Bloggers Park.

My 2cents on Social Networks

2011-01-29T20:28:00.001-08:00

Social Networks need to add a dimension of subject area to the Social Graph. What i mean is that just because I am friends with my accountant i should not be forced to see all his pictures and commentary on religious sentiments right on top of my news feed. However i would love to check out all his posts related to personal finance and investments. Quora addresses this very issue with the Subject Bio tag and following a topic or question in addition to following people.
Quora will carve out a special Niche for itself in knowledge management, would love to see features like question search based on tags and relevance to friends in a certain area.
There is so much noise on twitter that unless a mechanism to sort tweets based on subject area is soon developed i don't see how it would remain useful

Ironically, the increasing number of hours spent on ‘social’ networking sites is making a student more ‘unsocial'

2010-11-26T22:15:00.001-08:00

Social Interactions can be viewed as being:-
a) Casual or
b) Personal and intimate.
The Online channel works very well for the former, whereas face to face or telephonic channels work best for the latter.
Facebook offers a convenient medium to interact with tons of like minded casual friends. This makes it an easy information gathering and convenient socializing channel. Similarly LinkedIn, twitter and Blogs and communities can be used to expand ones social circle.
However, not so for the chosen few cherished friends and family. Face to face interactions are necessary to sustain the bond and identify emotionally with our closest links.
In Summary use Social networks for quantity, other channels for quality.
It is often the student reversing this combination who ends up being ‘Unsocial’. E.g. Relying solely on the online channel erodes personal bonds. These ties are necessary to sustain social behavior. Vice versa by ignoring the online channel students can lose out on a wealth of information and quantity of friends.
I read this article recently. Social networking causing depression? (http://educationtimes.com/educationTimes/CMSD/Your-Health/34/2010061120100610172118308670e216f/Socialnetworkingcausingdepression.html)
DEPRESSION: This article talks about ‘depression owing to irresponsible and rude comments made by friends.’ WOULD a similar offline act would not cause much worse despair. If YES, why blame the online channel. In fact tracking the trail of evidence is much easier online than offline. Hence, if anything Online media provides for an easier redress mechanism.
PRIVACY: The article also claims that students are unaware of the public nature of this media. This is definitely a problem, and needs to be fixed. When existing media channels were born it took time to fully understand the privacy implications. The social network greatly enhanced the power to express. However, today we yield this power like a kid plays with a toy. We do not fully recognize the advertising implications of doing so in public. E.g. girls posting sexually suggestive pictures and titillating details to establish their status as “hot”.
This power needs to be fully understood and used with great responsibility.
With great power comes great responsibility.
If you look at broad Internet usage trends, porn represents a substantial online interest. But, this does not mean that the online medium itself has failed. Powerful Search Engines, free expert guidance, health and educational websites, online e-commerce etc... are available for those who care to use them.
Similarly, Social media can be the most powerful learning tool after search engines. E.g. by subscribing to expert feeds and tweets can be a powerful educational platform. On the other hand using tweets, Facebook updates and blogs to stalk someone is also possible. It is the latter behavioral pattern which is a waste of the power of this media! Hence, used properly Social media represents a disruptive change in our educational and social lives.
Another misguided study is published here, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Facebook-affects-students-grades/articleshow/6512366.cms
The primary conclusion of this Article is that Facebook impacts Grades. However, grades are not everything. Social media enhances street smartness and communication skills. Students are increasingly cooped up indoors by overzealous parents during exam times. Such students find Facebook a pleasant release of creativity and peer interaction. By keeping tabs on Facebook students can improve their general knowledge and unite for social causes. The recent use of twitter in Iran demonstrates the ability of the medium in fighting social injustice.
In conclusion like other media’s Social comes with a bag of pros and cons. Education students on the privacy and educational potential of Social media is essential. Similarly mixing online social networks with offline events and networks makes for Social Success.

References

2009-11-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Google

Synopsys

2009-04-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

Power and Forgiveness

2009-04-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.geeta-kavita.com/hindi_sahitya.asp?id=154

Here is a great lesson in diplomacy and human relations from Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. Forgiveness of a weakling does not count. First have the power and capability to defeat the enemy, then only your offer of peace would carry weight. Virtues of forgiveness, kindness and tolerance are appreciated in society only if you first have the capacity to crush. Illustration by Garima Saxena – Rajiv Krishna Saxena
Keywords: strength and forgiveness, strong, power, mahabharat, ram, sea, varun, Duryodhan, poison, snake, docile

Cat o 9 tales.

2009-03-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Other than that i have had a few profound realizations in the last year or so which i would like to share with you

1) The importance of cash, yes job satisfaction is very important, but while collecting funds for my MBA fee i realised just how important cash is too. Like the college analogy by the time we trully realise the importance of wealth it is too late to get any.

2) Importance of health, health is something we allways like to think of something whose importance we know, but rarley act. So ACT now before its too late.

3) The importance of hard work.

4) The importance of self confidence.

5) ALWAYS be well dressed and clean shaven. When you look good you feel confident.

6) NETWORK, you never know whose help you may need when. Interact with successful people, it rubs off. Relationships take a while to build, so again the sooner you start the bigger network you have. NEVER make an enemy, its better not to know someone than to know someone who forms a negative opinion of you.

