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.

Obnoxious CEO Pay?

"No law prohibits paying CEO's very, very, very large amounts of money"

Here is an excerpt from an Article in Bizjournals, written by Jim Verdonik:

........ Mr. Spitzer 's....... premier reform litigation cases were against New York Stock Exchange CEO Richard Grasso and various NYSE board members. The cases involved many reform issues, including whether board members fulfilled their duties in approving the CEO's retirement compensation package, whether the compensation package was suitable for a nonprofit company and whether the CEO disclosed all information to board members the right way.

After five years of litigation, the courts decided this month that the former NYSE CEO didn't have to return any of his $139 million retirement package. Likewise, no board member was found liable.

I guess you could say this decision (and other events) made 2008 a really bad year for Mr. Spitzer.


(Image From: CNN Money)

Paris Hilton 'Political Ad'

Paris Hilton 'Political Ad'

You may have already heard of this 'Rebuttal' video from Paris Hilton, in response to McCains' TV ad.

(Video From Funny or Die)

Click o Video To Play >>

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

VOTE: Who will be the NEXT President?

(Image Link: coxandforkum.com)



RESULTS: CLICK HERE

Read my Previous Post on Obama

Boston Sewer

This Sewer line runs right next to the Charles River.

The 'Dont Dump into the River' sign was a few feet from the Sewer hole below.




The pictures were taken Here: --

Whaa.. A Butt Station !!

Creative !



A Public Ashtray for Smokers, seen at a shopping center.

D.C. Kite Festival in Springtime

Spring is Beautiful in Washington, DC

Lately it has been very hot, and I long for the Spring that just passed.
(sorry, you Allergy types!)

Around the Washington Monument (Seen Above) there is the 'Annual DC Kite Festival' every year. If you are visiting DC, Spring is the Best time of the Year. Try to co-ordinate with the Kite festival and the Cherry Blossom Festival.

In this picture, You can see the crowds around the monument, flying their kites.

Creative Architectural Idea

This picture is taken off of the Highway from Mysore to K.R. sagar.

The owner of this house cleverly decided to kill 2 birds in one:-

1. Need for a Roof top Water Storage Tank
   
2. Auspicious Kalash on top of the House
   

K.R Sagar Dam

I spent many years in Mysore, where I did most of my education. We loved to visit the K.R Sagar Dam often. This is a top tourist destination in the state of Karnataka, especially the 'Brindavan Gardens' built beside the dam.

I visited it last year 2007.  I took this picture of the cascade on the  south side of the dam.

From a Google Earth Perspective, this is where it is (I have a color arrow pointing to it)

K. R. Sagar = Krishna Raja Sagar.  Sagar means Ocean. 

Krishna Raja , was the Wodeyar King of  at the turn of the 19th century. 

He presided over the Golden age of Mysore, when it was considered a 'Model' state in India. I will blog more about this Wodeyar some other day.

His #1 Man Was Sir. M. Vishveshwaraiya.  Yes , Sir - the Knighthood he was bestowed.

He was considered extremely intelligent and an highly effective executive. He was a Dewan.

This is his project. Built in 1924 with Stone and "Gaare" (mixture of sand and Lime).

iPhone Security

I love my iPhone.  You gotta give it to Apple for the fantastic job!

It is a synthesis of ART+SCIENCE+ENGINEERING.

I want to give you a few tips on keeping your iPhone information SECURE.

1. Set a Password for you Screen. You can do that under iPhone Settings.
   
2. Use a Application such as 1Password (iPhone App & Mac Desktop) to secure your sensitive Data  
3. Use MS Exchange 2007 for your email & PDA functionality;   Reason:- Exchange 2007 Supports REMOTE WIPE for the iPhone. If you lose your iPhone you can go online and WIPE-OUT the data so you wont have to worry about Identity theft.  Your Outlook Exchange Email, Calendar, Address-book synchronizes beautifully with iPhone (2.0 software).  You DONT have to be a corporate user.  Any individual can sign up with a MS Exchange 2007 provider.  1and1  gives you a free copy of Outlook 2007 or Entourage.  There is also a free  provider of MS Exchange email, but I am not able to recall the name at this moment.
4. 

