Sensationalising 26/11

Had no plans of writing this post but just found an article on Times of India website so thought of spreading it. Everyone these days is so distressed after Mumbai attacks left so many dead. Many palns were cancelled (including our Goa trip), tourism dipped and what not happened. States were blamed protest marches and other ways of registering the protest. But just look at this:

People killed in Road accidents: 314/day. Calculate 314*365=?
People killed by Lightning (it may look amusing): 2,700/yearly
People killed by terror activities-
Terror activities in North-East: 498
Rest: 235

Now one cant blame the govt or anyone for lightning (i donno how to avoid it), but what about road accidents? When so many marches can be taken out to better equip the police why not take out a single one for traffic police. And I didnt find any records for murders and abductions and rapes. These are much more serious problem our country is facing that 26/11. I agree that steps should be taken to prevent terror attacks also but public should not just stand up cause it had much more drama in it. I am not at all being insensitive here to talk like this. I respect every person who fought or held in any way but people should not stop looking at other problems.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Lightning_kills_more_than_terror/articleshow/3848333.cms

Death of Democracy

Current Link

NEW DELHI: Rattled by the Mumbai terror attacks, government on Tuesday introduced two bills to set up a National Investigation Agency (NIA) with special powers and to amend the law to provide for more stringent action to deal with terrorism effectively.

The National Investigation Agency Bill 2008 and The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill were moved by home minister P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha, a day after the Union Cabinet gave its nod to such measures.

The NIA Bill provides for setting up of special courts for speedy trial of terror-related offences, with hearings to be held on day-to-day basis. Any case pending in any special court can be transferred to any other special court.

Notwithstanding law and order being the state subject, officers of the NIA above the rank of sub inspector will have special powers to pursue and investigate any offence related to terror across the country.

Officers of the agency would enjoy all powers, duties, privileges and liabilities which the local police officers have in connection with cases related to terror.

The bill to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has stringent provisions including detention period of 180 days instead of 90 days now and denial of bail altogether to a foreigner accused of terrorism in the country.

Even an Indian national accused in a terror-related case cannot be released on bail or on his own bond unless the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity of being heard on the application for such release.

The bill says that the court shall presume, unless the contrary is shown, that the accused has committed an offence for which he has been arrested, including possession of arms or explosives with a belief that these or such substances were used in the commission of a terror act.

It also provides for freezing, seizing and attaching funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism.

A new section has been inserted in the bill which says that those using explosives, firearms, lethal weapons, poisonous chemicals, biological or radiological weapons with the intention of aiding, abetting or committing terror act "shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years".

The bill says that anyone in India or in a foreign country who directly or indirectly raises or collects funds or provides funds for a terrorist act shall be punishable with at least five year imprisonment, which may extend to life.

A similar punishment has been provided in the bill for those organising camps for training in terrorism, and also for those recruiting persons for commission of a terrorist act.

The bill says that every offence punishable under this act shall be deemed to be congnizable offence.

It says that if it is not possible to complete the investigation within 90 days, it may be extended upto 180 days. Besides, no person accused of a terror-related offence, if in custody, would be released on bail or on his own bond.

What is democracy? The freedom enjoyed by all persons to choose their leaders and also the freedom to criticise them or to take their stand on any issue (ofcourse not getting violent). Now imagine the powers government have with this act. Just imagine any person X who has done something to the dislike of the government or any officer of NIA. I am assuming that judiciary is perfect hence no scope of wrong judgement there. Without this act government can atmost keep a person for a day or two in jail before producing him to the magistrate. Now consider the scenario. NIA can keep the person in jail for 6 months. Even in that scenario the person will fight hoping that justice awaits him after 6 months. But no during the 6 months not only that person is tortured but also his family as all his financial accounts, properties have been seized. Now this scenario is bad enough for any family man to do as government says. And there would be no case against government as after 6 months they'll just release him saying 'sorry'! No accountability, no action! This was all assuming that judiciary was perfect.

Now add to the fact that you are presumed guilty unless you prove your innocence. Now how can a person after 6 months in jail without any financial resources prove himself innocent? I doubt anyone other that hardended criminals or terrorists would have the will left to fight against the government.

This law is nothing less than imposing emergency. Power of putting anyone in jail for 6 months with no reason whatsoever.

One more provision was proposed for the bill which said that "Any statement in police custody will be admissible in court". Now we all know that how police works and given 6 months they can prove anything from any person.
You can read this joke for further understanding: http://www.funtoosh.com/dj.php?details=ind~330


What I believe the bill should have been (just putting the important points):

• setting up of special courts for speedy trial of terror-related offences, with hearings to be held on day-to-day basis
• officers of the NIA above the rank of sub inspector will have special powers to pursue and investigate any offence related to terror across the country
• monitoring and stopping transactions if necessary of funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism
• detention period of 30 days and after that if investigation is still incomplete then extension by another 30 days after producing before a magistrate and showing some proof linking suspect to crime (not the whole chargesheet). Denial of bail for maximum of 30 days for national of any country.
• admissibality of proofs from electronic gadgets like mobiles, satellite phone, gps etc (only those which are tamper proof).

The police have enough powers, but the problem is that there is not enough police force for a country of billion people. Police force must be expanded, borders secured using technology and intelligence improved by winning the trust of the people. Also for the kind of cities we have with everything in chaos, and people thronging every lane if a person is willing to die to kill others then it is hardly possible to stop him.

What Police forces urgently need (including all the central forces like NSG, RAW, IB and newly formed NIA) is more manpower, better equipment, better pay and most importantly some respect. They save us everyday so they do deserve some respect.

A Different Bond

Just watched Quantum of Solace (henceforth referred to as QS) recently. Now I had heard that QS was in continuation of Casino Royal(again would be referring it as CR), so had watched CR a few weeks back. Still I never imagined that it would be having so much in common. Now I hardly ever remember faces (forget names) from movies so it was a lot of trouble understanding what was really happening. I think I will have to watch both of them together again to make some sense out of it!
But lets leave that as its my problem (or lack of understanding). What I was talking about was the way how image of Bond has been changed from gizmos and gadegts to that of hardcore action man.
During the times of Pierce Brosnan in any action sequence you can expect atleast some technology to be used. But here with Daniel Craig its like "aao kise ladna hai". Its more like Sunny Deol (a little less I agree) action than a Bond flick. James Bond who was always associated with clever thinking has been reduced to just being an action personality. And Mr Q has dissappeared as the new Bond hardly requires anything from him. In the starting action sequence of QS (chase in the car), I kept on hoping that now, maybe now, he'll push some unusual button, but no the only thing he uses is his driving skill and in the end an SMG!
Now I guess watch Bond movies only for its storyline (this story in continuation looks good even though it means trouble for souls like me!). Dont even expect any gadgets or guns to come out hidden from anywhere near Bond. Just simple action movie!
Donno whateher this change is for good or worse but change is definitly there!

Hanging of Afzal Guru

Initially even I was confused that why is Afzal Guru still alive? He has been convicted by every court including Supreme court. So why is he still alive? Many have this question including the opposition but I believe that given the circumstances any party in power wont be able to hang him.

Everyone will know that there is a similar prisoner Sarabjit Singh who is convicted of bombing in Pakistan and has been sentenced to death by their Highest court. I know many will shout at this point that both cases are different, but thats just point of view here. They wont be feeling the same in Pakistan.

So what happens if Afzal Guru is hanged tomorrow? I know Pakistan does nt acknowledge Afzal as their own, but we can all assume where their heart lies. They'll obviously want to give a reaction (like everytime an Indian missile is tested, withtin a week Pakistan missile is tested). So we can all guess what their reaction will be. I know no gevernment can directly give the reason of why its delaying the hanging but no government can also hang him and allow death of Indian citizen.

So it would be much better to understand this than make an embarrasing position for any party in power by questioning again and again.

