Monday, December 25, 2006

Wait till I find an answer...

It has been a almost a month since I posted something out here. I am beginning to wonder, the very purpose of doing so. How will posting a few articles out here, help me. Will scribbling some junk solve my problems in life? Can it show me the way to do so? Or atleast will it help me to identify my problems? Will it answer the most important question which has been lingering in my head for quite some time, "am I satisfied? "

The very fact that not many are going to read these blogs of mine, reduces my interest in penning down my ideas. And even if they do, what difference does it make. Keep waiting, may be I will come out with something nice in a few days.
This Is My Life, Rated
Life: 6.2
Mind: 7.2
Body: 6.1
Spirit: 8.3
Friends/Family: 3.7
Love: 0.7
Finance: 6.8
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The Uppuma connection

The Uppuma connection

It was a hard day yesterday after our previous day triumph in making Dosa & Takkali Thokku, it seemed like out comeback trail had begun. An so we decided to test our culinary skills this time with a different South Indian dish "UPPUMA".

Uppuma is of different types and renders different taste which solely depends on the process. Some do with Samia and some with Rava...

We took the challenge of making the uppuma (Rava uppuma to be precise), a famous South Indian sweet dish and to our rescume came Vinoth the most famous (VV) from our flat, who seemed to know a lot more informative. Another dimension of him i've never seen, i thought.

All that is required to make this delicious dish is a Less than half KG of Rava, some ghee for frying not necessarily (we did without it), Onion, Chilli, Ingi, Karivepilai, Kadugu, Ulutham paruppu, and water. The quantity of water should be twice that of Rava and of course you need some patience and some people to share the dish with. Ah..I forgot one more important ingredient... the kesari color powder (well we did without this too). There's a lot of rumor going around that this causes cancer; You may neglect this though, if you want a white uppuma.

The color of course, is an individual preference. Environmentalists can go for green, Aussie supporters yellow, sailors blue and communists red. But the South Indian household seems to have a penchant for orange color and some do with Manjal powder itself hence, i didn't chose any color so that our Uppuma can be identified with.

Uppuma is a Common breakfast in south india where most of the office-goers normally prefer this due to its unique taste and especially when they dont have much time at hand and they should do something for the breakfast especially under dire straights. Rather than going out to buy other ingredients uppuma is preferred for its simplicity just can be done with what is available (CUstomized Versions)

And now coming back to our Uppuma preparation. All you need to do to get it done is to fry the rava in a tava with some ghee (if u have) till the rava becomes golden brown and keep it aside. Now in the same way fry the onion and the other ingredients that u've chopped before. Be careful this time, the time in which the onion change their color from golden brown to black is not very long.

Now add bring the water to a boil and add the fried rava in it, cook it till the rava comes to a thick consistency, now add some salt and the rava will loosen up. Keep cooking for 10 minutes. Add some cashew nuts or some vegetables if u have and mix it well. Turn the gas off and taste it. I assure you, you'll love the taste. You can go in for a slight variant of this - the Lemon uppuma, Sweet Uppuma and it goes on subject to the available material. The only additional work to do is to toss some of ur diced variant to it.

There is a complement to kesari by the name Uppuma, which can also be made using the rava. This is a common dish off the blues during the odd occasions viz Festivals, Occasions and auspicious Bride-Groom selection ceremony in South India. But more about this, later.

Well, im looking forward to our R&D efforts and wishing it will no longer go in vain. Rather would yield some good dishes and great time cooking together. Will be back with more sucess storeis :)

How does an ABCD (American Born Confused Desi -Indian) explain Diwali ???

How does an ABCD (American Born Confused Desi -Indian) explain to his younger brother the topic - When and how did Diwali begin? This is how he goes about it…(preferably read it with an American accent). Well this is the post which i've kept for so long in draft before i decided to post.
So, like this dude had, like, a big cool kingdom and people liked him.But, like, his step mom, or somethin’, was kind of a bitch, and she forcedher husband to, like, you know, send this cool dude, he was Ram, to some national forest or reserve or somethin’.

Since he was going, for like, somethin’ like more than 10 years or so,he decided to take his wife and his bro along. You know… so that theycould all chill out together. But dude, the forest was reeeeeeal scary shit,really man, they had monkeys and devils and shit like that. But thisdude, Ram, kicked their ass with darts, bows and arrows, so it was fine. But then some bad gansta’ boys, some jerk called Ravan, picks up his babe (Sita) and lures her away to his hood. And boy, were our man, and his bro Lakshman, pissed! And you don’t piss this son-of-a-gunz ‘coz, he just kicks ass and like, all the gods were with him. So anyways, you don’t mess with gods.

So, Ram and his bro get an army of monkeys. Dude, don’t ask me how they trained the damn monkeys, just go along with me, OK. So, Ram, Lakhs, and their monkeys whip this gansta’s ass in his own hood. Anyways, by now, their time’s up in the forest and anyways, it gets kinda boring. You know no TVs or malls or shit like that. So, they decided to hitch back home.

His bro and the wife are back home. People thought, well, you know,atleast they deserve somethin’ nice and they didn’t have any bars and clubs in those days. So they couldn’t take them out for a drink, so the people decided to smoke or shit. And they also had some lamps, they lit the lamps too.So it was pretty cooool…
you know with all those fireworks really,they had some local band play along with the fireworks, and you know what, dude, that was the very first, no kidding, that was the very firstmusical-synchronized fireworks. You know, like the 4th of the Julystuff, but just more cooler and stuff, you know. And, so dude, that was how, like, this festival started. Cool!!!

Diwali Rocks Maaaan!

Aru U contended with what you've got ???

Being contended with what we got:

I know a couple who had baby last week, after a decade of turmoil. After the initial appreciation and thanks giving to God, and feeling proud of themselves, they moved into the next stage – analysis;

The baby was a bit dark compared to its wheat-ish parents. “I wish the baby was as fair as either of you”, commented the maternal grandmother. “He does have a stub nose like me, which I didn’t want”, said the father. The material world and the feeling of relentlessly searching for something better took over.

They did easily forget the 10 years of turmoil, wherein their only prayer was, “We just need a baby, bless us God”, and that how lucky they were to have their prayers answered. Mind wanders like a mad monkey, it instantly forgets the past sufferings… instead of enjoying the gift of progeny, the couple looked for perfection, thus inflicting further sufferings onto themselves. They failed to realize people below them: an aged couple dying without children; spinsters over 50, who wanted to marry, but couldn’t, and many more similar grim stories.

For living a contented life, it is best to compare ourselves with people below us. They don’t die, if they don’t drive a Benz, or have a 20K mobile, neither will we. And for achieving we should compare ourselves with people above us. If Dr. APJ can work 18 hours a day and be a rolemodel to millions, we can make a difference to at least 10. We can!

Our lifestyle warrants that we crave and strive for more materialistic possession. A middle class family strives to buy a car, while a maid working in their house strives to buy a TV. A highly paid employee wants to buy a bungalow, and the rich boss wants everything of the best brand.
Money can buy all the comfort we desire, but then it takes our desire itself to next level. And the more we feed our desire, the more it grows, only to swallow our peaceful life. There can be no ceiling to our desires, unless we are contended.

