Career Manifesto

ExecPundit's version, and I loved this:

The Career Manifesto

1. Unless you’re working in a coal mine, an emergency ward, or their equivalent, spare us the sad stories about your tough job. The biggest risk most of us face in the course of a day is a paper cut.

2. Yes, your boss is an idiot at times. So what? (Do you think your associates sit around and marvel at your deep thoughts?) If you cannot give your boss basic loyalty, either report the weasel to the proper authorities or be gone.

3. You are paid to take meaningful actions, not superficial ones. Don’t brag about that memo you sent out or how hard you work. Tell us what you achieved.

4. Although your title may be the same, the job that you were hired to do three years ago is probably not the job you have now. When you are just coasting and not thinking several steps ahead of your responsibilities, you are in dinosaur territory and a meteor is coming.

5. If you suspect that you’re working in a madhouse, you probably are. Even sociopaths have jobs. Don’t delude yourself by thinking you’ll change what the organization regards as a “turkey farm.” Flee.

6. Your technical skills may impress the other geeks, but if you can’t get along with your co-workers, you’re a litigation breeder. Don’t be surprised if management regards you as an expensive risk.

7. If you have a problem with co-workers, have the guts to tell them, preferably in words of one syllable.

8. Don’t believe what the organization says it does. Its practices are its real policies. Study what is rewarded and what is punished and you’ll have a better clue as to what’s going on.

9. Don’t expect to be perfect. Focus on doing right instead of being right. It will simplify the world enormously.

10.If you plan on showing them what you’re capable of only after you get promoted, you need to reverse your thinking.

From Gapin Void

As technologists, we have two choices:

One is to provide the customer a better experience, the freedom to select what he wants, a differentiation based on service quality against a backdrop of abundance.

The second is to create artificial scarcities around the things that are abundant, create new inconveniences for the customer, new lock-ins, new irritants. Irritants like Region Coding on DVDs. Lock-ins like we see in digital music.

For the last thirty years, too many of us in IT have focussed on creating these artificial scarcities, often without even knowing it. First we paid to bury the data in vendor stacks, then we paid to try and dig it out. We've been doing this for years. And we're in danger of doing it again.

Time for a change.

Time to focus on ways of delivering service where the customer wants, when the customer wants, how the customer wants. Time to focus on open platforms, open protocols, open software, open ways of doing business.

That's what the economics of abundance is really about. Making money because of what you do, and not with what you do. Having customers who stay with you because they want to, not because they have to.

Just another day at work

Caught these guys helping keep C Naidu's Cyberabad Squeaky Clean. Thats the glass walls of "Cyber Gateway". The walls provide a nice view of the clouds and the odd plane flying by, Nice!:)

World Usability Day & Social Networks

SUMMARY:
Social Networks: Evolution and Impact On Society
Tags: Social Networks, orkut, web 2.0, social impact of media


Vox Populi today: Don't Make Me Think! and it applies to everything. Starting tomorrow, I am going to start putting pictures of designs that I hate. That is to celebrate Usability Day!(You can send me your pet peeves as well)

And about social networks, a question was raised about blogging/orkut/ with reference to whether they are a fad/ and what is the impact on society/culture. As much as I think I don't belong to the why talk about this topic brigade , I still keyed my thoughts and here's part one:
Blogging is just one of the varied aspects of social computing:

Before we conclude whether it’ a hype or a change agent; we must try and understand what lead to it, what’s happening today and hence where it might go. Since it’s very hard to predict where things go, but when you look at them in retrospect, they seem so obvoius

A Brief History of the Phenomena: (I promise its brief)

Cheap Technology available to everyone, so youngsters used it to their advantage and elderly to theirs. Think Bit Torrent, Skype, Kazaa and SMS, MMS, Chat, XML/RSS.

What does the trend indicate: Networks erode institutional power.

Why: People love right to freedom, are more independent and less trusting. These technologies/platforms just fuelled that.

Now what happened:

Explosion of social networks like:

Orkut/my Space/friendster/Linkedin

RSS- I want the Internet my way:
Yahoo/FeedBurner/Bloglines

My Free Open Source Software
OPen Office/MySQL

Search Engines and now my own search engines
Yahoo, Google>>Rollyo

User Reviewed portals
Cnet/Tripadvisor

My Music/Files free
Kazaa/emule/Gnutella

C2c Commerce
eBay/Craigslist/ubid

Comparison Shopping
Froogle/Shopzilla

POdcasts
Odeo/Juice

Wikis/Collaboration Software
Jotspot/Basecamp

Tagging
Flickr/digg/delicious

Now coming to the sub topic of Blogs, Here’s a fact: There are about 59.5 Million Blogs today that they are being tracked by technorati. So whether it’s a phenomenon or a passing fad remains to be seem. But if you look at he growth of Blogs, it’s certainly reached a plateau-ed growth as seen here http://google.com/trends?q=blogs.

Blogging has given everyone a right to express there thoughts on whatever they feel like, from recipes to travelogues.

Companies that have used this concept, have taken the first mover advantage, now every company including Google has a web log that talks to its consumers in a seemingly informal way. Every newspaper website has weblogs, every job site has weblogs, every technology has a weblog, almost every corporate has a web log. So the face of blogging has changed from being perceived as rebellious to now a contributor to the society.

It’s certainly going to stabilize, like a lot of other phenomenon, but what amazes me is that it took just a decade from when usenet appeared to when this debate started. That in itself speaks about how entrenched this has become in our society, especially in certain quartets, because of it were a passing phenomenon, it would have eroded by now.

Its certainly speaks about what our world wants, a right to basic freedom of thought, speech and experession!

