I've seen some mention of this topic on many online forums in the fast few days - for the uninitiated, this is about the 2% or 2.5% "extra" that merchants charge for using a credit card at their shops. This is because banks charge them this amount, and they are unwilling to pay it.
Most card users express their outrage at having to pay more. I have a simple story to tell.
Merchant: "That would be Rs. 2500, plus 2% if you want to use a card."
Me: "But isn't that 2% supposed to come from your pocket? You shouldn't fleece your own customers!"
Merchant: "OK, in that case I will charge you the MRP on the sticker... that will be Rs.4000, and I will pay the 2% on my own."
Nov 22, 2007
Nov 18, 2007
Installing Windows
You may well wonder why this would merit a blog post, especially from me. I've a habit of re-installing the OS on my systems about once a month. That's usually because I screw something up or install some weird bit of software that renders my system unusable.
But this post is not about that.
The observant reader may remember that I have a (now old) laptop - the eMachines M6805. It was a nice little thing too, in it's day, though now it would be considered mid-range at best. You may also remember that I had problems with the RAM (which I replaced) and the combo-drive. The RAM went due to overclocking it a bit more than it could stand... oh well.
The combo drive was another matter. When the RAM went, I installed Ubuntu on it instead of the XP-Home that was preinstalled. The plan was to use the restore DVD when I got more RAM, but after the RAM was installed I noticed the failed drive which means I can't use the restore DVD.
No problem, you'd say, boot off a USB stick. Unfortunately, the BIOS does not support that. There is a BIOS update which can fix this, but I need a working CD drive for that. Catch 22.
The next obvious thing is to boot off a network and use RIS to install Windows remotely. But it seems that for some strange reason I need to have a server version of Windows to be able to do that! A normal XP-pro machine does not have RIS capabilities.
Unless, of course, one is willing to delve into the ways of PXE and the remote boot mechanism. Which, of course, I was.
Turned out to be more complicated than I wished for, and I have spent more than 2 days trying out various stuff and running all around the web looking for answers. Fortunately, many people seem to have had the same problems that I faced. Unfortunately, I still don't have a working Windows laptop.
In any case, I thought it wise to write down some keywords so that if I ever face such a problem again, I will have some idea of how it was solved the first time around.
1. Obviously, the first thing to do is to enable network boot in the BIOS setup and set that as the first boot priority. You also need a network cable running between the two machines, heh.
2. Then you need 3 major things running on the server (i.e. the system from which you will retrieve the install files) - a DHCP server, a tftp server and a binl server. You could use tftpd32 for the first two. For the last one, you will need to get the ris-linux package and run the binl python script.
3. You may need updated NIC drivers for the target system. In my case the first problem I hit was that the default windows installation did not have the drivers for the laptop NIC. I used the ones that came with the restore DVD, but they DID NOT WORK either, it gave me weird problems with blue screens during install. I downloaded the newer drivers from Via's site and they seem to work.
4. Set up tftpd32 as a DHCP server, pretty straightforward.
5. Set up tftpd32 as a tftp server, this is also easy enough. You may want to use syslinux as the kernel, there is documentation on how to do this.
6. You need a windows install, grab the i386 directory from your Windows CD.
7. Copy in the new network drivers into the i386 directory.
8. The binl server is supposed to provide these new drivers when queried, for that you need to create a driver cache by running the inf parser on the i386 directory, it should find the new drivers.
More later...
But this post is not about that.
The observant reader may remember that I have a (now old) laptop - the eMachines M6805. It was a nice little thing too, in it's day, though now it would be considered mid-range at best. You may also remember that I had problems with the RAM (which I replaced) and the combo-drive. The RAM went due to overclocking it a bit more than it could stand... oh well.
The combo drive was another matter. When the RAM went, I installed Ubuntu on it instead of the XP-Home that was preinstalled. The plan was to use the restore DVD when I got more RAM, but after the RAM was installed I noticed the failed drive which means I can't use the restore DVD.
No problem, you'd say, boot off a USB stick. Unfortunately, the BIOS does not support that. There is a BIOS update which can fix this, but I need a working CD drive for that. Catch 22.
