Paths & Directions

Bing or Google

2009-06-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Of late, there is a lot of noise from Bing and Google is trying to hold its stand (does it really need to? May be !?!).

Bing has a neat desktop view, colorful and attractive. Google has a clean white simple search page.
Bing and Google both seem to show the results in the same fashion - I remember seeing a video where Bing supposed to be more intuitive, rather than searching for the texts it is supposed to identify what the user is looking for and give results based on that. May be it does, but I have not noticed it in particular.

I know the best comparison always would be to look at the search results, and here is what I did:

Searched for my first name "anandh":

The results from each were completely different, though they matched / looked for the name "anandh" with a 'h'. Google was good in showing the "www.anandh.com" in its result, while Bing did NOT. Google wins.
Google intelligently showed wiki of "Vishwanathan Anand" - while that is good, but not the right one - it thought I misspelled the name. Bing was more specific, it only showed "anandh" and no "anand" - the generic form. Google wins.

Searched for my last name "mahalingam" (rather my father's name):

Google started with results from Wiki first, then some YouTube videos (of T.R.Mahalingam) and then finally commercial sites. But Bing directly went to commercial sites - with Wiki results coming later. When someone searches for a "name", they most likely may not be looking for commercial establishments, they would rather prefer to know about that person - at least thats what I wanted to do. Google wins.
Google presents a time taken for this search (which was showing 0.37sec) while Bing does not. While I dont know what it actually means (did the entire round trip from my browser to server and then back to my browser made within 0.37 secs or something else) or how helpful it would be to a user (I should see the results fast, thats all.. nothing else) - I see it is cool to see that. But Bing does not give any statistics at this moment. I dont think it gives any vote to Google, but if Bing shows some sort of search performance, it may add value to a user.

Searched for my official full name "anandh mahalingam":

Google returned results mostly related to me amazon profile, linkedin profile, etc etc.. but it was also suggesting whether I was looking for "anand mahalingam". It gave results for anand mahalingam as well. Bing gave results only for "anandh" & "mahalingam" and nothing else. It also seem to index recent pages, as I see results from pages that were updated in mid May (about 15-20 days before). I will give credit to Bing for the very fact that the results were latest and were exactly matching my query. Bing wins.

Searched for my school:

Google was smart enough to provide me a map, while Bing was showing only pages from the web. This looked cool. While I cannot compare the results for the relatedness, as almost all the results matched the given search string.

So, Bing or Google?? I think it will take some more time for Bing to mature to a competent search engine. But the very fact that it has created a good first impression with the results is impressive. Time will tell ...

I'm impressed !

2008-04-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

I'm impressed by this guy - Mohnish Pabrai(an article from TOI).

I recently started reading more on investments and came across an article about this guy. A techie fellow, who also had a bite on ventures decided that investment is the best bet for him and started a Hedge fund in 2001. His fund has been raking money all these years - though recent I like his investment principles. They are nothing but that of "Oracle" of Omaha - Warren Buffet - but Mohnish's honesty is worth appreciation, that he himself accepts that he is a simple "cloner" of Buffet's principles.

The Hedge fund is available for only those investors who are ready to lock in 100 grands !! - I wish I could invest in his Hedge Fund though.

Want to know about a comeback product? - Ask

2007-12-28T15:10:00.000-08:00

Have you recently visited the Ask search engine?

I saw their ads in TV and looks like they have got a cool looking interface. May be they are redefining the way the search experience has to be for the users. I think it is a cool looking interface with rich graphics, yet doesn't seem too much to load the system. I will give it a try sometime and see how good they are. Though I am not sure about their search results !

December shopping spree !

2007-12-03T01:53:00.000-08:00

December has come and so is the shopping for US. I heard that an average American spends about one grand during this season !!

While I am not an avid shopper, the very first weekend in this shopping month took away a good chunk of money. The same shopping mall, which I went earlier and returned just buying a jean calling it not having much options to shop was fully crowded today with lots and lots of options for me. Thats interesting. I have never seen such a crowd in a mall, I have no doubt that the sales figures will be true.

Also from my last years' experience, I see that this is the best month for shopping. For
one, all the shops will have lots of goods in stock - so lots of options,
two, great discounts, and it is for real. Most of the dresses I bought are for real discount.

I think I will wrap up this month equalling an average american ! (while last month ate up a lot thanks to my new electronic gadget using which I am writing this blog - MacBook)

Local or Foreign Bank

2007-11-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

I hate to comment about "Indian" mentality. But on and off I come across people who remind me that. I am sure everyone of us would have had similar experiences.

Recently I got a call from a well-known private Indian bank. This is for their NRI product. The person who called was a Relationship Manager designated by the bank to take care of my accounts. He was explaining me about a new offer that they have currently and was encouraging me to open an account. First of all, I was very much impressed with the call. I was more impressed after coming to know that he is calling from India and that too promptly at the scheduled time (which was late night for him).

Though I was happy with the call, I was not much interested with the account, as I already had a similar account with another bank. It was one of the Foreign based Indian bank. I was also somewhat OK with the service I get. I told this guy about that I politely rejected his offer. Then it started. He started comparing the services offered by both banks, but beyond a point he started claiming that the foreign bank will not provide certain service which only his bank will. I told him that it is not true, as I have already availed of those services which he mentioned. He went further claiming that it might be one in a million case where the foreign bank provided that service. He also mentioned that being a "Indian" bank, his bank is more service oriented for NRIs as compared the foreign based Indian bank.

At this point I got completely pissed off. The fact is that, the same bank when I tried to open the same account in India, denied me stating that I am not eligible. After their rejection only I went to the Foreign based Indian bank. The relationship manager there spoke to me for an hour explaining about the products they have. Even though I could not open the account with her, due to want of some documents at my end, I was completely satisfied with the service. It was also easier to open the account after coming to US later, as the bank had a representative right in the city where I live and I could meet him personally. The account opening as well as the later services offered were a breeze. I was also pleased with dedicated NRI service centers in India, where I could walk in and get the service.

