Migrated This Blog

.

I have Migrated this Blog to Another Blog.

See:   Cult of the iPhone

I was having issues, with Google Blog Post Authentication.

Looks likes they have fixed it now, but too late, I have already Migrated.

I will leave the posts as they are here.

Religious Harmony in India

You will NEVER see this in Pakistan or Afganistan -- OR for that Matter Saudi Arabia & Malaysia.

I couldn't help but notice a post on Deccan Herald (online newspaper) , by a citizen Journalist in Bangalore.

The posting by Akshay (who is probably a youth) is self explanatory.

Wikipedia Topic of the Day

Todays Featured article in Wikipedia was about the Jain Principle of  Anekantavada.

Excerpt:   

"Anekantavada ..... refers to the principles of pluralism ....... the notion that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view.......... Jains contrast all attempts to proclaim absolute truth with adhgajanyāyah, which can be illustrated through the maxim of the "Blind Men and an Elephant". In this story, one blind man felt the trunk of an elephant, another the tusks, another the ears, another the tail. All the men claimed to explain the true appearance of the elephant, but could only partly succeed, due to their limited perspectives. 

According to the Jains, only the Kevalins—the omniscient beings—can comprehend objects in all aspects and manifestations; others are only capable of partial knowledge. Consequently, no single, specific, human view can claim to represent absolute truth. Anekāntavāda encourages its adherents to consider the views and beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties. Proponents of anekāntavāda apply this principle to religion and philosophy, reminding themselves that any religion or philosophy, even Jainism, that clings too dogmatically to its own tenets, is committing an error based on its limited point of view "

Interactive Cartoons

It makes perfect sense for cartoonist and comic strip authors to harness the interactivity of the web.

Here is a recent cartoon on CNN.com which I thought was well executed.

Click on Image for link:

George Orwell The Blogger!

Was George Orwell a Blogger ?!!

Maybe He would have been if he were alive today.




Jean Sutton of the Univ. Of Westminster has out together a great Blog compiled as if George Orwell Was blogging. The blogs are entries from his personal Journal, and are posted on the same day of the year in 2008 as they were in 1938.

There is plenty of other interesting stuff on Orwell on that site. Check it out.

172000 Crore

They say the Chinese Spent equivalent of US $40 Billion on the Olympic games.

For those of us who are Forex (USD/INR) conversion Fanatics, that amounts to:-

Rs. 1720000000000
Rs. 172000 Crore

To Compare, the Planned Expenditure for the 2008 Indian National budget was estimated at Rs. 243,386 crore.

The Chinese have put their heart & money into the games.



BTW: Today,

1 U.S. dollar = 6.84 Chinese yuan

Million Dollar Bicycle

How much does your bicycle cost?

Well, the bicycle pictured above costs $1 MILLION !

The Dutch company Koga, built this special bicycle for their Olympian, Theo Bos

Watch a Video HERE from Reuters

2008 Kashmir Conflict

(From NY Times/ AP)

"Fifteen people have been killed and hundreds injured in riots and running battles with police since the state’s government rescinded a decision to give about 100 acres of forest land to Amarnath — a Hindu cave shrine containing a revered stalagmite — to build shelters for pilgrims. The move, which followed demonstrations by Kashmir’s Muslim majority, caused violent Hindu protests this week." -- The Times UK

"The government scrapped the transfer last month following protests by Kashmir's Muslim majority. The chief minister of the state, Ghulam Nabi Azad resigned on July 7 , 2008 after the People's Democratic Party pulled out of the coalition government over the planned transfer of land. " - Bloomberg

Conflict in Kashmir is not new. The time has an article from 1965 in its Archives at Times Online




Some Background History on Kashmir is available in this Brief Article at Sindh Today

Today's Crisis a crucial point in the history of India - we will wait and see what happens

The Topaz Solar Farm

A 800 MEGA-WATT solar farm is in the making!

