Of Mice and Men

I've moved to crustyjugglers.blogspot.com

2008-10-18T01:51:00.003+08:00

Most people start their re-entry to blogging with something like "it's been a long time...", backed up with excuses like "I have been busy for the last 3 months..."

In my case, I can't deny that the excuse is partially true, but the real reason I haven't been blogging is Facebook... and its posting capability!!! This totally rocks! Combined with Notes, posting and sharing is one of Facebook's most powerful tools...

What brought me back to blogging were two events... actually make that three...

1. Kapil's reentry with some smashing articles... he's a school senior of mine... and a person with an excellent insight into the Tamil and Indian persona. He's an avid blogger too, and had recently emerged from a blogging break, refreshed and ready...

2. The market is raping me... and as a result of the time I get to myself by willing myself not to look at my stocks, I have been trying a few things... and blogging is one of them.

3. Two pieces of feedback from Facebook and a blog comment that sort of implied that I am not as bad a blogger as I thought myself to be.

Ji Monkey ji

2007-11-20T21:43:00.000+08:00

The news just in.... Apparently New Delhi is overrun with monkeys... Now I can't think of any reason why that might be considered news!!!

The Actual 'Mirror Syndrome' (House MD)

2007-11-17T11:21:00.001+08:00

First things first...
Who here thinks the team selection is getting over-dramatic?
Who here thinks that Kumar and the Mor(m)on need to be fired? (I like Kal Penn... but cmon already!!)

The last episode was one of the better episodes in what has been a lackluster season... if only for the fact that it was overdramatic... sick guy reading minds? Becoming people? Knowing all their secrets? Come on....

I'm not gonna dwell upon the story, as there are quite a few bloggers who deserved being stoned to death for giving out spoilers... Rather, I wanted to see if the Mirror Syndrome actually existed, and if it did, whether it was as dramatic...

A few google searches provided a few links... Wikipedia threw up something about a pregnant woman, and most others linked to House MD based sites... Apparently the formal name in the episode in Giovannini's Syndrome...

A few more google searches... aah... Giovannina Conchiglia (from Wikipedia -> List of House episodes -> Mirror Mirror) ... and now we got a few more entries on this (I imagine) hunched wizened old man who discovered ESP... among which were these three links...

To quote,

“AD seems to have lost the capacity to keep his own identity constant, as he adapts himself excessively to variations in the social contexts, violating his own identity connotations in order to favour a role which the environment proposes”

A few more quotes throw up similar stuff... I wonder who the guys in charge of material research for this sitcom are... geniuses...

In perspective

2007-10-23T08:05:00.000+08:00

I thought my last month was really crazy... then I took a look at the news...

First, Putin visited Iran, and promised his support for the nuclear reactors, probably making Russia the only 'Western' power Iran can have as a friend. What did he get in return? Death threats from suicide bombers.

In Nebraska, God has been hit with a lawsuit by a moron, who accuses Him of killing "millions upon millions" of people among other things. And God got his own attorney when other religious zealots thought this too good to pass.

The Chinese have apparently been confused by law and rhetoric. Anything that a Chinese premier says once in five years is now included in the Constitution... as law. It includes pseudo-economic theories, Martha Stewartesque tips on how to live, heck I bet a speech on hamsters playing guitars would have been immortalized if it was delivered by the premier.

But the icing on the cake was a really juicy piece...
The deputy mayor of Delhi was killed by... wait for it....

monkeys!!!

Apparently the urban pests jumped on him en masse when he came out to the terrace to chill out. Last word was he was chilling out in an ice box getting ready to burn.

Time to start digging out those Planet of the apes CDs... you never know when one of those 'survival tricks' may come in handy.

Snapshot

2007-09-26T09:49:00.000+08:00

Listening to : Echo by Incubus
Practising: (or rather trying) Malaguenas Salerosas
Addicted to: scouring the internet for video highlights of the T20.

Return to Innocence

2007-09-25T02:03:00.000+08:00

Shahid Afridi had a pretty bad day today, and, at the presentation of the consolation prize of Man of the Series, I expected this would reflect. So, when Shahid went up to collect his award and congratulated the Indian nations, I sort of shared his feeling. Somewhere in a lonely wigwam, Mighty Wolf would have squinted into the cathode tube and felt proud seeing the modern Indian braves returning to tricolored warpaint and howling encouragement to the warriors. If only the Chief had a feather in his long hair, Mighty Wolf would have given him his daughter and his father's tomahawk.

Eye of the storm

2007-09-24T23:46:00.000+08:00

Rarely does a person get high without using alcohol or the such. Fast guitars, fast cars, hitting sixes and getting examination results apart, I have found it hard to manage it. And suddenly, in one day, it strikes twice.

The first lava-lamp hallucination was between Mark Knofler's exquisite guitar solo and Stevie Ray Vaughn's House is Rockin' on my way back home. I must admit this was partly because of hunger. But what the hell. A high is a high. And the second was towards the final moments as Misbah was lofting Bajji. Rather I should say 'is'. What a match. I do rather feel bad about Misbah missing the last one. That guy thrashed India to within inches of its life twice. And India winning without its veterans was a brilliant outcome, perhaps the rejuvenation that international cricket needs now - a release from the glorious past - of ODIs and scandals and war heroes in fading armor.

But even at this point, in the middle of this euphoria, I feel that one veteran will still need to play a huge role for the next three years. Dravid is needed. The Master has come, inspired a billion Indians and left them proud of a legacy no one will surpass. Along with Sehwag and Ganguly, He has had His day and, as a guy who plays, lives and quits by His own terms, He must be relieved, looking forward to a long vacation in Khandala or Bermuda. But despite the talented Uthappa and Gambhir competing for the spot, there doesn't seem to be any one who can replace Dravid, not only for laying foundations on which other batsmen can prosper, but for the overall mental stability and freedom he brings to the team as an overall anchor through the game. Dravid is needed, if only for the reason that he needs to choose that one in a billion who can be a worthy successor.