7) Communicate, even if you have no concrete results for a week, send out a mail to the team saying what you did. This fosters confidence at the same time someone else's expertise may help you out. Always respond to team emails with whatever insights you may have, which brings us to ..

8) Show Initiative, whenever you are reading up a paper or research work or have a new idea communicate this to the rest of the team, people will then remember you as an energetic enthusiastic individual and associate a lot of potential with you.

9) READ READ READ, always be up to date in what's going on in your industry and new ways of thinking.

Man or God

2009-02-11T20:44:00.001-08:00

Are experts born or are they created? (As this blog would lead you to believe http://blog.sreeram.org/2008/01/expertise-and-effort.html)

How can this guys fingers so flawlessly without faltering once, is he some new species, (a homo sapiens v2.0) ?

All that Glitters is NOT Spam.

2008-12-30T07:13:00.000-08:00

We live in an age of style.
Glossy, lustrous and slick magazines, newspapers, and Pamphlets,
Sweet innocent voices selling everything from ring tones to Washing Machines.
Naive kids vying for our attention in the form of ads.

We also live through a plethora of spam, from unsolicited sms's to shining emails. From slick pamphlets to unsolicited calls.

Due to easier and cheaper communication channels today the amount of spam has increased much more than the real content. Hence, at no point in history has the ability to separate the grain from the chaff been more important or more difficult.

I see people rejecting pamphlets or emails without a first glance simply because of their high style quotient. This often deprives them of good deals and offers.

If one directly dives into the content, its easy to separate the content from the medium. Thus do not reject anything outright, give every email/sms/pamphlet atleast 30 seconds. You will be surprised that's just how long it takes to separate important communication from the spam.

If you are wondering as to why The calling cards are spam and the laptop deal is not, you have grasped the logic behind the post. I.e what is spam to you could be useful for me, and vice-versa.

So go ahead and avoid those glittery mails at your own peril..

Was Newton actively researching Gravity when the apple fell or was Columbus looking for a new continent when he found the Americas ?

A tale of Two India's

2008-12-30T01:13:00.000-08:00

The recent surf excel Mitha pani advertisement and people describing the kid in it as cute remind me of a similar although much more real scene from Swadesh.

The kid is bringing water in both scenes but can you spot the real India ?

Who will have to die for me to cry.

2008-12-20T15:47:00.000-08:00

Devastated as i was at losing four loved ones in the recent Mumbai tragedy. I could not bring myself to cry?

I saw my grandmom break into tears at the remembrance of her preteen grand kids. I spoke to my friend in Mumabi who could not contain himself while informing us of the demise of one of our special friends.

Yet, i could not cry, what is wrong with me.

All I could think of is why?? What forces can motivate a person to take anothers life? Who could possibly have gained anything from this exercise in futility. And i will not rest till i find an answer.

The words from Sholay ring through my ears.

"The worlds biggest weight is that borne by a father carrying the corpse of his son. But if I have learnt one thing from life, it is to allways walk with the head held high"

What matters the most to me and why ??!!

2008-12-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

Is the title of an essay my roomie is trying to write in an attempt to apply to the Stanford biz school.
I can not understand why this is a tough essay, got me thinkin on this from my angle.

I believe the world respects two things:- Knowledge and Power.
Either without the other is useless.

So to put it in words what matters the most to me is the quest for knowledge and the strength to implement my ideas, and respect for what i have done.

My uncle allways tells me, whenever in a dilemma about your career, think of your coffin, imagine what you would want people to say about you whn you are gone.

Well, I believe i would like to be thought if as a person who explored the depths of knowledge, and had the courage and dedication to pursue his dreams. Thats all i ask for...

aaachooo

2008-12-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make, people blowing, sneezing and spitting really irk me.

Through no fault of my own i get nauseated at the sound and thought of mucus (green and fresh, yikes) near me.
Please guys use the rest room, or work from home if you are not well.

Inspirational stuff.

2008-12-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

Seven of my all time favorites....

A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it.

By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running

One day she actually won a race. And then another.
From then on she won every race she entered.
Eventually this little girl - Wilma Rudolph, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.

A candidate for a news broadcasters post was rejected by officials since his voice was not fit for a news broadcaster. He was also told that with his obnoxiously long name, he would never be famous.
He is Amitabh Bachan.

A small boy - the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father, was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living. He was not exceptionally smart at school but was fascinated by religion and rockets. The first rocket he built crashed. A missile that he built crashed multiple times and he was made a butt of ridicule.

He is the person to have scripted the Space Odyssey of India single-handedly - Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

The Moral of the above Stories:
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet - Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face.You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace.
In LIFE, remember that you pass this way only once! let's live life to the fullest and give it our extreme best.
'Failure is the pillar of success'!!!
'Never Say ,Never Die' !!!

Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air, yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on RULES. Because of that, they will never be as strong or as fast as you can be... Morpheus

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb but how fast you bounce back.

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bike. Then I realized that The Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked him to forgive me.

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
Winston Churchill

I love this video.

2008-06-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Legendary pieces form the vdo.... uhhh i cant remove anything from the text at all the whole thing is legendary

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

Sunday/Race/Dil Dosti etc.

2008-04-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

This blog is about the last three Hindi Movies i have seen, in decreasing order of my liking them.

Sunday

Sunday is one of the better movies Bollywood has produced in the last few quarters. A lightweight story line, lively comedy (courtsey Arshad Warsi, Irfaan Khan), good action (Ajay Devgan) and a cutie female protagonist (Ayesha Takia).

