Saturday, October 23, 2010

Rizwan



Watched this play in Rang Shankara two weeks ago.
Couldn't grasp much, but overall worth a watch.
Covers the tragic fate of Kashmiri children.


Cast and credits :
Abhijit Pakrashi
Akshay Gandhi
Ameen Haque
Anuja Ghosalkar
Arpita Phukan Biswas
Ashwini Kumar Chakre
Chanakya Vyas
Divya Jain
Jayesh Kumar sharma
Naveen kumar
Neha Bhat
Pallavi krishna
Pratyush singh
Ramneek singh
Shreekanth L. rao
Sweta Desai goudar
Tanzil rahman
Veena Basavarajaiah
Virginia Rodrigues

Munnar Travelogue

Elections are on in Kerala - even Munnar is not spared, flags of Congress and UDF are shown


I had a long weekend, 15 Oct to 17 Oct, which I tried to spend in Munnar, and it
partially worked out. Here is what I had planned originally : 
1. Bangalore to Aluva, by train(start on Thursday 21:40 and reach Aluva on Friday 09:30)
2. Aluva to Munnar, by road (finish the journey in 1 hour according to this website).
3. Spend roughly 2.5 days in Munnar and follow steps 2. and 1. in reverse order.


But as I figured out, source for step 2. was horribly wrong.
Aluva to Munnar is 120 KM, not 18 KM. And so the journey
took more than 3 hours by taxi(a bus would have taken at least
5-6 hours).


So I reached Munnar around 1AM after vomiting twice on the
way, since it was a hilly terrain and the car driver was driving at
a fast enough pace.
Animals grazing - on the way to Top station view point

Anyway, in short, I could spend around roughly 1.5 days
actually touring Munnar.

Here is some useful info :

1. Hotel Misha, (Close to the main market in old Munnar. Opposite Hotel Green Ridge.), 04865-230376/232376/230076 (), [15]. checkout: 12AM. Can be negotiated further down till Rs. 700-800/- in peak season and lower in off season. 1000


2. Rent a bike :
Rs. 350/- per day. Contact Mr. Chandran - Phone : 9447220648/ 04865-231113

Contact D. Ravichandran - Phone : 9446130363/ 04865-2331543. Rent a taxi :





For more details :
Wikitravel Munnar

Beautiful landscape of Munnar
View outside Tata Tea Museum



Echo Point, but the voice didn't echo for me and others :-)
Government has declared it as a weak bridge, but haven't stopped the traffic yet.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Psychology of Debugging

Psychology of Debugging

Debugging itself is a sensitive, emotional subject for many developers.
Instead of attacking it as a puzzle to be solved, you may encounter
denial, finger pointing, lame excuses, or just plain apathy.

Embrace the fact that debugging is just problem solving, and attack it
as such.

Having found someone else's bug, you can spend time and energy laying
blame on the filthy culprit who created it. In some workplaces this
is part of the culture, and may be cathartic. However, in the technical
arena, you want to concentrate on fixing the problem, not the blame.

It's a painful thing

It is a painful thing
To look at your own trouble and know
That you yourself and no one else has made it
-- Sophocles, Ajax

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

What happens to the Early worm?

The early bird might get the worm, but what happens to the early
worm?

From The Pragmatic Programmer(Here is the print edition)

Simplyfly

Just finished this book.
Autobiography of Capt. Gopinath.
One of the best stories I have
read in a long time.
Must read.


You can buy from here.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Strange Railway rules

I was trying to book tickets in Tatkal category at 8AM using
ngpay  app on my mobile and I got this message: 

As per the railway rules you cannot book Tatkal tickets on ngpay
between 8AM and 9AM. Please try after 9AM.


Similar restriction is imposed on Cleartrip.

So, a consumer is bound to book Tatkal tickets between
8AM and 9AM, only on IRCTC.

What a mockery of competitive trade!

Not to mention that, despite being in existence for more than a decade,
IRCTC still sucks at its User Interface and speed.

Forceful conversion to Christianity in Arunachal Pradesh

Forceful Religious Conversion Of Buddhists Into Christianity In Arunachal Pradesh

Sunday, October 10, 2010

From someone

दुनिया से जो पाया था, अश्कों में मिला है
सुनते हैं कि इस पर भी ज़माने को गिला है
 - I don't know from who

Friday, October 08, 2010

A fantastic feature : HDFC NetSafe

In Short : 

1. Log in using your Debit/Credit card
number.
2. Allocate some funds towards a new credit card.
3. Create a one-time use credit card, which
expires as soon as it's used, if not used it expires
in 24 hours.
4. Unused amount will be credited back to your account.


In Long : 

Anyone with a HDFC debit or credit card, 
if you don't know about HDFC Netsafe, you
are missing something.

Often one has to submit his/her credit
card details on a website, in order
to access a certain feature. Many a times
the website saves your credit card number
and charges the same for recurring expenses.
And I don't really like that. Ideally, I would
like to create a temporary credit card, which
would expire as soon as it is used for the
first time.

That is exactly what you can do with HDFC
Netsafe. 

