Please contribute generously for relief of Tsunami victims. Contribute to the Indian Prime Minister's Relief Fund [See Details].
People who want to help may send bank drafts/cheques in the name Indian Red Cross Society, New Delhi. One may also deposit cash or relief material at the Delhi office.
The society is accepting everything except perishable items and used clothes.
Address: Indian Red Cross Society, 1, Red Cross Road, New Delhi - 110001 Phone: (011) 23716441, 23716234
Source: http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
The Goa-Kerala Mix-I
Goa and Kerala claim to have similar tastes of natural goodies with Sea, fish, churches, and of course coconut palms that sway with tsunamistic abandon along vast stretches of beaches. Unfortunately, the similarities end more or less with these. An exception being both states have their natives as Non-residents [The Gulf variety!]. The two states boast of dinars, riyals, and dollars stached as NRI fixed deposits contribute to our overflowing foriegn reserves[$130 billion as on 17 December 2004]. It is interesting to note why the states are so similar but people far apart.
The common obsessions of Kerala and Goa: Chaya and Cha [A cuppa tea anytime, anywhere, everywhere], Sunday morining mass at the church, Mackerel ['Chaala' in Mallu speak] fish is a hit, grated coconut is a must if it is chicken curry in Kerala or Chicken Xacuti in Goa. Unfortunately, Kerala despite having good beaches and tropical clime looses to Goa because of a narrow mindset, lack of trust, and social one-up man ship.
Series 1 starts with Kerala vices, the twin obsessions, Alcohol, and Gold
Alcohol: Though not in alphabetic order, Alcohol will undisputedly figure as a topper in Kerala. It is said if a mallu has a newspaper in his left hand, he holds a drink with his left hand. The drink used to be the piping hot Kannan Devan Chaya [Tea]. Lately, that has been replaced by strong spirits. Every marriage has to be preceded by a bachelor's party with "Teachers" to "Oldmonks" blessing all the young men of the village or town. It is today claimed as a right of every mallu male to get invited for the party. Social networks they say, are built around the brand of drink he holds. It is also very necessary that one lets the whole world know that he is drunk by venturing into the streets, and finally pouring out his "voes". From "anamayakki" to "100 pipers", Kerala boasts of a record per capita consumption of 8.3 liters of spirited juice[1].
Gold, Gold and more Gold...
Getting that precious yellow metal is a keralites obsession. Every keralite lady knows the number 24 worth the gold and that a karat is not same as a carrot. Now, with diamonds shining they have replaced the k with a C for Carat. Every small town in Kerala boasts of a Gold souk, or a Jewel Junction. Alappat, Alukkas, Bhima, Josco have become household names. Marriages become auspicious when the brides father commits in multi-soverigns to the question"Ethra swarnam ittu?" [How much gold did you put?]. A malayalee's worth in kerala is measured in the weight of gold bars, ornaments his wife posseses in the bank locker. The jewel junction in Cochin alone boasts of more jewellery shops than in Goa. Probably, the metal has god in it 'GO-l-D'
Next Blog...will look at the keralite obsessions of Comedy, Sex, and Gulf
Goa and Kerala claim to have similar tastes of natural goodies with Sea, fish, churches, and of course coconut palms that sway with tsunamistic abandon along vast stretches of beaches. Unfortunately, the similarities end more or less with these. An exception being both states have their natives as Non-residents [The Gulf variety!]. The two states boast of dinars, riyals, and dollars stached as NRI fixed deposits contribute to our overflowing foriegn reserves[$130 billion as on 17 December 2004]. It is interesting to note why the states are so similar but people far apart.
The common obsessions of Kerala and Goa: Chaya and Cha [A cuppa tea anytime, anywhere, everywhere], Sunday morining mass at the church, Mackerel ['Chaala' in Mallu speak] fish is a hit, grated coconut is a must if it is chicken curry in Kerala or Chicken Xacuti in Goa. Unfortunately, Kerala despite having good beaches and tropical clime looses to Goa because of a narrow mindset, lack of trust, and social one-up man ship.
Series 1 starts with Kerala vices, the twin obsessions, Alcohol, and Gold
Alcohol: Though not in alphabetic order, Alcohol will undisputedly figure as a topper in Kerala. It is said if a mallu has a newspaper in his left hand, he holds a drink with his left hand. The drink used to be the piping hot Kannan Devan Chaya [Tea]. Lately, that has been replaced by strong spirits. Every marriage has to be preceded by a bachelor's party with "Teachers" to "Oldmonks" blessing all the young men of the village or town. It is today claimed as a right of every mallu male to get invited for the party. Social networks they say, are built around the brand of drink he holds. It is also very necessary that one lets the whole world know that he is drunk by venturing into the streets, and finally pouring out his "voes". From "anamayakki" to "100 pipers", Kerala boasts of a record per capita consumption of 8.3 liters of spirited juice[1].
Gold, Gold and more Gold...
Getting that precious yellow metal is a keralites obsession. Every keralite lady knows the number 24 worth the gold and that a karat is not same as a carrot. Now, with diamonds shining they have replaced the k with a C for Carat. Every small town in Kerala boasts of a Gold souk, or a Jewel Junction. Alappat, Alukkas, Bhima, Josco have become household names. Marriages become auspicious when the brides father commits in multi-soverigns to the question"Ethra swarnam ittu?" [How much gold did you put?]. A malayalee's worth in kerala is measured in the weight of gold bars, ornaments his wife posseses in the bank locker. The jewel junction in Cochin alone boasts of more jewellery shops than in Goa. Probably, the metal has god in it 'GO-l-D'
Next Blog...will look at the keralite obsessions of Comedy, Sex, and Gulf
Monday, December 27, 2004
Kerala Mix-III
Kerala Mix-III
After delving into the three Amigos in Contemporary Kerala -Alchohol, Gold, and Comedy [My previous blogs]. We look at the most repulsive yet omnipresent word in Mallu land "SEX". I donot want to sound like another of those "oh! this is a dangerous trend" conservatists. Read the following article titled "Sex and the Mallu" [pun intended!] which appeared in The Week Magazine [November 24-28, 2004] issue. Sex was always bottled up in the psyche, but what does one do when the bottle is transparent for all to see? Some pointers to the trends;
1. At any point in time, there are atleast 5 sex scandals/crimes in Kerala
2. One out of three Indian Adult films is a Keralites work of art [From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, that sleazy "Pyasi Jawani" or "Raat ki Raani" poster you saw on the Mumbai bylanes or along the Guntur road is a dubbed Mallu porn movie].
3. An established mallu movie sex siren is more popular than a malayalam superstar in India[ Ask 10 Indians in India whether they know Shakeela and Dilip?, chances are 8 out of 10 will say they know Shakeela].
last point...
4. If you know who Shakeela is without my blog link, it proves why Sex in God's own Country is a hit.
After delving into the three Amigos in Contemporary Kerala -Alchohol, Gold, and Comedy [My previous blogs]. We look at the most repulsive yet omnipresent word in Mallu land "SEX". I donot want to sound like another of those "oh! this is a dangerous trend" conservatists. Read the following article titled "Sex and the Mallu" [pun intended!] which appeared in The Week Magazine [November 24-28, 2004] issue. Sex was always bottled up in the psyche, but what does one do when the bottle is transparent for all to see? Some pointers to the trends;
1. At any point in time, there are atleast 5 sex scandals/crimes in Kerala
2. One out of three Indian Adult films is a Keralites work of art [From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, that sleazy "Pyasi Jawani" or "Raat ki Raani" poster you saw on the Mumbai bylanes or along the Guntur road is a dubbed Mallu porn movie].
3. An established mallu movie sex siren is more popular than a malayalam superstar in India[ Ask 10 Indians in India whether they know Shakeela and Dilip?, chances are 8 out of 10 will say they know Shakeela].
last point...
4. If you know who Shakeela is without my blog link, it proves why Sex in God's own Country is a hit.
Blogging and the Semantic Web
The Association of Computing Machinery has dedicated the December 2004 issue of Communications of ACM [CACM] for Blogs [Weblogs, Blogosphere]. Articles and survey research on the evolution, creation, and the reasons of blogging activity are documented. This holds great significance to understand the social networks in virtual reality, virtual communications, psychology of virtual behavior, demographic and social factors behind blogging. Blogging as a knowledge management tool has great potential. It is not too far when all the knowledge of Internet is captured using semantic tags, xml feeds, and syndication. The question is can we semantically map all the information from the internet into knowledge? The idea is to create a self-organising internet that is autonomous in nature. An internet powered by itself can capture, and deliver content without facing hardware and software technology hurdles. A blog can be a warehouse of agents [blog agents] that communicate with other blog agents. The blog agents will conspire to accomplish a desired user goal without any intervention. Say, you are blogging from Rajasthan [India], and you blog that you are lost and cannot find a way back. Your blog agent signals the internet. This trigger unleashes a series of agents that communicate with other travel blog agents residing in other travel blogs. They find precision maps, weather information, travel agents, and even book tickets. Blogs have been regarded as personal diary and journals, but why not a personal secretary or assistant that can accomplish tasks? It makes more sense than a diary.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Rayachem-Bandar
The history of Goa and Ribandar.
Ribander and Raibander [originates from "Rayachem Bandar" meaning the Port of Rayas 14th century Vijayanagara Kings], Goa, the abode of Goan artists has an envious history. The Vijayanagara kings fought the Bahmani sultans in this place, then called Raichur Doab. V. S. Naipal called the Vijayanagara empire the last frontier bastion of Hindu civilisation. In 1510 Goa went on to the hands of the Portuguese, who went on to make it another Lisbon in the south. They say that he who has seen Goa need not see Lisbon [I donot know how far it is true today!].
Historical places of Ribander-
The Old Goa-Panjim Cause way "Ponte de Linhares"- Built in 1633 by Portuguese Viceroy, Conde de Linhares
Our Lady of Ajuda Church- Built in 1565, today known as the Church of Ribander. The ship carrying the body of St. Francis Xavier was welcomed with canon salute [you can see some canons in the church premises] at this church on the night of 14th March, 1554. You will not be surprised to see the architectural shape of the church. It is built like a Ship, beside the Mandovi river.
Finally, Santa Casa De Misericordia [The Royal Portuguese Hospital]: Today it houses one of the finest Management schools in India-Goa Institute of Management. It is a heritage structure and has been left unchanged despite the pressures of housing a college.
Just some snippets I gathered from some internet research, though it was not easy to get anything on Ribander. Good night
Ribander and Raibander [originates from "Rayachem Bandar" meaning the Port of Rayas 14th century Vijayanagara Kings], Goa, the abode of Goan artists has an envious history. The Vijayanagara kings fought the Bahmani sultans in this place, then called Raichur Doab. V. S. Naipal called the Vijayanagara empire the last frontier bastion of Hindu civilisation. In 1510 Goa went on to the hands of the Portuguese, who went on to make it another Lisbon in the south. They say that he who has seen Goa need not see Lisbon [I donot know how far it is true today!].
