>>>> REFLECTIONS <<<<

WHO

2008-11-21T01:10:00.000-08:00

WHO

In the blue of the sky, in the green of the forest,
Whose is the hand that has painted the glow?
When the winds were asleep in the womb of the ether,
Who was it roused them and bade them to blow?

He is lost in the heart, in the cavern of Nature,
He is found in the brain where He builds up the thought:
In the pattern and bloom of the flowers He is woven,
In the luminous net of the stars He is caught.

In the strength of a man, in the beauty of woman,
In the laugh of a boy, in the blush of a girl;
The hand that sent Jupiter spinning through heaven,
Spends all its cunning to fashion a curl.

There are His works and His veils and His shadows;
But where is He then? by what name is He known?
Is He Brahma or Vishnu? a man or a woman?
Bodies or bodiless? twin or alone?

We have love for a boy who is dark and resplendent,
A woman is lord of us, naked and fierce.
We have seen Him a-muse on the snow of the mountains,
We have watched Him at work in the heart of the spheres.

We will tell the whole world of His ways and His cunning;
He has rapture of torture and passion and pain;
He delights in our sorrow and drives us to weeping,
Then lures with His joy and His beauty again.

All music is only the sound of His laughter,
All beauty the smile of His passionate bliss;
Our lives are His heart-beats, our rapture the bridal
Of Radha and Krishna, our love is their kiss.

He is strength that is loud in the blare of the trumpets,
And He rides in the car and He strikes in the spears;
He slays without stint and is full of compassion;
He wars for the world and its ultimate years.

In the sweep of the worlds, in the surge of the ages,
Ineffable, mighty, majestic and pure,
Beyond the last pinnacle seized by the thinker
He is throned in His seats that for ever endure.

The Master of man and his infinite Lover,
He is close to our hearts, had we vision to see;
We are blind with our pride and the pomp of our passions,
We are bound in our thoughts where we hold ourselves free.

It is He in the sun who is ageless and deathless,
And into the midnight His shadow is thrown;
When darkness was blind and engulfed within darkness,
He was seated within it immense and alone.

Utility Grid Computing

2007-03-16T08:19:00.001-07:00

My Grid Ride ...

2007-03-14T05:52:00.000-07:00

I always make sure not to bring in any technical stuff into this blog. But, this time, I couldnt. After all, my work is out there live on network.com!

Well, network.com is Sun Microsystem's Grid Compute Utility. It delivers enterprise computing power and resources over the Internet, enabling developers, researchers, scientists and businesses to optimize performance, speed time to results, and accelerate innovation without investment in IT infrastructure.

Unfortunately though, those outside the US will not be able to try it out :(

I am planning to come up with a video demonstrating the true power of the Grid! So, Let the wait begin! ;)

For more information on the Sun Grid, visit network.com! And if you already know what it looks like, check it out again! It has a cool new look! :)

Two Hours To Go .... WC 2007 beckons...

2007-03-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Laugh! :)

2007-03-09T02:31:00.000-08:00

3 engineers and 3 accountants are travelling by train to a conference. At the station, the 3 accountants each buy tickets and watch as the 3 engineers buy only a single ticket.

- "How are 3 people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks an accountant.

- "Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

They all board the train. The accountants take their respective seats but all three engineers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets.
He knocks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please."

The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand.
The conductor takes it and moves on.

The accountants saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the accountants decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money, and all that). When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all.

- "How are you going to travel without a ticket?" says one perplexed accountant.

- "Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

When they board the train the 3 accountants cram into a restroom and the 3 engineers cram into another one nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the engineers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the accountants are hiding. He knocks on the door and says,
"Ticket, please."

Cheers to Numbers!!!

2007-03-05T03:39:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer : All details mentioned in this article are true to the best of the author's knowledge, though, sometimes, the reader may feel that the author is lying!!!

I do not drive to office. On lucky days, my roommates drop me, else, I take an autorikshaw. Hence, I spend most of my travel time observing vehicle numbers, searching for some patterns or co-incidences. Glamourous movie posters do not interest me anymore. You start hating them when you actually go n watch those movies!! Nothing like I am a math whiz, but just on a lookout for interesting numbers to while away my travel time!!

(Time travel, rather than travel time would have made things different tho! ;) )

/* The beginning

I once saw a black pulsar - KA - 07 EQ 049. A7 was the code for my specialization in college(Computer Science) and 049 was my college id no! Why not search for my
roommates' id nos too ?

The End of the Beginning */

Sixteen days, all nos found!!!! 049, 063, 099, 084, 031. And in the process, I also encountered some nos like these - 9931, 8463 etc!!! Well, is there any way to calculate the probability of such an event?! Well, what is the sample space then?? I leave that to the reader as I already mentioned I am not a math whiz!!

I was amazed that I was able to find all these nos in sixteen days, jus by looking at car nos for 30 mts a day!! This interested me and I wanted to try more. So, this time, I chose squares. I guess it was one fine day in mid Feb that I noticed 8 square nos!!!! And once, I even came up with a couple of arithmetic progression triplets on the same day!!!!

These interesting patterns (or co-incidence if u want to call it) continues to amaze me...

N here's the best - Two cars, both black Hyundai Accents - with the following nos
KA 01 ** 1729
KA 01 ** 1729

(** - I remember having tried to recollect the 4 letters a thousand times in vain)

FYI - 1729 is called the Hardy Ramanujam number - The only no that can be expressed as the sum of 2 cubes in 2 different ways - 10 cube + 3 cube and 12 cube + 1 cube.

I still wonder why it dint strike me to take a picture of both cars standing together. Afterall, my mobile with a 1.3 mega pixel camera was there in my jeans pocket!! :( But, going by past experiences, I am sure I will get a chance to click the same cars together, if not something better!!

What is it that makes these vehicles come together to generate patterns? Is it just co-incidence? If yes, then why me? May be because I am the one who doesnt own a bike! Probably, when I own one, I wont have the time to notice all these as I would be busy concentrating on protecting my life from the extremely dangerous bangalore traffic.

