tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36733212012-01-28T06:46:24.561ZJust another brain-dead techie with views on everything under the sun!Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.comBlogger4821100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1091466538707814962004-08-02T18:08:00.000+01:002006-05-18T17:12:43.933+01:00

Paraphrasing Jivha...Ultimately, my blog was mine and mine alone. And I decided to move it.Please note that I shall no longer be actively blogging here. I have moved my web residence to...http://www.opti-mystic.net/blogPlease update your blogrolls to point to my new blog rather than this one.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1091265601016127912004-07-31T10:20:00.000+01:002004-07-31T10:20:01.016+01:00

If you ever thought of doing something but only once in a blue moon, then you'd better do it today... coz tonight is gonna be that blue-moon night!! ;-)

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com82tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1091194937852846372004-07-30T14:40:00.000+01:002004-07-30T14:42:17.853+01:00

While on one hand John Kerry has been advocating lesser outsourcing and returning jobs to Americans, he does not seem to be averse to outsource his campaign to foreign nationals. David Radulski poses an interesting question... Then again, doesn't bringing in underpaid (unpaid?) foreign workers mean that a US professional campaign canvasser has lost his or her job? Btw, I do realize that there's

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1091168576622893432004-07-30T07:22:00.000+01:002004-07-30T07:22:56.623+01:00

For those Indians who continue to think that Kerry is the man to support for the top job in America, here's one more reason to think twice about that viewpoint. Speaking at the Democratic convention (the one where bloggers have been given a position of preeminence), Kerry spoke, among other things, about closing loopholes in US tax laws so that incentives will no longer be available for

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com304tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1091106891373677272004-07-29T14:14:00.000+01:002004-07-29T14:14:51.373+01:00

A former Pakistani Test player has alleged that the India-Lanka tie was fixed. I am not surprised. Someone or the other usually crawls out of the woodwork in Pakistan and makes these claims everytime an Indian win hurts the interests of the Pakistani team. Perhaps the idiot did not know that the biggest reason for India's advance into the final was the terrible mis-calculation on the Pakistani

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com127tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1091083159399829392004-07-29T07:26:00.000+01:002004-07-29T10:06:15.513+01:00

In these days of e-mail scams, hoaxes and spoofs, its very difficult to trust emails from anyone who wishes to part with a lot of money. Remember the Nigerian e-mail scam and how it fooled a lot of gullible people or the hoax mails from banks or PayPal. These hoaxes played on... People's fears by cautioning them about a security policy update that required them to send personal information.or

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com319tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090973204125773382004-07-28T00:58:00.000+01:002004-07-28T01:06:44.126+01:00

Was it a gamble? ... Was it cool calculation? ... Was it TINA at work? Or was it a masterstroke? Whatever it was... Ganguly's decision to throw the ball to Zaheer Khan for the final over turned out to be a successful move (especially after the 21 run rollicking that Jayasuriya gave Zaheer in his 4th over). And as we know... nothing succeeds like success!! :-) Chalk one up for, arguably, the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com205tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090919525670268182004-07-27T10:12:00.000+01:002004-07-27T10:12:05.670+01:00

Conducting interviews for tiny tots seeking admissions to kindergarten or pre-primary classes, is a totally unfair practice that schools have been adopting for a long time now. The reasons, why this practice is unfair, are: 1. Competition for marks/grades has grown to such an extent that it exists not only among students but also among the schools. In this game of oneupmanship, schools try to '

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090678537339099802004-07-24T15:07:00.000+01:002004-07-24T15:15:37.340+01:00

With the sudden increase in email storage space by nearly all major email service providers (yes! Hotmail has upped its offering too, though only for paid users. Free users continue to languish in the ridiculous 2 MB limit!... at least till autumn arrives.), I wonder when we will see a similar trend in webhosting?!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com459tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090659551579430012004-07-24T09:59:00.000+01:002004-07-24T09:59:11.580+01:00

Bangalore, it seems, is losing its sheen and the aura of invincibilty as far as IT is concerned. Well... at least Wipro seems to think so.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090563495021831562004-07-23T07:18:00.000+01:002004-07-23T07:18:15.020+01:00

The Sept 11 panel confirms what everyone has known forever - that Pakistan has had close links with Osama Bin Laden. But the panel, quite puzzlingly, goes on to recommend long-term military and other aid to Pakistan, inspite of its tendency to get cozy with the terrorists!! The panel blames Pakistan's links with Osama on the endemic poverty in the country... "Pakistan's endemic poverty,

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090562037531035232004-07-23T06:51:00.000+01:002004-07-23T06:53:57.530+01:00

Big changes expected here soon. Watch this space!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090368206456131542004-07-21T01:03:00.000+01:002004-07-21T01:03:26.456+01:00