But are most blogs really monologues? Will explore in part two, the impact on society and whether they are leading to more complex human behaviors.

Also, You feel iam left out something, please leave your feedback.

Departed and Open Season

The madness of Scorsese and the magic of Pixar!

Two movies in two days is not so much, but these are perhaps the best movies I have
seen this year.

Departed is all about cursing, and just to mention what my esteemed friend remarked" There's only two languages in which cursing soundS effective, and he has used both(english and panjabi)". And it's got great plot, amazing storytelling, a splendid cast, the Janus Jack Nicholson, Mark Whalburg, Matt Damon and should have been excluded Leo Caprio. Vera Farmiga Impresses too.

Open Season(In 3-D, which was a nice surprise) is just phenomenal graphics rendering. I mean I have seen tons of animation, but the combined effect of three dimensional projection and cutting edge animation was surreal!

Kudos to Hollywood! Some movies just, make sense.


Oh and I found a list of all makes by Martin Scorsese.

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? • It's Not Just You, Murray! • The Big Shave • Who's That Knocking at My Door • Street Scenes • Boxcar Bertha • Mean Streets • Italianamerican • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Taxi Driver • New York, New York • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince • The Last Waltz • Raging Bull • The King of Comedy • After Hours • The Color of Money • The Last Temptation of Christ • New York Stories • Goodfellas • Cape Fear • The Age of Innocence • Casino • Kundun • My Voyage to Italy • Bringing Out the Dead • Gangs of New York • The Aviator • No Direction Home • The Departed

Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance 5
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade, 10
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate: 15
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903

And coming to the point of the post, Raid it seems has got some decent media attention with a four page article in the November issue of autocar and a half an hour capsule on cnn ibn. Here's the Link to the videos, will try and scan and put the articles here for your reading pleasure.

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/24627/raiddehimalayas-tests-driving-skills.html

Note: The video is in three parts, so be careful while navigating.(Requires flash)

Please try this at Home!!!

Tiff needle shows how to lay more rubber on the road than Malaysia's annual supply.

Happy Riding.

Presenting : Burn More Rubber 101

Most relevant to us: Front Wheel Drives



Z3M Roadster Rear Wheel techniques



4 Wheel Drive, gets Even better-1




4 Wheel Drive, gets Even better-2

Got an Idea: Get Up And Go

For all the people I read , no one inspires Like Scott Adams.

Wha!!! Scott Adams, you would exclaim. But read this piece and get inspired.

I usually would restrain from doling out inspiritaional stuff, this is not a Guru or geek blog(pun intended), but couldnt resist this gyaan wartaan exercise. Catch the link below:

In over My Head

Here's an attemt to make the post look more interesting



Dilberts Financial planner!

-Make a will
-Pay off your credit cards
-Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
-Fund your 401k to the maximum
-Fund your IRA to the maximum
-Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
-Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
-Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
-If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio


So if you have a idea, go for it, worst case it wont work. but it would be fun trying to make it work, wont it?

I lost my BIG IDEA to an advertising firm :I

Raid De Himalaya 2006

Hi Folks,

Ive uploaded the pics on flickr.

Heres the link: flickr.com/photos/amansandhu

Please come back and leave a comment. Also, was hoping to post somethin about my experiences, but realise the post went way too long.

Its under the guillotine and will publish it when I am happy with it.

In the meantime, enjoy the pics, and from what i have heard, people seem to be liking them(they are just too nice:)).

The Nawabi Pursuits

The thing I love and hate about our lifestyle in Bharat is the total disregard for time.
Take for example, my current road trip .

Well as it goes, it was supposed to start yesterday, that is saturday early morning, but thanks to the changing weather, some colds, unavailable and delayed spares, a typical lack of organizational trait and also, a troublesome engine which coughs up a complaint at its whim(road worthy or raid worthy:P), and other inexplicable reasons, we stand delayed by a day and a half.

To put things into better perspective, I am typing this on sunday at 1:30PM and I am still home :D.

This is turning into a road trip which I made without knowing the route I was taking, how long would it take, how much fuel would we burn, and when would we hit home turf: Simla/Chandigarh.

Will we cover the distance in two and a half day, three days, three and a half days... well my guess is as good as anyone else's.

Personally, being the navigator in the team, I should take it a little more personally since i m supposed to be the brains behind this maths, but this is different.

And then again, the silver lining here is that this is the most unplanned and uncertain I have ever felt, and I m enjoying every moment of this insane feeling of losing control.

Maybe all trips should begin once you hit the road!



P.S. "Grow Up Aman! !"

Evil Grin

D Day

Well the preparations are in full swing and I am getting ready for the road trip of my life,

in the Next two weeks I'm planning to travel 6000 kilometers across India, 4000 out of those would be by road and the rest by air.
reality check: Earths circumference is 40000 kilometers. its definitely the craziest thing I have ever attempted to do.

For the readers of this blog here is a summary of the itenerary:(It's still sketchy)


Sep 23

Hyderabad Shimla road trip

Sep 28 Scrutiny begins

Sep 30 Raid Begins

Oct 7 Raid Ends

Oct 9 Hopefully back to work and normal life

Distance 2000kms(Depending on the highways taken about 2000)

Estimated time: 3 days(Again, I cant really say)

Here's a map that sheds some light on the highways in India, a long ignored topic.

I would love to take the road west(we always wanna take the highway westwards innit) to End day one in Daman And Diu.

Day two would Destination Udaipur and Day three Destination Chandigarh/Shimla.