Cheers to numbers, probability, and co-incidences!

Helmets Helmets Everywhere!

2007-01-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

Its been about a month now since the Karnataka Government imposed the 'helmet rule' - Helmets made mandatory for two wheeler riders. A much needed rule indeed for a city with growing traffic. Traffic policemen were seen in every nook and corner for the first few days after the rule came into force. Afterall, it was a chance for them to bribe more. However, there was a positive side to it too, the public actually started responding - Am seeing helmets everywhere now!!!!!

I was so impressed by the public response to the rule that I actually started counting the people without helmets on my way to office!! Thats when I realised that Indians are Indians!! I noticed many 'cool dudes' riding bikes with(out) their helmets tucked in their hands. And they just pop it on to their heads when they are about to reach a traffic signal!!!! Ah! Brainy people. They get to disobey the rule! They get to ride bikes without wearing helmets! And they get to escape the law and the policemen!!

When are we going to change?

Testing time for India

2007-01-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

3rd test - day 4.

India's tour of South Africa has been pretty ordinary so far. After the 4-0 loss in the one day series, the Indians showed some fight back in the first test. Thanks to a very good bowling spell by sreeshanth. But, the sudden fire in the indian camp seems to have disappeared as quickly! There is lack of aggression in the field. The bowling seems innocuous. The batsmen are playing too cautiously. The fear of losing is always there in their minds. The age old 'you any way get paid, so why bother about the result' mentality is back. I am still searching for a word that could best describe sachin' mentality. Fourteen of 62 balls against a debutant spinner. What a shame for the so called best batsman of the era. And shane warne still gets dreams of what happened eight years ago, his leggies thrown all over the park! Where is that sachin? God knows!

156 more to get and eight wickets remaining. It should be a cakewalk for the south africans with smith and kallis still in the middle. Noting except kumble's magic can turn things India's way. But, even if that happens, they dont deserve a victory.

gMail's new features!

2006-11-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

Somehow, I like writing GMail - gMail!)

Found these new features on Gmail today! :)

For more options, click on the drop down :)

And this one after the message is sent ...

All this said, I still like the 'C' and the 'R' shortcuts for Compose and Reply! No feature can beat gmail's shortcuts!!! :)

gridlock

2006-11-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

STUCK IN TIME AND SPACE: The perpetual problem of traffic jams on Sardar Patel Road has remained unsolved for years, despite several official measures including the construction of a flyover. This photograph taken on Tuesday morning shows a glut of v ehicles on either direction of the road.

Courtesy : thehindu.com

Gandhigiri

2006-10-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Date : Oct 2

Whichever news channel you tune into, you see some programme or the other on 'Gandhigiri' - the new word from the new bollywood movie. Well, if you ask whether Gandhiri will exist next Oct 2, I am not sure. I somehow strongly feel the news channels are using it just to promote their shows. Yesterday's programme on a news channel made me think about Gandhiji's relevance in today's world.

If Gandhi is here today, probably he would earn the respect of all, but would people still want to follow his principles of 'belief in truth' and non-violence? Ahimsa and Gandhigiri would be totally out of place in today's world. There are enough number of 'bad' people out there to screw u if are nice with them. Show someone the other cheek after being slapped on one, you will go back with two rosy-cheeks! If someone is not nice to you, there is not even a tiny chance of making them be so by you being nice to them. You will just end up losing your dignity. I am finding it tough to fit Gandhi in today's society. I just cant even imagine that happen. Today's man will just not let him and his principles live.

We cannot be him, but we can learn or atleast try to learn a few things from the man who changed the tomorrow of his India.

My Time Machine ...

2006-09-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

How many of you believe there is a clock ticking within you, inside your skull, somewhere in the cerebrum?

Well, I do!!!

All of us have our own sleeping trends. As for me, I used to be an early riser when I was in school. There was no attendence in college and I was not bothered about the 8 AM tutorials either, so waking up post 9 became a routine and thats how I am still. And obviously, no morning alarms!

Of course, there are exceptions. You would not want to miss a Federer-Nadal clash that happens at 5 in the morning. You might want to leave for a team outing at 6 the next day.

On each of those 'exception' days, I set my alarm before going to bed. Not a single day have I woken up to switch off the alarm. I always end up waking up a few minutes before my nokia 6020 starts ringing!!!

May be you know for sure that you will have to wake up. Thats your last thought before sleep. May be when you set the alarm in your cell phone, you start off your 'brain clock' unknowingly. I do not know if there is any science here. But all I know is I have a 100% strike rate at this and this makes me feel that my brain too has 'somethin' in it! ;)

Launched my new blog!

2006-09-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my prev post, I have launched my Official Blog! :)

Bac for the Nth time!

2006-09-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Oof... Bac yet again after a long break... Looking at my blog archives, I guess there are too many of them (the long breaks)!!! Probably, when there is something more interesting happening around, the thought of blogging doesnt strike me at all. Oooo... Wait a minute! You blog only when something different or interesting is happening, isnt it? I do not know why it is different in my case. Well, what else could be the answer - Thats me!!

July 18th - September 17th - Two months have gone so fast that I hardly remembered that I own a blog url :( Lots of changes, ups and downs, positives and negatives ... well thats life!! :) One major change that happened was the heavy layoff in SUN. I have moved into a new team within SUN - The SUN Grid. Some good news here - I might have to blog a lot as a part of my job! :) So, hope that will have some effect on my personal blog too! :)

Will keep you posted on that soon.

Marry Me Steffi !!!

2006-07-17T01:17:00.000-07:00

Ambiguous!!

2006-07-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

This post is now almost four months old. The author was browsin his blogger dashboard to find this one lying idle in the draft state. He obviously has not forgotten why he wrote this, but looking back at it now, all he can do is throw a smile!!!

6.45 PM :

Deleted

7.15 PM :

There are people in life to whom I connect on a level that is almost umbilical. We finish each other's thoughts, we communicate non-verbally and at times extra-sensorily too, whatever distance be it. And when you think of it, it is indeed hard to believe! But all I can say is its indeed true :)

With Love ...

