Reaching over 90% of all US internet users?
This, we have serious trouble believing.
Saturday 26 April 2008
Omphaloskepsis
Came across the word while whiling time at FreeRice.
Know what it means?
Clue: One of the tags of this post :)
Know what it means?
Clue: One of the tags of this post :)
Friday 25 April 2008
Buon 25 Aprile!
Italy celebrates its 63rd anniversary of liberation from fascist rule today.
And one got a good history lesson in that regard.
Q: What liberation?
A: From the Germans, naturally!
Q: The Germans occupied Italy? I thought Hitler and Mussolini were pals!
A: Of course they were, but Mussolini was thrown out in 1943, remember?
Q: Mussolini was thrown out? And it took 2 years after that to end fascist rule?
A: Post ousting Mussolini, non-fascist Italians (notably the famous Vittorio Emmanuel II -- who has a square or road named after him in every place in Italy one has been to yet, by the by...) and the Allies had a grip on the south, but stuff to the north, above the mountains at Carrara was all fascist+German occupied. From late 1943 to 1945, everyday Italians, American troops, and British troops (consisting of Indian troops as well, one is informed) fought in a long bloody series of guerilla wars in mountains not 50 kms from where one lives.
Whoa :)
And one got a good history lesson in that regard.
Q: What liberation?
A: From the Germans, naturally!
Q: The Germans occupied Italy? I thought Hitler and Mussolini were pals!
A: Of course they were, but Mussolini was thrown out in 1943, remember?
Q: Mussolini was thrown out? And it took 2 years after that to end fascist rule?
A: Post ousting Mussolini, non-fascist Italians (notably the famous Vittorio Emmanuel II -- who has a square or road named after him in every place in Italy one has been to yet, by the by...) and the Allies had a grip on the south, but stuff to the north, above the mountains at Carrara was all fascist+German occupied. From late 1943 to 1945, everyday Italians, American troops, and British troops (consisting of Indian troops as well, one is informed) fought in a long bloody series of guerilla wars in mountains not 50 kms from where one lives.
Whoa :)
Thursday 17 April 2008
Textbooks online
Somewhat old news, which one heard only today.
The Tamil Nadu state School Education Department has a website where it's put up all school textbooks (classes 1 to 12) ... http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/
Some digging led to the discovery that other states have textbooks online as well, but one found nothing as comprehensive as TN.
States that have books /chapters online (not just syllabii, which a lot more states have):
The NCERT also had plans in this direction, but not much has come of it. All they have on their sorry excuse of a site, are syllabii and what looks like bits of random textbooks. Get your act together, guys...
Of course, now that the crucial first steps (faltering in some cases) are happening, one hopes to see better stuff too -- like perhaps interactive lessons/ tutorials/ exercises, or video... Best to leverage the interactivity of the medium, wot?
Also, our governments should do something about moving school textbooks onto non-commercial licenses (so that atleast other people can begin building more learning materials)... those books were created with public money, after all.
The Tamil Nadu state School Education Department has a website where it's put up all school textbooks (classes 1 to 12) ... http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in/
Some digging led to the discovery that other states have textbooks online as well, but one found nothing as comprehensive as TN.
States that have books /chapters online (not just syllabii, which a lot more states have):
- Karnataka (with some help from the Azim Premji Foundation)
- Andhra Pradesh (also supposed to be here... but I couldn't find anything)
- Kerala
- Madhya Pradesh (They just have a skeleton site, the actual textbooks are missing :)
The NCERT also had plans in this direction, but not much has come of it. All they have on their sorry excuse of a site, are syllabii and what looks like bits of random textbooks. Get your act together, guys...
Of course, now that the crucial first steps (faltering in some cases) are happening, one hopes to see better stuff too -- like perhaps interactive lessons/ tutorials/ exercises, or video... Best to leverage the interactivity of the medium, wot?
Also, our governments should do something about moving school textbooks onto non-commercial licenses (so that atleast other people can begin building more learning materials)... those books were created with public money, after all.
Monday 14 April 2008
Deewane-e-Aam
April - May is one's favourite time of the year, largely for a single reason: Mangoes -- specifially alphonso mangoes ( Bombay roots showing, obviously!).
As far as one is concerned, a mango is more than just a fruit. It symbolises carefree summer vacations, fun with cousins, and a million happy memories of occasions spent devouring it in all possible forms. Seriously...if sunshine had a taste, one suspects it'd be somewhat like a mango's. If happiness had a texture, it couldn't have been too different from that supple goldeny-orangey flesh. If bliss had a smell..... Gaah!
And one is waxing lyrical over them, because one is likely to miss having one's annual fix... being in Tuscany this season.
Ah well. One will read about them and drool.
Mind the wet floor.
As far as one is concerned, a mango is more than just a fruit. It symbolises carefree summer vacations, fun with cousins, and a million happy memories of occasions spent devouring it in all possible forms. Seriously...if sunshine had a taste, one suspects it'd be somewhat like a mango's. If happiness had a texture, it couldn't have been too different from that supple goldeny-orangey flesh. If bliss had a smell..... Gaah!
And one is waxing lyrical over them, because one is likely to miss having one's annual fix... being in Tuscany this season.
Ah well. One will read about them and drool.
