Monday, December 31, 2007

Madonna to welcome New Year in Rajasthan village

Madonna to welcome New Year in Rajasthan village

Still relevant after all these years. She broke away from the pack yet again in 2007.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year all - have a great time - write well and prosper!

Blogger Bar :: Firefox Add-ons

Blogger Bar :: Firefox Add-ons - finally found something, though not as unobtrusive as Google Notebook - why doesn't Google Notebook have a Blog This! button?

Ron Paul, Non-intervention, Pakistan and Terrorism

Ron Paul's a bit of an extreme/differentiated candidate, but he often speaks straight and gets important views out which would otherwise be muffled by the rest of the politicos' samespeak. He recently affirmed the view of non-intervention in other countries' affairs, referring to the US policy of arming Pakistan's Musharraf, even though he has signally failed to hold the line against the Al-Qaeda hordes. In a good article on The Huffington Post, this key paragraph is relevant.
Terrorism is a tactic adopted by weak actors. Having limited resources with which to wage war, groups like al Qaeda resort to a sort of foreign affairs judo: using the enemy’s power against itself – in this case, us. The action for them is in the reaction. Al Qaeda's strategy is to recreate the old Afghan jihad against the USSR: hit the U.S. and our allies hard in order to provoke invasion and occupation to bleed our treasury and military dry. They celebrate our occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq as steps towards our eventual total withdrawal from the region.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Beanz me up, Scotty

'funny
moar funny pictures

Friday, December 28, 2007

Benazir's One Way To Pakistan

“If you believe in something, go for it, but know that when you go for it there is a price to be paid. Be ready to pay the price and you can contribute to the welfare of society and society will acknowledge you and respect you for it.”

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Sunday, December 23, 2007

Narendra Modi & BJP Win Third Term in Gujar

This victory came despite strong opposition from the Indian National Congress, and even from within Modi's own party. The election campaign was marked by vicious and 'slanderous' campaigning from all sides.

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Driving on Bangalore's Wild Roads

There is no subtle way of saying this – Bangalore roads are hellish and most drivers suffer from Road Rage. Everyone tries to squeeze into that extra space and the minute vehicles scrape each other, people start fighting, they scream and some even start beating each other up.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Movie Review: I Am Legend - Hollywood Ending

The effect of the writers' strike seems to be showing up on films made even before it began.

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Central Banks Liquidity Injections: Too Little Too Late

What was announced today are band-aid palliative that will not address the core causes of this most severe liquidity and credit crunch. - Best. Article.Ever. on the global credit crisisBest article ever on the credit crisis.

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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Foot soldiers for the Ron Paul revolution - Los Angeles Times

These fervent supporters and their freewheeling tactics have helped turn Paul into, first, an Internet sensation and, now, this political season's most unlikely phenomenon.

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Thursday, November 22, 2007

Taslima Nasreen Leaves Kolkata: A Giant Defeat for Secularism

This is a tragedy of colossal proportions, akin to Modi's support of the Godhra riots. Since when is it the government's responsibility to evict law abiding residents of the territory, simply because a bunch of hooligans - Muslim or Hindu - decide to burn the city?

read more | digg story

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

UK Taxmen Lose Private Records: What's It Going To Cost?

What a bunch of imbeciles! Who are these idiots who run the government?That's an understatement:)

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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

This Site Is Not Yet Rated

Even in the online world we are pigeonholed into categories that don't really fit our profiles.

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Friday, November 16, 2007

Sashaying Through Champaign

Meal: 10 dollars. Drinks: 20 Dollars. Gas: 2.78 dollars. A full tank of gas to park the car: priceless.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Bollywood beats Hollywood - Om Shanti Om, Saawariya vs. Lions for Lambs

Very firmly remember that this is a blip, perhaps just a combination of a slow week, bad competition from Hollywood, Bollywood's PR machine clicking, etc, so one swallow does not make a summer.

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The Best Way to Stop Terror

Can we be smarter with identity politics to obviate terrorism before it starts?

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Pakistan : Breaking The Cycle

There is a paradigm shift in making. The US Foreign policy is toying with the idea of supporting the Pakistani people as opposed to the Pakistani Government, i.e., from Musharraf Policy to Pakistan Policy.

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Friday, November 09, 2007

How Official is your Jargon?

