Pressure

Sheer pressure ..
this peer pressure !

Tax

Since it is a TAXing time ... a quotation from my inbox !

A fine is a tax for doing something wrong.
A tax is a fine for doing something right.

PHOEMS

Starting tomorrow, I am going to introduce PHOEMS (PHOtography + poEMS) in my blog. This is a conscious step at showcasing my photography skills alongside my so-called-poems !

You know they are bachelors when ...

RSquare - Info needed

One of my friends has a potential offer from a US consultant stationed in New Jersey and Ohio. The firm is registered as RSquare.

Their website http://www.r-square.com/

Do you guys have any information about this consultant ? How good is the consultant ?

Please forward this to other folks who might be able to provide information regarding the same.

Network or Hard Work

The auto-rickshaw that I hailed for was FM-equipped (Who can ever miss that "Radio City .. FM 91" jingle). The RJ was presumably show-casing his gift of the gab, but knew his mundane yakety-yak like the back of his hand. A techie came on air and our Hero started talkin about job-hops. On being asked if finding greener pastures involved hardwork, the techie replied sayin "Network... not hard work" !!!

I was knocked down with a feather on hearing this. I kept tryin to debunk this theory thro'out my journey. It then dawned on me. The guy was absolutely correct. Have seen many a person getting into the right time at the right place due to their adroitness in maintaining a network.

Well, I guess all of us will now realize the value of a smile, a curt nod, or even off-the-shelf- ice-breakers !!!

I now languish at the umpteen opportunities that stared me in my face. Well, better late than never !!

Monu's Poem - A counter punch

Monu wrote

Nambikkai

Kadavul mel naan vaikkum nambikkai
-En punnagai

Translation for the above ..

Faith
My smile-The faith I keep in God

****************************************
Counter punch

Nambikkai
Kadavul en mel vaithirukkum nambikkai
-En kanneer

Translation for the above ...

Faith
The faith God has in me
- My tears

Bangalored

I was totally amused on coming across this toponym. I get bad vibes about this nevertheless!!! Is India's image getting tarnished ? Are people going to see Indians as a threat? That could lead to serious social problems !

http://www.worldwidewords.org/turnsofphrase/tp-ban1.htm

Good one

Spotted somewhere on the Internet

Nee neeyaga
Naan naayaga

Transliteration
You as you are
I as ...

forget it .. not worth translating .. it loses itz charm when traslated!!

Copy Paste Side Effect

Came across a funny bug in a piece of Java application code

for (int counter = 0 ; counter < maxCount; maxCount ++){ //code }

Gives away the amount of copy-paste that could have happened.

One more SMS Inspiration

Be careful when a guy says that he loves you from the bottom of his heart. This means that there is still space for another at the top :)

I actually was re-gendered this SMS to avoid jibes ! I didn't want to sound chauvinistic.

Blog Readers

Do you guys use Blog readers ?

If that sounded like Greek and Latin, Blog readers are light-weight tools that can be installed on one's PC. This tool allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds from various blogs (blogspot provides the RSS feed for every blogger), and 'alert's you whenever a new post is added to a subscribed blog.

If you guys are already using one, suggest some good readers.

Early in Love

SMS Inspiration

Thamizh Version
Oru ponnu azhudha, adhukku aariyam karanam irukkum
Oru payyan azhudha, adhukku oru ponnu dhaan karanama irukkum

English Version
If a girl cries, she may have 1000 reasons
If a boy cires, a girl can be the only reason.

I C E

A forward that I think is worth forwarding ...

Ambulance Service have launched a national & international "In case of Emergency ( ICE ) " campaign. The idea is that you store the word " I C E " in your mobile phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency". In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them. It's so simple that everyone can do it. Please do. It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. For more than one contact name ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc.

English music - Online Streaming

Guys,

Is there a good website where I can listen to English music online ? I do not want to download them. Prefer websites that lets you choose the artist whom you want to listen to.

Heavy duty @ work

Not able to post regularly coz of work. Will be back soon :)

Quotable Quotes

Some of the quotes permanently etched into my memory were delivered by my teachers at school and college.

1. No sentence begins with because because because is a conjunction. (English teacher @ school)

2. Without your knowledge, you are without knowledge (Math Professor in college)

3. You guys are devils in disguise (English Ma'am @ school. We learnt many idioms from
her :( this way)

4. Anybody one boy talk, I nicely give beat (Sports Instructor @ school)

5. Yes .. One Problem, Many solution(sic) - (Math prof in college, when confronted by a student with an solution/answer different from what the Prof had arrived at)

And this is the one that I always keep close to my heart. Somehow, it inspired a lot of confidence in me.