The next obvious thing is to boot off a network and use RIS to install Windows remotely. But it seems that for some strange reason I need to have a server version of Windows to be able to do that! A normal XP-pro machine does not have RIS capabilities.
Unless, of course, one is willing to delve into the ways of PXE and the remote boot mechanism. Which, of course, I was.
Turned out to be more complicated than I wished for, and I have spent more than 2 days trying out various stuff and running all around the web looking for answers. Fortunately, many people seem to have had the same problems that I faced. Unfortunately, I still don't have a working Windows laptop.
In any case, I thought it wise to write down some keywords so that if I ever face such a problem again, I will have some idea of how it was solved the first time around.
1. Obviously, the first thing to do is to enable network boot in the BIOS setup and set that as the first boot priority. You also need a network cable running between the two machines, heh.
2. Then you need 3 major things running on the server (i.e. the system from which you will retrieve the install files) - a DHCP server, a tftp server and a binl server. You could use tftpd32 for the first two. For the last one, you will need to get the ris-linux package and run the binl python script.
3. You may need updated NIC drivers for the target system. In my case the first problem I hit was that the default windows installation did not have the drivers for the laptop NIC. I used the ones that came with the restore DVD, but they DID NOT WORK either, it gave me weird problems with blue screens during install. I downloaded the newer drivers from Via's site and they seem to work.
4. Set up tftpd32 as a DHCP server, pretty straightforward.
5. Set up tftpd32 as a tftp server, this is also easy enough. You may want to use syslinux as the kernel, there is documentation on how to do this.
6. You need a windows install, grab the i386 directory from your Windows CD.
7. Copy in the new network drivers into the i386 directory.
8. The binl server is supposed to provide these new drivers when queried, for that you need to create a driver cache by running the inf parser on the i386 directory, it should find the new drivers.
More later...
Nov 6, 2007
Indian workers get highest pay hikes?
Read this news, and that set me thinking on multiple planes.
Of course, I had this great urge to laugh out loud at some of the comments made by readers on news sites. They made the point that they thought they were not being paid enough. They invariably made the comparison with salaries in the U.S. One person went to the extent of complaining that he got a lesser salary after returning to India. It reminds me of that old joke:
"Doctor, it hurts when I do this!"
"Then don't do it."
If you were getting better salary in the U.S. why did you return to India at all? Were you so naive as to not know that Indians get paid in INR and not USD? Don't you realize that you spend in INR too?
After that initial reaction, though, I started thinking about what an appropriate wage is. Doesn't it mean different things for different people? What does it mean when a friend complains that he is not getting paid enough when his salary is more than 10 lakhs a year? Note that I want to make a distinction between "I am not getting what I deserve" vs. "I need more to survive" vs. "The market pays more than this to similar workers". Where do people get their sense of entitlement? Why do youngsters think they deserve salaries in multiple lakhs when they have no real-world experience and they will not be contributing meaningfully for 6 months to a year?
It is sheer competitiveness, the free market at its worst - "We need freshers and the only way to get them is to bid more than the other companies" - and then we see people going to various forums to complain about the rising wage bill.
Coming back to the salary hike, a lot of people take it too as an entitlement. I have heard people complaining that their expenses have increased so they "have to have" a good hike. That would make sense if they were from the lower strata of society where a few rupees could make the difference between lunch and starvation, but these are IT pros. The hikes they expect are in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. Getting paid as you move up the value chain is not incorrect, expecting it as a matter of right is what I object to.
Then, of course, someone has to ask me whether I am overpaid or not. And that's a tough one, because it is so difficult to put a value on the work that one does. From a personal point of view, I would like infinite money and zero work; so from that angle I am grossly underpaid and heavily overworked.
Oh well, that is life.
Of course, I had this great urge to laugh out loud at some of the comments made by readers on news sites. They made the point that they thought they were not being paid enough. They invariably made the comparison with salaries in the U.S. One person went to the extent of complaining that he got a lesser salary after returning to India. It reminds me of that old joke:
"Doctor, it hurts when I do this!"
"Then don't do it."
If you were getting better salary in the U.S. why did you return to India at all? Were you so naive as to not know that Indians get paid in INR and not USD? Don't you realize that you spend in INR too?