However to reflect the sanity in us and to make good time, and under the pressure from some "friendly advice", we might(and the probability of this happening is more) make a saner trip down the middle of India to reach Delhi.(See map)

This would still be a crazy trip, nonetheless.

Will keep the story of my survival through the centre of India as a topic for my next post.


Please excuse the lack of exciting language in the post. Its been written in a hurry and does not reflect the emotions in their true form, or so I would say.

The long tail

Heard about the book? Here's a Nice video:)

Wake Up Sleepy Head

Things to do to keep from getting bored

Read subjects you are least close to: cognitive psychology, javascript,
Genres of Photography: (my favorite: lomography)
Aesthetics ergonomics
Common Rail Diesels

Play a sport

Watch constructive tv

Go for a jog

Exercise-hit the gym

Swim

Learn a language

Larn to play the guitar

Walk

Learn to Empathize

Learn to be charming

Participate in raid de himalaya

Dun have the dough try mtb himachal(tour de himachal)

Own a bullet, you can try and participate in the royal enfield trip to leh, and hopefully get featured on ndtv as well

Wanna be good at stocks, play moneybhai, real stocks with fake mone

CrossWords

Su Do ku

Martial arts classes, tai chi, taibo

Hit the kitchen, try a new cuisine: heard about googling leftovers in the fridge for a new recipe?

Learn to red 12 digit bar codes and ISBN nos

Lucid dreams

Astral projections

Out Of Body experiences

Altered state of consciousness

Order your synklini

ESP

Travel with a partner, you will know urself better, so will your partner. Also, your tolerance will surely increase

Take a hike, I mean a hike across a track

Learn to DJ if you think you have a sense of music

Prepare for CAT

Take your GRE/GMAT

Prepare and take the Mensa Test

Really Bored: how about the IAS

Really really bored: keep reading this blog :P

I am kidding about the last one, Anyways I am open to suggestions on how readers spend their time?

Disclaimer:(This is in no way a complete list, and is not an endorsement fo what i may do , plan to do or may be doing)

Raid De Himalaya 2006

Are you bored with the everyday routine?

* Is skydiving over shark-infested waters just a drop in the ocean?

* Does going backwards, on one leg, down a manali ski run leave you cold?

* Has rishikesh white water raftering begun to seem just a bit wet?

* Are you so far "out there" that you're practically back inside again?

Then maybe you should look at Raid!

Update 1.

It’s exactly one month to go for the raid. Preparations are at full swing. I intend to give you a weekly update on the preparations going towards the raid, and then, will come back and try and update the readers of the blog on the excitement, the perils, the expected and the unexpected, in short the story of my survival.

To start with here's my version of the background on what the Raid is.

Well for the name, as is clearly evident, it’s derived from french for the marathon event OF the Himalaya.

The Himalayas happen to have the highest motor-able roads and passes in the world. And raid is what you get when you take that terrain, that altitude, that weather and make a rally out of it. And that too at the lag end of "good" weather, just when the winter is setting in.

OK, enough ranting about on the irrelevant stuff: Here's the interesting trivia:

· 7 Days of driving in the most inhospitable climes, terrain, conditions

· 2100 Kilometres, so that's approximately 300 kilometres of riding in one day(Its actually around 400 on some days)

· 10 hrs of driving on a good day and 12 on a rough day(Average speeds are never above 40kmph on the raid)

· Approximately 25000 rupees worth of diesel burnt in 7 Days

· Engines idle all night long to avoid cold starts

· Rarefied air causes mileage to drop to half of what you get under normal driving conditions

· You need to fight altitude sickness, and hope your body acclimatises quickly to the altitude(as high as Tanglang La at 17 540 ft, highest pt in rally)

· No habitation for hundreds of kilometres at length

· Temperatures dipping to -25 degrees celcuis at night and -5 in the day

· X treme version participants zipping past you

Raid Trivia:

http://www.bcmtouring.com/articles/raid-de-himalaya/trivia.html

Brief history

http://www.bcmtouring.com/articles/raid-de-himalaya/history.html

A Nice Video Of Bikers going down from TangLang La

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feRXL7t4r-Q

Brief Description of the Raid

(As taken from the official site, its last year's tracks which will definitely change this year so to be taken with a pinch of salt)

28th and 29th September 2006
Pre Event Scrutiny

All vehicles will be inspected for conformity to International Standards of Safety and Preparation as laid down by the FiA. Owing to a large expected entry list this process has been allotted two days to complete, considering the great attention to detail that is required. Technical and Paperwork Scrutiny will be held at Motoworld, Navbahar,Shimla 171002.

30th September 2006
Leg 1 Shimla – Manali

An early start at 0600 hrs will take the rally from Shimla via Baldian to Narel. This a rough gravel stage and though short will set the mood for the days ahead. The second stage is via Narkanda, Bagi, Sungri to Bhadrash. This will be a tarmac / gravel run and fast. The third and fourth stages from Luhri to Kandagai will be half tarmac- half gravel. Though short and fast they are both uphill and relatively easier. From there a long transport via Jalori pass to Kullu and Manali will follow.

Another description:

The Raid flags off from Shimla and makes its way through the classic Himalayan country of tall cedar forests. Rushing through Baggi and Khadrala it finally wends its way up the steep Jalori road to the first of the Raid’s many passes – the Jalori Jot. Then down to Shoja, the whine of engines and smell of scorching rubber cutting through the crisp October mountain air. If climbing uphill to Jalori takes its toll on the engines, then downhill towards Kullu kills the brakes and clutchplates!! The Raid winds up for the day at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Manali.

The Raid will halt at Manali for the night after a run of about 400 kms.

