Will the World end come Wednesday (ie.tommorrow!) ??
Posted by: descorpio on: September 9, 2008
- In: Issues| Technology
- 12 Comments
Not an original piece, but found it quite interesting. Thought it needed to be shared.
Move over 9/11. 9/10 could be our worst nightmare: the end of the world. That’s if one goes by those opposed to the largest science experiment ever that will be conducted on Wednesday.
Come September 10, an excited bunch of physicists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva will fire subatomic particles into a 27-km loop, making them travel the bend 11,245 times a second, and then smash them head on.
For those conducting the mega-experiment 300 feet under the French-Swiss border, answers to the birth of the universe may be answered. But for people like Prof Otto Rössler of the University of Tübingen, it will be apocalypse. Last week, Rössler and other naysayers of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment had hoped that the European Court of Human Rights would block it. They believe that the chances of a black hole — an intense gravitational field sucking in everything including light — being created by the experiment is very high. Rössler says that the worst case scenario will have the Earth sucked inside out “within four years of a mini-black hole forming”. The Court, however, dismissed the petition.
So what is the experiment about? Arrays of delicate sensors in the LHC will track the wreckage of the smash-up: a spray sub-atomic particles like quarks, muons, and pions. Overground computers will then sieve this data before sending it to institutions around the world that specialise in high-energy physics. The truth is, no one really knows what will emerge from these collisions.
Considering that the ‘mini black holes’ created at CERN will be so weak that they will exert minuscule gravitational tugs, we shouldn’t worry. But just in case, on Wedneday, keep your windows shut.
Is McCain Screwing Sarah Palin?
Posted by: sidv on: August 31, 2008
- In: Humour| Issues
- 7 Comments
I shudder at the thought and the images that are conjured up by the headline but I can’t think of any other reason as to why he’s picked Sarah Palin as his running ‘mate’. She’s hot. Here are the facts (and some pictures).
Is he screwing her?!
She was elected Governor of the State of Alaska in December 2006 which gives her less than 2 years experience in elected office by the time the 2008 elections come around. This after McCain has in the past been severely critical of the relative inexperience of his competitor Obama (Wonder how he will respond to questions on that!). One of McCain’s aides was quoted saying that McCain is going to “make the choice from his heart.” Hmmm.
McCain hasn’t worked with her in any capacity in the past and she has never featured in any of his campaigns. A VP is someone who is qualified to be President in the eyes of the President. And in McCain’s eyes, he found the most qualified person to be Palin (some suggest that his decision reminds us of the symbol of his rival party – the donkey!).
Doesn't she look like some supermodel posing in some fantasy office outfit!?
This is a desperate move by the Republicans to woo the disgruntled Hillary supporters (read: women) to vote for them. This election would be a great test of the average American intelligence. Would they be influenced by their feministic tendencies and vote for the man/woman pair (aged 72/44) or would they be driven by common sense and a little consideration for the country and vote for the man/man pair.
This election has been no short of entertainment. First with the democratic candidature race between a black man and a woman. Next this. I cannot wait to see what fireworks the actual elections will bring about. I wish elections in India would be as entertaining. Not where we vote for candidates we hardly know about. All said and done all the media attention on the american elections have been educating. No one will counter the fact that this event is being followed by many more people than the population of america.
I am neither democratic nor republican. I do not support Obama (primarily for his outlook towards outsourcing). Neither do i support McCain (I don’t know why). But I am thoroughly enjoying this blockbuster reality show that is the American Elections of 2008!
UPDATE: Here’s a video I found of McCain and Palin’s campaign. Funny!
Disclaimer: I mean no offence to any of the people/parties mentioned in the post above. It is merely a figment of my imagination and I figured that it would be for the better good of mankind that I penned it here. Thanks for not sniping me down!
Answer for the Answer
Posted by: imateenagedirtbag on: August 26, 2008
So another question comes to the mind…
y am I ‘there’…?
y are you ‘here’…?
It is so sad being ‘here’…?
