Fuel price hike won't affect consumers: Deora

For these kind of donkeys and 'useless citizens' of India, everything is free. Only when an individual earns by doing some work and pay from that earning, he / she will realise the pinch of price hike and coping with the same.

See, how unabashedly, this nonsense fellow has made comment that Rs. 35 hike should spread out as Rs. 1 per day for family that consumes 1 LPG and so it is not at all a hike!!

Fuel price hike won't affect consumers: Deora

Wearing shorts to Temples

Wonder why guys who come to worship wearing shorts as though they treat it as a picnic spot. One might ask - What's in a dress? Then we can have exemption for everything. Why can't they just stick to tradition at least to th temples - by coming in dhoti or full pant? These guys think they were born and brought up in US.

I saw a guy yesterday at a Narasimhar Temple (at Moovarasampet near Nanganallur). This temple is most revered and supposed to be centuries old. The 'Pavithrotsavam' was underway and none of the typical elders in the temple management seem to be bothered about stressing some dress code. Hmm ..If a girl would have worn a shorts and entered the temple, they will think that it is abacharam and raise a big issue. Dress code should be uniform and strict like how it is done in Guruvayurappan style temples.

Wearing Shorts has become a de-facto in our current life-style - at office outings, beaches, picnics; but I think we should have some line drawn between partying and temple visit.

Kareena Kapoor Strip-tease & Sony Vaio

If the advertisement had just said that Sony Vaio is available in different flavours or colours, that would be sufficient. I don't need Kareena Kapoor doing a strip-tease to make me buy that product. No IDIOT buys a laptop (or for that matter, electronic gadgets like these) because it is endorsed by a popular personality.

It is still a wonder why advertising agencies (and the companies) believe that star endorsement is still a selling point for these kind of products? Why waste huge amount of money on a person (for doing cat walking and displaying the product) when people buy that product out of respect and performance of the brand?

Is there a Financial clause by which money spent on advertising can be shown as an 'Expense' (or 'loss') and claimed deduction from paying tax? Not sure.

People don't remember who endorsed Sony Vaio 10 years from now. They will still look towards 'SONY' for its legacy, usability, pricing and features.

'Live Traffic' gadget in blog

This gadget at least helps us to know who has been visiting our blog and what they have been reading. Whether the writing or article makes sense or not, we can feel happy that someone in this world is dropping and reading our jottings.

GMail ID - Dots insignificant

Ever realised GMail treats your mail ID with or without dots as the same? Know this so that you don't delete some mails thinking as spam!

My ID doesn't have a dot. I have sometimes wondered how mails sent to the same ID as mine (with a dot in the middle) land in my inbox. I ignored couple of times as spam, but the third time got me curious to check. Back of the mind, I thought GMail had a bug :-) which I can write to them about and get it fixed.

But I when I carefully looked at the mail header part (sent to my ID with dot), I saw a small snippet "(Yes, this is you.) Learn more. When I clicked that 'Learn more', it took me to a page and explained why it is so

Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they'll all go to your inbox, and only yours
homerjsimpson@gmail.com = hom.er.j.sim.ps.on@gmail.com
homerjsimpson@gmail.com = HOMERJSIMPSON@gmail.com
homerjsimpson@gmail.com = Homer.J.Simpson@gmail.com

PS: Having a dot to show clarity in your mail ID is of least significance for the mail server!

Argos.Co.Uk - Sand at a Price

I was searching a suitable play item in Argos for my 1.6 year old daughter. Few of my colleagues are there at UK and I thought I will ask them to get.

I discovered an Interesting "Toy"
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3650574/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CToys+and+games%7C14417629.htm

Sand for a price? whatever they term it - refined and safe to play with, no bacteria and properly filtered, blah, blah. Still, I just cannot imagine how still sand is packaged and marketed ! Or did I get it completely wrong?

I think our local politicians would be delighted to introduce this as a play item in India - anyway, all sand quarries are under some politicians control - legally or illegally, though the latter is the usual norm.

