I'm extremely proud and excited to announce that my friend, a classmate, from my schooldays is going to represent India at the British Formula Ford 1800 Zetec series. He and his two team-mates have been selected from India by the reputed Peter Chambers Racing Team from Britain. British Formula Ford is the racing series, that is considered to be a very promising stepping stone to the super exclusive Formula One circuit. What makes this even more exciting and prestigious is that, the only other Indian to have been previosuly selected to represent India at this racing series has been Narain Karthikeyan.

Amit Kowli (my friend), Rohan Kowli (his younger bro) and Kunal Shah form the trinity that comprises of the REVS MOTORSPORT TEAM. These three have great racing credentials, having mastered the Karting circuits in India. Now they set their sights on the Formula Ford championships, considered by many experts as the first step towards the Formula One dream. Of course, there are lots more milestones to achieve and many steps to take before that happens. There are still circuits like Formula Renault, Formula Three, etc. to go before the big league. But they have taken the first step and that is the most important thing, especially in a country like India where the racing infrastructure is next to being absent.

Currently, REVS MOTORSPORT TEAM is being sponsored by Inter-Gold (the world no. 2 in the diamond market) with tie-ups with firms like GEM and Percept-Dmark. But the team is looking out for more sponsors as racing in Britain is a very expensive affair. If any of you belong to or know of any companies that sponsor motorsport or any sporting events, then the team would appreciate if you could put them through to your company's contacts. Here is the contact address of the team.

Right now, Amit and his team-mates are busy participating in 12-hour endurance races, on the advice of Narain Karthikeyan. Amit and Rohan (both qualified architects) like to practice at the Landmarc Citi karting course at Worli in Mumbai. They build up stamina and strength by jogging twice a day and do cardio workouts to build strength in arms, legs and necks. Their diet too is strict. But they don't mind it. Amit says, "So what if we don't get to eat burgers, not many guys our age can get to race internationally, representing their country, do they?".

Now you see... why I was proud and excited. After all, how many guys my age can boast of friends who race internationally, representing their country?? ;-)

In the book Achieving Rapid Dominance, the authors Harlan Ullman and James Wade discuss a military strategy that they have termed as Rapid Dominance. This term, as defined in the book, aims at "producing a capability that can more effectively and efficiently achieve the political or military objectives underwriting the use of force by rendering the adversary completely impotent."

The book further does some detailed analysis of the term Rapid Dominance. It says,

In Rapid Dominance, "rapid" means the ability to move quickly before an adversary can react. This notion of rapidity applies throughout the spectrum of combat from pre-conflict deployment to all stages of battle and conflict resolution.

"Dominance" means the ability to affect and dominate an adversary's will both physically and psychologically. Physical dominance includes the ability to destroy, disarm, disrupt, neutralize, and to render impotent. Psychological dominance means the ability to destroy, defeat, and neuter the will of an adversary to resist; or convince the adversary to accept our terms and aims short of using force. The target is the adversary's will, perception, and understanding. The principal mechanism for achieving this dominance is through imposing sufficient conditions of "Shock and Awe" on the adversary to convince or compel it to accept our strategic aims and military objectives. Clearly, deception, confusion, misinformation, and disinformation, perhaps in massive amounts, must be employed. The key objective of Rapid Dominance is to impose this overwhelming level of Shock and Awe against an adversary on an immediate or sufficiently timely basis to paralyze its will to carry on. In crude terms, Rapid Dominance would seize control of the environment and paralyze or so overload an adversary's perceptions and understanding of events that the enemy would be incapable of resistance at tactical and strategic levels. An adversary would be rendered totally impotent and vulnerable to our actions. Theoretically, the magnitude of Shock and Awe Rapid Dominance seeks to impose (in extreme cases) is the non-nuclear equivalent of the impact that the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on the Japanese. The Japanese were prepared for suicidal resistance until both nuclear bombs were used. The impact of those weapons was sufficient to transform both the mindset of the average Japanese citizen and the outlook of the leadership through this condition of Shock and Awe. The Japanese simply could not comprehend the destructive power carried by a single airplane. This incomprehension produced a state of awe.

I haven't gone through the exercise of reproducing parts of a certain obscure military strategy book, for nothing.

George Bush is preparing to translate the theory of Shock and Awe into practice. It will be called the A-Day. A for airstrikes so lethal and devastating that they would leave Saddam's soldiers, not just incapable of retaliation but also unwilling to do so.

Just to gauge the intensity of this strategy, consider this. In the first two days of air-strikes, Pentagon plans to launch as many as 800 Cruise missiles (yeah! you heard that right!!) attargets in Iraq. That means a mind-boggling 400 missiles a day. A number that is double the number of such missiles launched in the entire 40-day campaign of the Gulf War in 1991. I've heard that Texans always think big. But this is ridiculous!!

"There will not be a safe place in Baghdad," a Pentagon official told America's CBS News after a briefing on the plan. "The sheer size of this has never been seen before, never been contemplated before."

Analysts say that the main objective is not just to disable Iraq's fighting capacity but to leave the civilian population dispirited and unwilling to support Saddam's regime. But hasn't it been tom-tommed countless number of times how the Iraqi civilian population is dis-illusioned with Saddam's rule and are not supportive of him. Then why, pray why is this necessary. On top of this Harlan Ullman, the author of the book mentioned above says, "You're sitting in Baghdad and, all of a sudden, you're the general and 30 of your division headquarters have been wiped out. You also take the city down. By that I mean you get rid of their power and water. In two, three, four, five days they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted." Great!! Bush listens to such people!

