dividby0

i can not spell anymore

2011-04-05T23:32:00.000+05:30

I remember my teachers reciting us words and their spellings during primary school. Till about three years back I had a good hold of spellings. Then came reports and that had to be typed on a laptop.
The contemporary world makes us many provisions. A few improve our existence (maybe) and some depreciate it. The spell-checker is one such fad.

The spell-checker is a grand application, it keeps me from committing horrendous and careless inaccuracies but it has made my spelling so much frail.

I was scripting a matter telling someone that something was for their convenience. I couldn't spell convenience!

It's not that convenience is an overly straightforward word. My guess, if you asked 10 people how to spell it, or other words like conscience, a momentous number would either err or wouldn't even attempt. That's not the point. The point is I should have known how to spell it but the spell checker has just made my spelling scrawny.

What did I do? I saw the red underline below what was the obviously misspelled and right-clicked to get a list of suggestions on the proper spelling. Sure enough, there in the list was the proper spelling.

Whenever you don't use something, you slowly lose it. The little finger on the toes for instance. The appendix. The tail.
I use my knowledge of spelling less and less, I just let the computer do it.
Conceivably sometimes too convenient is simply too convenient.
..now this is a really wierd statement..or is it weird?

cognitive misers

2011-03-22T23:11:00.000+05:30

Believing in others' opinions rather than wisdom to take quick decisions. Onslaught of information and scarce time in our frantic paced lives encourages us to elevate the value of mental shortcuts in order to reduce the complex world to something more manageable.

current

2011-02-18T00:35:00.000+05:30

wake up and think just:
am and now

a thought is forever

2011-02-02T23:47:00.000+05:30

It is pure energy. All the thoughts we have right now, or might have had earlier, or would have in time to come are creative. Energy that a thought has never dies. The thought energy leaves our "self" and moves out to the universe and extends forever.

A thought is forever.

dying swans with twisted wings

2011-01-14T21:13:00.000+05:30

what we see is not real.. its an interpretation dependent upon influential extraneous determinants.
people lose their souls to this brave new world like dying swans with twisted wings

un-named feeling

2010-12-31T22:20:00.001+05:30

The other night I was listening to trance and Wondering about physics in binary code. visualized the orgasmic dances of Shiva. It seemed a doom's night. got overpowered by a starry eyed surprise of a cosmic gate opening to an unnamed feeling. Appeared to have absconded to a de-facto state of trance and felt insomniac.

the H effect

2010-12-21T22:48:00.001+05:30

I was chatting with a friend the other day and we were joking about the double-H in my name. How numerology effected people was a far off topic, how it effected my name is more relevant in my case.
What it triggered was a contemplation about matter.

A perennially quintessential question:
“Do you believe in God?”
Factually nine out of ten people answer in an affirmative. The other 10 percent provide a variety of answers, including a favorite among skeptics and atheists: “Which god do you mean?” And then they offer a litany of classical and non-classical deities: Aphrodite, Amon Ra, Apollo, Brahma, Thor, and Zeus.

The smallest, simplest, elementary unit creating, constituting, engulfing and decomposing all matter that exists. H-Hydrogen

Needless to say that objectivity of every thing, tool, gadget, figure, article, body, brain, shape, thought, and sense is from hydrogen. Acted upon by forces of gravitons and nuclear fusion in the stellar furnaces heavier elemental frameworks derive configurations which now form not only the machinery we use but also the soft tissue which makes us think.

The axiom of life/death, thoughts/actions, matter/energy is a spherical design of nature with an electron orbiting a nucleus, governed by the religion of quantum forces..omnipresent God.

keep talking - adapted

2010-10-15T13:50:00.000+05:30

For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination
We learned to talk

A silence surrounds the man and he's not able to think straight. By man, here, I intend to talk about mankind..
Sitting in the corner he does not want any one to bother him
He thinks that he should speak, however he can not seem to do so
His words do not come out right and it makes him feel like drowning

He feels weak and can not show his weakness and sometimes wonders where he can go now
Loneliness surrounds him with an aura of haunting and melancholia

It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking

Mist Marijuana Mystics McLeodganj

2010-09-08T00:51:00.000+05:30

The sight, smell, taste and noises were as mesmerizing as the touch of moist air on a perspiring face under Bhagsu fall. After a trek on a mountain with weed(s) growing all around, at a place where it seems as the inhabitants are smoking up in the basements of the town, planing to change the ways the worlds run, cold water numbs the warm feet as if caught paralysis.

A tingling sensation overwhelms the legs, while moving out of the water and climbing an ice cold mineral mass of a slanting slab edging away from the rock under the waterfall.

Hippies and Tibetans give the noir the completeness of a captivating land that grips the brain cells as a fascinating magnet spellbinding the spirit with charm.

Indian faces seem rare as one makes way through the bustling streets of McLeodganj. Indianism eliminates as one enters the town. The ambiance of the place takes up the responsibility to seduce. Sipping Jasmine flowers in hot water add to the moments of overflowing pleasure.

Mist surrounds a second after a warm Sun shines past the shadows of mountains. Rain drops pour as if its a free. Trippy incense compliments the magical aura inside the Dalai Lama monastery where walls with Kalchakra prints cause hypnosis. Displays of Tibetan culture and craft mesmerizes the five senses at Norbulinka with the excellence of human harmony with nature envelops the mind, body and soul as white light penetrating through a clear crystal and engulfing a chamber filled otherwise with complexity and agitation, making it pure, clean, soothing and pleasant.

A view of the Dhauladhar gives an awe inspiring jealousy of not being at the place for ever.

contradiction of brain's binary code

2010-08-27T22:52:00.000+05:30

Considering the metaphysics of existence, the etimology of our perceptive images seems paradoxically vage. Sometimes our consciousness creates mutually incompatible, real or apparent, thoughts.

Our world can not begin, but if you think better of it, then it can not end.

We work, look for answers, solutions, truth from the beginning till the end of a day. But closer we approach, new possibilities and new beginnings emanate..and the truth seems still farther away..an infinite effort our destiny be.

on the inside..flying through darkness..trip

2010-05-29T22:43:00.000+05:30

vent in numbness,
trance,
nullity,
nirvana,
obscurity,
void.

issue me a passport to oblivion.
amputate complexity,
confusion,
and chaos.

expunge ramifications and intricacies. # <---- feel like

bullshit

mesmerized

2010-05-09T21:06:00.000+05:30

Musicians often wander playing music in the derb. Here was one right outside our house. His music was haunting and lovely at the same time.

I sometimes feel enchanted by things. This was one such moment. The acoustic sounds rang in my head like waves of hypnosis. It was a state of unending dimensionality. Every change in the notes felt disturbingly mesmerizing.

Moving out of my bedroom, I passed through the lobby to see him. I stood close to the kitchen window, peeking at a sharp angle to get a glimpse of the man, but I couldn't. Gauging direction of the sounds, I ran to the balcony across the cross sectional diagonal of our drawing room to catch him.

Unfortunately, he was too fast.

Now whenever I listen to the chanting in a mosque, I recall the incident when I was seduced by the musician as I picture a poor, shabby artist playing a heavy bass on a flute.

America's war against democracy

2010-03-31T21:38:00.001+05:30

The West knows a lot about the crimes of others. They have their intelligence and the media to show the whole world. The question however is, if they know anything about the crimes that they have committed.

The missing word here is 'empire'. And when i talk of 'West', i believe most of us would interpret it as USA, and that is what i intend. The existence of American empire is really acknowledged and smothered in jingoism that i think ~celebrates~ war and an arrogance that says that no country has the right to go in its own way that does not coincide with the interests of America.

Empires have nothing to do with freedom. They are vicious. They are about conquests, thefts, threats, control and secrets. One little secret that is no longer so, is that America has planned coups against over 50 countries and governments since 1945. Some attacked, others bombed, governments replaced by dictators that form 'pro-Washington' leaders. To mention some: Saddam Hussein was supported by USA, Taliban was erected by USA, Bin Laden is the brother of a Sheikh who's oil fields have heavy investment from George Bush..

Today i saw an interview, of an ex CIA agent. He said that it is US policy to eradicate anything and anyone who acts in a way that defies the interests of America. The US has termed domestic turnarounds of Latin American nations, namely Chile, Venezuela, Nicaragua, as National Security Issues and tried to suppress national socialist movements by means of coups, assasinations, kidnappings, direct and indirect political influences. All these Latin American governments wanted was to use their oil for domestic upliftment. By the people, for the people, to the people. But US had a problem because it was denied access to these foreign resources.

"false imprisonments, threats to their family members and virtually any method necessary to get what they you want. If you can't get a person to give you information, or to co-operate, or shut up, you simply assassinate them with one of you death squads."

This means that it is the US policy to destroy democracy. They are trying to create an empire. Like that in the Castle Age.

Now these leaders, under the influence of US, are amongst the elite business folks of a country who have made their way to a class of global citizens. These are the people who think that they belong to the world. Nothing wrong in that. But when world means Miami and Beverly Hills, problems arise for their country.

In today's context we can understand what US calls democracy-

"it is fine if a government is elected and would co-operate with us, if it doesn't then democracy doesn't mean anything to us.."

"How dare you have a different form of government with policies that are not aligned to our interests. How dare you do not allow American corporations to buy you out? How dare you continue this arrogance and say that you will never succumb to us? Don't you know who we are? Don't you know who these corporations are? Don't you know that your life would be better if you could drink Coca Cola everyday"

George Bush once called India the largest democracy of the world. I wonder what he meant by 'democracy'.

Religious Love

2010-03-20T11:59:00.000+05:30

Since I do not have much to do these days for my joining date is a month or so away, I have been watching movies and reading stuff on the internet. A movie I saw yesterday got me hooked to a natural phenomenon so much that I spent 4 hours doing an 'MRP' on it :-). The name of the movie hardly matters but it had an interesting scene. About love making and relationships.

It intrigued me so much that I wanted to read about it on the internet. No sooner than the movie ended Google was on. Then came Wikipedia...

When we talk about flowers, especially orchids, each orchid has specific relationship with a certain insect that pollinates it. Every certain orchid looks exactly like a certain insect so that the insect is drawn towards it as if the wild flower is its soul mate, its double. And it wants nothing more than to make love to it. And after that, the insect flies off to another soul-mate flower to make love to it and thus pollinating it.