Office jargon is beautifully loaded with metaphors! That is, when you hear them for the first time, and in some cases, even the second time! However, jargon is rarely spewed at a rate of less than a few hundred per day per person and in an office space of a 100 people, I leave the calculations to you!

read more | digg story

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Microsoft Launches Xbox LIVE in India.

With the right kind of promotion, it could prove to be a strong factor in driving Xbox 360 sales in the country, as well as creating a connected community of Indian gamers, which could only prove beneficial to Microsoft in particular, and the gaming industry in general.

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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Those Who Do, Blog

Blogs by hardworking doers, holding a day job or working in shifts, such as a New York cab-driver, a British bobby, a forensic expert, a London ambulance driver or a maths teacher.

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Saturday, November 03, 2007

Emergency Imposed in Pakistan: Harbinger of Change or More of the Same?

After weeks of speculation and political unrest Gen. Pervez Musharraf has finally imposed "Emergency" in Pakistan, suspended the 1973 constitution and disbanded the Supreme and High Courts

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Friday, November 02, 2007

When the Earth Trembles

Nature never gives us an intimation before sending in a storm, an earthquake or a wildfire

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Friday, October 26, 2007

Gujarat Pogroms Exposed in India

A detailed expose of the deliberate machinations of state terror in the Gujarat riots in 2002. They expose the conspirators, rioters, the role of the police, and the complicity of the state government. It is very clear that the Indian State of Gujarat, its administrative machinery and political masters masterminded this atrocity.

read more | digg story

Sunday, October 21, 2007

James Watson Vs. Howard Gardner - What Does Intelligence Mean?

In fact the real debate about intelligence has to do with far more than some misconceived remarks made by an elderly Nobel prize winner for physiology and medicine. It has to do with the general view of intelligence in our society.

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Bobby Jindal Elected Governor of Louisiana

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal also capitalized on support from the Indian-American community, who cut across party lines to support someone they saw as embodying their political aspirations.

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Indian Stock Markets Suspended As Market Crashes

The international investment community may get scared off India in particular and emerging markets in general by such a move.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

That Pointer Thing

The Woman, the Witch and the Goddess

This story is both old and new, traditional and modern. The scapegoating, finger-pointing and name-calling of those who are different, those who threaten the social order, those who happen to have a female face.

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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Burma Needs To Fight For Its Own Freedom

You know what will work or rather the only thing that can work? A full fledged revolution! An internal revolution, which needs litres of blood to be shed and hundreds and thousands to die.

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Tuesday, October 02, 2007

The "Real" World is Changing into the 24/7 Virtual Universe

My dad lived in a 9 to 5 world. I probably live in a 12/12 worlds. Most of the “now generation” lives 24/7. even when they are supposedly sleeping, their computers are on, downloading stuff and their Blackberries and Communicators are” pushing” stuff in. Does that take a toll?

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Book Review: The LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Idea Book

Mindstorms NXT represents the most accessible robotics kit available in the market today and the source of many hours of creative fun. It also has an array of excellent online documentation from a variety of sources. There is copious online help built into NXT-G as well.

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Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Myanmar's Monks - Buddha's Warriors

It is India's neighbor but what do we know of it? In our obsession with Pakistan and our fluctuating mild interest in other neighbors, Burma might as well be on Mars.

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Monday, September 24, 2007

Cricket: India are Twenty20 World Champions

India ran out winners by 5 runs in the finals of the Twenty20 World Cup, in a game which belied the adage that "youth knows no fear".ICC World Twenty20 final, Johannesburg:India 157-5 (20 overs) bt Pakistan 152 (19.3 overs) by five runs

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Bangladesh's Cartoon Controversy: The Prophet and His Honor

The outrage pouring out of Bangladesh over a joke about the name of the Prophet Muhammad is hence not entirely surprisingly. It’s disturbing yes, but not surprising. Such tactics are a “familiar pattern in Muslim countries ruled by authoritarian governments”.The "Muhammad Cat" joke is really funny, btw.

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"Don't Tase Me, Bro!"



Sunday, September 23, 2007

Children's Health - Hope Springs Eternal

magine facing a situation where your darling child has been born and very soon was been diagnosed with an exceedingly rare illness (only sixty patients in the world are known to have it).Very touching story - please read and contribute if you can

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Friday, September 21, 2007

The Demise of the Dollar?

