Hey! What’s Going On? Anyone?

It is a testimony to the contradictory legacy of Pervez Musharraf that his departure from the President’s office in Islamabad should occasion joy in Pakistan but a sense of unease within the Indian establishment.

Last week, two leading op-ed columnists argued that current crisis in Kashmir calls for India to yield to the demands of the separatists, hold a plebiscite and accept the verdict of the Kashmiri people, even if that means secession.

Swaminathan Aiyar comes from a liberal perspective: he dislikes “ruling people against their will” and that “India has sought integration with Kashmir, not colonial rule. But Kashmiris nevertheless demand azaadi. And ruling over those who resent it so strongly for so long is quasi-colonialism, regardless of our intentions.” Vir Sanghvi, on the other hand, takes a cost-benefit approach. He argues that the costs of holding on to Kashmir—in economic and political terms—outweigh the benefits.

At first I thought I should write my own version of Five People You Meet in Heaven. But I am 99.95% certain that I am not going to heaven. Then I thought I should change it to Five People You Meet in Hell. But I don’t want to meet any of my friends and family in Hell. And I most definitely do not want to meet certain other people down there (I am not saying that I don’t want them to be in Hell. I just want them to be in a separate section, far away from me). Plus why waste breath writing about people who bug you.So, I am writing about IT. Although the people I have met can be found in any other industry too.

1] Frame an argument, or even your position on the subject, that states why Kashmir should remain part of India.

2] Then replace the word ‘India’ with ‘the British empire’, and ‘Kashmir’ with ‘India’.

I suspect that your sentiments will then appear rather similar to those expressed by Winston Churchill when he opposed India’s independence. The principle that our freedom fighters fought for then was that Indians alone should be in charge of India’s fate, and not the British; it could similarly be argued today that Kashmiris alone should be in charge of Kashmir’s fate, and not other Indians. Anything else is imperialism.

paying 36,000.00 for a 8 GB iPhone and 1,000.00 as rental per anum for just 600 MB of internet usage is rediculous. If you consider the life of iPhone as 2 years you would be shelling out 60,000.00 for your iPhone and two year mobile rental. that is per month your mobile’s basic expense is 2500/-. what about the other call charges??

Do you guys agree with me or disagree? speak out loud :)

Our list of technology visionaries includes the guy who invented a way to store data in a portable form—and who almost got demoted as a result. It recognizes the woman who popularized the term “bug” after a moth flew into a computer relay. And it acknowledges a genius who might have saved modern gaming by inventing Jump Man.

So it’s time to pay homage where homage is due. Here’s our take on the 50 most important people in the recent history of technology—the most critical players (including a few forgotten heroes) who’ve been instrumental in crafting the last 50 years of technical innovation.

Our opinion doesn’t have to be the last word on the subject, however. If you have additional nominees who deserve recognition, or if you want to chime in to agree with or reminisce about or rail against our choices, please add a comment to let us know.

1. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce

Unlike most of the other multiperson entries on our list, Robert Noyce (left) and Jack Kilby didn’t work together. But their common invention is still utterly crucial. In 1959, both men came up with the first integrated circuits—Kilby while he was at Texas Instruments, and Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor. The IC solved the problem of size that got worse and worse as the need to jam additional transistors into a device grew more and more critical. Packing them all into a single chip effectively ended the era of the room-size computer. Ultimately, Noyce’s design based on silicon, rather than Kilby’s based on germanium, became the standard—one that we still use today—but both designs were instrumental in pushing the technology forward. Kilby and Noyce are often overlooked, but the importance of their contribution to technology cannot be overstated. Nothing else on this list could exist without the underpinning of the integrated circuit.

This happened in Fall 2001, almost one month after I came to US for my Masters. I was sharing the room with three other guys. On a Saturday evening, a guy about 30 years old dressed formally came to our apartment with one of my roommates. He was talking about the cars he owns, the business trips he frequently makes to India and all that nice stuff and was projecting himself to be a millionaire.

This guy had brought a foldable white board with him. There were like ten of us in the room. He unfolded the board and wrote on it, “What is your dream in life?” He then wrote down everything each of us said. He took from that list to own a house and a car and asked us – “How long do you think it will take to buy a car and a house?” Being students and just landed in US car or a house was the last thing in our minds. We were looking at each other. That guy continued – “I was just like you 2 years back and now I am a millionaire; I have my own business, car and house and soon I will be thinking of retirement; all because I joined this business called Quixtar; if you join, you will also be a millionaire like me in another 2 years”.

Last night as I finished my last post I realised that I was filled with dread at the heap of personal abuse I was expecting when I logged on this morning and I was not wrong. We truly are a bunch of intolerant people. We want to be heard but do not have the strength to hear, we want to have an opinion but do not believe anyone else is entitled to one.

On last Sunday, I read an article on ” What we need to do if we want to win medals in Olympics”. The article talks about two models which we can adopt. One is a Chinese model, where we have to concentrate on low profile,medal rich games like weightlifting,shooting,rowing etc and give rigorous training to the aspirants.It is said that Chinese rigorously train children right from the age of 4-5 years only on the sole intention of winning a Olympic Medal. Second model is an American model, where we need to go for funding of sports at base level and then encourage people to take up sports.The article was well written. Probably India has to use mixture of both these models to win medals.The article allows me to think on what is necessary for Indian sports.

