Year 2008 in Words

I did this last year(Year 2007 in words). I am going try to do that again.

Terror
Barack Obama
Economy Meltdown
Mumbai
Delivery
Travel
Condemn
Kasab
Sarah Palin
AK 47
Taj & Oberoi
Singur
Achutanandan & Dog
20-20
Bomb Blast
Yahoo
Beijing
Tibet
Olympics
Chiru
Change

Some more, but those are ones that I do not want to put down here ...

State Of Mind

Miserable. Depressed. Helpless.

Introspecting ...

Is this what I am made for?

Is this whats supposed to happen to people?

One life ... One chance ...

Viewing life through lens

Almost 6 months back I discovered that I loved photography ...

This is how it all started. We had a trip to Kerala and I ran into this DVD which I never thought, would turn things around for me ...

It was National Geographic's The Photographers ...

It changed the way I look at places, people and life. I bought Canon DSLR - EOS 400D and 55-250mm IS lens

For the readers, please go through my Flickr album and leave your comments ...

Plea By An Indian Muslim

I was reading Tejaswi Rathore's post on IBN Live blog. It is very touching.

"I am angry... but I am scared to express my anger any more. I have given up. I kneel, I bow, I break, I loose, I beg... let me lead a normal life... a common life. I just want peace... at any cost. Now I don't care how. I want a safer tomorrow. Please."

But something that caught my eye was comment by naazakmal (an Indian Muslim - I do not know even the proper name) on the post:

"I am an Indian Muslim. And every time there is an attack of this kind, I want to shout out to my compatriots, please ,terrorism has no religion. Don't stigmatise us , for the heinous crimes done by a few insanely driven bigoted Muslims!

I love my India and I love Islam. It is not a faith which teaches violence,as the Quran says that the taking of even one innocent life, is like killing of all humanity.I am proud to be Indian, a land where all faiths and cultures have lived peacefully for centuries,but for selfish war mongers who have tried to wedge a rift between us ,time and again !

These acts are abhorrent and condemnable, done by misguided youth, who have fallen prey to an extremist mindset. This has given rise to a false perception by other faiths that Islam is a violent faith, so much so that, nowadays, many times,on the silver screen or the big screen, the bad guy, is the bearded , vile looking Muslim villain! My husband has a beard, for God's sake, and he won't even hurt a fly!

I appeal to all Indians, that we stay together at these trying times of communal barriers of hate, anarchy and violence. That Muslims speak out and condemn these dastardly acts. And finally, please,don't let the peace loving Muslims have to bear the brunt of it all, be it in the form of silent hostility or mistrust!"

We call ourselves secular, but honest expression of feelings by this person and 1000 others like him/her go unheard.

And then we have the leadership who understand that the source of the issue, primarily is because of our porous borders, but fail to take action.

God save India ...

What Does Shivraj Patil Have To Say?

It is so unfortunate. I woke up today feeling miserable and reading the newspaper just made it worse.

Mumbai attacked.

I am waiting for honorable Home Minister, Shivraj Patil to come out with his statement about the incident.

Here is a background ...

Jaipur: "Their aim (to create communal disturbances) has been thwarted. The people of Jaipur have not allowed their nefarious design to succeed,"

Bangalore: "... such incidents will not deter the government from pursuing its policy with anti-national elements in a resolute manner."

Ahmedabad: "... anti-national elements have been trying to create panic among the people in our country"

Delhi: "... the government has taken a series of measures recently to beef up security in Delhi. Whatever more is required to be done will be done expeditiously."

Tripura: I could not find it ... :(

Assam: "... these are cowardly acts perpetrated by the elements which do not want peace to prevail..."

Mr. Shivraj Patil,
There it goes again. It has happened again and it's even worse this time. What do you have to say? I can't wait to hear. Appeal to people to show solidarity and answer terrorists by getting back to normal life and forget about 1000's of lives that shattered.

Be in-sensitive? Not react?

Dear Ministers/International Leaders/Politicians,

I am waiting for you to condemn the incident, so that I can go back to sleep peacefully and feel less miserable.

******************************

Update:

"Before I could reach there, the terrorists who had attacked one of the hospitals, the Cama Hospital, had left and those who attacked the railway station had also left," Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said.

Patil, who condemned the attack as an act of cowardice, said the country would remain strong even as the terrorists attempt to weaken and create difficulty for the citizens.

The Home Minister had condoled the loss of lives, including top ranking police officers, in the attack and said their sacrifice would inspire the rest of the force to do their duty more resolutely.

Mr. Patil, It is so unfortunate that you could meet them in person and adivce them not to give Mumbaikars excruciating pain and why peace shall prevail in the country.

GROW UP ! Citizens have lost their patience. DO NOT PUSH IT OVER THE EDGE.