Google Spreadsheets!

2006-07-13T02:00:00.000-07:00

Its been quite sometime since I have been using Google Spreadsheets and I will have to say that it is quite good. Not fully user friendly though... but for a web application, its a job well done!

I tried downloading the WolrdCupTracker from Microsoft site.
(I know its late now.. Should have posted this long time back! Fuck the work! :( )
This is a complete score tracker for the 2006 World Cup Finals. The spreadsheet is full of complex formulae and calculations occur across several different sheets. This is how the sheet looks in Microsoft Excel.

When I tried to import this to Google Spreadsheets, I got this!

Google Spreadsheets imported almost everything correctly except for a few colour and the image at the top. This is pretty impressive considering that the product is still in its beta.

Some features that will be useful

- Link it with gmail and gtalk.
- Bring in the gmail contacts auto-complete to share spreadhseets!

Few things that I found missing

- The most obvious being the ability to create charts :(
- Not able to draw borders around cells

Hope these come out in the next (first) release! :) Though this does not have the capabilities to replace Excel completely, the sharing options and collaboration features will come in handy when you dont have a copy of Excel!

Where is gKrish?

2006-07-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well Well.. The blog is still alive!!! Guess this is the Nth time that I have taken a break from blogging and everytime I start over again, I promise myself not to stop, but only then do I realise that the corporate world never allows me to keep up my promises.
What the fck! I need to blog! So, here I am, back with some determination :) Time to take some time off my IDE and textpad.

Total Comedy on Counting Day!!!

2006-05-20T04:09:00.000-07:00

The CNN-IBN - Hindu exit polls were accurate! Kalaignar and the SUN have risen back to power in Tamil Nadu. Though it is a coalition government, it certainly is a big defeat for Amma. Before the elections, she had confidently told during her campaigns that this will be the last time that she will be facing DMK in elections. Inspite of many politicians and kollywood stars joining the ADMK, kalaignar has managed to edge past his arch rival.

As soon as he became the CM, Kalaignar has brought in happiness in the public by fulfilling his major part of the manifesto immediately.Lets see how long this will go on.

Ok, here's the comedy part!!!

The couting was in progress and this was the status in CNN and NDTV

Tamil Nadu - 234 seats
DMK - 20 (won and leading)
ADMK - 12 (won and leading)

At the same time,

SUN TV
DMK - 49
ADMK - 13

Jaya TV
ADMK - 58
DMK - 23

:)) :)) :)) Wont these guys change???

Photo blog update!

2006-05-14T00:51:00.000-07:00

Uploaded coorg trip snaps in my photo blog :)

Coorg & Mysore trip

Relieved ... this time from the bangalore heat!

2006-05-09T06:15:00.001-07:00

Bangalore's hot weather ... This was probably an oxymoron I guess, a few years back ... Too many IT companies and hence too many jobs, people, traffic, pollution have done plenty of damage to the 'garden city' ( Wheres the garden? :-O ) ... The temperatures are soaring... and the countless number of vehicles with 100% pure kerosene add to the heat :(. Today was an exception though... From nowhere came the dark clouds :) May be they finally saw some hot chicks with original & natural beauty in the bangalore streets! For those who hate the previous statement, may be the clouds have a bad taste! Have never seen such a heavy downpour in bangalore ... Enjoyed every moment of it ... I wish the temperatures are going down and I will hopefully have a cozy sleep under my favourite green quilt!

No more election ads!!! :) :) :) .. Relieved...

2006-05-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Oof!!! Relief finally from the SUN and JAYA TV pre election campaign ads ... I cant say they were horrible, but it was too much... Ads asking people to vote for their party is fine. But, the two channels were crossing limits, I felt. Videos of the incidents that shook Tamil Nadu over the past years, citing the opposition as the reason, bringing up incidents of the past, ... were relayed continuously 24 X 7 ... I should have published this post on the evening when campaigning 'was supposed' to end... But it didnt! The same videos, campaigning, bla bla started coming in the form of 'news'! Jaya TV had news like 10-15 times a day ... SUN TV had a special news at 9.30 PM on the day before the elections. I cant believe how they just escape with the EC's notice. Shouldnt they be disqualified from contesting? I know there will be no one in tamil nadu to vote then ... ;) but still... there are rules to be followed, right?

Anywez, its all done! over and out! The Hindu - CNN exit polls have predicted a comfortable victory for kalaignar and co. Lets wait and watch! Exit polls failed in 2001. Lets see if Amma has a few surprises for us!

Chainu Chainu ...

2006-05-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

The multi talented hero of TamilNadu - TR is back in action! Multi-talented meaning,

Story
Screenplay
Dialogue
Lyrics
Music
Production
Direction
Acting[?]

-TR

Cine-artists in politics is not a new thing to TamilNadu and the same goes with TR. He has been in politics for a long time now! Thought he has been with the DMK for more than 2 decades now, he has been in and out of the party. When he was out of the DMK after starting his own party in 1991, he formed an alliance with the DMK but lost to 'Amma' in the election. In 1996, when he was out of the DMK again, he tried to join hands with AIADMK asking for 11 seats. He was given only 2. So he quit and was back in DMK again!!

TR known for his 'adukku thamizh' (ability to talk mulitple sentences that end with rhyming words) was in full form yesterday in his election campaign (relayed by Sun TV)

'Alli Kodupadhu Amma, Killi kodupadhu Kalaignar' were famous when he was with the AIADMK.

Some bits from yesterday's campaign ...
"Ae Vaiko, Nee oru psycho, adhunaala nee velila poiko"
"Vaikovae, nee amma kitta aendhirukka thiruvodu, adhunaala alayapora theruvodu"
"Enna maadhiri oru sirandha buddhisaali , arivaali dhaan ya arasiyalukku vaenum. Edha pathi vaenaalum paesa sollu, iruvathi naalu mani naeramum paesitae irupaen"
"Sooriyan enraal udhika vaendum, Chandhiran enraal jolika vaendum, TR enraal paesikitae iruka vaendum"
"aen payyan paeru simbhu, avan nadicha sooper hit paeru kuthu, neeyum kuthu, sooriyanuku votta kuthu kuthu kuthu!"

