Did I hear "Fair World Trade"?

America complains that Europe is being partial to Airbus by offering low cost government loans. If its all about fair world trade, what about the huge agricultural subsidy that America offers to its farmers? These subsidies lower the price of agricultural produce. And who suffers the most? Poor farmers in poor countries, in Africa for example, who cannot compete with such low prices.

Truly, America needs to put its house in order before pointing its finger at others.

The renaming craze

Bombay to Mumbai, Madras to Chennai, Calcutta to Kolkatta and now Bangalore to Bengaluru - this is just too much. Instead of focussing on infrastructure issues, our Chief Minister decides to rename our city, moving away from a name that is world famous to something that makes no sense, no difference. Most kannadigas call Bangalore as Bengaluru anyway. How does it matter? Why do we have to be fanatical over such silly issues?

Apparently, Mr.Chief Minister consulted "prominent kannada litterateurs" before ordering this change. Did he consult Public Relations experts? Did he care a damn about how famous the name "Bangalore" has become (because of IT ofcourse) and what impact this renaming will have on the city? This government represents the people, the decisions of this government should be based on the choice of the majority of our people. Did he care to ask what the people want?

I grew up spelling Bengaluru as Bangalore and nothing will make me change that. I am from Bangalore, not Bengaluru.

Confidence or Overconfidence?

Being confident with one's thoughts is important. Being overconfident can be disastrous. So, how do you realize where the dividing line is?

I have come across many situations, both at work and while having casual discussions/debates, where I have been really confident with what I believed in or the way I analysed the matter of discussion. Many a times, I have gone wrong. During such situations I often ask myself as to why I was so confident. What should I do in order to avoid facing a potential "foot in the mouth" situation due to this kind of confidence or rather overconfidence?

So, what I am doing wrong? Is it just lack of experience? Or is there a need to improve my reasoning and analysis? Do I need to question every belief of mine no matter how strong it is?

Mar adentro*

A conversation with Tommy reminded me of this movie that I had seen many months ago. I must say that it was one of the best movies I have seen so far. Its based on a very controversial true story of a young man who injures himself while diving into the sea and is paralysed neck down. He then fights with the law to end his life with dignity. Deserves 8.5/10. Highly recommended.



* Translates to 'The Sea Inside'

Asta la Vista

Wonder how BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) on the next release of windows (Windows Vista) looks like?

Ants eat away woman's eye in hospital

REUTERS Says:

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - A woman receiving treatment for diabetes at a state-run hospital in eastern India lost one of her eyes after ants nibbled away at it, officials said on Tuesday.

The patient recovering from a post-surgery infection shrieked for help as the ants attacked her on Sunday night, but nurses told her it was normal to feel pain from the infection.

On Monday, the patient's family saw a gaping hole with swarming ants in it when they lifted the bandage on her left eye.

Authorities of the Sambhunath Hospital in Kolkata said they were probing the incident.

"It's not uncommon for ants to attack diabetic patients. We have set up a committee to investigate the unfortunate incident," hospital superintendent A. Adhikary said.

Scampering rats and stray cats and dogs sharing bed space with patients are not uncommon sights at India's overcrowded state-run hospitals that are used by millions of poor and middle-class people.

I am speechless...or have I not been in touch with reality? Did I hear someone asking why India is still called a "developing nation"?

Cricket crazy India - The 'Chappel' effect

'Chappel' has more or less the same pronunciation as a word in kannada, which means Slippers.

Heartwrenching

On the other side of our border:

This earthquake has changed my life. I had three sisters and two brothers but now I am left with two sisters and no brother.

On October 8 I was at my office in Karachi when my mother called me and said a very strong earthquake had hit Islamabad, northern Pakistan and Kashmir.

That evening, we went to Islamabad and straight to Margala Towers to look for my sister. It was complete mayhem. We were told that our best hope was to contact the local hospitals.

Margala Towers
Our worst nightmare came true in the hospital mortuary. My mother and I spotted my sister's locket around the neck of a dead woman. Her face was disfigured beyond recognition.

When my sister's body was unearthed from the debris, a young child was found holding on to her. This was my 11-month-old nephew who also died but, unlike his mother, his face was unhurt. We recognised him immediately.

By then we had heard nothing from my brother who had gone to Balakot. I rushed there myself.

For the second time in 24 hours, my worst nightmare became a reality. A young man had rescued two bodies from a destroyed car.

My brother had died.

Return to Kashmir
I returned to Kashmir with a relief team.

What I have learned is that my personal loss and grief is nothing to what these people are going through.

