Test
Monday, August 28, 2006
This is just a test post ...
Posted by Rajesh @ 5:51 PM; PERMALINK,
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There once existed a planet called Pluto
Friday, August 25, 2006
Oh I'm just adding something to what's expressed by her out here
I told you it wont be far off when we are faced with this situation ... difficult to comprehend , though. 21st Century and we are experiencing the vibes from far far away land .... Gegraphy has become History .... millions of Dollars, Pounds, Roubles, Rupees, Yens wasted .... all down the drain and all the research all we studied vanishes in thin air.
The degrees we earned all along right from the Xth std - carries less weight. Students who made a just pass by managing to answer questions in a Science paper, would probably fail if they were re-evaluated.
The reason you may ask ? Oh its nothing - Pluto is no longer a planet. Oh okay .... hmm w.. w.. WHAT ?? What crap man ? Are you drunk ? Smoking too much pot these days eh ? I told you not to watch too much of Sci-Fi stuff but you dont listen to me now see what you've gotten urselves into .. he he he not a planet it seems .. go take a shower dude .
Ahoy .. Ahoy .. I'm serious dude .. They have taken away the Planetary status from PLUTO. Freaks, one fine day they decide that its no longer a planet. I've been reading news and listening to some. They simply dont know the impact probably .. lets see what repercussions it may have
* Solar system has now shrunk from 9 to 8 planets ... curtains down at Neptune
* Millions of textbooks to be re-printed. Billions of wall charts to be re printed and revised.
* "Pluto is dead" and now suddenly it has become a COLD, desolate planet smaller than some
moons in the Solar system.
* Disqualified because of its eccentric orbit which overlaps Neptune's orbit, hence it was too
* Disqualified because of its eccentric orbit which overlaps Neptune's orbit, hence it was too
puny for its own gravity to pull its orbit into a nearly spherical shape.
I know they would be crying out there on Pluto. People out here shed tears why go all the way to the 9th planet .. errr erstwhile 9th
Some children say that its one less planet to memorize. No need to make a wide guess who they are. As if it was difficult to remember them 9 names. Duh!! I could tell them in increasing/decreasing order of their size and so can any grad from down under.
Hell, I would have Veto'ed it, what do the scientists know. All those .... scientists, with coffee mugs in one hand and pencil in other, specializing in Pluto or "Neptune and beyond" can now just hold fort .. an empty one. I say lets petition against the move by Int. Astronomical Union - I know thats coming down the lane. People are probably gonna sue them:P . And a full support would come from those Aliens from PLUTO and Charon ... and Nix .. and Hydra.
Posted by Anonymous @ 12:41 PM; PERMALINK,
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Gmail has started crying
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Coupla months ago I had expressed concerns about certain features Google has implemented in Gmail . One of them was - the way it clubs all the emails, having the same Subject, together. At one point I had like 16 emails clubbed together.
It was then that we decided to take it to another level. By we I mean 'Yours truly' and a friend of 'your's truly'. It was un-intentional in the sense that it started off as a regular hi hello email which then went on and on and on and on. Decided to stress their servers and/or to find out its breakpoint.
Today, I could see the effect, when we celebrated Golden Jubilee. Yeah thats right freaking 50 emails all clubbed together in one Click ('cause thats how they have implemented it). Sounds funny but come to think of it - its not just a one liner or a two liner for that matter. All of them are like 2 pages (if not less) long.
What's the outcome? Well, I could pretty clearly see that 'The time it took to open up an email varied from coupla seconds to somewhere like 30 seconds now-a-days'. And thanks to the autosave feature that they have enabled, it tries to save those 50 odd emails every now-and-then making the window inactive and causing a 10 second delay for the text to appear on the screen while typing.