Historical places of Ribander-
The Old Goa-Panjim Cause way "Ponte de Linhares"- Built in 1633 by Portuguese Viceroy, Conde de Linhares
Our Lady of Ajuda Church- Built in 1565, today known as the Church of Ribander. The ship carrying the body of St. Francis Xavier was welcomed with canon salute [you can see some canons in the church premises] at this church on the night of 14th March, 1554. You will not be surprised to see the architectural shape of the church. It is built like a Ship, beside the Mandovi river.
Finally, Santa Casa De Misericordia [The Royal Portuguese Hospital]: Today it houses one of the finest Management schools in India-Goa Institute of Management. It is a heritage structure and has been left unchanged despite the pressures of housing a college.
Just some snippets I gathered from some internet research, though it was not easy to get anything on Ribander. Good night
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Google Scholar
Another google gem. This one is especially for researchers and piled higher and deeper fellows like me. Google has come up with a beta version of a scholarly database search and retrieval engine that makes searching those peer reviewed papers, dissertations, theses a lot more easier. It is called Google Scholar There is no advance search option and even the search results are not that great. But knowing Google, I think it is just a matter of time before all functions come into place.
Saturday, November 06, 2004
MBA and Re-engineering
Most Banal Administration? Over 1000 institutes offering the famed PGDM certifications, the regulatory/accreditation bodies range from AIU, AICTE, NBA, NAAC [But, We talk of the single window system]. Hope majority donot turn into finishing schools.
Currently I am working on IBM products. DB2 Warehouse Manager, OLAP Kit and Visual Age for Java. Incidentally, IBM has withdrawn support for Visual Age and now is asking us to migrate to Web sphere. Is IBM Rational Rose and UML kit a genuine Reverse Engineering Tool? Talking about Re-engineering.
One question always props up, why do humans design systems with valueless processes. The otherday I was in desperate need of cash while travelling on a Sunday. I rushed to the ATM, and to my dismay I had just the bare minimum balance of Rs.5058.90. Now the ATM does not give me Rs.50 or even Rs. 10. All those talk of Customer Relationship management [CRM] came tumbling down. I could always go to the local bank branch and withdraw even the last rupee. The teller will oblige with a smile. Now, the moronic machine was [mocking!] flashing a Cadbury Chocolate advertisement. You neither get a rupee nor the chocolate. When will our banks realize that ATMs have to be designed for the customer and not the banker? I should be able to withdraw even a rupee if I have some money left. It is my right to do what I want with my money. If the bank feels that it is not a cost effective option then forget the customer. Is banking technology so averse to re-engineering its process. All it takes is value engineering. The Japanese did it with customisation of technology.
Currently I am working on IBM products. DB2 Warehouse Manager, OLAP Kit and Visual Age for Java. Incidentally, IBM has withdrawn support for Visual Age and now is asking us to migrate to Web sphere. Is IBM Rational Rose and UML kit a genuine Reverse Engineering Tool? Talking about Re-engineering.
One question always props up, why do humans design systems with valueless processes. The otherday I was in desperate need of cash while travelling on a Sunday. I rushed to the ATM, and to my dismay I had just the bare minimum balance of Rs.5058.90. Now the ATM does not give me Rs.50 or even Rs. 10. All those talk of Customer Relationship management [CRM] came tumbling down. I could always go to the local bank branch and withdraw even the last rupee. The teller will oblige with a smile. Now, the moronic machine was [mocking!] flashing a Cadbury Chocolate advertisement. You neither get a rupee nor the chocolate. When will our banks realize that ATMs have to be designed for the customer and not the banker? I should be able to withdraw even a rupee if I have some money left. It is my right to do what I want with my money. If the bank feels that it is not a cost effective option then forget the customer. Is banking technology so averse to re-engineering its process. All it takes is value engineering. The Japanese did it with customisation of technology.
Get ready to pay more for software- The Economic Times
Get ready to pay more for software- The Economic Times
Software Taxation: Does Indian Software industry come under the product or a service sector. Commercial off the shelf software [COTS] products of TCS, Infosys, Iflex will be charged with sales tax. This will increase the cost of COTS. My question is will this move be succesful considering the fact that many products are customised into services by software companies. Software firms will use this loop hole. This will adversely affect the growth of an industry which is struggling for long to break into the global product league. The Supreme court judgement will not encourage software industry to become product centric. This ruling will add to the debate on Intellectual Property Taxation. Indian software industry will now move towards sunshine services sector. But they can run but not hide!
Software Taxation: Does Indian Software industry come under the product or a service sector. Commercial off the shelf software [COTS] products of TCS, Infosys, Iflex will be charged with sales tax. This will increase the cost of COTS. My question is will this move be succesful considering the fact that many products are customised into services by software companies. Software firms will use this loop hole. This will adversely affect the growth of an industry which is struggling for long to break into the global product league. The Supreme court judgement will not encourage software industry to become product centric. This ruling will add to the debate on Intellectual Property Taxation. Indian software industry will now move towards sunshine services sector. But they can run but not hide!
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Is US becoming more Indian?
The US presidential elections throws up some interesting que into the fact that America is today moving towards a moralistic, conservative society. Bush's victory was largely because of the case of his religious conservativism. Today America[the majority of its population are middle aged and old] wants to be secure. The "secure moms" want their children to grow up in environments unlike in their teenage days. The middle aged and older Americans became increasingly insecure about its future generation. It is this generationthat voted for thwart the threats. The 80's Americanism was about gun culture, drug pushers in school, materialistic, the just donot care attitude right through the 1990's. This younger generation [Gen Y-1981-1995, 57million] never cared about what happened outside the US. Remember, In 1998 even President Bush never got his geography right [I doubt whether he still has]. The threat of terrorism at their doorstep shook the American from the comfort zone. America realised that White House is a very dangerous place from which to view the world. The younger generation preferred Kerry to Bush. Kerry advocated for a liberal society that recognised gay culture, and loose moral values. This did appeal to the imagination of the younger generation in US. The US went through the trials and tribulations of capitalistic free market economy. It cared less for conservatism and restrictions. Today, it wants to become conservative to preserve what is still left of America and put restrictions on any element that makes them insecure.
While America wants to be moralistic, India seems to be caught in the reverse mode. India is becoming more like the America of the 60's and 70's where the younger generation[25-40] age group dominate the social fabric. The carefree attitude, materialism, and making a fast buck is the trend seen in many India cities. India is emulating the 1970-80's American culture. Terrorism is not a big threat, everyday an India lives and dies a thousand times. The death defying life that he lives on the streets and workplace putting up with a highly terrorised system sums up the fact that war and terrorists are insignificant. The young feel that it is better to live one good life than struggling to fight the terrorised system. The famous cartoonist R. K. Laxman's Common Man" no more represents the Indian. He represents the average Indian Grandfather who is helpless. Indians want to build an America that makes them enjoy the quality of life. Ultimately it will come full circle. Fast forward to 2020, when the the social needs of an Indian are met and become a prosperous arrogant society. The present young generation would have aged seeing the degradation of the age old value system. They will remeber the good old days of Indian cultural values. It will then vote like America Votes 2004! The conservative-liberal-conservative cycle will continue.
While America wants to be moralistic, India seems to be caught in the reverse mode. India is becoming more like the America of the 60's and 70's where the younger generation[25-40] age group dominate the social fabric. The carefree attitude, materialism, and making a fast buck is the trend seen in many India cities. India is emulating the 1970-80's American culture. Terrorism is not a big threat, everyday an India lives and dies a thousand times. The death defying life that he lives on the streets and workplace putting up with a highly terrorised system sums up the fact that war and terrorists are insignificant. The young feel that it is better to live one good life than struggling to fight the terrorised system. The famous cartoonist R. K. Laxman's Common Man" no more represents the Indian. He represents the average Indian Grandfather who is helpless. Indians want to build an America that makes them enjoy the quality of life. Ultimately it will come full circle. Fast forward to 2020, when the the social needs of an Indian are met and become a prosperous arrogant society. The present young generation would have aged seeing the degradation of the age old value system. They will remeber the good old days of Indian cultural values. It will then vote like America Votes 2004! The conservative-liberal-conservative cycle will continue.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Some ideas to ponder, even if they donot have Nobel Prize calibre, they will certainly be counted for IgNobel awards [See the 2004 award winners http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-top.html and you will be surprised to find our contribution in getting IgNobel in economics for “outsourcing church prayers to Kerala”].
Desalination Plant at Kochi- Dubai alumni can help MACEians know about the same in Dubai.
A Kasargod-Trivandrum Sea Link
A resuable building material which gets stronger after each use.
An energy exchange[like the electronic stock exchange], where companies and households can trade energy stocks[buy and sell electricity, auction surplus energy resources].
A liquid based RFID [Radio Frequency Identification] material [crystalline gel] that can emit signals: This is particularly useful for petroleum industry, water resource management.
Wireless electricity transmission [possible? I like to know some thing about this.].
An inland-waterway public transportation vehicle- I remember some seniors in MACE[1994 mechanical batch, I persume] have made an amphibious vehicle.
A tablet PC for school students with malayalam software, that costs less than a PC.
A writing material made from anything other than bamboo [solid waste, biological waste].
“Audio” electricity [sound as an energy source]: This is interesting if we can think of converting the huge decibels of sound in rock shows, city junctions into some form of energy. It will be great if we can convert our voices into energy[all politicians, people with gift of back, and microphone addicts are potential sources].
Desalination Plant at Kochi- Dubai alumni can help MACEians know about the same in Dubai.
A Kasargod-Trivandrum Sea Link
A resuable building material which gets stronger after each use.
An energy exchange[like the electronic stock exchange], where companies and households can trade energy stocks[buy and sell electricity, auction surplus energy resources].
A liquid based RFID [Radio Frequency Identification] material [crystalline gel] that can emit signals: This is particularly useful for petroleum industry, water resource management.
Wireless electricity transmission [possible? I like to know some thing about this.].
An inland-waterway public transportation vehicle- I remember some seniors in MACE[1994 mechanical batch, I persume] have made an amphibious vehicle.
A tablet PC for school students with malayalam software, that costs less than a PC.
A writing material made from anything other than bamboo [solid waste, biological waste].
“Audio” electricity [sound as an energy source]: This is interesting if we can think of converting the huge decibels of sound in rock shows, city junctions into some form of energy. It will be great if we can convert our voices into energy[all politicians, people with gift of back, and microphone addicts are potential sources].
The 2004 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
Well, more than the Nobel prize (genuine!), I like the NOBEL. The 2004 IgNobel has been announced and of particular mention are the following:
PUBLIC HEALTH: A Five second rule for eating food dropped on the floor Research questions: How long is it safe for the food dropped on the floor to remain on the floor before you pick it up again to eat it? Answer: 5 seconds (according to High-school student Jillian Clarke) Other findings: Women are more likely than men to eat food thats been floored. Cookies and Candy are the most picked up floored food items.
ENGINEERING:Baldness concealer: How to hide baldness using a series of methodological steps to cover the bald areas with exsting hair. A new Hair styling technique to conceal partial baldness. The explanation is given in wonderful detail with diagrams. My description will be of no consequence before this detail.