My personal loss and grief is nothing to what these people are going through
In the small hours of 23 October we reached Naran. We saw people taking refuge in makeshift tents. Dozens of people were so badly injured that it would have been criminal not to stay and give them treatment.

In Jhelum Valley things were really bad. The doctors in our team told us that at least 17 children needed immediate treatment. But how could we take 17 kids back to Muzaffarabad? We had only just arrived on mules after hours of a very arduous journey.

Mahrukh and her 'lala'
In the group, there was a young girl called Mahrukh. Her father, mother and sister died. She was left with her brother, whom she lovingly referred to as "my lala" (my dear brother).

Children in Muzaffarabad
Her lala was running a very high fever so we decided to take him and 16 other children back with us to Muzaffarabad on the mules. When she saw that we were taking him with us, Mahrukh said to me, "Adnan, this is all I have, please make sure my lala gets well".

The journey was tiring and it rained. Children were getting sicker. Our doctors said they needed to be hospitalised.

But there is a huge gap between what we want and what we have.

The one thing we did not have any control over turned out to be the lives of the children we had taken with us. Seven died either on the way or after reaching the medical camp in Muzaffarabad.

Mahrukh's lala was among those who did not survive.

I was really depressed, I didn't know how I could face Marukh. I failed to save what she said was the only thing she had.

We came here to save lives but we've ended up giving back dead bodies to people who had little anyway.

Unbearable cold
People from all over the world have contacted me after reading my diary and they have been asking me how to help. I tell them only one thing: get here as soon as you can because the clock of death in this region is clicking fast.

This is everyone's moment to save humanity.

It's getting unbearably cold here in tents in Muzaffarabad. We don't have enough warm clothes for the team.

We came here to save lives but we've ended up giving back dead bodies

Mahrukh, whom I had started calling Farhana (the name of my sister who died in Islamabad), developed a very high temperature.

I received an urgent call from a doctor on our team who said Mahrukh's condition was deteriorating fast. We rushed to the hospital.

But now, Mahrukh, that beautiful young girl, is not with us.

Another life is no longer.

How would we feel if this had happened to us? If these people were part of our family?

Its high time we do something. Its time to at least donate...

Care.org
Oxfam
Relief International

source: BBC report

From Dependency to Interdependency

Dependency in any aspect of life can cause so much pain and irritation. I was supposed to get some help with moving into a new house today. In return for that help, I hadn't thought of something that I could offer. Clearly, this is dependency. The helper is at liberty to change his mind as there is nothing that he can gain out of this situation.

The result: The helper won't be able to live up to the promise due to some reasons today. Thats alright as such situations arise and cannot be helped. What makes me unhappy was that the promise was mercilessly forgotten. But then, maybe my expectations are too high?

Surely, I will live, I will help myself out. But, I don't want to forget the lesson to be learnt here. This life can be full of dependencies. One cannot be totally independent no matter how hard he or she tries. Planning backups for such situations is possible but probably not ideal in all situations because the actual problem is the dependency itself. The one who succeeds is the one who learns to convert these dependencies into interdependencies. I could have thought of something to offer to the helper so that he doesn't forget the promise. That would have been equivalent to converting dependency into interdependency.

Thanks to Stephen R. Covey's book: The seven habits of highly successful people . It had all the theoretical explanation. Here is the real life situation.

Retake, Retake, Retake.....

Just got back after a video interview of our project for our company's DVD. My hands are shivering as I type. It took me one hour just to answer 6 very simple, very basic questions. I am so happy that I don't have to face the camera for a living!

A presentation in front of a live audience of 50 people is so easy compared to sitting in front of a camera, which is not live and only 3 other crew members are sitting in front helping you talk, is so darn difficult. I wanted the answers to be perfect. I wanted a retake for every long pause, every hrmmmm, the slightest mis-pronunciation, everything. I have probably never been so self-conscious in my entire life!

No more work for the day! My mind refuses to concentrate on anything.

The fate of rail crashes

I am appalled by the state of Indian Railways. The number of crashes, the lessons learnt from these crashes, the actions taken, everything is so very disappointing. Ofcourse the rail network in India is big but that doesn't mean it can be disastrously managed.

This topic comes to my mind after reading the recent court rulings over the the Hatfield crash in the UK in 2000. 4 people died because of the crash and 150 were injured. The court has now imposed a fine of £13.5 million (~108 Crore/Khokha ;) Rupees) to be paid by the responsible companies on account of negligence. If we compare this response with the one that rail accidents get in India, I get so very annoyed. I probably don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number of rail accidents that happen within a 5 year span.

