xpressthoughts

LETTER FROM SRI. ABDUL KALAM

2011-01-30T22:15:00.001-08:00

Letter to Every Indian

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit.. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T.Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is.. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.

YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - 'YOURS'. Give him a face - 'YOURS'. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are.. You pay $5 (approx. Rs.. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity… In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai .. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.

YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs..650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand ..

Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan .. Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.

We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?

What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too….. I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…..
'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'
Lets do what India needs from us.

Thank you,
Dr. Abdul Kalam

Let's stop Swine Flu

2010-06-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

Let's Stop Swine Flu

AH1N1 Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months in humans.

Symptoms of Swine Flu:

v Fever

v Muscle Aches

v Lethargy

v Coughing

v Head Ache

v Sore Throat

v Runny Nose

v Nausea

v Vomiting

v Diarrhea

v Lack Of Appetite

What You Can Do To Prevent Swine Flu:

ü Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you Cough or Sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

ü Wash your hand often with soap and water, especially after you cough and sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.

ü Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Does language express thought

2009-06-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

DOES LANGUAGE EXPRESS THOUGHT OR DOES IT MERELY SUCCEED IN EXPOSING THE UNREFLECTIVE CHARACTER OF THOUGHT?

HERE IS HOW MARK TWAIN HAD RESPONDED TO THAT UNASKED QUESTION:

“WHEN I WAS A BOY OF FOURTEEN, MY FATHER WAS SO IGNORANT I COULD HARDLY STAND TO HAVE THE OLD MAN AROUND.BUT WHEN I GOT TO BE TWENTYONE , I WAS ASTONISHED AT HOW MUCH HE HAD LEARNED IN SEVEN YEARS”

MARK TWAIN

----
Taken from a groupmail

How to make relevance to the future

2009-01-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

I was wondering what will happen to all the blogs, pictures, websites and all our internet fingerprints after 500/600 years from now. I am sure there will technology changes may be internet version 10 or 15. And some companies go bankrupt and close their hostings etc. etc. but internet as such is going to hold data (at least some of it) from its early beginings.

Now the questions will be:

Will our generation data be considered of historical signifance?
Will future generations take same effort, like we preserve things in physical world like pyramids, eiffel tower and old temples etc. etc. ?
Do you think any body would want to see these pages/information like we see all world war movies?
What should we do to make relevance to the future generations, who do not have any thing in common with us. Not the same technology problems, not the same economic and political problems, not the same financial problems. May be everything might be administred by machines and humans have nothing to do physically.

Its a strange thought came into mind this morning.

Beat Jet lag

2009-01-13T11:21:00.001-08:00

read this in natural solutions magzine: Researches show that fasting before flying to far land helps you beat jet lag completely. Reasons why this would work is generally our body is aware of our eat,sleep and wake up cycle. One of the ways it knows is our internal body clock (circadian rhythm) taking help of day light.

When you skip meals, food driven kicks takes over your circadian clock. It take 12 to 16 hours of fasting to spart this reaction. Our body has the ability to override and reset the primary clock to new time zone simply by faking it out with food.

Is there a better way?

2008-12-03T12:06:00.001-08:00

One year wedding anniversary was celebrated yesterday. I always thought it is very difficult take a day off from a busy schedule of final exams and important deadlines.... as always I proved this theory wrong by doing nothing related to work for one entire day. "Where were we?" yes, we were discussing about our one year wedding anniversary.

You know me, I always start early for these kind of things. I started celebrating the anniversary by adding/revitalizing our wedding website http://manjunathwedsmaya.googlepages.com, creating family albums, album for my wife and so on. What comes to my mind next is "What do we do on that day?" After performing bruteforce of all possible ideas, experiences from recent eloborate thanks giving dinner experiences (believe me it was pain cooking thanks giving dinner all day long) I have decided not to cook, not to work and just spend time with my wife.

To my surprise the anniversary day celebrations started early (even before my schedule started) at 12:00AM in the midnight. My wife presented me an amazing gift for the day. I kind off was way behind in choosing the right gift. You can over come late by being latest (popular telugu dialog: lateuga vochina latestuga vostha). We shared gifts and thanks with cold star bucks frappochino and chocolate brownie cake, fell asleep at 2 in the night. Too many phone calls, greetings and wishes in the morning. After elaborate dress changes and photo shoots in the morning we decided to have brunch.

