Universal scraps

Lysistrata - for Mullaperiyar .

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:09:00 +0000

We are represented by twenty members in Parliament. It seems their voice is not heard aloud till the recent tremors occurred in Idukki .To my first time readers (hope there will be ) am targeting your attention to a state dispitute about a dam named Mullaperiar in the Kerala –Tamilnadu border. The dam was made of stone and calcium oxide mixed with white of egg. The dam constructed in 1886 was given for lease to the Madras state for 999 years (Remember Dam 999).The diverted water is used for agriculture in the Theni, Madurai District, Sivaganga District and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu. Recent earth quakes has create concerns over the safety of the dam and the Kerala govermnet plans to construct a new dam which is not agreeable for the Tamilnadu. A dam disaster will affect 3.5 million people and we always lack behind in preparing for a disaster and post disaster treatments.

The introduction is over. Lets come to the point for what we can do for the dam .

Aristophanes a greek play write wrote Lysistrata ,its an anti war comedy about an one woman plight to end the The Peloponnesian War. In modern era the Lysistrata mode of strike has been successful or had played an important role in the following situations

Belgium - 2010 Belgian government formation crisis
Colombia - Achieve a cease fire with Colombian guerrilla
Kenya - aimed at politicians , also encouraged president and primeminster wife to join
Philippines - fightinbg between villages
Liberia - helps in ending 14 year civil war.

If it can end fourteen year civil war in Liberia and a cease fire between Colombian guerrillas , sure it can solve our issue also.

Till now I didnt reveal what is the strategy that was behind the revolution. Its nothing but a non violent strike method 'Sex Strike ' , a form of temporary sexual abstinence .

Hope this is a good hint to make them argue strongly for the new Mullaperiyar dam.

image courtesy : theater.uah.edu
other details : wikipedia

A Tribute to Dennis Ritchie

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:52:00 +0000

It was in year 2001 after joining for B.Sc. Computer Science I was hearing about C .Our first semester subjects include C++. But I had no idea what C++ was. One thing I came to know from my class mate was that it evolved from C . At the time when I was joining for the degree , I hadn't even done a single line of code or familiar with a computer . My friends had started showing me programs that generate graphic lines and their names rotating along with them while I watched with dropping jaws .The teacher started the first week class with writing

#include<stdio.h>
and
#include<conio.h> ,

she didn’t even bother about telling as what the stuff was . I by hearted the program codes for printing numbers and text reverse , Fibonacci series (was complicated ) and finding the largest of three numbers . The first semester result came with 29 point someone (influenced by Five point someone) marks for me in C ++ which required 35 to pass. We had C in the second semester and I had to write a supplementary exam along with that . C and C++ made a better combination. I had heard many time my friends that they are crabbed with this language and blaming its founder . Oh it has a founder , so I came in search for that person and found it was Dennis Ritchie . The C programming Language was also a rare piece in our library .

Days and Years passed and everything changed,me too became a Software developer from a country boy who had seen a computer for the first time when he was at eighteen. Iconic products iPod , iPhone and iPad evolved , Steve Jobs became famous (inspiring , motivating ) more or equal to the company Apple , Facebook out smarted Orkut , Twitter came out with 140 character micro blogging and a lot more…. .

Steve Jobs passed away on October 5 , 2011 and there was a lot of mourning (iMourning) . Google posted a link on their home page that takes you to Apple site , a rare instance .Its first time Google is showing such a tribute to a rival company founder or for first time a link wass appearing on their home page.

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie passed away on October 12, 2011 and I felt it like it was unnoticed. When Jobs passed away magazines, media ,everyone had something to say about Steve. May be the younger generation don’t know even who Ritchie was , because he hadn’t developed something that is physical and may be not an industrialist , but he had contributed even more to the computing industry .

The two things that change the industry are the first of its kind portable programming language , the C.

The Apple’s Objective C is a sister of Rictchie’s C just alike Stroustrup C ++ which is object oriented .Even C sharp (C#)of Microsoft is another casting of C . My favorite java has syntax similar to C.

The second contribution is the development of UNIX operating system where Linux Trovalds get inspired to create LINUX .

So Ritchie was a master contributor to the computing industry with lot a lot more .

I bow on this moment .

