Monday, December 12, 2005

Bangalore Habba

Had been to Bangalore Habba yesterday (11.12.05). The annual weeklong cultural festival of unparalleled scale that brings together the finest and the most popular artistes together for India’s first ever city festival. It was fun to be there. The weather was excellent and the crowd was rocking. There was one technology exibition i missed yesterday, but no regrets. The event was as follows

Kannan Balakrishnan- Carnatic Music and Percussion Ensemble, Bollywood Nite- Yana Gupta, Shaan, Alka Yagnik, Fashion Show by Vikram Phadnis

In btwn, Eagerly waiting for Vasantahabba 2006 which usually happens in Feb every year. Vasantahabba has come to be known as the Woodstock of Indian classical dance and music.So, I would say there is no hype about Vasantahabba. It is as truthful an experience as it can be. I can only suggest to you people to NOT miss out this GREAT festival.

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Most irritating Ads

Here is a list according to me are the most irritating ads being aired in Indian tele. A great Ad should be funny or creative making you remember the product. But sometimes some boring to watch ads played again and again during prime time will make us remember the product.

Here goes the worst five ads being aired

5. Happydent
4. Harpik challanges
3. Kurkure featuring Juhi Chawla
2. Castrol Lubes featuring Zahir Khan
1. Tata Indicom true paid ad featuring Kajol & Ajay

Well the list goes on

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Wi-Fi in Mountain View

What do u think would be the best community outreach program from any company ? Well Google is planning to provide free Wi Fi internet connection to an entire city of mountain view where google is headquartered. You can check there official report here. Impressive Isn't it. How I hope Google was head quartered here at bangalore and we would be enjoying free wireless internet connection in the city.

As a matter of fact it does'nt cost much for a big multinational company to provide Wi - Fi connection and is inexpensive as well. All it requires is a right attitude and of course some serious support from government. It'll be nice to call our city "Wi Fi Enabled".

Hmmmm, Well on second thougts lets assume that, some IT company is willing to make Bangalore a Wi Fi Hub, Does we really deserve it when there are many serious issues to be addressed such as basic infrastructural development. May be we could use the same money to have a stronger and better roads. And I strongly feel that the true importance and significance is lost when things are given free of cost. People start misusing the benifit. What do u say ???

Saturday, November 05, 2005

France Elevates its Security Level

Recently I came across the following and is very funny

As many are aware, the French government recently announced a raise in its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The normal level is "General Arrogance", and the only two higher levels in France are "Surrender" and "Collaborate". The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.

It's not only the French that are on a heightened level of alert:Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate military posturing". Two more levels remain, "Ineffective combat operations" and "Change sides".

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdain" to "Dress in uniform and sing marching songs". They have two higher levels: "Invade a neighbour" and "Lose".

Seeing this reaction in continental Europe the Americans have gone from "Isolationism" to "Find another oil-rich nation for regime change". Their remaining higher alert states are "Attack random countries (ideally those without any credible military)" and "Beg the British for help".

The British are also feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved". Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross". Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the Blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "Bloody Nuisance". The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the Great Fire of 1666.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Catch 22 Situation

Recently I came across a very interesting article here about non-credible threats and effects.

The non-credible threat is a strategy that youngsters learn very early in life and many hone the skill into true art. They learn that they can get their way on occasion if they make a threat to do something that would be essentially self-destructive. An example might be a child who threatens to hold his breath until he passes out unless the parent gives him what he wants. He probably wouldn’t go through with it, but one never knows. That’s why it is effective. Indian parents are masters in the art. If they don’t like your new girlfriend and perhaps soon-to-be wife, they might threaten to disown you and never allow you to step foot in the house again.
Well as a matter of fact I myself am a victim of many non-credible threats and believe me its very difficult to face this kind of situations. Slowly I evolved into a more enlightened being and started saying no or oppose the threats being forced upon me. Now it’s a very clear fact that non-credible threats don’t work on me. So if it does not work on me then it does not work on other people too. Sooner or later they will start opposing/ignoring the threats. Sooo, now what’s the strategy to get our way on occasion and it should not be harsh on other people. Well My take on this is to create a CATCH 22 situation where in the victim has to perform the deeds specified.
In short, its basic meaning is that if there was a rule, no matter what the rule is, there is always an exception to it. It is a mysterious regulation that is in essence a circular argument. The catch is used by people to uphold and increase their power, and yet it is harmful to those who do not have power in the first place. It creates situations where, when you think everything is perfect, Catch-22 pops up and makes your plans impossible.
I started thinking more about this while doing my project about designing company policies and regulations. I’m not being very cruel towards the people and have not included any catch in the project I did. I strongly hate doing things like this. Hmmm, the thing is if you come across any situation wherein you are forced to use non-credible threat, better create a catch 22 situation and it works.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Movie Marathon

List Of movies watched Last week

1. Transporter 2 - ***

Despite some serious flaws, and issues with the plot, "The Transporter 2" is fun, silly, over the top, action film, that contain some truly inventive moments."One scene, involving Frank's on-the-move solution for disarming a bomb under his car,is particularly impressive. Also Frank's serious yet cool attitude is what i liked the most in the movie. I had been to theater and was was worth the money spent.

2. Madagascar - ***

Nice timepass. One song " I like it moving moving" is seriously fun to watch, I replayed the song few times, just to see the animation and the movements that has been cleverly done.

3. Finding Nemo - *****

Must Watch. Nothing more to say.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Asterix is back

Well people and all you Asterix fans a new Astrix book " The Sky Falls On His Head" is being released next month on 14 October. Nice to hear that he will be back after a long long time. This will be the 33rd book in asterix series.The book will be distributed in 27 countries and some eight million copies are already printed and wait to be released. Eagerly waiting to lay my hands on it. I've read all the 32 books and I've a copy of almost all of them (e-books).