I wonder whether the plant or the insect ever understands the significance of their religious love making.

How can they know that because of their little dance the world lives? But it really does. By simply doing what they are designed to do something large and magnificent happens. In this sense they show us how to live how the only barometer you have is your heart.

Now when you spot your flower you can't let anything get in the way. Love it.

380,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 MW of power

2010-03-16T13:54:00.000+05:30

If the non polluting, cost effective and more efficient options of producing energy are employed, the oil business will go down. Those companies which provide funds for political parties and help them win elections will suffer. The coal industry, the oil industry, the steel industry, which employ millions of workers will be knocked out and in turn the government will be blamed for loss of jobs due to lack of subsidies.

This fear in the minds of the governing keeps wind powered engines, solar cell and concept cars from being commercialized. Even though the idea of renewable sources of energy is propagated, governments still rely on the what-so-ever left fossil fuels to keep the likes of Shell and ONGC running in order to operate the governments and in turn the economy.

Around 93 million miles from where you are sitting and reading this, a massive ball of plasma-tic nature of physical anatomy burns 600 million tonnes of hydrogen to give 595 million tonnes of helium every second. This makes our Sun lose 5 million tonnes of its mass to churn more energy each second than ever used in human history which gives 380,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 MW of power.

This energy received on the Earth amounts to a colossal 38lacks and 50thousand ExaJoules in a year, or 440*10^21 Joules per hour. What is consumed by all the humans, for food, exploration, manufacturing & production, entertainment, R&D, marketing, computations etc amounts to an average of 5.7*10^19 Joules per year.

This means that even if we can capture 1/8000th part of energy that the Sun showers at us in an hour, we can actually power the entire Earth for one year.

We can get more energy in an hour than is being consumed per year.

We have the technology -

for active capture: Parabolic dishes and Stirling Engine system, Photovoltaics, Simple thermal collectors
for passive capture: solar alignment of buildings, use of favorable thermal mass materials and light dispersing character of glass and building substances, designing spaces to naturally circulate air

Then why not use it? For residential purposes, solar power inverters are available at costs as low as can be covered within 18 months of installation. saving on electricity, and of-course cascading the benefit to the bank balance which can be invested for better living.

4C - Christopher Columbus Cooked Cookies

2010-03-15T18:20:00.001+05:30

When a cake is so easy to make and so good to taste, who needs a cake mix?

I came home from Delhi, yet again. The next day, today, when I went to the kitchen to warm my lunch up, I thought of baking a vanilla cake. Even though we had chocolate powder, but I wanted to experiment with Vanilla, so as not to screw up the not-yet-cooked Chocolate cake.

I put palak paneer that my mom cooked into the microwave oven and side by side starting gathering the ingredients for my vanilla cake:

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2-1/2 cups flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup oil
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

I preheated the OTG at 170 degrees C and started the intermediaries. In a bowl went eggs and sugar. I beat them with the hand blender till it was thick. Then I added milk and flour, oil, baking powder and vanilla and beat the hell out of it all for 3-4 min.

Then the batter went into the preheated greased baking pan. I put in the OTG for 40 minutes and went to eat my food while watching a pirated version of the new movie - Click. It is a pathetic copy of the Japanese movie - Shutter, and a very poor attempt to plagiarize.

I realized my hom was filled with an aroma. I felt the same thing on February 14 this year. I was in the Delhi metro going to Lajpat Nagar when some chick boarded my compartment and the aroma of a freshly baked cake filled the atmosphere.

The movie wasn't that good, it was awful, but the sweet smell seduced me and my senses. I wanted to munch on something, anything.

Around 4pm, I heard the OTG bell ring. It meant that 40 minutes were over. I waited, impatiently, for another half an hour for the pan and the cake to cool down. Took out my baking and boy it looked awesome.

This vanilla-scented cake was supposed to be simply irresistible when slathered with my favorite frosting and then layered in whipped cream and pineapple jam.

However, the way the Americas were discovered when Columbus started his journey to discover India, a thick layer of biscuit was baked when I really wanted to bake a vanilla cake. Why? because I used a very wide cross-sectioned, shallow pan instead of a deep one.

Well.. Good heavens it didn't burn.

talking 2 the snake charmer, looking @ grandiose, feeling awe-struck

2010-03-08T17:29:00.003+05:30

I was standing at 8000 feet above sea level, looking through the camera lens. What I saw was amazing as..

With all its strength, peaking through air from above the clouds, oozing majesticity and might, 380km from my feet, still visible clearly through the naked eye.

As my driver talked told us how people in the mountains live eating only what they grow, and how rice is manually threshed and milled before marketing, I looked at the apple farms terracing from the hills like that in a child's drawing sketch book. As he maneuvered the cuts and curves like a snake charmer, I tried to get a glimpse of this massive compound of dark rock, black dirt, snow, and glistening ice, that held itself above 24300 feet.

Nanda Devi, a gigantic carving of nature between the valley of Rishganga and Goriganga, holding ground in the Garhwal Himalayas.

It shone like a mammoth chiseled superstructure angled to perfection of the beholder's perception.

Upon reaching Mukteshwar peak, I could see the unambiguity of each mountain in the snow clad Northern Himalayan range. Nanda Devi, Nanda Kot, Nandaghunti, Trishul and five peaks of Panchachuli stood proudly.

Towards the South and East were the Kumaon Hills of Uttarakhand. And how I felt is hard to put to words..

Its not what I felt within me, but something that my mind wanted to relate to their loftiness.

great, awe-striking, grand, elegant, egotistical, credible, reputable, esteemed, dignified, honorable, deemed proud-blooded (if that makes sense at all)..

Now I want to climb the Himalayas. :-)

i like ghiya

2010-02-13T14:55:00.001+05:30

We ran out of cooking gas last night. So, our cook (Our CrOOK) was not able to INNOVATE this morning. Mind you, he is very good at that. Tea without sugar, and dal without salt are a couple of his specialties.

I thought I would go out for breakfast, but was in no mood to. Lazy bum I am. I thank Anish for getting cornflakes, for they made a nice fill. A glass full of cold milk, a tea spoon of sugar and cornflakes in my mug. It was such a nice feeling. Not because now I had something to tank my belly up, but the fact that I had not eaten cornflakes for over a year.

The crunch of mildly salty corn, with small dispatches of sweet milk, cool breeze gliding around my face, and a constant chirp of sparrows made a mouthful of happy feelings to swallow.

I realize happiness was not because I found a solution for my issue of satisfying my hunger. The little flakes that I found were the real reason.

People pick up volcanic rocks at Mt Kilimanjaro, they bring back postcards, cameras full of images, souvenirs when they go vacationing. All these small items do not give them what the real thing did, or can. But they give them memories, of an experience they had, of the hike they did with the family, the fun they had with friends, the soar buttock they got when they fell off a pony, the pleasure of bathing in a spring.

The flakes made me remember my days in Chandigarh when I was, I think, in eighth or nine standard and used to take Chocos with cold milk. Some of my friends hated them but I liked their chocolaty taste with cold milk. I remember having a bowl while writing my homework in the evening as well. Sometimes, I demanded the same for dinner too, and my mom used to tell me that they are no substitute for food and that I should eat my chapattis/daal/sabzi/salad properly. But I wanted Chocos only...deemed.

Now whenever I go back home, mom asks me if she should prepare chicken, mutton, or black dal, paneer etc., things I liked.

I do not want rajma, kadi, paneer, kali daal..every other restaurant serves these; can still do with non-veg though. But what I want are brown daal, yellow daal, ghiya, with all the spices and onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger, which I detested earlier, with each morsel I take.

Little things in life that no one cares about when they do get them, sometimes become a craving when deprived of.

dark secrets of india - Nehru family tree

2010-02-11T15:28:00.004+05:30

Who was the first prime minister of India?

Who was her son to become Prime Minister of India?

Who was the Catholic Prime Minister of India?

Who was the first Muslim Prime Minister of India?

Jawahar Lal Nehru's father was Motilal Nehru. His wife Kamla Nehru died of tuberculosis. Their only daughter was Indira Nehru, whom we more appropriately know as Indira Gandhi, was married to Feroz Gandhi.

Who is this Feroz? He was the Nehru family's kirana store guy's son who used to supply them groceries in their home named Anand Bhavan (previously known as Ishrat Manzil).

In Indian context, the paternal grandfather is deemed to be more important. Then why do we only hear about Jawahar Lal Nehru who was Rajiv Gandhi's maternal grandfather, and never about his paternal grandfather? We do not even know his name! considering the history of the family and their socio-political stature in the country.

Rajiv Gandhi's paternal granfather was Nawab Khan, a muslim who married a Parsi (surname Gandhy - associated with Parsis) woman after getting her converted to Islam for marriage. This is why the myth about Rajiv being a Parsi was derived. Therefore, Rajiv's father was actually Feroz Khan before marrying Indira against her mother's wishes. His name was changed to Feroz Gandhi before his marriage with Indira using an affidavit.

Now how did Indira Nehru get married to Feroz Khan, being the daughter of the Prime Minister, especially in a conservative Indian society?

Indira Nehru used to study in Shantiniketan University started by Rabindra Nath Tagore. She was expelled for her misdemeanor. Indira went to England when her father Jawahar was too busy in politics and illicit sex. In England, where their grocer's son Feroz was present at that time, she changed her religion to Islam and got married to Feroz Khan.

Upon this, realizing that it would not be positive for the Congress party, Mahatma Gandhi ordered Jawahar Lal Nehru to get Feroz's name changed to Feroz Gandhi. Now, only the name was changed and not the religion. And for public consumption, an institutional vedic marriage was mocked. Such an inter religious and inter caste marriage was not allowed by law at that time. So in reality, Indira was never married to Feroz.

Indira had only one child with Feroz, Rajiv, thereafter they both lived separately, and Feroz died of reasons unknown.