All these and an intense murder mystery with the suspense unfolding slowly out of an item number (kashmakash) leave very little else to be desired in this movie. Good Timepass, can watch with family.

A weakness in the movie is that the climax is not as strong as its made up to be. And oh the best part, the movie finishes in 2Hrs 10 Minutes.

Race
Race sanson ki...

This song pretty much summarizes the whole movie up, the entire 3 hours are full of intense action, some body showing by Saif and Bipasha and the cute Katrina shaking a leg.

Zara Zara touch me and Khwab dekhe Jhute Muthe are very well choreographed with Katrina sizzling as usual. Pehli Nazar is a soulful melody by atif aslam and grows on you every time you hear it.

The first half is much better with Saif clearly stealing the limelight, what could have an excellent movie losses steam after the intermisison , with cheap comedy by Anil Kapoor and Johhny Lever.

Dil Dosti Etc...
DDE is a soft emotional movie, with too many small little things which make for a great movie.

Excellent display of Bihari Acting by Shreyas Talpade. The movie is basically a contrast between the college lives of Shreyas ( typical Middle class Bihari boy with dreams of winning the college elections) and on the other side Apurva ( a tall, fair, rich and flashy Delhite).

Apurva finds himself lonely and friendless even after enjoying amoral relations with one woman after another.

Shreyas lives a simple spartan life his ancestors would be proud of, but manages to impress a girl after a colege gang fight, only to later discover that she's a fashion model and their tastes do not match very well.

A communications/negotiations game

2008-02-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

If you are anything like me and browsing around with no real purpose in mind (easy ;-) ) read on..
If you have seen and enjoyed movies like Enemy at the Gates, Schindlers List and old Bond movies you had better read on.

Oh and also required is a passing interest in European history and geography during the early 20th century i.e the period of the world wars.

Diplomacy is a game set in Europe, with 7 players representing the 7 major powers of that time i.e UK, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Russia and Turkey. The entire rule set is beyond the scope of this blog and can be found here, instead i am going to just give you a brief overview of the game to get you all excited about it.

Diplomacy begins with all 7 powers equally poised, i.e they all have 3 army or fleet units. And every unit is equal in strength so there is no scope for individual heroics or (hollywood like!) one man armies who can defeat everybody else.

The only way for a unit to defeat another unit and the game to progress is when 2 or more units collaboratively attack a single unit (If 3 units fight against 2 units the side with 3 units wins and so on).

The beauty of the game is that initially none of the powers have enough units to launch offensive attacks by themselves, thus begin pacts, counter-pacts horse trading and back stabbings.

The game progresses with the 7 great powers expanding there region of influence and ends when one power obtains control of 18 units out of the initial 34 units ( 3 into 7 plus 12 neutral plus R gets one extra unit).

Diplomacy can be played as a board game or online (at www.phpdiplomacy.net) with players spread all over the internet and the only way to contact the other players is via the inbuilt message system.

Do not expect any exciting animations or gut wrenching action on this site, the beauty of the game is that every move (representing 6 months of actual time) takes 24 hours. So basically you get that much time to make pacts and talk to other players and finalize your moves.

So go on! here is your chance to make history its free and fun.

Oh and before i forget the legal stuff, a company called Avalon hill holds the copyright for this. game. There are plenty of other sites offering this game, you are free to explore.

Skyscraping Singapore

2008-02-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

At 704.0 km² (272 sq mi), Singapore is one of the few remaining city-states in the world and the smallest country in Southeast Asia.

Singapore gained independence in 1963 from British rule. A fact which would lead any self respecting Indian to shame. The pace of development brings it close to any developed US city. Public transportation, Roads, Airways, Housing.. all point to an increasing standard of living.

Exports, Manufacturing, petrochemicals, tourism, Real Estate and financial services.. are all booming and the Economy is flourishing, with the Singaporean Stock exchange SGX a strong indicator of South Asian Economy.
Situated just 137 Km away from the Equator the climate is horribly hot and humid. This has its advantages too, with t-shirts and shorts being the national attire.
Singapore is a mixture of an indigenous Malay population with a third generation Chinese majority(yum!) , as well as Indian and Arab immigrants with some intermarriages.

But the most most striking feature of Singapore is the rampant commercialization. Eg. a mundane forest barely 20 km² has been converted into an exotic Night Safari. A pretty ordinary offshore island has been made into a tourist hot spot with cable car rides, downhill skating type rides, horizontal giant wheels covering most of the island, exotic boating and fishing, and you get the idea. Everywhere you'll see cameraman ready to take your pictures for free. Beware! they are professionals and the pics usually come out pretty nice and you have to pay to take those pictures ;-)

The only distressing thing about Singapore is that it is over popluated but perhaps that is to be expected with its mix of Indian and Chinese people.

Barriers break when people talk

2008-02-23T03:47:00.000-08:00

Rarely have i seen a better advertisement.

Summary
Two kids from diff countries, cross borders to play football / Cross barbed wire boundary lines on either side and play between the boundaries / VO -There's no war or barrier that can keep people apart if only they can talk / Airtel signature tune / Barriers break when people talk

The one with the truth about US aka Which country II

2008-02-17T17:31:00.001-08:00

Names have been avoided to protect the identity of some of the people involved

So here it comes, the unfortunate details of the case leading to the arrest of one of my friends on our recent Mt View trip. Many of you may have heard variations of this story depending on just how embarrassed i was when telling you the story, but what follows is the absolute truth.