Look around; you can comprehend what I write, and are reading this from your own computer in the comfort of your cubicle or room. Aren’t you a lot more lucky than people who cannot read/write, are mute, or don’t know what a computer is. And after reading this, you might be a little tired, (even though the AC comforts you, unlike people who are dying of sun-stoke after working relentlessly for a half meal,) you always have the vending machines at your disposal, or the phone to order your hot yummy food.

What more do you need except contentment?

A typical Mastercard ad to compliment:
Buying a Santro car for the middle class family stated above: Rs. 4 lakhs.Buying a Porsche for the millionaire stated above: Rs. 1 crore.Being contented with what God has given us: PRICELESS.

- The End.

Another day at Hell (Office)

Another day at Hell (Office)

I am here, staring at the monitor savoring a machine vended Nescafe. I wouldn’t say I am too unhappy about it and all. After all, I am documenting these thoughts just after reading columns of Behram Contractor a.k.a Busy Bee in the site www.busybeeforever.com.This is a really good site I should say. It contains lots of articles by Mr. Contractor whom I like very much. I also like John Grisham. But it is because of a different reason.I like BC because of the satire he brings out in a very simple form that’s easy to understand. I admit, though I read a lot of books, I really don’t get the full grasp of some of the books I read. Often Behram Contractor(BC) is compared with P.G.Wodehouse(PG). But for me BC is better than PG. This might be because when I tried reading a P.G, but I wasn’t able to make out the humor twist in it. I wasn’t laughing because of the humor in the book but I was laughing at my own state of not understanding P.G. So I like B.C more than P.G. Further B.C views things from an Indian angle that makes his columns and ideas easy to identify with.

Of late, I have become addicted to coffee. I don’t know why. It may be because I was trying to emulate Patrick Lanigan of The Partner, who drinks lots of coffee. I am averaging 4 cups a day now. I don’t feel guilty about it. Maybe I’ll feel when I am 40. But that’s ok for me since I am enjoying the present moment. I can proudly say I am living life king size without any consciousness conflict (what a term!). And so goes my life with an extra indulgence thrown in always in whatever I like doing.

It’s not that I am really happy because I don’t have anything to do. In fact, I have a real problem now where I am stuck without any daylight near. But still I am happy because I have read somewhere ‘And this too shall pass’. And I have learnt to believe in Hope, and even in failures I attribute it to my suspicion in my belief in hope. Failure or Success, and this too shall pass sometime soon. And so, I will indulge in my happiness to an extra extent.

It’s rainy season here. I always dislike carrying anything unless it is of utmost importance. For instance, I hate to carry helmets to restaurants and theatres. So for this reason, I never like wearing a helmet when I go to these places. I am not an atheist, so I believe in God more than I believe in my helmet. This of course is not for all to follow, unless you want to meet God very badly. So even though I dislike wearing it, I wear it. God can wait. Similarly, I hate carrying raincoats even in rainy season, when it’s not raining. But yesterday my father pestered me so much to take the raincoat. When I wore it, it was too much stuffy. I felt bad. But when I started from office in the evening, I came to know how it is to feel grateful. Yes, there was a heavy downpour, peals of thunder, and flashes of lightning; and me under the safe cocoon of raincoat. I even experienced the sadistic joy of watching my friends completely wet. Even today I’ve brought the raincoat. It’s not raining. But I don’t feel the slightest remorse of bringing it. So, I have learnt, it’s always good to ensure things are safe and strive towards that aspect rather than praying to god while dying. So, I henceforth will not feel lethargic towards doing things that’ll make me safer, even though there is some level of discomfort involved in it.

So that’s it. It’s almost time to leave. I am now happily taking my raincoat and helmet.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Mile sur mera tuhara...prasar Bharathi

Ek Anek aur Ektha

Ek Chidiya Anek Chidiya...

Its next to impossible to forget this song if you had a TV(and watched it too) in the early 80’s. May be 1985 - 1990 period. There were a bunch of ’short programs’ that would be aired every now and then on DD national - the one and the only channel!. This one was on unity. “Ek Anek aur Ektha” - The animated movie.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Vellore

I found this Video somewhere.. An intresting ride along the main streets of vellore and into the Vellore fort...

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Don't Cry Joni

Don't Cry Joni (one of my favourite song)
http://www.ziplo.com/dontcry.html
Sung by Conway Twitty & Joni Lee

Jimmy please say you'll wait for me
I'll grow up some day you'll see
saving all my kisses just for you
signed with love forever true

Joni was the girl who lived next door
I've known her I guess 10 years or more
Joni wrote me a note one day
and this is what she had to say

Jimmy please say you'll wait for me
I'll grow up some day you'll see
saving all my kisses just for you
signed with love forever true

Slowly I read her note once more
then I went over to the house next door
her tear drops fell like rain that day
when I told Joni what I had to say

Joni, Joni please don't cry
you'll forget me by and by
you're just 15, I'm 22
and Joni I just can't wait for you

Soon I left our little home town
got me a job and tried to settle down
but these words kept haunting my memory
the words that Joni said to me

Jimmy please say you'll wait for me
I'll grow up some day you'll see
saving all my kisses just for you
signed with love forever true

I packed my clothes and I caught a plane
I had to see Joni, I had to explain
how my heart was filled with her memory
and asked my Joni if she'd marry me

I ran all the way to the house next door
but things weren't like they were before
my tear drops fell like rain that day
when I heard what Joni had to say

Jimmy, Jimmy please don't cry
you'll forget me by and by
it's been 5 years since you've been gone
Jimmy I married your best friend John.

CHILD ABUSE: How concerned are you?

I got a forwarded link from a friend of mine and I went to the site in all good intentions.

The site covers two main issues.
Child Pornography on the internet
Child abuse at home.

The means it says that it can eradicate it:
Get a million email addresses from all over the world and do —– —– —-.
Seriously, I have never seen a site that doesn’t say what it is planning to do with the list. Here are my options though.

The list would be submitted to all the technology vendors, ISPS, Governments throughout the world.

Those concerned will get to know that there exists an evil called ‘child pornography’ and would empathasize with the million others who submitted the petition.

It would stop all pornography sites on the internet.

It would send one military person per home to check on child abuse.

Child abuse at home would also stop.

The world would be a better place to live in. And everyone would live happily ever after.
But I know what is going to happen.
If you have been getting 10 spam mails till now, it might double.
Soon, people might be interested in offering you loans, degrees or even silicone breast implants.
Well, how plausible is my idea? Are these guys kidding? A search on light a million candles yielded me 535,000 links (mostly over enthusiastic blogs) pointing to this site in their attempt to save the world. But I can’t be ridiculing someone if I don’t have an answer to something. Isn’t it? And I say, Yes. I do have the answer to it.
Read this: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/18/tech/main784536_page3.shtml
From what I hear, the government is already concerned at this. It doesn’t need a million addresses to know that this happens and it needs to do something. If you really think that God sent you to this world to eradicate this, you would just need to do atleast one of the following.
Stop abusing children. (Learn to accept that anyone has modesty. This includes not looking at their private parts let alone touching them).

If you know that some neighbourhood kid is abused, call up the police.
If you find some porn site on the web, submit it to the concerned government cell.

Does this make sense?

Monday, November 20, 2006

The Legend of the Legends

MSS the IMMORTAL LEGEND LIVES ON WITHIN US.....NO MORE SORROW
the ever glowing Lamp that brightens the souls darkened by present day materialism

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Incredible machines

SIMPLE HOME MADE MACHINES WITH CRAZY TECHNIQUES

If you have seen Back to the future, you would have certainly not missed the breakfast making machine called "Rube Goldberg", these machines are complex devices that perform simple tasks like making a breakfast in very indirect and convoluted ways.

