To riddle or not?

A good try, Manny. I expected this answer. But is it the right answer? There were a lot of questions that are hidden within the sentence. The first sentence reads, "Five frogs are sitting on a log." Ok, this is a simple fact. The second statement, "Four decide to jump off." is an ambigious statement. Are the four mentioned in the statement, a part of the five already present on the log. Or maybe there are four frogs that are ready to jump off some other log on to this log? You can never know. The same logic applies to the third statement,"How many are left?" The riddle, split up into individual sentences, makes logical sense but it does not provide any meaning. This was just a simple exercise in semantics. The phenomenon is known as intertextuality. Intertextuality, as defined by Michael Riffaterre, "depends on [a system of] limitations in our freedom of choice, of exclusions, since it is by renouncing incompatible associations within the text that we come to identify in the intertext their compatible counterparts." Those of you who are still puzzling on what the last paragraph meant, relax. I'll provide examples after the New Year. Till then send your thoughts on how the blog looks now. It is still a work under progress. It will be gradually improved in the days to come.

Answer for the riddle.

There will be five frogs left still... They have decided to jump off and they have not jumped off still. So five frogs left. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...ithu epdi irukku?

A small riddle for the new year

Five frogs are sitting on a log.
Four decide to jump off. How many are left?

Answer will be posted tomorrow.

get-together

seems a good idea. awaitng comments

Update on get-together

Considering the views of a lot of people, it seems to be more wise to have the get-together in MADURAI on 25th... Do let me know if there are any issues about this.. Most girls can make it.. and arrangements can be made for guys.. what we are going to do there is entirely up to us... Please let me know ur confirmation... so that arrangements can be made...

New Year Resolutions...

I have believed in them and probably never will. I have posted a few articles on Quod scripsi, scripsi as promised. Maybe, my new year resolution will be blog at least once a day.

this year

Kicha, you had told a few points that I wanted to convey. But I wouldn't say that my year wasn't dramatic. It was largely uneventful, but a few incidents have really touched my heart. The year began with suffering for me. I had a bout of severe cold, coupled with wheezing. To add to the mix, I was supposed to sing in the midnight mass at church. I decided to endure it through. Somehow managed to get through the first day of the year sans complications. A few major incidents that taught me about life were the Gujarat riots, Cricket World Cup and Invasion of Iraq. Each of this incident taught me a different outlook on life. The Gujarat Riots taught me about preciousness of human life. This photo is a stark reminder of its preciousness. I am not blaming anyone here but the riots are a blemish to Indian secularism. The unacceptable fact is that the perpetuators of the horrifying incidents during the dark days of the riots were people like you and me. They were not terrorists who were trained by a foreign power. They were just ordinary common people like you and me. This is what frightens me. A terrorist is a person who believes in some ideological doctrines (whether it is right or worng is another matter). Thier policy of terrorism is summed by Lenin's words,"The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize." Simple and crisp. It is easy to understand them. But violence by ordinary people is unacceptable. Amidst all this, India's performance in the world cup gave me great joy. Though we were beaten by Australia, I can feel proud that it took the best team in the world to beat us. Australia's performance was as expected. I think the last year has been really good for India in the sports arena, in hockey, chess, tennis, athletics... I believe this blog also took shape during the fag days of February amidst the riots and cricket. Though a few came to know of it by the begining of March, the blog was in its incubation much earlier than that. It has provided to be a wise investment in terms of time. I guess everyone would agree to that. The invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies was another major incident. I feel it is just an act of desperation by the US. A classic case of high school bullyism by Bush. Fortunately it did not escalate into a major war. I had mae by views on the war in several of my earlier posts. So I need not reiterate all those once more. Other than the above mentioned incidents, there were several other small incidents that had shaped my life in 2003. I may be posting them here or in Quod scripsi, scripsi later. Sri had asked last week on how the past year has been, personally and professionally. I guess this answers a few aspects of the past year. Professionally, I can't say much. Maybe, you can read it in Quod scripsi, scripsi later on. I think plans for the new year warrants another post, which will be posted later.

The year that was

Am writing this trilogy of sorts.. my views about myself in the past year and going forward.. the first one is "The year that was" for the past year... this would be followed by two more... about the present and one about the future... ----------- As I look upon the last 48 hrs of this year... I'm overcome by a strange avalanche of mixed feelings.. its been a year sans anything dramatic.. most of that is to do with my lazy attitude about going about my life and living.. which seems to take new turns every now and then... This year saw some relationships become hazy and some new ones that seem more precious than anything... I got to know new people and understood some people better... and felt for doing so at times... Ignorance sure is bliss..!! This year did teach me some new lessons on how to cope with life... and why one should not be as lazy as me... My career has steadied myself and channelled my plans and thinking to a very significant extent... I can call myself a "fresher" no more... feels happy to know I've grown up.. but that also means increased responsibilities... somtimes I wonder why do we ever grow up.. why can't we always be the cute little kids for our parents... and such childish wishes still continue.. there is still a lot of child in me... But that has not deterred my "futuristic" thinking... I feel I have grown stronger.. but yet to have enough tests to validate that... a bit of arrogance has also creeped slowly in... I try to use this as positive as possible though... but, after all, I'm just a human being... I become too much of a future planner at times... and try to make unnecessary "sacrifices"... may be because, I'm still learning to distiguish between some of my wants and needs... Its been just another year in my life... the first one that I spent as a "working lad" in its entirety... with most of my time devoted to "learning the trade"...

Xmas wishes

All those who had conveyed their wishes for Christmas through the blog / mail / directly, I would like to say,

Thank You.

I have a lot of things to discuss with all in the week to come. Till then, Bye.

Christmas this year

Travelling has always fascinated me. Being surrounded by people gives me a lot of opportunities to watch them, learn about them. Spending quite some time with your fellow passengers can be irritating as well as interesting. Your co-passengers fellow passengers can make or break your journey. My journey to Madurai was uneventful. On getting into the bus, I saw one of my sanguinal cousins in the bus. Ok, I have company. He said he was going home. OK, I thought, atleast I have his company for three-quarters of the way. I was wrong. He went off to sleep immediately as we crossed the city limits. The in-bus movie was horrible. I had seen it earlier. So I decided to rest. But the noise from the movie was too loud. Finally after a four and half hours and two movies later, I reached Madurai. Reaching home, I found that everyone had left for the midnight mass. I decided to go to the mass, but it was halfway though. I could hear the clear voice of the priest reach my ears. Sitting down on the steps awaiting the arrival of relatives, I had a few mosquitoes for company. An hour and a half later, they arrived. The next few hours were spent in exchange of pleasantries and information. Morning saw me get up and go to Christmas Mass. Came home to have Breakfast. Everyone decided to watch a movie. Watched a typical masala film, 'Winner'. By the time, the movie was over, lunch was ready. A heavy lunch followed up by another movie, "Allaudin" saw me get to late evening. Nephews wanted to burst crackers, and so we did. Got hold of a camera. Spent time shooting fireworks and crackers. Got a close look at the new moon. After the fireworks, decide to blog it all and went in search of a internet centre. Could find one. So just went to Philo & Shantha's house to wish them. Spent some time there exchanging notes. Dei Ram, they asked me to convey thier congratulations to you. Due to a confidential agreement, I am unable to post what we discussed. Anyway it was good to spend sometime with friends again. The next day, Boxing Day, cricket match at MCG. Saw Sehwag hit a century before hurrying to the campus as usual by auto. The auto drivers near Fatima College have decided to have a photo of me as thier patron. I get salutes from them everytime I go to Madurai. Good to see customer care being practised by automen. I met Kicha at Campus. spent sometime at the railway station discussing a lot of things from marriage to friends. We then went to Jayaram Bakery for Kicha's treat. Didn't eat much there. After a couple of hours, we parted on our separate ways. Spent time at home in frot of the computer, playing with nephews and chatting with cousins. Caught the evening bus to Coimbatore. Had a lovely girl, (name : Anu) sitting across the aisle. Faded in and out of sleep watching another couple of horrible movies in the bus. I reached home after a lonely trudge in the dark. Went to sleep immediately. These two days brought out a new vigour into my life after quite sometime. Travelling always does this. It invigorates me. I only wish I could travel a lot more.

Indians rule the world

From Nasa to Wall St, Indians rule UK Indians shine in '03

Scribbled Scripts

A Game in the jungle...