After that initial reaction, though, I started thinking about what an appropriate wage is. Doesn't it mean different things for different people? What does it mean when a friend complains that he is not getting paid enough when his salary is more than 10 lakhs a year? Note that I want to make a distinction between "I am not getting what I deserve" vs. "I need more to survive" vs. "The market pays more than this to similar workers". Where do people get their sense of entitlement? Why do youngsters think they deserve salaries in multiple lakhs when they have no real-world experience and they will not be contributing meaningfully for 6 months to a year?
It is sheer competitiveness, the free market at its worst - "We need freshers and the only way to get them is to bid more than the other companies" - and then we see people going to various forums to complain about the rising wage bill.
Coming back to the salary hike, a lot of people take it too as an entitlement. I have heard people complaining that their expenses have increased so they "have to have" a good hike. That would make sense if they were from the lower strata of society where a few rupees could make the difference between lunch and starvation, but these are IT pros. The hikes they expect are in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. Getting paid as you move up the value chain is not incorrect, expecting it as a matter of right is what I object to.
Then, of course, someone has to ask me whether I am overpaid or not. And that's a tough one, because it is so difficult to put a value on the work that one does. From a personal point of view, I would like infinite money and zero work; so from that angle I am grossly underpaid and heavily overworked.
Oh well, that is life.
Blackout?
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/nov/06power.htm
Regardless of what the article says, one line grabbed my attention:
"Result: More than a third of the power generated in India continues to go into a black hole."
i.e. the daily "load-shedding" we endure is a direct result of trasmission losses and theft.
There's more: "Some states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir have AT&C losses of 60 per cent or more."
Isn't this something that should be made a big issue of? This is a subject that touches everyone, given our enormous dependence on electricity. What meaning do austerity measures have when fully 30% of all electricity generated is lost? Is the government not accountable for anything at all?
Regardless of what the article says, one line grabbed my attention:
"Result: More than a third of the power generated in India continues to go into a black hole."
i.e. the daily "load-shedding" we endure is a direct result of trasmission losses and theft.
There's more: "Some states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir have AT&C losses of 60 per cent or more."
Isn't this something that should be made a big issue of? This is a subject that touches everyone, given our enormous dependence on electricity. What meaning do austerity measures have when fully 30% of all electricity generated is lost? Is the government not accountable for anything at all?
Oct 9, 2007
Of crores and Porche's
Back after a long hiatus. Lots of changes and some more expected. Whatever. :)
I was somewhat taken aback at the largesse showered upon the victorious T20 team (does anyone else think that it sounds like a new Terminator model number?). BCCI, I can understand. They have fleeced the paying public and the TV channels and probably have enough moolah to drown their cricketers in. Where, however, do the state governments get the money from? Is my hard-earned (gasp!) and not-quite-cheerfully-given tax money at work here?!
I have a basic problem with the guv'mint putting their paws in entertainment and sports. From a governing point of view, aren't these non-essentials? Why should my taxes be used to reward sportsmen and artists? Why not labourers and farmers or software engineers or CEOs? A token of appreciation is probably fine, but what's with the plots of land and petrol pumps and cash rewards? Why have I never gotten a flat for writing good code?!
The other hot topic today is "peformance"-linked pay for govt employees. I have a better idea. Why not simply auction off the services of the govt employees to the highest bidder? Completely transparent. You want your file processed? Pay more than the rest and move it to the top of the queue. And since it will be competetive bidding, the govt employees will get as much money as the work they do, and sometimes more money depending on how many people are desperate to get their work done on a given day. What about the poor people? They anyway can't get their work done now without paying a bribe so they will be no worse off. In fact they might be able to get their work done on days when there is less demand.
I was somewhat taken aback at the largesse showered upon the victorious T20 team (does anyone else think that it sounds like a new Terminator model number?). BCCI, I can understand. They have fleeced the paying public and the TV channels and probably have enough moolah to drown their cricketers in. Where, however, do the state governments get the money from? Is my hard-earned (gasp!) and not-quite-cheerfully-given tax money at work here?!
