Is it really the Fourth estate?

During the past few weeks, so sick have been the follow ups on happenings around, in the electronic media, that it forces me to think as above. One rot after another keeps surfacing on the tube, and huh... we have a so called masala curry prepared to be served to the nation for the rest of the week. As if the REAL ISSUES don't even exist! Be it the Salman-Aish fiasco, or the wedding of a fugitive's daughter. The best the government or media could do was create a hoopla to rake in moolahs rather than constructively act against the mess. Doesn't anyone from the press realise that ours is a country where things need to forced rather been taken care of by whoever should? Instead of concentrating on larger and more commonplace problems, and trying to force pace in an already crumbled DEMOCRACY ( I wonder how it is called one!), people seem to be more bothered about the ABC Readerships and TRPs. Unfortunately, if the trend continues, not many would be left to bother about them. Only bragging 24x7x365 over little achievements, which most countries would shrug aside as petty works, won't do any good for the future of us. Filling up our shelves with copies of APJ's Ignited Minds or Wings of Fire should be followed by at least 5% of work required to even dream of the objectives set in there. Anyone listening? Time for some reality check baby....

Well Done NASA!

When Columbia came crashing down in 2003, few would have dared to bet on NASA to send another mission to SPACE, that too within a couple of years! But the successful launch of Discovery , although after a delay (thankfully so.... late better than never to return!), showed us all what mettel the NASA guys are made of. It not only signifies the advancements of technology well beyond the wildest imagination of mere mortals, but also reaffirmed the grit and strength that humans are capable of showing when required. The scheduled return of discovery is on 7th of August, pending which i'm sure none of the scientists involved, would be able to blink an eye, and for which millions would be praying around the world.

Geeta Saar

TATHAASTU!

Open at your Own risk...!

Hi guys,
Here's the link to some really cool jokes which i got from Pallav Da this morning. Some of these are total laugh riots! Not posting them here. Just click on the following link to have your share of fun :)

Cool Jokes

Finally XP hangs its boots..!

Quite amazingly, about 10 mins. ago while i was coding away to glory, a network failure was followed by a sudden reboot of my workstation. Only for that dreaded black screen to be shown at restart laughing at my apathy :( Network guys diagnosed it as a crash.. and me left with no machine for the time being. Thanks to satty (he's absent again), i'm sitting on his comp waiting for my machine to be fixed ( hoping to regain all my data too). Dunno what i'll be working on tomorrow if it isn't.

A few cool places on the web

Not for nothing I’m an ardent fan of TOI. Apart from being the inspiration for this blog's Title, every now and then it comes up with these really cool can't-help-but-get-addicted-to kinda stuffs, the latest of which is MOUSTRAP. Here’s a listing of some of its contents (with my take on them) --

• How Stuffs Work - The name says it all! From the principles of working of ubiquitous things like a matchstick, to the complex mechanism (or physics, Chemistry and what not!) of a nuclear bomb - this is one place where u'll find it all.
• The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest - All of us have at some point or the other come across "It was a dark and stormy night..... ", which is the most written opening line of a novel. Well for those of who you don't know yet, it is also considered to be THE MOST SICK WAY to start a novel, and this site welcomes entries from public to complete the line, the winner to be awarded as THE MOST WRETCHED WRITER..! (I have a decent chance... don't I!)
• Future Me - How about setting a task for yourself to be done in the year.... say....2030! Well I plan to take a cross galaxy tour in summers that year ;). But how would you remember it? This is one of the most amazing sites which will e-mail you anything which you wish at any day you wish until 2035! Just enter your email address (One which you do not intend to trash away before your appointment day) and the message which you wish to receive on a particular day. And VOILA..! You'll be notified.

Cheers

Even the MIT acknowledges that....

Computer One Liners....

Well...what else can one think of after slogging day in and day out (actually nights too!) with the most inanimate object on this planet. Here are a few tacky ones to tickle your bones..

• A bug in the code is worth two in the documentation.
• According to my calculations the problem doesn't exist.
• A computer's attention span is as long as its power cord.
• A computer scientist is someone who fixes things that aren't broken.
• Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later.
• Air conditioned environment - Do not open Windows!
• All computers wait at the same speed.
• Willyoupleasehelpmefixmykeyboard?Thespacebarisbroken!
• Any programming language is at its best before it is implemented and used.
• Any program that runs right is obsolete.
• A paperless office has about as much chance as a paperless bathroom.
• A Life? Cool! Where can I download one of those from?
  

