This is a test post that I am trying from the AJAX'd word processor. This seems to be cool. I had already used a collaborative software, where people can edit a document real time, but that was a properitory software and required license. I guess that was from the Microsoft!..I forgot the name though. It had been long time, since I used anything so refershing and so innovative. This application seems to be working great!

AJAX- or Asynchronous Javascript and XML is a revolutionary concept that is powering the Internet,(Yeah, it powers your GMail too)...This architecture, makes it possible to work in the Internet, as if you are working on your desktop. Most of the Web 2.0 applications that are creating so much buzz around the net is built on this AJAX architecture!

Though this seems to be slow than directly posting from Blogger, I guess, if the blog is a collaborative blog, where the entire post is being edited and vetted by more than a single individual, then this makes enourmous sense. Anyway, the technology part of it, enthuses me to no end. I simly love this interface. I am posting this from a site called, Writely . I am having some problems with HTML tagging my links and some other aligning issues to do with the HTML Coding part of it. But I guess, I will be able to edit them from my blogger account. But, if I need to log into my blogger account to edit a post I made from this site, then why do I need this site atall. I would rather get into my blogger to make the post.

The use of such a service would be clear only with a multi user environment and a single user would not find the advantages of such a system, immediately.

Update: I was unable to post from that site, till the end- ie till my patience ran out!..It kept giving me an error message as "Closing Tag for "p" or "div" or is missing"...I think, these guys should seriously make an attempt to clear this goofup.. Infact, I had closed all the possible HTML Tags there and still was getting the same message. I even tried removing the tag. but no use.

So, there was a news item some days back that, Google might be considering buying Slashdot! Yeah, I understand that it is rumour, but the thought itself is not something that ought to be rubbished on!..Slashdot, as I had understood, has one of the most effective moderation logic[PDF File] built into it and is in someways similar to the page ranking algorithm that Google uses.

Now, the page ranking technology too is a modified version of this "Mob-Moderated" logic, where in I call Social Ranking!!. I know, Google had been trying to perfect this technology, but what I see them going towards is, starting off as a fun, then slowly moving towards a more user moderated search engine, that would be very near to the context specific search that is the Holy Grail of the search engine wars.

Let us take the example of this fun at Googleplex! What is this, but Slashdot style Moderation? and I don't think Googlers are so much without work to try working on this hard-to-build system, without planning something big!

Think how Google can use this moderation with personalised search...The user can moderate the search results- just like the "Remove Result" option that personalised Google search offers now, and as this option gets used by more and more people, there is a way to control spam in the search results!

And as an after thought, will leave you with a couple of links that I thought would be worth sharing!

Does belief in God Bad and Injurious to health? [Via Metafilter]

If you are interested in Market Research, then I guess you need to take a look at this one![Via O'Reilly]

Just a sequel read to my earlier posting on the Tagging phenomenon. This one deals with the Cognitive Process of Tagging!

And it occured to me that, this blog is no more just another entity, this Blog had gone so much into me, that whenever I see it unupdated, I feel so sad...It is more than the lack of purpose...so, what if I make that itself a purpose- I maintain a blog, to update it...just that...

It felt so bad these days, when I had so much to write, but didn't know, why I should write them...Be it the recent controversy of Indian Cricket, or theDriving License mockery that I went through, or the Google's announcement to do away with the Index number game...There are always things to write, things to share it with, things to discuss...But the purpose of it- I didn't quite get it....

Then I realised that I had been fooling myself, as if there was a purpose, external of me....as if I was looking in the outer world for a reason for my actions...I couldn't grasp the thought that I could blog for none....

It is then I realised, that the purpose for me is within me...and so, the Netrikkan opens again!!- Thanks for the concern and mails asking me to resume!!..I owe you all something!! And I would repay that, by posting!- Hope you enjoy reading!!

Suddenly, I feel that the whole purpose of my blogging had died down...I am stranded starring at a dead end, a wall with no end...a void...I dont know how long this will continue....But till then,

This Netrikkan will remain Closed!

This post would cover the same doubt that I had been having for quite some time now...This doubt came to my mind as just a flash, when I was explaining to Dopppsy about the Tagging phenomenon, some 10 days back..Infact, it was exactly 10 days back.