1st October 2006
Leg 2 Manali – Kaza

The 250 kms “Himalayan Experience” will start on this day. The raid will be flagged off by 0700 hrs for Kaza. From Gramphoo a 104 kms dirt stage will take the raid via Losar to Pangmo.

The last 30 kilometres will be the smoothest tarmac run. From there to Kaza will be a short transport.

The night halt will be Kaza.

Another description:

From Manali up to the Rohtang Pass at 13,000 ft, the Raid enters Spiti Valley on the second day’s run. It races along the roughest of roads (or what pass for roads) along the swift, unforgiving waters of th

e Chandrabhaga river, via Gramphoo, Chhatru, over the Kunzum Pass and Losar, until finally sighting the night halt -- Kaza. At the end of the day the overall images that crowd every driver or rider’s tired mind are those of boulders, boulders and yet more boulders!

2nd October 2006
Leg 3 Kaza – Komik - Dhankar - Pin - Kaza

This Leg is the "Rest Leg" for the Raid but a "Cliff Hanger" nevertheless.

Kaza to Thangyud Gompa at Komik will be the first stage. Uphill and thro

ugh a heart stopping gorge to a plateau at Langze the gravel stage will be fast and entertaining. The vistas of the real Himalayas c

an be enjoyed as can the tea at the Gompa, where a regroup is planned since the transport to Lingti is back via the same road.

Lingti to the Dhankar monastery is an uphill gravel stage. Fast and replete with hairpin bends after long straights! Enjoy. The other half of this stage down to Sichiling is pure tarmac with short straights into hellish hairpins. Enjoy this too. If not, then the fact that "there are parapets" should offer some consolation!

Once is not enough. This stage will be done twice to give competitors a chance to perfect their maneuvers!

The last stage will be from Lidang to Demul. Another dead end road will result in a wait for the last car. If nothing else this will be a character building exercise and patience will be the learned reward. This stage is all gravel, frightfully steep and with a cliff drop that will make Stallone quake!

Fortunately the rally will only race in the uphill mode! Be careful on the recce and the race day here.
Survivors will return to Kaza for the night.

Another description:

This Leg is the "Rest Leg" for the Raid but a "Cliff Hanger" nevertheless.

Kaza to Thangyud Gompa at Komik will be the first stage. Uphill and through a heart stopping gorge to a plateau at Langze the gravel stage will be fast and entertaining. The vistas of the real Himalayas can be enjoyed as can the tea at the Gompa, where a regroup is planned since the transport to Lingti is back via the same road.Lingti to the Dhankar monastery is an uphill gravel stage. Fast and replete with hairpin bends after long straights! Enjoy. The other half of this stage down to Sichiling is pure tarmac with short straights into hellish hairpins. Enjoy this too. If not, then the fact that "there are parapets" should offer some consolation! Once is not enough. This stage will be done twice to give competitors a chance to perfect their maneuvers!

3rd October 2006

Leg 4 Kaza - Darcha - Patseo

The pressure will steadily increase both on the resources of the participants and their vehicles from this Leg onwards. 200 kms of competitive stage driving, the real Hima

layas and 2 major passes await them.

The first stage will be the return trip on the same 150 kms from Kaza to Gramphoo. From Gramphoo the Raid will head to Darcha for a second competitive stage. This will run from Darcha to Patseo - 18 kms.

Instead of the usual grind to Pang for the ritual exorcism of oxygen there will be a quick regroup at Sarchu and a third competitive back to Patseo for the night halt !

Another description:
This Leg is the "Rest Leg" for the Raid but a "Cliff Hanger" nevertheless.

The Raid sets its sights on Ladakh. The real Himalaya starts now. There is little wonder that prayer flags flutter incessantly at every high pass for they whisper silently

to the gods. Whether it is the great panoramic expanse of the Morey Plain or Baralacha La, Lachhulung La or any othe pass, each crossing means you are one step closer to the great unknown. The winds are icy and the mountains silent as you focus only on your destination – the Indian Army outpost at Pang. When you get there you can only begin to appreciate what our jawans face everyday at Siachen, for Pang is just an acclimatization point.

4th October 2006
Leg 5 Patseo - Sarchu - Pang- Leh

A long day ahead with 4 stages. Patseo to Nakee la will be the first stage of the day. All tarmac it should be both entertaining and very fast. Debring to rumtse will be Stage 2. Over the Tanglang La at 17 540 ft this will be the highest point on the rally! The night halt will be at Leh.

5th October 2006
Leg 6 Leh - Mugleb – Leh

6th October 200
Leg 7 Leh - Manali

7th October 2006

Prize Distribution after the final Scrutineering and the conclusion of the Raid at HMI Manali.

So people as you can see, with the conditions survival is a challenge. Not to mention the wish that your vehicle takes the brutal assault!

Your wishes needed )

Am I going to die of cancer-Hypochondria or Fact

Swollen Uvula?


You probably had too much to drink last night.

Have you heard the terms"uvulitis", "uvular edema", or "Quincke's disease of the uvula".

Till this morning even I had not. But for the readers of this blog and whoever may reach here in the future, please do not panick if you wake up with a swollen ovula.

For people who are wondering what the ovula is, its the piece of tissue that hangs down at the end of your mouth. See pic:

Also more about the swollen uvula here.(Possibly the internet's best resource on swollen uvula -a blog with a post in 2005 and about 600 comments from poeple searching for what a swollen uvula is)

I woke up a swollen Uvula this morning and trust me its the worst feeling, because you feel like there is something in your throat that you wanna throw out but it just sticks there.
According to a wiki, it is caused either by 1) dehydration (from arid weather and/or alcohol); 2) excessive smoking or other inhaled irratants; 3) snoring; 4) allergic reaction; or 5) a viral or bacterial infection.

