Ah! the unmistakeable sign of a super power in making

Never mind that that the Presidential election has become a nomination. But, this one has been been reduced to a "tamasha". Hey, look at the bright side - we will have a woman president (even before US of A will have one). And, what more
- she was a one time beauty queen
- she can communicate with the dead ("dead guru had given her a premonition that she was destined to become India's first citizen)
- she can rewrite history ("the veil was introduced to protect their women from Mughal invaders")
- she can bankrupt a bank

The last two have become requirements for elected politicians in India.

Indians are proud of their leaders. Afterall, we have a top class scientist as President and a world class economist as the Prime minister. They always point that out and ask how can the mighty US have such an "idiot" for President. I always point out that Kalam became President because of political adjustments that centered around his religion rather than his credentials and Singh became the Prime Minister due to some wonderful political intrigue. Otherwise, a one time waitress who had limited political experience, could not speak a local language until recently and was not a citizen until two decades back could have become the Prime minister. Scary thought! At least George W was elected directly (second term) by the citizens of the country.




#46 on the IT competitiveness scale. Well, at least we are better than our neighbours. Of course, that is very little to be proud of.

I found this funny - a posting under magic with comment by jesus

Woot is a Hoot...

..to the boot and the bag of crap is a loot. I wish all websites were so simple and interesting as woot

Say tata to clean air and easy commute... why the new Tata car is wrong

India readies world's cheapest car - MSN Money

Usually, the guys at Tatas are smart. But, this is the kind of "leadership" that we do not need. Creating an el cheapo car that is nothing more than a four wheeled moped is the last thing we need. Why can't Tatas improved the trucks and buses it makes, help improve the public transportation.

The last thing we need in a land that has absolutely no infrastructure is more cars on the road. But, I think there are some silver linings here - the increase in pollution may be able reduce the population growth rate (add a few more road accidents to it) and reduce productivity as people will be stuck in traffic.

Maybe I am jumping the gun here - this one may make Yugo look like a luxury vehicle and be truly a nova - goes nowhere. One can only hope :)

Do mo' evil!

Report: Google wins 'race to bottom' on privacy | CNET News.com

I guess "Do no evil" was a typo. Afterall, "m" and "n" are close by on the keyboard. Congratulations to Google for this wonderful honor.

What would "God" do?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Hindu sites 'only for Hinduism'

In the last two weeks there have been a few interesting controversies on Hinduism and its practices. First it was Vayalar Ravi's (a politician from Kerala) turn make huge noise about practices at the Guruvayoor temple. Then, came this ordinance from the Andhra governor.

Let us take Ravi's drama first - He went to Guruvayoor for a ceremony for his new grandchild and the priest asked them to do cleanising rites since Ravi is married to a Christian and hence his son (father of the child) is not "100% certified Hindu" (or shuudh Hindu). Ravi made a huge noise about this claiming he has been demeaned etc... Keep in mind this bloke was asked to do the same thing a few years back when he had been to the temple for something. At least he should appreciate that the temple and its priests are consistent in their policies and its implementation than the politicians.

Now, the people in power in Kerala - the commies (that is the Communists of India - the scum of the earth) smelling blood decided it is time to do away with the prehistoric/ barbaric/blah...blah practices of Hinduism. And, that brought the self proclaimed keepers of Hinduism out screaming bloody murder. They did have a valid point though - "Why only Hinduism?."

I have to agree with them. Why not take on the Muslim marriage and alimony - the Shah Bano case? Or, government subsidy for Haj (which, I believe goes against the Islamic norms of making a "valid" Haj). Or, the Christian marketing? The commies find it interesting to needle the majority from outside but they have no solution for anything - either economic, social or political.

I think the tantri (head priest) at Guruvayoor made some interesting comments and observations during an interview he gave on rediff.com. He is obligated to follow both the religious rules and legal rules so why not change it if it is draconian. And, if non-Hindus want to visit temples in Kerala they can convert to Hinduism. I guess that is no different from the fact that you need to be a Catholic for communion.

Then, came this piece from Andhra (see the first link). I tend to agree that marketing a religion (prosthelitizing) cannot be considered as an expression of religious freedom in a secular nation. In a secular nation where all religions are equal how can a practice that is aimed at promoting a religion as a better alternative (New! Improved formula. Beats the heck out of the competition) and the related conversions (On Sale! Buy one, get three. No interest, No payments) be considered an act of religious expression?

Finally, I think government and the politicians should get out of religion. Secularism should be based on separation of religion and state and not creating new rules for every single religion and related sects. That would mean a single civil code, equal opportunities to all, and we can extend that to mean equal access to all religious places. I wonder if we created God in our image not the other way around.