Many more Happy returns of the day

Yes. My wishes to jesus for many more similar days...Happy christmas to all. And yes, Many more happy returns to Hon'ble Atal Bihari Vajpayee. His B'day also falls on Dec 25. Imm, at last its vijay who also joined the bang of booksters. good da. Valli vara pora....Puguntha veetla irunthu...sorry sorry...pugutha naatla irunthu pirantha naatukku vara pora... sari sari...flight chennaikku vanthavudana driver kitta solli koncham slow panna solli enga iranganumo irangikko...naan sonnennu solli nirutha sollu...illatta veena meenambaakam varaikkum poittu varanummm, okva. Narayana Naarayana!!!!

from VIJAY BABU

Hi everyone, I really feel bad for not participating in the blog. But 2 things are keeping me stay away from the blog, 1. Patni is not providing me internet during working hrs (9am to 6pm). 2. The content of the blog is threatening me. Most of the blog members are sending their book reviews and discussing some technical and managerial topics, which I hardly know. I can overcome that first block by either ask kicha to send me the blog content or by browse in cyber cafe. But I don’t know how I m going to overcome that second block. Whenever I read your blogs (mahendran, ranjini, xavier, bala, rajesh, ganesh, valli, sindhu, kavitha, sri, ram), I always ask myself that when I am going to post a blog like this??? But my inner mind says never. Then I again ask, hey u r a confident person, how can u say like this? Suddenly a reply comes like, if only u really know something, u can be confident in that thing. But the argument with my mind didn’t ends there; i tried to convince it by said that i also read two books recently named "One minute manager" and "Who moved my cheese". May be i took six days to read such a small books, but still for the first time in the past 24 years i completely read an English book. I may not be able to give a good review on it, but still i can mention some points from them. One-Minute Manager ------------------ It is a very small guide, which speaks about, 1. One minute goal setting 2. One minute praising and 3. One minute reprimand The first two points we heard many a times from many people. But the third point is the special one. It talks about how the manager has to react when he is not happy with his subordinates work. Like praising, whenever a subordinate commit a mistake, express him at that point itself and make him understand that u r only unhappy with his work and not unhappy with him as the person. I recommend this book for all our blog members, who haven’t read it earlier. Who moved my cheese ------------------ Hope almost everyone read that book, or at least heard about that book. This book is about change management. I think we learn a lot about change management than it is mentioned in that book. But the presentation of that book is good. They tried to explain it using interesting characters. It falls into “Needhi kadhikal”(if you read siruvarmalar from dinamalar then u know it) category. So I strongly recommend it to kids in your home. While reading this book, I came across the phrase “Better late than never”. Whenever I come across this phase one incident suddenly come into my mind. During our first trimester, one day infront of our library myself, kicha, valli and sindhu met balaji. He asked as about our welcome party. He told us why don’t you give pressure to your seniors to arrange it soon, it seems they are going on postponing it. For that except me all others replied something. While kicha replying, he told that “Better late than never”. I heard that for the first time. So always this sweet memory is attached to that phrase. After completing this write-up, my mind slowly begins to say; yes you can also contribute something to this blog. Thank God at last I convinced it. ------------------------ congrats for ranjini, ram and kicha. Mahendran:- eppadi da irukka. Sorry da I cant send mails to yahoo, rediff, and hotmail ids. That’s y I havnt send any mails. Pls send me ur official id, I can only send mails to that id. If anyone want to send mail to me, pls send it to the id, vijaybabu.balasubramanian@patni.com (don’t send from any mailing sites, I wont receive it. Send it from ur corporate id) ------------------------ I have to really thank our classmates, especially our blog members. For what??? Soon I will post it.

luck and chance

Kicha, Nice link. On reading it, two quotations came to my mind.

1. Fortes Fortuna adjuvat. - Fortune favours the brave
2. Chance favours the prepared mind - Louis Pastuer

Both statements can be considered an addendum to the article. BTW. Who was the first president of the United States of America? George Washington. Nope. Read this to know more.

Do u believe in luck..??

An interesting article I came across today... Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve? A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.

Home alone...

jax, I'll be leaving tomorrow night and be in Madurai on 25th morning.. But I'll be going to meet one kozhi.. whom I have caught for giving me a christmas treat at his home... He was my roommate when I had training in Mangalore... after the treat I don't have any more kozhis.. so may be, we'll try to meet that evening... The thing that jax was mentioning as the one me and valli were discussing is about a get-together... we are planning to have one somewhere.. and the dates will be Jan 25,26 ... the place is yet to be decided... so, if u can make it on that day please let me know.. bring in ur suggestions on where we can have it as well... only constraint is it must be relatively easy to reach for most people... depending on the number of people other required arrangements will be made... jax, send me ur mdu phone number.. i'll call u after I reach home on Christmas day...

problems and solutions

Ranjini, the problem (the blog is displayed without any styles) appears the first time you open the blog for the very first time. Once you choose your favorite style, a cookie will be set in your computer so that you get the same style the next time. Incidentally, Mozilla based browsers are the only browsers where style switiching is enabled in the browser. Under the View menu, you can see a Use Style menu item. If you select it, you will be presented with a pop-up detailing all the styles that page links to. You can choose any one. The reason why a separate style switcher is provided with the blog is for those who use Internet Explorer, which does not have an inbuilt style switcher á la Mozilla. At first I left out the Style Switcher in the blog, but since IE users cannot select style sheets, I had to search for and modify the style switcher to use it. So it is not my fault. I feel that instead of Mozilla, you should use Mozilla Firebird. Firebird is faster, smaller and flexible than Mozilla or Internet Explorer. The reason why the blog is loaded with the Black stylesheet is because I set the blog to consider that stylesheet to be the default one. After loading, you can choose any style that you want to. Kicha: Congratulations. And when do I see you in Madurai? I am leaving tomorrow evening and will be spending the 25^th and the 26^th there. I'll collect my treat there. Manny: I was online when you posted your poem. But due to a problem in my system, I was unable to log into Blogger and give you my comments. It was interesting to read the success poem. I felt some tinges of "Man in the Mirror" in the poem. Inspiration!!. Hope to see more from you. Valli: No reply from you regarding your visit or the one Kicha and you were discussing? Bala: Unnaku, Wi-fi vennumma. Modhalau hard diskilla irrukura paddatheyyum, Rajesh oda mp3'sa delete pannu. Appuram floppy, hard disk ellam ollunga work pannum. Sindu: How's Christmas season there? Tell me about it. Ram: Mentations!!??!! Rini: Don't know why it bounced. I'll see what to do then. By the way, I see two lines appearing in the centre of "Flowers for you!". Does it appear on yours? I'll try to send a screenshot if possible. There are quite a lot of Indian blogs in the blogosphere. The blogroll links to a few of them. I feel that Indian blogs are not much publicised. But there are quite a lot of blogs being written by Indians. the trouble is that we don't know them. Interestingly, "Elite Essays" had an article about one of my favourite novels, Pride and Prejudice. I guess I haven't given any book reviews for the past two weeks. I'll have them ready soon. Sri: Prof. Raja Govidaswamy's words is one reason why I still keep reading. Anyway my line of work requires it. As Valli had once said, reading has now moved from being just a hobby to a part of my job. See you all later.

New on the bloc

Thanks Kavitha... as she has said, I feel good in continuing the tempo set by Ranjini.. I have been banded at the top band after confirmation.. I'm also assigned to a new project.. just like I was doing one a few months back.. but, this one seems to be a good project... and directly pertaining to my domain - EAI.. unlike the previous one, which was a web application project... This is a much bigger project involving integration with Peoplesoft, BizTalk and some legacy systems.. I'll be concentrating more on the BizTalk side... am looking forward to this...

Today Ganesh's Birthday...

Many more Happy returns of the day da machan... wish you many more similar days to come... And hey, Today I met ganesh...he was in chennai today and came to my office...so glad to see him after a long time. We had a puf together after some months gap...but ironically i cud not spend more time with him... And even more irony is that I forgot to wish him for his B'day and I totally forgot that today is his birth day... Sorry da ganesh. And coming to scribbled scripts, Thanks rini for ur comments. But u dont have to compare VVS and Scribbled Scripts yaar. And rini do send ur inputs as u said. Mahendran Jayavel

Scribbled Scripts...

Hi all, I have a new blogspot for me. Scribbled Scripts. Have a look at my new Success Means... Mahendran Jayavel

copyright revisited

Hi all, Made the suggestions to Daddy's day, Premji's letter. Kicha, also to avoid future problems, I have modifed your Google post to point to the logo. Hope you don't mind. Bye,

redesigning

Thinking of Redesigning, i would like the blog to be more functional in nature. So please feel free to give your suggestions. The blog is a meeting place for more than ten souls. It is your place. 1) How many posts should appear in the home page? 2) In the existing format, what do you feel is missing? 3) What more can be added to the blog? 4) Do you think that any part of the blog is not al used by you / it just takes up space? 5) In the existing design, what parts do you actually find useful? 6) Any more of your suggestions are welcome in case I missed out anything Please take time to think about it and reply.

photos

Rini, Looking at the photos, I got a thought rolling in my head. The groups photo album, right now is divied into three directories:

1. 2003
2. Memories
3. Wedding Snaps

The classifications seems good and based on functionality. (This is Xavier, the Information Architect speaking.)So what are a few wedding snaps doing in 2003. They should be within Wedding Snaps. Since 2003 is almost over, snaps being uploaded in 2004, must be put in 2004. I have made the necessary changes. Photos of weddings (including engagements) are now present in the Wedding Snaps album. Hope you don't mind it. BTW: In case you didn't know, ROASM is updated everyday. Rini, as you had requested, it is now present in the blogroll.

On Onsite sightings

The focus of the story makes one thing clear about the couple.. they want to row two boats with a single oar... And the simple reply is, they are not going to do it.. There must be some point in time where a line needs to be drawn between family and career... Vivek and Shobana did have a number of ways to handle the situation. But they kept considering that an onsite opportunity is the "holy grail" that needs to be obeyed irrespective of family circumstances... which should not have been their attitude... Even at the close of the story, they decide it the hard way to stay "onsite"... This just needs a little thinking in the lines of their common goals... and the steps they need to take to support each other to achieve their individual ambitions too... And, what it requires is mutual understanding and proper prioritization of their life's activities...

on onsites

Rini, Seems to be a very tough problem to figure out. BUt that's life for you. So the moral of the story: If you are in IT, don't marry someone in IT. Is that it? BTW, Ram said you were on leave today. Couldn't resist blogging or is he mistaken?