I was so irritated by the way the Relationship manager talked to me - he was complaining about a Bank which to my knowledge is the first foreign bank to have understood the concept of offshoring and has the largest back office in India. I really don't understand when these people are going to change. They not only bring down their value, but also damage the credibility of the bank they represent.

When do these people change?

Microsoft - Face(off)book

2007-10-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows about the talk of the town - Microsoft MSFT buys 1.5 % stake in Facebook for $240 million. Microsoft also gets to serve ads in the social-networking website. This makes the valuation of Facebook at a whooping $15 billion ! The very next day Microsoft released their quarterly result and we see the stock has jumped almost 10% in couple of days. While many argue that this deal makes no sense, some say it is a fair deal.

Mostly companies are valued with what they have today and what they can offer tomorrow. In that sense, Facebook with about 50 million customer base - each customer is valued at around $300. This is quiet a good money, considering the fact that these are young people (often students) and serving ad. to them may not make them spend more. In this perspective, the money paid by Microsoft looks too much for the return it gets.

What is Facebook going to do with this money? May be it will hire more talent and set path towards a successful technology company. May it will grow to take on Google GOOG and the likes. May be when it starts showing up signs of ready for a war, will Microsoft invest more in them. If you look in that prespective, may be Microsoft is feeding a pet (heavily) to take on its rival. There is also a phenomenon brewing up recently - Microsoft's going the way of Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A (just saw this theory in a blog). May be all these are focussed towards this direction.

One thing is sure - until someone from inside say the real reason, it will take time for others to understand. Till that time there will be theories and its gonna keep the company name reflected in many places (brining in free publicity). No wonder, why Warren Buffet doesn't interests investing in Techonology companies.

Do you get the underlying business here?

Microsoft pays $240 million for stake in Facebook
Microsoft's Facebook deal makes no sense
The greed of Facebook
More evidence Microsoft's going the way of Berkshire Hathaway

(Uncanny) Canned drinks ?

2007-10-26T16:59:00.001-07:00

Do you see the dirt in the paper towel?

Well, this is how it started. Thought of having a drink and when I open the refrigerator, I found it filled with cans. Choose the guava - the one I like the most. As usual, showed it in tap and wiped it out with a paper towel. I was about the open the seal and thats when I noticed it.

It looked to me that the rim is still black. Out of curiosity, I folded the paper towel and with the sharp edge started wiping the rim thoroughly. When I finished this is what I got.

I have read about articles that say "be careful with canned drinks, quite possible that the elements in the rim may lead to serious disease". And here is the real proof !

Be careful when you get your next canned drink - be it a soda, a light beer or my way a simple fruit juice - you gotta be careful.

The tao of Warren Buffet

2007-10-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is one book that I finished reading recently. I got interested with Warren Buffet ideas after reading few articles from newspaper. When I saw this book in the library, I decided to give it a shot. This book is not a biography of Warren, rather a collection of his quotes. Some of the quotes are really interesting and I like the book. Here are couple of quotes that I like:

"Our method is very simple. We just try to buy
business with good-to-superb underlying economics
run by honest and able people and buy them at
sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do."

This one is about hiring people:

"In looking for someone to hire, you look for three
qualities:integrity, intelligence, and energy. But the
most important is integrity, because if they don't
have that, the other two qualities, intelligence and
energy, are going to kill you."

Warrens' philosophy of buying business with excellent underlying economics at good price is superb. He has built an excellent portfolio with his business model. There are a lot of lessons that one can learn from his investment concepts. The concept of buying business is something new for a normal trader, it takes time to get it. Once a person gets this, he will start understanding Warrens' concepts.

I have to figure out one thing though, how to hold on to a stock when the business you bought goes down?

(Note: The quotes above are from the book, if it is against any copyright, let me know and I will remove it)

Michael Clayton

2007-10-21T01:41:00.000-07:00

Yet another George Clooney movie - in his own class. The movie starts with a midnight poker game played by Clooney in a New York bar. No sooner we see his car burst into pieces in a blast, when he just walks out. The movie goes back in time and it takes a while to catch up the entire plot. From then on the movie goes on and on ...

A 2 hr movie with an excellent plot. There were moments when I was checking my watch - not because the movie was not good, but because it took a while to catchup with the story. Nevertheless, it is a Clooney movie. I see the typical Ocean's series Clooney in his own deep - will worth a nomination.

Another best thing I liked in this movie was the camera - great credit goes to Cinematography. Excellent coverage. Quiet artistic to see the camera rightly focusing the object of attraction in a crowd and in another scene a complete discussion goes on and on while the camera sweeps around the place without showing the persons who talk.

Overall, it is a movie worth watching.

Disneyland visit

2007-10-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

I visited Disneyland with my brothers' family last weekend (22nd and 23rd). The trip was excellent, with Rahul taking the charge. Here is the slideshow from the photos taken there.

------ Edited on Oct 21 ------

Replacing photo slideshow with the link to album.

Nasha yeh pyar ka nasha hai ...

2007-09-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is one of the songs that made me vote Amit as Indian Idol. His voice was so melodious that this song just flows like a breeze. In the show, Udit sang in his own voice along with Amit and it was wonderful. Also, this is one new song that I have started humming recently.

But I was so disappointed to see that it is a copycat song from an Italian version. So amazing to see how well it has been copied !

Indian Idol

2007-09-30T13:17:00.000-07:00

Indian Idol 3 - this is one program I started following when they shortlisted 11 candidates for the final round. Wonderful singers - most of them. After couple of initial rounds (where few were dropped), I could see the competition growing steadily. Some of the girls were really good singers, and their voice echoes when they sing the right song - worth noting were Dipali and Puja Chatterjee. Unfortunately the audience (the general public) were so biased to male singers and voted out both these girls.

Right from beginning my favorite was Emon Chatterjee - wonderful voice, but a young mischievous boy not keeping his voice quality in all the songs. He made few mistakes which costed him to be voted out - he made it to the top 3 though.