We were discussing about the Del.icio.us site and the use of social book marking/photo sharing sites, when it occured to me that, though tagging creates a pool of like interested parties, what practical use would it be of to the participants?..I mean, by tagging a particular web page, as Technology, what is it that I am conveying?..Say for example, there is a web page explaining the technology of Google...now, I would tag this page as Technology...somebody else, might just tag it as Google...Google would be gaining, because, it gets to know, as to what people associate its page with...if there are more technology tags, then Google can understand that the page/company is associated with technology and things like that...but what do, I who tagged it as technology and the other person who tagged it as Google, gains?

I had to search through numerous tags and the bookmarks to find the same page tagged under Google- Is that adding any value to me...Is it not increasing my effort??..Is it not increasing my cost of data retreival?

Read some the more thoughts here and here. [Links via Emergic]

But it seems that the advocates of the Tagging Phenomenon, thrive on this unstructured nature of information. A case in point is the success of the search engine Technorati. If Google survives on the structured nature of the web page, Technorati survives on the unstructured content. If Google does great because, of the presence of standards in coding languages, in meta data and other such necessities, Technorati survives on the unstructured RSS feeds and the tags that people create...

A nice thesis and anti-thesis of a case- the two sides of the story...My doubts still exist!

There are so many things that cross my mind, that interests me...Just the two for this session..may be I will post them as the day proceeds- depending on my interest and availability of time!

Google TV
It seems that Google's next target is the hugely successful TiVo. TiVo [Wiki information] has become a verb in itself, to denote digital recording of TV programs, just like Google had become for search. They might also be thinking of marrying their search technology with this TV viewing, so that they can rake in the revenues from the search for TV programs. This is a wonderful idea...But to me, I am still thinking of Google as a predominantly Web based. I dont know how will they fan, when they go out of web and into something like a TV. Google's motto is to organise the world's information....that is true...and they define what is information, and in what form they want to organise it...May be the this paper [Via Inside Google] by Sergey Brin and others might be the starting point for this TV venture!

Unified Login from Google:
Of late, I note that, Google had been unifying its login across its offerings...The first in the series is the Orkut...One fine day, I find myself starring at the orkut log in page, that was asking me to log in with the Google account. Though I have a Google Account myself, and I dont mind using that, I felt a bit of unease with the wordings of the message that informed me of the shift.

"From now on, all members must use thier Google Account to log into Orkut"

This is not the way to inform your users of the change in process....I wonder, whether Google is going the Yahoo! way and I am not too happy about that!!

There are times, when I wonder, why I hate MS so much....Then, I used to think, after all without MS, there wouldn't have been a PC for me to browse and speak ill of MS so much...But time and again, MS proves itself that, it deserves to be hated, deserves a post that would screw it- literally.

One of my regular reads is the Slate Magazine. Yeah- I know, though it is owned by the MS group, I read it...it does have some nice articles and some nice writeups. Take for example, this article in the picture...rather it's a book review column.

There were two books reviewed- Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families, and Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Now, dont just grin at the name of the books...It occurred to me that these might be a good topic...what with the net stuffed with porn material to more than 50%, Porn will definitely have an impact in all our lives. But, to the subject of this post!

When, I opened the review page, the picture was how it looked- a big banner in the middle of the page, for The New York Times...asking me to click it..I am really incensed by the insensitivity of the page designer. The banner stays in the middle of the page...what sort of stupid idea is it to have a banner in the middle of the page!..Thinking that by, clicking on the banner, it will disappear, I click on it, only to find that, it is much more smarter than me...it just stayed there...irritated to the core, I simply closed the window and started blogging!!

But the second time, I opened the same page, the banner was gone!..So, either the page should install a cookie to know that, this is not the first visit(in which case, it is even more bad)..or that was a simple mistake by a designer-which I suspect cannot be the case...MS hadn't gone that bad yet! Iam thinking of stop reading Slate!- I dont want to be tracked with cookies!!..There you go MS...You don't deserve me!

Subject: Nature of Human Life and depiction of the same in Novels.
Book in reference: The Thorn Birds- Colleen McCullough.

Theme of the Book: A small girl(Cleary Meghaine- called Meggie), falls in love with a priest(Father Ralph) in her childhood and continues with that throughout her life. She marries another man, bears children for him, couldn't live with him, goes back to the priest, conceives a child from him, returns to her mother, raises the kids- and the story goes on......