How to add your mobile number to Do Not Call Registry(India)

http://ndncregistry.gov.in/ndncregistry/aboutRegister.jsp

Monday, September 27, 2010

Suar chala space ko





Watched this play, this Saturday.
A play for kids. (some adults may enjoy it too :-))
Language : Hindi


Details : 

A hilarious play about a smelly pig who travels to outer space! 
Actors play a variety of characters, including aliens, with movement 
and dance adding to the high-energy performance. Based on a puppet play,
 originally written by children during a workshop, the narrative follows a fuzzy 
logic typical of children's writing. The story touches upon friendship, 
adventure, owning up to your mistakes, taking responsibility and 
of course... the 'swine flu'!


Duration 1 hr (no interval)

Based on a concept by Poorna, Isha & Ankita
Writer & Director - Shaili Sathyu
Music concept – Mithila Lad & Hetal Varia
Music Arrangement - Kaushik Deshpande & Rahul Saxena
Choreography – Pooja Pant
Set & Props Design – Abir Patwardhan & Tanya Mahajan
Costume Design – Shama Zaidi
Graphic Design – Phagun Dhaka

Cast – Vighnesh Sinkar, Subodh Surve, Sharvari Deshpande, Siddharth Jhaveri, Navyata Malkani, John Soans, Mithila Lad, Hetal Varia and others

Excerpts from Imagining India

1. A Kerala communist leader E.M.S. Namboodaripad once told the sociologist
Andre Beteille that caste was irrelevant, and was 'an obsession of American
sociologists who come to study India'.

2. In India, we don't entrust our city councils with enough power. 
As a result, our cities are in a complete mess. Urban development
was always seen to be taking place at the cost of rural development.
It's obvious in the fact that in Indian cities, we don't know the names
of our mayors, since none of them has ever been famous. Unlike in
the west, where Mayor Giulani(NY), Mayor Bloomberg(NY) or 
Mayor Livingstone(London) are world known figures. 

3. Our feudal structures are still pretty much intact since our
freedom came without any big-time violence. We attained
freedom from British, not our feudal lords. 

Nairobi and Bangalore

In Simply Fly, author Capt. Gopinath compares Nairobi and Bangalore
in a certain incident. Nairobi, which is a significant tourist hub, has
two airports. While Bangalore, whose economy is four times as 
large as Nairobi, chose to close an airport when a new one
was opened ! There doesn't seem to be any logic in doing this.

English in India

While reading a book, I came across two interesting
observations about English language in India.

1. Many of us Indians oppose the English language
since it's a foreign language. But the Sanskrit
language itself, which is supposed to be the mother
of many Indian languages, is a foreign language.

Quoting from Wikipedia :
...Sanskrit arrived in what is now India and Pakistan from the
north-west some time during the early second millennium BCE.


2. Motilal Nehru, father of India's first prime minister, used to
speak English at home, even though his wife couldn't speak it.


Friday, September 24, 2010

Law/Lawyer sites for India

Of late, I have come across two web sites useful for lawyers and common people
grappling with Indian laws/law system.

I haven't tried them, so I am not sure how useful they are.

Advocate Khoj : You can search for an advocate here, an advocate can find clients here.
India Kanoon : Law search engine for common people.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Pratigya

I like this daily soap.
Though it shares many annoying attributes with
other soaps, I like the raw idealism shown by two
of its characters : Pratigya and her father Professor Shyam.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Some companies working on Social games

Chakpak, Playdom, Zynga, Digital Chocolate, Playfish, PlayHooper, OxyLabs, Koramgame

Church is the second largest land owner in India

I just came across this fact yesterday.
Church is the second largest land owner in India -
next only to government.
Here are the references :
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Koramangala to Hanumantha nagar via bus

Yesterday I traveled to Hanumantha Nagar in Banashankari to watch
a play at Kala Soudha. I faced a lot of difficulties but a helping co-passenger made
it easy(which reminded me of those days in Mumbai, where you can ask your
co-passengers for directions from any point A to any point B, and you will
always get the best answer).

So, here is the best way :
From Koramangala catch a bus to Laksandra(171,170 etc.)
From Laksandra catch a bus till Lal Bagh West Gate(many buses go there)
From Lal Bagh west gate catch a bus till Hanumantha nagar(34 and 37 go there, find out about others).

How to reach AMET University from Chennai Railway Station

Couple of months ago, I had to go to AMET university,
for admitting a relative of mine. Since it's located at
the outskirts of the city, not many locals are familiar
with it. So, when I tried to book a pre-paid auto from outside
the railway station, the person at the booking counter
was clueless, even the auto drivers were unaware.

I had called up a friend before the trip, who told me
that AMET is very close to Mayajal Multiplex. Most
of the people knew that place well. Still no auto
driver agreed in less than Rs. 450/-. So, I called
fasttrack taxi at 044 2888 9999. They charge Rs. 10/-
per km, and AMET was 35 kms from the railway station.
So, it cost us Rs. 350/-. Much cheaper than an auto
and much faster as well.

After finishing our work, we went to the Crocodile park
nearby(roughly 8-10 kms) and Kovalam beach (somewhere
in the way you have to take a turn inside).

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Extremities

Watched this play today at K.H. Kala Soudha.
First of all, it was a mini-trek to reach Banashankari
from Koramangala via bus. We eventually gave up
and took an auto.