But the best male voice was from Amit Paul - songs "Nasha yeh pyar ka nasha hai" and "pehla nasha pehla gumaar" were great. After hearing these two songs, I decided that he will be the crown prince of Indian Idol. Disappointed though to see him not being crowned. But he sure will make it as a great playback singer in the coming days.

Prashant Tamang became the crowned prince - he has a melodious voice, except for a couple of songs he did not show a striking performance. Looks like he won the public heart with those two songs very well.

My favorites would be Amit, Emon, Dipali and Puja. Heard that music director Anu Malik has given playback opportunity to Emon and Dipali - so be ready to hear them on the big screen soon.

Finally, youtube (and its members who upload clips) played a phenomenal role in bringing these shows across the world. While there are few cable TVs in US which broadcasts Sony TV, I have none of them except for internet and youtube.

A birds' story

2007-09-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

Caught this story in NPR the National Public Radio.

A man holding a wounded almost dead bird in hand asked a wise man "Is this bird alive?". His plan was to prove the wise man wrong. If the wise man says "the bird is dead", then he will open his hand and show that the bird still has some life. If the wise man says "the bird is alive", then he will pinch the birds' neck and kill it before opening the hand. In anyway, he will prove the wise man wrong. Now can you what the wise man would have replied?

The wise man said calmly "the answer is in your hands"

The speaker told the story as a comparison to people who claim that the global warming is not reached the level of attention that it needs. I like it.

Restart

2007-09-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a while writing anything in my blog (have I written much before !!). Let me see how often I can write from now on ...

Apple Introduces Safari for Windows

2007-06-12T03:56:00.000-07:00

Is it a apple comeback into the personal computer world !! I think Apple has found what Microsoft did decades back, but the beauty is MS forgot it now. I think it is a marketing ploy to attract more people towards the Mac world, with a cool appeal right on the Windows desktop.

Mac family of products has an appeal and they are fast climbing the market share. While the Mac's enthuse the homely customers, the iPod series looks like a sure winner in the audio world. Now Steves' Pixar & their association with the Disney is poised to make it big in the media world.

Looks like Apple is venturing into every possible arena and wants to stand in the front. So far they are doing good - as far as I see, but only time can tell how real impact such a group can make.

Time has changed - really?

2007-02-14T23:46:00.000-08:00

Time has really changed. Gone are the days in college when we used to fight with the Placement co-ordinator to come up with a Marketing CD-ROM for college, highlighting the infrastructure, accolades and merits of the students to invite companies for Campus interview. But today, the widespread use of internet and media has made the life easier.

Today happen to see the Indian version of "Summer of 69". Interesting to know that it is an official commerical of one of the well known Indian Universities - Manipal University. The idea of an idea with song is cool. I have seen the commercial of Amity School couple of years back, thats when I came to know such a Private institution for MBA exists. It definitely served the purpose.

Though the Manipal University version commercial looks good, they need not have copied the "Summer of 69" - am sure they could come up with something creative - even the students can come up with some blasting ideas, and truly prove that their school is the best.

I think it may need some more time for a successful change ...

Original version of "summer of 69" is here.
Indian version is here.

Best of 2006

2007-01-07T10:54:00.000-08:00

I was attracted by a blog which listed the authors best and worst of the year. I tried to write down my list ...

Best of 2006

Best Movies

vettaiyadu vilayadu - 2006 (tamil)
The Shawshank redemption (english) - a 1994 movie which I happened to see only this year
Life is beautiful (Italian)

Best place visited

Yosemite National Park - July 4th long weekend

Best book

Ponniyin Selvan (tamil)
iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business (english)

Best hike

Hike to Upper Yosemite Falls - July 3rd, a memorable 10+ hr hike to to the Upper falls, coming down as the last set of people around 10PM

Best Holiday

Dubai & India trip - For a person living outside home, vacation at home is always pleasant and enjoyable. Add to that if you are going to see your 8 month old nephew for the first time ! Funfilled marriage of my cousin and get together with relatives was all fun and enjoyable.

Best websites came across

www.wikimapia.org

Best purchase

My Honda CRV (and of course the costliest for this year)

Shawshank Redemption

2006-12-19T15:49:00.000-08:00

Hope !

this is always an interesting subject to me.

a simple story. a topclass banker, locked up for killing his wife and her lover - life sentence in prison. what happens to him in prison over years and how he changes so many others' life - including the warden and captain is what the story is all about.

there is a saying "you may be fooled by what you see, what you hear - your conscience will tell the truth". hope is a inside out subject, you cannot use what the world around you says, you cannot believe what you see. hope will take you places you have never been - and it is the mother of all inventions and victories.

add involvement, perseverence and a sense of being to hope - you will get what you wanted. thats what the story says. how a prisoner sentenced for life comes back with colors.

the hero has perfectly merged with the character and it is good to see such a nice pick by the director. no wonder it is in the #2 of IMDB top 250.

Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/
http://www.shawshankredemption.org/

Why you need your own website?

2006-12-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

the past two days has been little confusing for me. it all started on sunday, when i was checking my email. i went to Y! mail web page, entered my username & password and then submit. bounced back immediately with a message - "Invalid Username or Password". i got a bit shocked. i have been using Y! Mail for about 6-7 years now and most of my personal transactions goes through it. havent changed my password for quite a long time now - and here i am stranded and not able to access my own account.

it took nearly 2 days to get control back to my account. dont know what happened to the old password and which mischievous guy freaked into my account. since some of the security information was way out of my mind (after i created the account 6 yrs back), i had to recollect them to answer Y! signon-help questions.

all it tells me is just one thing - if i had my own site - where my identity is confirmed not just through my login name & password, then may be it would have been easier to gain back control at a much faster time.

it well goes with the saying "you get what you pay" !

Nalanda is back

2006-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

The last time I remember hearing about Nalanda University was in my history books way back in my school days. This is the finest of Universities, first of its kind founded in the entire world around the medieval period when Buddhism had a much wider presence. People from various asian countries studied in the Nalanda university. History says, that the entire university got destroyed over a period of time due to various political and economical reasons.