Then where did Sanjay Gandhi come from? He was Rajiv's brother, or Indira's son. Sanjay Gandhi was actually Sanjiv, rhyming with Rajiv. He was born when Indira Gandhi had illicit sexual relationship with Mohammad Yunus. Sanjay was even circumcised according to Muslim traditions. His name was changed to Sanjay upon being charged with theft in England and being given a new passport under political influence from Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Now Sanjay made Menaka, a sikh girl who was a model, pregnant. Her father colonel Anand forced Sanjay to marry her. Indira Gandhi changed Menaka's name to Maneka. Menaka meaning dancer in Lord Indra's court did not appeal to Indira Gandhi.

Mohammad Yunus cried the most, publicly, upon Sanjay Gandhi's death in a plane crash because he was his biological father.

Both Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi were bastards. And their mother Indira Gandhi..gave birth t two kids with different fathers, without being married.

Further Rajiv Gandhi went to Italy and fell in love with Sania Maino. To get married to her, Rajiv changed his religion and became a Catholic, changed name to Roberto. They gave birth to Bianka and Raul. Quite cleverly these names are presented to the public as Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul.

The surprise of surprises, Rajiv, even though he was a catholic, was cremated as per vedic rites in India.

Nehru family tree:

education is a cover up

2010-02-09T23:47:00.000+05:30

Education is actually mass hypnosis.

Does that mean the teacher is hypnotizing the kids into believing P comes after O? Yes.

Why do you think:
first: we are taught thermodynamics
second: are asked to submit an assignment on laws of thermodynamics
third: the professor asks us to deliver a presentation on car radiator
fourth: there are lab activities on endothermic and exothermic reactions
fifth: then lab activities on effusion and diffusion of gases
sixth: need to submit another assignment on functioning of a refrigerator
sixth: we got to write a test on the entire course

to fuse thermodynamics to our brain cells in a way that even if a person drinks water, he can feel the heat transfer within his body.

Every concept is taught from the basic and then built upon. With examples, theoretical explanations, lab experiments, assignments that make us work up our brains around it. And in the end, an examination when everybody studies the subject again, remembering, reciting, mugging up facts and understanding theologies.

The process stresses upon laboring over the same thing again and again.

That is the reason why educationists emphasize so much on eye contact and have words like "confidence", "trust", "focus" ..."attitude" associated to it but don't explain the real thing- hypnosis.

Do you believe in ghosts?

2010-02-08T09:51:00.000+05:30

No. Why?

Because they're un-sci-en-ti-fic.

They contain no matter, and have no energy, and therefore according to the laws of science, do not exist except in people's minds.

The scientific point of view has completely wiped out all other views to a point where they all seem primitive, so that if a person today talks about ghosts or spirits he is considered ignorant or maybe nutty. It's just impossible to imagine a world where ghosts can actually exist.

My own opinion is that the intellect of the modern man isn't that superior. IQs aren't that different. The medieval men were just as intelligent as we are, but the context in which they thought was completely different. Within that context of thought, ghosts are as real as atoms, particles, photons and quants are to a modern man. In that sense I believe in ghosts. Modern man has his ghosts and spirits too.

Example, the laws of science and the number system. These are ghosts. We just believe in them so thoroughly that they seem real.

It seems completely natural to presume that gravitation and the law of gravitation existed before Isaac Newton. It would sound unbelievable to think that until the seventeenth century there was no gravity.

So when did this law start? Has it always existed?

What I'm driving at is the notion that before the beginning of the earth, before the sun and the stars were formed, before the primal generation of anything, the law of gravity existed. Sitting there, without a mass of its own, without any energy, not in anyone's mind because there wasn't anyone, not in space because there was not space either, not anywhere...

IF that law existed, I honestly don't know what a thing has to do to be nonexistent. It seems to me that law of gravity has passed every test of nonexistence there is. No one can ever think of even a single scientific attribute of existence the law of gravity had. And it is still "common sense" to believe that it existed.

If you think about it long enough you'll find yourself reach only one possible, rational conclusion. The law of gravity and gravity itself didn't exist before Newton. No other conclusion makes sense.

And what that means is that that law of gravity exists nowhere else but in people's heads. Its a ghost.

The real problem, the contradiction the scientists are stuck up with today is that of the mind. Mind has no matter or energy but they can't escape its predominance over everything they do. Logic exists in the mind. Numbers exist only in the mind. I don’t get upset when scientists say that ghosts exist in the mind. It’s that only that gets me. Science is only in our minds too, it’s just that that doesn’t make it bad. Or ghost either. So ghosts are good.

Laws of nature, laws of logic, mathematics are human inventions, like ghosts. The world has no existence whatsoever outside the human imagination. We see what we see because ghosts of Moses and Christ and the Buddha, Darwin and Plato, and Aryabhatta and Lincoln show it to us. Newton is a very good ghost. Infact one of the best. Our common sense is nothing more than the voices of thousands and thousands of these ghosts from the past.

We see ourselves the way we want to. In our minds. We are ghosts too.

i SAW a bird today

2010-02-07T20:30:00.000+05:30

When I get up each morning, the first thing I do is drink water. Ten to twelve big gulps. I usually can not take any more than that. Then I open the windows to let in fresh air.

Today when I opened the windows, I saw a bird. A sparrow like creature. Small. It had an orange beak. Black-brown feathers from head to chest and back. The belly turned to gray and the inner side of its tail was a gradient mix of gray and white. It looked around moving the head from left to right, upward and downward in short bursts.

It posed on the balcony wall on its left foot. I had never seen this (type of) bird earlier. I was anxious to observe its activities. I stood there looking at it from my room. I picked up my phone that I had kept charging the last night on the table and thought of clicking it. Then I changed my mind. I didn't.

Maybe my mind wanted to register the episode rather than having a split moment of the bird standing there being in my memory card. The bird jerked its body, as if drying the feathers, or shaking off the cold. Then hopping on its left leg only, it moved towards the left, in the sun. I think the poor thing had its other leg hurt. After being still for some time, it jerked again and then sat down.

That was the end of it. I moved on with my day.

What kept me glued to the feathered creature was that I had never seen a bird with such colors. Or was it that I never took notice of an earthly carnal being, living life like me, just of a different species, behavior, habits and livelihood.

We are so busy with our lives to listen to the rain slapping the ground or follow a butterfly's vibrant flight. I wonder if we really mean it when we ask "Hey! How are you?"
Is it just a gesture, or do we really intend to stick around and listen to the reply, because mostly we get an answer "bas badhiya bhai, tu bata", "i'm good, how're you?"

When we go to bed we have gazillions of thoughts regarding chores that need to be completed the next day. We run very fast to complete out tasks, to reach our destination, and in the process miss half the fun of getting there.. Life becomes like an unopened gift.

Religion..a system of incorporating fear

2010-02-05T16:22:00.000+05:30

Religions exist due to scarcity; of information regarding why natural phenomenon took place.

Religion is a system that was created to explain the un-describable (if that is a word). Floods, thunder, solar eclipse, earthquakes, deaths.

Earliest known evidence of human religion is from homo-sapiens neanderthalensis around hundred thousand years ago. Since then, religion continues to be a significant and influential aspect of human lives.We have faced numerous issues, challenges and problems from every possible background, location and social class (which is also a stratification invented by by religion on the basis of type of work, color, and physical variables of humans). People have faced issues of health, safety and mortality. Religion was the universal tool for explaining things that could not be understood through the context of the known physical world.

It also defines a manifestation of the human mind, of human-like entity that has greater power to control natural occurrences: god. An upset god, created flood and earthquake, famine and plague to punish those who carried out undesirable acts. Acts which were not "desirable" by the few who were corrupt. These people started a value system for the benefit of their then unorganized corporations by giving directions to control the human actions, thus purchasing power to govern the human society in lieu of the guidance and directions to be in the "good books" of god.

Thus, religion is a notion of conduct of human behavior as is favorable for those who propagate it.

Consider this, all men and women are born from the womb, naked, in need of food, shelter, protection. Alike. Religion creates an identity for them by inculcating the value system that has been traditionally inscribed into our minds and hearts so deeply that it has become perpetual and ubiquitous. Religion is a cause for social stratification. The elite, the poor, the masters, the servers, the leaders, the followers.

Religion does not tell us to be unified as we are. Born with the same bio-structural systems composed of the same atoms that started the universe. It does not have an agenda to consider us as one or even equal. It, instead segregates people into Hindus, Christians, Jews, Muslims etc.Each of these is further subdivided into sub religions with sub cultures and numerous leaders with their modifications of the value system to have their followers behave in a to profit them.

A religion divided is no religion at all.

The funny thing is the common link - god, as the most powerful someone. This clarifies that the minds of those who breed religion and keep the followers under control function in a similar fashion. Keep people under a constant fear of god and derive power to run the society.

Colors

2009-05-20T23:51:00.002+05:30

It was May 11, 2009. I had to go to my office to get a report evaluated. It was a scorching Sun, like a ball of fire, looking down upon me asking "enjoying..eh!!" and then vehemently laughing as I perspired.

It was 11:47am and I got a flat. Took my bike to the nearest petrol pump and stood there as the mechanic told me that the tube that the tyre had was a misfit. I asked him to replace it with the right size one. However, the mechanic told me that he didn't have any new tubes, but could make some "jugadu" arrangements with another used misfit.

As I instructed him, I saw a very beautiful chameleon - half muddy brown, half green; it got down from a tree. It was an interesting situation. The chameleon approached a pile of dead leaves. It waited, moved with subtle grace, changing its color to that of dust now, moving each leg just a centimeter towards the leaves. It seemed that the four legged little guy was looking for something. Food. I waited and watched, not paying attention whether the mechanic was fixing my tyre or ruining it.

The chameleon moved towards the dead brown leaves near the tree at the roadside. It made me feel that an insect was about to be made dead. But it went past the dead brown leaves near the tree at the roadside.

I looked closely observing what it was doing. The creature moved each limb with unmatched grace. Taking it's time. Not looking in any other direction. Probably it had all its senses alert to evade any enemy/prey that wanted to consume it, however I of course could not see. And it went past the brown leaves, slowly, turning grey, climbing a boulder now.

Something else was the target. All of a sudden, the chameleon dug its face into the silvery stone. It took the reptile a split of a second at enormous speed to do that. Up rose the head that was chewing onto something. An ant; maybe.