All you remember are the bad times.. All you know is misery… Then y is ‘it’ there… y do we have to feel ‘it’ even when the key to the ‘end’ is on hand…
How long does happiness have to stay.. And the period when you think about the unhappy…?
How happy do you want to be..?
How much did you realize, you had..? What if ‘it’ keeps you ‘here’; ’it’ here.. And all you do is trying to be more… much more… and to what end..?
Who carries ‘it’ with him… When you are not ‘here’…
What addiction do you have?
What are you addicted to the most? Do you know? May be you’ll be cured… Ill write back…
Blog Action Day
Posted by: sidv on: August 24, 2008
This is for the information of bloggers around the world reading this blog (Yeah right.. I wish!).
“Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.”
The topic for this year is Poverty.
“First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.
By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.
Out of this discussion naturally flow actions, advice, ideas, plans, and empowerment. In 2007 on the theme of the Environment, we saw bloggers running environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices and focusing audience’s attentions on organizations and companies promoting green agendas. In 2008 we aim to again focus the blogging community’s energies and passions, this time on the mammoth issue of global poverty.”
We will be participating in this event. I urge you my fellow bloggers to mark your calendars on the 15th of October and join this movement as well.
fever of favour
Posted by: imateenagedirtbag on: August 23, 2008
The tableau called life which we subsist in, faking the very reason why we were sent; to live and provide ourselves. Rather spend the rest trying to make it for others. Is it the balance we try to preserve or we just caught in the ‘pleasure’ of ministrations? The very act the brain ‘of what the other might feel’ or ‘do if you dint do’. The eerie feeling of ‘might be left out’ or ‘wont be able to do without’. If I don’t? The life could end up being scuttled with out their being. What insolence might do? This relation even though said to be so pliable then has to be reinforced constantly with the ‘pleasure’. The certitude of that pre-historic thought. The amiable façade that makes the ‘pleasure’ so true. The perspicacious brain knows what will help to keep the relation.
Decide what is bad is what you don’t like Or what the general wont approve of? How do the general decide? This archaic thought has left us so far behind, lagging in the race for survival. Why would you care about the next in line when it is you who is behind? Why do you have to be stoic and be involved in constant appeasement? Love doesn’t give the same pleasure as does the inherent physical. What pleasure is there in sacrifice and the ‘memory’ for the recognition? Why would god be angry when he hasn’t been already. What if man was angry? With the ‘memory’ comes expectations. And will the balance be struck? Does it level to your ‘memory’? Why was the ‘memory’ made in the first place? Why does the phrase of loneliness come when you were born alone and all are were equal? When will be the fever or favour be cured?
Teach India.
Posted by: kranium256 on: August 20, 2008
- In: Issues
- 8 Comments
Teach India – What a powerful campaign! It hits you hard, it opens your eyes, it pushes you to speak out. That this nation desperately needs a massive skill-set buildup. That your free time is much more productive when aligned with this grand mission of education. That even you, the insignificant pawn in this whole game, can make a difference.
True, no doubt about it. But where does The Times of India come into all this? I don’t think TOI is an NGO struggling with funds and a heavenly mission. They’re a big huge corporate firm, with money overflowing from every possible corner. News is big business. News is dirty business. News is sensitive business.
TOI is probably more bothered about its brand value than that poor little kid sitting on the side of the road, whose life would change with the 2 hours that you spend every week (Teaching India, that is). They need this publicity. It’s their initiative for CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility. They have a business plan for it, they have a well-worked out budget for it. For them, this is just an investment.
And that, for me, is a problem. Flurrying little companies with huge purses and "CSR" blinking in their eyes, do you really think they have a grand mission? The moment the public forgets about that poor little kid sitting on the side of the road, TOI will pull the plug. They’re not going to spend a paisa more if nobody’s going to see it.
