GomzyOnline

Is Galaxy S2 worth buying?

2011-08-25T08:51:00.000+05:30

A friend asked me "How is samsung galaxy S2? Worth buying?"

In one word I can say Yes, but I being me would go on and on and on.....

SII got a 1.2 GHz dual core processor and 1 gb ram, iPhone 4 has 1 GHz single core processor. I found SII is much faster than the SI and iPhone 4. But watch out for iPhone 5.

Samsung got a 4.3 inch screen bigger than 3.5 inch apple screen. But iPhone has super high resolution retina display compared to Read somewhere that iPhone screen is less power intensive and reproduces colors better but that does not mean a lot as of now.

The Body is plasticky, SII back cover is flimsy, made of slim plastic, seems will break down at any moment. iPhone 4 has a industrial design, it is the sturdiest you can get ever.

The OS in Android 2.3 (ginger bread) is far more stable compared to 2.2 and 2.1, but iOS is most stable any day. Personally like using a Android OS compared to iOS, because of the Home screen and Apps screen separately. Expect iOS 5 to add more features to the stable and then I might have to change my opinion.

Overall i feel iOS gets better apps than Android. Don't like the Android App market experience, most of them look lot less polished than the iOS apps. Most of the apps I use however are available on both platforms so it does not matter.

I like the integration to Gmail/Google Apps/Social Networking in Android. iOS will have integration with twitter in iOS 5, but it is far less integrated.

Battery... I used to run out of the iPhone 3GS in half of the working day with SI somehow get to the end of the day (because I play with SI far less compared to iPhone), with a Blackberry Bold I would use 2 whole days. Displays consume most battery apart from the calls, bigger and touch screens even more.

If mail is the primary use of the phone Blackberry is better (Bold Series (avoid Torch) but look out for the new ones coming. For high apps and games use I would recommend iPhone. SII gives a more balanced user experiences.

Finally; when I bough the SI I though to myself that it is a poor mans iPhone. I still stick to it. SII gives far more value for money spent than iPhone.

Bangalore loses IPL matches to bombs

2010-04-18T17:59:00.000+05:30

In today's India, a bomb can go off anywhere. What makes IPL think Mumbai is safer than Bangalore. Were the Mumbai not the target of more attacks than any other city in India? Whole of India is a dangerous place to be - case in point Dantewada attacks. Will they move the matches out of India? Will it remain IPL then? This is a bad precedent and a step in the wrong direction. It is shows that we are scared of miscreants.

Perils of Thoughts

2010-04-18T05:00:00.001+05:30

What is the link in Google Pages, Blogger, Orkut & Buzz? Apart from they all being Google owned sites; they fight for mindshare of individuals through web presence. They show the evolution of mediums to express one’s thoughts.

In good old days if you needed a web presence you needed a pursuing degree in computer science, to host a webpage on the university server and actually be able to create a webpage itself. Web space was costly and needed efficiency in HTML to create any web site at all. But that changed when free webhosting sites came into existence, e.g. http://www.angelfire.com/. This is where I made my first web site. The web hosting provider would give you certain amount of web space (5-10 MB) to create your web page(s), and you had to bear with the ads they put on your site to compensate for the free web-space. They also allowed direct upload from HTML editors like Microsoft FrontPage. That meant creating a webpage was comparatively easy for people who did not know HTML etc. But then, the whole concept of web hosting meant that the thoughts or ideas are organized, just like a book to make a meaningful website. http://www.googlepages.com/ caters to this market.

Then came blog. In the world of web two point owe – it is a contraction of the term ‘We-bLog’ – an online diary of (mostly) an individual. Later commercial organizations also picked-up the idea. This new concept meant that you do not have to arrange thoughts in any specific manner and let them flow as they came. Somehow they still meant that you mostly blog about a specific subject, and would consist at least a paragraph of text. http://www.blogger.com/ was the first site I think. Google later acquired blogger.

Come ‘on man you don’t expect to paragraphs from text frenzy people, who are in a hurry to go to hell so came http://www.twitter.com/. These days it creates trouble for Indian politicians and cricket administrators alike. While not creating havoc in the Indian Parliament, twitter allows for shorter messages to be published from anywhere you can access the web or by sending a SMS. I think Google is trying to cater to this market with their latest Google Buzz, but it is bit different anyway. For one – it intrudes into your mail box.

While blogs graduated to dumber tweets, social networking space was becoming a rage. There were many others but www.myspace.com was a pioneer in this field, and www.facebook.com bulldozed everything else in the developed countries. www.orkut.com is Google’s answer which was developed as an internal project and became hugely successful in Brazil and India. Now these social networking sites wanted a share of the users mind so they started ‘what’s in your mind?’ and ‘what are you up to?’

Isn’t that I was using twitter for, and before that blogger and before that angel-fire? Now when I come up with an idea that can change the world during my ‘power-nap-in-the-loo’ session, I ought to be confused where to express that. I don’t use websites now since they are passé. But luckily others are linked. When I put a message on my blogger it shows on face-book, orkut and buzz. If I press ‘Like’ on http://www.youtube.com/ while logged-in they show on twitter and face-book. When I comment something on twitter, it shows on www.linkedin.com. Gradually everything is getting linked, and more confusing.

PS: I could not think of a better title for the blog post.

PPS: my twitter handle is Sharma.Goutam, I blog at http://www.gomzyonline.com/ and it has a mirror on http://www.gomzyonline.blogspot.com/

A Trip to AMS

2010-04-03T03:00:00.000+05:30

I visited AMS on the Good Friday. It warm when we began in Dordrecht but became very cold in the way. Once again in AMS it was quite good.

This picture is caused by my shivering hands due to the cold.

EY office in AMS. EY has a special place for me as I was associated for the longest period in any institution apart from primary school and college.

AMS royal palace. Not in use, apparently.

AMS central staion.

Finding Nemo any one?

Some of the houses can be very narrow. It seems in the heydays of AMS, land was very prime, and thus such narrow houses. I have seen some houses as narrow as one door.

This is a very famous bridge. It used to be lifted by hands in old days. Now motors do the work.

You can see some of the houses are not properly aligned and they are leaning on others.

At the Chez

2010-04-03T02:30:00.000+05:30

I went to Chez on a warm (NL standards) Friday afternoon for lunch. Enjoyed the food, enjoyed the location and enjoyed the weather. This restaurant is located at a very picturesque location of Wieldrechtseweg, near the port.

In the lobby of Postillion Hotel Dordrecht

2010-04-02T02:30:00.001+05:30

I stayed in Postillion Hotel, Dordrecht in a couple of visits to that place. I took some pictures and they are the cause of this post. The hotel is a nice place to stay, but the same can not be said about the food. The menu was short and did not change in 3 months. Luckily there is a Mc Donald’s adjacent to the hotel. Though virtually out of the town of Dordrecht, it is not really very far from the city center, and is barely 5 kilometers away.In the name of the facilities there is one pool table. You have televisions in every room and they give complementary water bottles in the room fridge, they also give coffee, tea and chocolate mix in the room to drink. Earlier they used to put a couple of soup packets as well but they did not during my 2nd visit. There is a pool table in the bar. Breakfast is complementary on the weekends, but the room charges make it up for them.

The above pictures were taken in April during my 2nd visit. Follwoing were taken in Jan'10 during my first visit. Also above pics were taken on a broken SE K790i while the follwoing pictures were taken on a new Nokia E 75. I missed the SE phones then.

A View from my Desk

2010-02-12T04:00:00.000+05:30

February 2010 was one of the coldest during the history and due to that I was virtually imprisoned in my hotel room.

These pictures were taken ten days apart on Feb 1st and 11th.

Leeds City Museum

2009-11-19T13:43:00.000+05:30

The tiger represents India, Indian Sepoys to be precise, the woman with the sword is Britania, and the dead female and child are the innocent English who were murdered by brutal Sepoys. Reality check anyone, One Two Three…

That is a rock that looks like a bread and a cutting knife, symbolizing hard times

Maa Kali, could recognize instantly, depicting the modern woman.

Union Jack made of rubbish.

Slogging Blog

2009-05-18T11:07:00.000+05:30

Recently the entries into the blog have been few and far between. The reason has been diagnosed and as it turns out the factors are a few. Primarily the blog was a photo blog, which took shape during my days at Chennai, where I had a good camera phone (SE K750i) and ample time to update. At various times I had equally good phones that were capable of giving great results. Now a day however I am sporting Nokia E61i, which though is a very capable business phone, lacks punch in the camera department.

The other reason has to do with my company policy – which was updated recently – not to allow access to blogs and personal networking sites. I while totally agree with the policy, nevertheless not able to find any opportunity to update my blog.

The third reason is to do with saving on my power bills at home. Earlier my home computer would be switched on for almost all the time. But this has caused me to received four digit power bills, more than double what others receive. To curtail on the expenses I have reduced the time my system stay on and in the process not having enough time to do any productive work on my blog. I hope that the situation improves and I spend more time updating my blog.

A to Z anonymous

2009-04-26T15:45:00.000+05:30

Source: See Comments

A is for Awpheesh (as in Office). This is where the average Kolkakatan goes and spends a day hard at work. And if he works for the 'Vest Bengal Gawrment' he will arrive at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a tea break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break for lunch at 1, smoke the 7th unfiltered cigarette at 2, break for 5th cup of tea at 3, sleep sitting down at 4 and go home at 4:30. It's a hard life!

B is for Bhision. For some reason many Bengalis don't have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing spectacles all the time....Bhishon Bhalo and Bibhotso.... though means opposite ...used for same situations.. .depending on the Beauty of fairer sex...are close ...almost in a tie for second spot....

C is for Chappell. Currently, this is the Bengali word for the Devil, for the worst form of evil. In the night mothers put their kids to sleep saying, 'Na ghumoley ebar Chappell eshey dhorey niye jabe.'

D is for Debashish or any other name starting with Deb. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere and trying to get creative they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debopriyo, Deboprotim, Debojyoti, etc. thrown in at times....as creations of God himself !!

E is for Eeesh. This is a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali, especially Bengali women, use eeesh 10,089 times every year. 'Ei Morechhey' is a close second to Eeesh.

F is for Feeesh. These are creatures that swim in rivers and seas and are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has such strong smells, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not, he will say 'eeesh what feeesh is theesh!'

G is for Good name. Every Bengali boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Motka, Bhombol, Thobla, etc. While every Bengali girl will have pet names like Tia, Tuktuki, Mishti, Khuku, et cetera.

H is for Harmonium. This Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you have the successors to The Bheatles!

I is for Ileesh. This is a feeesh with 10,987 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!

J is for Jhola. No selfrespecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola. It is a shapeless cloth bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Even as you read this there are two million jholas bobbling around Kolkata, and they all look exactly the same! Note that 'Jhol'with mysterious condiments.. . as in Maachher Jhol is a close second. Jhaamela and Jachhetai are distant 3rd and 4th

K is for Kee Kaando! It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai.Kee mushkil is a close second.

L is for Lungi, the dress for all occasions. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it not to mention the daily trip in the morning to the local bajaar. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt Everest.

M is for Minibaas. These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of all James Bond stuntmen as well as Formula 1 race car drivers.

N is for Nangto. This is the Bengali word for Naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!

O is for Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!).

P is for Phootball. This is always a phavourite phassion of the Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game. The two biggest clubs there are MOHUNBAGAN and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.

Q is for Koshchen (question) as in "Mamatadi koshchens Cheap Ministaar in Writaars Buiding."

R is for Robi Thakur. Many many years ago Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize. This has given the right to all Bengalis no matter where they are to frame their acceptance speeches as if they were directly related to the great poet and walk with their head held high. This also gives Bengalis the birthright to look down at Delhi and Mumbai and of course 'all non-Bengawlees'! Note that 'Rawshogolla' comes a close second!

S is for Shourav. Now that they finally produced a genuine cricketer, that too a captain, Bengalis think that he should be allowed to play until he is 70 years old.

T is for Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it's faster to walk....Trams are still existing in Paris too.......you see !

U is for Aambrela. When a Bengali baby is born he is handed one.

V is for Bhaayolence. Bengalis are the most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will fold up their sleeves, shout and scream and curse and abuse, "Chherey De Bolchhi" but the last time someone actually hit someone was in 1939.