The bike was ready to hit the road. I paid the guy 60 bucks and was off to East of Kailash.

life is intelligent

2008-10-09T15:08:00.001+05:30

I had to go to Mohali to see my grandma. It was raining and the traffic was chaotic. I stoped at a signal near Sector-26 in Chandigarh. The heavy transport was high for the nearing festival season. Trucks and lorries carried indstrial load for the economic zone to the left of the road. Light vehicles intended to go to the city. It was a T point and I had to go straight.

The road had mango plantation on the both sides. The greenery was lush and beautiful.

There were police officers trying to challan the offenders. The the most obedient towards traffic rules and thus wary of dangers, accidental hazzards and health problems was a dog.

This clever dog that I saw waited at the signal behind a horse cart till it was red. No sooner than the signal turned green the dog started running underneath the cart to save itself from the terrible traffic and the rain.

It is such a general sight. Something one wouldn't ponder about. But I don't know why I did contemplate and thought about the dog running under the cart.

Life is intelligent. It observes the surrounding environment. Measures the parameters of existence and quantitates the variables of necessity. Life calculates the availability of these variables and gauges their benefits. There can be instances of circumstantial deficit in variable resources in which case beings try and avail substitutes of the required. Adaptability of life towards its facultative surroundings is vey interesting.

It is a change in the organism in order to live successfully. Adapting in the environment enables it to cope with bionomic pressure and stresses. The underlying genetic basis for adaptability in an organism arose because of greed. Every life form wants to survive and in the process moves towards attaining that particular resource variable which gives it maximum advantage. This is a phenomenon where a bearer of the genetic argument selects something which is more likely to support its survival.

It was very interesting to see what the dog did.

Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man

2008-09-16T15:28:00.003+05:30

a palm is the width of four fingers
a foot is the width of four palms (i.e. 12 inches)
a cubit is the width of six palms
a man's height is four cubits (and thus 24 palms)
a pace is four cubits
the length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height
the distance from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of a man's height
the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a man's height
the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man's height
the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one-fifth of a man's height
the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man's height
the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man's height
the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of the head
the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is one-third of the length of the face
the length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face

The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body, and, if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended, from his navel as the centre, a circle be described, it will touch his fingers and toes. It is not alone by a circle, that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former; so that lines at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure, will form a square.

dedication

2008-09-15T20:27:00.003+05:30

..advertising war..

2008-08-03T15:27:00.001+05:30

Some information that you need to know before you see the Ads:-
1. BMW started this Advertisement
2. Audi Answered
3. Subaru needed to say something
4. Bentley Chairman wanted the last word

brain is self organizing system

2008-08-01T20:10:00.002+05:30

The brain is a self organizing system which processes information derived from external data. In solving situations it forms asymmetric problems which need mathematical moves to switch between patterns. These movements are lateral and thus require lateral thinking on one's part. Or more precisely, from the brain, because a being is null and not rational without brain.

In any logical self organizing system there is a need to escape from a local optimum in order to move towards a global optimum. Lteral thinking is an outcome of provocation of the brain from assumptions that the brain itself creaters to ease the change in thinking.

..my 10th grade Social Studies teacher..

2008-08-01T19:54:00.005+05:30

I was a bright student. At least people used to think that. But the irony was that I never got marks. I had my summer vacation and all the teachers gave us home work so that we came prepared for the course that was to be taught after the break.

And there was My Social Science teacher. She was one of the most strict teachers in the school and the most peculiar thing about her was that the distance between two of her hair was almost equal to the distance between the two inner ends of the brim of the toilet seat.

Something like this:

<--------->

(hair 1) (hair 2)

..man is like a fraction..

2008-07-22T20:46:00.001+05:30

man is like a fraction, numerator being what he is and denominator beign what he thinks of himself as. higher the denominator, lower the fraction...

Outstanding Journalism

2008-06-27T08:10:00.000+05:30

a horse has 5 legs...

2007-10-20T19:59:00.000+05:30

My uncle once said, "Boy, do you see that horse?"

Yessir.

"How many legs does that horse have?"

Four.

"Now what if I say that a horse's tail is a leg, too?"

Uh...

"If I call a horse's tail a leg, how many legs does that horse have?"

Five?

"Boy, will you never learn? It doesn't matter what you call something. That horse still has four legs."

Sometimes when confronted with a difficult challenge we reply, That's not true! We say, That's not a (vanity page)/(rant)/(personal attack)/(tail); that's a (noteworthy article)/(discussion)/(polite comment)/(leg). But this changes nothing.

It's never enough to reply to a comment by saying You're wrong! That's not true! If it really is a leg, then show us how.

Proof that a horse has, in fact, an infinite number of legs

A horse has four legs
It has forelegs at the front
It has two legs at the rear
Four plus two is six, it has six legs
Six is an odd number of legs for a horse
Four is an even number
The only number which is both even and odd is infinity
Therefore: a horse has an infinite number of legs

This is just as false as calling the tail a leg...

Very well, you say it does not have five legs: I say it has nine!

No horse has five legs.
Any horse has four legs more than no horse does.
Therefore, a horse has nine legs.

The longer you count, the more legs a horse has

A horse has four legs
It has two forelegs at the front and two hind legs in the back. This makes it 8.
It has two legs on the left side and two legs on the right side. This totals 12.
It also has four perfectly visible legs from the below. Now we have 16 of them.
And we even didn't start counting legs on each corner!

When arguing, make sure you add really new legs to your stand.

Stellar Jewel Box

2007-10-10T10:57:00.000+05:30

Giant Nebula NGC 3603 is a massive young star cluster in the Milky Way.

Thousands of sparkling stars can be seen in the prominent star-forming region in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way about 20,000 light-years away.

Powerful ultraviolet radiation and fast winds from the bluest and hottest stars have blown a big bubble around the cluster. Moving into the surrounding nebula, this torrent of radiation sculpted the tall, dark stalks of dense gas, which are embedded in the walls of the nebula. These gaseous monoliths are a few light-years tall and point to the central cluster. The stalks may be incubators for new stars.

On a smaller scale, a cluster of dark clouds called "Bok" globules resides at the top, right corner. These clouds are composed of dense dust and gas and are about 10 to 50 times more massive than the sun. Resembling an insect's cocoon, a Bok globule may be undergoing a gravitational collapse on its way to forming new stars.

Planet Survives its Star Becoming a Red Giant

2007-09-14T12:43:00.000+05:30

When a star like our own Sun nears the end of its 10 billion year life, it expands up into a red giant, consuming any planets foolish enough to orbit closely. But what happens to the more distant planets?

Astronomers have discovered just such a planet, orbiting a red giant star. Perhaps this gives us hope for the fate of our own planet Earth, when the Sun expands too. Not so fast.

The planet is called V 391 Pegasi b, and before its parent star transformed into the red giant we see today, it orbited at roughly the same distance as the Earth. As the star expanded, its centre of gravity changed, and the planet's orbit spiraled outward, keeping pace with the changing star. Although the star now engulfs a distance comparable between the Sun and the Earth, the planet is now out past the orbit of Mars; takes 3.2 years to complete a full year.

We shouldn't take too much heart in this - this planet is larger than Jupiter, so a smaller planet like the Earth could still be vulnerable. As far as our planets are concerned, we expect Mercury and Venus to disappear in the Sun's envelope, whereas Mars should survive. The fate of the Earth is less clear because its position is really at the limit: it appears more likely that the Earth will not survive the red giant expansion of the sun either, but it is not for sure.

Finding this planet was incredibly laborious work. It took seven years of observations and calculations to confirm its existence. It also marks the first time that a new technique was used to discover planets. Traditionally, astronomers measure the change in a planet's velocity as it's yanked back and forth by the gravity of a large planet using a technique called spectroscopy, where the spectrum of its light shifts. In the case of V391 Pegasus b, the astronomers measured small variations in timing of light coming from the star to determine its velocity.

Russia tests Father of all Bombs

2007-09-14T11:28:00.000+05:30

Russia tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb on September 12, 2007. The bomb unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast.

It is believed that the new vacuum bomb is much stronger than the US made Massive Ordnance Air blast bomb - MOAB - also known under the name "Mother of All Bombs", and hence is called "Father of All Bombs".

Test results have shown that its efficiency and power in commensurate with a nuclear weapon.

cobra tower - kuwait

2007-07-24T10:04:00.000+05:30

2020 NEWS Headlines..

2007-07-19T10:12:00.000+05:30

Click to enlarge!

Planets over Pony Express Lake

2007-07-18T12:55:00.001+05:30

Beautiful sunset sky colors are reflected in Pony Express Lake in this twilight skyview from northern Missouri, USA, planet Earth.

Recorded on Monday, a two day old crescent Moon and brilliant planet Venus shine through thin clouds. Joining the conjunction on the right of the Moon's sunlit crescent is fellow wanderer Saturn, with Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo, above and right of Venus. Moonlight and Venus light streak the almost-calm lake waters.

Stellar Fireworks

2007-07-18T12:23:00.000+05:30

Resembling an aerial fireworks explosion, this dramatic image of the energetic star WR124, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, reveals that it is surrounded by hot clumps of gas being ejected into space at speeds of over 100,000 miles per hour.

The massive, hot central star is known as a Wolf-Rayet star. The star is 15,000 light-years away, located in the constellation Sagittarius. The picture was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 in March 1997. The image is false-colored to reveal details in the nebula's structure.

taj mahal

2007-07-17T16:09:00.000+05:30

Ratnagiri!!

2007-07-16T10:18:00.000+05:30

beauty..

2007-07-16T09:29:00.000+05:30

RD best smile competition Winner!!

2007-04-26T10:35:00.000+05:30

twist...

2007-04-25T17:27:00.000+05:30

Ever seen anything like this ???

2007-04-24T16:08:00.000+05:30

Jorn Olsen works for the Dutton-Lainson Co. in Hastings, Nebraska, and lives by Heartwell Park next to Hastings College. The other night he took these photos . The stadium lights are at the Hastings College stadium just east of his home. The clouds are called Mammatus clouds . They do not precede a tornado, or foretell a storm, but are formed when the air is already saturated with rain droplets and/or ice crystals and begins to sink. The worst of the storm is usually over when these kinds of clouds are seen. They are quite rare, but really beautiful.

