The exorcist

The exorcist
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

This is it. There is no point searching for a point for why i'm sitting doing nothing. Well i'm waiting for the darkness of the night to envelop along with its silence to elevate the crisp hollowness of the evening. Today a friend of mine gave me a cd of the re-released version of the exorcist.The review had good words about it. Lemme see.....how far the movie goes in giving me jolts n jitters. Well..... I know it does not happen despite my best effort to bring ghostophobia in me.The re-released version has more special effects with 6.1 channel recording. However all horror movies are the same, most of the time U'll guess what happens next. But the ring was an exception & cinematography was amazing. Its almost 2230 time for me to sit in front of the idiot box. Good night.

PS for last mail

I read this in this months sports star issue. Q.What was inside a attache case that president George.H.W.Bush once inadvertently left at a tennis tournament. Ans.The keys to the american nuclear arsenal.:-)

Was Darwin Wrong?

Today I was going thru National Geographic magazine and came across photos which supports darwin theory of evolution. However till date there is doubts about his theory. But biologists have unearthed sufficient proof to substentiate the theory. Charls darwins grand theory of evolution by natural selection , links diverse biological facts into coherent whole. Well well did I mention Biology. Biology and chandan does not match. My interests towards biology is limited only to the amazing science of HUMAN REPRODUCTION...... ;-) I recon this might be the only answer for, how I passed my Class 10th Biology tests ?.......

Darwin took crucial ideas from population theorist Thomos Maltus . "More induviduals are born than one can survive and reproduce given the limitation of food and space" Well well...... to support this we can always look into insectivorous plant such as venus fly trap occupy nutrient poor soil where compitition is less severe & survive supplimenting there diets by captured insects.

Lets see what Darwin had told about Madagascar Orchid. This orchid had 11inch long receptacle{enlarged tip of a stem that bears the floral parts used for storing necter} He predicted some where in Madagascar the place he had never visited must live moth with a proboscis(A long flexible tube/ snout used to suck necter) 11 inch long adapted to harvest orchids necter. Forty years later Madagascar Spnix moth xanthopan morganii praedicto was found confirming Darwins prediction. This is what i call as co-evolution. Talking of moths reminds me of one interesting thing. Moth is the only species apart from humans which hav ***, I mean copulate facing each other.

Skeptics of evolutionary theory ask can we see evolution, can we observe in the world? can it be measured in the laboratory? the answer is yes. Some virus evolve quickly and some slowly. Among the fastest is HIV, 'cause its method of replecation itself involvesa high rate of mutation and those mutation alows virus to assume new forms. After just a few years of infection & drug treatment each HIV patient carries unique version of virus. . Isolation within one infected personplus differing conditions & struggle to survive forces each version of HIV to evolve indipendently. Its nothing but what darwin saw in Galpogos except each human body is an Island & newly evolved forms are'nt so chaming as finches, mocking birds or even female form of human species. We have come a long way since darwin looked for evidence in pigeon hole.

I guess this was it...........Hmmm apart from getting stuck in rain today and having Nanari. Well lemme think, Ok I wont write any thing about Nanari in this bloglet. Since nanari itself deserves a entire bloglet. Few minutes back I came to my normal self after quite a few hours of being in fuzzy state.This was because I was totally drenched & when I came to my nibhourhood which had not received a single drop of rain made me feel out of place. Don't mind my habit of writing aimlessly. Any way I dont care as long as I start disliking this habit. Adios till my next mail.

Googlism for: chandan

This is a summary of what Google has to say on Chandan V. All thanks to http://www.googlism.com for this entirely comprehensive and insightful analysis: chandan is just having fun with language ? chasing it around in the hope that it will lead him somewhere significant {This reminds me, I've to learn french yet } chandan is the artist behind this site { This is what I call as co-incidence } chandan is also a former beauty queen { I never knew I was good at cross dressing } chandan is not one of those populist poets who has a stream of "wah { But I do write poems} chandan is also making a statement about the life and vitality of his own personal roots chandan is blessed with astounding pre { But, alas sitting here slogging for my exams} chandan is also severely beaten up and dumped in jungle to die { But he was left with a laptop with high speed internet connectivity for blogging this } chandan is board certified in internal medicine chandan is joining the linguistics department having read sanskrit for his ba and ma at the university of chandan is hanging precariously on a rope and climbing a mountain chandan is continuing the album chandan is still refusing to take normal food { This is news} chandan is a classically trained musician and his mother had a vast repertoire of folk music chandan is representative of the south asian poets living here and writing in a variety of asian languages; little of this work chandan is a student at sussex university and stood in to replace david morgan chandan is always busy ( I hope people will realise why I take a lifetime to reply messages) chandan is not a party member and i am not supposed to know about him chandan is born at rivenport seahold chandan is killed chandan is a registered dietitian who works in nutritional support chandan is a 3 star hotel with many amenities chandan is no better than those caught on the wrong side of the law in his greed chandan is owned by cbs entertainment ltd { I dont remember them paying me any thing} chandan is a disinfectant { Now I know, Why mosquitoes dont bite me} chandan is formed in 2 times of 4 elements chandan is 28 years old location chandan is hanging precariously on a rope on the mountain chandan is a classical singer and used to sing at the gurdwara chandan is living there" chandan is beyond imagination" { People never took this seriously } chandan is helpful for erasing hypermentation scars chandan is a muslim chandan is still in jail