Arun Shourie talks about how, the present governor of Uttar Pradesh had warned, as far back as 1996, about the impending threat of the rise of a "third Islamic State" in the subcontinent. T V Rajeswar, the former head of the Intelligence Bureau and the present governor of Uttar Pradesh had predicted this dire threat in a series of articles published in The Hindustan Times, way back in 1996.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090364633720195652004-07-21T00:24:00.000+01:002004-07-21T00:23:35.343+01:00

One of main justifications for the war against Iraq was supposed to be the links between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Time and time again, all the top officials in the Bush administration had claimed that there was 'overwhelming' proof that there were extensive ties between Saddam Hussein and Osama's terror organization, Al Qaeda.   But the Sept. 11 commission (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090365779906577132004-07-21T00:14:00.000+01:002004-07-21T00:22:59.906+01:00

These days when India plays a cricket match, with Zaheer Khan in the team, it's almost certain that he will pull one of his thigh/calf muscles and be ruled out of the remainder of the tournament!   And he did not disappoint this time! He was ruled out of the upcoming match against Bangladesh, in the ongoing Asia Cup tournament, with an injury to his quadriceps muscle. And that too... right at the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090365199404196242004-07-21T00:05:00.000+01:002004-07-21T00:13:19.403+01:00

Do you tuck in your shirts?   Well, if you do, you might be considered to be boring and sartorially anachronistic!!   And that's because flying shirttails are the new 'in-thing' (pun quite unintended!)... the latest symbol of rebellion!   ... and of course, an untucked shirt works oh so well in concealing the 'midriff bulge'!! ;-)   [NYTimes registration required]

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090248433163351692004-07-19T15:47:00.000+01:002004-07-19T15:47:13.163+01:00

The Ghatkopar bomb blasts case is all set to go the same way as the Mulund blasts case. The accused have signed an application saying that they have no faith in the court. This is similar to the written application filed by Saquib Nachan, the prime accused in the Mulund bomb blast case. Nachan successfully managed to stall the court proceedings by claiming in his application that he had no

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090234873135619032004-07-19T12:01:00.000+01:002004-07-19T12:01:13.136+01:00

Apple will unveil the latest iPod later this week. Newsweek reviews the new iPod to find that... It looks a bit different, operates more efficiently, has a few more features and costs less. This new baby is thinner and sports a new menu that feels like the one on the iPod mini. The battery-life has been extended. There are new features like multiple on-the-go playlists and playback of audiobooks

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com64tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1090220333100368232004-07-19T07:58:00.000+01:002004-07-19T07:58:53.100+01:00

Jivha stops blogging. Forever??

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com136tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089996355923667062004-07-16T20:17:00.000+01:002004-07-16T20:21:06.546+01:00

This, ladies and gentlemen, is precious!!   With all the brouhaha over the name of Lopamudra Ghatak, I decided to dig around a bit for some more dirt information on her. So I hopped on to our friendly neighbourhood search engine and searched for 'Lopamudra Ghatak'. Weeding out the results pointing or referring to Economic Times, the first search result (without any reference to the 'salmon pink

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com158tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089931700953489082004-07-15T23:48:00.000+01:002004-07-15T23:48:20.953+01:00

A report by a panel of scholars appointed by the new HRD ministry in their efforts to de-saffronise Indian education, has indicated that saffronisation of the history texts used in schools was a minor matter as compared to the 'Northanization' of Indian history by parochial writers with 'a strong north-India bias'. Evidence: Of the 89 pages devoted to the study of Ancient History of India, not

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089930746780262162004-07-15T23:32:00.000+01:002004-07-15T23:32:26.780+01:00

The UPA government has finally taken the decision to scrap POTA by repealing it during the monsoon session of the parliament. But some of the provisions of this 'draconian' Act will be retained by adding them to already existing laws of the land. This decision, while in keeping with the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme, is purely symbolic since the POTA was, in any case, going to

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089884526800046792004-07-15T08:11:00.000+01:002004-07-15T10:42:06.800+01:00

Some say the job market is opening up fast in the US. Some say its booming. So you think about posting resumes to US job consultants with the hopes of snagging a job or two in the land of opportunity. Well thats what a lot of my friends have been doing these days. But then if you read The Economic Times (and horror of horrors, believe it), you'd be worried to death about going to the US for a

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089676970629469402004-07-13T08:20:00.000+01:002004-07-13T10:03:55.463+01:00

Michael Schumacher is a great driver. He's the best there is and probably among the best there ever were! But is he the best there ever was?! If all you hear are the fawning paeans sung in his praise by lakhs of Johnny-come-latelies who call themselves F1 fanatics, you'd be convinced that indeed, Schumi is the greatest Formula One driver that ever walked this planet. At least the author of

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com140tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089678660428510732004-07-13T01:31:00.000+01:002004-07-13T01:45:05.460+01:00

