தமிழன்

2006-01-29T23:36:00.000-08:00

New post up on my wordpress blog! Here's the link,

தமிழன்

Wordpress!

2006-01-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

Am moving to wordpress! Will post both on Blogger and Wordpress for a while. Please update your blogroll.

Thanks in advance!

தமிழன் is the new blog link.

Leveling the playing field

2006-01-26T21:01:00.000-08:00

This post is to level the playing field. Refer Ponnarasi's post

The management claims that no worker in the shipyard suffers from Asbestosis (as alleged by Greenpeace). The article can be found here.

The matter is still open to speculation and debate I guess.

Post a Mug!

2006-01-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

Accepting a voluntary tag by GP, i've put up my 'mug'!

Yeah its not a mug.. But this is what i drink my morning coffee in!

Sandakozhi

2006-01-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Lingusamy Producer kitta kadhai solraaru..

Lingusamy: Saar padam oru thulichalaana ilaignana pathi. Edhukum bayapada maataan, tenshun aaga maataan.. Opening scene saar, rendu kozhi saar, apdiye fasta stylea oru kozhi innoru kozhiya nokki nadandhu varudhu saar..

Producer: Yo, kozhi enna superstara? Sonna udaney style vara?

Lingusamy: Saar nejamaana kozhi illa saar, fulla graphics panrom..apdiye rendu kozhium meet pannudhu saar, semma cockfightu saar, orey feather flying saar.. apdiye feather parakka solla screeney karuppa aidudh..apdiye titlea podrom! Epdi saar opening?

Producer: Vithyaasama thaan iruku..

If you thought that was a figment of my imagination, think again. That, my dear readers, is how the movie Sandakozhi actually begins. If you are looking for a review, I am not going to waste any more space on my blog writing about bullshit like this.

Tetris is life!

2006-01-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

I was playing Tetris on my Mac the other day, and i suddenly realized that the game is really modeled on life! Yes my friends, the oh-so-addictive brick game we all played (i still play it, now what does that say about me?) is actually telling us, 'Hey morons, this is what life is like'

A few random thoughts about Tetris' lifelike features..

1. People are different. So are the blocks which drop down from above. Some blocks might be the same though, this just means you've got friends who share interests with you.

2. You cannot go back and change life. The blocks in Tetris move only down and not in the reverse direction.

3. Sometimes you find the right fit (in your career, a perfect life partner, whatever) and when you find that fit, you cease to exist as a discrete unit. You become a part of whatever institution. Same thing happens when a block fits into a proper slot. It ceases to exist in its previous form.

4. Sometimes you have to be flexible in life, probably change yourself, to fit into a relationship or your workplace. Similarly, some blocks have to turned and twisted in order to fit them into the holes.

5. Teamwork. If all the blocks don't twist and turn around to fit properly, its GAME OVER pretty soon. But if you keep playing good, the game only becomes faster and tougher. Thats like when you do good work with your team, you get promoted to a bigger position with more responsibility.

6. Ok this is a little too deep and I don't believe it but i'll say it anyway. Maybe (and thats a BIG maybe), just like a Tetris player, there is someone/something out there using some buttons to play with our lives.

Wow. I cannot believe that small game has so much deep shit in it!

If you read all the above stuff, you are vetti-er than I am. Go do something constructive! Or at least go play Tetris...

Aaru

2006-01-13T21:06:00.000-08:00

I saw this movie. You got a problem with that?

Two things stand out. Extra ordinary dialogue delivery by Surya..

Samples

'Ponnu matter naala inga ninnu pesitrukeyn, illana bambaram aadirpeyn, mavaney nee daar ayirpa..'

'Nillu! Kai ezhuthu potadha marandhu edhaa prachanai pannuviya, illa marakaama iruka mogathla marku venuma?'

'Adchenna sevul avulu vidum, kodal kuthu vidum'

If you thought this was good, there is one monologue by Aiswarya (not Rai, duh!) that steals the movie from Surya. Here goes.. (Read in cheri tamizh for maximum effect!)

'Aandrorukum, Sandrorukum, enna pondrorukum vanakam. Tholla pota thundu, idupula katna veti, ulla katna komanam, avuthu vita ammanam, iththaan vaazhkai. Dai rajarathnam, nee mavatta thalaivar illa da, maavaatra thalaivar. Yen thalaivaniya thitra? Kola puttu seyya theriyuma da un thalaivanuku? Arsi maava ethu, kaaya vechi, koyala potu, puttu aaki vega vechi guppunu etha summa gummunu irukum. Kola puttey seyya theriyaadha on thalaivan epdi da makkaluku kozha potu thanni viduvaan?'

At this point, someone in the audience throws a paper rocket at her..

'Adinga ommaala, yevan da adhu paaketla irukara raaket ethu jaaketla vidravan? Daai, dhill irundha ondiku ondi vaanga da! Onaku moonjila meesaina.. (audience goes silent) ..enaku mozhangaal la meesai da! Adchi nenjula irukara manja tonica urinji ethruveyn daaiii!

Except for this scene, the movie was not worth watching :D

Paathshaala

2006-01-09T05:30:00.000-08:00

Was listening to the Paathshaala song from Rang De Basanti and suddenly went into flashback mode, reminiscing about my PSBB days.. The song goes something like this,

na koi padhne wala na koi sikhnewala..
apni toh paathshala masti ki paathshala..

For the National Language Impaired, that translates to,

No one to study, No one to learn..
At our school, we learn how to have fun..

Hey, that actually rhymes!! :D

Dharma, Vimal, I miss you guys and the times we had together!

How can I forget all the bunking, the movies, Dumb Charades, Simon sir, 'Om' concept :D, DEAS trip (with Sika!) and all the other moments..

If you stumble onto this page by chance, leave a comment!

Pardon me, my regular readers. I needed to put that sign out, just in case these guys stopped by.. Regular programming (if there was anything like that) will continue!

My blog's worth

2006-01-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

I have become very contemplative nowadays. What with placements season and other major changes in life. I was wondering how useful my blogging activities are to my life, and I think I've found a partial answer.

My blog is worth $11,855.34.
How much is your blog worth?

$ 11855.34! Like any good Indian, I immediately converted this to rupees :)

Rs. 5,30,408!!!! (At an exchange rate of $1=Rs.44.73)

En bloga vithu oru chinna flat vaangalaam :D

Whats your blog worth?

Reincarnated!

2006-01-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

No, I am not some king from the Mahabharata or anything. Just read this article on ET.

Phirangs want your saree as a curtain

People in the UK are buying Benarasi sarees to use as curtains. But they are so behind the trend on this one!

Sarees have been multi purpose at home, as long as I can remember. Want a makeshift curtain for that especially hot day? Mom's saree it is! Feeling really cold on a Margazhi night, grandma's old silk saree will keep you warm!

Imagine using one of their skirts as a curtain.. Yuck!