"Women Only" parking lot

2007-04-14T12:33:00.000+05:30

With the high rate of attacks on women in secluded parking lots, especially during evening hours, the Minneapolis City Council has established a "Women Only" parking lot at the Mall of America.

Even the parking lot attendants are exclusively female so that a comfortable and safe environment is created for patrons. Below is the first picture available of this world's-first women-only parking lot in Minnesota

when cigarettes become expensive!!

2007-04-02T14:54:00.000+05:30

ABN Amro, Barclays Talk Merger

2007-03-21T10:15:00.001+05:30

European rivals Barclays and ABN Amro are in talks about combining the two banks in what would be the biggest cross-border deals in the European banking history.

The British giant Barclays, and the Dutch, ABN Amro aim to agree a tie-up within 30 days. Shares of both firms jumped on news of the takeover talks.

The banks were inexclusive preliminary discussions on 20 March 2007 - Tuesday. Details of the structure of any deal haven't been released, but Barclays is likely to have to pay more than $80 billion for its rival. The deal will create a $168 billion financial services group at current values.

ABN shares were up 3.2 percent at 30.91 euros, after hitting an all-time high of 31.33, to value it at about 59 billion euros ($78.5 billion) Barclays shares jumped 4.4 percent to 707 pence, valuing it at more than 46 billion pounds ($89.5 billion).

The potential transaction is primarily about growth and not about cost savings. The growth opportunity would come from combining the international and commercial banking businesses, while cost savings would mainly come from investment banking, asset and wealth management arms.

British bank Barclays Plc could jump into the league of top three foreign banks in India from 13 at present if it succeeds in merging its Dutch rival ABN Amro with itself.

Surprising Rock

2007-03-19T14:48:00.000+05:30

A huge rock in a village of Al-Hassa region, SAUDI ARABIA raises 11 cms. from the ground level once in a year during the month of April and stays elevated for about 30 minutes!!!

They say that 17 years ago, one terrorist was shot dead behind this rock as he was hidden there. This encounter happened in the month of April 1989.

You can see the fresh blood stains on the rock. Most surprisingly, when the rock raises from the ground, these stains become darker, fresher and wet.

Local residents tried to wipe off the stains several times, but after some time it appears again on the rock automatically.

letters to god

2007-03-19T14:44:00.000+05:30

bugging you!!!

2007-03-19T10:23:00.000+05:30

March 03, 2007

2007-03-05T10:21:00.002+05:30

Was 1 am, in the morning ;-)

I just arrived at my stop after 6 tiring hours of an arse cramping journey. It was the Sector 19-20-32-33 round-about crossing. It's not a code for some secret facility.

I was so fortunate that I didn't find any conveyance to reach my place. Called up my dad in the middle of the night, who himself was asleep after an 8 hour journey, to come and pick me up. Obviously I couldn't walk my 3 km way home at that cold hour. Decided to cover some distance till the time dad arrived.

A black road, another black night, and a biting breeze to freeze me to death. I saw a pack of stray dogs howling.

I noticed the lovely beasts frothing at mouth at something on the road. As I approached the pack, I found nothing else other than my own self that was being growled at by the dogs. It scared the shit out of me. I saw some cyclists coming by to gimme some confidence. It was a sense of security and relief.

Rare vehicles past by before another thing caught my eye. The moon. It was full.

It had a white ring around it. Something like a circle of white smoke creating a faded circumference at a distance from the moon. It was beautiful and astounding. Strange.

The ring around the Moon (HALO) is caused by the refraction of Moonlight from ice crystals at different angles in the upper atmosphere. The shape of the ice crystals results in a focusing of the light into a ring. Since the ice crystals typically have the same shape, hexagonal, the Moon ring is almost always the same size.

Weather Folklore has it that a ring around the moon signifies bad weather is coming, and in many cases this may be true. It is believed that the number of stars within a moon halo indicate the number days before bad weather will arrive. Give it a try the next time you observe a moon halo.

It was a Lunar Eclipse Yesterday. Felt great to witness the marvel.

Beautiful Ice Festival

2007-03-04T00:46:00.000+05:30

Here are spectacular Ice Festival pictures. These pictures are from the Lake Placid, NY Ice Festival. Enjoy!

Lake Placid is a village in New York, near the center of the Town of North Elba and named after an adjacent lake. While the village is a year-round resort, it's likely most known as the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics.Lake Placid also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1932.

Numbers...

2007-03-01T18:04:00.000+05:30

The numbers we all use (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) are known as "arabic" numbers to distinguish them from the "Roman Numerals" (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, etc). Actually the arabs popularized these numbers but they were originally used by the early phonecian traders to count and keep track of their trading accounts.

Have you ever thought why ......... 1 means "one", and 2 means "two"? The roman numerals are easy to understand but what was the logic behind the phonecian numbers?

It's all about angles !

It's the number of angles. If one writes the numbers down (see below) on a piece of paper in their older forms, one quickly sees why. I have marked the angles with "o"s.
No 1 has one angle. No 2 has two angles. No 3 has three angles... etc. and "O" has no angles

AIRBUS S.A.S 2006

2007-03-01T10:09:00.000+05:30

2006 Lamborghini Hamann Gallardo Ventus S1 EVO

2007-03-01T10:06:00.000+05:30

the Sun & the Moon from the North Pole...

2007-02-21T09:48:00.000+05:30

A scene you may never get to see, so take a moment and enjoy!

This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point. And, you also see the sun below the moon.

iknowyou'llgetannoyedreadingthisposthasthelongestnameofthenotsolongestpostinmyblog

2007-02-20T13:00:00.000+05:30

Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh Eating, Hellbound, Zombified Living Dead Part 2: In Shocking 2-D

Director: Lowell Mason
Year: 1991
Words in title: 41
Characters in title: 208 including spaces, 168 without

Basically this movie is a remake of 'Night of the Living Dead' with a new soundtrack added.

===================================

Some of the Longest Domain Names

http://www.thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com

http://www.thelongestdomainnameintheworldandthensomeandthensomemoreandmore.com/

http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com/

http://www.thepersonwithanewideaisacrank-untiltheideasucceeds-by-marktwain.com/

http://www.iamtheproudownerofthelongestlongestlongestdomainnameinthisworld.com/

===================================

What is the world's longest place name?

A little village in Wales boasts the longest place name at 58 letters:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch...

...But New Zealand makes the same claim with a hill containing 92 letters:
Tetaumatawhakatangihangakoauaotamateaurehaeaturipukapihimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuaakitanarahu...
...But after some further digging we found the winner to be Bangkok. OK, so that's only 7 letters, but the official ceremonial name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon for short meaning 'City of Angels'.
The full name of Bangkok has many variations in spelling but we found what is believed to be the official spelling coming in at 163 letters:
Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit

===================================

Cleveland Volcano

2007-02-09T11:02:00.000+05:30

At 3:00 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time on May 23, 2006, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams from International Space Station Expedition 13 contacted the Alaska Volcano Observatory to report that the Cleveland Volcano had produced a plume of ash. Shortly after the activity began, he took this photograph. This picture shows the ash plume moving west-southwest from the volcano’s summit. A bank of fog (upper right) is a common feature around the Aleutian Islands. The event proved to be short-lived; two hours later, the plume had completely detached from the volcano. The AVO reported that the ash cloud height could have been as high as 6,000 meters above sea level.

Cleveland Volcano, situated on the western half of Chuginadak Island, is one of the most active of the volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, which extend west-southwest from the Alaska mainland. It is a stratovolcano, composed of alternating layers of hardened lava, compacted volcanic ash, and volcanic rocks.

brain teasers!!

2007-02-07T09:48:00.000+05:30

Following are 6 words that have the same two letters repeated at some point. Those two letters have been removed, replaced by two sets of asterisks. Can you figure out which two letters to use in each word? You use the same two letters within each word, but use a different set of letters for each word.

1. **chorm**
2. **joym**t
3. **iqu**te
4. **ip**ape
5. **s**cere
6. **p**zard

====================================

What animal completes this series?

fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, cow, ?

====================================

You are on your way to visit your Grandma, who lives at the end of the valley. It's her birthday, and you want to give her the cakes you've made.Between your house and her house, you have to cross 7 bridges, and as it goes in the land of make believe, there is a troll under every bridge! Each troll, quite rightly, insists that you pay a troll toll. Before you can cross their bridge, you have to give them half of the cakes you are carrying, but as they are kind trolls, they each give you back a single cake.

How many cakes do you have to leave home with to make sure that you arrive at Grandma's with exactly 2 cakes?

====================================

answers!!

Man - Nature...part of a panorama

2007-02-06T09:32:00.000+05:30

[Click for detailed image]

Sometimes the sky itself is the best show in town. People from Perth, Australia gathered on a local beach to watch a sky light up with delights near and far.

Nearby, fireworks exploded as part of Australia Day celebrations. On the far right, lightning from a thunderstorm flashed in the distance. Near the image center, though, seen through clouds, was the most unusual sight of all: Comet McNaught.

Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd Craters

2007-01-29T10:29:00.000+05:30

What lies at the bottom of Hyperion's strange craters? Nobody knows. The robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn swooped past the sponge-textured moon and took an image of unprecedented detail. That image, shown above in false color, shows a remarkable world strewn with strange craters and a generally odd surface. The slight differences in color likely show differences in surface composition. At the bottom of most craters lies some type of unknown dark material. Inspection of the image shows bright features indicating that the dark material might be only tens of meters thick in some places. Hyperion is about 250 kilometers across, rotates chaotically, and has a density so low that it might house a vast system of caverns inside.

Indian recovery vehicle experiment

2007-01-25T11:24:00.000+05:30

The Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE) is an Indian experimental spacecraft which was launched at 03:53 GMT on January 10, 2007 from Sriharikota by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The launch was conducted using the PSLV C7 rocket, along with three other satellites. It remained in orbit for 12 days before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down into the Bay of Bengal at 04:16 GMT on January 22.

The SRE 1 was designed to demonstrate the capability to recover an orbiting space capsule, and the technology of an orbiting platform for performing experiments in microgravity conditions. It was also intended to test reusable Thermal Protection System, navigation, guidance and control, hypersonic aero-thermodynamics, management of communication blackout, deceleration and flotation system and recovery operations.