Tuesdays were always stressful for me, what with early morning meetings 9 AM to 12 noon and that day was even worse with some deadline pressures, and on the personal side had to shift my home as well. After a horribly tiring day at office and packing all my worldly wealth i set out for a drive to my new home. Its around 1 AM and i think hey a few drinks would be nice and stop by a friends place. This friend bores me by working from home even at that ungodly hour and i decide to drink by myself while watching him work. I spend the hour trying to make a radiohead cd, and by that time i am done he is done too and has started his first peg. While i am on my third.

Now people have got to stop listening to me when i am drunk, here's why. So this god forsaken idea of going on a mid night quick drive with radiohead blasting outta the speakers enters my head. As soon i step into the cold icy night i realize i am to wasted to even open the car doors and the bright stud i am i let my unlicensed friend into the drivers seat.

Now this friend is no ordinary person, he can drive almost straight with no alcohol inside him and an he is an expert nfs player to boot. Well he was probably tired from all the work as well, so he decides to check out what the 2.0 L Turbo LNF I4 has under her bonnet. Well the road lights keep changing to green as soon as we reach them and there is not a soul in sight at that hour.

To his credit the Cobalt has a horribly smooth pickup and without warning we are cruising at 70 MPH, and the first warning escapes my lips as i watch a road light shrinking absurdly fast in my rear view. This warning was lost out in the mesmerizing lyrics of where i end and you begin. To our discredit, i had even rolled my window down to enjoy the icy wind in my hair and the screaming wind should have given us an idea how fast we were going.

And suddenly the shrinking road lights in my rear view are not the only problem any more, i see a weird sight, i see 2-3 police cars right behind us..... tailing as they may a multiple homicide suspect. I switch off the cd player and the blasting sirens hit us with that sinking feeling in the stomach.

Now i have never had single cop behind me in my 3-4 years of illustrious driving history and i have to pinch myself to believe i am not dreaming. Now totally to my discredit i advise my friend to keep driving at a slow pace, hoping against hope that the cops overtake us and are actually on a real suspect chase. After a couple of blocks we know its after us and pull over on the side.

As soon as we get out in the now freezing night the chilling tone, 'suspect apprehended' mixed with radio static enters our ears and i am ready to pass out. After allowing us to freeze for 10 minutes they start the questioning, we are grilled as to what our motives for over speeding and not stopping immediately when tailed by a cop at that hour were. My friend is made to perform various types of maneuverer's and subject to a breath analyzer to check if he is drunk or not, luckily he passes all those.

Actually had we just been over speeding i think the cop would have let us go, but what pissed him off was that we didn't stop immediately and my friends had left his license back in India. Actually that was not all, I even had an open bottle in my hand which i did not know was such a big deal. In my tiny mind i kept thinking whats wrong if i am drinking as long as i am not driving. But apparently as per California laws, even the pillion can not drink.

I hear the chilling words, please turn around and keep your hands together addressed to my friend. Unfortunately, my car was towed away. Leaving me quite alone in the freezing cold in an unfamiliar city, with no money in my pocket. Actually not quite alone, remember i was shifting houses, so all my luggage in the boot is strewed on the street along with me. I could not even begin to comprehend what must have been going on in my friends mind, sped away in a police car to an unknown destination as he was.

The rest of the night is spent in calling relatives and 911 to find out how to get him back, and then later on how to find a lawyer in case he is not freed immediately. Finally he is let out with a court date and charges of reckless driving, attempting to evade arrest, driving while unlicensed, and driving with an open container in the car

Later we fight our case in court and as it turns out the lawyer finds fault with the prosecution's case on every charge except the open container, and the fine is reduced from $2500 to just $270.
The case is not closed yet as the fine has not yet been paid, we can still appeal against the open container charge, however we decide to pay the fine and get the ordeal done and over with.

Whew!!! so lesson learnt, never drink and drive, its a surefire way to end up in trouble.

Another lesson, while out of desh, do not try any funny stuff, you never know when Big brother is watching you. Tell me really which cop in desh pulls you over for overspeeding at 3 in the night ? and if so actually ends up arresting you.... I guess we are so used to the fact the greasing his palm will get us out of trouble that we never think that an arrest may be made, the only trouble in our minds is that he would ask for too much money and how we would have to negotiate.

Insomnia

2008-02-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

Grrr. Cant sleep again. This used to happen all the time in 2006 but 2007 was much better.
So here i am at 7 AM giving up all hope of ever being able to sleep again , yawnnn!!!

So what did i do the day before to deserve this, first i cooked us some yummy schezwan rice, then i made myself a nice cocktail with coke, black label, and some everest chat masala ;-)... it was exotic. while still high on it i did the cardinal sin of watching some yummy gals on the net... twice, blissfuly went of to sleep at arnd 5 PM, only to be rudely woken up at 5:30 to meet a jogging appointment, excersised a bit and was expecting to sleep really sound. After that i didnt eat any dinner, but had some soup, fruits and juice instead along with roadies 5.0.

So why cant i sleeeeppp.. am i too stressed out or what ?? huh
have written this crap and still not an ounce of sleep, let me try writing a really long blog.

The Orkut profile.