Me winning an Oscar

2005-12-28T06:07:00.000-08:00

To me, thats ridiculous. just as ridiculous is Rediff's top five Tamil movies of 2005. Take a look,

1. Thavamaai Thavamirundhu (Excuse me? A 4 hour movie with two intervals that reeks of mega serial sentiment is a top movie of 2005??)

2. Raam (Hmm, a good effort, different, good music, maybe..)

3. Kanaa Kandein (Eh? I want to meet the writer of this piece. Padatha paakaamalae ezhudhitaangala? Director avanga frienda?)

4. Kathal (Ok, top five this one is)

5. Anniyan (Now we are talking!)

Now, lets see what Sify's list is.

1. Chandramukhi (Thalaivar, 'nuff said)

2. Anniyan (ambi, remo, anniyan nu friends ellaarayum classify pannirkomey!)

3. Ghajini (Actually, naa Sanjay Ramasamya love panla pa..)

4. Tirupaachi (Like it or not, its a hit. Kumbuda Pona Dheivam..)

5. Arindhum Ariyaamalum (Sleeper hit, Arya scores)

My list!

1. Anniyan

2. Ghajini

3. Kathal

4. Arindhum Ariyaamalum

5. Raam

Ya thats mine. What does your list look like?

EDIT: Hmm, Do I smell a tag? :D

The first time

2005-12-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

It was probably D's first time on a plane. He says its his second time, but hey, that child like excitement makes it a moot point!

So, we get on the plane to Kolkata, and put our bags in in the racks above. The 'fasten seatbelts' sign glows and the air hostesses begin to close the doors on the overhead racks.

D turns to A and asks, 'Machan, why are they closing the racks da?'

Tell me my readers, was it D's first time on a plane? :D

How to kill your competition

2005-12-20T02:26:00.000-08:00

Here's the situation. You are the market leader, and have 90% market share. Your competitor has around 5%. You need to kill this guy and make sure he doesn't grow. What options do you have?

1. Buy the competitor.

2. Give away your product for free, making sure everyone uses it, thus killing the competition.

3. 'Co-operate' with the competition.

Now, any sane manager would select the first option, and in some special cases, the second one. But only the smartest, most cunning corporation could select the third option and still go unnoticed.

I am talking about the new agreement between Microsoft (MSFT) and Mozilla Corp, the organization distributing Mozilla Firefox.

Mozilla has agreed to let Microsoft use this logo

The logo is usually seen on Firefox's address bar to indicate that a website has an RSS feed associated with it. By acquiring the right to use this logo, Microsoft is ostensibly bringing itself closer to its customers and establishing standards.

To me, the real reason seems to be a long term plan to crush Firefox. Think about it. We already know that IE7 is going to have tabs and inbuilt popup blocking. These are the two major features that usually bring newbies to Firefox. Using icons from Firefox (and possibly making IE natively skinnable in Vista) will simply make IE and Firefox look identical to each other, thus killing the differentiation that attracts people to alternative browsers initially. Yes, the solid codebase and awesome features like extensions make Firefox a keeper. But at first glance, if there is no difference, people will not make the switch to Firefox.

A clever move on Microsoft's part. As a marketing company, M$ understands that the package is as important as the stuff inside. And as for Mozilla Corp, this is what John Lilly, Mozilla's VP - business development, had to say,

"It was a pretty easy call to say, 'This is better for users.' "

Rock on Mozilla! Firefox vaazhga!

Acute nasopharyngitis

2005-12-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

Or, common cold. I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy. As an asthmatic, cold is no stranger to me and the slightest amount of dust can make my twin cannons fire, if you know what I mean.

After two days of fighting the damn thing, I hereby declare the common cold as my sworn enemy.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender

That sums up my attitude to the common cold.

I think the gene causing susceptibility to the common cold must be found and erased from the human genome. And a worldwide covert op must be mounted to track down the common cold virus and eliminate it.

In fact, I think I can persuade President Bush to fund this operation. Just tell him that the common cold virus has been re-engineered to cause brain damage and Al Qaeda is mailing envelopes full of the virus to all high schools in the country.

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go blow my nose :D

A new life!

2005-12-04T22:42:00.000-08:00

Its spare, it has no luxuries, it involves a lot of compromises and it is far from perfect. But its the most fun you can ever have in life!

Having moved to a room near my college for various reasons, even though home is only 10 km away, i am enjoying the good life again. Lots of time to sleep, lots more to study, friends nearby to party anytime we want, sleeping at college at night.. In the words of Al Pacino in Scent Of a Woman, WHOO AH!

December 1, 2005 was an unforgettable day for me. Ranks right up there with August 15th, January 26th, August 18th. I am not waiting anymore.

2005-11-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you

Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you

With or without you
With or without you

Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you

And I give myself away
And I give myself away
And I give
And I give
And I give myself away

My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose

With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you

From U2 - With or Without You

Title Change

2005-11-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

Have changed the title to Tamizh! Felt that a blog called தமிழன் should have at least its title in Tamizh.

Used this website to do it.

Lemme know if it doesn't display properly in your browser.

Browsers already tested - Safari, Firefox (Mac), Opera (Mac), Internet Explorer (Windows XP Pro).

It doesn't display properly on Firefox on Windows XP. I don't know why and I don't really care :)

What will kill the Indian BPO industry

2005-11-24T03:58:00.000-08:00

As an MBA student, I have had to analyze various industries and varied businesses to find out whether they are worth entering, are profitable, and what their future prospects are.

The BPO industry has never been analyzed.

All premier management institutes have fests with competitions which involve solving business problems. in marketing, finance, operations, HR and the like. I have seen all sectors represented in these fests.

Not one of them has a BPO event.

My B-School has a course on management in the ITES industry. How many people have taken it? Less than ten.

So what is going to kill the BPO industry? Rising personnel costs? Infrastructure issues? Financial constraints?

It is my humble opinion that the only constraint that the BPO industry has always had and continues to have is the lack of quality middle management.

It is easy to sound the death knell of this industry when business schools ignore it. BPO companies are not on the dream company lists of any Tier 1 institutes. So they naturally recruit from schools which are desperate get some placement. This dramatically impacts the company's ability to leverage its capabilities and consequently, these companies are not able to articulate clear visions and retain talent.

When a management is made up of under performers, the talent issue gets magnified when it trickles down to the front-line agents. HR policies become lax and anyone who can form sentences in English gets recruited. Quality of transactions goes down and clients flee. Of course, they are replaced by others now because the industry has invested a lot in its marketing team abroad. But how long can good marketing hold up a sub standard operation?

My profs tell me marketing Indian BPO is easy because India as a brand is already SOLD in the US and Europe. Everyone knows India has a huge pool of graduates who speak English better than they speak their native language. Everyone knows that Indians are handy with computers, both software and hardware.

What everyone doesn't know, is that the managers in these companies are clueless as to what their company will be doing in three years. They don't know how to handle international competition, they don't know what to do when quality metrics go down, they don't know how to continually motivate the team to go beyond the metrics and look at the long term view.

Can this be fixed? Does this industry, which employs a million people, have a future? or is it just a flash in the pan?