Breaking apart the system

Open any television channel these days and what you hear is anger of the people. The anger is justified. The politicians are corrupt. Otherwise with the kind of money India has, our security forces can be so well equipped that nobody dare attack us. But at the same time I start hearing views like-
* Stop paying taxes
* Stop voting
*"I want to hear from Mr Singh tomorrow morning that we are going to destroy all camps in POK and Pakistan"- heard on NDTV
*Comparison with America on how they had no more terror strikes.

Now this is what I feel. People (from here on including me) dont want any responsibility but just know how to shout and show their anger. Who are those politicians? They are from among us. We voted for them. I know we can have better politicians but where are those better persons? Why aren't people like Murthy or Shreedharan fighting elections. I'll support them and I know many else will too. And for those who are shouting to stop paying taxes here is my question to you: Why dont you join politics? Why dont you even go for IAS, IPS where you can really change the system (am on purpose not mentioning the defence academy because in armed forces you can serve the country but you cant change the country). And I dont know personally any of those shouting but I can tell from their remarks that 99% of them will be even worse politicians than we have today. They may be energetic, may even not be corrupt (not for sure how any human will react when 10000000 Rs is placed in front of him but I assume positively) but do they really have the knowledge to run this country? Is India just in Mumbai, Delhi and other big cities. Have any of us even visited any village to understand its problems? Its very easy to sit and shout but nobody is willing to take the responsibility.

Now for war on Pakistan. They talk as if its a big joke! My question is for that man who said on NDTV: "Will you yourself go and fight along with your sons if any?" Do they have any idea what the loss of lives would be if there is a war. I agree it would not be intheir city Mumbai then but still a human life would be lost. But yeah that man will feel safe. I dont think thousands of men should go and fight to keep that man safe. Especially when it wont achieve anything as it will just destroy the government and maybe army but not terrorism.
And another thing, India is not USA and Pakistan is not Afghanistan. Any Indian fighet jet that goes into Pakistan has no surety of coming back. Probability is that it wont. Also in America the public is more organised (it may be good for security but I still prefer the carefree attitude). They dont mind the security checks or waiting in line. And most importantly they are very less in number. 1/5 th of India's population. Its just not possible to achieve same levels of security in India with the kind of density we have. That too when many are in poverty.

Its not that I dont mourn the dead or am trying to be pro-government. Its just that breaking aprat the system is the worst thing we can do. Instead of shouting outside it would be much more fruitful to look what we did or didnt do. These acts are such that whether it be BJP or Congress, they will still happen. Both the parties are corrupt. Both have Z-plus security and hence their leaders are safe. Although in the current scenario I'd support Congress anyday but its just like "andho mein kana raja". Its not that they have the best leaders or anything. But for BJP i'll just say that no matter how tough they are on terrorists (read muslims) every Babri, every Godhra creates a 1000 more terrorists inside our own country which is the worst thing we can ahve as far as security is concerned. Its much better to stop those 1000 from getting misled.

So guys, stop blaming and start acting. Our system is good enough, its just that no one is managing it efficiently.

Private Security- Time for India to have one?

After the Mumbai terror attacks there have been lot of talks of private firms having security for themselves. But the kind of security that is needed (seeing the sophistication of terrorists) involves arming private security guards with AK-47's and even heavy firepower like machine guns and not to talk about the defensive requirements like shields etc. But there are number of problems associated with this:

1) What if the weaponry for security is used for non-security purposes like personal score and flaunting (we all know how people love to flaunt their status). We see lot of that happening with just guns that are distributed among people.

2) What if these weapons fall into wrong hands. When police cant protect itself from naxalites how to ensure that these weapons go to their hands.

3) If a private security guard is armed with AK-47 then its but obvious (to me atleast) that the police if not better atleast be equally armed. Otherwise what is gonna happen if any incident happens.

So not only do we have to ensure security for the client but also secure the security (pun intended)
I dont think any method can be foolproof but here is a structure within which it may work:

1) Give only few agencies right to provide security, preferably government corporation (will talk about this later)
2) Security is to be provided only to establishment. No security for any person or any moving vehicle.
3) The security must have minimum standards. Like minimum of 20 guards, control room, securing all entry points etc. This is again more for protection of guns than for the establishment.
4) Mandatory trainging and checking of credentials of all agents working in the agency. Army personals would have been preferable but it would be below their dignity to guard a private property.
5) All corporations or agencies to remain under Defence department. A senior defence personal to have a say in their functioning. And a team of senior officers to regularly conduct surprise checks of any establishment.
6) Revoking of licence of the agency if in any way security of guns is compromised. Now in continuation of this I will explain why a government corporation would be a better option.
I agree that in no government agency can be as efficient as a private one. But any private agency is more prone to compromise standards for more money (there is a counter example also- private agency will fear revocation of licence more than a government one so less prone to corruption). But if there is an option between less security or free distribution of AK-47's, I'd prefer the former.

My aim while formulating the above was first ensuring security of guns and then allowing security for private frims.

I'd surely like to listen to more ideas of implementing private security.

New Set of Rules I am gonna follow!

SOURCE

How to Write Unmaintainable Code

In the interests of creating employment opportunities in the programming field, I am passing on these tips from the masters on how to write code that is so difficult to maintain that the people who come after you will take years to make even the simplest changes. Further, if you follow all these rules religiously, you will guarantee yourself a lifetime of employment, since no one but you can hope to maintain the code.