-------------------------------------------------
Update (Nov 30): Shivraj Patil offers resignation and resignation accepted. PC Chitambaram takes over.

How convenient? No need to repair damages caused. Step down, go home and relax and leave it to PC Chitambaram to handle.

Moment Of Truth

Of late, I am able to come home at a decent time (Not able to reach before 8.00 pm though). As a result I get to watch reality shows on TV. It has always been a discussion point, but the recent one on Star World is "The Moment Of Truth".

Do you think that you are smarter than your parents?
Have you ever made a sexy video?
Do you sabotage your rivals at work?
Do you fantasize about cheating on your spouse/partner?
Will you leave your husband for your ex-boyfriend?
Do you have any secret that could end your marriage?

These are questions that you are asked and you cannot afford to lie because there is a polygraph attached to you to find out if you are lying or not. The key is to be honest. Weigh your personal life with the $500,000 that flashes on the board and eventually you will get it if you tell the truth all the way upto the 20th question.

What has humankind come down to? Shows like these are demeaning and disgusting. I can understand why FOX Network floated this show. It reflects in their escalating TRP. But what I do not understand is why people would show up in these kinds of shows and ruin their lives?

For instance, in the recent show that got aired, a lady was asked (Husband is in the studio) if she holds any secret that would end her marriage. The answer was "Yes" and the polygraph said "true". Her husband's face turned red, blue and yellow. The next question comes - "Do you think you will be married to your husband for the rest of your lives?" (She answered "Yes" and she got it right and won $100,000) However, with everything in life at stake, why would people take this risk for a stupid show. Maybe the money.

This will piss off one set of audiences who look forward to meaningful and thought provoking entertainment whereas it will satisfy the other set of brain dead morons who like to take a peep at people's misfortunes and then laugh at it.

Harthal.com

While browsing Desi Pundit, I ran into a site called Harthal.com. Now that we are talking about harthals, we cannot move further on this without mentioning Kerala - God's own country which has gone to dogs off late.

Last year, off 174 weekdays, the state had seen 89 strikes which brought the state to a stand still (Check this)

It is highly advisable to go through harthal.com before you plan you trips to Kerala or you might just end up being stuck at a bus station or railway station.

Save Kerala Initiative gives an insight into the teething issues in "GOD's own country". Kerala does not have politicians, it has dinosaurs. In their struggle for power, the "left" and the "right" have forgotten what is right and what is wrong.
I still do not know why "literate" people elect these scum bags over and over again and then suck up to the morons sitting in the administration to get things done.

God save Kerala. And not to forget, check out harthal.com

Why are you not jumping the signal?

Last week I was out with a real estate broker to find a place to shift. The reasons for shifting are many. That is not the point here.
I reached Kothaguda chowk and stopped at the signal after seeing it red. (I stick to the rules of the road). This broker who was sitting on the back seat, goes - "Chale jao sir. Koi police nahin hai. Bindaas chale jao". I do not recollect what came to mind at that time, but then after crossing the signal,

Usmaan- "Kitne saalon se Hyderabad mein ho saab?" (How long have been in Hyderabad?)

Me - "It's been 5 years"

Usmaan - "Fir signal pe roka kyon?" (Then why did you stop at the signal?)

Me - "Red signal mein stop karna hai" (You have to stop at the red signal)

Usmaan - "Woh theek hai saab. Yahaan pe logon ko signal thodne mein mazaa aatha hai. Kaun signal follow kartha hai saab? Jahaan pe U-turn nahin lena hai, wahaan pe U-Turn lena hai. Jahaan pe one way hai, wahaan pe wrong side mein chalana hai. " (That's ok. People have fun jumping signals here(HYD). Who follows signals? You have to take U-turn where U-turn is not allowed. You have to drive the wrong way if it is labeled "one-way")

The scariest thing this 70% of people in Hyderabad feel the same way. I do not think there is slightest chance that the traffic sense will get any better. Roads are going to remain crowded and the condition of roads is going to remain as is.

Dreams

Rough night.

I hardly got sleep yesterday night. I could see dark clouds turning into fireballs and then falling on earth. It was engulfing everything on the way. My car got burnt.

Wonder what this means when you "interpret dreams". My wife says, it is all because of work and stress.

I am so looking forward to Sep 30.

Open Source == Communism?

Search for Chuck Norris

The result is ... :)



Probably the same would apply to Rajnikhant and Vin Diesel.

Parking sensibly

Not probably the right way to respond but, this is hilarious. "Beaches are fun"

Frog Princess

Thought this one was hilarious. Read On:

A boy was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him andsaid, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess". He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week." The boy took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, 'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want." Again the boy took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The boy said, "Look, I'm a software engineer, I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool."

