Open View

A stage for inner voices, opinions, ideas and experiences

The plight of 'Mahatma Gandhi' in South Africa

Posted by Harish.S at Thursday, January 28, 2010
1 Comments

When I was thinking about what to post today, I read the previous post about Nehru. Suddenly these incidents came to my mind and I feel every Indian needs to know this.

  • We all know Gandhi is a barrister. AndGandhi went to South Africa in 1890 to lend hands in solving a case on trading. Barristers were respectful and influential persons in those times. But in SA Indians faced severe racial discrimination. Gandhi during his early face of life faced severe difficulties than those he faced in India during 1930's. In SA Gandhi was harasses in every way possible because of his strict life style and strong mind. Gandhi was not even given a single room in any hotel when he reached SA for the first time because he was a colored person. 'BLACK' people are not allowed to use any service used by the so called 'WHITES'. This situation prevailed in SA for many years together.
  • Another instant of hardship for Gandhi happened when he was going from Johannesburg to Natal where he was thrown out of the train for travelling in first class. Whites are only allowed to travel in fiirst class in SA. Gandhi being a barrister insisted on first class ticket and refused to get out of the train. So he was forcefully removed by the guards and he travelled in a tram to the place. Another time when he was traveeling in first class in same route, he got the same treatment but another white person stopped the guard saying that he has a tiket and has all rights to travel in first class and he has no problem in travelling with Gandhi.
  • Gandhi faced severe oppositon in getting approval to practice law in SA for the only reason of him being a black. He had to undergo a rigorous process to get approval which nearly took him two months his one year work schedule.
There are many instances which i can keep on telling about the difficult situation Gandhi has faced in his early days as a young barrister. These struggles has sowed the seeds of severe determination and hardened mind. Even though there are lot of negative aspects which we can tell about Gandhi, the way in which he fought for Indians in South Africa and India is really commendable. "No one is perfect except GOD". GAndhi is also human, so mistakes are obvious. The fact we should see is his determination not to repeat it and to live for the motherland. He is rightly called the 'The fater of our Nation' and 'Bapu' which is a hindi wod that means 'father'. Till this world exits Gandhi will be the symbol for peace and non-violence.

 

Nehru-The philanderer

Posted by Viswanathan Karthik at Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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DISCLAIMER: This post has been written with the sheer motto of passing on information (and improving one's writing skills) and does not harm or disfigure any political figure.


We all know Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of India, that's what text books and history books tell us. More interestingly he is still the longest serving PM of India. Nehru was on of the very few who supported the partition of India. During his tenure, was to hold a referendum with the Pakistani officials in 1948 but dragged it on till 1953, then reluctantly withdrew from holding the referendum. If the referendum was held then, there would be no wars with Paksitan, no terrorism nothing. It was due to the absence of this referendum that news channels have so much to boast, foreigners always have a second thought before coming to India ("OMG, I hope there are no bomb blasts"), politics has become a business and all that one can think of in his mechanical life. But why was the referendum called off? He had the UN to his support too. Nehru, during this period of time was busy romancing Lady Mountbatten, so he had no time for the country. There is a saying,"Behind every successful man the is a woman". It says some random woman can change a man. Here's how the formula goes:

Lady Mountbatten->Nehru->Kashmir issue

After an hour of googling found out that Nehru was a very good philanderer, and Lady Mountbatten was not his first extra marital relations; he had a son to some other lady who is in an orphanage!!
The above photo shows the plight of Mountbatten when Nehru was coquetting Lady Mountbatten. So friends and readers please think, the next time you fall for someone see to that you don't take the wrong decisions.

Awaiting your comments....

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Twittermania!!!!!

Posted by Harish.S at
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Twitter has become a buzz word in the present world. Internet was being used only for transfer of information in late 90's. But now a days the number of users have multiplied and internet has become a space of booming business. More people started using social networking sites to keep in touch with their kith and kins. Then came a site for updating status messages only. First I thought that what's the use of a site only for that purpose. But it has turned out to be one of the most upcoming site of the year 2009 and Twitter identity has become an important part of the technical world. Every celebrity is now in twitter and there are loads of dumb people who are always ready to follow what the stars do. This has become an amazing way of publicity for everyone. Twitter has proven useful for many communities: vendors to advertise their portfolio, celebrities to increase their publicity. The most interesting fact is that twitter has helped to generate huge funds for the relief of earthquake victims in Haiti. Also, it has paved way to jobs where a person needs to twitter to promote,market and support a product and the person is paid on the basis of number of tweets made. This has proven the use of technology and science for useful purposes and has shown the power of internet. Twitter has made a firm stand in the internet and everyone is in "Twittermania"