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Upgrading myself

Hmmm Finally I decided to purchase a computer and brought one today. Yaa I know its bit too late but I was always waiting for a better thing to hit market. As the saying goes "Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget”. And the same is applicable to my PC. My initial configuration was supposed to be the latest & fastest among the breed and ended up purchasing second next to the best. : - (There is always a possibility of upgrading. Unfortunately whenever a system becomes completely defined, some damn fool discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it beyond recognition depriving us of the possibility of up gradation.

Deciding my configuration was pain stakingly difficult and I was researching for the info from past one week. It became so complicated that I had to make use of advanced logic which of course is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence. Finally I stuck to my instincts & zeroed in on the present configuration. Hence I suggest you to draw your curves first and then plot your reading. That will save u lots of time and the decision will also be a reasonable one.

I was very much against floppy drives the day since I first saw a computer. If you're in a hurry, your floppy needs a format, a floppy drive wont work, or your files will be erased. Any way, you're screwed if you have a deadline. So I decided to exclude floppy drive from my configuration. Unfortunately the very important file that I wanted was on a floppy disk. There it goes again. I decided to borrow my friend's drive for a day or two. Well fate was totally against me and we were unable to remove the screws holding the floppy drive no matter what we did. This is called getting screwed in the wrong time. Finally I had no other option other than purchasing a floppy drive.

At last I rigged up every thing and installed Windows XP. "Ahhh this is how you spell relief" I think I told that a bit too loud and early. I restarted my comp to see a message " ENCOUNTERED A FATAL ERROR”. Millions of people believe they are animals, but I have yet to meet one that believes in Windows' stability. Even human stupidity has limits ;-). So I had to install a fresh copy all over again crossing my fingers. Finally comp is up & running and the onboard graphic card is above expectation. I'm able to play most of the games with reasonable frame rate excluding Half-life II.

Well finally No matter what problem you have with your computer - Its Always Microsoft's fault. Corollary: If it’s not their fault - Blame them anyway :-)

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Blink

Blink is almost entirely about describing instances of snap judgements that either assisted or led people astray in their decision making. Most of the point that the author tries to tell is already known. Yes, our snap judgments are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Yes, our considered judgments are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Thou the author tries to explain things with scientific experements, they are just conclussions that we madewhile we were growing up. However I liked a particular chapter regarding Warren Harding Effect that happens in our sub consious. Marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect". That is instant dislike to people whoare ugly and a soft corner to a person who is good looking. Also solutions to overcome warren harding effect. Excluding few good chapters this book is airy nothing.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

The AXE Effect

Recently I came across a travelouge that suggested a very innovative way of removing leeches painlessly. They could be easily removed thru AXE Deo. Yes you heard me right its AXE Deodrant. Just try it the next time you go trekking. When you spay AXE on leech infested area, Leeches just fall off your skin and die in seconds.I assume that its the alchohol in the spray that does this. Well but that does'nt explain the death of leeches. All in all this tip may come across handy.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Do Self help books really help ?

Well as a matter of fact It doesn't. I'm really surprised to see so many self help books being sold like hot cakes. To name a few " YOU CAN WIN" , " HOW TO BECOME RICH", " SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCESSFUL PEOPLE" etc. The basic thing to consider here is, if a person cant help himself then how can a self help book help him. It will be like learning to swim studying a book. I've seen some self help books and almost all of them asks us to change. Hmmm if we were to change then there was no need to use a self help

Its a challenge to help a person who "does'nt get it" in a certain area of life to get a place where they do "get it". Its a challenge that not many people undertake. Many people will just expalin techniques and only priciples. But to take a person who doesn't have a real frame of reference for some thing, like success with people/money and to get them to where there're willing to accept a completly new way of looking at things is never easy.

There is lot of power in deciding that you will do " WHATEVER IT TAKES" to acheive your goals, and I really hope that you make the commitment to yourself to get this area of your life handled for good. Take a minute right now and commit to yourself. Commit to doing whatever it takes to get this part of your life sorted. The more commited you are to YOUR SELF, the faster you will improve, and the more likely you are to experience the success that you really want.

Friday, August 12, 2005

kalya caves

Last weekend was bliss. This blog-let has been posted bit late, as I was unable to find time to blog. We had been to a rocky place called Kalya caves situated near Magdi. A very interesting place indeed.

Rock climbing; cave exploration or a relaxing swim in the clean blue pond, packaged beautifully in the thick rocky hills, offering offbeat adventure for a perfect weekend getaway. For trekking and rock climbing enthusiasts scouting for some daring daylight adventure, the 10-acre (approx) rocky retreat at Kalya caves near Magadi town could be an ideal place.

We were unable to leave at the decided time. We were late by almost 6Hrs. Initially I was frustrated to an extent where in I had almost decided to drop out. But believe me; this was one among my best experiences. The journey was eventful and the road is excellent winding between hills and farms. The weather was excellent and added more colors to the Sylvain setting.

Since we were using our motorcycles to reach there the sense of presence with nature was overwhelming. That road whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness. Getting there is tricky since most of the locals don’t know about Kalya caves. After reaching Magdi you will have to go still further and take a right turn. Follow the winding path across the lake, which is towards the left side. Your base camp will be the foot of the hill that is just beside the lake. We parked our vehicles there & had our lunch. It is better to carry food, as there are no hotels on the way.

The accent was fun since its precariously laid-out multi pitch climb. We came across few temples, which were closed. I’ve heard that there are cave painting inside the temple. We climbed between a small gap of two giant rocks, which was exceptionally dark compared to the surroundings, and we could see a streak of light coming from the other end of the path. Also we had to crawl below bushes and trees to reach the top.

On the way we came across a gap between two rocks that resembled a cave. We had to crawl in and it was surprisingly very cool compared to the surroundings. We spent some time resting on our back, as the space was very less that we couldn’t even sit. The best part is you will be laying inside the two rocks, which is 400ft above ground level over looking the horizon. You could listen to bird’s chirping and the sound of wind brushing the rocks. We lay there for quite some time listening to nature and slapstick comedy Uma Shankar was making.

