I havenot been blogging as i travelled back to India. It has been a hectic trip.
India won the test match with Australia making it one of the historic "come from back" wins. It would have appeared funny for people at Schipol airport to see 5 Indians watching a computer screen and jumping with joy on every run scored.
I will be in India for some and my contact number has been changed.
Dec 10, 2003
This will be interesting. Scientists have claimed to have stopped light for a fraction of a second. 1
I will be leaving for India in a few days. As usual I have suddenly realized that New York is so beautiful. I am definitely going to miss it. The walks along the hudson. And everything else.
But I am excited to go to India. I will be able to meet my family, relatives and friends again. My phone number in Delhi will become operational by Dec 17th early morning.
Some gyroscope error can be fatal for the international space station. In my college days I was so intrigued by the design of gyroscopes.1
Dec 03, 2003
Am watching the film "The longest day" . It shows how ordinary men show extra-ordinary courage at the time of supreme sacrifice. I respect those who laid down their lives so that i could be born in a free India. Though I am far from doing the sacrifice that they did. I wish i could fight the enemy facing us today. A disease like AIDS.
Interesting news item on how hookworms can actually help us. 1 It probably links to the bigger question of how much can we play with nature? With many species becoming extinct we might well have eradicated the cure for a disease like AIDS before even finding it. Scary thought!!
It is constant battle between progress (as we define it) and the status quo like situation that was given to us.
Dec 01, 2003
I saw for the first time the shopping frenzy here in the USA. I mean shopping lines about half a mile long at 6:00 am in the morning. No wonder some people over here suffer from "shopping stress".
It was a good welcome break from work. Looking forward to december
Nov 25, 2003
Managing Time (from Rajesh Jain's blog)
HBS Working Knowledge writes on managing our most proecious asset:
First Things First defines the four quadrants in such a matrix as:
1. Urgent and important tasks (Quadrant I). For example, dealing with a product recall or completing due diligence before an acquisition can be approved.
2. Not urgent but important tasks (Quadrant II). Examples here include developing key business relationships and drafting a plan for how your company will respond to the changes you foresee taking place in your industry 18 months down the road.
3. Urgent but not important tasks (Quadrant III). Examples of these tasks are taking impromptu phone calls from sales reps or fielding a request from a subordinate to help make arrangements for next week's unit party.
4. Not urgent and not important tasks (Quadrant IV). For instance, surfing the Internet or gossiping around the coffee machine.
The more time you devote to important but not urgent work, the more control you have over your schedule. In particular, the less likely it is that your time will be consumed by putting out fires. This comes as no big surprise�so why is it, then, that people have so much difficulty reducing the time they spend on urgent but unimportant tasks? Stephan Rechtschaffen, author of Timeshifting (Broadway Books, 1996), believes the answer has to do with a process known as entrainment, in which a person becomes almost psychologically addicted to the rhythm of the particular task he's performing.
When you get to tasks that are not urgent and not important, something really interesting happens," Rechtschaffen observes. "The ambient rhythm in modern life is so fast that even in our leisure time, instead of relaxing, we tend to take on activities that keep us in this fast rhythm." Thus, typical Quadrant IV recreational activities tend to be things like watching television (with its fast cuts and high-energy commercials) or playing video games (in which the action moves very rapidly).
"Once you're in a rhythm, the tendency is to stay in synchronization with that rhythm," says Rechtschaffen. The result is that "in modern life, Quadrant I, III, and IV activities are all happening at high frequencies. Even though the way to reduce the number of Quadrant I crises in your life is to spend more time in Quadrant II, people resist going there because its rhythm is so different."
To be able to concentrate on work that is important but not urgent, you have to learn how to gear down. Rechtschaffen recommends scheduling specific times for such tasks. "I set aside time for doing my writing. The ground rule is that although I don't actually have to be writing during this time, I can't do anything else. What I've found, as I'm sitting there not writing, is that guilt feelings or feelings of inadequacy as a writer come up.