Well for me a couple of things might have worked in tandem. I think lack of sleep caused snoring and coming from a humid clime while I was travelling last week may have caused some bacterial infection.

The usual culprit although invariably is dehydration(usually from excessive alcohol).

Had I known about this condition I would have done what is suggested that is :

Drink tons of fluids.
Also suggested is gargling and resting. but it might lead you to cancer, I duuno f thats true but maybe I am hypochondriac.

But I read about this 5 hours after I started searching, basically for two reasons, I didnt know what this part of my body was called and what condition was I suffering from?


From the Internet abt evolution of the Uvula:

Our conclusion is that the uvula is possibly an accessory organ of speech, and may be another marker of human evolution that differentiates man from other mammals.

Interesting links organised

Wikipedia Page

Neillobriens post-Post on blog with tons of comments

The Uvula mystery-Medical Definition

The riddle of the uvula



PS: There are tons of crazy people on the planet

And after 10 hours its still there...

Aman Sandhu Web 2.0

Web 2.0 seems to have been the buzzword for a while and i found this cool site that lets you create your own neat looking web2.0 logo, beta and all.

Couldn't help puttin' it here :)

Losing Sleep?

In an attempt to learn more about the how I can sleep better(In addition to an ethical living that negates the need to loose sleep;) ), I found some pointers i wantd to share with the hopefully zealous following this blog enjoys.

>Sleep only as much as you need to feel refreshed the next day.
>Get up at the same time, 7 days a week.
>Exercise regularly.
>Make sure your bedroom is comfortable and free of disturbing light and noise.
>Make sure that your bedroom is at a comfortable temperature during the night.
>Eat regular meals and do not go to bed hungry.
>Avoid excessive fluids in the evening. Cut down on caffeine products.
>Avoid alcohol, especially in the evening.
>Smoking may disturb sleep.
>Don't take your problems to bed.
>Train yourself to use the bedroom only for sleeping and sexual activity.
>Do not TRY to fall asleep.
>Put the clock under the bed or turn it so that you cannot see it.
>Avoid taking naps

Have more time or need more info, heres a few links

NIH PDF on sleep: Consider it a sleep 101(opens a pdf)

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sleep (But Were Too Afraid To Ask)

Interactive Sleep Quiz

ZZZZZZ happy reading...(And you know why this post is here, pretty obvious I am sleepy all the time these daze)

This blog is controversial

People are mad at , there is disruption, random comments, extreme entropy.
Blames of plagiarism...yes that one too, and no to add just plain and simple, "I did not know that about you. "

I ve decided to make this blog completely non personal, Also since Google knows everything.

In that process I am taking off most of the posts, and you know its crazy when even the google advertising engine starts displaying ads like the one below on your blog.







Please let yourself be heard by clicking the link below:


http://www.majikwidget.com/mw/api/poll1/poll1.php?id=8c19f571e251e61cb8dd3612f26d5ecf

The crazy diamond shines no more

Syd Barret no more. The father of Pink Floyd, died earlier this week, succumbing to a prolonged illness out of diabetes. He was 60.

Yeah I know this has already starting sounding like a news report.
If that is what you are interested in there are much better places to look.

My reason for posting this is different.

Syd’s example and his name has been used not some much to highlight his creative genius, as much as his drug abuse led downfall. He died a recluse, living out of his mother’s house and shunning all social life for almost thirty years.
He suffered from mental instability, “exacerbated by his use of LSD”. His behavior grew increasingly erratic, and he left the group in 1968 - and was replaced by David Gilmour.

But one asks himself if Syd had continued with the band, would that have lead to a different Pink Floyd than we know of. He is said to have inspired among others David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and even Jimmy Page. Even modern day bands like REM and Smashing Pumpkins have acknowledged his influence in their works.

Twenty years from now, I'm sure that list will have been swelled by a new crop of Barrett-loving groups; and, indeed, that 18-year-olds will still be buying his records. That's how good he was and it's certain that the influence of his music will go on and on.

The king is dead. Long live the king.

Short Biography
Guardian Obituary

Six years after they shunned him out, regretful of their youthful callousness , the band wrote and recorded Shine On, You Crazy Diamond, perhaps the most touching elegy ever for a living musician.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond

Remember when you were young, you
shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes
in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught on the crossfire
of childhood and stardom,
blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,
come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!

You reached for the secret too soon,
you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.

Well you wore out your welcome with random
precision,
rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you
seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you
prisoner,and shine!

Nobody knows where you are,
how near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.Pile on many more layers
and I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph, and sail on the steel
breeze.

Come on you boy child, you winner and loser, come
on you miner for truth and delusion,and shine!

Email - Humor

"Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him..(Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good).. a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. "

Nice Weekend, Eh?

Well I've been going through a catharsis and guess what cures best?

Mission Impossible 3
Da Vinci Code
Dirty Dancing
The Inside Man
Three to Tango
Anger Management
How High;)

"My girlfriend is gettin married tomorrow" said the dreamer

What is rebel? A man who says no.

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

Well, isn't there supposed to be a good bye , when something new begins, shouldnt the old be done away with.

But what of the incompleteness, the hollowness, of not dreaming because the reality is in stark contrast.

Over to Gibran:

"Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

And, I still hold your hand in mine.
In mine when I'm asleep.
And I will bear my soul in time,
When I'm kneeling at your feet.

Goodbye, Godspeed, Goodspeed, GodSpent.

Indyeah!

