Diabolical or Smart

Ted Talks : David McCandless On The Beauty Of Data Visualization

Anuvrat — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:03:10 +0000

Visualization of any concept does help understand it better. But when playing with large data sets, I think it is necessary to also understand the relationships between the various parameters of the data before plotting them out on a graph. Also comparing or taking relative measure only makes sense if there is a strong logical reason behind doing so. For instance, David showed a comparison of Military Strength vs. Population chart. I am not really convinced that such a comparison makes sense. The military strength depends more on the border perimeter and area that needs to be defended than just the population.

However, playing around with data can definitely be great fun. Like the graph he showed:

What rises twice a year, once in Easter and then two weeks before Christmas, has a mini peak every Monday and then flattens out over the summer?

The Latest Spam To Get Through My GMail

Anuvrat — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:11:37 +0000

I received this from my dad:-

I Hope you get this on time,sorry I didn’t inform you about my trip in Cyprus for a program,I’m presently in Nicosia and am having some difficulties here because i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept.I want you to assist me with a loan of 2500Euro to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home.I have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively,I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with,I’ll Refund the money back to you as soon as i return, let me know if you can be of any help. I don’t have a phone where i can be reached. Please let me know immediately.

It was complete with my dad’s signature as well. A search in google for the line i misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept and I knew that it was a spam. And unbelievably, gmail did not send it to spam directly!

Ted Talks : NYS Senator Diane Savino Speaks On The Marriage Equality Bill

Anuvrat — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:53:16 +0000

Actually, I would also support such a bill. I believe in the freedom of choice and the right to live my life the way I want to given that it does not harm anyone else. I respect the willingness of two people to get married if they feel it is right. So why should the society lay down rules as to what choices can we make and what we are barred from doing.

ICU : The Most Depressing Place

Anuvrat — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:40:03 +0000

Recently my grandfather had to be admitted to the ICU. His vitals weren’t stable and kidney was not functioning properly. Thankfully, he recovered and got discharged in 4 days. But those were 4 long days. Not only for him, but also for us. Trust me, you don’t want to be sitting in the corridor outside ICU chambers.

The hospital I am talking about is in BHU, Varanasi. You will find people from all sections of society there – from the rich to the poor. And it is the poor with whom I sympathize the most. There was this patient, a girl from a nearby village, who was pregnant. A few days ago her child died inside her womb. The family members did not care to get the dead body of the child out of the girl. Result – septic. When she couldn’t bear the pain, the family members got her to BHU and she was immediately admitted to the ICU. But even after spending 40K on her treatment, the doctors could not for certain assure the family members that she could be saved. They refused to pay for further treatment, and asked the doctor to let the girl die.

Occasionally we were allowed to go visit our grandfather (I know such things should not happen in ICU, but well). The ICU had 14 beds, each equipped with monitors to track the vitals. Green color coding tells you that everything is fine, yellow indicates borderline case and red is the call for immediate attention. Of the 14 patients, some 5 were in the yellow zone, and 2 in the red zone. In fact, once when my mother was feeding my grandfather, the doctor had to ask her to leave because the patient on the adjacent bed had his heart stop beating and needed the emergency procedures. The place is that scary.

On the fourth day, a patient was admitted in the morning, and by afternoon his dead body wheeled out. Every now and then a group of anxious family members would start weeping concerned for the life of their patient. Another neighbor of my grandfather had himself moved to a different section because his body had become too toxic and could have become a danger to the other patients. He died the same night. A man had been operated in the brain and collapsed into coma. For 3 weeks his wife and daughter had been coming to ICU.

All this definitely affects the patient too. The news of moving him out of ICU was a big relief for everybody. But I still think of all those people still waiting outside in the corridor, hoping their patient recovers as well, while fearing that death is too close to be ignored. I saw 3 dead bodies being removed in one day – ICU is the most depressing place I have yet been to.

My Attempts At Speed Cubing

Anuvrat — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:44:55 +0000

This is an old video of mine when I was in my final year of engineering. My brother had just taught me the basic algorithm to solve the Rubik’s cube. The time recorded was some 59 seconds on a Funskool cube. I have a better cube now, I do not have the time to learn better methods and get faster. Sad!

My brother though has made a lot of progress. He clocks within 30 seconds and can also solve blind-folded.

EPL 2010/11 : Chelsea vs. Stoke City 2 – 0

Anuvrat — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:34:32 +0000

I absolutely like Ashley Cole. The way he links up with Malouda! Sorry to say, but Zhirkov has no chance of replacing the two unless one of them gets horribly out of form or injured.

chel vs sto
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EPL 2010/11 : Wigan Athletic vs. Chelsea 0 – 6

Anuvrat — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:49:57 +0000

Chelsea continued their goal scoring into the second match day without even going into the second gear. It was all too easy in the end. Sadly though, Drogba couldn’t create history by becoming the first person to score 3 consecutive hat-tricks.

wig vs chel
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Paagal Google

Anuvrat — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:14:52 +0000

Paagal Google

EPL 2010/11 : Chelsea vs. West Bromwich Albion 6 – 0

Anuvrat — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:07:57 +0000

A better start couldn’t have been possible. Drogba nets hat-trick. Malouda gets a couple and even Lampard puts one in!

chel vs wba 6-0
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What Chelsea Needs

Anuvrat — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:39:31 +0000

With the transfer window just a couple of weeks from closing, Chelsea has only Benayoun as the confirmed signing for season ’10-11. Having let players like Joe Cole, Michael Ballack, Deco, Beletti and Caravalho leave, much was expected in terms of getting star players. Also the world cup added to the hype. Now I am no soccer pundit. I just want to put down how I expected Chelsea to operate in the summer transfer window.

Chelsea were not want for goals last season having scored a team and epl record number of goals. Drogba and Lampard got their career best number of goals to contribute. But therein lies the problem. They are both in their 30′s and its foolish to expect them to repeat the feat again and again. You would expect them to do well again, but it’ll be tough to reach the benchmark set in the last season. Apart from Drogba, Kalou and Anelka are not that good. Actually, I have no respect for Anelka. I do not understand what Chelsea saw in him that they renewed his contract. Kalou has not shone either. Sturridge is good, but we do need another good signing in that department. I would not really favor Torres as he is already 26. Drogba can carry the team for another couple of years. We need a youngster who comes in as Drogba’s understudy and picks off from where Drogba leaves. Chelsea need to find their Chicharito.

In the mid field, I see no real need to spend money. Lampard plays almost every match. Essien is back to fitness. Mikel is also good. We have bought the experience of Benayoun this summer. Malouda came of age last season. Kakuta has had a wonderful outing with France. I would certainly like to see Kakuta play in the first team.So getting Oezil or any other world cup star doesn’t make sense if the Ramires deal is almost done.

The one area that really concerns me is the defence. Terry has gotten slow with age. Caravalho has left. So we are dependent on Alex and Ivanovic. Ashley Cole has a cover in Zirkhov, but RB is weak. Jefferey Bruma and Mancienne are almost sure to be listed in the squad as well. But that isn’t reassuring. We need a good world class defender.

The goal keeping department is the Achilles heel. Turnbull and Hilario are just not good enough to take over from Cech in case of injury. Chelsea suffered because of Cech’s injury in the last season and this summer pre-season games.

On the whole, I would like Chelsea to sign a good young forward (say maximum age of 22-23), a good defender. It would be a dream come true if Chelsea can get Sergio Ramos or Philip Lahm. But I know it’s just too good to be possible. Our squad is good enough to defend the titles. And if we get a few good signings, we’ll have a great chance in Champions League as well.