#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
printf("May your soul rest in peace !!!");

}

image courtesy : www.wired.com

Gold causes cancer*

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:04:00 +0000

The shocking international news which was kept hidden for the past seven years has been leaked. Yes it’s true that the findings of Dr.Noeman Eil Ekaf PhD. a professor ,researcher and Head of Department of HAlfLife , Wonder Lae Institute of Radio Activity,Wonderla, Utopia got leaked by some whistle blowing websites. The authorities has kept this secret due to the pressure from IMF , World Bank and from head of different nations.

Since after this
shocking discovery Prof.Noeman has been missing and even after seven years, there is evidence about his where outs. There is a rumor that has been either killed or taken hostage by an agency formed by the union of different countries. His findings has greatermonetary impact on the world economy. Coming to his findings he has discovered that Gold with symbol Au and atomic number 93 is radioactive. The findings will ground the conventional statement that Gold is not radioactive. This pronouncement occured when he was studying about the radio activity of Gold. One day his advanced Geiger-Müller counter which is used to detect radio activity by detecting the emission of Alpha , Beta and Gamma rays showed variations when gold was exposed.

Please forward this mail to our brothers and sisters who are so fond of Gold. Let them know the hazard of wearing it and save them from Cancer .

When the gold price was sky rocketing I thought of writing the above stuff and start forwarding it. I have written a post regarding why Gold is so precious in September 2009.
Later I abandoned the plan , thinking that gold is not precious ,its just like any other metal similar to Aluminum but yellowish in color. What make it precious is human physiology , our mind. From war medals to Olympic medals we love gold .

Imagine a time where El Niñov and La Niña make things worse for you to live in this world.The agriculture cannot meet the necessities of the world, its has fallen far behind in feeding billions of humans .Green revolutions can’t fails with unfavorable climate .What will the government do with the tones of gold piles it kept as reserves ?Starvation, famine, floods everywhere, you have gold but you don’t have food to buy. The state of Midas
who want to turn everything to gold on his touch of finger, at last can’t even eat anything because everything he touches turn to Gold

Joke Point : If gold causes cancer, buy gold in demat form (Gold ETF)

[There is a lot more to write about Gold, the love of Indians to gold , especially Keralites, the concerns of parents with girl Child (Gold and Dowry) which I will post in later point of time ]

* I have written this post based on pure imagination and all the names used here are fictional, The writer will not be responsible for any of the impact caused by spreading this post via any electronic or other means.

Image courtesy : http://www.vaibhavlakshmiexport.com/gold-necklace-sets.htm

Karimeen (pearlspot) - A story of how my friend surprised me

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:41:00 +0000

This time it’s also something about marriage… . Some weeks back I had some thoughts in my mind about how to surprise my friends by introducing my fiancée to my friends . Don’t misunderstand me it’s just part of my thoughts and is not getting married in near term. She’s not working in my company and taking my friends outside will be difficult.

So I made a plan, visitors are allowed up to our cafeteria so I will ask Diya (again fictional name… it’s difficult to write without a name :-)) to come as a visitor and wait in the cafeteria . It’s usually at 10.30 in the morning me and my friends join for a coffee . So at the middle of the coffee I will just break the news that I am getting engaged and she works in one of the India’s largest conglomerates. Surely they will be asking for a photo,

“Why photo if you can meet…..” ”Hi … meet Diya my ….”.

My friends will be surprised and will congratulate me for my radiant idea.

This is all part of the story and now I will explain what happened in real.

Last Friday I was going back home along with Abru and Mohan in Mohan’s car .Abru is getting married in coming August and he said he will give us a treat . So we decided to have our dinner from Travancore Palace Hotel in Cherthalai . The palace hotel looks like a real palace and we all loved the ambience especially Abru .On the whole atmosphere was very calm inside with pleasant Kadhakali songs (padangal ) from speakers somewhere hidden Inside aroused the feeling of Kadakali from some temple nearby . The hotel had almost every thing except the king to canon it . The antics were kept nicely and I cant even name some of them . In the backyard we can see Arayum nirayum with two brass elephants guarding it . (I will try to upload the photos if possible) .

We ordered Duck roast , Karimeen * fry , Fish curry (Varal ) and Chappatis . Abru was comfortable with Keral Parathas . The food was superb and yummy. Abru finished the food a little bit ahead of us and was busy with his phone sending text messages. Oh I forgot we also ordered Prawns fry . (again yummy……….) . The same day after noon I had asked Abru for his fiancée pics which he had promised me to send the previous day “hm…. I will send it toady itself ”He replied . As me and Mohan were enjoying the prawns Abru was talking to a girl and her family which I thought were his relatives. I cleared the possibility that it may not be his would-be because she’s from some distant place and I continued enjoying the Karimean *. All of a sudden Abru came and introduced her

“Da .. u asked about the pics in the afternoon right ..What about meeting her in real….”
“This is the girl…”

I was confused for a moment whether to spew or swallow the Karimeen *.