I looved this Bharatbala producution, so I thought id put it here: Enjoi

Dhanaulti Rocks 2005

My most memorable trip: hmm.. as I ponder to reveal, it would be unfair to call just one of them the most memorable.
I've been struck by wanderlust as long as I can recall, but I will describe a trip last winter into the middle of the Himalayas as the fondest ever.

Only three words describe the trip: Indian WoodStock '05

Dhanaulti is a small sleepy town, in the middle of nowhere and about 35 kilometers from the nearest signs of civilization, that is Mussorie. And it played host to the first of its kind Indian music festival- Dhanaulti Rocks 2005

Picture this:
Untouched Mountains
18 Indian music Bands
Three days of music
The best Sound(Marshall)
A mosh pit
A hotel which has never had electricity(not kidding, electricity had not reached it)

Oh yes, and I lived through it all, all extremes.

It all started with a newspaper clipping, billing this as the biggest music event ever. I scorned at it. It just was too good to be true.

But research followed, and a visits to Andijis.com and backing by Parikrama(parikrama.com) and names like Cassini's Division, Advaita, Nakshatra, Prestorika, Indian ocean, Pin Drop Violence, and I was hooked.

Well, all that followed was pure bliss. Packed my bag, put two fellow rockers into the car and headed from Chandigarh into the unknown serpentine roads to Dhanaulti (using only the instructions available at the site). We still didn’t know if there was any town like that.:))

Six hours of sheer driving pleasure, a magnificent sunset, homage at Paonta Sahib Gurudwara, amazing Dhaba Bread Pakoras and we hit Mussorie. Little did we know that the diversion to Dhanaulti was four kilometres before mussorie. So we turned back and entered what I would describe as the most amazing 30 kilometers of flattened non tarmac level land (it was not a road). The landscape was simply gorgeous.

And remember all this while we were still not sure the event was happening, it being too good to be true.

Only moment of concern was meeting a couple of bikers who were returning and warned us of the "event” being a hoax. We were twenty kilometers away and although we got concerned, we decided to keep going.

It got dark and by the time we hit dhanaulti and we were greeted by a quiet town, no where near the images of the "woodstock" we expected. By the time we figured out lodging (tents were available, but we figured it was too cold so took a hotel), found andiji's restaurant, got to the venue was (yes it was happening!); it was already 8 and dark.

Paid 500 rupees (the best 500 I've ever spent) and got passes, which were pink ribbons tied by Andy’s Australian girlfriend on the wrists.

The venue was a surreal clearing in a pine forest lit be psychedelic lights. No huge stage, just a 4 feet high arrangement. The sound "Marshall", yes it sounded that good!

A few warm up performances till Advaita came on (advaita.net) and we were just awestruck. Deep Indian vocals, traditional Indian instruments played in harmony with western instruments, just took the definition of creativity to a new high.

Imagine cold that made the guitarists hand shiver, yet the keep playing on, and when we did call it a day it was way past midnight, we headed to the hotel starry eyed after a day where unprecedented experiences had left our minds dazzled.

Next day we got up to a sunny winter day and spoiled ourselves to a coffee in the lawn with the sun rising over the mountains. Time stood still. We were challenged to scale a mountain by a local guide, and the day had already been planned.

So we put on our hiking shoes, and started on a 2 hour trek to the top of the highest peak in that area. Huffing and puffing and a lot of beautiful pictures later, we managed to scale the peak, and got a taste of what Hillary and Norgay must have experienced. I have watched numerous documentaries about scaling mountains and have always love the view from the top, but nothing comes close to experiencing it first hand. Freedom got a new definition, and it is liberating in a way to be able to stand atop a mountain and be able to see in all directions as far as you can see, mountains, valleys, forests, serpentine roads cutting through the landscapes, and elevation that gets the adrenaline pumping.

We returned not because we wanted to, but we heard faint sounds of bass coming from the valley below. Day two was on!

Reached back and were greeted to Parikrama live! It was a wonderful performances, and their rendition of covers from led zep, coldplay et al, and the original (but it rained ) were all well played. Truly the best band in India. What followed was a heavy performance by the winners of MTV rock Idols-Prestorika, and moksha.

It was fun watching locals getting high on rock, although I am sure it made no sense to them, but the energy of the place sure got to them.

Returned to the lodging late night, and were treated to warm paranthas by the firewood, god bless the cook who gave us food so late. Next day we heard orange street had were playing. Went to catch some breakfast and met he band on the roof of Andiji’s restaurant, sunbathing and all.

But real life has a funny way of pervading all bliss. Pressing issues at home forced us to leave that day without witnessing that day’s performances. But as luck would have it, on the way back we halted at a dhaba and were lucky to meet the ban members from Silk route enjoying Skyy and talking about music. How often do you get to share a drink with your favorite band in the middle of nowhere and talk about your favorite topic-music.

The heady feeling is anything but gone, and as I write about it six months after it took place, I realize I have blown the prescribed limit of description to smithereens, I still feel I have left out so much. It just was a trip beyond what words could ever describe!

Will those days return

I am allowing myself to feel a little miserable, but i am mising all the FUN I had at home. The followin pic says it all. Hope the current cycle comes full circle and the fun filled activities of the WWF(weekend warrior fun(d)) return to the heady days of the yore.

Underwear Goes Inside The Pants

Why is marijuana not legal? Why is marijuana not legal?
It's a natural plant that grows in the dirt.
Do you know what's not natural?
80 year old dudes with hard-ons. That's not natural.
But we got pills for that.
We're dedicating all our medical resources to keeping the old guys erect,
but we're putting people in jail for something that grows in the dirt?