1. Lie in the comments. You don't have to actively lie, just fail to keep comments up to date with the code.
2. Pepper the code with comments like /* add 1 to i */; however, never document woolly stuff like the overall purpose of the package or method.
3. Make sure that every method does a little bit more (or less) than its name suggests. As a simple example, a method named isValid(x) should, as a side effect, convert x to binary and store the result in a database.
4. Use acronyms to keep the code terse. Real men never define acronyms; they understand them genetically.
5. In the interests of efficiency, avoid encapsulation. Callers of a method need all of the external clues they can get to remind them of how the method works inside.
6. If, for example, you were writing an airline reservation system, make sure that there are at least 25 places in the code that need to be modified if you add another airline. Never document where they are. People who come after you have no business modifying your code without thoroughly understanding every line of it.
7. In the name of efficiency, use cut/paste/clone. This works much faster than using many small reusable modules.
8. Never, never put a comment on a variable. Facts about how the variable is used, its bounds, its legal values, its implied/displayed number of decimal points, its units of measure, its display format, its data entry rules (e.g., total fill, must enter), when its value can be trusted etc. should be gleaned from the code. If your boss forces you to write comments, lard method bodies with them, but never comment a variable, not even a temporary!
9. Try to pack as much as possible into a single line. This saves the overhead of temporary variables and makes source files shorter by eliminating new line characters and white space. Tip: Remove all white space around operators. Good programmers can often hit the 255-character line length limit imposed by some editors. The bonus of long lines is that programmers who cannot read 6 point type must scroll to view them.
10. Cd wrttn wtht vwls s mch trsr. When using abbreviations inside variable or method names, break the boredom with several variants for the same word and even spell it out longhand once in a while. This helps defeat those lazy bums who use text search to understand only some aspect of your program. Consider variant spellings as a variant on the ploy; e.g., mixing international colour, with American color and dude-speak kulerz.
11. Never use an automated source code tidier to keep your code aligned. Lobby to have them banned from your company on the grounds that they create false deltas in PVCS (version control tracking). You are now free to accidentally misalign the code to give the optical illusion bodies of loops and ifs are longer or shorter than they really are.
12. Rigidly follow the guidelines about no goto, no early returns and no labeled breaks especially when you can increase the if/else nesting depth by at least five levels.
13. Use very long variable names that differ from each other by only one character, or only in upper/lower case. Wherever scope rules permit, reuse existing unrelated variable names. An ideal variable name pair is swimmer and swimner. Exploit the failure of most fonts to clearly discriminate between ilI1| or oO08 with identifier pairs like parselnt and parseInt or D0Calc and DOCalc.
14. Never use i for the innermost loop variable. Use anything but. Use i liberally for any other purpose, especially for non-int variables.
15. Never use local variables. Whenever you feel the temptation to use one, make it into an instance or static variable instead to unselfishly share it with all the other methods of the class. This will save you work later when other methods need similar declarations. C++ programmers can go a step further by making all variables global.
16. Never document gotchas in the code. If you suspect there may be a bug in a class, keep it to yourself. If you have ideas about how the code should be reorganized or rewritten, for heaven's sake, do not write them down. Remember the words of Thumper: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." What if the programmer who wrote that code saw your comments? What if the owner of the company saw them? What if a customer did? You could get yourself fired.
17. To break the boredom, use a thesaurus to look up as much alternate vocabulary as possible to refer to the same action; e.g. display, show, present. Vaguely hint that there is some subtle difference where none exists. However, if there are two similar functions that have a crucial difference, always use the same word in describing both functions (e.g. print to mean write to a file, and to print on a laser and to display on the screen). Under no circumstances should you succumb to demands to write a glossary with the special purpose project vocabulary unambiguously defined. Doing so would be an unprofessional breach of the structured design principle of information hiding.
18. In naming functions, make heavy use of abstract words like it, everything, data, handle, stuff, do, routine, perform and the digits; e.g., routineX48, PerformDataFunction, DoIt, HandleStuff and do_args_method.
19. Never document the units of measure of any variable, input, output or parameter; e.g., feet, meters, cartons. This is not so important in bean counting, but it is very important in engineering work. As a corollary, never document the units of measure of any conversion constants or how the values were derived. It is mild cheating, but very effective, to salt the code with some incorrect units of measure in the comments.
20. In engineering work there are two ways to code. One is to convert all inputs to S.I. (metric) units of measure, then do your calculations and then convert back to various civil units of measure for output. The other is to maintain the various mixed measure systems throughout. Always choose the second. It's the American way!
21. I am going to let you in on a little-known coding secret. Exceptions are a pain. Properly-written code never fails, so exceptions are actually unnecessary. Don't waste time on them. Subclassing exceptions is for incompetents who know their code will fail. You can greatly simplify your program by having only a single try/catch in the e n t i re application (in main) that calls System.exit(). Just stick a perfectly standard set of throws on every method header whether they could throw any exceptions or not.
22. C compilers transform myArray[i] into *(myArray+i), which is equivalent to *(i+myArray), which is equivalent to i[myArray}. Experts know how to put this to good use. Unfortunately, this technique can only be used in native classes.
23. If you have an array with 100 elements in it, hard code the literal 100 in as many places in the program as possible. Never use a static final named constant for the 100 or refer to it as myArray.length. To make changing this constant even more difficult, use the literal 50 instead of 100/2. These time-honored techniques are especially effective in a program with two unrelated arrays that accidentally happen to both have 100 elements.
24. Eschew any form of table-driven logic. It starts out innocently enough, but soon leads to end users proof reading and then, shudder, even modifying the tables for themselves.
25. Join a computer book of the month club. Select authors who appear to be too busy writing books to have had any time to actually write any code themselves. Browse the local bookstore for titles with lots of cloud diagrams in them and no coding examples. Skim these books to learn obscure pedantic words you can use to intimidate the whippersnappers that come after you. Your code should impress. If people can't understand your vocabulary, they must assume that you are very intelligent and that your algorithms are very deep. Avoid any sort of homely analogies in your algorithm explanations.
26. I have saved the best for last. From a psychological warfare point of view, this is the most effective weapon for rattling maintenance programmers. On a method called makeSnafucated, insert only the comment /* make snafucated */. Never define what snafucated means anywhere. Only a fool does not already know, with complete certainty, what snafucated means.

More Quotes

All thanks to a good friend of mine :)

• I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief-Gerry Spence
• I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong- Bertrand Russel
• Success is the result of good judgement, good judgement is a result of experience, experience is often the result of bad judgement- Tony Robbins
• If the only tool you have is hammer, you approach every problem as if it were a nail- Bobby Knight
• Half of our mistakes in life arise from thinking when we ought to feel and feeling when we ought to think-Robert Frost
• Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else- Ivern Ball
• You were born an original.Don't die a copy-John Mason
• It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer-Albert Einstein
• Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds-Albert Einstein
• It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place-HL Mencken
• Don't expect a great day, make one- On a billboard in Manhattan
• Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right- Isaac Asimov
• I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it- Jonathon Winters
• Even if you are on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there- Anonymous
• Nobody says "it's just a game" when their team is winning- Anonymous
• The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men- Plato
• I'm looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done- Henry Ford
• Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence- S
• Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think- La Bruyere
• The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any- Fred Astaine
• The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts - Bertrand Russell
• By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work 12 hours a day - Robert Frost

Cleansing of the Parliament

Currently the situation of Indian Parliament is such that every one in four MP has a criminal background or a criminal case registered against him. Well as is expected in any other other 'free' country, India too has in laws that all men are to be considered as not guilty unless convicted. But the problem is that the judiciary here is too overloaded and too slow for any conviction to happen. Partly because of three courts of appeal and partly cause of police inefficiency (includes corruption etc). Whatever be the cause the truth is that hardly ever any sitting MP has been convicted for any crime. But here are some steps that may help in criminals reconsidering their entry in politics atleast directly:

• First whenever any person is elected as MP, MLA or any other Elected Representative all cases pending against him are transferred to a special fast-track court with a special CBI type authority investigating them.
• Make appointment for CBI Chief, Chief Election Officer and Chief Justice as election of President is held. There is still scope for favoritism but its better that government directly appointing them.

I think the above steps can really help in preventing criminals from getting elected.
Few more thing that can be done to really improve the situation are:

• Option of 'None of the Above' in voting list (has also been suggested by EC). It was also suggested that if the above option wins the majority then the candidates cannot appear in re-poll.
  
• Next, American style we can have properly organised debates between party leaders which are telecasted by all the channels. What we have right now is that top leaders of parties come in different channels and its more a show of who has a louder voice than of issues. The debates should be conducted by any known neutral authority and direct questions must be asked pertaining to present issues. With a growing of young and educated class of voters it will help them more in deciding whom to vote for.
  

!(Jai Marathi); Let Humanity Survive

Am sure all of us (even those who live in dream world or whatever) must have heard of Raj Thackeray these days. Well it seems that hes just keeping up with the traditions of his family. But the sorry fact is that instead of opposing him politicians from ALL parties are siding up with him.

Here is the most recent endorsement:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NCP_backs_Raj_campaign_against_migrants/articleshow/3665048.cms
and thats from the opposition party and from a cabinet minister!

what he is opposing against is influx of north indian (up and bihar) migrants in mumbai. atleast thats the issue he wants to bring out. Okay its true to some extent that in comparison labuor is cheaper from north india. Also about the RRB exam. It may be somewhat wrong to allow candidates from same state to participate in different exams held by different divisions. but is violence the solution?
and where will the division stop?
what is the solution?
seal borders of all states?
allow only those who will benefit the state to enter it?
and will the leaders be satisfied in state division?

what if the now asking to seal bombay so that nagpur people dont come in. surely labour would be cheaper out of mumbai that in mumbai. why cant people see that as raj thackeray is interested in winning polls from only maharashtra that why he's just a maharashtrian. when a new person comes whos satisfied with being just mumbaikar then he'll ask for a seperate mumbai. when will people stop falling for division on lines of states, religion, language or anything new these corrupt politicians come up with. why dont they protest against many foreigners based in the city who have raised the cost of living of mumbai. surely thats affecting the common man.

Also about Marathi signboards. Why does people force common sense out of their mind? In a metropolitian city like Mumbai how can a shop choose a marathi signboard over an english one. If they can put two then its alright but choosing marathi one over english is as good as cosing down the shop.