W is for Water. For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!

X is for X'mas. It's very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up and all Bengalis agreeing that they must eat cake that day.

Y is for Yesshtaarday. Which is always better than today for a Bengali (see R for Robi Thakur)?. It is also for Jubraj Shingh and Joga.

Z is for Jebra, Joo, and Jipper.

IPL 2009- First Impressions

2009-04-19T02:27:00.001+05:30

Telecast: I watch it on TV and Set max is doing a bad job. It had at least 5-7 ad breaks between the opening ceremony, which in any other sport or say in Olympics or FIFA world cup would have got nonstop coverage. Sony rather than showing the cricket is more interested in getting the ad buck, which is unfortunate.

Uncertainty: Both of the last years finalists got drubbing. And the not so good teams from previous season did better this time. This paves way for an exciting IPL season two. Every team has a fresh chance t o do well this time and mend their position as of last season.

Pure Cricket: Dravid while receiving his man of the match trophy for his scintillating 66 for Royal Challengers against the other royals, the Rajasthan Royals from Jaipur indicated that this time the game is tough and the better players like (rightly so) Dravid will have good chance of performing. Unlike the Indian pitches which are batter friendly and give scope for innovative joker play these South African pitches are evenly balanced and the chance to the bowlers to win matches.

Old Guard takes Guard: Today we saw, Sachin, Dravid and Kumble performing. While the first one still playing the other two have retired from the short and both forms respectively. This is a welcome sign where the shortest form of game is giving opportunity to the old world players a chance to show the world who the masters are.

New world: Being in South Africa gives IPL a chance to explore the possibility of looking forward to more international venues. It’s undoubtedly a good idea to showcase the Indian might of Cricketing skill world over and promote the game in new locations. Who knows this game can be played in Brazil next season

About being a Devil

2009-04-08T11:39:00.000+05:30

It is so much better being a devil’s advocate then being a devil later. One should express one’s opinions then and there when they feel though it hurts momentarily instead bitching about an incident later.

Shore Temple - Mahabalipuram

2009-03-26T14:59:00.000+05:30

The shore temple at Mahabalipuram. Last time when I visited there I could not see it as we went there in the after hours.

And then the fight started...

2009-02-27T02:50:00.001+05:30

Source - E Mail Forward

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels.

She asked, 'What's on TV?'

I said, 'Dust.'

And then the fight started...

*************************************************************************************

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.
She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds.'

I bought her a weighing scale.

And then the fight started...

*************************************************************************************

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive...

So, I took her to a gas station..

And then the fight started...

*************************************************************************************

My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and my wife kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.

I asked my wife, 'Do you know him?'

'Yes,' She sighed, 'He's my old boyfriend.
I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years
ago.'

'My God!' I said to my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'

And then the fight started...

*************************************************************************************

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first.

"I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please."

He said, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?"

"Naaah, she can order for herself."

And then the fight started...

*************************************************************************************
A woman is standing & looking in the bedroom mirror.
She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband,
'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'

And then the fight started..... .

*************************************************************************************

I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95.

Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95.

I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream.

And then the fight started....

*************************************************************************************

I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?"

It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation.
"Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said.

So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?"

And that's when the fight started....

*************************************************************************************
When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed..
But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first:
the truck, the car, e-mail, fishing, always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point.

When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass,
busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors.
I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house.
I was gone only a few minutes. When I came out again I handed her a toothbrush.
'When you finish cutting the grass,' I said, 'you might as well sweep the driveway.'

And then the fight started...

Charminar - Hyderabad

2009-01-21T14:09:00.000+05:30

When you visit Charminar, the first thought comes to mind is – is this all? Well there nothing more to see than the Charminar, which itself is an ordinary structure. Ladies will find the shopping very enjoyable.

Kalyanamandapam - My Wedding Place

2008-12-19T00:03:00.004+05:30

View Larger Map

This is the place where I will be getting married on the 11th March 2009. To reach here just click on the thmbnail above and find your way to this place.

York Town

2008-11-22T21:31:00.003+05:30

These are York Castle walls

The way to the left leads to York Brewery

It was a chilling Saturday evening and could not take many pictures as my fingers were freezing.

It's a hotel building. Nice isn't it.

This guy is a very famous attraction in York city centre. BTW the city centre was smaller compared to Leeds and I felt like I was in a 18th century English town, just as seen in the TV.

National Railway Museum (NRM) - York

2008-11-22T20:50:00.002+05:30

I went to York on the advice of the Pakistani cab driver who took me to visit the Leeds city center the other day. I kind of had to go there because back in India everyone will ask where all you went when you went to UK and, though it’s a miserly 5 day trip, will have nothing to answer. The only place I visited inside was the National Railway Museum in York, because the entry fee was nil. I know it’s a cheap trick but I promised to myself next time it’s going to be better.

This is Rocket, the first train ever built, or close to it.

This is Mallard, the first train to cross 100 mph mark.

Station names.

I guess it was some royal train.

Thse are the train nameplates.

York Ministry – York

2008-11-22T20:23:00.001+05:30

The York Ministry was an enormous structure. And the main draw to the town. York is around 20 min train ride from Leeds, it costs around £ 9 for the return ticket. The Pakistani cab driver advised me and said it’s got old type buildings and a good visit near to Leeds.

Leeds City Museum

2008-11-19T13:43:00.000+05:30

Went to see the York Museum today since I was finished with my work today early. The cab driver was a Pakistani fellow and we spoke in Hindi/Urdu. He advised me to go to York and said it has old type buildings. I decided so be it for the coming Saturday.

The tiger represents India, Indian Sepoys to be precise, the woman with the sword is Britania, and the dead female and child are the innocent English who were murdered by brutal Sepoys. Reality check anyone, One Two Three…

That is a rock that looks like a bread and a cutting knife, symbolizing hard times

Maa Kali, could recognize instantly, depicting the modern woman.

Union Jack made of rubbish.

A view from my window - Leeds UK

2008-11-18T19:45:00.000+05:30

In mid November fall is about to beginning I guess.

Schiphol Airport

2008-11-16T12:30:00.000+05:30

This was my first time out of India, on my way to Leeds UK on an official trip. I had a 4 hr break at Schiphol airport at Amsterdam. This place is magnificent; I had never seen anything like this before. So many people of different countries, I felt as if I am in one a airport of Star Wars movies where you find so many types of creatures.

I had a bit of shopping to do as well. I checked out each and every shop in the airport, even went to see the Rembrandt museum in the airport itself. Went to casino but could not muster the courage to gamble.

Had one of the most expensive pizzas I ever had, and had beer in a public place for the first time.

Different Viewpoints

2008-10-20T12:20:00.000+05:30

Source - E Mail Forward

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they lay down in their tent for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend awake “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.” “What does that tell you?” Holmes questioned. Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that here are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Chronologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?” Holmes was silent for a minute, and then spoke. “Watson, you ass someone has stolen our tent!”

The Value of a Drink

2008-09-26T15:38:00.001+05:30

Source - Email Forward

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams .If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver."
~ Jack Handy

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the hell
happened to your clothes .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. "
~Frank Sinatra

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
~ Henny Youngman

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."
~ Stephen Wright

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to think you can sing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!"
~ Brian O'Rourke

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause pregnancy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
~ Benjamin Franklin

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a retard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."
~ Dave Barry

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To some ! it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!
~Dave Howell

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And saving the best for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin,of Cheers.

One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the BuffaloTheory to his buddy Norm. Here's how it went:

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not

Laughs on the Bus

2008-09-25T15:47:00.001+05:30

Source - Email Forward

This is from an actual trial in the UK:

A young woman who was several months pregnant boarded a bus. When She noticed a young man smiling at her she began feeling humiliated on account of her condition. She changed her seat and he seemed more amused. She moved again and then on her third move he burst out laughing..................

She had him arrested. Then the case came before the court, the young man was asked why he acted in such a manner. His reply was:

When the lady boarded the bus I couldn't help noticing she was pregnant.

She sat under an advertisement, which read:

'Coming Soon : The Gold Dust Twins'.

I was even more amused when she sat under a shaving advertisement, which read:

'William's Stick Did The Trick'.

Then I could not control myself any longer when on the third move she sat under an advertisement, which read:

'Dunlop Rubber would have prevented this accident.'

The case was dismissed.........!!!!!!!!

Dog Logic

2008-09-23T15:53:00.001+05:30

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.

- Anonymous

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.

- Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.

- Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.

- Andy Rooney

Dogs love their friends & bite their enemies, quite unlike people.

- Anonymous

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.

- Franklin P. Jones

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise .

- Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3 a can. That's almost $21 in dog money.

- Joe Weinstein

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.

- Robert A. Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

- Mark Twain

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

- Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.

- Phil Pastoret

Who owns Kashmir?

2008-09-17T15:57:00.000+05:30

Source: Email Forward

An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in the United Nations Assembly that made the world community smile.

A representative from India began: ‘Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Rishi Kashyap of Kashmir, after whom Kashmir is named. When Rishi Kashyap struck a rock and it brought forth water, he thought, ‘What a good opportunity to have a bath.’ He took off his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water. When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished. A Pakistani had stolen them.

The Pakistani representative jumped up furiously and in support of Pakistan, he shouted, ‘What are you talking about? The Pakistanis weren’t there then.’

The Indian representative smiled and said, ‘And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech.’

About Going to a Chinese Restaurant

2008-09-13T12:59:00.000+05:30

Ok this is again about the way Indians eat Chinese. Earlier I discovered how one should avoid Chinese at non-Chinese type restaurants. Now I discovered the ordering pattern in a Chinese restaurant.

First thing, that people order in the name of starters is Manchurian whether in veg. or non-veg. There could be thousand different food itme on the menu but people will invariably ask this fodder only. I mean why cant you have a new dishes every time one goes to the restaurant. Indians are so very much against experimenting that they will never order anything else but Manchurian.

The second most important thing people order is the Soup. Nothing wrong here yet; but as soon as they receive soup on their table first thing they do is search for the black pepper, salt, tomato ketchup, pepper, vinegar and soya sauce. Then they would pour everything into their bowls without even tasting how the original soup tasted like. Indians are fond of rituals. They would follow them without even knowing why they are required to do them.

Godavari Vihari - A Trip on Godavari on Boat

2008-09-07T16:15:00.000+05:30

She has a boyfriend

2008-06-25T00:57:00.000+05:30

Men's Brain Women's Brain

2008-06-05T01:30:00.000+05:30

Inflation in India - Analyzing Its Causes

2008-05-24T13:20:00.006+05:30

Inflation is all over the news, touching 8.1%, highest in 45 months. Let me analyze the reasons as if I were Sherlock Holmes! In layman’s terms I would say that inflation is high because the demand is exceeding the supply. Either the demand is more than the supply or supply is less than the demand.

First let’s think about the demand side. To reason the causes first let us see what happened in the last one year. 2007-08 the GDP growth rate was at 9%, which is revised from provisional number of 8.7%. Not going into details we may conclude that we as a country prospered quite well. If I say we as a country prospered, I would say people had more money to spend.

Various central government plans like the national minimum wages guarantee program and other constructive work in the rural India has also meant money in the hands of the poor. I am not saying it is bad or they should not have done that but, yes it causes inflation.

Now let us remember what happened in the Budget 2008. Our Finance Minister did a poll gimmick and waived loans up to Rs. 60K crore. To think of the after effects, the farmers who would have saved money to pay back the loans are free to use the money as they wish. Where would that money go oh! Finance Minister? It is used up to buy things. Demand increases.

To look at the supply side, we sure did not have very good monsoons in last few years. Further more and more farmers are cultivating cash crops to make money (and if that goes naught they kill themselves). This means we have less food to eat isn’t it?

Crude is on a mountain climbing expedition and petroleum products prices are at all time highs all most every day. Though the government is cushioning the domestic prices the world market prices are not controlled. This results in higher transportation cost at the least and the imports become expensive.