Is WiFi ruining college?

2005-11-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

Slashdot has an article about how a study has found out that WiFi in class is affecting the education we get.

While i totally agree to the fact that indiscriminate use of Internet does cause a lot of distractions that negatively affect the educational experience, one cannot over-emphasize the fact that taking the internet out of the classroom is not the solution.

I am a student and know the joys of chatting away in the classroom. But, I have never ever surfed the internet in a class I have found interesting and value-adding.

The solution to this 'issue' is simple. Make your classes interesting profs!

I do have a major problem with the way the education system is structured now, but thats content for another post ;)

Risk

2005-11-16T05:13:00.000-08:00

A question for all you tamizh scholars out there.

What is the tamizh word for risk?

While we are at it, what is the hindi word for risk?

Thanks in advance for the answer!

L'Attitude 13'05

2005-11-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

The maiden annual management fest at Great Lakes

If you belong to one of the 945 odd B-Schools in our great country, and really greedy (which I am sure you are, otherwise you wouldnt be in a B-School), here's an opportunity to showcase your talent and win some major prize money too!

The events are

1. Black deeds, white collars - PR / Crisis Management
2. Brain$, Bizness and Megabuck$ - Biz Quiz conducted by Giri 'Pickbrain' Balasubramaniam
3. Marksman - The Marketing case study
4. Vitamin F - Finance Paper Presentation and Debate

There is also a Conclave with eminent speakers like Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, Mr. Jairam Ramesh and Mr. Sam Pitroda.

Some online events are also planned! So if you are far away, you can still participate! For more details on all the events, go L'Attitude 13°05

AND, the events are all being held at Buena Vista, a resort on the East Coast Road, kissing the Bay of Bengal!

So get your ass to Chennai on Dec. 11 and 12!

Naa endha inglis padam?

2005-11-12T05:07:00.000-08:00

Or, what classic movie am I?

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Neengalum try pannungo!

Dingolfi!

2005-11-11T05:33:00.000-08:00

I am writing this after watching Maja. Indha padatha paathu, nondu noolaayi, sattai pant kizhunji, alangolama aitteyn.

These guys from the Kerala film industry need to understand that the Tamizh audience is different. We do not understand if thing are told to us in a subtle manner. Our cinema needs to be IN THE FACE. Even after seeing the villain in Ghajini ripping the clothes off a dead woman, they fail to understand the lack of subtlety needed to succeed in Tamizh cinema.

I understand that this movie was a hit in Malayalam. Success in one language doesnt guarantee success in any other! A review here trashes the original, notwithstanding its success.

My theory about Maja is, Shafi was making a movie which when shown to foreigners, can be touted as "If you've seen Maja, you've seen them all".

It contains every cliche ever invented in Kollywood. Orphans, fatherly & brotherly love, hero taking on twin villains, thaali sentiment, the local 'feared' naatamai, the thimir pidicha naatamai ponnu, the kadan vaddi stuff, the hero getting drunk for the first time, the morai maaman scheming to control his mama's daughter and wealth, hero and heroine first meeting on an angry note etcetera etcetera etcetera.

Another theory is that the director was in fact trying to mock all the usual Kollywood cliches but didnt quite succeed because the attempt was too subtle. I want to subscribe to this view, as it gives a little credibility to the director and Vikram (why? why would he accept a project like this?)

Junk story, bad screenplay, forgettable songs, wasted Asin, wasted Vikram, Maja sucks.

Of course, there is a silver lining for every cloud (another cliche, I know). Here its Pasupathy as Aadhi. His comic timing has only improved since Mumbai Express and even Vadivelu cannot come close with his usual 'hayyo hayyo' comedy.

By the way, Dinglofi is Maja lingo for love.

The Phenomenon that is Kamal Haasan

2005-11-07T04:19:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days, I have been wondering what is it that attracts me to Kamal Haasan.

The versatile acting, the staunchly apolitical stand on all issues, the maverick film making, the ability to divorce the stormy personal life from the professional one, the switch from atheism to a soft agnosticism, the way he constantly reinvents himself... The list is endless. He has been one of the biggest influences in my life and this post is to wish him on his 51st birthday.

Happy Birthday Kamal Sir!

I am glad Lagaan didn't win at the Academy Awards. As a Kamal fan, there can only be one acknowledgement of his talent, the Oscar. Yes, he does say he respects awards from within India more than foreign ones, but I am sure, there is this secret longing for that kind of recognition in every actor who has reached the pinnacle of his craft.

And, I do hope he makes Marudanayagam soon! A little information about Yusuf Khan, Kamal's character in Marudanaayagam, in Kamal's own words.

"After Guna I wanted to do a different film, quite different from the existing genres. I settled on history, and went back in time to discover a person immortalised in a Tamil ballad -- simply written but lucidly told -- of a man who was a great warrior, a folk legend who, towards the end, was almost deified.

"Going back almost 275 years, the lovely ballad was full of euphemisms, of speeches like that of Mark Anthony. Researching further, we confirmed there was a kind of a ban on this fiery character and that the ruling Nawab and the British must have been hostile to him. What was more intriguing was that the gentleman was from the same district as me -- Ramanathapuram."

Yusuf Khan was born a Hindu, converted to Islam and married a half-French half-Portuguese woman named Masha. He was betrayed by his own, for a Hindu, a Muslim and a French commander were keen to destroy him. He was hung like a common thief, unsung and unfeted.

"He was ostracised from his community because of his liberal views. Though he adopted various religions, ultimately the religion of war stuck to him. He was a rare combination of a great fighter and an administrator.

He was the first commander of the sepoys for the East India Company and the first warrior who attempted European style warfare on Indian soil. He started out by helping the British against the French but eventually turned against them. But while he was still helping the British, he was the commander in arms with Clive and was the blue eyed boy of Stringer Lawrence, who described him in glowing terms for his valour and courage."

The full interview can be found here.

One night @ the call center

2005-11-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

The first thing you notice about the book is the spelling of centre. Its the American spelling, reflecting what the book is about.

Spoiler Alert! I may give out any juicy details about the book. An excerpt from the story can be found on Chetan Bhagat's website.

Some rants

1. One dimensional stereotyped characters.

From the under-performer Shyam, to the aspiring model Esha, to Priyanka looking for security in life, all the characters are one dimensional. This is probably because Bhagat doesn't want to complicate his characters too much and lose focus.

2. The so called informal language used.

Bhagat's amateurish writing comes out clearly right through the book. He doesn't use abbreviations consistently and oscillates between formal and informal lingo every other page. It makes the whole experience very jarring.

3. The improbable sequence of events.

For all the build-up about a book based on heavy research, the sequence of events and the climax in particular (the call center is saved from huge job cuts by a resourceful employee) are improbable and hard to digest. It cannot be called fiction. Fantasy would be a better word.

The only character I liked in the whole book was Vroom. Right from the pursuit of material happiness to the idealist dialogue he spouts towards the end, I see some of myself in him. That, I feel, is the success of the book. It shows one angle of the call center story and shows it well.