2007-12-11T02:07:00.000-08:00

Al rite i am a self confessed Orkut addict, i love to roam from profile to profile and check out what the gals scrapped the guy and vice versa. I love to check out totally random guys and their pics.

And the more profiles i see the more i wonder what is the point people try to prove using their profiles. They range from downright stupid to weird and ..

Take for example the solo pictures guys put on their main introductory page.
Some people put real dude types pics with goggles or displaying biceps or on a harley davidson or simply smiling 19 to the dozen.
My heart really goes out to these people wondering exactly what type of gals they will be able to attract using Orkut. (That is their primary purpose i assume)

Then there are the people who use their names as constant status updates...

XYZ will be back to India on So and so date, or ABC.. hhmm enjoying first snowfall.

Dudes if any of you reading that has a name like this, any one who needs to know your travel plans will just ask you and if you need to broadcast your interests well thats just pathetic.

Its bad enough that people post their telephone numbers in their names, as if the whole world just needs to know their numbers and cant wait to read the number posted inside the profile.

Then, I bet you've seen this
Place:- Bombay> Bangalore> Paris> San Francisco California.
As if it isn't bad enough that Orkut makes you fill in your birth place and current location separately in your profile these guys need to advertise every single place they have ever been to. Dudes get a life.

The funniest are guys (and gals are guilty of this too) who post their personal intimate romantic pictures on their Orkut albums, (and then you say Orkut is full of stalkers). People will pull all stops to put their marriage pics or honeymoon pics on their public albums. The last (and one i am guilty of myself) are ppl who put nature pics, ie mountains seas and forests as if they are all Columbuses' reborn.

Dont even get me started on About me's and passions, i have seen everything from
Looks no less than a Movie star to Passionate about making girlfriends.

Hmmm I could do this forever, visiting profiles i mean not writing ;-)

Giggling Girls!

2007-12-01T00:52:00.000-08:00

The context:-
Me saying good bye to my Bhua as i step out of their home at the university housing complex. A strange giggling voice fills the corridor as if a thousand girls have suddenly found something very funny.

Bhua:- Uh Oh its the Giggling Girls (GG)
Me:- Huh whats that.
Bhua:- Bunch of College girls mainly studying nursing and living in local hostels.
Me:- Hmm Nurses...
Bhua:- Arre tum bachke rehna these gals drink a lot on weekends and have been known to create a nuisance.
Phupaji:- Arre kyuun dara rahi ho, atleast he has a better chance, let him enjoy, those gals are fun
Bhua:- (Experience se keh rahen hain)

By this time i see one of them wearing mini's and a shining top and giggling away 9 to 11. Does this girls have st vitus' dance or what. By now I am reasonably scared and walk as slowly as possible to the lift giving them enough time to close the door. As i hear their demented shrieks descend i am reasonably certain i have seen the last of them...

But whats this i hear them rising again, the girls just took the lift down for fun and now they are coming back up.I'm not sure what for! I swallow and nervously press the lift button. Reasoning after all what could a bunch of college gals do to harm me. I take my wallet and put it in my jacket pocket.

The door opens to a medley of colors, mellifluous chirping and the strong smell of alcohol. Looking around nervously (which i do very well) I manage to enter the lift without once letting my gaze meet theirs.

I can count 7-8 pair of heels and a million smirks. I feel as if they are all gazing at the new found bakra... Twitching i look up to see mostly oriental features, 2 of them at least 6 feet but thankfully the rest much smaller.

I try to give a benign smile to no one in particular hoping they will take this as a sign of boldness and back off. But no one seems to notice and certainly no one reciprocated.

At the ground i hurry to the nearby muni (San Fransisco local train) stop, the gals waver just a bit seeing they would each need to cough up $1.50 to entrain behind me. I never waited for a train so frantically wondering why the hell didn't the gals go back to their old game of up an down on the elevator. Maybe they had to go somewhere too!

I see them from the corner of my eye collecting all the loose change they have and all the while talking in some strange foreign language. From what i could get they had only $3.00 between them which meant only 2 of them could enter the train. Thanks god i decide, once again prematurely.I notice i have left my bag on the seat while buying the ticket and the gigglers have surrounded it leaving me no choice but to go close to them.

When i try to excuse myself towards the bag the gals seem to concentrate near my point of entry supposedly chatting excitedly in their own language and not stopping giggling even for a second.

Now, I am in panic thinking is this a game, how do i get my bag. I am all alone in the cold at 10 in the night with these nut cases. In a state of daze i hear the incoming train approaching. Feeling exactly what Abhimanu must have felt like while entering the ChakraVhuya. I decide to physically shove one of the gals and retrieve my bag..

Scarcely have i touched her that she recoils back in horror as if i have molested her looking hurt. I mumble my apologies at which the gang bursts into fits of laughter.

Being surrounded by drunk gals may seem like a scene straight from my fantasies but then i just duck my way out clutching on to my bag like a trophy.
I run and enter the train, cherishing the warmth within. But alas now the one i had touched enters the train behind me with a grimace on her face. She is soon joined by the rest of her gang. Wow! now a bunch of gals has hopped on a train without tickets just to chase me, i flatter myself.. Talk about nuisance!

Why does this frickin country have so many trains and so few people that i am again all alone on the train coach now . I desperately try to look as innocent and naive as possible. What if the gal calls the cops saying i assaulted her. But then i reason she is so drunk that the cop would probably arrest her first.

