My Module

[Random] The future is shining. Maybe. Not really.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:19:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

When I look at my grandfather's (Kesavalu Naidu) picture, the first question I wanted to ask him is... when did he go bald? LOL. I wish I inherited only the "lu" and not the genes. He is my paternal grandfather and since he died when I was very young, I do not recollect anything about him. Since they did not have lot of pictures then, all I get to see is one picture and that is a picture of a bald old man. That picture had no effect on me for a very long time, until now. :). Since I scanned it recently to preserve it digitally (and scare my son in the future), I stumble upon it more frequently than required and whenever I do that my hand naturally rises, goes to my head and scans through to see if I have hair.

No. I need not worry. I inherited lot of my genes (as a biology student i know that all it takes is one screwed up gene to cause baldness... but I bet... the odds are in my favor) from my maternal relations. My mothers father is full of hair. White hair!! I can live with that.

But looking at the brighter side of things. It's going to be simple, clean, shining and easy to maintain #balding

P. S - This post was meant to be funny since I don't give a damn about having/ not having hair. No. That's a lie. No. Really. I am not very concerned about it... but why ask for trouble and so I would prefer to stay hairy.

[Technology] What should Microsoft Office (Outlook) team should consider doing?

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:34:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 2 Minutes

You have read about my rants on the email client that sucks the most. When you are complaining about something, the chances are you have a model (Ideal) in mind. When I wrote that post on Lotus Notes, I had Microsoft Outlook in my mind. Microsoft is still the best mail client out there. But it is not the perfect one... there are areas where it can improve. Here are couple of basic stuff they should have done 10 years back.

When I send an email to a distribution list in which I am also a part, please do not send it to me again.
Check if there is a subject before sending an email. If not, please prompt. I deal wit it by by having a macro written. Find it here. It works.
When I go to a sent item and do a reply/ reply_all (which you do a lot when you follow-up), please make it convenient by including the others in the "to" list and not myself. Why would I send a mail to myself? Gmail does this brilliantly.
Option to duplicate calendar items. That inferior Lotus Notes has this option... why not you? It is actually very convenient in many cases.

On a completely different note, I know you (Microsoft) has been trying and experimenting hotmail (Live mail... if that is what you want to call it) with various formats, styles and user experiences... but why not adopt what you have for Outlook Web Access (OWA). It's so perfect and the familiarity (Thousands of corporations use outlook) of that UI will make people adopt very easily. You can squeeze in that "ad" of yours somewhere in that UI.

PS: This is based on my experience with Outlook 2007 and 2003. Have not used the 2010 yet. Great if Microsoft has already taken care of these.

What do you guys think? Are there more no-brainers that outlook should take care of? Share.

[All in a day's work] Keep the interiors of your car clean. Here is how.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:25:00 +0000

Reading Time: 5 Minutes

No. I am not starting "How to" articles in my blog. One of my friends recently asked for few tips to keep the interiors of the car clean... and here is what I sent.

Keeping the interiors clean is very simple. No. You do not have to do that expensive service. Here is how... Don't wait for "that particular day" of the month/ week to clean. It's a continuous process. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. But, I will just tell what I do with my car.

Floor mats: Dust the car mats on a weekly basis.

Junk: Make sure there is no junk. You need to do this on a daily basis. Lot of people get into my car. I just tell them "junk go out" and they know what I mean. Set that expectation. Like empty coffee cups, chocolate wrappers, gum wrappers etc. etc. Most of the times junk is visible when you get in and get out. If you care, you will just act. People generally ignore and that results in car that looks like garbage.

Front Dashboard: This is the most visible area of your car (outside the externals) and demands attention. Run your fingers through the dashboard. If there is dust, you "need" to clean it. People leave dust to the point that you can “see” it. I am telling you... it is such a turn off. Take a cloth, wet it, dry it completely and use it to clean the dust. I use an alcohol based cleaner/ spray and clean it once a month. But you can save the trouble and stick to the basics by cleaning it with a clean cloth. Again the dust depends on how frequently you have your windows open.