Beads of Water

Didn't realize I could take an Artsy Photo from my iPhone. 

Looking up  through the sunroof on a fall  afternoon

Iron Meteor Crystal

Yes, Iron Does have a Crystalline Form
Here is a Picture of an Iron Meteor on display at our National Museum.

Observe how one can appreciate overlapping Triangular patterns.




Gosh, I even Found this Howto article on the web about Meteoric Iron

Did You know, most of earth is made up of Iron, Not Silicates , not even H2O !

Starbucks Job Cuts !

I heard Starbucks is Cutting a Lot of Jobs (July 2008)

Wonder how much the Baristas Get paid.

The trash in front of this Starbucks is Chronically overflowing.

MAP IT on Google !




QUIZ: Which was the most popular brand of Coffee prior to the Advent of Starbucks ?
Answer: Click Here.

Legal Passenger

I bet This guy is not riding for free (unless he is working for the Bus company , OR is a friend of the driver).
Got this shot on the Highway to Tirupati. This bus is travelling about 50-60 Km/h.

Let the Picture Speak for itself.

Chicago Bulls Fan in India

Chicago Bulls Fan in India

I saw this car on the highway on the Bangalore-Mysore Freeway in India.
I couldn't help notice the Chicago Bulls' Mascot Sticker on the back f this car.




Now there seems to be one small difference. This Bull has a Nosering!
Also notice how this guy is straddling the lanes !

Bindi Princess

Finger Puppet With Bindi

Cute!

Wonder Years

Fond Memories of Bygone Days

I have blurred out the photo for privacy reasons.

But this scene has such a nostalgic effect to it.

Boys toasting marshmallows   around the campfire.

Our Little Blue Planet

Those of you who are going to be lucky enough to take a Tour to Outer Space on Virgin Galactic, please make sure you take a look at the Earth on the other side. 

It will look totally Blue, like this =

Beautiful Hibiscus

A beautiful Hibiscus Blooms in the National Zoo here in D.C.

HIBISCUS

The Hibiscus Flower symbolizes the essence of The Sun in Indian Philosophy.  Here is the Sun Verse from the Navagraha Stotra (Prayer to the 9 Planets):- 

   

I salute Divaakara (Sun) who shines like the Hibiscus blossom, is descendent of sage Kaashyapa, of great splendor, and the destroyer of all Ignorance & Darkenss (Tamas).

Yankee Candle

Candles Stink !

I hate those perfumed candles. But my wife Loves them!

UPPITTU & UTTAPPA

Ready To Eat, Indian Treat

(Uppittu! is how reads the Kannada Letters)

Made in Gujarat, The 'Raji' Brand Name sounds Tamil, The Product Branded for Karnataka , Sold in the USA -- The buy 2 get 1 free is a Gives that away ;)

150 Calories, 0 gms Sugar, 4 gms Protein

Wow! Globalization is delicious.

Obama Superstar

I heard Barak Obama drew a crowd of 200000 or so in Germany in his July'08 Europe Tour;

People showed up voluntarily; That is superstar power!

This Photo is Phenomenal ; From the NY Times Article

Back home it may not be as rosy; the Latest Polls (end of July 08) show a fairly close race although Obama has a few points lead.

source: Real Clear Politics

Gas Purchase Limits

Are Gas Prices killing you ?

In this age of Ridiculously High Gas Prices, the old purchase limit of $75 did not make sense, especially if you had a gas Guzzling SUV.

I would usually reach my limit even before 3/4 of the tank was full.

I noticed that the limit has been bumped up (I would guess to $100); that gave me the Personal Record for a single gas purchase!

Cant wait for the Plug in Prius to be released!

WHOPPING 95 Dollars !! Son of a Gun...... :D