The hawks keep closing in on their prey, then one of them gives a discreet smile and pulls out a smoke. Her pal pokes her in the ribs pointing to the no smoking sign and i am spared the ignominy of having to inhale smoke.

After 10 minutes of loneliness finally the train reaches its destination and i jump out and reach for the Interstate train. The girls still hot on my heals!
Thankfully as i enter the platform gates a TT finally checks my ticket and lets me through.
Behind me i hear the oh so delicious words "Tickets please" and some confused babbling.

I look behind to see them waving heir hands and shaking their faces at me and i so wish i had a camera with me then, but the pic above comes pretty close to what they looked like.

Moral of the story.. never drink it makes you do things you would never do otherwise!

Fight Club!

2007-11-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

This blog is about FC the movie starring Brad Pitt And Edward Norton. Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations
Rated 8.7/10 (221,497 votes) on imdb.com

Few movies come and shape you as a person, FC is one of the movies which has closely influenced me on a very personal level (Positively i hope).

To me the movie is all about discovering who you really are and what drives you as a person what are your dreams and what would you classify as an achievement and what are your biggest failures.

The Dialogues are mind blowing to qoute a few..

We are the middle children of history, with no purpose or place We have no great war, or great depression. The great war is a spiritual war. The great depression is our lives.

My father never went to college, so it was really important that I go. After I graduated, I called him long distance and asked, "Now what?" He said, "Get a job." When I turned twenty-five, I called him and asked, "Now what?" He said, "I don't know. Get married." A generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is the answer we really need.

Some critics have described FC as a vent to male aggression, and i reluctantly agree but it is so in a very aesthetic sort of way, the violence wherever it is lends strength to the plot and the inevitable (oh so hot) scenes between Marla Singer and Brad Pitt border between the sensual and artistic. They are by no means lewd and very watchable (although maybe not with ur grandmom)

To set the context Edward and Brad Pitt live together and find out that they have a lot of interests in common and move on to form a fight club as a recreation event in the weekends.

The movie moves inexorably to a gut wrenching suspense... Is Tyler misusing Edward Norton, and the fight Club...? Does he have ends of his own to serve?

The Climax slowly unfolds as complex relationships emerge.

Radiohead for dummies

2007-11-28T23:36:00.000-08:00

This blog is about my favourite rock band.If you were looking for something else (like maybe a radio with a head!) just go away now.

Now Radiohead is a kind of band which grows on you, not like Linkin Park or Rammstein which you like instantaneously and keep listening until you grow tired.

With Radiohead it was never love at first sight for me, but theirs is the kind of music which you have to develop a taste for. Its the kind of music you can just keep on hearing forever and each time you hear it again you find a new reason to love it...
With their unique blend of dark, brooding and soulful music there is a serious risk of addiction.
Soft romantic types can step away too now..

I am sure many sites exist on them and list out their best albums, but if you are like me you just want to get the best 1-2 songs from their top 3 albums listed out for you.. (You lazy a**holes)

So sit back and relax I'm gonna link their best 4 songs for you to enjoy. And if you still dont like any them well then like i said you gotta have taste for it!!

It is frickin impossible to select 1-2 songs from "In Rainbows" with beautiful tracks like Bodysnatchers and 15 steps, Reckoner.

Check out the mesmerizing guitar performance in Jigsaw falling into place-

Reckoner with its mind blowing use of the Guitar comes next

Numero Uno is a no brainer for me

Street Spirit (Fade out) from The Bends Album is a journey into your Soul. Just listen to it with your eyes closed on a decent audio device. Also FYI at the time of writing this video has an average rating of 5/5 based on 4500 ratings on youtube!

If that was too slow or depressing for you (i actually find it inspirational) coming up is the upbeat Where I End And You Begin (from Hail to the Thief)

I am deliberately leaving out Creep as its lyrics can get too depressing to unaccustemed Radiohead listeners, a beautiful song no doubt i believe it is way overhyped..

Which Country!

2007-11-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

Who says imitation isn't the best form of flattery..
From now on i am gonna write 2-3 liners blogs daily on anything that catches my fancy..

So back to the topic.. Picture this

An overworked security official (over as in doing everything from receiving mails/guest/arranging cabs.. in short everything except security) taking calls from 3-4 employees and jotting down their transport requirements (Yipee we get free cabs) and trying to optimize the cabs at his disposal.
Do i need to say which country i am talking about

Contrast this with..

A Security chap with a Suite and Tie uniform which would put SRK to shame, with a farely British Accent mumbling, "Please call up the Khab(Cab) service and ask for a pikhup".
After opening the yellow pages and calling all friends i finally manage to get a cab. But wait i can see two cabs waiting for me. In panic i relive the incidents of the night trying to make sure i haven't called cabs from two different companies. However one chap walks up briskly to me and escorts me to the cab...

After i reach the hotel i notice the same second cab screeching to a halt right next to me and another desi bhai flaunting his Google jacket walking into the hotel...

Now tell me which country is using its resources most optimally !!??

Sky Diving Experience.. Jump from 15K feet!!

2007-11-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

Some facts:-
At 15000 feet (=~4.5Km)
Temperature = -14 'C
Atmospheric Pressure is about 50% of pressure at the surface.