I took two political quizzes today. The first one was The Enhanced Political Quiz... in 2D. It returned the result denoted by the red dot in the following picture. The second quiz I took was the Political Compass quiz where I scored the following result as represented by the red dot in the following picture. Libertarian, huh?! Hmmmm... Posted by Hello

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089637496024782712004-07-12T14:04:00.000+01:002004-07-12T14:27:14.436+01:00

Rajeev Srinivasan's latest piece on Rediff.com is an insigthful look at the subtle signs of a superpower on the wane and considers India's candidature as a possible power center in a multipolar world. I like the structured nature of his arguments, be it while describing the subtle ways in which the US will find its position, as the pre-eminent power in the world, threatened or when he

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089391183700964432004-07-09T17:39:00.000+01:002004-07-09T17:39:43.700+01:00

Once there was a president. He served in the Air Force. Or did he?! Nobody knew for sure. The president said "I did!". Others said "But you went AWOL!". And thus they fought... on and on and on... Then someone had a bright idea! "Why not check the service records?!", he said. "Yes, why not?!", others said brightly!! And off they went to the archives to dig up dirt on the big bad Prez. The

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089236029681484762004-07-07T22:33:00.000+01:002004-07-07T22:35:23.056+01:00

This is just too cool!! [requires Quicktime] I was at the end of a frustrating day when I saw this... and it totally made my day!! :-) [link via Metafilter] Caution: May contain Spidey 2 spoilers

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089032208000710852004-07-05T13:56:00.000+01:002004-07-05T13:56:48.000+01:00

Japanese scientists from Ritsumeikan University in Kusatsu, Japan, have built wheel-shaped robots that propel themselves along by continuously altering their shape. The rim of the wheel is made of an elastic polymer, while the spokes are made of a smart material known as a shape memory alloy, which becomes shorter when heated. Shortening the spokes towards the front of the wheel changes its

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1089021100687183592004-07-05T10:51:00.000+01:002004-07-05T10:51:40.686+01:00

Authorities in China have begun to monitor and censor SMS messages. The move is allegedly to check the spread of pornographic messages and illicit news in addition to preventing deceptive advertising. But the real reason behind this blatant attack on personal freedom is to prevent the cell phone from being a tool for voicing dissent against the government's one-party rule. This move comes after

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088983838295303492004-07-05T00:30:00.000+01:002004-07-05T00:30:38.296+01:00

"I threw the kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub." That was Andy Roddick describing his match with Roger Federer at the Wimbledon men's singles finals. It surely should go down as a memorable sports quote! And if you saw the match, you'll realize how true it was!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088774933575172632004-07-02T14:28:00.000+01:002004-07-02T14:28:53.576+01:00

Nifty pen tricks for a bored office worker! Go ahead... be the envy of your cubicle neighbours!! ;-) [link via Metafilter]

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088607859578598182004-06-30T16:04:00.000+01:002004-06-30T16:04:19.576+01:00

It has taken a 20-year old, big-serving Croat, Mario Ancic, this year, to end the eternal British hopes of seeing their beloved Tim Henman win the Wimbledon title. Ancic grew from strength to strength to cruise past Henman in straight sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2. With such an emphatic win over the Brit who actually looked pretty good in his last two matches, Ancic has entered the semi-finals with

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088524825587714572004-06-29T17:00:00.000+01:002004-06-29T17:00:25.586+01:00

While a defeat isn't something to get worked up about... a 6-1 bashing at the hands of Pakistan is painful!! ... especially with veterans like Dhanraj Pillay in the team! What a bunch of wussies!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088517828339397162004-06-29T15:03:00.000+01:002004-06-29T15:03:48.340+01:00

I'm glad they're teaching this as a proper course. Too long has 'ethical' hacking remained in the shadows of its infamous twin sibling. It's high time that this sibling rivalry is brought out into the open!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088160502316716062004-06-25T11:47:00.000+01:002004-06-25T11:48:22.316+01:00

In the end, it was a match to remember. It was a match that could turn the indifferent into football fanatics. For 120 minutes, two evenly matched teams slugged it out on the pitch, trading heavy blows but refusing to take a step backwards. Until... an unlikely hero carried the hopes of a nation into the semi-finals. Portuguese goalkeeper, Ricardo, saved a crucial sudden-death penalty with his

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088092142384751422004-06-24T16:49:00.000+01:002004-06-24T16:49:02.383+01:00

With the knockout stage of Euro 2004 kicking off today, there's one thing we'll leave behind in the group matches… and that is an all-square final scoreline! With a clear result necessary for one team to progress and another to pack their bags, we'll have extra-time and penalty shoot-outs if necessary. That’s normal, you say. What's new?! Well… many of you might not know that the usual golden

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088082202890614902004-06-24T14:03:00.000+01:002004-06-24T14:03:22.890+01:00