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The Right Path

Posted by Harish at
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Every once a while we stop in our fast paced lives to check if we are going in the right path. This term called ‘right path’ is tough to define. It is tough to define because every entity defines it in its own way. But one thing is for sure. At the end of this right path that we intend to travel with all our energy lay the tree which yields the fruits of success and happiness. For every entity, an organization or an individual this tree is the inspiration to go on. It is the inspiration to rise up from every failure and keep moving towards this destination with more effort and energy than before. Any path that we are sure to take us to this tree is the right path. We define the right principles by what we call core values which guide us along the right path we have chosen. It is using these core values we can check if we are on the right path. We check if we are going in the right path in three occasions. One, if we are very proactive we stop once a while and check if we are on the right path. Two, we fail miserably at something which takes us to success. And the last occasion is on special occasions. One such day is today. The Republic Day of India. As a nation, we must check if we are what our core principles say we are. As a nation of over a billion people we strive to become the largest super power in the world and still remain a democratic nation. There are countless arguments that our nation is not going in the right path because of so many factors such as corruption, over population which remains untapped, crime rate, selfish leaders, thoughtless laws, pending cases in courts, poverty, internal fights over linguistic issues, over caste, creed and religion, useless education system, the bottom of the pyramid never getting benefited and so on. I agree. In short it may be put as our nation is not going in the direction our ancestors wanted it to go. It is true. It may seem like our dreams of becoming a super power will remain a dream. This is not the first time our nation has been in this state since Vasco da Gama found his way to India. There are two things which we can do now. Either keep lamenting over it, sit idle and let the devil drive our country right into hell or as a citizen, do our part to the nation and show what happens when a nation of a billion people fight back. And by the wish of good will, every time in recorded history we have chosen the latter and have succeeded. We have chosen to fight back with more strength and more commitment. As a citizen, we are not expected to great things. We can help the nation go in the right path by doing simple things such as following road rules, keeping the environment clean by making proper use of the dust bin, preserving places of cultural and tourist importance by keeping ourselves from inscribing our names on them, spreading the knowledge and love we have to others who do not have them, paying taxes, phone and electricity bills correctly and on time etc. There are some serious issues which we find hard to fight like corruption. But as a citizen, if we give our best to the nation, then by the laws of nature it will be reciprocated and the nation will give its best to us. This time it is our turn to make the choice which our ancestors made in their times. On this day I request you to ask yourself what choice you have made. To save the nation and come out as the largest super power Earth has ever witnessed or, go down as individuals. Now go out there and show the world what a billion people which joined hands can do! Happy republic day everyone! Proud to be an Indian!


Do comment about your choice. 

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An Interesting Comparison

Posted by Harish at Tuesday, January 26, 2010
4 Comments

I was driving my brand new Yamaha R1 along a beach at over 300 kmph. The road was long and empty. I could feel the sea breeze on my chest. But my machine was a beast. It kept itself above the 300 mark with little effort. Soon I reached my house. It is not just any other house. It is a big farm house. Pretty much like what you see in the movies. I enter through the gigantic main gate and drive past the lush green meadows. I park my bike in the garage beside the silver Rolls Royce and get down. As I walk down the corridor my pet Labrador comes running to me. I push open the wonderfully carved teak wood door. From a distant hill I hear a voice. It sounds very familiar to me. It was my college roommate’s. The voice said, “Get up idiot! It’s 8:30 already!” Oh boy! This is the third time of the week I am going to be late to first hour class. I rush through my morning chores, skip breakfast as usual wondering if the last time I ate breakfast in college was in first year and run to class. I am fifteen minutes late. The canned response I get from the lecturer is ‘”next class.” After that there is no arguing but to move away. He just doesn’t understand that a budding engineer with big dreams and ambitions is waiting at the door step to start his pursuit of knowledge and he is just getting plainly dismissed off. I came down to the chota canteen to get myself some noodles and sit at the stone bench opposite to my department. It was a hot and tasty snack. My mind started to think about what to do for the week as I planned to sit there for the rest of the hour and hopefully make it to the next class on time. The following weekend I had my mid semester exam. Before that I had to submit an assignment, give a seminar for 2 out of 10 marks of internals, some record work, prepare slides for project review, pay mess bill, some fine for a random reason which would be added with it for every student and… As I was trying to recollect I saw a goat passing by. Yes a goat. It is a common domestic creature in my college. It caught my attention suddenly. It went to the nearby shrubs and nipped a bit. Then went to the nearby tree shade, sat down and started enjoying the weather. Out of the blue I became so jealous of the goat! The life it had! I mean think about it for a moment. It has no worries at all. No assignments, no exams, no attendance, no boring lectures, no mess bill, no pressure and not even a deadline to meet! It can go anywhere, eat and sleep anytime. No mess food! And still no one questions it. It is not even made into a meal like in other places because I study in a Brahmin college. And here I am sitting before it trying to recollect when I had my last breakfast! Aargh! I have become so jealous of a goat’s life! I wanted to become a goat! For the sake of living a lazy carefree life! I even prayed to God that in my next life I should be a goat in my college and sit next to a frustrated engineering student like this very same goat. And then something happened. Nothing big actually. The bell rang. So I had to rush for the next hour only to spend the rest of my day in class thinking what all I can do as a goat in this college in my next birth.