But, this video of these incredible machines is going to make you and your physic professors sit up and say "whoa" because the physics concepts used in these machines, which make use of everyday house junk is awesome. It's a little long around 9min, so get ur cup of coffee before u press the play button. But, don't blame us if u spill ur coffee...

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Some of my favourite Poems by Subramanya Bharathi


அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே


அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே
இச்சகத்து ளோà®°ெலாà®®் எதிà®°்த்து நின்றபோதினுà®®்

அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

துச்சமாக எண்ணி நம்à®®ைத் தூà®±ு செய்த போதினுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

பிச்சை வாà®™்கி உண்ணு, வாà®´்க்கை பெà®±்à®±ு விட்ட போதினுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

இச்சை கொண்ட பொà®°ுளெலாà®®் இழந்துவிட்ட போதினுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

கச்சணிந்த கொà®™்கை à®®ாதர் கண்கள்வீசு போதினுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

நச்சை வாயிலே கொணர்ந்து நண்ப à®°ூட்டு போதனுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

பச்சை யூனினையந்த வேà®±்படைகள் வந்த போதினுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

உச்சிà®®ீது வானிடிந்து வீà®´ு கின்à®± போதினுà®®்
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்ப தில்லையே

நெஞ்சு பொà®±ுக்குதில்லையே

நெஞ்சு பொà®±ுக்குதில்லையே - இந்த
நிலைகெட்ட மனிதரை நினைந்துவிட்டால்
கொஞ்சமோ பிà®°ிவினைகள் - à®’à®°ு
கோடியென் à®±ாலது பெà®°ிதாà®®ோ ?

அஞ்சுதலைப் பாà®®்பென்பான் - அப்பன்
ஆறுதலை யென்à®±ுமகன் சொல்லிவிட்டால்
நெஞ்சு பிà®°ிந்து விடுவாà®°் - பின்பு
நெடுநா ளிà®°ுவருà®®் பகைத்திà®°ுப்பாà®°் (நெஞ்சு)

சாத்திà®°à®™்க ளொன்à®±ுà®®் காணாà®°் - பொய்ச்
சாத்திரப் பேய்கள்சொலுà®®் வாà®°்த்தைநம்பியே
கோத்திà®°à®®ொன் யிà®°ுந்தாலுà®®் - à®’à®°ு
கொள்கையிà®±் பிà®°ிந்தவனைக் குலைத்திகழ்வாà®°்
தோத்திà®°à®™்கள் சொல்லியவர்தாà®®் - தமைச்
சூதுசெயு நீசர்களைப் பணிந்திடுவாà®°் - ஆனால்
ஆத்திà®°à®™் கொண்டே யிவன் சைவன் - இவன்
à®…à®°ிபக்த னென்à®±ுபெà®°ுஞ் சண்டையிடுவாà®°் (நெஞ்சு)

எண்ணிலா நோயுடையாà®°் - இவர்
எழுந்து நடப்பதற்குà®®் வலிà®®ையிலாà®°்
கண்ணிலாக் குழந்தைகள்போல் - பிறர்
காட்டிய வழியிà®±் சென்à®±ு à®®ாட்டிக் கொள்வாà®°்
நண்ணிய பெà®°ுà®™்கலைகள் - பத்து
நாலாயிà®°à®™் கோடி நயந்து நின்à®±
புண்ணிய நாட்டினிலே - இவர்
பொà®±ியற்à®± விலங்குகள் போல வாà®´்வாà®°் (நெஞ்சு)

Another one..

தேடி சோà®±ு நிதம் தின்à®±ு – பல
சின்னஞ்சிà®±ு கதைகள் பேசி – மனம்
வாடி துன்பம் à®®ிக உழன்à®±ு –பிறர்
வாட பலசெயல்கள் செய்து –நரை
கூடி கிழபருவமெய்தி –கொடுà®™்
கூà®±்à®±ுக் கிà®°ையென்ன பின்à®®ாயுà®®் – பல
வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போல் -நான்
வீà®´்வெ னென்à®±ு நினைத்தாயோ….


He still lives...

Jesus died pinned to the cross;
Krishna by a swift arrow;
Even Rama yielded to death by water;
But I shall not die, 'tis certain.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

we are human...but are we humane??

we are human...but are we humane??

Human race is to which we all belong..
there had to be a unity very strong..
instead what is found everywhere...
is hatred and attitude of why-should-i-care.

we take pride in being the most intelligent race..
arrogance is writ all over human face..
but why am i writing "we"
its now all about you and me.

constantly engaged in mass killing..
in a manner that is mostly spine-chilling..
pogroms and massacres are order of the day..
and bleeding humanity by bombing it away..

when one's agony and plight..
becomes other's delight..
when a nation's power and pelf
using the God's name itself..

as if the God belongs to them only..
on promises of after-life heavenly..
youths are lured into killing innocents.
with a feeling of victory rather than repents..

it doesn't matter if a mother cries..
they seek jihad in her hopeless eyes..
its not enough if her only son goes..
their motive is to add to her woes..

they wont mind blowing her away as well..
as if they seek fragrance in this gory smell..
it may be a son,mother,father or daughter..
they dont blink an eye and just slaughter..

and slaughter they do in a manner dastard..
for fellow humans they have just utter disregard..
they may justify it by wearin a jihadi mask..
but the crying mother,the orphaned childask..

have you lost your sanity..are you insane..
you may be human..but are you humane??

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Partying Chuppandi Style

Partying Does it really cheers u???

Suddenly this strange thing filled all my mind. What we've accomplished in life worth partying for. Just turning an year older and being stabbed by yet another milestone ??? Naah... I never find any reason worthwile to party. But as like in most of my things, i've been pushed to my limits these days. When I've got my confirmation order, all my dept. colleagues started askin for the party. Obviously I've agreed to it to..

I did not felt much that day but the other day when one of my fellow colleague gave his treat for his promotion, it all suddenly filled my thought for which i began choking and decided to party never again..
I was told by my dad that Mother Terasa when attending a christmas dinner went on to see a pile of cake being wasted and all she asked was to pack them. There are lot of people starving even for a single bun a day and i could atleast make some of them happy today instead of wasting these..
what do we gain by partying ??? Or is there anything that we accomplished that worth celebrating for?? these are the questions that turn to me when i think of celebrating. And obviously the reason one might say is that when you've done or accomplished something or attained some stage that u were longing for. Obviously you feel like celebrating. Thats the Human nature I agree. But we the humans being the sixthsensed creatures should think of the co-existing creatures too..

If you have an excess meal for the day or if you have enormous money for ur lifetime donate them to some for who starve even for a days meal and there are even worst people around the world who does not even have the comfort of wearing clean clothes,eating food atleast once in a day, without drinking water, much more....
Don't we being the fellow humans have some sense of concern for the other fellow human beings ??

Its so sad to tell u none of us including me really care. There are even lot of victims of the natural hazards who's parents bros sisters... lost their lives to the monstres like Tsunami, Earthquake etc.., Do we really have time to care about these... I dont know about any other person except im "SHAME ON MYSELF" for being such a crook leading a selfish life.