"தாய் மண்ணே வணக்கம்" என்று சொல்லி கொள்ளை அடிப்போம்

FIFA 2010 - Observation on the QFs

Brazil showed excellent defense in the first half in their QF against Holland. But they could not even maintain even 50% of that in the second half. Frustration was growing evident in the Brazil camp as they kept losing the plot.

Germany, in their QF against Argentina showed excellent defense throughout the match. They also scored a very early goal like Brazil, but they didn't allow their defense to get weaken and kept attacking.

Pele and Maradona were (and are) at war of words. Two greats throwing brickbats in childish manner (Pele was throwing more). Both their countries are out.

Hotel Palmgrove - No more a place for middle class

The food prices are way too above for a middle class to think about affording. Having such a large group of Hotels (and real estate), the hotel can offer a competitive price on food menu. Till 3 years back, South Indian meal used to be Rs.55 inclusive of service tax. It has been jumping slowly ever since and now it is R.98 (with service tax). The quality & quantity remains same with zero improvement and there are no other change to ambiance as well (in order to justify).

Let Palmgrove not quote the rising inflation as the reason. A largely or commonly consumed food certainly cannot jump from Rs. 55 to Rs.98 (an increase of Rs.43 in 3 years). It puts Palmgrove in line with some of the Mutual Fund dividend schemes except that it is in reverse.

Many of us have stopped or avoid going there for lunch as there is no value for money. To top it, the waiters expect a tip for their service - stand their scratching their head or giving a smile (or salaam) at you indicating that the job is not done.

Why the hell they charge service tax separately and encourage waiters also to receive tip?

Southern Railways Website

This is one of the most prominent yet useless website if you are looking to lodge a complaint / suggestion to the India's greatest employer.

If we type www.srailway.com, it directs us to http://southernrailway.gov.in. But there is still a link "Please use our new official website address : www.southernrailway.gov.in" !!!


There are two supposedly important links if we scroll down to the last - Public Relations & Public Grievances. Guess what is displayed (see below image)

Nanganallur to Nanganallur Via Nanganallur

Last Saturday, 26th June, I took out my car to go to Kodambakkam. I usually take the Pazhavanthangal subway to reach the GST. It had just started drizzling and then developed into a steady rain. Here is the interesting sequence of events. People who know this locality will be able to understand more easily on the routes mentioned.

1. When I reached the subway, I could see vehicles moving slowly as it was water-logged up to knee level (for half an hour's rain). One vehicle was stuck and hence it took more time to overtake by turns (as it is not a big subway in terms of width).
2. I realised that it will be worse when we come back as all 3 important subways connecting Nanganallur is prone for water-logging. Hence decided to come back via the Thillai Ganga nagar subway.
3. It was in worst state already. I could see 5-6 cars waiting in the downward slope just to see if they can wade through the water. I decided to take a U-Turn to come back home via Pazhavanthangal subway itself. Many other followed the same. We warned all incoming vehicles (from GST side) that there is no point in going forward.
4. I took the left near Trident and drove for 25 meters or so and stopped. I could see a long queue of vehicles trying to cross the subway.
5. I again took a U-Turn and decided to reach home via AM Jain College gate. I had to wait for 15 minutes, but it was better than wading through water with the fear of car getting stuck

For half an hour's rain, this is the situation. These bloody political rascals don't even bother to sort out major issues like these which puts common man in difficulty frequently.

Kannadasan - Legend ignored by Tamizh channels

இந்திய தொலைக்காட்சி வரலாற்றில் முதன் முறையாக ...
(first time in the history of Indian TV channel...)

Hope everyone knows the boredom of listening to the above cacophony on every special occasion like Vinayaka Chathirthi, Independence day, Republic day, Pongal, Deepavali. But on June 24th, the birth day of legend Kannadasan, no channel were ready to pay respect or at least showcase his works even for an hour.

I came across a program in Podigai Tamizh Channel about him and his compositions around 9 PM for an hour's time. At least this channel took some effort in honouring this great legend, at least on his Birthday.