Who is a "legal" H1B candidate?

Crackdown on Indian Outsourcing Firms

I guess it would be hard to prove that outsourcers broke the law. I don't know if they did but I am certain that they broke the spirit of the law. But, then who gives a damn about the spirit of the law? What about the American companies who hire foreign students on F1 and then H1B? They know that these folks are pretty much stuck with them for the next five years - until their permanent residency application is approved.

The whole H1B program is about augumenting the workforce when there is a shortage of skills. However, it never makes mention of economic concepts - money and time value of money. There may be a shortage of resources at USD X/annum but not at USD 2X/annum. The law does not make any difference but businesses do. And, they need to.

The people who complain about H1B abuse often refer to "prevailing wages". What are the prevailing wages? In retail, is the prevailing wage what Wal-mart pays its workers or what Costco pays its workers? "Prevailing wages" is a scale with a huge range.

Living in Lala land

Pipe Dreams: Researchers in India Say They Can Build a Laptop for $10 - Gizmodo

I love this article especially the category title - Pipe Dreams. So, my dear desis are at it again. They are going to build $10 laptop. Hell, have they built a decent $1000 laptop. With virtually no semiconductor manufacturing industry to speak of (SCI does not have a decent manufacturing facility and we did turn dowm the Intel facility because Intel asked for a whole lot of sops). Remember Simputer or Amida simputer - wonder how many of it got sold - 100? ... 1000?

For a while the mantra was "appropriate technology" - I guess that would mean abacus - environmently friendly, can be produced by folks in villages and can handle simple arithmetic. I am glad that we are off that bandwagon atleast.

I don't understand our eagerness to grab at the imaginary silver bullet whether it is Ramar Pillai's magical fuel (fake), or the Anup hair rejuvenator. Last time I was in India my mom trust into my hands a newspaper article about a kid that won some prize for a technology concept about an engine that runs on water. My mom was like ..."see ...this will solve all our issues." It did not seem to matter that it was just a concept. And, between clean water and fuel which is more scarce. In meantime we got 1950s design cars, trucks and autos running with a mix of petrol and kerosene spewing deadly fumes.

Illegal first... Immigrants next...

I guess May 1st which is celebrated as the International Workers' Day will soon become Illegal Immigrants Day in the US. Yesterday, like last year there was a huge rally in Chicago. The illegal immigrants claim that they are hardworking (which they are) and have right to the American dream (questionable). I heard reports that the law enforcement raid on a shopping mall in the Little village neighbourhood had mobilized the masses. So, why was there a raid? The law enforcement agencies wanted to shut down a fake id card operation that was also suspected to be involved in a few murders.

I guess what is lost on the people marching is the fact that they are illegal, have broken the law - the moment they crossed the border or overstayed the visa. The American dream is not just about building a better life but building it legally.

I don't think deporting illegal immigrants will solve the problem. They are here because they are able to find work - there are people to employ them. It is to some extent classic supply demand. It is these people who employ them who should be tragetted. They should pay for violating the law and exploiting people. If this does not happen no amount of deportation will help. There will be people back here illegally in no time. And, they will continue to be exploited by their employers.

And, those who play the race card are hitting below the belt. This is a law and order issue not a race issue. Same is true for the illegal immigrants in India from Bangladesh.

Wii-nner

I finally got a Nintendo Wii this Wii-kend from the local Target. I have been eyeing one since its launch but I must tell you back then it was not my first choice. I was more interested in XBox 360 which I think is a more complete media system. But, Wii won me over (like it did a lot of others) with its elegant simplicity. Last week I finally convinced my wife that we need a Wii. I first tried Wii as as a fitness gadget but that did not do the trick. But, the Freakonomic blog entry on Wii titled Wii? Whee... did it - she Wii-kened and gave in.

So, on Friday I went searching on the web and found some website that said Gamestops may have a few this Sunday. So, I made a list of Gamestops near my place and started calling them one by one. The first guy told me they don't have any but the local Target may have some on Sunday. I called the second Gamestop they too said they don't have any. I then called Target. The guy confirmed the information provided by the first Gamestop and suggested I be there by 7.30am for the tickets.

I woke up at 5.30, got to Target at about 6.15. I was #3 in the line for Wii. There was one other group for XBox 360 Elite. The last time I had lined up to buy something before the store opened was possibly at a Public Distribution Shop (ration shop) in Chennai for palm oil which like Wii was perpetually out of stock.