When we reached the top of the hills I saw the best sunset I had seen and directly opposite to the sun we could see a rainbow. It was like a description from a children’s storybook. All in all the place is worth visiting.


History of Kalya Caves as told by Paawana Poonacha/TNN

Kalya rocky hill abounds in caves, two cave temples, a placid lake and a good number of wells. According to locals, Kalya was known to be a centre of learning for the Jains, Buddhists, Vaishnavas and Veerashaivas. The place was earlier known as Kalavaripattana, which is said to have inspired Telugu poet Vemana to write several of his famous poems. Telugu inscriptions on the main Kalya temple prove this school of thought. There is also a deep well at the base of the rocky hill, which never dries up even during the most severe drought, say locals. Paving the way to the top are two routes - one to the Kali Devi temple and the other to Kalleshwara Math. Ascending the rugged path to reach the hilltop is another exciting adventure. Huge monolithic rocks dot the bushy hill. Some have even spotted bears and mongoose deep inside. A gigantic 20-metre boulder - with its base occupying very little space in comparison to its height and girth - makes a spellbinding spectacle on the hilltop. The Kalleshwara Matha is a large complex of various temples dedicated to Ishwara, Nandi and Parvathi. Other than the cave temples there are many modern temples. The Kalleshwara Matha has a small court yard and a vast cave under a rock shelter. This cave is large and is called the Guru Matha or the teacher's abode. It is here that the main deity or Kalleshwara is installed in the form of a Linga. The Kali Devi temple comprises 108 images of various gods and demigods. The intricate sculptures and objects here are catchy. A stone dolmen exists atop a steep rock behind the Kali Devi temple. The getaway is incomplete without plunging into the clear waters of the pond situated opposite the hillock. Trekkers often descend down the lake to rejuvenate themselves with a good swim here.


Distance: 56 km from Bangalore, Located near Magadi Town.
How to get there: Buses are available only till Magadi town. Private vehicle recommended to cover another 3 km to reach the caves.
Food: Best to carry.
Best time to visit: Monsoon.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Digital Fortress

Finished reading this book few minutes back. It is not as bad as the reviews tell. However there are certain technical inaccuracies. But this is a good weekend read if there is lot of time to spare.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Life is very unfair

"Life is like a thin thread, It takes only a second to snap it", How true...Pritvi, who we called "Dadiya", was a good friend of us.You were always supportive of what we wanted to do and what we had done. V miss u, v miss ur rational thoughts, v miss ur advices, u were Mr. Hitch to all heart broken souls, v miss ur conversations, v miss the high energy hip dances,no party and outing would be same without you. Dude as you always said life is very unfair.

Saturday, July 02, 2005

A Little Perspective

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE I CAME ACROSS

Pythagorean theorem: 24 words
The Lord's Prayer: 66 words
Archimedes' Principle: 67 words
The 10 Commandments: 179 words
The Gettysburg Address: 286 words
The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
U.S. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26911 words

Thursday, June 30, 2005

How do u like this ?



















The spirit of enterprise. It's booming, and in a much wider swathe of industries than you'd think. The effect of globalisation is being felt across India. Globalisation in relation to India has been a two way process. Global forces have had a considerable impact on India at all levels of its life. They are penetrating its economy and reshaping its structure and mode of operation. They are forcing India to redefine its place in the world and its relation to its neighbours and the west. India's educational and cultural life, TV and print media, and its perception of itself and the world are also undergoing profound changes. Not surprisingly, India today is quite different from what it was barely ten years ago, and it is not easy to predict how it will progress during the next few years.


India has not been a passive recipient of global impact. Both directly and through its diaspora, it has increasingly become a significant global presence. India's literature, arts, films, religions, food, textiles, fashions and music are now an integral part of life in the west. Its doctors, IT specialists, computer scientists, small and large industrialists, managers and engineers are present in the west in large numbers and have made a very considerable impact. Indeed, they are admired for their skills and hard work and are much sought after. As a result u can witness more and more CEO's emerging from this sub-continent


Most CEOs see leisure as an occupational necessity, but for some it is a positive pleasure. Here in the inset u can see chandan (Prospective CEO from India), having a day out in Banyan County relaxing after a weeks hard work. Just the thing for CEOs who need to get that mile high view of their business environment. So ppl I'ld love to see ur comments on this, keep it comming.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Banyan County & Art of Living

Banyan County & Art of Living Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

After a very long interval I had a weekend to remember. Thou my frnds go out often I usually stay behind due to many unexplainable or rather complex reasons of mine. After lot of planning & replanning we decided to go to Minchinballe, a small reservoir near Mysore road. But as usual we ended up going to a different destination which of course is a result of various combinations of events. Lemmme tell u some thing; In case u want your Biological clock to be permanently damaged, I suggest you spend some time with us. Hmmm I hope u understand the reason for the different destination.

We had gone to a small holiday village "Banyan County". Nice place which is approximately 15 Km off Mysore Rd from Blore. Food is horrible but the place is silent & peaceful. It has four swimming pools to suit your requirement. It was almost one year since I had my last swim, hence relaxed some time in the pool. The best part is, you cld have your food served next to the pool. No Entry Fees and very less ppl know about this place. I suggest u go there before it gets crowded.

Sunday was a bliss. I spent most of the time sleeping and watching TV. However I and Amogh had gone to Art of Living, located on Kanakpura Main Road. Not that we are heading towards a spiritual enlightenment nor a special interest in art of living. Its just the journey to go there that we enjoy the most. We usually prefer silent old roads that takes us nowhere. Tensions disappear along roads like this. Well I liked the interior of art of living meditation complex. It's an air conditioned meditation hall or rather building with very high glass panes placed instead of walls. Since the building is in an higher region you can have a bird's view of sorrounding places sitting inside the Hall. I suggest ppl to go there only on weekdays when the crowd is less

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

New Looks

Finally after lot of tweaking and re-working of template I've finally decided upon a new template to celebrate the 2000th visitor to my blog. I've adapted a simple theme Minima as my base template and have developed the existing theme. It is more simple and goes well with the title. Thanks maria on your suggestion. The blog is best viewed in 1024x768 resolution. I'ld love to see your comments and feed back. Thank you, people, for making Time Machine such a wonderful place to share, connect, and express. I love you all!

