I heard today that www.ask.com is dropping it's well known butler mascot. This reopened my memories from far back when I first started using the Internet. I started using the net first when I was in college, in 1997. The SJCE-STEP was the only place in Mysore with internet access. Around ten 286 and 386 PCs shared a dial-up speed connection and we surfed the web using Netscape Navigator 4.x, which used to take hardly 2 to 3 minutes to load when starting up. As part of our intense research for our college project, we would go to rocketmail.com or mailcity.com and send 'test' e-mails to our friends sitting at another PC across the hall. After this, we would run to our friends to see if the mail really reached! Once in a while mails would reach, and by then our quota of 1 hour of browsing would be over. We would return home with an aura around us of having tamed the net.
Almost all our searches were done on Altavista, because we did not know any other search engine. I came to know that there was something called lycos when they bought over mailcity. Sometime during 99 I discovered askjeeves. ask.com was known as askjeeves.com during then (roughly 99-2000) and it was my favorite search engine. I don't know why, I just liked it's interface and I was happy with the search results it threw up. All this until I surrendered to google, like millions of others. I can't think of ask.com without Jeeves mascot. To me it is like google without it's colorful letters, IBM without it's 8-bar logo, Mysore without Chamundi hill, pizza without cheese! I will miss you Jeeves!
Talking about the internet, it is interesting to see how it has progressed in all these years. These days you can open a mail account on hundreds of websites and effortlessly receive thousands of spam mails every day. You can search for just about anything and google will return a couple of hundred thousand results in 0.00234 seconds or something around that. It is nice to see people making best use of the search engine technology to search for - Pamela Anderson. Yes. Lycos says the most searched phrase on their search engine in the last ten years was this woman! She fought off a close battle with "Britney Spears", "Las Vegas", "WWE", "Pokemon" and so on.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
How to cheer up a bored mind!
There are dull weekends, but this one set the bar for me. I think a good weekend is not just about doing a lot of exciting things, it is a state of mind. (which means I don't know what the heck it is). I started reading a book by Dave Barry, the king of humourous writing himself; watched two movies on DVDs, but all things I did this weekend to cheer my mind up came to naught. Of course, "Riding in cars with boys" sounded far more interesting than it actually turned out to be. It was a good movie, but quite depressing.
One thing that many do when they are feeling this way is to eat chocolates. Chocolates are supposed to trigger feel-good chemicals in our brains, called endorphins. But I find that any fat-laden food will also help. Why is the nature so unfair to people who are concerned about putting on weight? Why does it have to be chocolates or fried foods that trigger these little bastard endorphins? Why couldn't it be broccoli or lettuce?
I realized that I have spent more than three months in Austin now. I am now thinking more about what I am gonna do after I go back to Bangalore, than what I am gonna do in the remaining months here. That shows I am now 'over the hill', so to say, with respect to my this onsite assignment.
One thing that many do when they are feeling this way is to eat chocolates. Chocolates are supposed to trigger feel-good chemicals in our brains, called endorphins. But I find that any fat-laden food will also help. Why is the nature so unfair to people who are concerned about putting on weight? Why does it have to be chocolates or fried foods that trigger these little bastard endorphins? Why couldn't it be broccoli or lettuce?
I realized that I have spent more than three months in Austin now. I am now thinking more about what I am gonna do after I go back to Bangalore, than what I am gonna do in the remaining months here. That shows I am now 'over the hill', so to say, with respect to my this onsite assignment.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Rita disappointment!
With Hurricane Rita not causing as much damage as initially feared, most of the country, especially Texas, should be breathing a collective sigh of relief. But I am sure there are few who are disappointed a little bit, okay, I know there is at least one for sure, that is me!
The amount of preparation that went behind preparing for this hurricane here in Austin was seen to be believed. People, having seen TV reports of Katrina, took Rita seriously, a bit too seriously. Austin was shown to be right in the path of the hurricane and though we are around 200 miles inland from the ocean, people were taking no chances. By this Wednesday most stores had run out of bread, water and other essentials. I went to buy some stuff on Thursday and found that people were filling up their Ford-250s with all the water and food they could find in the store. I found one woman buying loads of toilet paper. I really wondered if this was a part of some special plan to handle the hurricane. I heard that some people bought enough water to last a month. Well, if the hurricane had really stuck us, the one item we would find in abundance and not need a bit would be water, right? ;-)
I on the other hand decided to go very light on preparations for the hurricane, you know we Indians are like that! I live on 3rd floor (Ground-Second-Third in the US as against Ground-First-Second-Third in India), so I figured I would remain dry until the water raised almost 20 feet!