Let me tell u one such incident which fuelled this thing again in me..
One day we all got a message which was broadcasted throughout the comp. i work for. the one who sent the mail is a top level manager who has forwarded the message with a foot note saying we should do something about it. The content of the message is that, Our CEO's (who advocates all indian youths should have patriotism and work for the indian multinationals,who work for the good of the india rather working abroad) son who studied in USA and works there in some state i hardly know about. This guy claiming he is in a prestegious comp. the son of our CEO has given birth to a new child and the saddest part is that they've found shez having likeumia on bone marrow . and needs a replacement surgery for which they need some sample from someone who matches her and theirs hardly matches and there are few indians out there they can ask for. This guy wants us to inform the friends and relatives of the recipients who live in USto help them out.

I asked him only one question replying to his message. Aren't there any in India who suffer from much worse diseases?? How many neonetal cases were pending for causes like these??? How many people are dying to live out here day and night??? How many people suffer from the natural calamities?? aren't these seems to be worth worrying for ??Coz they're not CEO's relatives huh.. Shame on our race.. atleast this is what the fact is.

This kind of attitude should change. And cannot be changed unless the culture changes. Everyone should think of the other as a fellow human being. Afterall the money they have, the position they posses, the society they belong to, the race they were in... all these hardly matters when u die. What accounts in the real life is just a heart to feel for others.
My request is this. Whenever u feel like partying go the needy people. Celebrate with them. U can find lot of ashrams for aged,Homes for Orphans,Poor kids longing for education, people who suffer from diseases, victims of calamities.... it goes on. Atleast you can get some satisfaction.

ANBE SIVAM !!!

One fine evening at the College Library


Just another strange thing occured during my college days which i think would bring nothing less than a laugh.

Not every time when I go to a Library, I go there with any urgency or purpose. Mostly, I go there either to kill time or to look out whether there are any more additions to Crichton's or Archor's titles. But my latest visit to the library was much different.

I wanted to make note of certain things regarding CFD studies from a known reference book. Late on a Saturday afternoon, I realised that I had to collect the information before the day end since the library would be closed on Sundays. It was two hours before the closing time when I rushed in to the library. There was a reasonable crowd in the library and while browsing through the computerised catalogue, I wondered about the number of people in the library on a Saturday evening. I located the rack where the book would be and hurried there. As luck would have it, the book wasn't there.

Since the book was a 'reference' book, I knew it for sure that the book must be within the library. But, there was a chance that some person who used the book might have kept it in a different rack. I myself have done that couple of times before inadvertently and felt bad about it. Unmindful of the numerous racks, I scanned the library for that big red volume. It is not a wise way to search a book but at that point of time, common sense got over-ruled. Feeling tired and disappointed, I came near the 'Reading Desks' at the far corner of the library and there it was. It was indeed the book I was searching for frantically for the past several minutes but it was in the hands of another person.

Not wanting to sit idle and watch the faces, I picked up some book from the nearby shelf and sat down at the other end of the long reading desk. I made sure that the guy who was having the book I wanted was visible from where I was sitting. Minutes ticked by and by that time, I was simply turning the pages of the book that was in my hand. It was a book on Geo Engineering and though I do not know anything on the subject, I was glad that I picked up some book with lot of flashy and interesting pictures.

For a few moments, I was lost in the Geo-Eco stuff and when I looked up to see the guy who was having 'my book' :-) ! To my horror, that person had left and one another guy in a red-shirt was flipping through the pages. By that time, I had just 45 minutes left before the closing time. While one's patience was running out, weird thoughts come in to mind. I was wondering why this guy didn't have the courtesy to check whether anyone is desperately waiting for the book before taking the same. :-)

Anyhow, I decided to remain seated at the same place and was doing the same thing as what I was doing before. But this time, I was careful enough not to concentrate too much on that book. Every now and then, I was looking at the red-shirt guy very often to ensure that the book he was holding didn't escape my view. It appeared to me that the red-shirt guy wasalso looking at me with a sarcastic smile. On closer observation, I found that the guy wasn't serious about reading the book but was just flipping through the pages. I thought of going up to him and ask whether he was serious about reading the book, atlest he could give it to me. But I dismissed that idea in the thought that since I am eager to get my hands at the book, I am assuming something strange. Further, I convinced myself with the question, "What for would a person come to the library?" Another 20 minutes passed on and my patient had dried up. I thought that there is no point in waiting further and decided to leave the library. So I put down the 'GIS' book on the desk and was about to turn back.

As soon as I had put it down, the red-shirt guy came running to the place where I sat and almost pounced on the book. Taking that, he said, " All along I was waiting for you to finish this book. Just for killing time, I was flipping through that Automobile book. Thank you, Sir". :-)

Monday, October 16, 2006

Thunbam Nergayil - My all time favourite

Blended with Desh raaga, this song sends Vibrations to the soul.

துன்பம் நேà®°்கையில் யாà®´் எடுத்து நீ
இன்பம் சேà®°்க்கமாட் டாயா? -- எமக்
கின்பம் சேà®°்க்கமாட் டாயா? -- நல்
அன்பிலா நெஞ்சில் தமிà®´ில் பாடிநீ
அல்லல் நீக்கமாட் டாயா? -- கண்ணே
அல்லல் நீக்கமாட் டாயா? துன்பம்...

வன்புà®®் எளிà®®ையுà®®் சூà®´ுà®®் நாட்டிலே
வாà®´்வில் உணர்வு சேà®°்க்க -- எம்
வாà®´்வில் உணர்வு சேà®°்க்க -- நீ
அன்à®±ை நற்றமிà®´்க் கூத்தின் à®®ுà®±ையினால்
ஆடிக் காட்டமாட் டாயா? -- கண்ணே
ஆடிக் காட்டமாட் டாயா?
துன்பம்...

அறமி தென்à®±ுà®®்யாà®®் மறமி தென்à®±ுà®®ே
à®…à®±ிகி லாத போது -- யாà®®்
à®…à®±ிகி லாத போது -- தமிà®´்
இறைவ னாà®°ின் திà®°ுக்குறளிலே à®’à®°ுசொல்
இயம்பிக் காட்டமாட் டாயா? -- நீ
இயம்பிக் காட்டமாட் டாயா?
துன்பம்...

புறம் இதென்à®±ுà®®் நல்லகம் இதென்à®±ுà®®ே
புலவர் கண்ட நூலின் -- தமிà®´்ப்
புலவர் கண்ட நூலின் -- நல்
திறமை காட்டி உனை ஈன்à®± எம் உயிà®°்ச்
செல்வம் ஆகமாட் டாயா? -- தமிà®´்ச்
செல்வம் ஆகமாட் டாயா?
துன்பம்...

Friday, October 06, 2006

MISTAKES- WATS WRONG???

Mom: Arent u ashamed of committing this mistake?
Son: I m sorry, i ll see to it that it doesnt happen again.


I guess making mistakes forms the integral part of one's life. Right from the time we were born we have made mistakes all through, day in and day out...then why is that we r pushed to our maximum limit of patience when we commit a mistake....i have always wondered why most of the parents today do not see committing mistakes in the right spirit.Life is simply time given to man to learn how to live. Mistakes are always part of learning. The real dignity of life consists in cultivating a fine attitude towards our own mistakes and those of others.I have always felt that sucess very easily comes to people who learn from others mistakes... It is the fine tolerance of a fine soul. Man becomes great, not through never making mistakes, but by profiting by those he does make.Mistakes should always be seen as an oppurtunity for building better to-day because of one's poor yesterday. Sometimes mistakes teach you a lot more than what success does.I do not write this to say that u should keep commiting mistakes, but jus an opinion to say that if at all one does a mistake, do not make a fuss out of it. Genrally when people commit mistakes they get a little discouraged, but the tend to recover fast if their near and dear one's encourage them to move forward...