Some lines I liked from the book (mouthed by Vroom)

'Yes, this salary has hooked me. Every night I come here and let people fuck me,' Vroom said and picked up the telephone headset. 'The Americans fuck me with this, in my ears, hundreds of times a night, every night. Bakshi fucks me with his management theories, backstabbing and threats to fire us. And the funny thing is, I let them do it. For money, for security - I let them do it. Come fuck me some more.'

On the whole, a good read. If you have ever spent time at a call center, you will know what Chetan Bhagat is trying to say.

What time is it? Its BS kavidhai time!

2005-10-29T10:45:00.000-07:00

Saalai oram kaekadha da josiyam
Ozhaipaaliku lucka da avasiyam?

There are some things money cant buy,
For everything else, friend pursela vidu kai!

Happy Diwali nu sonnaa pakathu veetu figureu,
Udaney pattaasu vaangineyn, vedichaan ava brotheru!

Happy Diwali everyone!!

Poetry, History and The Green Coconut

2005-10-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

An sms from Madhu made me curious about a certain Sir Walter Scott, a (obviously) Scottish poet who wrote some stuff I remember reading about in my school days.

Some lines...

And come he slow, or come he fast,
It is but death who comes at last.

Marmion (1808)

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!

Marmion, Canto vi. Stanza 17.

Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
And men below, and saints above;
For love is heaven, and heaven is love

The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805)

A stanza for the poor guys in Iraq:-

Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er,
Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more,
Days of danger, nights of waking

The Lady of The Lake (1810)

OH! young Lochinvar is come out of the west,
Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;
And save his good broadsword he weapons had none.
He rode all unarmed and he rode all alone.
So faithful in love and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.

Lochinvar (CBSE students must remember this one)

Finally, the one which started it all, and is the topic of much debate.

O woman! In our hours of ease
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,
And variable as the shade
By the light, quivering aspen made;
When pain and anguish wring the brow,
A ministering angel thou!

Marmion (1808)

I think the lines above are too narrow in scope and reflect the thinking of that day and age, when women were seen as nurses who could take care of the house and manor, but not much else. This was written before Victorian Era began, while William IV was still on the throne in London.

Incidentally, William IV was an early bean-counter, who made sure his coronation cost only one-tenth of George IV, his predecessor. He was also for parliamentary reform.

PS 1 Am off to Green Coconut for an outbound program, supposedly to teach us stress busting techniques. If its party you want, its party you got!

PS 2 If you got to the end of this post without dozing off, here is something interesting to chew on.

The rain song.

2005-10-23T02:23:00.000-07:00

A request to all directors and producers of the Tamil film industry. Leave the rain song alone!

A rain song is holy, sacrosanct and should not be tampered with. Let me explain to you the circumstances in which a rain song can be used.

1. Hero meets heroine. Love blossoms. A romantic song which mixes the innocence of rain with the sensuality of the monsoon.

2. Seduction. This is where the heroine (not the vamp) is trying to seduce the hero by cavorting in a (usually white) saree. The hero doesnt need to get wet.

3. Lovers cannot unite due to one of these: Villain, old flame, cancer, other family pressures. The hero feels really bad and stands outside the heroines house in the rain, singing away to glory. The heroine should be indoors crying. She may come out at the end to hug, kiss and make up.

That is it. These are the only three situations in which a rain song is warranted.

Rain songs cannot convey birthday party feelings, small kid lost in the big city feelings etc., and cannot, cannot have a group of dancers with the hero/heroine. Lyrics like "Un samaiyal araiyil naan uppa sarkaraiya' are a strict no-no.

The post was inspired by the recent trend in Tamil cinema, where the rain sentiment has been abused over and over again in recent times. Movies like Mazhai, Arinthum Ariyaamalum etc.

Rendaayiram!

2005-10-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

Aararai Kodi Paerkalil Oruvan
Adiyen Tamizhan Naan Ungal Nanban
Aana Neengal Aavanna Naan Thaan
Neengal Illamal, Naan Ingu Illai.....Illai!

Everyone who has visited, Nandri Hai! (translates loosely to thanks)

2005-10-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

Outside

I’m on the outside
I’m looking in
I can see through you
See your true colors
Cause inside you’re ugly
Ugly like me
I can see through you
See to the real you

Dear Reader,

Please don't misunderstand the lyrics above. Its just a song!

Report Card

2005-10-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Name: Ghajini Crew
Roll no. 16 (Dont ask why)
Class: Yet another Movie
School: Kollywood

Asin: A+

A brilliant performance. Needs to improve on dancing skills and diction (but i guess the 'malabar' diction is very attractive for some people)

Surya: A

Very Good. Good homework to build the muscles and get the confused look right. The tennis ball haircut actually seems to suit him. And the flashback haircut is even better.

AR Murugadoss: A-

Above average. Gets away with huge holes in the script. Points for Indianization of the plot. Negative marking for choosing Nayantara for such an important role and also for the improbable, sucky climax.

Harris Jeyaraj: B

Average. Reprimanded for copying his own tunes and jarring re-recording and BGM.

Pradeep Rawat (Thats the villain(s) name FYI): C

Just twisting your face and mouthing BS doesnt make you a villain. No menace on screen, tired face. Needs to work very hard to be a first rate non-comical villain.

Technical Crew (Editing - Antony, Stunts - Kanal Kannan, Camera - RD Rajasekhar): A+

Awesome job. Graphics has been effectively used but overdose towards the end.

Nayantara: F

Fail. Fail. Fail. If this was her attempt to change her image after acting with old heroes, she couldnt have screwed it up any worse. The X Machi thoppai is the stuff of nightmares.

Time for some BS!

2005-10-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

Telengula machiku machilu
Thuppina varum ecchilu!

hindi padathla paathen bipaasa
sivakasina verum pattaasa??

Marathla kaaikidhu maanga
blogla comment pannitu ponga!

Let the thuppifying begin!

Night Life in Chennai

2005-10-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know, its nonexistent. But i am not talking about the pubs and bars and clubs which close by 11 PM. I am talking about those all-night teakadais which also serve up specialty dishes.

My favorite is Hi-Look, near Madhya Kailash. Night rendu manikku poi anga oru bread omelette, oru tea, oru dum. Its heaven!!

Also, it is the joint for IITians and the call center crowd on the way home from Tidel Park. Another exciting thing is the local celebrities who sometimes drop in. Nobody bothers them of course (Chennaivasis are too polite for that kind of thing), but hey, its kinda cool just being there with someone you usually see on TV or whatever...

While it is everyone's fervent wish that we have clubs open till the wee hours of the morning, places like Hi-Look are the only alternative now!

IIPM vs Blogosphere Round 2

2005-10-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering who won the first round, it was US (bloggers, i mean)! IIPM turned its tail and went back into the bunker to form better tactics.