Virumaandi

Good Morning ! "Kombumela poova suthi, nethiyila pottu vachi, kanni ponnu kai valatha kaalamaade...." Ilayaraaja the ultimate man....enthusiastic music in Kamal's "Virumaandi" (Sandiyar)... All songs are good...of all the songs, this one "Kombumela poova suthi..." Nice to hear a mix of great beat and rhythmic lyric...let us wait to see the film... Imm sindhu after a short while... what about others...ganesh, valli, rajesh, vijay....

At last

Hi Sindu, Seems you are visiting us after a very long time. I think the only job you can get during the Christmas season is "Pottallam Madikirathu". Go to any shop and apply for a shop assistant work. It's going to be a lot more fun till January. As the Christmas season extend till the 12th day after Christmas. Though I have not given any gifts to others till now, I am always ready to accept gifts. Please send your gifts to my home address. You can get it from Yahoo Groups!. Since a few of you might not be available at Bangalore, I guess it's Madurai for this Christmas. Don;t know whether to take a holiday on 24th or 26th. Have to decide. What about you Rini,, Coming Home? BTW, Could someone call up Kurinji and convey him my Birthday wishes today. Valli, hello, where are you? When will you be in India? Bye for now.

Christmas of 03

Chirstmas should never be dull... Ram has not shown any plans of moving from Blore.. not sure about others... But I'm going home as one would expect... after a pretty long interval by my standards... and I'll enjoy a christmas treat from my friend who was my roomie in Mangalore at the time of my infy training...!! And to top the icing, we have holiday on Dec 26th to enjoy a long weekend and will be compensating that by working this saturday...

This Christmas

This Christmas seems to be a bit dull. I'm missing the excitement and the joy associated with the season. I'm thinking of spending it outside Coimbatore. One choice is Madurai. But even there I feel that I cannot really enjoy it. Chennai seems another place, But I don't know what I can do in Chennai for two days. Bangalore is another option. Lots of places to see. Hey you Bangaloreans, Anyone working on Christmas?

Hi all, wrt the copyright issue... I read that poem in the Living with Honour book and I felt impressed with that and I reproduced the same without any alteration to a single word of it except the title... Thats all... and Jax I leave the ball in ur court and u can delete or place a link or do what so ever to freeze it up... rini, coming to the girl in my dream, there is an inspiration which made me write this small (poem like one...ha ha). When we were in the hostel, we (me, rajesh, sandil, ram and others) used to write kavithais in english translating the tamil songs...you might be remembering the one kavithai..."I had a girl friend...I had a girl friend..." ( A translation of the "enakkoru snehidhi..." song in priyamaanavale film...) It was a fun time to read all those and yesterday i was hearing the same song in my system and thought of all those that happenend in hostel... Just thought of doing the same...but somehow a gal who inspired me came in the picture...(whose face yet to be seen by me...ha ha)... That resulted in this outcome of my thoughts...but for that, I have to find my girl who came in my dream...ha ha.

copyrights

Good to see that everyone understands copyright issues. Kicha made a valid point in saying that "It takes to be the owner of an IPR to feel the pain when someone infringes that." Really, I would be annoyed to read a story that I had written attributed to someone else or if it has been modified. This has been a reason why I had said we could not simply copy and paste from a website. I know sometimes, you may feel that you want the article to be present so that we can understand it more. But if an article can be found on the net, it would be better if you can just provide a link to it. The least thing we can do is atleast acknowledge the rights the author has. Kicha had rightly pointed out that we often take IPRs for granted. That time has ended. Companies have started /starting to have IPR policies in place. Clients too have started to understand the importance and are now demanding the same. As most of us work for s/w companies, our understanding of Intellectual Property has to be higher than when we were just students. Though it is not enforced properly in our country, plaigarism in college can get you suspended. All universities abroad view plaigarism as a serious crime. This doesn't mean that you cannot quote anybody without permissions. It means that if you can explain an article in your own words, you can do so and provide a link to the original article quoting its source. For example,

The Hindustan Times today reported that Infosys has acquired an Australian IT firm, Enterprise Information Services for 23 million USD. Read the article on Hindustan Times...

Here I am not breaking any copyright laws, I am just linking to an article in a newspaper that is available freely to all netizens. The trouble is when we get articles through mails like Daddy's Day, we do not know who the author was (till now). It is a good idea that Cheryl suggested, Type a few lines of the poem in Google within quotes, you'll get results (with a little patience). It is better to spend a few more minutes online than be stuck with a copyright infringemetn case. BTW, I had mentioned this quite some long time ago about using images. It is also not an ethical practice. When you display an image in a webpage, every time that page gets loaded, the browser tries to display the image from its original location, which might on somebody's server. This uses up the bandwidth of that person. So someone else has to pay for displaying the image in your webpage. It is a bad practice. So when ever you want to display an image, you can link to the picture through text links. There is a wonderful way available on the Internet to share content. It is called Creative Commons. Have a look at this site and the ideas they wanted to share. Update: Before I could post, Kicha had posted the news suing the same method I was about to explain. Meanwhile, Manny, it is your call. Shall we credit the author of the poem (Daddy's Day) properly or remove it and give a link nstead (Rini's suggestion)? You can also put your name under the poem you posted, so that you can slam a copyright infringement case on some poor soul. BTW: Please close the HTML tags you use properly. Now someone has forgot to close an italics tag. Everything is in italics now.

B R E A K I N G N E W S

B R E A K I N G    N E W S Infosys acquires Australian co for US$ 22.9m Infosys Technologies Ltd signed an agreement today to acquire 100 per cent equity in Expert Information Services Pty Ltd, Australia. Read more

A girl in my dream

yes...It was from the book Living with Honour and I suggest blog father to do the needful to fix this issue... BTW here is some which will not bring any copyright issues for sure...'coz this was written by me....he he he..." ok then c u all in my next blog...

It's between a dawn and a dusk, My head on my desk, Dead are my mind, But the work I should mind... Though I tend to work, My lids tend to sleep. A girl in my dream, One from the cream. A dream that's so rare, which wasn't a nightmare. She passed by me, And made my self freeze, Had no doubt in me, She was a passing breeze. She looked at me, I looked at her, Stunned at once, seeing each other. Its that moment, when she passed by me, Its her face That went into my heart's base. With a will in my day, I walked through the bend On her way till the bay, to see a face... that's filled with gay. As I rushed so fast, I left her go my past. In a dream not so bright, Amidst the dim dull light, When I turned to my right, It was the same face so bright. The moment I cherished, When my dream now got perished. In my damn dumb terminal, Again a day full of work. Let me wait for a dusk, till my head is again on my desk.... to see that girl in my dream who's one from the cream...

---

Mahendran Jayavel

Rightful rights

The mail from Cheryl does give us all a knock on our heads. I suggest, we add the required information and retain just "a link" to that beautiful poem, with due credits to the author. I do want to bring upon another vital point. Very often, we do things so unkowingly that we may be doing a grave legal mistake... We frequently need to get content from google for a lot of our personal/official purposes, but how often have we worried about IPRs... It takes to be the owner of an IPR to feel the pain when someone infringes that... As "friends" we do have the habit of sharing some information from/about our organizations without giving a second thought to the IPRs and piracy. So, please take some time to learn about these aspects. Googling would surely aid u in this... Let me tell u some facts I'm aware of. .. 1. Can the material available on the Internet be copied? Free content available on the Internet can be copied for "personal use" only... This means, if you want to share some information available on the Internet, then you can only give a link to the place where it actually exists... You are not allowed to copy it and transmit it to any group of people... 2. Can the material available on the Internet (or other publications) be used as a reference material ? Borrowing segments of content from a source as is does constitute a violation in most cases... though many websites permit this form of "violation" as long as two conditions are fulfilled: The user indicates the source of the original content along with the terms and conditions of use as prescribed by the original creator and No modifications are made on the borrowed content... For more on this, visit the Indian IPR Law. Please make sure you follow the IPR guidelines at every possible instance.

copyrights

Hi everyone, I got a mail today for copyright infringement. I am reproducing the mail below for your understanding.

Someone has illegally altered my copyrighted and published poem "Daddy's Day" which you are displaying on your site at: http://dayswork.blogspot.com/2003_11_23_dayswork_archive.html You have the title as "On a Daddy's Day". "Daddy's Day" was first published in the year 2000 in the book "Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul". It was later published in the earlier part of 2001 in the book "Stories for a Teen's Heart 2". Because of those publications my poem ended up on the Internet and due to so many sites either displaying or circulating my poem without including my name, several have either plagiarized my poem or altered it, either by changing the title or adding lines pertaining to 9/11. As you'll note by the 2000 publication and copyright date of my poem, it was published before the 9/11, 2001 tragedy. The lines You see he was a fireman and died just this past year when airplanes hit the towers and made the meaning of freedom very clear do not belong in my poem. Someone took a national tragedy to infringe upon my copyright and in turn to break the law. A tell/tell sign that you are displaying the altered version of "Daddy's Day" usually starts with the first line. The line should read Her hair up in a ponytail and not Her hair was up in a ponytail. The word "was" does not belong in my poem. You are more than welcome to continue displaying my poem, but only if you do the following . . . use the correct title, which is "Daddy's Day", as well as the correct version, which would exclude the 9/11 lines and the word "was" in the opening line. Include the copyright date, which is 2000, add my name, Cheryl Costello-Forshey as the author. Also, you need to include the line, Cannot be copied or reproduced in any form without the written consent of the author. Furthermore, I ask that you mention that "Daddy's Day" has been published in the books "Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul" and "Stories for a Teen's Heart 2". I realize that it seems like a lot to ask, but I'm sure you can understand why I'm asking. If you don't wish to do as I've requested then you will need to remove my poem from your site, otherwise, you are infringing on my copyright. By law, a person must exhaust all efforts (and prove that they have) in order to find the author of something before they can legally use it in any manner, otherwise, they are infringing upon that writer's copyright, which is against the law. Most people are not aware of that. As a personal favor I'd like to ask that you never display or circulate any material without knowing and including the author's name. So many writers are having their copyright infringed upon due to the Internet. There is a simple solution to finding the author of any material that you are hoping to display their work. Simply type a line, any line, from the story/poem within quotation marks into the google.com search engine and within seconds you should be able to find the author's name. Of course it may take a little bit more work than that, but in my case you would have found me within four seconds. If you don't know the author's name, please do not display the work because it leaves the door wide open to plagiarists. It's better to be a part of the solution for writers rather than part of the problem. Please contact me once you've made the changes. The longer my poem remains on your site without making those changes, the more damage that is caused for me. Warmly, Cheryl

So what do we do? I feel we should respect the copyright and do either one of the two options available:

1. Use the correct poem with due attributions and changes
2. Remove it completely

I am awaiting your thoughts on this. I particularly liked the penultimate paragraph in the mail where it speaks about avoiding copyright infringement. BTW, Vijay how was yesterday? My belated wishes to you, da. NO posts from you. Mumbai girsl keeping you busy?

on cricket...