Were the US Dollar to lose its status as the 'world's reserve currency', it would be the largest financial shift since the end of World War II

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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Auden's Musee des Beaux Arts

I think this is my favorite poem of all time, but I know I'm prone to hyperbole at times.
Musee des Beaux Arts

W. H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer's horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Breughel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Confessions Of Webaholics: Internet Addiction Exposed

Did you just notice the time? Has it been five hours (or more!) since you've been watching movie clip after movie clip on YouTube?

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Monday, September 17, 2007

Religious Freedom: Can the US be our Policeman?

I have always wondered what business it is of the US Congress to track in such a formal way the state of religious freedom around the globe when there is a lot going on that needs investigation that could be traced back to the US itself.

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Love, Grief, Pain, and a Kitten

To some, love comes easily. It is as easy as making an eye contact and forming bonds of eternal attachment and for others love takes time.

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Saturday, September 15, 2007

OJ's Controversial Book Sees The Light Of Day

So, after massive public outrage, we were shocked when the Goldmans, having acquired the book, flip flopped and now decided to publish it. They had been vehemently opposed to publication of the book last year when Simpson sold it

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Friday, September 14, 2007

Condoleezza Rice Co-Owns Home With Female Filmmaker, Says New Book

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice co-owned a home and shared a line of credit with another woman, according to Washington Post diplomatic correspondent Glenn Kessler, who reveals the information in his new book, The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy.

read more | digg story

Pakistani Special Services Officer Turns Suicide Bomber

If this is indeed the case, then the sole guarantee against Pakistan turning Taliban and using the nuclear weapons and missiles, the Pakistani Army, has worms inside. I would be afraid, very afraid.

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Anniversary of the V2 Missile

September 8, 1944 was the first time a German V2 missile hit London. The first ballistic missile launch in anger.Did you know more people (20,000) were killed in the making of the rockets than at the receiving end (7,000)? These were the slaves, workers etc. etc. who built the pens, the factory, the launch site, etc.

read more | digg story

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Ramayana, the Sethusamudram and Indian Archaeology

No secular Government has the prerogative to pontificate on religion unless the public good is adversely impacted.

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Freedom Of Speech On The Internet

news and views travel faster and the globe is better connected. So much so that the world-wide web is a world in itself, a virtual world that at times mirrors the aspects the real world such as a liberal democracy tainted by intolerance and crime.

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Sunday, September 09, 2007

Is Shah Rukh Khan Suffering From A Mid-Life Crisis?

Where was the sturdy, aging with grace Shah Rukh that I had known for over two decades? This new Shah Rukh Khan all of a sudden seemed like a swan that had reverted back to being an ugly duckling in his middling years. Could Shah Rukh be suffering from mid life crisis?

read more | digg story

Friday, September 07, 2007

Things That Bang - Steve Jobs - The iPhone Maverick

It doesn't take much to make the fanboys weep, and even less to make them yell. Jobs squeezes both ways

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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

MI5 Chief Faces Immigration Delays at Heathrow

The MI5 chief Jonathan Evans was held up for an hour by Heathrow Immigration. For those who do not know, MI5 is the nodal domestic intelligence/anti-terrorism agency. See here for a detailed overview. The main chap is reduced to queuing up at Heathrow's notorious immigration hall to get in.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

International War Games Get Underway in The Bay of Bengal

The Indian communist parties are going to protest against the international naval war games to be held in the Bay of Bengal. But the communists are great at doing these kinds of demonstrations and they are right now planning to do a walk about the Indian countryside to protest against these war games.

read more | digg story

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Vijay Mallya Bids For Spyker-Ferrari Formula 1 Team

Vijay Mallya and Michiel Mol Director of Formula One for Spyker have teamed up to make a 80 million euro (54 million pounds) bid for the cash-strapped team.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

No Updates On Neo-Nazi Attacks on Indians in Germany

The usual excuses, unemployment, no development, no gainful work, etc., are presented, but the core aspect of racism and discrimination will hit the airwaves for some time and then disappear

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Saturday, August 25, 2007

Over 40 Killed In Hyderabad Blasts in India

Over 40 people have been killed and dozens more injured in coordinated explosions in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. The blasts took place in heavily populated areas.

read more | digg story

Friday, August 24, 2007

In a pensive mood on the bridge


In a pensive mood on the bridge
Originally uploaded by aacool

The kids at this wonderful garden supply store we go to in Bangalore.