Poor DMK and its leader - if the CM had not been busy with Tamizh conference (Tamizh is more important than Kannadasan), he would have paid his respects by placing a garland at his statue (and thus make public suffer in the heat by stopping traffic)

Semmozhiam Tamizmozhi - செம்மொழியாம் தமிழ்மொழி

While listening to the recent "Theme" song of DMK party (err ..sorry ...Tamiz Conference), I wonder why many singers chose to SHOUT rather SING? I dislike AR Rahman in this one aspect - he sometimes goes overboard and tries to render in a high-pitch (which is still okay). But he need to see if the people can render it without shouting.

The Tamiz Theme song resembles lot of Western style of singing - may be the "Shouters" grew up listening to lot of Western music and think that only if they shout, others can hear.

WHERE IS THE MELODY IN THE THEME SONG OF SEMMOZHI? செம்மொழி இல் மெல்லிசை இல்லை

May be as per AR Rahman - எல்லா கத்தலும் இறைவனுக்கே!

Google Vs Bing - Who provides the right answer?

I started 'how to' and Google came up with a list. Topping that list was 'How to get pregnant'. I was curious to see what Bing produces and it had 'how to tie a tie'.

I tried Bing in IE as well as Chrome. The same trial was done with Google in IE and Chrome. Luckily, there was no difference (as it should be).

Cuil, whereas came up with 'how to choose'.

Not sure how page ranking is applied and why Pregnancy should be something on top in Google's search !

Dev Anand - Ever Green

While going through the 'Magazine' of the Hindu newspaper on Sunday, I came across the article about the 'Gregory peck' of India - Dev Anand; article on his new upcoming film and a short recount of his past days. I liked the below para about him.

"No other actor could romance heroines as effectively without touching them as Dev did. In fact Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and even Aamir Khan have unabashedly copied him in romantic scenes"

It goes without saying that ROMANCE is a word that can be associated with ONLY old movies of that genre and not a term that can be used for current days movies as the meaning has been stretched (and stretching far too beyond).

Karunanidhi Turns 87 - Screws up Chennai Traffic

On June 3rd, DMK party cadres chose to celebrate their "thalaivar" birthday in a manner known to all of us - disrupting traffic in main parts of the city thus putting all office goers into utter difficulty. While the people waited in the hot sun, Laddus were distributed to mark the special occasion. Luckily, I escaped by starting early to office and evaded getting stuck on road since I usually take the suburban train.

DMK believes in Tamiz as foremost language and raise a huge cry for Tamiz such as உடல் மண்ணுக்கு உயிர் தமிழுக்கு(roughly translates to - this body for Earth and life for Tamiz). It is a known fact that many such quotes are publicity stunts.

Then, why they chose an ENGLISH date i.e. June 3rd to celebrate? They could have chosen a date based on Tamiz calendar and distribute "Halwa" packets to every Tamizan.

Lord Venkateshwara & “Sarakku” Music

For Tamiz and non-Tamiz readers – “Sarakku” is slang for liquor which is not necessarily Toddy.

Last Friday (4th June) around 10 PM, my friend Thiyagu and I were heading towards Kodambakkam railway station to go home. There has been kind of spiritual activity in a temple nearby (loud speakers blaring some pooja slokas and mantras for couple of days). But on that day, the spiritual activity had ceased. There was a 30 feet or odd Lord Venkateshwara cut-out with all fancy lighting around him. To add effect of Friday evening and to probably cool down the spiritual effect, loud speakers were pouring out liquor based hit songs from Tamiz movies. A tent was erected nearby for people to showcase their dancing skills – not sure if Sarakku was served or not and whether people danced with its effect or not.

One could have spared the God from all these non-sense. It was very sure that no one could object to it as it must have been organised through the local political "dadas". No resident would wish to get a mouthful of abuse by intervening.