Is anybody still wondering why India is still developing? Are we all doing our duties as citizens of India? I do feel bad that I am sitting here in the lap of a rich country and not doing anything for the country that I was born in.

Is it time we knell the death toll for our State "managed" rail system? Or should we tackle these politicians first?

Clocky

Gauri Nanda, a student at MIT, has come up with this Alarm clock with wheels and wrapped in carpert (as seen in the pic). Apparently, when you hit the snooze button, it runs around the room making sure that you get up (to throw it out of the window). It won her the lg Nobels award.

Good Thinking!

More info here

Chariots of Fire - 2005

This year's charity run was organized to raise money for Children's Hospices in Milton. I took 13.5 minutes to finish the run this year, 80 seconds more than last year. Very Disappointing indeed :( Anyway, our team took nearly 1 hr 10 minutes and stood 108th amongst a total of 400 teams.

The Four Brothers

Worth watching. Sometimes a bit 'hollywood'y but that didn't bother me much. Apparently, its quite similar in story line to 'The sons of Katie Elder'.

A well deserved 7/10.

Ishna - month 8

Pasta recipe (Beginners)

Ingredients:

Required:
1. Pasta shells/spagetti/gnochi/etc..
---quantity is dependent on your stomach size ;)
2. Onions - 1
3. Vegetables (of your choice)
--- recommended ones are: mushrooms, babycorn, peppers(any color ;) ), carrots, peas, asparagus)
4. Oil (olive oil highly recommended)
5. Pasta sauce (commonly available in store)
--- recommended: bolognese, roasted vegetables, pasta sauce with red wine, the ones with basil
ps: not all are suitable for vegetarians.
6. Garlic - either crushed or paste
7. Salt and pepper

Optional but recommended:
- Mozzarella cheese
- Olives
- basil leaves/ powder

Process:
Preparing pasta requires two intial parallel processes ;)

process 1:
Boil enough water (should be twice the amout required to submerge pasta which you will add later). The amount is usually quite substantial.

process 2:
Dice onions, cut 1/2 chillies, chop vegetables of choice, Take some oil in a large pan (large enough to fit all the ingredients) and put it on flame.

process 1: when water is boiling:
Add pasta shells, stir a little, add some salt (around half tea spoon). Bring it back to boil. Its highly important that you watch over the pasta. If it is let to boil for too long, it gets too soft and spoils the dish.

process 2: when oil is hot:
Throw in the diced onions and stir until slightly fried (golden brown). When brown, add garlic and stir. Then add all veggies, stir and let them cook. Check on process 1

process 1: when water is 'just about boiling':
Its very important for pasta shells to be cooked to the right degree. The correct way to check is take a shell out and bite into it. Uncooked pasta shells are whiter/lighter in color compared to cooked ones. When you bite into the shell, did you feel that the pasta was hard to bite into? Look inside the pasta (cross-section) and see if there are traces of uncooked pasta (i.e. parts which are lighter in color).

The correct degree of cooked pasta:
Every pasta cook has choked on this one time or the other. Pasta shells when cooked should be springy; you press on them and release, they jump back (quickly) to their original state. You probably have to be an italian by birth to get it perfect :)

Back to process 1:
When you think pasta shells are cooked, switch off the flame, take a strainer and strain out all the water. Retain only pasta shells, gently shake them, add some oil and shake again and let them remain in the vessel. Go back to process 2.

process 2: (end of parallel processing. its only process 2 from now on)

- When vegetables are cooked, add pasta sauce. How much of pasta sauce? That is by intuition and practice. Add enough to partly (75%, not completely) submerge the vegetables in the pan. Usually a medium sized bottle of pasta sauce should suffice for 3-4 servings worth of pasta. Stir well.

- After stirring, add salt (based on intuition, taste and dietary requirements).

- If you wish to use olives, add them now

- Add the pasta. mix well.

- If you wish to add mozzarella cheese, do so now (add small chunks of it). And stir
(I personally recommend doing this)

- If you wish to use crushed basil. Add it now. I haven't tried basil leaves until now

- If the thickness of the underlying sauce is ideal, remove from flame and serve.

Bon Apettit'e!

* Italians and other perfect pasta makers might not agree with this recipe completely! But this is the closest I have gotten so far.

Collaborative Editing

How many applications are available which provide online real-time multi-user document editing? How many of them are free*? I don't know of anything else other than SubEthaEdit, which is both. It just works! It uses Bonjour and does the job pretty well!