Nov 21, 2003
Read this interesting job posting for a mother. Pretty neat. 1
Nowadays I am listening to the songs of Kal Ho Na Ho. The sad version of the title song is just awesome. Weekend's here! No plans as usual, but may go to Hoboken to enjoy the Saturday!
Nov 17 ,2003
Interesting article on artificial life. 1
Nov 16, 2003
Why is it that after every weekend I feel I have wasted my time. I saw Matrix - Revolutions today. I think the Matrix is a very nicely made movie. The concepts are so real. The oracle says " We cannot look beyond our choices, we can only believe"
I think every person has an oracle within. This movie has an Indian couple also. The Wachowski brothers have tried to add the concept of Karma also in this part. I need to see it once more to understand it better.
Nov 14, 2003
Got a mail from my batchmate regarding the irregularity in my blog posts. I plan to be regular.
The work has not been that hectic. So essentially i am to blame. The weekend's here but i do not have any major plans for an outing. I will be at home and plan to finish "Tamas"
There was a wind alert in New York yesterday. For the first time i felt how difficult it could be walk on a windy day. It was a struggle to even stand let alone walk.
I think i need to learn how to attend working lunches. This wednesday, in the working lunch, i just ate a cookie and others were busy eating their salads. I feel I cannot do two things at a time.. eating and thinking...
My aptt number might change in a few days time. Will blog it when it happens!
Nov 11, 2003
Have been getting up really early nowadays. I think it is a good habit. I have started reading a book titled "Tamas". It is a story set during the time of India- Pakistan Partition. I have suddenly found my love for books again. November is a good month it seems.
Nov 7, 2003
Am back from the trip to India, I have decided to take it easy for a few days. Hope to have fun.
Nanotechnology in crime prevention - Detection of Fingerprints
I now have broadband internet connection at my apartment. It is cool
Oct 17, 2003
Wow!! What a killer week. Am glad it is over !
Oct 13, 2003
I just realized that I did not blog for a whole week. The week was very hectic. I also managed to read some articles on the economist's website. The one on Executive compesation is good. It is also part of the current print edition.
Today I wondered, what will i do in life. What is my aim and am I going towards my goal. I realized i do not have an aim. Earlier it was doing a PhD and teach in a University, then it was making money and now it is to negotiate a day at a time.
I even got into existential questions like " What is at the end of it all" . A famous economist said " In the long run we are all dead"
So I have decided to do things that make me happy. And my goal is the big selfish making me happy !!
I guess i should listdown what makes me happy. First of all is to get into shape. I am sure that will make me happy.
Oct 07, 2003
Had a good weekend. Went to the gymnasium and tried out the rowing machine. It is cool. The instructor told me that the I have gotten used to the jogging and therefore it is not affecting my body metabolism. So i need to change my exercise.
Time spent watching Television on weekend : 8 hrs
Oct 03, 2003
The weekend's here. It is also the time of the year when Hindus celebrate the festival of "Dussehra". It symbolizes the victory of good (Lord Rama) over evil (Ravana).
I do not want to watch any television this weekend. OK, I think the best way to make things happen is to build accountability.SO, I will add a daily log of time psent watching telelvision on the Blog. And I will also try to be truthful while reporting the numbers. (are we looking at a conflict or duties problem :-)
Time spent watching Television on Oct 02: 30 mins
Oct 01, 2003
Have been away from the Blog for long. I was terribly busy in work. Lately read the technology quarterly at the Economist site. Pretty informative. 1
I am trying to plan a trip to India during Diwali. Lets see if I am able to manage it. I have finally found a rowing machine in a gymnasium. I plan to take membership of that gym.
