The Sixth Quadrant

The road to wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:02:00 +0000

The road to wisdom? Well it's plain
and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Hasty Generalization

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:28:00 +0000

All of us know that before generalizing something, we need to have looked at many instances of it. One day, my friend said that Europeans don't behave properly, the reason being that he met an impolite European. Another day, another friend of mine, said that he stopped buying from a particular brand, since he had bought a particularly product from that brand that unfortunately turned out to be defective. All these, as you can see, are generalizations based on a small number of instances - in this case its awfully only one. In fact all of us do this, including me. All of us try to fit a model for anything we see, try to sketch a character to a person just as we see (even before we interact) and in many cases say negative things about a product even before it is released. Imagine what will happen if your interviewer is such a person?

Personality Test - 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Check out my personality test results two years back. And this one's now.

You Have A Type A Personality

You are hyper and energetic - your mind is always active

You tend to succeed at everything you attempt

And if you don't succeed at first, you quickly climb your way to the top!

You could be called a workaholic, but you also make time for fun

As long as something is competitive, you're interested

You have the perfect personality for success in business and athletics

Do You Have a Type A Personality?

A Roadtrip to Malibu and Achieving your childhood dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 07:39:00 +0000

It was a dream come true. I have so long been waiting for this to happen, right from my childhood. Ok, not necessarily my childhood dream, but as an adolescent I always wanted to drive a car and I wanted to drive into the longest of roads, all alone, on a silent morning, away from the city.

The fascination was fueled by the fact that I never got a chance to do so while in college or school, but I don't blame setbacks. Driven by passion, I decided at the start of the semester that I will learn driving and get a Californian license. I had an Indian license (its easy to get one, especially if you have money - sad but true), but I knew how good my driving skills were. I decided to give the written test and took the first available appointment. Gave the test, passed and then on a Sunday I called up this guy called Joe who runs a driving school here. I took three classes and then I passed the driving test on Wednesday. Once the license came on Friday night. I immediately applied to Zipcar. Monday I got the card.

I wanted to drive - badly. I was but not confident though. I never took a car all by myself. There would always be a guy sitting next to me, pressing the brakes whenever I hadn't. I didn't know what to do. Gradually my temptation overcame my fear and I took a car on a thursday morning when the traffic was low. I enjoyed it, but not so well. I felt calm for a few more days.

On the same week on saturday, I again wanted to drive, this time I wanted to go on the freeway. I badly needed somebody with me to boost confidence and two of my friends had told me that they would come with me for a trip to Santa Monica. We had planned for Sunday evening. On saturday evening, they pulled out of the equation. I felt like a child crying for his stolen candy.

I couldn't sleep that night. I wanted my candy. I was afraid though. And it was no fun to go to santa monica beach all alone. I didn't know what occured to me then, I woke up, switched on my computer and booked a car for the next day morning at 6:30am! Then I slept, peacefully.

The next day, I woke up even before my alarm went off. I prepared myself and finally went to the place to take the car. I was a little more confident because this was my second time, but I was no more feeling nervous to enter the freeway.

I drove my way to glory and four year old in me kept smiling all throughout the way. I went to Malibu, the famed Hwy 1 also known as the Pacific Coast Highway. The scenery was breathtaking.

It was a peculiar moment for me. Even though I fumbled around not knowing how to fill gas in my car, even though it was weird that I went 30miles along the road and took a U turn to return back without actually doing something, I cherish that day till now.
Not only this, I did get these goals sorted out recently:

Learning to swim - learnt it last year.
Learning piano - going to classes this year.
Being able to earn money - I bought a laptop for my sister.

The whole episode might sound funny to you, but believe me, if you ever dreamt of something special for a long time, and if you worked towards it with your full heart, when you realise the dream, you will be the happiest man on the earth. So was I.

Randy Pausch, my hero

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 07:06:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

"Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon University who inspired countless students in the classroom and others worldwide through his highly acclaimed last lecture, has died of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47."
- CMU

No, I couldn't have done it. I couldn't have talked to a thousand tearful audience without breaking down had I been in Randy's position. I couldn't have the amount of energy and verve he showed had I known that I will die soon. I couldn't have not talked about how I am the most unluckiest person in the world to have been subjected to this fateful destiny. Randy is my hero.