This is apparently the first performance of this play
in India. It has started in 1982. Here is the Wikipedia
link. A movie has also been made on this story.

Overall, a nice performance. Scenes between
Marjorie and Raul were really violent. At the
end both of them would have been injured for
sure, as is true for earlier performances of this
play.


Cast : Marion Ksing, Puja Goyal, Tushar Patil, Sweta
Director : Puja Goyal

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Shades of Grey

Many a times, when I come across an instance of a businessperson
or politician doing some good work in India, I get puzzled.

Because, since time immemorial I have viewed them with
suspicion. They have indulged in such high magnitudes of
corruption that it's unimaginable to think of them otherwise.

Why then? Why some of them, even the corrupt ones, at times
do some good/non-corrupt work. Answer perhaps would be : the
way humans are designed - with shades of Grey.

Most of us(and exceptions prove the rule) don't come in black
and white packages but Grey. We are sometimes good and bad
at others. Likewise the politicians and businesspersons.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Gentelmen

Watched this play last Saturday at Rang Shankara.
Pretty average.



Description from some site :
Gentlemen - Play. Playwright & Director: Anil Abraham. Troupe: Global Productions, Bengaluru.

Anil Abraham's hit play returns to Bangalore after a wildly successful run in 2007 and 2008. The play often referred to as a hybrid of theatre and stand-up comedy, is about the male point of view, pun intended. A hilarious take on the men's obsession with fallacies and phalluses, Gentlemen is surprisingly honest, brutal, funny and very mischievous all at once. Gentlemen features some of Bangalore's most respected and well-known acting talent including Ashvin Mathew, Anil Abraham himself, Ajith Hande and joining the cast for the second coming are Rajeev Ravindranathan and Kirtana Kumar.

Mature Content | Entry is Strictly 18 Years & Above Only 

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Vedanta

One day the news is that Anil Agarwal is all set to overtake
Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian. Next day, Vedanta's 
bauxite project proposal is rejected.

Did RIL pressure government to do it?

Anyway, the outcome is a welcome news, as the
proposed project in Orissa's Niyamgiri would have
led to an ecological disaster.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Meaning of "Zindagi se Darte ho"

Was looking to find the meaning of some typical words
in this song from Peepli Live, 
found a good place here at BollyMeaning.

This site hosts meanings of many other bollywood songs
as well.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

IMDB like site for plays in India

IMDB is a great place to keep track of the movies you have watched, want to
watch, discuss or rate them. I don't know of a similar site for theatrical plays,
at leas in India. We DEFINITELY need it.

Wiki for toilets in India

Everyone who has ever been in India, or lived almost his whole life here (like me)
knows how difficult is it to find a public toilet. The problem becomes uncontrollable
(pun intended) when you need them urgently.

This problem is much more severe for girls/women, and has been very well
addressed in this article.

As an alternate solution, which I have personally been using for a long time,
it's much easier to go in a shopping mall/restaurant or other such places
where the toilets are easily available. But one may not always know those
places beforehand.

So, I propose to make a Wiki for easily accessible toilets in India. Its Wiki
structure will ensure that the information is wide and up-to-date.

It could have entries based on areas within a city.
For e.g.

M.G. Road, Bangalore :
1. Bangalore Central Mall, 2nd floor, just turn left from the escalator.

Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore
1. Forum Mall, all floors

Since the wiki will be web based, a lot of people will not be able to use it,
when they need it. So best solution will be, if one could just send an sms
for e.g. TOILET  M G Road to 1234 and get a list of all the nearby toilets.

Let's hope that it works out one day.

Munshi Premchand

Got a chance to read some of Munshi Premchands' s stories today.
They never age. As fresh as ever.

Also found an online source.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace - By Jayati Bhatia

I watched another solo play today,
Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace - By Jayati Bhatia.
Another nice performance.




Language : English
Venue : Rang Shankara

It's the story of a Gujarati Muslim woman living
in Mumbai(then Bombay), who has seen many colors
of life : from being an orphan to getting married to
a man twice her age to losing her son to suicide to
losing her husband to another woman, she has seen it all.

Milieu of the play is set in almost a decade after Indian
independence.

Overall, worth a watch.

Also, Jayati Bhatia has played roles in many
television serials, including Sabki Laadli Bebo.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Narayana Murthy competing with Nandan Nilekeni ?

Breaking News : 

Narayana Murthy in PM's expert group on J&K

I am surprised as to what are the political credentials of Narayana Murthy,
which landed him this HIGHLY political job.

My guess is that he's simply fighting to achieve the same recognition
that his partner Nandan Nilekeni has. To the uninitiated,  Nilekeni is currently
 Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), apart from 
heading government of India's technology committee called as TAGUP.

Way to go Murthy !

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Swami and Friends

Very little has changed since that book was written.
Kids, as well as adults, still try to impress their friends
the way Swami used to do with Rajam.

Miss Meena


watched this play at Rang Shankara on saturday (31st July)
Rating : 2/5.
30-35% in Tamil,
rest in English.



Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Doorway - by Jyoti Dogra


I have seen many plays in my life, but this one hit me
like a thunderbolt. It wasn't even a play in the conventional
sense. In all the performances of this play - seats are limited
and are usually restricted to 50-60 per show.