Now, how much does it take for Saddam to escape all this murder and mayhem sought ot be wrought by the Americans led by a sabre-rattling Bush?? Not much. His bunkers and tactics of using look-alikes worked very well last time around and there is no reason why they may not work this time as well. Moreover The Gulf nations aren't as readily agreeable to Bush's war plans as they were last time (even though, it begs to be pointed out that even last time, it took coercion to get them to agree for strikes against Iraq). So, it will not be too difficult for Saddam, his sons adn his military top-brass to sneak out of Iraq before the bombing starts. And we have seen in Afghanistan how Osama and his band of terrorists managed to sneak through American dragnets time and time again (in fact, the frustration of these failures in Afghanistan is what has led Bush to aim at a soft target like Saddam. And I mean soft target because it is very easy to get the world to hate Saddam on any given day). So, who then is left to suffer?? The Iraqi people... as usual!!

Reposrts say that Bush is prepared to give UN inspectors another month to complete their tasks. Now, doesn't this sound magnanimous on the part of George W?? But it is interesting to note that in a Gallup poll published yesterday, only 17% of the respondents were actually in favour of going to war with Iraq. With a huge chunk of the population, as large as 83%, opposed to war, George W Bush dare not jump into the war just yet. Over the course of next month, he will give speeches like the State of Union Address that he delivered yesterday while announcing a new medicare policy. He will use each and every forum to deliver speeches that will whip up sentiments of the American public in favour of war. He'll work on the philsophy mentioned by Hermann Goering before he was sentenced to death. Goering said, "Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

History repeats itself, they say. Not like this, please!

With war clouds looming large on his country's horizon, Uday Hussein, Saddam's son has already warned, "If they come, September 11, which they are crying over and see as a big thing, will be a real picnic for them, God willing. They will be hurt and pay a price they will never imagine. They can get much more from Iraq without resorting to the logic of force and war."

Good begets good... Bad will definitely beget more bad!

In the end, I'm totally shocked and certainly not in awe!

Those two ladies are at it again!!

Ashwini and Shanti have come up with yet another gem of an idea. Its called Blog Mela (or so it is called at the moment, at least). It will be a collection of the week's best posts from the Indian blog world. And it'll be hosted by RealWomenOnline.com which is another of their brilliant ideas.

The ladies explain the concept of Blog Mela, thus. "You send in your best posts for the week or You send in a link to a post that you have read on someone else's blog(it has to be an Indian blog though). Your entries have to reach us by tuesday evening IST. The posts will be published on Wednesday morning EST.".

The restriction on submissions for Blog Mela is that the submitted blogs should not be personal posts. All other topics are allowed.

Ashwini adds a threat (oops! ... a warning) "If you don't send in those posts, we are still going ahead with the Mela and we are going to pick the posts ourselves at random. Let it not be said that you were not forewarned. :-)

Well, I'll be looking forward to reading an assortment of best Indian blog-posts on Blog Mela. Who knows, perhaps one day this good-for-nothing scribbler might be published there! ;-) :-p

Bungler left a comment on my tagboard (zonkboard) which mentioned the name of Ken Nichols O'Keefe. To be frank, I hadn't heard of O'Keefe previously. Bungler mentioned that he was interviewed by Tim Sebastien on BBC's Hard Talk and came across as "totally commited, with integrity and belief in what he does". So, I read up on this guy who is called the Human Shield.

Ken Nichols O'Keefe is a Gulf War veteran who joined the US Marines Corps in 1989 as a nineteen year-old eager to serve his country. In 1991, he was sent to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. He came to know that US ammunition in the war included the use of Depleted Uranium (DU) against civilian population. This meant that even the US troops using this deadly ammo were at risk. It was George Bush Sr. using the Gulf War as a testing ground for DU-based ammo, in the process, using the 'heroes' as mere guinea pigs.

In 1999, O'Keefe renounced his US citizenship citing the reason that it was done "in shame and disgust having arrived at the logical, albeit belated, conclusion that my government was not worthy of my funding - through taxes - and certainly not my allegiance. Paying for roads and schools is one thing, paying for "Weapons of Mass Destruction" to the point of insanity and nurturing global oppression is another thing all together. No moral being can be compelled to fund war, death and murder.".

You might say, what is it that makes this Ken Nichols O'Keefe so important. Well, he is an anti-war crusader who will go to Iraq (alongwith other like-minded peaceniks) and volunteer to act as human shield against the US-led attacks. He agrees that he and his fellow human shield volunteers might be maimed or killed. But that, he says, is not worse than the fate that innocent Iraqis will have to face. He points out that it is not about supporting Saddam Hussein (which, he points out, is what US did in the past). Instead it is about expressing solidarity for the Iraqi people and letting them know that not everybody in the Western world wants war with them. O'Keefe hits the nail right on the head when he argues that "...we will bring home to western public, the human cost of war because, unfortunately, the death and destruction faced daily by countless millions of our fellow human beings seems somehow an unfathomable abstraction unless western lives are at stake as well.". Well said, Mr. O'Keefe!

He also quotes Gandhi, "...peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds.".

Sounds quite idealistic and full of rhetoric, doesn't it? Well, maybe! But this is better than the idealism touted by Bush and Blair in their claims to be the sole defenders of peace and democracy and their so-called rights to assert their will on the weaker nations of the world.

Well, what do you people think?

Complete works of Shakespeare, all rolled into one play! Well, that's what the Reduced Shakespeare Company has been doing for the last six years or so, in London.

The London Theatre Guide Review says about the play...

The Reduced Shakespeare Company, perform a collection of sketches that is sure to have the Bard turning in his grave. Shakespeare has never been lampooned with such disrespect before and no doubt never will be again. All his sonnets are reduced to eight lines, his comedies are condensed into one short sketch, and the tragedies are ridiculed unmercifully. Hamlet is abridged into a two-minute sketch that can even be performed backwards.

These days the RSC is in Mumbai and will be performing the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the Sophia Bhabha Hall at 7:30 PM every day from 29^th Jan 2003 to 2^nd Feb 2003.