Seats: Leather seats are easy to clean, but if you want them to last long and look good, you need to do some more work. You need to get a good leather polish and apply them after cleaning them thoroughly. I just do the cleaning part. If you do not have leather, you need a mini vacuum cleaner. There is no better way of cleaning non-leather material, than using the vacuum. The other way is to use a clean towel on top of the seat (my father does this... No. It does not look bad. If done right, it actually looks good. Many Indian politicians do this. :)) and wash it once in a month or so.

Floors: You can use the vacuum to clean the floors as well. Remove junk, clear the mats and vacuum it thoroughly.

Loose objects: Loose objects (it could be a lighter, CD, flash drive, torch light, petrol bills, papers, insurance papers etc.) lying around is not good to the car and the driver (think of "Final Destination"). Coins jingling, papers flying, loose objects rolling and making noise is such an irritation. And trust me… it only continues to grow. Get rid of them. Store them safely in a storage.

Freshener: I would recommend avoiding it. If you do all the above, you are guaranteed to have neutral air and there is no need for a freshener. But if you like (which incidentally lot of people do…) them, have a mild one. Or you can do this. Have a freshener, but open it only when you need it and at other times lock it.

Windshield: Never use your hands (leaves patterns) or cloths/ tissues (it leaves lint). Use a clean newspaper to wipe the windshield when you think there is dust.

Now... how dirty is your car?

Tags: #Life #Cars

[India] Stupid censorships will not work in India. So, don't try.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:33:00 +0000

Reading Time: 1 Minute

The below quote is from the WSJ article and precisely the reason why stupid censorship does not apply to India.

"The good news here is that despite these legal restrictions and moves against free speech on the Internet, India continues to be a genuine, even loud democracy. Citizens protest against their government, the media publish or broadcast information and commentary that embarrasses the government, and the country holds regular elections, which are free and fair"

[Internet] Wikipedia. I donated. Did you?

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:17:00 +0000

Dear Venkatesh,

You are amazing, thank you so much for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation!

This is how we pay our bills -- it's people like you, giving five dollars, twenty dollars, a hundred dollars. My favourite donation last year was five pounds from a little girl in England, who had persuaded her parents to let her donate her allowance. It's people like you, joining with that girl, who make it possible for Wikipedia to continue providing free, easy access to unbiased information, for everyone around the world. For everyone who helps pay for it, and for those who can't afford to help. Thank you so much.

I know it's easy to ignore our appeals, and I'm glad that you didn't. From me, and from the tens of thousands of volunteers who write Wikipedia: thank you for helping us make the world a better place. We will use your money carefully, and I thank you for your trust in us.

Thanks,

Sue Gardner
Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director

For your records: Your donation on 2011-11-19 was USD 20.

Tags: #Internet #Wikipedia #Donation

[All in a day's work] Back to the basics

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 08:25:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

Last week was a bad week to take a resolution like "Will start using the stairs instead of elevators at office". I should have checked my calendar before taking the resolution. Multiple meetings back-to-back and in different floors (I sit in 3rd floor. People I work with sit in 6th and 7th floor) did test my resolve. But, I succeeded by taking the stairs every time, all the time. Knees did hurt for the first 2 days making me realize that it’s been a while since I took the stairs. The 3rd day was less painful physically, but the sweet automated voice in the elevator was inviting and I still resisted. Days four and five were business as usual. Now I have got the rhythm of using the stairs and even started enjoying it.

The other side. Unlike the elevators where you get to meet lot of new faces every time, the stairs contribute to meeting few faces (You will get familiar soon. I did. Let’s see if I can make new friends) who use the stairs regularly. My assumption is that they are on their own resolutions.

And the resolution to take the stairs has nothing to do with this experience of mine. :)

Tags: #Life

[India] Need of the hour. Safe Nuclear power.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:04:00 +0000

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Read this well written piece of article in Hindu.