By Friday, it was clear that Austin was well clear of the main path of the hurricane, so the euphoria had come down. But the way events unfolded today left everyone dumbfounded. Not a single drop of rain, for heaven's sake! Not even some dark clouds in the sky. It was just like normal here, temperature at around 100F. I had hoped that it would at least rain a couple of inches, so I could still brag that I was in the hurricane path. (You know, when I was in Austin, there was this huge hurricane, roads filled with water and I could just swim to work instead of walking... something like that). But alas, Austin was left high and dry. What an anti-climax! Looks like we are going to continue to see temperatures in low 100s for a few more days.
The amount of preparation that went behind preparing for this hurricane here in Austin was seen to be believed. People, having seen TV reports of Katrina, took Rita seriously, a bit too seriously. Austin was shown to be right in the path of the hurricane and though we are around 200 miles inland from the ocean, people were taking no chances. By this Wednesday most stores had run out of bread, water and other essentials. I went to buy some stuff on Thursday and found that people were filling up their Ford-250s with all the water and food they could find in the store. I found one woman buying loads of toilet paper. I really wondered if this was a part of some special plan to handle the hurricane. I heard that some people bought enough water to last a month. Well, if the hurricane had really stuck us, the one item we would find in abundance and not need a bit would be water, right? ;-)
I on the other hand decided to go very light on preparations for the hurricane, you know we Indians are like that! I live on 3rd floor (Ground-Second-Third in the US as against Ground-First-Second-Third in India), so I figured I would remain dry until the water raised almost 20 feet!
By Friday, it was clear that Austin was well clear of the main path of the hurricane, so the euphoria had come down. But the way events unfolded today left everyone dumbfounded. Not a single drop of rain, for heaven's sake! Not even some dark clouds in the sky. It was just like normal here, temperature at around 100F. I had hoped that it would at least rain a couple of inches, so I could still brag that I was in the hurricane path. (You know, when I was in Austin, there was this huge hurricane, roads filled with water and I could just swim to work instead of walking... something like that). But alas, Austin was left high and dry. What an anti-climax! Looks like we are going to continue to see temperatures in low 100s for a few more days.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Hurricane naming
More about hurricanes, the topic that is the flavor of the season.
As hurricane Rita prepares to run down the US gulf, meteorologists have a huge problem on hand - no, it is not the destruction she might bring with her. What can Rita possibly do that Katrina couldn't? New Orleans mayor to hurricane Rita : "Madam, we already have enough water in our city. We don't want any of yours, thank you. We could even gift some water to you."
The problem meteorologists are facing is - they have only 4 names left for hurricanes and storms this year. Apparently they come up with 21 names at the beginning of the year for the hurricane season (around January to around December). Each name begins with an alphabet from A to W, skipping Q and U. Names are alternatively male and female. Male names were added in 1979 (to silence women right activists, I guess). Names are rotated every seventh year. If a hurricane causes extensive damage, he or she is dropped from the list ;-).
This year they may run out of names and so they are planning to name the extra guests Alpha, Beta and so on. Equally effective, but far less glamorous! They could get a few interesting names from India. What names best suit the worst hurricanes? Yamaraj? Hidimba? Ghatothkaj? Lankini? Bakasur? Okay, may be Yamaraj is not such a good one...
As hurricane Rita prepares to run down the US gulf, meteorologists have a huge problem on hand - no, it is not the destruction she might bring with her. What can Rita possibly do that Katrina couldn't? New Orleans mayor to hurricane Rita : "Madam, we already have enough water in our city. We don't want any of yours, thank you. We could even gift some water to you."
The problem meteorologists are facing is - they have only 4 names left for hurricanes and storms this year. Apparently they come up with 21 names at the beginning of the year for the hurricane season (around January to around December). Each name begins with an alphabet from A to W, skipping Q and U. Names are alternatively male and female. Male names were added in 1979 (to silence women right activists, I guess). Names are rotated every seventh year. If a hurricane causes extensive damage, he or she is dropped from the list ;-).
This year they may run out of names and so they are planning to name the extra guests Alpha, Beta and so on. Equally effective, but far less glamorous! They could get a few interesting names from India. What names best suit the worst hurricanes? Yamaraj? Hidimba? Ghatothkaj? Lankini? Bakasur? Okay, may be Yamaraj is not such a good one...