Mistakes are the biggest strenght when one after realization learns from it by rising with renewed strength, finer purpose and freshened courage every time he falls.

And here goes the conclusion with a closing note of Edison.

"Its not that I've failed 999 times.. Its that i've learnt 999 times how not to make a Bulb"

Wednesday, October 04, 2006


The Nobel Prize in Physics 2006















John C. Mather & George F. Smoot

The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2006 is awarded to John C. Mather and George F. Smoot for their discovery of the basic form of the cosmic microwave background radiation as well as its small variations in different directions. The very detailed observations that the Laureates have carried out from the COBE satellite have played a major role in the development of modern cosmology into a precise science.
Well, im not here to argue about the american bias in the Nobel prize or about the credentials of their research. But didn't i tell you b'fore with a video of Richard Feynman and his passion about finding the truth of the universe and the Big Bang ofcourse ??? But i don't think either that we can compare any normal scientists with such a legend. My views apart.. Just have a look at their research and the prespective with which they've tried to answer the Big Bang... Its truly awesome and if you were not aware of it b'fore, here's some for you...

The blackbody origin of the Universe

According to the Big Bang-scenario, our Universe developed from a state of intense heat. There are as yet no well-established theories about this primordial condition of the Universe, but immediately afterwards it appears to have been filled with an incredibly intensive radiation. Radiation emitted by such a glowing “body” is distributed between different wavelengths (light colours) in a specific manner, where the shape of the spectrum depends only on the temperature. Without knowing anything about the radiation apart from its temperature it is possible to predict exactly what the spectrum is going to look like. The somewhat contradictory term used to describe this kind of radiation is blackbody radiation. Spectra like these can also be created in a lab, and the German Max Planck – who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1 918 – was the first to describe their particular shape. Our own sun is in fact a “blackbody”, even though its spectrum is less perfect than that of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Wanna more details about this ???
The PCR Method - a DNA Copying Machine

PCR is a method by which a few fragments of DNA can be duplicated into millions in a couple of hours. This makes PCR a very useful method in forensic science, as it means that very small amounts of DNA could be enough to identify a person. PCR was invented by Kary Mullis, one of two Nobel Laureates in Chemistry in 1993. If you play the game below, you will be able to learn more about PCR!

This is a game crated with the support of Aventis for better understanding of the PCR method. Check this out its really breathtaking discovery in chemistry retold in our terms as a story.


http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/chemistry/pcr/game/index.html

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Physicists seek to put one thing in two places

Sounds Quizzy isn't it.. But seems to be quite intresting invention to watch... and move objects :-)

Physi­cists say they have made an ob­ject move just by watch­ing it. This is in­spir­ing them to a still bold­er proj­ect: put­ting a small, or­di­nary thing in­to two places at once.

It may be a “fan­ta­sy,” ad­mits Keith Schwab of Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty in Ith­a­ca, N.Y., one of the re­search­ers. Then again, the first ef­fect seemed that way not long ago, and the sec­ond is re­lat­ed.

The gray sliv­er reach­ing from top to bot­tom, slanted in the im­age, is a na­no­me­chan­i­cal re­s­o­na­tor, a sub-mi­c­ro­s­co­pic de­vice that can vi­brate like a pia­no string. The im­age was tak­en with a scan­ning el­ec­tron mi­cro­scope and col­or­ized. (Cour­te­sy Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty)


The re­search comes from the edge of quan­tum me­chan­ics, the sub­mi­cro­sco­pic realm of fun­da­men­tal par­t­i­cles. There, things be­have with to­tal dis­re­gard for our com­mon sense.

They can show signs of be­ing in two places at once; of be­ing both waves and par­ti­cles; of tak­ing on some cha­r­ac­ter­is­t­ics on­ly at the mo­ment these are meas­ured; and of act­ing syn­chro­nous­ly while far apart, with no ap­par­ent way to com­mu­ni­cate.

Al­though these ti­ny build­ing blocks of our uni­verse do this, the re­l­a­tively huge things we see eve­ry day don’t. The un­can­ny be­hav­ior fades the big­ger a thing be­comes.

This is be­cause when quan­tum en­t­i­ties are com­bined to make or­di­na­ry ob­jects, the rules go­vern­ing each com­po­nen­t’s be­ha­v­ior add up to pro­duce new rules. These in­c­rea­s­ing­ly re­sem­ble the laws of our fa­mi­l­iar re­a­li­ty as more ad­di­tions take place.

But just how big can some­thing be and still show signs of slip­ping back in­to its quan­tum-me­chan­i­cal na­ture?

Schwab and his col­leagues de­cid­ed to find out. In work de­s­cribed in the Sept. 14 is­sue of the re­search jour­nal Na­ture, they built a de­vice co­los­sal by quan­tum stan­dards: about nine thou­sandths of a mil­li­me­ter long, con­tain­ing some 10 tril­lion atoms.

The ob­ject was a sliv­er of alu­mi­num and a type of ce­ram­ic, fixed at both ends but free to vi­brate like a gui­tar string in be­tween. To meas­ure its move­ments, the sci­en­tists set near­by a ti­ny de­tec­tor called a su­per­con­duct­ing sin­gle elec­tron tran­sis­tor.

They found that ran­dom mo­tions of charge-carrying par­ti­cles, elec­trons, in the de­tec­tor em­a­nat­ed forc­es that af­fect­ed the me­tal­lic sliv­er. When the de­tec­tor was tuned for max­i­mum sen­si­tiv­i­ty, these forc­es slowed down the sliv­er’s shak­ing, cool­ing it as a re­sult. This ef­fect, Schwab said, is a ba­si­cal­ly quan­tum-me­chan­i­cal phe­nom­e­non called back-action, in which the act of ob­serv­ing some­thing ac­tu­al­ly gives it a nudge.

Back-action in quan­tum me­chan­ics al­so makes it im­pos­si­ble to know a par­ti­cle’s ex­act lo­ca­tion and speed si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly. This lim­i­ta­tion is called the un­cer­tain­ty prin­ci­ple. A com­mon ex­am­ple: meas­ur­ing place and speed re­quires some de­tec­tor that can “see” the par­ti­cle. But this in­volves bounc­ing a light wave off it, which gives it a ran­dom push.

“We made meas­urements of po­si­tion that are so in­tense—so strongly cou­pled—that by look­ing at it we can make it move,” said Schwab. Nor­mal­ly, such mo­tion would­n’t cool an ob­ject. But the mo­tion can be such as to op­pose on­go­ing move­ments and slow them down. This re­duces an ob­ject’s heat, which is just the jig­gling of par­ti­cles in it.

If back-action ap­plies such a large item, Schwab rea­sons, may­be that can al­so be true of oth­er quan­tum-me­chan­i­cal rules. Particularly in­tri­guing, he said, is the superpo­si­tion prin­ci­ple, which holds that a par­ti­cle can be in two places at once.