For macs only!

*non-commerical use only

Google to enter the telecomm battlefield

Expect top class innovative communication stuff from Google in future. They have plans to take on the Telecomm industry and guess what? Their plans are to adopt the open standards route for communications (H.323, et. al. maybe?). The battle is bound to get hotter than ever and end users have nothing to loose but only gain!

I am really looking forward to this.

Source: FT

Doggie Li's Unleashed

Unleashed starring Jet Li, Morgan Freeman and others. Don't watch a movie if you don't like to watch it. Doesn't matter if it is "free" :)
Bad movie - came out when it was half way through.

Security issues OS: wasn't this expected?

The amount of time we leave our computers connected to the net is increasing. The scope of things that we can do online is increasing. This is common knowledge now. We stay connected to the internet longer than ever before. What started off with an occassional dial-up (a typical home user) has now reached a stage where it doesn't cost anything to leave our machines connected (or even downloading something off the net all the time). Did Mr. Gates not not expect this while designing Windows XP?

I remember reading stuff from his book "The Road Ahead" where he showed us a kaliedoscope pointed at the future: Optical fibers, huge memory, faster computers, internet everywhere, etc. Someone who sees so much ahead into the future couldn't sense the need for strong security features in an OS? That too when it runs on around 80% of all the computers in the world?

Or is all this just a big trick to keep M$ and other related businesses running? Windows Vista eh? Lets see what trick you got in that hat of yours Mr. Gates. First beta release of Vista (previously looonghorn) shows that nothing radically new has been put in place for security. Many things (graphics, trash levels, etc) are already available in OS X and seemed like they are nicked (whats new about that eh?). Not good!

The Rising - More fiction, less facts

A good movie. Although, most bits don't go well with what historians have to say. Mangal Pandey protested during a parade and tried to shoot himself but was later executed (hurriedly). The arrival of Rangoon regiment, etc. are pure fiction (not to mention Mangal's personal life). The First war of Indian Independence began on 10th may 1857 when soldiers from Meerut revolted.

And its not a ballad.

Mysore - First wireless city in India?

Apparently, its true. Mysore now allows Wi-Fi access from anywhere within the city. It uses 802.11g standards, which cater for a theoretical speed of 54Mbps and has 3(?) stations within the city. At Rs.750 per month and a rate limit of 128 kbps on the end user, I think, is quite good for a start. But, we can expect scalability issues to crop in as soon as the consumer base (100 in total now)increases. Maybe they will switch to 802.11a then? I wouldn't mind trying it but I have major concerns about coverage. 2.4 GHz, I think, is not ideal for WANs and MANs.

Famous quotes

Need I tell you whose quotes these are?

1. 20 marks kosans that is whatever till I covered.
2. Are u understanding what I telling?
3. For me there no class on Friday means for my class
4. Please all of you attendance.
5. Why are u talking to besides people.
6. There is no class for my class on Friday.
7. Where is there ? ( What is that ? )
8. You answers kosans only when I ask yours.
9. U don’t listen to what and all I tell you.
10. What vahkik ????? !!!! ( what loukik ? )
11. Array ‘a’ contains 100 elements . I wants to 100 elements .
12. Next time what answer you got ?
13. First thing u should know this thing , then only u can do that thing.( scolding Manjesh)
14. We come to know that is how much means it requires storage of memory.
15. All that we don’t know that one.
16. How many pograms are u executed in C++.
17. Which is wuch as ……..
18. Rows and columns only you can’t tell that one…
19. Total space pogram requires divided 2 parts.
20. Yesterday he had come it seems, u were already went.
21. Why u are sitting so congested?
22. Instance means that’s whats that meaning.
23. Nesht class , I will check up all of you…( does she mean a physical ???)
24. It returns true if I,j, reggists.
25. Next week u have to take out the print outs what and all u did it.
26. Whatever I done in class , I given for test.
27. If u was silent u could hear.
28. Why u are thinking so?
29. Praveen !!! did it , over ?? How much finished ??
30. Even if u close your face , I can see ( To loukik)
31. All of u understand how I calculated ?
32. After this pogram taking , I will leave.
33. Manjesh what I told u , to find it out the space ( while doing space complexity).
34. I will ask kosans nest class. If u won’t answer I won’t allow u sit in the class.
35. Already mainly solely concentrate on..
36. Do u understanding now ?
37. Forgotten already C++, what u studied ?
38. Unix will take Apsara.
39. OOPS will take NSN.
40. Next we taking another pogram for matrix.
41. What u think yourself.
42. For u no need to come for nest classes for my class.
44. Raghukishan is the last warning , if u talk , I send u out.
Raghu’s response: (Actually in kannada)
hey man ! did she take the attendance ?
45. Meghana , I’ll sit u in 1st bench.
46. your exams has come the dates, are u saw ?
47. What finish all if u say sorry ? ( literally a kannada to English translation)
48. Don’t get confusion.
49. You doesn’t do nothing in class.
50. 1st only you are coming for the late.
51. Now onwards if u come for the late for the class i.e after 10 minutes, I won’t allows you for the class.
52. Do it ( problem) and see it what u will get it the profit for this problem.
53. If u don’t answer kosans I asking , I send u out for the class.
54. All should be upto the silent when he explaining.
55. You be keep quiet.
56. We have to write it as before, before before calling this before one.

