only reason they are here. The market realization in South Asia is like never before and 1001 times ahead of any other country in the world.

If a corporation has to make a mark to survive, it HAS to have an operation in India. or maybe near shore. Period. End of story. That is the only sane move. But to flag the move by classifying people around as "Cheap" turns me off so much. The country cannot be blamed for that. The varying USD to Indian Rupee or UK PS to Indian Rupee or Euro to Indian Rupee is the reason for their move. And the motive should not be messed up with the labor arbitrage or the cost involved for that.

Now, the damage is already done and the classification goes beyond shores now. The writings are bold and carved wonderfully that people are going to continue to vent their feelings and thoughts by calling Indians - Cheap. Perhaps couple of generations later things might change for good. Who knows? But for records, I hate being called a Cheap Laborer any day.

Differing Thoughts.

I was reading, The Economist - At a glance post, and they put up an usual graph as they do always, but this time around, the stats sorta caught my eyes. It goes about something like "Differing Thoughts", which mainly is pertinent to the Muslim community on how they feel. The stats was based on the developed countries, mostly the Europe and North American belt. No Asia. That is besides the point.

OF FIVE Western countries polled by the Pew Research Centre, Muslims in Britain were the most likely to identify themselves by religion rather than nationality. A massive 81% considered themselves Muslim first. This was higher than in Spain or America, two other countries in which terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists have been carried out. Indeed, in America, only 47% of Muslims thought of themselves in this way, marginally more than in France. Perhaps a shared background of revolution, a written constitution and promotion of national values explains the similarities between responses in France and America: 62% of Muslims in both countries thought life was better for women there than in Muslim countries. By contrast, a mere 46% of Spanish Muslims agreed.

If they had brought in India into the equation, I wonder how many of those Muslims would have thought of themselves as Indians first as compared to Muslim would have been an interesting find. I, for one, think most of the Muslims in India blatantly support the Muslim world rather than the place where they are surviving. I am not saying all are like this. The fact is the percentage of people who feel they are Indians first would be extremely less. I don't have to remind anyone about Kargil War. I was in Hyderabad then. And the fantastic thing that happened there in this Muslim community was that they living in India, were forming "human chain" voicing concerns for their "brothers" in Pakistan. I was like what is this community made of? They live in India, enjoy the riches and yet fall out when it comes to supporting them. If this was one, they want a Muslim Bank now which gives no zero percent interest to Muslims and keep in mind, the Muslims alone can transact in this bank. The RBI thrashed out this suggestion. And it was this community who said they will not respect the National Anthem no more coz there is no mention of their community. I was like .. Hello.. you had no place to go when you had you backs slapped. So shut up and be grateful that you are able to live in a place which is extremely calm to what your community has been doing to all countries around. And, if this was not enough, the make a big deal about Knighting Rushdie ! Reason, he wrote 'Santanic Verses'.

Anyway, the longer I talk, the more dirty facts I would put up on the blog which is not what I want. The point being how much people put nationality below the regional feeling. It is a shame come to think of it.

My Personal Day of Death is...

Well then a random site has made a prediction and when it comes to the last day till when I would be alive. Strange eh? Check this out - the site called Death Clock is somehow quite sure that my personal day of death is Saturday, March 28, 2071 !

Wow! that is longer than I thought. Anyway I will take it ... 2071 is quite far. Man, what do I do living that long. Hmm... In that high note for all the girls around to take note of that number, I sign off.

Interesting saying....

"Smoke like a chimney, work like a horse, eat without thinking, sleep like a baby and go for a walk only in really pleasant company", Einstein said this very long ago. And that is how things are even now after so many years too. We need to have a good company to either pour our feelings or even to just talk to. What makes a good company and how do we know that? Is it someone who listens to us that makes that person the "pleasant company"? I, personally, think that is the way to go. Being a friday, choose a good company to chill out.

Another advertisement gimmick or truth !!

I read this article about a Black Google, which saves up power consumption blah blah. Not sure if it is true. But I as a user had a few problems accessing the site primarily because the site is all black and I cannot see the contents right.

Black Google is best explained in that site and I wonder if it would ever reach the mass or is it yet another marketing sham. I don't know. Let's see how people react to this "new" invention.

Google scanner !

I really wonder what it means being the owner of Google. One thing it strikes everyone at awe when it comes to their innovation and the other thing people or corporation bent on testing the stress levels by pushing and pulling the image for whatever reason. I think great corporations are those that are able to stand the ground regardless to the pressure. Come to think about Microsoft for a few moments, you would realise how much better off they were then. Now every tom dick and harry want to have a swipe at them and see if they stand the criticism. I remember one of the most sorted after person in the Europe who perpetrated against Microsoft in terms exposing the vulnerabilities was found out and recruited by Microsoft! Perhaps one way of knowing the enemy well would mean good for the corporations growth !!

Now without digressing, and leaving some space to talk about Microsoft glories later some other day, Google's positives were that of bringing innovation. Now that does not mean bringing in new softwares support products alone. It also means how much you make Google a self sufficient system that would make the User to look within the system for any details. I still remember the days when Yahoo and Hotmail were vying with each other in terms of amassing the user population with trifle new operations and yada yada. Google was the no one anywhere types then. It came in with a bang and gave an option of 2 gigs of server space which blew the imagination off the competitors and the users. That is some innovation and as always it comes with a price. There are so many products that Google has managed to create - organic and non organic ways. You Tube acquisition cannot go untold and Orkut - a networking community cannot go unmentioned either.