I would love to go and check it out!! :-)

Dobby spells trouble for himself. Dobby, the computer-animated elf in the new Harry Potter film, could be at the centre of a court battle over his resemblance to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Isn't the resemblance too uncanny?!!! :)

A Russian law firm is reportedly drawing up legal action against the special effects people who dreamt up Dobby, arguing that the ugly but caring elf has been modelled on Mr Putin. The Kremlin and Warner Bros, producer of Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, have declined to comment but the controversy has stirred emotions in Russia.

Potter websites and chatrooms have been inundated with angry Russian messages attacking anyone suggesting a likeness between the elf and Mr Putin.

Read more about this here
[via Metafilter]

Ashwini and Shanti have come up with RealWomenOnline.Com.

This is the reason for the existence of this new site...

There are a lot of bloggers around and many of them write really good stuff.But we find that many women, especially Indian women, are not opening up and talking the way they would like to about non-personal issues such as Politics, Sports, etc. We feel that many of the ladies are either intimidated by others or don't want to expend too much energy into maintaining a full time blog.

This blog is designed to help out in situations like that. We want women (and men) to use our space to post their thoughts, opinions any issue that is of interest to them, as long as it is not the recipe for the day's breakfast or details of their love life (not that there is anything wrong with that).

We want women to speak out here, like there is no one listening. We know they have a lot to say when they are between friends and we want this to be a place like that - where people speak freely, and there is a free exchange of ideas.

I think this is a great idea. It is good to see Blogs being used for something positive and worthwhile. Let us have more efforts like this!! :-)

Ok... the results for the Supersam's Challenge are out... ;-)

First, we'll take a look at the answers and then take a look at the scores.

1. Lets start with a swig of alcohol to warm you up. Which alcoholic beverage is derived from Scottish Gaelic 'Uisge beatha' which incidentally means 'the water of life'?
Ans: Whisky

2. With which athletic sport would you associate the "Fosbury Flop" or the "straddle"?
Ans: The High Jump

3. Where would you find 'the lovers', 'the chariot', 'justice', 'the wheel of fortune', 'the hanged man', 'death', 'temperance', 'the devil' and 'the tower'?
Ans: Tarot Cards

4. If a ballerina is a female ballet dancer, then what do you call a male ballet dancer?
Ans: A Danseur

5. According to the Bible (The Old Testament), what was the first command of God?
Ans: Let there be light!

6. In the story, 'Beauty and the Beast', what caused the Beast to turn back into a prince?
Ans: Beauty's love for the Beast

7. Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man are the alter egoes of which comic strip character?
Ans: Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes

8. There are forty-three trillion wrong ways to arrange what?
Ans: The Rubik's Cube

9. In which film did Marilyn Monroe's dress billow up over the subway vent?
Ans: The Seven Year Itch

10. Made from the dried stamens of the cultivated crocus flower, what is the most expensive cooking spice?
Ans: Saffron

Now for the scores...

Bungler : 7/10
Maltesh : 4/10
Ashwini : 7/10
Shuchita : 5/10

So, there you have it... Bungler and Ashwini are the winners!! Congratulations!! :-)

What should you do when you are being robbed? Well... make the robbers laugh!

At least thats what famous Albanian comedian, Sejfulla Myftari, did when armed robbers aimed Kalashnikov rifles at him with intentions of robbing him on the highway, last week.

Stepping out of the car, Myftari reached out and patted the gun and said, "Oh thanks, I haven't seen a Kalash (Kalashnikov) in ages -- will you let me hold it please".

This amused the gangsters, who recognized the bald head and bulging eyes of the comedian, and asked him to leave quickly in his car, so that they could rob another car.

So, there you go! ... Laughter is, indeed, the best medicine!!! ;-)

This isn't my original stuff. But its too good all the same!! :)

Calvin For President

An interview with presidential candidate Calvin with running mate Hobbes the tiger.

Interviewer:"I'm sitting here with the latest entry into the presidential race Calvin and his running mate Hobbes. This is the first time a grade schooler and a stuffed tiger have declared themselves eligible for the Oval Office.

Gentlemen, er, um make that Mr. Calvin and uh, well... Got it! Fellow mammals, there is no denying your success in the world of comics. And unlike the other candidates you will not have to achieve name recognition. But what people want to know is will you be able to make the transition from the funnies to the Presidency?"

Calvin:"Considering the last two presidents would have been more successful on the Sunday comics than in office, I don't see why not."

Interviewer:"But what about you, Hobbes? Since you only exist in the mind of a grade schooler there's no way you can serve any useful function as VP, except as entertainment for the press. Don't you think that will hurt your election chances?"

Calvin:"Look at Dan Quayle."

Interviewer:"Good point. But the constitution requires candidates to be 35."

Calvin:"I'm old enough as long as I have this!" (produces a small card and hands it to the interviewer)

Interviewer:"But this is your father's driver licence with your picture pasted over his and his name crossed out and "Calvin" written in crayon!"

Calvin:"Shhh, not so loud. I only have to show it once and after it's been through the wash a few times no one will be able to tell."

Interviewer:"Well, best of luck. Let's move onto the issues. As I understand it if elected you will pay off the deficit by slashing the defense budget to nothing. What will you do if someone like Saddam Hussein decides to annex the U.S.?"

Calvin:"No problem, Hobbes will eat 'em."

Interviewer:"What?"

Calvin:"Hobbes will eat 'em. Tigers are good for that. Show him Hobbes."

Hobbes:"Grrrrr."

Interviewer:"But he's just a stuffed tiger!"

Hobbes:"Grrrooowwlll!"

Calvin:"Boy, it's a good thing I fed him before we got here. He doesn't like to be called a stuffed tiger."

Interviewer:"But, but, but... never mind. What about gun control?"

Calvin:"Guns don't kill people, people don't kill people, bullets kill people! I figure if people want guns, that's fine. We just outlaw bullets."