Describing it is futile - as the only way to find out about it
is to watch it. So don't miss a chance to watch it - if you
get one.

Here are some links on this out-of-the-blue performance : 


PS : I was surprised to find out that Jyoti Dogra
is the same actor who played Dukey Bana's wife
in Gulaal

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

The Aryans : A study of Indo European origins - Excerpts

from : V. GORDON CHILDE 


The data available seem susceptible of three interpretations: either the whole civilization of Punjab is Aryan, or the Aryan element enters at some date within the long ages represented by the accumulated debris--perhaps with the introduction of cremation--or finally the Aryans were destroyers of the newly discovered culture. 

The Indus Valley in the Vedic Period - Excerpts

from
   - Ramprasad Chanda

It is evident from the hymns of Rgveda that the Aryas were divided into two main classes, the priests and the warriors. Cattle breeding appears to be the main source of their livelihood, cows being the chief wealth. Agriculture was practised to limited extent. A hymn (9,112)  refers to the different professions followed and the crafts practised by the Aryas . Trade finds no place in the list.

So the conclusion that the much maligned Panis were the representatives of an earlier commercial civilization seems irrestible. Among the antiquities unearthed at Mohenjodaro are coins with pictographic legends that indicate very early developement of commercial life in the Indus Valley. The Panis probably represented this pre-historic civilization of the Indus Valley in its las phase when it came into contact with the invading Arya civilization.
......
The Arya conquerors who were inferior in material culture either destroyed the cities or allowed them to fall into ruin. Their great god Indra is called Puroha or Purandara, 'sacker of cities'. Like the pre-historic civilization of the Aegean, the pre-historic civilization of the Indus Valley also failed to survive the shock of the Aryan invasion.

Some Useful links

Consumer Forum India

Useful links for RTI

Nuremberg Travelogue

Written on : 12-05-2006

1. Desi Food:
Cooking material:
1. Asian Food Shop in Gostenhof.(Here you get Calling Cards as well)
2. Zara Markt in Nordostbahnhof
Cooked material:
3. Indian Express Food on Hauptbahnhof U-Bahn Station.
Something like Roti:
4. LAWA Pannkuchen(it's something like a Roti), You may find it in some
Stores. I found it n Netto(Sudwest Park).

2. Calling Cards:
1. Can be bought on most of the International Airports. In India,
Hyderabad and Bangalore International airports have Airtel Calling
Cards, which are slightly expensive than the cards you can buy in
Asien Food Shop(Gostenhof) or ___ , but serve as a backup in case
you land in here on a Sunday or can't buy the cards for quite some
time.
(Note added on 12-08-06) -> Airtel calling cards have another
advantage. They can be used from more than 100 countries(I forgot
the exact number). So if you are planning to tour other european
countries, prefer Airtel, as the locally available cards will work only in one or
two cities(not even countries, as far as I know).
Also, Airtel cards are available on some of the foriegn exchange shops.
(This may sound like an ad for Airtel, but having a right calling card
solves a lot of your problems, once you are out there.)

3. U-Bahn Map

4. Notes on Nuremberg:
A city with lots of greenery and parks.
People are well dressed and their hair
well taken care of. Low-rise jeans are
particularly popular among girls.
Coming from Bangalore, one thing that
comes as a surprise is, well, no ringing
mobiles. Either the mobile penetration
is low here or people are particular about
keeping their mobiles silent.
I have been here for a week now and the
weather has been pleasant. Length of
the day is quite long. Sun rises at around
5:30AM and sets at around 20:40.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Ding dang Pakistan reaches Semis

For the third time in as many T20 world cups, Pak
have reached Semis. I am not sure if they can
believe their luck :-)

No matter what they do, the universe indeed conspires
to see them through. This time they made their
way based on Net Run Rate.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Modi vs. Tharoor

Only one thing surprises me in the entire Lalit Modi vs. Shashi Tharoor saga.

How much of political clout does Lalit Modi have
to brazenly and openly talk against a central minister?

That too, when his proximity to the opposition party - BJP,
which is in dumps right now, is more than well known.

Either Modi is a stupid or just too smart.

And, I guess it's the latter.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

To Chitrangada Singh


Happy B'day to you !

I didn't know you were born
in the same year as me ! And
you are only half a month older
than me !

Anyways, here is wising you
Many happy returns of the day !
From my heart :-)

Saturday, February 27, 2010

PHP vs. MySql Documentation

Both are open source and critical for survival for many a web
developers. But when it comes to documentation, PHP is like
a million times ahead of MySql. Most of the documentation for
PHP is contributed by its users so I have no idea why does
MySql lag so behind.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Up In the Air


An observation :
1. During the Jim/Julie wedding sequence in the movie, the camera zooms in and out very fast. And it's slightly shaky too. That's because the cameraman is trying to simulate a real life wedding, where someone is shooting with a handheld handycam.

Indian Speed Post

I recently used their services after a long long time.
For quite some time, I had started to rely on various
private courier services.
One of the changes I have noticed is the tracking facility,
which earlier used to be provided by only the private
service providers.
With speed post, you can track your consignments here.

Charges are way less than DTDC,First Flight(FF) etc.
Same shipment from Bangalore to Pune costs Rs. 85/-
on them vs. Rs. 25/- on speed post.

