March 27, 2008
Driving Styles
I am sure most of you must have got this as a forwarded mail. Just thought of sharing it since all of us need a good laugh from time to time :)
Different Driving Styles ...
One hand on steering wheel, one hand out of window. - Sydney
One hand on steering wheel, one hand on horn- Japan
One hand on steering wheel, one hand on newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator... - Boston
Both hands on steering wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror- New York
Both hands in air, gesturing, both feet on accelerator, head turned to talk to someone in back seat- Italy
One hand on horn, one hand on holding gear, one ear listening to loud music, one ear on cell phone, one foot on accelerator, one foot on clutch, nothing on break, eyes on people in next car, *** - Welcome to INDIA!
March 26, 2008
Olympic Fever
The Olympic torch was lit two days ago in Athens as usual. This got me thinking about India's participation in the Games. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to find out about India's participation in the Olympics this year.
Like millions of other people I went to my favourite site google.com and searched for Team India. After about half an hour's search all my enthusiasm wore down and was instead replaced by frustration and anger. Even after 30 minutes I was unable to find one proper site which listed the people who have been shortlisted to participate this year.
All I got was one lousy site which I believe is the official site for Indian Olympic team. For all eager Olympic followers the site is
http://www.olympic.ind.in/Like millions of other people I went to my favourite site google.com and searched for Team India. After about half an hour's search all my enthusiasm wore down and was instead replaced by frustration and anger. Even after 30 minutes I was unable to find one proper site which listed the people who have been shortlisted to participate this year.
All I got was one lousy site which I believe is the official site for Indian Olympic team. For all eager Olympic followers the site is
I don't know where to start commenting about the site. Before that just go through the following two sites as well.
Well let me start with the layout and format. This is probably the worst site designed ever for big government. Any 5th standard kid could have done a better job. Some links are broken and the whole look and feel is horrible, to say the least. They have given a number of external links which point to the official Olympic site for Beijing 2008, Commonwealth games, etc. If only the designer had taken some time off and visited these sites the design would have been much better.
Once I thought about my initial quest I forgot about the poor appearance of the site and decided to start the hunt for Team india. Alas I was up for more disappointment. The site had wonderful photos of all the committee members of the association but failed to even mention the members of the team. Not a single scrap of information about anything to do with the team that's supposed to go nor about the accomplishments of Indian athletes in previous Olympics.
Now I'm left wondering why no names are mentioned... Is it because no one is going? Have the old athletes been forgotten so fast? Is it because the committee members are so self absorved that the site is serving as a publicity portal for them? Who maintains these sites? Doesn't anyone bother to update them??
All this when India is supposed to be brimming with software professionals who are filled with talent. Can't the govt find just two people to bring the site to a decent shape and maintain it with constant updates???
I guess these are questions which will never be answered. Questions asked in vain...
March 24, 2008
Dancing with the Stars
Since nothing interesting was being telecast we decided to watch the season opening of Dancing with the Stars. The star ladies were scheduled to dance on this episode and it had a great list of people (Monica Seles, Priscilla Presley, etc) so we decided to give it a shot.
The show was pretty good and we enjoyed watching everyone trying to tread safely in unchartered waters as novices though each one is a pro in their own area. What really caught my attention was Marlee Matlin's dance.
I have added the link for the video for those who have missed it. Watch it before reading further.
This lady is just phenomenal. The main thing for dance is music and rhythm. Marlee, being deaf, can't hear the music. She still managed to dance so superbly in spite of this deficiency. It was just spectacular and really inspirational watching her dance like that. Seeing something like this motivated people to go out and do whatever they are doubtful about. I definitely got motivated seeing the dance.
Before I sign off, a word of praise for Fabian - the dance partner. He deserves praise too. It's no small achievement to make someone like that dance so well in tune. Hats off to both of them.
The show was pretty good and we enjoyed watching everyone trying to tread safely in unchartered waters as novices though each one is a pro in their own area. What really caught my attention was Marlee Matlin's dance.
I have added the link for the video for those who have missed it. Watch it before reading further.