Its similar to the kind of argument i heard few years back for making Hindi as the national language and to make it compulsary for learning. Now using raj thackerays sense of marathi only we can assume that everyone will learn the language of the state. thats valid for all of south states. Now no one challenge English as the worldwide language. So anyone who studies gotta learn english too. Now how in sane mind can you expect a normal person to learn 3 languages in his childhood? Why can people see that for any reason English is much more suitable for being a unifying language of india instead of Hindi. Am not saying that let any culture die. For that even Sanskrit is important. But make it optional. Culture does not survive by force but survives only when people are really interested. Even I was forced to learn (excluding any understanding) Sanskrit but that forceful act did not result in me preserving the language. I threw it out of my mind as quickly as i gave my exam.

And lastly when will people realise that violence for any reason is not justified!!. Am not a preacher of Gandhi but I bealive unless someone physically hurts you violence should be avoided.

Why do people need some label to bind them! Is not human heart and mind strong enough for that? I just hope that someday people rise above divisions and think with an individual mind!

Any Indian still left out there??? or better anyone whos satisfied just being a HUMAN?????????

Found a nice poem...
Source: http://abhilasha-purwar.blogspot.com/2008/09/blank-were-faces-i-saw-in-village-huts.html

Blank were the faces I saw
In the village huts and farms
Cold were the eyes I looked into
of men, women and children
Speechless were the throats
silenced by poverty , illiteracy and ignorance
Dull was the routine
with no ambition, passion or hope
Shocked was me
to see such state of life
But Deaf was me
to ignore the shriek cries

What is the concept of tip?

I have always wondered why does the system of tip exist and what exactly does it mean?
The present practice is to leave around 10% of the bill in restaurants and about 50-100 rupees to waiters or doorman in hotels. But what exactly is the need for paying?
What is the need for tip? We already pay for the service a waiter or anyone does in the bill. No restaurant or hotel is cheap these days. So why do we need to pay when the guy is doing only the regular job for which he is already getting paid?
For myself, I only give tips when service is not ok but really good. Otherwise I dont feel necessary at all to leave even a single penny.
And I am not writing this post or even do this to save money. But I dont like seeing how the practice of tips is being misused. Especially here in hostel when everyone even after bakwaas service people come for baksheesh.

Some more Quotes

These are more of pointless...mostly T Shirt quotes

"Don't argue with idiots, they beat you with experience."

"Out of all the things I lost, I miss my mind the most."

"I dont suffer from insanity... I enjoy every minute of it."

"I said no to drugs...but they just wouldn't listen."

"Body under construction."

"Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from many, it's research."

"The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist."

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity."

"Always remember you're unique... Just like everyone else"

"Where there's a will... I want to be in it."

"There is too much blood in my caffeine system."

"Complete disorder is impossible."

"Sky is the limit.....the upper one"

"In most part of the world, they drive on the LEFT of the road. In Bangalore, they drive on, what is LEFT of the road."

"Upon the Advice of My Attorney, My Shirt Bears No Message at This Time"

"My learning curve is a circle it keeps coming back 2 where it started."

"Attack life; it will kill you anyway."

Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end & a fool on the other.

Etc.: A sign to make others believe,you know more than you actually do.

Love affairs: Something like cricket where one-day internationals are more popular than a five day test.

Marriage: It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor's degree and a woman gains her master's.

Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.

Diplomat: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.

Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Ecstasy: A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt before.

Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens & everybody disagrees later on.

Dictionary: A place where divorce comes before marriage ..

Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water-power .

Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece

Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Opportunists: One who starts having a bath when he/she accidently falls in a river.

Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.

College: A place where some pursue learning and others learn pursuing.

Pessimist: A person who says that O is the last letter in ZERO, instead of the first letter in word OPPORTUNITY

Miser: A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

Optimist: A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says in midway "See I am not injured yet"

Smile: A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Divorce: Future tense of marriage.

Too many Quotes

Here is list of list of Quotes in my collection..some are pointless...some are too good...bu I like most of them so just posting it so that I have them somewhere safe :)

*"Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length."- Robert Frost

*"Courage isn't having the strength to go on- it is going on when you don't have the strength."- Napoleon Bonaparte

*"There are some times when silence has the loudest voice."

*"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain- and most fools do."

*"A fool in love makes no sense to me. I only think you are a fool if you do not love."

*"The best way to realise your dream: Wake Up!"

*"Dont let your tongue cut your throat."

*"God gave us our faces. We gave ourselves our expressions."

*"If you cannot win, make the fellow ahead of you exert himself to the utmost!"

*"Bad times are good times to prepare for better times."

*"When you do common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."

*"There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there."

"Two things are infinite: universe and human stupidity. I have my doubts about the universe."- Albert Einstein

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."- Mark Twain

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."-Winston Churchill

"People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news."

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

"Education: something you pay for, but hope you don't get it"

"The only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing."

"No problem is so formidable that you can't walk away from it."

"We are torn between the craving to know and the despair of having known."

"The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth."

"Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading."

"People want economy and they will pay any price to get it."

"My interest in the future is because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."

"An honest politician is one who when he's bought, stays bought."

"The longer I live, the more I see that I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time." -- George Bernard Shaw

"If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before."

"I love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you."

"After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box."

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world- not even our troubles."

"If you don't have courage, have strong legs."

"Avoid long speeches. The less a man knows, the longer he takes to tell it."

"Try loving your enemies. If nothing else, you'll confuse them."

"Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." Issac Asimov

"He is a dogmatic; because his dogmas are different from mine."

"All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it."- Samuel Butler

"When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane"

"If u fail the first time, remove all evidence that u tried..........."

"War doesn't determine who is right, it determines who is left."

"Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity."

"Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway."

"Tell me what you need and I'll tell you how to get along without it."

"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

"In a World without boundaries Gates and Windows are Useless."

"Two lefts don't make a right... But two Wrights do make a plane..."

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."

"UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand that simplicity."

"The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do?"

"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level."

"Experience is what enables people to commit new errors instead of old ones."

"From the perspective of a lazy lion every leopard is hyperactive."

"The chief obstacle to the progress of human race is the human race."

"There are three kind of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain
the success of those we don't like?"

"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

"It is not exactly cheating, I prefer to consider it creative problem solving."

"Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk."

"Don't worry that the world ends today, it's already tomorrow in Australia!"

"Low expectations and short term goals can do wonders in improving your confidence."

"Never explain- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe it anyway."

"The young man who has not wept is a savage and the old man who will not laugh is a fool."

"A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears."

"The wise speak because they have something to say. The fools speak because they have to say something."

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."- Winston Churchill

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."

"Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."- Albert Einstein

"God I want patience, and I want it now!"

"Age dosen't always come with wisdom. Age sometimes come alone."

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." -Stephen Roberts

"Where is there room in all this for God?" Napoleon asked LaPlace to which he replied "I have no need for that hypothesis."

"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." -Jonathan Swift

India in Flames

These days India is going through real bad phase. Not exactly in flames everywhere cause some part is drowned in water. But anyway 3 states of India are going through really bad phase.

J&K: It all started with the approval of decision which was pending since quite some time. Congress Govt approved more land for Amarnath Yatra. So far so good. There wasnt really any harm in alloting any land cause it was really need for more convinient Yatra. Trouble started when coalition partner PDP threatened to pull out if land allotment was not cancelled. I dont understand what harm was land allotment causing to anyone? Anyways, Congress as weak as it is cancelled the allotment under pressure. Then BJP came in picture as opportunistic as it is especially in any issuse where cummunal card can be played. It started rallies bandhs and what not in Jammu region which is Hindu stronghold. But the Muslim parties (donno who was leading the agitation) not to be left behind in J&K politics started rallies for no reason whatsoever. They tried crossing LOC and what not. And the most confused between all this mess were the police and security forces already working in such sensitive region. They already have hard time trying to catch up with terrorists, but to stop a crowd of thousands of people from crossing the border is even tougher. The situation is still tense but much better after days of curfew.