Interviewer:"Don't you think that criminals will be able to get bullets anyway? What about the police, will they have bullets?"

Calvin:"The police won't need bullets because I'll tranmorgify them into dinosaurs. I'm partial to Tyrannosaurs Rexes but anything big will work."

Interviewer:"Transmogrify?"

Calvin:"Sure, with my transmogrifier over there." (Points to overturned cardboard box with TRANSMOGRIFIER written on it)

Interviewer:"Amazing what they can do with corrugated cardboard and a crayon, isn't it?"

Calvin:"Sure. I built it myself! You just turn the dial to what ever you want and crawl inside and it changes you. Right now it can only change you into a Tyrannosaurs Rex and a Tiger, but I left some room to write more things down."

Interviewer:"But it's not big enough to hold a big dinosaur!"

Calvin:"Well there are still a few bugs that I'm working on, like changing back to a human afterwards, but I figure after I become Grand Poobah of the Universe I'll be able to get as big a box as I need."

Interviewer:"Grand Poobah of the Universe?"

Calvin:"That's going to be my first action. President Calvin sounds so bland compared to Calvin, Grand Poobah of the Universe."

Interviewer:"Let's talk about your election chances. Are you runnin as a Democrat, Republican or Independent?"

Calvin:"All of them."

Interviewer:"But, but, you can't *do* that!"

Calvin:"There's nothing in the rules that says you can't run as all three, besides I figure I'll get more votes that way."

Interviewer:"Can't argue with logic like that. But, realistically, what do yo think your chances are entering this late in the race with no
campaign manager, funds or even a coherent advertising strategy?"

Calvin:"Pretty good considering I'll be running unopposed."

Interviewer:"What about Bush, Clinton and Perot?"

Calvin:"No problem, Hobbes will eat 'em."

Hobbes:"Growl!"

Interviewer:"What?! You just can't eat your opposition!"

Calvin:"There's nothing in the rules that says, "No tigers eating opposing candidates." Just keep it under your hat because Hobbes will
have an easier time if they don't expect him to pounce them. I figure it's not my fault that none of the other candidates choose tigers as VP.

Interviewer:"I can guarantee that you'll have a monopoly on tigers as running mates. What is your stand on education?"

Calvin:"I hate it. We should outlaw it. Who needs to add anyway? That's what we have calculators for. I figure if you can't learn it by
watching TV isn't worth knowing."

Interviewer:"What kind of country are we going to become if we have no education system.?"

Calvin:"I didn't say we should all be ignorant. I'll just modify my transmogrifier to include genius and anyone who wants to be smarter can be."

Interviewer:"Have you ever smoked a marijuana cigarette?"

Calvin:"I don't even know what that is. Once I bought a pack of candy cigarettes and put one in my mouth in front of my mom. When she told me not to smoke I ate it. It was great!"

Interviewer:"You don't know what marijuana is? How are you going to effectively enforce drug laws?"

Calvin:"I don't think enforcement will be a problem if the entire police force consists of Tyrannosaurs Rexes!"

Interviewer:"Sorry, I forgot about that. By the way what exactly is your platform?"

Calvin:"A cookie jar in every kitchen and a transmogrifier in every garage."

Interviewer:"Interesting. We're almost out time, so just one more question. What will you do if no one votes for you?"

Calvin:"They'd better, or else."

Interviewer:"Or else what? Wait don't tell me, let me guess. Hobbes will eat them, right?

Calvin:(smiles)

Hobbes:"Growf?"

Calvin:"Don't worry Hobbes. If you can't eat that many people will transmogrify some people into tigers to give you a hand."

Hobbes:"An eminently wise decision, my friend."

Interviewer:"Well I guess that concludes this interview. Normally I would say these two jokers have a snowball's chance in hell of making it but something tells me they might just have something. If, come November, we are swearing in a Grand Poobah of the Universe and are wondering if the VP has fleas, just point me towards the nearest transmogrifier, I'm going to join the police force!"

LOL ;-)

Posters for Peace. Just got this link from Metafilter. A collection of posters, in PDF format, to protest against the mindless and needless war that may erupt in Iraq.

On my part, I'm not going to print the posters. Instead I'll put up a poster here on this site with a link to http://www.protestposters.org/

If you believe that the Bush's campaign against Iraq is unjustified, then maybe you could do the same. :-)

Think you can crack this one? Take this quiz and see if you can crack it. C'mon, take Supersam's challenge!! ... and no Googling, mind u!! :)

1. Lets start with a swig of alcohol to warm you up. Which alcoholic beverage is derived from Scottish Gaelic 'Uisge beatha' which incidentally means 'the water of life'?

2. With which athletic sport would you associate the "Fosbury Flop" or the "straddle"?

3. Where would you find 'the lovers', 'the chariot', 'justice', 'the wheel of fortune', 'the hanged man', 'death', 'temperance', 'the devil' and 'the tower'?

4. If a ballerina is a female ballet dancer, then what do you call a male ballet dancer?

5. According to the Bible (The Old Testament), what was the first command of God?

6. In the story, 'Beauty and the Beast', what caused the Beast to turn back into a prince?

7. Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man are the alter egoes of which comic strip character?

8. There are forty-three trillion wrong ways to arrange what?

9. In which film did Marilyn Monroe's dress billow up over the subway vent?

10. Made from the dried stamens of the cultivated crocus flower, what is the most expensive cooking spice?

You can send me the answers by email. For those who don't know my email-id, just ask! ;-)

Just Hum! That's exactly what Fraunhofer Institut of Germany (the creators of the ubiquitous MP3 digital audio format) would have us do.

It's called "Query by Humming," a type of melody recognition software program on display at this week's Midem music conference in Cannes that identifies a song by title and composer based on a person humming a few bars into a microphone.