A classic ex­am­ple is the shoot­ing of light par­ti­cles, called pho­tons, through two slits in a bar­rier. Past the slits, they will be­have as if they were waves. This alone is no sur­prise: it’s a well-known quan­tum me­chan­i­cal phe­nom­e­non that par­ti­cles can par­a­dox­i­cal­ly act like waves in some sit­u­a­tions. The pho­tons’ wav­i­ness then makes them “in­ter­fere” with each oth­er. In oth­er words, they make pat­terns like those seen when you toss two peb­bles in a pond, and the rip­ples they make overlap.

When the waves passing the two slits mu­tu­al­ly in­ter­fere, the pat­tern be­comes vi­si­ble if you set up anoth­er wall where the pho­tons can land. There, al­ter­nat­ing bright and dark stripes ap­pear.

But bi­zarre­ly, this works even if you fire just one pho­ton at a time through the slits. You can see the ef­fect then by put­ting pho­to­graph­ic film on the land­ing wall, so each pho­ton leaves a last­ing mark. Keep fir­ing pho­tons, and the marks grad­u­al­ly add up to make the stripes again.

It’s as if each pho­ton is in­ter­fer­ing with it­self—that is, go­ing through both slits si­mul­ta­ne­ous­ly. This al­so works for big­ger par­ti­cles, up to a point. But what point? Schwab wants to know. “We’re try­ing to make a me­chan­i­cal de­vice be in two places at one time. What’s real­ly neat is it looks like we should be able to do it,” he said. “The hope, the dream, the fan­ta­sy is that we get that superpo­si­tion and start mak­ing big­ger de­vices and find the break­down.”

In a com­men­tary in the same is­sue of Na­ture, Mi­chael Roukes of the Cal­i­for­nia In­sti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy in Pas­a­de­na, Calif., wrote that Schwab’s work with the cool­ing is part of an emerg­ing field, quan­tum electrome­chan­ics. This, he added, fo­cus­es on sub­mi­cro­scop­ic de­vices called nanome­chan­i­cal sys­tems, “poised mid­way be­tween two seem­ingly an­ti­thet­i­c do­mains” of size: fun­da­men­tal par­ti­cles at one end, the ob­jects of eve­ryday life at the oth­er.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Dude, your Dell is on fire










Although we enjoy ogling mangled electronics as much as the next person, if you should ever find yourself at a conference and someone's laptop happens to burst into flames, kindly seek out a fire extinguisher before reaching for your cameraphone.The first time iam happy not owning a Dell... :-) [or anyother for that matter he he he...]

Friday, September 22, 2006

The clock's ticking; 30.6% of my life has passed already :-(
[(Your Age)/(Average Life Expectancy)] x 100
I am 23 years old. Assuming I fit the average Canadian male life expectancy of 75.2 years, I feel a sudden rush of discomfort knowing that 30.6% of my life has already passed without making much strides.

As sad as it may sound, I rather take this pessimistic approach to life to help motivate myself to act. I am not afraid of death as much as I am of reaching 60. In business, a small positive return in revenues is considered progress. In life, as minisicule as it may be, a positive step forward is a change in the right direction. That is what I intend on doing: as long as I work towards my goals, I am making progress, however small it may be.

Lesson from Gita: Consider yourself dead for as long as you breath but no one recognizes you.

"If you dont live for something, you'll die for nothing."
Trust me, CO2 is good for you!
As some of us might already know, Greenhouse gases (i.e. CO2) create a blanket over the atmosphere; consequently, trapping incoming heat, from the sun, that were supposed to bounce back to space. The alarming rate at which these gases are being expelled into the atmosphere is increasing rapidly, thanks to humans. In about 60 more years, the world population is estimated to double, I can only imagine what is going to happen then...knowing that I will be dead by then is the only optimisitic view

I can take.Here, one of the world's largest oil corporation, Exxon is actually promoting Greenhouse gases:



Watch the video. These corporations often hire scientists to reach self fulfilling conclusions. The next time you read a newspaper article that cites a corporate source on a subject like global warming, remember this: Corporations dont care what happens to you or your grandchildren. What they care about are the short term profits (aka quarterly profits).

Consumers don't stand up for action when the issue seems debatable. That's exactly what these corporations are trying to do; keeping us confused so that our minds stay numb. With an army of lawyers, lobbyists and billions in cash, they are wining so far.

'Best consumers and workers from a corporate point of view are mindless consumers and mindless workers. Any corporate power is excessive. Corporations shouldn't have power; people - all of us - should have power.'
Oh this new world of ours.....

Oh what is this new worldof the net
where each fish comes under a fake name
to fish other fish
and finally get into the net of their own imagination !

Oh what is this new world
where everything looks so real
and turns out but an illusion melting in nothingness
as the screen closes one window after another
to a world that exists but resists not to anything !

Oh what is this new world
where an old ugly face becomes Cyndrella at the click of a 'mouse'
and a slave is crowned with Prince's title
and one day both are drowned
in the ocean of fake identities created out of thin air.

Oh what is the new world
Where freindship grows, hatred breeds
love flourishes and nothing is left one day
but a blank screen that keeps from you all reality !
Oh what is this world of the internet?
In The Rain

Here I am, in the rain.
With eyes swollen, due to the tears that rolled,
Your love gave me pains,
And sorrows untold.

Like a candle, I sought no gain.
Melted for you, didn’t think twice...
But it’s all blown out, by this rain,
And I ask myself, why did I sacrifice?

Cz u neither saw the tears in these eyes,
Nor do u remember those days,
Alone, no one can hear these muffled cries,
And here I am, alone in the rain.

U said that easily, u found someone new,
And forgot this boy, like leaves shed off the dew.
U say that we shall walk again,
You walked away for sure,
But here I m, still waiting in the rain...

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The pleasure of finding things out - RP Feynman

Excellent short 40 min documentary interview with Dr. RP Feynman- one of the greatest physicist of our times and a Nobel Laureate. Specially uploaded for students of NSIT.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

The Corporation

THE CORPORATION explores the nature and spectacular rise of the dominant institution of our time. Footage from pop culture, advertising, TV news, and corporate propaganda, illuminates the corporation's grip on our lives. Taking its legal status as a "person" to its logical conclusion, the film puts the corporation on the psychiatrist's couch to ask "What kind of person is it?" Provoking, witty, sweepingly informative, The Corporation includes forty interviews with corporate insiders and critics - including Milton Friedman, Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, and Michael Moore - plus true confessions, case studies and strategies for change.
Richard Feynman - A Video interview

I wish I had the privilege to sit through one of his lectures, but I was only Five when he passed away. The following video illustrates a brief glimpse of his prolific personality.

Excellent short 40 min documentary interview with Dr. RP Feynman- one of the greatest physicist of our times and a Nobel Laureate. Specially uploaded for students of NSIT.

Other videos of Richard Feynman:


Explaining Refraction in water

A Briefing about my Favourite Scientist in Wiki

Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 in Queens, New York – February 15, 1988 in Los Angeles, California) was an influential American physicist known for expanding greatly on the theory of quantum electrodynamics, particle theory, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium. For his work on quantum electrodynamics, Feynman was one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, along with Julian Schwinger and Shin-Ichiro Tomonaga; in this work, he developed a way to understand the behavior of subatomic particles using pictorial tools now called Feynman diagrams.