6. I'm just learning .. (Another English Professor @ school - This is what he asked us to tell others/ourselves whenever someone points out mistakes in our language)

The following funny quote from my roomate is worth a mention

7. The problem with girls is that they make "F off" sound like "F me". (When asked why he was unsuccessful in getting a girl friend)

Beat away the blues

I often end up under the weather on Monday (and Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Thursdays) mornings. I often used to wonder if there was any antidote for this malady. Recently found one !!

Just sing out your favorite peppy number every morning. Trust me, you cannot sing out loud (even your hey-they-are-playing-my-song song) and feel blue at the same time. I find this a sure-shot method to drive away my blues.

Try it to believe it !

Ending this on a famous quote .

The woods would be dead silent if only the bird with the best voice should sing !!

Drinker's special

A ARISTOCRAT
B BAGPIPER
C CONTESSA
D DIRECTOR SPECIAL
E EIGHT PM
F FUN DROP
G GOD FATHER
H HAYWARDS
I IMPERIAL BLUE
J JOHNY WALKER
K KING FISHER
L LIME DROP
M MUGHAL MONARCH
N NO.1
O OLD MONK
P PETER SCOTT
R ROYAL STAG
S SEA GRAM
T TEACHERS
U UB STRONG
V VAT 69
X XXX
Z ZINGARO

Red letter day

People .... mark this day on all your calenders. This is a red-letter day for me. I am setting out on a critical mission and hoping to come out with flying colors. Will post the result of my mission after a month.

Mission Autograph

Am on a mission now. Am making an effort to keep in touch with all those friends from school and college. Work pressure is probably what made me fall out of touch with these guys.

P.S: I began my mission yesterday after leafing through my school and college autograph books :)

A different kind of Math

Love : 1 + 1 = 1
Friendship : 1 + 1 = 2
Lust : 1 + 1 = 3

:)

Broadband thro power lines

IBM is expected to announce a partnership Monday with CenterPoint Energy, a utility based in Houston, to develop broadband services to be delivered over electric power lines.
The companies will open a technology center in Houston to test and demonstrate the technology for consumers and other utility providers. CenterPoint Energy will also set up a pilot program in about 220 Houston homes that will run through August.
Because power lines can carry data as well as electricity, utilities and broadband companies are hoping the technology will allow consumers to get high-speed Internet connections simply by plugging a special adapter into a wall outlet. Some utilities, including Con Edison in New York, have started offering such services on a limited basis.
By relying on the adapters, which currently cost about $200 but are expected to become less expensive, utilities do not need to send a worker to install equipment. Consumers can use the adapters in any room with an outlet.

Read the complete article here

Rajini flicks

Overheard some ardent Kamal fans making these jokes ..

Rajini is acting in a film opposite Trisha. The movie's name - Unakku 18, yenakku 60

Rajini's 'Chandramukhi' to be released in Japan/China. Movie to be rechristened as 'Chappamukhi'.

Thalapathi to be remade as Thalavali.

Weapon

The most powerful weapon against man .... is a woman's tears.

Obsolete Mainframes

Here is an interesting comment, proving the relevance and the usefulness and of mainframe in a light hearted way..

Mainframe - An obsolete device still used by thousands of obsolete companies, serving billions of obsolete customers, and making huge obsolete profits, for their obsolete shareholders. And this year's run twice as fast as last year's. (Phil Payne)

Why Russians are masters of chess

A good joke, enjoy !!

After months of negotiation with the authorities, a Talmudist from Odessa was

granted permission to visit Moscow. He boarded the train and found an empty

seat.

At the next stop a young man got on and sat next to him. The scholar looked at

the young man and thought: This fellow doesn't look like a peasant, and if he

isn't a peasant he probably comes from this district. If he comes from this

district, then he must be Jewish because this is, after all, a Jewish district.

On the other hand, if he is a Jew, where could he be going? I'm the only Jew in

our district who has permission to travel to Moscow.

Ahh? But just outside Moscow there is a little village called Samvet, and Jews

don't need special permission to go there. But why would he be going to Samvet?

He's probably going to visit one of the Jewish families there, but how many

Jewish families are there in Samvet? Only two - the Bernsteins and the

Steinbergs. The Bernsteins are a terrible family, and a nice looking fellow

like him must be visiting the Steinbergs. But why is he going? The Steinbergs

have only daughters, so maybe he's their son-in-law.

But if he is, then which daughter did he marry? They say that Sarah married a

nice lawyer from Budapest, and Esther married a businessman from Zhitomer, so

it must be Sarah's husband. Which means that his name is Alexander Cohen, if

I'm not mistaken. But if he comes from Budapest, with all the anti-Semitism

they have there, he must have changed his name.