LITERATURE: Preserving the Nude Pictures and Heritage (American Nudist Research Library [ANRL] ): This is my pick..http://www.anrl.org/ does an enviable job in preserving nudist literature, photographs, and archives for future generations. Imagine year 2500, If ANRL survives the alien invasion all Playboy magazines will be national treasures? See their wonderful collection in case you want to see it ;-)
ECONOMICS: Vatican Bishops and Roman Catholic Clergy for Outsourcing Church Prayer mass to India [Kerala]. The Kochi diocese gets 350 requests monthly for thanks giving and special prayer mass. A prayer that costs $20 in the US costs roughly $0.45 in India. Even before that, Insourcing is done by Non-resident Indians in USA for doing a pooja for Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India. talk about reverse sourcing! They can perform the pooja virtually through Internet and collaborative technologies. The time is not far when your mouse will sprinkle some vibhuthi (sacred ash) in your hand, and you can smell the camphor, flowers, and incense fumes through the virtual reality system. All for $1 sitting in your studio apartment in California.This was predicted...finally the Indian Outsourcing boom is getting recognised.
PEACE: [This is a Nobel contender]KAROAKE [Invented by Daisuke Inoue]: The invention of Karoake is a break through considering the fact that it maintains the peaceful equilibrium in a community because people become tolerant by listening to their own singing. This is a wonderful mental tolerance building method. So if you are intolerant and short tempered start a daily exercise...switch on the most difficult song to sing in Karoake mode and then sing...You will have to tolerate the most intollerable audio ever heard.
BIOLOGY: Well..the Nobel prize for Medicine went for "Odor recognition" [see my previos blog]. what about the finding that the Herring fish that makes mysterious sounds in the night is actually communicating with its fellow Herrings. The "hearing" of the Herring is sharp...but the discovery is that the mysterious sounds are emanated when they fart. farting communication skills anyone?? Humans too have distinct fart sounds..I donot know whether they actually use it for communication?
CHEMISTRY: COCA COLA COMPANY, UK for claimed that they used high technology NASA spacecraft water purification process to come out with a new bottled mineral water "Dasani", which was nothing but tap water from Thames river that underwent the basic reverse Osmosis treatment. It became a great marketing and PR disaster when, chemical tests revealed that it was contaminated with bromate- a carcinogen. In case you bought a bottle of "Dasani" water call freephone 0800 227711, Coke will refund you. To Malayalees, a question..Does "Dasani" ring a bell? "Dahasamini" is a great thirst quenching ayurvedic additive that Malayalees add to their drinking water. Nothing can beat this ayurvedic sophisticated technology from India.
Well, more than the Nobel prize (genuine!), I like the NOBEL. The 2004 IgNobel has been announced and of particular mention are the following:
PUBLIC HEALTH: A Five second rule for eating food dropped on the floor Research questions: How long is it safe for the food dropped on the floor to remain on the floor before you pick it up again to eat it? Answer: 5 seconds (according to High-school student Jillian Clarke) Other findings: Women are more likely than men to eat food thats been floored. Cookies and Candy are the most picked up floored food items.
ENGINEERING:Baldness concealer: How to hide baldness using a series of methodological steps to cover the bald areas with exsting hair. A new Hair styling technique to conceal partial baldness. The explanation is given in wonderful detail with diagrams. My description will be of no consequence before this detail.
LITERATURE: Preserving the Nude Pictures and Heritage (American Nudist Research Library [ANRL] ): This is my pick..http://www.anrl.org/ does an enviable job in preserving nudist literature, photographs, and archives for future generations. Imagine year 2500, If ANRL survives the alien invasion all Playboy magazines will be national treasures? See their wonderful collection in case you want to see it ;-)
ECONOMICS: Vatican Bishops and Roman Catholic Clergy for Outsourcing Church Prayer mass to India [Kerala]. The Kochi diocese gets 350 requests monthly for thanks giving and special prayer mass. A prayer that costs $20 in the US costs roughly $0.45 in India. Even before that, Insourcing is done by Non-resident Indians in USA for doing a pooja for Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India. talk about reverse sourcing! They can perform the pooja virtually through Internet and collaborative technologies. The time is not far when your mouse will sprinkle some vibhuthi (sacred ash) in your hand, and you can smell the camphor, flowers, and incense fumes through the virtual reality system. All for $1 sitting in your studio apartment in California.This was predicted...finally the Indian Outsourcing boom is getting recognised.
PEACE: [This is a Nobel contender]KAROAKE [Invented by Daisuke Inoue]: The invention of Karoake is a break through considering the fact that it maintains the peaceful equilibrium in a community because people become tolerant by listening to their own singing. This is a wonderful mental tolerance building method. So if you are intolerant and short tempered start a daily exercise...switch on the most difficult song to sing in Karoake mode and then sing...You will have to tolerate the most intollerable audio ever heard.
BIOLOGY: Well..the Nobel prize for Medicine went for "Odor recognition" [see my previos blog]. what about the finding that the Herring fish that makes mysterious sounds in the night is actually communicating with its fellow Herrings. The "hearing" of the Herring is sharp...but the discovery is that the mysterious sounds are emanated when they fart. farting communication skills anyone?? Humans too have distinct fart sounds..I donot know whether they actually use it for communication?
CHEMISTRY: COCA COLA COMPANY, UK for claimed that they used high technology NASA spacecraft water purification process to come out with a new bottled mineral water "Dasani", which was nothing but tap water from Thames river that underwent the basic reverse Osmosis treatment. It became a great marketing and PR disaster when, chemical tests revealed that it was contaminated with bromate- a carcinogen. In case you bought a bottle of "Dasani" water call freephone 0800 227711, Coke will refund you. To Malayalees, a question..Does "Dasani" ring a bell? "Dahasamini" is a great thirst quenching ayurvedic additive that Malayalees add to their drinking water. Nothing can beat this ayurvedic sophisticated technology from India.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
The Scent of Life
The Nobel prize for Medicine-2004 is given to two scientists for their effiot in decoding the mystery of the most exotic human sense of smell. The scientists, Dr. Richard Axel, and Linda B. Buck from Seattle USA discovered how neurons send information about odours and pheromones to our brain that helps us to memorize and recall most of the odours. It is interesting that many a times we have felt a sense of 'deja vu' when we smell an odour. They used a molecular-genetic toolbox to analyze the olfactory system based on its information storage mechanism. Neural circuits and biologocal architecture of the information flow network was studied. The most revealing aspect of the study is that the information about odour triggers emotional and psychological behaviors that create distinct perceptions for each of the odours. This is significant considering the fact that our brain can remember each of over 10000 odours, that too very uniquely.
DEJA VU SMELLS
Paint [water color]: I can clearly remember the first time I painted.
Paint [Emulsion]: Hmmm, I really like the smell of fresh paint...remember when my father got our old scooter painted.
Petrol: Another of those 'I get hooked on to' smell. All the wait standing in front of the scooter when the petrol tank in the petrol bunk was open was worth the wait.
Diesel: This is nauseating, because I never enjoyed sitting near the engine and gear lever of the bus.
Ash: The Shiva temple vibhuthi(ash) has a special smell
Sandal paste: The Guruvayur temple (Kerala) sandal paste is unique.
Mustard oil: Oh..the fried Puri Bhajji that I ate at Agra railway station during my trip to New Delhi in 1994.
Some of my friends have some aversions to some smell..like one of them threw up when he smelt anything that smells close to jasmine flower. same with the smell of oil.
Ig Nobel awards for "smell" any one??
and of course...the smell of those distinct farts.Well such a career option is available[Worlds Worst Job as a Dysentery Stool-Sample Analyzer]..some very pungent, some fruity..I will not be surprised to know people can identify with what they ate with the smell of their farts. Which fart made them smell bad? or which fart gave them a pleasant experience? Though it is a very unpleasant experience for the ones around you
Its so wonderful to learn how our senses are more important to our survival. Ask a person who survived the Bhopal gas tragedy or a bombing attack.
References: research abstract
The Nobel prize for Medicine-2004 is given to two scientists for their effiot in decoding the mystery of the most exotic human sense of smell. The scientists, Dr. Richard Axel, and Linda B. Buck from Seattle USA discovered how neurons send information about odours and pheromones to our brain that helps us to memorize and recall most of the odours. It is interesting that many a times we have felt a sense of 'deja vu' when we smell an odour. They used a molecular-genetic toolbox to analyze the olfactory system based on its information storage mechanism. Neural circuits and biologocal architecture of the information flow network was studied. The most revealing aspect of the study is that the information about odour triggers emotional and psychological behaviors that create distinct perceptions for each of the odours. This is significant considering the fact that our brain can remember each of over 10000 odours, that too very uniquely.
DEJA VU SMELLS
Paint [water color]: I can clearly remember the first time I painted.
Paint [Emulsion]: Hmmm, I really like the smell of fresh paint...remember when my father got our old scooter painted.
Petrol: Another of those 'I get hooked on to' smell. All the wait standing in front of the scooter when the petrol tank in the petrol bunk was open was worth the wait.
Diesel: This is nauseating, because I never enjoyed sitting near the engine and gear lever of the bus.
Ash: The Shiva temple vibhuthi(ash) has a special smell
Sandal paste: The Guruvayur temple (Kerala) sandal paste is unique.
Mustard oil: Oh..the fried Puri Bhajji that I ate at Agra railway station during my trip to New Delhi in 1994.
Some of my friends have some aversions to some smell..like one of them threw up when he smelt anything that smells close to jasmine flower. same with the smell of oil.
Ig Nobel awards for "smell" any one??
and of course...the smell of those distinct farts.Well such a career option is available[Worlds Worst Job as a Dysentery Stool-Sample Analyzer]..some very pungent, some fruity..I will not be surprised to know people can identify with what they ate with the smell of their farts. Which fart made them smell bad? or which fart gave them a pleasant experience? Though it is a very unpleasant experience for the ones around you
Its so wonderful to learn how our senses are more important to our survival. Ask a person who survived the Bhopal gas tragedy or a bombing attack.
References: research abstract
Are Indians really dumb?
Are Indians really dumb?
Are Indians really dumb? This seems to be a good topic to debate. Is India a desert when it comes to innovation and creativity?
Poverty in the mind and spirit is the reason for the lacklusture approach of we Indians. I am really appalled by some of the superficial knowledge of Indian students. The quality of work is so shoddy that there seems to be a loss of ingenuity.
JARGON USAGE
Lately, I see a lot of MBA students using the cliqued jargons in every situation.
BOTTOM LINE: The impact on the bottom line is significant. I understand when the tell "bottomline" when many of them wear their brains below the belt. In India, bottom line is the best metaphor for growth(forgive the pun)!. Growth for us is always sideways..increasing the girth. Who says "elephants cannot dance" when you have such a great "bottomline" growth.
SACROSSANCT sacrosanct. \Sac"ro*sanct\, a. [L. sucrosanctus.]: not capable of being violated or infringed. When you are not sure of a thing..tell that "there is nothing sacrossanct in this. Telling that you can be flexible in the most inflexible manner! Well the usage of this word in your ppt is not sacrossanct ;-)
For the time being, some like leveraging on core competence, adding up the value chain are taking a back seat. Ultimately it is those words that impact your "bottom line" that matters, is it not?