Slow Train Comin'


Slow Train Comin'
Originally uploaded by aacool

Zoey's going places, and we're lovin' it!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Suprnova Torrent Site Explodes

One site has always had a special place in the hearts of long-time Bittorrent users.

read more | digg story

Monday, August 20, 2007

Will The Communists Nuke the India-US Nuclear Deal?

The Manmohan Singh-led Indian Government is caught in an imbroglio over the India-US nuclear deal threatening its own survival. One of its ruling allies, the Left Front, mainly consisting of Communist parties had taken strong objection to the signing of the nuclear deal with the US. The Left Front hardliner leader had given an ultimatum.

read more | digg story

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Global Markets Crash Amidst Tightening Credit Crunch

Global markets took a plunge amidst tightening credit and fears of unbridled financial disaster took their toll as the credit bubble blew out, not with a whimper, but a bang of epic proportions.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Zoey at Play

Zoey in the tunnel


Zoey in the tunnel
Originally uploaded by aacool

Our cat, Zoey, has discovered that Aayan's tunnel and station make a neat play zone. She fits in just fine now, but I suspect she's going to face a tight squeeze real soon.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Nokia Announces Battery Recall, Largest Consumer Recall Ever

Nokia, the world's No 1 mobile phone maker warned today that over 46 million Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsushita could overheat and that it would replace them for customers at no cost. The company indicated there have been over 100 incidents of the batteries overheating while being charged

read more | digg story

Calendula in the garden

Flower Close-up

Sunday, August 12, 2007

LolFarts

lol he fartid

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Christopher Hitchens

The best potter review ever, probably - by Christopher Hitchens - ranging from post-War England to modern-day America

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Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Mouseburger LOLCat


Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Zoey, Our new cat

Arab Americans - How Not To Make Friends

you have to make up your mind whether you are Arab or American. You cannot be both when it comes to an existential fight.

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Monday, August 06, 2007

The Benevolence of Bill Gates

An aura of invincible altruism surrounds the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.but their investment policies have come under fire

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Friday, August 03, 2007

Bad Products Made in China - Can the Dragon Drag On?

Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys, which totals close to a million plastic pre-school toys, due to excessive amounts of lead in the paint of these toys. Even though it is still ubiquitous to find Chinese manufactured products, public paranoia is slowly setting in about Chinese goods

read more | digg story

Friday, July 27, 2007

All Charges Dropped Against Dr. Haneef, Indian Doctor in Australia

Dr. Haneef is effectively a free man and the Australian government wiping some muck off their face after dropping all terrorism-related charges against the Indian doctor in a Brisbane magistrates court.And so it goes.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It is the relationship between two of her strongest characters that interests me. Despite his lengthy time off-stage, Snape is a significant character in the series, and his emotions towards the eponymous hero are quite well-known. It is in the Deathly Hallows that the author makes clear what lies at the root of all the resentment and the anger.

read more | digg story

Sunday, July 22, 2007

America - Fear is the Key

There's a presidential election looming and 'tis the season for fear mongering. The FBI seeks to replenish the government's stock of fear capital by alerting us against foreign-born spies. Ordinary folks like you and me that roam the corridors of American businesses and institutions.

read more | digg story

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Thomas de Zengotita: Maliki Lets Us Glimpse The Truth About Iraq

This war has been a massive exercise in national narcissism from the beginning. How fitting that efforts to bring it an end must feed the same appetite.Truer words were never spoken.

read more | digg story

Friday, July 13, 2007

Indian Doctor Charged Over UK Bomb Plot in Australia

Dr. Mohammed Haneef, the Indian doctor held for questioning in connection with the Glasgow bombing on the 30th of July has been charged with 'providing support to a terrorist organization'. This comes soon after earlier glimmers of hope for the family amidst media reports that the Australian police might not detain him any longer.Don't give SIM cards to your family, folks, even if it means breaking a contract.

read more | digg story

Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Colors and Horrors of Passchendaele

The never before seen color photographs of the bloody battle of Passchendaele

The horrors of the Great War were, on a relative scale, immense and shocking. These pictures are stunning and tell much through the visual images.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The movie does justice to the funny yet dark book that is The Order of the Phoenix.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