Awaiting comments!

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It Happened to Me Once

Posted by Harish at Saturday, January 23, 2010
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It was 2 AM in the morning. I was chatting with my friend in GTalk about the movie I saw the previous evening, ‘Unnai Pol Oruvan’. It was such a wonderful movie. Many of who have seen the Hindi version claimed that was better. But I was not bothered.  I loved this movie and I was telling him about how it was. Every scene of the movie was green in my mind. The movie was literally flawless. As I was narrating him the story, my phone started ringing. I looked at the caller ID read ‘Private Number calling’. This was the first time in my life to see such an ID showing up in my mobile. It was such an unusual call at such an unusual time. But by the look of it, I was sure that call is not going to bring good times. Probably because of the movie I just enjoyed. The volume kept increasing and so was my pulse rate. My mind started making umpteen numbers of connections and calculations about the call. Who might it be? Could it be some terrorist like in the movie? What could be his motives? Will he threaten me about some bomb hoax? Or will I have to play the part of the reporter like in the movie? Or will I have to run for my life after the call? Or could it be something even worse? As I was hallucinating myself in these situations, the phone kept ringing. It was very strange. The night was very silent and calm. I was completely normal and when I saw the caller ID everything changed. I suddenly felt like I was the only person around in a lonely forest. I could feel my heavy breath and the sweat dripping on my forehead. Undeterred, the good part of my mind convinced me that it should be some routine procedural call from the service provider. So I picked up the mobile and answered it.  Initially there was a horse noise. After a short pause I heard a voice. It said “Salaam malikum bhai!” Though the voice was very calm I felt the depth of evilness in it somehow. Maybe the sixth sense in me started working. The voice sounded like that of a murderer. So sinister it was. Just these three words uttered by the caller kept echoing in my mind. As it echoed more my heart was beating with increasing speed every second. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins. My spine became so chill all of a sudden, fingers started shivering and tongue became completely dry. I tried to speak but my vocal system was paralyzed to function. The good part of my mind was trying to boost me up with everything it could but sadly it was no match for the other side this time. Somehow I managed to ask the caller “Who is this?” After a brief pause, the caller responded “Listen to me bhai. I have something to tell you.” That was enough to set me in super escalated hyper mode. I immediately cut the call in a reflex, gulped down half a litre of water, put my mobile into my drawer, took the ipod and ran out of the room and to the terrace. My mind went completely blank and I was in goose bumps. In an attempt to calm myself down I played my favorite songs at full sound. Gradually after an hour I was back to normal physically though I was still terrified. As I was walking around I saw one of my friends having a talk with his uncle in the US. The call got cut for some reason and when it came again and I looked at the caller ID. What I saw there made my heart skip a beat. It was written ‘Private Number calling’! I was completely convinced that a terrorist from some foreign land had called me up. I immediately ran back to my room and took out my mobile. There was no number in the received calls but just a blank entry. I wanted to call up the police and ask for Z-level security. I did not care what that meant but as long as it saved me from whatever that terrorist had in mind for me I wanted it. When I looked at my laptop which was still on, my friend whom I was chatting with left a message and went offline. It said “Dude. You need to know that when I call your mobile using Skype all you get is private number calling!”    