I have a basic problem with the guv'mint putting their paws in entertainment and sports. From a governing point of view, aren't these non-essentials? Why should my taxes be used to reward sportsmen and artists? Why not labourers and farmers or software engineers or CEOs? A token of appreciation is probably fine, but what's with the plots of land and petrol pumps and cash rewards? Why have I never gotten a flat for writing good code?!
The other hot topic today is "peformance"-linked pay for govt employees. I have a better idea. Why not simply auction off the services of the govt employees to the highest bidder? Completely transparent. You want your file processed? Pay more than the rest and move it to the top of the queue. And since it will be competetive bidding, the govt employees will get as much money as the work they do, and sometimes more money depending on how many people are desperate to get their work done on a given day. What about the poor people? They anyway can't get their work done now without paying a bribe so they will be no worse off. In fact they might be able to get their work done on days when there is less demand.
Aug 6, 2007
Jul 7, 2007
THINK
Income tax return time again. My views on income tax should be well known by now to the one person who reads this blog ;) I think it's arbitrary, unfair and stupid. Abolish income tax and put up a sales tax/VAT on all items, let me pay tax in proportion to what I consume, that way I can't evade tax by not reporting income. The rich will obviously consume more and will pay more tax.
Why don't salaried people get breaks for depreciation/professional use of equipment? All we get is a measly 800 bucks for transport. Why can't I state that my uber-home-PC is a legitimate business expense? The worst part is that there may very well be some clause somewhere deep in the laws which allows me to do that but I will never come to know about it.
They now have an extra 1% tax as higher education cess, the original 2% education cess was very successful they say. What's with these surcharges? Can't they simply hike the basic rate of interest? And after paying this tax, I read that they plan to hike the college fees in many institutions. Right, and what did they do with the higher education cess we all paid?
Here's another one: you have a deadline for filing the income tax return, if you miss it you pay a fine. There is no deadline for a refund, hence no fine for the guv'mint - they can hold on to your refund money for centuries if they want.
Why don't salaried people get breaks for depreciation/professional use of equipment? All we get is a measly 800 bucks for transport. Why can't I state that my uber-home-PC is a legitimate business expense? The worst part is that there may very well be some clause somewhere deep in the laws which allows me to do that but I will never come to know about it.
They now have an extra 1% tax as higher education cess, the original 2% education cess was very successful they say. What's with these surcharges? Can't they simply hike the basic rate of interest? And after paying this tax, I read that they plan to hike the college fees in many institutions. Right, and what did they do with the higher education cess we all paid?
Here's another one: you have a deadline for filing the income tax return, if you miss it you pay a fine. There is no deadline for a refund, hence no fine for the guv'mint - they can hold on to your refund money for centuries if they want.
Jun 7, 2007
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jun/06inter1.htm
For once, a sane-sounding religious man? There is hope yet.
Jun 6, 2007
So the ancients said...
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the Younger," Roman stoic philosopher, writer, and politician
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the Younger," Roman stoic philosopher, writer, and politician
May 25, 2007
CEO salaries
The PM says salaries of CEOs should be "restrained".
What about...
Politicians, film stars, cricketers who earn in the zillions.
Government servants who don't seem to even do the work they are paid for.
Businessmen who don't pay any tax.
Farmers who don't pay any tax.
The gov'mint itself that spends on useless things.
Salary of the CEO is something that the company and it's shareholders have to decide. The gov'mint should intervene only if someone is breaking the law.
What about...
Politicians, film stars, cricketers who earn in the zillions.
Government servants who don't seem to even do the work they are paid for.
Businessmen who don't pay any tax.
Farmers who don't pay any tax.
The gov'mint itself that spends on useless things.
Salary of the CEO is something that the company and it's shareholders have to decide. The gov'mint should intervene only if someone is breaking the law.
May 15, 2007
L writes about- Child rearing : Are grand parents being misused?
You can read her post here.
It's an interesting topic, no doubt, and she raises some good points. I won't go into into the details of those points though because there really isn't anything to debate about there.
All I would say is that we should not rush to deal out judgment, because we do not know the real circumstances of each case. For a lot of old people, rearing a grandchild is a dream come true, for which they may be willing to forgo the other luxuries of retired life. Indeed, they may not even consider as luxuries things that we take for granted we would like to do, like travel or religious activities or catching up with relatives. I think it's up to each individual to decide how their life is to be spent and if they like helping out their own children, what's wrong with that?