Looking back at India's victory, it really feels good to win a test match abroad. Watching Dravid score the winning runs broughts out hurrahs from everyone watching. But it is still a paradox that we have to consider. We can go about boasting that we have won a test match in Australia. But we have to remmeber that they had won in India too the last time we met. Except for the heroics of Laxman and Dravid, we would have lost the series too. I expect Australia to come back with vengenace. I know they will. But as Kicha had said, they may have a minor worry of the loss rankling in thier mind. But with Brett Lee coming back to third test and McGrath for the final test, I feel that we might have to raise our levels much higher. And I have seen no other teamin the world that has raised the bars of performance higher thatn Australia. The last World Cup was a small example. After trying hard to reach the performance levels of the Aussies, we had managed to claw back into the final, but they had raised thier game to a much higher level on the day it mattered. With almost ten days before the two teams met again, it is to be seen how we put back the victory behind us and look at the games ahead us. Incidentally, we have nothing to lose. Even if we manage to draw the remaining matches, it will be termed a success by all. But I would call it a success only when we manage to win the tri-series after the test matches. They will be a very big challenge for our players, both physically and mentally. The true champion would be the team that manages to stay on its feet at the end. I believe the Americans term it "the last man standing". Will it be us?

personal insights into flight

As we celebrate a hundred years of flight today, I wish to share my experience. I can hear a plane preparing to deposit its load of passengers and take to the skies again. Mankind has always been satisfied about flying. It must be because we have no way to lift our bodies off the ground. This deepest desire to take to the skies is well reflected in all mythologies. Almost every religion on earth has a figure who could fly. You can find that almost all superheroes in modern day fiction have an ability to fly, either on ther own or through devices. I don't know about girls, but I know every boy's fondest ambition in his childhood would have been to be a pilot. I had it too. Fascinated by planes, I recall reading a lot of books on flying and planes. I used to tear off pages from notebooks to make planes. I would then go to the top floor and let go of these paper machines. As our house lay adjoining a cemetery, it was pretty much an open space. I was so much into planes that I did not use written and used paper. All my planes were of the purest paper, cut with precision and folded with care. I had drawings of various paper plane models. I learnt the laws of aerodynamics, thermal drifts and properties of paper in my quest to make the perfect paper plane. People say try and try again. I did, meeting failure on several occasions and learning from them. I now can make the perfect paper plane. But it will not fly. The course of my various experimentations has allowed me to understand the laws of physics well. I knew what goes up must come down. The trick was to slow down that law of Newton. I learnt about ballasts. I designed planes that could fly for a few metres in a straight line and then plummet down to the ground head first. I called them missiles or suicide bombers. I learnt about aerodynamics. I then made planes that would land gracefully like a swan. Modelled on the now grounded Concorde, these planes could land perfectly. Fighter aircraft are a complex piece of machinery, but extremely maneouverable. I wanted to make a plane that would be as maneouverable as a fighter jet. Trials after trials, reams and reams of wasted paper finally gave birth to a plane that could fly and turn as smooth as a fighter planes. I realized that a simple cuts in paper could be folded and they could act as rudders or aerofoils. I could make a plane move in what ever way I wanted by simply adjusting these small flaps. I could make it glide in circles in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions. I could make them rise high and swoop down like an eagle in pursuit of its prey. Aileron rolls were a breeze. 180 degree turns were hard, but after innumberable tries I got it right. After all these years, I still wonder why I didn't pursue it as a career. Maybe some things were just meant not to be.

100 years after the Wright brothers

This is how google looks today.. See Google's logo for the centenanary of flight here. PS: This may not appear properly if u r not looking on the posted date... (But not sure of this...)

Q & A

This is yet another easy question to answer kishore. So, as long as yo have time to answer, the answer exists....Even if no answer exists, "No Answer" turns to be the answer (from the answering person's point of view)...he he he he...

Let ur Anglo-grey cells rollin

Is there a distinction between... 1. Easy questions to answer and, 2. Questions easy to answer

India creates history..!!

India had traditionally been known to be vulnerable away from home, with a bowling which lacked enough punch to take 20 wickets in a test and batsmen who awkwardly revolved around repeated gutsy knocks by Tendulkar and played second fiddle to him... When India toured Australia in 1999-2000, the commentators at Channel Nine (Bill Lawry, Tony Greig et. al.) named the Indian team "Tendulkar Ganguly"... as these were the only 2 players who withstood the ravaging pigeon called McGrath and the wizardry of Warne... Come 2003, and things seemed hardly changed. This was despite a team which showed its class with a record breaking win against England in the Natwest Series, followed that up with Test victories against West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and England away from home, and reaching the finals of cricket's biggest event... and helping such onlookers was India's below par performance at home against New Zealand and Australia earlier this year. They were written off even before the series started... and the warm-up games didn't help their cause either... After all, what could a bunch of men who thrived on slow low tracks at home have done to the might of the Aussies at their own backyard... But for once, the answer was different. Rahul Dravid did what the flamboyant Laras and meticulous Kallis'es could not do... A puny Agarkar accomplished what the prodigious Wasim Akrams and the giant Donalds could not accomplish.. After Melbourne, February 1981, the newspapers would again read a similar headline.. only that, this time its Adelaide. When the world least expected, India handed over the Aussies the unique distinction of being the first side in 110 years to lose a Test match after scoring 500+ in the first innings... Hats off to John Wright, who started his coaching career with a sedate test series against Sri Lanka and went on to stop Australia's 17-test winning streak in India and has peaked by questioning the Aussie domination at their own backyward. Saurav Ganguly, deserves praise for the way he has handled this team after taking over the mantle from Tendulkar. His courage and leadership qualities make him stand-out as one of India's finest captains. One could perceive an over-confident arrogance in the Aussie camp when they came out to start every inning. But looking back, they would only be licking their wounds hoping to salvage some of the lost pride at home... India may not go on to win the next 2 matches, but this victory is enough to give the Aussies a few sleepless nights lamenting on what could have been... and reinstate the rightful place of this Indian team in world cricket...!!

as I am suffering from fever...

Being sick isn't fun. And working while sick isn't much joy either. I was and still am sick for the past couple of days. I guess it is just my body fighting back for the rest it badly requires. No time for rest also. Reading through the blogs over the past week has brought joy to see atleast one discussion going on, though frankly I didn't understand a single word of it or why I should rejoice or wince at the appearance of my name as an example in the discussion. At the end of it can some one tell me whether I am a multimillionaire or not. I would like to donate a few millions to the upkepp of Bala in a special institution. Since he is worn out by his struggles to make other millionaires. As our recent political dramas have revealed, he again need not worry over Rajesh's political fortunes. He can make money in a political party without being its leader. As I had said, I am going home now to take some rest / read. See you all tomorrow. It was good to see India win comphrehensively, though there were moments towards the end when a couple of wickets went in quick succession. Got to see how the next test on Boxing Day will turn out to be. Sri, If possible, I'll deliver your book in the evening.

Indian Strongmen Beat the Strongest

Kudos to our men in Ausi... Broke the 22 years history by beating Ausi in their home land...

Strong to the finich

Roses are red Violets are blue, Next to Spinach I Love you. -- Popeye the sailor The story of the violet was a good one. But... again, need to use our discretion in viewing the violet's point... some things in life are highly driven by the circumstance that a similar decision that was a decisive turnaround at one time, could turn out grave at another time...!!

When Russel Crowe sells T-Shirts

That was an etymologically challenging article by Bala. As I think on the crux of the issue, it seems to be either going for "more produce - less quality - less price - more consumers" or "less produce - more quality - high price - less consumers" I guess, there is not too much to choose between the two at first-shot. There are a lot of market driven forces that need to be taken into account as well... Xavier starts to sell the t-shirt for INR 50, without much investment in marketing and brand building, but I have a few more questions to ask. 1. Is he the first one in the business..? If so, well and good... but probably there are roughly atleast 5 other vendors who might price t-shirts as much as Xavier and are thinking of similar strategies as him. And some vendor's additional cash reserves might enable him to invest in building a brand even though it may be a small investment, and it might have the capability to impact xavier's sales. 2. How many direct competitors are there for the product in the region where xavier is concentrating and how many of the "strategy-2" kind of businesses are looking at expanding with a "strategy-1" range of t-shirts. If Xavier is beginning his business with some entries in this scenario, the entire outlook of the business changes. 3. Given the segment and pricing, how long and sustaining could a product be in the absence of investment in designing/R&D/branding etc., over a significant period of time. Once Xavier starts a business, and Ram begins to concentrate on "strategy-2", Bala might get some commission for all his consulting work that he did for them, and build up considerable cash reserves and then start a business of his own choosing a via-media between his two strategies... by going for a larger produce than Xavier, but lesser quality than ramgopal, and priced in between his two counterparts and use his cash reserves in some brand building efforts. And he might showcase his product as "almost as good as Ram's with lesser price" and "much better than Xavier's with a little higher cost". So that he could cater to multiple income groups at one-shot.. and unless Xavier and Ram act quickly Bala is going to suffocate their business... after all, he knows their tricks...