Theres something wrong with this current system. Businesses, corporate houses, the "biggies", are very smart about their investments. Their goal, after all, is to multiply money. Even if it means starting a war in Iran, grooming terrorists, misreporting facts to sway public opinion, bribing "the bad guys in the government" to get their license, or (simply) speculating on the share markets. And in between all this hotch-potch we have the NGOs, the activists, the faceless heroes, the "smallies", trying to make a better world. Unfortunately, for the biggies to multiply their money beyond 1x, they have to do things that are at odds against the smallies. The real war on this earth, is actually between the biggies vs. the smallies. And thats whats wrong.
Now I’m not here for some radical change. What I do feel, though, is that the smallies need a much larger voice in this scheme of things. They need a larger platform to bargain on fair terms. What they need is for their work to be truly valued at a correct price. So that the trade between the biggies’ money, and the smallies’ work, is equal.
So that NGOs dont have to wait decades for TOI’s ‘godsend’ intervention.
The End is Near
Posted by: randinoymatthew on: August 19, 2008
- In: Cricket
- 6 Comments
“Sachin, Sourav, Dravid aur Laxman to sab bekaar hai. Yeh Senior to kisi kaam ke nahin. Itne saal ke experience ke baad bhi woh Mendis jaise naye bowler ko khel nahi paate!!”, quipped one of my office friends. The importance of my friend’s mindset struck me when I heard the same thing from some of my other learned friends. After the highs of Australia, one debacle in Sri Lanka and the knives are out yet again. How long will this continue, nobody knows. Perhaps the thirst for their heads will only rest with their retirements. As if that’s the solution!
When you think of these four names, various memories flood to your mind .The magic of Eden Gardens, the dust-storm of mystical Sharjah and the royalty of Lords. These are treasures that every Indian who follows cricket, keeps close to his heart. And yet, just like our bloody politicians, one failure is met with the no-confidence vote time and again. Though I am no champion for their respective causes, yet as a student of the game I am embarrassed by the apparent lack of support for these hallowed names of Indian Cricket.
Sourav Ganguly was recently crowned the Castrol Test-Cricketer of the year 2008, and was the only Indian to cross 1000 runs in the calender year. Similarly VVS Laxman has been averaging more than 50 for the past 1 year which is much higher than his career average. Sachin has had some vintage knocks including the consecutive 90s he scored at the Commonwealth Bank series finals. Even in the test matches, though he has failed to get a big score, he has always looked in good nick, which most often than not is a harbinger of a big score. Dravid has fared miserably for two test series now, but for a man of his class, the door should always be left open than closed. Yes, I do agree that I become a little partial here, but I would like to put forward a very simple question. Does India have 6 other batsmen who are better than the four mentioned here?
People rather unwittingly come up with names like Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and on a more sedate note Kaif. Well Gambhir has been given chance at the top of the order, Sharma has failed to covert his decent 20s into anything substantial in the one-dayers and is still uncooked in the longer format of the game, Uthappa has almost been forgotten for his lack of runs in ODIs itself, let alone the test matches and Yuvraj has always looked like a fish out of water in the test-arena as he was found out in Australia. So all this clamor for young-blood to be introduced into the test-team falls flat on the face.
Now we come to the question of Mendis who has made the Indians look like absolute fools. Mendis no doubt is a special talent and is something that the game of cricket desperately needed. But why blame the Fab Four for their abject failure in picking his deliveries, when the entire team has been dancing around the pitch like a band of classical dancers! When a bowler has picked up 26 wickets in 3 test-matches, it pretty much means that the entire opposition has been tormented and not just the middle order.And the best support for my argument comes from today’s ODI match which India managed to lose convincingly by 8 wickets. Mendis proved to be the tormentor yet again as he easily snapped up Yuvraj and Dhoni. So when the young brigade is just as clueless about Mendis, then why only go after the “Seniors are past their prime” theory.
The senior-junior divide brought about in the team is a feat which only the Indian contingent can perform with elan. Why it happened and how it happened is something that none of us would be able to unravel. But what we can unravel is unconditional support for the Fab Four, for they have been great servants of Indian cricket and deserve a thorough Steve Waugh-like ending to their careers and not like the one, which ironically his brother, Mark-Waugh got.