Looks like the booming asian market wants to rejuvenate and enlighten the glory that it had in the past. Now leaders from South Asian countries of Singapore, India, China, etc are talking about starting the Nalanda University again. A University with multinational student and teaching community will definitely bring in much broader perspective to the growing market. It will take the people of the region to the next level of understanding the neighbor in a much better manner. It can also lead to many world-class initiatives, given the fact there are more minds (people) that needs a focus.

Currently they are talking about US $500 Million to start with and an additional US $500 Million to provide the adjoining infrastructure. Sure these are small numbers for an University of that gratitude, but then it is just a start of talk and am sure they will be able to pull in grands - considering the booming markets in the sub continent.

A welcome salute to the upcoming University !

Link: Really Old School

Adrenalin

2006-12-05T02:20:00.000-08:00

I was simply stunned by this guy. He is a extreme sports practitioner, especially "free-soloing" (which he demonstrates in the video). Unfortunately this guy died while doing a free-soloing at Yosemite, as the rope he used for his fall got cut. Poor guy.

Dan Osman - video powered by Metacafe

Additional links:
Video of Dan Osman scaling a 400-foot sheer-wall cliff in under five minutes
Video of many safety rope jumps and free-soloing up to a 5.12b (11 min)

Follow up on "Forward this!"

2006-11-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

The "Forward this !" blog brought in a good amount of rebuke from my close circle. From then on any mails that I forward (even important ones) will bounce back with a quote from my blog (atleast for some time).

Then one day I saw this story, again as a forward to my inbox. Wait a min.. I am not complaining here. The message itself came with a sarcastic note on forwards.. Follow the link: Sanjay and his car ... to read the story...

Celebration

2006-10-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today is a day of importance for every Indian. It is the same day in 1869 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born. He fought and won for independence and a statehood to India.

To me, it is a day of double importance - it is also the birthday of my nephew Rahul. He is one year old now and becoming more and more mischievous. The birthday boy was tapping the phone when I wished him (over phone) with the Happy birthday song, happily enjoying the day with parents and grandparents.

Forward this !

2006-07-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

I open my mailbox to see this mail from a friend who is also in IT field. The mail subject says "If you don't forward this you don't have heart". Immediately I understood that it is yet another forward to delete, all the same I was surprised by the subject. How dare someone writes a mail like this? Out of curiosity, I looked through the mail. Looks like it has hoped a minimum of 10 mail boxes before reaching me and all of them have faithfully forwarded it with all the mail header in place. It took a while to go down all to see the message. The mail is about a child who is going to get a complicated medical treatment and each forward of this mail will earn 5 cents to the childs parents.

During my very early days of computer literacy, I have received such mails and faithfully have forwarded it thinking it is going to benefit someone. But the moment I understood the background of e-mails the first thing I did is to stop forwarding. These are such a scrap which will simply take up network traffic, storage (in each persons mailbox) and the precious time from the reader. I was really surprised to see such forward from a friend who is working in IT - he cannot say that he has no knowledge about e-mails. These mails grow like a banyan tree and it is real waste.

If you really want to forward, forward this post - claiming everyone to delete any such forwards. Somehow please put a stop to such forwards and make use of the resource for something better. There are so many other constructive things that can make use of these resources, lets give for them to proceed.

Before I close, the first thing I did after reading the mail is to trash it and went to bed with a satisfaction of breaking one tiny branch of a banyan tree email.

"Company"

2006-07-11T00:26:00.000-07:00

I came across this movie when I was looking at the Indian video section in the local county library. Read the back cover review, and somehow got interested.

What a movie! Its a classic depiction of the underground don world. Two people join up, form a "Company" - a underworld group, soon becomes a empire. Police smells them, but they move on to Hongkong and they become untouchable to many. They also enjoy the luxury of a foreign land still holding the reins in the Mumbai underworld. The only way the "Company" can now fall is by its creators. Situations brings in a clash within them and they start fighting themselves. What happens to the "Company"? And that is the story.

Interesting movie, unlike many traditional Hindi movie style, this has been taken with a difference. Director has done a very good job in the making of this movie. Though the story is simple, the picturisation and screenplay is very good.

The actors have been rightly choosen - Ajay Devgan and Vivek oberoi have done a very good job. Especially for Vivek Oberoi, it doesn't look like a first movie at all. Mohanlal plays the classical Police commissioner role.

A good Indian movie after a long time. A very good one to watch.

"Banning Da Vinci Code is against freedom of expression"

2006-07-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

"The ban on screening the controversial film "Da Vinci Code" in Tamil Nadu was against the fundamental rights of expression"

"Justice Prabha Sridevan, the counsel for the petitioners said as once an expert body (Censor Board) had allowed the screening of the movie, it was not open to the state to pass an order on May 31 on the ground that it would "disrupt public peace". If this is allowed, the state can sit over the judgement of expert bodies. There is no scope for apprehension of violence or law and order because even before certifying the film, the views of religious leaders were considered", he contended."

I too feel so. When the Indian censor board has approved it, I dont think there is any reason to block it by some group. Why did the group not step up when so many other films came? This is a blockbuster movie, even in countries where the majority are christians. While India is a secular country, impartial to religion, there is no reason for such a movie to be banned - that too by a state over ruling the central censor board.

People should have the freedom to express, freedom to accept or reject what they beleive is right for them. If they dont like it, there is no need to watch. Also there is no point in banning the movie when the original book has been given a green signal. After all India is a democratic country.

Michael Jackson or Madras heroes?

2005-11-13T01:12:00.000-08:00

Michael Jackson is famous for his moon walk that he performs in stage. Nowadays I see the Madras heroes overcoming Michael Jacksons performance - they do moon fight. If you have watched the recent movies of the so called 'stars' you will understand what I mean. The hero will be in fight with the villains and will be kicking them in the legs and you will see the villains flying up and rolling down several blocks away. I am sure that this can only happen in a below gravity place such as moon. C'mon when are these people going to change?

In general we see some maturity with the ways movies are taken these days, but in many other ways we see something that is beyond imagination and reality. Cant we change?