This is Kali Yuga and as per Hindu mythology, the world will undergo a clean-up once this fourth Yuga ends. The way I saw that activity, I could sense that the end days are not far behind :-)

LORENZO GO-LIVE @ Morecombe Bay Trust

This healthcare product of iSOFT has been under development for quite a few years and criticized a lot for the delays in implementation at NHS Trusts, UK. I have been associated with various versions and various roles in various teams in its life cycle.

There has been lots of delay - due to constantly changing requirements, market uncertainties and product stability / acceptance. But any product goes through that phase to attain maturity.

Last week, the first go-live of the original vision of the product was achieved. We had go-lives earlier in the year 2009 (close to 7 or 8 sites), but all those have been with the very minimal functionality.

This version is supposed to be replacing our legacy Patient administration software as well as provide Clinical functionality, support concurrent users and integrate with other systems.

It was happy moment for everyone who had been associated with this product for long, long time.

Gmail Attachments - Unique Feature

This is in Chrome Browser

I haven't noticed this before, but was pleasantly surprised on this good feature. I am sure, many would be able to save themselves from embarrassment.

After composing a mail which is supposed to have an attachment, I had totally forgotten to attach a file as I was busy composing and restructuring the message. When I clicked send, it prompted me with a message your message contains text 'I have attached', but there is no attachment. It saved me from resending the mail with attachment.

No wonder Google is considered as an Innovation paradise.

Maoist - A Message

1. This group formed because they didn't like the way some of the decisions were made on their homeland, labours' exploitation, blah and blah.
2. The intention is to make politicians understand their problem and arrive at an amicable decision.
3. For many years, this has not happened as politicians in India are never known to have solved any major crisis like this.
4. Started adopting violent methods to convey the message - killing CRPF men (many of them not even connected to Maoist political agenda) and recently, the Train sabotage killing common man

My question is - WHY CAN'T MAOIST KILL THE POLITICIANS DIRECTLY?

Three services get rendered by this way
1. Some of the rotten and worst politicians will be eliminated (which is a good thing if India has ever to claim it is incredible)
2. Make the remaining politicians to act quickly to solve the problem (so that they can save their lives)
3. Civilians are spared and they can be safe in this country

Google Indic - Hail Google

I had been trying hard some time back to get some Fonts installed / Editors / keyboard support, to type contents in Hindi. I wanted to help my father who writes articles in Hindi on topics related to spirituality and targetted at spreading awareness about Hindi contributors to South Indians or vice-versa. If that line sounds too complex, leave it. He generally writes for magazines such as Manjari (Tamiz) and Narasimha Priya (Tamiz magazine predominantly related to Vaishnavism topics)

One recent example is that he has undertaken a work, to provide an overview and meaning of selected verses of Vedantha Desikan’s work titled ‘Paaduka Sahasram’ in Hindi. This was taken on request from few of his friends who live in North India – to create awareness and reach Vaishnavism related works to North India.

I hope the above paragraph is better than the first (I assume). My father has compiled the work (in written format) and had sent them to the concerned person who in turn provided us back the same in a PDF format. My father is a complete novice to computers (and I can’t educate him as he is 79 and not used to gadgets) and so I offered my help in sending the results of proof-reading. There were close to 90 odd spelling errors and few insertions, changes and deletions to be made. I told him that it is better to send in Hindi itself in typed format so that it is easy for them to incorporate the changes. It took 2 hours a day for 6 days to type out the content, but when the publisher called and expressed his thanks on the clarity, I felt very happy.

I installed and used Google’s Hindi Indic for carrying out the work. A beautiful software and I found it absolutely user friendly when searching for combination of letters or spelling. Though my father sat near me to check if I am typing the right one, I was able to type even some complex characters with minimal effort. All you need to know is to think and search for different combination of English letters for complex Hindi letters. I have got Google’s Tamiz as well and found it too useful if we wish to write some thing in Tamiz (for me, the usage of small ன and big ண் always confuses) and this software provides the right one for the word.

Hail Google – the inventor of useful applications – no wonder why Google is so revered, loved and used by many