We Don't Need No Education

I am hooked to a book called "CODE - The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" by Charles Petzold. It talks about the basics of information exchange and how humans have evolved the art of communication.

The first page of the book introduces a simple anecdote. How the kid next door would use a flashlight to convey an idea to his friend who's bedroom was right across the street, turning the flashlight on and off. This was, by itself, a simplistic code. This story graduates to the Morse Code and before you know, you investigate the nuances of the Braille System, all along with the analogy of the flaslight code. It goes on to explain the intelligence of these systems and how they leverage the limited code elements and maximize the efficiency. In Morse, the E is a . and T is a _ You know why if you watch the Wheel of Fortune, they are the most common letters in English, coded to be the most simple.

The book encapsulates the fundamentals of concepts that make up computing, in steps - logic gates, binary, flip-flops, bytes, hex, microprocessors, ASCII, floating point, High and Low Level Languages, graphics... - its all in elegant baby steps and based on a mantra - K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid!

I have come across if not "memorized" all the topics this book talks about, but that was all an attempt to just gulp the content without understanding why how these things work. The sole aim when I studied was to amass about 80%, that made me a smart student and kept everyone happy. Indian education is great, without which our prowess in math and analytical thinking would not have been inculcated, but I feel our education is lagging in staging practicalities and nuances in a simple manner. It does not encoura ge an average student to be inquisitive, it does not ground the fundamentals enough. We are trained to work a formula and not investigate too much, as a result we can get the job done when told how to do it, and cannot come up with a creative solution to newer problems. We just cannot think outside the box. Education would have been more fun if only I studied off books this.

Education needs to teach, not just preach!

Whatever it takes!

As read on CNN

They...

...quit eating out
...quit wearing anything that needs dry cleaning
...do their own hair
...are not renewing any magazine subscriptions
...take lunch to work
...traded in BMW for Nissan
...quit smoking
...watch movies at home
...eat lesser!!!

All these are moves the commoners are taking to fight the ever-rising gas prices!

Used to be 1.13 a few years ago
Remember 1.70s months ago
2.10s were not very long ago
2.30s a couple of weeks ago

Now the cheapest gas station around this area sells gas at 2.65. Thats about $40 to fill my tank! Some stats for the DC area.


Theres really very little you can do about driving less and saving the extra miles. So the only way out is to cut down on other costs, unfortunately. I drive around 50 miles everyday to and from work, and thanking my stars cos I planned to move closer to work (thats still 30 miles though) this weekend.

Consolation prize on the price:

I get Gas Rebate whenever I use my AAA Credit Card to pump. Which saves me amazing 'couple of cents' for every gallon I pump!

Its gonna be $3 per gallon, wanna bet?

And there are ironic ways to make some extra money which you can use at the pump! Go bet that the gas prices will touch $3 by New Years's in NY or LA. No kidding, real betting! And heres the wager, people!

The Hindu.. Ohh.hooo

I was browsing The Hindu tonight I was quite taken aback seeing 13 kiiled, 43 injurred in brazen attacks at Baghdad. Thats two typos in the first two words of their headlines!

Dude, its called spell check!

Check this exercise out!

1. Go to Google.
2. Type in the word "failure"
3. Click "I'm feeling lucky" (to pull up the first search result)

:)
Thanks Varun

Google Talk vandhachi!

Google released their Instant Messenger today.

Out in their usual style and colors -
Keep It Simple Stupid UI, DHTML tricks, the 'light' look and feel of the software, easy to invite feature (from your GMail contacts), calling facility.

Yet to try the Voice chat, need to check out if its better than Skype with all the hype!

No Chatrooms, NO SMILEYS :'( and other bells and whistles, but then we know with the word "beta", more is coming.

My Google Talk id is srinivasdotcom@gmail.com. Lets talk!

And thankfully you don't need struggle frantically for an invite like the Orkut/GMail eras. All you need is a GMail ID and you are ready to go.

Whats next?

Happy Birthday Chennai!!

Chennai rocks!

I am from from Chennai, formerly Madras, the southern capital and the fourth largest city of India. This is and will always be my hometown and its just the best!!