There was yet another movie where the hero commits a crime, puts the blame on to another person who is willing to save the him and the hero walks away clean. I dont understand what is the message that this movie delivers?

India has a large community that is very much influenced by the cine industry. Todays youth - 'yuva' mingles their life style to that of their most liked heroes/heroines (some, not all yuvas). To them fight and taking law in hand will become an acceptable thing when they feel there is a need. Is that what the movie maker actually wants from them?

Movie makers might ask "what is correct if these are wrong?" My answer would be that this itself is not a question. They themselves know the answer. Make a movie that is realistic acceptable in day to day life and people will definitely accept it. If you want to convey a message, tell it in a pleasing way.

Rich India!

2005-10-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

‘‘With the Indian economy taking larger strides, a growing number of Indian consumers are embracing luxury like never before. If you just look at the Indian rich list today, there are more people in India who can afford to buy Ferraris than the whole of Europe put together,’’ says Satya Bagla, Delhi distributor for Bentley and Porsche cars.

- Excerpt from Times of India, Delhi edition, Sunday Oct 16.

Wow! This is something interesting to hear. Good to see the potential wealth of indians, while it is still the so called 'developing country'. I would be more happy if this wealth brings down the poverty line by providing opportunities for them to come up in the life.

Favourite 10 books

2005-10-20T02:30:00.000-07:00

The website www.bookpool.com has collected from various authors about their 10 favourite computer books in the past 10 years. The result is a pretty interesting list of books.

Though the technology has grown very fast and lot more new things have been introduced in the past decade, thanks to the internet, most of the favourite books are traditional ones. Some of these are my favourites too. So here is my list (with the original author ranking in brackets).

The C Programming Language, 2nd edition - Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie (Rank 7): This is my favourite book, the first and my most read C book. I dont remember how I got referred to this book, but when I started learning C back in school, this is the book I started. Though people used to say that it is a complex book, I feel this is the simplest, yet concise book on C. I remember to have read this book atleast twice in full. I would strongly recommend every beginner to read this, as it will lay a strong foundation to programming with them.
Writing Solid Code - Steve Maguire (Not ranked) : This is another fantastic programmers, especially for programmers. The author was a Test team lead with Microsoft and he explains the various methodologies of writing code for the programmers to fortify it - so that it will be easy for them trace and fix the bugs. I dont remember whether I read this book completely, but it was very helpful for me then on during all my development, till date. I am sure it will be a very valuable book for any system side programmer.
The Design of UNIX Operating System - Maurice J Bach (Not ranked) : This is like learning UNIX the actual way. Though this book talks mainly about UNIX, it is still applicable to the modern day Linux operating system. This book is like the K&R for C.
Art of Computer Programming - Donald Knuth (Rank 8) : This one is like bible in computer programming. Though I would recommend this book, I myself havent read this one. This is a collection of 7 books (NOT sure whether all have been published) which will cover the in-out of computer programming. I tried reading this when I was in school, but it was too much for me that time. Probably I will read it sometime soon.
The C++ Programming Language - Stroustoup (Not ranked) : A good book on C++ and object oriented programming. Though this book also holds the credit of being written by the inventor of the same programming language like K&R-C , I feel it did not reach the level that K&R-C reached. I have read some chapters in this book, little voluminous but will be very useful for any object oriented programmers.

Apart from these, I would also recommend Computer Networks (Andrew S. Tanenbaum) and Operating Systems (Harvey M. Deitel) for general computer concepts and Code Complete (Steve McConnell - Rank 6) for programmers.

-- edited on 7/7/06 --

I would also recommend Design patterns: Elements of reusable object oriented software for C++ enthusiasts.

Collector Coins

2005-10-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

Recently I started collecting coins (quarters). From 1998-2008, the United States mint will be issuing new state quarters that will celebrate the 50 states with a design honoring its unique history, traditions and symbols. These coins are minted in two places - Philadephila & Denver. So they have a 'P' or a 'D' sign on it depending on where it came from. So there are 100 coins from each of the 50 states minted from one of the mints to be collected.

From what I understand from the U.S mint website, out of this 50, so far only 35 states have made it to the coin stage. In this 35, so far I have collected the following states in alphabetical order:

Alabama - D
Arkansas - D
California - D
Connecticut - D, P
Delaware - D
Florida - D
Georgia - D, P
Iowa - D
Kentucky - D
Illinois - D
Louisiana - D, P
Maine - D
Maryland - D, P
Massachusetts - D
Michigan - D
Mississippi - D
Missouri - D
New Hampshire - D
New Jersey - P
New York - D
North Carolina - D, P
Ohio - D, P
Oregon - D
Pennsylvania - D, P
Rhode Island - D
South Carolina - D
Tennessee - D
Texas - D
Vermont - D
Virginia - D
Wisconsin - D

That leaves with more 'D's and very less 'P's. That leaves me with Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota and West Virginia to be collected besides coins with 'P' for many states. Coins have been released mainly on the east coast states so far. In the west coast, the coins have been started releasing only from Jan 2005. So west coast states are yet to come.

Besides I have some more special coins (not sure whether they are actually special).

A quarter with just a 'LIBERTY' and '1776-1976' on the side with the head on one side, the other side with a Drummer's picture with 'E PLURIBUS UNUM' written next to it.
A five cent with a Keelboat picture on one side with letters 'LEWIS & CLARK' written next to it, released in 2004.
A five cent with a American Bison picture on one side and the other side with a face next to the letters 'LIBERTY' released in 2005.

More information on coin collection can be found at United States Mint

Freeware

2005-10-04T02:34:00.000-07:00

One of my friend has put in a list of freeware tools in his blog. I am adding some more from my use:

Compression: Filezip
PDF creator: Primo PDF
Photo / Picture editing: picasa2
DVD Ripping: Gordian Knot
XWindows: cygwin

My friends list are available at this location.