We visited this amazing Italian resutrant to try new things. With appatizers, juices (sweet cold ice tea for me), main course italian food(I try not to explain for better good) and chocholate chip bread pudding which is really good, proved to be one of expensive ways of having breakfast in Pittsburgh. Thats when we headed of to movies with popcorn and coke.

Nothing can seperate me and the IMDB in making right decisions when it comes to movies. So about this movie I prefer not differ much with imdb

"When a couple tries to fly away from their family for Christmas, as they do every year, their fun turns around when all flights have been canceled. Now they have to go to four houses to celebrate Christmas while going through memories they don't want to go into and suprises they can't handle while they have to use a safe word to get out of situations"

I almost felt like one of the characters representing me before marriage. It was lot fun with loads of popcorn and drinks in hand. Lot more fun if you watching movies with the one.

After elaborate fun at movie we started walking through the beautiful waterfront shops in snow with chirstmas music in background made me think about serendipity of life.

Its never too cold for a good ice cream especially my favorite banana icecream with almods and coconut at cold stone creamery.Just when we got tired of the window shopping at expensive boutiques and barnes. We have decided to sit for a while. Thats when we decided to sit in movies one more time. Only place to sit alone is to visit the nearest theater.

Once again you guessed it right, when it comes to movies nothing comes in between me and the IMDB we have visited sequel of THE MADAGASCAR also starring my favorite "Ben Stiller as (Alex),Chris Rock (Marty) and the hero of friends David Schwimmer (Melman)". Is the best way to connect with kid inside. I proved it right one other theory of mine which worked well yesterday was "You can never get bored of a movie if you have enough pop corn and coke in hand".

Anyways it was not at all painful to wait for the cab in the bar drinking some (sweet and cold ice tea) taking pictures at the color ful christmas trees, waiting did count for the quality time you can spend.

The end the style is what matters most, nothing can beat the italian brunch unless it an Indian dinner. Apolozies for the waitresses shaking hand, we could not get the image with better clarity. As you can see with a good view of the road and too many dosas, mango lassi, we forgot to realize that there is thin line between eating and stuffing especially when you lost in the conversation. That was the final and another expensive way of spending the evening.

I almost forgot about the cab driver, who entertained us with wierd single and american marriage theory. Anyways, with a quick recap and a sound sleep I woke up in the morning today with full body pains and loads of assignments to submit.

How to loose in chess over and over again?

2008-11-12T12:48:00.000-08:00

I have created dashboards where I added soo many gadjets, technology allows us to do many things. So I added games, youtube, chats, and every thing I needed for passive/active entertainment. One of them unfortunately is the chess. It was good initially when you are winning. So evil me comes alive and wants to increase the ratings. Next thing to do is register, this is the night mare. You keep playing with bigshots for easy rankings, obviously you loose.

So if you want to loose in chess over and over again just play it. It is okay if you loose, learn how to win over a period of time. Moral of the story is you can win game one at a time.

Writing stories in the dream...

2008-10-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a dream. In which I was a writer. I was writing this interesting murder mystery story. I could remember what the story is, and decided to complete it. I will post here once the story is done. What amazes me though is:

Can you write stories in your dream? And can you remember when its done.

2008-10-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

I never feel a deep need for VOIP when I'm in India. Direct phone call to India on normal phones is insanely expensive.The search of better VOIP alternatives began when I visited US in 2005, resulting in the article " VOIP for dummies ".

Its the year 2008, and I'm in US again. Times have changed now, VOIP now has a new face. People trying out ways make exisiting voip technologies much cheaper. In the article above mentioned various technologies that can help you use the VOIP for a layman. Having understood that, you still have much cheaper options in todays world. Most VOIP companies try to reduce the international/long distance calls by assigning an alternative local number. Idea is you get the local/resident area number for any phone number (abroad). That way you will be charged only local price (+ the call charge which is much cheaper than initial VOIP providers).

I'm currently using Rebtel. Which gives welcome minutes, double your intial money, referral benifits for the users. By far the cheapest way to call India (if your local call is free).

Thought I might share the new updates.

Ingredients of a successful National Cyber Security Awareness Program?

2008-07-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

Since the question has the "Awareness" i.e. state of being conscious about "Cyber Security." Ideally the approach should be to reach as many number of people (to the largest possible extent). The message should be informative and attractive so that people take time to read, why is it important?

More emphasis on personal level/individual use than on organizational policies mean more to larger audience. Message for policy makers should be made bold and clear.