Rejection Letter

Ran into the ultimate rejection letter:

Herbert A. Millington
Chair - Search Committee
412A Clarkson Hall, Whitson University
College Hill, MA 34109

Dear Professor Millington,

Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me an assistant professor position in your department.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates, it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite Whitson's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely,
Chris L. Jensen

Love Story 2050

Biggest mistake ...

We ran out of the movie hall half way through the movie. It was a disaster right from the start, with Harman Beweja being asked to do everything literally possible to make him look like Hrithik Roshan. My wife tells me, "He can probably act in a TV serial as a mythology character, may be Ram or Lakshman or something. That's about it".

We went to KFC immediately after we ran out of the hall and we completely forgot that we had been to a movie 10 mins back.

Rajeev Masand says:

If there’s one thing the film succeeds in doing, it’s in uniting the audience in their relief as they step out of the cinema. Coming out of the film you feel like prisoners of war who’ve finally been let out of concentration camp.

Do not watch it even if it coming on television and you have nothing to do ...

Google is a great place to be?

Everything is pretty much run by the engineering - PMs and testers are conspicuously absent from the process. While they do exist in theory, there are too few of them to matter.

The Google Manager is a very interesting phenomenon. On one hand, they usually have a LOT of people from different businesses reporting to them, and are perennially very busy.

Post by Sergey Solyanik when he moved back to Microsoft.
Having worked at Microsoft before, I think there is an inherent bias in the way he has expressed his opinions, but I do not think we can brush aside all of his comments.

Sex Education

Another one from Geek & Poke:

The Vagina Dialogues

"I hated being a woman. The restrictions, the rules, the fears of my mother, it made me angry."
"I hated being a woman. Bleeding every month, feeling pukey and giddy-headed and sticky and smelly."

I hated being a woman. 10 years old and being told, “Boys can do whatever they like. But a girl’s reputation is like glass.” Twelve and my tuition teacher’s voice, “What a horrible laugh, so loud and monstrous! Look at Sonya, how prettily she covers her mouth when she laughs. And she doesn’t make a sound.” Thirteen and being admonished, “Sit with your legs together. Only a slut sits with her legs apart.” Yes, I really and truly hated being a woman.

Bold one ...

World's dirtiest cities

If you thought I would list Kolkatta, Chennai, Mumbai etc., you are wrong.

None of the cities in India are there in the list of World's worst 10 cities.

Arsenic-laced drinking water, lead-contaminated soils and choking air pollution are sadly just the start in some of the world's dirtiest places

There is still hope for us.

You must also see some crazy ideas for future cities here.
Pod Car, Energy Highway, Algae Park, Power Sidewalks etc.



By the way, the traffic signal was not working at crazy Kothaguda junction on my way back home and no power at home when I reached.

Outsourcing Course Work

Students from US and UK are outsourcing their university coursework to graduates in India.

Students contract their work to the lowest bidder, with prices ranging from £5 for simple undergraduate coursework, to £100 for postgraduate dissertations.

Birmingham City computing lecturer Thomas Lancaster said the practice is spreading as more websites spring up, particularly in India and Romania, and that it could be more prevalent as it is very difficult to detect.

What next?

Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007

Now ! This one below is hilarious ...

Are Americans this Dumb?

I am left speechless ...
Unbelievable stuff and they have problems with outsourcing ...

Google Saree !

Another one in Google Merchandise ...

Social Network for Football

It's a plethora of social networks ...

Check Footbo.com

Now, that's because of Euro 2008, but soon we can see for IPL, ICL, NBA, NHL, NFL etc ...

How can a user manage his accounts across these unless you have a common account facility like that google provides.

Single Sign On !

Romance for lonely men

Robots who kisses on command ...

Weirdos ...

Indian scientists say - God exists

Interesting read !

As many as 64 per cent scientists said they would refuse to design biological weapons because of their moral and religious beliefs, while 54 per cent said they will not work on nuclear weapons for the same reasons.

>> More

Companies, Salaries and Reviews

This post at TechCrunch lead me to Glassdoor.

Here is something that you will find interesting:



and more ...

Update:
Some of the interesting comments I read about Google:

Pros -

Google is an extraordinary place to work: the perks are second to none, the quality of employees is exceptionally high, and the products are mostly cutting edge and interesting.

The total compensation package is generous, with opportunities for earning more through good, hard work. The caliber of colleagues is very high, sometimes daunting even.

You interact with great developers, original thinkers and interesting people all the time. Unlimited munchies are great, three free meals a day (or two in satellite offices) is great, medical benefits, partial subsidy of fitness membership, subsidy for ongoing education (though in reality you are unlikely to have time to use it) are all pluses.