Well, the point I am trying to make is not regarding the story line...I am fine with living as it suits you...if you find a relationship going no where, it is much better to let it go, rather than clinging to it...(but be sure that, it doesn't go anywhere..) and before let it go, try your level best to see reason in whatever you do...and then let it go...I am not in favour of sustaining a realtionship that doesn't understand you- doesn't deserve you..So, my point of discussion is not relationships.

So, what is my point of discussion?..It is the depiction of human lives and thought process that goes alonog with it. The book and the author seems to have been convinced that human life is all about fighting pain and sorrow...The book is replete with instances of a person loosing a beloved. I agree that loosing your beloved is painful...but to glorify it...to atone it, for some sin...to justify losing..that is absurd...

Is Human life to be atoned for anything?..Is Human Life a piece of sin?..Is Life miserable, to be lived with wailing, cursing self, shunning happiness? Or is it to be lived with true joy, peace and sense of pride?..I strongly belive that nothing in Life is worth more than the Joy of living. Nothing is more worth than my peace and my happiness.

And to depict Love as Painful- that is more absurd than telling, a race car runs on flat tyres. To say that, Pain is what makes happiness, to justify Pain coz, then you can feel happiness- this is ridiculous. The argument goes likes this- It is only because of Pain that you know what is happiness...it is the Pain that shows you, what Happiness is...so, glorify pain..

I don't agree with this point of view...it is not the presence of Pain that makes you know what is happiness....it is the absence of happiness, that makes you feel the Pain. For example, It is the absence of Love that makes you feel Lonely and not the presence of Loneliness, that makes you think of Love...There would be nothing called Lonliness, had there been Love- isn't it?

So, to glorify a non-existent hallucination and to justify its presence- isn't it bhasphemy?

The author says that the most beautiful song comes from the Thornbird that dies with the thorn in its breast. I might agree- the song might be beautiful..but the bird..it is dead...isn't it?..so what is the use of the song...If you think that you can listen to the song, when the bird itself is dying, ask yourselves do you deserve it....rather the bird needs to ask, does the listener deserves the song that consumes it's life...

If I were the bird, I would never sing!

The last weekend turned out to be the best weekend I had after I came to Mangalore..Been out on an official party, to Mysore and Medikere. Enough said....Had a blast...

This was my most favourite shot:



Took it on the way back......a solitary tree with all leaves shed....Felt good!

It's really hard to believe that The President of the World's lone Superpower would ask his National Security Advisor, whether he can take a break...[errr...a Bathroom break in that...], in the midst of the Security Council Meeting at the UN World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. (World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's vision of freedom from want, persecution and war.)

Now, Bush- When will you Grow up?- For those of you, unable to read what Bush writes- it goes as "I think I may need a bathroom break? Is this possible now?"..What do you think Condi might have replied?

Version 1: Shut Up....Mr.President!
Version 2: I don't Know!
Version 3: What is Putin saying?
Version 4: Wait! I will call an emergency meeting!
Version 5: I will check with Laura Bush!
Version 6: Hadn't you already done with that?
Version 7: I told you not to drink so much!
Version 8: Ummm..
Version 9: I am in an important meeting!..Can you call me after sometime?
Version 10: Be careful- Osama might be there too!
Version 11: Aim Properly- dont make a mess out of yourselves!..Am I clear?

Ah!..the possibilities seem endless!- As always, I wil never say "enough"!!;-)

Photo from Yahoo! News :::: Link From Boing Boing

The news that Oracle bought Seibel shouldn't surprise me. After all, the Enterprise Solutions business is a maturing business and consolidation should be name of the game. A casual look at the speed with which Oracel is buying out firms(willingly and sometimes, forcibly) is rather amazing. Oracle had been acquiring companies like ProfitLogic, PeopleSoft, Seibel etc, and still it is not the number one Enterprise Solution Provider in the world. That title goes to SAP.

Larry Ellison, had just made a point that, he would not acquire a company that would deliver less than 20% annual earning growth to Oracle. But, would Seibel be able to deliver it?..I guess, it might be able to do that...

1. With the market being a mature one, and not many big corporations left to implement a ES package, all that would be left for the vendors would be the Small and Medium segment, where the deal size would be small, and the margins less. This would nevertheless means more business in terms of Volume(there are much more SMEs than there are MNCs)..
   