Use the best means to spread the message.

National Cyber Security policy should have safety measures and resources for all the internet users, discussing common traps and myths relating internet usage.

Should not confuse an average user with lots of terminology. The awareness program should discuss how the users might get exploited by various traps.

Further more should utilize the best practices for securing ones information. For example The nine commandments as described by Carnegie Mellon.

1. Install and use antivirus programs
2. Keep your system patched
3. Use care when reading email with attachments
4. Install and use firewall program for software
5. Install and use hardware firewall
6. Make backups for important files and folders
7. Use strong passwords
8. Use care when downloading and installing programs
9. Install and use a file encryption program and access control

Reference: My answer at LinkedIn

Cutting down costs instead of layoffs

2008-07-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

Previously I was working on recycling IT wastage which will be described below, these are some of the many ways we can cut down costs.

1. Starting with reusing codes and writing generic modules would help company save time intern save energies and money.

2. Taking security measures in policies, development and in deployment would help save risk/mitigation expenses over recovering and lawsuits.

3. As most of the industry would suggest, using open sourse/ freeware might reduce costs for purchase or licensed software. I believe every company needs tools manager as part of their roles who can work on potential and possible tools and train employee teams about usage.

4. I think more productivity at work place will reduce expenses for time pass activities which includes bandwidth wastage and reduces risks over unwanted programs. Specifically activities which does not bring any productivity to the company or the employee professionally. For example working of linked in vs working on orkut.

I'm sure many companies would have these things in the organizational policies. But not all the companies have muscle to implement.

5. Not to forget elimination of paper, reducing low profile roles like attendants, personal calls on office phones and etc.

6. More technicals ways: cheap laptops in place of desktops, secured wireless instead of wired, enterprise versions instead of desktop versions.

7. Obviously outsourcing is cheaper and layoffs are bad.

8. Academic partnerships, research interns, research wing/archive division

9. Training own employees than hiring new. Believing own employees. Making them part of trust process.

Just for a minute we can think of all these. Image the possibilities if we brainstorm.

Amarnath Land stunt

2008-07-09T02:44:00.000-07:00

It is very sad people still fight in the name of religion. I heard that each pilgrim has to pay some Rs.10000 /- INR to visit the place. Isn't that place in India already.

Our government is spending crores and loads of efforts for pilgrimage of many religions including HAJ Visas and others. A little consideration from these communities in the view of rest of the nation would help, i guess.

I did not understand though the main problem yet. Government has been allotting hundreds of acres for corporations, roads, airports, hospitals universities, church and mosques and many others which are under years of lease. Isn't this of similar kind?

Isn't it benefiting the tourism of the local people? why do they want to fight?

What is the point in being part of something and you do not act like one. No offense to any body fighting in the name of religion is sad.

Stress Management

2008-07-01T18:13:00.001-07:00

Stress is a psychological and physiological response to events that upset our personal balance in some way. When faced with a threat, whether to our physical safety or emotional equilibrium, the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the "fight-or-flight" response. We all know what this stress response feels like: heart pounding in the chest, muscles tensing up, breath coming faster, every sense on red alert.

Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. The ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for work, relationships, relaxation, and fun—and the resilience to hold up under pressure and meet challenges head on.

Stress management strategy #1: Avoid unnecessary stress

Not all stress can be avoided, and it's not healthy to avoid a situation that needs to be addressed. You may be surprised, however, by the number of stressors in your life that you can eliminate.

Learn how to say "no" – Know your limits and stick to them. Whether in your personal or professional life, refuse to accept added responsibilities when you're close to reaching them. Taking on more than you can handle is a surefire recipe for stress.
Avoid people who stress you out – If someone consistently causes stress in your life and you can't turn the relationship around, limit the amount of time you spend with that person or end the relationship entirely.
Take control of your environment – If the evening news makes you anxious, turn the TV off. If traffic's got you tense, take a longer but less-traveled route. If going to the market is an unpleasant chore, do your grocery shopping online.
Avoid hot-button topics – If you get upset over religion or politics, cross them off your conversation list. If you repeatedly argue about the same subject with the same people, stop bringing it up or excuse yourself when it's the topic of discussion.
Pare down your to-do list – Analyze your schedule, responsibilities, and daily tasks. If you've got too much on your plate, distinguish between the "shoulds" and the "musts." Drop tasks that aren't truly necessary to the bottom of the list or eliminate them entirely.