Orissa: Trouble started when a Hindutva leader was killed by Maoists. Now maoists are human and they too have a religion (its another matter that they dont follow any of the teachings of any religion). So its possible that the group comprised of persons of adjoining community who are mostly ST turned Christian. Its just a possibility but there is no real proof and any effect whatsoever cause maoists do not fight on religious grounds. Whatever, BJP (VHP RSS whatever) again saw an opportunity for its communal card and with it being the coaliition partner, saw another Gujrat in Orissa! Till now Hindus are hunting down people of christian community. Places destroyed till now (all catholic sposered): The only dispensary in the region, many schools and hostels. Here also the whole region has been clamped under a curfew which may help the situation. Caught in middle is a good man CM Patnaik (donno the correct spelling). Not exactly in enviable position right now.

Bihar: While other two states are burning in flames Bihar has a little excess of water right now. Now one cant really blame anyone for floods but whats pathetic is the amount of help provided. There is scarcity of food and drinking water in the region. Even after so many calamities (natural or mankind whatever) there is still no system in India in place to deal with them efficiently. It is still the resposibility of state government to drop food packets or whatever help is required. Why cant we have a central agency for this very purpose with its own fleet of Helicopters and its own mechanism for getting food ready etc. Instead of Central government "providing" assistance to state government, state govenrment can provide assistance to this central agency. Thankfully till now no blame game has started between centre and state government but am sure it will follow as soon as the situation improves.

Hindi Song in Hollywood Flick

Recently I saw the movie Inside Man (2006). The first thing you see (hear to be more specific) is music from "Dil Se" song "Chaiyya chaiyya". Initially I was confused and thought whether it was some special Indian Edition or what..or thought maybe its just starting music..but no they play the entire song---and not only in starting but also during the end. They have also acknowledged it in the credits. I wasnt able to find any Indian name as producer or any senior member of production but there were 2-3 scenes of a Sikh personal.
Nice movie btw...more so cause of the Indian touch :)

Two Faced Policy on Compensation

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/04/stories/2008080453130700.htm

The above link is quite an interesting article. Indian Government is demeaning 16 crores for 15 dead labourers. Their death was due to negligent attitude of a private firm.

But from what I remember after reading so many newspapers till date, many deaths occur in India both cause of negligence of Government and private firms but nowhere the compensation provided is more then 5-6 lakhs. Never has the compensation package been anywhere near 1 crore.

I am not saying that India should demand less but I think that compensation policy for deaths due to Government negligence should also be more. I don't know the amount cause life cant be valued but it should not be as lowly as 5 lakhs.

Oil Crisis

The oil crisis has been going on for sometime now and there is no chance of prices coming down anytime soon.
But instead of government trying to protect the poor and the growth of country, its taking steps which cant continue for long.
First question I would like to raise is that why when Diesel and LPG are subsidised, are personal cars allowed to run on it.
Secondly why is the licence same for tempos trucks and sedan taxis?

Here are some steps which I think can handle the problem in such a way that the poor and growth of country is protected.

1. First of all, only petrol vehicles must be granted Private licence of vehicle.
2. Next licence of trucks should be separate which should have no annual fees.
3. For vehicles of mass transport (buses, tempos, autos), fuel should be diesel or CNG (depending upon the area they operate in) and their licence too should have no annual fees.
4. For commercial taxis, all fuel options should be allowed and they should have licence with annual fees.

After this for pricing of fuels the following steps should be taken:

1. Price of Diesel, LPG and kerosene must be fixed at reasonable values.
   
2. Price of Petrol can fluctuate with International prices and can be such that they provide the government with whatever revenue they need.

I know this will be debated by the middle class (myself included), but this is the best option available. To insulate the industry and poor from price hikes.

I am always amazed why personal vehicles with diesel as fuels are allowed when diesel is subsidised by government for industrial growth?

Google==Systematix

http://jrharshath.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/google-is-really-freaky/

Athe above post tells about how all your info what you search, what languages you use, which locations you search most often....Google has everything about you. Do read it!

Continued from thread above---

The most important thing that is missing in above post is Google Earth. If you add GPS device to Google Earth then Google also knows where you travel. You mark your home and you have given away your home address.
Next Google Street Views: Right now the views are static..means pics are taken just once...but it wont be too far when there would be live cmas everywhere. And couple it with Face Recog Software and then Google knows where you are at each moment. It knows what car you drive by just figuring out the car parken in your driveway by Google Earth Pics.

If you read the book The Prometheus Deception (Robert Ludlum) then you will know that it talks about a very similar company named Systematix which also stores a database of everything.
Imagine Google buys out some major banks and hospital records companies and then it know when you fell sick, who you paid and how much. Right now we havent got a single report of Information abuse (atleast I dont know any) but when it happens I am confident it will be a major scandal.

The linux shift

These days around me I am seeing a lot of linux converts (I myself was one a few months back but these days am now back to Windows). They are not full converts cause most of them are just installing linux and hardly ever using it, buts its a step forward (backward maybe :) ).
All of them are switching to fedora which sucks according to me (even though I am a windows fan but in linux i prefer fedora..maybe coz i am only familiar with fedora..watever).
Even guys like dohte and my roomie have installed or trying to (godspeed) install it (though I know that after installing they wont use it for more than 10 hours total).
Obivously installing linux takes it toll (like crashed hard disks, missing drives..for more details ask dohte) but they are still putting up a brave front (that would continue as long as CS works).
Well lets see whether its just a passing phase (herd mentality) or guys are really getting serious about work (not possible).

Solar Eclipse

Here is the pic I took of partial solar eclipse that was visible in Varanasi on 30th July(as far as I remember..maybe +-2 days).
Took the pic and saw it myself by keeping the x-ray sheet in front of the lens(of both eyes and camera..and yeah that x-ray sheet was available thanks to my recent accident :) )



I know that much better pics are available on net (the one of complete eclipse is awesome...but this pic has some personal feelings...I TOOK IT MYSELF!!!)

here is the original unedited pic
link that is:
Original Pic

Lucky or Unlucky?

Sometime back I had a major accident but came out of it with minor injuries(cant say that for my vehicle :) ). As I dont quite belive in God neither pray in any form so I always think that if God really exists then its doomsday for me otherwise its fine. So for every action I think whether I was unlucky or wat and blah blah...
So in this case also I was just thinking whether I was unlucky enough to have met an
accident (waise fault was mine) or lucky enough to have got out without any injuries (just a swollen wrist)..
Still thinking :)

"New" Roads in Pune

The pics were taken about a fortnight after a new road was constructed near my office.
But such was the quality that it leaves a hole after you put a scotty on main stand.

First Pic
Second Pic
Third Pic

Mahabaleshwar in rain or sun?

Whenever you ask anyone about when to visit Mahabaleshwar , then you will get the answer that its better to visit it after few rains. But if you want to go there to enjoy the scenery and not the weather then better not go during the rains.
Coz when it rains then you don't get time to go out and roam around. I learnt i the hard way when I was stranded in car for 3-4 hours as it kept raining. Thankfully it stopped and we were able to roam around for sometime.
So al of you people who want to roam around Mahabaleshwar without getting wet then go before the rains!!!

Spam in Blogspot??

I just wrote a post and got a comment within 4 mins...but the sad part was that the comment looks very much like spam (its in another language so it may very well be a genuine comment but i doubt that very much).

The link to the comment is: http://sr-itbhu.blogspot.com/2008/06/airtel-goofup.html

Blogger Guys pls chk it!!!!

Expensive Pune

Right now I am in Pune for my intern (aka working for free). I have never ever lived in a city expensive than this.
We have been here for hardly two weeks but have parted away with huge amount of money. First of all finding a place to stay was a difficult task. No one was willing to provide flat or PG for 40 days stay. They require at least 6 months. Finally we got one out of city for 5000 each.
Even the laundry here is damn expensive a 10/cloth!!!!! And being without any kind of refrigerator we had to buy a pot for 100rs. For that amount in UP we would have got atleast 5 pots.
Aur ab to petrol bhi badh gaya hai so donno what will happen next. Just hoping we get some stipend to break even...