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Technika 10 - Ethical Hacking Workshop, Birla Institute of Technology Mesra,Patna Campus

Posted by adithya at Friday, January 22, 2010
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OrganizerBITS Mesra, Patna


Technika 10, Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Patna Campus - Ethical Hacking Workshop. Be ready to know all the Hacking techniques under one roof. This workshop is designed to provide the right knowledge to the aspiring Hacking and Information Security geeks. Workshop has been designed by Kyrion Digital Securities in coordination with Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Patna Campus and has been segmented as follows:

Overview of the Workshop What necessitates the computer security is that, people think it to be 'Cool' to be able to 'Hack', but its 'Cooler' to be able to secure systems. To make you 'cooler', here Kyrion Digital Securities come with an exciting plus informative workshop. The workshop will feature talks by some distinguished experts on security and even the practical demonstrations. The focus of the workshop is to learn how to protect us from the menace of hacking. During the workshop, the primary aim would be to introduce you to the current popular attacks and explain the techniques to counter them. Don't worry it would not be a "scriptkiddie" material. The other focus of the workshop is to enable you to build up future systems. It includes making you aware of the current shortcomings which give rise to bad security systems. As it is quite a vast topic to talk about, we will be giving an overview of what constitutes 'ideal secure system'. This course would equip students to counter the potential attacks. Also, the aim would be impart technical know-how of how to make the Internet transactions safe and secure. This would be a founding stone for India to emerge as a Super Power in times to come.

For any query, please feel free to contact:

Kyrion Coordinator

Name: Tajinder Kalsi

Phone: +91-95559-44466

Email: tajinder.kalsi@kyrion.in



Email address: kyrion.in@gmail.com

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One More Problem Due to Overweight!

Posted by Harish at
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Adding to the list of problems caused due to obesity is the recent announcement by Air France. They have said that from next month, obese customers can reserve two adjacent seats for a comfortable journey with the second seat at a 25% discount. I really wonder how the mind of an obese person works. How will the person feel when he/she can't get up or sit down or bend down or heck even walk around for that matter without getting drenched in one's own sweat! How bulky and heavy will he feel? They will have to manage a host of other issues that comes free with obesity ranging from being the object of ridicule at every place to coping up with a host of diseases that obesity causes. Time and again they try to slim down by following various methods like taking up tablets, going to the gym regularly even if they had hated physical work all throughout their lives etc. Some even go the extent of surgery. I feel sad for them. So much of work, attention and time you need to give to your body which a normal person will not generally. I always asked myself this question 'when such announcements come, won't it hurt the ego of overweight people?' Though it is done for the benefit of everyone I always asked myself this question because it is one more reason to make fun of your overweight friend. But there are some advantages with being slightly obese. They look cute and adorable. They are smooth, round and soft where. You can find only curved edges on their body! Girls and kids love them! When all of this congregates what kind of a mind set is formed? An embodiment of confidence and courage to fight all the negatives of it throughout lifetime? A carefree attitude to just enjoy the brighter part of it and just accept the dull side? A completely asocial nature? Its mind boggling! Whatever be it we always love our overweight friends and its true!

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Censoring the WEB

Posted by Harish.S at
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Another post regarding the censorship issues relating to the web. I have posted the problems faced by Google in china previously. Internet was introduced to enable free flow of information throughout the world and it has succeeded in doing so. But there are some countries which are prohibiting people from the right of freedom to browse by "censoring the web" .The list of top ten countries where stringent censorship exits are :

10. Pakistan

Pakistan started censoring the web in 2000, when the main target was anti-Islamic content. Over the time, it seems, they liked the possibility to control the Internet traffic, and have been increasing the scope of their censorship system ever since.

9. Burma

Burma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is a country characterized by severe human rights problems, so it would be hard to expect an open and reliable Internet adoption. It is estimated that less than 1% of its population has access to the web, and this happens via a handful of cybercafes, and always under tight surveillance.

8. Yemen

The Yemen government is very hostile to the freedom of the media in general, and the Internet is no exception. Political and social issues are always under their radar, although the digital infrastructure for the censorship here is not as advanced as in some of the other countries on our list.

7. North Korea

North Korea has managed to accomplish a really tough task given our time: they kept the Internet outside of the country borders! For a country that has no independent media at all, however, it makes sense.