Mohandas Karmachand Gandhi

2005-10-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today is the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhiji as he is famously known is the Father of our Nation. He is the true example of will power. In todays world none of the leaders are able to resolve many of the issues that the country faces, border conflicts, political dramas, goondaism... I wonder how this man with the choosen path of 'Non-violence' together with a mass of illiterate people was able to win over the British East India Company and bring back independence to the country. Sure he saw the destiny when he started his 'Sathyagraha'.

"Forgiveness is the quality of the brave, not of the cowardly."

So much we have grown, we are a nation with great computer engineers, techno savvy people, globally prospective market, all set the take over the world. But even after 58 years after independence, we are still fighting.

fighting for cross-border terrorism
fighting against poverty and uneven distribution of wealth
fighting against rapid depletion of natural resources
fighting against growing population and the mounting pressure due to that
fighting against corrupt politicians with whom we rely again to rule the country
and more ...

One thing is clear, we are still not there. We know what we need, but we dont know how to get that, and many of us dont see the urge to achieve the need. It all clearly says that we need a leader - a leader as powerful as our Father of Nation to lite up the fire.

"Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves. "

But is it worth sitting idle to wait for such a leader to come up? No, it is in the hands of every citizen to wake up and feel the need. Rather it is in the hands of the todays generation where the future of the country is. Think what is good at this hour, think big and work towards it - day & night. Have patience, don't stop what you started and I am sure we will head towards destiny.

"God created man to work for his food and said that those who ate without work were thieves."

Quotes are from the Book: Epigrams from Gandhiji

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

2005-10-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

This is the third time I rehear the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, delivered at Stanford University on June 12 05.

The extracts that touched me ...

" ... You have to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you havent found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle... "

" ... you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever... "

" ... your life is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life ... have the courage to follow your heart and intuition..."

"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

The Horcruxes

2005-07-31T23:32:00.000-07:00

People who read Harry potter should know by now what a Horcrux is.

Voldermort (I am like Albus and Harry, courageous to spell out his name!) is supposed to have about 7 horcruxes of himself hidden in several places. Author JKR has given some hints about where each of those horcruxes are, though she has not told exactly where it is - and thats the story of the 7 th book.

Riddler's diary
The ring
The locket
The lamp
Voldermort himself.

These are the so far known horcruxes. There is one horcrux that is still not coming into account and I have a feeling there are sightings about it in the past books.

Book -1, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's stone:

"Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully -- and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it -then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold -- there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.

He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all."

All these evidences indicate that Harry Potter himself could be the Seventh Horcrux. Precisely the thunderbolt mark left by Voldermort when he tried to kill Harry when he was child will be the seventh horcrux. The prophecy also seem to suggest the same - "niether can live while the other survives". So my guess is that 7th book will NOT only be the last book, but also will be the book where JKR is going to say goodbye to Harry himself. This could be something hard to accept by many of Harry's fans, but I think this is a reasonable ending for the book - given the circumstances.

BLACK

2005-07-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

One of the amazing movies I have ever seen. Beautiful picturisation and beautiful acting (can you say 'being') by the characters.

Debraj Sahai, a teacher for blind gets a new student - an 8 year old girl (brat, so calls his father initially) who is both blind and deaf. Yet he makes a lady out of her who later graduates from a University. Though the picture has been inspired by Helen Keller as said by the Director - Sanjay Leela Bansali himself, this picture takes all the credit for the picturisation.

The first lesson which Sahai initially feels he has failed in teaching his student, and later finding that she actually is not just before he leaves the home is one of the best shots. But then the movie has so many such best shots that are lined up futher in the movie. Sure the Director has taken great care in each and every shot. Amitabh and Rani Mukherjee has made an excellent show, Bachan playing the role of Dr. Sahai and Rani the role of blind, deaf girl - Michelle McNally.

Some of the scenes that are really touchy include -

Sahai - Amitabh's intro
Sahai's first lesson to Michelle
Michelle's interview at the University
Engagement dinner of Michelle's sister
Michelle's graduation
Michelle's teaching to Sahai

A movie that can become the 'Chosen one'.

Thiruvasagam

2005-07-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Thiruvasagam - the latest symphony from Maestro Ilayaraja. Though the original Thiruvasgam a tamil epic on Lord Shiva, this is the symphony of those epics by the Grand master. Though the symphony is nice to hear, I feel that it doesnt melts perfectly with the lyrics.

Thiruvasagam requires a traditional music and not a symphony - just my thought.

Oye! Potter Boy!

2005-07-20T16:00:00.000-07:00

Its 4:30AM and I just finished the Sixth sequel of Harry Potter - "Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince". Another wonderful book of Harry Potter.

I would rank this is at 2nd or 3rd position in the series - Goblet of fire being at the first place. I started reading Harry Potter a year before, when I borrowed the first book from my cousin. First 2 books took couple of weeks to finish, but the other 3 books went on fire. I remember reading one of the books overnight to avoid missing the tempo. The latest one also dint falter, it kept the same tempo as the previous ones and just finished it just now.

I think the story has geared up full swing and gone a long way. Unfortunately I fear the final book may not have the charm that keeps the others ringing, due to the events that has happened in this sequel. I feel that this book can make few more sequels, but has to end soon.

Feel little disappointed that we have to wait for some more time to get the final sequel...

Great Achievers-1

2005-07-15T00:16:00.000-07:00

I was recently watching a technical DVD and was impressed with the introduction of a person given by the Scientist. Here is the explanation (In more or less the same words as spelt out by the Scientist).

He was born in 1642 at Woolsthorpe, UK.
Lost his father even before his birth and left with his Grandma who brought him up for 7-8 yrs from 3.
At his twenties, he started reading 4-5 books on mathematics that he took from the Cambridge Library.
6 months later he started making significant contribution to mathematics.In 18 months, he was the greatest mathematician alive.. staggering just after reading 4-5 books on Mathematics.

- He is the great mathematician Issac Newton.

[Watch out for more Great Achievers in the future.]

Creativity

2005-07-11T23:49:00.000-07:00

I have heard that art is something that cannot be taken out of you. Now I feel it is somewhat true. I used to draw (rather scribble) pictures when I was young. Then the so called importance to study, spoiled my thoughts in later taking the brush out. I had completely stopped even scribbling a picture after my high school days.