Weirdly enough, IIPM (unlike any other B School I know) has a union. What does this union do when they realize their placements are at stake? Lets see. They write to Gaurav asking him to remove the posts? No. They sue him for slander and/or libel? No. They start a press release orgy to counter the claims made by JAM? No.

They resort to what they seem to know best. Threats and Violence.

They threaten to burn their ThinkPad laptops in front of IBM's office if Gaurav doesnt retract his posts. (Gaurav works for IBM). This is starting to look like Kolkata in the 1970s.

So what does Gaurav do? HE FUCKING RESIGNS. While I understand and respect his reasons for doing so, I think he should have stuck in there and fought it out.

Gaurav, dude, you totally, absolutely, rock.

And Round 2 goes to.....FREEDOM OF SPEECH!

PS I think IIPM students should use that 1.4 kilo organ between their shoulders and get their management to answer JAM's accusations in a public forum.

IIPM vs Blogosphere Round 1

2005-10-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

It began with this article by JAM, a youth magazine, which brought to light various false claims by IIPM in its one-page newspaper ads.

After this article appeared, various new blogs started appearing across the Internet, supporting IIPM and accusing JAM of taking money from Amity (another accused school of learning) and liberally bad-mouthing JAM and its editor.

The editor of JAM, Rashmi Bansal, writes a blog (Youth Curry) and she wrote a post about these fake blogs, thus initiating a comment flame war, which I must say, is pretty funny!

Enter Gaurav Sabnis, a blogger since 2002, with more than 200,000 hits under his belt, who linked to the JAM magazine article in his post here.

And what does he get for linking to information already available on the Net? A "legal" summons! A summons that is so funny, so funny that I actually fell on the floor while reading it (and hurt my back again, but thats another story). Here is the summons.

So thats what transpired. My take on this?

I have been to the IIPM "WiFi tower" in Chennai and came back unimpressed. A 4 floored building with dingy classrooms and some parking space, thats all. Quite weirdly, 70-80% of the students there were Bengali (wonder why). A circular on the notice board caught my eye. It basically informs the students that one of the seniors there had got a job with Planman Consulting for a princely salary (these were the words used) of Rs. 17000. For the uninitiated, Planman is IIPM's consulting arm.

I am not saying that IIPM's claims of Rs. 25 lakh placements are misleading, just that Rs. 17000 is not very princely...

Anyways, I was itching for a fight and have now jumped into the fray! Let the legal attacks begin.

The Cyber Coolie Union

2005-10-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

The CITU has called for the formation of a union for IT employees. My opinion about this one month ago would have been very negative and I would have vehemently protested the very concept of a union.

But, over the past month I have read Iacocca, I am giving a lot more thought to this issue.

Iacocca joined Chrysler on the day they reported their biggest quarterly loss. With the support of the government, labor unions and his own charismatic and pragmatic personality, he took Chrysler from the depths of Hades to profit in less than 5 years.

Iacocca put Doug Fraser, then Chairman of UAW (Union of Automobile Workers) on Chrysler's board, something that was then unheard of. He then led by example to make workers cut their wages by $ 3 each (he worked on a $ 1 salary for a year) to get Chrysler back into the black.

Just goes to show how employees can be enthused to work for the common good.

But, as Siva rightly put it, our leaders are so pathetically power hungry, this concept will not take off and if it does, it will mean a major loss of business to India's IT and ITES engines.

Are our leaders are not mature enough to think about the bigger picture? I think not.

What do you think?

Connecting.....Now online with your Office Suite.

2005-10-05T03:55:00.000-07:00

Mind boggling, thats what I thought when I first saw rumors about a G-office (Google Office). Ok picture this.

You log in to G-office on on your Java compatible browser. The login page is a simple page with 4 App Links on it. For example, Write, Present, Compute and Gmail.

And, its free! Because on the right hand side, you see the all too familiar Google text ads!

Ok I think I know what you are thinking. if this thing has to work, it has to be based on Java, because otherwise it is not really platform independent.

But to build an office suite from scratch, that too in Java, man thats gonna take millennia!

Wait a minute, if we had an office suite already built on Java....Oh ok lets sign an agreement with the guys who invented Java AND already HAVE a working office suite built on Java!

Thats what is happening here.

Naan sethu pozhachavan da, Yamana paathu sirichavan da!

2005-10-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

Two almost-accidents and you begin to appreciate your life.

One was yesterday evening, on the way to Spencer (outside Sangam theatre, but does that matter now?), where I banged into a Sonata (or Accent) and got away with only a bent fork and a sore elbow (hurrah! the car guy didnt stop and ask for damages....apparam avanukku oru 3000, mamavukku oru 1000....yen gadhi adhogadhi thaan...)

Today, on Mount Road, i am trying to overtake a Van which is carrying BIG Sintex tanks..I draw parallel with the van and suddenly the rope holding the tanks breaks loose...Orey thiruppu on the accelarator and I was outta there! Turned around to see the tanks roll off and fall on the road...No one injured, thankfully.

I was feeling so full of life and happy at having cheated death (probably), that I hugged the first two guys I saw in college!!

I wasnt going to blog about this till I saw Vk's post.

Its a new day, Its a new sun...
Here I am...

Encounter with the lady on Seat 17A

2005-09-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

Saw this article on Rediff. People like her make me scream with despair.

I am not belittling the Christian faith or generalizing to say all Americans are like this. But not knowing how the world works and what makes other cultures tick can prove very detrimental to Americans in the long run.

Added to this is Intelligent Design being taught in American schools. I don't know whether we descended from monkeys or were the result of the plans of some higher power, but the mounting evidence for evolution is undeniable.

America, wake up and realize that other cultures are important and worth learning about. Oh and those of you Indians who are just as bad as some Americans, please pull up your socks and get ready to compete. Its a global village and your neighbor is more than ready to do that job you think is below your dignity to do.

2005-09-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Really?

I was watching late night TV yesterday (and the early hours of today). As we all know, late night TV belongs to TeleBrands (or Kawachi, or TVC Skyshop, or Whatever). I was watching this ad for the Velform Sauna Belt and suddenly it all began to make sense to me.

Yes I want to be slim, yes I want to be toxin free, yes I want to lose 2 inches in 50 minutes. And hey I even get Roop amruta, Dant Pari and Sujok height grow, free!! To take advantage of the limited period offer (thats what the blonde said, in Hindi, honest.)

So I call 1-600-FCKINMORNS...

Me: I want to buy the Sauna Belt.
She: Really?
Me: Yeah! I think its gonna make me slim and popular!
She: Uhuh...On which channel did you see the ad
Me: I dont remember, I already switched...I think its Zee Music...
She: Sir, I am sorry but WE dont sell the Sauna Belt, but could I interest you in the Instant Abs workout system? It comes with a instructional video and a...
Me: But I have to exercise with it!
She: Sir, thats how people lose weight.
Me: Er, OK bye...