2. Also, the major revenue generator(rather- the high margin business) is not implementation, but upgrade and maintanence! This means that the vendor should not only be great in it's product, but also in maintainence and support!
3. There are also cases of cross migration- though this doesn't happen too frquently and in large numbers.
   
4. This being the case, it becomes absolutely necessary for vendors to drive down costs, while maintaining the operating margin(which is a rather tough call).

Now, with the acquisitions, Oracle has a ready made customer base, with the package implemented already...All it needs to do is to provide support and upgrade to them...alternatively it can also lure them to migrate to it's own solution rather than the acquired company's solution. Project Fusion, launched by Oracle for integrating, or rather merging the best of the three product lines- Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft Enterprise, and EnterpriseOne, would be running till 2013. This is very large time frame for migrating and establishing stability in an enterprise system application.

SAP had been clever to jump on the opportunity provided by the acquisitions and the uncertainity created by it. The customers of the erstwhile companies would definitely feel jittery to suddenly deal with a behemoth and would be worried whether they would get the same sort of bargain that they used to get with the smaller vendors. Also, they would be worried about the continued support to their systems. These are natural concerns and SAP had played to them very well. It's SafePassage, offered the worried Peoplesoft's customers, migration to SAP at discounted rates!

With just 3 major players left in the market space,(Micros**t, SAP and Oracle), the Enterprise Applications space is a rather fiercely competitive one. Ofcourse, MS is a new entrant, but not an inconsequential one. SAP byfar is the dominant player. Now, where does this leave the service companies like IBM, Accenture, Infosys, Wipro etc??..IBM has its own applications- notable among them are the hoards of the middleware apps that it has under its sleeves. So, it can remain in the fray for long. Accenture- it had positioned itself as process cnsultant and so, inrespective of the package, it too can remain in the fray. Now, that leaves the Indian companies hot and dry. Similarly, companies like IDS, EDS,

Till now, our companies had been concentrating on the lower end support/maintenance side of the enterprise applications space and so, they dont seem to have extensive process knowledge/process consulting experinces. Infosys had been alert enough to create a seperate company called Infosys Consulting to deal with that issue. Now, they might be seen as Process Consultants, rather than just an outsourcing stop. Also, the big companies, that had been concentrating on the development side of the Enterprise solutions, might now want to offer end-end services for their clients- right from development -> sales -> implementation -> support ->maintenance. The first three functions, the vendors already do(Implementation is not done as vigourously as it should be). Does this mean that the companies like Infy might be a good target for acquisition?..I leave this to time!

Time: 9:00 PM, 12-09-2005, Monday.
Place: Punjabi Dhaba infront of my Office.
Purpose: Dinner.

I had come a bit late for my usual time and it would be normally crowded at this time. Though, it isn't crowded now and I settle down into the table and start watching the Zee TV, which had some Amitabh Bachhan film going on...Was very much glued into the film, when I realise the sudden activity in my table..

There was the bearer, with his white-white suit[(surprisingly, this Dhaba employees look very decent and tidy!..that is one more reason why we come here...The taste is very good here(though it is a bit costly)], cleaning the table with his tools and getting some cold water in the glass. I smile at him and off..he goes and returns with the usual, Nimbu-Pyass combination...The onions are neatly cut in even circles and the lemon is fresh. I give a very pleased look and again he jumps at the next table and leaves the "Pepper- Salt" container in my table. I am mightily pleased with his understanding, for it is my practise to lace the onion with salt, pepper and lemon juice before eating it....and I am very happy about the customer service this dhaba had got...

With time passing on, and I am too immersed in the taste of onion, to note anything else, the film is getting more interesting by the second. Then, the bearer comes, puts up the plate with the lemon n onion aside, starts serving the order- Dal Rice, Masala Papad, a glass of sweet lassie- I finish this off without a murmur and then, the second round- a plate of Curd rice, ladden with onions, coriander leaves, Pomagranate seeds, Dates etc come up and I finish that off in relish....

Then comes the last part- the Bill...the bearer hands over the bill..and then, I suddenly remember something....all along, I had not placed any orders to him...He hadn't taken any orders from me...I remember coming to the Dhaba, sitting in my place and the next thing I remember is the scent of fresh onions and dal rice....Startled, I call up the bearer and ask him "Who placed the order?"...Calmly, he replies"None, But I know"

Even more startled at his reply, I ask "How come u know?", with a slightly hurt ego!