What’s all the fuss about?
Posted by: sidv on: August 17, 2008
- In: Issues
- 7 Comments
Finally, 3 months after the much hyped Bangalore International Airport (Yes, I refuse to call it Bengaluru till it becomes official) opened, I got a chance to visit it. I had been keenly following the newspapers with regard to the facilities, the criticisms, and the very public debate as to whether the old airport at HAL should be kept open. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the administrators who realised that air traffic would increase drastically and they needed to do something about it. HAL being in the middle of the city, space is unavailable. What are the other options? Get more area around HAL and develop it or move outside the city. The first option would be terribly unpopular since a lot of area would have to be acquired. Hence the plan to move the airport outside the city, where space is not a problem. Devanahalli was chosen as the location for the new airport. Being just within the border of Bangalore, this area was perfect, or so it was said.
Cut to May 2008. The launch of the new airport was being delayed because of technical difficulties with the ATC. The debate about whether the old airport should remain open had reached its peak with both sides having very powerful arguments. Concern was that short distance flights would become uneconomical because of the time taken to reach the new airport. BIAL argued that it was agreed in writing that it would be the only airport in Bangalore and they would not be able to break even if both airports operated. More arguments centered about the connectivity to BIA. It was said that roads are not complete and it would take a minimum of 2 hours to reach the airport because of bad roads and increasing vehicular traffic.
Back to the present. BIA has been in operation for the last 3 months. All debates as to the old airport have died down. I shall tell you about my personal experience. Koramangala to BIA – Meru Cabs – 07:32 – 08:10. That was just about 40 minutes. Yeah yeah it was early on a Sunday morning and is not an accurate measurement. But talking about roads, except for a small stretch on Bellary Road that is bad because of flyover constructions, the whole drive was a pleasure. I can understand that within the city traffic during rush hour is bad. But that cannot be blamed on the new airport, that is just bad traffic management by the Police and the Government. During rush hour it would take almost an hour from Koramangala to the old airport that is just a little over 7 kms. Getting back from the airport, I decided to use the Vayu Vajra or the Bangalore International Airport Shuttle. Much much cheaper than the cab, very comfortable as well, although it would take a little longer. BIA to Ramurtynagar – BIAS-8 – 09:10 – 09:55.
Dear Bangalorean,
The best of the world’s airports are outside their respective cities (in some cases very far out). I have lived in Calcutta (definitely not one of the best in the world, but far nonetheless), where the airport has been way outside the city for a long time now. It takes longer to reach the airport than it does here but nobody complains because they are simply used to it. Change is necessary and there will always be resistance. But we must be patient.
Hopefully in a few years, with the metro rail coming up, Bangalore can feature among the best of the world’s cities. Till then all we can do is wait.
Have a look at pictures of the new airport here.
Let’s Talk About Countries, Stupid Ones..
Posted by: descorpio on: August 12, 2008
- In: Humour
- 5 Comments
The tumultuous ‘official’ history of a forty year old nation in short reads as such :
- It claimed it’s independence on September 2, 1967.
- It fought a war with the British Navy in 1968.
- The Constitution of the Principality was proclaimed on September 25, 1975.
- A war was fought, and won against German and Dutch forces in August, 1978.
- A devious plot by Britain to claim the nation was thwarted by the nation’s intelligence in 1987.
- Had a huge role to play in helping refugees from Hong Kong when it was reclaimed by China.
Now, did that pique your curiosity? Are you wondering which ‘nation’ this could possibly be? It is the Principality of Sealand. Not heard of it? Not to fear, that’s why I am here (ooh, that rhymes).