Snapshot

2007-09-20T18:55:00.000+08:00

Listening to: The Reason (Hoobastank)
Addicted to : Ted
Learning : Breakaway (acoustic) by Kelly Clarkson

Observation of the day

2007-09-20T18:52:00.001+08:00

If I fall on a table, I get hurt.
If a table falls on me, I get hurt.
Life's unfair

Personality goes a long way

2007-09-13T16:51:00.000+08:00

This is just a first draft ... I didn't know how to end this thing, so I ended up making the goat a Pulp fiction dialog spouter... Anyone got better ideas?

The General Who Lived

2007-09-10T20:13:00.001+08:00

(click to see the big picture)

Sport for terrorism

2007-09-01T02:59:00.000+08:00

Ref BBC

To quote,

In (a) curious twist, some leaders of the sports-unfriendly Taleban ended up loving the game. So much so that Mullah Rabbani, one of its leaders, actually lobbied for the game's recognition by the Asian council.

In all fair game, why don't we invite our friendly neighborhood terrorists for a pitch sometimes? I bet those to-be-suicide-bombers would know the basics of rugby, lugging packages, dodging and feinting security tackles. Their life (or rather lack of) depends on it.

I bet cricket comes naturally to them. It can be played in your own style - nice and relaxed or fast and furious. It needs nothing except a ball, a long flat log and a mark on a tree trunk or a wall. They've been stoning the devil every Ramadan for quite some time now. Strategy is simple. Hit the ball where there ain't anyone. Put the people where the ball is being hit.

The rebel gets a cause, the cause doesn't hurt us and we get to know each other.

I know... you're welcome...

Chinglish

2007-09-01T02:20:00.000+08:00

Ever heard of a blood-condensed friendship pavilion? Or smallpox facial cream(link)?

On another entirely different note, Jamaican sounds eerily similar to Singlish ... adding a mon here, taking out a lah there... See Brad Pitt's mangled up verbosity in Meet Joe Black if you don't believe me.

Seagulls

2007-08-31T19:12:00.001+08:00

Guss invites his favorite lady up on a ship to enjoy a perfectly romantic moment, only to find there are technicalities involved..

My first attempt at a cartoon...

2007-08-18T04:38:00.000+08:00

It is not necessary for the world to know that I won every battle in my life.
It would be quite sufficient to know that I fought them in the best way I can.

Rob Paravonian on Pachelbel's Canon

2007-08-12T16:15:00.000+08:00

Pachelbel's Canon - CollegeHumor video

When I find myself in times of trouble,
Pachelbel's always following me...
I'll see you in hell.. Pachelbel!
Pachelbel Pachelbel Pachelbel Pachelbel,
See your ass in hell!!!

I know this is selfish...

2007-08-12T01:13:00.000+08:00

... but I WAAANNNTTT MOOOOORRREE HOOOOTTT CCHHIIICCKKSSS IIINN TTHIISSS WOOOORRLLDD !!!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

2007-07-18T15:29:00.000+08:00

I feel like I am many different people rolled into one.
I am an artist.
A trance junkie.
An architect.
A visionary.
A hippie.
A film director.
A story teller.
A leader.

I am layers of molten translucent colors and smells adsorbed in a silica gel brain floating in a Radiohead induced trance.

I am me.

Least I could Do

2007-06-21T01:46:00.000+08:00

http://www.leasticoulddo.com/comic/20070118
Laughing my tear ducts out...

This is t-h-e coolest comic I have ever read!!

iPhone Shuffle

2007-06-17T18:49:00.000+08:00

... has no screen, and it phones random people...

from link in DaringFireball

:D

Scott Adams

2007-06-17T18:28:00.000+08:00

.. and why I like him so much!

The Rajnikanth Saga

2007-06-16T20:19:00.000+08:00

I have often wondered how it was that a bus conductor of humble roots could become a famous actor with almost absolutely nothing going for him.

Kollywood legend has it that when he came to meet Balachander the first time, Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, an unknown bus conductor was broke, and was probably taking his biggest chance in life. Balachander, by his own account, saw a 'fire' in his eyes, a silent and grim determination, and decided to take him under his wing, rechristening him as Rajnikanth. And the rest, as they say, is history. But what's so special about Rajni? An impassionate observer would note that his dialogue delivery is too fast, sometimes undecipherable, and has a thick accent. He would also say that Rajni does not have the body or training to be an action hero, nor the face or the dance moves to be a heart-throb. He would most importantly note that Rajni's repertoire comes nowhere close to the versatility of Kamal or Nagesh, and that it would drastically limit the range of roles he would get.

It is another point that this impassionate observer would have to be uninitiated with Tamil and India movies, for there is no one in India without an opinion of Rajni. In the 4 South Indian states, he stands unrivaled in fan following and popularity probably by any other actor ever. In North India, he is compared as often with Amitabh Bacchan, as he is with Mithun Chakraborthy and others, and there are others who say he is incomparable to any one there, a one-man circus, shooting cigarettes into his mouth and manhandling rowdies by the dozen. Whatever he might be, there is no doubt that everyone who has heard of him has a strong opinion about him.

So what makes a slightly above average actor, with over-exaggerated actions and 'style', and no other particular skill tick? Is it that once in a while, the common people on the street get tired with the ruling elite and randomly pick one of their own to be deified? Or, like Laloo, does it take more than just fate? And so, with that I leave to watch the night show of his latest fest (for there is no other word), Shivaji.

Just returning from Shivaji, and getting some time to mull over Rajni's unique position, I sense the beginning of an answer, or rather a guess, forming in my mind.

The name Shivaji may be an acknowledgment of his humble beginnings, or a tribute to the recently deceased 'Shivaji' Ganesan, the father figure for all Tamil actors, considered by many (including Rajni) as the greatest Tamil actor ever. But Shivaji, the film, is as much typically Shankar, as it is typically Rajni. There is not much to the story, or for that matter anything else (including a below average A R Rahman score). In Shivaji, even under heavy make-up, Rajni has performed like he has in no other movie. Rajni carries the whole movie on his shoulders all the way through, immersing himself in all the usual themes of fun, comedy, chivalry, morals and altruism. Rajni even takes and allows a few jabs at himself for good measure, and comes out in even better shape.