Anyone having hopes of seeing a prosperous TN in the near future, you know what Im gonna say next ...

TN Politics ... big time comedy!!!

2006-05-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

A DMK poster in the Nellai district of Tamil Nadu ahead of the upcomin TN Assembly elections ... citing the 'shift' by Vai.Ko from DMK to ADMK ....

இனி

2006-05-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

இனி
அவ்வப்பொழுது
தமிழிலும்!!!!!!!

My New Photo Blog!!!

2006-04-30T03:12:00.000-07:00

Have created a new photo blog!!! :)

http://gkrishphotos.blogspot.com

Volunteer Week!!

2006-04-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

Its volunteer week in SUN :) ... Time to take off from all the coding and do some good to the community :)

Day 1 :

Visit to Shambavi Shantidhama Trust Vrudhashram - a home for old age women...

Day 2 & 3:

Blood Donation Camp @ Sun

Its been long ....

2006-04-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

Oooooo ... long time since I posted :(

Probably cos of ...

Too much work
Too much work leading to a 4-day vacation to relatives' and friends'
3-day trip to coorg & mysore :-)

Jus reached bangalore! The past 2 weeks has been full of travel ... from the temples of kumbakonam to the lovely coffee plantations of the coorg ... Am posting this jus because I want to... Shall get back soon with the trip updates and the snaps :-)

2006-03-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

Owing to reader request, the original sudoku link has been restored. Pointers to random 2-D time pass games are available and will be updated on a weekly basis :)

Celebration Time !! Or is it ?!!

2006-03-13T05:59:00.000-08:00

The nation celebrates the most colourful day - Holi!!! Holi signifies the advent of spring , good weather ,good energy - FYI! ;)

Holi seems to be one festival celebrated with much enthusiasm across all regions and religions. As in...there is no sense of a religious feeling which is predominant in the other major festivals across the country. Its just jubiliation, celebration and colours all over!!

Happy Holi & Have a colourful life!

When I think a couple of years back...
I will be missing those holi celebrations @ college... me, letchu and dinks would fill the balloons with color water ready to throw them at all our enemies(!) the next day... (some of them would just burst there and do us some damage :( ) The eggs would be ready hidden in my room to be thrown at all those who we see first! All those different colour powders, buckets of water, those huge syringes, the long chases to catch people n make them have the MUD bath, spending hours together (and together) to get back to our hygenic self... amazing fun! uuh! jus feel like goin back to the desert heaven!

Today,
I wake up and switch on the TV, tune to NDTV to see the elderly men and women and a few kids throwing colours at each other, those ******* politicians wishing all of us a happy holi(who needs that!), the usual day at office(o holiday, can you believe that? ), no colours, no fun, no celebrations... Damn it! I want to get back to college!! But I know I can't! So am sittin here missing those days and just blogging those memories...

Have fun!

Blog update!

2006-03-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

Have updated the blog with an embedded sudoku grid with 5 levels of difficulties to choose from! Go Play!! :)

I need a change :(

2006-03-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

This daily routine life has been boring me to death now.
Office - mails - lunch - 8th floor - tt - chai - candy jar - back home - tv - dinner - gags on pogo - crash - Office ... the cycle goes on!!

There are things that I like in this cycle... like the mails, candy jar, 8th floor...
but the mails have started reducing from the other end(s)- some crap meetings!, not many candies in the candy jar - no one has time to refill them these days, not going to 8th floor - I cant call it fear of smokes, but just preventing getting the habit again!

There are nice stuff happening in between, but the cycle as such is damn borin and I would definitely like to come out of it. Carnatic classes is an option Im thinking of... Any other suggestions?!

The axe has finally fallen!

2006-03-06T04:43:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: The author is neither a great fan of Ganguly nor just hates him. The article is full of 'may be's so they are just assumptions! Ganguly fans can very well skip this and read the next article!

--

He was asked to step down from captaincy. Then rested. Then removed from the ODI team. Was pushed to the limits of being removed from the test team. Was brought back in as a medium pacer. Dropped again, this time from the test team too. Today, it has got worse. Even if he scores tons and tons at the domestic level, he still cannot make a comeback! The reasons are simple! One, his blood isnt fresh. Two, More is the chief selector and he isnt going to look back!

Blame it on Chappell? Well Chappell says he asked Ganguly to step down to regain some form and concentrate on batting. Everyone knows both are... oops were good friends. So, thats a valid comment!

More? What has made him to issue a statement like he will not select Ganguly till he is the chief selector? He has been retaining Ganguly as captain all the while till six months ago! May be a tit-for-tat. May be he was being ordered by Gaguly all the while when the Dalmiyas where there.

Ganguly himself? Well, may be Prince Ganguly was ruling the BCCI and John. Then came Chappel, Ganguly's good friend. He found Ganguly out of form and wanted to 'resurrect' the prince. But it was against Ganguly's personal goals. He wanted to be captain and throw his shirt all over when ever India won. So he tried to escape that by his influence. All of a sudden, he found his puppets, the Dalmiyas, out of power! He was left alone. He still tried to rule but was chucked out! You may be a king, but thats in your territory!

May be its the end of his career. Definitely, this is not the farewell that India's most successful captain should have got. What can the BCCI do when he demands such a farewell? Take it, Prince of Calcutta!

What a hell of a journey it was!

2006-03-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

Do you dream? Do you dream daily? What kind of dreams do you get? May be you going to a strange place with your friends. Or probably the horror movie that you saw earlier in the day had a part to play too and you are the brutal murderer killing all your friends one by one. Well... dreamt of heaven? A nice place to be right?! What about hell then?! Ah! Probably those dreams dont come as they wake u up!

Me and my girl friend are living happily and one fine day, she asks me to take her to hell!! Well, I obviously dont want to take her to those strange, risky, dangerous places, so, I go there to check the place out!