* Karimeen - a tropical fresh water fish found in backwaters of Kerala

A question of GOD

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:11:00 +0000

When I was on my way back to working place via bus I noticed an old lady nearing her seventies advising a young guy , the guy simply nodded his head as if understanding every thing. She was dressed in a white saree and she wore a badge.

The guy got down in the next stop and I sat beside her. At first she looked at me and patted in my hand asking me where I was going .I told I have miles to go (before I sleep) . She wanted to know the exact place and I told her. I have seen older ladies near my home who had joined Shivite cult which is located in Mount Abu. She started asking me questions

"Son You know who GOD is "

I answered "The one who is present everywhere, Omnipresent "

"Its wrong..." "How can u say that hes present every where , then why are u going to temple "

I told her "To make your mind calm..u will be much disturbed in ur house or workplace ..children , television..etc..so " .

"Hmm.. we can stop about temple subject here , I don't need to argue with u ".

I told here for me

"If your are feeling so hungry and food arrives in front of you , that food is ur GOD " .

"Hm.... ok u have more knowledge than me "

"No no " i said "You have more years of world experience than me"

"I need to get down at the next stop...Its nice to talk such subject and time wont be enough for such,,,Ccan u share your phone number .."

"But I hesitated to share it..."I told her "We will meet again"

She replied "Yes , Surely God will !!!!"

image courtesy : http://sweetblossom2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/god.html

Google Menu bar turned black.

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:15:00 +0000

Last night, ie on June 28, 2011 I Googled till near midnight , my favorite web home was looking fine

It has been unchanged for years or the day I started goggling it. In the morning someone has poured some black paint over its front . It felt me like some has some thugs has doen this to your sweet home with a nice white paint over it.

As a netizen I urge Google to change it back to angel white ……..

Join me by posting your valuable comments

Tunnel boring machine

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:57:00 +0000

Machines are ones that reduce human work load. A character in Five point some one asks his Mechanical professor , what about machines used in the gym , are they machines to reduce human work force ?.

Here the image shown is a Tunnel boring Machine, One of the gigatic machines humans have ever made, This monster can overcome any thing includuig rock,A TBM machine reduces the noise in creatign a tunnel , where explosives are used.

image courtesey : http://skeledog.com/

Upagupta

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Mon, 17 May 2010 06:52:00 +0000

Rabindranath Tagore , the great litterateur born on 7 May 1861 ,the first non-European to win Nobel Prize for Literature, the only litterateur who penned national anthems for two countries, during the eve of his 150th birth anniversary I am coping here the Upagupta , the poem I like most from Tagore.

Its the story of Upagupta , the desciple of Buddha and Vasavadutta a young court dancer of Madurai. Vasavadutta is young ,rich and proud .She has the felling that every men will fall in front of her .She has been shown as a prime example of worldly possessions .On the other side Upagupta, is the disciple of Lord Buddha, filled with peace . The poem depicts the calming down of other emotions by peace or santam.Written in simple language , its really a jewel in Indian literature.

Once you read the poem you can realize its beauty.

Upagupta, the disciple of Buddha, lay sleep in
the dust by the city wall of
Mathura.
Lamps were all out, doors were all shut, and
stars were all hidden by the murky sky of August.

Whose feet were those tinkling with anklets,
touching his breast of a sudden?
He woke up startled, and a light from a woman’s
lamp fell on his forgiving eyes.
It was dancing girl, starred with jewels,
Wearing a pale blue mantle, drunk with the wine
of her youth.
She lowered her lamp and saw young face
austerely beautiful.

“Forgive me, young ascetic,” said the woman,
“Graciously come to my house. The dusty earth
is not fit bed for you.”
The young ascetic answered, “Woman,
go on your way;
When the time is ripe I will come to you.”

Suddenly the black night showed its teeth
in a flash of lightening.
The storm growled from the corner of the sky, and
The woman trembled in fear of some unknown danger.

A year has not yet passed.
It was evening of a day in April,
in spring season.
The branches of the way side trees were full of blossom.
Gay notes of a flute came floating in the
warm spring air from a far.
The citizens had gone to the woods for the
festival of flowers.
From the mid sky gazed the full moon on the
shadows of the silent town.