Sounds like a cool thing, doesn't it?! Read more here.
[via Metafilter]

If you still need a reason as to why wars are inhuman, have a look at this. The Unseen Gulf War is a photo exhibit from the Gulf War that shows an aspect that I doubt many people have had a chance to see... the "human consequences"!.

A warning, though! Some of the images can be pretty disturbing.

[via Metafilter]

Big Brother wants to fry your computers. While the whole world witnesses a tirade by a Bush-led US against Iraq's so-called non-compliance with the UN diktats, the US Air Force is working on developing a man-made bolt of lightning powerful enough to fry sophisticated computers and electronic components in weapons.

US researchers are looking at ways of putting so-called High-Powered Microwave (HPM) beams on aircraft and cruise missiles. The short, intense burst of energy would be lethal to electronics but have no effect on people.

Aerospace experts have suggested an experimental version of the weapon could be used in a war against Iraq, carried on a cruise missile or unmanned aircraft.

Ahhh!... is that why US wants a war with Iraq???... to test its weapons systems prototypes??... and to keep its war industry in business!

Read more here

Speaking about fairy tales (which are in vogue nowadays, thanks to Maltesh and Anya), would the news of discovery of sprites and elves dancing on thunder clouds, interest you?!

If yes, then read this report which announces that Sprites and Elves dancing on thunder clouds have been captured by cameras on the space shuttle Columbia.

The report however quashes any hopes of finding these fantasy creatures, when it describes further, "The sprites, which are red flashes of electricity shooting up from thunderclouds 13 miles (20 km) into the ionosphere, and elves, which are glowing red doughnut shapes radiating 190 miles (300 km), were photographed Sunday by astronaut Dave Brown on the sprite hunt's first orbit."

*LOL* ... so much for fairy tales!! ;-)

[via Slashdot]. According to a news story published in a South African news site BusinessDay, South African government has decided to adopt open source software and develop support programs with local research institutes and universities. The CIO of the State IT Agency says: "The logic for open-source is so compelling that after a year of debates we decided to stop talking and declare government an open- source zone."

This came after the simmering resentment, towards incessant expense of buying software licences for hundreds of thousands of staff spread across government departments, finally boiled over after Microsoft's decision last year that it was introducing a new license model for its software.

I think the trend of Governments migrating to Open Source for their IT needs, is spreadign right across the world. When Bill Gates was here in India, a month or so back, his primary aim was to influence the various Indian state governments to desist from crossing over from Microsoft to Open Source. So, are we going to see a Gates trip to South Africa?? ;-)

Just came across this story. Got it in a mail. Found it mildly interesting. Maybe Gaurav who's in Lucknow, can verify! ;-)

So, here it is...

Love is known to make people do the unthinkable but few except the Zoo authorities in Lucknow could have imagined it doing the same for an 800 pound elephant.

Thanks to a "love therapy" used by local officials, Sumit, Lucknow city's most rowdy elephant, is well on his way to become its most well behaved.

The 10-year-old pachyderm had, since his inception into the zoo in 1994, displayed excessive moodiness and refused to be tamed. Things
took a turn for the worse when Sumit entered adolescence, his violent fits increased and zoo officials were often forced to run for cover.

Kishan, Sumit's mahout, recalls a recent incident when Sumit attacked him and other officials. "The elephant went berserk and started attacking us. We tried to tie him up but he was too violent, we had to run," said Kishan.

Perturbed by his constant mood swings and tired of trying conventional measures, the zoo authorities then introduced "Jiamala", a sober pachyderm beauty, into the picture. Much to their relief the move clicked and smitten by the full 670 pound of her, Sumit today is a changed personality. Though still chained he fondly watches over his sweetheart, who is tied right opposite him, as he allows the mahout to scrub him.

Eva Sharma, director, Lucknow Zoo, agrees that Sumit has shown a remarkable improvement in his behaviour but adds that he will have to be chained for some more time as a precautionary measure.

"Right now he (Sumit) is looking very normal and calm. We gave him a good bath today and he was very obliging, he also allowed himself to be chained without any hassles. He was fully cooperative, but we will still keep Sumit in chains as a matter of precaution. Our mahouts will
make sure that he gets his daily walk within the Zoo premises," she said.

Sumit will stay under observation for another two weeks before he is allowed a full 24-hour stay with his sweetheart.

Hmmmmm! :-)

Something to do if you've got nothing better to do with the rest of your life.. You'll need a Flash player installed to view it and a ton of patience to bear it. Have fun!!
[via Metafilter]

Disclaimer: The following article is not written by me and does not reflect my views. I do not wish to pass judgement on any individual or any organization by posting this article. This came to me in mail.

Who is Reliance trying to fool ?

The Media has been going ga-ga about Reliance Infocomm's new Pioneer Offer. Everybody has nothing but good things to say about it, but has anybody bothered analyzing the offer?

It isn't all as rosy as it seems.

First of all, NO, the mobile phone isn't free; it's a hidden cost and a big one as we will soon see.

Second, you pay a hefty Rs. 3,000 as Club Membership fees, which entitle you to receive privileged services like game downloads, ringtones, and a more of such freebies. A marketing booklet with discount coupons worth Rs. 1 Lac also comes along (come on Reliance, a Mid-Day newspaper does a better job at giving us free coupons).

Third, all the billing money for three years has to be pledged to Reliance in the form of post dated cheques, or full upfront payment, and no, there isn't a trial period for the service. If you choose to exit the plan in the first year, no matter what the reason might be, you stand to lose the mobile phone, club membership charges, and Rs. 100 from each of your post-dated cheques.

Fourth, all seemingly free services like Voice Mail, Call Divert, Call Conferencing and Data Connectivity (Internet Services) are billed to you at regular talktime rates according to Reliance's Website. As for those who consider that airtime rates are quite cheap, let's analyze it a little further.