Here's a chance for all the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' fans to vie for a chance to appear in the movie version of H2G2 which is currently under production. All you need to do is to enter into a photography contest run by BBC and the winner will get to act in the H2G2 movie. BBC says, we want you to send us a photograph of the place on Earth you think deserves to survive the planet's

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1088073032849852992004-06-24T11:30:00.000+01:002004-06-24T11:30:32.850+01:00

With ideas like chai in kulhads, indigenous mathakola and now Internet on trains, flying thick and fast around the corridors of Railway ministry, the question of railway safety, with over 300 rail accidents occurring every year, is being conveniently ignored as usual.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087988551498599672004-06-23T12:02:00.000+01:002004-06-23T12:02:31.496+01:00

World's biggest online auctioneer, eBay, has bought India's biggest online auctioneer, Baazee.com, for $50 million.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087579249349894052004-06-18T18:20:00.000+01:002004-06-18T18:20:49.350+01:00

"The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and al Qaeda is because there was a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda." Please tell me George W. Bush did not actually make that statement!! If he did, please explain what he was trying to convey?!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087567065216790282004-06-18T14:57:00.000+01:002004-06-18T14:57:45.216+01:00

The Jun 21 2004 issue of TIME introduces its readers to Joe Blog. It finally jumps onto the bandwagon of news/media sites who've recognized the widespread appeal of Weblogs. "Why are more and more people getting their news from amateur websites called blogs? Because they're fast, funny and totally biased." ... "What makes blogs so effective? They're free. They catch people at work, at their

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087558524430243062004-06-18T12:35:00.000+01:002004-06-18T12:35:24.430+01:00

Preity Zinta has something of a column on the Beeb website. And I have to say that after reading three of her articles published till date, I thought that she sounds very superficial and clichéd... perhaps even vacuous. And this is not the quality of content I expect from BBC. Perhaps, Preity could start her own blog to publish her thoughts. But at least she writes!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087475178737023352004-06-17T13:26:00.000+01:002004-06-17T13:26:18.736+01:00

It's raining GigaBytes!!! Rediff.com became the largest email storage provider in India when it announced that it will provide 1 GB space to its free users and 2 GB space to its premium users (a 200 times increase in email space)!! With Google and Yahoo! already down the 1 GB route, it was natural for an Indian email provider to follow them on that route. Now, the ball is well and truly in

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087315088861218132004-06-15T16:58:00.000+01:002004-06-15T16:58:08.860+01:00

If you haven't got a Gmail account, do not despair!! Yahoo has fired its first salvo in its email battle against Google by bucking up its free mailbox size to 100 MB. And paid users will see their mailboxes balloon up to 2 GB!! Add to that a $10 reduction in the paid-for service and what you have is serious competition for Gmail!! The ball is now in Google's court!! Lets see what it can come up

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087219405289392442004-06-14T14:21:00.000+01:002004-06-14T15:11:22.090+01:00

Blogging has been touted as a potentially powerful tool for social change. Andrew Sullivan described it as "... blogging is the first journalistic model that actually harnesses rather than merely exploits the true democratic nature of the web" [source: andrewsullivan.com]I want to try and see if these words really mean anything in the Indian context or if the potential of blogs stays just that...

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087161732178951292004-06-13T22:22:00.000+01:002004-06-13T22:23:59.360+01:00

Zinedine Zidane finds the back of the net in the 93rd minute of the match as France go on to score a famous famous win against England. Just a minute before this penalty kick, Zidane's magic brought France on level with England. Pardon the terrible quality of the pic. I was just too excited to hold the phone steady!! ;-) Oh boy! What a night he's had!! Carrying the weight of a nation on his

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1087081711228720822004-06-12T23:44:00.000+01:002004-06-13T00:08:31.230+01:00

India's external affairs minister, Natwar Singh (nicknamed 'Nutwar' by The Acorn) is fast gaining notoriety for his penchant for putting his feet in his mouth. His statements on India's position vis-a-vis sending troops to Iraq have left much to be desired about his abilities to handle a sensitive ministry like external affairs. Here is what he said on Friday in Washington after a 60-minute

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086970556053887572004-06-11T16:52:00.000+01:002004-06-11T18:09:39.266+01:00

Ravikiran and Jivha have an interesting topic up for discussion on their sites. Ad Hominem fallacies. For those who are unaware of the existence of such a fallacy, let me explain in a nutshell. Ad Hominem is Latin for "against the man" or "to the man". So an ad hominem argument (or fallacy) is an argument against your opponent rather than against the arguments he/she has put forth. As a result,

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086934830433897632004-06-11T07:20:00.000+01:002004-06-11T07:26:05.386+01:00