Birds fly at 500 feet.
Eagles fly at 10000 feet (Max)
Manned hot air balloons fly at 1000-3000feet
Aircraft's fly at 30000 feet.

Oxygen is needed for all crew and passengers for any flight that reaches and exceeds an altitude of 12,500 feet.

Now the story..
If you are anything like me you have no idea just how high is 15K feet, and what you can see and what you can not see from up there.

Well it is much higher than some of the clouds, thus in the video you can clearly see a shot with us caught in between the clouds and the sun. From up there we could see the santa cruz beach on the one side and the Carmel valley on the other...

As soon as we jumped we were in a free fall for about 1.5 minutes, which is where most of the video is shot. Nothing i can say here compares to the hollowness you first feel in your stomach when you are off the plane, for the first 10 seconds i was scared like hell and all i could do was scream and clutch the safety straps around me. This is the closest un-winged mortals can get to anti gravity and flying i guess.

After the first shock we held hands with the cameraman and made several interesting formations.

Luckily for me my cameraman and instructor (the guy tied to me) were best pals, had done many jumps together and had perfect co-ordination. Thats why we were able to make all those mid air formations and the camera captured my expressions so closely.

It is an experience like no other, i would say everyone must try it once it is just too much..
The link to the video is here

Life at Google

2007-11-17T23:36:00.000-08:00

Finally a blog i have waited 2 long months to start writing. Not because i am lazy but because i did not want to write about my new job while i was still in the honeymoon period.

Well first of all a lot of people ask me to compare Google to other companies, and while i don't know much about other companies, Google has a different way with employees which i haven't seen in any other company as i shall try to explain in the remainder of this blog.

Like a lot of people i had heard a lot about Googly and the cynic i am the more i heard the less i believed. But this is one case where i think reality is not far from the hype.

Firstly and most importantly is the work culture which is very flat and agile, nice words but what do they mean and what's the catch you may ask, Glad you asked! What that means is that engineers here enjoy a great degree of freedom when it comes to actual design and project planning. The philosophy here is they hire selectively and then make the engineers directly responsible for the success of a project, and then they have to decide what it takes to do that.
These decisions could range from actually defining what needs to be done, how to do it and more importantly the resources required to do it. Managerial supervision is minimal and is often restricted to reviews.

Another thing which i like here is the emphasis on continuous education built into the policy framework ( there was actually a talk a few days back about what it takes to reach top managerial schools!). Most important technical talks are videotaped and made available for employees to watch and learn, these talks vary in content from Google specific technologies to a host of open topics and technologies. There are tutorials available for almost all internal work flows(some of them could use improvement, but at least they are there).

Third, there are no rigid project specific boundaries, if someone finds that a technology they use has some bugs or could be done in a better way they are expected to do it themselves !!! And given the fact that most of us use Google products in a big way even before joining here there are a lot of interesting things to be done!!

Fourth, engineers can spend 20% of their time working on something that they care about. I am not to sure of this exactly but i think that people use this 20% time to do stuff identified in the Third point.

Fifth, and probably the most hyped are the Google perks!!
The snacks and food variety is simply path breaking, in break rooms you can find stuff from Mars bars, Snickers, Lays, Pringles (Yes in Bangalore) to fruits, dry fruits, 5-6 types of juices, milk (regular, skimmed, and a few other varieties), yogurt, cheese, butter, pasta, noodles, eggs, cookies, chikki, kurkure, sevral types of Cornflakes, Muesseli ( i don't even know what that is!), Coconut Water and several other goodies.
For snacks you have patties, pastries, samosas, CCD cakes, Subway Sub's and some other stuff.
Breakfast sometimes has Alu ka Parathas, sometimes idli-vadas, sometimes dosas's sometimes omelletes.
Dinner is also nice, one thing which i did not like much was the lunch! The food taste is not that great although the variety is still fairly diverse, with non veg 4 days a week, and ethnic cuisines once in a while!

Company transport during working days is almost like you have a chauffeur driven Indica at your beck and call!

The break room has a Foosball table and a giant sized synthesizer other than the tt and carrom, we do not have gym right now but we will be getting one pretty soon.

The HR and fincance seems to be stil finding its footing in India and One thing Google is not good at is compensation, earlier they over payed and in recovery mode right now they are not paying as much as some other companies like Microsoft and Adobe. However if the Stock keeps appreciating at the same rate as it has done in the past few months that should not be a problem!

Keep checking back, coming up next life in the Silicon Valley!

Its all about the movies.

2007-06-17T03:43:00.000-07:00

After claiming fame as an adventurinst with my Dharamshala trip i am quite tired now and let me do what i do best, moviessss.. What follows are my top 3 favourites from HollyWood in no particular order.

TrainSpotting has a special place in my heart being as it is a story about a bunch of losers, liars, psychos, thieves and junkies. What can i say about a movie which begins with a rising baritone as follows-

"Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family, Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers.

Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends.

Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing you last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.

But who would I want to do a thing like that?
I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who need reasons when you've got heroin? "

I wish i could post a sound track of this dialogue, the first few minutes into this movie leave you wondering what the hell are you doing here. I feel no shame is saying that Mark is my alter ego.
For someone who has never been wasted the movie digresses a bit in the middle with variegated hallucinations and regular trips to the jail/hospital and deaddiction centres. To all these guys all i have to say is when you die remember you have missed out on a sensation equalling your best orgasm times 1000.