Reliance bills at Rs. 1,800 per quarter, and the club membership of Rs. 3,000 is compulsory and non refundable. That makes a total of Rs. 24,600 for three years. [3000 security + (1800 x 4 quarters x 3 years)].

In return you get 400 minutes of talktime free each month. i.e. 14,400 minutes for 3 years.

Divide the two and you will realise that each minute within plan limits ends up costing you around Rs. 1.71 or Rs. 5.13 for a three minute standard call . And once the plan's call time is up, you pay standard BSNL/MTNL landline fees. This implies that every call you make is getting you closer to bearing the cost of owning the mobile phone.

Let's deduct the price of the handset from the amount you pay to Reliance and see the difference. Reliance claims the phone costs around Rs. 10,500, but we don't believe that is a fair estimate. Considering they buy it in bulk and the options are fairly limited, let's place the price of the handset at Rs. 7,600. [my take on this: I disagree. For one I do not subscribe to the argument that since they get cheaper prices in bulk, they necessarily have to pass down the same price to the customer. Another thing is that I do not, for a moment believe that a CDMA phone can come for under 10K. But those are just my views!]

The total fee for the new plan without mobile phone will then amount to Rs. 17,000 (Rs. 24,600 - Rs. 7,600). The total cost-per- minute at Rs. 1.18 in this case is still more than that of the basic telephony providers they vie to replace.

Though cheaper than other mobile phone services, it is still costlier than a landline. This, despite the fact that setting up a CDMA2000x1 network costs less than landline based solutions, and the TRAI is offering Reliance a good deal via free interconnect with BSNL/MTNL.

The quality and features, Reliance has been harping on will be seen in time. But, some basic misconceptions which give the deal a greater than god image can be cleared right away.

The SMS facility on Reliance phones is limited to sending and receiving messages to Reliance phones only. It isn't possible to send or receive SMS messages to/from standard GSM mobile phones. So SMS being free isn't too good an option unless Reliance is a monopoly, which, if and when it becomes one, will make them charge for it.

The low-cost STD calls too are for Reliance-to-Reliance phones only. If you wish to call up a standard land line, you pay standard MTNL/BSNL charges.

All this, and a lot more needs to be explained in clearer terms for the consumer to gauge how well this plan meets her data/telecom needs.

Services that Reliance claims it will offer need to be explained in a lot more detail to make it clear to the customer about what exactly she's going to get. As for whether the service would really deliver what it claims; only time will tell.

We would rather sit back and watch the playing field level up, and then pick the tried and tested option that has proven its performance.

Well!! .... what do you people think?? Does this make sense or is it just a ranting of an iconoclast? Leave your comments...

Clear the air, not the room.. I just came across this on Metafilter, and I thought this was the craziest business idea I've heard in recent times!!

"You no longer have to be embarrassed by the untimely passing of intestinal gas among your friends or family." The GasBGon Flatulence Filter Seat Cushion "...has been designed and tested to absorb the odor and sound of flatulence." Buy one today for yourself, a loved one or a friend.

Hahaha... I think this will boost the beans business!! And the standard line at the dinner table will change from, "Honey, could you pass the salt please" to "Honey, you could pass the wind, if you want!"!!! ;) :p

Microsoft Ordered to Ship Java in 120 Days. According to report published on Reuters, a federal judge on Wednesday ordered Microsoft Corp. to begin shipping Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java program within 120 days, after the companies fought over implementing a ruling he made last month.

Sun had complained in a court filing that Microsoft wanted to take up to a year before including the Java program to copies of Windows it sells.

Microsoft told U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz that shipping Java with Windows was not a simple matter and a sudden change in the operating system could harm large corporate users of Windows.

But Motz ruled, "I can't sit here hearing after hearing, I want this done in 120 days."

And so, Microsoft had to eat the humble pie... for once! (I still get a niggling feeling that Microsoft will wriggle out of this hole too!)

China blocks Blog*Spot!. According to a latest report published on reuters.com, China has blocked access to Blog*Spot, which is used by more than one million people worldwide to post on-line diaries, blogs, etc.

The U.S.-based "blogspot" Web site, has been inaccessible through Chinese networks for a week, Chinese bloggers claimed.

Jason Shellen, business development director at Silicon Valley-based Pyra Laboratories which runs the site blogspot.com, says "This is not due to a technical problem."

Read more about it here.

We aren't separated from each other by six degrees, after all!. Stanley Milgram invented the term "six degrees of separation" after discovering in an experiment how closely interconnected social networks can be. The "six degrees" concept also inspired a play, a film, and a party game. The original study has recently attracted criticism, but now sociologists at Columbia University are planning to re-do the study over the Internet, using e-mail forwarding. Volunteers can sign up here.
[via Metafilter]

Tilgul ghyaa ani god god bola goes the popular phrase in Marathi (my mother-tongue). Roughly translated into English, it means "Have this Tilgul (a sweet made of Sesame seeds and jaggery) and talk sweetly". It's a greeting that is exchanged on the day of Makar Sankranti, an Indian festival that falls every year on January 14th.

According to Hindunet, Makar Sankranti marks the beginning of Uttarayan, the Sun's northward journey. Makar is called Capricorn in the western astrological calendar. Makar Sankranti falls on 14th of January every year. The day and night on Makar Sankrant are of exactly of equal hours. This day is observed as the most auspicious day by the Hindus all over the country. In the south of India, this festival is popular as Pongal.

Though the festival is celebrated differently in the country, it is significant to note that Til seeds (sesame seeds) and jaggery are used everywhere. Obviously, to combat the chilly winter, til oil is used along with jaggery. Til contains oil and it is healthy. Being soft, exchanging til seeds or products made from til means an exchange of love and tender feelings.