Catch ya later

At last....M writing again...!

Hi guys.....
The last 7-8 days have been quite eventful (or rather shall i call it undesirably EVENTFUL) for me. It all started when i was inducted (so called promoted) into the ONLINE PROGRAMMING department from INTERNAL PROJECTS. And seriously speaking, since then the only terms I seem to be aware of are recursive functions, multi - level hashes, infinite loops and whatever crap one may come across while coding across the web! Indeed its a coveted position (according to most of my colleagues that is !), and believe you me.... the work assigned to me was as easy as...probably... device a plan to hunt down Osama Bin Laden (dare you guys raise your eyebrows) ! BTW, its been as usual all around, but for the absence of Pradeep, busy with his Level A exams (No one ever told me that people prepare better by continuing to forward tons of emails --- i've 55 unread till now, thanks to my not-at-all-easy-and-couldn't-be-tougher job!). Though, having some respite this week, will be trying to catch up with the lost time. And yes..... Osama has almost been tracked down :P

Monday Blues

Yet again we'v entered a new week, carrying forward in our minds the heavenly feeling one gets after spending two days without being under any kind of deadline pressure and enjoying the weekend fiesta that the last two days were! More so for sporty studs like me - witnessing the best of tennis, cricket and F1 in a difference of 24 hours - what more can one ask for!
To start with, the women's final of the Championships on saturday was arguably the most thrilling tennis encounter one could have seen for a long time. Even the patrons of the game would vouch for it. We all love to hate her, but the strength of character and stunning display of power and commitment which Venus Williams showed against Davenport, sent a chill down the spectators' spine. Rising like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes, she for sure gave a display that would be indelibly imprinted on the viewer's minds, perhaps never to be obliterated.
On the male front, what can one say about FedEx. Roddick's power game on saturday gave a hope that the swiss' 35 match unbeaten streak on grass could be under serious threat, but he too bit the dust in front of Roger's superlative game, giving him his third straight Wimbledon.
Last but not the least, how many ODI finals have been a TIE! One was, on saturday in a nail biting finish between England and Australia.
OOPS...How could i forget to talk about our Indian weekend in sports! Who else but Narain Karthikeyan. Not a bad race for him as he managed to finish it at least, Alonso running away with yet another title. Perhaps time for Ferrari to do some serious thinking (for next year that is :) )
Codes calling again...gotta sign off
Naveen

Brain Storming at its best....

Hi,
I know this post of mine could be of least interest to many, especially those who consider giving thought to anything GEEKY the biggest sin one can commit! But for all the scientists and engineers (and definitely anyone with an OPEN MIND) out there, the following could be a great alternative to your sunday's crossword solving. The only catch being that the questions herein are provided with the answers..... yet could give any EINSTEIN a much required shake-off! For all the lazy lumps who didn't bother to navigate through the links in my previous post.. here's an assortment of many intriguing questions...

NB: People with an immunity to logic, science or frequent acts of knowledge gaining may only proceed!

• Is ours the only universe?
  A number of quantum theorists and cosmologists are trying to figure out whether our universe is part of a bigger "multiverse." But others suspect that this hard-to-test idea may be a question for philosophers.
  

• What drove cosmic inflation?
  In the first moments after the big bang, the universe blew up at an incredible rate. But what did the blowing? Measurements of the cosmic microwave background and other astrophysical observations are narrowing the possibilities.
  

• When and how did the first stars and galaxies form?
  The broad brush strokes are visible, but the fine details aren't. Data from satellites and ground-based telescopes may soon help pinpoint, among other particulars, when the first generation of stars burned off the hydrogen "fog" that filled the universe.
  

• Where do ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays come from?
  Above a certain energy, cosmic rays don't travel very far before being destroyed. So why are cosmic-ray hunters spotting such rays with no obvious source within our galaxy?
  

• What is the nature of black holes?
  Relativistic mass crammed into a quantum-sized object? It's a recipe for disaster--and scientists are still trying to figure out the ingredients.
  

• What is the nature of gravity?
  It clashes with quantum theory. It doesn't fit in the Standard Model. Nobody has spotted the particle that is responsible for it. Newton's apple contain ned a whole can of worms.
  