This is a landmark event in US Energy History -- A company called OptiSolar, has entered into a 550-megawatt power agreement with California's PG&E (utility company) to deliver an average of 1,100,000 megawatt-hours annually of clean, renewable electricity from the Topaz Solar Farm. The project is expected to begin power delivery as early as 2011 and be fully operational by 2013.

The solar farm will be located in San Luis Obispo County, California (A)

Optisolar uses the relatively low-cost, thin-film Photovoltaic technology to make their Solar panels. They use amorphous silicon, instead of Crystalline Silicon.

The other major Solar farm working with PG&E is a 250 Megawatt Farm from the company SunPower which will be located in San Luis Obispo County’s California Valley . This farm is expected to begin power delivery in 2010 and be fully operational in 2012. SunPower's technology is proprietary crystalline PV solar cells, which can generate up to 50 percent more power than conventional crystalline cells.

2 Questions I have :

1. What is the Efficiency rating for these Panels
2. What is the Cost per Kilowatt for Optisolars' and SunPower's Panels

Lotus..Kinda

You know the famous Lotus Cars.
Here is a photo of a Lotus Car




Lotus in Sanskrit = Kamala ( कमला )
So, here is a Kamala Car! Drool, Drool :)


Photo by John Voelcker (Popular Science)

The Visionary Billionaire Vegan

TUAW calls Steve Jobs the "visionary billionaire vegan "



(image source: Treehugger)

People are ever fascinated by the presentations given by the "....Commander in Chief of all Entrepreneurs.."

Business Week's Carmine Gallo wrote and article about 'How to Give a Presentation Like Steve Jobs' that is oft quoted.

Is Jobs a natural at this, OR does he really have to sweat it to deliver his world-famous presentations?

Mike Evangelist of The Guardian gives us the Insider's' scoop on what it really involves, in his article 'Behind the magic curtain'

I found this YouTube Video very interesting

Freedom at Midnight

Today, August 15th is Indian Independence Celebration

( In New York there is a Parade every year in the Third Weekend in August
Location : - 40th and 41st Sts. between Fifth and Park Aves., then south on Madison Ave. to 27th St. Call this number for More Info: 718-932-3240 )

This book chronicles the events in 1947 revolving around Indian independence from British Rule.

The responsibility of the new Nation fell on the shoulders of Jawaharlal Nehru, who became the 1st Prime Minister of India. India adopted a Parliamentary system of Government. Rest IS history!



Amazon.com Link

Large Hadron Collider

The LHC or Large Hadron Collider was on the news lately.
The switches will be turned on Sept 10th 2008



This has been eagerly awaited by the Scientific (Particle Physics/ Astophysics) community.

The Search is on for the Higgs-Boson; The mother of All particles !
This particle is named after 2 Physicists:

1. British physicist Peter Higgs
2. Satyendra Nath Bose. Indian Physicist
   

The LHC is operated by CERN. The larger accelerator ring is 100 meters (320 feet) under the ground and is 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) around.


CLICK TO ENLARGE

Awed by Beijing!

It was the most Awesome Opening Ceremony , Hands Down, on 08-08-08 The Beijing Olympics. 8 is a very lucky number for the Chinese.



Credit for the Spectacle was largely given to the Famous Zhang Yimou the Chinese filmmaker and cinematographer.


(from TIME Asia)

One NBC anchor commented ".... I have been to Olympic ceremonies for the past 25 years, and nothing has come even close to this ......... London (2012) wont even attempt to match this!......"

Glory To Free Markets

"The App is a work of Art and included a 'secret mantra' -- that's all."
---- Heinrich




Apple took down a 'Ridiculous' app from the iPhone app store that costed $1000 and did Nothing, except display a graphic and a label 'I am Rich'

I say to Heinrich (who is from Germany) : Great idea and kudos for jumping on it and taking the risk to publish it. Your victory was short lived, but it was sweet!

Apparently this was purchased by 8 customers !

A lot of thoughtfully written apps cost about 99 cents in the app store. These guys would have had to sell 8000 copies to hit that same revenue target.