On the topic of petroleum prices, we all know that government is giving huge subsidies on the petroleum products. How does that help any one? At the end of the day some one has to pay for the subsidy; and to think of it who else but the “Aam Admi”. Government will some way or other will have to raise the money and probably will impose new taxes direct and indirect. So the discount I now get on the petrol and cooking gas, I will pay back as taxes. What actually causes discomfort is the fact that later when they will impose taxes, it affects the poor by increasing the prices of the manufactured goods.

I would have rather like to see the money given as subsidies on petroleum products invested in infrastructure and making the public transport more useable by public. Further the subsidies are working towards subsidizing pollution.

Congress Government came to power by singing the “Aam Admi” slogan. It has been doing vote bank politics all the time, rather than steering the nation on a constructive path. If there are things which are not in ones control one should let it happen rather than causing more problems trying to control them.

Disclaimer: I am not Sherlock Holmes and I did not do well in Economics in my graduation ;).

Sony DAV-DZ777 My New Home Theater

2008-05-13T16:31:00.017+05:30

Long time no see, yes its literally after the first post i guess. Basically, I'm not into blogging (but you will find that I'm not into anything else too...). Any ways let me come to the point, On the last Saturday i.e. 3rd May, 2008 i got myself an Sony DAV-DZ777 home theater system and that costed me a bomb, I would say almost a months salary. But the beauty of it was I got it since i didnt like the sound output from the LG tv that i was watching. My favourite past time is wathcing movies, download them from net and write into a DVD and watch it on the 29'' TV. But I feel that the LG TV has got a very good picture quality but not the audio. Owing to the poor audio quality I had to download subtitiles for the movies and then watch them on TV. It was like looking at the news for "hearing-impaired". So me and my Bro (Gomzy) decided to buy a home theater (I know that was a bad idea but you know what, an idle brain is a devil's workshop and the gadget devil never sleeps) so we went to the near by Sony showroom.

There are always two sides of a coin, in the same way i would say there are always two sides of buying "before buying" and "after buying" and this goes like this: you always make up your mind to buy something and also the budget is made up to buy this thing happens before you got to any shop and then after going there you end up buying something which is very much different than the one which is thought and many a time much more expensive thing (this is common in case of gadgets) so our "before buying product was something not as expensive as the one that i got but it had no "towers" then we saw another one that had only two back towers but no front towers and finally i said lets buy something with towers and we ended up buying this DAV-DZ777.

Let me tell you one thing guys Sony might be expensive but I would say it is every paisa worth buying. The sound is awesome (comparing to the peer products of this range) and i would say who ever listens will fall in love with this thing like me.

At the Restaurant - Hampi

2008-05-04T13:20:00.002+05:30

To begin with with Hampi is a place in South Indian state of Karnataka, from where the great King of Krishna Devaraya of Vizayanagar had ruled the entire South India. During his days South India was united and prospered both in trade and literature. Krishna Devaraya himself was a great poet and his dynasty was considered as the golden period of Telugu and other South Indian literature.

I went to this place to celebrate promotion of a very good friend of mine, and it was a pleasantly surprised at the entrance itself. I never saw anything like this in Hyderabad before.

The restaurant is full of exotic wood work and a delight for the eyes. It virtually takes you to a house of a South Indian royalty of the past.

This place is just off the main road hidden in the by lanes near TRS office in Jubilee Hills.

This place serves South Indian food both veg and non-veg, and had many of the typical Andhra cuisines on its menu. I was a bit crazy that day to try Plain Rice and a Andhra chicken curry. But on the second thoughts it was wondered, why would one has to come to a restaurant to eat just plain. I was even crazier to order Butter Milk, Fresh Lime Soda and Jaljeera at the same time, and having all at together. I exactly did not like what I ordered, but others did enjoy what they ordered - bit sensibly.

I will recommend all to visit this place to enjoy the ambiance at least.

We will miss Chotu

2008-05-03T08:00:00.000+05:30

Our beloved Chotu is no more. He breath his last on 2nd May 2008 in my dad's hands, hardly 4 years old, too young to miss among us.

He was the funny guy, always upto something and if something goes wrong hiding behind mom.

Following Moni in her rat hunts and sometimes daring to go alone. Loved her, followed her everywhere.

The angry young man of our home, almost bitten everyone who bugged him, except the alfa male of our family... dad. He was undoubtedly dad's favorite amongst us.

We shall cherish his memories always. May his soul rest in peace.

At the Restaurant - Windows of World

2008-04-30T13:10:00.001+05:30

Windows of Wold is located at Cyber Towers at Madhapur. It is run by Yatri Nivas of AP Tourism Corporation - I know because my credit card bill says so.

Most of the people visiting this place are employees of offices working out of Cyber Towers, the first building at the Hitec City area of Hyderabad. If you are an outsider trying to visit this place you have to take a pass from the security of the Cyber Towers and give your vehicle at the valet parking.Weekends it sports a deserted look as the offices are closed, but weekdays it becomes a bit difficult to get a place to sit - but only sometimes.

They serve both veg and non veg. Their buffet is a big draw in the day time. It costs Rs. 168 per head including taxes. During the day times they also serve the Indian meals but I am not sure how much that cost. They have a bar as well, for all those who had a long day at the office and want to chill a bit. I never saw the night buffet but I guess they have that as well, it costs a bit less than the day buffet.

Reliance Broadcom Wimax: A Review

2008-04-21T02:00:00.001+05:30

In the last week of March I asked the Reliance Broadband to change the plan from 150Kbps to 300Kbps as the difference in the price is just 250 bucks while the speed is double. The rate plan change took nearly 15 days.

I first tested the speed with the Mumbai server which gave me 295 Kbps download speed and 867 Kbps upload speed, which does not seep right.

Then I tested with the Singapore server. The test with the Singapore server my opinion gives a more accurate speed.

Now a days I download nearly 3 movies a day, a 700 mb file in every 6-7 hrs, which is causing an overkill of the number of movies as I am not able to watch most of them.

My BSNL Telephone Connection

2008-04-19T20:20:00.001+05:30

On the 2nd April while I was going for a meeting I came across two BSNL technicians working in my colony. I asked them if they could help me me with the long awaited telephone connection. They were very eager to help me out, and came to my place to check the status. They told me that they could give the connection only if they bring a line from the previous lane of row houses, which is what I always wanted. They had to bring the necessary cable to give the connection and said will cost me 1500 bucks. As I was desperate to have the connection and never had the word "bargain" in my dictionary, asked them to go ahead.

I promised to give them a call the over the weekend but never found the time to do so. So they came calling me on the 4th and I gave them a thousand bucks and said will give the rest when I get the connection. Later I came to know that my neighbor paid only 500 bucks to get the work done and he said that he had to pay less because he had applied six months before me.

They then disappeared over the next few days so I gave them a call 9th and they said they had to reactivate my connection as BSNL had closed the case. Anyway they came and gave the connection on the 11th and informed me that the phone connection will go live that evening or the next morning, which never happened.

I being always lazy to do anything, did not even bother to call them and ask why the telephone was not working but one of the technicians gave me a visit to see if all is working. I was not available at home so they left a message on a piece of paper. I called them the next morning and fixed appointment for the 19th. The BSNL technician was promptly came today and fixed it. Actually the telephone connection did go live as they said but the internal wiring in my house was not properly connected. The jack where the telephone instrument cable is fixed was not wired.

So this is how I got my BSNL telephone connection.

At the Restaurant - Ohiri's Banjara

2008-04-13T01:40:00.000+05:30

This is the Ohiri's Banjara, the Chinese portion of it which is on the 2nd floor

This sword, as we were told is an original one. I don't know from where they got it, but looked like a Japanese Samurai one, as I have seen in the movies.

They have a good collection of bonsai trees, which is again a Japanese art of miniature trees. So much for the Chinese restaurant!

By the way they have prominently displayed; larger than the trees themselves; "Do Not Touch" boards. Who touches these trees anyway.

Food was good, but a moderately expensive as is the case with all the Ohiri's. We billed of apporx 2.5K for 5 people. Oh! well we also boozed moderately that is a pint a head. It was the first time that we cousins boozed in front of my sis; who practically terrorises all of us when it comes to boozing. A lot of beens were spilled that day with one of my cousin describing some of the fuss I had created in the past. Thanks so much bro.

All in all it was good place to go and we enjoyed thoroughly, as it was one of the rare occasions where all of the us the earning members of our generation were together made it a day. I must thank my new(old) car that I flicked from dad. I have put nearly a months salary in it already to make it run without giving me troubles and its been behaving itself lately.

My Office Building - Cyber Towers

2008-04-12T00:40:00.000+05:30

New job, new office, new pictures.

This place is a concrete jungle.

New Hyderabad Airport at Samshabad

2008-04-05T01:10:00.000+05:30

I have been visiting the new airport in Hyderabad quite a few times over the last few days. This is a picture early morning sometime back.

The new airport is named "Rajive Gandhi International Airport" which is in my opinion is a very sad thing to do, since it is in Andhra Pradesh, it should have been in named after one of the local persons rather than a non-local person. However since the present provincial government is that of Congress Party, the current Chief Minister muscled his way to name it after Rajive Gandhi. Come to think of it, Rajive Gandhi never even ruled a full term, at least they could have named after P V Narashimha Rao, who not only completed a full term in the office but also spearheaded the opening up of the economy and which in a way lead to a private company to actually build an airport.

This is the first private airport to come up in India, and has been successfully operated over last few days. The other private airport to come-up is the Bangalore airport which has hit turbulence and not yet operational.

This airport is quite a distance from the town and they are trying to build an elevated expressway to the airport to ease the congestion. The new expressway will take some time to come up and expected to completed by June 2008; I doubt that though. But the thing that I don't understand is why they need and expressway now when the road leading to the new airport is mostly 4 lane national highway for the part they are building the elevated expressway and is fairly capable enough to take on the increased traffic; rather they should have concentrated on building better roads in the town itself.

Anyway as I said it is a far away from the town and most often it takes the similar duration for most people to reach their destination as it takes to reach the airport.

I have not yet flew from this airport but what I learn is it is super fast to get out of it once you land here and seemed very small in size for a new airport,

Reliance Broadcom Wimax: My First Impressions

2008-03-14T22:44:00.005+05:30

Today the guys from the RCom came and installed the system.

I have subscribed speed of 150 Kbps, and I am getting better speed than that at 2 speed tests on speedtest.net clocking 176 Kbps and 205 Kbps, but the upload speeds are pathetic with around 6 Kbps both the times and in a current test 1 KBps. On the torrent uploading it is not crossing 3 KBps. I also ran uTorrent and got nearly 16 KBps (it's the big B) on average download speeds, with the Gmail IMAP folders updating in the background. I guess I have to file a complaint for the upload speeds because I am not been able to update the mandatory My Profile page, and change the password as that page is not getting updated at all.

Following is the 3rd test:

Another problem is the PoE needs UPS backup, every time it switches off it takes nearly 5-20 min to get back to normal and start working. And I was told that the PoE (Power over Ethernet) is very sensitive to voltage fluctuations. That means you really don't get instant internet as in the case of bsnl where it used to take much less time.

They installed a reception antenna facing towards the reliance mobile towers and a PoE thingy. The engineer said the installed instruments cost 15K but I think he was bluffing. Line of sight to the reliance towers is a must it seems else the connection speed reduce drastically. Fortunately I got one.

One small irritant is the "User Workspace" window that needs always needs to be open else the connection drops.

BSNL Customer Care

2008-03-14T20:03:00.000+05:30

I went to the BSNL office to subscribe a new fixed wired telephone connection so that I can subscribe their very fast Broad Band Internet service. However I was surprised to find this customer service motto of BSNL by Mahatma Gandhi. What is even more funny was the ladies behind the desk were least bothered about the customers present there and their primary goal of the day was to plan for the party that they were going the next day. The lady who took my form took a leisurely 1 hour before she processed it.

By the way even after 5 months I am still awaiting for the connection to come.