What really makes Rajni stand apart from any other actor, probably in the whole world, with the exception of Robin Williams, is his ability to take the most ridiculously overblown scenes and perform them with total conviction. If the aim of acting is to model reality as close as possible, Rajni goes the opposite way, taking the most realistic scenes and making them surreal. Like when he is worth a rupee, and he sits on the platform like conquering emperor. And what's more, he carries it out with style, totally enjoying himself in the process. Where the other actors clearly show they are uncomfortable, this guy totally feels at home, his trademark grin in place. And for his many weaknesses, the total uninhibitedness and exuberance with which he plays his part negates any lack of knowledge, or the connections with reality, just making it a distraction-free medium which is used both to entertain the masses away from the grim everyday realities and to give them a moral fable or two.

For acting, which requires that you consistently 'upgrade' yourself with feedback from your audience and peers, Rajni is an anomaly. Unlike most other people, Rajni draws strength and confidence from inside himself - none of it depends on how other people see him. And he has to. For, by feeding that confidence (and sometimes arrogance) into his roles, he not only gets away with it, but provides everyone with the perfect alter-ego - a not-so-impressive-looking person with society-defying confidence, and heroic morals. And while it may appear ridiculous to some, his performance goes straight to the subconscious of most people, bringing out their dreams in the most uncomplicated way possible. In those few hours in a cinema theater, every average person is transported to a world, where he is Rajnikanth, the perfect manifestation of himself... quirky... imperfect... but it doesn't matter, because he doesn't measure himself by those standards. He sees himself free, uninhibited, confident, wronged and bouncing back, burnt and still altruistic, liked and revered by everyone around him.

No wonder, Tamil or Telugu, British or Japanese, everyone loves Rajni.

Ocean's 13

2007-06-15T22:45:00.000+08:00

It happened quite coincidentally. My brother and I had a spare day in Bangkok, and we decided to go for a movie. Turns out this is one of the few decent movies running.

Ocean's 13 is a decent movie, in the same vein as its predecessors, but dropping the female leads for that extra bit of fast paced action.

The chemistry between Brad Pitt and George Clooney is just amazing. Matt Damon is good in making a fool of himself. Al Pacino is laid back and cool, as the ruthless Bank, whose casino Danny and his gang plan to bring down for avenging Reuben (one of the 12) who was double-crossed out of his money by partner Bank. To this end, they team up with rival casino owner and Danny's rival Terry (Andy Garcia) who is #13.

The base story is probably the best of the 3 Ocean's movies. But the execution is not the best, and that makes some difference. The basic plot moves quickly... much too quickly in some places... with some expected twists and some hilarious subplots. The editing and camera work are slick and probably save much of the movie. The story is mostly told in a linear fashion, making the planning seem a little too prepared with very little suspense, and one could surely have done without the Oprah part. The background score is forgettable. The movie is great in parts - The Five-Diamonds-subplot, in which Banks treats the 'wrong' hotel reviewer as royalty, and the real reviewer gets it in the ass is slapstick but pretty hilarious. The dialogue is suave, laconic and matches the fast paced editing and story, though it does not have as many punch lines as 11. Smaller sub-plots of how to get past the AI security system are well thought out. Banks' female manager was crow-ugly, and positively gets repulsive in her romance scenes with Matt Damon. The French thief, who I was initially happy to see, was really underutilized. But what really lets the film down is the really predictable climax - After building the plot up for 2/3rds of the film, the heist goes exactly according to plan, and Ocean meets Banks to rub it in in a not too funny or subtle way.

In a nutshell,
Pros: Good story... fast pace ... no distracting relationship problems... and Al Pacino.
Cons: Predictable, a few unwanted subplots, not-so-spicy dialogue.

So watchable, but I'd suggest catching the Pirates first, or waiting for Evan Almighty.

P.S: thamizh makkalukku, Shivaji released today... haven't seen it yet, but people say it is good.

Green Day and Oasis

2007-06-14T19:45:00.001+08:00

Insinuations apart, this makes an awesome song to hear!!

Boulevard Of Broken Songs

Hats off to the editor...

Family guy - Red dot guy

2007-06-14T19:32:00.000+08:00

Family Guy - Red Dot

See more like this on kontraband.com

For Microsoft!

2007-06-14T19:19:00.000+08:00

Hitler gets Microsoft Live ban

Hilter Gets Microsoft Live Ban

" super fucking mario! mad italian jumping on god damn turtles!!" :D
Hilarious!

Success

2007-05-27T12:52:00.000+08:00

It is not necessary that I win every battle in life.
It would be quite sufficient to know that I fought them in the best way I could.

Blogger Help : What is BlogThis! ?

2007-05-23T22:21:00.000+08:00

Blogger Help : What is BlogThis! ?: "BlogThis! is an easy way to make a blog post without visiting blogger.com. Once you add the BlogThis! link to your browser's toolbar, blogging will be a snap. Or rather, a click. Clicking BlogThis! creates a mini-interface to Blogger prepopulated with a link to the web page you are visiting, as well as any text you have highlighted on that page. Add additional text if you wish and then publish or post from within BlogThis!

There are two ways to use BlogThis!: if you use Windows and Internet Explorer, you can use BlogThis! straight from the Google Toolbar. If you're on another browser, just drag the link below to your browser's Link bar. Then, whenever the mood strikes, click BlogThis! to post to your blog:

BlogThis! <-- drag this link to your browser's Links bar"

Cool shit, ain't it? Now some dude has come up with GmailThis! :)

Rock-Paper-Scissors

2007-05-16T19:17:00.000+08:00

Most of us have fond memories of playing rock-paper-scissors as children. It never occured to me that a World Championship would be held one day (with a prize of $50,000 too!!)

After reading Fortune's Formula (supposedly for its coverage of Shannon, but in reality because it was the most convenient thing lying around on a lazy Saturday evening when my computer broke down yet again), I am in this frame of mind thinking about every action as a probability, adding more and more things to the list of 'random events' and trying to predict or analyse them.