Pack the bags, and there I am! Why is hell always hot and fiery? Why did the creator make it hot? If the heat gives so much pain to people, well, cold too does right?! Will you survive if you are frozen to death?

The entrance had a swipe-card access. Inside was a guy with something very similar to a computer in front of him. I then realised that was indeed a computer that contained all the data about us humans.

"You seem human!, How did u get a job here?!"

"The software is outsourced! The guy who was here was my friend and on his death, he referred me!"

There were many people being burnt to hell, politicians, priests, pandits, businessmen, students and all the men in the world you can think of! One guy was there as he had used the F word at his friend. One other for not loving his parents.

Imagine you go to hell and realise your religion is all fake and there existed only one! Imagine you go to hell and find that the people you betrayed were actually GODs in human forms who came down to test if you will go to heaven or hell!

Well, at the end of the road, there was a big room - GOD written on it. The door was locked. There was a board that said 'heaven' pointing to my left. I went there. It was empty. I returned. On my way back, I heard a faint sound. Seemed like some music. The music got louder and louder. "Dei, switch off your damn alarm" ... my mobile had woke him up. I switched it off and continued my journey back to earth to tell the story to my girl friend!

The 13 seat difference...

2006-03-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

There was a shocking move in the Tamil Nadu Politics today with MDMK’s Vaiko deciding to join the ADMK alliance for the coming up State Assembly elections. It was just a few days ago that Vaiko announced his decision to stay in the DMK-led alliance. This would definitely be a huge upset for DMK as the party was largely relying on the alliance if it has to sense victory in the polls. The shift was made considering the fact that DMK had offered Vaiko's party 22 seats whereas the AIADMK offered 35!

It is to be noted that during the AIADK rule, Jayalalitha had put Vaiko to jail under the POTA act for 19 months. Thats when Vaiko took an 'oath' to throw out the AIADMK from power in the next (coming) elections. I remember reading interviews of Vaiko in tamil magazines where he had mentioned how the 19 month jail life has made him realise what a good man Kalaignar is and that he would join hands with Kalaignar for ever to put off the AIADMK regime!!

After a 45-minute meeting between the two, Jayalalithaa told reporters that all other matters like POTA issue were things of the past. "We are here on a positive note, on a positive matter and we will be making only positive statements," she said.

Vaiko said the AIADMK-led alliance would "sweep" the polls. "This is the finest hour in the political history of Tamil Nadu. The alliance is a formidable one".

With Vaiko auctioning his party to whichever party offers the highest number of seats, he has definitely lost credibility.

TN Politics sucks!

The Nuclear Deal

2006-03-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

BUSH in India! Thats the news thats hitting the headlines all across the globe. What does this deal mean to India ? Why the deal ? Why now ? Is it advantage India or advantage US ?

India has finalised a plan to separate its civilian and militarian nuclear programmes. With that in place, India will have access to the US civilian nuclear technologies' know how, something that will be really helpful for India's power generation programmes of the future. Nuclear power is just 3% of India's total power generation which has been projected to increase to 25% by 2050 ...

There's another angle to the deal though. Some reports say that a detailed study reveals US doesnt have experience in the design and construction of the current or future Indian nuclear reactor projects.

Is it really advantage India?! Time will tell. But the deal is definitely an indication that India is now a global responsible power.

India hits headlines in US Media...

Psenti ...

2006-03-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

My blog buddy is back from his Pilani trip ...and no wonder it has brought back in me memories of those lovely four years ... :) My college year-book is something that I never miss to read when I go home ... Somehow I never wanted to get the book here with me always... feels good when you get to see it once in a month or so ..to get the nostalgic effect!! Here's something from the book that takes me back to the best place I have ever been to .. BITS Pilani..

Adieu.. BITS Pilani ..

So many battles won on this soil
So many defeats embraced
So many desires fulfilled here
So many painful heartbreaks

So many friends I won here
I won a few foes too
So may blessings I did earn
Hope the curses were but few

From a teenager I became a man
Nowhere else but here
Saw life’s pleasures, felt its pains
Suffered losses and enjoyed gains

Now its time to say good-bye
To this place to its bliss
Tears of love roll down each cheek
As I plant the farewell kiss

Adieu sweet times, Adieu sweet place, Adieu BITS Pilani..

HAPPY B'DAY MOM :)

2006-02-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

For carnatic music lovers...

2006-02-24T03:05:00.000-08:00

I came across this site that has loads of carnatic master pieces streaming at high speed!!!

http://www.udbhava.com

A must see for all music lovers!

:)

Found your valentine?

2006-02-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

I wasnt bloggin for quite a few days now n that meant I missed valentine's Day too :(

Happy Valentine's Day all!! N this is one picture that made me write this one!

Now, I know this picture targets the feminines! No offense meant! So, dont get mad at me n just keep reading... :)

Everyone in this world is unique in someway or another, that’s what makes us human. We are all unique individuals, with different opinions, different philosophies, different religious beliefs, interesting hobbies, musical tastes, and some weird and wonderful habits. Some bad and some good, it all depends on how you look at each other. These things are what make us unique individuals.

Life will be full of love not by chasing the world for a perfect partner but by learning to see an imperfect partner perfectly.

A perfect partner is someone who knows you and loves you as what & who you are on the perfect side, and compromises on others…

Btw, these are for my friend ... Happy Valentine's day ....

2006-01-11T02:59:00.000-08:00

Uuhh! Breaking my head in tryin to fix some code... its all OOP n OHT!!!! :( !!! But have to say its written extremely well!!! After all, its by SUN guys na!! :) !!!
back to coding... :)!!!

This is a special moment!!!

2006-01-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

January 11th, "Launch of the 'Gordon Moore" Computer Lab at Sri.Krishna Middle School, Thappalampuliyur" ...

Gordon Moore Computer Lab and Thappalampuliyur (a small village in the thiruvarur district of TamilNadu and my native) - They seem like oxymorons dont they!!!

Thanks to tpuliyur@yahoogroups.com(thats a group of all my relatives!!) and ASHANET, the school in the village has a completely new look and is getting a computer lab ... and believe it, the machines are being donated by SUN MICROSYSTEMS, thats where I work!!!