6. Syria

The Syrian government admits that it automatically blocks websites with pornographic content and with politically sensitive information. In reality the situation is much worse, and many journalists from around the world consider Syria to be one of the most repressive countries as far as the Internet is concerned.

5. Cuba

The Reporters Without Borders organization considers Cuba “one of the world’s 10 most repressive countries” when it comes to online content.
The local access to the Internet is so controlled, and the punishment to dissent so severe, that they managed to create a state of self-censorship, where people don’t even try to access prohibited material out of fear.

4. United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is one of the most connected countries in the Middle East. Despite that fact, the country tries to control heavily the flow of information on the web. Virtually any website containing ideas or information that goes against the political, moral or religious values of the country is blocked.

3. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia introduced the Internet on its country many years after other Arab countries, exactly because they didn’t know how they would be able to control the content. Today they have a complex censorship system in place, and they even have laws criminalizing the access to websites that violate Saudi laws or Islamic values.

2. Iran

The censorship of the web in Iran started several years ago, and today they are one of the most efficient countries on this respect. The target? All non-Islamic websites, making Iran probably the country with the most extensive web censorship in the world.

1. China

If you think that The Great Wall of China was already an incredible thing, you should take a look at what critics from around the world call “The Great Firewall of China.” China has undoubtedly the most sophisticated censorship system in the world. In the past they have been able to block all sorts of unfriendly websites, and even to silence movements like the pro-Tibet protest as if they never existed.

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End of Scrabulous

Posted by Harish.S at
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We all use facebook. It is one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. The unique aspect of Facebook is its application database. An application called scrabulous was among the most used application. But because of legal problems and privacy breach, facebook decided to remove it from the site and filed a case on January. The application was created by two Indians. Though it can be presently used in India, proceedings are going on to remove it and all the odds are stacked against SCRABULOUS.

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Google - 'Hai Baaton Mein Dum?' Contest [10 days left]

Posted by adithya at Wednesday, January 20, 2010
0 Comments


WhereOnline

OrganizerGoogle and LiveHindustan.com
Key Dates
Contest ends on: January 31, 2010
Winners shall be announced on: February 28, 2010
Eligibility
Open to residents of India above 13 years of age.


Google and LiveHindustan.com bring you the 'Hai Baaton Mein Dum?' Contest. If you've ever wished that there was more great content in Hindi online, here's your chance to spill your heart out about the things that matter the most to you: entertainment, sports, travel, health and politics. Brick by brick, you'll be building the web in Hindi, sharing your knowledge of these topics and showing your flair for this beautiful language. So, go ahead and create your Google Account here and click the 'Submit your entry' button next to the topic you want to write about. The Essay must be between 100 – 1000 words.

You stand to win some amazing prizes like laptops, gift vouchers and free internet subscriptions! There is no limit to the number of entries per contestant. Only entries in Hindi will be accepted.' Let your imagination run wild and spread the joy of sharing your thoughts in Hindi on the web!



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Yahoo! Hack U 2010i

Posted by adithya at
0 Comments


WhereHyderabad & Bangalore

OrganizerYahoo! Software Development India Pvt. Ltd
Key Dates
Hack Day at IISc Bangalore begins on: January 21, 2010
Hack Day at IIIT-Hyderabad begins on: January 22, 2010


Yahoo! India is organizing Hack Day 2010 in IIIT Hyderabad & IISc, Bangalore. It’s hacking season again! After a raging success at IIT-Delhi and IIT-Mumbai last winter, it’s time for hack lovers in your campus to team up and emerge with cool and interesting hacks! Bounce off ideas, suggestions or just engage in plain chit-chat with Yahoo! web experts and participate in sessions full of learning, hacking and fun!Interesting tech talks, hacking tips and lessons, and hands-on coding workshops await you. Make the best use of it while it lasts!

Schedule :
IIIT Hyderabad on Jan 22nd - 24th, 2010
IISc Bangalore on Jan 21st, 25th - 27th, 2010

Please visit the given website for more details.