And this morning, guess what was waiting for me in my google reader? A freakonomics post over the weekend, with a link to the authors' posts on the 2006 edition, and viewer's suggestions for rock paper scissors strategies... yes... real strategies meant in the serious sense... like "Open with scissors". People outguessing each other... statistically (scissors is used least...29.6%, so use paper a lot!), psychologically (beginners begin with rock, as they believe it to be solid, so use paper against them), reverse psychology (experienced players expect a rock against them, so start with scissors) and just plain cheating (extending a match into a 'best of 3 contest')

Makes me think how many books have been written in the outguessing game. Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene is one book I remember. There was a whole chapter about Strategies... Eagles and Doves, strategies in the Eagle-Dove game, comparison of pro-active, inactive, reactive and random strategies... if there were jobless people then, it must have been those scientists who programmed strategies for random events just to test them out. Ed Thorpe's books on Blackjack... which I haven't read, but are supposedly much more mathematical and less speculative... John Kelly's Information-Price relationship in a random game (derived from strategies to beat random noise in Claude Shannon's information model). A million books on how to "Beat the Market".... (Ok..just 4082 in Amazon)

I wonder if somehow somewhere deep inside everyone, there is a daemon that tells us that we can outwit everyone else... Is there a psychological term for this phenomenon? If not, I claim the right to name it Foxitis....

A night of shakti

2007-05-06T00:19:00.000+08:00

JM gets his payback....

Shakti - Shankar goes berserk!

2007-05-05T23:49:00.000+08:00

Speechless!!! Truly gods!

Shakti - the original Masters

2007-05-05T23:31:00.000+08:00

Remember Shakti - Ma No Pa

2007-05-05T20:08:00.000+08:00

Zakir Hussein:
tabla in Remember Shakti concert.
tabla + drums in Giriraja Sudha Live
tabla + drums + another instrument in Ma No Pa...

No more words... just ecstasy...

Giriraja Sudha

2007-05-05T19:56:00.001+08:00

I meant this one....

... but the other one is equally good...

Shakti all day long...

2007-05-05T19:48:00.000+08:00

Pandora and Hope

2007-05-04T08:33:00.000+08:00

Today I got a mail from Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora. While I was pleasantly surprised to see his name in my mailbox, it lasted only till I got inside.

Pandora was closing down outside the US. Or, more accurately, it was being shut down by an outrageous RIAA ruling, which hikes rates for internet radio stations by around 250% (update: factoring in other new admin fees, it works out to 400-1000%) !!! And so, last.fm among many other stations will be affected.

I am guessing the RIAA, which should stand for Really Idiotic Association of (stuck-up) Assholes, went all the way, bribing a senator or two to get this legislation done extra quick. What with the Government working overtime to produce a result on the Iraqi occupation and the security of the United States, RIAA obviously felt this was more important.

I immediately googled for mroe news, and got to the Pandora blog, where thousands of supporters pledged support and tried what they could, to send letters of petitions to senators and convince Tim to move to Europe, where he wouldn't be hounded by stupidity. But what will the senators think? and What will they implement? Does anyone think a senator is gonna come up on the dais and seek re-election because he opposed an RIAA ruling and saved internet radio in that state? Or will neo-speak about Iraq be more effective wven when he does not take any action?

I hope Pandora will be back again, but pragmatically, I do not see much chance of the government backing up and reversing a decision within days of implementing it. So, I think I will just have to bid Pandora a teary farewell.

(Update: People have been proactive.... If you read this in the US, please go to http://www.savenetradio.org/ to see if you can do your bit. (link to Petition) An 'equality' bill has been introduced in Washington DC today. There is a faint sliver of hope now...)

(Update: it looks like anyone can send a petition from the above link... No personal stuff, except your location is asked for and recognised... so everyone is welcome...)

Tribute to Charlie Kaufman

2007-05-02T03:39:00.000+08:00

As an aspiring short story writer, I have come across many personalities that truly show how much imagination the human mind is capable of. Charlie Kauffman is one of those rare, truly gifted individuals, who can be ranked alongside Jules Verne and Arthur Clarke in producing some of the most truly unbelievable ideas for the world to wonder about.

I have seen both Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind before, without truly appreciating how such ideas, commonplace though they might be, can be woven into a tight knit story. And tonight, it was a revelation. Watching BJM for the second time, sparks of genius become truly apparent. There are very few examples outside Kubrick's masterpieces, including the Matrix 1 (2 and 3 degerated into mystic nonsense and graphic stunts), Fight Club, Seven, Pi, AI and Requiem for a Dream. These two masterpieces manage to infuse the same amount of intensity into outworldly ideas.

BJM is a movie that makes you sit up and take notice. John Malkovich (playing himself) is brilliant and versatile, letting the viewer actually see him lose control and assume another personality. John Cusack becomes the puppeteer he plays in a great supporting role and the Maxine woman exudes evil, unlike Connie Nielsen's failed attempt in the Devil's Advocate. But what really clinched it was the cinematography and the direction of Spike Jonze (don't ask me - never heard of him before this), who is apparently Sofia Coppola's ex... In the first movie he has made (and going by his record, probably the only one he will ever make), Jones brings Kauffman's disturbing imaginations to life. The 'from-within' scenes, and the use of some amazingly skilled camera angles, to actually make it look like Cusack or Malkovich were world-class puppeteers were very well done.

Charlie Kauffman and Darren Aronofsky are the kind of writers Indian cinema so desperately needs, in its search for materiel beyond rich-girl-loves-poor-boy stories.

An eye for other eyes

2007-04-24T23:13:00.000+08:00

A bionic eye could potentially restore sight
(link)

No shit!! And I thot it was just about the cool factor! That's what eyes are supposed to do stupid!!

But, really, bionic eyes would be be damn useful!!! Especially the wireless variety... it could come in real handy (no pun intended).

Some people twiddle fingers and pencils when they are bored. I could just pop out my eyeball and roll it around my hands. Oh come on... don't roll your eyes... roll mine!