Courtesy: Manohar and Rajesh

OS X hacked. Tiger can now be made to run on x86

The developer version of OS X Tiger has been hacked. It can now be made to run on any x86 machine. Apparently, its much much faster than many Apple machines. Although, all peripherals won't work because of driver issues. Step by step instructions to do so can be found here:
http://www.uneasysilence.com/os-x-proven-hacked-and-running-on-an-ordinary-pc/

Well, the instructions to install OS X are so complex and unreliable that many people would prefer to either buy a mac or wait and see if Apple will open up and sell their OS separately. I can only imagine whizkids doing this and I read somewhere that previous versions of OS X were hacked as well.

Border control needs to change

I need to travel to Poland for work. By being an Indian citizen, I automatically belong to the list of citizens who need a visa to visit almost every country on this planet. Due to unreliable visa processing agencies (for Polish visa), I had to go to London myself to get a visa and I can't quantify the trouble that I (and my countrymen) have to go through to get visa for some of these countries. I had to stand in a very illogical queue for a loong time in the hot sun on a working day when I have so many things to do at work. Upon my turn I was told that I will only be given a single-entry visa which holds good only for the planned number of days for the meeting and a single entry only! Having a UK work permit, a long term US visa, a Schengen visa does not provide any advantage either. Its time we re-think on border control. Maybe not for all cases but decisions for visa shouldn't be categorical, rather on a case-by-case basis.

Charlie and the chocolate factory

Hmm...this is a good movie and is quite funny but I think its meant for kids. I liked many dialogues delivered Johny Depp and the 'bad mouthed' grandfather.

Expect genetically modified rice soon

Scientists have worked out how how the 400 million "letters" of rice DNA are arranged. Source: BBC

In future, we can probably expect to see rice grains in fun shapes? hmm...Which one would I go for...a dog, a cat or hmm...a sports car as my rice grain? :) Frankly, I don't like many of these genetically modified vegetables available in the market. They are bigger in size and have deep colors but they don't taste as good as the "virgin" ones.

6 Months and going strong

I got my Apple powerbook in february this year. Many people asked my why I chose mac and also mentioned that they wouldn't spend their money on a product prices mostly as a fashion accessory!

6 months have passed without a single crash, or an OS error, haven't heard of a single virus, no need for an anti-virus software, nothing! I upgraded to Tiger (OS X 10.4) in may. Installation took 40 mins or so (I think) and was as simple as installing any other application! I had to do nothing but click twice.

Unless forced at a gun-point, I won't switch back to any version of windows on any of the laptops/desktops that I might buy in the future. Its a pity I have to be with one at work though :(

Fantastic Four

My rating: 3/10.
My advice: If you have a choice, consider it strongly :)

R.E.M @ Hyde Park

We had been to a concert where R.E.M and others played some real good music couple of weeks ago. The concert was in Hyde park, London and was very well organized. Originally scheduled to be held on the 9th of July, it was postponed because of 7/7 bombing incidents in London. We went by car till the suburbs of London and then took the metro. I experienced some psychological fears but those were far lesser in comparision with what I felt this week when I was in london.

Some of the songs that I liked (in order and only the ones I remember):

* Losing My Religion

* Leaving New York

* Everybody hurts

* Man on the moon (I smiled at this one as I kinda believe the conspiracy theory)

In quest of perfection

Don't you like it when things just work???

And if these things provide you an array of features designed to make the most complex things simple and easy, don't you just love them? I am compiling a list of products (software, hardware, etc), companies and other bits that I have encountered in my life that make me just love them (and say Wow! that is just great) for the near perfect level of engineering/service that they offer.