Email address: blr-hacku@yahoo-inc.com

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Browsers : Internet's eye piece

Posted by Harish.S at
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Internet has become so common such that not even a single day passes without using some sort of its services like mails, chatting, blogging, social networking, etc. But have you ever thought about the tool you use to surf the internet - "THE BROWSER". Do you know how it works or what it is based on? How much secure a browser is? Is the browser you are using is better than others? What all you can do with it? We never care for such things as long as we are able to surf the internet using the old crap installed in most of the operating systems.
A browser is rated by WEB STANDARDS PROJECT using the Acid3 test. The acid test basically that tests how well a browser follows certain elements from web standards, especially relating to the Document Object Model and JavaScript It actually tests how a browser runs CSS, DOM objects, Web2.0 modules and gives a score for 100 based on the performance. These are the scores of Acid3 test of some of the popular browsers:
1.) Google Chrome 4.0.295.0 - 100/100
2.) Safari 4 - 100/100
3.) Opera 10 - 100/100
4.) Mozilla Firefox 3.5.2 - 93/100
5.) Internet explorer 9 - 32/100
Source: Wikipedia
From the above pictures we get that Chrome, Safari and Opera have 100/100 but it is not that all are of same standard. It just implies that all the browsers have passes all tests in Acid3. Chrome out lasts every other browser in terms of speed and captures the 'Numero uno' spot. Also I would like to add a detailed performance report on popular browsers where Google Chrome is the clear winner.

Click the image to see a large preview of the scores and comparison.
Test has been done on basis of 6 performance aspects namely: JavaScript speed, CPU speed, DOM selection speed, CSS rendering speed, page load time and browser cache performance. Chrome leads in four of the six categories and thus comes first ahead of others. Chrome is called the new baby in the field of browsers but it has showed us that it is a lion in terms of performance.
Along with performance there are lot of other factors which influences people to use various browsers such as add-ons, themes, plug-ins, etc. The race is on and every competitor is trying to become better over the other. In the end we the end user is benefited by these as our browsing experience increase day by day :) . Enjoy surfing the internet.

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I feel relieved!

Posted by Harish at Tuesday, January 19, 2010
0 Comments

The first reaction I gave when I received the news “44 Deemed Universities are De-Recognized by the Government” was relief! The education and career of over 2 lakh students, over 2 lakh future pillars of the nation may seem like to be in a contingent plight. But I would say this is a “Blessing in disguise” for the students and to the future of our nation. The grounds on which these institutes were stripped off their “deemed” status given by the Minister of HRD Mr. Kapil Sibal himself are as follows
* Undesirable management structure where families rather than professional academics controlled the functioning. 
* Several institutions had violated the principles and guidelines prescribing excellence in teaching and research and were engaged in introduction of thoughtless programmes. 
* Little evidence of noticeable efforts in case of emerging areas of knowledge. 
* Little evidence of commitment towards research. 
* Institutions increased their intake capacity disproportionately. 
* Undergraduate and post-graduate courses were fragmented with concocted nomenclatures. 
* Higher fee structure than prescribed.   
The epitome of these is that universities which are run purely with the intention of making monetary assets and not to instill knowledge to students will be de-recognised by the government. During the tenure of the previous HR Minister, the status of “deemed” was virtually up for grabs. Many institutions which had an altruistic motive got clearances easily and are now thriving while the other institutes which were run with a not so high morale are in trouble now. One more interesting fact to be noted is that a few of these institutes were run by politicians and the people who are considered highly influential. The course of education of students in these institutes is also taken care of by the government. This is a clear indication that India is all set and is moving in the right direction to improve its education level to global standards. Hence the joint decision by the government and the Supreme court which might seem dubious at first sight is actually a blessing in disguise for the nation and there is a reason for everyone to feel relieved. 

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War of The Mobile Warlords

Posted by abilash at

Here we have another edition of the wrangle between the two mobile giants Nokia and Apple.
The latest is that Apple Inc. has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Comission a.k.a. I.T.C. trying its best to block Nokia's import to the US.
Now we've got the two companies in a deep tussle for quite a while now.It started in October the last when Nokia sued Apple for infringement of 10 of its patents.In turn, Apple retaliated by suing Nokia that they have violated 13 of its patents.This is becoming into a war for domination .Who ever wins dominates the world of mobile phones.
As we know that Iphone had made the world frenzy.Same goes to some of the models of Nokia .Both of them exclaim of stealing each others technology.To top it all,Kodak has filed a cse against Apple for the use of their technology in Iphone. Both the companies will do what ever it takes to win this case.
Hope everything stays healthy.