Mobile communication would reach its zenith... The new Nokia 9090i ... and by 'i', we really mean it! Pop your eye out, stick it to the top right corner of the phone, and ... voila!! video conferencing on the move....

Lesser compliments for babies.. "The baby has a such a photogenic face.." - "Yeah, and soon he'll have photographic eyes too!!"

Voyeurs will be looking ahead to the time when the bionic eye hits eBay. "Uh..my eye feels itchy... CLICK"

Romance would seriously be hindered... "Honey, I will be away for a year... I wonder if you'll remember my face when I am back.." - "No problem, Srini... just say Cheese!" CLICK ... "Well then... catchya later!!"

The possibilities are endless.
Your colleague just patted your back? Wanna check for a kick-me sticker? No probs... pop it out and go for a 360' view.
Always cocking an ear for footsteps near your cubicle? Now make sure!

Marketing is gonna love this!!
" Irritating coworkers? Get the all new Medusa!! Guaranteed for 2000 frying looks . Rechargeable."
" Got a great poker face, but still manage to lose? Get PokerEye. Find out what cards the others have!!"
" Have shitloads of money? Here's quality for you! 24k Goldeneye Classic. Doesn't do shit, but then you've got money to blow!"
" Fancied yourself as a sailor? Inroducing the iEye Captain!! Built in telescope and sextant. Try the periscope software update today!! "
"Mirror mirror on the wall... You are not needed now at all.. Get a first hand experience of how you look... Today!!"

Conversation will be richer!!
"Dude, can you just keep an eye on these documents?" - "Ok, sure.." - "I meant as a paperweight"

Sorry chumps will have a new way of getting thumped:
"Where do you see bionic eyes on the ground?"
- "Beats me!"
"Under the Eiffel tower... hahhahhah... got you!!"

And think about the possibilities in sport. Lost your ping pong ball? No probs, a spare one's always there.

And don't buy all those stories of binocular vision helping in ping pong. It's all just clever marketing to sell you more bionic eyes...

The Hole In the Wall Wang

2007-04-22T15:40:00.000+08:00

(BBC Link)

Apparently Nina Wang left her billions to her Feng Shui advisor... because he respects his philosophy. This is more hilarious than Sri Sri Ravishankar's patent for breathing ... How this Mr. Chan will use this is not exactly clear. I can just imagine this conversation in July 2002.

Chan: ... so you see, Feng Shui is not just about aesthetics. It is also about strong will power.

Nina: And how does this strong will power work?

Chan: You write a will, giving me the power, and I will make you strong.

Nina: But isn't that stupid of me?

Chan: No my dear daughter, you are here to learn my feng-shui philosophy. And my philosophy is so simple, and clear that it flies in the face of logic. It also says, wills are meant to be written, not talked about. So you need to be silent and patient. To provide a good reason to the press, appear reclusive. Helps your (insert feng-shui term here) too.

Nina: What I meant was.. won't I lose my money?

Chan: That is where feng-shui philosophy comes in. Instead of letting it lose your strong will power, I will guard it to give it back to you in your next life.

Nina: What if you spend it?

Chan: Irukkardhu illamayum irukkalaam. Illadhadhu irukkavum irukkalaam. Irukkardhum illadhadhum yaar kaiyil irukku? aaga irukkarche...

Nina: Ok..ok... I will change my will..

Apparently, an 'alternate' will has also surfaced, where Nina wants her money to go towards setting up a Nobel-like award system (I say, decide girl!..science or palm-reading?). The two groups could probably work out an arrangement towards an award system for the best contributions towards predictional-'sciences'. This will include crystal gazing, palm reading, numerology and what not. ( I hear gypsies somewhere going "Yahoo!!")

The first prize will be given in 2008, when the planets' straight line orientation will allow artificial gravity situations on Earth, allowing people jumping up at a certain precise time to feel a 'floating feeling'. The awards will start with a screening of the 'Number 23'. With Sri Sri Ravishankar and David Blaine judging, it will be a nail biting race to the finish as the best-in-the-world swamis, hippies, soothsayers, gypsies and Robin Sharma come together in the ring for a 20-man Royal Mumble. (Robin Sharma is forbidden from using his head as an additional crystal ball. Thats an unfair advantage)

"And the Wang for the best pig-entrails soothsaying goes to ..."
I wonder if Martha Stewards would agree to emcee.

A Twist in the Tale

2007-04-20T15:50:00.000+08:00

link
The BBC does have a sense of humor...

Personalities

2007-04-20T08:31:00.000+08:00

There were two interesting points I came across about personalities in the last week...

1. People conform to stuff that they think the society likes...
probably how Britney Spears and Skanky Whores sell.. no one else knows that the society does not find them appealing...

And this one is from Scott Adams' blog...
2. When you force people to think in a certain way (like writing an essay supporting a point of view they do not necessarily conform to), they start becoming that.

... and I love Adams' idea of making others think he is sexy using the second method...

Caste aside your differences...

2007-04-20T08:13:00.000+08:00

...for this is a democracy, whose cornerstones have been liberty and equality.

It is a bit appaling how these two concepts get mixed up so easily in Indian politics (link)

The argument goes like this...
There was a set of people who were once discriminated against and their liberties were taken away. So, we will arbitrarily decide that a subset of people, which might or might not correspond to the people discriminated against be specifically allotted educational seats with no credence to merit.

It started with 10% reservations for the most discriminated against - the so called 'scheduled castes and tribes', which might have been fair, had it been properly implemented. Instead, in order to cover their own excesses, governments in power, one after the other have raised the quota in this bizzare human experiment, stirring up shit, and then standing back and watching the thing explode.

And now the problem has deviated... instead of helping the discrimnated, it is slowly becoming a tool for the most populous and vocal people, the other so-called backward classes chewing paans in white mercedes guided with a hand studded with 5 rings, to discriminate against everyone else. After all, who cares about the poor cobbler in the village surviving on five rupees per day?

Perspectives

2007-04-13T16:06:00.000+08:00

When a cannibal is browsing for internet porn, he is probably looking for online food samples...