If you haven't listened to his last lecture on "Really achieving your childhood dreams", then I suggest you do so now.

Even though its totally unjustified that I blog this to honor this legend after months that he attained his peace with God (on July 25, 2008), I pay my tribute to the soul who motivated a million people around the world including me.

I always say to myself that life must go on, no matter whatever happens, for tomorrow will be a better day. Many days I wake up thinking how good life is ahead. But I am not sure what will happen to me if I were told that I could start counting my days. My entire happiness and enthusiasm would come to a screeching halt. I know I am not brave enough to face death. Not many do.

While Randy was flickering in the dark, he lit the light for millions of people. His energy and enthusiasm was bigger than life. He didn't fight a war, but he fought death. He was brave till the end. "We don't beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well", he said. "If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you."

Thank you Randy for showing me the way.

My Life's Most Expensive Mistake [Fiction]

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Image by Captain Kirt via Flickr

The cold wind was blowing hard and fierce. My face was getting dry. This was the first time I experienced sub zero temperatures. The snow flakes would occassionally get into my mouth. I and my uncle were returning after purchasing clothes from the so called 'after christmas clearance sale'. When we got down from the car, we took all those bags and we hurried our way to home. We had to just go some 100 odd feet, but buffetted by the chill wind and not wearing enough winter clothes it felt like a mile to go and we were literally running. After reaching home, I ran hot water through my hands - I had thought that I got frostbite.

We settled down, drank hot coffee and were started watching 'Headline News'. After about an hour, we started opening the bags to show the clothes to aunt. I was very happy because it was the first time I was buying something for myself after coming to USA with my own hard earned money. I was particulary proud that I could buy original branded items of Nike etc, which I could never dream of while in India. My smiles were broken by my uncle, "Did we not buy that green colored T Shirt of Calvin Klein?". "Of course, we did." I said in a normal tone with no clue of what more was about to come. "I can't find it in here, why don't you search it and show it to your aunt?". "Haha, how could you become this tired, you haven't checked all those bags that are out of reach. Your software job has made you sedentary. Anyways here it is" I said, with smiles again coming up because that was a 50$ T shirt, the most expensive of them all and the best I liked. I reached out inside the bag but it turned out to be a pair of socks and some other stuff. With a minor sigh, I reached out to other bags and checked out. It wasn't there. A second round, much more carefully - it wasn't there. I checked out the bill - it had been billed. I felt as if I was standing out there in the chill. "Damn, how could this happen?" I asked myself. "Hey don't worry, may be its in the car itself. Anyways we will check out tomorrow morning when we will go to the temple". "Oh come on, we will check out now". "I am too tired. Will have to wear all those winter stuff again. May be you could go and check out". "That sounds great" and in no time I put on my jacket and now I put my gloves. "Or leave it as such". I could sense that he was afraid to give me the keys. "Huh, of course I know how to open and close a car with your remote controlled key. Now give it to me". I grabbed it and went out. Again the winds. Lost in thoughts, I was walking slowly in the ice "Damn damn damn, how did that happen? Ok keep your mind calm, where would I have left it? Did I take it from the counter? Yes. Did I.. Oh here is the car." I used the remote key to unlock the car and then checked out thoroughly. No, it wasn't there. The truth is I had lost it. I sat in the driver's seat and wanted to drive back to Macys. "I wish I had a driver's licence". I switched on the heater inside the car and was lost in thoughts. My uncle called me on phone asking me why I was taking so long. "I am on my way.." I said and hurriedly got down, locked the car, made sure it was locked again and started walking back. Suddenly I felt that I hadn't switched off the heater. Then I told to myself that "If I remove the key it would be off". But I ran back to the car and unlocked it and saw that everything was off. I also checked whether the headlights were off. My alter ego was screaming at me now. I talked sense to it in a melodramatic tone "All my life I have been very careful. Thats how I have been able to succeed and thats the reason I am here. I haven't lost anything in my life. Now when unfortunate things like this happen, you got to be a little more careful. So what I did now was sensible.. ". My alter ego was screaming loudly. Realizing that I was lost in thoughts, I forced myself to carefully look around while walking back home to see whether we had dropped the bag. I reached home and I scolded Murphy for his stupid law. "Well, this might be the most expensive mistake I had ever made. But this is the last. I swear in the name of.. " again lost in thoughts, I was interrupted by my uncle "So you didn't find it? Hmm.. Don't worry. It happens (he meant 'Shit happens'). Forget it now, lets have lunch..". It took me longer to digest the bitter truth than the food.