Makar Sankranti is a major festival in Maharashtra, especially in the rural areas where the harvest season begins on this day. Laddus made from Til and jaggery, Tilguls made from til and sugar are offered to each other as a wish for prosperity, health and happiness. These tokens symbolize one's wish for other people to say sweet words and have sweet and soft feelings to one and all. That's why the phrase "Tilgul ghya ani god god bola!".

So... Happy Makar Sankranti and Happy Pongal to you all!!

And, belated Lohri wishes to all the Punjabi people (a certain Sukhwinder included!)!! Hope you had fun yesterday! :-)

Flexing the Indian Nuclear muscle. Humphrey Hawksley, a BBC correspondent recently visited Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Trombay in Mumbai where over 15,000 people work in laboratories that are hewn under mountians, adding muscle to India's Nuclear arsenal. There, he is told that the pit - the nuclear element - is made at BARC.

Explaining th process of assembling a nuclear weapon, he is told, "The pit goes into the warhead. And the warhead is kept in another place. And the delivery system - that is an aircraft, a missile of a submarine - is in another place again. It would take something from six to eight hours - maximum 12 hours to get the complete weapon assembled and ready to launch. Then it would take about 11 minutes to impact on Pakistan."

This, coupled with the fact that India follows a no-first-use policy, clearly means that India is ready to absorb one nuclear strike, i.e. it's ready to sacrifice at least one city before it gathers its wits and weapons to hit back with everything its got!

So, which are the scapegoat cities??! ... the cities that are expendable... the ones whose loss can be thought of as just a collateral damage!

Now surf four times faster with a new wonder browser created by a 16 year old young scientist. A computer browser that is said to least quadruple surfing speeds on the Internet has won the top prize at an Irish exhibition for young scientists, it was announced on Saturday. Adnan Osmani, 16, a student at Saint Finian's College in Mullingar, central Ireland spent 18 months writing 780,000 lines of computer code to develop the browser. Known as "XWEBS", the system works with an ordinary Internet connection using a 56K modem on a normal telephone line.

Adnan states that the browser features built-in access to 120 Internet search engines, a variety of music and video players including a DVD player and a talking figure, Phoebe who can read out web-pages. You can read more about this story here

Hmmmm!! ... first of all 780,000 lines of code in 18 months comes around to 1500 lines per day... something of a wonder in itself! Secondly... if the browser features all these goodies, it has to be super bulky! So, there are sceptics aplenty... and with good reason too!
[via Slashdot]

I was a midnight rider on a cloud of smoke
I could make a woman hang on every single stroke
I was an iron man I had a master plan
But I was alone

I could hear you breathing with a sigh of the wind
I remember how your body started trembling
Oh what a night it's been, and for the state I'm in
I'm still alone
And all the wonders made for the earth
And all the hearts in all creation
Somehow I always end up alone

Always end up alone, always end up alone
So I'll play, I'll wait
'Cause you know that love takes time

Living love betwen the line
We came (sha la) so close (so far)
Just the beat of a lonely heart
And it's mi-i-ine, and I don't wanna be alone

Well, since I got no message on your answer phone
Since you're busy every minute I just stay at home
I make believe you care, I feel you everywhere
But I'm still alone

I'm on a wheel of fortune with a twist of fate
'Cause I know it isn't heaven is it love or hate
Am I the subject of the pain
Am I the stranger in the rain I am alone

And is there glory there to behold
Maybe it's my imagination another story there to be told
So I play sha la, I'll wait sha la
And I pray it's not too late
We came sha la so far so far
Just a beat of a lonely heart and it's mi-i-ine
And I don't wanna be alone

Gone but not out of sight
I'm caught in the rain and there's no one home
I don't wanna be alone face the heat of the the night
The one that you love's got a heart that's made of stone
You search for the light
And sooner or later you'll be cruising on your ocean
And clean out of sight I'm caught in the rain
And there's no one home


Maurice Ernest Gibb (1949 - 2003) R.I.P.

How about a water-cooled power supply??. You've seen and heard of Powers Supply Units (PSUs) in your computers being cooled by heat-sinks and fans. Well, thats how they've always been cooled! But have you heard of a water-cooled PSU??

Apparently one guy has hit upon this brilliant (though it remains to be seen how safe!) idea of colling the PSU in your PCs using plain old water! He even provides an illustrated step-by-step guide on how to go about doing that! You can click here to check out the ste-by-step guide.

But... but... but!... make it a point to read the warning and the disclaimer to literally avoid a Digital Explosion! :-)
[via Slashdot]

This should excite all the Star Wars junkies out there!!. Well, even if you aren't much of a Star Wars fan, you'll love it!

Click here and enjoy!!

Creativity of some people just amazes me! :-)

We all know how beautiful Aishwarya Rai is! ... Well, if you don't know, then just have a look at this Google Image search for Aishwarya Rai!

But... what I have in my possession is probably Ash's most mind-blowing pic!!

If you don't believe me, then go on... have a look here and then tell me if I'm exaggerating!

Go on... have a look! ... you know you want to!! :-)

Wanna see something that'll make you cross-eyed and give you an eye strain??.

Well, then click on each word of this sentence and enjoy!

And don't blame me if you turn into a squint or get temporarily blinded!! ;-)
[via Metafilter]

A group of information technology companies published a specification Thursday designed to improve the reliability of business applications that use Web services. The specification, WS-Reliability, which will be submitted to a standards body in a few weeks, was written by a number of companies, including Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Sonic Software. If accepted as a standard and adopted by Web services providers, will let a company ensure that a message sent between two different applications is delivered reliably. For example, a company could send a purchase order to a supplier via a Web service and be guaranteed that the message was either successfully delivered and performed its function, or that the transmission failed. Currently, businesses working with Web services can make sure their communications are reliable using specialized software or other established products. WS-Reliability seeks to create a standardized method that is widely supported. Read more. [via CNet News.com]

Secret Diaries of the Lords of the Rings!