Indian Hokey: Died in Santiago Chilie March 9, 2008

2008-03-11T15:20:00.004+05:30

Hockey was introduced to India by the Brits as the case with many other games. Indians took to the game and did very well in the Olympics. India won 6 consecutive Gold Medals in Olympics form 1928 Amsterdam to 1956 Melbourne. In 1960 Rome Olympics India had to be satisfied with a Silver Medal, losing to Pakistan in the Finals. India bounces back to win Gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. India defeats Pakistan in the Finals taking revenge of the ‘60 loss. Since then Gold Medal eluded India till 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. India won the Bronze Medals in 68 and 72. But the worst was 76 where we finished 7th. But 1980 was redemption time where we got the Gold once again after 16 years. This time India face Spain in the Finals. Since 1980 however India had lost the appetite for the Hokey as Indian become Cricket crazy after winning the 1983 Cricket world cup, and in 2008 India fails to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

What went wrong?
Indian Hockey teams debacle of in the 1976 Montreal Olympics where it finished 7th was attributed the lack of experience on the newly introduced astro-turf. We were kings of the ground but Hockey takes a new avatar on astro-turf. While the lacked experience on playing on the new truf, which hindered the ability of Indian Hockey internationally. We lost momentum in nurturing talent at the grass root level due to lack of infrastructure meanwhile people lost interest in the game as a consequence of poor performance.

Another reason could be attributed to the lack of preference and coverage by Media and general public. Hokey never got the print space that Cricket got and the fact is Indians favor Cricket over Hockey. The reason why Hockey is regarded as the national game is due to its incredible showing in the Olympics. To date the only gold medals India ever got in Olympics are in Hockey.

Many people blame the management of Hockey in India for the poor showing. Indian Hokey Federation has been under the supervision of erstwhile Super Cop KPS Gill since 1994. It has been reported in the media quoting IHF President : “We do not have an instant coffee machine that you can get results instantly. It takes time to regain your position. We have put the process in place and the results will take some time.” Makes many wonder how many more days one needs, to brew coffee?

Tiger: Big Cat's Days are Numbered

2008-03-10T22:40:00.010+05:30

Lion was the National Animal of India till it got independence, since it was part of the Royal Coat of arms for England. That’s why it can still be found on the Reserve Bank of India’s Logo which was incorporated in pre-independent India. After independence of India the new National Animal was Tiger. The logic behind the change was, Lions were only found in some parts of India like Gujarat while Tiger was found in many states.

Tiger is the means of transport for goddess Durga as well as Lord Ayyappa. Whereas Lord Shiva can be seen wearing cloths made of Tiger skin presumably to suggest that he is beyond ne mortal world. Tiger is revered in the Chinese and Tibetan civilizations.

They say cat has Nine lives, but when it comes to Tiger the Big Cat of India, even the single life is not guaranteed.

National Animal of 5 different countries apart from India, Tiger population has come dwindled from nearly 100 thousand (nearly 40K in India) early in the 20th century to just about 5 – 7 thousand in wild currently. Half of the wild tiger population was estimated to be in India. However per the latest Tiger Census recently released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority put the Tiger number at 1,411 down from 3,642 per the 2002 survey. As per WPSI ‘s tiger poaching statistics 832 tigers have been killed since 1944 to 2007 in India.

The main reason for the decline is the $12 billion illegal wildlife products industry. China, Japan and other South East Asian counties keep demanding Tiger products at any cost and India is the largest contributor to the trade. In the international markets Tiger can fetch upto $50,000, the skin alone fetches nearly $15,000 while the bones cost nearly $4000 per kilogram – while the investment in the poaching each tiger is about Rs. 1 Lakh.

Another reason is the never ending encroachment of humans into the Tiger habitat. Take for example the latest news of a Tigress straying into a village in Sunderbans on Feb 18. Thousands of villagers chased her almost killing her.

Government of India had initiated the Project Tiger in 1973 with the main objective of ensuring viable population of Tigers in India. In 2006 Project Tiger was replaced with National Tiger Conservation Authority .Currently the program is spread over 27 Tiger Reserves covering an area of 37761 sq. Km. The tiger population under the Project Tiger shows that Tiger population has increase from 1638 in 1972 to 3773 in 2002. However the latest census indicating the rapid decline in the Tiger population compared to the previous census suggests some kind of artificial inflation of the numbers earlier.

Government of India has enacted the “Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972” with the object of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife in India. As per the Act offences pertaining to hunting of endangered species like Tigers is liable for imprisonment of 3-7 years and fine upto Rs. 10-25K. Since Inception however only 16 persons have been convicted of killing tiger.

References:
Project Tiger
Wildlife Protection Society of India
Wikipedia
Big Cat Rescue

A Status Check on India's National Symbols

2008-03-10T19:50:00.002+05:30

In the year 2008 Indian Hokey Team for the first time since 1928 will not take part in the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China. Hokey is the National Game of India. This is the darkest days for the Indian Sport in which we were once undisputed world champions from 1928 to 1956.

This news come on the lines of another highly disturbing bit of information that the Tiger population in India has shrunk to all time low of 1411. Tiger is the National Animal of India.

I will on my part do a status check of how the national symbols of India doing these days. The status check follows very soon.

Who said it?

2008-03-06T05:30:00.014+05:30

It was the first day of school and a new student named Chandrashekhar Subramanyam entered the fourth grade in a school in the U.S. of A

The teacher said, "Let's begin by reviewing some American History Who said "Give me Liberty, or give me Death"? She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Chandrashekhar, who had his hand-up: "Patrick Henry, 1775" he said.

"Very good!" Who said "Government of the People, by the People, for the People, shall not perish from the Earth?" Again, no response except from Chandrashekhar. "Abraham Lincoln, 1863" said Chandrashekhar.

The teacher snapped at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed.Chandrashekhar, who is new to our country, knows more about its history than you do."She heard a loud whisper: "F**k the Indians," "Who said that?" she demanded. Chandrashekhar put his hand up. "General Custer, 1862."

At that point, a student in the back said, "I'm gonna puke." The teacher glares around and asks "All right! Now, who said that?" Again, Chandrashekhar says, "George Bush to the Japanese Prime Minister, 1991."

Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? S*ck this!" Chandrashekhar jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher, "Bill Clinton, to Monica Lewinsky, 1997!"

Now with almost a mob hysteria someone said "You little shit. If you say anything else, I'll kill you." Chandrashekhar frantically yells at the top of his voice, "Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, 2001." The teacher fainted.

And as the class gathered around the teacher onthe floor, someone said, "Oh shit, we're f**ked!" And Chandrashekhar said quietly, "George Bush, Iraq, 2005".

Shamelessly Copy/Pasted from <http://agelessbonding.blogspot.com/>

At the Restaurant - Hyderabad House - Madhapur

2008-02-20T00:44:00.001+05:30

They have been upgrading the look and feel of the Madhapur branch of Hyderabad House since some time. And now this is how it looks after the renovation of the restaurant. The looks are much better and refreshing then the earlier dark room feel of the erstwhile establishment.

Hyderabad House is on franchises model, evident from their website that I visited today to pickup some lines for the blog. They are also running the new Oriental Cuisine restaurants named Bowl 'O China which have opened up in the recent past.

The crowed is predominantly the software engineers form the Hitec City here. Biryani is the specialty of Hyderabad House. Most visitors who want to eat authentic Hyderabadi Biryani visit this place among others like Bawarchi, Paradise, etc. I personally eat Biryani without using spoons etc as that is the way it tastes good but some foreign return guys like the one above insist on using the silverware.

Challenges faced by Indian Software Industry

2008-02-14T10:00:00.005+05:30

Indian software industry has become expensive due to the rapid increases in the cost for the manpower.These days the salaries of the middle to top management of any organization are comparable to the costs in the developed nations, add to that the salaries of the lower levels such as the team leaders and the developers has also increased at around 10-20% every year. This increase in the salaries with out correspondent increase in output levels per person is eating into the profit levels of the software services companies.
Though initially India provided "less expensive - highly skilled "manpower; currently it has ran out of that "skilled" manpower and the whatever manpower is available is either not "skilled enough" or very expensive.
Indian Education system is not able to output the skilled manpower in terms of skill level in the numbers required. The quality is sore point when comes to the education. There are only a few Indian universities and institutions which can be regarded of international quality. The better educational institutions are highly subsidized by the government and hence the development of the same has not been as good as it could have been and money making has been the sole criteria when it comes to the private sector institutions. There are some good institutions in the private sector as well but they are as expensive as any in the developed nations.
Infrastructure in India has not been able to keep pace with sustained development in the software industry. e.g. the rental in the housing markets have increased nearly 4 fold in last 5 years, however the incomes for these software professionals have not increased in the same proportion. Further added is the traffic levels in the software dominated cities is another example of the bottlenecks in the infrastructure.
Due to the high Dollar inflows into the county due to its lucrative stock market return the Indian Rupee has become very strong compared to the Dollar. The government is also not keen to improve the situation due to the high prices of crude petroleum in the international markets since the petroleum products are highly subsidized in India and any weakening of Indian Rupee will add to the subsidy burden.
The Eastern European countries provide as much cost benefit as Indians do and they currently are as competitive as Indians are in cost. Similarly other Asian countries are exhibiting better cost benefit advantage compared to Indian Software Industry.
The Advantage for the Indian software industry has been its early beginning, and a large English Speaking populations - the highest in the world. But due to the globalization of economy that advantage is not significant anymore. We have Indian software professionals working in non-English speaking countries similarly now manpower from less expensive non-English speaking countries is trying to compete for the big bucks of Software Services Industry.

At the Restautrant - Rio

2008-01-12T15:25:00.000+05:30

We went to Rio, a few times. Always found it a bit less populated then other places. We go there to watch football matches sit at the place to where the view is good.

Ganesha at NSL ICON

2008-01-03T15:48:00.000+05:30

These are the pictures of Lord Ganesha at the Ground floor of NSL ICON at Road No. 12 Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. My office is on the 3rd Floor, for next few days.

My Gran Turismo from Bam to Hyd

2007-11-27T01:10:00.000+05:30

This was early morning on at around 6 am. Sun had not risen and we started for Hyderabad.

Sun was about to rise. My car gave the first problem. The Starting Coil was burning red hot. This was the beginning of troubles with the car over the next two weeks.

The Sun rises.

Suresh was my trusted driver on the way. Thanks to him I could reach Hyderabad in a 22hr journey.

The Indian Autobahn. After the Golden Quadrangle project, the highway has become much safer and faster as well. However the route is full of toll gates. My journey till Vijaywada had at least 10 toll gates and had to spend around Rs. 350 at the toll gates.

This is how the old highway used to look, now bears a deserted look. It would have been a terrible ordeal for us to come if it were the old two lane highway.

At around 6 pm we reached Vijaywada. Much time was wasted due to the breakdown. The battery boiled with heat. Thank god we came in the winter, otherwise we would not have had come even half way. This is the Prakasam Barrage.

This is Kanaka Durgama Temple in Vijaywada. I had come here sometime back in 2001-02.

After leaving Vijayawada the road condition deteriorated, with potholes all over the road. Then the high beam light gave away. Thanks again to Suresh who took the pains to drive all the time.

Monica’s Pups 21 to 23

2007-11-25T00:29:00.000+05:30

This winter Monica gave birth to 3 pups all female. They are the 21st through 23rd of her children. Dad says all but 2 of them are still surviving. Since they are only three they were strong and energetic however being females they were not naughty. Mom named them Sonia, Meneka & Priyanka.

After Longs day’s work (play) it was time to sleep. They were very fond of each other and would not be separated.

Observing what I was doing with that brick which looks very tasty to chew. My mobile phone was attacked soon after.

This is Chotu, always naughty and always hiding behind mom for safety

Testing my suitcase chain for durability.

Pressure Test.

Then the lineing was tested.

Now my suitecase is certified puppy safe.

Now it was turn of my jeans

And it was tested throughly.

Harvest Season in India

2007-11-23T01:02:00.000+05:30

This is the Kharif crop (also known as summer crop). Sown in the months of July with the beginning of monsoon, are harvested around November. These pictures were taken in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, which is one of the poorest of the districts of AP.

Glass of Wine

2007-09-15T05:00:00.002+05:30

I was experimenting with the depth of field. But my own vision was slightly impaired by the object I was trying to take a picture of. The result is here for you to see...

Tube Light

2007-08-15T04:50:00.003+05:30

Just Pictures, no commentary.