So there, what you see above you is the Principality of Sealand. The entire ‘country’ !!! The HM Fort Roughs,a floating pontoon base with two hollow towers connected by a deck was built in 1942, during WW 2, to defend against German mine laying aircrafts. It was built outside the 3 mile territorial water claim, and was thus situated in international waters. In 1967, Major Paddy Roy Bates occupied the fort to broadcast his pirate radio station, Radio Essex, and soon claimed it as a sovereign nation. In 1968, when the British Navy were servicing a navigational buoy near the platform, Bates claimed his territorial waters had been encroached and fired shots at them. The govt. took him to court where they deemed since the incident took place in international waters it was not under their jurisdiction. Though unimpressed, the govt. didnt pursue the charges due to the mockery of the situation in the media. In 1975, Bates introduced a Constitution for Sealand, followed by a flag, a national anthem, a currency and passports.
In 1978, when Roy was on vacation, his son, the Crown Prince of Sealand was taken captive by the Prime Minister Professor Alexander G. Achenbach, and a group of German and Dutch businessmen. Roy returned with a few goondas and retook the fortress. He declared the war over and released the businessmen as per the Geneva Convention. Achenbach, a German lawyer with a Sealand passport was however tried for treason but after dialogue with the German govt. he was released. These interactions with German diplomats and the British govt. and courts are claimed by Bates to constitue the de-facto recognition of Sealand.
In the 1990s, fake Sealand passports were sold to refugees from Hong Kong by deposed Prime Minister Achenbach, who claimed he was running a ministry in exile in Germany for 1000$ apiece. Immigration authorities were easily fooled by the passprots of a country that does not even exist! This seems to be the only good that has come out of this entire fiasco (apart from the laugh out loud stupidity of it all).
The Royal Family maintain dual citizenship with Great Britain if ever they need to travel to a countr which doesnt recognize Sealand as a country (which includes each and every country in the world). Infact, Roy’s wife, the Queen lives onshore due to severe arthritis and his son, the Prince too is a businessman in Britain. That leaves this country with only one permanent citizen, the King! Infact, in 2006 Roy put his country up for sale as the cost of running one, however ridiculous it might be , does not come cheap. The owners of the famous torrent website Pirate Bay were quite keen on purchasing it but were denied since a principality cannot be technically sold (lol). Right now a telecom company called Havenco has leased out some space on the tower for offices and this is being hailed as the ‘booming Internet industry of Sealand’ by it’s government’s official site .
Talk about ridiculous!
P.S. Got a new post about my experience at the Zurich street parade here. And if you haven’t read about my world record equalling jump , you should do that as well!!
Next is what
Posted by: Tushar on: August 12, 2008
- In: Lifestyle
- 9 Comments
I wonder. I wonder whether this Samsung tag line wants to redefine the English Language or is it a half-spoken sentence that still needs to be completed! Amir Khan in his snazzy new avatar utters the grammatically incorrect phrase and we all wonder.
Subtle play with language could be perceived as creativity by some. In a few cases, it could convince a whole new generation to believe that the grammatically incorrect sentence is an accepted norm. However, the intention behind the clever jumble (of words) in this branding slogan seems to be a clever marketing strategy. Just the fact that it makes us wonder, demonstrates the success of this advert.
McDonald’s immensely popular “I’m lovin’ it” slogan, although grammatically incorrect (use of state verb in progressive form… blah blah), will sound fine to most of us today. In fact, if someone were to say to me, “I’m liking your hairdo today!” this would not sound nearly so strange to me today as it would have a few years ago.
Here is an interesting print ad that I came across while going through a random flickr album.
It is a captivating response to all those grammar Nazis who might agitate at grammar mistakes in popular ads. It proves that an ad needn’t abide by the language rules to grab attention. More importantly, it sure does prove that correcting a woman’s grammar may not be the best pickup technique. 
It brings me to the question that sums it all quite well. “Next is what” in the field of marketing innovativeness?
P.S. (Absolutely no relation to the post above): I love to be entertained by the funny American election campaign videos doing the rounds these days. If you missed out on Paris Hilton’s hit-back at the McCain campaign, that made use of her, have a look at it here. And if the “world’s biggest celebrity” campaign against Obama was not enough, McCain has even gone ahead to release a video which calls him an Anti-Christ!! Definitely entertaining.
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