Top 6 Reasons William Wallace Rocks

2007-04-09T23:25:00.000+08:00

6. He is a Scot....
And he has Irish buddies. Ubercool!! I can already see the beer and the linguistic adventures...

5. He wears a kilt with no undies.
Quote: "What would you do without freedom?"
Enough said. The only sore point is horse-riding... no pun intended.
Oww!! And his poor horse! No wonder it whinnied so much.

4. He has a kickass sword!
I mean!!! Just look at that sword!! And this... and this!!!

3. In your face attitude...
You cut my woman's throat... And I'll cut yours....
No shit about "in this life or the next"... He just finds his own noble cause after that (read reason 5)

2. He gets to scr*w a hot French princess...
... and leave her to fend for herself after that... :D
And, how many people can say "Scr*w the Queen of England!!!" and mean it?

And the last and the best reason....

1. He gets away with everything...
... face paint, throwing stones at people, yodeling, corny speeches, one night stands with princesses, slaughtering people he finds pissing off and even baring in public...

Personality

2007-04-08T16:47:00.000+08:00

I know atleast two friends who will disagree with me when I say that personality assessment and classification tests and the current psychology-based self-help stuff is bullshit.

For (too) long, special seers, swamis and babas and witch-doctors and even gypsies have enamoured people by predicting the future, making personal assessments and assuring them of rosy forecasts. Palm reading, crystal gazing, psychological counselling, all these have helped people walk away from the couch with higher confidence, with a gut feeling that they know a wee bit more about themselves than they began with.

But how is it that a person, or a computer, running on formulae tends to know more about you within the span of 20 minutes (or 20 generic questions) than you have yourself known for the entire life?

The Barnum effect tells what I think about this accurately. Simply put, it is the ultimate example of successful marketing - selling a non-existent product. To quote Michael Crichton on medical journals, it is a "highly skilled, calculated attempt to confuse " the victim by offering explanations that the person believes are specific to him, but are so highly generic as to apply to anyone. The human brain's power of correlation then takes over, and matches the vague phrase to his/her own specific experience.

And this is precisely what makes psychology so powerful - the inner conditioning to stimuli. Everytime the brain recieves a stimulus of this sort, it relates back to how it can be justified, and how this 'new found knowledge' can be used for its own betterment. By activating the right desires in the brain, we stimulate ourselves to justify the explanation by living in a certain way, a way chosen by another person.

So how is this knowledge useful to me? What if I always look at positive phrases... even mumbo jumbo? ...Will it activate the correct parts of the brain?

My grandma used to say.. "Think positive"....

When you are a man...

2007-04-08T16:44:00.000+08:00

... you sometimes have to wear sticky pants
- Ignacio "Nacho Libre"

Abducting Ahmed

2007-04-08T16:11:00.000+08:00

The British government should invite dear Mr. Ahmed and the Grand Supreme Leader of the Whole Known Universe Under Allah to "talk things over about their generous gesture" in freeing the "errant" British sailors. If they refuse, the SAS can be put to good use. Inventing a reason is mostly about showing the right GPS coordinates and making good use of Hollywood animation to render the right effects. The latter to pacify Iran and its allies, and the former to pacify all others.

I am sure the British military heads can think up plausible scenarios for the capture, but given their track record in propaganda in the Middle East, let me help them with the latter.

Have a scene of them enjoying Chivas Regal with topless lap dancers in their hotel room. Add in some dialogs.. "F*ck the 72 virgins. This IS heaven". For good measure, make them clean shaven, sticking on their faux beards just as they leave, spouting rhetoric about the Great Satan as they face the press outside... Lets see how Iran then reacts.

It's high time we stop pretending that the mosquitoes buzzing around our ears do not want to suck our blood, and start swatting them.

Mettu poadu

2007-02-26T22:39:00.000+08:00

Mettuppoadu mettuppoadu en
thaay koduththa thamizhukkillai thattuppaadu
thangamae thamizhukkillai thattuppaadu oru
sarakkirukkudhu murukkirukkudhu mettuppoadu

eththanai sabaigal kandoam eththanaiyeththanai thadaiyum kandoam
aththanaiyum soodam kaattich chuttuppoadu

(mettuppoadu)

idhu makkal paattu thanmaanappaattu
idhu poaraadum ungal vaazhkaippaattu
kalloorippengal paadum kannippaattu
sabaigalai venruvarum sabadham poattu

idhu kattum paattu eeram sottum paattu
kattichchendhaenaay nenjil kottum paattu
thaayppaalaippoal raththaththil ottum paattu
thamizhmakkal veettaichchenru thattum paattu

(mettuppoadu)

ini kanneer vaendaam pudhukkavidhai seyga
engal gaanangal kaettuk kaadhal seyga
mannukkum vinnukkum paalam seyga
nalam pera vaendum enraal nanmai seyga

(mettuppoadu)

Something to think about

2007-02-25T23:30:00.000+08:00

Does radical Islam pose a new and different kind of power struggle?
Let's look at the elements...
1. Leaders and figureheads like OBL, Saddam, Moktada Al Sadr, Ahmedinejad, Nasrallah and Mullah Omar among others.
2. the social aura of a struggle taking place... good and evil, Allah and the Great Satan...
3. fanatics willing to give up their lives for the benefit of the 'struggle'...
4. followers who blindly believe in what their leaders say despite evidence to the contrary....

Sort of sounds like the Macworld conference, if you know what I mean... (if you don't, watch these... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgHtKFuY3bE&mode=related&search= and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-2C2gb6ws8
)

Don't get me wrong. This was written on a Mac, and I believe that the OS X is anyday a superior alternative to Win XP (haven't tasted Vista yet), and also that Microsoft does base most of its ideas on its more glam downtown neighbour. All I am saying is that most people believe in OS X for the wrong reasons (Visit www.xvsxp.com to see what I mean). The reason is just this - OS X is basic, simple, and extendable in all possible ways.