What's the Hungarian equivalent of Cohen? Kovacs. But if they allowed him to

change his name, he must have some special status. What could it be? A

doctorate from the University.

At this point the scholar turns to the young man and says, "How do you do, Dr.

Kovacs?"

"Very well, thank you, sir." answered the startled passenger. But how is it

that you know my name?"

"Oh," replied the Talmudist, "it was obvious."

Late Hours * Productivity = constant?

Why dont people understand this concept ? Work Smart instead of Work Hard should be the motto.

LOVE

I came
We saw
You conquered !

GOOGLE tricks

To define a word, phrase or acronym, just type define: and then your term into Google's search box. The results include a variety of Web glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Google tricks such as using quotes to search for a specific phrase or the tilde to search for synonyms of a word can be lifesavers. But not if you can't remember them.
The Google Cheat Sheet, a list of commonly used operators, deserves a spot next to your monitor.

* What does Google ''think" of you? Find out at Googlism, where the search results for a word or phrase are analyzed and your "who," "what," "when" or "where" query is answered.

* The Google Zeitgeist keeps track of what's being searched for at that moment. Check out the search terms gaining in popularity or head to the archives to see what was hot a few years ago.

* Want to know when people are talking about you? Create a Google Alert for your name and Google will e-mail you whenever a news or search item pops up with you in it.

Exclusive Magazine Store in Brigade Rd

Came across this information in today's Hindu. There is now a shop exclusively selling magazines. The icing - they sell it for a fraction of the original price.

Worth checking out

For folks too tired to follow the link ....


Magazines, the new store on Church Street, offers foreign mags and back issues at unbelievable prices

The Wall Street Journal or The Statesman,you're sure to find it here

Magazine buying won't be the same in the city now that we've got a lavish new nook called, well, Magazines. This outlet on Church Street by Noor Hussain Sait and Yahya Sait, the siblings who run Variety Book House, is the magazine store in town.
For those who don't know Variety Book House, it is the shop by the side of K.C. Das at the other end of Church Street, which sells every newspaper from The Wall Street Journal to The Statesman and has a loyal clientele. Magazines is their second store and is exclusively devoted to magazines from the U.K., U.S. and, of course, India. Spread over an area of 2,000 sq ft, it has everything from The Week to Maxim.
"We used to have a magazine sale before, which was a big hit. Soon people started asking us for more and more back issues. So I approached my cousin who told me this place was available, and in less than 15 days this was set up," says Yahya.
The outlet's USP is you get print fresh copies of even back issues. No more buying dog-eared or torn copies from raddiwallahs. And what's more, you get an 80-90 per cent discount on them. Like a copy of F1-Racing for as little as Rs. 30.
"We have a tie-up with the publishers who send us the magazines. There is something for everyone here. Diving, shooting, hunting, cycling, running... The prices are very cheap. You can't find them anywhere else for lesser than this," Yahya says.
There is no disputing the fact that there is something for everyone here. As you enter the store the shelves on the left are for Indian magazines while the ones on the right and on the tables are the foreign ones. They are neatly categorised into interiors, cinema, men, women, fashion, fitness, computers and politics. The Indian magazines are mostly current issues.
All the fun begins when you start going through the piles of magazines from abroad. The first ones that catch your eye are those devoted to celebrities such as OK! and People.
The sports section is the most elaborate in the store. You have magazines for every imaginable sport. Baseball, rugby, football, formula one, golf, diving, shooting, cricket, and even skiing. Magazines such as AS, F1-Racing and Wisden Cricket can be picked for practically next to nothing. Some of them even come with charismatic posters.
For those who want to find out who is hot and who's not, there is a host of glamour magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Esquire, FHM, Stuff and Maxim.
The best-selling stuff apart, there also niche magazines. Airports is for aviation enthusiasts, Autocar and its likes are for gasoline addicts, Popular Science, Scientific America and Astronomy for the geeks and Muscle and Fitness are for the brawny kind. Music lovers can satisfy themselves with a copy of Rolling Stone or Gramophone.
The deal is even sweeter when it comes to computer and gaming books. These books come with free CDs which have loads of software and demo games. The Playstation magazines even come with demo cartridges.
The serious reader needn't feel left out. The likes of the New Yorker can be found on the shelves along with National Geographic. The kids' section here is exclusive. You can find all sorts of colourful books for your brats here. The range is just simply mind-boggling.
And don't worry about walking to the other end of the road to Variety to get your daily dose of newspapers; the same papers are available here also. Also you can subscribe to the magazines as well as the newspapers.
At present, the brothers have no plans to sell anything other than magazines and newspapers at the store.
Magazines is located at B-04, Prestige R.R. Building, Church Street (Brigade Road end).