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Sandy's Chocolate Lab

Posted by Wini at
1 Comments

The sad part about being in Chennai is that there is just one Mcdonald's and no Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. On the bright side, we have Sandy's Chocolate Laboratory. The seat of innovation, when it comes to absolutely sinful desserts.

It is very surprising that many Chennaiites don't really know about the place because it is so small that it consists of just one table. Yes. One big table. And it is on an obscure corner of Greenways Road. They do not advertise either. This is probably why not many people go there but, this is also why those of us who do, like it so much!

Apart from the exotic range of desserts (mainly chocolate based ones), the main appeal is the way in which they are served. In beakers and test tubes, decanters! :) Hence the term "laboratory"! The first time I went there with my friends, I was pleasantly surprised with the ambience. It was simple yet classy. Highly suitable for casual chats and informal "long-time-no-see" kind of meetings. I could see only two waiters, one of whom might have actually been the owner, one never knows! The table was made of oak. If two different groups want to sit at the table, then one group will simply have to sit a few seats away from the other. No other go. There are chocolate mousses and brownies with a varitey of toppings ranging from cream to fruits to chocolate chip cookies. Powdered chocolate chip cookies is always served with the main dessert. So is, for reasons beyond my understanding, chocolate milk!

My friend ordered chocolate fondue with fruits and he got a beaker of molten chocolate on bunsen burner and another beaker full of fruits. The idea is to dip the fruits in the chocolate. I got a beaker full of traditional chocolate brownie with hot chocolate sauce and ice cream. It was very hard to eat all of it alone, though it was probably the best brownie I had ever tasted!

What I DIDN'T like about SCL was the unprofessionalism, if there is such a word( if there isn't then there should! ) . It is the kind of place that gives you dark chocolate if it runs out of milk chocolate. The other thing is the sheer unaffordability of the desserts. One tiny glass of spiced, molten chocolate (called xocolate) costs 250 Rs.!

But hell! It is chocolate !And there are people who would give an arm and a leg for a taste of some the finest chocolate desserts in India. If you are one of them then Sandy's Chocolate Laboratory is definitely your haven!

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Sony Ericsson : Get on the Train to Fame - Mobile Content Submission Challenge [26 days left]

Posted by adithya at
0 Comments


OrganizerSony Ericsson
Key Dates
Contest ends on: February 15, 2010


Developer World has announced the launch of their ‘Get on the Train to Fame’ contest exclusively designed to foster the growth of professional developers across India.The aim of ‘Get on to the Train to Fame’ is to encourage and reward developers to submit innovative content for multiple platforms like Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile® and Flash Lite, which are the backbone of new age mobile phones. The best prospective application or game will be announced every week, providing unmatched opportunity to Indian developers to showcase their competence on the international platform.

Through this contest, developers get a chance to feature in the Sony Ericsson go-to-market channels - PlayNow™ and Fun & Downloads that are available to consumers in up to 70 countries. These channels offer a chance to receive 70% of net revenue. In addition to this, the best prospective application or game each week could win a Satio™, Sony Ericsson’s new Symbian phone which combines incredible technology and style and comes with a 12.1 megapixel camera.

This contest is open for content developers who have a creative eye for innovation and ideas that go beyond a common man’s imagination, or maybe who know how to bring life to a mobile phone through addictive content and games.



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International Workshop on Massive Data Analytics over the Cloud (MDAC2010) [32 days left]

Posted by adithya at
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In Conjunction with Nineteenth International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2010)


Last Date for Manuscript submission: February 21, 2010
Submission of final draft of accepted manuscripts: March 31, 2010
Workshop: April 26, 2010




There is a need to assemble resources on demand – the motivation for Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing represents the desire to migrate from the traditional server-centric computing architecture to a totally network-centric architecture where logical computing resources can be assembled flexibly, on demand. MapReduce is a software framework introduced by Google, in an attempt to bring the benefits of cloud computing to tackling the problems posed by massive datasets. While the early signs in terms of support from the developer community, academia and industry are quite encouraging, there are many open problems that still need to be addressed. We invite researchers working in any of the areas mentioned on the website can participate. Original, unpublished manuscripts of upto 6 pages (2 column format) inclusive of all references and figures are welcomed. Vision papers and descriptions of work-in-progress are welcomed as short paper submissions (4 pages). Papers must be written in English. The proceedings will be published electronically as an ACM ICPS volume and will be available on ACM Digital Library.



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