Understanding spoken English

I have always felt there is a difference in the way I understand English spoken in an
Indian accent and the way I understand English spoken in a foreign accent.

I guess, today I know what is that difference.

For a word spoken in a foreign accent I don't understand it unless it has
been pronounced completely while in an Indian accent I usually have it
guessed before its utterance is finished.

A tribute to the spirit of Marwar

In Jodhpur :

Trader fights 29 years to recover one paisa

Keyboard shortcuts for gmail/google reader/firefox

Most of my time spent online is spent using firefox/gmail/google reader. So it is
really important that I use keyboard shortcuts for the above three to avoid
the heavy strain caused by the frequent mouse clicks and constant switching
between mouse and keyboard.

For switching between tabs in firefox I used to use Ctrl-[Shift]Tab earlier
but it created problems at my workspace desktop since that is Linux
and Ctrl-[Shift]Tab combinations are used for switching between multiple
desktops etc. Similarly for Ctrl-F4(used for closing tabs). Then I started
using Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn for tab switching and Ctrl-w for closing
tabs. Firefox has pretty much done away with Ctrl-F as well with its
"finding as you type" feature. Another cool feature from firefox is its
quick searches.

For gmail, some of the shortcuts I use often are :
g-i : go to inbox
g-a : go to All Mail
g-s : go to starred
y : archive
r : reply
f : forward

Similarly for google reader :
g-a : go to all items
g-u : go to subscription
g-t : go to tag
m : mark read/unread
n : next item
v : open the item in new tab

Though i don't really know if using keyboard shortcuts prevents wrist
injuries since if it takes less effort to use a computer, you will use it
more and in effect you would be hurting your wrists by an equal amount
in either case.

Note(3-8-07) : Here is another link to firefox keyboard shortcuts.

Uploading videos from my Sony Handycam to Youtube

How to upload videos from my/your Sony HCR36-E handycam/camcorder to Youtube :

Well, you can upload them to Google Videos as well since it doesn't put any constraint
on the video size or duration unlike Youtube.

Anyway, once you have transferred video from your cam to the PC, you will
notice that it is in avi format. And a clip of around 3 minutes will take almost 1 GB
on your disk. Ok, forget that for a moment. Your first concern should be to edit
your video. For doing that I use VirtualDub. Just select the unwanted frames
and press the delete key. Then from the file menu, select "Save as AVI".

Having trimmed your movie you would like to compress it so that you can
send it to your Gmail account(I mention Gmail since it gives you the largest
attachment size - 20MB- as of today), or transfer it online quickly.

Earlier I used to use VLC(by using its wizard option)for converting avi to mpg,
but many a times the conversions were not foolproof. At times I got only the
audio part of the original. While some times the Youtube rejected the video
saying it was too long, even though it was well within its 100MB/10 minutes
limit.

Then I started using Super, which is free of the above-mentioned problems
till now.
Select the following options :

output container : mpg (Mpeg I)
output video codec : MPEG-I
output audio codec : mp3


Drag and drop the input file and click Encode(active files).
And that's it. happy uploading/emailing.
Btw, here are my videos : http://youtube.com/dharm0us

Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips

http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/carkeet.html

Form ITR1 in Excel format - for filing tax returns in India

Here is the link.

Everonn IPO India

IPO of Everonn Systems India Limited, which opened on 5th July, has already been
subscribed 0.9 times in retail portion. Rather unusual, considering the fact that it will be
open to bids for 3 more days. Retail investors in India have been known to wait till the last
day of the bidding, even for the issues subscribed around 40 times. Very rarely
does the retail portion gets fully subscribed before the last day. So what's in store for
Everonn? A 100 times subscription in retail segment ;-)

On a different note, DLF got listed and is currently trading at 10% premium from its
issue price. Much better listing than GMR, which was panned prior to its IPO by analysts
who, I am sure, are yet to get their feet outta one of their natal holes. Or may be they
did it to distract everyone so that they can buy it in lumps?

Any sane mathematicians in Hollywood?

Just finished watching this movie, Proof.
This along with A Beautiful Mind and Good will hunting
constitutes a trilogy of insane Math-o-holics,
and makes me wonder if Hollywood would ever be
able to lay its hands upon a "Normal" mathematician's
tale.

BTW, here is the torrent and the english subtitles for Proof.

PS: Proof and the two other movies mentioned above are
indeed fantastic, and in no way do I mean to pan them.
I was just wondering about what I wrote above.

Renew your body

Of late I have come across these three interesting news concerned with
renewing the human body :

Baldness : Hair loss in humans might be reversible, suggest scientists who have helped create new hair cells on the skin of mice.

Artifical Limbs : Japanese firm unveils artificial hand with 'air muscles'.

Lasik Surgery : I don't have the hyperlink but read in yesterday's TOI that Lasik
surgery for eyes sans blade is available in India now.

Search engine for quotes/quotations

A search engine dedicated to quotes/quotations :
http://quotesearch.blogspot.com

DLF IPO as compared to GMR Infrastructure IPO

The biggest IPO in Indian history has failed to garner 100% subscription
in retail category, 97% is the number, whereas QIB quota has it around
500%. This reminds me of GMR Infra IPO in 2006. QIB quota around 10 times
whereas retail category was subscribed 0.5 times.