During its stay in orbit, the following two experiments on board SRE 1 were successfully conducted under microgravity conditions.

One of the experiments was related to the study of metal melting and crystallisation under microgravity conditions.
The second experiment was intended to study the synthesis of nano-crystals under microgravity conditions. This experiment can help in designing better biomaterials having closest proximity with natural biological products.

echoes from the edge..

2007-01-25T10:44:00.000+05:30

V838 Monocerotis - A star near the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, about 20,000 light-years from our sun.

A sudden outburst was detected in January 2002, since then this star has taken the center of the astronomical stage. Still, the light emitted echoes across the pre-existing cosmic dust around V838 illuminatig even more distant regions.

The above image of swirls of dust surrounding the star was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in September 2006. The top-bottom, and the left-right extremeties of the picture span about 14 light years of masive distance. Astronomers expect the expanding echoes to continue to light up the dusty environs of V838 Mon for atleast the rest of the decade.

Sharapova stays cool to crush Rodionova

2007-01-18T15:37:00.000+05:30

Top seed Maria Sharapova made up for her marathon opening victory with a 6-0 6-3 drubbing of fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova in the Australian Open second round on Thursday.
Sharapova, who was within two points of defeat by Frenchwoman Camille Pin in searing midday heat on Tuesday, looked much more comfortable on a cooler evening and clinched victory in 58 minutes.

The 24-year-old Rodionova, world number 100, raised her game in the second set but, struggling with a thigh injury that required treatment, she was powerless to stop Sharapova from beating her for the third time in three meetings.

Sharapova, 19, will play Italian Tathiana Garbin, the 30th seed, in the third round.

Colliding White Dwarfs Could Create a Supergiant Star

2007-01-18T15:29:00.000+05:30

Of all the stars in our galaxy, two classes, known as hydrogen-deficient and R Coronae Borealis are extremely rare. Only a few dozen have been discovered in our entire galaxy. And unlike most of the stars out there, they have almost no hydrogen. Instead, they have abnormally high quantities of a rare isotope of oxygen.

Where could be the origin for these bizarre objects? An international team of astronomers think that colliding white dwarf stars are to blame.

A white dwarf is the fate that awaits our Sun. After it uses up its hydrogen fuel, the star moves onto helium, ballooning up to become a red giant. But once it runs out of helium fuel, it doesn’t have the mass to move up the chain to carbon. Instead it collapses back down to a small dim object, called a white dwarf. Over the course of the next 25 billion years or so, it slowly cools down to the ambient temperature of the Universe.

But if two white dwarfs collide, they could create a new cloud of gas hot enough to start up nuclear reactions again. Two dead stars get another shot at nuclear fusion, briefly becoming a supergiant star again.

Microsoft’s High-tech EToilet: Flush It off

2007-01-18T15:23:00.000+05:30

At the CES, Microsoft presented a new high-tech toilet dubbed Microsoft e-toilet that boasts allows the users to surf web and monitor personal hygiene at the same time. Now this is what I can term as “ toilet ergonomics”. This may find some use with people who are having a very hectic schedule.

The e-toilet comes with a 21-inch flat touch screen installed on its lid and a wide range of features. It makes you manage your phone calls and even stores data for you. And, don’t worry about that lid getting wet as it’s quite durable and is waterproof too. Just a touch of a button helps you manage your long song lists.

Giving your toilet a techno savvy look, this device will definitely make the crowd(mostly visitors to your e- toilet) get envy of you. I am off to grab one for myself. Priced at $499.

Cosmic Epic Unfolds in Infrared

2007-01-18T14:42:00.000+05:30

High resolution image from the Hubble Space Telescope

This majestic view taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope tells an untold story of life and death in the Eagle nebula, an industrious star-making factory located 7,000 light-years away in the Serpens constellation. The image shows the region's entire network of turbulent clouds and newborn stars in infrared light.

The color green denotes cooler towers and fields of dust, including the three famous space pillars, dubbed the "Pillars of Creation," which were photographed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 (see inset). But it is the color red that speaks of the drama taking place in this region. Red represents hotter dust thought to have been warmed by the explosion of a massive star about 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Since light from the Eagle nebula takes 7,000 years to reach us, this "supernova" explosion would have appeared as an oddly bright star in our skies about 1,000 to 2,000 years ago.

According to astronomers' estimations, the explosion's blast wave would have spread outward and toppled the three pillars about 6,000 years ago (which means we wouldn't witness the destruction for another 1,000 years or so). The blast wave would have crumbled the mighty towers, exposing newborn stars that were buried inside, and triggering the birth of new ones.

The pillars of the Eagle nebula were originally sculpted by radiation and wind from about 20 or so massive stars hidden from view in the upper left portion of the image. The radiation and wind blew dust away, carving out a hollow cavity (center) and leaving only the densest nuggets of dust and gas (tops of pillars) flanked by columns of lighter dust that lie in shadow (base of pillars). This sculpting process led to the creation of a second generation of stars inside the pillars.

If a star did blow up in this region, it is probably located among the other massive stars in the upper left portion of the image. Its blast wave might have already caused a third generation of stars to spring from the wreckage of the busted pillars.

This image is a composite of infrared light detected by Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue is 4.5-micron light; green is 8-micron light; and red is 24-micron light.

Hutch Essar Acquisition

2007-01-18T10:50:00.000+05:30

Whatever be the outcome of the tussle to acquire Hutchison Essar, it signals to other global mobile telecom service providers who are absent in the world's fastest growing mobile telecommunication market that there is ample room to enter, atleast inorganically.

Some of the large mobile telecom service providers such as Telefonica SA of Spain, Deutsche Telecom AG of Germany and the French service provider France Telecom are among those missing out on the opportunities that exist in the Indian market, which is growing at more than six million subscribers a month and expected to reach a mobile subscriber base of 348 million by 2010 from the current 143 million.

The acquisition of Hutchison Essar will be India's largest merger and acquisition (M&A) deal. With an expected bid of at least $14 billion for Hutchison Essar, the total value of M&A deals will touch $45 billion. The acquisition will also give the telecommunication sector top slot in the sectoral ranking of the M&A table with deal value of $16 billion and a share of 35 per cent in the total deal value ($45 billion).

If the acquisition of Hutchison Essar goes to Britain's Vodafone Group Plc, it will be the largest cross-border deal involving an overseas firm acquiring a company in India (inbound). Secondly, the acquisition will also swing the balance between inbound and outbound deals (involving Indian companies acquiring companies overseas) in favour of inbound deals at $18 billion vs. outbound at $16 billion. Infact, the deal value will be higher than the acquisition of UK's largest steel company Corus Group Plc, if it ends up with India's Tata Steel Ltd.

Going by the regulatory provisions, Vodafone will have to go with an Indian partner and its stake in the acquired company cannot exceed 74 per cent. Looking at the current stake holding of Hutchison Essar - 67 per cent owned by Hutchison Telecom International Ltd (HTIL), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd and 33 per cent by domestic diversified Essar Group, the swing vote is in the hands of the later.

India's telecom growth story is particularly interesting as many of the big operators who had earlier exited returned to its shores. These include AT&T Inc., BT Group PLC and Vodafone Group PLC.

Roaring mice

2007-01-16T10:48:00.000+05:30

When a thing becomes as common and ubiquitous as the computer mouse has, its potential for further development or upgradation is all too often completely overlooked. (Yeah yeah, optical, wireless, etc but you know what I mean.)

This wasn't the case when mice were still a comparative novelty vis-à-vis keyboards. That was the time when someone decided instead of moving the whole device all over the place in order to roll the ball underneath, why not simply flip it upside-down and just move the ball with a finger or two. And so was born the track-ball, without which lap and other tops would have been as clunky to use today as the older bulky PCs.

The point is, before our tabletops soon vanish into the mists of obsolescence, a lot more can still be done with the mouse. For one thing, where's the sense of having an antediluvian keyboard structure constantly perched in front of the screen when all its alphanumerics can easily be incorporated in qwerty sequence on top of a couple of laser mice -- one for the right hand and one for the left?

It'll not only double the cramped keying-in space currently available on, say, mobiles for instance, but also allow normal keyboard users to continue their two handed inputting. Definitely a vast improvement over single fingered pecking.

Ultimately of course the whole CPU should be moved into mice. Once that happens, all kinds of peripherals would be a cinch. For instance doubling as card modems or hand-scanners would present no problems. Neither would using them as universal remotes for other household devices. And, being the shape most mice are, if they could be connected together by a U-band, they could even function as high fidelity earphones. Who says the mouse can't roar?

murder mystery...

2007-01-08T19:36:00.000+05:30

This is a perfect story for a thrilling suspense movie (and it's a true story)!!!

At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS President Dr Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story !!!!

On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency .As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person, who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

In the room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr. Opus. When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B."

When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.

Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, if the gun had been accidentally loaded. The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist. Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window. The son had actually murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

N49 - brightest supernova remnant

2007-01-04T15:15:00.000+05:30

Images from the Hubble space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope and Chandra X-Ray Observatory combine to make this composite of N49, the brightest supernova remnant which is optically viewable as Large Magellanic Cloud.

The Chandra X-ray image (blue) shows million-degree gas in the center. Much cooler gas at the outer parts of the remnant is seen in the infrared image from Spitzer (red).

Astronomers expected that dust particles were generating most of the infrared emission.

The study of this object indicates that much of the infrared is instead generated in heated gas.

The unique filamentary structure seen in the optical image by Hubble (white and yellow) has long set N49 apart from other supernova remnants, as most appear roughly circular in visible light.

Warne bags 1000, Glenn goes 900

2007-01-04T13:02:00.000+05:30

Australian spin wiz Shane Warne reached another milestone in his farewell outing as he grabbed his 1000th international wicket in the fifth and final Ashes Test on Wednesday.

Warne became the second to claim 1000 international wickets as he bowled Monty Panesar leg before wickets during the first innings at Sydney.

The leg-spinner, who is the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket having gotten out 707 batsmen so far, has claimed 293 One-Day International wickets.

Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan was the first to claim 1000 international wickets. The off-spinner, who is the second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 674 scalps, has captured 1104 international wickets so far.