Updates...

Hi all, I guess I haven't posted much over the past two weeks. It has been due to some heavy work loads. Rini, that was a wonderful story indeed, I'll let you my thoughts on it later. Meanwhile everyone can have a look at ROASM. I have been updating it daily and will continue to do so.

Rini, please reply

Dear Rini, I have sent a mail to your Yahoo id. I forgot your office id. Please reply asap. More later.

Samavesh

Like Kavi had mentioned there was an inter-DC (Development Center) meet in Bangalore on friday and saturday.. but unlike Kavi had mentioned only Kishore enjoyed it, Ram didn't come... Samavesh means "encompassing".. true to its name, participants from all the development centers had come here... it was one of the best events I've ever witnessed... it had virtually everything u could hope for... the span of events were spread across sports (volleyball, throwball, football, TT etc) to the usual stuff of Antakshari, Dumb C, JAM, Ad Mad etc... Friday evening show was the dance. It was unbelievable to see a bunch of software engineers dance like true professionals.. it was not just a shake of hips... every team had chose a theme for the dance... and presented them very meticulously... Saturday, there was even more in store.. the antakshari made everyone remain on their toes... How in the world do they remember so much songs..!! The quiz was both informative and interesting... there were lots of animated moments that only a "live" audience could ever enjoy... We (people like me) did our part too.. even though we were not taking part in any event, we were the ones who added color to the show with our "cheering-up"... shouting at the top of our voices.. The team from Chennai had brought in drums and a huge flag... it was more like sitting among a crowd watching cricket match... Nandan was in the middle for sometime during quiz... as he kept his first step on the stage.. the drums began to roll... and we were not far behind... we got empty Kinley bottles and started banging on the tables and chairs... and of course, our voices were at their largest decibels... Nandan was quick to remark with a smile "I never got such a 'lively' welcome in my life...!!" He sure was spot on...!! Saturday evening, as prizes were distributed there was a crackers display.. The sky was lit with color... the darkness could be realised only if someone reminded that it was late evening... night seems to have meekly handed over the baton to the day... it was so colourful that the gifted eyes which were fortunate to witness it were saturated with delight... it was around 9.30PM when everything got over... as the people from other DCs slowly and tiredly walked to their respective buses. They were truely, days to cherish...

Ram Ram...

Ram Ram...!!! Get Loans from Ram Ram bank... Its interesting to read.

comments added

Thank you for visiting ROASM. And thank for your comments too. As Kicha requested, I've set up a comments module there. You can leave your comments there. Just to clear Rini's doubts, It is not a song, not any translation nor from a book. Please do not ask me any questions on its origins; and I'll tell you no lies. The theme of ROASM is just what its description and title says. Valli, it is quite interesting that you are being kept on your toes.

In search of safety...

Most of u might know where the Headquarters of Infosys is located. But what you may not know is the long stretch of virtually fatal corridor through which people travel everyday to reach there... I’m talking about the NH – Hosur Road stretch, that connects the "Electronics city" which houses a large number of corporates with the mainland and is fast becoming a leading contender for "the most fatal road" award.. especially for people traveling in 2-wheelers... let alone pedestrians. Three infoscions have met with fatal accidents in that road over the past 1 month. And god knows how many more of other friends... Despite hues by corporate heads including Azim Premji, the Govt responded with hardly a benign reply... It seems to be every man for himself on that NH... As a step to stem this rising menace, we at Infosys have launched a scheme. We call it the Car Pooling... The number of employees commuting in cars is much of a 3-digit figure with almost as many number of cars. Car Pooling is all about every willing person who has some seats vacant when he drives out, announcing that he has N vacant seats to accommodate that many people... and he goes to place X via place Y at time T... and interested persons can contact him directly and join him to their destination and reach safely to their home. A tyical post would be... Subject: 3 seats available To: Koramangala 3rd Block, Raheja Residency - via: Silk Board, Fern Hills, IGate Contact Person - Sriram (extn. 59121 / mob. 98451-81367) My Car - Light Green Santro Xing, KA-01-A-1672 Location - Parked between Building 20 and 23. Leaving around 8 PM. This "announcing" is enabled by having a new folder specifically for Car Pooling in the Bulletin board, where willing persons can post their willingness or people who want a ride can post their requirements... Now, what does this solve... 1. The number of people taking to 2-wheelers can be reduced this way by optimum use of available vacant seats in cars and thereby reducing traffic risks in the NH. 2. Reduces the internal traffic within the Infosys campus by reducing the number of 2 wheelers getting parked and moved around. 3. Enables people traveling to places not well connected by buses. 4. Facilitates people who may have to travel at an "untimely" time. Today is the first day of its launch and the folder is already brimming with activity... People posting their willingness to take others and also others posting their needs of a ride to some place... There is also an initiative to launch an application in the intranet that will channelise and better organize this entire procedure. Hope, friends in other corporates around this place too start to follow some such means.

Sanely Ranting a sane ranting

"She hated losing. That was the last time I played chess." But why..?? I understand, she is everything a woman ought to be.. but why do I need to stop playing chess if she hated losing. If I'm so serious about having a companion for life, the smallest expection I could have from her is, she comforts my sorrows and enjoys my victories as hers, and that I do the same thing with respect to her... Why does it have to be a one-way "giving in"...?? And its obvious that such one-way giving ins are soon going to evaporate as life moves on and responsibilities take the better of the "trying to please her" phase... She might be the most precious jewel I would ever have wanted in my life... but jewels too need polish... (and this holds for the "He" too)... PS: jax, u don't have a comments section (atleast, I could not find), so I've posted my comments about ur ranting here... -------------------------- Pretty woman, don't make me cry Pretty woman, don't walk away, If that's the way it must be, o.k. I guess I'll go on home, it's late ...but wait What do I see, is she walking back to me? Yeah, she's walking back to me Oh, oh, pretty woman -- From the song "Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison

Poor girl to lose it to You Jax...

Who is that? Aana ithu thaan saakunnu....unnai neeye Barbarians, Romans'oda ellam compare panniiriye da...hehehehehhe!!! imm...athayum padikkiromla...engala sollanum!!!!! But for that its a nice narration....jax

Nice to hear that

As I had quipped earlier, it really thrills me to hear that everyone is going ahead in their careers at full steam. Rantings of a sane mind has been relaunched with a new theme and look, as I had promised. Have a look at it and tell me your thoughts on it. As we are having a full day meeting at our office, I may not be able to post much. So have a nice day.

Thought provoking stuff

You may have already read this.. but still... this is quite thought provoking enough to repeat... A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley, when he spotted a world-famous heart surgeon in his shop. The heart surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come take a look at his bike. The mechanic shouted across the garage, 'Hey Doc can I ask you a question?' The famous surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, 'So Doc, look at this engine. I also can open hearts, take valves out, fix'em, put in new parts and when I finish this will work just like a new one. So how come I get a pittance and you get the real big money, when you and I are doing basically the same work?' The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic..... 'Try doing it with the engine running'. Good one, ain't it... I thought a little more starting from this... will say more about that tomorrow... I'm beside myself today...

Congrats rini

BTW, how will you spend the excess 20 percent yaar... send me the money yaar...I will carry the burden from you and take care of it....okva. !!!!!!!!!!

Blogger needs a bulk mail folder...he he he

Think Sriprasath

Though you have posted a very useful information I wonder how great the relevance would be for all the bloggers or anyone for that matter. Its only as difficult as searching in google with the same search string as ur title.. it would even give lot more details than what has been posted. So, if u could share some piece of information that is really going to make people know something new or share ur thoughts on anything u feel might be needed, I guess it would be really good.. and we are always there to support u with our views too... Hope u r getting me in the right spirit, mate...

Updates to blogs...

If any of you had visited Rantings of a sane mind, you might have noticed that it sports a brand new theme and look. If possible, I'll try to set up a comments module in that blog so that you can be able to post your comments there. Seeing the book and movie reviews permeating in the blog, why don't someone set up a blog especailly for movies and book reviews? All you have to do is set up a blog and invite the others. As I found the Sideblog not as useful as I expected it to be, I have removed it. I am also thinking of doing away with the Recent Posts index as it tends to cause problems for IE users. Also the log will load a trifle faster than before, becasue the Javascript calculation and writing of links would be eliminated. BTW, I have also updated Quod scripsi, scripsi with another song that I frequently listen to.

last night I read..

Shout at the Devil

-

Wilbur Smith

A nicely written tale of ivory poaching, reckless daring and humor, Shout at the Devil is set in German East Africa. Incorrigible rogue, Irish-American Flynn Patrick O'Flynn and his son-in-law Sebastian Oldsmith of impeccable English merchant background make unlikely partners as ivory poachers round the Rufiji Delta in East Africa in 1912, but prove a formidable threat to the peace of mind of Herman Fleischer, the fat German Commissioner in whose territory they make their living. Teasing Fleischer is an irresistible if dangerous sport, but it is not long before the outbreak of World War One enables the embattled sausage-eating Commissioner to take his revenge. While Flynn and Sebastian are away, he attacks and burns their homestead, and leaves among the dead Sebastian's infant daughter. Only Flynn's daughter Rosa survives - and distraught at the loss of her child she dedicates herself, her husband and father to the pursuit of bitter vengeance.