The young ascetic was walking along the lonely street,
While overhead the love-sick koels uttered from the
mango branches their sleepless plaint.
Upagupta passed through the city gates, and
stood at the base of the rampart.

Was that a woman lying at his feet in the
shadow of the mango grove?
Stuck with black prestilence, her body
spotted with sores of small-pox,
She had been hurriedly removed from the town
To avoid her poisonous contagion.
The ascetic sat by her side, took her head
on his knees,
And moistened her lips with water, and
smeared her body with sandal balm.

“Who are you, merciful one?”

asked the woman.
“The time, at last, has come to visit you, and
I am here,” replied the young ascetic.

image courtesy :-http://www.sahajayoga.com.au/news/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/tagore1.jpg

Sign Boards of Life

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 06:23:00 +0000

Keeping mum for long time , writing no posts in the blog for months, and writing an apology saying that I was busy for the past months,actually I don't like it.
Frankly saying why I don't write for the past moths were I was out of subject or nothing grappled into my mind for the past three or four months. Again I was busy with my work almost 12 to 18 hours .I still believe that I don't have a regular visitor to my blog .

Why again ?

I have the habit of regularly visiting the pages I like very much. May be a couple of time a day. recently I was very much attracted to blog 'Life Beyond Code' may be am working with codes and the sub title of the blog "Bringing Ideas to Life With Love !"

The author is Rajesh Setty,a silicon valley inhabitant.About him as from his blog he is founder, operating executive, board member and/or an investor.An author who published his first book at the age of thirteen. He loves speaking at conferences and company events.

Why I love this blog becuase whever I vist the blog I will get something new , new like a sign board that makes you aware of your path . Ithing every one of you should vist the blog, I cant assure you that you will love the blog , but am sure that you will find something useful may be again like a sign board.

click here for >> Life Beyond Code

image courtesy : http://www.coolfunpics.com

Which is the best place in the world to live

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:40:00 +0000

Every year the International Living magazine rates countries based on best quality of life

The classification give an insight about the socio ecomic and other living condtions of different nations and improvement thay have acheived within the year . The result of the clasification gives you the answer to the question

"Which is the best place in the world to live"

2010 Quality of Life Index. points are calculated on the following basis

Cost of Living ( how much it will cost you to live)
Culture and Leisure (based on literacy rate, newspaper circulation per 1,000 people, primary and secondary school enrollment ratios etc)
Economy (based on GDP), Environment(population density, green house emission)
Freedom (civil and political rights)
Health (based on peoples per doctar, hospitals per docta,infant mortality rate, life expectancy, and public health expenditure )
Infrastructure (highways,airports, water ways etc)
Safety and Risk (dangerous living conditions)
Climate (the annual rainfall and temperature).

The top 10 countries on Quality of Life Index 2010 are

France
Australia
Switzerland
Germany
New Zealand
Luxembourg
United States
Belgium
Canada and
Italy

No Latin American or Asian countries came to top 10.France is leading to the top for the 5th consecutive year. They have considered US as the standard.
The most notable position is of India .India has improved 35 places to become the 88th best country in the world to live.Nations like Russia and China are behind India.

UAE ranked 141st in 2010 Quality of Life index.The Arab nation falls behind Colombia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mongolia, Swaziland, Azerbaijan and North Korea in terms of quality of life.

Most of the Gulf countries ranked in the bottom half.

Read more about your countries score from this link
2010 Quality of Life Index

About Cervical Cancer and the Vaccine

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:26:00 +0000

It s for the first time I am writing about some thing medical . Positional Vertigo was the last term I researched over the internet when my father was suffering from bppv .By Gods grace now he is alright now.

Last day I to see an ad by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) about a vaccine called Cervarix for Cervical cancer . So decided to get more details about Cervical cancer and cervical cancer vaccine. Most of us are ignorant about the diseases and if a new vaccine is out of the market we simply convert our self to guinea pigs.

I want every one to know about the disease and vaccines its pros , its side effects, its rate of success etc.

I am not stating that the above vaccine is a failure nor its a success.I am presenting the facts about the disease and the vaccine collected from the web.

Whats a Vaccine

Vaccine is a biological preparation to improve the immunity of our body against a particular disease.The disease causing microbes are killed or weakened and is exposed to our immune system.The immune system can easily overcome the microbe and it develops an immunity against such kind of microbes.Edward Jenner invented the first vaccine against smallpox in 1796.read more about vaccines ....