You know we have more prescription drugs now.
Every commercial that comes on TV is a prescription drug ad.
I can't watch TV for four minutes without thinking I have five serious diseases.
Like: "Do you ever wake up tired in the morning?"
Oh my god I have this, write this down. Whatever it is, I have it.
Half the time I don't even know what the commercial is:
people running in fields or flying kites or swimming in the ocean.
I'm like that is the greatest disease ever. How do you get that?
That disease comes with a hot chick and a puppy.

The schools now: It is all about self-esteem in the schools now.
Build the kids' self-esteem, make them feel good about themselves.
If everybody grows up with high self-esteem, who is going to dance in our strip clubs?
What's going to happen to our porno industry?
These women don't just grown on trees.
It takes lots of drunk dads missing dance recitals before you decide to blow a goat on the internet for fifty bucks.
And if that disappears, where does that leave me on a Friday night with my new high speed connection?

Masterminds are another word that comes up all the time.
You keep hearing about these terrorists masterminds that get killed in the middle east.
Terrorists masterminds.
Mastermind is sort of a lofty way to describe what these guys do, don't you think?
They're not masterminds.
"OK, you take bomb, right? And you put in your backpack. And you get on bus and you blow yourself up. Alright?"
"Why do I have to blow myself up? Why can't I just:"
"Who's the fucking mastermind here? Me or you?"

Americans, let's face it: We've been a spoiled country for a long time.
Do you know what the number one health risk in America is?
Obesity. They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic.
An epidemic like it is polio. Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day.
The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004.
"How'd you get through it grandpa?"
"Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere."

Nobody knows why were getting fatter? Look at our lifestyle.
I'll sit at a drive thru.
I'll sit there behind fifteen other cars instead of getting up to make the eight foot walk to the totally empty counter.
Everything is mega meal, super sized. Want biggie fries, super sized, want to go large.
You want to have thirty burgers for a nickel you fat mother fucker. There's room in the back. Take it!
Want a 55 gallon drum of Coke with that? It's only three more cents.

Sometimes you have to suffer a little bit in your youth to motivate yourself to succeed in later life.
Do you think if Bill Gates got laid in high school, do you think there'd be a Microsoft?
Of course not.
You got to spend a long time in your own locker with your underwear shoved up your ass before you start to think,
"You'll see. I'm going to take of the world of computers! I'll show them."

We're in one of the richest countries in the world,
but the minimum wage is lower than it was thirty five years ago.
There are homeless people everywhere.
This homeless guy asked me for money the other day.
I was about to give it to him and then I thought he was going to use it on drugs or alcohol.
And then I thought, that's what I'm going to use it on.
Why am I judging this poor bastard.
People love to judge homeless guys. Like if you give them money they're just going to waste it.
Well, he lives in a box, what do you want him to do? Save it up and buy a wall unit?
Take a little run to the store for a throw rug and a CD rack? He's homeless.
I walked behind this guy the other day.
A homeless guy asked him for money.
He looks right at the homeless guy and says why don't you go get a job you bum.
People always say that to homeless guys like it is so easy.
This homeless guy was wearing his underwear outside his pants.
Outside his pants. I'm guessing his resume isn't all up to date.
I'm predicting some problems during the interview process.
I'm pretty sure even McDonalds has a "underwear goes inside the pants" policy.
Not that they enforce it really strictly, but technically I'm sure it is on the bo

Copyleft, Everdated, All Rights Detoured

Audiophile speaks out

For a long time Ive trying to get together a list of my favorite music, Albums i can listen to as a whole. And I realised how hard it is today to like an entire album, such an mp3 generation we have become.

If you think i ve missed out any, please let me know, and also feel free to get tagged :P.

Pink Floyd- the Division Bell

Pink Floyd- The wall

Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the moon

Pink Floyd –Pulse

Incubus- Morning Glory

Creed- Human Clay

Creed-Weathered

Creed – My Own Prison

The Doors- Greatest Hits

Depeche Mode- Playing an Angel

Coldplay- Parachutes

ColdPlay- X and Y

Chris Issak- San Francisco Days

James Blunt- Back To Bedlam

Nirvana-MTV Unplugged

Moby-Play

MatchBox Twenty-More than You Think You Are

MatchBox Twenty - Mad Season

U2- The Joshua Tree

U2- Achtung Baby

U2-All That you cant leave behind

U2- How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

Strings- Duur

Norah Jones-Come Away With Me

John Mayer- Room for Squares

CBR touces 325 On Autobahn

I love this video so much , I had to put it here,

Its a CBR driven by a german bike journalist, and it reaches 325 km/hr . Worth noting is the accelaration, the gear changes and the rpm that is maintained. Trust me its something else.

You will be amazed, and it probably is one of my favourite all time videos, something i watch whenever I am missing the adrenaline.




If the above does not work try here.
Leave a comment and tell me if you liked it?"This is a shoutout to the female demography who visit this blog"

Week END!

I am really tempted, and so I will let in to it..

My seriously indulgent weekend, almost spilling into the week was well a heady cocktail of salsa, party, alcohol, women, late night coffee's in a 7 star, excellent loud rock music and beers in a loud club, a very intense movie(crash), a tall glass of cold coffee at 2 am, discussion on gamedesign and how i almost switched careers, a long walk on an empty road with female company, the latest issue of autocar, waking up in someone else's bed(do not make a sexual connotation here), 2 g's on a single meal, bullet rides, the best goddamm club sandwich ever, heady cocktails, south american male bravado, business proposals...... will update more as soon as I recall.

P.S. Its spring and i should be in germany.