Airtel Goofup

Looks like Airtel people have got a few extra mobile circles to cater. And this addition can be found in the list in each page.
God help them. At least they could have removed what look like test entries.

PS: They now have it rectified :(....will miss the fun

IIM A gone nuts

IIM-A board chairman Vijaypat Singhania ruled out a review, but added that enough scholarships would be available to support meritorious but poor students. Against Rs 40 lakh earmarked for scholarship, the amount now would be Rs 8.5 crore, covering 62% of students.

IIM-A's board had increased the fee of its coveted two-year PG programme from a total of Rs 4.50 lakh (for both years) to Rs 11.50 lakh (Rs 5.50 lakh in the first year and Rs 6 lakh in the second year) from June this year.

First of all some Mathematics (which I hate but still):
calculating from 8.5cr gives 62.5% scholarship and having a general idea give that IIM-A has around 120 students (dont kill me if 62.5% not getting full scholarship; cause my calculations are based on that)
So before hike:
Total revenue: 120*4.5lakh=540 lakhs
Scholarships: 40 lakhs
So net profit was: 500 lakhs or 5 cr

New Revenue:
Total Revenue: 120*11.5lakhs= 1380 lakhs
Scholarships: 8.5 cr
So net Profit: 530 lakhs= 5.3 cr!!!!!!!!!

Now next statement

"The hike was necessary because freeships are now weakening the institute by putting a burden on its corpus fund," Singhania told reporters after the meeting which lasted over an hour.

The whole institute was being weakened by lack of 30 lakhs!!!! Am sure government could have easily supported that...or hey there was a easier way of just increasing fees of 120 students by .25 lakh each. I would have been much easier and much more appreciated. Or in worst case could have easily asked the alumni that much amount..30 lakhs is sponsorship money for many fest that take place in IIT's and IIM's.

Now I know that the above calculation is not exactly correct. I mean not all 62.5% students get full scholarship (thats another question why not) and there may be some internal costs or technicalities that are not told (thats another question).

But what I am trying to say is that instead of increasing scholarship amount from 40 lakhs to 8.5 cr they could have given some breather on the fees.

Some more quotes of the wiseman:

"Students will be able to repay the loan before leaving the institute because employers are ready to meet the cost of their education. Most of the employers are repaying the loan taken by the students," he added.

"What is important is that there should be loans. Any student who can get into IIMs should be able to finance his education through a loan," Ahluwalia said. The IIMA's 186th board meeting resolved that "no deserving student would be deprived of an opportunity to study at IIM-A on account of lack of financial resources".

Now point is loans are alright upto a limit. Even for the previous fee structure of 4.5 lakhs many would be taking loan only.
But 11.5 lakhs is too much risk. Even I would be thinking a hundred times before taking such a loan.

And the next question.. how many of us would somehow arrange 11.5 lakhs just hoping that later we would get a scholarship or company would repay back. How many of us can take that risk. I am in college and I know that it doesn't take long for fortunes to change tide. Even a good student may get disillusioned from studies or some other problem may arise. I know its students fault and not Institutes problem but with 11.5 lakhs at stake it becomes a big problem.

And another thing. How many banks would finance for a poor student whose family is landless labor? Have no guarantee. So should his fate be decided by banks?

the missing 'I'

no long post...just wanna say one thing..
someone give me that missing 'I'
our college deserves it!!!!!!!!!!
will write all the details answering to why it deserves later..
source

Out of HotSpot

Finally writing a post after a long time......been on a trip to Pilani and Srinagar recently so got a lot to write about. Not writing about the whole trips(too much mehnat) but just about some incidents..
This post is about how I was technologically disconnected from the rest of the world. Now I have only two means of communication..one is my mobile and other GTalk GMail whatever.
But none of those worked there. Now I am a loyal customer of Tata Indicom...but as I later found out it doesn't not yet have a license to operate in J&K. First I kept waiting for signal at Jammu airport but to no avail. I thought that it will come in Srinagar but no...there was no Tata Indicom nor any other CDMA provider(I mean Reliance) to which I could have switched over.
My backup plan was the Airtel data card that i was having...now I knew for sure that Airtel was there (had checked that on Internet earlier) but what I found out was that there was no GPRS service available. :( ). So I was there in J&K with no connectivity and that too when there was Holi.

PS: Got Net facility from hotel at 180/hour!!!!! That too with a keyboard in which space bar did not work and a mouse in which middle wheel was not working..so much for 180/hr :(

And for those of you who may be visiting J&K anytime in near future please be sure to go with a GSM providor if you wanna stay connected. Aircel, Airtel and good ol BSNL operate there. Am sure every GSM provider must have some sort of understanding with these three to provide roaming services.

Sour Grapes

http://helloji.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/iit-insufferable-indian-tribe/

This post is in response to the above post.

Though I am not technically in an IIT but I did cleared JEE and am proud of it. And am also very proud to be in IT-BHU which has been admitting students since long from IIT-JEE. So I would sure like to give out the true meaning of IIT.
First of all clearing JEE is a difficult and I and all the others are proud of it. To get selected in top 5000-6000 students out of over 2 lakh students is no mean task. So its not surprising for a freshman to point this out to everyone he meets. It may seem arrogance to others but thats simply excitement of that guy. And from what I have observed this behavior hardly continues after 1st year.
Secondly every college (and I mean it every college) has its college T-shirt. Now the frequency with which one wears it depends upon how proud you are of your college. Just like you see many employees wearing Google T-shirt but hardly anyone of some local company (even if they have their own shirt). I don't think thats arrogance.
Next, ragging. Now thats a question that is troubling every society. Yes I know its bad habit but its everywhere in form of bullying etc. So its not just trademark of IIT. Every college suffers from it.
Next the tribal names you are calling is actually lobby names. These names are based on some habit or peculiarity of a person and I doubt if anyone minds being called by his lobby name. You see even at homes everyone has a second name. Now thats not being tribal. As for using those names outside IIT, thats perfectly normal. Relatives at any family function outside your home call you by ones home name. Now thats not tribal behavior. And if two school friends meet afterwards in life then they do talk about school only. Cause people talk about common interests. Two Indians in any foreign country will talk about India. Thats human behavior. You cant help it.
Next AIR. That too is only observed in 1st year where a person is filled with excitement and sense of achievement of clearing JEE (and he should be). So to call a person whose excited as arrogant is being too harsh on him.
Now about gals. Now this is a topic anyone who has been in IIT would like to speak in detail. Yes girls are a rarity in IIT. Am not gender biased or anything but its the truth. And stammering and etc it happens to everyone who has not been in co-ed school since beginning. Even I was a bit shy when i shifted from boys school to co-ed school. So for guys who have always been in boys school and they find no change of scenario in college (that is hardly any girl in your class) its normal for them to be shy in front of outside girls. Cause usually in other colleges people "get used to gals" within 1st year itself. But thats not so in IIT.
Next thing you are talking about banner. First and foremost the most probable cause of error is because of painter. But lets assume thats not so and an IIT'ian did that. Then I must tell you that English is no prerequisite for getting into IIT. There are many students from Hindi medium in our college. So that mistake may have been made by a person there who has just started learning English language. Thats acceptable I suppose.
Next Pooja and dumping of garbage. These too topics are influenced by our society and not by how much maths you know. Pooja is too embedded in Hindu culture to be taken out by any reasoning. Are all people in West atheist? I am an atheist but don't mind anyone else offering prayers. As for throwing garbage in dump, knowing science doesn't imply a person has civic sense.
Next about brain-drain. Yes I accept its significant but I think its only because of the condition of "high-tech industry" here in India. First of all, all the "high-tech jobs" here in India are filled up so you cant say that people are going outside while jobs are vacant in India. Secondly, for those interested in research, in India there are no options. We all know the state of fundings in all Indian Universities including IIT's. No high-tech research is possible. And lastly again I would say that knowing science does not ensure that a person is patriotic. And why not be global in attitude. Why should we stop at our nations boundaries? And its not that IIT'ians are more eager to go out. Its just that they have more opportunities. Given a chance students from any college would like to go out. And I would like to point out a fact for you. Working hours in a good company are much less than in small companies. So no "life long mind numbing work" need to be done. Life is much easier after getting through college.
And the last thing I want to talk about is is being perfect groom. I agree with you on this topic but cause of different reason. I don't doubt the intelligence of people in IIT but certainly feel that intelligence in science does not ensure common sense, civic sense or for that matter anything else about the personality. I find people here very different from my views. So am sure one of us is wrong (not fighting for who it is). But we are both in IIT. IIT'ians are in demand for arranged marriage only because it means they have a much higher chances of having and retaining stable chance. And how does it affect you when both the person who is demanding IIT'ians and person who is in demand are not having any problem.
Your post does not provide any sort of humor but only shows someones frustration.