Cervical cancer and the HP Virus

Cancer is the uncontrollable growth of tissues inside the body,some times destroying the adjacent tissues. Cancer affects almost all types of people .Cervical cancer is the abnormal mass of tissue in cervical area.

The infection of HumanPapillmaVirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer.HPV can lead to cancers of the cervix, vulva, vagina, and anus in women and it can lead to cancers of the anus and penis.Currently there are 130 types of HPV have been identified of them 2 are of high risk.30-40 HPVs are sexually transmitted . Most HPV infections have no long term significance which 70% disappear in 1 year 90% in 2 years. The persisting of infection causes cancer in 5-10 % of woman.The process takes about 15-20 years.HPV types 16,18 are the high risk types. .

About the vaccine.

UK Department of Health choose the vaccine for its national human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation programme
The vaccine has been found to be more effective when administered to adolescent girls before they become sexually active(age 9 to 26).
The vaccine is effective only against two types of HPV.
The vaccine cost is very high

More facts about Cervical Cancer

Having more than one sexual partners increases the risks of cervical cancer.
Condoms offer some protection against cervical cancer
Cervical cancer is the fifth moth deadly cancer in woman.(GSK sites says its the third)
It kills about kills about 9 per 100,000 per year.

GSK site says that
"Vaccination is expected to significantly reduce the lifetime risk of cervical cancer "

We cant always make wise decisions , but some times we can.
I like to see your comments.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervical_cancer

Ocean Current Energy

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:58:00 +0000

Its time to think about another alternative sources of energy than the conventional
ones that pollute the environment .The main alternative source of energy is form wind and also from waves.

A new and innovative way is produce energy from Ocean Currents. A ocean current is like a vast river within the ocean, flowing from one place to another. There are different factors that contribute to the currents .The main things is the differences in temperature, differences in salinity, and by wind. Enormous quantity of water movement occurs in ocean currents.Gulf Stream and California Current are two known examples of ocean currents.

Ocean currents occur on surface and also in deep (Surface Ocean currents and Deep Ocean currents).Unlike wind blows ocean current flows in unique direction.The density of water determines the strength of the current.The ocean current flows thousand of kilometers and plays a dominant part in the Earths climate change.The density of water is 800 times that of air.Water moving at 12 miles per hour is equivalent to 110 mph wind speed.

Similar to wind turbines ,submerged water turbines are used to extract energy
Marine current energy is in the early stages of its development. the US, Japan , China and some European Union countries are experimenting the technology. Environmental impacts ,impacts on marine species etc. should be studied before the implementation.

References:
http://ocsenergy.anl.gov/guide/current/index.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_current
image courtesy: wikipedia

Virtual goods Real money

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:23:00 +0000

Have you brought something virtual for real money,like weapons in games like Mafia wars , oil for your tractor in Farm Ville .Most of us will nod no , still there are a lot of people you spend money on these mere pixels on the screen.This has become the new trend of social gaming.
The fantastic business of making goods with zero manufacturing charge which fetches a margin of 100%.This is really a big profit that any other business will give back.

Zynga, Playfish and Playdom are dominating the virtual goods market with there #1 rated games on Facebook and Myspace .Zynga is the leading company. FarmVille a social game by Zynga has a whooping 65 million users ,all agricultural enthusiasts. All the virtual goods are bought for the improvement of character in the game they play.The games are designed in such a way that the user is pushed to buy something to keep the pace of the game.The best example is buying gasoline for your tractor in FarmVille.

The share Zyga got from selling the virtual goods is astonishing, a 100 Million $.Its saying that a million users are spending money on virtual goods. Zynga has moved a little bit ahead and created its on dedicated site for FarmVille.

What to say ? Keep going ah

Swarm Intelligence

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:37:00 +0000

The term Swarm Intelligence may be unfamiliar to you, but somewhere near you there are places in which it get applied .
Simply it can defined as the collective behavior of decentralized self organized systems.

The self organized system interact with each other and with the environment .It is also the basis of distributed problem solving . there is no centralized control to control the particles or independent systems.

The Ant search is ofter highlighted as an example of Swarm Intelligence.The other organisms came under SI are school of Fishes, migrating birds etc.

Swarm Robotics is an emerging area where swarm principles are applied to robots.
Read more about SI fro these links

image courtesy :
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/uploaded_images/swarm_escape-708935.jpg

Zen Stories

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:07:00 +0000

Zen Buddhism is school of Mahayana Buddhism.Zen Buddhism aims for the attainment of enlightenment.