PS3 Price Drop causes a 2800% increase in sales

After official confirmation of the price drop, sales at Amazon.com for the 60GB PS3 have spiked by 2800% and have overtaken the Wii and Guitar Hero: Rock the 80s as the best selling item in the Video Game category.Microsoft is sure to drop the XBox 360 price too, so I'm all happy now:)

read more | digg story

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Keith Olbermann: Bush and Cheney Should Resign - the original article

The J'accuse of the 21st century, a damning indictment or will he be ignored, Cassandra-like

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Friday, May 25, 2007

Star Wars at 30 - the Republic, the Empire and the Rebel Alliance

We've seen the galactic Republic be replaced by an Empire, which is challenged by a rebel alliance that topples the empire, to replace it with a new Republic.Our world too, has gone through tumultuous change, though not quite in the same order.The American Republic faced down the Russian 'Evil Empire',deal with a Rebel Alliance, & become an Empire.I love the Star Wars films, and writing this article brought it all back to me.



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Monday, May 07, 2007

Child Soldiers and India's Insurgency

It is detestable indeed that young children are being exposed to death, destruction and violence at such a young and impressionable age. The social costs are appalling, not to speak of the personal tragedy.



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Sunday, May 06, 2007

The Problem With Micropayments - Sorry, Wrong Number

Everyone who imagines a working micropayment system either misunderstands user preferences, or imagines preventing users from expressing those preferences. The working micropayments systems that people hold up as existence proofs — ringtones, iTunes — are businesses that have escaped from market dynamics through a monopoly or cartel



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Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Fantasy Cricket: The Best of the Rest vs. Australia

Can an entire XI could be picked from the Rest of World that could challenge Australia?



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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps...

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them allClever, but strained logic.



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Saturday, April 14, 2007

Should IT Companies Have Tax Holidays?

Indian IT Companies, the ones either remaking the software services world, or taking away jobs, have risen to their size, in part because of a near zero-tax policy. Why should certain big companies, which have gone public, have a brand name, and are making colossal profits, be enjoying a tax holiday?

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Wednesday, April 04, 2007

UNICEF (India) Chief Accused of Attempted Rape

UNICEF India chief Cecilio Adorna was accused by a 44-year old woman, Archana Pandey, that he sexually harassed and attempted to rape her. These are serious charges and if convicted Adorna can spend couple of years in Indian jail. The police won't file a case and the media won't cover the issue.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

FY2008 H-1B Visa Cap Reached On Day 1

The hard reality of the flat world is that despite mobility of capital and information, labour and people are still subject to borders and policies and little men in suits.

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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Indian State To Tax Broadband Services and Light Energy

A Subordinate committee of the Karnataka legislature in India has found 'light' to be a 'commodity' and wants all the broadband services to be taxed for the sale of this commodity

WTF! Seriously, WTF!

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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Complete A-List of the Indian Blogosphere

Based on the questionable Alexa rankings, but a good round-up of the top Indian blogs

Desicritics placed well, but I don't really care much about rankings, etc. It's interesting how the Internet rewards socialization over stand-alone value. Some excellent sites don't list here because they don't focus much on linking or being linked to, but are worth checking out.

read more | digg story

Monday, March 26, 2007

LTTE Launch Air Raid In Sri Lanka - The World's First Terrorist Air Force

The LTTE might have changed the game, perhaps for the worse, with the use of two light aircraft to drop four bombs on a military base north of the Colombo International Airport today, killing at least three people and injuring sixteen.

Bad news, folks.

read more | digg story

Friday, March 23, 2007

Cricket World Cup 2007: The Indian Saga Ends

There will be a national mourning, houses will be ransacked and effigies burnt.

This team sucked, really, really sucked. Now you're gone, baby, gone.

read more | digg story

Martin Fowler on Being Transactionless

"A couple of years ago I was talking to a couple of friends of mine who were doing some work at eBay. It's always interesting to hear about the techniques people use on high volume sites, but perhaps one of the most interesting tidbits was that eBay does not use database transactions."

A very interesting way of looking at the design of large programs from a pioneer in the field.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Naomi Campbell Begins Cleaning Public Toilets In New York, 3 Days To Go

Somebody please lend Naomi Campbell a French maid costume instead of a bland service uniform.