Of course, it goes without saying that it's wrong on the children's part to force their parents to do something they don't want to do. As L says, if the parents want to come and help, they are welcome but you should be able to plan your life without making the assumption that help will be available whenever you demand it.
Which brings us to the question of whether couples actually think before starting a family and given the struggles that I see many families going through, the answer is obviously a big "NO". Marriage/kids and logistics/finances somehow seem to be completely independent of each other for most people.
It's an interesting topic, no doubt, and she raises some good points. I won't go into into the details of those points though because there really isn't anything to debate about there.
All I would say is that we should not rush to deal out judgment, because we do not know the real circumstances of each case. For a lot of old people, rearing a grandchild is a dream come true, for which they may be willing to forgo the other luxuries of retired life. Indeed, they may not even consider as luxuries things that we take for granted we would like to do, like travel or religious activities or catching up with relatives. I think it's up to each individual to decide how their life is to be spent and if they like helping out their own children, what's wrong with that?
Of course, it goes without saying that it's wrong on the children's part to force their parents to do something they don't want to do. As L says, if the parents want to come and help, they are welcome but you should be able to plan your life without making the assumption that help will be available whenever you demand it.
Which brings us to the question of whether couples actually think before starting a family and given the struggles that I see many families going through, the answer is obviously a big "NO". Marriage/kids and logistics/finances somehow seem to be completely independent of each other for most people.
May 9, 2007
Quotes
For some reason, I quite enjoy re-reading parts of LOTR, it's quite profound if you think about it enough.
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."
"I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself."
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost..."
"He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall."
"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."
"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after."
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."
"I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself."
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost..."
"He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall."
"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."
"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after."
7C 53 29 1F 30 4F 94 87 51 B6 66 5E 5C 74 5D 65
This number is mine!
Go here to get your own number:
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1155
Here's the background:
"The people who control AACS, the copy protection technology used on HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, are apparently trying to shut down websites that publish a certain 128-bit integer. The number is apparently a “processing key” used in AACS. Together with a suitable computer program, the key allows the decryption of video content on most existing HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs."
And of course, we do not like being told that certain numbers "belong" to a certain industry. So we give them a taste of their own medicine (how childish!). So head on over to that web page, read more background information and get your own 128 bit number.
Go here to get your own number:
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1155
Here's the background:
"The people who control AACS, the copy protection technology used on HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, are apparently trying to shut down websites that publish a certain 128-bit integer. The number is apparently a “processing key” used in AACS. Together with a suitable computer program, the key allows the decryption of video content on most existing HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs."
And of course, we do not like being told that certain numbers "belong" to a certain industry. So we give them a taste of their own medicine (how childish!). So head on over to that web page, read more background information and get your own 128 bit number.
Apr 28, 2007
Could black holes be portals to other universes?
Interesting article in New Scientist...
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11745-could-black-holes-be-portals-to-other-universes.html
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn11745-could-black-holes-be-portals-to-other-universes.html
Apr 10, 2007
How To Get O.S. Software Updates For The Xbox 360
This one eluded me for a long time since all the reviews and info websites I came across mentioned that it was not possible to update the Xbox360 dashboard without an Xbox Live connection.
However...
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/console/softwareupdates.htm#disc
However...
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/console/softwareupdates.htm#disc
Apr 9, 2007
Are people idiots?
This refers to Paris Hilton: "An empty energy-drink bottle found in the back of the celebrity's car will be auctioned off on eBay."
The current bid is apparently 103 dollars.
The current bid is apparently 103 dollars.
Apr 7, 2007
Painful
Why doesn't Outlook have any direct way to import Thunderbird email? One would think they would want to encourage it instead of making it so cumbersome.
Rename all mboxes to have the .mbx extension - this itself was a pain because I had so many folders and subfolders
Transfer all these mboxes over to the Windows machine
Install Eudora on the Windows system
Then copy them over to a Eudora install so that it can import them and create the correct index files
Finally get outlook to import from Eudora, and uninstall Eudora if you are not going to use it!
Sigh.