He: "Ah Saar!!..This is what you eat daily!!...Dont I know!"

Now, everything dawns on me!...Then, I start realising how I sit in the same place daily, facing the same direction, ordering the same stuff in the same order and thinking nothing about it!!..I realise, that I had been having the same food for the past so many days, without even realising that I am having the same food!!. Another event to prove the point- this happened today in the office canteen...when we went for breakfast, on seeing me, the cashier, takes a seperate bill for Idli-Vada-Sambhar with the exact change for Rs.10...It had become an accepted practice that I would give Rs.10 note and that he needs to give back the change...he takes even the change ready anticipating my Rs.10/- Similarly, for the lunch...and even for the snacks time- same strawberry milkshake!!.

My life had got into this horrifying routine...just that, whatever change I make, that change itself settles as routine!!!...*Sigh*

It's been a long time, since I got tagged by someone- the last being by Chakra- but that tag was very interesting- about Books...Now, with Arun tagging me, I had ventured into this yet again!

Se7en things I plan to do before I die,

1. Live!
   
2. Buy a Mercedes Benz.
3. Drive at the maximum speed in the speed dail in the Auto Bahn
4. Build and Own a library.
5. Read as many books as possible.
   
6. Watch FIFA live.
   
7. Visit Vatican and St.Petersburg atleast once.
   

Se7en things that I can do

1. Keep Speaking.
2. Read anything.
3. Sit infront of the computer for hours together.
4. Google!!!!!
5. Cook
6. Eat
7. Sleep- This is actually getting too much!!
   

Se7en things I can’t do

1. Stand Cigaratee smoke
2. Swim
3. Walk Slowly
4. Eat Fast, without speaking!
5. Be without Friends!
6. Stand Lies!
7. Live without Internet - This had become a fixture!
   

Se7en things that attract me to the opposite sex

1. Voice
2. Eyes
3. Intelligence
4. Tall- rather how am I to tell?? :O
5. Giggle
6. Frankness
7. Lips

Se7en things I say most

1. F*** U
2. Baadu
3. Awesome
4. Poadaanga!
5. Bloody!
6. Google
7. Shit!

Se7en celebrities I wish to meet

1. Richard Dawkins
2. Monica Lewinsky - hehehe!..U know why!
3. Salma Hayak
4. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
5. Vladimir Putin
6. Aishwarya Rai
7. Larry Page/Sergey Brin- Ofcourse!

I am not taking up the last part Arun!...I dont want to punish others!;-)...rather there are none left to be tagged!...It seems everyone had been tagged already!!..So- RIP!

I had been thinking of watching the film Anniyan for quite sometime now..I saw that film in Telugu(Aparachitudu) when I was in Hyderabad. Though I can follow Telugu to a decent enough extent, the comedies were just above my grasp. Also, I wanted to hear the song, "Aiyengar Veetu Azhagae" and "Kumaari..en kaadhal thikki" song in Tamil. The meaning and the words in Telugu too were same- For ex, the telugu song went like "Aiyengar inte soghasa" and "Kumari, nanu prema" something....

To hear it in Tamil would be even better....but to my dismay, none of the tamil channels are interested in any song other than "Andankakka kondakkaari" and "R-E-M-O, Remo". I waited, waited and waited for some program to play that song...none...I dont understand the logic these guys use....I think compared to these two songs, the previous two are better, both in terms of music, lyrics and picturisation(save Kondakkari song)...Except for the thighs of Yana Gupta, there isn't anything extra ordinary in that "Remo" song, and yet, these TV Channels go ga-ga over that song.....anyways, when a local channel here, announced that it would be telecasting the film itself on Saturday, I was plesantly surprised!! Finished all chores(that include waking up, brushing, bathing and breakfast in that order) on time and was duly present in front of the idiot box at time...only then I knew that it was Hey Ram! in Sun TV...but I had seen that film and to say the truth, didnt quite like the way certain events were handled in the film...so settled for Anniyan!

The Film started and one of my wishes, got fulfilled...I watched the "O Kumari" song....a nice song I should say...I liked the lyrics of the song very much..This is not the first time that I hear the song..but this is the first time, I hear it with interest!!..Some of the lines go like:

1. "Idu Prasavam paerukaalam illa karbhama?" on the burden of Love..
2. "Kaadhalai solli illai endru maruthaal Kaadhalae saethu pogum illaya?"on unreciprocated/unrequitted Love..