From Bangalore to Jodhpur
DTDC/FF : Rs. 85/-
Speed Post : Rs. 57/-

From Bangalore to Jodhpur Speed Post took between
2-3 days, while DTDC took close to 6-7 days.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Cool Gmail Status messages

Varun Kumar Singh :
Fact of life: After Monday & Tuesday
even the calendar says W T F

Anand Vivek Srivastava :
No problem is so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from. :-)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

New trains for Rajasthan

In the rail budget announced today :
Ajmer has benefited significantly ( 5 new trains)
1 each for Jaipur and Jodhpur.
List :

Ajmer-Indore Link Express (Daily)
Hyderabad-Ajmer Express (Bi-weekly)
Kolkata-Ajmer Express via Singrauli-Katni-Bhopal-Nagda-Ratlam (Weekly)
Kishanganj-Ajmer Express (Weekly)
Sultanpur-Ajmer Express (via Nihalgarh) (Weekly)
Jaipur-Pune Express (Weekly)
Gandhidham-Jodhpur Express via Bhildi (Tri-weekly)

Here is the complete list.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Oye Amritsar vs. Sonakshi Sharma's family restaurent

Oye Amritsar :
Location : Church Street, Posh of the posh
Food price : 3-4 times of SSFR
Food quality of SSFR : 3-4 times better than Oye Amritsar
Location of SSFR : Koramangala, Third Block.

Up in the air

This movie has been getting lots of traction in
some psychology blogs. It seems like George Clooney has portrayed a seemingly impossible role. Something the psychologists have very genuine problems explaining. For e.g. "How could he be so social savvy while being so detached from everyone and everything around?"

Here is an interesting take in one such blog. This is named Living Single. A very interesting blog BTW. It bemoans the way in which single people have been portrayed in this movie. Stereotyped, it says.

Single women in India

A very interesting conversation here.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

3 idots trivia

Towards the end of the movie, Rancho's school in Ladakh is shown,
where some cool inventions are on display. Here are some more details
about them :

Source

"The film also uses real inventions by little known people in India's backyards. The brains behind the innovations were Remya Jose, a student from Kerala, who created the exercise-bicycle-cum-washing-machine, Mohammad Idris, a barber from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, who invented a bicycle-powered horse clipper, and Jahangir Painter, a painter from Maharashtra, who made the scooter-powered flour mill."

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Hurt Locker



My rating : 9/10
Just for this one quote :
Staff Sergeant William James: [Speaking to his son] You love playing with that. You love playing with all your stuffed animals. You love your Mommy, your Daddy. You love your pajamas. You love everything, don't ya? Yea. But you know what, buddy? As you get older... some of the things you love might not seem so special anymore. Like your Jack-in-a-Box. Maybe you'll realize it's just a piece of tin and a stuffed animal. And then you forget the few things you really love. And by the time you get to my age, maybe it's only one or two things. With me, I think it's one.

Some Trivia :
Kathryn Bigelow(Director and Producer) was married to fellow director James Cameron from 1989 to 1991. Both Bigelow and Cameron are nominated for Best Director for films released in 2009 (with Cameron's nomination being for Avatar).

Monday, February 08, 2010

Robinson and Crusoe




Watched this play yesterday at Rang Shankara.
More details here.

Duration : 45-50 minutes.
Language : English(But not too difficult to understand)

A lot of children came to this play and enjoyed it.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Don't buy a domain from Yahoo !

Tyranny of Yahoo! Domains.

A Red Alert for all those who have bought their
domain names from Yahoo! or are planning to.

Why?
Because it automatically saves your credit card info
and uses it to renew your domain every year.

But I want to renew it every year anyway.
On Yahoo!, you don't want to do it since their
renewal fees is 35$ per year as compared to 10$
offered by others.

Can't I opt out of auto renewal after I have bought the domain?
The only way to do it is to cancel your
service with Yahoo!. But if you do that,
you will lose all control over your domain.
Basically Domain control panel will disappear
from your dashboard, even though you
have paid for 1 full year.

I have bought it already, what to do now?
1. Migrate your domain name to another service provider.
OR
2. Remember to cancel your service in time(almost at the
end of the 1st year)
OR
3.Cancel your credit card and apply for a new one,
so that they can't reuse your information saved with them.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Casual gaming on FaceBook

Going through some PPTs, came across some not-to-be-missed points :

1. Bragging rights or customization

If the target audience be Asians, have elements in your game which give
bragging rights to the players. And if it be Caucasians, have elements which
allow the user to customize the game as much as possible.

2. User Demogrphics on FaceBook

Users of facebook are increasingly more and more females and older people.
So make your application, keeping them in mind. The point could be
that the games should be easy to comprehend and easy to play.

3. Playing with strangers and reasons for sharing

Players should be able to play with strangers. If your game
allows only your existing friends to be played with, it can
be a hamper player interest. Most of the players would
want to connect/play with people who like the game already
rather than cajoling their friends to play it.

Also, while prompting users to publish feeds, through which
you would like to bring new users on board, make sure that
the new users have a reason to follow the feed. They won't
click it just for the sake of it. There should also be an incentive
for publishing the feed in the first place.