I'm sure they (Google) would have done a stress/performance test on their servers but am not sure if this particular test case has been executed :P
A trace route to gmail.com shows me 19 hops. Well 19 hops is allright I guess but the later hops are having like 90 ms responses which is a bit high aint it ? Anyways will keep on pounding them emails and I hope wont have to wait like more than couple of minutes to open them up one fine day :D
Posted by Rajesh @ 9:04 PM; PERMALINK,
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An Egocentric Tag
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Oh yeah.. I've been tagged again. Find myself trying to answer a few "I"s put up by Mosilager or was it Ginga and BooBoo. Well here goes -
I am thinking about -
... spending this Sunday afternoon Indoors for a change.
... the effect of an iritating Sunday morning rain on human thought process and lethargy.
... watching Matrix again today.
I said -
... (to myself) If I keep on watching X files and Sci-Fi I'd end up spotting a UFO pretty soon :P
I want to -
... get tickets to the White Sox game this year for sure, if they qualify. Cant miss it 2 years in a row. Am already repenting missing it last year.
I wish -
... I could improve on my procrastination (as in not procrastinating) , if not totally get outta it.
I hear -
I wonder -
... If we would ever be able to solve the mystery behind the Spooky Action At The Distance, the Schrodingers Cat Trilogy.
I regret -
... Not discovering Starbucks for almost 2 years.
I am -
... Glad that I did though. Better late than never yeah ?
I dance -
... Makes sense if I add "usedto" between "I" and "dance". The last time it happened was Undergrad farewell party.
I sing -
... Almost every once in a while. Hindi, Mallu and those Metal stuff. Hell yeah I try to sing along with Hetfield and Maynard and ol Eddie Vedder.
I cry -
... Whenever I feel like; mostly induced by music - some Yesudas stuff and out here - PJ.
I am not always -
... Accountable for what I end up doing. "Inner me" has a major influence ;-)
I make with my hands -
... Some good Indian food
I confuse -
... Myself whenever I'm put up with a question starting with "If you were..."
I need -
... To find out, pretty soon, what I can do about this.
And finally -
... Almost every once in a while. Hindi, Mallu and those Metal stuff. Hell yeah I try to sing along with Hetfield and Maynard and ol Eddie Vedder.
I cry -
... Whenever I feel like; mostly induced by music - some Yesudas stuff and out here - PJ.
I am not always -
... Accountable for what I end up doing. "Inner me" has a major influence ;-)
I make with my hands -
... Some good Indian food
I write -
... Quite a lot, almost about everything, almost everyday. Out here in the blog, out there on Groups. And no - I dont run outta topics that soon :D
I confuse -
... Myself whenever I'm put up with a question starting with "If you were..."
I need -
... To find out, pretty soon, what I can do about this.
And finally -
... After about 3 years I get a chance to meet up with folks. The countdown begins ...
Well, just following the trend to tag others, I take this opportunity to make some fellows work on these Egocentrisms.
Kiran- To get to know what are his thots !!!
Parag - Dun need a reason to tag him. Maybe 'cause he says .. " who answers ... who answers .. I" :)
Soumya - Because looks like she's still not done with her Mentos yet. Its high time she finishes them ;)
D for Dawn - I need to find out how does an elf approach these ... :-?
Kiran- To get to know what are his thots !!!
Parag - Dun need a reason to tag him. Maybe 'cause he says .. " who answers ... who answers .. I" :)
Soumya - Because looks like she's still not done with her Mentos yet. Its high time she finishes them ;)
D for Dawn - I need to find out how does an elf approach these ... :-?
Posted by Rajesh @ 9:43 AM; PERMALINK,
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Post for 15th August 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Happy Independence Day fellow Indians !!
Although I am not sure if it carries weight just mentioning it out here. I mean why should I be happy? I belive one of the reasons, I should be is because we were able to get rid of the Brits ~ 60 years ago. But that was then and right now I dont feel like what "I" should be happy about.
Celebrations in this part of the world is a bare minimum. School/College days there used to be an Indian Students Association celebrating all kinds of events and organizing parties on the 15th. All I could figure is that it was just a show. I Know a few chaps who are confused on the dates , 15th Aug OR 26th Jan. Are they any different from me? I guess no. Just knowing the dates and some other facts doesnt give me the right to be Happy about it.