SOFTEX Form Format

2007-08-05T21:00:00.003+05:30

The whole idea of the post is to share the MS Excel format of SOFTEX Form. I use this format to efficiently create a large number of forms in less time compared to conventional word file that is available for download. Let us begin with some background on the SOFTEX Form:

STP Scheme is a 100% Export Oriented Scheme for undertaking Software Development/IT enabled services for Export using Data Communication links or in the form of physical exports including export of professional services for rendering consultancy services and development of software.

Software developed can be exported through Data communication Link / physical Media or software can be developed at customer site abroad by deputing software professionals of the unit.

As soon as the software is exported using Satellite Data Communication link, a software declaration in the prescribed form called SOFTEX form has to be submitted duly filled in, in TRIPLICATE to the STPI for clearance within 30 days from the date of Invoice along with the following documents.

Invoice (3 copies)
Customer agreement /W.O / P.O
Project Details in the from prescribed by STPI, Hyderabad
Data transmission details in support of the export of software (in the prescribed form)
In cases where data communication link is obtained from a service provider other than STPI, appropriate documents in support of such connectivity.

Source: STPI Hyderabad

Download Format of SOFTEX:

Excel: Prepared by Me

Word: Source STPI Hyderabad

You can refer to the Guide to setup Export Unit under STP Scheme on the STPI Hyderabad Site for more details.

Gopalpur on Sea

2007-07-14T17:41:00.000+05:30

I Was at the Gopalpur on Sea today and this is the beach, well most of it; rest being consumed by the sea.

Killing Fields to Karma Theory

2007-07-13T20:11:00.000+05:30

These are some pictures of the Daya River on the banks of which the famous battle of Kalinga was fought by Asoka the Great, after which he quit violence for good and embraced the Buddhism.

Wings in the Sky

2007-07-13T20:05:00.000+05:30

I took these pictures over the journey from Hyderabad to Bhubaneshwar, the last one being over Bhubaneswhwar.

The National Past Time of Jumping into Borewells

2007-07-07T01:07:00.000+05:30

I don't know why, but it seems every month one child at least seems to be jumping into a bore well or other. I wonder why this happens in India, is it because that some time back when a child called "Prince" was trapped in a bore well he had got extensive TV coverage with a News channel beaming live coverage of him inside the bore well. Further New Channles also staged people making prayers at the nearest available Church, Mosque and Temple. Today's incident of a child named "Raj" I believe is a fallout of that TV coverage of News Channels.

India's First Female President

2007-06-22T01:21:00.000+05:30

Finally after 60 years of India's Independence India is - most probably going to get it's first Female President. But the fact that she is a run of the mill politician who has a long history of being corrupt - or so does the RBI and others think makes me feel sad. I appreciate the fact that we are finally having a Female as the First Man (opps! should I say the first woman?!); but I would not surely like to see some one with a tainted background to sit on the President's Chair. It is absolutely not acceptable by the common Indian Citizen that a person who has been implicated (even if the allegations are false) in corruption. There is a saying in Hindi "Aag ke bina Dhuna Nahi Hota" (or something like it) ie. there is no smoke without fire; I really believe in it, and think that Pratibha Patil should not be the President of India.

There is another aspect to the whole issue that being the fact that she is a dummy and a doll chosen by Madam Sonia. I am not really bothered about this but what bothers me is that we are going to have a tainted person - again I must say - even if falsely - is not acceptable. No run of the mill politician please.

A View From My Office Lift

2007-06-20T01:15:00.000+05:30

This is the view from my office lift.
In my office the floors are funnily numbered. The ground floor starts at -2, and goes upto 9th floor. There are 2 basement floors going down to -4.
For some strange reason they have not allowed lifts to be called from -1 ( the area where bikes are parked). If you want to go to upper floors from -1 you have to get down to -2 and then go up.
There is a nice landscaping (or should I say Interior Decoration) done here.

Country Road in the Town

2007-06-18T05:15:00.001+05:30

This is a large area of land that is under litigation in the court cases. Should it have been free of it and were to be developed the real estate prices would have been much less then the current market prices. I suspect the property developers are also inflate the prices artificially by creating scarcity of houses and taking advantage of the same.

But I must say a ride on this road on my bike is a pleasant motocross for me.

A View From My Office

2007-06-14T22:02:00.000+05:30

I never even noticed that there is a temple down there, till I saw it from the rooftop.

These pix are from the roof of my office building which is just outside the IT district of Hyderabad.

The real estate is the most expensive in the town.

The residential quarters, this place is called White Fields, in Kondapur Road, Madhapur.

Clouds on the horizon, Monsoon is here finally

All the above pictures are bad examples how to take a photograph. There is a rule of 1:3 whereby it is advised that a place of 1:3 space is apportioned between Sky and Earth in either favor. Now what I have done is a 50:50 apportionment which is wrong. Let it be a lesson for you.

Emails

2007-06-12T22:10:00.000+05:30

This is the mail we received from our network administrator - when our email server was down:

One of our email servers went on strike some time yesterday and decided to hold all new incoming emails as its hostages. It didn’t want to let them go until we complied with its demands. We finally came to an agreement some 30 minutes ago and the server decided to start releasing the hostages. No email were lost or harmed during this time and you should be able to send and receive new mail without any problems.

At the Park II

2007-06-09T20:32:00.000+05:30

Some Pix I took in my local park

These pix were taken on the Sony K790i. Nice Flash here.

I had recently shifted to the Srila Park Pride near Hydernagar. I is a colony of Duplex houses. It got a really nice park.

At the Restaurant -- Seesha Mumbai

2007-06-05T20:16:00.000+05:30

Seesha is an Arabic style Restaurant, in Huma Ad-Labs, Mumbai.

The food is great here and it doesn't disappoint veggies, but inorder have the delicacies you need to wait for quite some time. And the also there is HOOKKA available here but i guess that is not as good as the food. We tried two flavours Pan Masala and Cherry but both tasted the same.

But still we can enjoy the non tobacco smoking ;-)

At the Park I

2007-05-22T22:46:00.000+05:30

These shots were taken at the local park

The picures were taken on a Sony K 790i with Twilight Portrait Mode,

Just shifted to the new place few days ago more when i go there again

Vanilla Ice Cream that puzzled General Motors!!!!

2007-05-17T11:00:00.000+05:30

E-Mail forward and also HERE

Never underestimate your Clients’ Complaint, no matter how funny it might seem! This is an interesting real story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its Customer-Care Executive. Please read on…..

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

‘This is the second time I have written to you & I don’t blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have & I drive down to the store to get it. It’s also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem…..

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won’t start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I’m serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds “What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?”‘

The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn’t start. The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn’t start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: “vapor lock”. It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking.

Review of Sony Ericsson K790i

2007-05-09T14:20:00.000+05:30

Idea for the upgrade:

I was a satisfied owner of a SEK750i – very pleased with the performance of my instrument. It had a good 2 mega pixel Auto Focus camera that did AF with optics, rather than purely on a digital level. It had pretty decent talk and standby time. The music capabilities were fair enough for a casual listener like me, and had thrown in some de-facto PIM capabilities like the Calendar, Alarm, Notes. On the connectivity front as well it faired decently. It had the Bluetooth, IR, USB connections apart from support for GPRS.

Well basically it had everything that I wanted. But then I had to change. I have this compulsive urge of trading my phone for a new one every once in a while. This time therefore I went for an upgrade rather than a new model altogether. The choice was obviously the (not so) New SE K790i since it succeeded the K750i from SE.

The First Look
The first five things I noticed when I took the phone in my hands were:

It seemed slightly lighter than the K750i, though in size it was larger than the K750i, may be because I was so exited.
It had a matt finish on the back of the phone body, and it too had a camera sliding cover which, on sliding would activate the camera.
It had a slightly changed key layout with an instant internet key thrown in.
It had a larger screen and the Menu seemed similar to K750i.
The words cyber-shot were mentioned prominently on the phone at the back camera sliding cover and under the screen.

Now let us go into the details
Price

The K790i set me back by Rs. 16,500 from the grey marker without bill. The going rate for a new K750i is around Rs. 9,800. I had to go to the grey market as I had to barter the old phone for part of the price. My old phone went for Rs. 6,300 (it had a 1GB memory, I bought for Rs.1,200 which now costs Rs. 600). I bought a 1GB M2 memory for the new phone for Rs. 1,300. SE K790i uses a new M2 format memory that is similar to miniSD in size.

Body

The K790i (105 x 47 x 22 mm) is a larger phone compared to the K750i (100 x 46 x 20.5 mm). K790i (115gm) is also slightly heavier than the K750i (99gm) however if one would look at the ratio of size to weight K790i would seem lighter as I though initially.

K790i seemed a slightly less sturdy than the K750i. It had matt-finish plastic on the back that looked delicate than that of K750i which has a sturdy plastic cover. If you tap on the plastics of the phone you can listen to the hollowness inside, the K750i was on the other hand was a solid brick.

Looks

In this part of the world most of the phones do get greasy a bit due to the moisture in the atmosphere. The back has a matt-finish that would not let any grease apparently visible. It has a slide-down camera sporting black color and a Xenon Flash over it. There is a Speaker Phone at the back as well. On the left you will find a music button and a M2

K790i has a curvy line on the back of the phone with Aluminum finish; it is the median between the front and the back. Front of the phone has a brushed steel finish, but the large screen overshadows everything else. There are two buttons for use with the camera on both sides of the ear phone on the front. The screen is surrounded by mirror finish border. The number keys look very tiny; anyone with large fingers would find it very difficult to SMS. There is an extra instant internet button creating a balanced grid of menu buttons.

Enough talk on the looks, lets talk about the menu structure of the phone. At first look I thought the menu is exactly same as that of SE K750i, however later found out some differences in both. SE K790i has a set dark looking themes preinstalled in it that compliments the overall black hue of the phone. The main menu is same as SE K750i however underneath it you will start discovering new things. Let me list them here:

The key left to the earphone starts picture view and the left one will being the grid view of the pictures.
Internet Section starts with the Google Search box. It seems Google is to be found everywhere.
Entertainment section sports a new Video Player it supersedes the Music Player that used to do the job. The phone comes preinstalled with some mute videos – the purpose of which I could not understand.
2 new games other than the Tennis Game from Sega. The other 2 games are on golf and photography.
A new RSS reader in the Messaging section – I have not tried it yet so will not be able to comment on it.
Music Player has been revamped. Main window starts with 4 options - Now Playing, Artists, Tracks and Playlists. Artists and Tracks section get automatically updated with the ID3 tags from the mp3 files.
File Manager is also got revamped. Now you find 3 tabs one each for the memory stick and internal memory and one overall.
Thoughtfully the Camera album – the place where all the camera pictures and videos are stored has been made as separate folder – earlier it was buried inside the Pictures and Videos folders respectively.
Videos folder gives a Live Thumbnail view of the videos that start playing the preview when the file is selected.
The light in the organizer is missing now. The Xenon Flash does not allow it to be used for long duration as a torch light as earlier flash used to.
There are 5 configurable Alarms in the new phone, which is a boon for people like me who oversleep every day.

Camera

SE K790i is all about the camera. It was the first phone from the Sony Ericsson to sport the Cyber-shot branding of Sony. It has a 3 mega pixel Auto Focus camera, and a true Flash to compliment it. The phone has 8 in all buttons dedicated to the camera – including a couple of new tiny buttons near the speaker.

The camera has a dedicated button on the right side panel. Apart from that the volume buttons can be used for zoom/pan in the camera mode. The Zoom can be used Numeric 3 and 6 buttons on the keypad.

The camera sports 8 custom modes

Auto
Twilight Landscape
Twilight Portrait
Landscape
Portrait
Beach/Snow
Sport
& Document

All these can be easily accessed from the right side button near the speaker when camera is on. Further the there are 4 Shoot modes as well. Apart from Normal and Video the camera/phone also sports a BestPic and Panorama. BestPic is the mode in which the camera takes a series of shots and one has to choose the best one of them. The shoot modes can easily be accessed from the Left Button near the speaker.

Camera can shoot in VGA, 1 MP, 2 MP and 3MP and these can be changed conveniently with the Numeric 1 on the keypad. The Focus length can be Macro, Infinity or Auto focus. These settings can be controlled from the Numeric 4 on the keypad. There is a digital image stabilization that can be activated from the Numeric 7 on the keypad. The flash got Auto Flash mode, the Red Eye Reduction and No Flash modes. As per my experience the Red-worked fairly well but then it is just a phone. They can be accessed from the Numeric * key on the keypad.