Zen teachings are told in simple short stories that carry an extensive level of meanings.Most of them will end in hundred or two hundred words , the understandability vary from person to person.

Here I am telling you three Zen stories that I loved.
I am happy if you add more stories to the comment list.

Carrying the woman

Two monks were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.

"Come on, girl,"said the first monk. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
The second monk did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself.

"We monks don't go near females," he said. "It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there,: the first monk said. "Are you still carrying her?"

2 . If You Love, Love Openly

Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing meditation with a certain Zen master.

Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting upon a private meeting.

Eshun did not reply. The following day the master gave a lecture to the group, and when it was over, Eshun arose. Addressing the one who had written her, she said: "If you really love me so much, come and embrace me now."

3. A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

You can read more stories from 101 Zen Stories

image courtesy :http://www.writespirit.net/religious_traditions/zen_buddhism

The Man Who Fed the World

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:42:00 +0000

Every one who merely take even a grain a day is directly or indirectly consociated to this man. The man who has been deemed as the father of the Green Revolution passed away September 12 th 2009.

Norman Ernest Borlaug popularly Norman Borlaug is a man who saved one billion people worldwide from hunger.
He started his career against the pests that affects wheat and barley. It was the time when the world population was exploding and there is no increase in the proportional production of food (especially rice and wheat and other cereals ) with the tremendous world population.

His experiments started in the wheat farms of Mexico(Wheat being the most produced cereal ).During this time the team made nearly 6000 wheat crossings to make a pest resistant variety breed. Borolog also used the technique of Dwarfing to make short plants with thicker stems to withstand the weight of grain.

In1963 Borlaug came to India.1965 was an year of famine and war for India. In 1967 Pakistan imported the ever largest seed import of 42,000 tons. 1968 was an year in which Pakistan’s wheat production doubled and they became self-sufficient in wheat production. In 1974 India was self sufficient in the production of all cereals.

In 1970 the great U.S. Agronomist was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize. In 2006 The Government of India presented him the Padma Vibhushan, its second highest civilian award.

So when ever you are having food remember the statement ( Borlaug's children released this statement )

"We would like his life to be a model for making a difference in the lives of others and to bring about efforts to end human misery for all mankind."

Refrence : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug
Image: http://www.cfans.umn.edu/sites/da3af65c-e373-4e98-a2a9-a33f17f8a3ac/uploads/neewimage.jpg

JAILED ABROAD

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:32:00 +0000

The word jail may invoke cautious in us about the laws of the land. From history onwards jail was always a replica of hell on earth. From war prisoners to captives,from criminals to crooks its all a seperate world.
The National Geographic Channe l is telecasting a show called Jailed Abroad series 1 .It tells the real life stories of people who were jailed abroad in different situations.

British journalist Amar Bassey in Pakistan, Judo instructor Glen Heggstad in Colombia,Daniel in Ecuador are some of them.
Most of the incidents were grievous and most people moist their eyes narrating the incident.
Some incidents were part of the jobs, some were done for easy money making and some end as kidnaps.

So don't miss it, usually on 10.00pm on Mondays, re telecast often

image coutesy :http://www.natgeotv.co.in/programmes/Photos.aspx?Id=386&GalleryNo=2

Why gold is precious

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:49:00 +0000

Which is your favorite color? the answer may range from red to green and from pink to blue. There may be some yellow lovers also. But when it comes to ornaments 99% will go for gold, which is having a bright yellow color. The question is why gold is so precious, I will argue that its due to humans gold is precious. There are also people who don’t like gold because they are having
metal allergy not metallurgy.

The civilizations that don’t use gold do not value it. There is great deal of gold influence in history ranging from Egyptian civilization to Chinese .The pursuit of gold has equal contribution to atrocities including war, colonization and slavery.
The fall of Inca Empire and Aztec Empire was due to gold plundering. Remember the Californian "Gold Rush" in 1849.Gold Standard was used by many countries until the great depression 1932. Alchemists also worked a lot to make gold from other metal using a mythical stone called Philosophers stone. Their interest later paved way to modern chemistry.

Gold is the most malleable and ductile metal, i.e. 1 gram can be made into a sheet of 1 square meter. Gold is a good conductor of electricity and mostly found in electronic devices like computers (Yes your computer contains gold, Gonna break it).It can prevent corrosion and also its non toxic.
Pure gold is 24 carat but it’s soft, so it’s alloyed with base metals to make ornaments. Usually copper is used.18k or 18 carrots gold contains 25% copper.22K gold contains 91.6 pure gold.