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Commentary: What goes boom must go bust - MarketWatch

Booms turn to busts not because something 'happened.' They turn to bust because there is simply no other path.
It is said that when men go mad they do so all at once. But they gain their sanity slowly and one by one.

Peerless, perspicacious writing.

read more | digg story

The Scandalous Cricket World Cup 2007

They don't need sportscasters for this show - they need a gossip columnist.

India plays Sri Lanka tonight, and either books their return tickets early or slogs for another few weeks. We'll see.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Grand Canyon Skywalk to open today

Rising 4,000ft (1,220m) from the canyon's floor and 70ft (20m) beyond its rim, the Skywalk is being described as an engineering first.

I would love to check this out!

read more | digg story

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Qualification Results

The season has now officially started, with the qualification for the first Formula 1 race of the year, at the Albert Park, Melbourne, also known as the Australian GP. The qualification was as exciting as one thought it would be with some of the "back-markers" showing it to the front runners and other expected strong performers lagging.

read more | digg story

Friday, March 16, 2007

Google's Quest for Global Web Dominance

Google and the other Internet giants' quest for global web dominance through 'insiderization'

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Formula 1 2007 Preview: The Australian Grand Prix

After five months of anxious anticipation, the day is nearly here for the start of 2007 Formula 1 season. And what a season it is going to be! No Schumacher. Some big names have switched teams. Then there's the rookies.

read more | digg story

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Crime, Sociopaths and Revenge: Asian Film At Its Finest

While Infernal Affairs has had the privilege of being remade by Martin Scorsese, not all films coming out of East and Southeast Asia share this honor. Many other films deserve the exposure that Infernal Affairs received, and almost all of them are not going to get it. Some will be on display at the Asian American Film Festival in Berkeley.

read more | digg story

Monday, March 12, 2007

President Musharraf's Brutal Assault on the Pakistani Judiciary

In what appears to be now a very carefully thought out plan, the Chief Justice was dismissed by the President on Friday on alleged charges of "misuse of authority." Why hasn't there been any international condemnation of Musharraf on this blatantly unconstitutional attack on the judicial system of Pakistan?

read more | digg story

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Indian Food Bloggers Take On Yahoo! India's Plagiarism And Win

March 5 was a big day in the Indian blogosphere; on that day, a horde of bloggers took on that giant named Yahoo! (India) and toppled it. A big win for victims of plagiarism anywhere!

read more | digg story

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Google University on YouTube at Starbucks in Barnes and Noble

It makes sense that for-profit institutions like Google, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or even Starbucks, begin to consider applying for university accreditation, and offering degrees of their own. Google could provide college education better, cheaper and caffeinated!

read more | digg story

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Protesting Against Coca Cola

An Interview with a convenor of anti-Coke protests in India. An excerpt "Coca-Cola didn't come here to produce a primary need like medicine, but to gain huge profits. They are doing a corporate rape on the state. They are not giving much employment opportunities, development and not even any financial benefit to the state."

read more | digg story

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The XBox 360 in India - The Ground Realities

In the context of India, it's meaningless to compare sales figures with more developed, and culturally different markets. No next-gen console can sell millions of units in present day India.

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Saturday, February 17, 2007

Ralph Fiennes Joins The Mile High Club

Ralph Fiennes has apparently joined the Mile High club by having unprotected sex with an air hostess in the bathroom of a plane heading towards India where he was supposed to talk about HIV and unprotected sex.

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Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Not So Excited About the Apple iPhone - A Critical Mass of Idiots

Apart from the "oh-so" design, what is so special about this phone? They were waiting for a perfect rollout of their iTunes store with music videos and songs so that it becomes a compelling proposition for Apple to sell a device which could play their wares on their hardware. It is a win-win situation for the telecom companies and Apple.

I'm not too confident this is the right thing at the right time - will one billion cellphones change? Not overnight.

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Entrepreneurship as a Competitive Advantage

Immigrants are behind 25% of the startups created in the USA between 1995 and 2005. The existence of so many start ups in America is no accident, and immigrants do not simply go to America and create enterprise. Rather, many go to America because they can create enterprise.

Good article.

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Friday, January 05, 2007

Some Fine Books

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