My thoughts

Most of the people reading Hindu know or have some amount of awareness about the benefits of nuclear power and its need for power sustainability in the future. Not to mention, the economic and overall development of the country in the future is direcly dependent on accessibility to power/ energy. What is more critical at this juncture is to take this awareness to the Muniyandi's and Munuswamy's and Papathi's and Rajathi's in various villages/ towns and cities in India, where they protest against nuclear power. Most of the times, they are in the dark and protests are instigated for professional/ political benefits and ambitions. Without getting into the details and digressing from the topic, the need is awareness on "Nuclear Power".

What would also benefit is to give facts to organizations (and politicians??) which (who) protest against nuclear power. The organizations should also be careful in what information they are advocating/ spreading. They should advocate stronger safety measures and force governments to strictly adhere to them when nuclear power plants are constructed, instead of telling that "Nuclear Power" is bad. Get real and get the facts right.

Tags: #India #Nuclear #Power #Energy

[All in a day's work] Whatever

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:24:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

Yesterday, at office, I was hurrying for a meeting and when getting out of the elevator, this lady stopped and told me that I should always let women to get out of the elevators first. I said "whatever" and moved on. In retrospect to that event, I was wondering if I was wrong and convinced myself that it is not the case. No disrespect to women/ anybody, but still "whatever".

Completely unrelated... but when I was writing this post, I also got reminded of the data structures class by one of my professors (Mr. Manavalan) back in college. In one of the classes he introduced us the concept of Stack and mentioned that the elevator is the most simple example for this concept, but with human involvement, of course. I use the term "human involvement" whenever humans get involved and things do not work they are supposed to work.

I should take this lady through the "Stack" Data Structure. That would be fun.

Tags: #Life

[Opinion] My two cents on the latest Google Reader update

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:31:00 +0000

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Google has recently updated their famous RSS feed reader, Google Reader. Updated is a bad term. In the name of design experiments, they forced users to add value to their Google+ initiative. Overall it is good, and makes more sense as a business decision (with very little or no value to consumers), but they could have avoided the "I am Google, I am big and I will do what I want to do attitude." in their design experiments. Say for example, the official blog reads "If you decide to stay, then please do send us your feedback" and "If, however, you decide that the product is no longer for you, then please do take advantage of Reader's subscription export feature." (basically telling "Get Lost" :)) That attitude is because Google knows that there is no worthy reader alternative out there, unless somebody develops a killer one on the Facebook platform. That would be fun. Moving to the new platform will also be easy with Google's "Take your data with you" stance.

For now, I am staying with Google Reader. Managed to customize the new reader to fit my needs, but couple of pain points do exist... like

For some reason I think I have to scroll a lot, to read the contents, than before. There is lot of empty/ white space on top which could be reduced and given more space for contents.
Earlier, there was an option to hide the feed list and expand the reading pane. It was very useful when you read lot of stuff, but that is gone now.

Tags: #Tech #Google #Reader

[All in a day's work] A little bit of dusting

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:25:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

I Hate junk. I make an effort to live lean. I hate to carry things with me that is of no use. All the stuff that I need comes with me and the fact that it is accessible from anywhere, makes me sleep peacefully. From time to time I get into a dusting spree and clearup the stuff that I do not need or think I do not need. Today was one of those days.

What went to the bin (got destroyed) during this spree?

1. All the junk college certificates

2. Those bonafide certificates from college/ hostel/ internship

3. Everything related to college - Project reports etc.

4. Offer letters (Mu Sigma, Intel, Interchain, TCS and Philips) and official paper formalities

5. And every piece of paper which i thought was of no use...

What remains?

1. Passport

2. Degree certificate and Sports certificates (I did not realize that I have these many, starting from age 5)

3. Greeting cards (Don't ask. I like greeting cards. Developed a habit of giving and preserving all the ones I got) and a slam book from college

4. ID's, Bank plastic cards and a check book

5. My numismatic collection

6. Some pictures of people which I stole from random places without them knowing

Life is much simpler with less junk.

Tags: #Life

[All in a day's work] What did I learn in the past few months?

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:27:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

I am making this post for myself. I wish, I come back to this post frequently, understand what it means and adhere to it. Not that I do not know these, but looking at it frequently will help re-align what I want to do. I think.