This one is pretty hilarious too!! ;-) [via Metafilter]

I'm currently reading Yann Martel's Booker winning Life of Pi. Its quite good actually (at least as far as I've read upto now). It perks up your curiousity when the author meets an elderly gentleman at the Indian Coffee House in Pondicherry. They start chatting and then the elderly man says, "I have a story that will make you believe in God.".

Wanna see an interative promo of the book?? Well, then click here and enjoy an unusual and interesting promo of this book.

And ohh! if you want to read the author's note and the first chapter of Life of Pi, then go here. [ via Metafilter]

What happens when, in a team sport, one individual, plays above his abilities on a particular day?!!... His team wins!!

That's exactly what happened today. India won its first match on the New Zealand tour, propelled by the all round performance of Zaheer Khan. Following up his fantastic first spell of bowling, in which he removed 3 top order New Zealand batsmen, Zaheer scored an unbeaten 34 (in 42 balls with 2 fours and a six) to guide India to a win which looked elusive when he came in to bat at the fall of the seventh wicket with 53 runs still to be scored for victory.

Without doubt, Zaheer is my Man of the Match!!

What would happen if the Sun suddenly disappeared from the centre of the Solar System??

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that we would be plunged into darkness (literally, not figuratively!!). But that won't happen for 8.3 minutes after the Sun has disappeared, since light takes 8.3 minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth.

Another thing would also happen. We all know that the Earth stays in its orbit mainly due to the gravitational pull exerted by the Sun. So, if the Sun disappears, so will the pull!

Ummm... how long would it be before Earth flies off the tangent and into the big Unknown?! ... Well, that depends on the speed of gravity. So... what is the speed of gravity?!!

Before yesterday, it was generally believed that Gravity travelled at the speed of light. But no one could prove it. Yesterday (7th Jan 2003), two scientists, Ed Fomalont and Sergei Kopeikin announced that they have succeeded in measuring the speed of Gravity for the first time ever. They have established that Gravity does indeed travel at the speed of light. Check it out here.

So, coming back to our problem of the Sun disappearing, we now know that the Earth would remain in orbit for about 8.3 minutes - the time it takes light to travel from the Sun to the Earth. Then, suddenly feeling no gravity, Earth would shoot off into space in a straight line!!

So, keep those space-pods and space-suits ready and be ready to take off in under 8.3 minutes if you hear the news that the Sun has disappeared!! ;-)

Most of the people who've read Lord of the Rings swear by the writing skills of J.R.R. Tolkien. And so they should! LoTR is one hell of a story!!

But... what would have happened if LoTR had been written by some other author?! Do you want to know??

Well then just go to this discussion and satisfy your curiousity!!

It makes for hilarious reading!! ;-)

Ghatkopar blast accused escapes. According to Mid-day, Sayyed Khwaja Yunus Sayyed Khwaja Ayub, one of the accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast case escaped from police custody. It seems that the police car, ferrying Ayub to Aurangabad for interrogation, overturned on the way. In true filmi style, Ayub, grabbing this chance, ran away handcuffed!

Art imitates life imitates art!! ... go figure! ;-)

This is what, Bruce Bartlett, a syndicated columnist says in his column in The Washington Times,

I think blogging is one of the most interesting ways in which the Internet empowers people. They cost almost nothing to put up and they allow anyone with an opinion the ability reach millions of people instantly and simultaneously. Blogs have become a kind of early warning system for me, alerting me about things like Trent Lott's political problems days before it appeared in the conventional press.
Blogs are here to stay and their power will only grow. I think they are going to revolutionize politics and newsgathering permanently.

A life in bits and bytes. In the July 1945 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, tech visionary Vannevar Bush had written of a future personal device in which an individual could store all his books, records, communications, etc. and which could be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. Bush envisaged it to be an enlarged intimate supplement to an individual's memory.

Now, fifty-seven years later, Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell, working in a Microsoft project at the Bay Area Research Centre in San Francisco, has sort of realized Vannevar Bush's vision.

He has developed a prototype of the device envisaged by Bush and since 1998, he's been recording his life in bits and bytes. Read Gordon Bell's interview that recently appeared on CNet News.com.

Using Bacterial DNA For Data Storage. According to an article in the Communications of the ACM, three scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the US, have proposed the use of DNA in genetically modified bacteria to store information.

The article states that, For very long-term storage and retrieval, encode information as artificial DNA strands and insert into living hosts. As vectors, bacteria, even some bugs and weeds, might be good for hundreds of millions of years.

sheesh!... and I thought, the good bacteria could only turn milk into curd!! ;-)

Sir Michael Gambon to play Prof Dumbledore. Irish-born actor Sir Michael Gambon is tipped to take on the role of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies following the death of star Richard Harris.

Sir Ian McKellen (who plays the role of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Christopher Lee were also touted as possible contenders to play the role of Prof. Albus Dumbledore, but both of them said they were not interested.

I always felt that Richard Harris (may he rest in peace) was the perfect choice for the role of Prof. Dumbledore... just as Ian McKellen fits like a glove in the chracter of Gandalf in LoTR movies.

Yaha virus spreads like a rash. A new variant of the Yaha virus that appeared just before Christmas has proved very contagious, infecting thousands of computers worldwide.

Symantec has named the virus as W32.Yaha.K@mm. It arrives as an attachment of the form .exe or .scr with lots of various subject lines and message bodies. The virus has its own email client which it uses to propagate itself out to the contacts listed in your address books. Moreover, it tries to close down firewalls and anti-virus softwares.

So, beware of that cute screen-saver that might appear to come from a dear friend of yours! :)

Be informed!

Greetings everyone!! ... from the city of Pune!... coz that's where I'm right now!! :)

stranger!... I thought Pune would be cooler than this!

I'm back!... well, almost!! :-)