Wilbur Smith combines the comedy of the free-booting adventurers of his two central characters with desperate scenes of action on the wide enemy-infested ocean and in the steaming heat of the African jungle, the contrives a chilling ending to a novel started in light-hearted vein. Shout at the Devil has been made into a film in 1976.

Speedpost

Last saturday I got a book... one after a long time... "Speedpost - Letters to my children about living, loving, caring and coping with the world" by Shoba De. The title is quite explanatory enough to tell u what the book is all about... Its a collection of letters and each collection grouped under specific heads that deal with specific aspects of life and living. I've just turned a few pages and its been a good start... Its amazing how I get reminded of my own self.. all that I did when I was a kid, as I read through those few pages. How many times you would have got "angry" with ur parents or siblings.. How many times u would have ceased to speak with them, turned ur face away or skipped a lunch... And how many times ur parents asked u to go to hell when u did that... But deep down inside we know there is a sense of affection that lingers on... a sense of deep concern... ur parents may have asked you to go to hell, and if at all you try to go there they would be the first to pull you back...!! Such small things that happen in our everyday life go on virtually unnoticed, unless something reminds us of the intricate things that goes on in our sub-conscious mind. Something that would reinstate what we are with respect to ourself and our special ones. This book seems to provide such a tool... atleast for me... We tend to move on with our life with little awareness of what we are and where we are supposed to be going... if u understand what I mean... But, I did give out a wide smile as I read through a few lines that reminded me of myself... reinstating what I am... An initial step to Self-Discovery..!!

hot..hot..

Well, the blog is becoming interesting. Wow! now it is becoming like our classroom. The passion of defending one's viewpoints, quick retorts, the presentation of facts and ideas. If only the others could also join in. Well, I wonder where the discussion took a turn from being a very good discussion on 'what open source software has for us' to as Rini termed 'a topic on questioning '. Anyway as I had said in one of earlier posts, questioning is good. Whenever some one questions me, I learn how much I know and how much I don't know. Really, if Manny had questioned me on my Venn Diagram idea for Open Source and Closed Source software, I would have found it difficult to produce more data on it. But now I can. Hope everyone considers that as a positive aspect, and not take it as a negative connotation of questioning or ridiculing one's knowledge. Not everyone knows everything. Ranjini, I don't think what you were suggesting was an aphorism. I feel that you were telling an anecdote. On book reviews, I thought maybe if I could show an example, others can use this to write reviews of what they read. But please don't write newspaper reviews or magazine reviews. They are not BOOKS. See you tomorrow.

right...proofs are not the ends... The scientist tried to convince the man with the proofs that he had but at last found the man to be an imbicile... When this is the case for a scientist then my proofs have no reasons to stand and convince...ha ha. Good day

Curious...

That was a nice story between the scientist and an imbecile ranjini, you have gone One step ahead of streamiling and contouring and tried to convey exactly what you wanted to convey...ha ha. Now, I was in a muddle in figuring out who is a scientist and who is the imbecile in our story of discussion. haha With no hard feelings, would you please tell me who is who in conjunction to the discussion which went on between me and kicha... Of course I have my answer too which I will share with you all ranjini...

I hope "The End" is not the end of this discussion... Agreed that new revelations are made when you question the obvious... Galileo questioned Aristotle...But he was able to substantiate what he told... Its as simple as the difference between throwing a statement in air and making a statement backed with proof...This is what I meant with the term prediction and this also makes the diffrence between a prediction and making a wild guess... Whenever we find a person with a Ph.D we tend to respect him, just because of that he had done something good about something... Of course not all Ph.Ds can be great but its a standard that everybody accepts to recognise one's expertise. The point I made is straight dear kishore..I dont mind you questioning the obvious...But you can only when you substantiate yours BTW why no posts from the rest in the buddy list?

Future (im)perfect..??

Just a few words on Mahendran's lines... "if you feel that that person... has put in more and more research and thoughts " --- Precisely..!! Believe someone ONLY if you feel that the person has put in more "research and thoughts" and is also able to convince you that his research was flawless... (after all, researches and thoughts too may not be right) "some damn shit layman " --- Hmmmm... "nobody can question the fact that E=MC (square) " --- Nobody denies it is right, as far as the present levels of knowledge goes. But its only in questioning the obvious that new revelations can be made. Just as Galileo questioned Arsitotle's "universal truth" (which held on until the 1500s) of geo-centric theory... "But for sure one can predict the future which is what all is all about... " --- Predict the future..?? Uh..!!

A music concert

Yesterday, I had gone to a music concert held at the Coimbatore Music School, a musical joint venture between a few music teachers in Coimbatore and The Royal School of Music, Sweden. The project is financed in part by SIDA. Yesterday's concert focussed on the strings section, i.e., the violins, cellos, and basses. The program started around 6:30 pm. The first item was Concerto in C Major for Cello and String Orchestra. Franz Joseph Haydn was the composer of this exquisite piece. The concerto consists of three movements. A movement is a portion of a music piece, something similiar to ragas in Indian Classical Music. The first movement is Allegro Moderato (The music is played with a moderate degree of quickness. Allegro means quick and moderato means moderately). The second movement is Adagio (A slow passage, movement, or work. The tempo would be very slow and graceful.) and the third movement is Presto (Music is played with a swift tempo, faster than allegro). The concerto was conducted by Mark Lomnas with Magnus Lanning playing the cello. The strings section consisted of violinsts, cellists and double bassists, comprosing of people from Cochin, Bangalore and Chennai. The second item of the day was a vocal performance by Cecilia Ohrvall. She performed two songs, Venti Pranti and Lascia ch'io pianga (Music and lyrics: G.F. Händel). The string orchestra accompanied her. The next piece was an Mexican Christmas song titled "Earth's Joy" played by the string orchestra. This was followed by a traditional Christmas Carol, "Silent Night". The Coimbatore Music School Choir. comprising of children between the ages 8 to 12, sung this moving piece with the strings providing a solemn backing. After this, the staff of CMS sang a latin hymn titled "In Dulci Jublio". The next vocal piece was a traditional song from Papua New Guinea titled "Kumbaya". Then a musical piece titled "Divertimento In D Major" written by Mozart was played by the orchestra. The day finally ended with another vocal perfomance by the CMS choir children. They sang three songs, titled "I like the flowers", "New moon", and "We are the flowers". It was wonderful to listen to the concert. There will be a similar concert to be held in Bangalore at the Bangalore School of Music. I'll inform you about the dates later.

Books read this week

The past week, I read four books. One of them, The Eye Of The Tiger by Wilbur Smith, was an interesting story about sunken treasure with an Indian angle. If you recall Indian history, the Mughals were a great dynasty who brought much of India under a single dominion. Hindusthan was a rich and powerful nation in the heydays of the Mughal rule. They had built several architectural wonders and were connoisseurs of art. One Mughal king had a priceless stone, a stone priceless than the Kohinoor. This diamond was embedded in a throne, not the Peacock Throne, but another throne. This throne was guarded with great security. During the Indian Mutiny, a British officer kills the guardians of the throne and parcels it back to England to sell it. But an unexpected storm near South Africa sinks the ship and the throne is lost. The recovery of this throne is the story in short. The another book, The Fifth Profession by David Morrell is about two bodyguards, an American and a Japanese one coming together to defend a client. An interesting thriller from the author of The First Blood, it dwells with the question of duty and honor. It also deals a little in depth with the possiblity of altering human brain. The book had an interesting concept. Every one might have had experienced déjà vu atleast once in thier life. But to experience jamais vu would be torture. “Jamais Vu” is used to describe something the experience of being unfamiliar with a person or situation that is actually very familiar; In this novel, the protaganists sees each other die, but afterwards find that what they was not real, everything they had believed to be true is false. An interesting twisting tale of horror. I also read The Seventh Scroll by Wilbur Smith. This book was conceived as a parallel novel to one of his earlier work, The River God. This is also a treasure hunt, a hunt that takes place in the hearts of the Ethiopian jungle. The treasure is a tomb of a pharoah, Mamose, who lived some two thousand years before Christ. A wonderful novel, blending nature and man in a never-ending struggle, runs to nearly 700 pages. Two archaelogists try to find the treasure under water and underground, escaping death at every turn. On Monday, I read Burnt Sienna by David Morrell. A chilling tale of a manhunt across continents with lots of twists and turn every few pages, the novel is about an ex-military man, who had forsaken violence for art. Chase Malone is a famous artist who is commissioned by an arms dealer to paint his wife. The trouble is Chase like to take orders from no one. He is forced to accept the offer. The face-off between Chase and the arms dealer forms the crux of the novel.

Total Cost Of Ownership (TCO)

Hi, Coming backl to the TCO issue as pointed by Kishore... There was a survey conducted by a group called RFG (Robert Frances Group Inc) which evaluated the Total Cost of Ownership for Linux deployments in enterprises... This was concucted from a wide angle of perspective exploring all the aspects right from the deployment of Linux environment and to the extent of administration and the hidden costs as well.. This says that Linux is the least expensive deployments which involved minimal TCO when compared to other OS environments such as Solaris and Windows and they also provided the quantified data and statistics as well.. For having a look at what they say about that, you can visit this link But still, People can question the validity of this information too but I would say the same words again... These people have put in lots and lot more thoughts than what we have put in and I am pleased to believe this and I leave the rest to you... The End!