At the Restaurant - Hyderabad House - Banjara Hills

2007-04-15T23:50:00.000+05:30

Hyderabad House is the Hyderabadi chain of Restaurants specializing Hyderabadi Cusine. This was the first place where I ate when I first came to Hyderabad in 2001, and still love to eat there.

Chicken Biriyani and Thums up are the best combination.

The Banjara Hills restaurant was decorated sometime back which is evident from the looks of it - it looks a bit wornout. Over the years the prices for the food there has increased substantially. Earlier it was affordable for me to have lunch everyday, but now a days it pinches a bit.

Food as I said is totally Hyderabadi and they know what they are cooking, and food tastes very good.

Monica's Pups 2007 Summer Edition

2007-04-11T23:42:00.000+05:30

Alone is Dull

Two's a company

Three's a crowd.

Now! that's Some Crowd. Count how many are there...!

The experiment with everything. But they got only one machine... Their mouth. so they test with their mouth only.

Gotta go to sleep

Sleeping

What are you looking at me like that?

Mom loves them a lot.

Interesting observation.

Poking their noses on to something.

A Train Journey

2007-04-11T23:09:00.000+05:30

I recently went to see my parents. I took these pictures at the Vizag Station. The hills in the back ground had nice fog on them and they looked inviting.

Earlier when I used to travel in the train there used to be just 2-3 stations in between where there was mobile phone connection. However now a days the telephone connection has improved a lot and one can find the mobile being up almost the entire journey.

I discovered that each of the station name board also mention the Height from the Mean Sea Level. For example this Ichapur station is about 16.7 mt above Mean Sea Level. This I believe is a British time trend which has been continued as the height details are missing on the newly painted name boards.

While returning I came to know about some more interesting facts; like the L/C board means that there is a Level Crossing down the way and W/L means the train driver is required to blow whistle since there would be a crossing down the line.

I also came across the Indian Railways Fan Club (IRFCA) website. If you are interested in railways in India this is the place to go.

World Cup 2007 - India Exit

2007-03-24T06:55:00.000+05:30

Super 8 system was incidentally was brought into the World Cup because ICC wanted to give the Minnows a chance to play in the big tournament and also give the biggies a chance to have some warm-up practice during the tournament. Minnows were supposed to loose all their group matches and go home before the Biggies start playing in the Super8. But as it turns out, these Minnows are pain in... - you know where! In the last World Cup, Kenya went on to play in the Semifinals. This year too, Ireland and Bangala Desh will play nearly 6 more matches in the Super8 and give ample practice and help the biggies some chance to break all the previous records, that India made in their match against Bermuda, in an attempt to keep our chances alive.

Since we have done it (rather did nothing); i.e. get out of the World Cup competition even before it constructively started; some heads must roll and here is my list:

Get rid of Dravid as Captain, he is a good player but he is not a leader. Ganguly should be brought back into the team. Dravid simply does not have the aggression that Ganguly's got.
Get rid of the coach. Greg Chappel was hired to see us though the Word Cup. Well! he seemed to be in a hurry. He did all the experiments he wanted, like giving commando training from the Army. At that time I wondered why the commando training, but now I know. It was to help the players when they are back after disappointing the nation.
The Selection committee should be scrapped and a new one brought in. It was their duty to select the team that would bring the world cup home. Not to have a dramatic exit from it.

Let's accept it, we are not a sporting county anyway. The '83 cricket world cup was a fluke. It happened because the Indian team was a bunch of cricket crazy people who were passionate about the game and played for sake of the game. They had nothing to loose but they played to win. But unfortunately our current team do not play to win the games, they play so that others will loose. Our current team is buried under their great records, that they are scared to do anything wrong and take risks.

I am disappointed with the result, but having said that, I kind of anticipated India loosing with Sri Lanka anyway. Bygones are bygones lets hope for 2011.

Rocket Science and Horse's Ass!

2007-03-21T11:07:00.000+05:30

Source: Engineering Subject Centre

The US standard railway gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe (and England) were built by Imperial Rome for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts? Roman war chariots first made the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels and wagons. Since the chariots were made for, or by Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

Thus, we have the answer to the original question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Specifications and bureaucracies live forever.

So, the next time you are handed a specification and wonder which horse's rear came up with it, you may be exactly right. Because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war-horses.

And now, the twist to the story… There's an interesting extension to the story about railroad gauges and horses' behinds.

When we see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. Thiokol makes the SRBs at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory had to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track is about as wide as two horses behinds. So, the major design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined by the width of a Horse's ass!

Should stray dogs be killed?

2007-03-17T10:46:00.000+05:30

Question: What are these dogs doing around us?
Answer: We humans domesticated them because we wanted them to help us in hunting, later on when the civilizations developed and Humans started to cultivate and no more required the dogs then simply dumped them. But dogs were after all man's best friend. They did not dump us and started living around the human settlements, living on what ever we throw out as garbage.

They effectively clean more than half of the garbage that we Humans produce. If dogs weren't there you can't even imagine what would the cities would be like.

The case in point in B'lore is about the contents of garbage. The dogs were eating meat thrown on the road side. Since it is meat which even makes men become devils (that is why many religions ban eating meat); you can't really blame the poor old dog.

Question: The Population of Human beings is not growing...it is exploding..shouldn't they be killed.
Answer: Well killing is not the answer, is it?

Nandigram Fiasco...Some thoughts

2007-03-15T22:53:00.000+05:30

What ever happening in Nandigram is an Irony of shorts. Left has been traditionally first to strike down any sort of Industrialization any where in India, calling it anti-poor. Now when trying to do their bit and they are facing the ire of their people.

Why can't they come to a place where they get the land willingly by the people? - Because the Industrialists want the land dirt cheap and the govt is always there to do their bit to oust the poor people from their farm lands and act as a mediator or dalal.

Industrialization has to happen and it has to happen with the consent of the people living where the Industry is coming up. The people who get displace due to and Industrial project are also an important stake holders it. These are the only ones who got only to loose anything from the project, hence they should be properly compensated.

Nandigram has been a flash point where it seemed that both the public and the administration has been rogue. The public of Nandigram have never bothered to come to the discussion tables and from the beginning tried to resists the project; probably never bothering to know what they are going to gain out of it. The administration also been slipshod in their approach, when thy first issued notification to acquire the land without consulting the public affected by the project.

At the Restaurant - Surf

2007-03-11T22:35:00.000+05:30

While returning from Mahabalipuram we stopped at Surf, a multi cuisine restaurant. Place was a nice and clean. They have a shop selling art items but we did not visit that.

We were greeted by the owner of the place. He suggested that they also provide many tour packages like bonfire, walk to spot the Olive Ridley turtle, fishing in the Bay of Bengal - which was quite interesting to know.

We had beer there...but it was served in these funny looking glasses. My friend opined that, these people do not have a license, because it is compulsory to show the seal and the label before opening, instead the waiter there just got us the beer in the glasses.

My friend wanted to have fish. I usually don't eat fish and resist any one ordering fish, but did not want to play a spoiled sport. In fact I enjoyed the fish. It was fish fry - cooked the way locals people would.

Some people taking a snap with

Then we had Phulkas and Chicken Chettinad. The food was excellent, the service was also very good. However not many people seems to visit this place as they seems to have just opened the shop. The price seemed to be a bit on the higher side but not very much. I would surely recommended everyone going to Mahabalipuram should sure visit the place to have a nice time.

After hours at Mahabalipuram

2007-03-11T21:37:00.000+05:30

After the movie (we went to Ghost Rider *ing Nicholas Cage) was over we decided to go to Mahabalipuram. We began at PM and 3.30 reached the place at 5 pm - on time for most people to return home. On the way we found out that we do not have any cash with both of us and it was a bit embarrassing at a couple of tollgates to tell accept that.

To begin with Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram is a town in Kancheepuram district. It is a 7^th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from Chennai. It is believed to have been named after the Pallava king Mamalla (Narasimhavarman I). It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7^th and the 9^th century.

From the top of Varaha Cave Temple. Seen here are the Light House and the Bay of Bengal in the backdrop.

Another view from the top of the hill.

The temple on the top of the hill.

Naughty Naughty... ... ... ...

Can you spot the goats...

A lot of monkeys all around...

More of them, enjoying the tidying up.

Light house, it is a bit into the land, because it is built on the hillock.

The Varaha Avtar of Lord Vishnu...

And the Lord Vishnu, resting on the snake bed...

A sculpture of Hippo. Carving sculptures out of rocks is main occupation here.

Lord Ganesha...

These are the Five Rathas of Pandavas.

We were not allowed to enter the place as we were late to reach there.

Taking a snap of the Sun.

The Shore Temple it is a temple for Lord Vishnu.

At the shore, on the rocks...

Shore Temple in the background...

On the Shore...

At the Moive

2007-03-11T21:33:00.000+05:30

No I am not going to create a new topic on the movies, I got enough to post. By the way I went to Seasons in Sathyam Cinema in Chennai and took these pix. Thought must share it.

At the Restaurant - Palita Nasi Kandar

2007-03-10T21:21:00.000+05:30

I was super hungry today, and wanted to eat some Chiken, as I recalled it has been ages since I had proper chicken. I had seen this restaurant on the Sir Thiyagaraya Road in T Nagar Chennai. It claims to serve North Indian and also Malaysian Food.

The first thing I noticed that the furniture is made of Aluminum! - but why Aluminum? - it was very light and flimsy, this was just the beginning of things to come.

Since it was aluminum, I choose to order Malaysian - Chicken Noodles and Ayam Goreng/Sambal - a chicken semi-gravy side-dish. The noodles smelled bad, fishy infact. It took a lot of effort on my part to eat the entire thing. Curry was so so. At the end of the dinner I had to had fresh lime soda to get rid of the foul taste. But the drink was bitter, not sour.

The service was similar to what you find on some cheap road side "Bandi". Prices was reasonable. It was however crowded and it may be because of it's location. But considering the food I will never go there again.

Copyright on Computer Software

2007-02-24T08:41:00.000+05:30

Sec 2(ffc): “Computer Programme" means a set of instructions expressed in words, codes, schemes or in any other form, including a machine readable medium, capable of causing a computer to perform a particular task or achieve a particular result;

Sec 13: States that the copyright subsists on original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works among others, no mention of computer software. That is merely because you have coded something you can not claim copyright on it. You have to register it. On the BSA site they say that Computer software is treated as Literary work and copyright subsists.

Sec 14 (b): Defines the meaning of copyright on computer software - where it states that to do or to authorize to reproduce, issue copies, to sell or give on commercial rental among others.

Sec 16: No copy right except as provided under the Indian Copyright Act.

Sec 51: Defines the copyright infringement as any person without a licence granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar of Copyrights does anything (refer Sec 14) and makes for sale, distributes, sell, rents etc.

Sec 52(aa): Certain acts are not infringement of copyright: the making of copies or adaptation of a computer programme by the lawful possessor of a copy of such computer programme, from such copy-

· In order to utilise the computer programme for the purposes for which it was supplied.

· To make back-up copies purely as a temporary protection against loss, destruction or damage in order only to utilise the computer programme for the purpose for which it was supplied.

· The doing of any act necessary to obtain information essential for operating inter-operability of an independently created computer programme with other programmes by a lawful possessor of a computer programme provided that such information is not otherwise readily available.

· The observation, study or test of functioning of the computer programme in order to determine the ideas and principles which underline any elements of the programme while performing such acts necessary for the functions for which the computer programme was supplied.

· The making of copies or adaptation of the computer programme from a personally legally obtained copy for non-commercial personal use.

Sec 63: Provides that a person who knowingly infringes shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of six months and with fine of fifty thousand rupees. Further provided that where infringement has not been made for gain in the course of trade or business the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment impose impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months or a fine of less than fifty thousand rupees.

Sec 63B: Provides that where a person uses a infringing copy of a computer program shall be punishable with jail term of 7 days to 3 years and fine of 50K to 200K.