I will not and do not want to do things for the sake of doing it.
I will not and do not want to grow into an executive/ person who struggles to make decisions.
I will not and do not want to grow into anybody, who has little or no respect for others time, money or value system.

Tags: #Life

[Tamil] தனி ஒருவனுக்கு உணவில்லையெனில், ஜகத்தினை அழித்திடுவோம்

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0000

தனி ஒருவனுக்கு உணவில்லையெனில், ஜகத்தினை அழித்திடுவோம் - சுப்பிரமணிய பாரதி

பாரதியின் கோபத்தில் ஒரு துளி நமக்கு இருந்தால் இந்த உலகம் என்னவாகும்? முனைவர் நெல்லைக் கண்ணன் அவர்களின் பாரதியார் பற்றிய பதிப்புகள் கொண்ட நிகழ்படம்... கீழே

1. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150557994935333
2. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150560145155333
3. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150560152100333
4. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150560165445333
5. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150560173780333
6. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150560195150333
7. https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150561007700333

[All in a day's work] Damn Consultants and PPT's

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:45:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 1 Minute

Employee: I am getting married. I will be taking couple of days off.
[Consultant] Boss: Could you put that in a couple of slides and share it with me by tomorrow?
Employee: ??
[Consultant] Boss: That will help me communicate to my boss.
Employee: I give up. I quit.
[Consultant] Boss: Share a one slider.

Tags: #Consultants

[All in a day's work] Interesting Out of Office response

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:57:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

Out of Office response @ work. Check "For everything else" section of the response.

Coutesy: @venkat_rangan

Tags: #OOO

[Random] Disappointed

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:46:00 +0000

Reading Time: NA

Netflix in India. :(. Solution: http://www.bigflix.com. Their English library sucks, but the streaming experience was pretty decent.

Tags: #Netflix

[Opinion] It's your responsibility to honk at others.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:12:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 5 Minutes

I was always a polite driver. Respectful and considerate to other drivers on the road and not on my car (hard on pedals is what I meant). I used to brush aside other drivers mistakes and rarely gave a loud honk at them. But all that changed in the last 1.5 years. These days, even the slightest sign of mistake by anybody on the road, I give a crazy honk that usually startle people.

This happened last week. A car moving at 40MPH in the fastest lane (leftmost) of a 4 lane road, where cars travelling at >70MPH should be going... The rules of the road is that, you move right and give way to the cars closing-in fast, behind you. But in this case, there was a jam (the verb) building up with close to 10 cars behind this slow moving car and still no sign of this car giving way. I moved to the next lane, accelerated and went past all the cars in front and slowed next to this slow moving car to my left to see who the driver is. A middle aged, short, Indian women who looked pale and her body language indicated that she is not so comfortable at the steering wheel. A year back, i would have just ignored and accelerated. Not these days. I drew attention by waving my hand and honked at her for a solid 15 seconds. I knew I made her uncomfortable. I had a passenger next to me who did not react, but for some reason I felt an air of disapproval to my action. I knew I had to explain.

My story: In the past, I have been alerted ~5 to 10 times by bystanders, random individuals and drivers about me not having my headlight ON (usually because of my preoccupation and my good eyesight :D). I have been stopped by cops twice for not having my headlight on. Once I was close to getting a ticket and the other time it was just a warning. The rest of the times, I have been alerted by people (sometimes shouting loudly, waving and gestures... essentially taking some effort) well before a cop caught me. I have thanked them and always felt that it's only right that they warned and pointed out the mistake instead of being caught by a cop later and ending up with a hefty fine.

My Logic is that, if you do not act or let people know their mistakes, you are ignorant and failing to do something right. This eventually leads them to a bigger mistake. The gesture at that moment might be discomforting, but the objective is to let people know that they are doing something wrong. I believe in the logic and have tuned my behaviour as an acceptance.

Now, back to the situation at hand. With that logic of mine, my passenger seemed to have acknowledged my action and buy-in into my ideology.