* Apple and apple products
Apple, I think, deserves to be on the top. The experience that it provides both in terms of hardware and software is just exhilarating. My experiences have been with the Powerbook that I currently have, Mac OS X Tiger and many other bundled software.

* Canon Ixus
Canon cameras, mainly the Ixus range are designed to make better photography simple to achieve. The size, the look, the interface and the results are simply the best.

* Google, gmail, google maps, etc
Google sets a high standard in the things that it does. Gmail has improved mail clients beyond expectations and its still in beta!

Any additions more than welcome.

The perfect cup of tea

How do you prepare a perfect cup of tea? Ofcourse, perfection in this case refers to ones taste. Everyday I use the same quantity of water, the same tea bag, the same amount of sugar (two tea spoons to keep my sweet tooth happy) and the same amount of milk. Looking at it with pride, I walk back to my desk. Some days I finish it off with happiness because it really tastes the way I want it to. Some days (like today) I wear a disgruntled look on my face wondering what went wrong. Why am I facing this terrible torture of having to drink a bad cup of tea? What can I do to ensure a perfect cup of tea when I need it? :(

Edinburgh in summer

Last time I visited Edinburgh was in January 2003. It was just after my first set of exams. Scotland was cold, I didn't want to spend much money and only a few months had passed since I came into the UK. Much has changed since then. Edinburgh is much more prettier in summer and so is the rest of scotland for sure. The photos that I took from my mobile phone don't do justice to this beatiful city though.

Is this summer?

I really wonder. Weather has been all time worse since I came to the UK. We have had a maximum of 2 weeks of decent weather with good sunshine and acceptable temperature since May. And its already JULY!!!!! Apart from being wet (which is usual for UK), its coooold.. max temp is well below 20 and min has dipped to around 10 in the last week.

I miss India.

War of the Worlds (2005)

As there are more than one productions of the original "War of the worlds" book by H. G. Wells, its probably appropriate to associate the movie with the year of production :)

< Blooper_Warning> This blog discusses the storyline in the movie and may be considered by the curious ones as a blooper. (even though the original novel was 'pen'ed back in the 19th century)< /Blooper_Warning>.

I found the story to be fundamentally flawed. The storyline seems rather short and to make it last for 2 hrs, Spielberg has introduced a whole lot of supposedly emotional scenes (wonder if someone from Bollywood was involved ;)). Vast number of tripod like creatures (similar to the ones shown above) were burried underneath the ground millions of years ago. One fine day, lightning strikes and these tripods wake up and begin exterminating earthlings. The question is, how did Aliens know the structure, shape and composition of human beings so many years ago? Even to the extent of knowing that our blood can be used as some sort of fertilizer?? The ending to the movie couldn't have been more abrupt; our microscopic friends come to our rescue and that is the aliens collapse.

I liked the first 45-60 mins and found it to be quite chilling. But then the focus was turned on to Mr. Cruise, his two misbehaving kids and the budding emotional bondage between them. That is when I couldn't take it. And those kids, Oh-My-God!...couple of times during the movie, I felt like slapping them. The younger one screams for everything and the the elder one is very annoying.

The tripod in the image (isn't from the movie), aliens, etc can be seen in the movie but images aren't shown in any of the promos (trying to keep the 100+ yr old suspense I suppose)

A generous 2/5 for the movie. My 2 pence worth opinion is that Spielberg could have focussed on trying to explain the strategy of the aliens and the aliens themselves which was comparitively clearer in the "US is the savior of the world" movie (The Independence day).

The Matrix: A different perspective

I happened to read the following from Don Veto's blogs

I groked matrix reloaded and now got it.

Forget all the philosophy in the movie and the double meanings of names. Think of the matrix and machines in terms of software and rule based algorithms.
I believe, like Morpheus is so fond of saying, that the matrix built by the machines is just a complex adventure game, or Multi User Dimension or MUD.

The first Matrix as told by agent Smith was a perfect world where everyone was happy, everything was right, everything was simple, basically a pointless MUD game, therefore a game you can finish very quickly and gets boring very quickly also. Imagine if that boring easy game was your life and you quickly mastered it? You would lose purpose, hope, and happiness. Everything would be boring and pointless; you probably would get depressed and go insane. That is exactly what happened in the 1st matrix version made by the machines.