Rename all mboxes to have the .mbx extension - this itself was a pain because I had so many folders and subfolders
Transfer all these mboxes over to the Windows machine
Install Eudora on the Windows system
Then copy them over to a Eudora install so that it can import them and create the correct index files
Finally get outlook to import from Eudora, and uninstall Eudora if you are not going to use it!
Sigh.
Mar 26, 2007
Boorish passengers?
Read an article somewhere about behaviour of Indians on flights. Personal experience: 3 guys harassing the checkin counter girl because they wanted to be seated together WITHOUT A SEPARATING AISLE. And this was a flight lasting barely 2 hours. The words they used - "What nonsense", "We're frequent fliers", "You should have asked us before assigning the seats". Sigh.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Mar 18, 2007
Mar 15, 2007
Should one be surprised?
From a rediff.com/forbes article: On the other hand, statistics tell us that 70% of divorce filings are by women. So men, it's not likely you'll control the timing of the split, though you might control the purse strings. (Statistics for the US of A, of course...)
Mar 12, 2007
The Trouble With India
Thanks to Vidooshak for pointing this to me:
Crumbling roads, jammed airports, and power blackouts could hobble growth
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_12/b4026001.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily
Crumbling roads, jammed airports, and power blackouts could hobble growth
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_12/b4026001.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily
Mar 8, 2007
Search bomb part 2
Anonymous says in his comment that the search bomb is due to a corporate appointment - about which I am actually aware. What's funny is the flurry of hits to this blog which has nothing to do with the subject at hand... oh well, the hits continue.
Mar 7, 2007
Alexander
From Wikipedia:
"As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India.For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants." Plutarch, Vita Alexandri
"As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India.For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants." Plutarch, Vita Alexandri
Job quota in firms may be enforced?
So says a news report. Interesting times... things are really coming to a head.
I wonder what the rules would be and how they would be enforced - especially if candidates with the right skillsets cannot be found.
I wonder what the rules would be and how they would be enforced - especially if candidates with the right skillsets cannot be found.
Mar 6, 2007
Women's Day ?!
Cue all kinds of posts on message boards about how great women are and how much better they are than men. Why is it that we need to denigrate others to prove to ourselves how good we are?
My favourite bugbear is Board exams' results - where there are blaring headlines saying something about "girls outshine boys yet again". Whether the statistics actually prove this or not is a different story, what I am cribbing about is the necessity for the media to shout about this - what is the point that they are trying to make? It makes as much sense to me as saying that people whose names being with the character A outshine people whose names don't begin with A. It may be true, but what's it that you are trying to convey?
And now we will see all the rehashed lists of top women in India, actresses and politicians and businesswomen.
My favourite bugbear is Board exams' results - where there are blaring headlines saying something about "girls outshine boys yet again". Whether the statistics actually prove this or not is a different story, what I am cribbing about is the necessity for the media to shout about this - what is the point that they are trying to make? It makes as much sense to me as saying that people whose names being with the character A outshine people whose names don't begin with A. It may be true, but what's it that you are trying to convey?
And now we will see all the rehashed lists of top women in India, actresses and politicians and businesswomen.
Hit by a search bomb?
"mitchell j. habib"
Some id^H^H ... er...person searching for the term above has hit my blog several times. I've seen this trend in the past, there will be hits from machines all over the world, searching for the same term. But the one above is different since it seems to be coming from within the same company. Strange.
Some id^H^H ... er...person searching for the term above has hit my blog several times. I've seen this trend in the past, there will be hits from machines all over the world, searching for the same term. But the one above is different since it seems to be coming from within the same company. Strange.
3 new IITs?
News reports say that there is a proposal to form three new IITs. Aren't there enough IITs already? Weren't the NIT's supposed to fulfill the gap for tech education? Will they be able to maintain the high levels of standards of IITs when there's one in every city?
Dressing for interviews?
"The project manager of a top IT company in Pune felt distinctly put off when a candidate turned up for a job interview -- in a white floral-print shirt and a pair of jeans.
She felt that the casual dress indicated a casual attitude."
What crap! I have never come across a situation or heard of one first-hand where a person's dress caused a problem in an interview for a software job. Of course the MBA-type people probably have different codes since they live in a world of their own, but in the s/w world I would be very surprised to come across such people. And to tell you the truth I wouldn't want to work for a person who places so much importance on dressing.