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Hidden Retreat

Road to TG Dam Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

We had been to TG dam on Magadi road toaday and is a nice place to vist during monsoon. Since access to dam is prohibited to public I have included a article that discribes the way to reach the other end of Dam. Journey was eventful & the road passes btwn various hills and farms.
HIDDEN RETREATS-II Ideal spot to picnic in backwaters: TIPPAGONDANAHALLI (aka Thippagondanahalli, Thippagondana halli, Tippagondana halli & Tippa gondana halli) By Anita Rao Kashi/TNN
Bangalore: If you are at a loose end on a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning and don't wish to go too far from Bangalore, then Thippagondanahalli (T.G. Halli) is the ideal place for a family picnic. Essentially a reservoir at the confluence of rivers Arkavathy and Kumbavathy, it is about 35 km from Bangalore on the way to Magadi. Since T.G. Halli supplies drinking water to 20 per cent of the city, entry from the main gate, which leads to the supply and treatment areas, is restricted. But the backwaters can be approached from just outside Magadi town. Though water sports are generally not encouraged since there are no guards, boating is done intermittently. However, thick foliage and woody areas around the backwaters conceal many hiking and trekking trails. Many enthusiastic bikers eye the area; the winding road to reach the dam backwaters is equally scenic.
The dam is not without history: In 1931, due to increasing population in Bangalore, per capita water availability dwindled to 45 litres and water sources within the city were not sufficient. An expert committee was set up, which recommended building of a dam across Arkavathy. The task was given to the state's greatest engineering mind - Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The dam, also called Chamarajasagar, was completed and commissioned in 1933. It has been in working condition ever since.
Getting there: Distance: About 35 km. How to get there: Take the Magadi Road out of Bangalore and follow it till you reach the reservoir gate; go past it round the bend, past the bridge and climb back towards Magadi on the other side. Half way up the incline look for a muddy road on the right. The road is bumpy and pebbly and will lead you straight on to the water's edge. By public transport: Regular buses ply between Bangalore and Magadi, but there is no stop, so please check with the driver if he will drop you at the turnoff.
Food: Best to carry; Magadi 15 km from dam) or Tavarakere (5 km before dam are the nearest towns, but food in these places is basic at best. Best time to visit: After monsoon; it could be treacherous during the rains, dry in summer.
Tips: The paths are quite pebbly, so watch your step. It's advisable to go in groups and leave before dark. Also visit: Ranganatha temple and fort in Magadi. "

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

The thing I like about my office

It's 36 degrees outside, there's a 0 mile-an-hour wind and it looks like there'll be no rain for another 10 days. You could see the dust rising from soil displaced by occasional vehicles passing by. The place in conversation is my office situated in an industrial zone amidst the busiest part of Bangalore viz Bannerghatta Main Road. At this very moment our office can easily pass out as land of eternal summer. I'm drenched in sweat, which of course is rare phenomenon since I don’t sweat easily. There is an unusual silence all around and one single occupant occupies the entire first floor of the office and that is me. Well this is because of my innovative suggestion towards overhead and cost reduction. Within a span of 10weeks 20% of the company employees left their jobs in peruse of better opportunities or rather there was a massive layoff. Along with the heat I’ve have other ppls work to take care of; that includes imports, purchase, sales, finance, system & ERP implementation in 6 hours a day. Later on I’ve my classes to attend which of course is the toughest part of the day.

With all this, most of the noise making industries (basically manufacturing units) in and around are being replaced by software industries. This has added more silence to existing silence. Despite all this I’m inhaling a pleasant aroma of coffee being brewed in a nearby coffee processing unit. I believe it’s one among few things that keeps me going between my musings. There are very few words in English language that could explain the effect of this coffee aroma on me in an industrial area like this. Hmmm as I always say sometimes small things like this can make a huge difference.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Half life

Few days back I got to play Half life 2. A very interesting game but at certain stages the game is monotonous & creepy. However if you have sufficient time, a PC with high end graphic card & a 5.1 channel sound card then the game is a must play. The water detail and visulisation is amazing. If you are not careful you may end up jumping from your seat by sudden surprises. Till date no other game had done that to me. I played around 6 levels and the pc had a low end graphic card. Well in any case Half life is based on AI architecture that is shedule driven state machine. Baddies and NPC's in the game can have several different states. They can assess how much helth the player has, where the player is heading, how many of their own kind are left in the room, wether to flea or fight back. No two gamers will enconter the same reaction from game to game. Half life is basically, the biggest advance in the first person shooter game. Well dont forget to try your hands on gravity gun. You will get that weapon some where in fourth level and the weapon simply rox. 
 
Here's a list of top 5 games that I like on priority basis
 
1. Call of Duty
2. Medal of Honour
3. Half Life 
4. Unreal Tournament
5. Need for Speed UG  

Monday, May 09, 2005

The Eleventh Round

Here is a nice small fable from a book The Future of Money; about the social consequences of an interest-based monetary system.

The Eleventh Round

Once upon a time, there was a small village where people knew nothing about money or interest. Each market day, people would bring their chickens, eggs, hams and breads to the marketplace and enter into the time-honored ritual of negotiations and exchange for what they needed with one another. At harvests, or whenever someone's barn needed repairs after a storm, the villagers simply exercised another age-old tradition of helping one another, knowing that if they themselves had a problem one day, others would surely come to their aid in turn.

One market day, a stranger with shiny black shoes and an elegant white hat came by and observed the whole process with a sardonic smile. When he saw one farmer running around to corral six chickens wanted in exchange for a big ham, the stranger could not refrain from laughing. "Poor people," he said, "so primitive."