Am glad that I am a part of the project!!!!!!

For more details, click
here!

And.. heres the invite!!! :)

2006-01-05T16:54:00.000-08:00

Sensex crosses 9600!!! May be a big crash is on the cards!!! Or is it gonna be 10000???
Im not a market analyst...so, lemme stop it here!!! Jus that I felt like writing a post!! Its 6.00 AM!!! n this headache is finding it tough to leave me alone!!! Lemme try to sleep!!!

2005 - over and out!

2005-12-31T20:59:00.000-08:00

Its 2006 :)!!!! Hope atleast this yr, I dont make a mistake in writing the date..Its 01/01/2006 today!!!!

2005 - recap...a few things that I will remember for a long time!

- Got an award in my company!! I quit that company few mnths later tho

- Friends' Wedding reception - the whole wing went to trichy...

- Had to swap my mobile with my friend's... and ended up losing her's! Got a new one tho', but that was for me ;) !!

- My 'career planner' tried hard to find someone for me(was for fun tho)!!! ... which finally led to coffee day, a movie n a good friend...

- Moved to a new company as part of an acquisition; Had (or rather have?) a huge crush on someone there...

- Work sucked!! Spent all the office hrs playing pool and chewing mints!!

- Muthathi trip... bike ride with wing! was pretty adventurous!!! Almost slided down the hill! Forest Fire! Trecking! Unforgettable!

- A Y! interview again! A flop again :(

- Became a SUN Man!!! Back to Divyashree! But obviously missed the i2 cafeteria and the pool tables @ 8th floor...

- Got stuck in the chennai rains, met friends after a long time..walked on roads with almost knee level water :)!!

- CATted...jus gave the test...dont ask me anything more!

- Rediscoverd my passion for carnatic music, thanks to jugofalltrades and apursansar

- Started blogging again in REFLECTIONS!

- Started cooking @ home!!! kudos to KIKO!!!

- Never got unconscious !!! GOD's grace!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

December 31st... again!

2005-12-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

All,

~ 20 mts left for 2006!!! So, heres wishing you a great year ahead, full of happiness, peace, good health and all success!!!

Lemme begin the new year with this quote!!
"To get started at something, you need to stop talking and begin doing!"

Have fun all u guys!!!

Cyu next year!!! :)

The Letter... continued (and reworked!)

2005-12-30T01:12:00.000-08:00

15:00

He drafted the e-mail... thinking of her as always...

From: rohan@gmail.com
To: mailmeswathi@gmail.com
Subject: Do read this...

I am not sure why Im writing this one... may be because I lost my mind to my heart... People say this is the find-your-love-online age and may be now I think I will have to accept that!! Honey, ever since I met you three months back, I have always liked everything about you :) I feel you are definitely a part of my life....Im feeling good!!!.... Does this happen with everyone?? Or is it just me?!!!! I dont remember how we met, but all I know is ... it was destiny that made us meet :) and we jelled together very easily, dint we!!! Everytime you come online, I feel like Im meeting you & am near to you....Hey n btw, why aint I able to find you online these days??? May be u r busy missing me ;) I know you have been a perfect friend and I hope you will also be the perfect woman for me. Im sayin this from the depth of my heart...I love you...

- Rohan

15:20

Send it Rohan! - He said to himself... He was looking at the send button...a couple of mts passed by... Okie..this isnt going to help... I love her and I should let her know...Am going to send it now!

15:22

Send - Click - Oof..Done! - Message Sent!!

He knew she was there at home checking her mails..
-Lemme wait.. or..may be..lemme come back after 10 mts...Where did I keep the remote...
Oh! Here ... below the newspaper...

15:32

Three Thirty!! Lemme check it out... Oh God! Please... I love her so much!

- 1 New message -
From: mailme_swathi@gmail.com
To: rohan@gmail.com
Subject: Hi!!

Hi...

Howz ur day? hectic day here today!! my manager is bugging me like hell!
askin me to come to office on saturday!! jus hate him..

new yr plans???

n btw, I got an email from my sis' friend...a love letter!! just hate that!!!
dot guys have the guts to come n tell this direct?? just hate them!

okie..leave that.. i want to meet u today at 5... its something important..that I have been thinking abt...for quite some time now..

Bubye,
swathi.

15:33

What the fck!! She doesnt like love letters!!! Damn!! May be when I go to meet her ..shud tell her something... - Tell her it was just for fun, to test her reaction?! .. n may be tell my love later.. - Screwed it all... shucks!!!

17:00 - The Cafe

Hey!!! Meetin u after a week na... this week has been damn borin :(

Yea..mine too.. okie.. what do u want? me a cafe latte!

Hmm.. Lemme have a black forest :) n u know what! im supposed to be dieting !!!

N.. u said u wanted to tell something rite..what.. anything important?? dont tell me mom has found a guy for u!!! ha ha... (Is sarcasm soo important now...u...)

That was a close guess da... I have found one!!! ............... Okie listen, I dont know what you are gonna think abt this.. I think Im in love with you...You know na.. I tell things straight...I dont know what else to tell.. I love you..

..........

....Hey..whats this... jokin?? tryin to see my reaction eh!! (or have u seen my mail?? cudnt ask her too.. what if she hates it!! or is she serious?)

No da... nejama....I dont know..but I keep thinking I want to be with you...I somehow feel that you too feel the same...n may be you arent willin to tell.. am serious..

Hmm.. may be we should talk abt this later.. I dont know what tell ...(What the fck..has she read it or not!) ... n.. u know I love u!! mind reader eh!! how did u know that [;)] ... (temme temme temme)

something told me thats all.. may be love! okie.. lets talk abt this later...
just felt like telling u... okie.. lemme leave... i wont know what to talk if i stay here.. mail me..

17:15

What..she asks me to mail her?! what should I!!! may be.. will tell her a big Yes! anywez.. she loves me..so.. no big deal tellin her that it was the greatest co-incidence....wait...shudnt get screwed up this time too...hmm..but who cares.. she said she loves me na..big deal!! or.. yea..may be i will tell her that I shud have told her direct instead of sendin her that mail..will come up with some good reason for mailing her...