To take it further, these days, I have developed a habit of not just honking, but even going out of my way to let people know that they are wrong, if I think they are doing something wrong. Not just on roads but in everyday life. There is also a lighter side to all this. The fact that I am not ignorant and doing something right satisfies me. Simple.

Tags: #USA #Honking #Life #RulesOfTheRoad

[India] Independence Day

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 02:43:00 +0000

Picture Courtesy: India (Google Images). Pakistan(iStockphoto)

Happy Independence day to Pakistan (14th August) and India (15th August).

I have two things to say on this day to the people of these countries. Start a revolution in Pakistan where you demand the government to concentrate on peoples welfare, economic development and becoming a key player in the world arena instead of spending dollars in military (beyond what is required), holding hands with rogue countries, being a haven for terrorist organizations and being an islamic extremist country. India (the people), on the other hand need to force the government to get its priorities straight and take effective actions in cleansing its corrupt systems and people running these systems. Till these 2 things happen, both these countries will continue to be what they are now... Great nations treated with "respect" and "disregard" at the same time by the rest of the world.

Tags: #India #Pakistan #Independence

[Life] It's a complicated world out there.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:47:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 1 Minute

After going crazy with all the documentaries I have been watching in Netflix for the past 1.5 to 2 years (a lot lately) on topics like oil, corruption, killing, conspiracy, economy, financial crisis... Oh man. Can't stop thinking "Where the world is heading?"

Life was so simple in the past. There were villains. And to handle them we had Super Man (He took care of powerful muscle men), Bat Man (he dealt with brainy ones...), Captain Planet (he dealt with the nerdy ones...), Centurions (they took care of the gadgetty gun freaks), Swat Kats (they dealt with all the dark cats and rats) and of course there was a battalion of minors like Robinhood, Iron Man, Thor Captain America, Green Lantern, Thor, He-MAN etc. etc. At the end of every episode the super hero would reign the other side and truth and good people always won. Not anymore. The problem is you can't dichotomize people/ corporations/ Organizations/ groups/ Governments into good and bad these days. They have a complicated shade of grayness built/ developed in them. Trying to blow it or go against it is a very good challenge. It's very complicated and sometimes (SOMETIMES... ONLY SOMETIMES and at other times you have to stand-up for what you think is right.) you do have to close your eyes.

And now... closing the news papers/ feeds and documentaries and going to watch "Spiderman". Peace in the world. At least in fiction.

Tags: #Life #Complicated #Humans

[Opinion] Samacheer Kalvi/ சமசீர் கல்வி - The Apex court should go heavy on governments.

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 06:03:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 15 Minutes

What the hell are you thinking Jayalalitha? Chuck your ego and concentrate on what is important and not play around with the education of kids. May be the high quality church park education you got is clouding judgement, you witch. I just spoke to 4 kids and everybody told me that they are not very sure when their next mid-terms or Quarterly exams are... they are going to school and do not have books and the classes are not happening. Nothing worse than this can happen to kids.

In cases where magnitude of the issue is big, and if politicians are stalling the case, screw demoCRAZY and shoot the troublemaker in the head. The country knows what she does is non-sense and detrimental to many pockets of the society. Shoot her in the back till every drop of blood oozes out from the body, dry the body, cut it into pieces and throw it in the Sahara desert. You are a strong lady, determined lady... all that is fine, but none of that makes what you are doing right. You will burn in hell. Karma. Pissed. I am.

I just told these kids to study well and they tell me that they do not have anything to study. I had to go silent.

Quality of samacheer quality is sub-standard.

Seriously? A 6th std student tells that the quality is bad and you write about it? You must be naive and an idiot. I am sure the High Court and Supreme court panels are sane enough to judge against stopping it.
I am sure the director of matriculation schools is not an idiot. His take on the quality.
There is also an interesting conspiracy theory. I do not believe thrusting the blame on a group, but could help get some perspective. Good, bad and ugly people are everywhere and not confined to a caste or geography.