I am proud to be in my college and would proudly wear its T-Shirt no matter what anyone thinks about it.

Hot Processor

Today i had a new experience of cleaning computers. More accurately another way a computer can crash
Since last two weeks my comp had been restarting abruptly. Whenever I had noticed it restarted when DC was running on my comp. So initially i thought that there was some problem in some sector of my HD. So I stopped using DC. But still the problem persisted. So my next target became my Graphics card. I have already had my share of problems with graphics card earlier. So this time too i blamed it. But removing it too didn't solve the problem. So i just thought that Linux sux and maybe its not cabale of handling too much processing and started handling my comp with care putting as little pressure on it as I could.
I had also cleaned up my RAM and other prone parts but with no results.
Recently one of my batch mates (A1 to be precise) told me of his comp restarting due to overheating (exactly due to low limit set in max temp in BIOS).
So I decided to check my BIOS temperature. I went in BIOS and was shocked to see current temp at 90 degree centigrades. Now thats a lot too much for my little personal comp. Not believing it I started finding ways to check CPU temp on Linux. So I installed lm_sensors, ksensors and what not only to confirm that the temperature is really that much.
So my initial aim was to somehow force the fan to run at max speed forever (who cares about the noise). But that didnt worked out cause of some missing package :(. So next I just decided to clean up my cabinet once again. This time I touched the CPU fan (just above the processor) and found that it was a little too hot that too with plastic body. So I looked at it carefully and found that just below the fan and above the processor there was a thick layer of dust. Shocked I started trying ways to get that dust out. Finally I had to remove the fan and than clean up the whole area.
After that my comp is running with a nice temp of 55-60. Will be putting my graphics card back too soon (hell with installation of drivers :( ).
So what I learned was that given the cleanliness of my room I should regularly clean up my processor :).

this song suits me like hell

donno but vid is not loading here...if it loads on anyone then do tell me...
here is the link to the video http://youtube.com/watch?v=wVyggTKDcOE

Is Plastic Cash really secure?

I recently got to know about the features of ICICI add-on credit card that make it more tempting for getting stolen than cash. Now the number of loopholes in its security are endless.
First the bank doesn't require the signature of add-on card holder. Its just mailed to your house. So if I take the mail before it reaches you and use it then no one can even have doubts. The only signature is on the back of the card. Now we all know how intensely a shopkeeper scrutinizes the signature on the back with that on the slip. I know they are supposed to but its a fact that they don't. I have even heard of cases when a photo credit card was misused by someone else without getting any suspicion of the shopkeeper. So the signature on the back is useless. So if your credit card gets stolen then you cant prove to bank that it was misused. Bank have no records of your signature and shopkeeper doesn't check it.
Second what does any transaction on Internet require with a credit card? Your card number, expiry date, name(sometimes) and the number on the back. Now its nowhere written in the instruction letter that its advisable to scratch out the number on the back to prevent misuse. Because misusing it is a child's task. We all give our cards away in any restaurant or any such place. The guy there can easily write down all the information and transfer as much money as he requires to his pay pal account after which you just cant trace him. How will one ever be able to prove this crime? Nor prove it to bank. I asked the ICICI call center people about this and then they said that please scratch out the number on the back for security. Why cant they tell it earlier? Better why cant the just make us have a password for Internet transactions?

Another incident which I personally experienced was Bank of Baroda Internet account. Now it has so many safety precautions that it is the most unsafe account. First both the Login password and Transaction password must be some 8 characters long including a number and a special character. Now its no easy task to remember such passwords nor hack them. But that was the easy part. The next condition was that both the passwords needs to be changed every 3 months and last 5 passwords cannot be used. So how do i generate and remember such complicated passwords is a mystery. Thus they force me to write down the password which I know is foolish but I don't have an option. I have for now given up on my account. Three months have passed have not accessed it so not changes the password. From what I remember I have to go to the branch to re-activate my account. Hell with it.

I thinks lets just stick to debit cards which are safe and secure.

Stumble It!

Why Linux?

Now I am no fan of open source movement and would gladly switch to Windows as soon as possible but circumstances forced me otherwise. In our hostel with approx 350 comps and some IP thieves its difficult to keep static IP. But I need it to run my hub (for all IT'ians Join InfInIty @ 10.9.11.193:4112 !!!!) so I was forced to shift to Linux to keep my IP. Now Linux it seems is the big brother of windows in terms of network cause in any IP conflict with windows Linux emerges as the winner. So I shifted to only because of this reason. But I had to pay heavy price for that. I had to spent an entire days to only get my songs to play; running the hub was much more difficult task. I spent my entire day editing dunno how many files to make Linux connect via a proxy. After that it got little easier as I was able to install mane things via 'yum'. But when i started to install db hub I got nice surprise as many dependency files were missing. This led to re-installation of latest Fedora 8 (it was much easier than installing every dependency). Now after again setting up Linux for proxy (this time it was much easier) I finally installed db hub and changed its setting in its config file (when will GUI of db hub come?). But it took another 2 days to figure out that it pays to switch off firewall when running a hub. In the meantime I also successfully installed 'linuxdcpp'. So after 3 days I was finally able to 'use' Linux. Using means to see the hub running and listening to songs.
Because Linux means no games and games are our lifeline (using wine sucks as it lags a lot). But its a blessing as I am now getting out of my addiction of games (CS only). But its more of a trouble as I was a very up to date windows user and saved every office file in 2007 format which is as yet unsupported by open office. Also the sound quality is not as good and playing video takes lots of processor (these maybe because of improper configuration but I tried my best and in windows such configs were much easier).
Also I still cant understand the advantage of using Linux in personal computers as as my roomie says all the development in linux are only meant to make it more like windows; so why not use windows instead. Am sure no Indian will talk about the price of using windows :).
But anyways am now getting used to the boring GUI of Linux and if anyone wants to get his Linux working can ask me.

Stumble It!