Also, test how geeky are you?

Airtel.IN

Below is a Snapshot of my Phone Usage :p




Some more revealing stats

Total Days 29
STD calls 200

Pretty clear I am missing home a little too much, say what?

Mamma I'm Coming Home

Hey Guys, Here's a beauty, I know not one of the best shots, but it represents all I mean when I say I MISS HOME

My Favorite Dirty Joke

George Takes Up Golf(Apologies to ET)

My wife said to me, "George, it's about time you learned to play
golf. You know, that's the game where you chase a ball all over the
county when you're too old to chase women."

So I went to see Jones and asked him if he could teach me how to
play. He said, "Sure, you've got balls haven't you?"

I said, "Yes, but sometimes on cold mornings they're kinda' hard to
find".

"Bring them to the club house tomorrow," he said, "and we'll tee
off."

"What's 'tee off"?" I asked.

He said, "It's a golf term, and we have to 'tee off' in front of
the club house."

"Not for me, you can 'tee off' there if you want to, but I'll 'tee
off' behind the barn somewhere."

"No no," he said, "a tee is a little thing about the size of your
little finger."

I said, "Yes, I've got one of those".

"Well," he said, "you stick it in the ground and stick your ball on
top of it".

I asked, "Do you play golf sitting down? I always thought you
stood up and walked around."

"You do!" he said. "You're standing up when you put your ball on
the tee". Well folks, I thought that was stretching things a little
bit too far, and I said so.

He said, "You've got a bag haven't you?"

"Sure!" I said.

He asked, "Can't you open the bag and take one out?"

I said, "I suppose I could, but damned if I was going to!" He
asked if I didn't have a zipper on my bag, but I told him, "No, I had
the old fashioned type". Then he asked me if I knew how to hold my
club. Well, I told him that after fifty years I should have *some*
sort of an idea!

He said, "You take your club in both hands". (Folks, I knew right
then and there that he didn't know what he was talking about.) Then
he said, "You swing it over your shoulder!"

"No no, that's not me," I said, "that's my brother you're talking
about".

He asked me, "How do you hold your club?"

I said, "In two fingers." He said that wasn't right and got behind
me, and told me to bend over and he would show me how. He couldn't
catch me there because I didn't put four years in the Navy for
nothing!

He said, "You hit the ball with your club, and it will soar and
soar". I said I could well imagine! Then he said, "And when you're
on the green..."

"What's a green?" I asked.

"That's where the hole is," he said.

"Sure you're not color blind?" I asked.

"No!" he said. "Then you take your putter..."

"What's a putter?" I asked. He said that was the smallest club
made.

"Well then," I said, "that's what I've got, a putter!"

"...and with it," he said, "you put your ball in the hole".

"You mean the putter." I corrected.
He said, "The ball! The hole isn't big enough for the putter.
Then after you make the first hole you go on to the next seventeen."

He wasn't talking to me. After two holes I'm shot to hell.
"You mean", he said, "you can't make eighteen holes in one day?"

"Hell no," I says, "it takes me eighteen days to make *one* hole!
Besides, how do I know when I'm at the eighteenth hole?" He said,
"The flag will say so."

That would be just my luck, so I said to HELL with golf.

Back Masking

There's this kool website I found:

Remember those things you heard about stairway to heaven being an incantation to satan:

Led ZEP

" If there's a bustle in your hegderow....."
" Oh here's to my sweet satan..."

Queen:

"Another One Bites the Dust"

"Its Fun to Smoke Marijuana"

Brittany Spears

"With you I lose My Mind"

"Sleep With me , I am not too young"

Check it out, Its Hilarious!

The Color Of Spring

So, another spring is here, another CEBIT has gone by, and another quarter is about to end. Ok I am kidding about the last one.

Some Random thoughts:

• No colors in hyderabad, and the daily grind does not even remind you that the Sky is blue, the fields are yellow, the flowers are full blossom or that the trees back home look beautiful.
• IS life all about chasing the dream, better job, more money, better work station ;P, Bigger Plasma Screen, latest Hand Held/Ipod, Bigger Car/House, Beautiful GF/Wifey, more savings, safer future
• Why am I paying 30 % freakin tax?, not to mention 6% FBT(Frings benefit tax: I learnt that today)
• I heard I will have to pay extra everytime I use an ATM?
  
• Is "Wrap my words around you" a good thing to say :P
  
• Tidy Riddance, eh?
  
• Are people instinctly self centred, or is it a virtue/vice?, I mean is it human nature?
• Is Navjot a POTHEAD?
• Is Airdeccan a SCAM, all their flights are delayed by 2-8 hours.
• Is blogger, gmail, orkut, google News, and everything else " free" a detailed scheme to create a detail of all users' online habits, surfing preferences and network and their preferences in a bid to push targeted advertising, so we suckers are compelled to buy everything we DO NOT need
• Is an MBA a 2 year vacation where u spend good money to watch movies, listen to music, booze, smoke/weed, have a ball of a time and then get paid double of what you were getting in when you joined?
• Are we a country waiting to explode with its SME's.
• Ignore no. 8
  

Cheers, Smacznego, Skoal!

Borrowed Expression

To see you when I wake up
Is a gift I didn't think could be real.
To know that you feel the same as I do
Is a three-fold, Utopian dream.

You do something to me that I can't explain.
So would I be out of line if I said "I miss you"?

I see your picture.
I smell your skin on
The empty pillow next to mine, everytime I close my eyes.
You have only been gone three months ,
But already I'm wasting away.

I know I'll see you again
Whether far or soon.
But I need you to know that I care,
And I miss you.