It's morning. I want my daily dose of news. I log on to the Net and see a lot of news items demanding my attention. But having watched "A Beautiful Mind" yet again on a movie channel yesterday, three news items seem to leap out of the page at me. Natwar, Powell discuss bilateral matters India to reconsider troops to Iraq G-8 may open doors to India, China Now it may just be an attack of

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086851402873772822004-06-10T08:10:00.000+01:002004-06-10T08:10:02.873+01:00

Who is 70 years old and has never worn a trouser?? You're right!... Its the lisping waterfowl, Donald Duck!! He turns 70 today!! Happy Birthday Donald Duck!! :-)

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086775370659435582004-06-09T11:02:00.000+01:002004-06-09T11:02:50.660+01:00

A match-winning six off the last ball... a last-gasp dash to victory by a trailing runner... a hopeful kick that finds the back of the net as the final whistle blows... a match-winning basket shot from the other side of the court as the shot-clock winds down to zero... The history of sport is replete with such examples that take our breath away! Every sportsperson dreams of something like this!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086714375639291412004-06-08T18:06:00.000+01:002004-06-08T18:06:15.640+01:00

The Ministry of External Affairs has decided to introduce biometric passports which will include the thumbprints and iris scans of their holders. This will hopefully reduce the menace of forgeries to a large extent.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086616344469021712004-06-07T14:52:00.000+01:002004-06-07T14:52:24.470+01:00

A comment on a post in The Examined Life argued that Nehru's job as a Prime Minister was... "to expand the government through socialism and deliver the gains to as many people possible. This the Nehru adminstrations did to the best of their ability. It was up to the private sector to stand up and to do its job and it failed to measure up. Why blame Nehru for that ?" I do not want to go into the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086271871223784242004-06-03T15:11:00.000+01:002004-06-03T15:11:11.223+01:00

Instead of resorting such cheap stunts, it would be better for BJP and its allies to start putting their own houses in order!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086193789652660692004-06-02T17:29:00.000+01:002004-06-02T17:29:49.653+01:00

Its extraordinary... but true! Mani Ratnam held a press conference to convince the media to refrain from painting his latest movie Yuva as a flop at the box office!! Ratnam's line was, "Don't pre-judge the film". But I wonder where this pre-judgement comes into the picture at all! Its been few weeks since Yuva was released and the question of pre-judging it does not come into the picture at all!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1086171582982054272004-06-02T11:19:00.000+01:002004-06-02T11:19:42.983+01:00

Security/Foreign affairs expert, Brahma Chellaney, blames the Nehruvian legacy in Indian foreign policy over the years for the repeated betrayals that India has had to suffer. Zeal is to Indian diplomacy what strategy is to major powers. India has rushed to believe what it wanted to believe. Consequently, India is the only known country in modern history to have repeatedly cried betrayal, not by

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085752946974775662004-05-28T15:02:00.000+01:002004-05-28T15:02:26.973+01:00

The chameleon who changes his colours every time a new government comes into power in Delhi, has done it once again! He has laid the blame of his party's debacle in Andhra Pradesh, squarely on the shoulders of BJP, the party which helped him change the perception of Andhra Pradesh throughout the world. While political commentators and poll analysts throughout the country have been unanimous in

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085675636187942482004-05-27T17:33:00.000+01:002004-05-27T17:33:56.186+01:00

Nehru was truly, an extraordinary fellow according to Lt Gen Eric A Vas (retd.)

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085671707516884732004-05-27T15:00:00.000+01:002004-05-27T16:28:27.516+01:00

Arun Jaitley, suave and urbane to some, glib-tongued to others, has never been short of words. In an interview to Rediff.com, he speaks about BJP's loss and the probable reasons behind the defeat that took the party by surprise. While I do not agree with some of the reasons he gives to explain the defeat, I do think some of the points he raises are valid. One such point is the one about '

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085652439381060912004-05-27T11:07:00.000+01:002004-05-27T11:12:09.613+01:00

With power firmly in their grasp, the 'secular' forces in the country have initiated the process of 'de-saffronisation' of education. The first salvo has been fired in Delhi where the NCERT curriculum will be replaced by SCERT. Delhi Government today announced to replace the curriculum of NCERT with that of State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in the government-run schools

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085580953616707562004-05-26T15:15:00.000+01:002004-05-26T15:35:56.663+01:00

www.hinduunity.org, a website that proclaims that it promotes and supports the "ideals of Bajrang Dal, VHP and Youth Wing Bharat", has been blocked by the biggest ISP in India, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited. It has also been blocked by smaller ISPs like Hathway and HCL Infinet. This gagging has taken place on the basis of a request from the office of Mumbai Police Commissioner. The site has been

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085565798704294312004-05-26T10:31:00.000+01:002004-05-26T11:03:18.703+01:00

Having suffered embarrassment and condemnation from all quarters, George W. Bush decided to close the huge Abu Ghraib prison, terming it as a symbol of the brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime. The logic of both, the timing as well as the reasoning behind the demolition, escape me! First of all, it was the American soldiers who did all the torturing which has led to the situation that Bush

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085499967533039312004-05-25T16:46:00.000+01:002004-05-25T16:47:46.780+01:00

Do you think that the results of Indian Elections '04 were essentially just a anti-capitalist vote?