The next day morning, we were ready to go to the temple. As we reached the car parking area, my uncle said to me. "I thought I had parked my car here." There was some other car. Horrified, realized that I hadn't locked the car the second time and I knew what my most expensive mistake was.

Lost In Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:52:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaMarch 1st to March 6th of 2008 might very well be some of the most exciting days in my life, or rather in 'our' life. To put it straight, I, Sai Prashanth and Robin Anil went to Hong Kong for our Business Plan presentation. And Hong Kong was simply awesome.
It all started last year around March when I had an idea (great one, of course :P). But as such, I couldn't do anything about it. Then came Google Product Prodigy contest, in which I and Sai Prashanth submitted the idea. We got into the finals, but couldn't submit the product due to some inherent technical problems. Then came Trilogy - Pirates of the Corporate, which was a business plan contest. What was cool about it was that the winner will be funded $100,000 for a startup, and as seed money, that amount it too great for anybody to start off. For a comparison, many other venture capitals fund about say $10k as seed amount. But, $100k would mean a stake of 25% in the company. Even though it is a different fact that we were not selected as the winners on grounds of security concerns of the product, it was a nice experience overall. :)

FeedBurner Initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:13:00 +0000

As you can see at the right hand side (if you are in my blog), I have switched over to the overly popular FeedBurner to burn my feeds and present it to you. FeedBurner gives lots of advantages like being able to find out how many subscribers you have etc. I am not going to into the details.

Have a good day!

One hour please?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:46:00 +0000

Image from WikipediaI got this in a mail. It was simply amazing:

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make Rs.100 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow Rs.50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs.50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.
"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you.. Here's the Rs.50 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have Rs.100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that Rs.100 worth of your time with someone you love.

Travelling Soldier

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Image from WikipediaDecisions

Each decision counts. Each one.

Either you wake up now and start your day or press the snooze button. Either you choose to go to college or bunk it.

As you walk forward in the journey called your life, you have to make decisions regarding which road to take. Sometimes, there are clear directions to your destination, but sometimes there aren't any at all. All you can do is to decide which road next to follow based on your gut feeling, and with each decision you make, your course of journey changes, irreversibly.

There I stand on the crossroads, unable to decide on which of one to take. I recall Robert Frost's "Road Less Traveled":

ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood
And I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

-Robert Frost

I am sorry that I can't travel both. Neither can I stand there indefinitely. I need to decide and move on. Life is made up of a series of decisions, each one changing the course of it. You eventually decide wake up and go to your classes.

Keep your destination clear in mind and believe that whatever you do is for the good, and you shall never repent. Hope is what keeps us running. It is with the hope that tomorrow's morning will be bright that we go to sleep today.

The meaning of Life

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:00:00 +0000

What is it?

Its on a Sunday evening that I started introspecting and wondering about the meaning of life. This animation called life, this river that alters the course of life of others as it passes by, this gift given by someone up there beyond our understanding, this one beautiful recipe that tastes both joyish and sorrowish, this drama where some play big and some ever get noticed, what is it, what is its meaning?

As I stand in my room with my eyes closed, listening to the plain music that flows and fills the surroundings, I try to think about what I want out of my life? All I feel is a sense of deep silence and whenever I do this again, the question eludes me to the deepest of its mysteries. Why is it that on this road, we can only see backwards and not see what is at the front? Steve Jobs beautifully summarizes life:

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life"

And so what is my next dot going to be? Is it something that I know? I am never sure of what is going to happen tomorrow, may be that is something that keeps life interesting. If God ever came to me and asked what I would want, what would be my wish? I don't know and I never would know. I many times come up with an answer and it amuses me that each time its different. That is why, I tell God to deal with the problem of others, but I just ask him this one thing - that each and every decision I take, I would never like to repent in the future and I ask him for the strength to be able to face the results. After all, its these decisions that mark the dots on the canvas called life.

Further Reading : Steve Jobs' Commencement Address at Stanford

Some Photoshop Effects

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:12:00 +0000

Glass Text

Text removed from a shiny curved surface (and thats what I tried)

Reflection Effect. The text is kept on a table. I attempted to portray looking from the left hand side so that one side is bigger and the other is smaller, though it doesn't exactly look like what I anticipated.