Stress management strategy #2: Alter the situation

If you can't avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Figure out what you can do to change things so the problem is avoided in the future. Often, this involves changing the way you communicate and operate in your daily life.

Express your feelings instead of bottling them up. If something or someone is bothering you, communicate your concerns in an open and respectful way. If you don't voice your feelings, resentment will build and the situation will likely remain the same.
Be willing to compromise. When you ask someone to change their behavior, be willing to do the same. If you both are willing to bend at least a little, you'll have a good chance of finding a happy middle ground.
Be more assertive. Don't take a backseat in your own life. Deal with problems head on, doing your best to anticipate and prevent them. If you've got an exam to study for and your chatty roommate just got home, say up front that you only have five minutes to talk.
Manage your time better. Poor time management can cause a lot of stress. When you're stretched too thin and running behind, it's hard to stay calm and focused. But if you plan ahead, you can avoid these stress-inducing pitfalls.

Time management tips to reduce stress
Create a balanced schedule	All work and no play is a recipe for burnout. Try to find a balance between work and family life, social activities and solitary pursuits, daily responsibilities and downtime.
Don't over-commit yourself	Avoid scheduling things back-to-back or trying to fit too much into one day. All too often, we underestimate how long things will take.
Prioritize tasks	Make a list of tasks you have to do, and tackle them in order of importance. Do the high-priority items first. If you have something particularly unpleasant to do, get it over with early. The rest of your day will be more pleasant as a result.
Break projects into small steps	If a large project seems overwhelming, make a step-by-step plan. Focus on one manageable step at a time, rather than taking on everything at once.
Delegate responsibility	You don't have to do it all yourself, whether at home, school, or on the job. If other people can take care of the task, why not let them? Let go of the desire to control or oversee every little step. You'll be letting go of unnecessary stress in the process

Beating hunger

2008-06-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hunger is most basic, probably the oldest enemies of mankind. One which keeps us on toes in day to day life. What happens when you actually try to fight it by starving, your stomach as usual release all the acids to break the normal food. All the energy gets wasted waiting yummy and delicious food.

If it is made habit, the acids start eating us up alive. The harmful gases will continue as gastric trouble, and ulcers.

My advice to all the world is not to starve in the name of religion or pride. It does not make you thin, more over makes you very hungry and you end up eating more.

A frustrated victim of chain mails

2008-06-15T19:35:00.001-07:00

A Mail from a frustrated victim of chain mails:

I wanted to thank all my friends and family who have forwarded chain letters to me in 2003 & 2004.

Because of your kindness:

* I stopped drinking Coca Cola after I found out that it's good for removing toilet stains.

* I stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with AIDS.

* I smell like a wet dog since I stopped using deodorants because they cause cancer.

* I don't leave my car in the parking lot or any other place and sometimes I even have to walk about 7 blocks for fear that someone will drug me with a perfume sample and try to rob me.

* I also stopped answering the phone for fear that they may ask me to dial a stupid number and then I get a phone bill from hell with calls to Uganda, Singapore and Tokyo.

* I also stopped drinking anything out of a can for fear that I will get sick from the rat feces and urine.

* When I go to parties, I don't look at any girl, no matter how hot she is, for fear that she will take me to a hotel, drug me then take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.

* I also donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. A sick girl that was about to die in the hospital about 7,000 times. (Poor girl! she's been 7 since 1993...)

* I went bankrupt from bounced checks that I made expecting the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL were supposed to send me when I participated in their special e-mail program would arrive soon.

* My free Nokia phone never arrived and neither did the free passes for a paid vacation to Disneyland.

* Still open to help some from Bulgaria who wants to use my account to transfer his uncle property of some hundred millions $.

* Made some Hundred wishes before forwarding those Ganesh Vandana,Tirupathi Balaji pics etc.. now most of those 'Wishes' are already married (to someone else)

But you too need to accept it ...........

2008-06-03T22:30:00.001-07:00

There was a good old barber . One day a florist goes to him for a haircut. After the cut, he goes to pay the barber and the barber replies:

I am sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I am doing a Community Service.
Florist is happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the Barber goes to open his
shop, there is a "Thank You" Card and a dozen roses waiting at his
door.

A Confectioner goes for a haircut and he also goes to
pay the barber he again refuses to take the money. The Confectioner is
happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the Barber goes to open his
shop, there is another "Thank you" Card and a dozen Cakes waiting at
his door.