Chennai Day

It was on this day, that time, on August 22, 1639 (365 years ago) that

a sliver of land, where the Fort. St. George and the secretariat now exist in Madras - now called Chennai, was sold to the East India Company.
The deal was struck by Francis Day, his 'dubash' Beri Thimmappa, and their superior, Andrew Cogan, with the local Nayaks. It is believed that this deal was made on this day and these three men are considered to be the founders of this city.
The city has been witness to many firsts in India and been home to great men, institutions and developments.
And such a day should focus on the city, its history, its past and its present.
[from Lazygeek]

[and more interesting information and pics from Vatsan]

Chennai Channel

I've always been in Chennai until my undergrad at Erode and then my life took a different course. Miss being there so much.

My dearest family
My school, DB Egmore
The greatest friends I met there
Endless Football there (yeah, Soccer, but always football for me)
Our previous home bang opposite the Dasaprakash in Egmore
The park inside Dasaprakash
My childhood buddy Anjali
The Beaches
Our visits to Dr. Uncle's and Chithi's
Sangam, Ega, Abhirami, Satyam, Devi and Mayajal: all cinemas
ECR or the East Coast Road and the 40 bucks Toll there
How can I forget VGP
Our own new home at RA Puram
Long bus trips to school with Arvind
Funniest tuition sessions
Sangeetha's
The late night idli shop that was open forever and freaking expensive
The Mylapore Temple
The awesome VJs and RJs from Chennai, especially Mirchi Suchi, Semma Hottu Machi

........... Oh this is gonna take a while, would rather post it separately.

Anyways Happy Birthday Chennai!

If Chennai is a new word in your vocab:

Chennai boasts of the second longest beach in the world - The Marina Beach. Chennai houses cncient temples like Kapaleeswarar Temple and Parthasarathy Temple dating back to the 8th century. Mahabalipuram, south of the city, carries ruins from the seventh century consisting of cave temple, shore temple, monolithic rathas (rock-carved temple chariots) and some of the world's finest bas-reliefs. Chennai's newest pride, the Tidel Park, spreading to 1.28 million square feet, is the largest Information Technology park in Asia. Chennai's new avatar as the "Detroit of South India" has encouraged numerous international car makers to launch their factories there. This buoyant metropolis is a blend of the old and the new, the traditional and the modern.

Kids are Kids!

Stolen from Sangeetha

Kids are so funny. Just when you think nothing they say can surprise you
anymore something like this comes along and says, “Think again!” Sometimes I am
amazed at the things they come up with.
Last week I was walking down the stairs with this teacher who is in the family way.

A chubby cherub walked up to us and asked the teacher: What is the matter teacher? Your stomach seems to be growing everyday!

Teacher: (squirming uncomfortably) Err... God put a baby in my
stomach.

Girl: (nodding her head wisely) Oh! So you are reproducing…
We really had to exercise super control over our facial muscles on this one!

Random Shots

When: September 2004
Where: Los Angeles, CA

90 Days in 90 Words

Yahoo messenger was one medium I used to stay in touch with my friends. I do not get much time to go online nowadays, so here’s whats been happening with me in the last 90 days.. I'll try in 90 words.. or less ;)

Moved to DC for work – Consultant Business Analyst – damn, its as hot as Chennai here – found a temporary apartment – drive 30 miles to work, one hour, one way, I-495 sucks – busy weeks, lazy weekends – major weekend until now: two days of lakeside fun, jet skiing, banana boating, kayaking, canoeing, tubing, sailing, getting soaked – saw Anniyan in the theater – started running in the mornings – awesome Siva Vishnu temple nearby – wonderful homemade food, thanks to my aunt and cousins –moving to a permanent apartment next weekend – life’s treating me okay for now.

Walking Posters

I caught this one in New York City, two advertisement channels engaged in a conversation!

What to Blog..

Here goes. Another attempt to become another blogger.

First thought was what I should crap. Though the possibilities were endless, I was in a laid back mood and googled for Blog Ideas. The first link was Blogideas.com. Was quite creative. I thought I should share it, for those like me who always wanted to write something, but could not quite define 'something'.

For starters..
· Make up an imaginary friend and describe.
· Best compliment you've ever received.
· How long can I go without a haircut!
· Strangest thing you can find on Ebay.