Wondering why all these texts are 'Yeah'? More about it later..

And I am Proud..

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:30:00 +0000

I made a donation to Wikipedia!

It was a trivial amount of $3.00, but that was the first amount that I earned online!
PayPal turned out to be incredibly useful, since I don't have a credit card. I had earned the money by answering two questions in ansmart.com
I was really excited to earn real money online through Ansmart.com. While I was walking alone yesterday, it occurred to me that I don't have to depend on this small earnings (neither am I going to get it in hand without having a credit card) that I get through these stuff, then why not put it in an useful way. Why not help other people who really need it. Drops of water make an ocean, so if you too join me with even say $3, it will be useful a lot to these people!
I initially tried to donate to Orphanages etc, but they either had a minimum balance of $5.00 or they required credit card. I had neither. My balance in PayPal was $3.00
So I donated to Wikipedia, which didn't have any these constraints.
Join me to help Wiki!

Flock Browser

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:00:00 +0000

I love Flock Browser. And I mean it.

Flock is a browser based on Mozilla Firefox. It is supposed to be a social networking browser and yeah it is! There is a nice side bar that opens up showing your various friends on social networks, your RSS feeds, a photo uploader, a media bar!

Its great for Bloggers as it is possible to keep various blog accounts signed into and at the click of a button a window appears where you can type blog and publish it instantly. No need to go to the websites, choose your blog, wait for its editor to open up! This is one-click publishing!

One good thing is that many firefox extensions still work in Flock. I have my favourite xyzproxy installed in this one, which helps in switch proxies instantly. Although I haven't tried, I heard that Google Toolbar works with Flock.

There are lots of other beautiful features that ship along with this free browser. For example, there is a built in uploader to upload pictures to Flickr and Photobucket.

Flock is simply a must try!

Blogged with Flock

Apping Information

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Are you applying to MS, MS+PhD or PhD in US universities, especially in Engineering stream? The site on Apping Information would be a great guide for you. Take a look and get benefited immensely!

Blogged with Flock

Bitwise 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:29:00 +0000

Bitwise, is the annual online Algorithm Intensive Time Constrained Programming Contest organized by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of IIT Kharagpur. Bitwise 2008 will be held on 10th February. Team Bitwise invites you to participate in the event.

Prizes worth Rs. 220,000 are at stake this year. Registration for Bitwise 2008 has started. For more information, please visit the Bitwise website:
http://www.bitwise.iitkgp.ernet.in

It would be great if you could circulate this in your organization through email groups and other modes of communication.

Blogged with Flock

Height of credulity

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:17:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

The Ericsson Company is distributing free computer lap-tops in an attempt to match Nokia that has already done so. Ericsson hopes to increase its popularity this way. For this reason, they are giving away the new WAP Laptops. All you need to qualify is to send this mail to 8 people you know.
Within 2 weeks, you will receive Ericsson T18. But if you can send it to 20 people or more, you will receive Ericsson R320.

Make sure to send a copy to: anna.swelung@ericsson.com

Regards,
Jennifer imchen
Front Office extn +91(022) 6665-3311/12
Taj Mahal Palace & Tower
Apollo Bunder
Mumbai- 400001

This is one of those spams that I get very often from my "educated" friends, who send this to "all possible" people they know or sometimes even to those they don't know. How does one ever think that Ericsson could distribute free laptops? And that too why would Ericsson choose this kind of method to distribute it - choose mails as the means? Moreover it is stated that Nokia too distributed free laptops - you knew that? Only the dumbest of the people could believe this or those who just want a laptop free of cost - whatever be the means.
I have seen some of the brightest students also sending such mails, again for free laptops.
I have received numerous such mails, but this particular mail enraged me, since I saw that this mail was sent to some professors whom the student had earlier contacted to get internship. What would he/she think about we IITians or about Indians as such.
Maybe this looks a trivial mistake to you, but somehow I hate such mails thoroughly.
I should also mention at this point that I hate to see people writing "iN tHiS mAnnEr". Am I blind to this form of art?? I always skip such fancy written profiles and status messages. God Bless you guys..