But I am deviating from the point. At the risk of oversimplifying, let me make the introduction concise...
The 4 elements that form the most recognisable element of fundamentalist Islam today - Leaders, the social aura of a righteous struggle, fanatics and blind followers. Let us concentrate on the leaders and the followers, for these are the most important. The leaders, for all they do (or appear to), do one thing. They entrench blind beliefs of followers. They do that by establishing and buttressing the social aura. Leaders would not (and cannot) do anything if the followers weren't present. The Bush is an example. Vietnam and the American society of 1970s is an example. It all depends on the society... the followers in the case of Radical Islam. So let us take a closer look at two kinds of societies...

The first consist of the well-informed and highly educated societies (primarily of the West, and increasingly, of the Asian and Middle-
Eastern middle and high classes too). An individual in such a society is well-informed, and can discern facts to form his own opinions. He typically gets a newspaper everyday, browses the internet, and forms high-level opinions and decisions, which he thinks his government (or the world in large) would be better off doing. His opinions count, as they would be going into a vote sooner or later. Their government has a large (mostly hierarchical) bureaucracy (not in the pejorative meaning) in place, to make sure the average individual is as satisfied as he can be.

The second consist of small groups of (mostly) ignorant people, mostly from the countries in Africa, Central Eurasia and the Middle-East. They do sometimes have access to news, for we are in the Information Age, but they are poor and concentrate on more worldly matters. They tend to be conformistic in their societies, and are easily influenced by their leaders and what they say. They see themselves where their leaders are now - self-made men with rags-to-riches stories or tales of courage who now have positions of power and responsibility, and use them well to serve their own people.

I am now going to drop a bomb and say that these two societies are the same. To the very minute points.

We think we are well-informed, and so do they. We believe the news channels report the truth. They see Al Jazeera and hear the news through the minarets after their evening prayers, and they believe they report the truth. Both of us form opinions - we represent them in a vote, and they align themselves with different leaders and different militia. We believe the nation-state does us some good for the taxes we pay. They believe their leaders will do them good for their service and their loyalty. We have seen instances where our capitalistic press have committed serious breaches of 'our rules' (sometimes even to the point of being voyeur), and we know instances in which 'their press' has broken them too. In Enron and Worldcom, we have seen healthy well meaning economic struggles, representive of our society, being hijacked by powermongers. We see the same happening in the political struggles of Palestine and Lebanon.

We are human and so are they. Cries of 'if only they can understand' don't stand. They do understand... different things. But how are they different? Yes? I hear the phrase free and unbiased press somewhere. Yes, but the press wasn't born free or unbiased in our society. It came with competition, and expectations. The press-man who reported things in the most honest, unbiased (and fastest) way won. (Later glamorous became the most important part, but let's not go into that.) So who is to blame for the lack of free and unbiased press, with different channels and different perspectives with enough (or too much depending on perspective) opinions to cut-and-paste and form our own? Is it ourselves, with this policy of embargoes, isolation and entrenchment of these nations? Is it a coincidence that the three nations in the Axis of evil were (are) also the nations on which we had the least information on? Iraq turned out not to have a WMD, Iran's supposed student movements amounted to nothing and NK now has the US eating out of its hand in the negotiations. If we did plot a chart of countries comparing access to information vs accuracy of facts known about the US, these three countries would probably place bottom too. We have forced these people into a situation. By making the individual on the street a part of the Axis of Evil, we have created a deep rooted sense of distrust, so that, even if the BBC does reach them, their message doesn't. And they turn towards the only alternative left - the clerics, the minarets and their power hungry leaders.

This is indeed something to think about.

Sonata

2007-02-24T16:05:00.000+08:00

One day I will too....

Spirit

2007-02-23T19:09:00.000+08:00

As a survivor, an individual is the most creative when his back is against the wall. You can push a person to any limits, but to make him break, you must make him believe he will. And that forms the quintessence of human spirit.

Every great spiritual leader, from Gandhi and King to Che and the Dalai Lama just had to touch this one nerve, in order to inspire millions. That, what come may, we will not stand down... the survivor, the underdog, the freedom fighter, the matyr, whatever be the name. And now, a new and unlikely source of this spirit has sprung up... terrorism.

Don't get me wrong. I am not glorifying terror, nor am I comparing Osama to the Mahatma. All I am saying is that the world we live in requires a drastic change in perception. The world has gone through a lot on the last 40 years. Globalisation has brought benefits and disasters. The cold war brought us to the brink of disaster many a time. And now the nation-state more or less lies in tatters in the hands of squabbling politicians. Both scientifically and culturally, we have gone through a lot, and recognised a lot. Information has become cheap. Human barriers are still able to stop material needs, but not facts. Somalians can read about wastage statistics in McDonalds and the Fijian secondary students can get enough materiel to hold debates on the IQ of His Highness the Bush. This is a world, where each success exposes yet more colorfully the stark difference between the highest and the lowest of humanity. This is an uneven world.

About eighty years ago, the Mahatma lay the foundation for the Independence struggle by embarking on a strange, albeit historically the most important, journey towards the sea. The mission: to collect salt. The intention: to spark that flame which could not be extinguished. Gandhiji did this by literally advertising that his mental limits far exceeded the limits of his bruised and mangled body.

Today, Osama asks his minions to do the same. By invoking the spirit of martyrdom in a way Gandhi would never imagine, Osama sacrifices a few lives every now and then to keep the rest kindled up.

The real question we should be asking ourselves, is not what makes Osama and his Merry Men crippled and unable to carry out such lethal attacks, but what makes the common bombers tick? History says African-Americans and Indians got their willies (if I might call it that) from being downtrodden and persecuted. Many Tibetians still do. Both the Indian and the African-American stood down only when they were given what they felt was unjustly denied to them. Listen to the rhetoric from Ahmedinejad's orifice and tapes from Al Jazeera. Count the number of times the words 'God', 'savior', 'free', 'life' and 'infidel' appear. Their basic message is very clear - stop interfering, we are with our backs against the wall, and we will fight back to get back what we deserve. No doubt the message is trumped up to hit the right spots with 'world conquest' and 'Islamic duty' figuring prominently. But it is essentially a message of survival. Does this mean we stand down? Pull out ot Iraq? Or give vast concessions to Islamic fundamentalists? I can already imagine my readers smirking.