Out of touch

I guess I've been out of touch fro the past week. So here are my contributions to the discussion. Linux is a very good model for the power of open source just as Microsoft is the model for proprietary software. Apple would also be a very good example for closed source software, but their idea of including hardware under closed source, was a major drawback. Both closed source, (hereafter referred to as CS) and open source (hereafter referred to as OS, not the OS as in Operating System) have their advantages and disadvantages. Imagine a Venn diagram with two sets. One set would be Open Source s/w and the other Closed Source/Proprietary s/w. They would naturally intersect. The discussion that we are having has been mostly in the area of intersection. Mostly the s/w that lies within these areas of intersection are operating systems, web based applications (LAMP architecture) and some general applications like text editors etc. But if you can imagine, you can see that there are lots of areas where they don't intersect at all. That is one area that worries me. Ideally the time we should be this discussion should be when the area of intersection covers most of both circles. Anyway it was a good discussion with lots of useful information backed by solid facts.

Of course you r right bala...There is no thumb rule that you should have a blind eye and accept whatever an experienced person says...after all they are also humans and there is 100 percent chances for them to be wrong also... Rather it also does not mean that you can question anything and everything for a matter of fact...For instance if somebody says something and you may be pleased to believe what he says, if you feel that that person (no matter whomsoever they may be, our seniors or some damn shit layman or your grandma) has put in more and more research and thoughts than what you have put in that... For a matter of fact nobody can question the fact that E=MC (square) and probably you can question but only when you can substantitae your stand against such a universal timetested truth... As ranjini said the future is uncertain...agreed.. We cannot foretell the future and flatly throw a statement in the air... But for sure one can predict the future which is what all is all about...

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Mahendran jayavel

Compiler output: #sorry I am late#

Compiling "sorryIamlate.post" from blogger/dayswork/chottu .... 1. E: "gals" not found: Ciao guys n gals 2. E: Illegal verb: Infy Intelligent 3. E: Unrecognized keyword: patti mandram 4. W: Copyright stolen: Invalid verb/pronoun/noun/adjective/whatever the heck "idea" in Before a brand new idea egg hatches the next updated idea egg is delivered. from Idea cellular... 5. E: Insufficient Memory: recall my earlier blog 6. W: Koi Mil Gaya: Kavi: Kya ho gaya? 4 Errors, 2 Warnings. PS: Bala's recent post is not getting published properly... (jax, why could be that), if u read that, u'll understand this...

IBM Expands Linux Support

IBM Expands Linux Support in WebSphere

When the cream goes crap

Take a look at this article in Times Of India by Sudipto Majumdar... Now... read ahead... This is as ridiculous as it can get. The entire GoI and we as the general public should be ashamed that an upright officer was killed when he was doing his duty. This happens to many other such officers. So, where does the IIT angle come? Sudpito says (seemingly to Mr.Vajpayee)... Isn't this what you always wanted? Didn't you try convincing IITians over the years to stay back in India and make a difference? When someone tried, where were you? How can this even be thought of in terms of a FAVOUR...!! IIT belongs to India – its an Indian Institute, and if you stay in India post-IIT, it's the most natural thing to happen. I would agree if IIT was in nation X, and one chose to stay in nation Y after doing an IIT from nation X... then, and only then, you could say you were doing Nation X a favour...!! On that lines, if you go to US after studying in IIT, you are doing the US a favour, not the other way..!! Let me put this straight, we (and I mean all of us, IITians, Non-IITians, lawyers, doctors and everyone) are doing no favour to anyone by staying in India... We see a future here and hence, we're here. If Sudipto and a few others want to leave India for "a better future", they can go ahead... This country will do better without them. And notice these ridiculuous phrases Sudipto mentions... It pains me as an IITian --- Not as an Indian..?? A sense of betrayal troubles me... for having stayed on in India. --- Is the country of your birth so bad? This is no patriotism. Just a belief to stand up and do things differently. --- Makes no sense..!! My friends who emigrated then, with whom I differed in my beliefs, seem to stand corrected in retrospect - they were the real smart ones. I was among the romantic idealists who decided to stay and work in India. But I am lucky to be alive. May be because I didn't stretch my honesty and idealism as far as Satendra did. --- who is vindicated here..?? The people who stay back are idealists... Lucky to be alive..?? Are we living in a war zone..?? Sudipto dares of having done his motherland a favor. It is a matter of immense shame to the whole of the prestigious community that he represents. A sardonic representation of ideas reflecting the mindset of some of the people who are known as the "Indian Elite".

mis informations

I would also like to contradict with the info what kishore has provided in his post abt Websphere suppot and Linux'x support for desktop/mobile and applictaion development...
In the first place IBM's Websphere supports Linux and for that matter we have performed a migration test for Websphere for Linux in our company though for test reasons and it pretty well compatible with Linux.
And with all these and Java alkso endorsing Linux, (You should be knowing that Java is predominant in mobile and desktop application developments) I hope Linux is one step ahead of Windows...
Got to go and will get back to the TCO issue too later...
Hope the stage gets hot...

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Mahendran Jayavel

I do understand the various bottlenecks that kishore has pointed out. But we have to still look deeper into this issue...
Linux is no longer to be a free OS and Its slowly turning out to come out as an Enterprise Linux...Of course its free, and rather than seeing this term "free" from the "zero cost" perspective the stage is set to see it as "freedom" to tune to fit the needs of the user.
And as kishore said, when it comes to Domains such as EAI and all, Its not far away from possible that Linux can well be integrated with other legacy systems and I hope Kishore might not know that MQSeries Integrator has support for Linux...For that matter of Enterprise Applications integration the underlying OS is not a major concern as all of the integrations are based on a universal Standards with which every OS including Windows or Linux (no matter which OS it is) complies with can be integrated.
For instance today there was an Internal training for us on EAI for which we had a person from Satyam who is the chief functional consultant of Satyam's Malaysia divison was giving us a lecture and I put forth this doubt to him...
His views do match with what I thought in the same way as he said that the platform really doesnt matter for the integration of Linux or WIndows systems and he also added that in fact this is the major reason why Linux made Microsoft rattled. This fellow from Satyam by name Sai is the chief Consultant for Satyam and infact he was a Pro Microsoft person who worked with BizTalk Server and a lot more of that sort and he was also Sun Certified professional as well...
Why I am giving this much stress to these granular details about him is that may be I may have a feel say looking Linux and Microsoft from say from about 50,000 feet, whereas he as an experienced head may make more sense than what I can say...
Right from the beginning when Linus Torvalds released his Kernel, he just developed his own kernel just to have an operating system which lets us what we want to do instead of the OS letting us what it lets us to do...as in the case of Windows
Later on when you look into the evolution of Linux, It was specifically designed for professionals or I would say that in other terms that it was developed and handled by "Gurus"...who had a better systems knowledge when compared to the end user...
This might be the reason that might have prevented the popularity and user friendliness of Linux from being explored by the end user.
But now the scenarion which is emerging is completely different... IBM has already started OSDL (Open Source Development lab) which involves giants like SUN, Oracle, and lot more to join the bang still...
With this, Now the Linux I hope is trying to get transformed into a desktop alternative too and for instance Sun Microsystems is going to install some 200 million servers and computers in China with its Java enables Linux Based Workstations and servers It has also signed an MOU to distribute unrestricted number of copies of its office suite "Star Office" in china for corporates Governments and institutions...
Already the stage was set for what kishore has said about the integration of legacy systems and the day is not too far for Linux to occupy an inevitable role in the future computing... I need to close today and will get back with lot more details when i find time for ranjini and no doubt that we cannot doubt on micropsoft's Marketing power, But ranjini, do believe that Linux Enterprise is no longer a dream and that dream will come tru and your belief is no invalid still...

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Mahendran Jayavel

Busy...

I've been busy for the past few days. So I have unable to post or respond to queries. Hoping to become free by tomorrow. Bye.

There is no free lunch

Its true that Linux has been growing in prominence as pointed by Mahendran. But lets delve a bit deeper into the actual scenario. When we say "linux" we only refer to the operating system. But at an enterprise level OS is just a minuscule investment. OS licensing costs are a relatively small portion of calculating the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of any system. Since software, including the operating system, only accounts for around 10 percent of the total cost, reducing the direct operating system costs will only have a marginal affect on the overall IT budget. The real money-eater is Administration, development and support and its related hidden costs which account for 50 percent to 70 percent of the enterprise system. Further, there are umpteen niches that enterprises typically could encompass – Telecom, EAI, Web Services, Mobile computing, Information sharing, Migration and the list never ends. There are numerous products which cater to each of these niches. Though operating system is a vital part, these products form the basic back bone for any enterprise computing. But, more than majority of such products are not available for linux. Forget Microsoft. IBM touts linux in a big way, but they have don’t have their WebSphere suite (their linchpin product) supporting linux. Though IBM has been releasing linux based server systems, they are yet to port most of their product suite to linux. Various WebSphere suites are available for Mac OS, Mainframes, Windows and Solaris platforms but not linux. In similar lines, TIBCO, the market leader in EAI products, supports only Mac and Windows and have not indicated migration to linux as their strategy for the near future. Various SAP suites are available for Windows, Mac and Solaris but not yet on linux. With linux into the picture, integration with legacy systems becomes next only to impossible. Typical integration middleware like MQ Series do not have a linux version. Bringing out a linux version for all these products (and there are many many more, that I have not mentioned) will involve enormous investments and laborious efforts. Further, the existing infrastructure also needs to be maintained and upgraded, which makes the task all the more difficult. Linux may be an obvious choice for small Govt projects (like India’s own bhoomi, gyandoot etc.) with Java as the programming option, as they look for cheapest possible cost with reasonable quality. But considering the other wide array of product domains, linux may only be a good "Server software" and get bundled in the server systems, but not for an inter/intra enterprise-wide web/desktop/mobile application development – and this is where most of the enterprises bet their life on… So, its not a question of being free or having quality, but it’s a question of encompassing an insurmountable number of domain specific suites, which is never going to be easy for an "open source" community – the precise reason why GNU is still suffering…!!