Right'ing the Wrong

All the countries, religions and traditions have witness many wrongdoing in the past. Indians or more specifically Hindus have been no exception. Hinduism has never been until now been a religion of war. There has been no army that fought for Hinduism. It has always been a very flexible religion; with many gods and no restrictions. It has evolved on faith and not on teachings of some man. Because of no one fighting for Hindus it has not been able to spread itself like other religions. Also because of that and because of division in between people of different regions, India was not able to stand up against any sort of invasion be it of Muslims or of the British. Muslim rulers on the other hand were fighting for their religion and they conquered territories to create more land for Muslims. They forced people to convert or killed them. They looted temples and destroyed all religious places. Akbar and few others were a exception but most employed ruthless means against non Muslims. Therefore much wrong has been done against Hindus in the past.
But the question is can two wrongs make right? Since Independence we have lived in democracy which aims to provide a secular set of laws for peaceful living. It ensure or tries to ensure that no further wrong is done against any community. But there is no law which provides or can provide course of action to heal the wrongs the past without hurting the sentiments of the other community in the present. It was in the past where this cycle was followed: Hindus came and attacked mosques, Muslims came and attacked temples. The latter part was more prominent in India because of their stronger might. But the point is how to end this cycle. Somewhere we have to start living like civilized people forgetting other for their past. This was expected to start from Independence where we supposedly entered an era where laws were written down rationally and to ensure end of such violence. Because if laws don't end such a cycle then we can hope for no peace in long run. The attack on Babri Maszid kept this cycle alive.
Second was the Godhra riots. Its conceded the some elements of Muslim community initiated the act by killing the sadhus travelling in the train. But do you punish the entire community for an act committed by some members of their community of which they most probably weren't even aware of and which most didnt support. Many murders are committed throughout India in which mostly the criminals are Hindus ( not because they are bad but because they are more in number). So should entire Hindu community be punished for their crime. If i kill some Muslim or of any other religion should you and other Hindus get punished for this? Just because you too are a Hindu. We cant correct what happened earlier (unless of course the criminal is caught) but we can ensure that no further wrong is done.
And my next question is that many people supported Babri demolition saying that Muslims did many wrongdoings in the past, but most out of them if given a chance would gladly settle in England not even thinking for a moment that India was most wronged by British. Should India declare war on UK just because there previous governments committed lots and lots of crime?
The answer is obvious.

Atleast someone has similar views as mine :)

This is in continuation of my article 'Is Majority always right'. Here I found an article written in Economic Times:

But does development derive solely from and absolve the Modi brand of politics?
The 1930s supply a dramatic answer, when three countries were ‘developing’ at a
furious pace under the aegis of three different leaders and political
ideologies. The US was recovering from the Great Depression and basking in the
glow of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Germany, under Hitler, was rebuilding its
war-ravaged economy and acquiring the muscle required to wreak revenge on the
world. The Soviet Union, under Stalin, was tempering the steel it knew would be
required to withstand an inevitable assault by western powers.

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Two things were common to all three leaders: passionate commitment to economic growth and reciprocally passionate support from their followers. For the rest, they stood for diverse political ideologies and led their countries to drastically different political denouements.

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Modi’s politics is similar to Hitler’s in several ways. Vilification of a
minority community and its transformation into a hate object for the majority,
contempt for democracy and its constitutive organisations such as trade unions
and institutional processes such as the rule of law, dependence on the personal
charisma of a demagogic leader, glorification of the nation and the strong
leader who alone can provide prosperity and security — these are common
traits.

As expected the letters to Editor are full of criticism of the article but
one should notice that majority of the letters are from NRI's. I have always
noticed in magazines or even newspapers NRI's are always defending Modi.Maybe because they dont live here and are only concerned with development and
money. Anyways the link to the article is here.

New Yr celebs spanned ovr 3 days

As thr trdition of our grt college BHU, the second session every year has to start just 4-5 days before New Yr to ensure that no one is able to fully enjoy it :). Well so as usual this yr session started from 26th. Additionally this yr we had been thrown out of our rooms for hols so had to somehow adjust everything back which took 2 days to fully complete. So aftr all this hectic work and to enjoy the weekend and 31st night we were more or less roaming around for 3 days.

30th December: It was Sunday and I was able to somehow convince people to go biking(scooty'ng in my case) to Ramnagar Fort which is around 12-13 kms if we take the Allahabad Highway. But luckily pontoon bridge was operational at that time and it reduced the distance to mere 3-4 kms (out of which more than half km was on pontoon). So we reached the fort well in time even after the initial disaster of theft of wallet and mobile of one of my peers from the hostel room (but he anyhow went even with sullen face realising that his 8000 worth mobile is gone). Also we were short of one vehicle which was later arranged by a guys bro who is our senior. So aftr all the hiccups we finally reached the fort. Now it aint any big fort nor is its museum any that good but with 10 ppl around it was fun. And with the collection of real vintage(but not working) cars and weapons we as sincere CS students(pun intended) observed and compared them with their mordern counterparts(awp,cv,galil,m4a1 etc).
Next we reached a small temple on the top which overlooks river Ganga(this was my third visit to the fort and I still love this place). The view presented is beautiful (as can be seen from the pics in another post).
Next we went for boating who took 150 rs but we rode for only 20-25 mins :(. With 10 ppl on board(ppl like me also) the boat was quite unstable esp as two of the guys were afraid of the river and were quite impatient. But the ride also presented some spectacular pics(yeah yeah i am interested in pics only) which also are posted in another post.
Aftr boating we decided to return via highway to enjoy the ride....it started wonderfully (with traffic police asking for papers). Now no one was carrying the papers...few didnt even had license with them...anyway we produced the required no of license and showed them our identity cards aftr which he let us off without asking for anything(strange na). So we went towards the highway for which we travelled this long road (it was on my insistence) which was made not of coal and tar but of bricks!!!! So we had a real roller coaster ride(esp me on my little Dio) and aftr all this trouble we reached highway only to realise that we were on it only for 2 kms :( again we took a road which was full of potholes but finally reached our hostel. by 6:30 pm.
We though we had had enough for one day(it was tiring) but 2 hours later our most confused batchmate came asking for Pizza Hut. We were so tired that initially even I(am a pizza addict) refused...but pizza is pizza and esp for pizza hut how many times can I refuse? So finally 4 of us went to there at new mall JHV which is 15 kms from our hostel!!! Add it with Varanasi traffic of evening. We finally reached it to find that we are on waiting list for half an hour :( So aftr some snacks from McD we got a table. I ordered my usual pizza(double cheeze with extra toppings of sweet corn, paneer and onion) while the other three guys went for pork(one of the guy used to be vegetarian 2 months back; he still claims he is from heart :))
pizza was good(atleast mine) but bill wasnt....taxes amounted to 200rs!!!!!!!!! hell. As if pizzas werent expensive enough.
this ended our day with no meney left and tired like hell esp with class the next day.

31st December: It was Monday and we had 2 theory classes and one lab. Now the theory classes were real bore(RS & SKS). But due to electricity failure we were let off lab(which in any case isnt a bore). So we were free by 2 pm.
Now bcoz of our good proctor the New Yr fest Euphoria which was scheduled for 31st evening was postponed to 1st evening????? Now where is New Yr celebrated on 1st evening...maybe he was trying to conincide our celebrations with that of west coast of america. Whatever so we were left with no place to really celebrate New Yr. In varanasi there are no clubs or anything. There are parties in Hotels which are either too expensive or only couple entry is allowed(not possible in IT BHU). So I was able to convince some good souls to go to mall which would be atleast better than staying in the hostel. Now I had expected the whole mall burtsting with activity but the scene was different...There was public but nothing except the eating joints were open...which gave it a deserted look. Still atleast we had a good meal (me again pizza). 10 of us had come but 2 of them opted to go out early..and therefore celebrated their new yr in hostel only. For rest of us it was a real bad luck story. There was a DJ in mall premises(a local DJ) and there was a sort of small disc. So around at 11:50 as we completed our food and got the guts to dance they stopped DJ. We had just stepped on the dance floor and exactly at that moment the DJ stopped. Maybe they decided that its better to shut disc before these guys start 'dancing' and scare away the crowds(we are all inexperienced in dancing). Whatever aftr greeting each other we finally went to our hostel where we were let in without any jotting down of names as late-comers etc.

1st Jan: Am online aftr a long time so will be describing abt the 1st Jan trip only through pics...And yes I long to be in pics so most of the pics will have me somewhere.
We went to two falls...donno exact names of anyone of them :)

New Pics

We ppl went to Ramnagar fort on 30th Dec last yr(described in detail in another post)....The time around is 4-4:30 pm and as the sun was low and setting down it gave a brilliant reflection on the mighty river Ganga...

The first pic has been taken from the top of the fort while the second pic has been taken from moving boat

The ripples in the pic below were caused from the oars of our boat:

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