Recently, I was trying to do something, when this thought came in. So I took a pencil and started scribbling the scenary that was before me (BTW I see scenaries in my laptop - the modern day 'artificial scenary'). I could do appreciably well, I know how much capable I am when I stopped doing it, and I am surprised that I am able to match what that.

So my advice would be that if you had stopped any of your past creativities, just because of some reason or the other, there no such thing as 'too late' to pick it up again. And if you truely feel for it, you should be able to regain what you are capable of.

Google Earth!

2005-07-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

Yet another flagship product of Google.

Google recently bought a company (called 'keyhole' - I think so), together with this product. It is one of the best online stuff that I have downloaded.

Using this tool you can get a 'birds eye view' of any (most of) place in US (and many other places across the globe), given its address. I tried to see my apartment, wow! I could even see the pavement near my door, it is that much accurate.

Besides it also provides options to see Dining places, Gas stations etc nearby the given address.

Hats off to the team that developed it.

Tsunami

2005-01-01T06:52:00.000-08:00

The recent Tsunami attack on the South-east Asian region shaked me heavily. Many have lost their loved ones, lost their belongings and are stranded in streets. It is said to be the disastrous event in the past 4 decades and I feel it is the most disastrous to my knowledge. Let us join hands in helping the victims in any means.

If we look into such calamities, I have a feeling we - humans are one or other way are the cause for such disasters. We spoil the eco-system and day-by-day our activities are spoiling the nature.

Lets join hands in this New year and take a resolution that we will make this planet-earth a liveable place not only for us, but also for the coming generations.

[I will soon write a separate blog on my experiences with the earthquake and the tsunami]

Quantum teleportation with atoms

2004-06-21T05:06:00.000-07:00

Interesting to get to know that people have achieved to teleport atoms. With my knowledge I see this to be a great breakthrough in science. Though I am not aware of much techincal details on this, I suggest anyone interested to go through these sites.

An austrian site
NIST site

(Thanks to my cousin for getting me these links)

YahooPops

2004-06-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

Many of you might be using Yahoo!Mail and might wonder how to archieve all those old mails for later reference. YahooPops comes in handy. When I started using this, I see that it is not only a archieving tool, but can also be used a tool to make your yahoo work with your famous Mailing software such as - Outlook or Outlook express.

This software runs POP&SMTP server in your machine so that you can use your Mailing software to send and receive mails. The mails received at the SMTP server are in turn send to yahoo and from there it goes to the receiver. Similarly the mails in your inbox are retrieved and sent to your Mailing software through the POP interface.

The configuration is so beautiful that you can retrieve the mails
* that are unread
* saved in a particular folder
* Clear trash on close
* mark as read or delete those mails downloaded
There are many more things to do.. but I leave it here for you to see it in real :)

204 Things To Do in Orlando in 2004

2004-06-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Orlando is not just the place for Disneyland and Universal Studios, there are lot more. This is one of the interesting things I came to know from my friend who is currently in Orlando. Quiet interesting to see that Orlanda has so many things to amaze you.

Tamil Transliterator

2004-05-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

This seems to be a good online utility to transliterate english to tamil. Whatmore, you can see the tamil version online and can copy down the tamil UNICODE version, directly. Pretty useful, if you dont have an editor with font write support.

I would prefer if someone sends me the link for word plugin where I can type transliterated text on tamil.

Visual Thesaurus

2004-05-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Visual Thesaurus

This is one of the best sites I have visited, especially those who want to master their vocabulary. This is an online Thesaurus, where you can get the synonyms of a given word. What more - it presents the result in a graphical view where you can go from one word to another improving your vocabulary like anything.

Let me stop here, so that you can see it visually to say what it does !

2004-05-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Heart attack
Got this info in a forward presentation which explains what is the first aid for a heart attack. Here is what the presentation says:

STATUATORY WARNING: Please consult a doctor and verify whether the following steps are warranted to perform when a person is suffering from heart attack. The author does not and will not be held responsible for any issues that may arise out of following the said act.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE?

SINCE MANY PEOPLE ARE ALONE WHEN THEY SUFFER A HEART ATTACK, WITHOUT HELP, THE PERSON WHOSE HEART IS BEATING IMPROPERLY AND WHO BEGINS TO FEEL FAINT, HAS ONLY ABOUT 10 SECONDS LEFT BEFORE LOSING CONSCIOUS

ANSWER:
DO NOT PANIC, BUT START COUGHING REPEATEDLY AND VERY VIGOROUSLY.

A DEEP BREATH SHOULD BE TAKEN BEFORE EACH COUGH, THE COUGH MUST BE DEEP AND PROLONGED, AS WHEN PRODUCING SPUTUM FROM DEEP INSIDE THE CHEST.

A BREATH AND A COUGH MUST BE REPEATED ABOUT EVERY TWO SECONDS WITHOUT LET-UP UNTIL HELP ARRIVES, OR UNTIL THE HEART IS FELT TO BE BEATING NORMALLY AGAIN.

DEEP BREATHS GET OXYGEN INTO THE LUNGS AND COUGHING MOVEMENTS SQUEEZE THE HEART AND KEEP THE BLOOD CIRCULATING. THE SQUEEZING PRESSURE ON THE HEART ALSO HELPS IT REGAIN NORMAL RHYTHM. IN THIS WAY, HEART ATTACK VICTIMS CAN GET TO A HOSPITAL

2004-05-25T04:32:00.000-07:00

GMail
Recently came across this service of Google. This is a mail service packed up with a HUGE storage space of 1000MB !! This will be a vast storage space for any individual (provided he hasnt subscribed for various mail groups). He can use it for his life time.

Currently it is in experimental stage and signup is only on invitation. So once it is announced as a public service, we can expect a vast change in the way people view emails.