But when I was to listen to the other song that I wanted to listen to, there was a sudden powercut and the song was gone!...Think I need to wait for the retelecast of the film in the same channel sometime later....

Only today did I see the counter and it read 10,169...wow!..that is awesome!..me crossed 10,000 visitors after an year and 4 months..n this post also happens to be the 350^th post in this blog...I know almost a quarter of this would be on Google, but then, it gives me a sense of having done something worthwhile, though of what worth is this, I am yet to quantify!! and thanks for the regular patronisers of this blog, I hope to touch even bigger heights....Thanks to all my visitors for making this happen!

Some people did ask me whether I want to work for Google, and I keep writing these for that!..Nope!!...I am very clear about that!...What I have for Google is Admiration, not Aspiration!...With my current skill sets, I can never work for Google- unless ofcourse, they decide to get into Enterprise Solutions space, and I dont see any reason why they should- This is not their area and this would add no competitive advantage to them right now. But, if at all they move into this space(that is a big if), then may be my admiration might morph into aspiration..not till then!

And frankly speaking there is nothing that I can offer Google!..My friends tell me that I can work in the HR department- that is not what I want to do in Google.

If at all I work in Google, it would be in the technology side and not in the support function side and that would practically seal off almost all avenues for me in Google!

So all these posts(and many more to come) are to salute a phenomenon called Google and its technology and my admiration for it!

How the hell on earth, I forgot this I don't know...I forgot the B'day(official) of my sweet lil Google- err..not "lil" anymore...it was on Sep 7th 1998 that Google was founded. That makes it the 7th b'day of my dear Google....So, please join me in wishing my sweet lil google a wonderful year/decade/century ahead on his/her b'day...(I hadn't yet decided on the gender of Google...but I would any time prefer a girl- u know...cute lil girl!)...and if you want to have a look at how Google looked 7 years ago, take a look here!

I am just reverting back to my TAPMI days...only difference being, assignments and submissions substituted by books and TV. I mean the normal curve that had been tracing my "time-to-bed" has a huge population at around 1:30 AM - 2:00 AM range and that was the time, that we used to think about sleeping, while at TAPMI.

A random channel, a random film, random show, song- anything, would be enough. Yesterday, one such random channel landed me in Shangai Noon, yet another random channel landed me at Jaya TV, while the "Thaen KiNNam" was being presented.. A quick look at the array of songs that I was treated with, runs like this:

1. nalam thaana - thillaanaa moghanaambhal.
2. kannum kannum kalanthu sontham kondaaduthae- vanjikoattai vaalibhan.
3. raajaavin paarvai raaniyin pakkam - anbhae vaa.
4. oru koapayilae en kudiyiruppu - ratthathilagam.
5. aen piranthai magane en piranthaaioo - bhaagapirivinai.
6. moondrezuthil en moochirukum - theivatthaai.
7. veedu varai uravu - paada kaanikai.
8. kalyaana samayal saatham - maaya bajaar.
9. orae oru oorilae orae oru raaja - padikkadha maethai.

These songs made my day(ooops!..night) yesterday..looking back, I find almost all my growing up had been bookmarked with songs...When we were in Neyveli- till my 10th standard, there used to be a huge ground in front of our house(not exactly front- it's sort of adjacent to it)...that was used by everyone for every purpose- Political party meetings, children's play ground,kite flying ground, parking lot for the NLC buses, earth moves, trucks and even bucket wheels at times.

But mostly, that was our playground and there used to be a stage at the front. I remember seeing people like Naavalar Nedunchezian, Murosoli Maaran, Stalin etc address the gathering from that stage. That time, it was three parties that used to have meetings there- for that matter any part of Neyveli. They were DMK, ADMK and Dravidar Kazhagam. I had even seen Karunaanidhi once..Jayalalaitha- nope...missed her by sleeping, I remember!