Are Indians really dumb? This seems to be a good topic to debate. Is India a desert when it comes to innovation and creativity?
Poverty in the mind and spirit is the reason for the lacklusture approach of we Indians. I am really appalled by some of the superficial knowledge of Indian students. The quality of work is so shoddy that there seems to be a loss of ingenuity.
JARGON USAGE
Lately, I see a lot of MBA students using the cliqued jargons in every situation.
BOTTOM LINE: The impact on the bottom line is significant. I understand when the tell "bottomline" when many of them wear their brains below the belt. In India, bottom line is the best metaphor for growth(forgive the pun)!. Growth for us is always sideways..increasing the girth. Who says "elephants cannot dance" when you have such a great "bottomline" growth.
SACROSSANCT sacrosanct. \Sac"ro*sanct\, a. [L. sucrosanctus.]: not capable of being violated or infringed. When you are not sure of a thing..tell that "there is nothing sacrossanct in this. Telling that you can be flexible in the most inflexible manner! Well the usage of this word in your ppt is not sacrossanct ;-)
For the time being, some like leveraging on core competence, adding up the value chain are taking a back seat. Ultimately it is those words that impact your "bottom line" that matters, is it not?
Monday, October 04, 2004
How Google Works? I read a wonderful article in the Economist Technology Quarterly September 2004, explaining the Pagerank technology behind the Google search engine It is a fine example of entrepreneurship of two Stanford graduates Mr Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page. In 1998, Mr. Brin and Page approach Mr. Andy Bechtolsheim, founder of Sun Microsystems who immediately wrote a cheque for $100,000 in favor of Google Inc.- an imaginary company at that time. Mr. Brin and Page thus started Google. This is a fine engine. No wonder students (espacially from Management studies) swear by google, their CUT-COPY-PASTE ENGINE. The only trouble is for professors like us who inturn use Google to pick out plagiarism. Google is thus an anti-plagiarism software too! While agree that Google is a plagiarism enhancer, all credit for it for making it a quick and easy to use research retrieval tool.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
FLOSS and Python
Free/Libre and Open Source Software [FLOSS] offers some good opensource educational software. It will be good if we can start using it in schools. A list of Linux educational software's for schools is available at http://wikiwikiweb.de/FlossInSchools
Lately, I am getting to become a great fan of Python definitely not the reptilian kind!). I am currently a novice, but will be using it a lot in my Object Oriented Design course.
Lately, I am getting to become a great fan of Python definitely not the reptilian kind!). I am currently a novice, but will be using it a lot in my Object Oriented Design course.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
GOAN FISH
GOAN FOOD
My tastebuds have triggered my imagination on a goan fish blog. What is it so unique of Goan seafood? If you are a great fan of mackerel, then go for the Bangda fry (Mackerel stuffed with a hot and spicy reacheado masala and shallow fried). Never ever use North Indian Masalas or packaged masalas. You can make the paste at home. Soak red chillies, cinnamon, pepper, cummin seeds, garlic pods in some vinegar. Grind the ingredients into a paste. Add salt and sugar to give that sweet, hot and sour taste. Slit the fish from the side and generously stuff the masala and marinate overnight. Shallow fry in oil on low flame. Voila!... Banda fry
I recommend you have the wide variety of Goan seafood dishes at Star Bar and restaurant near Old Goa. The joint might look shady and lacklusture but if you want to be in a riverside rural bar setting with the sky as the roof, then this is the right place. Enjoy crab soups, mussel fry, Kingfish fry, and Chicken Cafreal as you watch the waves lapping the shores of Mandovi river.
My tastebuds have triggered my imagination on a goan fish blog. What is it so unique of Goan seafood? If you are a great fan of mackerel, then go for the Bangda fry (Mackerel stuffed with a hot and spicy reacheado masala and shallow fried). Never ever use North Indian Masalas or packaged masalas. You can make the paste at home. Soak red chillies, cinnamon, pepper, cummin seeds, garlic pods in some vinegar. Grind the ingredients into a paste. Add salt and sugar to give that sweet, hot and sour taste. Slit the fish from the side and generously stuff the masala and marinate overnight. Shallow fry in oil on low flame. Voila!... Banda fry
I recommend you have the wide variety of Goan seafood dishes at Star Bar and restaurant near Old Goa. The joint might look shady and lacklusture but if you want to be in a riverside rural bar setting with the sky as the roof, then this is the right place. Enjoy crab soups, mussel fry, Kingfish fry, and Chicken Cafreal as you watch the waves lapping the shores of Mandovi river.
Monday, September 27, 2004
IT is ethical - Issue dtd : 23th August 2004 By Madan
Software Engineers are bound by a professional code of conduct [IEEE-CS/ACM Software Engineering Ethics]. A software engineer is equally responsible to the society as a doctor or a lawyer. Software professionals have a social responsibility while developong life critical systems designed in medical, transportation, and banking domains.
Sky Bus Mishap: A case in point is the Failure of the Sky Bus technology during its trial run [ ]. A 26 year old software engineer is held responsible for the mishap during the trial run, which resulted in the death of two engineers [The Navhind Times, Goa 27 September 2004]. The engineer had programmed the auto-driving device that failed to control the speed limit of the sky bus coach at a crucial turn. The software engineer is charged with a criminal case for "negligent and rash driving causing accidental death and injury". Unfortunately, the software engineer is battling for his life as he was in the coach during the trial run. Sky Bus Metro project is touted as a big revolution in urban transport.
There are some questions regarding the feasibility and usage of Sky bus technology. Are the officials trying to find a scapegoat in the software engineer? The whole technology defies the logic that anything that is left dangling is not safe. How can it be stable when a strong force of gravity is acting on it? Why is it not possible to ply the coaches on top of the elevated sky way? It can be safely operated like an elevated railway. Kochi and Goa are the two cities that have given consent for deploying Sky bus metro system. This mishap will definitely pose more questions than answers to Konkan railway corporation.
Software Engineers are bound by a professional code of conduct [IEEE-CS/ACM Software Engineering Ethics]. A software engineer is equally responsible to the society as a doctor or a lawyer. Software professionals have a social responsibility while developong life critical systems designed in medical, transportation, and banking domains.
Sky Bus Mishap: A case in point is the Failure of the Sky Bus technology during its trial run [ ]. A 26 year old software engineer is held responsible for the mishap during the trial run, which resulted in the death of two engineers [The Navhind Times, Goa 27 September 2004]. The engineer had programmed the auto-driving device that failed to control the speed limit of the sky bus coach at a crucial turn. The software engineer is charged with a criminal case for "negligent and rash driving causing accidental death and injury". Unfortunately, the software engineer is battling for his life as he was in the coach during the trial run. Sky Bus Metro project is touted as a big revolution in urban transport.
There are some questions regarding the feasibility and usage of Sky bus technology. Are the officials trying to find a scapegoat in the software engineer? The whole technology defies the logic that anything that is left dangling is not safe. How can it be stable when a strong force of gravity is acting on it? Why is it not possible to ply the coaches on top of the elevated sky way? It can be safely operated like an elevated railway. Kochi and Goa are the two cities that have given consent for deploying Sky bus metro system. This mishap will definitely pose more questions than answers to Konkan railway corporation.
The 2004 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
Well, more than the Nobel prize (genuine!), I like the IgNOBEL prize (here the prize is for humour in science. The prize goes to a cranky idea that has a laughing gas effect. Definitely, there is more originality and creativity in IgNOBEL than NOBEL. The 2004 IgNobel has been announced and of particular mention are the following:
PUBLIC HEALTH: A Five second rule for eating food dropped on the floor
Research questions: How long is it safe for the food dropped on the floor to remain on the floor before you pick it up again to eat it? Answer: 5 seconds (according to High-school student Jillian Clarke)
Other findings: Women are more likely than men to eat food thats been floored.
Cookies and Candy are the most picked up floored food items.
ENGINEERING:Baldness concealer: How to hide baldness using a series of methodological steps to cover the bald areas with exsting hair. A new Hair styling technique to conceal partial baldness. The explanation is given in wonderful detail with diagrams. My description will be of no consequence before this detail.
LITERATURE: Preserving the Nude Pictures and Heritage (American Nudist Research Library [ANRL] ): This is my pick..http://www.anrl.org/ does an enviable job in preserving nudist literature, photographs, and archives for future generations. Imagine year 2500, If ANRL survives the alien invasion all Playboy magazines will be national treasures? See their wonderful collection in case you want to see it ;-)
ECONOMICS: Vatican Bishops and Roman Catholic Clergy for Outsourcing Church Prayer mass to India [Kerala]. The Kochi diocese gets 350 requests monthly for thanks giving and special prayer mass. A prayer that costs $20 in the US costs roughly $0.45 in India. Even before that, Insourcing is done by Non-resident Indians in USA for doing a pooja for Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India. talk about reverse sourcing! They can perform the pooja virtually through Internet and collaborative technologies. The time is not far when your mouse will sprinkle some vibhuthi (sacred ash) in your hand, and you can smell the camphor, flowers, and incense fumes through the virtual reality system. All for $1 sitting in your studio apartment in California.This was predicted...finally the Indian Outsourcing boom is getting recognised.
PEACE: [This is a Nobel contender]KAROAKE [Invented by Daisuke Inoue]: The invention of Karoake is a break through considering the fact that it maintains the peaceful equilibrium in a community because people become tolerant by listening to their own singing. This is a wonderful mental tolerance building method. So if you are intolerant and short tempered start a daily exercise...switch on the most difficult song to sing in Karoake mode and then sing...You will have to tolerate the most intollerable audio ever heard.
BIOLOGY: Well..the Nobel prize for Medicine went for "Odor recognition" [see my previos blog]. what about the finding that the Herring fish that makes mysterious sounds in the night is actually communicating with its fellow Herrings. The "hearing" of the Herring is sharp...but the discovery is that the mysterious sounds are emanated when they fart. farting communication skills anyone?? Humans too have distinct fart sounds..I donot know whether they actually use it for communication?
CHEMISTRY: COCA COLA COMPANY, UK for claimed that they used high technology NASA spacecraft water purification process to come out with a new bottled mineral water "Dasani", which was nothing but tap water from Thames river that underwent the basic reverse Osmosis treatment. It became a great marketing and PR disaster when, chemical tests revealed that it was contaminated with bromate- a carcinogen. In case you bought a bottle of "Dasani" water call freephone 0800 227711, Coke will refund you. To Malayalees, a question..Does "Dasani" ring a bell? "Dahasamini" is a great thirst quenching ayurvedic additive that Malayalees add to their drinking water. Nothing can beat this ayurvedic sophisticated technology from India.
Well, more than the Nobel prize (genuine!), I like the IgNOBEL prize (here the prize is for humour in science. The prize goes to a cranky idea that has a laughing gas effect. Definitely, there is more originality and creativity in IgNOBEL than NOBEL. The 2004 IgNobel has been announced and of particular mention are the following:
PUBLIC HEALTH: A Five second rule for eating food dropped on the floor
Research questions: How long is it safe for the food dropped on the floor to remain on the floor before you pick it up again to eat it? Answer: 5 seconds (according to High-school student Jillian Clarke)
Other findings: Women are more likely than men to eat food thats been floored.