The average age of the folks waiting for Wii seem to be a lot more than the ones waiting for XBox. That was even before a retiree came to buy a Wii for her grandson. Most of us seem to be first time game console buyers. At least a few of us took pride in saying we are not what you consider the typical addicted on electronic games type. At 7 am I got the ticket - #3. I was out of the place at 8.15 with my Wii.

I tried the Wii sports - loved it esp. the Wii-mote. It is what my friend would call "devilishly clever" (I call it "Wii-kedly clever"). Mind you my previous experience with games have been Prince of Persia on monochrome monitors with computers running DOS (I am dating myslef), Gorilla and a few really bad attempts at Unreal. I just noticed they have a new PoP for Wii. I might get it one of these days. For now... back to Wii sports.

More Irony...Independence & Partition

BBC Pictures on India's Partition

"Ours was a non-violent freedom struggle. We won independence without firing a shot" - I have heard this a million times. But, I never realized the scope and magnitude of the bloody acts committed by its citizens. You see the mass migration and the killings that followed is not covered in school text books. We go from "Freedom Struggle" to "Tryst with Destiny" to "Five Year Plans".

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.," said George Santayana. Little wonder why we keep killing each other.

Irony that is India

Richard Gere is in big trouble... real big trouble for kissing Shilpa Shetty in public. While Shilpa Shetty did not complain the morality police did and a judge ruled it as an obscenity. I must say I have never seen the Indian legal system move so fast.

Hey, how about similar speed when it is a rape case. Or, does the fact that the victim complained reduce the gravity of the matter. And, where is the morality police in these situations. How is that they are alarmed/ upset by these?

It is interesting to see this Gere-Shetty non-incident getting a whole lot of coverage in the US - main stream new channels and folks like VH1 (which had Vishnu shaking his multiple hands. I bet the Hindu brigade is going to go after VH1).

Why can't we focus on some real issues like the slowness of our legal system or the crimes against women (even before they are born)

P.S: Wonder how many in the morality police wished they were the one instead of Gere. And, what do they think of Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother?

Bangladesh, Bermuda and Bye-Bye

I guess that would sum up the Indian campaign at the current cricket world cup in the Caribbean. We first lost to the Tigers and the thrashed the cricketing power house - Bermuda, only to lose to another nation fighting a different set of Tigers.

When we lost to Bangladesh my friends were of the opinion that it may be a case of match fixing. I don't know what imaginative explanation to explain the early exit.

But, look at the small mercies - Pakistan exited the event before us. Wait, Ireland who eliminated Pakistan beat Bangladesh (who in effect eliminated India). That should make Pakistan a better cricketing team using one of those mathematical properties.

I am glad that our outing was short. It certainly reduced the productivity loss.

BTW, Bob Woolmer's death prompted a lot of articles about match fixing - about how match fixing is difficult but spot fixing is easy and "unavoidable". Apparently, "match fixing" is where the whole team takes money or equivalent for throwing away the game. It is "difficult" because the whole team has to agree to it. "Spot fixing" is where player(s) may take money for things like bowling a few wides or no balls. Or, miss an easy fielding chance or something "innocuous". But, is it really "innocuous". Imagine a team of 11 where three or more make such "innocuous" actions. Since each is not aware of the fact that the other has been bought this has a greater potential of damage.

Cricket, G.B. Shaw said, was a game that 11 fools played and 11000 fools watched. For India it is a game where 11 play and make a fool of 1100 million are made fool of.

Project Implicit and me

The Imus controversy and the Dateline NBC show prompted me to take the test they showed on the program - Project Implicit.

No big surprises in my case. The result page says it all. I come from a culture where the gods are made blue (though the original reference is - color of monsoon clouds) because calling them black would be bad, I guess. I still have not seen a blue monsoon cloud.

Embarrassed by an anthem? There are other reasons to be embarrassed

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Infosys boss makes anthem apology

NRN (a.k.a BillG of Bangalore) feels that singing the national anthem would "embarass foreigners". I guess, he would know. If he is embarassed he should say so. It is interesting how some people can't get over the colonial bueracrat mentality. And, they are talking of making him the President. Contrast this with Jindal who fought to get private companies right to fly Indian flag.

Now, there are a lot of other reasons to be rightly embarassed of. For example, Infosys and other Indian software firms still seek tax advantages from the government. Or, how Infosys in particular gets the government to allocate land at lot less than market prices so that its employees can work in fancy campuses.

The Indian National anthem would have served as a good geography lesson for the foreigner. Afterall, it was created for a foreigner (George V coronation).

P.S: I think the new Indian government rules requiring women civil servants to provide details of their menstrual cycles must have been written by a dick head. Equality demands that men provide details of when they shagged.

