Self Sustaining Self Empowerment

Being Cyrus

2006-03-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

This one seems to be a different movie. The casting seems excellent with people like Nasserudin Shah, Saif Ali Khan and Boman Irani. I started liking Saif's movies after watching Ek Hasina Thi because that movie proved his talents as an actor who can do serious roles equally well. I just hope that it is in fact a good movie unlike movie Boom( Kaizad Gustad) which were supposed to be different than mainstream hindi cinema but just turned out to be a total disaster.

Difference Engines: Move Over Mr. Turing

2006-03-21T06:10:00.000-08:00

Proving the old adage that a good idea has many fathers, some scholars believe that one of the fathers of computing is Panini, an ancient Sanskrit grammarian who, according to commonly accepted estimates, lived in the fifth century B.C. Almost nothing is known for certain about Panini's life. Tradition has it that he was born near the Indus River in what's now Pakistan.

Panini's grammar for Sanskrit is highly systematized and technical. Inherent in its analytic approach are the concepts of the phoneme, the morpheme and the root, not recognized by Western linguists until some two millennia later. His rules have a reputation of perfection—that is, they are claimed to fully describe Sanskrit morphology, without any redundancy. A consequence of his grammar's focus on brevity is its highly nonintuitive structure, reminiscent of contemporary "machine language" (as opposed to "human-readable" programming languages).

Panini uses metarules, transformations and recursions with such sophistication that his grammar has the computing power equivalent to that of a Turing machine. In this sense, Panini may, indeed, be considered the father of computing machines. His work was also the forerunner to modern formal-language theory. Paninian grammars have also been devised for non-Sanskrit languages. The Backus-Naur form (sometimes called the Panini-Backus form), or BNF, grammars used to describe modern programming languages are similar to Panini's grammar rules.

It's not even known whether Panini used writing for the composition of his work. Some historians argue that a work of such complexity would have been impossible to compile without written notes, while others allow for the possibility that he might have composed it with the help of a group of students whose memories served him as "notepads."

What is your Varna?

2006-03-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

Following is an exercise I did at a course I attended a while ago. It says it describes your "communication style". But I think it groups people in four different "varnas" or personalities. See where you belong!

According to psychologist Carl Jung, we all have a preferred communication style. To find out yours, write a "4" besides the response which best describes you, a "3" for the next best, a "2" for the next best and a "1" for the one which least describes you.

It would be helpful if you take a pen/pencil and a piece of paper. Ready?

1) I am likely to impress others as:
_____ a) Intellectual
_____ b) A good friend
_____ c) Detail-oriented
_____ d) Practical

2) When working on projects, I prefer them to be:
_____ a) Designed to contribute
_____ b) Stimulating
_____ c) Well-planned
_____ d) Results-oriented

3) My time is important so I want to make sure that:
_____ a) I am well prepared for the future
_____ b) My actions will be meaningful to others
_____ c) I plan well and follow my plan
_____ d) What I do today counts

4) I feel satisfied when I:
_____ a) Can connect one idea with another
_____ b) Can be helpful to a friend or a family member
_____ c) Can solve a problem by really thinking it through
_____ d) Get more done than I had planned

5) I enjoy it when others see me as:
_____ a) Bright, with a vision
_____ b) Warm and approachable
_____ c) Someone who knows what he/she is doing
_____ d) A persons who gets things done

6) When others pressure me, I am:
_____ a) Prone to step back into my own thoughts
_____ b) Apt to show my true feelings
_____ c) Inclined to be critical of them
_____ d) Linkely to react immediately

Now add up all the a) scores, then b) and so on:

a) _____ Intuiter (Brahman) b) _____ Thinker (Vaishya)
c) _____ Feeler (Shudra) d) _____ Doer (Kshatriya)

Of course, these are just basic questions. Some organizations conduct rigorous tests with close to 300 questions which will truely desribe your personality. Many people, I heard, fall in combinations like Intuiter-Thinker, Does-Thinker and so on.

No one personality is bigger or smaller than others. Each has its own traits. And if you want to be in another one, you have to change your personality!!

India-Mart

2006-03-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

India is a veritable one-stop shop for all of America's needs –

beacon of democracy;
posterboy of globalisation;
increasingly an engine of global growth;
status quo power that won't challenge the US-fostered world order;
perfect 'cultural fit' for America;
potential partner if the intensity of Islamist terror should increase;
a possible anchor for an Asian security architecture;
most capable and willing potential partner in countering China;
potential alternative manufacturing base;
supplier of knowledge workers;
bearer of American arms and therefore of American influence.

Try to grab the latest the issue of Newsweek to see the reasons of recent India flaunting.

What is matter?

2006-02-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

"What the Bleep do I know?" seems like a good movie to watch. It follows Amanda as her uninspired life unravels to reveal the uncertain world of quantum mechanics hidden beneath her normal, waking reality. Watch the trailer here.

http://www.whatthebleep.com/trailer/

Downloading music and movies for free

2006-02-26T06:52:00.000-08:00

So there are ways to donwload movies & music - Hindi and English - without torrents. I will give a step by step method to do this. It's a little complicated but the download speeds will appease you.