He helped in the development of the atomic bomb and was later a member of the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. For all his prolific contributions, Feynman wrote only 37 research papers in his career. Apart from pure physics, Feynman is also credited with the revolutionary concept and early exploration of quantum computing, and publicly envisioning nanotechnology, the ability to create devices at the molecular scale. He held the Richard Chace Tolman professorship in theoretical physics at Caltech.

Feynman was a keen and influential popularizer of physics in both his books and lectures, notably a seminal 1959 talk on top-down nanotechnology called There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom and The Feynman Lectures on Physics, a three-volume set which has become a classic text. In his lifetime as well as in the years after his death, he became one of the most publicly known scientists of the century. Known for his insatiable curiosity, gentle wit, brilliant mind and playful temperament [1], he is also famous for his many adventures, detailed in the books Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, What Do You Care What Other People Think? and Tuva or Bust!. As well as being an inspiring lecturer, bongo player, notorious practical joker, and decipherer of Mayan hieroglyphics, Richard Feynman was, in many respects, an eccentric and a free spirit. He liked to pursue many independent paths, such as biology, art, percussion, and lockbreaking. Freeman Dyson once wrote that Feynman was "half-genius, half-buffoon", but later changed this to "all-genius, all-buffoon".

Quotations

"Dear Mrs. Chown, Ignore your son's attempts to teach you physics. Physics isn't the most important thing. Love is. Best wishes, Richard Feynman."

"Physics is to math what sex is to masturbation."

"Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."

"Mathematics is not real, but it feels real. Where is this place?"

"The same equations have the same solutions."

(Thus when you have solved a mathematical problem, you can re-use the solution in another physical situation. Feynman was skilled in transforming a problem into one that he could solve.)

"When you are solving a problem, don't worry. Now, after you have solved the problem, then that's the time to worry."

"The wonderful thing about science is that it's alive."

"All fundamental processes are reversible."

"What does it mean, to understand? ... I don't know."

"What I cannot create, I do not understand." (Taken from his chalkboard after his death.)

"Know how to solve every problem that has ever been solved." (Taken from his chalkboard after his death.)

"But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose—which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell, possibly. It doesn't frighten me."

"To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature ... If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks in."

"I cannot define the real problem, therefore I suspect there's no real problem, but I'm not sure there's no real problem." (about Quantum Mechanics)

"When playing Russian roullete the fact that the first shot got off safely is little comfort for the next" (about the Challenger disaster)

"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring" (last words)

Quotations about Feynman


The "Feynman Problem Solving Algorithm", as facetiously observed by a colleague, Murray Gell-Mann in the NY Times, was:

Write down the problem;

Think very hard;

Write down the answer.

The Nobel laureate physicist and mathematician E.P. Wigner said about Feynman, "He is a second Dirac. Only this time human".

Richard Feynman, He was not a simple simon.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Golden Ratio on Numb3rs
If you haven’t seen it already, NUMB3RS is a drama on FBI agents using mathematics as a tool to help solve crimes. I decided that some of the mathematics mentioned in it warranted further exploration. So, I am adding three extracts from the show with a brief explanation expanding on each.
The Golden Ratio
"The good, of course, is always beautiful, and the beautiful never lacks proportion"- Plato


Golden Ratios... Not just the Davinci's works...
The Greek's referred to it as the "Divine Proportion". And many mathematicians describe the Fibonacci sequence and Golden ratio as the most beautiful set of numbers in mathematics. It is a number common to the entire Universe; from sea shells to galaxies, we come across it everyday in one form or another. Its elegance can be witnessed in Leonardo Da Vinci’s infamous sketch, the Vitruvian man. Even best seller novelist, Dan Brown, carefully incorporated it in Da Vinci Code, wherein it plays a vital role in developing the overall plot.

Research has shown that living organisms subliminally prefer objects that are proportioned according to the golden ratio. The thought that a simple set of numbers (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…) dictate the perceived beauty of the entire Universe has inspired generations of philosophers and mathematicians.
Chaos Theory on NUMB3RS

A Video on CHAOS THEORY
"It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world" - Butterfly Effect
Chaos theory dictates that any set of complex situations are, in fact, a sum of ordered circumstances; therefore, making the chaos conceivable through mathematical analysis. Chaos theory has been applied for predicting varying systems such as tropical storms and terrorist attacks. It is an elegant branch of mathematics in a sense that it makes the seemingly unpredictable complexities predictable.

Chaos theory holds that the sum of a series of seemingly random coincidences follows a calculable pattern. People we meet, where we live, what we believe in, or why we are still alive; these are extensions of a system that appears chaotic to us. But at scale grandeur enough, there is order to it. Lines and Dots remain to be connected.

As a final note, I would like to state that any model we come up with does not describe the Universe but rather what the brain is capable of so far. Following is a source from WIKI...
Chaos theory is among the youngest of the sciences, and has rocketed from its obscure roots in the seventies to become one of the most fascinating fields in existence. At the forefront of much research on physical systems, and already being implemented in fields covering as diverse matter as arrhythmic pacemakers, image compression, and fluid dynamics, chaos science promises to continue to yield absorbing scientific information which may shape the face of science in the future.

Chaos Overview

What is chaos theory?


Formally, chaos theory is defined as the study of complex nonlinear dynamic systems. Complex implies just that, nonlinear implies recursion and higher mathematical algorithms, and dynamic implies nonconstant and nonperiodic. Thus chaos theory is, very generally, the study of forever changing complex systems based on mathematical concepts of recursion, whether in the form of a recursive process or a set of differential equations modeling a physical system. For a more rigorous definition of chaos theory, it is advisable to visit the much more scientific, much more broad-reaching chaos network definition, in their excellent HTML document, What Is Chaos Theory?, also available in a text only version.

Misconceptions about chaos theory

Chaos theory has received some attention, beginning with its popularity in movies such as Jurassic Park; public awareness of a science of chaos has been steadily increasing. However, as with any media covered item, many misconceptions have arisen concerning chaos theory. The most commonly held misconception about chaos theory is that chaos theory is about disorder. Nothing could be further from the truth! Chaos theory is not about disorder! It does not disprove determinism or dictate that ordered systems are impossible; it does not invalidate experimental evidence or claim that modelling complex systems is useless. The "chaos" in chaos theory is order--not simply order, but the very ESSENCE of order.

It is true that chaos theory dictates that minor changes can cause huge fluctuations. But one of the central concepts of chaos theory is that while it is impossible to exactly predict the state of a system, it is generally quite possible, even easy, to model the overall behavior of a system. Thus, chaos theory lays emphasis not on the disorder of the system--the inherent unpredictability of a system--but on the order inherent in the system--the universal behavior of similar systems.

Thus, it is incorrect to say that chaos theory is about disorder. To take an example, consider Lorenz's Attractor. The Lorenz Attractor is based on three differential equations, three constants, and three initial conditions. The attractor represents the behavior of gas at any given time, and its condition at any given time depends upon its condition at a previous time. If the initial conditions are changed by even a tiny amount, say as tiny as the inverse of Avogadro's number (a heinously small number with an order of 1E-24), checking the attractor at a later time will yield numbers totally different. This is because small differences will propagate themselves recursively until numbers are entirely dissimilar to the original system with the original initial conditions.

However, the plot of the attractor will look very much the same.
Both systems will have totally different values at any given time, and yet the plot of the attractor--the overall behavior of the system--will be the same. Chaos theory predicts that complex nonlinear systems are inherently unpredictable--but, at the same time, chaos theory also insures that often, the way to express such an unpredictable system lies not in exact equations, but in representations of the behavior of a system--in plots of strange attractors or in fractals. Thus, chaos theory, which many think is about unpredictability, is at the same time about predictability in even the most unstable systems.