Suffer

2005-09-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

The more you see the more you do
The television’s feeding you. with what
You want to hear, anger and fear, because you suffer

I’ve tried to give it all to you. can’t take anymore to do
With this...it hurts inside....I know why I hide ’cause
I suffer

And then I come to find everything’s o.k. seen this all
Before but that was yesterday. I try to walk right
Through the messes that I’ve made just let me enjoy
The life here that I’ve made

Words from Suffer by Staind. Touched a chord...

2005-09-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

Giving Time a Break!

Pondy rocks! And I am not talking about the liquor alone. The lifestyle there is so laidback, you would think it was a dead town at some times.

Nanban Suresh's birthday treat was long overdue and his farmhouse in Pondy (TamilNadu actually, since we had to cross the checkpost to get there) was the setting for some serious merrymaking.

Indian hospitality was at its peak and Suresh pulled off all the stops. Lets see who can match it

A couple of images, click to enlarge. Thanks to Imageshack.us for hosting.

From left: Yours truly, Thatha Vk, Haripi sitting on Rahul Dave (Rahul is a Tamil soul in a Gujju body), Satish, and Anand Raghu above Guru Ramesh

Suresh, me and Vk, on Rue de la Goubert aka The Beach

To all iPod users - Your overpriced walkman sucks

2005-09-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Brand: A brand is something that takes your attention away from the the value proposition of the product.

The iPod is unquestionably the best brand in terms of the definition above. It has only one plus to its credit, that it rescued Apple from being sidelined for another decade.

The hype created by Apple has made the white headphones so ubiquitous that it doesn't even have a snob value anymore.

One of our profs told us that the first Walkman used to cost $199. Now the Walkman has become the walkman and costs $5.

When I saw this, I realized that the end of the iPod era was near...

Yes. That is Queen Elizabeth, all 80 years of her, dancing away to the iPod.

And, I happened to listen to one of the Shuffles the other day and didnt find any difference whatsoever between a Chinese model I have and the oh-so-sexy iPod. The Shuffle is supposed to have better audio quality than any of the other iPods. I can imagine what the others sound like.

2005-09-18T05:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you!

A huge thank you to all my visitors! if you didnt notice, this blog just crossed a 1000 hits. I am assuming at least half of them were me, so that leaves 500 actual hits! Thanks guys and gals. You inspire me to keep blogging!

Too many exclamation marks! Gotta control the enthu!

2005-09-16T03:04:00.000-07:00

Fat - Public Enemy No.1

Everyone has demons. My own private demon has been my weight. If i don't exercise for a month, i put on a couple of kilos. After joining Great Lakes, I stopped jogging and have put on 7 KILOS.

So, I have declared war on my weight and the battle is joined. I hope to lose at least 3 kilos in the next 2 months. Wish me luck.

Now for the terms i used

StoB - Jog/Jogging
Treppek Lettern - Stair Climbing

Both terms are German, translated using Babelfish

Badri and Andai Raghu figured it out and a single tea awaits them!

To all those fat people out there trying to shed those pounds, I have one piece of advice.

Stop Overeating!

2005-09-15T01:03:00.000-07:00

If its War you want, its war you got!

Ever since I quit my job and joined Great Lakes, my sworn enemy has been waging a silent war against me and gaining territory. in the absence of my trusty commander, General Stoß, i have been slowly but surely losing the war.

Its now time to fight back and win back what is rightfully mine. With the help of a powerful new weapon, code-named Treppeklettern, I am determined to win this war, at any cost.

Next broadcast in 24 hrs

Over and out!

If you have discovered who that enemy is, comment. And if you are really smart, you might even discover what my secret weapon is. A small prize awaits the smart person who figures out the secret weapon ;-)

2005-09-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Oru Kalluriyin Kolai

Thats what I would do to Nanda Periyasamy, the director of the crappiest Tamil movie of 2005. I am kicking myself for having seen this movie in a theatre. Let me give you a small synopsis. No, actually I am not going to waste my time writing about a shitty movie like this. Even if you are a rabid Arya/Sonia Agarwal fan, please skip this movie, please, please.

To the 7 brave souls who bore the brunt of the movie with me. Friends, I salute you (THANKS for not kicking my ass and also for paying up ;-)). And hey, we will meet again in 5 years and eat Biryani by the Kolam, okva?

To do list after watching OKK (cute abbreviation for a horrible movie)

1. Find out the college watchman's birthday and celebrate it at midnight.
2. Never tell the heroinee 'THANKS', because THANKS implies there is no love.
3. Walk out of class at 12 'o' clock in the afternoon and sight adichify the heroinee.
4. Write down ten things I like and compare with heroinee's list only to find that both are identical, down to same handwriting.
5. Watch Sethu, just to get the expressions right.

Now, for the saving grace of the movie (every crappy movie has one). Yuvan Shankar Raja's music enthralls and amazes. Percussion and guitars abound, combined with some heady vocals (KK kicks ass). I am humming Ondrai Sirithu Azhudha Idathil Maru Janmam Edukiromey... as I write this.

I think we should have seen Jetti chi Thotti Jaya instead.

Tagged!

2005-09-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

Miltry tagged me. So here goes.

Seven things I plan to do before I die

1. Become a CTO of a technology company (OK, thats something from my 're-engineering human potential' class)
2. Make some major money.
3. Give some of it away.
4. Travel. A lot.
5. Travel some more.
6. Not pollute.
7. Retire before Retirement

Seven things I CAN do

1. Stop being lazy
2. Stop smoking (psst! don't tell my mom)
3. Get a girlfriend (Miltry, we should pool our efforts)
4. Lose some weight
5. Understand women (I CAN try)
6. Sleep less
7. Read more

Seven things I CANNOT do

1. Stop being lazy
2. Stop smoking (psst! don't tell my mom)
3. Get a girlfriend (Miltry, we should pool our efforts)
4. Lose some weight
5. Understand women (I CAN try)
6. Sleep less
7. Read more

Yes, the things I can do and cannot do are the same. I actually wrote two of them again before I realized they were the same for me.

Seven things that attract me to the opposite sex.

1. Economy of words
2. Open-mindedness
3. Nice hair!
4. Lack of make-up
6. Lots of opinions
7. Absence of SMS addiction

Seven things I say most

1. Dai
2. Otha
3. Baadu (Anniyan has made this word an integral part of every kid's vocabulary)
4. Machan/Machi/Mama/Mapillai
5. Weird
6. Udra Udra
7. Galeej

Seven celebrity crushes

1. Angelina Jolie
2. Sharon Stone
3. Asin
4. Nargis
5. Smita Patil
6. Nandita Das
7. Nafisa Ali

I just noticed that the average age of my celebrity crushes is above 35. Weird...

Seven people I want to tag

Vijai
Haripi
Siva
Madhu
Fever
Satish
Adengappa

2005-09-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Vaazhkaila oru VCR button irundhaal...

I was watching RDP today (RDP - Raj Digital Plus, a TV channel that is in perennially in its teens, doesn't what it is doing, where it is going etc. etc.)

A scene from Mudhalvan strucke me on the head. Pugazhendhi's dad asks him,

"Vaazhkaila oru VCR button irundhaal evlo nalla irukkum illa pa?" or something to that effect.