Advice to Senior Management -

"Stop acting as those you're King Midas…just because you struck it rich with AdWords does not mean whatever you create will be tech gold. For a company that prides itself on innovation, I can't think of any product Google has released since AdWords that has been truly innovative…unless you are calling Google's mergers and acquisitions innovative (just because Google owns YouTube does not mean you can take credit for the innovation)..."

"Google engineers tend to be first rate but managed by unqualified, self-obsessed managers who were promoted into their positions just by being in the right place at the right time. This cannot possibly be optimal for Google's long term growth. Listen to all the voices trying to tell you this. Stop listening to the voices of managers telling you what a great job they are doing, because their main skill is self promotion. They don't care about the welfare of the company or their reports, only about themselves."

Interesting right? ... It is fun reading it and gives an insight into to few of the giants in technology.

Monstrous

Blogging is good for you

Ran into this article through Slashdot.

Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Some hospitals have started hosting patient-authored blogs on their Web sites as clinicians begin to recognize the therapeutic value

Read more here.

I am just wondering why it is not helping me de-stress myself ...

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes

Got this from Hari's blog. Amazing eye-opener.

Back from vacation

Yes ... I went on vacation ... Finally !

I was hoping to start chasing the monsoon right from Thiruvananthapuram where it hits first. But luck has not favored me in long time. Though government of Kerala predicted monsoon to hit Kerala on 20th May (I do not know if they predict by consulting an astrologer or meteorology department), there was no sign of it. Over and above that it was the "Kerala" climate where I think humidity was 150% or something.

It was so sweaty there that you could collect my sweat in buckets.

The experience was not too bad either. It was much needed break from work and the first thing that I made sure, I do, was not to open my laptop to check office emails. I was getting irritated the moment I though about work. Pretty much relaxed at home. Had a lot of beef. Went for couple of movies.

Oh, by the way ! DO NOT go for Indiana Jones - 4.

When I thought that I was going to take a vacation, relax, and get re-charged and get back to work with renewed energy, by Friday, I started to get disturbed sleep and started feeling depressed about our travel back to Hyderabad . This, I am sure, happens to quite a lot of guys. Then you hate yourself for having to work. You want to become invisible. You want to fall sick and take another week off. Sigh ...

Back in office today and my delivery manager walks up to me and says "How was your vacation? Hope you had a good one. Welcome back. Now me and Karthik can take a vacation."

I wish I could meet H.G Wells and figure out how to become invisible.

Is it just a problem with IT industry and the expectations causing this or it is really the work that you do?

What will you do if you are in space and no toilet?

I am not sure how technology can help here. Poor guys.

We have a problem Houston, the space toilet's broken!

Bringing world music to India

I was on youtube today and found some interesting videos. I posted (here) one of those findings, but the ones below made me laugh so much that I fell off the chair. I could not resist posting it on my blog.

Pritam ... his effort to bring world music to India ... (or plagiarism) whichever way you want to put it.





Dear Pritam,

Have you heard a term called "Originality"?

Lets make it better

This is a less known single from AR Rahman for a very good cause. Watch it !

New way to salvage failed IT projects

Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions ... said.

Read the story here.

I was wondering if we could really apply this on failed IT projects and salvage it. But should I do this inside my office building or client site?

Fancy Google T-Shirt

You would not really understand what it is when you see the snap. These were T-Shirts distributed at Google I/O conference. Check it out here.

Britain's got talent

You have got to see this ...



WATCH IT TILL THE END ... This is what is called ORIGINALITY

Hottest IPL Cricketer

No ... it's not what you think it is ...

This is a survey by www.gaybombay.org

Winner: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Chennai SuperKings) - No question about it, the gay community is just as hot as the rest of India for the boy next door hotness of Dhoni. He swept the polls with 22 votes, way ahead of the first runner up.

First Runner-Up: Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab) - Classically handsome and a winning captain too, with his team already qualified for the semis. He was voted first runner-up with 11 votes

Second Runner-Up: Manpreet Gony (Chennai SuperKings) - One of the revelations of the IPL, both for his bowling and his hunky Punjabi looks. He's the one hottie who's really been exposed by the IPL and the gay community has voted him second runner-up with 10 votes.

Read it here. It is interesting to see such things in India. India is certainly a land of paradoxes.

Guru Gyan

Received these through email from my brother. Hilarious ones !!!

Finally .....

I came back home yesterday by noon and was completely drained. Exhausted. Tired. Slept for a while and woke up fresh.

I needed a break. Time off from work.

Guess what, I am taking a vacation. I am off from work for a week, a COMPLETE week.

Finally !

Uma was super excited to hear this. I will believe myself once I sit on the flight to Kerala.

Paanchvi Paas?