Its just my perception and I'm sure it will vary. But for one, I haven't contributed anything till date that would make me proud or help me get over this guilt feeling that this day or the 26th of Jan is just "going through the motions". The max I have done is contribute something to UNICEF for Tsunami relief which no way reflects what I should be doing.
Back In India - school days, quite happy that we got a day off and sit home do nothing. Earlier, I remember I used to have great enthu to get up and listen to the speech at Red Fort but then that died soon as education took over. Thought of getting educated and contribute to the country. Instead ended up getting education from there and landing here to work and contribute towards the economy out here.
Back home I guess I know how most of the celebration would be. People in Metros would be afraid first of all to get out of their home and attend government organised functions thanks to those miscreants. So sit home and watch some Movie instead. TV Channels make merry by airing Bhagat Singh Movie or something else. Mahatma Gandhi movies used to be shown when I was in high school. But gone are those days. As if we were to take inspiration from them. Each year the same tape again and again ? Thats too much of inspiration to gather from a single person.
Yet I never learnt anything. I cannot go on fasting for a day, forget about a week or a month. If asked I would not like to go and fight a battle for India. But then not all people are meant to be in the Army. What's srange is that the feeling itself is dying. Frankly speaking if Indian cricket team wins the WCup tomorrow, probably I wouldbe more happy. More happy than saying that "Today my country celebrates its Independence Day".
Actually come to think of it, thats true. The most patriotic I felt was probably when I was in 12th std, it was the last time probably I sang the National Anthem with full enthu. After that comes the Indo-Pak cricket match in the last WC. Patrioism shown to defend the shouting crowd in college.
I think the meaning of Independence is dying day by day (which I guess is expected). But the Irony is that I havent realised the importance itself in the first place and am sure the coming generations would one day stop celebrating it and one fine day it would just become a Shopping Day where premium outlets have a huge SALE board put up to attract customers siting home doing nothing.
Can you guys think of what could be wrong here? Or should we just close this chapter saying that baah ~~ its just one of those topics where we can go on and on? I mean I frankly dont know at this point what to do and how to proceed if at all I want to feel proud about being an Indian. I know that NRIs contribute towards it by donating $$s to educational institutions but then what before that? Can't someone do anything else - something that is possible right now for an average Joe ?
Has this or something similar, filled your thoughts? Maybe not. Sorry to have stretched your imagination and to ignite a compulsary thought process. But let me know, if there's anything that you forsee. Something that would make one feel "not so bad" if not provide a huge relief that would get rid of this guilt.
Posted by Rajesh @ 11:38 AM; PERMALINK,
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Increased Entropy - Reading
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Must admit that never in my life have I had this great enthu to flip the pages over and read through the 1000s of lines of text contained in books. That I am not able to read in between the lines is a different issue altogether ;). All thanks to couple of individuals the Windman (Windy) and an Elf.
Its turning out to be a fun ride. Feel like I've been in the shoes of all kinds of humans (and animals too), read through their experiences in life and pondered over some strange and dangerous facts and stats.
I've learnt a lot about Robert Langdon; in fact the other day was thinking of meeting him @ Harvard :P. Then Chetan Bhagat took me for a ride through a student campus where I met Ryan, Alok, Neha and Hari. Akio Morita had so much to say so much of good stuff and how to approach life. It was very hot out there in the desert but that didnt stop me from believing in a Personal Legend. Arundhuti then made me feel like I was sitting in one of those villages in Kerala (very similar the one where I hail from) and of course when I finished reading it , It was still 10 past 10 in my watch ;-)
The latest one though stands out. Pi Patel and Richard Parker struggle it out in the Life of Pi, thats all I can say.
Anyways here the list. Definitely I'm missing a lot and would love to add some to this list. What are you reading right now ? Any suggestions on what could be added out here ? :D
The Da Vinci Code
Angels And Demons
Five Point Someone
The God Of Small Things
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman
The Little World of Don Camillo
To Kill A Mocking Bird
The Alchemist
Made In Japan
Who Moved My Cheese
The Areas Of Expertise
The Life Of Pi
Posted by Rajesh @ 11:10 AM; PERMALINK,
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There's no way Beck
Saturday, August 12, 2006
David Beckham has been dropped from the ENG soccer team and the British Press has vented its collective spleen regarding the incident. Some hail the decision taken by McClaren but some dont.