Monday, September 19, 2005
Kannada movie!
My friend Manju told me that a Kannada movie, "Joke Falls" is coming to Austin next weekend. So I quickly checked the website of Austin Kannada Sangha to see if they have more information about this. But alas, looks like their website has been recently 'upgraded/redisigned', by which I mean we can't find any good information on it anymore. They are running a poll named "What do you think of the new AKS website?", with the following three options to choose from:
1) Think? I use it
2) I love it
3) I will send an email with suggestions
Yes, that's it. There is no option that says "Sucks". Looks like the third option covers that. Intelligent people.
BTW, I came across pictures of a couple of 'leading' stars of Kannada movies that made me wonder "How much money did they get JUST to wear a dress that is so awful"? and "What was the costume designer of the movie smoking when he/she came up with these designs?". See for yourself here and especially here. After all, Bangalore is home to too many fashion designers, so they could have gone to any one of them to get the dresses designed. Or may be they did!
1) Think? I use it
2) I love it
3) I will send an email with suggestions
Yes, that's it. There is no option that says "Sucks". Looks like the third option covers that. Intelligent people.
BTW, I came across pictures of a couple of 'leading' stars of Kannada movies that made me wonder "How much money did they get JUST to wear a dress that is so awful"? and "What was the costume designer of the movie smoking when he/she came up with these designs?". See for yourself here and especially here. After all, Bangalore is home to too many fashion designers, so they could have gone to any one of them to get the dresses designed. Or may be they did!
Friday, September 16, 2005
Innovation at it’s best
Here is a fine example of how US leads the world in technology and innovation. Gillette, as you know, has been helping us fight one of the biggest problems plaguing mankind - the stubble on the man's face. Gillette were one of the first to market 'safety' razors, which means you can 'safely' cut off your nose or ear with those razors if you are not careful. They were the first to introduce the twin blade razors during early 70s in the
But then, we are talking about a company which boasts more about innovation and technology on their website than NASA or Intel do. So it was obvious they were not going to sit quiet. Their research teams set out to find out what number comes after 4. Within a couple of years, they knew it. This week they introduced - suspense - hold your breath - the world's first Five-blade razor system!!!!! Don't believe me? See for yourself. So I guess you get the picture of what shaving razors will look like in 2010. There will be more blades than can be fit on the razor, but there is the long handle to be made use of ;-) Or probably razors will look like cheese graters.
Where does all this leave
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Bilingual blog
I made my other blog at http://huchumanasu.blogspot.com bilingual, in Kannada and English, so that it can be read by everyone. Of course, what I say there may not make sense for everyone! Sometimes thoughts in our mind get horribly diluted by the time they are put to words.
If you want to enable Kannada fonts on your computer (XP/Linux), go here and read easy-to-follow instructions: http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kannada_Support
If you want to enable Kannada fonts on your computer (XP/Linux), go here and read easy-to-follow instructions: http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kannada_Support
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
C & H
If you love Calvin and Hobbes, here is one of the best ever. ("Y" as in "Y do we care?" I am LOL) http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ch/1994/ch940912.gif
Monday, September 12, 2005
Travelogue Part 2
I am back with Part 2 of my blog. Shows how 'eventful' my weekend has been ;-)
The next day (3rd Sep) began with drive towards Newark, New Jersey. By noon we were in NJ. The first thing thatsurprised us simple minded Texans was the way people drove there. We had to quickly remember our driving skillsfrom Bangalore to acclimatize ourselves to driving here. Honk if you are happy (or sad or neither), never leave more than 2 inches of space between your car and the one in front and so on. After checking in at the hotel, we decided to check out NY in the evening, taking the train to Newyork Penn Station from Newark Penn Station (ugh! very imaginative naming!) At the Newark Penn Station, it appeared that they had outsourced the information desk and "May I help you"counters to friendly neighborhood thugs and cheats.
A long walk around the Times Square, the famous curved facade of the Nasdaq building, along Broadway and other 'famous' roads made a memorable evening. It was niceto see so many people walking on roads. We quickly learnt that we can cross roads almost any time we want. Of course, cars can honk at us any time they want and we can shout at them when they do it!
The next day we started with Ground Zero (where the WTC buildings once stood) and quickly proceeded to Liberty and Ellis islands. Any trip to NY is not complete until you have taken your picture with lady Liberty. The immigrantion centre museum at Ellis island was very informative as well. Tip to future visitors to Ellis island: Don't eat at Ellis island food stall if you are a vegetarian. It sucks big time.