Off all the positives, there have been a few flip side, funny events too when it comes to Google. The infamous one of them all is the Google Bombs. These are something that the user community did for their political aggrandizement. For instance, when Kerry and Bush were steep contenders for the presidential elections, Google bombs like "Miserable Failure" and "Waffles" in Google search were attributed and linked to Bush's and Kerry's official websites ! That was the first time the Google was on the defense to find means and stop the Google bombs. Quite an interesting set of bloggers joined and formed the Google Bomber's site. Also, just for you insatiable interest to know if there are any more Google Bombs left click on the link Google Bombs.

If this was one story line on political defamation, Google attack seems to be a pleasure indeed. The rate at which people keep trying to catch Google pants down is mind blowing. For instance look at this. I got a mail forward one day about a folly on Google Maps particularly UK. Really funny to see a mistake like this that too when it is meant to show the direction. I spun my head and laughed like nuts.

If this was not enough, my fellow Blogger, Kartic, seems to have truly caught Google naked and seems to be slapping the naked butt hard ! He had coincidentally written about a Google Folly, pretty much when I wrote this ! Call it coincidence or was it an event with intention ! I don't know. This time around the butt of ridicule is the technology used in Orkut. Again I don't blame him. He is from Japan and people in Japan,I am told, can be hearless and merciless when see a mistake like this. But hey, it was another fun point.

But whatever, said and done. It is always fun to make a discovery like this and circulate it around to those that still have a funny bone in them. However, to do this mockery on a technology or for that matter anything as great thing to human community such as Google, as a full time event is not an appropriate thing I feel. Said and done, they are trying .. I think.

Why me !

Ever wonder what it is like when the people you had 'hidden passion' on is no longer single but you are? Damn the feeling ! Worst is'nt it. Yea that happened today. My friend in another department of specialization came to learn I was in India and traced my number out and this person I spoke to was a good 6 years back when I was in College * Blush *.

The moment the name was said I am pretty sure it would have been a mutual reaction but we did not speak for long time. Then silence and struggle for words and breath. So questions on what was conquered and achieved all along and a few other mundane questions to follow it. Then the news,"Hey Vik, know something I got married and it is a year now". BURST ! Sob sob. Then we hang up the phone. Question is why me? And as this happens, the clock cries out and I wake up sweating and panting. AH! The dream... Damn you.

A few photo gimmicks.

The original

What an alien thinks I am!

Courtesy : Dumpr

What are great men made of?

Ever wonder who great men are? Well start from fictional characters viz a viz Spidey, Superman, Batman yada yada were never claimed to be "great" men. They were rescuing and saving the men in distress alright but still men did not classify these fictional characters great. Now lets shift focus to sports person for instance, we don't call them all great either. We call them amazing or awesome people mainly because of the talent and media attention. And many more people in several fields of excellence ain't so easily called "great". So who are these great men then? When can a person be called a great person rather who calls the shots in naming a mortal great?

To answer that question, great men are you and me. No it ain't a joke. Great men are us all and when we know how to respect human beings and when we don't let the success start ruling us. It might sound a bit vague and for starters a bit of a sarcastic joke. Fact is we can all be great men if we keep all our feet really stuck hard in the ground and yet savor the condition of being an achiever.

I will give a live instance of two set of people that would sum up the content I am trying to advocate. I chanced upon a Senior Manager Sekar who works for Merrill Lynch. What a guy? He has worked almost every other part of the world. Extremely result oriented and fantastic person. I think these guys have nothing to prove anymore to anyone, given their experience with success. Imagine a condition when you are the only one Indian in the entire American operation who holds a senior management position. Fantastic. The reason why a senior manager position is sorta an apple to the eye primarily when abroad is because unlike in Developing environment, for example India, you don't get to move on to a higher position in short frame like 2 years or meeting a budget of 10-15 million! This gentleman has about 30 years of experience and when you meet him for the first time you could see the nice warm smile that does take a common by surprise. The gentlemen has a ear for what you say and never tries to ridicule the achievement that you claim is your success. This is one type of a person. Now to another one and I would not name the person for obvious reason. The guy has about 12 years of experience works in a service industry and nothing significant about him indeed primarily because he treats people with scant respect. I remember a day about 4 years ago , when we were executing a very difficult project, a guy about 6 years experience answered his question with a degree of skepticism and the guy goes ballistic. In front of everyone. Unparliamentary words. Fresh associates out of colleges stood watching the verbal abuse and I just don't want to imagine and think about the guy who got a good bit of his mind. Now he holds the position and has the money to back it. But I don't think he is quite respected at heart by his peers. Heck ! I don't think he even cares about it.

You can now know where I am coming to.

I think with greater position comes greater responsibility and one of the most important thing being the people management and knowing where you were from. The great minds in several fields of accomplishment are not the ones who had no control on their actions. Rather it is the set of people who primarily knew what "Human Beings" around them were. The people who know how to respect fellow human beings are definitely are on the path of not only success but also are on the threshold of becoming great men. This according to me is the only thing that we have to do should we have to be successful in life in true sense. We all have had moments for being sarcastic when it comes to admonishing fellow humans. Atleast I did many years back. I accept it I was brash but heck who has not done that. Now is the time we shake the qualities out of us and become sane at heart. That is the only small step that would differentiate a successful person from a great and successful person. Who you want to be your prerogative. Hey, it is a free world indeed :-)

Until then.