The Terminal

Well few days back I watched the movie The Terminal. Amazing movie. The Terminal is an utterly charming story about Navorski's innocent and rather mysterious fish-out-of-water character. The film has plenty of laughs and several tear-jerking moments. Spielberg seems to have a handle on when and how to tug at the audience's heartstrings. The Terminal is a comedy, a drama, and a romance all in one without ever really becoming one for too long. The film has a classic feel to it and Spielberg indeed pulls it off. The story centers around Navorski's(Tom Hanks) misfortune of being unable to leave the JFK Airport due to a war in his homeland.

Wildcraft gear

Amogh's new purse

Nice to know that india has retained its position as the world's fourth largest economy after US. China, japan according to world bank report. Good for amogh that he has brought a new purse so that he could spend the money in style till the inflation crawls in. Well since i mentioned inflation I'ld like to tell its effect on economy. It has a three fold effect. First inflation has an immediate effect on interest rates. Inflation reduces the purchasing power of every rupee earned. It leads to an increase in interest rates. Secondly it has an impact on the exchange rate of the country. Exchange rate depends on the inflationary trends prevailing in the economy. Thirdly inflation and economic growth are inversely proportional. Any way we dont have to worry about that till the second phase of globalisation. Lets hope india goes upto first position as worlds largest economy.

Astrix in Spain

astrix
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

I consider Astrix in Spain, most hilarious compared to all the other books in series. Gauls enthu & willingness to take on with romans is what amuses me every time. Click the pic to see a bigger image

Organised Retail Market

The traffic in bannerghatta main road(near my office) has considerably increased in past few weeks inspite of a fly over construction. This is because a shopping mall " Shoppers Stop" has been opened. The Indian economy is in a state of rapid transition & market is evolving . As a result you can witness shopping malls & supercenter popping up in and across Bangalore. The following summary is my views on organized retail market & there challenges.The major players in Bangalore are Food world, Fab Mall, Shoppers Stop,Globus, Forum (Multi Specialty complex consisting of most of the above said Malls), Family Mart, Mega Mart, METRO. Though Forum is biggest in terms of size and goods sold, I prefer metro as it is more sophisticated & transparent. However choices are less there and the end users cant directly purchase from Metro. Organized retail market, unlike traditional retail market is highly structured & seeks to provide economy to the consumers.Over the last five years a no of large business groups such as Tata's, RPG, Raheja's have set up stores and malls. However the consumer market is unpredictable & due to competition I believe organized retail has to work on the following issues to cash in the opportunities.

1. Organized retailing has to be stepped in strong conceptual clarity, rather then adapting business models grown in west. It is important to take into consideration Indian Context, which is Unique in itself.
2. The extensive development of subbrands make it more complicated for the non food retailers. The solution lies in the developing the concept of store branding & Metro is leading the way in this regard.
3. Increase in cost of floor space in turn results in cost of products sold. This is important to note that there is an emerging paradox in this regard.
4.They have to understandt the turbulence of external environment. It is important that Indian organized retail braces itself for inevitable.
5. The common issue for any business is availability of trained personnel & retain Human resource. It is important to note that specialty chains compete on service, a segment called "category killers" offers price as an advantage. Toys R us is good example of category killer. Any way more the players, It is better. The consumers will benefit the advantage of competition.

Taxi, the movie

Yesterday was calm and peaceful. I had a 6.1channel wave guide speakers along with a dvd player all for myself, where i spent the night alone. I watched Taxi. The movie is a comedy thriller however i infer its a fiction. The movie is full of bank robberies and car chase. The fiction part of the movie is, the cars are driven by women and are capable of driving 100 kmph in reverse gear. Also one of the them gets qualified for Nasscar. Yet at the same time its brilliantly funny and the car chase reminds me of nfs hot pursuit.