Download mIRC (Internet relay chat) client and install it.
Go to Packetnews website and search for any movie you want, e.g. click here
Click on some number under "pack" coloumn. e.g "#5" or "#21" etc.
This will open up mIRC and prompt you "change server and join the channel". Click OK.
Couple of windows within the application will open within a few seconds.
In the second window that opens within mIRC, do a "Ctrl-V" i.e paste in the chat box and hit enter. You have effectively logged on to a server hosting the movie/music file and sent a request to receive that file.
A dialog box will be show a "file warning" saying someone is attempting to send you a file. Just say yes. Select the destination folder and the file is being downloaded!! Check out the speeds - I get about 350kbps!
Note: First time users should always make sure the following: Go to Tools->Options->DCC->Ignore. Select "Disabled" in the Method menu and click ok.
You might also need WinRar and Isobuster to decode your movie/music files.
To learn to use Isobuster, post your comments, and I will add the details.

The quality of movies/music can be excellent if you choose the files a little carefully! Users can even share large size files (send/receive) between each other.

Funny clip

2006-02-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

http://india.makemytrip.com/masti/fungama.html#

Especially check out the "chidiya udi" one... its funny :)

Iran's nuclear power

2006-02-20T20:41:00.000-08:00

I came across this article in India Express, it nicely summarizes the current issues related to Iran and US. It very well cover all the topics that we have been arguing about, have a look at it. it was good for me because I did not completely understand this problem, but this article puts things in a better perspective.
http://indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=88307

Hindus cannot be proud of their demonic religion

2006-02-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

Carefully read the captions in these picture (click for bigger resolution) and recall how shitty India is. This is how India and Hinduism is portrayed in western textbooks. Whereas, other cultures and countries are the best thing ever happened to humans - is clearly laid in out the same books. Just dis-regard their imperialism, world wars, fundamentalism etc...

Read the article for more details.

Update:
Topic I J C H

Women are shown equal to men? Yes Yes Yes No

Oppression of certain groups is discussed? No No No Yes

Beliefs are considered as historical fact? Yes Yes Yes No

Own leaders’ interpretations are emphasized? Yes Yes Yes No

Treated as a world religion without social
political issues of any foreign country? Yes Yes Yes No

Significance of Valentines Day

2006-02-10T04:05:00.000-08:00

It is not known for which of three Saint Valentine's is "Valentines day" celebrated. All of the three were martyrs of Roman empire. The closest possible connection between 'love' and these Saints was in 280A.D.

This Saint Valentine was sent to prison after a debate with Claudius, a roman emporer. Anon the prison provost had a blind daughter and with a little faith asked Valentine

I marvel me that thou sayest that thy God is very light, and nevertheless, if he may make my daughter to hear and see, which long time hath been blind, I shall do all that thou commandest me, and shall believe in thy God. Saint Valentine anon put him in prayers, and by his prayers the daughter of the provost received again her sight, and Anon all they of the the house were converted

The emporer later beheaded the saint. The debate between the two was:

Emporer: Why wilt thou not abide in our amity, and worship the idols and renounce the vain opinion of thy creance?
Saint Valentine answered him: If thou hadst very knowledge of the grace of Jesu Christ thou shouldest not say this that thou sayest, but shouldest reny the idols and worship very God.
A prince from the council of the emperor: What wilt thou say of our gods and of their holy life?
Saint Valentine answered: I say none other thing of them but that they were men mortal and mechant and full of all ordure and evil.
Claudius the emperor: If Jesu Christ be God verily, wherefore sayst thou not the truth?
Saint Valentine: Certainly Jesu Christ is only very God, and if thou believe in him, verily thy soul shall be saved, thy realm shall multiply, and he shall give to thee alway victory of thine enemies.

Umm...so why the hoopla over Valentines day as a day of Love?

Maharashtra's Wineyard

2006-02-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

Education, sports and addictive beverages seem a good business to be in. Some 'politicians' are benefiting from all of them. Sharad Power...err Pawar - the Agriculture and Food Minister, BCCI president runs a few high end private technical colleges.

Recently, he has found new ways to make money - subsidising rich wine farmers (including himself) in western Maharashtra while lowering import duty on cotton which is already responsible for nearly 1000 farmer suicides in eastern Maharashtra.

experts contend that even the substantial incentives offered to the wine industry are swallowed up by a handful of big wineries. Pawar—he even has a grape variety, Sharad Seedless, named after him—must explain why the future of a few large wineries is more important than the livelihood of 20 lakh cotton cultivators. Perhaps the state administration will wake up only when it's election time. In Maharashtra, which went to the polls last year, that's four long years away.