List of deemed universities to be derecognized

Source
  • Christ College, Bangalore
  • Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
  • Lingaya's University, Faridabad
  • St Peter's Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
  • Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kanyakumari
  • Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida
  • Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut
  • Sumandeep Vidyapeet, Vadodara, Gujarat
  • Sri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Reserch, Kolar, Karnataka
  • Yenepoya University, Mangalore
  • BLDE University, Bijapur, Karnataka
  • Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Satara, Maharashtra
  • D Y Patil Medical College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
  • Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
  • Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kanchipuram
  • HIHT University, Dehradun
  • Santosh University, Ghaziabad
  • Maharshi Markandeshwar University, Ambala, Haryana
  • Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad
  • Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, Tumkur, Karnataka
  • Jain University, Bangalore
  • Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune
  • Siksha "O" Anusandha, Bhubaneswar
  • Janardan Rai Nagar, Udaipur, Rajasthan
  • Institute of Advanced Studies in Education of Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan
  • Mody Institute of Technology, Sikar, Rajasthan
  • Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai
  • Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai
  • Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Virdhunagar, Tamil Nadu
  • Periryar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur
  • Academy of Maritime Education and Training, Chennai
  • Vel's Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai
  • Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore
  • Vel Tech Rangaraja Dr Sagunthal R&D Institute of Science, Chennai
  • Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar
  • Grapich Era University, Dehradun
  • Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya, Allahabad
  • Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry
  • Vinayaka Mission's Research Foundation, Salem, Tamil Nadu
  • Bharath Institute of Higher Education And Research, Chennai
  • Ponnaiya Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
  • Nava Nalanda Mahavira, Nalanda, Bihar
  • Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu
  • National Museum, Institute of the History of Art Conservation and Musicology, Janpath, New Delhi

Monday, January 04, 2010

3 Idiots vs. Chetan Bhagat controversy

So Chetan Bhagat says he wasn't given enough credit for the movie.
People from 3 Idiots say, he has been given enough.
They also say that not more than 5% of the movie is based
on his book.

I haven't seen the movie and I guess they are luring people like
me to watch this movie. I am one of those skeptics who believe that
if this movie is based on Chetan Bhagat's book, how different could
it be?

They are answering my doubts through TV channels and newpapers
and what not. I agree, if they had said it in a straightforward manner,
I wouldn't have listened. But as soon as it is in the form of a controversy,
I am all years. So yes, I have heard it loud and clear that :
not more than 5% of the movie is based
on his book.
Thanks a lot for clarification. I will go watch it.


It's free publicity for the producers and I guess Chetan Bhagat
is hands in glove with them.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Jodhpur-to-Bangalore in 6 hours







It would take only 6 hours by train to go from Jodhpur to Bangalore if
we had trains like China :-) Ashok Gehlot ji, give us those trains.




Thursday, December 17, 2009

Acharya Tartuffe


Watched this fantastic play today at town hall,Jodhpur.
Genre : Comedy
Parent advisory : uses some adult words("chastity belt","periods")
Language : Hindi.
Image source.


Actors :
Acharya Tartuffe : Sadanand Paatil
Seth Omnaath : Anoop Trivedi
Deepanshu : Abdul Kaadir Shah
Mother of Seth Omnaath : Ambrish Saxena
Kamlesh : Navneet Singh Thakur
Kaamini : Sapna Khatana
Mamta : Kamini Dubey

Here is a description from Delhi Events.

About the Play : Acharya Tartuffe is a play based on Moliere’s French Play 'Tartuffe'.
Omnath, a businessman, met a saint, named Tartuffe in Pondichery and he got influenced by him. He brings him in his home. A turmoil occurs in the house. Omnath and his mother totally devote themselves in his godliness, whereas the rest of the family members go against him. They try to convince Omnath that Tartuffe is an imposter but their effort goes in vain. Tartuffe manipulates Omnath's weakness as his weapon and extends his wicked intention towards kamani, Omnath's wife.

Omnath puts pressure on his daughter, Mamta, to marry Tartuffe, whereas Mamta is already engaged to Rehan. The whole family is under severe pressure. In his blind faith on Tartuffe, Omnath not only throws his on, Dipanshu, out of his house but also disowns him from his property. His eccentricities lead Tartuffe being his legal heir of his property.
Finally Kamani takes charge of the situation. She weaves a plot where Tartuffe gets trapped and is caught red-handed by Omnath. Omnath orders Tartuffe to go out from the house but Tartuffe reminds him that legally it is his property. Tartuffe sends a summon to Omnath and at the same time incites few Hindu religious groups that Omnath has dishonoured a Hindu saint. Police arrives at the situation and in a dramatic way, Chunni, a disciple of Tartuffe reveals Tartuffe's evil background. Police arrest Tartuffe. The whole experience comes as an eye-opener for Omnath and he learns a lesson for life.
Watch the play to know More!

Written and Directed by : Prasanna
Prasanna is an eminent theatre director as well as a well known writer in Kannada. His is recipient of many awards including Sangeet Natak Akademi Awar.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Movies based on not well known disabilities

Aamir khan seems to have started yet another trend
by making Taare Zameen Par, a movie which focused
on dyslexia - not a very well known disability.
Paa carried on the baton by touching the subject
of Progeria and now it's the turn of My Name is Khan
which shows a character with Autism.