Let me not get into the details of the high or low quality of the syllabus, since i have not personally gone through them. But from the reviews I have read so far, it is on par or better. But that review has to happen in parallel and implemented in the next academic year instead of stopping it now and spoiling the future of kids. There was a blog post I read couple of days back which had a detailed analysis on the syllabus... but could not find it in my reader (will post an update when I get that post...).

Cho's take on samacheer kalvi - Would not agree with it completely, but it has some valid points. This cho guy is another parasite that should be crushed ruthlessly.
I am also not advocating what DMK did was right and Karunanidhi is a descendant of Manu Needi Cholan. Karma will have him also taken care. But, troubling the education of kids by the present government is what irritates me more.

The fact that the judgement of apex court of the country is not followed is even more painful. They have extended the dates of distribution of books for the third time now and the books are nowhere to be seen near the schools. Supreme court should be given the authority to dismiss or jail the head of governments if orders (they call them directions... we are a demoCRAZY country and sometimes ORDERS does not go well with us ) are not followed. I think this is a big democracy issue. We have seen this in the past where S M Krishna violated Supreme Courts direct orders in releasing the water to TN. SC should flex its muscles and go heavy on these guys to set an example.

Tags: #TamilNadu #Tamil #Samacheer #Kalvi #Education #Politics #India

[Opinion] Role of religion in Earth 2.0 and beyond

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:07:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 5 Minutes

Before I begin, I assume you know a little bit of history on all the major religions in the World. When I am talking about history, I am not referring to the list of rules in their holy books, but the actions (based on various interpretations of the books) in the past hundreds and thousands of years in the form of various historical events (Remember Crusades, Slavery, Sharia (Its only funny how different coutries adopt their own version for convenience and the sophistication is directly proportional to the $$$ they control), women in Islam (will stop it there), vedas in Hinduism; yeah, the book of inequality). If you had noticed, every book has taken the moral responsibility of defining the roles and responsibilities for everybody in the society, but the problem is that not all of them are applicable for the generation the world is in now.

One of my friend just shared this video (in fact, this video triggered this post). The sad truth is that you can't deny any of the facts mentioned. We tend to ignore and follow. This is just an example of unacknowledged shadow aspects of Religion. I am not focusing on Christianity, but I happened to come across this video first. My question is... how far should you take your religion with you?

I agree that there is also the lighter/ brighter side to religion. But, I keep asking myself, what is the role of religion these days? What is it that it gives to me, that will make me follow/ adopt one?

I think in couple of years, countries and governments (constitutions) will replace religion. In simple terms, a religion is nothing but a book of rules and is no different from the constitution itself. Which country you belong to determines which rules you have to adhere to. If you have noticed, religion (book of rules) has always been evolving and flexing itself (governments, powerful people, for a cause etc.) to all means to survive... that is not right and not what I expect from a "sacred" rule book which the gods themselves wrote/ followed.

Digest this: One person's self belief (which is exactly what these rule books are...) should not be forced on a generation. After all, your rules are not my rules.

A sacred book/ book of rules should be applicable for all ages, gender, across centuries and talk only about the truth (and truth only) and stand for it at all cause. Go read Thirukkural (திருக்குறள்). If you have read it, you might argue that it is not 100% perfect, but it is still perfect.

Ok. Now I am searching for a colour, for my religion, Thirukkural. Don't be surprised. It needs branding. :)

Update 1 (17 Dec 2011): George Carlin on Religion.

Tags: #Religion #Opinion #Thirukkural

[Opinion] Law forcing California to have Gay history in text books is nonsensical

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:29:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 1 Minute

California to Require Gay History in text books - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/us/15gay.html - I am not against gays (For the record: I support them in the sense, let them do what they want to do), but this I think is unnecessary to be forced as a law. Introduce GK, Geography (Young Americans Geographically Illiterate, Survey Suggests) and World history, you morons. So, if I become a minister (in India)/ Senator (in USA), I will force Kamma Naidu history and history of all the great kammas in the text books, just because I belong to that sect/caste? How absurd would that be?

Tags: #notAgainstGays #Opinion

[All in a day's work] First floor to second floor

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:58:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 3 Minutes

This happened last week in the elevator of my apartment.