When the show Paanchvi Paas started, I was one of those people who said, what is this publicity stunt? They will definitely ask questions that are not in syllabus and all that crap... I am being honest ...

I happened to see this episode where there was this Class XII pass girl who came in and floored by Mr. Khan's charisma. She kept on saying "I love you". Now came the interesting part.

Question 1:

SRK: Who invented the lamp?
GIRL: Errr .... Edison??
SRK: Are you sure? Was it not bulb?
GIRL: Oh yeah !! Lamp is different, bulb is different... I would like to take a life line?

... and she answers with help of the kids there

This girl even got confused about where Gateway of India is.

In essence, Star Plus has managed to pull of an entertaining show in which people come in and make themselves look like idiots on national television or be made to look like an idiot by Mr. Khan.

With incidents like producer of Paanchvi Paas getting murdered in a crime of passion, the TRP ratings are definitely going up. And hey, this murder story has caught bollywood's attention.

New Site

So ... I changed the domain name and created achilles-punks.com.

Now, this blog(here) is being redirected to the new site.

My technology blog still is in blogspot and will get moved sometime soon.

How to rescue a project !!!

One of the blogs that I read on a regular basis is Geek and Poke. Here is a good one from them. I am sure everyone will relate to this one pretty much.







It's the same everywhere !

Change in title

I was somehow feeling that the previous title was just too common and was not even making me feel that it was really 'My Space'.

Hence, renaming it to 'Random Notes' - the nature of my posts are like that. I am still in search of a good title and then planning to buy own domain and host everything there. Probably, have some kind of Google Apps integration also will be done.

Let's see how it goes.

Suggestions for domain name and blog title are welcome.

Day at home

After a long long time, I got a full day at home ...

Uma was not feeling really well. She went to sleep yesterday night with 100.3ºC and then when I was planning to show up in office because of some deliverables, Uma's situation got worse. She could not even speak.

So, finally I dropped the plan of going to office and did some basic work allocation and analysis work from home during the first half and then started the fun part. Uma started feeling better ...

Both of us, right from noon, have been watching the third season of Desperate Housewives ... even when I am writing this ...

I would not say it was relaxing ... I got so many calls from work, that it looked as if I was virtually there ...

But it was still a day away from work and I can see the smile on Uma's face ...

Terrorist attacks and reactions

“Obviously, it’s a terrorist plot,” A.S. Gill, the police chief of Rajasthan, said hours after the attack. “The way it has been done, the attempt was to cause the maximum damage to human life.”

Totally unexpected from terrorists?

"The wicked designs of terrorists will be thwarted boldly and their attempts will be foiled" - Shivraj Patil

Hmmm ... Terrorists are going to be shit scared !

"So many such acts of terror have taken place, Malegaon, Banaras, Mumbai, but how many places have the communal disharmony erupted? Are the terrorist’s fools to repeat the act which is not having the desired result?" (Here)

Hellooo! They want to kill people. That's about it. They are least bothered about communal disharmony. Please direct that to our politicians.

PM condemns the terrorists attacks

Give me a break boss. What difference does it make? Transform terrorists into saints?

"We are not comfortable at all", "Terrified", "I have wife and 3 kids back in Melbourne and they are less than impressed with the part of the world I am in" - Darren Berry and other Aussie/South African guys in Team Jaipur (IPL)

Oh yeah, I understand. And I am so enjoying what I am seeing on TV, so many dead, Indian population coming down.

Where is your brain boss? We are not aliens. Indians are also human being and we are putting up with the terrorism crap for years now. Would you really refrain from going to NY, US Of A? Well, I heard that there was something called WTC and in 2001 some saint named Osama Bin Laden brought it down entirely by crashing 2 planes.

Stay in the line man !

I do not know what's it with Indians and conveniently evading a queue.

No ... It is not just the illiterate guys, it's the 'educated' bunch also.

Simplest of examples is the canteen in my office. I work for one the leading consulting firms in the world, and we are known to hire "real" professionals. When it comes to buying coupons to get meals, instead of standing in a, it is just chaos at the counter.

People, who try to maintain a queue look like idiots (me !!) and couple of times, few guys had to bear the wrath from me.

What I fail to understand is why it is so difficult to have some basic discipline? From my experience, I have seen this only in India. I have been US, Thailand and UK but never saw this kind of disrespect.

Here is one conversation that my friend Karthik had at our canteen. There were few guys who were just barging in when there were 10 other guys waiting to get the coupons.

Karthik: Hey, dude ... there is a 'Q' here ! would you mind standing in the 'Q'?
XYZ (updated to XYZ after comment from my wife): Oh! there was a 'Q', I thought it was 'P'
Karthik: THAT is not funny !