Rest of the day involved a visit to the American Museum of Natural history , The Central Park and Madame Tussauds wax museum. Madame Tussauds looked far less impressive here compared to the one in London. No Amitabh Bachan, no Aishwarya Rai! Our evening was dedicated to seeing the Empire State building, the tallest now in Newyork. But most of the evening was spent in waiting in a queue there. But it was worth the wait. Clear skies offerred a majestic view of the city all around. Made me remember seeing Paris from the Eiffel Tower.
The next day morning (5th Sep) Ananth took us to his cousin's house in NJ where we had a fantastic brunch. After days of eating McDonands and such stuff, not to mention burgers at Ellis island, our tastebuds were treated to a sumptuous fare.We later left to see the the Longwood Gardens on the outskirts of Philadelphia. It is a nice botonical garden, but for us it was only an opportunity to take pictures, especially for Ananth with his SLR. Later in the day we returned to BaltimoreAirport and rest of the trip back home was eventless.
Here is a panaramic view of Manhattan and other areas from Ellis island. If you care for more pictures, go to http://sripathi.fotopic.net
The next day (3rd Sep) began with drive towards Newark, New Jersey. By noon we were in NJ. The first thing thatsurprised us simple minded Texans was the way people drove there. We had to quickly remember our driving skillsfrom Bangalore to acclimatize ourselves to driving here. Honk if you are happy (or sad or neither), never leave more than 2 inches of space between your car and the one in front and so on. After checking in at the hotel, we decided to check out NY in the evening, taking the train to Newyork Penn Station from Newark Penn Station (ugh! very imaginative naming!) At the Newark Penn Station, it appeared that they had outsourced the information desk and "May I help you"counters to friendly neighborhood thugs and cheats.
A long walk around the Times Square, the famous curved facade of the Nasdaq building, along Broadway and other 'famous' roads made a memorable evening. It was niceto see so many people walking on roads. We quickly learnt that we can cross roads almost any time we want. Of course, cars can honk at us any time they want and we can shout at them when they do it!
The next day we started with Ground Zero (where the WTC buildings once stood) and quickly proceeded to Liberty and Ellis islands. Any trip to NY is not complete until you have taken your picture with lady Liberty. The immigrantion centre museum at Ellis island was very informative as well. Tip to future visitors to Ellis island: Don't eat at Ellis island food stall if you are a vegetarian. It sucks big time.
Rest of the day involved a visit to the American Museum of Natural history , The Central Park and Madame Tussauds wax museum. Madame Tussauds looked far less impressive here compared to the one in London. No Amitabh Bachan, no Aishwarya Rai! Our evening was dedicated to seeing the Empire State building, the tallest now in Newyork. But most of the evening was spent in waiting in a queue there. But it was worth the wait. Clear skies offerred a majestic view of the city all around. Made me remember seeing Paris from the Eiffel Tower.
The next day morning (5th Sep) Ananth took us to his cousin's house in NJ where we had a fantastic brunch. After days of eating McDonands and such stuff, not to mention burgers at Ellis island, our tastebuds were treated to a sumptuous fare.We later left to see the the Longwood Gardens on the outskirts of Philadelphia. It is a nice botonical garden, but for us it was only an opportunity to take pictures, especially for Ananth with his SLR. Later in the day we returned to BaltimoreAirport and rest of the trip back home was eventless.Here is a panaramic view of Manhattan and other areas from Ellis island. If you care for more pictures, go to http://sripathi.fotopic.net
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Travelogue Part 1
This is a travelogue of our trip to DC, Niagara falls and NY last weekend. It was my first trip to the eastern part of the US. Ananth, Murali and I planned a 5-day vacation to during labor day weekend. The photo here shows the amount of driving directions I had obtained :) Find a lot of photos at http://sripathi.fotopic.net.It started with a flight to Baltimore airport on 31st Aug. The super-shuttle ride from the airport to our hotel was a memorable one. The driver insisted on driving in two lanes all the time, and often grossly over the speed limit! Just when we were wondering if the road rules are different in Baltimore, a cop promptly pulled us over.