Vista upgrade leaves me kind of pissed off

I got a free copy of Microaoft Vista Business Edition through the Power Together promotion. I had always expected running Vista in 2007 - the64bit media center edition. So, last year I bought a dual core 64bit pc, upgraded the 1GB RAM to 2GB and ran all the Vista upgrade tests to make sure that I can upgrade it to Vista. I called HP support to make sure I can run 64bit. The person on the other end said I could but politely warned me against running 64bit Vista which according to her was the only thing worse than running Vista. I am glad Microsoft has partners like these.

I upgraded my free Vista Business to Ultimate. Now, I believe Vista Business media by default ships the 32bit version. So, I had to pay some7 bucks to get the 64bit media shipped to me.

-1 for Vista

I then got the license upgraded through Windows Anytime upgrade. That works pretty flawlessly

+1 for Vista

The license file will only work if the copy of Vista has been upgraded. I did run into issues related to this. Chalk this down to ID10T issues. But, I figured it out and everything went well.

Contrary to the warnings by the HP support person I found most of my devices functioning except for the sound card. A few hours on PlanetAMd64.com and I had my realtek drivers for audio. It even sounds better than before. That was the best part. FRom there on everything has been downhill.

The user access scheme where even accounts with administrator privileges run as normal user is a pain.

-1 for Vista

Vista kind of hides the folder structure on disk from the user. And, when I tried to move the Users folder (the XP equivalent of Documents & Settings) to the non-OS partition I ran into big problems. I can't understand why Microsoft can't make it easy for users to configure their system. I do unserstand that there are lot of folks with limited knowledge of computers using Windows but hiding the complexity does not help. Either make it simple or educate the user about the complexity.

I still have not been able to create additional accounts on my Vista. The user creation process itself goes off smoothly but when I try to login it throws an error - "User Profile Service service faled logon." (yes, there is "service" twice in that darn error message.) I searched on the web to find more frustrated users facing the same problem.

Godless Reservationists

so, the DMK government in Tamilnadu has said it is ready to implement separate reservations for the Muslim and Christian communities. The irony is not lost on me.

The government cites a GO (Government Order?) dating back to 1920s to justify its actions. Hey, weren't the Brits ruling India at that time? Didn't they "divide and rule" India? And, the DMK which gets its roots from DK with its atheist leanings is the one to implement religion based reservation. Finally, back when India got independence a few religious communities explicitly stated they do not want any reservations. This included the Parsis and the Christians. Looks like in the years after independence the society in general (and, Chrisitians in India in particular) has regressed and now Christians being given reservations.

Wonder if reservation for Christians have to do with the increase in number of Dalit Christians - who might have changed their religion to escape the effects of the Hindu caste system but now are part of the Christian caste system and still need props.

It was funny reading the user posts to the original article. One guy said the government should offer reservation to all non Tamilians since they are a minority in Tamilnadu. Now, I think that merits a debate since the states in India are setup based on linguistic majority. I would have qualified for reservation in this scenario. I can tell you of the instances when I was made fun of/ ridiculed for my accent, food habits and stereotyped. Most of the time I chose to deal it with the international sign of "up yours" - the middle finger sticking out.

The "M" in DMK stands for "Munetram" (progress). I guess they should see a lot of progress in their vote bank and their bank accounts but for the general masses it is incompetence triumphing in name of social justice.

Why are these people not buying the India story?

Lies, grief and a ticket home for illegal Indian migrants - International Herald Tribune

Punjab is considered to be one of the richer states in India, yet most of the Indians who illegally immigrate to Europe seem to be from this state. And, Punjab also has the worst sex ratio indicating higher PBEF (pre birth elimination of females). It makes me wonder what ails the society.

Innovation in Terrorism

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Tamil Tigers unveil latest tactic

"Whatever you may think of their goals and methods, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have always been innovative."

The above quote is by a BBC writer called Roland Buerk. Wonder Buerk will call the 9/11 bombers "innovative" - after all no one had flown hijacked commercial jets into buildings until then. And, what about Al-Qaeda operations which usually have multiple synchronized attacks? Maybe, we should call the London subway bombers pioneers - afterall, they were the first to bomb the venerable tube.

Fat chance that the service will improve

BBC NEWS | Business | Victory for 'fat' air hostesses

Congratulations to the air hostesses. Indian Airlines could have handled this issue in a different way and still achieved its goal. Instead of using a height and weight measure they should test the air hostesses and the flight crew on their efficiency in evacuating the plane in an emergency. I bet this would eliminate the fat ones that can't move and the lazy ones. And, it may in the process improve the on-board service.