But in around 2 months' time it took off and was trading at 50% premium.
I expect the same to happen with DLF.

Two of the Best

Or The Two Best Romantic Movies ever :
Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.

This couplet has the stuff that the dreams are made of.
The magic only the celluloid can weave.
Must watches.

Do kids want to study?

My experiences @ AID Prayas(An NGO for tutoring underprivileged kids) :

1. Do kids want to study?


I guess yes. To me it's not simply the reward/punishment logic, at times
they genuinely enjoy two numbers being added. Exercising the faculty
of brain is indeed a pleasure for them. I don't think they really know that
it can get a job for them, so it's not a necessity for sure. Nor am I distributing
sweets to the better performing ones.

2. Boys vs. Girls

With boy students I can afford to be rude, casual and cursory. In fact if
I treat them too well, they offer me a suspecting glance. With girls, if I don't
smile often enough, they tend to withdraw themselves into a shell. A lot
of persuasion goes into making them learn new things.

Boys seem to pick up math skills faster for two reasons that I can think of:

(i) The kind of games they play require some sort of counting, cricket, kanche,
or any other game that I can think of, while girls are dressing up their dolls.


(ii) Some of them work in the shops in the daytime(it's a night class), so even there
they have to count stuff, at least the money that they get.

Marriages

"...a random allocation might be better than selecting a partner on the grounds of smarts, common interests, attractiveness, how good he or she makes us feel, and so on."
Source.

Movie Reviews

There are two ways of disliking art. One is to dislike it. The other is to like it rationally. -- Oscar Wilde

I am a voracious movie watcher. So when I created
my first blog I had an intense urge to review the movies
I swam through. And I did it. But after may be 5 to 6
reviews I had to give it up.

In my grad school I had "Introduction to English Literature"
as one of my optionals. The teacher always preached and
practiced her motto of "Never classify a piece of literature
as good or bad. Analyze it." That's what she wanted us to
do in exams. I did that too. And though I always enjoyed
the class, I still classify a work of literature as good or bad.

I am yet to learn how to dissect a piece of art. Art is either
enjoyed or left aside. Analyzing art is analyzing a woman.
Both of them are mysterious in nature, and versatile.
Analysis can be applied to objects or rules which are
static in some way.

Now don't analyze this post, alright?

HIndi Post - Fundooquotes

मैं फकत इस नए फीचर को ट्राई करना चाहता हूँ जिसमें मैं हिंदी में भी पोस्ट कर सकता हूँ । आखिरकार हिंदी हिंदी है और अंग्रेजी अंग्रेजी । मेरा नाम धर्मेंद्र तोलानी है और ब्लॉगर ने काफी आसानी से इसे रोमन लिपि से देवनागरी में रूपांतरित कर दिया । चलिये अब ज्यादा बोर न करते हुए मैं आपको कबीर का एक दोहा पेश करता हूँ ।
सौजन्य से : फंडू कोट्स डॉट कॉम

बुरा जो देखन मैं चला,
बुरा ना मिल्या कोये
जो मन खोजा आपना,
तो मुझसे बुरा ना कोये

फंडू कोट्स डॉट कॉम
पर आप भी क्वोट्स सबमिट कर सकते हैं । वे कोट्स किसी मशहूर व्यक्ति के हों चाहे आपके खुद के ।

Staying on top of Indian IPOs

Here is all you need to know to make money in Indian IPOs.

1. IPO Analysis By ICICIDirect.
2. Daily update on oversubscription figures.
3. Allotment status.
4. Basis of Allotments by CapitalMarket.com.
5. Listing date alert by ipoplus. (Best option though is a Google Alert).

The Lives of Others

A Great movie which has gone almost unnoticed :

The Lives of Others

Here is a good review.




















It's a German language movie. Torrents are available on isohunt and english subtitles are available here.

Provoked

Jagmohan Mudhra is back with his latest flick
Provoked starring Aishwarya Rai and
Nandita Das among others. The last film I saw
from him was Bawandar, which was specially
screened at IITBombay in Mood Indigo'2001.
Jagmohan, who was present there, had given
a pre-screening talk.

Those who don't know, he has a Bachelors'
degree in Electrical engineering from IIT
Bombay.

To begin with he made movies which could sell,
with titles such as Irresistible Impulses, Tainted
Love,Wild Cactus etc. But now, he seems to have
created another niche for himself. Something he
deserves to be applauded for.














In Bawandar and in Provoked he has raised the
issues of atrocities against Indian women.
While Bawandar tells the story of Bhanwari Devi,
a social worker in Rajasthan,who was gangraped
by members of a higher caste in her village,













Provoked is the story of Kiranjt Ahluwalia , who
was the victim of her NRI husband in London. Kiranjit
suffered and kept quiet for the sake of her family honor
for a long time, but eventually gave in and burnt her
husband alive.

Indian film industry is not very well known for tackling
such dark and real-life stories, which makes creators like
Mundhra so much more important.

Cool Ergonomic Products

All those who use computers or are doing sedentary jobs, will find these products cool and useful:

1. GentleMouse - Never click a mouse again.
2. Lumbar Support - available from many companies, for e.g. Ergoworks.
3. Wristease - Patented Portable Ergonomic Wrist Support