A minute later, Pugazhendhi's parents are killed by a bomb meant for him.

All this drama led me to think, If my life had something like a VCR button, would I go back and change anything?

Would you change anything if you had the opportunity to? If so, what would it be? (Ok now this sounds like a B School Application form question)

2005-08-31T00:44:00.000-07:00

Say no to the Flag.

I found out about this some time ago.

And we think only the Chinese are censored.

If you think this is wrong and want to protest, use these instructions to remove the NavBar itself from your blog.

Protect our freedom of speech!
Say NO to the NavBar.

Tamizhukku getout. Kuppaiku cutout!

2005-08-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Varuviya, Varamaatiya, Varalanaa un pechu Kaa

Tharuviya Tharamaatiya, Tharalanaa un pechu Kaa

Unbelievable! These insipid lyrics are from a song in Sarath Kumar's upcoming movie, Chanakya.

Tamizh Kavignargal Engay? Engay?

Name Change

2005-08-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

A name change. This was due to two reasons.

1. Tamizh Kudimagan sounded a bit too political.
2. Needling by friends (Go ahead, speculate...)

2005-08-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

New IIT's.

Seven select engineering colleges, that are soon to attain the coveted IIT status, are back in the news.

The seven colleges are:

Aligarh Muslim University-Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh, UP.

Andhra University -College of Engineering

Banaras Hindu University-Institute of Technology (IT-BHU)

Bengal Engineering College

Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

Jadavpur University's Engineering and Technology Departments

Osmania University-College of Engineering and College of Technology

Now, seems to me that something is missing. A small college in South India, called Anna University, a source of great talent, a temple of learning has not even been in the race.

The full story is here.

My worry is that the IIT brand will get diluted. What do you think?

Alaapana

2005-08-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

I have one ticket for a fundraiser at Stella Maris on Saturday, 27th August, 6 PM. The following people are going to be performing

Karthik
Sujatha
Sunitha Sarathy
Vijay Yesudas
Unni Menon
Srinivas
etc.

If anybody is interested, leave a comment. Price is Rs. 100.

Just one ticket guys, and its Stella Maris, so make a beeline!

EDIT: Ticket's taken. Vk, ensoy maadi!

You are Sexy!

2005-08-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Thats right folks. Blog readers are sexy, reports Nick Denton. He's got statistics to prove it too. Link here

Ya absolutely methinks ;-)

Microsoft + Google = Apple!

2005-08-22T02:12:00.000-07:00

Google has announced its Sidebar. A replacement for ordinary Windows search and intended to be an alternative interface to the web, Sidebar strikes directly at the heart of Microsoft.

Microsoft has a sidebar in the next version of Windows (Longhorn/Vista). While there have been freeware apps which do similar things for Windows, this is the first effort by a large company to duplicate the Vista Sidebar.

The Sidebar can accept "widgets", search for mail, files and visited webpages and also contains a scratchpad.

The most important feature, however, is inspired by Mac OS X Spotlight. As all you mac junkies will know, Spotlight searches not only files, it also searches applications and system preferences. So if you search for Word in Spotlight, it will show Microsoft Word as a search result. Windows folks,trust me, once you get used to this feature, you cannot do without it.

Needless to say, Sidebar incorporates this feature. No more clicking on Start menu guys...So go ahead and try it out!

Who says elephants can't dance?

2005-08-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Mangal Pandey.

I cannot believe I spent a Hundred Rupees on that excuse of a movie. The story was crap, there were a LOT of historical inaccuracies and a lot of songs that did not need to be there.

Picture this.

A revolt is brewing among the sepoys of Behrampore (oh by the way, Behrampore is in West Bengal, but no one speaks Bengali. There is one more Behrampore. Its in ORISSA). They do not want to use the catridges made of cow or pig fat. The British decide to bring in reinforcements from Rangoon. A Queens regiment of British soldiers to quell the "mutiny".

Interesting huh?

So what do the sepoy leaders do? Try to get more arms? Try to train and ready themselves for the battle ahead?

NO.

This is a Hindi movie guys! There has to be a Holi song SOMEWHERE....So its here. They all celebrate holi and the hero and heroine dance and make merry. Even try to throw color on some British officers. Unbelievable. How cliched can this movie get?

Oh another thing. Just to make the movie international, guess what they have thrown in? No, not Toby Stephens. The ever present Elephant.

Kamal Hassan's Hey Ram had an elephant too. It was shown twice in the Calcutta scenes of the movie. Once it was shown next to its dead mahout, not knowing what to do, now that it was free. The next scene showed the elephant taking its Ankush in its own trunk, symbolizing Democracy. Now thats what I call good symbolism.

The Rising has an elephant and some guys on it singing 'Mangal Mangal'. Boring.

Can you believe The Rising actually has a girl-on-girl dance in a song? Thats right folks, only Sati was forbidden in 1857, not lesbianism.

A word about Toby Stephens. He is talented. He has worked hard on his hindi diction and it shows. I enjoyed his acting.

I could go on and on about this shitty movie, but I am sure you get the idea.

Thanks to all those birthday wishes! When I have enough money, a treat will materialize...

2005-08-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

I am 24!

A new year in my life!

A new template!

Same old me.

i found the "intermediate" template too busy. after much googling, found this one on Blogger Templates.

As usual, my sister was the first person to wish me. That has a lot to do with the fact that we are both night owls and usually wait for midnight to wish each other on birthdays.

Also have to thank her for the invaluable help in setting up this new template. I am not even a novice in HTML.

Thanks Vasu C***!

2005-08-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Witnesses to the present, preparing for the future!

No, I am not converting to Christianity. Just joined a new blog called Earth 2050.

Check it out for some awesome writing(yeah mine ;-))

2005-08-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Independence Day

What meaning does it carry for me? What is the average Indian free from?

Poverty? Censorship? Women's rights?

Have we just replaced our foreign tyrants with desi ones?

I have a problem with having a holiday for Independence Day. I asked my friends this question. H said, "this day is a holiday because we must spend the day remembering the men who got us this freedom and the sacrifices they made."

I ask you, what do you think a leader like Mahakavi Barathi or Kappal Ottiya Tamizhan VOC would think of sitting at home on August 15 and watching Sun TV?

I want freedom. Freedom from laziness, freedom from procrastination, freedom from disinterest in the electoral process, freedom from having to think twice about the quality of a product before buying it.

The list is long, the tasks in front of India loom huge. Whew, this is tiring! Let us declare a holiday and go watch a movie.

2005-08-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

A new look!

Just wanted a change...Tell me how it looks. Maybe i'll change it if you guys feel differently.

i for one thinks its kinda BUSY.

2005-08-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

Vetti Payyan has a post on 7 year old bloggers.

Thanks Vijai, coz i found out about MarsEdit while I was tunneling through the article.

To quote the developers, "MarsEdit is a weblog editor for Mac OS X that makes weblog writing like writing email—with spell-checking, drafts, multiple windows, and even AppleScript support"

Now, aint that cool!