Cookies and Candy are the most picked up floored food items.
ENGINEERING:Baldness concealer: How to hide baldness using a series of methodological steps to cover the bald areas with exsting hair. A new Hair styling technique to conceal partial baldness. The explanation is given in wonderful detail with diagrams. My description will be of no consequence before this detail.
LITERATURE: Preserving the Nude Pictures and Heritage (American Nudist Research Library [ANRL] ): This is my pick..http://www.anrl.org/ does an enviable job in preserving nudist literature, photographs, and archives for future generations. Imagine year 2500, If ANRL survives the alien invasion all Playboy magazines will be national treasures? See their wonderful collection in case you want to see it ;-)
ECONOMICS: Vatican Bishops and Roman Catholic Clergy for Outsourcing Church Prayer mass to India [Kerala]. The Kochi diocese gets 350 requests monthly for thanks giving and special prayer mass. A prayer that costs $20 in the US costs roughly $0.45 in India. Even before that, Insourcing is done by Non-resident Indians in USA for doing a pooja for Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India. talk about reverse sourcing! They can perform the pooja virtually through Internet and collaborative technologies. The time is not far when your mouse will sprinkle some vibhuthi (sacred ash) in your hand, and you can smell the camphor, flowers, and incense fumes through the virtual reality system. All for $1 sitting in your studio apartment in California.This was predicted...finally the Indian Outsourcing boom is getting recognised.
PEACE: [This is a Nobel contender]KAROAKE [Invented by Daisuke Inoue]: The invention of Karoake is a break through considering the fact that it maintains the peaceful equilibrium in a community because people become tolerant by listening to their own singing. This is a wonderful mental tolerance building method. So if you are intolerant and short tempered start a daily exercise...switch on the most difficult song to sing in Karoake mode and then sing...You will have to tolerate the most intollerable audio ever heard.
BIOLOGY: Well..the Nobel prize for Medicine went for "Odor recognition" [see my previos blog]. what about the finding that the Herring fish that makes mysterious sounds in the night is actually communicating with its fellow Herrings. The "hearing" of the Herring is sharp...but the discovery is that the mysterious sounds are emanated when they fart. farting communication skills anyone?? Humans too have distinct fart sounds..I donot know whether they actually use it for communication?
CHEMISTRY: COCA COLA COMPANY, UK for claimed that they used high technology NASA spacecraft water purification process to come out with a new bottled mineral water "Dasani", which was nothing but tap water from Thames river that underwent the basic reverse Osmosis treatment. It became a great marketing and PR disaster when, chemical tests revealed that it was contaminated with bromate- a carcinogen. In case you bought a bottle of "Dasani" water call freephone 0800 227711, Coke will refund you. To Malayalees, a question..Does "Dasani" ring a bell? "Dahasamini" is a great thirst quenching ayurvedic additive that Malayalees add to their drinking water. Nothing can beat this ayurvedic sophisticated technology from India.
The 2004 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
Well, more than the Nobel prize (genuine!), I like the NOBEL. The 2004 IgNobel has been announced and of particular mention are the following:
PUBLIC HEALTH: A Five second rule for eating food dropped on the floor
Research questions: How long is it safe for the food dropped on the floor to remain on the floor before you pick it up again to eat it? Answer: 5 seconds (according to High-school student Jillian Clarke)
Other findings: Women are more likely than men to eat food thats been floored.
Cookies and Candy are the most picked up floored food items.
ENGINEERING:Baldness concealer: How to hide baldness using a series of methodological steps to cover the bald areas with exsting hair. A new Hair styling technique to conceal partial baldness. The explanation is given in wonderful detail with diagrams. My description will be of no consequence before this detail.
LITERATURE: Preserving the Nude Pictures and Heritage (American Nudist Research Library [ANRL] ): This is my pick..http://www.anrl.org/ does an enviable job in preserving nudist literature, photographs, and archives for future generations. Imagine year 2500, If ANRL survives the alien invasion all Playboy magazines will be national treasures? See their wonderful collection in case you want to see it ;-)
ECONOMICS: Vatican Bishops and Roman Catholic Clergy for Outsourcing Church Prayer mass to India [Kerala]. The Kochi diocese gets 350 requests monthly for thanks giving and special prayer mass. A prayer that costs $20 in the US costs roughly $0.45 in India. Even before that, Insourcing is done by Non-resident Indians in USA for doing a pooja for Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India. talk about reverse sourcing! They can perform the pooja virtually through Internet and collaborative technologies. The time is not far when your mouse will sprinkle some vibhuthi (sacred ash) in your hand, and you can smell the camphor, flowers, and incense fumes through the virtual reality system. All for $1 sitting in your studio apartment in California.This was predicted...finally the Indian Outsourcing boom is getting recognised.
PEACE: [This is a Nobel contender]KAROAKE [Invented by Daisuke Inoue]: The invention of Karoake is a break through considering the fact that it maintains the peaceful equilibrium in a community because people become tolerant by listening to their own singing. This is a wonderful mental tolerance building method. So if you are intolerant and short tempered start a daily exercise...switch on the most difficult song to sing in Karoake mode and then sing...You will have to tolerate the most intollerable audio ever heard.
BIOLOGY: Well..the Nobel prize for Medicine went for "Odor recognition" [see my previos blog]. what about the finding that the Herring fish that makes mysterious sounds in the night is actually communicating with its fellow Herrings. The "hearing" of the Herring is sharp...but the discovery is that the mysterious sounds are emanated when they fart. farting communication skills anyone?? Humans too have distinct fart sounds..I donot know whether they actually use it for communication?
CHEMISTRY: COCA COLA COMPANY, UK for claimed that they used high technology NASA spacecraft water purification process to come out with a new bottled mineral water "Dasani", which was nothing but tap water from Thames river that underwent the basic reverse Osmosis treatment. It became a great marketing and PR disaster when, chemical tests revealed that it was contaminated with bromate- a carcinogen. In case you bought a bottle of "Dasani" water call freephone 0800 227711, Coke will refund you. To Malayalees, a question..Does "Dasani" ring a bell? "Dahasamini" is a great thirst quenching ayurvedic additive that Malayalees add to their drinking water. Nothing can beat this ayurvedic sophisticated technology from India.
Well, more than the Nobel prize (genuine!), I like the NOBEL. The 2004 IgNobel has been announced and of particular mention are the following:
PUBLIC HEALTH: A Five second rule for eating food dropped on the floor
Research questions: How long is it safe for the food dropped on the floor to remain on the floor before you pick it up again to eat it? Answer: 5 seconds (according to High-school student Jillian Clarke)
Other findings: Women are more likely than men to eat food thats been floored.
Cookies and Candy are the most picked up floored food items.
ENGINEERING:Baldness concealer: How to hide baldness using a series of methodological steps to cover the bald areas with exsting hair. A new Hair styling technique to conceal partial baldness. The explanation is given in wonderful detail with diagrams. My description will be of no consequence before this detail.
LITERATURE: Preserving the Nude Pictures and Heritage (American Nudist Research Library [ANRL] ): This is my pick..http://www.anrl.org/ does an enviable job in preserving nudist literature, photographs, and archives for future generations. Imagine year 2500, If ANRL survives the alien invasion all Playboy magazines will be national treasures? See their wonderful collection in case you want to see it ;-)
ECONOMICS: Vatican Bishops and Roman Catholic Clergy for Outsourcing Church Prayer mass to India [Kerala]. The Kochi diocese gets 350 requests monthly for thanks giving and special prayer mass. A prayer that costs $20 in the US costs roughly $0.45 in India. Even before that, Insourcing is done by Non-resident Indians in USA for doing a pooja for Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India. talk about reverse sourcing! They can perform the pooja virtually through Internet and collaborative technologies. The time is not far when your mouse will sprinkle some vibhuthi (sacred ash) in your hand, and you can smell the camphor, flowers, and incense fumes through the virtual reality system. All for $1 sitting in your studio apartment in California.This was predicted...finally the Indian Outsourcing boom is getting recognised.
PEACE: [This is a Nobel contender]KAROAKE [Invented by Daisuke Inoue]: The invention of Karoake is a break through considering the fact that it maintains the peaceful equilibrium in a community because people become tolerant by listening to their own singing. This is a wonderful mental tolerance building method. So if you are intolerant and short tempered start a daily exercise...switch on the most difficult song to sing in Karoake mode and then sing...You will have to tolerate the most intollerable audio ever heard.
BIOLOGY: Well..the Nobel prize for Medicine went for "Odor recognition" [see my previos blog]. what about the finding that the Herring fish that makes mysterious sounds in the night is actually communicating with its fellow Herrings. The "hearing" of the Herring is sharp...but the discovery is that the mysterious sounds are emanated when they fart. farting communication skills anyone?? Humans too have distinct fart sounds..I donot know whether they actually use it for communication?
CHEMISTRY: COCA COLA COMPANY, UK for claimed that they used high technology NASA spacecraft water purification process to come out with a new bottled mineral water "Dasani", which was nothing but tap water from Thames river that underwent the basic reverse Osmosis treatment. It became a great marketing and PR disaster when, chemical tests revealed that it was contaminated with bromate- a carcinogen. In case you bought a bottle of "Dasani" water call freephone 0800 227711, Coke will refund you. To Malayalees, a question..Does "Dasani" ring a bell? "Dahasamini" is a great thirst quenching ayurvedic additive that Malayalees add to their drinking water. Nothing can beat this ayurvedic sophisticated technology from India.
LOGICAL FALLACIES
Logic plays a very important role in our everyday life. Our politicians are best in playing with words. You just have to read the press statements of some of India's famed political leaders in our newspapers. Even the Indo-Pak dialogue process can get affected by "logical fallcies" committed by either parties during joint statements. Our Indian foriegn minister had to make clarifications when his statements was found to have logical fallacies [The Hindu, 31 May, 2004]. Even we do commit logical fallacies. Look at the following scenarios that occured during one of my industrial visits.
Scene 1:
Visitor: What is the difference between a drilling and tooling?
Plant Chief: It is simple, A drilling is meant for drill and tooling is meant for tools.
[Definiendum appears in Definens- A case of definition circularity which defies the logic of the term definition itself [p. 193 Copi 2000]
Scene 2:
Plant Chief: All bloody politicians are corrupt
Even the No. 1 plays dirty politics
[five minutes later, His subordinate gives him a pamphlet]
Plant Chief: Ah, this is the festival brochure bought out by our Chairman's party. He is the president of the DUD party.
Scene 3:
Visitor: Chief, How ethical are you vis-a-vis your competitors?
Plant Chief: If we fault on excise payments, then we become cheaters
We donot fault on excise payments and our records are clear.Our competitors cheat
We donot cheat like others, we are ethical
[Fallacy of denying the antecedent, invalid modus tollens]
Scene 4:
Plant Chief: My salesman was out on an assignment, I asked him "Have you reached Mumbai and delivered the consignment?". The bloody salesman "bugger" replied that he was speaking from Mumbai, when in fact I saw him from my office window starting his bike. He was lying to me. These sales people are big manipulators, liars.