In fact, if I were interviewing such a person he would be in immediate trouble... not for his clothes, but because I would expect someone who has attitude enough to wear floral shirts to be equally good technically. It's the normal, staid, conservative people who turn up in trousers and shirts and ties and polished shoes - only a person who is technically competent would feel confident enough to break conventions. And if the candidate is not technically good then he won't be hired anyway, regardless of how he dresses.
She felt that the casual dress indicated a casual attitude."
What crap! I have never come across a situation or heard of one first-hand where a person's dress caused a problem in an interview for a software job. Of course the MBA-type people probably have different codes since they live in a world of their own, but in the s/w world I would be very surprised to come across such people. And to tell you the truth I wouldn't want to work for a person who places so much importance on dressing.
In fact, if I were interviewing such a person he would be in immediate trouble... not for his clothes, but because I would expect someone who has attitude enough to wear floral shirts to be equally good technically. It's the normal, staid, conservative people who turn up in trousers and shirts and ties and polished shoes - only a person who is technically competent would feel confident enough to break conventions. And if the candidate is not technically good then he won't be hired anyway, regardless of how he dresses.
Mar 1, 2007
My laptop is dead...
... long live the dual core Opteron!
Because if it doesn't I'll have to fall back to the 1GHz P3... sigh.
Yes, my M6805 is dead. The power lights turn on but nothing happens after that. Of course, it was overclocked to 2 GHz but it's a bit late to think about that. The question now is, what can be salvaged from the carcass? HDD yes, a puny little 60GB, 4200rpm thing. 2x256 MB SODIMMs, but no place to put them in, and I don't think I'd get too much for them if I sell them. Mobile Athon64... hmmm... socket 754.
UPDATE: It lives! Turns out it had a dead SODIMM that it does not complain about but simply refuses to boot. Removed it and the laptop turns on as if nothing happened. But running with 256MB is a pain. The Ubuntu Live CD I tried used up all the RAM and I had to give it a flash drive to use as swap. Finally got rid of the Windows install and am running with Ubuntu. Phew...
Because if it doesn't I'll have to fall back to the 1GHz P3... sigh.
Yes, my M6805 is dead. The power lights turn on but nothing happens after that. Of course, it was overclocked to 2 GHz but it's a bit late to think about that. The question now is, what can be salvaged from the carcass? HDD yes, a puny little 60GB, 4200rpm thing. 2x256 MB SODIMMs, but no place to put them in, and I don't think I'd get too much for them if I sell them. Mobile Athon64... hmmm... socket 754.
UPDATE: It lives! Turns out it had a dead SODIMM that it does not complain about but simply refuses to boot. Removed it and the laptop turns on as if nothing happened. But running with 256MB is a pain. The Ubuntu Live CD I tried used up all the RAM and I had to give it a flash drive to use as swap. Finally got rid of the Windows install and am running with Ubuntu. Phew...
Feb 28, 2007
First dynamically balancing biped robot
http://paulgraham.com/anybots.html
Call me an old-fashioned-geek, but this really got me excited. The video is worth a look. Really impressive.
Call me an old-fashioned-geek, but this really got me excited. The video is worth a look. Really impressive.
Budget 2007
"While Chidambaram kept income tax limit unchanged, he increased the threshold limit by Rs 10,000 giving every assessee a relief of Rs 1,000."
Why? Granted that there are a lot of poor people in the country, but how much of a difference is a thousand bucks a year going to make?
BSE has already dropped by more than 500 points as of writing.
And now I'm beginning to question expenditure like the following:
"Rs 150 crore to be given to Ministry of Youth and Sports for Commonwealth Games and Rs 350 crore to the Delhi Government for the purpose. Rs 50 crore to be provided for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune."
Why? Granted that there are a lot of poor people in the country, but how much of a difference is a thousand bucks a year going to make?
BSE has already dropped by more than 500 points as of writing.
And now I'm beginning to question expenditure like the following:
"Rs 150 crore to be given to Ministry of Youth and Sports for Commonwealth Games and Rs 350 crore to the Delhi Government for the purpose. Rs 50 crore to be provided for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune."