Night out!

2005-08-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking it was with a girl, unfortunately no. I was studying MicroEconomics :-(

While digging for info, I found this awesome page on the Japanese economic system...

Japan, Refutation of Neoliberalism

Here is an excerpt, for those too lazy to go to another page,

"A Non-Socialist Centrally Planned Economy

Japan is something that is virtually impossible by definition within the frame of reference of neoliberal economics: a non-socialist state-directed system. To over-simplify a bit, it is a centrally-planned capitalist economy.

Neoliberal economists are dimly aware of the fact that fascist and Nazi economics were centrally-planned but not socialist, but they tend to dismiss these economic systems because of the attendant political horrors and have made precious little effort to develop rigorous theoretical accounts of how they worked. As we shall see, the Japanese system has achieved many of the things the fascists wanted."

Hmm...

Move Over MASAT, ATA is HERE!

2005-08-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

GP over at Human Universe has inspired me to join the Anti TeleSerial Alliance.

Mega Serials are the scourge of Indian Society. If I meet one of these mega serial directors, he will suffer a slow agonizing death, probably Kirumibhojanam.

Long Live ATA!

All those have been affected, Unite and speak up!

Give us more comedy, Kollywood!

VISTA

2005-08-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Windows Vista

A friend told me it stands for Viruses, Infections, Spyware Threats and Adware :-)

Well, seems he was right!

The first viruses for Vista are out and M$ is denying them as usual.

The proof-of-concept viruses use a vulnerability in the new Windows Shell, called Microsoft Shell (MSH). It was codenamed, weirdly, Monad.

EDIT: Microsoft Shell:Monad::GNU Shell:Gonad?

Microsoft's answer to this challenge was not to fix the problem. Instead, Bill's engineers have pulled the whole feature from the OS!

Bravo, Bill!!

The Danom Viruses

Microsoft's Answer

Re-engineering Human Potential

2005-08-07T22:20:00.000-07:00

This actually happened in the above mentioned class...

The Prof was the person who had interviewed me for admission into Great Lakes.

Prof: What is one thing you want from life?
Me:Personal satisfaction from what I am doing.
(Thinking: Thats the same answer I gave in the Personal Interview, can't go wrong on this one)

Prof: Why do you want personal satisfaction?
Me:Because it will make sure that when I get up everyday I look forward to the day at work.
(Thinking: Hmm, This is deep...)

Prof: Why do you want to look forward to each day?
Me:Because I don’t want to feel like “oh man, do I really have to go to work today?”
(Thinking: Ahaa, ivanga kekkarudhu Vadivelu dialogue maari irukke???)

Prof: Why wouldn’t you feel like going to work everyday?
Me: Because work usually sucks, that’s why. Unless you are a ski instructor with a hot chick to coach every morning, work usually sucks.
(Thinking: maybe even a ski instructor’s job sucks, gotta ask one of 'em)

Prof: Why does work suck?
Me:Because I am not interested in what I am doing?
(Thinking: Enna Idhallan? Chinna Pullathanamaa illa irrukku!)

Prof: Why are you not interested in what you are doing?
Me: Is this a trick question?
(Thinking: Gotta blog this, open Mail, mailto:******@blogger.com)

In other news,

Cisco is trying to buy Nokia

From Chimp, to President

2005-08-07T01:02:00.000-07:00

George W Bush is again in the thick of it. By endorsing an alternative view of evolution, GBW has angered critics and proved that he knows what it takes, to be a Prez in a time of war.

Recalling his days as Texas governor, Bush said in the interview, according to a transcript, "I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught." Asked again by a reporter whether he believed that both sides in the debate between evolution and intelligent design should be taught in the schools, Bush replied that he did, "so people can understand what the debate is about."

Intelligent design, advanced by a group of academics and intellectuals and some biblical creationists, disputes the idea that natural selection - the force Charles Darwin suggested drove evolution - fully explains the complexity of life. Instead, intelligent design proponents say that life is so intricate that only a powerful guiding force, or intelligent designer, could have created it.

Yeah Right.

I bow before the power of religion. It has made fools of the most brilliant people. How can these so called academicians and "intellectuals" selectively blind themselves from the simple truth of evolution?

Coming back to Bush, did he look at himself in the mirror before deciding to support Intelligent Design?

Credits to the Gainesville Sun article Evolution revolution?

KBC...

2005-08-05T07:36:00.000-07:00

Zuke has a write-up about the latest luminary to visit Great Lakes - K B Chandrashekar.

Energy flows out of the man! To a wishful entrepreneur like me, he is THE role model.

For details on what he talked about, visit Zuke at

Thinking Aloud!

Nothing is sacred

2005-08-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

Seems nothing is sacred nowadays. The Western business machine has found a new cash cow. Is this just a flash in the pan or the beginning of a new era of trade in human products?

I can almost see an MBA with Specialization in Human Products Marketing.

All of a sudden, the future seems a bit darker.

Check out this link.

Marketing WHAT?

MASAT - Money adds symbiosis advantages tirelessly?

2005-08-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

MASAT - Mutual Ad-Sense Amukkum Treaty

Nanban Miltry (lifeasitis4me.blogspot.com) was desperate for cash and MASAT is the result.

Is it a good long-run business model? NO

Does it bring in the moolah? Yeah Baby!

The Marina at 6 AM...

2005-07-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Jogged on the Marina at 6 AM, presumably to publicize the Great Lakes brand.

Half the batch attended and we had breakfast at the Woodlands Drive-in. A 5 course breakfast!!

Ohh yess!!

Figuring out how to add images...

2005-07-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Moi, looking pretty cool, I think...

Freedom Of Speech exists.

2005-07-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

This post was meant to convey something else. Per hari's request, i am editing it to something else entirely.

I just realized that freedom of speech exists. But i dont have it.

Watched Sarkar yesterday. I havent watched the Godfather. Anand says if I had seen Godfather, Sarkar would have not made any impact.

I havent seen the original, but Sarkar made for some compelling cinema. Enjoyed myself.

FSA still makes no sense...

2005-07-29T22:46:00.000-07:00

1 hour later....this guy is still getting to the point...Yawn :-o

FSA

2005-07-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

Financial Statement analysis. thats what i am seeing right now. The guy is talking about at least 7-8 accounting standards. Why cant we just have one and be done with it?

Eureka!

2005-07-29T12:27:00.000-07:00

It does work, after all...

Testing the mail-to-blogger thingy...

2005-07-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

Testing the mail-to-blogger thingy...

Hope it works. makes things much, much easier!!

Tamizh Kudimagan is LIVE!!

2005-07-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is an experiment. I have started 2 blogs before. Both were stillborn and have exactly 2 posts between them. How many will this one have?

Inspired by 3 blogs my friends started, I have started another one!

Thanks

Hari Prashant (haripi2.blogspot.com)

Vijaikrishna (blogvk.blogspot.com)

Uyir Nanban Badri (badrri.blogspot.com)