Mushroom at gharthikere

Mushroom at gharthikere
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

This picture was captured near Garthikere ( Western Ghats, India) during my visit there. The mushroom had grown on a rock on the river bed. The habitate had high humidity & had dense forest surrounding the place . Also we were planning to include this mushroom in our next days break fast. Since we had seen this fungi for the first time, we decided not to. However on return when we checked the details of the fungi, we got few interesting results. In case you come across this mushroom i would like to suggest you, some interesting experiments with them.
Jack-O-Lantern mushroom. (Omphalotus, Clitocybe). which grows on Base of stumps, decaying tree roots and are Poisonous. It should be fairly obvious from the picture where this fungus gets its common name-- it's bright orange like the pumpkins used to make Jack-O-Lanterns. However, it is not so obvious from the picture the other reason for the common name. This fungus actually glows in the dark! Not the whole fungus, but just the gills on the underside of the mushroom. If you find these mushrooms, take them into a very dark room and stare at the gills of the fungus until your eyes become acclimated to the dark-- you should see an eerie greenish glow emanating from the mushrooms. The glow is caused by the presence of luciferases, waste products or secondary metabolites from the physiological activities of the mycelium of the fungi. Putting the wastes into the above-ground fruiting structure is the fungus's way of getting rid of its waste products. Omphalotus olearius can often be found in large quantities, such as you see here. They smell very good, and many people have been tempted to eat this fungus. -- but it's poisonous. Omphalotus poisoning usually manifests itself as severe cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, all of which can last up to a few days. This fungi won't kill you-- it will just make you wish you were dead.

A lazy Weekend

Saturday:

Watched Gone in 60 sec. Also had gone to a Chinese restaurant Manjia. My friends treat. Now it is difficult to understand the value of free treat. But believe me, for anyone, there are few things in life as precious as his dose of FREE TREAT. Free treat is not just free treat. Its something much more valuable than that. The fun of eating free(biti) food did not last long. The food was horrible and what is even more special is that my friend ended up paying more then 500bucks. We ate Pani Pooris on road side just to forget the unforgettable taste that was cleverly administered to us by the hotel authorities.

Sunday:
The whole of the day, all that I effectively did was to lie on the sofa, sit on the sofa, sleep on the sofa, watch TV from the sofa " UNDISTURBED", and read books on the sofa. Amazingly I even managed to finish a Novel by Salman Rushdie again UNDISTURBED. Weekend would always be a bliss when every thing is UNDISTURBED and left to the nature to take its course.

Second hander.

The following picked statement was picked from a blog I came across. With due apologies to the blogger. Read the following statement by MacCauley, British politician and historian. Taken from Lord MacCauley's Minutes of 1835, a famous speech in the British Parliament, Lord MacCauly said: "Lord Macaulay's presentation to the British Parliament "I have travelled across the length and breadth of Hindusthan [India ] and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, . Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own , they will lose their self-esteem, their native self- culture and they will become what we want them, a truly a dominated nation."

Gulugulu Shankara

Gulu Shankara
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

This is located 2hr drive from our farm house. This is a small stream of water flowing naturally from the earth. Basically a spring. The speciality being whenever you clap or make noise, bubbles used to come from inside. The villagers consider this source divine and worship the place. Also salt formation in the spring appears like stalacite & stalagmite. The water appears greenish due to the presence of algae and if you throw leaf of grass, it first submerges and then starts floating. Quite intresting place especially the journey to reach there. You will have to travel inside mist covered forests and the entire habitate has unusual silence. We came across many natuural bridges & streams on the way.

Working with Idiots

Fw: Working with Idiots,
originally uploaded by Time Machine.

This pic was emailed to me long time back. I've have realized the significance of the research after working for sometime with my newly appointed secretry.

Oscilloscope

Today I was reading an article on latest trends in oscilloscopes(OS) with state of the art foot prints & multiple functionality's. I still remember _ , In my college they used to give us one mean looking, hefty, difficult to carry around OS to carry out our electronics experiment . One OS was assigned for 4 students who were instructed to handle the scopes as delicately as possible. We were supposed to get a special permission from the instructor to change parameters in OS while doing the expts. In case of any damage the entire batch had to pay for the replacement of OS. Despite our best efforts on handling, our batch mate managed to push off the OS ( of course unknowingly) from the table. I still wonder " How did she manage to do that?". Fortunately for us when the instructor (with ashen white face appeared as if he had a shock frm 1000MV source) came to inspect the damage the OS worked very well. As soon as he left the table the OS ended up with fumes & sparks which showed no signs of recovery. However we escaped from paying the demurrage charges.