[A phone call comes, his HR manager attends the phone call]
HR manager: Sir, Mr. Lal on line
Plant Chief: [Nods his head in disagreement to the HR manager]
HR manager: Mr. Lal, Chief is not there, he is gone to the plant
Plant Chief: [slaps his forehead] huh, why tell him where I am? [heaves a sigh of relief]
Scene 5:
Visitor: Why did the employee not wear the head gear?
Plant chief: We have deployed the best safety standards, it is their life they have to take care of themselves
[Plaque]: Management is committed and resposnsible to its ....blah..blah..blah...
Scene 6:
Visitor: How do you do plant maintenance? Do you shut down all process?
Tour Guide: Yes, we shut down everything, but production doesnot stop
(phew..how can that be??)
It is not that we donot commit these fallacies ourselves. Everyday I commit illogical mistakes which I cannot realize. I am sure you too will have many fallacies and episodes to share.
Logic plays a very important role in our everyday life. Our politicians are best in playing with words. You just have to read the press statements of some of India's famed political leaders in our newspapers. Even the Indo-Pak dialogue process can get affected by "logical fallcies" committed by either parties during joint statements. Our Indian foriegn minister had to make clarifications when his statements was found to have logical fallacies [The Hindu, 31 May, 2004]. Even we do commit logical fallacies. Look at the following scenarios that occured during one of my industrial visits.
Scene 1:
Visitor: What is the difference between a drilling and tooling?
Plant Chief: It is simple, A drilling is meant for drill and tooling is meant for tools.
[Definiendum appears in Definens- A case of definition circularity which defies the logic of the term definition itself [p. 193 Copi 2000]
Scene 2:
Plant Chief: All bloody politicians are corrupt
Even the No. 1 plays dirty politics
[five minutes later, His subordinate gives him a pamphlet]
Plant Chief: Ah, this is the festival brochure bought out by our Chairman's party. He is the president of the DUD party.
Scene 3:
Visitor: Chief, How ethical are you vis-a-vis your competitors?
Plant Chief: If we fault on excise payments, then we become cheaters
We donot fault on excise payments and our records are clear.Our competitors cheat
We donot cheat like others, we are ethical
[Fallacy of denying the antecedent, invalid modus tollens]
Scene 4:
Plant Chief: My salesman was out on an assignment, I asked him "Have you reached Mumbai and delivered the consignment?". The bloody salesman "bugger" replied that he was speaking from Mumbai, when in fact I saw him from my office window starting his bike. He was lying to me. These sales people are big manipulators, liars.
[A phone call comes, his HR manager attends the phone call]
HR manager: Sir, Mr. Lal on line
Plant Chief: [Nods his head in disagreement to the HR manager]
HR manager: Mr. Lal, Chief is not there, he is gone to the plant
Plant Chief: [slaps his forehead] huh, why tell him where I am? [heaves a sigh of relief]
Scene 5:
Visitor: Why did the employee not wear the head gear?
Plant chief: We have deployed the best safety standards, it is their life they have to take care of themselves
[Plaque]: Management is committed and resposnsible to its ....blah..blah..blah...
Scene 6:
Visitor: How do you do plant maintenance? Do you shut down all process?
Tour Guide: Yes, we shut down everything, but production doesnot stop
(phew..how can that be??)
It is not that we donot commit these fallacies ourselves. Everyday I commit illogical mistakes which I cannot realize. I am sure you too will have many fallacies and episodes to share.
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Neo-Liberalism: Investing in Nations
I received an often-circulated article over e-mail on savings as sin, spending as virtue, and that set me thinking as to whether the argument presented by the author Mr. S. Gurumurthy that the Americans spend and save little, while importing more than it exports. It says that the US has taken over $5 trillion from the rest of the world, which saves wastefully. Is the US really spending all, and dependent on third world countries?
In my opinion, The United States cannot be the biggest “spend-thrift”. It is the pioneer in “saving smart”. It is the largest investor, and also a smart one at that. I would say, countries like Japan fail to invest and is committing the cardinal sin of “putting all its eggs in the same basket”.
When I say invest, it is not money or securities. Investments are not in financial markets, but in securing and procuring Nations. The answer to why the world is after US? The US is committing a series of sins to gain the assets of the world. This is the age of Neo-liberalism (Noam-Chomsky in his book “Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order”, Seven Stories Press, New York. 1999) or what is termed as “Washington consensus”, which is an array of market-driven policies designed by the government of United States and financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, and implemented by these global institutions on vulnerable societies. The rule of this global order of polarization is to “liberalize” (Parallels to Bush speak on “we are liberating the people of Iraq”) trade regimes (when Donald Rumsfield says “ We are there for regime change”, the regime meant the “oil trade regime”), control market forces by ending inflation, and encouraging disinvestments of public sector through privatization (Mr. Arun Shourie’s economics is borrowed from the Neo-liberal Americans). Henry Kissinger's "Viruses" (Chile in 1973) to George .W. Bush's "Axis of Evil" have ignited fires in the "radical" belly of third world nations. This message has fawned across continents and is today the seed for an army of religious feudalist, be it the Hindu extremists in India, The Chechen Rebels in Russia, Impoverished Extremists in Nigeria, and Sudan, or the South East Asian radicals. So, the question is does this not create a sense of “Insecurity” in the American community?
The answer lies in the American investment in “Securing the world” thus securing the American economy (a misnomer as the reality is in “procuring the wealth of nations”). A look at the American Defence spending is the worthwhile. US spent $300 billion for National Defense in Fiscal Year 2001, Military related expenditures now account for over half (50.5%) of all discretionary spending. The New strategy is for increasing “savings in security” by increasing defence spending gradually to a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually. A brand new strategy is envisioned in the document Rebuilding Americas defenses (http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf ). A country like India spends just $12,000.7 million and today spends at 25-30% increase from that figure. While India wastefully spends on deploying the Army at the Indo-Pak border and then retreating, US does what is required to maximize returns on the huge investment (Iraq has 112billion barrels of crude oil, 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas). In 2002, America imported 1.2 billion barrels per day, when Iraq’s oil production levels were 2.0 billion barrels per day. Experts say, at full production capacity 2.8-2.9 million barrels per day is achievable. America has thus saved by procuring the “largest energy stock”.
Will the “spend-thrift” model collapse with the onslaught of other economic powers? No
The European Union tried to stem the US monopoly but failed to muster the command over nations. European Nations never invested in Nations, like the Americans. The Russians had it in them during the pre-Gorbachev days, but they over did it and ended up paying a heavy price for their own economy. The Russians never really invested in “High valued stocks”(Old stocks like India still remain, but Indians always tilt where the “money” is!).
So the best way to save is by taking calculated risks. The Japanese are risk averse, and so are Indians. The Americans take risks, and the returns are high. They save judiciously.
What are the Lessons here for India Inc?
Invest smartly
Money under the pillow is not savings. Don’t be like the Chinese who invest without thought. China needs to invest in other countries to gain strategic strongholds like the US. China is not exploring options.
Invest before you spend
The Americans invest in Middle -East (oil), Black Hawks and MOA Bombs. They secure their assets before going for the kill (They don’t take too many casualties, because they prepare for the inevitable). There is no room for speculation. The Americans can now spend as they have got their money’s worth in Iraq.
Invest in High Value Stocks
The Americans invested in the worlds second largest oil reserve. The largest is already a “banana republic”. India is investing in strife torn countries without doing anything to control the nations. India has invested heavily in Syria for Oil exploration. US has already issued threats to Syria saying they are becoming a rogue nation, which means they are the next on the US radar. In effect Syria will be under US regime in a few years. Indias investments are for US.
Post script: Countries like India need to be fast, but “slow men and fast horses never win the race” or “fast men with slow horses never won the race”. Today, The US has fast horses, but if other countries have to win the race, there is hope because “Dubya” Bush’s idiosyncrasies suggest that the US riders are fast but without brains.
I received an often-circulated article over e-mail on savings as sin, spending as virtue, and that set me thinking as to whether the argument presented by the author Mr. S. Gurumurthy that the Americans spend and save little, while importing more than it exports. It says that the US has taken over $5 trillion from the rest of the world, which saves wastefully. Is the US really spending all, and dependent on third world countries?
In my opinion, The United States cannot be the biggest “spend-thrift”. It is the pioneer in “saving smart”. It is the largest investor, and also a smart one at that. I would say, countries like Japan fail to invest and is committing the cardinal sin of “putting all its eggs in the same basket”.
When I say invest, it is not money or securities. Investments are not in financial markets, but in securing and procuring Nations. The answer to why the world is after US? The US is committing a series of sins to gain the assets of the world. This is the age of Neo-liberalism (Noam-Chomsky in his book “Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order”, Seven Stories Press, New York. 1999) or what is termed as “Washington consensus”, which is an array of market-driven policies designed by the government of United States and financial institutions like IMF, World Bank, and implemented by these global institutions on vulnerable societies. The rule of this global order of polarization is to “liberalize” (Parallels to Bush speak on “we are liberating the people of Iraq”) trade regimes (when Donald Rumsfield says “ We are there for regime change”, the regime meant the “oil trade regime”), control market forces by ending inflation, and encouraging disinvestments of public sector through privatization (Mr. Arun Shourie’s economics is borrowed from the Neo-liberal Americans). Henry Kissinger's "Viruses" (Chile in 1973) to George .W. Bush's "Axis of Evil" have ignited fires in the "radical" belly of third world nations. This message has fawned across continents and is today the seed for an army of religious feudalist, be it the Hindu extremists in India, The Chechen Rebels in Russia, Impoverished Extremists in Nigeria, and Sudan, or the South East Asian radicals. So, the question is does this not create a sense of “Insecurity” in the American community?
The answer lies in the American investment in “Securing the world” thus securing the American economy (a misnomer as the reality is in “procuring the wealth of nations”). A look at the American Defence spending is the worthwhile. US spent $300 billion for National Defense in Fiscal Year 2001, Military related expenditures now account for over half (50.5%) of all discretionary spending. The New strategy is for increasing “savings in security” by increasing defence spending gradually to a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually. A brand new strategy is envisioned in the document Rebuilding Americas defenses (http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf ). A country like India spends just $12,000.7 million and today spends at 25-30% increase from that figure. While India wastefully spends on deploying the Army at the Indo-Pak border and then retreating, US does what is required to maximize returns on the huge investment (Iraq has 112billion barrels of crude oil, 110 trillion cubic feet of natural gas). In 2002, America imported 1.2 billion barrels per day, when Iraq’s oil production levels were 2.0 billion barrels per day. Experts say, at full production capacity 2.8-2.9 million barrels per day is achievable. America has thus saved by procuring the “largest energy stock”.
Will the “spend-thrift” model collapse with the onslaught of other economic powers? No
The European Union tried to stem the US monopoly but failed to muster the command over nations. European Nations never invested in Nations, like the Americans. The Russians had it in them during the pre-Gorbachev days, but they over did it and ended up paying a heavy price for their own economy. The Russians never really invested in “High valued stocks”(Old stocks like India still remain, but Indians always tilt where the “money” is!).