More to Munch on:

Study on Copyright Piracy in India

BSA - Piracy and the Law

INDIAN COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957 – PDF File

Pondichery in 2 hr

2007-02-20T00:07:00.000+05:30

Our Journey Stared in Pondichery with going near to this Church. We were in fact looking for some place to eat. And we got the Sarvana Bhavan - yet again.

Do not know what it is, but thought should take a snap of it.

Humm French... We first went to the Aurobindo Ashram. The auto guy seemed to be a very nice guy, did not ask us some prohibitive amount to take us there. This building is near the Ahsram.

More of it.... Seemed that the French were in love with this Slate color, all most all the building in that area were this color only

All the roads in that area were named in French, could not have more of it..

This is Shi Aurobinod Ashram from outside, photography is not allowed inside.

They have a great collection of Cactus in the Aurobindo Ashram.

French Windows, again can't have enough of it. This is the Aurobindo ashram.

More Windows. This is all that I did in there took lots of pictures of windows and building.

Did not I tell you that, I took only the pictures of Windows. Love the French Architecture and the Town Planning. If you were to go to the old Pondichery side, you will notice that all the roads intersect each other at exactly 90 degrees and you almost can see from one end of the town to the other end.

Those people never thought of having any open places outside the house. They may have some inside.

This area was a bit green.

More buildings.

This is the Consulate General of France office in Pondychery. Has to be here, it was there land after all. Look at the French and the EU flags

Windows more of it, old world charm...

My friend. He was a bit pissed off, I thought.. as I was taking all the pictures of the building ignoring him.

French Flag....

Fully Air-conditioned. Does any one live here??

Ah...look at those windows!

The Sea on one side and the Aurobindo Ashram on the other. Great Place to have an office I must say.

Some trees in the Sea, this is Bay of Bengal.
There is no Beach in this part of Pondychery. All rocks only.

Some kind of war memorial, built by the Indian Pondichery Government.

Many many foreign tourists here. They enjoy the Yoga a lot, greatest export of India after software I must say.

Humm being naugty.

A French Market Place.

I thought this is a Hotel, but turned out to be the Municipality Building.

The other side of the Municipality Office.

This the French Built War memorial for the Indian who fought in the first World War for the French.

The Gandhi statue taken from the Secretariat.

Now from near.

Opposite to the Gandhi statue is this Nehru's statue. Little neglected isn't it. But look at the cops, reminds me of the Pink Panther.

A Hotel.

French have this great taste when it comes to Buildings, look at the window, how it has been carved out.

A park, don't know the name or anything. But it is opposite to the Raj Bhavan. A really great view. Must have been built for the French Ruler here.

My friend trying to take some snaps of the Raj Bhavan - the official residence of the Lt. Governor of Union Territory of Pondichery. He asked how do I know that this is the Governor's house, I said, look at the emblem on the gate, look at the size, and look at the security.

Ha ha, wonder what those guys must be thinking.... But they would be having many more customers like my friended.

this is all that we did in Pondichery today. I fell sick, then my camera also fell sick. Now I am ok but the camera needs a check up. I used local batteries and damaged the display.

Service Tax Provisions - 100% Export BPO OPS

2007-02-18T02:00:00.001+05:30

1. The Provisions relating to the Export Services are contained in the Export of Services Rule 2005 issued per Notification No 9/2005-ST dated 3-3-2005 and further amended by the Notification No. 13/2006-ST dated 9-4-2006.

2. The Export Rules provide for 3 types of Export Services (Rule3) out of which services like BPO etc. fall in the 3rd Category i.e. under Rule 3(iii).

3. Rule 3(iii) reads as follows:

3. Export of taxable service.– (1) Export of taxable services shall, in relation to taxable services‚–
(iii) specified in clause (105) of section 65 of the Act, but excluding‚–
(a) sub-clauses (zzzo) and (zzzv);
(b) those specified in clause (i) of this rule except when the provision of taxable services specified in sub-clauses (d), (zzzc) and (zzzr) does not relate to immovable property; and
(c) those specified in clause (ii) of this rule,

when provided in relation to business or commerce, be provision of such services to a recipient located outside India and when provided otherwise, be provision of such services to a recipient located outside India at the time of provision of such service:

Provided that where such recipient has commercial establishment or any office relating thereto, in India, such taxable services provided shall be treated as export of service only when order for provision of such service is made from any of his commercial establishment or office located outside India.

4. Therefore the BPO Services as said by you squarely fall within the Rule 3(iii) of the said Rules.

5. Further Clause 2 of Rule 3 provides the following:
(2) The provision of any taxable service shall be treated as export of service when the following conditions are satisfied, namely:–
(a) such service is delivered outside India and used outside India; and
(b) payment for such service provided outside India is received by the service provider in convertible foreign exchange.

6. Rule 4 states that any taxable services may be exported with out payment of tax.

7. The following is the text of Rule 5: Which states that the Govt. may grant the rebate of the service tax paid on export service, and on IPS and ED paid on IPS.

Rebate of service tax.- Where any taxable service is exported, the Central Government may, by notification, grant rebate of service tax paid on such taxable service or service tax or duty paid on input services or inputs, as the case may be, used in providing such taxable service and the rebate shall be subject to such conditions or limitations, if any, and fulfillment of such procedure, as may be specified in the notification.

8. The provisions for grant of Rebate are contained in the Notification No. 11/2005-ST Dt 19-4-2005: The following are some of the conditions among others:

(a) that the taxable service has been exported in terms of rule 3 of the said rules and payment for export of such taxable service has been received in India in convertible foreign exchange;
(b) that the service tax and cess, rebate of which has been claimed, have been paid on the taxable service exported

9. The Clause 3 of the Notification No 11 gives the procedure for the claim. Basically you have to give an application in Form ASTR-1 - the format is given in the same notification. But the problem is that this talks about rebate and not refund - which is applicable as in your case.

10. Let us dig into the Cenvat Credit Rules 2004 a bit (Notification 23/2004 dated 10-9-2004) : Rule 3(1) states that a provider of taxable service can take CENVAT credit of ST and ED on InPuts /InPutService/CapitalGoods - that is you should have taxable -read as domestic services - to take the benefit of Cenvat Credit. As per Rule 3(4) This Credit can be used for payment of ServiceTax on OutPutService. If you have only export services you will not be a provider of taxablel services and you will not be able to take Cenvat Credit.

11. The Rule 5 of the Cenvat Credit Rules provides for Refund of Cenvat Credit. Where the OPS is exported there shall not be any ST the same. The IP/IPS credit taken remaining unutiliesd may be diverted to other OPS. Balance still remaining utilisable may be refunded to the Service Provider, provided export incentives like drawbacks, rebate etc are not availed.

12. So you can claim the entire Cenvat Credit on the IPS/IP that you have taken but could not utilize, however this provision will not be applicable if you do not have any OPS that is taxable.

At the Restaurant - Rangoli II

2007-02-17T00:05:00.000+05:30

As I had said earlier that last time when I was at Rangoli, could not eat well because I was not really hungry and that the food was heavy.

So this time I decided to do it again. It was the Saturday, and me and Kaushik went to the movie called Ekalavya. After the movie we looked for some place to be high, but due to Corporation Elections all the palaces were closed.

So I thought we may go to this place again. And as I had not have lunch that day I thought I could well compete with to eat the entire plate that they serve. But alas I lost. I did little better then the previous time but it was still too heavy for me to complete the Thali.

At the Restaurant - ChickKing

2007-02-12T23:49:00.000+05:30

Today is my last day in Hyderabad, I will be returning to Chennai in the evening. And a visit to ChikKing is a must for me before I leave Hyderabad.

ChickKing is a chicken specialty restaurant, similar to KFC, and have many outlets in Hyderabad. This particular one is located at the Jubilee Hills check post, little distance towards Journalist colony, near the Subway.

About the ambiance first, this place is hot, the AC does not work in the day time properly (may be due to the glass walls one side creating a green house effect). Otherwise the place is comfortable. There will be a large crowed in the evenings but day time is generally sparsely occupied.

Prices are a bit upmarket like anywhere, and so considering that, it is reasonably price. Infact cheaper than the Breech that i went to in Chennai.

The service is lousy. They take a while before coming to you for your order and will again take their sweet time to deliver the goods. Chicken being loved by many like chocolates or sweets it is imperative that the service should be fast.

The view form inside the restaurant is great, makes you feel like you are in a foreign country. But due to the bad AC you kind of realize that you are in India only. But it's neighbor Subway is better. I went to Subway also, but will have a post sometime later.

At the Restaurant - Noodle Bar

2007-02-11T23:37:00.000+05:30

I love Chinese, as I had told earlier. And the most favorite place now a days for me to visit to have Chinese is the Noodle Bar at the Hyderabad Central. Ah! that reminds me to tell that I am in Hyderabad from the 10th to the 12th.

This i some kind of soup. Please don't mind. I don't remember any Chinese Dishes, but it was very sour. I think it was Tom Yam Soup.

The Place looks very up market, but the prices are not. Me and Asit who had come with me had an argument whether this place is expensive or not, but I could not make who is supporting what?

I must recommend the Make your Noodle dish they serve in which you have to select the various ingredients you want. This time my selection tasted very well. In fact Asit also said that he liked it. But since he hates to eat Chinese and had expressed his displeasure over the Soup, I risk to guess that he just told me to make me happy.

Any way the dish was great. Yes, the prices they seem reasonable. There is ample crowed considering the place is located in such an advantageous place. They serve booze :D, but I don't think any one will come here to have a high, but only to enjoy a odd drink.

A Park II

2007-02-09T21:18:00.000+05:30

Pictures from Ipswhich Village

2007-02-09T21:09:00.000+05:30

Wanna marry a CA?

2007-02-09T01:56:00.000+05:30

Source: E-mail forward

When I told my mom that I wanted a professional woman as my wife, she got me one; a Chartered Accountant.

She uses LIFO method while taking out the refrigerated food. She thinks I am no good at figure work. Fine with me, for now she handles the budget of the house. Initially she used to send me a bill at the month end, but when I told her that I am not her client but her husband, she asks for the money in advance.

The expenses had been rising steadily over the months, so one day I snooped into the papers maintained in a current file. No wonder! She was charging conveyance and overtime to the house budget.

She is crazy, I tell her but she corrects me. "No my darling, I am the auditor." I fail to see the light.

Every scrap of the paper in our house is filed. She tells me as per some Ordinance she must keep a copy of every thing for at least ten years before destroying it. I am worried.

The other day we had an hour-long fight. Later, I got to know that she hadcharged that hour to a client of hers, in the timesheet. My time was put down as unoccupied.

She says that she loves me and I tell her that I love her too. However, she never believes me. She says that there is susceptibility of it being a misstatement. Duh! She wants my representation on this & Expert opinion of some Expert!

Not a long time back my brother's wedding was to be solemnized. Wedding cards had been sent. After some time I started receiving a steady trickle of letters. I was puzzled until my wife explained that external evidence was more reliable. She had called for confirmations from all those to whom cards were sent.

When she cooks, my wife at times does not go by recipe. Where the recipe says add half-teaspoon vinegar, one tsp black salt or one teacup of water, she ignores them. She says that they are not material when taken in context of whole meal being prepared.

She is crazy, I tell you. Surprisingly everybody calls her an auditor, instead. I checked the dictionary and it did not state that auditor is a synonym for crazy. The dictionary must be outdated.

When we got married, she had given me an Engagement Letter and I Had said how cute-how sweet.Now she gives it to me every year saying that her standards state that it must be sent anew if there is any indication that I have misunderstood the objective and scope of engagement. Huh!

Apart from sending me the engagement letter once again she says I can't get rid off her just like that. She says that she has the right of being heard before I appoint some one else.

It seems I must keep reading one local and another English newspaper published and circulated in the vicinity of our house for more details.

Phew! For a minute, I thought that we had jeopardized our going concern status. Duh! Dare I say so??

I am told by one of my female colleagues who is married to a CA that the scenario is even worse when the guy is a CA. Apparently he capitalised the wedding expenses as preliminary expenses and is writing it off every year.

Also the time he spent dating his wife before marrying her is still under consideration for valuation under AS-26...valuation of intangible assets.