How is chaos theory applicable to the real world?

Everyone always wants to know one thing about new discoveries--what good are they? So what good is chaos theory? First and foremost, chaos theory is a theory. As such, much of it is of use more as scientific background than as direct applicable knowledge. Chaos theory is great as a way of looking at events which happen in the world differently from the more traditional strictly deterministic view which has dominated science from Newtonian times. Moviegoers who watched Jurassic Park are surely aware that chaos theory can profoundly affect the way someone thinks about the world; and indeed, chaos theory is useful as a tool with which to interpret scientific data in new ways. Instead of a traditional X-Y plot, scientists can now interpret phase-space diagrams which--rather than describing the exact position of some variable with respect to time--represents the overall behavior of a system. Instead of looking for strict equations conforming to statistical data, we can now look for dynamic systems with behavior similar in nature to the statistical data--systems, that is, with similar attractors. Chaos theory provides a sound framework with which to develop scientific knowledge.

However, this is not to say that chaos theory has no applications in real life. Chaos theory techniques have been used to model biological systems, which are of course some of the most chaotic systems imaginable. Systems of dynamic equations have been used to modeleverything from population growth to epidemics to arrhythmic heart palpitations. In fact, almost any chaotic system can be readily modeled--the stock market provides trends which can be analyzed with strange attractors more readily than with conventional explicit equations; a dripping faucet seems random to the untrained ear, but when plotted as a strange attractor, reveals an eerie order unexpected by conventional means. Fractals have cropped up everywhere, most notably in graphic applications like the highly successful Fractal Design Painter series of products. Fractal image compression techniques are still under research, but promise such amazing results as 600:1 graphic compression ratios. The movie special effects industry would have much less realistic clouds, rocks, and shadows without fractal graphic technology. And of course, chaos theory gives people a wonderfully interesting way to become more interested in mathematics, one of the more unpopular pursuits of the day.
Uncertainty Principle on NUMB3RS

Nature in Numbers...
I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics" - Richard Feynman
It seems that each century brings about a radical model revising the then standard view of the Universe. Heisenberg's Uncertainty principle was part of the revolution, in the first half of the 20th century, which redefined the constructs of the Universe. Heisenberg’s proposal happened to be so drastic that it made Quantum mechanics unacceptable for Albert Einstein. It states that the more certain “we” are of an electron’s position around the atom, the less certain our knowledge of its momentum becomes. Einstein believed in a Universe of finite possibilities; in other words, a Universe wherein anything can be calculated with absolute precision using mathematical equations. As it turned out, this was not the case with Quantum mechanics.
According to the Uncertainty Principle, it is theoretically impossible to calculate with certainty any quantity at the Quantum scale. Mathematically speaking, a single electron is everywhere in the Universe, except for the rare case where it comes in physical contact with a photon. Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle gave rise to the chaotic and complex world of elementary particles, superposition, entanglement, parallel universes, and double digit dimensions. A simple four letter equation drew a new picture of the atom, one in which probability, not determinism, dictates the state of the Universe.

It is a perplexing thought that the chaos and uncertainty at the Quantum scale somehow adds up to yield a stable ordered world that we have come to known. The Universe has absolutely no reason to be in such perfect symphony.

Monday, September 11, 2006

All About Bryan Adams

Step right up, folks. It's time to see the sole Canadian musician capable of writing a tear-jerking chart-topper, flirting with royalty and saving the whales -- all while sweatily thrashing around a stage like it's the summer of '69. Call him a man of many talents -- we'll just call him Bryan Adams. Juggling a multitude of roles is all in a day's work for the 46-year-old Vancouver-bred CanRock songster you've known and loved for decades. Want him to sing? He can sing. Want him to rock? He can rock. Want him to photograph the Queen for a postage stamp? He can do that, too. We know it's true -- everything Adams does, he does for you. And because he's a ...

HOPELESS ROMANTIC A Bryan Adams song without the words "love" and "baby" is almost as rare as a wedding reception void of his mushy ballads. And like a gentleman, Adams keeps his love life out of tabloids, with the exception of an alleged royal fling in 2003 (see Sugar Daddy). Until then, the balladeer serenaded long-term supermodel girlfriend/Bond girl Cecilie Thomsen, who also starred in videos for Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? and Let's Make a Night to Remember .
TELLING LYRIC: You know it's true, everything I do -- I do it for you.

ROCK 'N' ROLLER Lovey-dovey crap aside, Adams can rock. Not in that bat-decapitating Ozzy Osbourne way, but in that wholesome dude-next-door way. Superstar producer Robert John (Mutt) Lange (Def Leppard, Shania Twain) gave him a mid-career lesson in Stardom 101 and had a hand in the 1991 smash Waking Up the Neighbours. Party-hearty anthems like Summer of '69 and 18 Til I Die reveal Adams' rockin' side -- if the guitar permanently attached to his hip weren't enough.
TELLING LYRIC: I got my first real six string / Bought it at the five and dime / Played it 'till my fingers bled / It was the summer of '69.

HUMANITARIAN Adams passes on the Canadian bacon, but don't bug him for being unpatriotic. He's vegan -- and voted one of PETA's sexiest at that. Elephants and whales also top his list of animals to save. Adams co-wrote 1985 charity tune Tears Are Not Enough for Ethiopian famine relief, played at the Philadelphia Live Aid concert and at last July's Live 8 gig in Barrie, Ont. Since losing a close friend to breast cancer, the strummer's supported research for the disease with profits from his photography books, Made in Canada and American Women.
TELLING LYRIC: On a day like today the whole world could change / The sun's gonna shine shine through the rain.

MAN'S MAN Transportation of choice: motorcycle. Outfit of choice: Well-worn jeans, T-shirt and sneakers. No. of bike accidents: One known. No. of gunshot wounds: One, from an air rifle, received while riding a bike through London. 'Nuff said.
TELLING LYRIC: Yeah, we can get some beer / Yeah, let's get outta here.

SUGAR DADDY Adams sometimes crosses the line between romantic and erotic in his lyrics, and supposedly elsewhere. That is, if we are to believe rumours that he turned a boyish crush on Princess Diana into a full-blown affair shortly after her divorce from Prince Charles in 1996. And if we buy more rumours of a thing with Pamela Anderson and a drunken fling with Kate Moss. While Adams is a pro at keeping mum about his endeavors, he'll admit to having pictures of Cindy Crawford, Christie Brinkley and Scarlett Johansson -- but only because he took their photos for Made in America.
TELLING LYRIC: From your feet up to your hair, more than anything I swear / I wanna be your underwear.

POP SCENESTER Between the Hollywood soundtracks and radio-friendly tunes, Adams is a regular Britney Spears. OK, maybe that's pushing it. However, his first single was a'79 disco track called, Let Me Take You Dancing (which he has since denied exists). There's his nine No. 1 singles and trademark gushy flick hits. And the fact that he went to high school with Michael J. Fox and sang bubblegummy collaborations with Rod Stewart, Sting and Spice Girl Mel C. give him enough pop potential to host MTV's TRL
TELLING LYRIC: Baby when you're gone (when you're gone) / I realize I'm in love (so in love) / Days go on and on / And the nights just seem so long