So the best way to save is by taking calculated risks. The Japanese are risk averse, and so are Indians. The Americans take risks, and the returns are high. They save judiciously.
What are the Lessons here for India Inc?
Invest smartly
Money under the pillow is not savings. Don’t be like the Chinese who invest without thought. China needs to invest in other countries to gain strategic strongholds like the US. China is not exploring options.
Invest before you spend
The Americans invest in Middle -East (oil), Black Hawks and MOA Bombs. They secure their assets before going for the kill (They don’t take too many casualties, because they prepare for the inevitable). There is no room for speculation. The Americans can now spend as they have got their money’s worth in Iraq.
Invest in High Value Stocks
The Americans invested in the worlds second largest oil reserve. The largest is already a “banana republic”. India is investing in strife torn countries without doing anything to control the nations. India has invested heavily in Syria for Oil exploration. US has already issued threats to Syria saying they are becoming a rogue nation, which means they are the next on the US radar. In effect Syria will be under US regime in a few years. Indias investments are for US.
Post script: Countries like India need to be fast, but “slow men and fast horses never win the race” or “fast men with slow horses never won the race”. Today, The US has fast horses, but if other countries have to win the race, there is hope because “Dubya” Bush’s idiosyncrasies suggest that the US riders are fast but without brains.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
The Indian Union Budget 2004-05
The Manmohan Singh Government finally rewarded those who voted them to power. It was expected to reverse the pro-rich trend and give dollops to the aspirational lower middle class.
Educational cess of 2 percentage will prove beneficial only when it is disbursed judicially towards improving primary education facilities. In India, over 30 percentage of educational expenditure is towards teacher and government staff salaries. Fiscal Management in education sector has to be established before taxing the salaried people. The service sector taxes had to be raised considering their miniscule contribution to the revenue, though they form over 50 percent of the GDP. My post of social engineering Vs software engineering proved the point.
The additional Rs.10,000 crore budgetary support for popular Mid-day scheme have to be supported with better vigilance. It is known that the Mid-day meals scheme in the schools of Tamil Nadu were a huge hit with the poor not because of the lure of education but because of the meal. Proper monitoring mechanisms should be in place to ensure that schools donot turn into mid-day meal centres and mass kitchens. Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) should be first be practised by the ministers in parliament who waste public resources. The growth target of 7-8 % is not impressive, the government should have found means to improve it to 8-9%. Overall the budget has been without any flamboyancy, and on expected lines. The Finance Minister, Mr. Chidambaram has prepared a south Indian meal. He has added more spice with less salt to the main course and more salt with less spice to the side dishes. The taste is the same.
The Manmohan Singh Government finally rewarded those who voted them to power. It was expected to reverse the pro-rich trend and give dollops to the aspirational lower middle class.
Educational cess of 2 percentage will prove beneficial only when it is disbursed judicially towards improving primary education facilities. In India, over 30 percentage of educational expenditure is towards teacher and government staff salaries. Fiscal Management in education sector has to be established before taxing the salaried people. The service sector taxes had to be raised considering their miniscule contribution to the revenue, though they form over 50 percent of the GDP. My post of social engineering Vs software engineering proved the point.
The additional Rs.10,000 crore budgetary support for popular Mid-day scheme have to be supported with better vigilance. It is known that the Mid-day meals scheme in the schools of Tamil Nadu were a huge hit with the poor not because of the lure of education but because of the meal. Proper monitoring mechanisms should be in place to ensure that schools donot turn into mid-day meal centres and mass kitchens. Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM) should be first be practised by the ministers in parliament who waste public resources. The growth target of 7-8 % is not impressive, the government should have found means to improve it to 8-9%. Overall the budget has been without any flamboyancy, and on expected lines. The Finance Minister, Mr. Chidambaram has prepared a south Indian meal. He has added more spice with less salt to the main course and more salt with less spice to the side dishes. The taste is the same.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Hi Rajesh and Friends,
Yes, Google Pigeon Rank™ technology description had lot of pun. It is only a different way of ranking web pages and nothing to do with Pigeons cooing!
The Pigeon Rank [Page Rank] method uses the link structure of web pages in World Wide Web to calculate a quality ranking for every web page. Google has created graph maps of a majority of the hyperlinks on the web, and based on the search hits, provides an objective measure of the citation importance, thus prioritize the web page titles [Parallels with Analytic Hierarchy Processing, AHP method developed by Thomas L. Satty]. Pigeon Rank [Page Rank] uses some mathematical calculations, a description of which is available at this link:
http://www-db.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
The more technically inclined can view the original paper on Page Rank at this link:
http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/page98pagerank.html
The calculations, historical index data, and ranking are done at a fast pace using the computing power [coops!] available with Google. The Pigeon Metaphor is used to exemplify the superior mental rotation, and independent generalization of recognition behavior of Pigeons when trained to discriminate between objects. Pigeons seem to rotate a mental image faster than the humans. Humans, unlike Pigeons use a view combination process, as we see patterns in total. This is a classic example where research in Psychology has helped a totally different domain.
Rajesh, regarding your question on how the method is different from the machine-learning technique, the authors have argued and proved in their research paper that;
1. Page Rank blends qualitative and subjective ranking that is essential for giving meaningful search results.
2. Page Rank uses an iterative algorithm for recognizing the patterns and is fast using lesser computing resources. A PageRank for 26 million web pages can be computed in a few hours on a medium size workstation
3. Improved scalability, low cost of indexing web page titles, and adaptability to the growth of www.
4. It models user behavior and has weights for unbreakable links, font sizes, and citations.
Some interesting papers written by Google employees can be accessed at http://labs.google.com/papers.html
Well there are critics for Google. There is a google haters club at http://www.google-watch.org/ , which argues that Google’s Page Ranking is biased and manipulated. Well, the world is always full of pessimists!
Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page through this small idea developed as Stanford students show what it takes to launch a big IPO.
Good Luck
Madan
Yes, Google Pigeon Rank™ technology description had lot of pun. It is only a different way of ranking web pages and nothing to do with Pigeons cooing!
The Pigeon Rank [Page Rank] method uses the link structure of web pages in World Wide Web to calculate a quality ranking for every web page. Google has created graph maps of a majority of the hyperlinks on the web, and based on the search hits, provides an objective measure of the citation importance, thus prioritize the web page titles [Parallels with Analytic Hierarchy Processing, AHP method developed by Thomas L. Satty]. Pigeon Rank [Page Rank] uses some mathematical calculations, a description of which is available at this link:
http://www-db.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html
The more technically inclined can view the original paper on Page Rank at this link:
http://citeseer.nj.nec.com/page98pagerank.html
The calculations, historical index data, and ranking are done at a fast pace using the computing power [coops!] available with Google. The Pigeon Metaphor is used to exemplify the superior mental rotation, and independent generalization of recognition behavior of Pigeons when trained to discriminate between objects. Pigeons seem to rotate a mental image faster than the humans. Humans, unlike Pigeons use a view combination process, as we see patterns in total. This is a classic example where research in Psychology has helped a totally different domain.
Rajesh, regarding your question on how the method is different from the machine-learning technique, the authors have argued and proved in their research paper that;
1. Page Rank blends qualitative and subjective ranking that is essential for giving meaningful search results.
2. Page Rank uses an iterative algorithm for recognizing the patterns and is fast using lesser computing resources. A PageRank for 26 million web pages can be computed in a few hours on a medium size workstation
3. Improved scalability, low cost of indexing web page titles, and adaptability to the growth of www.
4. It models user behavior and has weights for unbreakable links, font sizes, and citations.
Some interesting papers written by Google employees can be accessed at http://labs.google.com/papers.html
Well there are critics for Google. There is a google haters club at http://www.google-watch.org/ , which argues that Google’s Page Ranking is biased and manipulated. Well, the world is always full of pessimists!
Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page through this small idea developed as Stanford students show what it takes to launch a big IPO.
Good Luck
Madan
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
I came across some good literature on the technology behind Google and some facts on Google mentoring and manpower planning. Did you know that your Google search is based on the behaviour of domestic pegions to recognise objects? To know more about PigeonRank (TM) web page ranking technology developed by Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University, visit Google Technology
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
The pigeons of Google are gathered by 50 Phds (Pigeon harvesting dogs)!
It is not surprising when New York Times reports on Google’s army of Ph.d’s [NYT, June 6, 2004] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/business/yourmoney/06digi.html?ex=1088136000&en=e8e5068092ee3bfe&ei=5070 [Register for free at the website to read the article]
Google encourages all its employees to spend 20 percent of their time on independent projects, unlike Ph.d’s treated wearily by the industry [The article quote examples of failed ventures in Xerox, and Apple]. I particularly liked the view of Rajeev Motwani, a computer science professor at Stanford, who says: "Good Ph.D. students are extreme in their creativity and self-motivation. Master's students are equally smart but do not have the same drive to create something new." The master's takes you where others have been; the doctorate, where no one has gone before. It is not true and empirically justified that Ph.d’s are not all practical and unsuitable for the pace of business.
Taking off from the views on prefixing qualifications, I wish to add that…
We require path breaking efforts and ideas to create, innovate, and push the standards of excellence to a higher plane. What matters is whether you have created something new with creative ingenuity (Engineer has the origins from the latin word “ingeniare”).
Mankind has pushed the boundaries of excellence beyond doctoral studies (Post Doctoral Research!). Please donot stop at gathering prefixes and be content with the Er.’s and Prof’s. There is only one thing that accumulates and flourishes- the passion for what you do. Push ideas beyond Ph.d’s and positions.
http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html
The pigeons of Google are gathered by 50 Phds (Pigeon harvesting dogs)!
It is not surprising when New York Times reports on Google’s army of Ph.d’s [NYT, June 6, 2004] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/06/business/yourmoney/06digi.html?ex=1088136000&en=e8e5068092ee3bfe&ei=5070 [Register for free at the website to read the article]
Google encourages all its employees to spend 20 percent of their time on independent projects, unlike Ph.d’s treated wearily by the industry [The article quote examples of failed ventures in Xerox, and Apple]. I particularly liked the view of Rajeev Motwani, a computer science professor at Stanford, who says: "Good Ph.D. students are extreme in their creativity and self-motivation. Master's students are equally smart but do not have the same drive to create something new." The master's takes you where others have been; the doctorate, where no one has gone before. It is not true and empirically justified that Ph.d’s are not all practical and unsuitable for the pace of business.
Taking off from the views on prefixing qualifications, I wish to add that…
We require path breaking efforts and ideas to create, innovate, and push the standards of excellence to a higher plane. What matters is whether you have created something new with creative ingenuity (Engineer has the origins from the latin word “ingeniare”).
Mankind has pushed the boundaries of excellence beyond doctoral studies (Post Doctoral Research!). Please donot stop at gathering prefixes and be content with the Er.’s and Prof’s. There is only one thing that accumulates and flourishes- the passion for what you do. Push ideas beyond Ph.d’s and positions.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Gospel of Indian Economics: Software Engineering to Social Engineering
The Bhagavat Gita says “He who eats without performing his duty, eats
stolen bread." The gospel of Jesus on bread labor preaches not to labor
for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.