Tomorrow is Bapuji's birthday. I feel lucky to have been born in free India. Thanks to Bapuji and all fellow Indians who laid down their lives so that I could be born in a free nation. I owe this to all of them. If you can hear me please accept my sincerest Thanks! Jai Hind
Interesting concept of web enabling every car ! 2
Sept 22, 2003
Great Weekend. I did three things. Read about Probability, slept and watch a few films. Overall if I were to ignore the films bit of it then it was a pretty decent weekend by my standards. I packed in two dinners also in all this time. WoW
What I could not able to achieve was a plan for my future. I need to do some planning now.
Sept 19, 2003
Very long break from the Blog. Actually i was swamped with work after I came back. This weekend seems to be a promising one. I plan to read up some books I had brought over from India and Television is a strict tabooo!!!! I need to catch up on personal work also. Lots of emails lying unanswered in my mail box!! Today is the day.
Now let me think what can be the best plan for the weekend ( counter intuitive isn't it... A plan for the weekend ).. Probably some don'ts are
- Do not keep up late on Friday and Saturday. This messes up with the next whole day
- Avoid Television. Weekend films are a conspiracy of the machines to take away the juicy weekend away from you( The Matrix is trying to control you and me)
- Keep checking your clock. Sometimes it tries to run away with the time..
I think lets try the above for some weekends and we will be good.
Sept 10, 2003
Life is back to normal. Was feeling slightly feverish for the last few days. Hope that it gets better. This time i have decided to brush up so me statistics fundamentals.
Today I goofed up on the laws of thermodynamics... I felt very bad about myself. I could not even state the
three laws of thermodynamics... I am getting all rusted up..
Sept 09, 2003
Am back in New York. The flight was OK.
Sept 04, 2003
Am in India-- enjoying it
August 25, 2003
My colleague is standing behind me. He seems to be very interested in my blog. We had about 9 new people in office and spent lot of time getting to know the new colleagues
Today we were about 50 mins late to office because of traffiic on the Delhi Gurgaon road.
Will be updating the blog on Saturday now.
Please note my new mobile number
August 21, 2003
Leaving for India. Looking forward to the fun
August 19, 2003
Came across this statement written by author Paulo Coelho , �If you really want something, the universe will help you get it.� Till some time back I also believed in this. I do not any longer. The fact of the matter is that one can't ever "really" want something. Becuase before one reaches the "really" stage, rationality kicks in and one finds reasons not to go for a particular pursuit.
I was reminded of a dialogue from the film Saagar ( When translated into English it means "The Sea'). Kamal Hassan at one point in time in the film says
"Baccha agar chand pe machal jaaye to yeh zaroori to nahin ki chaand use mil jaayega"
When translated in English it means "what if a child falls for the moon, It is not necessary that the child will get the moon". There is an interesting Sher ( Couplet) written by Mirza Ghalib .
"Hazaaron Khwaaaishen aisi ki har khwaish pe dum nikale
Bahut nikale merey armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikale"
When transalated in English it means " There were so many desires in my heart for which i could have died. I was able to speak about many of them but still so many of my desires were still left out"
Phew!! that was some trip of my imagination... I feel good about having written it down ...
August 18, 2003
Have been lazy in writing the blog. The problem is that opening this site is so darn cumbersome. Some 5 clicks and 3 mins of loading time. Wish this could have been faster.
The weekend was great. Celebrated Indian Independence day with colleagues and batchmantes of Engineering College. Actually we had an East Coast get-together of Engineering College Kota on Saturday. It was fun. Have been surfing the Economist site. It has some good Economic and Finacial market indicators.
Am going to India for a couple of weeks. I will be busy in training for the first week and I will be taking a week long vacation.
Will be back in action on September 9th.
Cheers
Aug 10, 1003
Had a not so bright weekend. I did start reading International Economics though!! :-)
Came across a good site on Urdu Poetry. I am actually trying to learn new words of Urdu.
On of the couplets goes like this
"Munh ki baat sune har koi dil ke dard na jaane kaun
aavaazon ke baazaaron mein Khaamoshii pahachaane kaun"
When translated it mean
�People understand the spoken word and not the pain in the heart
In this market of voices who will understand silence�
Aug 8, 2003
Interesting news item about smart mobs. There is also a book on the role of cyber communities in everyday life.