I had all along grown up listening to MGR's songs- equally divided between DMK and ADMK- many songs of his early cinematic rise were DMK sympathisers and only later he changed them into veiled references to anti-DMK plank. But I had heard all the songs(courtesy- being so close to the meeting venue means, hearing a LOTS of songs), the entire ground would have been flooded with tube lights and pattaani - sundal stalls, "stickers, banners & batches" hawkers, and foremost of all- crackers. When the crackers start their work, we knew that "the" person had arrived..there would be frencied shouting in the mike- "Puratchi Thalaivar Vaazga", "Anna naamam vaazgha"..I now know which "naamam" they meant- but then, at that age, I didn't quite understand politics!... "Aringyar Anna naamam vaazgha" would be the DMK's slogan and "Anna naamam vaazgha" would be the ADMK's- clear cut bhaagappirivinai- you see!

The meetings would go on till 12:30- 1:00 in the night and that means, so much longer we can stay out, with a chair on the road(it would be practically deserted at night) and listening to the words spewed by the horn- speakers....had you seen them- those big, horn speakers that these people used to put up everywhere- it's back looks like a "Kondai"- we used to giggle at the site of that speaker- somehow, I like standing next to it and listening to that loud noise coming out of it.. and we can even touch the tubelights- ofcourse, only with trepidation and mortal fear of burning our hands!

But once there is a huge commotion to "Malar maalaiyai pon maalaiyaaga annivikkiraen" slogans, we are to vacate the road and come into the compound...that shout means, the leader had started and they would pass our way!!

Thinking of it now, I feel a complete sense of nostalgia spreading inside...That age would never come- would it?....Now, that ground had been converted into a garage for the railway wagons and the stage had been razed to ground!..there is only a skeleton of what once was glorious remains now...every time I go to neyveli(which in itself had become very rare), I always go to our house and stand at the gate for a moment- now the house had been occupied by someone else- that being the corporation quarters, it would just pass hands- but that had been our house for 16 long years!...How I miss those days!

Just been back from a whirlwind tour to Guruvayur and surrounding places on Saturday!!..What a journey it turned out to be!!..As with everything in Life, the journey was part great and part aweful!!..Great part first- an amazing and truly refreshing Darshan..inspite of the huge crowd!..There had always been rush there in Guruvayur..but the last time I went, there had been no crowd- nothing what so ever...this time, as usual there was rush. But a great darshan overall!

Started from Mangalore at night 10:00- the bus journey was okay!..nothing untoward!...reached Guruvayur by around 7:45....took up a hotel room..its too costly for a single day's - rather a mere 45 minutes stay- thats the time, I stayed in the hotel exactly...I just took a bath and left...the bill was Rs.175/- . Though not in terms of being a high figure by itself, for the facilities(!!!!???) provided there, it was way above what I would have considered worth!

The return journey was pathetic. Had to start from Guruvayur by 12:00 itself. But caught a bus only by around 12:45-to Calicut. I thought I will go to my friends place in Calicut, spend the evening with him and start at around 4:00 PM to catch the Parasuram Express..But as it turned out, I had a company with me to keep and I didn't want to drag him too, to my friends place..So, I ended up without even calling my friend at Calicut. Reached Kannur by 6:00 PM and had our dinner..By the time I reached Kannur, I had already got a bit circumspect about the buses to Mangalore. With my decent enough association with the mallu land, I was doubtful of a bus to Mangalore, when we reached Kasargod! and how true, my fears turn out to be (always!!)...

The last bus (I mean the Private) to Mangalore had left at 8:30 PM itsef and the only bus after that, (I mean the KSRTC) till the next day morning, had left just then..it was scheduled to leave at 9:30 PM, but today it had left late- at 9:45 PM..but yet we were a bunch of losers- I couldn't fathom this- a interstate bus terminus, going blank at 9:45 PM- c'mom guys!..this isnt some god forsaken land- this is supposed to be next to the most industrialised city in the entire belt till Cochin to one side and Goa to the other- and yet there are no buses to such a city from a district head quarters, after 9:30 at night!..The Trains too aren't of any comfort either. The next train is at 11:30 PM and that would go to Kankannady- not Mangalore Jn..but to another station in Mangalore, which is some 8 KMs away!

Cursing the non-existent luck, we trudged along to the highway hoping to hitch-hick a truck or something and reach Mangalore...We were 3 guys that time- one collegue of mine and a stranger!!..We decided we would stop any vehicle with two headlights and ask for a lift!..What hilarious experience it turned out to be!- Initially, none of the trucks would even slow down near us...But as time passed, there were a couple of them, slowing down expertly, only to have us jump on our feet - and then, with a sudden burst of accelerator, would ozz pass us!...I for one enjoyed the drizzle and the absolutely empty highway, between two headlight's yellow lights flood them to life again!