A Software Engineer goes for a haircut and he also goes to pay the
barber
again refuses the money saying that it was a community
service.

The next morning when the Barber goes to open his
shop, guess what he finds there......

A Dozen Software engineers waiting for a free
haircut... with Printouts of
Forwarded mail mentioning about free haircut

Working Late...Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff

2008-05-19T04:25:00.001-07:00

Feb 21, 2008 10:55 am
Email from the boss

Mail sent by Narayan Murthy to all Infosys staff:

It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on...
PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing...
And who's at work? Most of them ??? Take a closer look...

All or most specimens are ??
Something male species of the human race...

Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors...

And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!!
Any guesses???
Let's ask one of them...
Here's what he says... "What's there 2 do after going home...Here we get to surf, AC, phone, food, coffee that is why I am working late...Importantly no bossssssss!!!!!!!!!!!"

This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices.

Bachelors "Time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they've nothing else to do...
Now what r the consequences...

"Working" (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture.

With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he's a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!).
They aren't helping things too...

To hell with bosses who don't understand the difference between "sitting" late and "working" late!!!

Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.

So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is... and
That's when the problem starts... b'coz u start having commitments at home too.

For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become a "early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regular time... after doing the same amount of work.

People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers...

Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on time are labelled as "not up to it". All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on "working" not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they would have to regret at one point of time.

So what's the moral of the story??
* Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!!
* Never put in extra time " unless really needed "
* Don't stay back unnecessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues.

There are hundred other things to do in the evening..

Learn music...

Learn a foreign language...

Try a sport... TT, cricket.........

Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town...

* And for heaven's sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change.

Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *"Life's calling, where are you??"*

IT'S A TYPICAL INDIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC.

PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DON'T KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !

Useful tip for automobile users

2008-05-18T22:30:00.001-07:00

Only buy or fill up your car or bike in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands. So, buying in the afternoon or in the evening, your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature play an important role. 1 degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

Another most important tip is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank the less is the air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine.

Another useful information is to avoid filling up if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy. Most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

child help line to take away excess food

2008-05-12T01:29:00.001-07:00

If you have a function/party at your home and if there is excess food available at the end, don't hesitate to call 1098 (only in India ) - child helpline. They will come and collect the food.

Happy Valentines day

2008-02-13T22:07:00.001-08:00

I wish all coupes and lovers a wonderful Valentines day. Story goes like this:

Mr.Valentine is a priest in roman era. During some war/conquest all the soldiers refused to go war (they were not willing to leave their newly wedded wifes). Then emperor abolished marriages in roman empires. Mr.Valentine secretly supported/administered marriages of all the lovers. Knowing this emperor orders for arresting and decapitating Mr.Valentine on February 14th.

Mean while, in the prison Mr.Valentine falls in love with a blind women, and send her message/valentine (which reaches her on Feb14th, same day he was executed).

I do not know if this emperor/some other emperor reads the message and feels like declaring Feb14th as Valentines day.

Through out ages it was believed that:
1. Who ever sees for the first time this day will fall in love.
2. Who ever takes bath, wear new clothes would get good mate.
3. Few species of birds start their mating season on this day.

There are different versions of same story. I do not know the origin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day

I do not know if its our culture or not. But one thing for sure, We do not need separate days to express our love or kindness. We need no occasion to gift our beloved.

What Lies Beneath

2007-07-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

How do I move my hand? When I want, I tell my brain to move my hand and perform activities I wanted to do. Just like typing this message. All these in a split of a second.

I want to loose weight. Now this, is taking hell of a time. Why isn't my body listening to what my brain says? Or is it my mind which says, "LOOSE WEIGHT". Which makes me think do I have control on my body?

My body is trained to store all the energy (as much as it can store) for some unforeseen famine or drought. I guess that is what we have evolved into over thousands of years. No wonder people thought being overweight/fat is sign of prosperity (until 1900s). It would be wonderful if we can really control our body like we wanted, including transfer of weights here and there :)

FAT gets accumulated in certain areas like tummy, butt, ties,skin, muscle etc. Every person might have a different designated part depending on body type. First place our body choose to store FAT might be the last/the most difficult part to shed it off.

It is normal for people to workout and find zero weight loss. Resulting in stress and compulsive eating. It turns out FAT does not follow sublimation like some solids (It would be great though if it has to vanish from solid state to gas state). Instead, it dissolves into liquid and is gradually used by our body for energy. So weight does not decrease for a while even after rigorous workouts because what used to be solid is now a liquid.