I am still surprised, why Karthik did not slam that guy's head on to the plate of biriyani kept there.

Women are even better. They want equality and then 'reservation' also. Sonia Gandhi is trying hard. Now, you go to any place in India, you will see separate line for women. OK, I understand to an extent because the way a queue is formed in India is usually a 'warm' experience. The idea is not leave even tiniest of space between you and the person in front. It can be quite a warming experience when the soaring heat touches 42ºC.

But women usually consider it as a privilege.

Last day, this girl happened to bypass a long queue I was standing in and directly went to the canteen counter. I was again the same irritating, pissed off, over reactive self, requested her to stand in the queue. "Queue??? I did not know there was a queue ...", she reacted. Stared me down as if I was from interiors of the Amazon jungle.

(This is just my observation and does not apply to ALL the women out there)

I do my part in setting things right, but I go down as one of those guys who try and then get 'advise' from people that, "You cannot repair the system. It's all screwed. You will just raise your BP, with no result. Everything will stay as is ... ".

I will still do what I can.

What the hell !!!

Woman Gives Birth to Triplets at her Desk; Finishes Marketing Reports

uughh !!!

I hate corporate life ...

IPL craze

At this very moment I am watching Chennai Super Kings Vs Punjab Kings XI.

IPL has turned out to be a bigger success than what was anticipated. Their trump card was city loyalty and I think Lalith Modi has been successful to certain extent. Let's see what happens when they start trading the NPAs.

Good thing is the matches start late in the evening, so atleast I get some productivity from the guys in the team.

As for me, I am actually loving the game. Short, aggressive and about sheer brute force and innovation ...

Favorite team: Chennai Super Kings
Reason: Nothing special

Aaaah ... Piyush Chawla hit for a six by Dhoni ... !
Let me get back to the game ...
de-stressed !!

Oh yeah! I am going for the Deccan Chargers - Knight Riders game tomorrow...
I want both of them to lose ... Is it possible?

Break from work - for 6 hours

Finally I got proper break from work yesterday. It was for around 6 hours.

The whole project team had an outing and quite a few guys showed up. As usual there were people who chickened out. I do not know when they will understand what professionalism is and how important is it for them to communicate about their absense early. I do not know when they will understand how to gel into a team and not act like demotivated, selfish morons.

Ok. Let me tell the good part of things.

So ... the trip was to Pragati resorts, around 40 kms from office. Scorching heat ... normal bus.

Summer heat was taking it's toll on the guys. No one is used to the heat. Software engineers, being locked in air-conditioned environment, never get to feel the Hyderabad heat. But, now the work around is also simple. Before we reached the resorts, guys gulped around 20 bottles of beer.

It just set the tempo and was exciting to see guys acting like live wires, who otherwise would be sitting in the corner of a project floor and you wouldn't even know when they left office.

There were couple of smarts kids who organized some interesting games. I really had to turn myself into something to that I was not. Making noise and getting guys to be involved in each and every activity. (I am not known for being social AT ALL)

And then came the best part ... DJ
I am the worst dancer in the world ... And I would say that robots are better than me in dancing ...
But 2-3 beers down, it was fun dancing to trance, hip-hop, pop, and the native telugu percussion in less than 5 mins.

I was sweating like a pig ... but it was great fun ...
Away from work ... no conference calls setup ... no official calls coming in ... lots of booze ... team enjoying the time off from work ...

What could be better ? ...

But it was again another day when I reached home after 12 in the night !

Educated morons

Raj Thackeray has been going ballistic about Northies in Mumbai. Well his publicity stunt seems to be working pretty well. I do not know what he has against Mr. Bachchan, but why does he have to finger him so often? It's Mr. Bachchan's free will as to what he wants to do with his life. Atleast he is not promoting regionalism and fueling the already sensitive topic of communities and religion. Even worse is to see other educated and uneducated people in his party going around creating havoc in daily life of people who are leading simple lives in the crowded world called Mumbai. - MORONS !!!

It is the people settled from other regions that has made Mumbai what it is today. Sr. Thackeray also had his issues with people from outside of Maharashtra and Jr. is just following it.

From one of my Marathi friends, what I have known is, Marathi's have left Mumbai because of the Thackerays.

There are enough number of issues haunting Mumbai and other places in Maharasthra. Why are these politicians not spending time in community service instead of mud slinging and adding fuel to fire? I do not see any political party getting involved in community service.

What have the politicians done to make the lives of people better?

Answer: NOTHING - All they are busy is with the pursuit of power, mud slinging and flexing political muscle.

Secularism and Incredible India

I found this nasty one at India Uncut.

Read this. Watch this.

No Honking !

I respect Deepak Lokhande for not honking. I also understand that his BP might have shot beyond all levels.