"As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who
eats me will live because of me". (John 6: 56-58). This gospel of bread
labor resonates the economic truth of India. We all know the bubble of IT
and service sector will not sustain for long, and a holistic development is
the path towards economic growth. Structural reforms in agricultural
sector are required for India to achieve superpower status.
Man cannot live by bread alone, but by the benevolence of the farmer. The
gospel of bread labour has been emphatically endorsed by the mandate given
by the people of India to their rulers. Mahatma Gandhi was the greatest
exponent of the doctrine of Russian revolutionist Bonderoff’s “bread
labour”, Leo Tolstoy’s pet theory. In 1925, Gandhiji wrote in Young India
that Intellectual labour should never gain precedence over bodily labour.
He stated that without the agricultural products those of the intellect are
impossible.
In the Indian Union budget 2003-04, the central government budgetary outlay
for IT ministry is Rs 15,682 crores while that for the agricultural
ministry is only Rs 3,242 crore. There has been a structural change in the
triads of economy, agriculture, manufacturing, and services. A study by
the Indian Chamber of Commerce attributes the 51% contribution of services
sector to GDP. In the quest for double-digit GDP growth rates the
fundamentals of Indian economy are tampered, with agriculture growing at
single digit rates of 2 to 3 percent, while service sector growing at
double digits. According to NASSCOM strategic report, the most optimistic
estimates for IT share of GDP is a measly 2-3 percent in 2003 to 7 percent
by 2008. This is despite the fact that IT and services have got the best of
benefits, environment, and priority over agriculture during the last five
years.
While there is no debating the issue about the contribution of the sunrise
services sector, the issue of sustainability and the core sectors of
agriculture are ignored at large. The sunshine sectors and manufacturing
can never achieve the dizzy heights without agriculture output growth. It
is a cardinal sin to shy away from a sector, which accounts for 25 percent
of the total GDP of a country. There have been exceptional years between
2000-2003 when the sectors have performed independently with the services
outperforming every sector. However, the growth inputs for services sector
is not the same as for the agricultural sector. Agriculture is getting the
step-motherly treatment and has been relegated to a poor mans impoverished
income generator. Governments are being blackmailed by the paperless money
in stock markets and a miniscule 2 to 3 percent of the population that
invest in equities. Markets are not the real bulwarks of development and
do not reflect the sentiments of the people.
“India cannot live by farmers alone; they need IT, too.” is the adage that
caught the imagination of the world during the computer aided economic
growth era of the 1990’s. Subsequently, state governments in India in
their quest to upstage each other in development poured money into
e-governance and IT projects.
Despite the advent of the best of computer systems for land records
management, birth and death registrations, license issuance, and tax
management long queues and disgruntled citizens complaining about
corruption and red tapism are common. IT systems in government have still
not been able to weed out corruption from the system. The processes are
still archaic and there is a mismatch between the system and the social
process. The transition from the files and papers to computerized
government information requires a change in work processes and work
attitudes. What use is computerization when getting a government
certificate or paper still requires the mandatory greasing of palms, and
long waits for decisions and approval? The Indian government employees,
especially those of the lower cadre view IT as a threat to their jobs.
This breeds resistance to change and failure of IT based processes. Social
processes need to be changed. Social engineering is a sociological
approach in political science to study and engineer the social conditions
to suit development. Hammer and Charpy, in their book “Reengineering the
Corporation” argue that IT is an enabler and not the reason for change.
The same view holds good when it comes to viewing IT in governance and
development. E-governance and IT deployment are only the enablers of
economic development. The ministries should undertake a Social Process
Re-engineering task through sustained education, training, and awareness
programs for the citizens and government employees.
The IT savvy outlook of the past government of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
failed to accrue the benefits of IT and convince the citizens due to lack
of social discipline and process inefficiencies. Computerized electricity
and water bills cannot be termed development when there is interrupted
supply of power and water, and poor services. A citizen does not value the
slick computer interfaces and quickness unless it is backed by efficient
support services and transparent authorization. Political knee jerk
reactions and Stock Market sentiments should not dictate long-term economic
development in our country.
The law of bread labour can set forth a revolution akin to the IT
revolution where both the intellectual and agricultural labor forces co
exist. The present government should not encourage agricultural sector at
the cost of other sectors. Gandhiji preached restoration and not
condemnation as the way forward. We should not condemn and damn the
benefits of IT and software but restore and restructure the economic fabric
by instigating fresh reforms. Reforms should not create polarizations in
society. There is hope and faith in the democratic framework of India that
creates a balanced approach to economic development.
Please mail your comments on this article.
Good Night
Madan
The Bhagavat Gita says “He who eats without performing his duty, eats
stolen bread." The gospel of Jesus on bread labor preaches not to labor
for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.
"As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who
eats me will live because of me". (John 6: 56-58). This gospel of bread
labor resonates the economic truth of India. We all know the bubble of IT
and service sector will not sustain for long, and a holistic development is
the path towards economic growth. Structural reforms in agricultural
sector are required for India to achieve superpower status.
Man cannot live by bread alone, but by the benevolence of the farmer. The
gospel of bread labour has been emphatically endorsed by the mandate given
by the people of India to their rulers. Mahatma Gandhi was the greatest
exponent of the doctrine of Russian revolutionist Bonderoff’s “bread
labour”, Leo Tolstoy’s pet theory. In 1925, Gandhiji wrote in Young India
that Intellectual labour should never gain precedence over bodily labour.
He stated that without the agricultural products those of the intellect are
impossible.
In the Indian Union budget 2003-04, the central government budgetary outlay
for IT ministry is Rs 15,682 crores while that for the agricultural
ministry is only Rs 3,242 crore. There has been a structural change in the
triads of economy, agriculture, manufacturing, and services. A study by
the Indian Chamber of Commerce attributes the 51% contribution of services
sector to GDP. In the quest for double-digit GDP growth rates the
fundamentals of Indian economy are tampered, with agriculture growing at
single digit rates of 2 to 3 percent, while service sector growing at
double digits. According to NASSCOM strategic report, the most optimistic
estimates for IT share of GDP is a measly 2-3 percent in 2003 to 7 percent
by 2008. This is despite the fact that IT and services have got the best of
benefits, environment, and priority over agriculture during the last five
years.
While there is no debating the issue about the contribution of the sunrise
services sector, the issue of sustainability and the core sectors of
agriculture are ignored at large. The sunshine sectors and manufacturing
can never achieve the dizzy heights without agriculture output growth. It
is a cardinal sin to shy away from a sector, which accounts for 25 percent
of the total GDP of a country. There have been exceptional years between
2000-2003 when the sectors have performed independently with the services
outperforming every sector. However, the growth inputs for services sector
is not the same as for the agricultural sector. Agriculture is getting the
step-motherly treatment and has been relegated to a poor mans impoverished
income generator. Governments are being blackmailed by the paperless money
in stock markets and a miniscule 2 to 3 percent of the population that
invest in equities. Markets are not the real bulwarks of development and
do not reflect the sentiments of the people.
“India cannot live by farmers alone; they need IT, too.” is the adage that
caught the imagination of the world during the computer aided economic
growth era of the 1990’s. Subsequently, state governments in India in
their quest to upstage each other in development poured money into
e-governance and IT projects.
Despite the advent of the best of computer systems for land records
management, birth and death registrations, license issuance, and tax
management long queues and disgruntled citizens complaining about
corruption and red tapism are common. IT systems in government have still
not been able to weed out corruption from the system. The processes are
still archaic and there is a mismatch between the system and the social
process. The transition from the files and papers to computerized
government information requires a change in work processes and work
attitudes. What use is computerization when getting a government
certificate or paper still requires the mandatory greasing of palms, and
long waits for decisions and approval? The Indian government employees,
especially those of the lower cadre view IT as a threat to their jobs.
This breeds resistance to change and failure of IT based processes. Social
processes need to be changed. Social engineering is a sociological
approach in political science to study and engineer the social conditions
to suit development. Hammer and Charpy, in their book “Reengineering the
Corporation” argue that IT is an enabler and not the reason for change.
The same view holds good when it comes to viewing IT in governance and
development. E-governance and IT deployment are only the enablers of
economic development. The ministries should undertake a Social Process
Re-engineering task through sustained education, training, and awareness
programs for the citizens and government employees.
The IT savvy outlook of the past government of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
failed to accrue the benefits of IT and convince the citizens due to lack
of social discipline and process inefficiencies. Computerized electricity
and water bills cannot be termed development when there is interrupted
supply of power and water, and poor services. A citizen does not value the
slick computer interfaces and quickness unless it is backed by efficient
support services and transparent authorization. Political knee jerk
reactions and Stock Market sentiments should not dictate long-term economic
development in our country.
The law of bread labour can set forth a revolution akin to the IT
revolution where both the intellectual and agricultural labor forces co
exist. The present government should not encourage agricultural sector at
the cost of other sectors. Gandhiji preached restoration and not
condemnation as the way forward. We should not condemn and damn the
benefits of IT and software but restore and restructure the economic fabric
by instigating fresh reforms. Reforms should not create polarizations in
society. There is hope and faith in the democratic framework of India that
creates a balanced approach to economic development.
Please mail your comments on this article.
Good Night
Madan
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
I have come across some good links on Meta analysis:
* Commercial Software for Statistical analysis
1. MetaWin
2. Practical Meta-Analysis1
* Freeware for Statistical Metanalysis
1. EasyMA
2. MACALC.EXE
3. META
4. Meta.exe
RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Designer Research
2.A popular Research Design Toolchest NUD*IST (Non-Numerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searchiung and Theorizing) is available from Scolari Software
* Commercial Software for Statistical analysis
1. MetaWin
2. Practical Meta-Analysis1
* Freeware for Statistical Metanalysis
1. EasyMA
2. MACALC.EXE
3. META
4. Meta.exe
RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Designer Research
2.A popular Research Design Toolchest NUD*IST (Non-Numerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searchiung and Theorizing) is available from Scolari Software
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Research for Gratification
I am Madan. K, a Ph.d scholar at
National institute of Industrial Engineering, popularly known as NITIE, Mumbai, India. http://www.nitie.edu
My area of research is Decision Support Systems in Management, Software Business Metrics, and Quality.
Reasearch should be a personal gratifier. I wish to see Indian research on par with those in western universities. Research scholars need to be more open to ideas and work closely with Industry. I donot blame it on lack of resources, it is the attitude towards research that makes reasearch in India a dampner. Reasearchers need to be free thinkers, open to others ideas, and share knowledge without egoistic prejudices.
Good Night
Madan
I am Madan. K, a Ph.d scholar at
National institute of Industrial Engineering, popularly known as NITIE, Mumbai, India. http://www.nitie.edu
My area of research is Decision Support Systems in Management, Software Business Metrics, and Quality.
Reasearch should be a personal gratifier. I wish to see Indian research on par with those in western universities. Research scholars need to be more open to ideas and work closely with Industry. I donot blame it on lack of resources, it is the attitude towards research that makes reasearch in India a dampner. Reasearchers need to be free thinkers, open to others ideas, and share knowledge without egoistic prejudices.
Good Night
Madan
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