There is even a forum called moveon.org where they discuss political events and someday these platforms could be used to mobilize support for a cause. Today it takes minutes for a news to reach every part of the world. An event in the Maori islands in New Zealand can impact futures prices in the Chicago Mercantile exchange. The world would become a more closely connected place. Interdependencies will increase and one country�s internal matters may not remain internal. I believe the web has created more opportunities of interaction than we can comprehend right now.
Interesting news item. Price discrimination can happen because of the information we give out when we shop online. A cyber store knows the kind of things / price of things I buy and the things that I look for in the discount store. It would not take long for a robust algorithm to put two and two together and enable the cyber store to quote different prices for the same thing to different customers. For eg. Because I have a certain demographic background and spending pattern a stereo system may be offered to me at a different price as compared to someone else who has a very different spending pattern but shares the same demographic background. The term used for this is personalization wherein the web content is personalized dynamically real time.
Welcome to the knowledge rich world .
Cheers
Forgot to mention that the weekend is here:
I have a worked out plan for the wekeend. Doesn't it seem counter-intuitive? When can i start enjoying? I want to read a book on International economics this weekend!!
Aug 4, 2003
Better than normal Monday. I felt like going to work and enjoyed the office. I like the office when it is empty especially early in the morning. Tomorrow I want to come to office much earlier.
Great site on the Kargil war ( The 4th war that India and Pakistan have fought over the Kashmir valley) and other Indian military news. The article written by Ms Alka Ahuja ( wife of Late Sqn. Ldr. Ahuja) �Hope and Sorrow� is very touching indeed.
Aug 3, 2003
I have been enjoying a lot on this weekend. Friday night party and then finishing all the work on Saturday. On this Sunday I do not have anything to do except listen to Ghazals / read books. One contributor to this outstanding week has been my non functional cable TV connection. I haven�t spent my time watching television.
The weather outside is wonderful. It calls for a long long jog. I am trying to motivate myself to go out and jog. Not to mention the additional benefit of burning excess fat off my body.
Aug 1, 2003
The weekend�s here. From my office I cannot see the ground because of a thick cloud envelope. The weather channel predicts that there will be strong thunderstorms on the weekend.
Saw this really cool site for asterix trivia quiz. There are quizzes on other topics also the Asterix ones are really cool.
The Indian economy seems to have picked up. There are so many advertisements about jobs for graduate Engineers nowadays.
Interesting articles on SPAM wars. Did you know that the feature in most websites where one is asked to type in a word (which appears in a distorted form) is a mechanism to ward off virus bot attacks which try to make multiple accounts on free websites and then use those email accounts for spamming.
July 30, 2003
A colleague of mine helped me out with my grammatical errors. Thanks! This is something that I will try to improve upon.
July 29, 2003
It�s been a really quiet week. The weekend was not very different. Have started reading the HBR. Interesting complexity manifestation on the tribe.net site. They are in their beta test version. Interesting P2P interaction platform
July 23, 2003
It has been a long absence from my blog. I am actually feeling very guilty. Rather strange!! But I think that this is because my Blog has actually taken a life of its own. It is living. It is not a scratch pad where I scribble my thoughts. It probably talks and responds to different people in different manner.
I guess I am hallucinating. Can�t believe that I wrote the above part. (I mean a HTML coded webpage in cyberspace having feelings, talking to human beings) It goes to show that I need to get out of the routine of spending time watching films, listening to the same Ghazals over and over again and running on the treadmill till the time it has a deafening "creak". Well, the last week was a bit too hectic but I think that is part of the deal. I still managed to read the technology review and the economist�s Technology quarterly. I have decided to read the HBR also regularly.
Interesting new blog called the AudioBlog. One can record voice which has the potential of being heard all over the world..