The next day began with a taxi driver trying to con us, immediately making us feel very homely :) But rest of the day went very smoothly in Washington DC. The new security restrictions in the city make it far less enjoyable experience, however. We were only allowed outside the distant fencing of the White House, and we missed the ticket to go inside the Capitol building. To go any closer to the White House, we need to obtain a letter/pass from our local senator six months (yes, six months) before our visit! But I am not complaining too much about not going into White House because. Well, it was obviously white in color, but it really did not look too impressive. We then saw the Washington Monument. In fact it is difficult not to see it if you are in DC, it is a tower 555 feet tall! We later saw the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, WWII memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Here is a picture of the Capitol building.
The next day started with a long drive to Niagara falls. Driving directions given by mapquest (Yes, I used a Microsoft website) ran us through many green, beautiful country roads in Pennsylvania and NewYork states. Niagara falls had a huge waterfall as expected ;-) But the first thing that caught our eye was the board "Sardar Dhaba"! You know you are near Canada (or Jalandhar) when you see that board. We really enjoyed our stay till late in the night at Niagara falls. Toronto offers a beatiful skyline on the other side of the falls.More later.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Katrina aftermath
I am back from the long weekend vacation and am still trying to remember all my gazillion logins and passwords. I have decided to use Revelation for remembering my passwords. With that, I will only need to forget one master password!
I would have written about my trip to the east coast, but Katrina is still a hot subject, so some more about it. It is of course a big tragedy, possibly the biggest natural calamity in the US history. However, I can see some humor in the way the aftermaths are going.
First of all, the 'Superdome' in New Orleans. Only now are people wondering why a board there spelt it as 'Superdoom'. Now people have been shifted to another doom (dome), the Astrodome in Houston. Apparently law and order in New Orleans was also washed away in Katrina fury, so now it is normal to hear gunshots there.
News reader: "Here we have some clips from violence-ridden streets of Baghdad, where our armed forces are engaged in pitched battles with terrorists to protect democracy and liberty of Iraqis. Oh my God, wait! it is not Baghdad, it is our own New Orleans!!!"
News channels and news websites are the only people, I think, who have benefitted from the evil hurricane. However, only a few fortunate (!?) news reporters actually went to where real action is. Many less fortunate ones ended up reporting in a very excited voice, anything and everything related to Katrina in their own hometown. This is something I saw on a local TV station (I am really not making this up!): A TV reporter with an empty parking lot behind her: "THIS VERY SPOT right here is where the truck collecting Katrina relief materials stood till a few hours back, before it left to New Orleans". Desparate, unlucky news reporter!
Gas prices have shot up to all time highs as an effect of the hurricane. We paid 3.5$ per gallon during our trip last weekend. It may be simple for Californians - they just need to transfer their entire salary to gas stations owner's account now. The only place that doesn't need gas could be New Orleans, where people now depend on small boats and kayaks for their commute. It's time they built some Kerala-style backwater resorts in New Orleans to attract tourists.
I would have written about my trip to the east coast, but Katrina is still a hot subject, so some more about it. It is of course a big tragedy, possibly the biggest natural calamity in the US history. However, I can see some humor in the way the aftermaths are going.
First of all, the 'Superdome' in New Orleans. Only now are people wondering why a board there spelt it as 'Superdoom'. Now people have been shifted to another doom (dome), the Astrodome in Houston. Apparently law and order in New Orleans was also washed away in Katrina fury, so now it is normal to hear gunshots there.
News reader: "Here we have some clips from violence-ridden streets of Baghdad, where our armed forces are engaged in pitched battles with terrorists to protect democracy and liberty of Iraqis. Oh my God, wait! it is not Baghdad, it is our own New Orleans!!!"
News channels and news websites are the only people, I think, who have benefitted from the evil hurricane. However, only a few fortunate (!?) news reporters actually went to where real action is. Many less fortunate ones ended up reporting in a very excited voice, anything and everything related to Katrina in their own hometown. This is something I saw on a local TV station (I am really not making this up!): A TV reporter with an empty parking lot behind her: "THIS VERY SPOT right here is where the truck collecting Katrina relief materials stood till a few hours back, before it left to New Orleans". Desparate, unlucky news reporter!
Gas prices have shot up to all time highs as an effect of the hurricane. We paid 3.5$ per gallon during our trip last weekend. It may be simple for Californians - they just need to transfer their entire salary to gas stations owner's account now. The only place that doesn't need gas could be New Orleans, where people now depend on small boats and kayaks for their commute. It's time they built some Kerala-style backwater resorts in New Orleans to attract tourists.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
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