It turns out, depending on our age,diet and activities our brain has a mechanism for storage of FAT. Just like a country, it likes to save some for reserves. This percentage can be changed for a while (how ever it takes lot of time depending on how we train it). So no matter we want it/not, our body stores this FAT. It is highly unlikely to see results any time soon.

Most important thing I like to convey is patience .... patience is the key.

At the end the most important question still remains, "Do I have control over my body?" and "Does my body listen to what I say?"

Amazing weight loss...

2007-05-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

I guess knowing lot of facts about how your body works doesn't really tells you how to loose weight. Probably you wouldn't find few information mentioned here anywhere else. Not even in the commercial weight loss websites. So pay attention. Here on when I say * that means conditions apply.

Quoting Raphael Calzadilla "If you ever see a quick fix promise, always go back to the fundamentals. Fundamentals will never let you down, and they will never lie to you or mislead you." Thats exactly true for any kind of weight loss program.

What are we worried about here? Is it the Fat inside the body or the Fat we take inside? Is it the sugar or the glucose? If we think about it neither Fat/Sugar is injurious to health*. They are very important for following reasons:

1. Glucose is most important carbohydrate in Biology. It is ubiquitous fuel. Carbohydrates are human body's key source of energy (4 kilo calories of food energy per gram). Some glucose goes directly to fuel brain cells and red blood cells. Rest of them are stored in liver and muscle as glycogen. Glucose also finds its way to fat cells where it can be use to power reactions which synthesize some fats.

There is no point two. Its all same. Glucose is responsible for everything, for our health and, for our unhealthy (If I may say).

Its basically too much of anything is bad for health. As I said glycogen is body's auxiliary/reserve energy source tapped and converted back into glucose when there is need for it. More glucose, more glycogen leads to more fat.

Which leads us to a question, what is wrong with having fat? truth is FAT is adipose tissue its main function is to store energy. It cushions and insulates the body. There is no wrong in eating Fat content* as its the only way for our body to digest proteins.

Now what are we worried about. The Fat or Glucose? Both of them are important as long as they are in limits. All we are afraid of is the society. What do people think about me?, how do I look?, Can I get some one who is sleek and pretty? We all are being hypnotized by society, people and multi billion dollar weight loss industry.

What am I suggesting? Just stop worrying about some one else or the society. I think healthy body is a fundamental right. We have to gain our right (from ourselves?). I tried to ask one question all the time (at least when I'm putting on weight), what do you want to look like? what are you turning into? would you like to see yourself like this? may be yes, may be not. Its up to an individual to decide what he wants for his life and in his body.

I will not make this into a boring conversation. I like to share some facts (just for your information, so that you can take decisions on your own). If you already knew this, then you might start working on it.

Fact One: Metabolism is complete set of chemical reactions that occur in living cells. Basis for life allowing cells to grow and reproduce, maintain their structure, respond to environments. And ATP (energy) is most important nuclear currency for inter cellular energy transfer.

Fact Two: Calorie is a unit of measurement of energy usually for a food energy gram fats provide 9 calories, alcohol 7 calories, proteins 4, carbohydrates 4, organic acids 3, sugar free chemicals 2.4 . Its okay to consume high calorie diet, as long as you use it. If you don't use it, it stays.

Fact Three: Cellular respiration is process that takes place in cell to obtain biochemical energy from fuel molecules ( glucose, amino acids, fatty acids and oxygen the electron acceptor). Red blood cells delivers oxygen from lungs to body tissue via blood. Hemoglobin is iron containing complex compound transports various gases. So more you work out, more oxygen is needed for your body, which means more energy burning.

Fact Four:Digestion is process of metabolism to process substances in order to chemically and mechanically convert substance for body to use. Digestion includes crush, tear, crunching, adding chemicals (acid, bile, enzymes, water) to break down complex molecules to simple structures. Absorption is when smaller molecules like glucose/alcohol pass through membrane of stomach directly into blood stream.

Fact Five: Blood sugar is the term used to refer levels of glucose in the blood. Glucose transported via blood stream is primary source of energy for body cells. Less or high levels is injurious to health. Insulin reaction and other mechanisms regulate concentration of glucose in blood. Enhances storage of glycogen. Insulin also helps in entry of glucose into cells, enhances and synthesis fatty acids and proteins.