But then, to win last elections, they had offered free electricity to all farmers including poor farmers who dont even have electrical connections and infrastructure to make use of the scheme.

India votes against Iran

2006-02-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

India votes against Iran on nuclear issue - is a very likely outcome of the ongoing political debate.

My reasons:

US and UN pressure on India. Now even China and Russia will be voting against Iran.
American business pressure - its a $100 billion business.
India gets one more reason to reserve a seat in UN security council.
Bush's and Sonia's Vatican Mission - now thats a speculation!

Rang De Laal or Paint It Red

2006-01-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

Very few commercial movies explore issues related to social and political happenings. Rang de Basanti is one such attempt at its fullest. It not only addresses the problems (like most movies) but also extracts a solution (unlike most movies). The solution itself, however, is contentious.

The protagonists in the movie are heavily inspired by Indian revolutionaries (except Bismil) like Chandrashekhar Azad?, Bhagat Singh and others fighting the 'imperial' powers. Azad, played by Aamir Khan was one of the most sofisticated roles ever enacted by Aamir Khan. His zealot, determined, fearless character was successfully carved out in the movie. My favourite was when he jumps from the train roof.

There were some heavy political messages and pointers in the movie. Activism, revolutionary political leanings (violent) came out as winners in countering their long time enemy - the incumbent oppressive government - democratic or otherwise.

Lenin's revolutionary theory has given us heroes like Bhagat Singh and others. But in today's India, we also have Naxalites who follow it. Is their violence against government officials and police justified like protgonists in the movie?

The protagonists could well have been inspired by Nathuram Ghodse. After all, he "felt" and held Gandhi "responsible" for his role in partition and its aftermath.

It wasnt clear if the BJP/Shiv Sena was purposely singled out or their involvement just happened to fit well with the movie timeline. But this is negated a bit when youth from all political leanings come together for one cause - which had happened anyway.

Proteus, your comments???

Rang De Basanti

2006-01-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Rang De Basanti, this years highly anticipated movie is finally here. The reviews are quite promising as expected of a Aamir Khan movie.

But I doubt many non-northest Indians know what "basanti" means. The phrase itself is supposedly coined by Bhagat Singh - a revolutionary freedom fighter.

From what I know, "basant" means yellow or saffron, indicating arrival of spring. Any other meaning you know of?

Party and the Geek

2006-01-24T21:30:00.000-08:00

Got a forwarded email from a friend:

Bangalore: IIT geeks form political party [Link]
Seems like Mani Rathnam’s Yuva is getting off the reels. Five IITians, all in their 20s, have decided to take up mainstream politics. The youths, based in Jodhpur, will be in the city to campaign for their national party, “ Paritrana’’ , which was launched in Jodhpur on Friday....“Giving up handsome pay packages, comfort of family and support of friends wasn’t that easy,’’ says Tanmay Rajpurohit, the national president of the party and B Tech in aerospace from IIT Bombay followed by an MS from GeorgiaTech and double masters in arts.

“We strongly feel that the politicians of today are no longer the voice of the common man but instead they voice their own personal agendas through which they can fetch maximum votes,’’ said Shukla.

“We are not here for the power game. We are here to deal with the grassroots issues of each and every small village that we come across,’’ added Shukla.

I with them best luck and wish that they succeed in their endeavors. Meanwhile, I will wait for their 'political publication' which describes their stand on current issues - Iran, poverty, curroption, etc... :)

Darwin's thoughts on the word evolution.

2006-01-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

In the book titled "Ever Since Darwin", by Stephen Gould he discusses Darwin's thoughts on the word evolution. Darwin himself avoided using the word evolution, what he used was

"descent with modification"

in species. The word evolution is often misinterpreted as going up or down the heirarchy of organisms, giving it a sense of superiority. Evolution is more like moving laterally at the same level of a heirarchy. Evolution is often thought to go hand in hand with progress/improvement in a species. Darwin actually found examples of degradation in some traits of species, which goes to indicate that evolution cannot be always related to progress. So evolution is essentially just a change and does not mean e.g. increased height,increased intelligence or any other improved trait.Traits of any species are sculpted by natural selection to form an optimal fit with its environment. In his works Darwin mentions

" if an ameoba is well adapted to its environment as we are to ours, , who is to
say that we are higher creatures?"

On matter, he says

"why is thought being a secretion of the brain, more wonderful than gravity, a
property of matter?" It is our arrogance, our admiration of ourselves."

Some other quote about the materialistic nature of humans which he calls it philosophical materialism , is postulated as

"matter is the stuff of all existence and all mental and spiritual phenomena are
its by-products"

On god he says"

if mind has no real existence beyond the brain, can god be anything more than an
illusion invented by another illusion?"

Finally his view of scientists and their work

"Science is no inexorable march to truth, mediated by the collection of
objective information and the destruction of ancient superstition. Scientists,
as ordinary human beings, unconsciously reflect in their theories, the social
and political constraints of their times."

First Post

2006-01-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

First post - Test.