After all this you would expect the movie to be very depressing and negative ending, but lo and behold the movie ends on a positive inspirational note and a must watch for anyone wanting to deaddict (be it smoke/alchohol/hash/money/women !! whatever).

The movie ends as

So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers, all false. The truth is that I'm a bad person, but that's going to change, I'm going to change. This is the last of this sort of thing. I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm going to be just like you: the job, the family, the fucking big television, the washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electrical tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mor tgage, starter home, leisurewear, luggage, three-piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine to five, good at golf, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption, clearing the gutters, getting by, looking ahead, to the day you die.

Thats all for one big blog next two favourites are Catch me if you can and Back to the Future...
coming up in the next blog.

Once upon a time in the Himalyas..

2007-06-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

The setting was a drab day in January, with me getting bored at work as usual. Not the launch pad one would expect for a trip to the Himalayas. Enter air deccan, now people generally check mails, orkut or blogs in there spare time. I on the other hand exhaust all of these options early in the day and religiously check low air fares regularly. And voila my efforts were rewarded! Deccan launched a new flight on the Delhi Dharamshala sector for as low as Rs 9 (plus taxes) and was I smitten! Inquiries were made, and suitable dates in May were scheduled. It was a good opportunity to spend some quality time with my dad. I like to observe how he negotiates the best deals with taxi drivers, persistent tourist agents, hotel managers and the like.

The actual journey began when we left beloved Jaipur on a hot sweaty Friday evening aboard Laloo's express. Now I have to political interests but I must compliemnt Laloo and company for a job well done. Web ticketing, flawless air conditioning and comfortable bedding, what else can one ask for? Our next stop was the Indira Gandhi International Airport which turned out to be not very different from a railway station. Picture wailing kids, people eating poori/aalu and the general din associated with a vegetating bourgeois. Flies and mosquitoes enjoying a buffet of human delicacies complete the abyss that this place has become.

After three excruciating hours finally we get to board our rickety propeller driven aircraft. On one of these machines one can actually discern the tug on the belt shaft to bring the engine to life. I could even make out a gear shift reverberating through the entire craft not unlike a quivering overloaded city bus. Fortunately we reach our destination without incident. Dharamshala is a semi commercialized town. It affords beautiful mountain top views while being within easy reach of essential commodities. It is situated at a height of 6000 feet above sea level; no wonder the cool mountain breeze literally took our breath away. The winding trip to the top was blessed with copious forests. One can’t help feeling beatific amidst the natural panorama engulfing the human mind and soul.

Our Hotel was situated atop a hillock with a back door opening to a waterfall and clouds floating around. We shared the hotel with a group of school children out on an educational excursion. The kids ignited a bonfire and celebrated the night singing and dancing to keep away the chill. The fun reminiscent of childhood memories.

The First day we visited the usual suspects on most hill stations. We saw a tremulous waterfall, an old cavernous church, a holy lake and a rose park. The prize however was a mountainous trek dotted with telescopes to site trains, and other wonders of the lower world. Another novelty was a swimming pool perennially powered by warm spring water. The water looked clean and tempting and overflowed gently onto the hillside. Else where minor waterfalls disgorged water so cold that it was being used to refrigerate soft drinks.

The second day we went to see a monastery and witness first hand the spartan Tibetan way of living. One can’t help regretting that these guys face extinction in there traditional homelands of Tibet. Next, we visited the Jwalamukhi Deveji's Temple. We had to wait in a queue for several hours for a darshan lasting not more than a minute. There are no idols to be seen here the deity here is a perpetual flame. Myth logically believed to be a work of angels; it is a spectacular geothermal phenomenon. It is a vent to trapped natural gas, ignited by the heat of rocks rubbing together.

Overall we really enjoyed this trip and this is a must go for anyone wanting to spend quality time in nature's lap.

Catters winners Non-catters weepers ?

2006-11-22T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here goes my first short and sweet stint at blogging. This really feels awkwards talking to no one in particular, wondering if any1 will ever read it an will it be ny good.

At the risk of sounding cliched i would venture to say that the subject of this blog is not to vent my spleen at the recently concluded CAT-2006 , but more about CAT itself. Wat is it about the CAT that years even decades of preparation succumb meeekly to it. I do not claim veteran status as a CATTER (after all i have given it only thrice) but i really do think it goes beyond the booty n the brains.

Is it about smartness, labour , or is it plain simple luck ? None of these i would venture (no pun intended). It would have been so simple (to give up!) if it were simply abt smartness but the number of really smart ppl i know who are in the iim's is miniscule to say the least compared to the other not so smart-asses. Is it about being a stud at English since kindergarden, or being born in a Business house having numbers flowing out of one's head? Again counter examples abound and one must acknowledge that such a simplistic solution is just not tenable.

To solve this mystery lets look in closer detail as to why a person in his sane mind agress to 1-2 years of preparation (slavery to those who miss it) in the prime of their youth, what is it that holds a magical attraction to often well pain s/w engineers and other professiosnal to apportion a lions share of their leisure time to this feline creature. I suppose there is something incredibly tempting about competing with the best in the country. The profligate corporates queing up for a bit of the iim'ian certainly help of course.

So now we have close to 2 Lakhs libido driven individuals vying for a institute with an intake of just around a thousand guys.

To be concluded... (after my next attempt!!)