Overhearing this, the farmer's wife challenged him. "Do you think you can do a better job handling chickens?"

The stranger responded: "Chickens, no. But there is a much better way to eliminate all the hassles. Bring me one large cowhide and gather the families. I'll explain the better way."

And requested, the families gathered, and the stranger took the cowhide, cut perfect leather rounds in it and put an elaborate and graceful little stamp on each round. He then gave ten rounds to each family, stating that each round represented the value of one chicken. "Now you can trade and bargain with the rounds instead of those unwieldy chickens." It seemed to make sense and everybody was quite impressed with the stranger.

"One more thing," the stranger added. "In one year's time I will return and I want each of you to bring me back an extra round, an eleventh round. That eleventh round is a token of appreciation for the technological improvement I just made possible in your lives."

"But where will that round come from?" asked the wife.

"You'll see," said the stranger, with a knowing look.

Assuming that the population and its annual production remained exactly the same during that next year, what do you think happened? Remember, that eleventh round was never created.

As the stranger had suggested, it was far more convenient to exchange rounds instead of the chickens on market days. But this convenience had a hidden cost beyond the demanded eleventh round-that of generating a systemic undertow of competition among all the participants. The equivalent of one out of each eleven families would have to lose all of its rounds, even if everybody managed their affairs well, in order to provide the eleventh round to the stranger.

The following year, when a storm threatened some of the farmers, there was a greater reluctance to assist neighbors. The families were now in a wrestling match for that eleventh round, the round that had not been created, which actively discouraged the spontaneous cooperation that had long been the tradition in the village.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Mysteries of deep jungle

Innovative programming, insightful analysis, dynamic set of anchors and often scientists. That’s probably the best way to describe the mysteries of deep jungle being telecasted during Sunday in NGC @ 2100Hrs. A very nice programme indeed. On the other hand the most irritating aspect is, calling the programme as Kaal Special. Of all things why Kaal. I truly appreciate bollywoods effort on taking national geographic help on making the movie kaal but I disagree with NGC linking their programme with that movie.

In addition the main flaw in the programme is the constant interruption of Kaal crew explaining how the movie was made. This clearly indicates Karan johars' defensive strategy adapted to gain footage after knowing that the film has not turned out well. But in any case NGC rox and is by far the best channel in town.

Thursday, April 07, 2005

End of terms

Anywhoo, Happy Ugadi to all you wonderful folks. This blog will be under hibernation for the next 28 days. This is because of my new resolution, “not to use the comp till my exams conclude”. After my exams a mega trip has been lined up and I’m eagerly waiting for that. Sooo all you readers, you can expect a neat adventure filled travelogue in the next month. I’ll be out on a trek to Western Ghats. I’ll be visiting a newly discovered cave out there. People interested can join me on the trek.

In between, a parasailing activity is going on in the Jakkur Aerodrome, Bangalore. The event would be conducted on Sundays during April (10th, 17th 24th). I can’t make it this time, but in case any of guys interested can contact
CARE, Vijayashree Builing, No.1, 3rd Floor, 18th Cross Malleswaram, Bangalore – 560 055. Ph: 5128 1478 Mob: 98456 – 95350.

Fee: Rs.350/- Per Launch- Cash to be paid at the venue. PARASAILING is a thrilling aero sport activity, which can be enjoyed almost by any one who is seeking some thrill in a controlled environment. The enthusiast is strapped on to a harness & an ascending type round parachute. 300 Ft long rope is hooked on to the harness & the other end is tied to a jeep. As the jeep moves ahead the harnessed enthusiasts gets towed forward. This forward motion inflates & brings up the canopy & the person is airborne. As the jeep keeps accelerating the person keeps gaining height.

Living in an Unequal World

From a weblog i came across.According to some experts, we have reached the age of abundance, and the “trickle-down effect” will take care of the poorer lot of the world – as they say, “The rising tide will raise all the boats.”
The facts and figures, however, show a very different picture of the world we live in. We seem to be living in an “Siphoning-Up Economy”.
According to UNDP's Human Development Report (1998) : http://tinyurl.com/5j9xe
1. Globally, the richest 20% people consume 58% of all energy, while the poorest 20% get to use only 4% of the global energy output.
2. 87% of the vehicles are owned by the richest 20% of the world, while the poorest 20% own less than 1% of vehicles.
3. The richest 20% consume 84% of the paper, while the poorest 20% use 1.1%. 4. 74% of telephone lines are for the richest 20%; the comparative figure for the poorest 20% is 1.5%.
5. The richest 20% consume about 45% of all meat and fish, while the poorest 20% consume just about 5% of the produce.
6. In all, 86% of the total private consumption expenditure is accounted by the richest 20% living in high-income countries, while the poorest 20% account for negligible 1.3%.
The UNDP’s Human Development Report (1999) had these statistics : http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/1999/en/
7. The 20% richest people living in the world’s richest countries are beneficiaries of 82% of the global export trade, and 68% of FDIs; the bottom 20% get less than 1%
8. The gap between the rich and the poor countries has widened. In 1913, the top 20% had 13-times more income than the bottom 20%; in 1960 this had grown to 30-times, and in 1997, this proportion had become 74-times.
Some more facts from other sources:
9. A mere 12% of the world’s population uses 85% of world’s water resources, and this 12% does not live in developing countries http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgrdrs/2001/s01v7n3.html
10. The GDP of the world’s 48 poorest countries is less than the combined wealth of the world’s 3 richest people http://mondediplo.com/1998/11/01leader
11. According to a 1999 World Bank Report on Global Development Financing, for ever $1 of loan received, the developing countries spend $13 for debt-repayment http://www.worldbank.org/prospects/gdf99/
12. According to a 2002 article published in The Guardian “The richest 50m people, huddled in Europe and North America, have the same income as 2.7bn poor people. The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%.

Friday, April 01, 2005

Ask And You Shall Receive...(a swift kick to the head)

This is 1 of those blog circle jerk things...So excuse...Feel free to participate if you'd like.