My version of the Analyze an Arguemnt task of GRE

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:33:00 +0000

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument.

"The University of Claria is generally considered one of the best universities in the world because of its instructors' reputation, which is based primarily on the extensive research and publishing record of certain faculty members. In addition, several faculty members are internationally renowned as leaders in their fields. For example, many of the faculty from the English department are regularly invited to teach at universities in other countries. Furthermore, two recent graduates of the physics department have gone on to become candidates for the Nobel Prize in Physics. And 75 percent of the students are able to find employment after graduating. Therefore, because of the reputation of its faculty, the University of Claria should be the obvious choice for anyone seeking a quality education."

My response :

University of Claria (UC) may be generally considered one of the best universities in the world. The author has gone at length to claim the superiority of the university and in this process has made a number of unsubstantiated claims that might belie the actual credibility of the university as a good place to study. Moreover, she has boldly concluded that UC has to be the obvious choice for anyone seeking a quality education.

It is of utmost importance to first of all ascertain the correctness of the statement that "UC is generally on of the best universities". Are there any previous statistical studies that put UC in the top universities list? What does the author mean by saying 'general'? This is a strong but vague and unsubstantiated statement.

The author then goes on to reason that UC is among the 'best' by saying that it has instructors of good reputation based on research and publishing record. Are these factors sufficient to title an instructor whether he/she is of good reputation or not? Don't we have to consider whether the instructors are good teachers? What if all the paper-producing geniuses of UC have nightmares while facing the students?

Thirdly, the author states that several faculty members are internationally renowned as leaders in their fields. But what consitutes 'several'? Instead of this term, it would be reasonable to give a rough percentage of the faculty members who are leaders. Moreover, saying that they are renowned as the leaders in their fields is a fuzzy description. A faculty member may be termed as leader based on the contributions he has made to the field. Further reasoning by the author would severly benefit her arguement, which is missing.

Fourthly, the author has considered only two departments in her examples - English and Physics. What about the other deparments? Do the other departments have excellent faculties just like English deparment. Yet another question to ask is whether these faculties are available for the students in the home university at all? What if they are busy in going around the globe? It is commendable that two recent physics graduates have been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics. But are the other students of different deparments win such high-value laurels? And moreover, is this a trend that has been continuing for a long time or is it that this is the first time that two alumni have been lauded? The analysis is missing in breadth (in terms of various departments) and the depth (in terms of the time).

Finally, the author of the above argument, is providing a valuable data - that 75% of the students are able to find employement after graduating. But what is the significance of this figure "75%" ? Is it high enough when compared to other universities? What if normally many of the universities produce more than 95% employment rate? And the data about whether the students are employed in the firms of their choice has to be furnished.

Despite the number of flaws in her argument, the author would well benefit by substantiating her claims with facts. She must give results of any statistical ranking surveys and the position of UC in those surveys. Also, a discussion about the performance of instructors and students of all the deparments of the university, and a detailed analysis of the placement results of the students would be a welcome change in considering whether UC is the obvious choice for anyone seeking a quality education.

The response that got 6/6:

While the University of Claria appears to have an excellent reputation based on the accomplishments and reputations of its faculty, one would also wish to consider other issues before deciding upon this particular institution for undergraduate or graduate training. The Physics and English departments are internationally known, but these are only two of the areas in which one might study. Other departments are not listed; is this because no others are worth mentioning, or because no other departments bothered to turn in their accomplishments and kudos to the publicity office?

The assumption is that because English and Physics have excellent brains in the faculty offices, their teaching skills and their abilities to pass on knowledge and the love of learning to their students are equally laudable. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. A prospective student would certainly be advised to investigate thoroughly the teaching talents and attitudes of the professors, the library and research facilities, the physical plant of the departments in which he or she was planning to study, as well as the living arrangements on or off campus, and the facilities available for leisure activities and entertainment.

This evaluation of the University of Claria is too brief, and too general. Nothing is mentioned about the quality of overall education; it only praises the accomplishments of a few recent graduates and professors. More important than invitations to teach elsewhere, which might have been engineered by their own departmental heads in an attempt to remove them from the campus for a semester or two, is the relationship between teacher and student. Are the teaching faculty approachable? Are they helpful? Have they an interest in passing on their knowledge? Are they working for the future benefit of the student or to get another year closer to retirement? How enthusiastic are the students about the courses being taught and the faculty members who teach those classes? Are there sufficient classes available for the number of students? Are the campus buildings accessible; how is the University handling all those cars? Is the University a pleasant, encouraging, interesting, challenging place to attend school? What are its attitudes about education, students, student ideas and innovations, faculty suggestions for improvement?