Google Mail

2004-05-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

Google Translation
Recently came to know that Google is looking for volunteers to work on their Google translation project. Google is coming up with presenting local contents in different languages. Anybody can register to volunteer this service and start translating the google content to their local language. Currently if you subscribe, it asks you to translate small small contents to your native language. These contents will become the building block of the Local google site.

I found it to be an interesting project as it will help everyone to take Google - such a wonderful service to people who are proficient only in local languages. I would recommend any Indians and any Tamilians in particular to come up and start contributing. I already see a wonderful work going on and hats of to those who made it happen and those who are gearing up ...
Visit google site for language conversion

2004-04-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Linux Blog

I recently started a blog specially for Linux. It will contain Tidbit information w.r.t Linux. You can have a look at it at http://linanandh.blogspot.com/

2003-12-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

Google Deskbar

I came across this nice utility on the web. Google has come up with a Deskbar which you can install and have it running from your Deskbar. You can just type your search keyword and press enter to the results just popping in a nearby IE window. The window will automatically hide when you move to someother window. A cool tool from Google, something which I was thinking about for a long time !

Also check out Google labs - you will get to know what you can do (or what not) with google. You will get to know on the areas where Google works !

Link:
Google Deskbar
Google labs

2003-11-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

PLOS
(For techies!)

Came across this site recently and I like the concept very much though I cannot understand much. PLOS - Public Library of Science is an online journal site where you can read Scientific journals that would normally cost big bucks from your wallet. This community host the entire Journal online for free to read by anyone having access to internet. Right now they have PLOS Biology for Biological journals and they have plans in future for Journals in Chemistry, Computer Science etc. [though their site says that these other journals might come around Mid 2004]

So techies, interested to keep you updated with the latest scientific advancements, must checkout this site often to get themselves updated (for free!).

Links:
Public Library Of Science
PLOS Biology

2003-11-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

Redhat Linux to be discontinued

Redhat recently announced that it is going to discontinue further development on Redhat Linux versions after its recent version of Redhat 9.0. The Fedora project - the supposed Redhat 10 is still on and will be released as an Open source project. It is not a supported project of Redhat Inc.

What it means? To end users (typically desktopers like me) its a sad thing that we will not be getting newer versions of free cool window Linux from Redhat. But for the corporate world it is a good news. Since Linux now becomes a commercial product anything that runs in Linux becomes a commercially marketable product, meaning anyone writing Linux apps can market it easily by saying that it is build on the 'Commercial' Linux.

2003-05-30T01:35:00.000-07:00

AWAD

AWAD - A Word A Day is a service which sends you a word a day with lot of information relating to the word. I subscribed to this group a while before and it is really kewl. You will start getting to know new words everyday. By year end you can improve your vocabulary by another 300+ odd words! Checkout the AWAD website for more details.

Actually it was the inspiration behind for naming this blog as AIAD.

2003-05-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

Playing video games makes you intelligent!

Recently came across this CNN post which tells playing video games will make you intelligent. So guys, start and keep playing :).

URL

2003-05-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

Time Traveller Update!

For those who suspected that the time traveller news is bogus, an article says that it is indeed bogus ;)

One need know about this article is that it originated with the Weekly World News, an entertainment tabloid devoted to inventing fantastically fictitious stories while keeping its tongue firmly embedded in its cheek to a depth not measurable by any instrument known to man. Unfortunately, Yahoo!, a primary news source for many people on the Internet, reprints some Weekly World News articles in their TV News section under a heading of "Entertainment News & Gossip," a title that doesn't convey a strong "bogus" warning to readers who don't notice the original source is the Weekly World News (or don't know what the Weekly World News is).

Despite this item's tabloid origins (and the fact that it was covered nowhere but in the Weekly World News), it has showed up in a variety of magazines and newspapers, reprinted verbatim as a "real" news item -- to the amusement and consternation of FBI and U.S. Security and Exchange Commission officials, who have been flooded with a rash of inquiries from journalists seeking confirmation for a bit of fiction:
The spokesman at the US Security and Exchange Commission in Washington gives a weary sigh and then a slightly strained chuckle when he hears the words "time traveller" and "inside trader".

"This story is pure fantasy. There is no truth in it at all," he says. "This is the kind of story that belongs in the same file as 'Elvis Shrine Found on Mars.'

"You know something? We have had an enormous number of calls from the media on this one. It has been absolutely amazing. Of course, we had to look into it, but as far as we know, it's just not true."

As if this tale weren't already implausible enough on its face, the Edinburgh Evening News wryly noted:
"Even a non-time traveller could have told him that profiting from 126 consecutive high-risk trades over two weeks was sure to get him noticed," commented
the Guardian.

A handful of others pointed out that any time traveller with half a brain would not bother popping back to 2003, just when the stock market is in free fall and anyone
who actually makes any money at all would stick out like a 25-ft. tall green alien with two heads.

In a follow-up article on 29 April 2003, the Weekly World News reported that mysterious time-traveling Andrew Carlssin had been bailed out by an "unidentified benefactor" who ponied up $1 million, then jumped bail before an April 3 court hearing and disappeared without a trace.

2003-05-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Time Traveller Skips Town!

Two weeks back I was mentioning about a Yahoo! tabloid about a Time Traveller. A person who was caught in the US share market has amassed $350 million with an initial investment of $800 in just 2 weeks. Law enforcement officials had arrested him and on investigation the person claimed to have come from 23rd century using his time machine. Recently the officials are saying that the person escaped into nowhere. May be time travel is true?!!

Original yahoo site: Time Traveller Skips Town!

2003-05-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

HONDA AD

Car maker Honda has come up with a beautiful advertisement. The ad shows a non-stop 2 minute mechanical system, which finally ignites the new Honda family car. Check it out at Honda Car Ad.

2003-04-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

Time Traveller !
Came across this gossip in Yahoo! that there seems to be a person who claims him to have come from year 2256! Could this be true? Time Traveller !

2003-04-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

My first blog

Thought the best information that I can pass you today will be about this blogger site itself. It will be good to keep jolting down the things that we come across in day to day life. It might be useful for someone (including us) some day. So, start blogging with blogger.