Indians buy 25 % of words gold(Thanks to Akshaya Tritiya)

Gold is found free in nature so next time when you walk careful not to stumble upon a gold stone

References :
http://www.ehow.com/about_4577822_why-gold-valuable.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Jewelry
Image courtesy :
http://blog.apogee.gr/files/chocolate-hearts-gold_LRG.jpg

consrv.ca.gov

A Techies recipe

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:40:00 +0000

This Onam I got an opportunity to test and taste my recipe. I wont argue that it became and wonderful and yummy dish, still it was tasty a taste of something new and of satisfaction.

I am sorry to say that I don’t have any pics of my dish.The story of my experiment starts on last Tuesday . I was speaking to my mother about the next day's Onam dishes. She told me that in her childhood days they used to prepare thoran (dry Keralite dish according to Wikipedia) using the stem of Elephant yam which is found rarely now a days .The traditional dish was replaced with cabbage usually accussed of containing Furadan particles inside the leaves. So I told my mother that this time we can have our traditional one and I agreed to prepare it.

I walked to the our backyard and found two not that much healthy Elephant yam there, cut the stem from one of them. Usually on the day of 'Thiruonam ' we wont hurt any plants or animals, so all vegetables and leaves should be picked a day before Thiruvonam.The next day after my breakfast I started my experimentation.

So like that in a recipe blog we can check out the ingredients.

Elephant yam stem (minced ) - 2 cups (approx.)
Urad dal - 1 tablespoon
Mustard seed - 1 teaspoon
Coconut oil - 2 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Coconut (minced ) - 2 tablespoon
Garlic - a little one
Cumin seeds - 1/2 1 teaspoon
Green Chilies - 4 no.
Dried Red Chilies - 2 no.
Salt - as required
Curry leaf - 4 or 5 no.

Now we can start.

Wash the minced yam in water by adding half teaspoon turmeric powder.Press and bring out the waterHeat oil in pan and add mustard seeds ,add Urad after all the mustard seeds have burst Stir until Urad becomes red.Add Curry leaves, chopped red chilies and minced yam stem. Sprinkle salt water over it and pack together with a spoon .Close it with a lid and cook in low flame.

Put the rest of turmeric powder, cumin seeds, green chilies, minced coconut and peeled garlic and blend in your mixer. Add the potpourri to the pan and mix it throughout. Again pack together and cook or some time in low flame.

Ahh finished !!! the dish is ready.
Blogging will take much time than cooking.Savor you nutritious yam thoran.

image courtesy: wiki

Onam Wishes

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:17:00 +0000

Festivals are auspicious occasions and every culture has adopted their ethnic days of glory and ethnic. The month of September will bloom with a such a propitious festival especially for Keralites, "Onam" . Even though there has been tremendous changes in the manner of celebration , still its one of the modest feeling I ever have . The emotion has filled my heart and I am short of words.

I take this instant to Wish all my fellow bloggers ' A very Happy Onam. May the good God bless u and fill ur heart with joy & happiness. Have the most beautiful Onam '.

I have create a collage using Picassa3.
image courtesy :
http://www.kerala.com/kerala_festivals/
http://img295.imageshack.us/
http://curryworld.files.wordpress.com/
http://www.geocities.com/CTKerala/
http://z.hubpages.com/

Celebrate !!! Blogger turns 10

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

I started blogging in December 2007, I cant recall how I came to know about .Like millions I am also part of the words biggest blogging platform. Pyra labs launched Blogger on August 1999, which was later acquired by Google in 2003.

The blogger team are promising a bunch of gifts on the eve of anniversary.

All those who use Blogger, its time to CeLeBrAtE

Paint with nontoxic paints

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:39:00 +0000

Every body in his/her life time may have once come in touch with paint. There is unalike variety of paints from odorless paints, paints with plastic coating, paints with weather shield , paints with fluoresce and even more…. .On every occasion we will paint our house or premises with the latest brand new paint which boasts about its durability.

Check the following facts.

Lead is a soft and heavy metal.
Lead pigments are used extensively in paints for white, yellow, orange, and red colors
Lead is neurotoxin (a substance that acts with membrane proteins of nerve cells)
Lead poisoning was documented in ancient Rome, Greece, and China.