Hi all,
Its not weird for you to hear people chanting the Linux mantra increasingly if not predominantly nowadays... With the governments of countries like China, Brazil, and Germany already in the list of patrons of Linux and more and more market being swayed away by the open source computing, Its really going to be a tough ride for Microsoft in major developing markets like china and India. But do you think that Open Source can beat Microsoft... Its a popular belief that anything that is free cannot meet the quality of its paid counterpart ...Afterall beggars cannot be choosers, but consumers can be...isnt it. As Shiv Khera rightly said in his Living with Honour that "Popular beliefs need not be always right for the sake of its popularity and they will be challenged at times..." Lets wait and see whether penguins climbs up our desktops...

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Mahendran Jayavel

Another Country Abandons Windows for Linux

In another blow to Microsoft, after last weeks announcement from China to standardize its country to Linux, Brazil has also followed suit. In a surprising, or not so surprising announcement by Brazil’s top technology officer, Brazil has decided to abandon Microsoft Windows and replace it with Linux and Samba. Full story

Mother of all Operating Systems...

A Message from former Iraqi Information Director Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf...

from VIJAY BABU

All the past weekends I visited interesting places. 1st weekend - actually my friend's(here in mumbai - MBT, with whom i stayed for first 2 weeks) colleague is getting married, so we went with him to buy marriage dressesss to him. for that we went a place called Linking Road in Bandra. in that road u can find almost all the branded item's exclusive show rooms. we spent whole day in that road only. 2nd weekend - went to beach called Bandstand. it is a licensed place for lovers. 3rd weekend - went to Nehru planetarium, Mahalakshmi temple and Sithi Vinayagar temple. temples r very different and good. 4th weekend - went to marine lines, hope u hav seen it in many films. it is also good. payanangal mudivathillai..........

We 3 - 2 Juniors

Hope u read ram's mail to groups... So, we go 1 up on our juniors. I thought our juniors had gained on us, but with Ramgopal moving into infy we have reinstated our place...!! Hope to see more coming in...

Channeling Children

Not very sure if u people had noticed... But, effective y'day there is a new channel on the block - The History Channel... a part of the STAR suite. Its really heartening to see the "Satellite television" turning out to be an educational media too rather than just being entertainment oriented. There was a time (and it still holds) when the Satellite televisions were considered to spoil kids and bring all the wrong things from all around the world at their footstep... But things seem to change in the recent times. Channels have really widened their scope of coverage and are moving to being edutainment channels more than anything else... But what remains to be seen, is the attitude of the parents. Finding a parent who does not give "cable" connection when their children are in school esp. 10th and 12th, is not an uncommon sight. "Studies will get spoiled" is the cliched reply. Most parents are always under an apprehension that getting good marks in the school exams is an indication of intelligence. Moreover, which parent would like their children to score less than their neighbour's child. The bad mania of comparing with other children often leads to the parents pressuring their children into studies and this does no good to the children. Preventing children from watching TV under the pretext of exams or inheriting bad things from channels often shuts the child from a wide array of domains that he ought to learn and know at these younger ages. The attitude of their child's intelligence measured in terms of his marks in the exams or his performance relative to the neighbour's child does have a telling effect. Parents tend to worry on the not-so-right side of things by having too much concern about marks rather than concentrating on choosing the right mould for their child's betterment. ---------------------- If I knew what I was so anxious about, I wouldn't be so anxious. -- Mignon McLaughlin

Here is a funny block which made me laugh...(from www.thenetworkadministrator.com)
Mahendran Jayavel

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How To Install Software - A 12 Step Program
--author anonymous
1. Examine the software packaging until you find a little printed box that explains what kind of computer system you need to run the software.
It should look something like this:

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-------------------
2386 PROCESSOR OR HIGHER
628.8 MEGAHERTZ MODEM
719.7 MB FREE DISK SPACE
3546 MB RAM
432323 MB ROM
05948737 MB RPM
ANTILOCK BRAKING SYSTEM
2 TURTLE DOVES
NOTE: This software will not work on your computer.

2. Open the software packaging and remove the manual. This will contain detailed instructions on installing, operating, and troubleshooting the software. Throw it away.

3. Find the actual software, which should be in the form of either a 3.5-inch floppy diskette or a CD-ROM, located inside a sealed envelope that says:
LICENSING AGREEMENT
-------------------
By breaking this seal, the user hereinafter agrees to abide by all the terms and conditions of the following agreement that nobody ever reads, as well as the Geneva Convention and the UN Charter and the Secret Membership Oath of the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks and such other terms and conditions, real and imaginary, as the Software Company shall deem necessary and appropriate, including the right to come to the user's home and examine the user's hard drive, as well as the user's underwear drawer if we feel like it, take it or leave it, until death do us part, one nation indivisible by the dawn's early light,... finders keepers, losers weepers, ...

4. Hand the software to a child aged 3 through 12 and say, "(Name of child), please install this on my computer."

5. If you have no child age 3 through 12, insert the software in the appropriate drive, type SETUP" and press the Enter key.

6. Turn the computer on, you idiot.

7. Once again type "SETUP" and press the Enter key.

8. You will hear grinding and whirring noises for a while, after which the following message should appear on your screen:

The Installation Program will now examine your system to see what would be the best way to render it inoperable. Is it OK with you? Choose one, and be honest:
+-----+ +------+ | YES | | SURE | +-----+ +------+

9. After you make your selection, you will hear grinding and whirring for a very long time while the installation program does who knows what in there. Some installation programs can actually alter molecular structures, so that when they're done, your computer has been transformed into an entirely new device, such as a food processor. At the very least, the installation program will create many new directories, sub-directories, and sub-sub-directories on your hard drive and fill them with thousands of mysterious files with names like "puree.exe," "fester.dat," and "doo.wha.."

10. When the installation program is finished, your screen should display the following message:

CONGRATULATIONS!
The installation program cannot think of anything else to do to your computer and has grown bored. You may now attempt to run your software. If you experience any problems, electrical shocks, insomnia, shortness of breath, nasal discharge, or intestinal parasites, you should immediately *!@!$)$%@&*^^)$*!#$_$*^^&

11. At this point your computer system should become less functional than the federal government, refusing to respond even when struck with furniture.

12. Call the toll-free Tech Support Hotline number listed on the package and wait on the line for a representative, who will explain to you, in a clear, step-by-step manner, how to adopt a child aged 3 through 12.

replies

Rini, my post on questioning was an extrapolation of Kicha's earlier post, precisely these lines

These people became eminent because they had the guts to reject eminent people of their times. The bottomline is.. Of course, listen to your elders, teachers, sacred books, philosophy or the deemed eminent personalities.. but do remember, its not in reading sacred books or listening to 'eminent' people, that one gains wisdom...

It was to show that if you accept everything as it happens (some call it Fate), you might find yourself in a doldrum, with no place to go. I was suggesting that a person has the right to question and that should not be encumbered by anyone or anything. I guess you have misunderstood the meaning of a few portions of my post. I am not asking everyone to start questioning everything. I was speaking about questioning about things you don't understand and feel it's not right. In fact, the last para of my post summarised my entire post.

"The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but the too-squeaky wheel gets replaced."

Elders might have various suggestions. But it doesn't always mean that you have to follow everything they say. Some things have to be followed. I understand them and will follow them. But things which make no sense in the modern world have either to be modified or rejected. We have been doing it in the past and will possibly continue to do so in the future. reg. you recent post, I guess Kicha was speaking in general about religion and superstitions. I don't think he was trying to bring literature under the purview of his post. Well, you echoed my points in saying that reading is not as easy as it may seem to be. I think you are trying to tell Kicha that a man without a past will soon be a man without a future. I remember reading a similar statement by Wilbur Smith. Critical awareness is a very important tool that a person can possess. I have experienced it. Before I read "Foucault's Pendulum" way back in the early 90's, books were just meant for passing my time. I used to take a book from the library in the morning, return the book back to the library by early evening. That was it. Another book added to the library in my mind. But two books provided me the enlightment, Foucault's Pendulum and Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. They were the first books where I ran into difficulties. I couldn't understand a single word of what they were trying to tell me. But I was young then, maybe thirteen or fourteen. It took me several weeks to go through them. At the end, I was still confused. I had this strange feeling of having left the book unread. It felt similar to sitting in front of a wonderful buffet, but eating only the dessert. After that, I made a vow to understand each book. Since then, I take pains to understand the context in which a book has been written. I found that books make a greater sense when you understand the context and the frame of mind that author had been while writing. Every book has been a bundle of joy since then. It is good to hear that you are trying to develop an outlook on life. Could you expand more on that later? It is sad to hear that you've got to wear specs. Send me a photo with your new haircut and specs. It is good to hear your garden is growing and it is sad to hear that you've got pets, sorry, pests. I feel that "Elite Essays" could benefit from a discussion board or a comments module. Hope you could set one up. Ram, why are there no updates to "Thoughts"? Any reasons... More later...