Hi,
you knw what.. I too feel you are the right person for me... a great co-incidence na... guess u wud have got my first mail.. I thought i wud express my love throught the way we met - online! Only after you told me abt ur sis' friend, I realised that you dont like such stuff!! Thought u wud hate me after readin that mail... but that day at the cafe was a sweet surprise!!! anywez.. am happy that Im in love, with my love!
love u,
rohan.

15:20

okie ..send it ..send it..no screwing up this time!!! :) oh wait

1 New Message received

Maier-daemon@gmail.com

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
mailmeswathi@gmail.com
Email id does not exist.

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ooooff.. wud have screwed that up yet again!!!!! than god.. but hw come that mail dint reach her.. ooh!!!!! missed the underscore!! Thank God!!!
U fcker! change that mail now!!!!

Hi,

You are right! I too feel you are the right person for me..
u know what! now that you too are in love, u shud stop hating love letters!
only then can I write u one! ;) .. he he.. kiddin..

Love,
Rohan!

Thoughts are changing... Web Wise!

2005-12-29T04:14:00.000-08:00

Web 1.0 --> Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Britannica Online --> Wikipedia
personal websites --> blogging
evite --> upcoming.org and EVDB
domain name speculation --> search engine optimization
page views --> cost per click
screen scraping --> web services
publishing --> participation
content management systems --> wikis
directories (taxonomy) --> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness --> syndication

Terror Again :(

2005-12-28T09:48:00.001-08:00

There was a terrorist attack in IISc today a couple of hrs ago; a professor shot dead and few others injured; God knows what these guys' intentions are! May be they themselves dont know what they want to achieve by such madness... More on NDTV

Remembering the Wave

2005-12-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that a year has passed since the boxing day tsunami devastated large parts of southeast Asia Srilanka and Tamil Nadu and destroyed the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people. The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog and
World Wide Help are observing Disaster Remembrance Week to mark what has been an horrific year of natural disasters. For all those who want to help the tsunami victims, this is a good place to find aid agencies - Tsunamihelp wiki

Merry Christmas!!!

2005-12-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

Carnatic Music - II (Raga)

2005-12-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

Raga is a combination of the twelve swaras which forms various tunes or melodies. All tunes in a particular raga would contain the same set or subset of swaras that form the raga. However, ragas are not simply collections of swaras that produce melodies. There are various factors that together identify a raga.

Factors that form a raga
--------------------------------
Every raga has a schema associated with it -
Aarohana - the ascending series of swaras Eg S R G M P D N S
Avarohana - the descending series Eg S N D P M G R S

When playing a raga, if the artist wants to keep the pitch rising, he has to follow the aarohana pattern and vice versa. Ragas might have the same set of swaras but in a different order which when played might result in completely different ragas

For ex, Raga - Shankarabaranam and Kadhana Kodhookalam have the same swaras S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S. If one sings these swaras in the order given above, it is Shankarabaranam. If the order is changed like S R2 M1 D2 N2 G2 P S, this is Kadhana Kodhookalam. Nowhere when one plays Kadhana Kodhookalam, should there be a sequence of S R2 G2 M1 !!

Gamakas - They give life to the ragas. Ragas when played just with the help of the aarohana/avarohana pattern would result in lifeless and meaningless music. The gamakas define the mode of moving from one swara to the other, which swaras to give more stress on, etc. Gamaka patterns are different for different ragas.

When a raga is played by adhering to all these above rules, one can sense a unique melody in it. Ragas have been designed to bring in emotions to listeners. There are ragas which sound joy, fear, sorrow etc etc etc..There are ragas which have to be played in mornings, evenings. There are ragas which bring rain too!!

Types of Ragas
---------------------
The Melakarta Scheme - The mekarta scheme is the fixed set of ragas that contain all the 7 basic swaras both in the aarohana and in the avarohana. There are 72 such melakarta ragas. Melakarta Raga List

Janya Ragas - These ragas are derived from melakarta ragas. One simple way to form a janya raga is to leave out one or two swaras in the aarohana/avarohana! Ex : Leaving out M1 N2 in the aarohana of ShankaraBaranam gives Raga Bilahari (My Favourite!! and the raga pattern denotes melancholy and heroism)!! The aarohana/avarohana of a melakarta when twisted also forms a janya raga (Eg, Kadhana Kodhookalam that we saw above). Swaras from different melakartas can be mixed to form janya ragas! One can now imagine the thousands of ragas that can be formed!!!!

Su-Do-Ku!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-12-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

The latest craze.. the major buzz word after 'blog' - sudoku!!! The whole world seems to be solving this place-the-number puzzle!!!

For those unfamiliar with the game, Wikipedia tells us sudoku "is a placement puzzle, also known as Number Place in the United States. The aim of the puzzle is to enter a numeral from 1 through 9 in each cell of a grid, most frequently a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various numerals given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column and region must contain only one instance of each numeral. Completing the puzzle requires patience and logical ability. Its grid layout is reminiscent of other newspaper puzzles like crosswords and chess problems. Sudoku initially became popular in Japan in 1986 and attained international popularity in 2005."

To my mind, sudoku gained popularity early this year, when newspapers started publishing sudoku puzzles. Today I find sudoku everywhere even in the local kannada or tamil dailies!!

I AM addicted to it!! I think the biggest plus in it is anyone can solve them! It requires no knowledge like some weird crossword where you gotto know the colloquial french equivalent of a word as simple as 'please'! ("S'il vous plait" , it is! Now, how did i know this!!)

Well, some say they dont get satisfaction solving the puzzle. "Oh Cmon! All that you have in the end is 1 to 9... it sucks!!". Dont worry guys, you will be joining me soon!!!!

My blog will now have a link to sudoku-for-the-day!!!!