Long live Aamir khan and the trends he starts !

Monday, December 14, 2009

Online fraud : Bank of India phishing mail

Header of the mail attached in the previous post :
Delivered-To: me@gmail.com
Received: by 10.114.150.5 with SMTP id x5cs79931wad;
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:53:12 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.204.7.197 with SMTP id e5mr1162805bke.184.1260579190770;
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:53:10 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: 
Received: from lurk.terasoft.lt (85-10-200-56.clients.your-server.de [85.10.200.56])
by mx.google.com with ESMTP id 20si3919949bwz.14.2009.12.11.16.53.08;
Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:53:10 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 85.10.200.56 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of customer-care@bankofindia.co.in) client-ip=85.10.200.56;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 85.10.200.56 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of customer-care@bankofindia.co.in) smtp.mail=customer-care@bankofindia.co.in
Message-Id: <4b22e976.141abc0a.2e2e.7253smtpin_added@mx.google.com>
Received: from [188.92.187.246] (helo=User)
by lurk.terasoft.lt with esmtpa (Exim 4.67)
(envelope-from )
id 1NJGCj-000400-Gy; Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:51:27 +0000
From: "Bank Of India"
Subject: Bank Of India Online Account Protection.
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:53:03 -0500
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000

Online fraud : Bank Of India phishing mail



Dear customer,

Your access to online services has been suspended. Due to your online account was been try with a wrong password in our network so on our weekly online network maintainace we detected it.

You are now been asked to re-activate your online account to help us update our server informations to match with our latest upgrade, Please follow the re-activation reference below:


Click Here To Re-activate Your Online Account


Important Notice:- You are strictly advised to match your information correctly and carefully to avoid service suspension of your account.


We apologize for any inconvenience.


Thank you for using BANK OF INDIA!
(c) BANK OF INDIA. All rights reserved.

Information on protecting yourself from fraud, please review the Security Tips in our Security Center.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Online fraud : Punjab National Bank Phising mail

Here are the headers of that mail :
Delivered-To: me@gmail.com
Received: by 10.114.150.5 with SMTP id x5cs51357wad;
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:35:32 -0800 (PST)
Received: by 10.142.60.18 with SMTP id i18mr2345967wfa.111.1260714932418;
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:35:32 -0800 (PST)
Return-Path: 
Received: from mail.k-pro.com.cn ([210.22.90.142])
by mx.google.com with ESMTP id 40si8773892pzk.109.2009.12.13.06.35.29;
Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:35:32 -0800 (PST)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 210.22.90.142 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of netbanking.alert@pnb.co.in) client-ip=210.22.90.142;
Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 210.22.90.142 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of netbanking.alert@pnb.co.in) smtp.mail=netbanking.alert@pnb.co.in
Received: from User [41.217.2.8] by mail.k-pro.com.cn with ESMTP
(SMTPD32-8.10) id A49935A0228; Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:05:13 +0800
From: "Punjab National Bank"
Subject: Alert: Update Your Punjab National Bank NetBanking Account
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:12:11 +0100
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="Windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Message-Id: <200912132207519.sm01548@user>

Online fraud : Punjab national bank phishing mail

I received this mail today :

Alert: Update Your Punjab National Bank NetBanking Account

Dear Customer,

True to our promise to keep your internet banking account safe and secure from fraudsters,our online security team has discovered some Foreign IP Login to your account from the following IPs : 812.164.72.212, 195.93.21.10

Due to this,your internet banking has been blocked for your safety until you confirm your IP address

Click Here To Re-Confirm Your IP(s) Location.

Thank you for banking with us.

Copyright © 2009.
Punjab National Bank. All rights reserved

What makes Mafia wars tick?

In the earlier post, I had pointed out some reasons.
Here is another one.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Mafia wars - what makes it tick

There is a popular game on FaceBook/MySpace etc.
by the name of Mafia Wars. And I also happen to play
and enjoy it. I would just like to jot down, as to what
makes it kick/tick/whatever :

1. It's simple; or it is a 2-D text-based game
as people in gaming industry would categorize it.
So it doesn't require a high amount of user interaction.
You just have to visit its page as and when you wish,
scroll a bit, make few clicks and you are through.
Its simplicity ensures that it has a large audience.

2. What happens next or a high number of levels
I don't know what is the highest level in Mafia wars but
I have seen a player with level close to 500. With passage
of levels a wider variety of jobs/activities become available
and it keeps the surprise element intact. Talking of surprise
elements, same jobs yield random loot items. Also randomly
fighting people also springs up quite a lot of shocks/gifts.

3. Wonderful graphics.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

English medium education

My 11 year old cousin studies in 5th standard of a reputed
English medium school of Jodhpur - St. Paul's. Right now
he is mugging up the definition of Lunar Eclipse for his
half yearly exams, blissfully oblivious to the fact that
I have made him the protagonist of this blog post. He
has learned the definition by heart, without an iota
of knowledge about what it actually is. Hell, he doesn't
even know that it is same as Chandra Grahan.

We Indians must be unique in our naivety towards
education. A kid is mugging up definitions in a
language that he doesn't understand. He would have
been much better placed, if it was Hindi at least.