Australian paceman Glenn McGrath, who is also playing his last Test here, got his 900th international wicket on Tuesday.

Saddam through the years

2006-12-30T13:24:00.000+05:30

Saddam Hussein was sentenced to die for the killings of dozens of Shiites in 1982. He was being tried on separate charges involving thousands of deaths.
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Saddam Hussein appears in this undated childhood photo.
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In December 2000, Hussein took part in a military parade in Baghdad, greeting army units with rifle shots. Back in the 1950s, before he ascended in the ranks of the Baath Party, Hussein was denied admission to the Baghdad Military Academy. ====================

Iraq's President Saddam Hussein acknowledges cheers from a crowd in Baghdad after the announcement of a cease-fire in the Iraq-Iran war in 1988.
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In 2002, Hussein displays a sword given to him as a gift before he was sworn in as Iraqi president for seven more years.
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Hussein joined members of his family for a portrait in 1991.
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Hussein's eldest son Udai (right) speaks with his younger brother Qusai before the opening of a congress for the regional command of the ruling Baath Party in Baghdad in 2001. Both sons were killed in July 2003 during a battle between U.S. forces and Iraqi gunmen in Mosul, Iraq.

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Undated photograph.
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Undated photograph
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Undated photograph found in a Baghdad palace archive.
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Undated photograph
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Hussein in 1978.
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Iraqi President Saddam Hussein holds up a gun in this 1991 photograph by his personal photographic Lazim Ali, which is currently on exhibit at "The Leaer's Museum" in Baghdad. The photo was taken in Anbar provence after the end of the Gulf War.
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Stuart Lockwood, a British boy among foreigners held in Iraq before the 1991 Persian Gulf war, appeared on televisions worldwide as Saddam Hussein patted his head. Iraq said it staged the meeting to show that the foreign "guests" were well, but the televised encounter provoked widespread condemnation of the Iraqi president.
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When a deck of 55 playing-size cards featuring members of Iraqi leadership was distributed to aid coalition forces in finding former Iraqi leaders, Hussein was the ace of spades.
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A ripped poster of Hussein hangs alongside a street in Basra, Iraq, in April 2003.
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A child rides past the smashed head of a Hussein statue in Baghdad in April 2003. ====================

Hussein undergoes medical exam in Baghdad in Dec. 2003.
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After Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a hole in December 2003, he could hardly believe the American soldiers did not immediately recognize him. "I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq," he declared.

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The hole in which American forces found former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein under a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit is seen in this image made from video.
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Captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein speaks in Baghdad Sunday Dec. 14, 2003 in this image from television. Top U.S. administrator in Iraq L. Paul Bremer confirmed the capture of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in a dirt hole under a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit, eight months after the fall of Baghdad.
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A picture released in July 2004 by the U.S. Department of Defense shows Hussein arriving in shackles and under Iraqi custody for his initial interview with an Iraqi judge in Baghdad. The guards' faces were digitally erased by the source for security reasons.
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In August, Hussein went on trial for the second time, on genocide and other charges in connection with the Anfal campaign in 1987-88 that ended with the deaths of thousands of people.
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Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein yells at the court as he receives his verdict.
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This photo was released in August, 2005, by the Iraqi Special Tribunal, which said it was taken while he was questioned at an unknown location.
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AWAITING CHARGES: Saddam Hussein will be tried at the end of this year at the earliest. One of his lawyers says the defense will question the legitimacy of the Iraqi Special Tribunal and of the war.
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Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein speaks at his trial and tells the court he alone is responsible for the fate of 148 executed villagers from Dujail.
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IN THE NEWS: An Iraqi man, right, reads the latest on ousted dictator Saddam Hussein on a Baghdad street. "He won't get a fair trial, he'll get a political one," Hussein’s lawyer says.
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Saddam Hussein is awaiting trial.

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Quickies - 2006

2006-12-29T00:52:00.000+05:30

Lava cascades down the slope of Mayon volcano near Legazpi City, south of Manila.====================

Actor Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes pose for their official wedding portrait in Lake Bracciano, Italy, November 18, 2006.
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A mouse rides on the back of a frog in floodwaters in Lucknow.====================

Consumers enjoy mud therapy at a nursing home in Anshan, East China's Liaoning province. The mineral mud is believed to be able to alleviate pain from rheumatoid arthritis, sequela of traumatisms and peripheral nervous system diseases.====================

Singer Christina Aguilera performs at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.====================

A boy raises a Lebanese flag in front of a larger one during an anti-war rally outside the Israeli embassy in Athens.
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Two young men play football on the dried up ground of West Common in Gerrard's Cross, Southern England.====================

U.S. President George W. Bush hands back a crying baby that was handed to him from the crowd when he arrived for an outdoor dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Trinwillershagen, Germany.====================

Afghan women covered by burqas walk in the yard of the shrine of Imam Ali, son in-law of Prophet Mohammad, in the city of Mazar-i-Shariff, Kabul, Afghanistan.====================

Villagers dressed as heads on plates perform a pagan ritual in the village of Vevcani. Vevcani villagers mark the annual orthodox St. Vasilij Day with a carnival, which celebrates their 1,300-year-old pagan roots. The highlight of the carnival is a political satire, with masked villagers acting out current events.====================

Guru Lalu mesmerises Harvard students

2006-12-28T23:59:00.000+05:30

There is nothing new in his theory. But, the novelty is that he has put it into practice and it has yielded results. Thats what makes him different from other management gurus.

Laloo held the attention of the Harvard and Wharton, America’s Ivy League school, students for more than an hour today as he explained the turnaround success story of the Indian Railways in heavily accented Bhojpuri Hindi interspread with one-liners in English. The learning was fun.

He transformed the loss-making organisation into a profitable one without privatisation. Some years ago, the Japanese Railways had also been incurring massive losses, but it made a turnaround after being privatised, but he has done it without corporatising the railways.

Laloo showed his acute understanding of market reality and functioning and finances of the Railways. He used some loaded expressions like 'internal resources,' 'operating ratio,' and 'fund balances.'

Ironically, in the US, the bastion of capitalism, the Railways run at a loss and in Europe it survives basically on subsidies.

The Railways, which was a few years back not in a position to pay dividends to the government, now boasts of a cash surplus of more than Rs 13,000 crore in a short span of 30 months. This would take a quantum leap to Rs 20,000 crore by the end of current fiscal. Over the last 30 months, freight volumes have grown by 8-10 per cent and similarly growth in passenger volumes has also been doubled.

He has given a ''steel frame'' to the Railways and irrespective of the change in the minister or the government, the growth story would continue.

Shane Warne's 700 th wicket - The Ashes cricket

2006-12-27T18:19:00.001+05:30


Shane Warne's 700 th wicket - The Ashes cricket

trial of the evil - American experts

2006-12-27T17:25:00.000+05:30

Of the 301 bodies found, 183 belonged to children. He said 90% of the children were under 13 years old. These people were twisting as they were getting shot at.

The captives were often bound and blindfolded. The captives were led into the grave and then executed with pistols or automatic assault rifle fire. The graves were then covered by those directing the execution. The victims had been killed in a highly organised programme of execution.

In some of the most harrowing evidence presented children died in their mothers' arms.

There are evidences:

of a child whose legs were cut in half by a bullet; Another child had wounds to the front and back; A pregnant woman and her unborn child had been killed by a single shot; while another child who had not been shot had probably been smothered to death by a corpse.

There is a terror that takes over as people try to get out of the way. It's a very common human response.

Saddam Hussein dismissed the testimony, saying American experts couldn't be trusted and suggested the court consider what is said by the American expert but also call a new trial expert that has nothing to do with the enemy or the army of the enemy.

Questions over Saddam trial justice

2006-12-27T17:19:00.000+05:30

The advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has unveiled a damning indictment of the trial of Saddam Hussein, saying it was so flawed the verdict was unsound.

The HRW researchers have concluded that Saddam Hussein and his co-accused did not get a fair trial. The report of HRW confirms all the statements we gave about the trial, that it is a political trial, and doesn't meet any condition of a just court.

Saddam to be hanged within 30 days

2006-12-27T17:11:00.000+05:30

Iraq’s highest appeals court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for Saddam Hussein in his first trial and said it must be carried out within 30 days.

On November 5, an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam to the gallows for the 1982 killings of 148 people from a Shiite Muslim town after an attempt on his life there.

The appeals court decision must be ratified by President Jalal Talabani and Iraq’s two vice presidents. Once the decision is ratified, Saddam and other co-defendants sentenced to death at the trial would be hanged within 30 days.

conflicting reactions - saddam's sentence

2006-12-27T17:00:00.000+05:30

A Iraqi court has upheld the death sentence handed down in November to former leader Saddam Hussein.

The failure of his appeal means the former dictator can now be hanged at any time in the next four weeks.

News of the court's decision has been met with conflicting reactions around the world.

WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN, SCOTT STANZEL

Today marks an important milestone in the Iraqi people's efforts to replace the rule of a tyrant with the rule of law.

Saddam has received due process and the legal rights that he denied the Iraqi people.

The Iraqis deserve praise for continuing to utilise the institutions of democracy to pursue justice.

UK FOREIGN OFFICE SPOKESMAN

As the prime minister has made clear, it [Saddam's execution] is entirely a matter for the independent Iraqi tribunal.

Our position is unchanged. We are opposed to the death penalty as a matter of principle but the decision is one for the Iraqi authorities.

RICHARD DICKER, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Imposing the death penalty, indefensible in any case, is especially wrong after such unfair proceedings.

That a judicial decision was first announced by Iraq's national security adviser underlines the political interference that marred Saddam Hussein's trial.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN

Amnesty International is very disappointed about this decision.

We are against the death penalty as a matter of principle but particularly in this case because it comes after a flawed trial.

INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, NAVTEJ SARNA

It is our hope that the sentence will not be carried out and that the former president's life would be spared.

We would also hope that no steps are taken which might obstruct the process of reconciliation and delay the restoration of peace in Iraq.

a verdict on a whole dark era

2006-12-27T16:53:00.000+05:30

India has obliquely warned United States and the current Iraqi regime that execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussain might obstruct the process of reconciliation and delay the restoration of peace in Iraq.