What about that 75% employment record? Were those students employed in the field of their choice, or are they flipping burgers and emptying wastebaskets while they search for something they are trained to do. A more specific statement about the employability of students from this University is needed in order to make the argument forceful.

The paragraph given merely scratches the surface of what must be said about this University in order to entice students and to convince them that this is the best place to obtain a quality education. Much more work is needed by the public relations department before this can be made into a four-color brochure and handed out to prospective students.

The response that got 1/6 :)

Is true that University of Claria is generally consider one of the best university in world. Because instructors reputations. Because research and publishing record. Because teach in other countries. Because win Nobel prizes. Because find empolyment after graduating. But other school good just as Claria. Can be little money. Can be good teachers too.

My version of the Issue writing task in GRE

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:28:00 +0000

Present your perspective on the issue below, using relevant reasons and/or examples to support your views.

"The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things."

In today's highly competitive world, where it has become very difficult to get a place of your own in a community, where fame is a highly valued commodity, it is very much essential that you are different from others.
Ideas are everything. Alique Padamsee, one of the best advertising gurus in India said clearly "An Idea is worth a million rupees". He is right. Ideas differentiate you from the plebeian man, who does what his boss says him to do, without giving second thoughts or coming up with a new solution of his own, that would guarantee his promotion. This pedestrian lives a very monotonic life surrounded by similar people. He is not known outside his group. He is afterall common. He doesn't have ideas. He is simply vacuous.

Newton, when he was young, was sitting under a tree when an apple hit him. Any pedantic scholar or even any common man, if he was reading a book under the tree would have thrown the apple away in rage, but Newton did the opposite. He invested his thoughts to such a common incident - why did the apple fall? I would argue that Newton's time, this might have been considered the dumbest of all questions though no one knew the answer. This vehement interest in such a trivial and commonplace thing led to a ground-breaking scientfic theory about Gravitation. Newton is unparalled now and the good he did to human beings is implicitly prodigious.

At the beginning of the twentieth century there was this young guy working in a patent office who used to get simply obscure ideas, as his friends would say. Once he asked (paraphrased) : "What would happen if I sit in a rocket that travels at the speed of light? Will light still travel at the same speed and hit me?" This thought process, however trivial it looks, led to a remarkable theory - the Special theory of relativity. And the young man was none other than Albert Einstein.

If you argue that this is twenty-first century and that all ideas have been exhausted, then you are terribily wrong. Ideas are never ending. New ideas keep coming every now and then. Newspapers are proof of that.

The world is shaped by great ideas. The greatest of the ideas have moulded the history and has taken the human community a giant leap everytime. The world is advancing each day at a snail's pace. The greatest of the ideas strike rarely but when they strike they advance the human community by a giant leap.But what triggers such greatest ideas? Who comes up with such mind-blowing ideas?

The solution to the above questions is best addressed by this statement "The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things". Everyone of us must remain grounded, have a passionate interest towards even the trivial of things. On the first place, many of us don't give sufficient thoughts, and on the second place, whenever we try to come up with an idea, we essentially start thinking high, give interest to the most complicated ideas. Ideas cannot be forced out, they come naturally. Children must be thought to appreciate the commonplace things. The solution to a trivial problem might help trigger the best of ideas. Remove your glasses and see the world with passion.

One response that got 6/6 is :

Even the most brilliant thinkers, from Socrates to Satre, live lives in time. A childhood, an adolescence, an adulthood; these are common to me and you as well as the greatest writers. Furthermore, many of the great thinkers we esteem in our Western culture lived somewhat unevetful lives. What distinguished their life from say a common laborer was their work. Therefore, what provided the grist for their work? One might say that they were brilliant and this alone was sufficient to distinguish their lives from the masses. Intellect alone can not devise situations or thoughts from no where; there must be a basis and that basis is most common, if not always, observation of the common, of the quotidian. Critics of this idea may argue that these thinkers were products of fine educations and were well schooled in the classics. This, they may point to, is the real basis for their knowledge. I would agrue that although it may be a benefit to study classics and be well schooled in diverse disciplines, these pursuits merely refine and hone an ability each and every person has, the ability to study human nature. Where best to study human nature than in the day to day routine each one of us can witness in him or herself or those around us.