Centre for Science and Environment is a public interest research and advocacy organization that promotes environmentally sound and equitable development strategies.
CSE has conducted a study on popular brands of paints in India and found that most of the brands contain extremely high quantity of lead which is harmful for children. It has found that 72% of samples contain lead that is more than the admissible limit specified by Bureau of Indian Standards.

Please have a look at the graph showing the lead content in major paint brands.

18 samples contained lead much higher than the 1,000 ppm limit specified by the BIS.
Deep Orange paint of the Shalimar’s Superlac brand has highest lead contend ie 185 times the BIS limit and 308 times the US paints limit of 600 ppm.
Berger brand Luxol’s golden yellow color had a staggering 162,559 ppm lead .
All the samples of ICI-Dulux had lead much below the specified limit.
ICI did not use lead in its paint formulations.

Lead will lead to

Lead poisoning is as the ‘silent epidemic’.

The human body cannot process and excrete lead.
Sustained and large exposure can cause neuron damage.
Children are especially susceptible and their central nervous systems and brains are affected.
Even extremely low levels of lead can impair foetal development.

It is easy to get exposed to lead. One can pick it up by touching paint on walls and other surfaces, inhaling exhaust fumes from a vehicle, or while walking on leaded paint chips, says the CSE study.

I have prepared this post based on the CSE report. You can read the full report from the following link. Lead Content in Paints .

We need to

set a standard lead levels for paint in the country
set environmental level on products.
print clear cut ingredients and toxic levels listing on products

References:
http://www.cseindia.org/AboutUs/press_releases/press-20090817.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead

An Extraordinary human

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:19:00 +0000

We have heard very much about persons who offer a helping hand to his fellow human beings. This time its about a similar person but an extraordinary one.

'I don't feed beggars. They can look after themselves. The mentally ill won't ask anyone for food or money,' says N Krishnan.

N Krishnan runs a charitable trust called Akshaya Trust for the past seven years. The trusts name shares with the famous Akshaya Patra in the epic Mahabharata; it’s a bowl with the power of giving whatever food desired by its owner.
He left his job in a five star hotel to feed the mentally ill. Really a great minded person , rare to find in recent days.

For more information on N Krishnan's trust, log on to: http://www.akshayatrust.org/

The story is from Rediff News . Click o n the image to read the full story.

The Right to Live

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:55:00 +0000

In this world before the evolution of human beings millions of creatures shared the land, they hunted and hunted for food just to survive. When humans developed as creatures with culture, intelligence and the co-existence outlook with other creatures has been cast off. We ruled the world, fought wars from 100 years to 10 days, killed each other and enjoyed our self.

The post is a result of this news "Australia considers mass killings of camels”. How they are slaughtering these creatures is a very ‘good’ example, they will send sharp shooters in helicopters and shoot them in air. Is pain the same for all living beings? The government has proposed a plan of $16 million and they are even considering taking tourists in this slaughter process.

Camels were introduced to Australia in 1840 to help transport heavy goods especially in desert areas. There are currently 1 million camels in Australia. They vie with local Bos Taurus for food, tread down vegetation and invade remote settlements in search of water, scaring residents as they tear apart bathrooms and rip up water pipes. So again water problem? The same situation for camels can arrive for human where humans fight for water.

Why cant they consider alternative measures to prevent the birth control with the amount ? may be the human brutal mind will not get satisfied.

Images : Associated Press,Wiki media

World eBook Fair

noreply@blogger.com (abhi) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:39:00 +0000

There were times when we are searching for a book online and coming back that its not available for download or its a paid service. Now an auspicious occasion has arrived to get what you wanted. If such an event occurs being ignorant about it is pretty bad.
I am talking about World e-Book Fair (WeBF) , even though I came to know only after my colleague forwarded a mail to me regarding the event. It actually started in July 4 and ends on August 4. Better late than never. Its an open access E-books for one month.
Enjoy downloading what you need and let other know about it .

A little about WeBF .

World e-Book fair is an for making students and all people equal acees to knowledge and opportunity and a huge collection of e-books free for download for a month.There are a lot of profitable and non profitable sponsors . The main sponsors include
Project Gutenberg , World Public Library , Internet Archive , DPP Store , International Music Score Library Project , Ask., Baen Books , Mobile Books

The available formats include PDF, plain text, e-books for mobile phones and mp3 files
So start downloading now onwards .

Click here to go for World e Book Fair
References : http://bookpublishing.suite101.com
Image courtesy : http://www.uvnc.com/