• Why is time different from other dimensions?
  It took millennia for scientists to realize that time is a dimension, like the three spatial dimensions, and that time and space are inextricably linked. The equations make sense, but they don't satisfy those who ask why we perceive a "now" or why time seems to flow the way it does.
  

• Is superfluidity possible in a solid? If so, how?
  Despite hints in solid helium, nobody is sure whether a crystalline material can flow without resistance. If new types of experiments show that such outlandish behavior is possible, theorists would have to explain how.
  

• What is the structure of water?
  Researchers continue to tussle over how many bonds each H₂O molecule makes with its nearest neighbors.
  

• What is the nature of the glassy state?
  Molecules in a glass are arranged much like those in liquids but are more tightly packed. Where and why does liquid end and glass begin?

• How do planets form?
  How bits of dust and ice and gobs of gas came together to form the planets without the sun devouring them all is still unclear. Planetary systems around other stars should provide clues.
  

• What causes ice ages?
  Something about the way the planet tilts, wobbles, and careens around the sun presumably brings on ice ages every 100,000 years or so, but reams of climate records haven't explained exactly how.
  
  

• Is there--or was there--life elsewhere in the solar system?
  The search for life--past or present--on other planetary bodies now drives NASA's planetary exploration program, which focuses on Mars, where water abounded when life might have first arisen.

• How many proteins are there in humans?
  It has been hard enough counting genes. Proteins can be spliced in different ways and decorated with numerous functional groups, all of which makes counting their numbers impossible for now.
• How do organs and whole organisms know when to stop growing?
  A person's right and left legs almost always end up the same length, and the hearts of mice and elephants each fit the proper rib cage. How genes set limits on cell size and number continues to mystify.

• How do limbs, fins, and faces develop and evolve?
  The genes that determine the length of a nose or the breadth of a wing are subject to natural and sexual selection. Understanding how selection works could lead to new ideas about the mechanics of evolution with respect to development.
  

• What triggers puberty?
  Nutrition--including that received in utero--seems to help set this mysterious biological clock, but no one knows exactly what forces childhood to end.
  

• Are stem cells at the heart of all cancers?
  The most aggressive cancer cells look a lot like stem cells. If cancers are caused by stem cells gone awry, studies of a cell's "stemness" may lead to tools that could catch tumors sooner and destroy them more effectively.

• Can cancers be controlled rather than cured?
  Drugs that cut off a tumor's fuel supplies--say, by stopping blood-vessel growth--can safely check or even reverse tumor growth. But how long the drugs remain effective is still unknown.
• Why doesn't a pregnant woman reject her fetus?
  Recent evidence suggests that the mother's immune system doesn't "realize" that the fetus is foreign even though it gets half its genes from the father. Yet just as Nobelist Peter Medawar said when he first raised this question in 1952, "the verdict has yet to be returned."

• Why do we sleep?
  A sound slumber may refresh muscles and organs or keep animals safe from dangers lurking in the dark. But the real secret of sleep probably resides in the brain, which is anything but still while we're snoring away.
  

• Why do we dream?
  Freud thought dreaming provides an outlet for our unconscious desires. Now, neuroscientists suspect that brain activity during REM sleep--when dreams occur--is crucial for learning. Is the experience of dreaming just a side effect?

• How do general anesthetics work?
  Scientists are chipping away at the drugs' effects on individual neurons, but understanding how they render us unconscious will be a tougher nut to crack.
  

• What causes schizophrenia?
  Researchers are trying to track down genes involved in this disorder. Clues may also come from research on traits schizophrenics share with normal people.

• To what extent can we stave off Alzheimer's?
  A 5- to 10-year delay in this late-onset disease would improve old age for millions. Researchers are determining whether treatments with hormones or antioxidants, or mental and physical exercise, will help.
  

• What is the biological basis of addiction?
  Addiction involves the disruption of the brain's reward circuitry. But personality traits such as impulsivity and sensation-seeking also play a part in this complex behavior.
  

• Is morality hardwired into the brain?
  That question has long puzzled philosophers; now some neuroscientists think brain imaging will reveal circuits involved in reasoning.
  

• What are the limits of learning by machines?
  Computers can already beat the world's best chess players, and they have a wealth of information on the Web to draw on. But abstract reasoning is still beyond any machine.
  