The verdict of the Appeals Court in Baghdad confirmed the death sentence against Mr Hussain and said the sentence must be carried out "within" 30 days. India hopes that the sentence will not be carried out and that the former President's life would be spared and that no steps are taken which might obstruct the peace process.

The Indian reaction on Iraq and Iran goes against the Anglo-American stated policies. Such a strong reaction is also a politically correct thing to do by the UPA government because the Left parties whose support is vital for the government's survival are also against the American policies on Iraq.

New Delhi's reaction is also a demonstration of pursual of its independent foreign policy.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-24T21:07:00.000+05:30

"Designed from the inside out”

2006-12-23T18:13:00.000+05:30

"Designed from the inside out” is how Toyota describes its new Auris space concept, revealed for the first time at the Paris Motor Show. Toyota combined Vibrant Clarity, a forward-looking and energetic appearance with a clear and rational approach to providing driver and passengers with a spacious and highly practical environment. The high waistline, short overhangs and forward balance of the cabin architecture ensure it retains a sense of dynamism and agility, a quality we call perfect imbalance.

Auris has a high quality interior, featuring an innovative sculpted, bridged centre console that is both elegant and practical, bringing the gearlever and other controls up to the perfect ergonomic height. This leaves an open section in the lower part of the console that increases the sense of space around the driver and front seat passenger.

The inside-out concept can also be witnessed in the panoramic glass roof, the flat rear passenger floor and high window surfaces, all of which contribute to the overall sense of interior light and space

The exterior is characterised by a powerful front-end treatment with strong vertical lines, wide shoulders and short overhangs, with sports-styled 19-inch alloy wheels, freeform geometric lamps, prominent brake callipers and deep rear bumper with integrated chrome exhausts adding to the dynamic look.

The striking gold exterior paint finish and interior piping reflect the car’s name.

As Christmas approaches, a virgin mother is awaiting the arrival of her offspring.

2006-12-22T14:41:00.000+05:30

In an evolutionary twist, Flora, the Komodo dragon, has managed to become pregnant without any male help. It would seem the timing is auspicious: seven baby Komodo dragons are due this festive season.

Flora has never mated, or even mixed, with a male dragon, and fertilized all the eggs herself, a process culminating in parthenogenesis, or virgin birth.

The scientists, reporting the discovery in the science journal Nature, said it could help them understand how reptiles colonize new areas. A female dragon could, for instance, swim to another island and establish a new colony on her own.

Komodo dragons are among the largest reptiles on earth whose dozens of razor-sharp, serrated teeth are so teeming with bacteria that one bite can prove lethal to a human.

The view from the Stereo Ahead

2006-12-22T14:31:00.000+05:30

On December 22nd, at 0022 Universal Time the Sun reached its southernmost point in Earth's sky marking the final season change for the year 2006. In celebration of the Solstice, consider these images of the Sun from an extreme ultraviolet telescope onboard the Stereo Ahead spacecraft. Recorded on December 4th, Stereo's first day of imaging, each false-color view highlights atomic emission in different temperature regimes of the upper solar atmosphere; 2 million kelvins in yellow, 1.5 million in green, 1 million, in blue and 60 to 80 thousand in red. The Stereo Mission will place twin spacecraft, launched together in October, into different solar orbits to conduct a three dimensional exploration of the Sun and the solar environment. After completing lunar swingby maneuvers, the A spacecraft is intended to orbit the Sun "Ahead" of planet Earth, and the B spacecraft "Behind".

Further: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/news/first_light.html

color blindness test

2006-12-21T17:00:00.000+05:30

how to make your neighbor angry

2006-12-21T10:16:00.000+05:30

Google teams up with NASA

2006-12-21T09:16:00.000+05:30

Google Inc. and NASA Ames Research Center said Monday that they have finalized an agreement to deliver more of the space agency's imagery and information through the Internet's leading search engine.

The collaboration marks another step in a partnership announced 15 months ago when Google unveiled plans to build a 1 million-square-foot campus at the NASA center, located a few miles south of the company's Mountain View headquarters.

Under the arrangement, Ames will feed Google with its weather forecasting information, three-dimensional maps of the moon and Mars, and real-time tracking of the international space station and space shuttle flights so the pictures and data are available to anyone with an Internet connection.

This agreement between NASA and Google will soon allow every American to experience a virtual flight over the surface of the moon or through the canyons of Mars.

Google already draws upon some of NASA's imagery to provide Web surfers with interactive tours of Mars as part of a 9-month-old service.

NEMO 33 - world's deepest swimming pool

2006-12-20T16:46:00.000+05:30

World's deepest swimming pool with 2 pools, 3 pits (5, 10 and 33m) and 2,500,000 liters of spring water.

nokia 770 - internet tablet

2006-12-20T14:44:00.000+05:30

Google Oranged

2006-12-20T14:22:00.000+05:30

What happens when two of the world's most powerful technology brands collaborate???

gPhone...

Google is on the move. The internet giant has held talks with Orange about a multi-billion-dollar partnership to create a 'Google phone' which makes it easy to search the web wherever you are.

Google are software experts and are doing some amazing work compressing data so that the mobile user gets a much better experience. They don't know so much about mobiles, but they are eager to learn from Orange's years of experience.

The phone will come with optimized Google software designed to speed up the notoriously cumbersome task of surfing and searching the Web on a handheld device, and offer mobile versions of Google applications such as Google Earth, Gmail and Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

the rise and fall of the men in blue

2006-12-20T14:10:00.000+05:30

Indian cricket team hit a new low in 2006. The year saw some of the big names like Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Kaif, Irfan Pathan disappoint fans by their lacklustre performance on several occasions. Sachin, who returned to the Indian side after a almost-six month long absence due to an injury, has also not been able to display his legendary charm. Spinner Harbhajan Singh, who performed decently at the home series, turned out a rather disappointing performance in the away series. Mahendra Singh Dhoni reinforced his image as a hard-hitting batsman-wicket keeper during the year and gave quite a few sterling performances.

The year also saw the return of two outstanding players, former captain Sourav Ganguly and ace spinner Anil Kumble, into the Indian team. Both donned the blue uniform after a 10-odd month hiatus. Ganguly was recently recalled, along with stylish batsman VVS Laxman, for the Test squad currently playing against South Africa in that country. Kumble made a re-entry into the ODI team. Pacer Zaheer Khan too was recalled for the Indian squad for South Africa and has turned out a decent performance in the ODIs.

The year also saw Indian coach Greg Chappell experiment with the new crop comprising Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Munaf Patel, Wasim Jaffer, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, RP Singh, Ramesh Powar and Gautam Gambhir.

Indian opened the year on a high note and continued its good form in ODIs. They beat Pakistan 4-1 in Pakistan and also achieved the world-record of winning 17 successive matches chasing the total. They went on to win hands-down during their tour of England, winning the series 5-1.

But, from the next series onwards - when India went to West Indies - its performance on the ODI front started going downhill. They lost the ODI series 1-4 to a weak West Indies team which was ranked 8th in the ICC ODI ranking. The men-in-blue, surprisingly, won the Test series against West Indies 1-0 and registered their first series win in the Caribbean since Ajit Wadekar's team managed the feat way back in 1971.

India's ability to play away from the Sub-continent is now being questioned. As the year comes to a close, India's chance of winning the 2007 Cricket World Cup too is also being questioned.

Sensex closes 350 pts down on Asian cues

2006-12-19T19:42:00.000+05:30

The BSE Index settled with sharp losses today, on intense selling pressure. Sensex plunged nearly 500 points before recovering some lost ground in the last hour of the intra day as value buying emerged at lower levels.

BSE is a 30 share index. It ended with a 349.08 point or 2.54 percent sharp fall at 13382.01. Its high for the day was at 13748.62. Oscillated sharp 511.23 points during the day, with high volatility.

Though Monday showed substantial FII sales, Tuesday's sentiments dampened with a negative breadth on BSE with 1.8 losers per gainer. On BSE index, 1641 shares declined as compared to 919 that advanced. 69 remained unchanged. Among the 30-Sensex pack, 29 declined while only one advanced.

India wasn't the only sufferer. All the Asian markets were trading with losses except China's Shanghai Composite which was up 1.36 per cent. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index was down 1.09 per cent while the Hang Seng index lost 1.22 per cenrt.

Among the US stocks, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 4.25 points or 0.03%, to end at 12,441.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 21.63 points or 0.88%, to close at 2,435.57.

Casualties of Iraq War - 3

2006-12-19T17:00:00.000+05:30

I am not saying who in particular caused any of these injuries, just that this is the sort of suffering happening to both sides as the result of the war.

My intent is not a criminal investigation of each incident but to show you just how horrible war in general is.

still life

2006-12-19T16:38:00.000+05:30

Pagani Zonda

2006-12-19T16:37:00.000+05:30

Engine
7.3 liter Mercedes-Benz AMG 12 cylinder

Weight
2712 lbs

Torque
561 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm

HP
602 hp @ 6150 rpm

HP/Weight
4.5 lbs per hp

HP/Liter
82.4 hp per liter

0-124 mph
9.8 seconds

0-62 mph
3.6 seconds

Top Speed
over 214 mph

Attempts to beat Ferrari and Porsche at their own game normally meet with the same success as drunken rows with nightclub bouncers, but Horacio Pagani blew the establishment away with the Zonda back in 1999 and has raised the bar once again with the Pagani Zonda F.

There are just 60 Zondas in the world and Pagani will build just 25 Fs.

The Zonda F is a hypercar with few peers and only the Porsche Carrera GT, Mercedes SLR and Ferrari Enzo, but this is arguably in a different league in terms of exclusivity, speed and, at €478,000, it’s way more expensive.

tallest women and men in the world

2006-12-19T16:31:00.000+05:30

Two tallest men in the world. One lives in Mongolia and his height is 236.1 cm and he is the tallest man in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The other one is a Ukrainian and he height is 253 cm but not yet registered by Guinness books.

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De-Fen Yao from China whos height is appx. 7'8 1/2" (2.35 m)

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Sandy Allen from Shelbyville, IN (USA) who stood at 7'7 1/4" (2.32 m)

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cheeranjivi's horse skid

2006-12-19T15:36:00.000+05:30

Hollywood...watch this..here comes Cheeranjivi...lollzzzz