Feb 25, 2007
Jan 24, 2007
Strange
I keep coming across policies, schemes, decisions of the powers-that-be that boggle my mind.
Small cars, which include the Santro, Maruti Alto and Wagon R, attract an excise duty of 16 per cent, against 24 per cent for large cars. Why the difference? A small car is apparently defined as being under 3m in length. Huh.
Some ministers somewhere have changed a policy to now provide for some money to be given to families whenever a child is born. Mind you, this is from public funds i.e. taxes. I may find some rationalization for giving of money when someone does something extraordinary or is reduced to poverty due to natural disasters, but giving of money for bringing forth a child? That too when there is no dearth of people in the country at this point in time.
Then there is talk of increasing the education cess levied on direct taxes. I find that ridiculous. Just increase the tax percentage if you simply cannot get enough blood to suck from me, why the cess and the surcharge?
Politicians and ministers worried about Big Brother? Gimme a break!
Telecast of cricket matches considered what amounts to an "essential service" and getting the courts involved in what should be a purely commercial matter? If a company has bid for the rights of the telecast where does the question of "sharing the feed" come into the picture?
Another identification number required for investing in mutual funds. As if the PAN wasn't enough. In fact, I was all along under the impression that the PAN was the final word as far as my identity is concerned.
Sigh.
Small cars, which include the Santro, Maruti Alto and Wagon R, attract an excise duty of 16 per cent, against 24 per cent for large cars. Why the difference? A small car is apparently defined as being under 3m in length. Huh.
Some ministers somewhere have changed a policy to now provide for some money to be given to families whenever a child is born. Mind you, this is from public funds i.e. taxes. I may find some rationalization for giving of money when someone does something extraordinary or is reduced to poverty due to natural disasters, but giving of money for bringing forth a child? That too when there is no dearth of people in the country at this point in time.
Then there is talk of increasing the education cess levied on direct taxes. I find that ridiculous. Just increase the tax percentage if you simply cannot get enough blood to suck from me, why the cess and the surcharge?
Politicians and ministers worried about Big Brother? Gimme a break!
Telecast of cricket matches considered what amounts to an "essential service" and getting the courts involved in what should be a purely commercial matter? If a company has bid for the rights of the telecast where does the question of "sharing the feed" come into the picture?
Another identification number required for investing in mutual funds. As if the PAN wasn't enough. In fact, I was all along under the impression that the PAN was the final word as far as my identity is concerned.
Sigh.
Jan 20, 2007
Man on the edge
A briefcase, a lunch and a man on the edge
Each step get closer to losing his head
Is someone in heaven? Are they looking down?
Cause nothing is fair, just you look around
Each step get closer to losing his head
Is someone in heaven? Are they looking down?
Cause nothing is fair, just you look around
Jan 12, 2007
LCD anyone?
"Today's LCD flat panels are already obsolete" it seems. I was thinking of perhaps shelling out some dough for a widescreen LCD monitor for my Xbox, but it looks like I'll be waiting for some time after all.
Jan 10, 2007
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
"The telescope will generate 30 TB of data a night, for 10 years, from a 3-gigapixel CCD array."
PSLV-C7 launched!
The PSLV-C7 is carrying the 680 kg Indian remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2, the 550 kg Space Capsule Recovery Equipment, Indonesia's LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina's 6 kg nanosatellite PEHUENSAT-1.
Jan 8, 2007
Earworm...
Breaking the habit, anyone?
Clutching my cure
I tightly lock the door
I try to catch my breath again
I hurt much more
Than anytime before
I had no options left again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So, I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends
Clutching my cure
I tightly lock the door
I try to catch my breath again
I hurt much more
Than anytime before
I had no options left again
I don't want to be the one
The battles always choose
'Cause inside I realize
That I'm the one confused
I don't know what's worth fighting for
Or why I have to scream
I don't know why I instigate
And say what I don't mean
I don't know how I got this way
I'll never be alright
So, I'm breaking the habit
I'm breaking the habit
Tonight
I'll paint it on the walls
'Cause I'm the one at fault
I'll never fight again
And this is how it ends
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