Before the wedding

Before the wedding
Originally uploaded by Idol.

After the wedding

After the wedding
Originally uploaded by Idol.

Paints the true picture

Love is TRULY Blind :)

Anniyan - Take 2

Frustrated with the heat, I got into a A/C multiplex hall in Madurai. The options I had were
1. Arindhum Ariyamalum (Already seen that flick)
2. Ullam Ketkume (NO more)
3. Anniyan

The choice was easy. Stepped in to watch Anniyan for the second time.

After giving it a 4/10 the first time, I was surpised at how much I liked the movie the second time around. At the end, I thought it was a brilliant movie. Some observations ...

1. Vikram spells Victory. Now that Kamal Hassan's heydays are nearing an end, Vikram is the only one capable of carrying the baton. There isn't anyone (Hero) else in the Tamil industry who will be able to break away from the stereotypes and deliver such different roles. Vijay,who in my view, is nothing more than a Rajinikanth in the making, will never be able to cater to the class audience. Ajith ... well, he is far behind in the race. Madhavan and the young brigade - Simbu, Dhanush, Bharath are just finding their feet in the industry.

Vikram histrionic talents were clearly visible in the movie. Once more ace from him. I noticed the well-oiled body language and dialogue-delivery of the 'Rules Ramanujam alias Ambi' character. Most brahmins would agree that he has done a good job of potraying the character.

The R.E.M.O character not to my liking though. The 'Anniyan' character was probably the flavor of the month. I felt that the voice-modulation was too similar to Kamal Hassan's in Indian.

2. Art : Now that I knew the story, I looked for better things in the movie the second time around. The creative 'sets' in the 'Randaka Randaka' song was too good. Roads painted to resemble silk sarees, lorries painted like faces, etc.

3. Climax - A good punch !! Most would have expected the ending though !

I guess the 'Ambi' in me saw the movie the first time. It was more of REMO the second time :)

Madurai - A travelogue

Am back from Madurai after an arduous and enervating journey. The mercury was soaring and came close to setting a new record. We still braved the heat and visited Meenakshi Temple, Azhagar Temple and Thirumalai Naickker Mahal.

Meenakshi Temple was exciting. We needed almost 2 hours to cover the entire temple. The sheer size was astonishing. The biggest dissapointment at the temple was the so-called-museum. The museum was in a bad state and poor maintenace showed. Many exhibits seem to be just love-boards for lovers. I can't stand people defacing public property (The Anniyan Effect). The musical pillars were in a shoddy state and wasn't quite marketed well.

We were too intimidated by the heat and decided to take an auto-rickshaw to Azhagar Temple. The driver seized the opportunity with both hands, for, we had to shell out 250/- for the journey. Our next stop was Naickker Mahal, the palace of the once-opulent Thirumalai Naickker.

Naickker Mahal was the biggest dissapointment of the whole tour. It was in such a bad state that we wondered if it was a hoax. The roof which was once embellished with rich architectural patterns was now filled with cracks. The Mahal now belongs to the Archeology Dept. I guess the funds that are disbursed for renovation are siphoned off to feather some nests !

The most pleasant thing about the trip was the Madurai makkal. They were so helpful, mild-mannered and smiling. I just love the Madurai folks ( I have understood that exceptions cannot be examples). Hats of to you guys !

A few tips from Jax

Jax dropped in yesterday. He gave a few pointers on blogging. I am now exploring the allconsuming.net and bloglines options that he introduced me to. You can see the allconsuming snippet in the sidebar.

Well, I did have to grease Jax's palm to get him talking. I made him a wonderful South Indian dinner :)

Double Promotion

Kyokushin Karate
Originally uploaded by Idol.

I had my Karate Grading Sunday last. Being my first, it was a daunting task in itself. First up, we (WHITE belts) were told that we would need to engage in combats with the Brown and Black belts. That sent shivers down our spines though we tried to put up a brave face.

The grading turned out to be relatively simple for us. The color belts had it tough. It was an enervating session. We were left panting as the session inched towards closure. Just when we were basking in the glory of what we were about to achieve , IT happened. The combats began !!

To make things worse, the first combat was between 2 black belts. It totally shook us up. The combat was brutual ! I thought Karate was an art :) until then.

Well, I volunteered to fight since I wanted to feel the real thing ! I ended up fighting a brown belt. He welcomed me with a couple of swift face-kicks that sent me reeling. In the end, I returned to my camp with a battered jaw and swollen ankle. But I managed to scale down the FEAR Factor a bit :)

Allz well that ends well ...

The results came out a couple of days back. I got a double promotion :). I am now a WHITE SENIOR B-)

P.S : The results came out on Tuesday, but I was waiting to get this photo (Kyokushin symbol) uploaded.