Interesting observations by Joi Ito on the new frontiers of internet and content management. Quoting from that site it is
- Context instead of content
- Networked consumer electronics devices will make PCs less relevant -- This seems to be really happenning now
- New open standards for micro-content and metadata
- Multimedia
July 14, 2003
Had a great weekend. Another good site for Macro Economics fundamentals 1
July 10, 2003
Microsoft has stopped giving stock options. There was no rationale given. Does it mean by giving options for so many years Microsoft actually destroyed shareholder value? Were they not discharging their fiduciary responsibility? 1
Some fishes change not only size but also sex to move on in life. 2
Truth is stranger than fiction!
Stem cells injected into rats with spinal injuries have been able to regenerate neural tissue. 3
July 8, 2003
I am back from a short trip back to India. Though it was a very short trip, it was very satisfying. I was happy to be there to welcome the monsoons. The first monsoon rain in Delhi ! Apologies for not updating for about a month. I am back in New York. Please note my new home phone number
Intresting sites on recharging ones knowledge on basic concepts
Statistics
Other subjects
I will be in India for the next 2 weeks.
June 16, 2003
Had a fun filled weekend at Dallas Fort Worth. The highlight of the trip was canoeing in the waters of Lake Caddo. The surface of the water was covered with duckweed giving it a strange green color. It was the first time that I was canoeing but I did learn it pretty fast. The person in the front cannot see the person in the rear given the slender shape of the boat and therefore complete trust is required between the two people. Nice sport to build trust
I am planning to go back visit India in June end. Will keep posting
June 13, 2003
Fuel cells can have a negative impact on the ozone layer. But it is interesting that the timing of the fuel cell technology will itself provide a solution to this potential issue 1
June 12, 2003
New fossil skulls from Ethiopia provide fresh evidence that Africa was the birthplace of modern humans, but raise new questions about the pattern of human evolution.1
June 05 , 2003
I now know what it is like to work for 12 hrs a day for a week. I need a break!!
June 04, 2003
Interesting article explaining the help plants can extend to human beings. Rabies antibodies from Tobacco plant.1
May 30, 2003
I have added two new sections on Human Genome project and Nanotechnology. I believe that these two areas will lead to the big scientific discoveries in the next 20 yrs.
There is a news flash of the Stem cell "Master Gene" having been found. (Registration required) We will probably live the dream of having custom made organs, cure for diseases like diabetes, Parkinson's etc.; a better life for everyone. The only question is will it be "affordable". I feel the bigger challenge is to make these new cures available to everyone.( I know i am going off on a tangent, but this is something very close to my heart).
Is my life more or less important than anyone else's life? It reminds me of the famous George Orwell saying "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". We must strive to make the best cures available to the masses. I hope i am able to make a difference in this dimension before my time run's out.
There are promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep ( ~Robert Frost)
New Sufi music by Abida is creating waves. I already have one Sufi music album "Ishqa Ishqa". The songs are good. They are refreshingly different
May 28 ,2003
Have finished reading the book �Tearing Down the Walls� by Monica Langley. The past few days have been hectic. I have not found lot of time to do many personal things like writing the blog. Will update more soon.
May 26, 2003
Had a good weekend. Met a lot of IIM Bangalore Alumni at Anusmaran (The annual IIMB alumni meet). I also managed to meet many of my batchmates after over a year. Spent time chatting with them.
Very interesting article on use of Nanotechnology in room furnishings and apparels. Imagine an outfit which changes colour if it detects above normal concentration of SARS / other viruses in the air.1
Had gone to a New York Yankees Vs Toronto Blue Jays Baseball match. The only good thing in the match was the cheese dipped Freedom fries and the hot chocolate.
May 20, 2003
Interesting article on Voodoo economics.
May 19, 2003
Had a wonderful weekend. I regained the hunger for reading books. Spent the whole day on Sunday reading �Tearing Down the Walls� by Monica Langley
Came across this interesting nano-technology news. Our fuel cells in the future may be much smaller and more powerful.