I enter the elevator. Two others enter along with me. A boy and a girl (This one, I have stumbled-upon couple of times). We all looked like strangers to each other or atleast I believed so. It's the usual stuff you assume or your brain is tuned to assume that individuals are strangers when they do not acknowledge each others presence.

- She pressed # 7 first on the number panel. I assumed that she stayed in floor 7.
- Then she looked at me, turned back and pressed the # 2

Me: (kneejerk reaction/ excitement) - Oh! You know where I stay? (I was surprised because its been only 2 months since I moved into this new apartment and did not expect anybody (least of all "her") to know where I stayed...).
She: (surprised) No. I stay in floor 2. (It hit her as to why I asked)(Smile) I know where he lives, pointing her finger towards the (only) other guy.
Me: (awkward silence for a second) (Ting!. "Second floor" announced the automated voice) (I did not dare speak, but just gave a nod acknowledging her)

- I got out of the elevator
- I turned and said "Have a nice day guys" and moved on.
- She kissed him and said "Love you"
- I started to walk fast (my way of telling, I am minding my own business)
- She was behind me. Walking fast.

(People walking behind me; scare me. And, if they walk at the same pace as me, it makes me uncomfortable. I usually turn to take a look at their face and sometimes strike a conversation)
- I turned back.

"I am Venkatesh by the way", I said.
"I am whatever (forgot her name... I am very bad in remembering names)", she said.
"Nice meeting you", I said (opening my apartment door)
"Likewise", she said (opening the apartment door next to me)

Tags: #noTags

[Book] Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:36:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 2 Minutes

I do not (have not) think (thought) highly of Richard Nixon, but after reading his biography (Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full by Conrad Black), I should say, this guy has done a lot to this country (USA) and definitely deserves a lot of respect. He is in a sense a crook (referring to his election propaganda during his early political career where he intentionally misled voters...), but also had a knack of adopting unconventional ways to make people believe in him. He committed few terrible mistakes (unintentional... according to the author) like the failure to withdraw from Vietnam as promised and of course the watergate scandal and that cost him a lot (not just his presidency... Apparently there was a time where his bank balance was just $500)

Book Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/richard-m-nixon-conrad-black/1008541269

Tags: #iRead #Book #Richard #Nixon #Recommended

[Technology] Lotus Notes. You suck so much, you end up creating a black hole

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:57:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 2 Minutes

This was supposed to be just a tweet, but the pain you have caused in me could not be expressed in 140 letters. You deserve a mini blog post.

@IBM - I have expressed how bad you suck with your email client (Lotus Notes - We know she was hot and "THE" best client in the early 90's, but there is no point in troubling the old lady now. Put her to rest and move on). This time I wanted to make sure, my communication is even more clear (clearer and clearest) and there is no chance you will miss (you do not have a forum to collect feedback from users and so this feedback goes live in my blog). You suck so much, you will end up creating a black hole that will eventually consume our planet (and you will not be able to claim "Let's build a smarter planet" anymore). All the mails magically disappears and appears from time to time and makes me wonder if David Blaine was there. Do you know what usability means? Have you guys disconnected yourself from the world and developing this product from Amazon forest or Mars? I want to know which email client you guys use within IBM? #Sick #Tired #Pissed

I have an alternative arrangement for you guys to understand your product better. Just ask your "IBM Watson", this question. "Does IBM's Lotus Notes suck?"

[Communication] Client Communication

noreply@blogger.com (Venkatesh Varalu) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:20:00 +0000

Reading Time: LT 1 Minute

A true test for client communication is to let a person/ individual go to a hair salon in the USA and get a "desired" (exactly what you wanted) hair cut at first shot. I am not joking. Serious. It takes a lot of understanding in terms of culture, language, understanding, way you communicate/ articulate requirements, dealing with the pressure of newness (trying to convince the other party that you know what you are talking), change in our habits etc. Trust me, I have seen lot of people fail the first time. #communication

P.S - Long lonely driving trips helps you think/ come-up of/ with such analogies.