• How much of personality is genetic?
  Aspects of personality are influenced by genes; environment modifies the genetic effects. The relative contributions remain under debate.
  

• What is the biological root of sexual orientation?
  Much of the "environmental" contribution to homosexuality may occur before birth in the form of prenatal hormones, so answering this question will require more than just the hunt for "gay genes."

• How many species are there on Earth?
  Count all the stars in the sky? Impossible. Count all the species on Earth? Ditto. But the biodiversity crisis demands that we try.
• How did flowers evolve?
  Darwin called this question an "abominable mystery." Flowers arose in the cycads and conifers, but the details of their evolution remain obscure.

• What caused mass extinctions?
  A huge impact did in the dinosaurs, but the search for other catastrophic triggers of extinction has had no luck so far. If more subtle or stealthy culprits are to blame, they will take considerably longer to find.
  

• Can we prevent extinction?
  Finding cost-effective and politically feasible ways to save many endangered species requires creative thinking.
  

• Why were some dinosaurs so large?
  Dinosaurs reached almost unimaginable sizes, some in less than 20 years. But how did the long-necked sauropods, for instance, eat enough to pack on up to 100 tons without denuding their world?
  

• How will ecosystems respond to global warming?
  To anticipate the effects of the intensifying greenhouse, climate modelers will have to focus on regional changes and ecologists on the right combination of environmental changes.
  

• How many kinds of humans coexisted in the recent past, and how did they relate?
  The new dwarf human species fossil from Indonesia suggests that at least four kinds of humans thrived in the past 100,000 years. Better dates and additional material will help confirm or revise this picture.
  

• What gave rise to modern human behavior?
  Did Homo sapiens acquire abstract thought, language, and art gradually or in a cultural "big bang," which in Europe occurred about 40,000 years ago? Data from Africa, where our species arose, may hold the key to the answer.
  

• What are the roots of human culture?
  No animal comes close to having humans' ability to build on previous discoveries and pass the improvements on. What determines those differences could help us understand how human culture evolved.
  

• What are the evolutionary roots of language and music?
  Neuroscientists exploring how we speak and make music are just beginning to find clues as to how these prized abilities arose.
  

• What are human races, and how did they develop?
  Anthropologists have long argued that race lacks biological reality. But our genetic makeup does vary with geographic origin and as such raises political and ethical as well as scientific questions.
  

• Why do some countries grow and others stagnate?
  From Norway to Nigeria, living standards across countries vary enormously, and they're not becoming more equal.
  

• What impact do large government deficits have on a country's interest rates and economic growth rate?
  The United States could provide a test case.
  

• Are political and economic freedom closely tied?
  China may provide one answer.

• What causes reversals in Earth's magnetic field?
  Computer models and laboratory experiments are generating new data on how Earth's magnetic poles might flip-flop. The trick will be matching simulations to enough aspects of the magnetic field beyond the inaccessible core to build a convincing case.

• Are there earthquake precursors that can lead to useful predictions?
  Prospects for finding signs of an imminent quake have been waning since the 1970s. Understanding faults will progress, but routine prediction would require an as-yet-unimagined breakthrough

Shamelessly lifted from SO MUCH MORE TO KNOW :p

On a different note, i'm signing off for now to enjoy the lovely weather outside. Do respond.

Naveen

Its Weekend again...

A very warm welcome to yet another SATURDAY for giving us some respite from the usual schedule. The sensous drizzles outside coupled with the wimbledon semifinal today and finals tomorrow make for an awesome weekend treat. Add to it the time i'll get to freak out with my friends!
BTW -- going through Slashdot this morning, i came across an excellent link to SCIENCE magazine which celebrates the 125th anniversary of the mag. Its a stunning collection of 125 questions , rather compelling puzzles which the scientists face today. For example -

• What is the Universe made of?
• What is the biologocal basis of consciousness?
• Are we alone in the universe?

And lots more...It would be a great idea to go through these and discuss follow ups out here. What do you guys think? Anyone game..I'll be posting my reviews for few of them later today.
Keep watching
Cheers
Naveen

My Workplace Buddies

Here is a pic of my colleagues which we took on one of our daily evening strolls. From left - Pradeep, Pallav Da, Myself and Satty. Will post more later...
Naveen