25 new trends 2003.. thanks Anand
Researchers are testing the world's first brain prosthesis, a synthetic hippocampus. The hippocampus is thought to encode experience for long term memory.
The possibilities are endless. We will be able to erase certain pieces of memory and make "customized memory" human beings. I do not want to remember anything bad!!
May 13, 2003
Life is beautiful. I have started jogging again. I felt good by burning those extra calories. I wish i am able to maintain this zeal for the rest of my life.
Sometimes i feel i am such a boring person after all. I spend my time in the gymnasium trying to, in the least, maintain my current weight and waist dimensions or publishing my log or listening to Ghazals. That is really boring. Nowadays i have also started watching the History channel on Television. WoW..I will be able to drive anyone crazy!!.
May 12, 2003
Moved to New York. The city is great and I am sure it is going to be great fun. Had a long day at office today and did not go for a jog either. Will be regular from tomorrow. For some reason I do not know why i have again got into Ghazals ( and that too real sad ones) again. I was trying to get away from them so that i do not have anything that will make me more unhappy. But i guess i have grown too fond of it. Probably to some extent they reflect me and my innermost thoughts. Nowadays i am listenning to ghazals sung by Begum Akhtar
Aiye mohabbat terey anjaam pe rona aaya
May 07, 2003
IBM is opening in a development centre in Hubli, North Karnataka, India. Hubli is one of the smaller unknown towns of Karnataka state. It is wonderful to see MNC's places other than Bangalore( the silicon valley of India). I hope to see a time when most companies make India their hub for knowledge intensive work.
Interesting website having a collection of random articles by people form across the globe.(www.boloji.com) Essentially indians. I will take some more time to analyze it and post some comments on it.
May 05, 2003
Life is moving on a slow comfortable pace. Off late my calls back home have kind of reduced. I have been spending more time reading. Interesting balance.
Interesting website containing all the essays of Don Norman. (the person who wrote "Design of everyday things") 12
QOTD: Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.
- George Bernard Shaw
May 03,04 2003
Worked a lot on the weekend to change the look and feel of the blog. Had gone to Lake Calhoun for a picnic. It is a great picnic spot and has a great jogging track too. Jogged the entire circumference of the lake.. More than anything, I proved a point to myself. Time for self cooked dinner now! I have now mastered the art of cooking food and working at the same time. Cool. I am adapting.
QOTD: Creativity is great, but plagiarism is faster thanks Peeyush
May 02, 2003
Amazing Honda advertisement. It works only in IE. and it took 606 takes to get it right. Wow!!
May 01, 2003
The jet lag is still keeping me away from my exercise. I fall asleep at 8:30 pm and am up at 2:00 am in the morning. I will try and regularize it.
Polarized light reflected form the wings of a butterfly is responsible for attracitng male butterfly's 1 . This goes to show that the creator of this world has so meticulouly created all that we see in nature. Wow! The creator must have been a genius or is it just a hyper computer which has programmed the world. (OK I am hinting at the Matrix). A detailed paper on the same.2
I am back in US. I slept for the most part of the 20 + hr flight and interestingly I am still feeling sleepy. Probably it is the jet lag. It was fun time in India attending two traditional hindu marriages. Time flew while I was in India but the memories will remain forever. I am having this feeling that this would be one of the memorable trips.
Now it is back to work.
April 22, 2003
Am writing this log from one of the coffee parlors in New Delhi. Long time back I had written about the coffee culture in Delhi. Now whenever I come to Delhi I make it a point to spend some time here. Life is going on. Long time since I blogged. I have now realized that when I have people around me (esp. friends, family, Indians) I tend to spend less time on the web. May be it is because of the relative difficulty in getting onto the net in India. When I am away from all of them I tend to spend more and more time on the net. The Internet, it seems is a gateway to my emotions, an answer to my need to interact. I am not so sure about the direction life will take. Too many choices also make a person confused.