I propose that the two best disciplines to understand this power of the commonplace and its ability to cause a groundswell of thought are philosophy and literature. Every school of philosophy, from the Greeks to our day, share a common mission or intent and that is to understand and explain human existence, with all of its concommitant features. Generally speaking, the Greek philosophers, epitomized in Aristotle, attempted to set down rules for human behavior founded on logic. These rules applied not only to the rare forms of human behavior but largely focused on the more mundane motions of daily life. Many of Aristotle's rules were based on his observations of others as well as himself. Contrast this venture with the existentialists of our century who attempted to look behind the real motivations of human behavior as well understand man's relation to the Universe. To do this, what did these philosophers do? They studied those around them; they submerged themselves in the commonplace, in cities with hordes of annonymous people. While the existentialists, as well those philosophers before, exploited their uncommon eduation and intellect, the basis for their movement was ordinary human behavior and existence.

Finally, literature is similar to philosophy in that it seeks to explain and understand human behavior and therefore rooted in the commonplace. Nevertheless, its relative strength over philosophy is literature's ability to emotionally and spiritually move the reader through the use of contrived situations and fictional characters. It can do this when even the central theme of a piece maybe love between a man and a woman (e.g.commonplace). Literature also distinguishes itself from philosophy in that the breadth of the fiction may be huge. The plot and the detail can be quite ordinary or fanatastic. However, this does not mean that the central themes of all literature, whether ordinary or fantastic, deal with human beings and the problems they find in the world, something which we all share.

In conclusion, I hope it has been shown that a passionate desire to understand and explain human behavior, the significance of our existence and deal constructively with the challanges of life are the centerpieces of at least in two of the most influential areas in human thought. What is more commonplace than the existence of man.

The response that got 1/6 :)

The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things because they are from places in the heart. These iseas draw you to learn more about them. The idea or ideas have become passionate to you by either personal experience or by observation. It catches your attention and causes you to examine why or how the occurance /idea exsists. Institentively the desire to know more about the idea pushes you into futher research of the subject. The idea can be something you don't understand to be acceptable or unacceptable. The drive to understand leads to passion and that passion drives you to develope a great idea.

smaheswaran.com

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:58:00 +0000

Feel free to visit smaheswaran.com which really doesn't have any content as of now. Visit officeLive for registering. You need a credit card number for getting a domain name even though they won't charge you anything. My Bank of America card came to use very well for this!

Google Ego Surf Hit (contd)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:32:00 +0000

Hey, it works now and is much better. Thanks to USC website that I got. Since I knew that Google will give a lot of attention to any page hosted in important sites like usc.edu, I created a new page and added links to various of my pages. Google respects your page if someone links to your page. And then I added this page to Google's index, and within no time the usc page got indexed and other results started appearing. Even though there are no page rank information available for my pages, one particular page does have a pagerank of zero :P

New Seven Wonders!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:28:00 +0000

Wouldn't it be a better idea to vote for Taj Mahal for the new seven wonders? Your vote will definitely matter. The link is here
Rush, the last date is 7th July 2007 (7/7/07)

The Fourier Song

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:53:00 +0000

One day in a land far away
Some mathematicians at play
Found a transform of convenient form
The basis of physics today.
Convolving would wreck people's brains
Still the advent of Fourier domains
for convolving in one
means multiplication
in the corresponding domain.
Got trouble with an ODE?
Fourier transforms will set you free
When once you would cry,
You now multiply,
by a constant times the frequency.
Fourier transforms backwards and forth
I hope that you now see their worth
For in every domain
Advantages reign
Fourier was the salt of the earth.

by Luke Krieg
Posted to sci.physics, 11 Sep 2000

Dedicated to the service of EC :P

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:41:00 +0000

I am running:

A HTTP server for a webpage that contains links to a lot of files related to the Academics at EC dept
A FTP server for these files
A forum for fun

I must add that this must be the firs time in my dept, that someone does such a service :P

Google Results

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 04:13:00 +0000

Yoo, finally it works! [here]