Carnatic Music - I (Swaras)

2005-12-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

SWARAS
-----------
The most basic unit of music is the swara (or note) which simply indicates the pitch of the sound. The vedic chantings used to be in three swaras which later became seven and thus was born Carnatic Music. These swaras form the pillars of Carnatic Music. There are seven swaras namely

Shadjam (Sa)
Rishabam (Ri)
Gandharam (Ga)
Madhyamam (Ma)
Panchamam (Pa)
Dhaivatham (Da)
Nishadam (Ni).

The seven swaras are mythologically associated with the sounds produced by certain animals and the names of the swaras are related to the names of these animals. However the name Madhyamam also appears to be derived from Madhya - the centre position in the octave.

Some of these seven swaras have more than one frequency associated with it, thereby forming twelve SWARASTHANAS (frequency positions). Out of these twelve swarasthanas, there are four pairs of swaras that share the same frequency. They are given different swara names based on the raaga(to abide by the rules of the raaga).
This leads to a total of 16 swaras

7 basic swaras + 5 swaras having two frequencies + 4 pairs of swaras sharing the same frequency = 16

This final swara list is as follows...

1 Shadjam Sa
2 Suddha Rishabam Ri, Small Ri
3 Chatusruthi Rishabam Ri, Big Ri
Suddha Gandharam Ga
4 Shatsruthi Rishabam Ri
Sadharana Gandharam Ga, Small Ga
5 Anthara Gandharam Ga, Big Ga
6 Suddha Madhyamam Ma, Small Ma
7 Prati Madhyamam Mi, Big Ma
8 Panchamam Pa
9 Suddha Dhaivatham Da,Small Da
10 Chatusruthi Dhaivatham Da, Big Da
Suddha Nishadam Ni
11 Shatsruthi Dhaivatham Du
Kaisika Nishadham Ni, Small Ni
12 Kakali Nishadham Ni, Big Ni

This might be misleading as one might think that there are sixteen different positions in an octave. But there are only twelve. Just that four pairs swaras-sthanas mentioned above share the same position. Ex: Shatsruthi Rishaban and Sadharana Gaandhaaram. This can be well understood with the help of a piano/harmonium/veena where every note is distinctly played.

To easily understand the swaras in english, they are labelled as
S1, R1 R2, G1 G2, M1 M2, P, D1 D2, N1 N2. Doubling the pitch of a swara gives the same swara belonging to the next higher octave!!!

The combinations of these swaras give rise to melodies which can then be classified on the basis of the swaras that are used.

Still to come..
GAMAKAS
RAAGA

Hello World - II

2005-12-18T00:11:00.000-08:00

I'm back ...after a long break!!! Its been almost 8-9 months now, since I stopped blogging, and my life has undergone many many changes since then; the most important thing being, me shifting job to become a SUN man!!! Its a nice feeling to work in a great company with your close friends and relatives around!!

Now that I have reincarnated my blog, (for those who remember, theres a new name n a new template now!), most of my blogs would fall into the follwing categories..

Carnatic Music

BITS Pilani, Need I Say More?!!

Thoughts of a SUN Man!!

...and more to come... Stay Tuned!

Vande Maataram!

2005-04-28T23:40:00.001-07:00

Every Indian should know what the following means, doesn't he ?

vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
sasyashyaamalaaM maataraM
shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM

Composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and set to tune by Rabindranath Tagore, here's the English version of the song as translated by Sri Aurobindo.

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free. Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

Wanna GoogleWhack ??!!

2005-04-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

Googlers,

For all those who havent heard about googlewhacking, well , its an interesting game that tests your analytical thinking capabilities. Well, here s the rule of the game. Just type two words in google and if you get one search result - just one search result, you win.

I was going through some random blogs when I read a blog about Sachin's tennis elbow. The blog said Sachin's tennis elbow was cured by Dr.Hyuma, ex-wife of Wasim Akram!!! Interesting, isnt it ?
I wanted to make sure the information was correct. So When I googled for Tendulkar and Hyuma, Wow! I googleWhacked!!!

Now when you read this blog and google for the same 2 words, this blog might also be listed in your result. Thats why the no. of google whacking words keep reducing. Well I found one! Try your luck buddies!

Am I where I should be?

2005-04-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day in this building. I am cleaning up all my official and personal stuff from my machine. ... Its going to be a new office, a new cubicle, a new machine and for that matter, even a new mail id!! Though Im all excited about it, im going to be the same 'software engeer' reporting the same manager :(

Some how, this thought crept into my mind all of a sudden... Am I pursuing my passion? This might sound trivial on first thought, but come to think of it, are we really doing what we wanted to do, what we wanted to pursue in our careers?

As soon as we complete our higher secondary, all that we decide is whether to choose engineering or medicine. But Why? Just because these are the two fields that earn you the 'most important thing in your life - money' isn't it? Go and ask random engineers and doctors out there if they chose their careers because they were really interested in it. " What the hell! You make money and that is what matters." would be the reply from most people. After finishing engineering, most of the 'engineers' are satisfied with their jobs, while the most of the rest seem to lose interest in the 'engineering journey' and you are right, the next thing that comes to their mind is an MBA, to put it better, they make sure MBA is what they are dreaming for. Iam not saying this is the case with all of us, but most of us.

In the race to make it big in life we tend to smother our dreams for the sake of our future and get along with the herd. We never really do care if we eventually end up conquering the goal we set out for. But how many of us really do??? Just give it a thought, guys while I get back to cleaning up my machine now.

The brighter side of blogs...

2005-04-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

It has been more than four months after the deadly Tsunami hit the country, but still the tears havent dried out from the faces of those in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu. If you watch the tamil news channels, you will find out that there are still many people who still are suffering , without even being provided the basic necessities like food, shelter and clothing.

On the brighter side, good people and blogs give you hope!

http://www.sumankumar.com is an excellent blog by a chennai blogger who covers many aspects about the tsunami affected people, not usually covered by the media.

He talks about lots of people, incidents and a number of pointers to many relief agencies and charity organisations.

Kudos to all these good people and the good blogs.

Beyond all these amazingly growing technologies, what really matters is humanity, isnt it ?