This lady is just phenomenal. The main thing for dance is music and rhythm. Marlee, being deaf, can't hear the music. She still managed to dance so superbly in spite of this deficiency. It was just spectacular and really inspirational watching her dance like that. Seeing something like this motivated people to go out and do whatever they are doubtful about. I definitely got motivated seeing the dance.
Before I sign off, a word of praise for Fabian - the dance partner. He deserves praise too. It's no small achievement to make someone like that dance so well in tune. Hats off to both of them.
March 20, 2008
Sunset
Today evening while I sat reading a book I happened to look outside the window. I was just fascinated by the sight that met my eyes - the beauty of sunset. The dimming rays of light were giving a golden tint to everything that they touched - the leaves, branches, grass and even the garbage bin.
Sunrise and sunset are the most beautiful occurrences each day. I've captured more sunsets than sunrise (since I'm not a very early waker). This sunset made me revisit my photo collection to enjoy the sunsets I had managed to capture.
Hopkinton Park (Frozen lake)
Hopkinton Park
On our way back from Harvard
Sunrise and sunset are the most beautiful occurrences each day. I've captured more sunsets than sunrise (since I'm not a very early waker). This sunset made me revisit my photo collection to enjoy the sunsets I had managed to capture.
Hopkinton Park (Frozen lake)
Hopkinton Park
Hopkinton Park
On our way back from Harvard
March 16, 2008
The Mystery of the Stolen Identity
Two days ago my husband told me that my brother was online on yahoo messenger. This puzzled me for two reasons.
1. It was almost midnight. He never came online at that time.
2. His final board exams were taking place and he was supposed to be studying for that. (For those unfamiliar with the board exams in India all I can say it is life and death matter for us :) )
So I decided to investigate into the matter. I messaged him twice on the messenger but did not get a response on either occasions. This could only mean one thing - his id had been hacked. Now this was bad news. I got worried and told my brother about this. He also wondered about who could have done that.
Yesterday again we found the culprit online with my bro's id. This time my husband took matters into his hand and instead of sending a tame 'Hi' he sent a threatening note about reporting him to the police for having stolen the id. Now we both knew it was a harmless threat coz first of all how were we going to get his ip and then track him down?
Guess what the threat worked. The person who was using the id got scared and sent in a confession :) He turned out to be a friend of my brother. He also sent in a detailed explanation that my bro had signed in using his PDA and due to some problem in the PDA it automatically signed in using my bro's id instead. He sent a long explanation about trying to figure out how to resolve it. He immediately text messaged my bro also about it.
Today I called my brother and told him about it and we all had a good laugh. The funniest part was that his friend ultimately uninstalled yahoo messenger and reinstalled it. Wow... What a classic case of stolen identity and problem caused by technical problems in Yahoo.
Well that solved the mystery. And what a fast closure :)
1. It was almost midnight. He never came online at that time.
2. His final board exams were taking place and he was supposed to be studying for that. (For those unfamiliar with the board exams in India all I can say it is life and death matter for us :) )
So I decided to investigate into the matter. I messaged him twice on the messenger but did not get a response on either occasions. This could only mean one thing - his id had been hacked. Now this was bad news. I got worried and told my brother about this. He also wondered about who could have done that.
Yesterday again we found the culprit online with my bro's id. This time my husband took matters into his hand and instead of sending a tame 'Hi' he sent a threatening note about reporting him to the police for having stolen the id. Now we both knew it was a harmless threat coz first of all how were we going to get his ip and then track him down?
Guess what the threat worked. The person who was using the id got scared and sent in a confession :) He turned out to be a friend of my brother. He also sent in a detailed explanation that my bro had signed in using his PDA and due to some problem in the PDA it automatically signed in using my bro's id instead. He sent a long explanation about trying to figure out how to resolve it. He immediately text messaged my bro also about it.
Today I called my brother and told him about it and we all had a good laugh. The funniest part was that his friend ultimately uninstalled yahoo messenger and reinstalled it. Wow... What a classic case of stolen identity and problem caused by technical problems in Yahoo.
Well that solved the mystery. And what a fast closure :)
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