Auto Suspension Reinvented II

Refer my previous post on Bose Suspension. Bose Inc was started by Mr. Amar Bose & is now a leading audio/ Hi-Fi manufacturer. The referred suspension works work with the help of linear electromagnetic motors, power amplifier & control algorithms. This linear motor expands & contracts with the help of power amplifiers. The amplifier is based on switching amplification technologies pioneered by Dr Bose in MIT. The entire module which is designed to fit into conventional cars will increase manourabality & control. They are expected to hit the market in four years

Hassan & SEZ

Last week was indeed hectic with lot of confussion and problems. This includes negotiation with police over an accident. Continuing in this spirit of understanding and growth of this blog I would like to pour in my views on SEZ's comming up at Hassan,
The trip was unexpected and I went there(Hassan) on 22nd night. A very silent town but most of the times it comes into news for the constant communial riots and other political issues. The most important of all is Mr HD Devegowda's constituency is Hassan. Politics apart, On 23rd I visited a small temple at Mavinkere(25 - 30 KM from Hassan) and from there I went to Ram Devara Katte ( A part of Hemavathi River Power Project Plant). A Self contained unit capable of producing 2.5MGD capacity. On 24th I took a walk to SEZ site comming up at hassan. The SEZ will occupy 2500 Acre of land with state of the art facilities. However the work is going on very slowly and currently there is no direct railway link from Bangalore to Hassan. I recon the major draw back of this project will be the raiway link which is considered very vital. However the work on the railway line is going on and is expected to be completed by March 2005.
Concept of Special Economic Zones In India, in order to promote foreign investments in the manufacturing and allied sectors for enabling exports, domestic regulations/ restrictions need to be reduced and infrastructure inadequacies removed.
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) aim to provide a hassle free environment by reducing and simplifying procedures, normally encountered for operation of a business activity as well as substantially upgrading the basic infrastructure facilities in and around them. SEZs are specifically delineated duty – free enclaves, treated as foreign territories for the purpose of industrial, service and trade operations. The SEZs enjoy the exemption of custom duties and a liberal regime in respect of other levies. The present SEZ scheme in India seeks to create a simple and procedurally transparent system for enhancing productivity and ease of doing business in India. SEZs in India can be developed in public, private or joint sectors, or by state governments and lay emphasis on active participation of the private sector in development of the SEZs. The objective is to establish large, self – contained areas supported by world class infrastructure oriented towards exports.
The rationale for setting up of an SEZ could be summarised as follows:
• Providing domestic/foreign companies a conducive environment to set up a base for international trade activities.
• Boost exports and earn valuable foreign exchange for the country • Exploit opportunities from the free trade regime
Special Economic Zones in India
In line with the SEZ policy a number of state governments in India are keen on developing/ promoting SEZs in their respective states with or without participation by the private sector. The SEZs currently planned in the country include Dronagiri (Navi Mumbai) in Maharashtra, Nanguneri in Tamilnadu, Rambili in Andhra Pradesh and Gopalpur in Orissa. Further, some of the existing EPZs have also been converted into SEZs, such as Kochi in Kerala, Kandla and Surat in Gujarat and Santa Cruz in Mumbai.
Project Profile
Hassan Special Economic Zone, Karnataka
Karnataka’s pioneering efforts
The Government of Karnataka (GoK) has been one of the front-runners in economic reforms and has been actively pursuing development and provision of infrastructure services through various forms of public private partnerships. Some of the projects, including those with private sector participation, include railway projects (USD 400 mn), urban infrastructure (USD 250 mn), the new international airport at Bangalore (USD 230 mn), state highways and rural roads (USD 297 mn) and sea-port development (USD 160 mn). Other large infrastructure development initiatives, including minor sea-ports and minor airports development are presently in the planning stage. At present, Karnataka does not have a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) or an Export Processing Zone (EPZ). The only facility focusing on such exports is the EPIP at Whitefield near Bangalore. To develop Karnataka as the industrial and technology hub in the southern part of India. Government of Karnataka (GoK) has proposed to set up a SEZ close to Hassan town within an area of about 1000 hectares (Hassan SEZ). GoK also proposes to select a private investor to develop, operate and maintain the SEZ under a joint venture, through a competitive bidding process. Hassan SEZ would not only provide high quality infrastructure facilities but also provide unique location/site specific advantages such as trained manpower, raw material, climatic conditions etc GoK has issued the necessary notifications as required by Government of India (GoI) for the implementation of the SEZ, which would simplify the procedures and facilitate the development of the SEZ and the operation of business units within it.

Auto suspension Reinvented

The BOSE has developed suspension with significant advancement in linear electromagnetic moters, Power amplifiers, control alogorithms and computation speed. Wait for my next post to know more about the same.

Trip to garthikere

Garthikere is small village attached to a forest reserve. It is a two hour drive from Shimoga. I had been there to my uncles farm house for two days. Also visited a small stream called Gulugulu shankara nearby. It was basically a spring. Details of this spring will be poted in my next mail. I've uploaded the pics taken at the trip. They can be viewed at www.flickr.com/photos/chandan/