The new matrix, or could I say matrices, where more developed and morsuitablele for struggling humans, you had the illusion of difficulty, the struggle to succeed, the struggle to merely survive, a regular hard life which is what everyone in the matrix is experiencing. Now the story of the first matrix was the story of hackers who began to realize that they where living in a MUD/ Matrix, got out of the matrix and mastered the game since they where able to analyze and comprehend the matrix at a very low level.
Neo, the one showed potential to understand the matrix at an extremely low level even bypassing the rules of the game / software / matrix and being able to for instance stop bullets, flying likSupermanan and destroying agents. The MUD/Matrix was not designed for that.

In the Matrix I we are shown the Matrix as the real world and then it is revealed that it is not a real world but a very good simulation. Morpheus and Trinity are still playing by the rules of the game but with great skill, Neo is told that he is the One, meaning the best game player around. Neo starts understanding or believing his skills and doing what was previously thought to be impossible.
In Matrix Reloaded, we see the different game stages, with characters of the Matrix telling them what to do next. As in any MUD, the simulation is good but not good enough to cover all events so you have to guide the players through clues.

Try to think like software and you will understand how the matrix behaves, causality is simply and if - then statement, or a case statement.

Neo is the only One who showed independent thought, blinded by his love for Trinity, to take the door sending him back to the matrix. With that result Neo became the controller of the matrix and managed to stop the probes while he was in the real world. Neo somehow mastered the game and ended up controlling it.

My current conclusion is that many different perspectives of the actual storyline are possible. I would have had to watch the series at least twice or thrice (which I haven't) to come up with my own perspective and I am not completely convinced by the one above. So for me, Matrix is still all about dodging bullets, superfast fighting, walking on walls, flying through space and all the similar lot.

Weekend in Taormina

Took a short break last weekend and went with friends to Taormina in Sicily, Italy. In the list of best places that I have been until now, this one figures on the top! We landed at Palermo on friday, rented a car and drove to Cefalu and then to Giardini-Naxos. Naxos is around 5 Kms from Taormina, one of the best places in Sicily. It is located on top of a hill overlooking the sea, with a cape at the foot of the hill. Lovely beaches, clear water, a very lively town, excellent weather and great food. I am definitely looking forward to going back again.

I couldn't make up my mind about which camera to buy in order to use one during this trip and I am now waiting for photographs from my friends' camera. The photograph above (courtesy University of Messina) is that of Isola Bella, which is located at the foot of Taormina and is a very beautiful nature reserve.

The Smiths are in town

I watched this movie on tuesday and wasn't impressed. Jolie is ofcourse superb and Pitt's acting is good. But the storyline is worth half an hour and has been stretched out into 2 hrs although you don't quite feel it that much. I came out of the theatre thinking "So what was the story?". Too much (unnecessary and unrealistic) violence, where bullets fly everywhere and bad guys get hit first time around but when Jolie and Pitt and firing at each other, even a million shells aren't enough. Oh well, its just a movie! I give it a generous 2.5/5. (2 because of Jolie and .5 because of Pitt's acting ;-))

Balanced Scorecard

A very interesting read from a management point of view.

Which one?

Sony Cybershot DSC L1...

or Canon IXUS50 ?

Back home, we have a Canon IXUS II. No doubt, Canon cameras are great. I saw Praveen's Sony L1 and liked it as well. Can't make up my mind...Sony is cheaper, 4 mpx while Ixus50 is 5 mpx. But I am not very keen on higher mpx as they increase image size. The things that impress me in Ixus50 are the large LCD, DIGIC II processor and various shooting modes.

Carnival De Cuba

We were in London last sunday to take part in the annual Carnival De Cuba on South Bank.

People were dancing salsa, tango, merengue, etc. on the streets...

This kid couldn't resist either...

And thats when my mobile's battery went flat. Well, this happens when I need to use it the most. I really need to charge my mobile phone often :-D. I am quite impressed with the quality of pictures my mobile phone produces although newer ones can do even better I suppose.


We really enjoyed the carnival. Food was cheap and good, different kinds of drinks - strawberry and rum mixed together, mint with some kind of spirit, etc. I would like to go there again.. :-)

Mac will marry Intel as well

Its official. Steve Jobs has spoken about transitions to Intel architecture beginning this year and completing by 2007. Xcode 2.1 will be released today which supports coding on both platforms. The dream is to have one binary which can work on both architectures!!! Interesting... Is this the beginning of 'The End' (for Micro$oft)?

Personally, I don't have any strong opinions for or against this. In fact I feel that this is a very good move by Apple. Apparently, all major releases of Mac OS X for last 5 years were compiled on an x86!