Fact Six: Liver is the largest gland used for glucose storage, plasma protein synthesis and drug detoxification. Produces bile used for digestion. Liver performs glucose/glycogen synthesis, cholesterol synthesis, drug synthesis, red blood cell production. So do not spoil this by drinking too much of alcohol (remember alcohol has 7 calories only next to fat).

Fact Seven: Diabeties is of two types, one of them is auto immune medicated destruction of insulin producing cells (in pancreas). Resulting in absolute insulin deficiency, that is not all we are worried here. The other type is the multi factorial syndrome with combined influence of genetic susceptibility and influence of obesity, age, physical inactivity and stress, resulting in insulin resistance. Now remember how important insulin is from fact five.

There are two types of risks, one is controllable and the other is uncontrollable. We can control the controllable. What happens to the other (uncontrollable)? we just live with it. So just try to control the controllable.

And remember obesity is not dependent on body weight, but on amount of body fat. So, save some and spend the rest....

Life after death?

2006-09-26T02:33:00.000-07:00

I always wondered how life after death is possible.

Hypothetically, assuming people live and remember stuff from their previous lives (before death). Where would they store information? For Human beings or animals memory is associated with charge inside the brain cells. But with out any mass/flesh/ where would they store all these information? Are you thinking about soul?

Lets just assume its all part of our soul. Is there something called soul? Where is it? Do we associate it with heart? But heart is just a pump for blood circulation. Is it our imagination or for real? Where exactly is this part? Is it our mind/brain which creates the notion of soul?

Lets assume concept of soul is true. What are the functionalities of soul in our body? All consious and sub consious activities, dreams, pain, feelings and all kinds of emotions are part of brain. Question is life after death, is it about soul or ghost? Are we reffering to the same thing? How can something which doesnot have any functionality in our body even when you are alive, do haunt after death? Isn't all that just our imagination? Do you think ghosts can haunt us through art of possession?

Lets assume possesion is true. If some one is possesed, where does their soul go? Did we define operation of soul in the first place? Soul as I can think of has no effect on our physical body/brain. What bad can others soul do to us?

You know what, Dead people has no work to do in this planet. Its our right to make mistakes because we are alive. We need no ghost or soul to punish us for what we did. We can take care of issues ourselves.

Some of the telugu movie makers are real dumb

2006-05-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

1. Why do they put strange names, some of them are not at all related to the movie subject.

2. I wonder the story writers/directors/producers/actors have ever watched other telugu movies. Since most the movies have similar stories.

3. How on earth they could generate massive coincidences. Probably they had two stories in mind however the actor is soo dumb that he couldnot choose any of the stories, so the director decided to combine them. The missing link would be the lead actor.

4. I don't understand why stories are made keeping in mind the lead actor. I think the term "lead actor" is self explanatory. He is just leading the story.

5. Wassup with the strange manarisms?

6. Most of all I don't understand why hero and hero-in dance in middle of traffic (not just in india). All the people watching this huge stunt with strange and pale faces. What kind of message are we giving to international community there?

7. How can some one kill 700 people and not get arrested at the end of movie.

8. How can some one having crush on lead actor till the end of movie state we were just friends and its all part of the game.

9. Why on earth would villans are always rich people?

10. People at sensor office, what are they doing when director is trying to sterio type/ play with mass emotions.

I think its time these guys wake up and look at reality. How can someone play role of a police officer if he knows nothing about police. I was totally upset after watching a recent telugu movie.

Disclaimer: I was influenced after watching Virabadra movie. So more or less this is review for virabadra.

Make your home wireless

2006-04-12T00:25:00.000-07:00

Most of you having internet connectivity at home are bound to use one place due to modem or fixed dsl wire. Make your life flexible by going Mobile.

Purchase any Wireless Router from LinkSys, NetGear or from Cisco. Most of these routers will be in and around 5ooo Rs.

Here are some of the advantages of going wireless:
1. You can use your internet connection any where inside your house.
2. More than one users/computers can use one connection.
3. If you have laptop you can actually go Mobile.
4. Is cheap, saves money on wiring.

How do we go wireless?

Wireless routers usually have Internet Port (uplink). Connect your DSL port/Ethernet Cable to the internet port.
Connect powerplug and router. Place the router so that range cover most/entire house.
If other computers donot have wireless adapters to recieve internet connect them using wires (to onboard/attached netword card).
You could restrict outsiders who are in range by setting access list.

Make best use of technology.