In front of me I am seeing so many young students spending time together. Sometimes I think how can students afford such an expensive place. Have the times changed or Is it that parents are more lenient with pocket money nowadays.
There is this disturbing development about SARS, which is worrying almost everyone in India. I was thinking where is the solution to this,when will be find that out
Log uploaded on April 29, 2003
April 21, 2003
Good to be back in office in Delhi. The summer is realy hot !!
April 15. 2003
I am back in India. Presently in Jaipur..Can't say if i am enjoying or enduring the summer.
April 7 ,2003
Have had a very hectic week. Actually worked through the weekend and had some night outs too. I am happy to have finished the task satisfactorily.
I will be going to India for a small vacation. Cool !!
QOTD : I think the next century will be the century of complexity. Stephen Hawking
Mar 28 , 2003
Quotes of the day
My genius is that I am a lot of averageness compacted into one frame by Nick hornby. Thanks Tan and
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Mar 26, 2003
Read the blog of one of my batchmates at Bangalore. His blogging is so regular that I felt ashamed of myself. I hope to make it upto my blog. My trip to India is coming closer. I am sure I am going to enjoy my small vacation.
Learnt about drug-coated stents, which are made from shape-memory alloys like nitinol (This is the same material used to make bendable, indestructible cell phone antennas). It was cool to gather knowledge in a different field. 1
This article says GPS systems in cars have become a necessity for people in Japan. I feel it raises a different question. The question is that things in life are a necessity or a luxury only at a point in time and space. For eg . in 1900's owning a car would be luxury but not the same today. Today leisure space travel may be a super luxury, but this might not be the case 40 ?50 yrs from now! It happens in our personal lives also. We feel that something is a luxury today but in some time we find that the same thing has turned into a necessity. Computers are the best example of this.
Mar 25, 2003
Long time since I blogged. Have been going for regular workouts in the evening. Most of the discussion nowadays is centered around the Gulf War II. Am looking out of my window it is evident that spring has arrived. The temperature is in the comfortable 50s now. My thoughts are now completely deranged. Can't figure out why. Probably I am spending too much time researching on the web. Read a very good oneliner "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away".
Interesting article on the Non-randomness of prime numbers. This can have huge impact on lot of current research. 1, 2
Feb 23, 2003 : - I have been unable to log my activities due to some problem in my browser settings. Considering the fact that i was Software Engineer it was real bad feeling. I was listenning to this Ghazal by Ghalib and sung by Jagjit Singh. I did not know that the literal meaning of "Ghazal" is "Talking to women about love". There was this couplet which was simply great
"Go haath mein jumbish naheen aankhon mein to dum hai
rehne do abhee saaghar-o-meena mere aage"
Translated into English it means " What if my hands cannot move, i still have strength in my eyes. Let the goblet remain in front of me"
Hats off to Ghalib
Feb 17, 2003 : - Today�s day was very interesting. Iam planning to go for a jog and burn some fat. Hopefully I am careful in piling on excess fat in the first place. Rest is moving on at normal pace in life.. And that is a troubling sign. Am I becoming complacent and slowing down.
Feb 16, 2003 : - I have been lazy and also kind of a bit tied down with work . Interesting article on C60 molecules being used for nano lubrication. I have a strong feeling that most scientific breakthroughs are just waiting for a some substantial achievements in Nanotechnology.
Feb 10, 2003 : - Had this discussion with a friend about the possibility of assuming that transfer prices of certain products can be distributed normally. I disagreed because I feel that it may not be a continuous function at all. It may be discreet but in nature most distributions are normal in nature (even if we try to make a function of the different spotting patterns on the hide of Leopards!).See weblog of Jan 27
Minneapolis is going great and I have gotten used to the cold weather. -10 deg C seems to be like a pleasant day :-)
Feb 05, 2003 : - This place is covered with snow. It looks so beautiful. I was going through the site of Nature.com It is absolutely brilliant. The physics teasers area definitely needs a mention. One needs to become a member before getting into the section (registration is free)
Feb 03, 2003 : - Was back in Minneapolis office after a gap of over 70 days. Feels good. Was looking at this site on operational risk management. After the new Basel committee recommendations we would see lot of operational risk consultants in the market :-). The issue here is quantification of operational risk and define some metrics for regular measurement
Feb 01, 2003 : - Am writing this log from the "HOLIDECK" at Heathrow airport. Thisone of the better lounges i have seen on airports. Especially because i get toupdate my weblog from here. Next time i will fly BA.
