Shyam's Blog

Anybody can use a computer - no age bar. Here is the scene - Dad in the US and mom sitting in India. They need to talk now. Talking over phone is routine - 'usmein kya hai?' (what is the big deal). So, I put a small twist to the tale to make them use the net for communication. Here comes my expert techie dad and novice techie mom. Why did I mention 'techie' to them? Yeah, they are techies now after having started to use PC. The PC back in India is disconnected from power and other wires. Why? Because, anytime, there could be extra super power voltage and destroy the system why nobody is at home for 2-3 months. First task of techie dad is to make mom connect them and Switch ON the computer. We are almost there! Switched ON the power. On this end, techie dad is like expert customer support guy who sits somewhere on the globe almost like blindfolded and tells the customer on phone to do 'that'/'this' etc etc. Mom: "hmmm, Something is displayed on the ...

Java and .NET were/are hot tools to develop web applications. Latest readings show Python being compared with Java. Python is a quick in a development cycle - meaning, just write the code and save it. Go to browser and refresh the page to see the changes. On the other hand, Java, needs the code to be compiled. Many such trivial benefits of Python is making it a easier tool than Java. Pydev is a project plugin to develop python projects in Eclipse. Above all these, Django - a latest (not yet released) Web Framework is the fastest of the three frameworks (RoR, PHP, Django). Here is the futuristic book ( online book ) about Django. Paper version of this is expected for release in August 2007. Continuing on software web development topic, the term pace is playing a major role. Pace has two angles - one, the pace with which the project proceeds to completion; the other, the pace/performance of the application when users/customers use it online. Managers want the project to be kicked off soo...

Talk of the day is about seista, or a small nap during the day. Latest researches show that people have 33% less heart problems when they take a nap compared to who don't. I really think taking a nap makes us fresh. Be it 10 minutes - it will be great to feel the effect of a good nap. Some said, they have long 12-hour days and a nap makes them keep their concentration for a longer time. Also, it is believed that performance of people who took a nap improved by 37%. Whatever numbers say, go take a nap if you missed it today!

A lawsuit on a suit! Meanings of the word "suit" ... 1) a set of clothing, armor, or the like, intended for wear together. 2) the act of making a petition or an appeal. So here is the Suit suit story involving a customer and dry cleaner. - Customer, a lawer by himself, sued the dry cleaner for not giving back his pants. - Dry cleaner says, customer had forgotten which color/what type/etc of the pants he had given and defends that customer is asking for wrong pants! Customer - immigrant from one of the Asian countries, is a lawyer. He thought he could sue and make a million bucks. Other lawyers had noticed his behaviour during his divorce case couple of years ago, which was indifferent. This customer, also filed saying, "am not satisfied" referring to the display, "Satisfaction Guaranteed" which was in the dry cleaner store! Court said - You will not be given a single penny! The "not satisfied" clause does not mean what he thought - it just means,...

Just read that Team India left for UK. This reminded me of 'my cricket days'. I mean, when I was an avid fan of cricket few years ago. Back then, more cricket was played by our team. Here are some of the matches/series still in memory. India-Pakistan match in Bangladesh in which Kanetkar hit the winning runs when India needed 314 to win the match. In this match, Ganguly had batted superbly to keep the run chase possible. The floodlights were poor and India had lost most of their batsmen. Kanetkar and Srinath were at crease when the winning runs were hit! India vs England in England – Kaif and Yuvraj did a great run chase to win the match. India were 5 wickets down for 100-odd. During this match, myself and my friend were on a visit to Kochi on work. We were watching the match in our hotel room and after loosing 5 wickets, we switched off the TV to go for a walk. When we came back, India was winning! India and Pakistan test match in Delhi – Kumble took 10 wicket...