Here are the rules:
1. Leave me a comment here saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions in my comments section. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (Get it? - it's a vicious f**king circle)
Following are the response to my frnds questions
1. Why are you so thin?
You know why fish are so thin? They eat fish. Hee He. The thing is you haven’t seen me recently. Now my height to weight ratio is normal & I look much younger & livelier among people of my age (22)
2. If you were given an opportunity to direct an Ad, which company would you select?
That would be Lockheed Martin. Thou the company doesn’t require any advertising, I’ll at lest get an opportunities to show case their products. Also there are lots of Ads that I would like to re direct such as the Pepsi new Ad “ Hey Bubbly”. 10 seconds of bull shit on screen. It isn’t just American companies that get it wrong. The Scandinavian electronics company Electrolux tried to sell its vacuum cleaner in USA by telling Americans, “Nothing sucks like Electrolux”.
3. Are you afraid of getting old? Oh no, you cannot change that. I’ve lots of things to do. The only thing is, I’m running out of time. In between; all endings are also beginnings, we just don’t know it at the time.
4. Do you feel that, we are living inside the Matrix?
It is one thing that is difficult to answer. The very concept of existence itself is indefinable. It is some thing like; a circle won’t know the existence of 3rd dimension unless and until it becomes a sphere.
5. What do you prefer, camping under clear starlit sky in middle of a small uninhabited Island or a hot passionate Sexual encounter?
Both together are fine with me.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

One major milestone

Actually, my blog has reached its 1000th hit sometime back... And I wont let this major milestone go unnoticed. This blog has stood the test of time ... a long period of almost more than 3 month is over since this blog's inception. So all ye loyal readers who have stuck on patiently, please standup for a round of applause for chandan's Blog. May Chandan and his blog live peacefully forever... Also in my stat counter they hav added this very neat feature, that allows you to lookup the ip address of your visitor to find out about them. This is very useful if you are tracing some one. But well that opens up another major issue, that of privacy. Why do I see the Webstats? Isnt it like intruding on the privacy of my dear visitors? I hope not. Im just doing this out of curiosity ... And there's no commercial intent. And come on, this is only a weblog .. This stat counter has been totally overhauled and re-worked from the ground up. It now gives you the best overall view of how your different keywords are doing. And lets you quickly and easily see which are the ones delivering you the most amount of traffic across each of the search engines. Some one had reached my blog thru a keyword "pics of gilrs in bangalore uncencored". Of all blogs why my blog. No where in my entire blog, hav i mentioned abt gurls. Well crazy search engines.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

When was the last time you did some thing for the First time?


Pool
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

I've decided to raise early in the morning 330am. But as usual it is another wasted effort. Alarm keeps ringing and I keep pressing snooze till it is 7pm. Already getting loaded. And did I here someone saying "What about Chandan's blog?" Let's see. Today I made an effort to ensure that I put in at least a blank post like this one. Or wait a minute; I think I have something to write. Yesterday I learned to play POOL. Not an interesting game altogether. I learnt the basics in the first ten minutes and the next ten minutes was spent on learning, how to hold the cue and hit the ball (Striker or whatever they call it)? Thou, initially it was tough to hit the striker but got hold of the technique by the end of the game. Guess what I won the game. Plz note my opponent was also an amateur. Most of the time we spent posing for my frnds camera trying to portray ourselves as professional players. But as the facts has it, we ended up entertaining the people present there by making the striker fly over the board across the room. Mmmm but as I always say " Its nice to try new things now and then"

Completed things in my TO DO LIST
a. Learnt swimming
b. Tried coracling
c. Learnt canoeing
d. Played Pool, snooker.
e. Camping at night in middle of an uninhabited island.
f. Mountaineering
g. Trekking
h: Stargazing using a powerful telescope.

my TO DO LIST
a. Learn diving
b. Try wild water rafting
c. Para sailing
d. Rock climbing
e. Skydiving
f. Camp in middle of a desert
g. Fly a bi plane
h. Fly a glider
i. Try Bungee Jumping.
j. River crossing

Hmm the list goes on... Mebbe I'll come up with something more worthwhile tomorrow. Till then byebye ..

Monday, March 21, 2005

Yet he cld hav made it master

Few years back I had met this guy and some how he had managed to leave a lasting impression. Not that he was extra ordinary nor i was smitten by his personality. It was because of his unique principle that i often remember and laugh. He never used to remove his hard disk to transfer data. He was against making his hard disk slave. Ya you heard that right, he did not want to make his hard disk a slave. Hmmm What shall I say???

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Blogstreet India

Got Registered today. It is a tool for discovering other blogs which are similar to a blog.For Blog Authors, their Neighborhood is a pool of blogs to track. Treat it as a list of blogs you *should* be knowing about. For Readers, it helps them to find more blogs similar to a blog they have liked.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

NCJ Re-Union


NCJ Re-Union
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

Once upon a time, so long ago that I no longer remember how long ago, there used to be times when I could find time to blog frequently... But alas, those were the golden days... These are dark times that I live in...And Im busy :-(( Well I had to write this since I had promised my former class mates that I will post this bloglet before monday.

And if you didnt get it, it also implies that Im back to the trainload of work that had piled up over the week. My Exams are nearing. And that means the end terms are close by. That implies my prepration deadlines are threateningly close to me. And its not just easy

We had our NCJ class reunion today and it was nice to see my old class mates and hear there sucess stories. We were eighteen and met at our college(NCJ) and went for lunch at Chandini Chowk at koramangala. A hotel that appeared like a typical bollywood studio with a slightly higher tariff compared to other hotels.

There was this mahidhar (our class topper) who was vividly explaing his theories about brother-brother concept and babies (This concept requiries a huge bloglet that I'll post some time later). Altogether it was nice to have met them after such a long time.

It is now 4:30 in the morning(!!!) and im still up an working...life has become so cruel all of a sudden. Gota go and crash now... Bye for now ... Good night( or is it morning?)