Mind the wet floor.
Friday 11 April 2008
India Day in Pisa
One is singing, along with K:
1) Colonial Cousins' Krishna
2) Mile Sur Mera Tumhara (cliched, but.... perfect answer to everyone who's ever asked me 'So, what language do you speak in India?')
1) Colonial Cousins' Krishna
2) Mile Sur Mera Tumhara (cliched, but.... perfect answer to everyone who's ever asked me 'So, what language do you speak in India?')
Thursday 10 April 2008
Lost in translation
Claudio, telling someone (who had problems with their gas bill)... "Call up the Enel company, and ask them about your consummation".
Makes me wonder... How many such blunders have I made in the past months with my Italian?
I know what word I am taking to my next word-exchange session with him, certainly!
Makes me wonder... How many such blunders have I made in the past months with my Italian?
I know what word I am taking to my next word-exchange session with him, certainly!
Tuesday 8 April 2008
Agile Theatre
If you've encountered any kind of description of Agile methods, Extreme programming, etc., you know how much they emphasise good communication -- from communication between .
My software engg prof, John Favaro, and his wife Patrizia Falcone have a cool idea on how to improve communication -- theatre.
Right from trying to 'be' the elements ('OK Hanisha, now try being Fire'), to being a mirror, to playing a weird version of Passing the Parcel (where each of us had to modify the parcel in some way, then use it --all in mime), this was totally unlike any drama one had ever done.
It was an eye-opener... I found myself saying "I can't do this... I can't make a fool of myself" way too often!
If you're like me, you're thinking... 'Fun! But what does this have to do with building software?'
Think about what extreme programming stands for -- short incremental build cycles, close-knit teams of developers and clients, constantly refactoring your designs in a million small ways to improve them -- all add up to agility, improvisation, responsiveness.
And where better to learn all these, than theatre, where the concepts have been used for centuries, if not millenia?
Using improvisation in the theatrical sense, and then wondering how to apply it to your software development, is mind boggling stuff. Something one can admit to liking... Now that the marks are in, and it doesn't sound like sucking up to a prof :)
My software engg prof, John Favaro, and his wife Patrizia Falcone have a cool idea on how to improve communication -- theatre.
Right from trying to 'be' the elements ('OK Hanisha, now try being Fire'), to being a mirror, to playing a weird version of Passing the Parcel (where each of us had to modify the parcel in some way, then use it --all in mime), this was totally unlike any drama one had ever done.
It was an eye-opener... I found myself saying "I can't do this... I can't make a fool of myself" way too often!
If you're like me, you're thinking... 'Fun! But what does this have to do with building software?'
Think about what extreme programming stands for -- short incremental build cycles, close-knit teams of developers and clients, constantly refactoring your designs in a million small ways to improve them -- all add up to agility, improvisation, responsiveness.
And where better to learn all these, than theatre, where the concepts have been used for centuries, if not millenia?
Using improvisation in the theatrical sense, and then wondering how to apply it to your software development, is mind boggling stuff. Something one can admit to liking... Now that the marks are in, and it doesn't sound like sucking up to a prof :)
Saturday 5 April 2008
Why do people marry?
As G reminded me just the other day, I have on occasion claimed that '...marriage is for mad people'. So obviously, this has been a question I have asked enough people at enough times...
I found a somewhat-decent answer in the most unexpected place...
"Because we need a witness to our lives.
There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean?
But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything.
The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day.
You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed, because I will be your witness'."
-- Beverly (Susan Sarandon's character) in Shall We Dance?
Am I convinced?
I found a somewhat-decent answer in the most unexpected place...
"Because we need a witness to our lives.
There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean?
But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything.
The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day.
You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed, because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed, because I will be your witness'."
-- Beverly (Susan Sarandon's character) in Shall We Dance?
Am I convinced?
Friday 4 April 2008
Google farming out Performics
When Google announced its acquisition of ad technology major DoubleClick, one of our thoughts concerned a relatively small entity in the DoubleClick stable -- their performance-based ad agency, Performics.
You *are* the medium, and then you run an agency helping people exploit it? Not goody-two-shoes-Google's style, one thought.
And true to expectation, Google's taken the controversy-free way out, and decided to let go of Performics
It'll be interesting to see who lines up at Mountain View for a piece of the action!
You *are* the medium, and then you run an agency helping people exploit it? Not goody-two-shoes-Google's style, one thought.
And true to expectation, Google's taken the controversy-free way out, and decided to let go of Performics
It'll be interesting to see who lines up at Mountain View for a piece of the action!
Wednesday 2 April 2008
Twittering
What's all the fuss about, you ask?
Well, I don't know about you, but I *loved* the way it allows me to dash off little thoughtlets on the spur of the moment...
Perfect for people with low attention spans :)
Well, I don't know about you, but I *loved* the way it allows me to dash off little thoughtlets on the spur of the moment...
Perfect for people with low attention spans :)
Back from the land of the dead...
... or so it'd seem, given that one is posting here after ages.
Will write with some regularity this time around, hopefully!
And also liberate some older posts from Draft-folder imprisonment. Watch this space.
Will write with some regularity this time around, hopefully!
And also liberate some older posts from Draft-folder imprisonment. Watch this space.
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