But questions like ‘What would India have been after Independence if Nehru had known of Jinnah’s tuberculosis and that he had only a few months to live?’ or ‘What if the Rajiv Gandhi government hadn’t overturned the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Shah Bano case?’ or ‘What if Shah Rukh Khan had stuck on to do many more episodes of Fauji on TV?’ Perhaps, it’s just as well that historians are shy of asking these questions.

http://hindustantimes.com/news/specials/popup/15-08-08_15days.pdf

I admire Hinduism as a truly evolved way of life. I respect Islam as a truly great religion. In which other country can I claim, without contradiction, to be both?

“Google is and will be and always has been vulnerable,” Robert Hansen, CEO of secTheory, told a standing-room-only audience at the Defcon security conference in Las Vegas. “They haven’t been open with consumers. Ultimately, this all comes down the the fact that they just want to track you guys.”

So, what’s an underemployed journalist to do? Some move on to academia or cross over to the dark side of public relations. But a few forward-thinking souls are heading to a land where journalism jobs not only aren’t disappearing, but are more plentiful by the day: India.

In recent years, India’s steamroller economy has diversified well beyond tech and outsourcing, including a big boom in the news media.

Many thanks in advance.

*******Updated*******

Here are sites pointed by commenter’s. Thank you very much for helping me to gather the information. Please keep posting if you know any other sites
1) Humsurfer
2) rambhai
3) BestofIndya
4) bookmarks.oneindia.in
5) NewsCola
6) http://www.dubbagol.com/
7) ???

...narcoanalysis reveals the truth. And the truth is apparently, that the Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray have funded Maoist activities. “Suspected naxalite” Arun Ferreira confirmed our deepest suspicions in his narcoanalysis test – while other political parties, bless their souls, will never fund maoist activities, he blurted out, Shiv Sena and the ABVP have always helped out the comrades with money.

1. USB Buddies
These small USB buddies look sweet and cool, but they are also damn useful! They look very distinctive and are available in a variety of styles — a small toy for big adults.

Rahul and Sourav clearly looked short of match practice. Their attempts to feel for the ball brought their downfall. Quality time in the middle should do them a world of good, if they want to keep the barking dogs at bay. They would know this more than anybody and its almost panic button time if they don’t get their act together. This pair might share a unique record of making their debut and their last appearance in test matches together, if things don’t brighten up for them personally.

The first principle of mental health is: Know thyself. One who does not know his own strength and weakness cannot be mentally healthy. We do not know our strength because we are weak and we feel a sense of being wretched. We become excited when somebody misbehaves with us because we do not know our weakness. In such cases we overlook ourselves and try to find fault with others.

“To be born an Englishman,” he mused, “Is to win first prize in the lottery of life.”

It wasn’t idle boasting. In the jingoistic triumphalism of the late 19th century, when waving the Union Jack was a simple pleasure, people sang: “Rule Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves” without any irony. It was a statement of fact.

A quarter of mankind lived under the British flag in the largest empire the world had ever known.

And many of those parts that weren’t under Britain’s rule – such as the U.S. – had been created by Britain.

British missionaries had opened up the Dark Continent almost unchallenged.

LAS VEGAS — Google knows almost everything connected to the Web, but there is one major source of untapped data the company has scarcely touched to date. Can you guess that area?

If you cried “e-commerce transactions” you would be right, according to analysts at the Gartner Symposium ITexpo 2008 here April 10.

Thanks to a powerful database management system and corresponding technologies, the company is able to access just about anything that hasn’t been encrypted, said Gartner analyst Richard Hunter in his presentation on what kind of information Google corrals on the world.

The one area where Google isn’t particularly strong is in e-commerce transactions, where its Google Checkout platform sees only about 1 percent of what is sold on the Internet.

“This is obviously an area of great interest for them because so much of their current revenue is devised of advertising,” Hunter said.

makes me wonder what the post submission has to do with “java” ?

Many a times you must have seen that inviting look in the eyes of your mate while she is gardening and you are reading that Sunday morning newspaper of yours feeling sexually aroused, so desperate yoMany a times you must have seen that inviting look in the eyes of your mate while she is gardening and you are reading that Sunday morning newspaper of yours feeling sexually aroused, so desperate you feel, to see her inviting looks, but instead you keep reading that newspaper page again and again

BTW: Java TALK is yet another dig/pligg clone.

The Tories called the Archbishop’s remarks “unhelpful” and the Lib Dems said all must abide by the rule of law.

Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to “face up to the fact” some citizens do not relate to the British legal system.

He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion.

For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.

‘Changes’

But the prime minister’s official spokesman said Sharia law could never be used as a justification for committing a breach of English law, nor could the principle of Sharia law be applied in a civil case.

He added that Mr Brown had a good relationship with the archbishop, who was perfectly entitled to express his views.