Trivia about Jaws

Source

Spielberg himself was not present for the shooting of the final scene where the shark explodes. Spielberg believed that the crew were planning to throw him in the water when this scene was complete. It has since become a tradition for Spielberg to be absent when the final scene of a film he directs is being filmed.

Impact of Jaws on the Film Distribution in Hollywood

Source


Jaws was the first film to open nationwide, on hundreds of screens simultaneously, coupled with a national marketing campaign—-a then-unheard of practice. Scheinberg's rationale was that nationwide marketing costs would be amortized at a more favorable rate per print than if a slow, scaled release were carried out. Scheinberg's gamble paid off, with Jaws becoming a box office smash hit and the father of the summer blockbuster.Following the success of Jaws, major studio films have almost universally been distributed and marketed on a national scale.

Sharks

Just watched Jaws, a cult film released in 1975, by Stevn spielberg. This movie
is about a Shark that terrorizes a fictional island by eating up people at its
shores and how it's killed by some brave men. A wonderful piece of cinema.

But reading about it I came across some interesting stuff. Number one, that
Sharks are not as aggressive towards humans as depicted in the movie or
the novel on which it's based. In fact the author of the novel was himself
quoted as saying, in year 2000 :

"considering the knowledge accumulated about sharks in the last 25 years, I couldn't possibly write Jaws today ... not in good conscience anyway. Back then, it was generally accepted that great whites were anthrophagous (they ate people) by choice. Now we know that almost every attack on a human is an accident: The shark mistakes the human for its normal prey."

Also, from wikipedia :

In 2006 the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) undertook an investigation into 96 alleged shark attacks, confirming 62 of them as unprovoked attacks and 16 as provoked attacks. The average number of fatalities worldwide per year between 2001 and 2006 from unprovoked shark attacks is 4.3.

Contrary to popular belief, only a few sharks are dangerous to humans. Out of more than 360 species, only four have been involved in a significant number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, oceanic whitetip, tiger, and bull sharks. These sharks, are large, powerful predators, and may sometimes attack and kill people. Interestingly, they have all been filmed without using a protective cage.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Sita sings the blues

A fantastic animation movie, created simply on a computer using 2-D graphics by
Nina Paley. You can read more about it here. Or download the legal 700 MB version.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Swine flu vaccination in India

All over world the people are receiving Swine Flu Vaccinations.
But in spite of a very high number of cases here in Jodhpur,Rajasthan(India)
I am yet to see any such thing. I am not sure about the rest of India though.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

USA declares Tibet as a part of China

The latest Nobel peace laureate Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, who
also happens to be the current US president, has declared Tibet
as a part of China.

This must come as a shock to everyone, especially the Tibetans
who have just completed 50 years under Chinese oppression.
It was 1959 when then fled en masse from Tibat to take shelter
in India. Those who could not flee, either lost their lives or
succumbed to Chinese pressure to renounce their religious
beliefs.

Not only Mr. Obama is a Nobel peace laureate, but also
a man whom the world hailed as its savior in the run up
to the US presidential elections. But as it is turning out,
he is no better than his predecessor George W. Bush.

A careful look at Tibet's history reveals that Tibet
had indeed been a part of china in ancient history for
a certain duration. But its converse is true as well.
Sections of China were also a part of once formidable
Tibetan Empire.

Clearly, China is taking revenge of atrocities committed
to its people by Japan and Britain. And, in the process
creating new victims, who will undoubtedly take their
revenge one day.

As far as Obama is concerned, Ram gopal verma had disected
his so called aura and charisma rather easily :

"In the run up to the election the media presented Obama
in low angles with a highly dramatic background score and
pitched him as a hero against the villain George Bush."

"But once Obama took over as President the low angle
shots became eye level shots and the background score
was taken off".

"..in the times we are right now living in, the Media
makes even reality look like a showbiz effect."

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Mcloedgunj again

Had visited this beautiful place in Oct-2006 and again
in Oct-2009 now. A short summary :

1. Stayed at Hotel Tibet(Rs. 770/- per day including Service tax)

In general Mcloedgunj and nearby areas have a vast array of
options for accommodation. You can get much cheaper/pricier rates
for hotels. Apart from this you can get rooms on yearly/monthly
basis as well, as a lot of people seem to stay here for long durations.

2. Hill Book Shop :

Very close to Hotel Tibet on the Bhagshu Road.
Here you can buy/sell second hand books. At times
you get the books very cheap.

3. For rock climbing/river crossing etc.

Regional Mountaineering Center on Tushita Road(+91-9418025191)

4. If you are trekking to the Triund, and want to stay at
the guest house there, you need to take permission from
the forest department(which is either in Dharmshala or Mcloedgunj, just enquire).

5. For people with religious interests,
Jwala Devi Temple : roughly 65 km from Mcloedgunj
Brajeshwari Devi Temple in Kangra : 27km from Mcloedgunj
(both lie on the same route).

6. Cheap(inexpensive) woolen clothes :
Delhi Departmental Store in Dharmshala main market.

7. There is a Himachal Tourism Club House(perhaps on Jogiwara road, or
you can enquire in main marked Mcloedgunj), where you can play Table
Tennis/Snooker etc.

8. A very small trek :
go to BhagshuNag waterfall.