I would not survive 100m in Hyderabad without honking.

No Title

Ok!

Here is the thing. I work as a software engineer. Worked hard, worked smart, grew pretty fast in my career. Looking back at it, it is quite impressive when I compare myself with others.

The software industry is such a huge attraction to young engineers/graduates. There are tremendous opportunities and lots of money whether you are worth it or not. The financial muscle of the industry is unbelievably huge. Now that does not stand true when it comes to salary hikes inside the organisation - but that is a different issue altogether.

Since it is all about money, organisations are also smart. Take some star performers, some average guys, mix it up and put them on a project. What I do not understand is how they expect same productivity from all guys.

Underestimated project execution hours and over-estimated support function efforts combined together makes life miserable. The end result is you end up spending extra hours in office. Here is when you identify the other factor. The mixing up of talent in the resource pool results in a bunch of people who are either self-demotivated or requires a lot pampering. What happens as a result of this is that star performers end up spending crazy hours in office.

You see two kinds of people in the industry. The first kind is a set of people who see the problem and complain about it, get irritated and get de-motivated. Then there are a set of guys, who are real problem solvers, who make themselves part of the problem, get inside it and try to solve it.

Ok. I am losing direction here and have starting venting out. But let me continue.

The Gartner report on IT in 2010 talks about a lot of aspects. One of them being evolution a breed called "Versatalists". They also talk about "Generalists" and "Specialists". I do not think I saw a lot of "Generalists" in the industry in India, but yes I have seen a few in the US and the UK. "Specialists" is what everyone wants to become.

Here is one conversation I had with a team memeber:

I: How's work going?
ABC (Re-named): Hmmm, yeah, ok.

I: So what is the problem? Let me know.
ABC: The work is not interesting. It's repetetive job

I: But this project has it's own challenges. I think there is enough that you can contribute here.
ABC: Yeah, but there is no motivation.

I: OK. So I understand that you are not really getting interesting work. So what is it that you would like to pursue further to grow in your career?
ABC: I want to become a Solution Architect. We are using only 5% of "PRPC" in this account. I am losing all my knowledge on PRPC that I had. I want good work on PRPC.

[ I (In my mind): Grow up kid!! Become a Solution Architect? Work on PRPC for sometime and take a certification and that's it? You become Architect in 5 years?. ]

ABC: What about promotion? When will I get promotion?
I: I shall talk to you later.
( end of conversation )

This is so irritating. Just because you work some extra hours, they assume that they have done enough to go to the next level. Everyone in the industry feels that they work hard and is eligible for a promotion, but is that the case?

No software developer is born as a "Java" developer or a "PRPC" developer. It's about what they got to work on when they initially joined the organisation. 90% of the software engineers in India join the IT industry for the money. Infact, to be frank, it true in my case too. Only 10% join it to pursue the career as a software programmers because they love programming. I know couple of guys who worked for LIC (Life Insurance Corporation of India) for 15 years and joined my company. They expect special treatment. But if I have to see their performance, I feel that they should not even go back to LIC.

In the midst of all this, did I have a life? Got married almost a year and a half ago. Do I really have a married LIFE?

Answer: No. Not at all.

My wife, one of the most tolerant people I have ever known is trying hard to put up with this.

And I guess I have answered the question as to why I am not able to have a life.

Hmmm ... I need to figure out something.

It never stops

Rape victim beaten up by kin and neighbours:

Read here >>

India - 'Fraud Haven'?

Check this out.

India a 'fraud haven,' says report

New Rules to be kept by ICC while playing against Australia

This was forwarded to me by one of my friends.

To ensure cricket is played in good "sportmanship" spirit, visiting teams shuld follow this rules......

After watching the test match, I feel some rules have to be incorporated by ICC to give the other teams a perfect clarification

(1) Ricky Ponting – (THE TRULY GENUINE CRICKETER OF THE CRICKET ERA AND WHOSE INTEGRITY SHOULD NOT BE DOUBTED ) should be considered as the FOURTH UMPIRE. As per the new rules, FOURTH UMPIRE decision is final and will over ride any decisions taken by any other umpires. ON-FIELD umpires can seek the assistance of RICKY PONTING even if he is not on the field. This rule is to be made, so that every team should understand the importance of the FOURTH UMPIRE .

(2) While AUSTRALIAN TEAM is bowling, If the ball flies anywhere close to the AUSTRALIAN FIELDER(WITHIN 5 meter distance), the batsman is to be considered OUT irrelevant of whether the catch was taken cleanly or grassed. Any decision for further clarification should be seeked from the FOURTH UMPIRE. This is made to ensure that the cricket is played with SPORTIVE SPIRIT by all the teams.