But then, thanks to "The Hindu", we were offered a lift!...We traveled in "The Hindu's" pickup truck from Kasaragod to Mangalore!!...The stranger turned out to be a Jack of all trades!..He spoke about the difference between a Ape auto and a Bajaj auto, between Motorola and Nokia cell- and even passed a verdict that the Motorola is far better in "performance"- then started to talk about the liquor trade in Kerala and Karnataka- the circulation of Hindu, the rivalry between Congress and Communists in Kerala- Interesting personality- but he screwed up my sleep!..and all the while, I was thanking him for not speaking anything about Google and Microsoft!;-)

So, it was already 11:30 when I reached Mangalore. All the while, as I had changed my cell from a pre-paid to post paid, the SIM had been deactivated. I hadn't taken my post-paid SIM with me...The first thing that I did on returning was to change the SIM and make some calls that I was so eager to make...never mind the ghostly hour. Disturbed Sleep!

I am actually, thrilled to read this story hitting the wires sometime today and so, this post doesn't deserve a holiday. I had always maintained how much S**t is MS, but this goes just to prove that the entire system is such. But why am I complaining. It is much more interesting to think about this outburst from the CEO of the world's 2 most respected company(in 2004- according to this report).....


To read the entire story from the original source, click on the picture.

But to put up the story here too, an employee leaving MS to join Google had come to meet the CEO Mr. Steve Ballmer and he had asked him the reasons for his quiting. The words spoken by the CEO goes something like this:

(Reproduced from John Battelle's Search Blog)

A reliable source has passed along a legal document in the ongoing lawsuit between Google and Microsoft over Google's hiring of Kai-Fu Lee. The document is the "Declaration of Mark Lucovsky" in the case. Lucovsky was a distinguished engineer at Microsoft who defected to Google in November of 2004. His statement makes for some pretty interesting reading, to say the least.

The statement reads in part:

Prior to joining Google, I set up a meeting on or about November 11, 2004 with Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss my planned departure....At some point in the conversation Mr. Ballmer said: "Just tell me it's not Google." I told him it was Google.

At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office. Mr. Ballmer then said: "Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy. I'm going to fucking bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to fucking kill Google." ....

Thereafter, Mr. Ballmer resumed trying to persuade me to stay....Among other things, Mr. Ballmer told me that "Google's not a real company. It's a house of cards."

-End of post.

Now, I am not at all surprised by this diatribe. It just goes to prove something about Google.

Susan Dumais- This is a well known name in the Micros**t circles- She works for MS, as Senior Researcher, Adaptive Systems & Interaction Group, Microsoft Research.

But Google her and see the Adsense results [they are supposed to be sponsered links- Now, I wonder who would have sponsered this- Google?;-)] that pop up before the results in the search page, you would be surprised to find the Advertisement by Google, saying that, it is hiring Experts in Statistical Language Processing- the same area as she is currently working on in Micros**t!

So, isnt this a naughtier way to seduce the experts- Google?. Isn't this is a nice way of enticing the people you want?..Though, I wonder would she be willing to work for Google!- Nice try Google!

Every morning, when I walk past the White-Saffronish "Pavizhamalli" flowers that lie scattered on the narrow gully infront of my house, they smell of "Shenbhagam". And, every morning, it pains to laugh at myself, when I wonder, would there be some place, where "Shenbhagam" would smell as"Pavizhamalli"?

And I am reminded of the song, in Amar Prem, with Rajesh Khanna, and Kishore Kumar as Music director:

Yeaaaa, kya hua....
Kaise hua....
Kab hua, Kyon hua, Jab hua- Tab hua..O chodo!...
Yeaa naa socho!

Hum kyoon shikawa karae joothaa,
Kya hua jo dil tutaa,
shiishe kaa khilaunaa thaa,
kuchha naa kuchha to honaa thaa, huaa...

hamane jo, dekhaa thaa sunaa thaa,
kyaa bataaain vo kyaa thaa
sapanaa salonaa thaa,
khatma to honaa thaa, huaa...

ai dila, chala piikara jhuumein,
inhii galiyon mein ghuumen,
yahaa.N tujhe khonaa thaa,
badanaama honaa thaa, huaa....

O, chodo, Ye naa sucho!!......