Jan 31, 2003 : - Am finishing my assignment in London. It has been a great stay. I plan to come back to this place once more. Just like i plan to go to SFO once more :-)
Jan 29, 2003 : - Writing the log at 2300 hrs. Actually I had gone to see the musical �The Lion King� and I just had to write about it on my log. The musical is playing in the Lyceum theatre near the Covent garden station in Central London. The musical lasts about 2hrs and 50 mins including the 20 min mid time break. The musical is awesome. Especially the soundtrack and the costumes are simply great. I did feel that the acting on the part of Mofasa (the father of the lion king) was a bit squeaky in certain places. Overall it was a wonderful experience. It was so different from feature films. The acting was real.. There were no re-takes. It was happening in real time. I would love to take all my kids to the musical in the future .
Jan 28, 2003 : - Had gone to a very nice Indian party yesterday night. It was cool to watch lots of second generation Indian dancing away to the tunes of Bhangra pop. I impressed myself by sleeping at 4 am , getting up at 7:00 am and then working for the whole day in office. It has been a long time since I was in campus that I did such a thing..I am happy
Jan 27, 2003 : - Very interesting mathematical analysis of the coat of animals. �Reaction Diffusion Equations and Animal Coat Patterns�
Wow I did not know that applied Mathematics had reached this level .. Google is great.
Another economics probability problem �The Monty Hall game� explained. I do not agree with the probability calculation. I will be posting my interpretation soon
Gadget of the day: portable solar charger
Jan 21, 2003 : - Have been involved in so much work for the past two days that i have forgotten that there was a weekend a couple of days back. The weekend was exciting especially the walk all along the Thames.
Interesting article on Risks of hedge funds . This article gives a very different way of finding out a risk in a hedge fund. The method is also very intuitive.
The indian president says that we will have a hyper plane by end of this decade. Pretty interesting!
Jan 17, 2003 : - I have got over the jet lag now. The plan for tomorrow is to see the London eye.
Interesting article on �to regulate or not to regulate� the Hedge fund industry especially because lots of low net worth individuals are able to invest in them using the circuitous route of the fund of funds
Jan 16, 2003 : - I am still having the jet lag. Had lunch in a wonderful restaurant called "Bombay palace". the food was really good and clean too. The tube in London provides excellent service. I plan to see an opera on the sunday.
Jan 15, 2003 : - Landed in London after a pretty long flight from New Delhi. I am staying next to the Hyde Park. It was really good to see lots of Indians around. One thing that has caught my attention is the London Cab. It is so spacious that the only vehicle in India, which can beat it, is the Ambassador. (It is one of the oldest models of car made in India)
Life is beginning to get back on track after a long, very long vacation. I am looking forward to it.
Jan 10, 2003 : - Am back in Delhi and in office. It has become increasingly cold in delhi. I am still holding on to my new uear resolution. The coffee culture in Delhi is picking up. Barista and Cafe Coffee day are literally packed during day hours. It is a good sign. There is nothing better than talking about "Coffee" to start a conversation. I am looking forward to the future. Lets hope the feeling remains
Jan 03, 2002 : - Happy new year. I enjoyed my new year's eve's with my family and watched the television as usual. My new year resolution is to be more patient and not to let my mood swings affect my relationship with others. Tried reading Mark Tully's new book. But gave it to someone before i could finish it. Though it is not half as interesting as "No full stops in India".
It has become very cold in Jaipur. I hope it is better in minneapolis :-)