So guys please think twice....should u really marry a CA? And yes please discount it by the appropriate rate to arrive at the present value of the risk of doing so !!!

Cells and Ranges

2007-02-09T01:45:00.000+05:30

Source: J-Walk Bench

A1: The steak sauce cell
IM21: The legal drinking age cell
K9: The dog cell
AK47: The assault weapon cell
IV2: The second intravenous solution cell
B9: The malignant cell
HI5: The alternate handshake cell
AH:HA: The discovery range
F16: The fighter jet cell
AM:FM: The radio range
ET2: The Brute' cell
AW42: The root beer for two cell
BU:BU: The erroneous range
BY:BY The farewell range
IC2: The double-vision cell
IQ100: The average intelligence cell
HO:HO: The Santa Claus range
GO2: The destination cell
FU2: The same to you cell
EX2: The second former spouse cell
CU8: The oil-rich country cell
BU10: The shirt fastener cell
BC49:BD1: The '96 Presidential Election results range
AG1:GB1: The '00 disputed Florida vote range
T42: The old soft-shoe cell
U2: The Irish rock group cell
BI123: The Lotus marketing slogan cell
C4: The explosive cell
V8: The vegetable juice cell
R2:D2: The android range
I1:U1: The tied game cell
AP:ES: The Simian range
H8:U2: The ex-wife range
IN2:CA9: The dog-lover range
AC:DC: The electric range
D84:U2: The double date range
I812: The Monica Lewinsky meets Linda Lovelace cell
I12:CU2: The "when can we meet" cell

My Journey into Word Press

2007-02-07T17:51:00.000+05:30

I was confused as to how my blog should look like and how do I have the various topics covered on the Blog. In last few days I had experimented with Google Pages and Blogger working in tandem. I had 5 different blogs on the web for different purposes and they were linked to a Home Page on the Google Pages.

Different Styles on Google Pages and Blogger made everything look very odd. I was clueless how to go about it. Google Pages won’t let you import any new styles (CSS) and have limited number of uninspiring styles. It would be better to have similar looking styles on the Google Pages and Blogger and a way to integrate the both. I don’t understand the Google’s way of having every thing in duplicates. They have the Google Video and the YouTube and now the Google Pages and the Blogger.

While all this confusion persisted I was told by someone – (that some one is arun_k_d) about trying WordPress. As I was eager to have some kind of uniformity of shorts I didn’t think twice before logging in to WordPress.com.

That is how my Journey to the WordPress begins and here's a look at what it was like.

Dashboard:

The interface of WordPress was easy for a novice and I was at ease with it instantly. Initially though I fiddled with the WordPress Dashboard and saw the recent happenings about my blog aptly called “Your Stuff”. In the Blogger Dashboard’s got a lot of useless clutter.
I was impressed with the Blog Stats and the Feed Stats, in Blogger I had to go to Google Analytics to know how miserable my blogs are performing. Tag Surfer is a cool way to know what others are talking about. This is there nothing similar to Tag Bowser in Blogger that I have come across.

Posts and Comments

In the Write Tab I saw some common tools in the right-hand side of the page, and better still you can configure it as well. What I liked was WordPress has to option to selectively allows Discussion and Pings for each post. You also can have private messages- I am not sure what can be done with private posts. Track Back, Post Password, Post Slug is yet to be checked by me. I liked the Blogger Interface for posting to blog it is neater and less options to worry about.
For Managing or Moderating comments in WordPress you can edit them. I am yet to use it on Blogger. On WordPress You know from where the person is posting (his IP address is given). Comments can be classified as Spam – it is an easy way to delete all the Spam messages from a person.

Managing Posts

Manage Tab is what made me to switch to the WordPress. The management of Posts is not very different from the Blogger, only it is based on Ajax or Flash or something like that which makes the posts disappear as soon as you click delete (I know absolutely nothing about any programming so don't know how it is done). In the Blogger it takes more time and confirmations to delete a post.
Word Press lets you have separate web pages and you can have one of the Static pages as the Front Page from the Options Menu. This solved my problem of having to use 2 different domains on the Google Pages and Blogger and also got the uniformity of the look and feel of the entire web site.
The Categories in WordPress are known as Labels in Blogger. Label sound good to hear. But there is no Label management in the Blogger. WordPress is a lot better. You can edit the Categories, if you feel like changing the names in one go. Blogger allows to delete or add labels with out going into the post, from Label action drop down menu in Edit Post Tab. I had not seen it earlier. But does not let you edit the Label though.
The best thing that I saw was the Import facility form LiveJournal, Blogger among others. So I instantly pressed the button to import from the Blogger and import all the 5 blogs I have there. Changed the labels and – I am done. I plan to update this piece on the Blogger first and import to Word Press.

One mystery surrounds me till now. WordPress automatically logged in to the Blogger and imported the posts from all my blogs. But I could not understand how WordPress knew about my Blogger ID and Password? I had given only my Yahoo Email id at the time of registration. Only guess I could have is since I was logged into the Blogger at that time on my computer so WordPress could have picked up from the cookies.

By the way WordPress lets you export as well if you may like to combine 2 or more blogs into one. Blogger doesn’t have this so I had to delete the smaller blogs and post all the posts to the new Blog.

Miscellaneous

Blogger allows custom domains so as WordPress. On WordPress the main blog resided on the WordPress and the traffic from the Custom Domain is transferred to WordPress Domain. But on the Blogger it is opposite for a good reason.
No Google Adsense in here. Adsense is an easy way to have some revenues. (I have got $1.08 in last 8 months by clicking ads on my posts by mistake and they promise that as soon as it becomes $100 they will send me a check :) ).
You have Blogroll on the WordPress, to add outside links and that’s about it. In the Blogger you have Layout Editor where you can add element and do it. You can have List, Link List, Picture, Text, and Code. Adsense, among others on left or the bottom of the blog Home page. I prefer the Blogger to WordPress in this department. It gives a lot more flexibility to edit all portions of your blog.
WordPress has 52 themes to install compared to 38 on the Blogger. WordPress gives more flexibility with regard to the themes. The theme are better on the Blogger and I like more themes on it then WordPress. You can have sidebar widgets on the WordPress so as you can have some Widgets on the Blogger as well. I tried neither.
Both Blogger and WordPress allow other members to post and edit the blog. Since I have no one else to do it except for me I don’t know much.
The WordPress options seemed sanely more relevant compared to Blogger. However Blogger options are much more exhaustive in comparison. As I said earlier in Blogger you can change the name of the blog site, e.g. I change the blog address from GomzyPix to Gomzy Online on Blogger but I could not have done that on the WordPress, there I would have to create a different blog first, export the current blog and then import to the new blog.
There is one more Upgrade facility in the WordPress where you can buy credits to have Custom CSS – Blogger you can upload your own theme or more space on the WordPress – I think it is pretty much unlimited on the Blogger.

So that’s how both stand up head to head and I think WordPress wins the battle on most of the grounds.

Copyright on Downloaded Music

2007-02-07T15:11:00.000+05:30

Before we discuss about the piracy and copyright violation it is prudent that we understand what these words refer to:

What is Piracy?

Robbery on the high seas; taking a ship away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it
The act of plagiarizing; taking someone’s words or ideas as if they were your own.
The unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material: software piracy.

What is copyright?

a document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or musical or artistic work
The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

What is then Copyright Violation?

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.

These definitions are from Answer.com and Wikipedia, but they are not relevant in legally for determining the copyright provisions towards listening to music in India. Therefore I read the Indian Copyright Act to see what it provides. I have summarized the relevant provisions below.

A Discussion of Indian Copyright Act 1957

Sec 13 states that the copyright subsists on original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works among others.
Sec 14 defines the meaning of copyright where it states that to do or to authorize to reproduce, issue copies, public performance, translation and adaptation among others.
Sec 27 provides the term of copyright is 60 years – from the year in which the record was first published.
Sec 51 defines the copyright infringement as any person without a licence granted by the owner of the copyright or the Registrar of Copyrights does anything (refer Sec 14) and makes for sale, distributes, exhibits in public.
Sec 52 Certain acts are not infringement of copyright: fair dealing for the purpose of Private use, including research, criticism, review, or for teaching.
Sec 63 provides that a person who knowingly infringes shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of six months and with fine of fifty thousand rupees. Further provided that where infringement has not been made for gain in the course of trade or business the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment impose impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months or a fine of less than fifty thousand rupees.
Sec 63B provides that where a person uses a infringing copy of a computer program shall be punishable with jail term of 7 days to 3 years and fine of 50K to 200K.

Conclusion:

You can rip the songs from your CD and listen it privately – as provided in the Sec 52. However should you share with any one the you are into murkier waters.
Sec 63B provides for punishment for use of infringed software; however there is no such provision similar to Sec 63B for sound recording. That means infringing copyright on sound recording is punishable but using Infringed sound recording for private purpose is not a violation of Copyright Laws - Sec 52 comes to your rescue.
There is a logic behind this loophole. Let me explain by an example, Suppose you are playing music on the loud speakers for all to heare. Then you are indulging in piracy, however should a passerby happens to walk by you and listens to your music he can not be held responsible for piracy.

At the Restaurant - Lunch House

2007-02-07T04:11:00.000+05:30

I generally go this restaurant called Lunch Home near Rangarajapuram post-office in Koddambakkam. The place is nothing to write about; most of the food items deserve to be better, place looks dirty and hygiene is something the hotel management is unaware of. Prices as expected are comparatively inexpensive and it feels more like a Road-side Stall converted into a hotel. After writing all this evil, a question arises why do I go there. The answer is above. Onion Rava Dosa(i). These people make the best Onion Rava Dosa(i) I have ever eaten any where. I go there only to eat this one item. I strongly recommend any one who can come to this place do the same, at least once.

This man had the most fancy looking beard I have seen in long long time, similar to the people who compete in the best beard competition. Could not take a better snap though.

You would be interested in these websites:
Beard Team USA
World Beard and Moustache Association (WBMA
Categories

Broken Glasses

2007-02-03T12:43:00.000+05:30

My glasses have been broken since last few days. But I have not got it repaired. Reason I do not have money. Ya! but I bought this camera Canon S3. Talk of penny wise pound foolish.

My System

2007-02-02T11:34:00.000+05:30

At the Restaurant - Sarvana Bhavan - Mylapore

2007-02-02T02:44:00.000+05:30

This is at Sarvana Bhavan - Mlapore at the North Mada Street of Kapaleeshwar temple.
as I said earlier Sarvana Bhavan is a large and famous chain of restaurants in Chennai. Coincidently that day as it turned out, my sister had also had her lunch at a Sarvana Bhavan. She was however is in London. We both had food at the same time at the same restaurant but in 2 different continents.

The food is generally good, service is quick, prices reasonable, place is crowded but pretty clean. Unlike the Pondy Bazar one the Mylapore place is large - actually a huge place and spacious as well. In the Pondy Bazar, Sarvana Bhavan gives more emphasis on the specialty restaurants like Rangoli etc

Sarvana Bhavan Home Page

Kapaleeshwar Temple Functions

2007-02-02T02:38:00.000+05:30

Look at the decorated temple...looks nice na!

This festival also called the Brahmotsavam, the idols of Kapaleeshwarar and Karpagambal are decorated with clothes and jewels, mounted on a vahanam (Sanskrit for "vehicle"), and then taken around the temple and its water tank in a pradakshinam (a clockwise orbit when seen from above). This is repeated with different vahanams over the next nine days.

Due to this festival on that day the whole road was cordoned off and the traffic was diverted. I had to take an auto-rickshaw rather than the usual bus. Yes one more thing I have been mis-spelling the temple name in some places so pleas excuse me.

More on Wiki also look at this post Kapileshwar Temple Functions

The Dog II

2007-02-02T02:29:00.000+05:30

This dog came to me, tried to recognize me but......... nothing doing, so sat down besides near me.

Dogs were domesticated from wolves as recently as 15,000 years ago, or perhaps as early as 100,000 years ago. In India like many other countries however dog were "ditched" by the Humans when they started agriculture and started living in villages did not find dogs useful anymore. Dogs however did not ditch humans and started living in the same settlements as humans and lived on the thrown food. As the saying goes Dog is man's Best Friend.