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085481823550750372004-05-25T11:43:00.000+01:002004-05-25T11:43:43.550+01:00

Some are call-centre agents, others are salesmen, some other run fast-food stalls, while some are hotel stewards... They are a new breed of reformed gangsters. The change can be explained by the Mumbai police's one-point agenda: 'Pick a gun and be gunned down'. Being a hit man meant easy money, but it also meant death. Well at least this reform process should be allowed to continue unchecked! :-)

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085272185924901192004-05-23T01:24:00.000+01:002004-05-23T01:29:45.923+01:00

Heartiest congratulations to Shanti on the occasion of the birth of her cute little baby boy, Neel!! And loads of blessings for the newly born!! :-)

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085153973132661142004-05-21T16:04:00.000+01:002004-05-21T18:10:21.633+01:00

After the storm that erupted ensuing the Congress 'victory' in the elections and the theatrics that followed when it was announced that Sonia Gandhi would be the PM, there has been a slew of writings in support of and protest against Sonia Gandhi as the Indian Prime Minister. We had politicians, opinion-makers, journalists, bloggers and in fact the whole world and its uncle on either side of the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1085093266700949822004-05-20T23:41:00.000+01:002004-05-21T12:09:24.880+01:00

Being the Johnny-come-lately that I am, it took me long... but hey!!... now I finally am on Gmail!! yayyy!! :-) sameer dot gharat at gmail dot com Whatever am I going to do with 1000 MB!?! Update: People have come out with Gmail Swap, a website dedicated to help people trade in gmail accounts/invitations! There are people who are offering absolutely wacky stuff just to get a gmail account ...

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1084917083207311612004-05-18T22:32:00.000+01:002004-05-20T15:18:25.540+01:00

Sonia's decision is a triumph of democracy! After all... its a defeat of dynastic politics. Isn't it?!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1084801812469416372004-05-17T14:29:00.000+01:002004-05-20T15:19:07.406+01:00

Protests, panic, rage outside BSE building as the markets crash a staggering 564 points in a day!! It seems that the unthinkable event, of FIIs beginning to pull funds out of India, became a reality! BJP loses no time in declaring that this is just a 'trailer'... a portent of much worse things to come.

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1084549468497332542004-05-14T15:50:00.000+01:002004-05-14T16:47:32.136+01:00

The champion of the poor and minorities, the fearless crusader against neo-liberalism and neo-fascism, the Goddess of idiotic things speaks yet again. Just reading all that bombastic crap about people voting out communalism and neo-liberalism is enough to put me in the mood for a thorough fisking of her article. But work and procrastination are a powerful combination. And I let the opportunity

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1084540546444912192004-05-14T14:00:00.000+01:002004-05-14T14:15:46.443+01:00

No 'mindless' divestment: Congress Pak media fears setback to peace With headlines like these, if you didn't know any better, you would almost be tempted to think that it was the 'pro-Swadeshi' and 'hardline' BJP that was coming in to power... instead of the 'liberal/reformist' and 'centrist' Congress!! Times change!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1084468135459181832004-05-13T18:01:00.000+01:002004-05-13T18:08:55.460+01:00

Textalyser is an online text analysis tool that gives a detailed statistics of the text on your website. It's a helpful tool for webmasters, translators, etc. Here's the output that resulted when this blog (The Opti Mystic) was analysed with Textalyser. Apparently, the longest sentence I have written on my blog, consisted of 62 words!! :-o

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1084451468362504722004-05-13T13:31:00.000+01:002004-05-13T17:32:24.106+01:00

Thank God, I did not vote in the general elections this time around!! With either Sonia Gandhi or Laloo Prasad Yadav being the most likely candidates for the post of Prime Minister, I can proudly claim that this will not be my government! PS: For the benefit of those who don't know, I did not vote this time around because I am currently in the UK. PPS: This has been posted using the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1083254364808533642004-04-29T16:59:00.000+01:002004-04-29T17:05:16.920+01:00

CBS has aired footage of what it alleges to be the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US military police. It aired this on 60 Minutes II on Wednesday night. Screen caps of the disturbing images are available on this discussion board. If the charges are proven, there's no doubt that there will be a war crimes trial which will just add to the troubles of American president, George W. Bush as far as Iraq

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1082650826242396132004-04-22T17:20:00.000+01:002004-04-22T17:25:17.340+01:00

ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), founded in 1947 is the world's first educational and scientific computing society. With over 75,000 members, it is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students wordwide. ACM's most prestigious technical award is the Turing award. It carries a prize of $100,000 and is considered to be an honour among the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1077789299353217342004-02-26T09:54:00.000Z2004-02-26T09:58:23.263Z

NYTimes columnist, Thomas L. Friedman, currently in India joins the outsourcing debate with a sensible argument backed with facts. "What goes around..." [NYTimes registration required] argues why it is good for the Westerns countries to outsource jobs to India... "How can it be good for America to have all these Indians doing our white-collar jobs?" I asked 24/7's founder, S. Nagarajan. Well, he

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1076582472791323062004-02-12T10:41:00.000Z2004-02-12T10:59:15.483Z

Past words can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they get you into serious trouble while at other times, they make you seem like a fool!! (even after granting some leeway for hindsight!) In 1979, Shyam Bhatia and Colin Smith authored an article on the nuclear espionage perpetrated by Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (father of Pakistan's nukes) in Holland, a charge that has since been established as being

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1076493633285381292004-02-11T10:00:00.000Z2004-02-11T10:03:00.403Z

One particular paragraph from Chapter 12 of the Economic Report of the President, for the year 2004, reads, One facet of increased services trade is the increased use of offshore outsourcing in which a company relocates labor-intensive service industry functions to another country. For example, a U.S. firm might use a call-center in India to handle customer service-related questions. The

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075887024826144552004-02-04T09:30:00.000Z2004-02-04T09:51:11.466Z

Pakistan, according to USA's latest position on it, is clean and is not involved in nuclear proliferation. This is just days after Dr. AQ Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb admitted to selling nuclear secrets to countries like Iran, Libya and North Korea. With at least four other scientists involved with him in this sharing of nuclear technology to known rogue nations, it is difficult to

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075802274700776932004-02-03T09:57:00.000Z2004-02-03T10:03:06.653Z

Chessbrain.net has set the Guiness World Record by holding a chess match between a Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen on one side and a massive power of 2070 distributed computers on the other!!... Yup! you heard that right... 2070!!! While Nielsen played white, the computer program Beowulf, harnessing the combined power of 2070 distributed computers from 56 countries, played black. The game, which

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075385967090598642004-01-29T14:19:00.000Z2004-01-29T14:33:57.373Z

Since WHO has warned that “bird flu” presents a risk of evolving into an efficient and dangerous human pathogen, it makes good sense to go through these detailed FAQs on Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)! Because... as they say... Forewarned is forearmed!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075371504095700042004-01-29T10:18:00.000Z2004-01-29T10:21:30.483Z

For the people who dream of finding secret messages hidden inside seemingly innocent and innocuous blocks of text, comes the Cryptographever!! Just copy-paste in a block of text in the form there and hit the button. In a moment or two, you are shown the secret/hidden message inside your block of text!! ... Cool, ain't it!? Two of my previous posts apparently had ominous secret messages hidden

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075297760763901842004-01-28T13:49:00.000Z2004-01-28T13:51:29.060Z

If you thought that the judiciary was perhaps the last bastion of righteouness, then it might, perhaps, surprise and dissapoint you to know that an obscure journalist in Gujarat managed to have warrants issued against the President of India (APJ Abdul Kalam), Chief Justice of India (VN Khare) and Supreme Court judges (BP Singh and RK Jain) without any case against them, by bribing a metropolitan

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075282709071048962004-01-28T09:38:00.000Z2004-01-28T09:46:50.750Z

A second-by-second account of the final few minutes of the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle. Its a gripping (and yet horrifying) tale of how a seemingly inconsequential piece of foam caused the destruction of one of the most complicated machines ever built! "The most complicated machine ever built got knocked out of the sky by a pound and a half of foam. I don't know how any of us could have seen

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1075108807048250982004-01-26T09:20:00.000Z2004-01-26T09:22:12.686Z

The Golden Arches turned out to be the gateways to hell for Morgan Spurlock who decided to document the effects of spending a month eating only at McDonald's. In addition to adding 25 pounds to his 6 foot 2, 185 pounds frame, he suffered lots of other undesirable and harmful effects... Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1074880848463879942004-01-23T18:00:00.000Z2004-01-23T18:03:07.030Z

Montpelier to Mumbai is a wonderful little travel blog by a group of students from Montpelier, Vermont, who had travelled down to Mumbai to participate in the World Social Forum that just recently concluded in Mumabi. Its an interesting collection of first-hand experiences of the young students of their very first time in India. Its full of posts that speak about the colours and the warmth of the

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1074850168285110292004-01-23T09:29:00.000Z2004-01-23T09:31:29.826Z

All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Moulvi Abbas Ansari praises Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee by calling him an apostle of peace!! Well that's what you call "appeasement"! With the peace talks between India and Pakistan taking big strides forward, suddenly the Hurriyat seems to have been rendered redundant! So its not unusual to see the Hurriyat cosying up to the Indian Government...