The truth is subtly different, and that subtlety makes all the difference in our perception. The Indian and the African-American felt downtrodden and persecuted. If the colonialist hadn't put up signs like "No dogs and Indians allowed", and had seen to it that most people were satisfied, not many people would have been impressed with Gandhiji's self-righteousness. No doubt, there would be power struggles, like any other human activity has. No doubt a few will take advantage of the system, and cause others angst. Any society has its anarchists, and very simply, that is Darwinism in action. On an average, power struggles tend to fizzle out if they do not have a good reason and anarchism is just a manifestation of life and its dynamism. As long as the majority ignore its anarchists, as long as it feels that they do not cause so much bad publicity for their society to override the (good) potential of change that anarchists present, they leave them alone.

The Islamic societies of today, moderate and extremist, feel threatened. Whether they are threatened is an open debate... one that should be debated. We need to get that notion correct. And act upon it, not to quell it, but to make it sufficiently naked, so that the layman can read and interpret it for what it is. Even today, Indian communist politicians clamor about neo-colonialism and violent protesters crowd WTO talks. They feel threatened. Their society doesn't. And that keeps it under control.

There is another leaf we can borrow from Gandhi and King. We must set examples. Every man and woman who wants a change in Iraq and the Middle-East and has access to unbiased information must make himself unbiased. Set examples of humanity, while redressing the true concerns of their society. Make the calls to freedom redundant. Listen to them, and they will listne to you. The costs will be huge, as the emotional repair required is exceedingly high. And frankly, I don't know if it can be done. One can but try.

P.S: In case the disclaimer in paragraph 2 wasn't clear, I am not discussing right and wrong or means and ends. This is an observation on how two drastically different paths led to similar results in inspiration.

Nothing to say..

2007-02-22T20:19:00.001+08:00

What an ad this would make!!

2007-02-22T20:06:00.000+08:00

What would you do if you had $10000 as a research grant, were a great fan of fountains and had absolutely all the time in the world?
This....

Notice all the extra plumbing devices that allow this ingenious wastage produce some amazing moments!!

Size does matter!

2007-02-22T19:46:00.001+08:00

My office just got a 30" Dell LCD monitor for one of the machines. Thirty inches High definition....

The bugger sells for 2500$ and needs a power booster connected to its video cable.

The machine by itself is a mother! 200 gigs HD, dual core Xeon processors, 4 gigs (!) of RAM and a geforce 8600 (if I am not mistaken).

The thing that really pisses me off is that the machine does not have a DVD player and it runs on linux. That rules out games and movies, the only good things that could come of this monitor...

Thinking out aloud...

2007-02-19T03:27:00.000+08:00

What is innovation? Is it innovation if the end product is new? Is it innovation if the method is old, but the context is new? Or is it innovation, when a person truly stops to question why a set of rules were imposed?

Is an idea born with the first analogy? Is it born when the critical mass of already present information suddenly come together as one in a flash of light? Is it born when the idea is implemented? Or is it a new idea only if percieved to be one?

The Bomber

2007-02-19T02:57:00.000+08:00

What does a man about to blow himself up think of?

Does he think of his family? Does he think of the life that could have been?
Does he think of the friends he is apparently helping? Or the enemies he is taking revenge on?
Does he think of the religious leader, who in his infinite wisdom, talked about the greater good?
Does he think of the stuff that went into the bomb? The people who made it?
Does he think of his after-life? the forty-eight virgins? or raisins?
Does he think of the painful deaths he will be causing? Doe he revel? or regret?
Does he think of right and wrong? Of life and insignificance? Of cause and effect?

Or is the person in death, the closest thing to a Zen master? Making peace with himself, closing his eyes, savouring that last breath of fresh air and feeling the muscles relax, before a hymn drops from his lips and the trigger from his fingers?

Newsflash

2007-02-10T02:38:00.000+08:00

Apparently the Hezbollah are sending a special research team to Italy. Their purpose: to learn new battle tactics from its football divisions which they can use against Israel.

Anna Nicole Smith died today at the age of 39. Her son died last year, at the age of 20. Profound numbers, 20 and 39. In all likelihood those were their IQs too. In the US, the Intelligent Design proponents has been using Anna as a case study. What else but intelligent design could have produced her they say. I say, face-la cut panni base-la veccha ellarum super aunty aaga mudiyaadhu.

An enthusiastic Palestinian man tried to celebrate the peace treaty the Indian way. With AK47-wielding former foes warily eyeing each other with nervous trigger fingers, lighting a firecracker wasn't the best idea though.

Sand Art (2)

2007-02-10T02:21:00.000+08:00

I somehow have this thing for sand art. may be it is the dynamism - the agility of the artist's fingers. May be it is the 'Kal ho na ho - heartbeats' running in the background, or maybe it is just the sheer beauty of the blending images as they unite to tell a simple and powerful story.

Here's another slightly smaller one:

Sand Art

2007-02-10T02:12:00.000+08:00

Check out the photoblog at MSNBC - 10 excellent pics that sample the tone of the week. Some excellent human interest photographs, and some truly breathtaking freelance efforts.

Before that, enjoy this:

2007-02-09T23:11:00.000+08:00

I came across this poem, when searching for another one... my thanks to a certain NMK who prompted the search...

“When I Am Dead and Sister to the Dust”

By Elsa Barker

WHEN I am dead and sister to the dust;
When no more avidly I drink the wine
Of human love; when the pale Proserpine
Has covered me with poppies, and cold rust
Has cut my lyre-strings, and the sun has thrust 5
Me underground to nourish the world-vine,—
Men shall discover these old songs of mine,
And say: This woman lived—as poets must!

This woman lived and wore life as a sword
To conquer wisdom; this dead woman read 10
In the sealed Book of Love and underscored
The meanings. Then the sails of faith she spread,
And faring out for regions unexplored,
Went singing down the River of the Dead.

Invocation

2007-02-09T23:08:00.000+08:00

Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwarah
Guruh saakshat para Brahmam tasmai Sri Guravey namah.