Strawberry fair

With some initial reluctance I finally decided to join my friend and we went to the annual Strawberry fair held in Midsummer Common. This is my second visit to this kinda fair. Last year when I went there, I didn't quite like it mainly because of cleanliness and hygiene issues. Although the name might suggest something related to fruits, its actually nothing to do with strawberries (I think). I browsed through the organizer's website to figure it out but with no luck. So, this overcrowded fair was lined with stalls serving food from various cuisines, clothes and accessories. We found a stall selling fruits and also tender coconuts. If I remember correctly, the last time I had one was when I was in India in december. We tried out these at the cost of £2 each. Although low on quantity, the water was quite sweet. We then got it split into two halves. He made a spoon out of the outer shell in order to have the inner skin ...just like back home :-). I did enjoy the fair this time (more than last year) although it was overcrowded and very dirty.

Star Wars III

Watched this movie on sunday. There have been very rare occassions in my life where I have been totally engrossed in a movie and by its characters. This movie figures in that list. I must admit that I was (and still am) a 'star wars illiterate'. Hope I am not alone :-).

I felt that the storyline was averagish. Infact it kinda reminded me of some bollywood movies where twins get separated at melas (a.k.a carnivals) and they grow up to take revenge against the bad guy... :-).I couldn't hate the characters of Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine more. Visual Effects, I feel, have been better than in any other movie so far.

The walk back home including a refreshal of the movie, the chanting of the music and drawing out the imaginary LightSaber (a.k.a tubelight) accompanied by the low frequency ''ghhhhhheeeeennn'. Coincidentally, this noise is similar to the ones that some fluroscent lights make. Atleast the one in my kitchen does. Wonder where George Lucas gets his ideas from? ;-)

In Detroit

First time in Detroit, the so called the motown or the motor capital of the world (US?). I am here for a week long workshop in Ann Arbor. The flight was not bad. I flew with KLM from London to Amsterdam and then with NWA. Movie-on-demand for economy class, good food but not-so-friendly cabin crew. After arrival, we headed to a National car rental 'farm' and picked up a chevy malibu.

Damn this jet lag. Its 5am and I can't sleep and am hungry. Its all very quiet and am doing some casual browsing when I notice the regular 'click clunk' noises from my powerbook's hard drive. Afraid of loosing my hard drive, I did some googling and discovered to my comfort that this is quite normal on powerbooks (and also other laptops). The culprit for these annoying noises is the Advanced Power Management (APM). To save power, the hard disk heads are parked very often. Infact even between keystrokes and also while the system is idling. The solution for this is an APM Tuner. For G4s, Mr. Eiji Maekawa’s APM Tuner has been much appreciated. After installing it and setting a value to its max, the hard disk became much quieter. However, doing so is not recommened when running on battery power and it needs to be set everytime the system reboots.

More info on APM
http://www.macopinion.com/columns/roadwarrior/02/07/30/
http://www.ehmac.ca/showthread.php?p=208929

Mr. Eiji Maekawa's APM Tuner is no longer available at the original website. The one below is for MAC OS X. Find it here:
http://freespace.kb-hosting.de/smat...ner_X_1_0a2.zip. give the Readme files in the package a good read before starting anything.

Had a friend for dinner

I would be careful with the above words if I were in Germany :-)...A late start to my weekend by getting up at mid-day and then meeting a friend for a cup of tea....no punting unfortunately...this damn weather is great when I have to stay indoors. Ended the eventless day with a dinner with friends, one of them leaving to spain for good. Hope to see some sunlight tomorrow atleast....

Just another weekend???

Well, the temperature here shot up so suddenly! It was freezing last weekend and now its 17deg C??? Had been really waiting for it...I guess the enthusiasm when spring 'springs in' increases with each passing year.

So, the weekend is here and I don't know what I am going to do. Just came back home from the usual friday evening visit to the pub and there is so much household work waiting.. I guess thats what I am going to do over the weekend :-( ....Punting would be nice...For those who do not know what punting is all about, a punt is a long, a very long thin stick with which you push the floor of the river (yes, the river has to be shallow) and move ahead. Steering is done by submerging the tip of the punt at a necessary angle, pointing at the direction that you want to turn. The actual fun is when you are learning to punt. There are many such learners with whom you lock your boat and sometimes one of them falls off. Moreover the river is quite narrow...Its usually great fun...

I am really hungry now...so will start cooking....

My first blog

I can't say that I love to read blogs but interesting blogs are so much fun. Now I definitely want to try blogging to experience this 'new found craze'. So here is my first blog. It comes with a promise to myself that I am going to try to update it as 'regularly' as possible (an abstract promise ;-) ). Now I shall go away and invite people to read my first blog....