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1074157315205251452004-01-15T09:01:00.000Z2004-01-15T09:03:46.576Z

With all kinds of colourful Homeland Security alerts in place, US claims to be well in control of the security situation. The nationwide Orange alert that existed over the Christmas holiday period was lowered by one level to Yellow just recently. But the airports and airlines continued to be at the Orange alert status indicating an elevated security risk. Then came the extraordinary cancellations

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1074100625741029992004-01-14T17:17:00.000Z2004-01-14T17:18:56.110Z

Daimler Chrysler have launched their super luxury sedan, Maybach, in India at a staggering pricetag of Rs. 5 crores!!! I suddenly feel very very poor!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1073918296534359522004-01-12T14:38:00.000Z2004-01-12T14:40:03.763Z

When the security agencies cannot tell the difference between a six-year old girl and a terrorist, you know you are in paranoia-land!! ... and when they do nothing about it even after realizing its a silly mistake, you can be dead sure that you're in Bush country!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1073477114503699082004-01-07T00:05:00.000Z2004-01-07T12:08:14.263Z

Good news for coffee lovers!! People who drink coffee (caffeinated) regularly, have significantly lower risk of contracting diabetes, even if they are overweight. This is according to a study carried out by the researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. The study of 125,000 people suggests that caffeinated coffee -- not caffeine-free -- may affect the body's metabolism in positive ways,

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1073382404501688502004-01-06T10:30:00.000Z2004-01-06T10:32:06.623Z

Hello and Good morning / Good afternoon / Good evening to all!! This is Supersam, live, from Stockley Park, London. Its my first post since I landed here in the UK on the 3rd of January, 2004. I hope this post finds you in great health and good humour!! :-) Stockley Park is where my office is located. However, I'm put up at a nice little comfortable house in a quiet, idyllic town called Hayes

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1072256051247510392003-12-24T08:54:00.000Z2003-12-24T08:55:33.670Z

However loud Chhagan Bhujbal, the ex-deputy-chief minister of Maharashtra, shouts claiming his resignation to be a consequence of the satire on a television channel, nobody is going to be fooled by the claims that the resignation was in no way connected to Bhujbal's involvement in the Telgi scam!!

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1070426305065938992003-12-03T04:38:00.000Z2003-12-03T04:39:19.060Z

Discovery Channel has an interactive feature on Tokyo's super-ambitious Sky City. It is the most massive building ever envisaged, with 14 steel, glass and concrete 'plateaus' stacked on top of each other. The structure would rise a mile into the sky and house some 35,000 people. Other unbelievable features of the Sky City include schools, offices, shops, green parks on each plateau, a monorail

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1070359724223864692003-12-02T10:08:00.000Z2003-12-02T10:59:08.280Z

Pakistan president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf is upto his usual antics once again. After a brief hiatus in which the limelight was hogged by his puppet PM Jamali, Musharraf is back on the centrestage, shooting off his mouth in a BBC radio broadcast titled Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath. He says that he's ready to pull back troops from PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) if India pulls back its troops from Jammu

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1070265471750104422003-12-01T07:57:00.000Z2003-12-01T09:13:44.046Z

Today is 1st December, World AIDS Day. No other disease in the history of mankind has represented a bigger medical and social challenge than AIDS. And compounding the problem are the frightfully low levels of awareness amongst the masses, especially among the various high-risk groups. If you add govenrmental apathy to that, you can imagine why it is being predicted that by 2005 India will have

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1070253919839610752003-12-01T04:45:00.000Z2003-12-01T04:46:11.153Z

The premiere of the most awaited movie of the year, The Return of The King, takes place in Wellington, New Zealand today. The premiere would be preceeded by a parade by the cast and crew of the epic trilogy directed by the diminutive Peter Jackson. Fans crowded the venue of the parade, twenty four hours before it was due to even start. They were rewarded for their patience when at midnight, stars

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1070020805912563532003-11-28T12:00:00.000Z2003-11-28T12:07:49.340Z

An excellent example of mutual butt-scratching (i'll scratch yours, so you better scratch mine) is the case of RS Sharma, the beleagured ex-police commissioner who's now spending his last few days in service as chief vigilance officer of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (sic). After it was clear that Sharma had to go, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde could have taken

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3673321.post-1069938718106740642003-11-27T13:11:00.000Z2003-11-27T13:12:45.043Z

The topic of 'marriage' seems to be quite a hot one these days. Just this morning, I happened to notice a Metafilter post on the sanctity of marriage. Shortly after that, I came across Jivha's post on ' Does Arranged Marriage matter?'. 'Love Marriage' versus 'Arranged Marriage' is a topic that has been debated, ad nauseam, in the blogging world. With fierce and eloquent proponents on either side,

Sameerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05180127231158085662noreply@blogger.com0