Friday, March 11, 2005

Sunset


Sunset 1
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

This pic was captured yesterday with my Nokia 3200 Cam Phone. Also this pic brought max web traffic to my Moblog within one hour after I posted the image. I liked the rays comming out of the cloud. The silhouette of the trees are creating a soothing effect. Nature is all-encompassing, an unending circle of events that touches every life on Earth. As author Rachel Carson revealed, "Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Corp Presentation


Corp Prez 8
Originally uploaded by Time Machine.

This is me getting prepared for a corporate presentation at our office. Though i've given many presentations this was my first Prez to a group of Europeans. And also the entire responsiality of handling the seminar was on me. This required re organising of our conference room and hiring multimedia projectors.Surprisingly I managed all of this including the designing of the prez in 12 hours. The prez turned out really well. More Pics in my Moblog.

Friday, February 25, 2005

Coca Cola Rox

Few months back i'd read an article on how farmers across India were using coca cola as pesticides in there farms. Surprisingly the cola was cheaper and more effective then normal pesticides. As a sequel to this incident, yesterday my neibor told me that he was using coca cola to clean their wash basin, bathroom & closets. He had that " eureka" feeling in him and was laughing and talking simultaneously explaining how coke had made his ceramic ware sparkle. Now i think its time for cola giants to market there product under FMCG category.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

This is how an evening has to be.

Yesterday I had gone to a seminar on 64bit computing and Sun in Infrastructure by Sun Microsystems & Increase ROI (Return of investment) using Corazio Enterprise collaboration Tools. Also there was a live demo of Corazio. Corazio appeared to be nice software with capabilities to handle certain business processes and documentation. But Price tag of 4.3 lacks for the basic version appeared a bit high.

As a matter of fact I was not interested in attending the seminar but the invitation said that the seminar was at Windsor Manor, Bangalore followed by lunch. Yes followed by lunch. My obsession towards free dinner at five star hotels is very high. It’s not just a dinner. It’s a date with multi cuisine palatable food. And it’s free. What more could one possibly ask for.

It’s a rule of thumb that whenever I receive an invitation for a seminar, I first check for the Hotel and then see weather the seminar is followed by lunch. If the seminar is at a five star hotel then I reply back stating that “ Thanks 4 the invitation. I confirm my presence along with two of my colleagues”. Here the colleagues will invariably be my friends.

And what is even more special is the spirit of camaraderie that my friends share. They will be more then eager to cancel any of there appointments just to get there dose of free food. As we walk around arena you could hear my friend murmur “ Saare log Mufth mein khaana milti hai tho kahin se bhi baag aathe hain.".

As the seminar ended we were the only interactive group at Q&A session. You could clearly see the audience cursing us to conclude the Q & A session as they were eager to have there lunch. Also you could clearly see look of the organisers cursing us to concluded our questions session as they were unable to answer most of our questions. Very Intersting situation.

The best part of this seminars are not just food it’s the goodies that we receive at the end of seminar. All we have to do is fill the feed back form and give it back before lunch and you receive free goodies. The goodies will vary from T- shirts with company logo to electronic gadgets.

Well one evening passed blissfully. Lemme conclude this bloglet with my guidelines of organising an effective seminar.

It has to be organised in a five star Hotel
Lunch is compulsory
They have to included interactive small quizes relevent to seminar topics.
The seminar has to be conducted on week days in the morning as this will limit the audience who are really interested in there product.
They have to included (For Reception) girls with deep neck figure hugging T shirts with mini skirts for visual enhancement of settings.
Avalabality of Technical ppl capable of answering all the audience questions.
The free stuff that they give should not just be there corporate cd’s . Stuff that they give should be of some use to recipent. Such as Lap tops, Palm tops
Permission to use the Hotels swimming pool and a free massage.
They hav to invite more of female audience who are open to discussion with fellow participants to spice things up.


Given my current vow of austere celibacy of thought as well, I shall refrain from posting further on this “spicing issue”. Any more of your ideas are welcome. Plz comment

Monday, February 21, 2005

Static Man, The New Super Hero

After a brief absence, I decided it has been long enough since I have stayed away from my blog....My blog performance has been a bit disappointing. Lemme see if I can improve my commitment to this journal...The other reason for absence might be that I'm in taking vast amount of information and I'm bit confused on what to publish and what not to publish. Few seconds back I worked out my confusion by deciding not to publish any incidents that occurred last week....

Due to the peculiar combination of events, I happen to watch the movie The Incredible. Nice time pass with lots of super hero stuff in the movie. And the most important thing of all was, the print was very good. Also have found out this video shop with lots of original movies nicely stacked and catalogued. As I watched the movie I was observantly overhearing my mental thought of me becoming a superhero. Unfortunately I was not bitten by any spider nor was mutated into superman. But as if my prayers were answered I'm becoming more static attractive. I reckon u understand what I’m trying to tell.

As a mater of fact I had this static attraction feature in me from the beginning. I had realized this from the day ppl started getting mild electric pulses whenever I touched them. The intensity of me building more static is when I'm wearing my shoes. Well the explanation is obvious and I wont fill this up with my physics gyan.

From a very superficial level, I wish I could say that how I hate this. But yet, some times its fun to discharge charges to an unexpected person standing in front of me. This goes with out saying that i need to charge myself by siting on a plastic chair and isolating myself frm the ground for 15 minutes before the display of my powers. U may comment saying that its possible with every other guy but I hav tendency of acquiring more charges in less time. All I hav to do is stretch my index finger and touch the persons hand. There he goes shaken dropping whatever he/she has in there hands. For the moment, let us discard this issue and conclude by stating that I’ve a tendency of writing aimlessly. Got a class in 30 minutes.. So, gotta rush .. Bye!!

PS: Over the weekend, I also made a startling discovery, the number of visitors I have on my site is positively correlated to the frequency of my posting. Not a terribly bright inference, but I don’t have a history of brightness. So that should be excused.