The spokesman also said: “There are instances where government has made changes for example on stamp duty but the general position is that Sharia cannot be used as justification for committing breaches of English law nor can its principles be used in civil courts.”

Religious courts in the UK

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: “To ask us to fundamentally change the rule of law and to adopt Sharia law, I think, is fundamentally wrong.”

He also said: “I don’t think there’s any place in the body of UK jurisdiction for Sharia law at all in those terms.”

For the Conservatives, shadow community cohesion minister Baroness Warsi said: “The Archbishop’s comments are unhelpful and may add to the confusion that already exists in our communities.

“Of course the important principle is one of equality and we must ensure that people of all backgrounds and religions are treated equally before the law. Freedom under the law allows respect for some religious practices.

“But let’s be absolutly clear. All British citizens must be subject to British laws developed through Parliament and the courts.”

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: “Whilst having an enormous amount of respect for Rowan Williams, I cannot agree with his conclusions on this issue.

“Equality before the law is part of the glue that binds our society together. We cannot have a situation where there is one law for one person and different laws for another.

“There is a huge difference between respecting peoples’ right to follow their own beliefs and allowing them to excuse themselves from the rule of law.”

‘Sensational’

Dr Williams said Muslims should not have to choose between “the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty”.

In an interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, Dr Williams argued this relied on Sharia law being better understood. At the moment, he said “sensational reporting of opinion polls” clouded the issue.

He stressed that “nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that’s sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well”.

But Dr Williams said an approach to law which simply said “there’s one law for everybody and that’s all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts – I think that’s a bit of a danger”.

Dr Williams added: “What we don’t want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people’s religious consciences.”

“We don’t either want a situation where, because there’s no way of legally monitoring what communities do… people do what they like in private in such a way that that becomes another way of intensifying oppression inside a community.”

Multiculturalism ‘divisive’

Under English law, people may devise their own way to settle a dispute in front of an agreed third party as long as both sides agree to the process.

Muslim Sharia courts and the Jewish Beth Din which already exist in the UK come into this category.

Mark Pritchard, Tory MP for the Wrekin, in Shropshire, said the Archbishop’s comments were “naive and shocking” and he accused him of “pseudo-theological appeasement”.

He said: “The Archbishop should be standing up for our Judeo-Christian principles that underpin British criminal law that have been hard fought for.

“He should be concentrating on winning souls into the Church of England rather than getting involved in politics.”

Last month, one of Dr Williams’s colleagues, the Bishop of Rochester, said that non-Muslims may find it hard to live or work in some areas of the UK.

The Right Reverend Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said there was “hostility” in some areas and described the government’s multicultural policies as divisive.

He said there had been a worldwide resurgence of Islamic extremism, leading to young people growing up alienated from the country they lived in.

He has since received death threats and has been placed under police protection.

One such event, which has cost the nation dear, was India’s fateful decision to complain to the United Nations when Pakistan invaded Jammu & Kashmir in October 1947. Two books that have hit the stands in recent weeks throw fresh light on this historic blunder committed by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. While leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Home Minister, wanted firm and swift military action to throw out the invaders, Nehru’s pusillanimity led him to beseech the world body and later to meekly submit to the UN Security Council’s advice to end military action. The ceasefire, ordered by Nehru, prevented the Indian Army from completely regaining the lost territory and was instrumental in the creation of a geographical entity that is known the world over as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

He may be a big icon, but i will call him a jerk

It used to be ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’. Then it was ‘Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan’. Today’s new age mantra is ‘For the Good of the Nation’.

The Congress says that the Indo-US nuclear deal is for the good of the nation. The Samajwadi Party says that the nuclear deal is for the good of the nation. The CPI and its allies and the BJP say the nuclear deal should not be operationalised for the good of the nation.

It is the contention of the CPI and its allies that if the government goes to the ‘aam aadmi’, the deal will be shot down. First of all let’s look at the relevant ‘aam aadmi’ with regards to the deal. Is the ‘aam aadmi’ the illiterate person who has never heard the word nuclear? If so, then yes, the naysayers have a valid point. The nuclear deal will be shot down.

Countries that have been traditional exporters of food are clamping down on export business. Food importing countries are pulling out all the stops to encourage inflows. Import-dependent poor countries are the worst hit by the growing crisis on the global food front and heavy drain on their exchange reserve due to crude oil prices hovering at $ 130-135 a barrel with no sign of relief. It is not as if the world has suddenly started to produce less food for all. It is simply that there now are new industrial uses for traditional food crops.

• (Female) You don’t have to shave your legs if you don’t want to. (Unless you’re on the prowl)
• 
  
• (Male) You can leave the toilet seat up.
• 
  
• Dinner with your parents isn’t as painful as it could potentially be.
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• You have your blankets all to yourself.
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• You can dance when you go out, you don’t have to sit down next to Mr/Miss I-Don’t-Dance, while all your friends have fun cutting loose (footloose)
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• Things are where you put them. Not where someone else thought it would be better suited.

• Waxing is optional. Not strongly suggested.
• 
  
• You don’t not get invited places because the inviter doesn’t want men/women there. It’s a girls/boys night, sorry.
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