Anyway he would never fall short of fans. Like these ... in US :)
Archived in: England Soccer Beckham McClaren US
Posted by Rajesh @ 11:33 AM; PERMALINK,
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Coke Cracked and Pepsi too
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
A tough decision, but an expected one. It might have come as a surprise for many and if I tell my colleagues that Coke and Pepsi have been banned in Kerala, they would ridicule me.
Ruling LDF(Left Democratic Front) attributed the ban to a recent finding about the hazardous content of these aerated drinks - hazardous in the sense that it contained Pesticides !!!!!!! Cola giants had earlier faced pesticide row three years ago and they were asked to reveal their ingredients. Samples collected reveal levels are 24 times higher than the agreed limits.
So I guess this is what it contains -
Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoroc Acid, Natural Flavors, Caffeine and Pesticide.
I wonder what would I do if I visit Kerala. But, I'm not a member of the aerated drink fan club so it should be a problem I guess. Switch to Coconut water guys !!!!!
And I think its high time they put an end to it. Ban Coke - the other one too ;)
Archived in: Coca Cola Pepsi Kerala India Drink Coke
Ruling LDF(Left Democratic Front) attributed the ban to a recent finding about the hazardous content of these aerated drinks - hazardous in the sense that it contained Pesticides !!!!!!! Cola giants had earlier faced pesticide row three years ago and they were asked to reveal their ingredients. Samples collected reveal levels are 24 times higher than the agreed limits.
So I guess this is what it contains -
Carbonated Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Phosphoroc Acid, Natural Flavors, Caffeine and Pesticide.
I wonder what would I do if I visit Kerala. But, I'm not a member of the aerated drink fan club so it should be a problem I guess. Switch to Coconut water guys !!!!!
And I think its high time they put an end to it. Ban Coke - the other one too ;)
Archived in: Coca Cola Pepsi Kerala India Drink Coke
Posted by Rajesh @ 10:45 PM; PERMALINK,
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Lost and Found Dept.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Yet another shipment lost. Where you may ask ? Dunno, but after ordering an upgrade on my cell ph. last week I kept waiting for it to be delivered. Call them up after 4 days to find that "it has already been delivered". Are you kidding me ? That's precisely what I asked them.
Has happened before though; the first time - my "The Da Vinci Code - Illustrated Edition" was lost. Had it refunded and reordered from Amazon, same deal this time too. Both USPS and UPS have this problem I believe. Signature confirmation starts at $1.35 (which is a bit expensive) so most of them decide not to avail this facility.
They dont learn from their mistakes either. I specifically asked them to get my signature the second time, but who cares; found it lying just outside the front door - waiting for someone to stop by and grab it.
Sigh! Last time the wait was 2 weeks but luckily it was 2 days this time round.
Posted by Rajesh @ 10:10 AM; PERMALINK,
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Stop it - will ya ?
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Ongoing rift in the MiddleEast is getting worse. As many as 150 mortars are fired every day killing innocent lives. One starts thinking why in the name of God - this bombardment? They say they are guarding their borders. Borders?? Its nothing but a ficticious man made boundary signaling "That is your land, This is mine. Now stay away"
Sigh! Protests going on all over the world and I happened to catch one last Friday at Copley Square. People gathered on both sides of the road, Lebanese on one side and Israelis on the other waving their flags and holding those banners.
Have a look at these pics. Do they look concerned ? Do they realise what's going on out there. I'm sorry if I have misunderstood but .....
Say Cheeeeese !!
Its Party time !!!!
Probably Children know how it feels.
Snaps courtsey Boston IMC
Archived in: War Middle East Lebanon Israel Syria Boston US Airstrike Katyusha
Posted by Rajesh @ 7:27 PM; PERMALINK,
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