Friday, February 18, 2005

Uranium to Bombs

Today I was going through a report in Time about How Pakistan's A.Q. Khan outwitted Western intelligence to build a global nuclear-smuggling ring. I recomnd you to read the magazine since the online edition does not have the full article. As the facts has it "The simplest nuclear bomb is very simple indeed.". With sufficient fissile material in hand, a trained engineer could build a crude device without too much difficulty. The most basic design is that of the Hiroshima bomb, which fired two pieces of HEU at each other from opposite ends of an artillery tube. The bomb could be assembled at a basic machine shop and would fit in the back of a truck. If smuggled into the U.S.and detonated in a major metropolitan area, such a weapon could kill hundreds of thousands. But the difficulty in making the bomb is obtaining the fissile material i.e. Highly enriched Uranium (HEU). Manufacturing HEU is extremely difficult and requirs expertise unavailable to terrorist organisations. Unfortunatly HEU has been manufactured in huge quantities by countires like former soviet Union and could easily be lifted withoutout much difficulty. We could only hope that this terorist organisations are sensible enough and does use nuke as their means to War. In my next article I'll explain How the Uranium is enriched. Also read The Other Nuke Nightmare

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Interview with pilot of the Enola Gay

Heres a Guardian interview with Paul Tibbets, the man who dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 6, 1944. Note the obligatory attack on the US in the introduction paragraph (it is the Guardian after all), but the interview is a good read."

Monday, January 31, 2005

String Theory

There is an ill-concealed skeleton in the closet of physics: "As they are currently formulated, general relativity and quantum mechanics cannot both be right." Each is exceedingly accurate in its field: general relativity explains the behavior of the universe at large scales, while quantum mechanics describes the behavior of subatomic particles. Yet the theories collide horribly under extreme conditions such as black holes or times close to the big bang. Brian Greene, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the two pillars of physics can be reconciled in superstring theory, a theory of everything.

Superstring theory has been called "a part of 21st-century physics that fell by chance into the 20th century." In other words, it isn't all worked out yet. Despite the uncertainties--"string theorists work to find approximate solutions to approximate equations"--Greene gives a tour of string theory solid enough to satisfy the scientifically literate.

I came across this intresting link Elegant Universe which explains string therory and dimenssion to Tenth degree. Also check out the article which illustrates ten spatial dimenssion.

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Performance Appraisals Revisited

GREAT PRESENTATION SKILLS= Able to bullshit
GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS= Spends lots of time on phone
AVERAGE EMPLOYEE= Not too bright
EXCEPTIONALLY WELL QUALIFIED= Made no major blunders yet
WORK IS FIRST PRIORITY= Too ugly to get a date
ACTIVE SOCIALLY= Drinks a lot
FAMILY IS ACTIVE SOCIALLY= Spouse drinks, too
INDEPENDENT WORKER= Nobody knows what he/she does
QUICK THINKING= Offers plausible excuses
CAREFUL THINKER= Won't make a decision
AGGRESSIVE= Obnoxious
USES LOGIC ON DIFFICULT JOBS= Gets someone else to do it
EXPRESSES THEMSELVES WELL= Speaks English
METICULOUS ATTENTION TO DETAIL= A nit picker HAS LEADERSHIP QUALITIES= Is tall or has a loud voice
EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD JUDGEMENT= Lucky
KEEN SENSE OF HUMOUR= Knows a lot of dirty jokes
CAREER MINDED= Back Stabber
LOYAL= Can't get a job anywhere else

Monday, January 10, 2005

Exams over

Hi every one,

Exams are over (Yahooo)... And as usual, this iteration of the exams finds me in an extremely demotivated state. I dunno how, but exams always manage to find the worst part of my deep self... And I guess, after a series of bad experiences, I too dont mind it much.

As usual everytime my exams starts; I plan new stratergies to facilitate me to concentrate more on studies. Hence this time I decided to prepare my entire exams sitting inside the library. And there lies the problem. With so many books around, it is difficult to read the goddamn textbook. Cant study at home either 'cause I may fall asleep. A nice dilemma. And the exam always loses out in this dilemma.

The best part of exams are that they are not the worst. The worst is always the result. And how terrible can results be? U have no clue at all ....

Today we had a discussion of the answers for biz op process paper. Not sure if that should be permitted. Discussing exam results can create severe trauma for sensitive individuals like me. And irreparable morale damage. So what happened was something like this... The paper had been a combination objectives and multiple option types... Of course the paper included negitive marking....And due to the lack of any other viable alternative I ended up exposing myself to a lot of risk ...

And as statistics would have it, that was not an optimal strategy. Far from it. Pretty far from it.Way out of line.

As the answers were discussed, my internal estimate of the final possible score kept spiralling down. And being the optimist that Im I kept tellin myself, "Chandu, dont u worry... U will score later on in the paper... " And with the same undying spirit, I kept waiting on and on for an event that seemed very much unlikely to happen. And with no surprising twists to the tale, in a routine run-of-the-mill manner, the statistic laws got the better of me. The only light at the end of the tunnel was from the rushing train, with my damage rate towards the end reaching torrential levels...

Well ppl, the best thing about not preparing for an exam is the fact that u always have an excuse if u dont score marks... And I always manage to keep this option open :-)) The other exams were pretty much non-descript ... Nothing much to comment on because I know I'll score very good marks in them..

Well Ppl If u wld like to know what my week ahead is like.
1.Wednesday - Prepare Case study on " Market dominance of Nokia to sony ericson in India"
2. Thursday - Interview with cell phone dealers in and around bangalore
3. Friday - Complete case study with a flash presentation and mail it.
4. Saturday - AI ERP project proposal
5. Sunday - Try to complete the design of my homepage .
6. Monday - Visit Bose for a special Wave guide tech demo that the sales exec had promised me.Interested ppl can join me.
7. Tuesday - Curse Bose all day, for me not able to buy there product.

I think thats it for now and hope you wont mind my habit of writing endlessly. Bye.