This blog will go for a long discussion within me. If this is Chapter 1, there will be many more chapters to come till I make a decision. Very often, I get this question - "Should I go back?" If so, when? Sometimes I feel, I should. Other times, I don't see the need. This change of answers inside me is just swinging like a pendulum. I have seen people being in this phase and then finally deciding to go back. The end result is so much to take and give that it is a total change of life for someone who has lived outside India for nearly 5 years. Hasn't India changed in the past 5 years? Can I adjust to the latest society and trends? How is it to live in a busy city and work in an office 20 miles away from home. How is the work environment in India? I don't know have an answer to the last question as I haven't worked in India. What will I get going back to India? That is a touch question to answer too. In simple sense, I will get back to 'my' place - the f...

Bought a HP Tx1119US notebook. Looks kewl with Vista on it.

Heard of addresses saying, "5th Main, 1st Cross"? Why is that we don't see such address naming convention in the US? Is this system only in India? If yes, phrase, "crossroads of life" must have been coined in India only ;). Thinking about roads and crossroads, what comes to mind is the traffic in India. 30 years ago, roads were so empty. Automobile Industry was just booming. All cars were big. There was no issue of having a fuel efficient car. People's mindset was not on gasoline price, but on the horsepower of the engine. This is similar to what US is right now. Last night, on the radio, there was a discussion in NPR on US Govt. considering of supporting fuel efficient cars to save fuel. Also, this will help a big deal in supporting the G-8's buzz talk, 'global warming'. Seeing all these, I feel, India has seen all these talks of fuel economy and energy saving two decades ago! In other words, US will soon see choked roads all the time, everywher...

"What does your son do?" In most cases, answer will be simple like - "Software". What actually is this term software? I really don't understand the term well even though I am partially in it. I might know just a drop in the big ocean. Where did it all start? Is there an end to it? As far as I am concerned, it all started (for me atleast) with Microsoft's Windows picking up in the late 90s. I started with Windows 3.1 version on a 486 (80486) machine. All I was doing then was playing a shooter game and couple of other DOS based games. No internet facility though at that time. Later on, with internet booming in India, email started. For my bachelor's project, I used in net for searching for data and information about the then buzz acronym for me - 'DIP' (Digital Image Processing). By the time I moved out of India, email and chat had become popular. For now, what all can one do with the so called 'Software'? hmmmm Everything. Talk with friend...

Ek Anek ( Link ) Mile sur mera tumhara ( Link )

Red-N-Blue in Bryce Canyon

Dolls at Bryce Flora-Macro view on the way back near a gas station.

View of Bryce Canyon, UT. Natural Bridge, Bryce Canyon Three monkeys sitting 90-degrees to each other. As usual, some flora signature. Bryce Canyon is 4 hours drive from Salt Lake City. We camped at Pine Lake Campground, which was 30 minutes from the Canyon. It was an experience to drive 5.5 miles inside on gravel road and reach the camp ground. Putting the tent was interesting too using whatever civil engineering techniques we knew - structure and beams. Night was cold in low 40s compared to day's high of high 80s. Having fire most of the time helped us (my parents and I) to keep ourselves warm. Morning started with good tea and hot idlis with chutney. We had a cold pack to keep milk, chutney and other perishable items. It was fun to stay in a place like that and be far from the city world for 24 hours. Outcome of the tour - I became a lifetime member of REI (which is $15, and will get discounts for renting/buying camp gear); My dream tour is to do a "Grand Circle" road...

Is today something like "Philosophy" day? Radio has been talking a lot today - First, it is Jack Kevorkian, who was"suicide assistant" 9 years ago for assisting suicides, one by carbon monoxide inhalation and other by injecting a slow killing drug. He was imprisoned for 9 years for second degree murder and is being released today. Questions - Should euthanasia be made legal? If so, why? Why did this doctor do that and why is he still fighting for that which is far from becoming legal? In another talk over radio - why waste space for burial grounds in today's world? Are we not wasting space? The burial grounds are places of 'sentiments' to those whom they have left behind. the argument was not to waste space/land in today's world of growing population. What is the solution? Cremation is being recommended.