(3) While BATTING, AUSTRALIAN players will wait for the ON-FIELD UMPIRE decisions only (even if the catch goes to the FIFTH SLIP as the ball might not have touched the bat). Each AUSTRALIAN batsman has to be out FOUR TIMES (minimum) before he can return to the pavilion. In case of THE CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY, this can be higher.

(4) UMPIRES should consider a huge bonus if an AUSTRALIAN player scores a century. Any wrong decisions can be ignored as they will be paid huge bonus and will receive the backing of the AUSTRALIAN team and board.

(5) All AUSTRALIAN players are eligible to keep commenting about all players on the field and the OPPONENT TEAM should never comment as they will be spoiling the spirit of the AUSTRALIAN team. Any comments made in any other language are to be considered as RACIALISM only.

(6) MATCH REFREE decisions will be taken purely on the AUSTRALIAN TEAM advices only. Player views from the other teams decisions will not be considered for hearing. MATCH REFREES are to be given huge bonus if this rule is implemented.

(7) NO VISITING TEAM should plan to win in AUSTRALIA. This is to ensure that the sportive spirit of CRICKET is maintained.

(8) THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE : If any bowler gets RICKY PONTING - "THE UNDISPUTED CRICKETER WITH INTEGTIRY IN THE GAME OF CRICKET" more than twice in a series, he will be banned for the REST OF THE SERIES. This is to ensure that the best batsman/Captain will be played to break records and create history in the game of CRICKET .

These rules will clarify better to the all the teams VISITING AUSTRALIA .

Resolutions 2.0

You want to stick to your New Year resolutions? Here is a post on Webware.com that takes you to some of the coolest sites.

if you're dead set on changing your life in 2008, many Web sites can assist with tallying and tracking resolutions. Some will continue to ping you with reminders, or even enlist other folks to pester you over the next 12 months. Facebook users can pick from various third-party widgets for setting and sharing goals, but other sites offer more customization.

Few of the prominent ones listed are:
1. Joe's goals
2. 43Things
3. LifeTango
4. Remember the Milk - Beta
5. Hassle Me

Resolutions 2.0 !!!

No Smoking

I am not a good example, but I liked this one.

Whiskipedia

Yes, you guessed it right. It is Whiskipedia, wiki for and about Whiskey.

Will it help reduce alcohol consumption?

Haunting New Year

Mumbai has done it again. Putting India to shame when 2 women were molested by a mob of 60 men.

Mumbai's top cop, Commissioner D N Jadhav feels that the incident is being blown out of proportion and that the police did whatever they could to rescue the girls. The commissioner also said that molestation can happen anywhere.

God's own country is not far behind. A Swedish minor was molested by a 17 year chap. Every time India puts a satellite out in space or tries to buy a brand like jaguar or even shows a GDP of 9%, we somehow do not miss an opportunity to show that there is still that faint element of uncivilized tribal in us.

Where is the CULTURE that we boast of? Where is the moral police?

Top Blogger arrested in Saudi Arabia

NYTimes reports in it's post:

Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman reached by telephone, said the blogger, Fouah al-Farhan, was “being questioned about specific violations of nonsecurity laws.” Mr. Farhan’s blog, which discusses social issues, had become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Farhan, 32, of Jidda, was arrested Dec. 10 at his office, local news sources reported. Two weeks before his arrest, he wrote a letter to friends warning them that it was imminent.

Farhan writes at alfarhan.org.

Mr. Omran said Mr. Farhan was one of the first Saudi bloggers to post items in Arabic and to use his real name. At the top of Mr. Farhan’s blog is a call in Arabic for “freedom, dignity, justice, equality, public participation and the other lost Islamic values.”

So much for freedom of speech ...

Australian Government to implement Internet Filters

Slashdot.org reported in it's post about Australian government's intention to put Internet police in place.

Here is a snippet from the actual article:

He (Senator Conroy) says the scheme will better protect children from pornography and violent websites.
"Labor makes no apologies to those that argue that any regulation of the Internet is like going down the Chinese road," he said.
"If people equate freedom of speech with watching child pornography, then the Rudd-Labor Government is going to disagree."

I fail to understand the concept of allowing the content (pornographic) to be published and then setting up a security system to keep the kids away from it.
The best way to kill this kind of problem is to attack the source.

It's all about ridiculous moral policing about showing people what is right and what is not after allowing all sorts of crap. Why don't you try to find sources of Pedophilia and save children which makes more sense and cut off the sources from where this kind of content is uploaded on to Internet? In this hi-tech age, is it so difficult?

Imagine a situation where India is to implement Internet Filter. I am sure Orkut will be one of the first ones to be filtered because it promotes hate groups. Apart from that, the so called unofficial moral police like BJP and Shiv Sena (Read this, this and this).

Sigh !!!