how the columnist's predictions turned out for 2002.
Mercury News | 11/25/2002 | Looking back at 1992's look forward

the columnist makes predictictions about what tech will be around in 2012. very interesting. i see many of them around 2009 itself.
Mercury News | 11/30/2002 | Bold technology predictions for 2012

This is an amazing theory. Somebody will have to check it out. Maybe this will solve the problem of proving the superstring theory experimentally.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Did quark matter strike Earth?

How hindus are proseccuted in Belarus!! other than the mainstream religion everybody else is discriminated upon including hindus. and Belarus is suposed to be a european country

New Belarus Law Codifies Rising Religious Repression

an article about bollywood. figures about bollywood movies and tyical budgets and size of market given.

BW Online | December 2, 2002 | Bollywood

A very good write up by indian express editor Shekar Gupta on how the fringe(radical) leaders can quickly occupy the center. correlation between the punjab problem and indian hindu fringe leaders today.

There are no fringe benefits

aaahhhh...my tiype of game...
read on..except:

Peeball takes advantage of something all men have to do - urinate. A ball is placed at the base of a urinal and contestants must demolish it as quickly as possible. The game can be played solo or with friends.


Guardian Unlimited Observer | UK News | Peeball is big hit in little boys' room

Robotic heart surgery has lots of benefits not the elast being low recovery time. Except:

Patients recovering from the traditional approach usually have several inactive weeks before they're able to resume regular activity, but patients who undergo robotic surgery only spend a couple of days recovering from local wounds.

i am pretty sure in future robotic surgery will be very common and i mean much earlier than expected maybe by 2015 even.

CNN.com - Researchers laud robot-guided heart surgery - Nov. 19, 2002

pigeon on top of empire state building in NY, USA
::link opens in new window::

Procrastination
I have this horrible habit of procrastination. I put off whatever I can put off till the last moment. Sometimes this happens literally. I have finished assignments/projects within 5 minutes of submission time/deadline. I know that I procrastinate but still I do it. Why?
I guess am more happy doing others things than doing the things I procrastinate. This is the only explanation I can come up with for my bad habit. I read lot of books. I waste a lot of time in this. I really like to read books. I never put off reading a book. Maybe this explains why I procrastinate most other things. I have put off many important things because I like reading a particular book so much that I cant keep my hands off it. So I just go on reading books(now a days its also the web), I just keep putting off the thing that I am supposed to do till the last minute.Then I do it in a rush to the satisfaction of nobody(myself included). I want to change this habit but am unable to do so. I guess I need help. Maybe I am too addicted to books. Maybe I should consult somebody who can help me out. To avoid this I don't read any fiction now a days. i have totallly stopped reading them. but then i have started reading other types of books. philosophy mostly, but also physics and spirituality.
i was gifted a some physics books and two fiction books lately on my birthday by my friends. so this habit has reared its head again. for he past 3 days i have spent more time on reading the boks than on anything else. combined in the three days i must have spent more than 24 hours reading these books(this is while i have lotsa work left). i hate that i have this habit.
i think its a serious character flaw. i cant control my mind and its wanderings and wishes.

this article as usual says that jobs will go to india and china from us but what is unusual is that it says that there will be differentiation in terms of profiles of jobs. countries like vietnam and uruguay will take the lowest paid jobs while india will move up the chain.

rediff.com: US services to lose 3.3 mn jobs to India, China

My cooking

before i came to us when i was in idnia i used to occasionally make stuff like tea,coffee and sometimes dosa etc. never cooked a whole meal in my life. B4 coming here(US) my mom wanted to give a through training to me. but i resisted. ended up cookig some bhajis on the last 3 days...more likely watched my mom cook everything. when i landed here was hitched up with two roommates who didnt give much importance on cooking. consequently the drive in me too towards this end was minimal. 6 days a week we would have beans...yeah thats right beans...no not the beans vegetable as we know in india but beans as in garbanzo beans(chole) kidney beans(rajma) balck eyed beans(chavli) etc....you get the idea and sometimes they were really bad expecially the butter beans...have never seen it in desh...to add to it one of my roomies was a bad cook...i mean reallly bad cook...soemtimes i would have to eat at other friends place because of his cooking...that bad a cook..but sometimes i made dosa and once i made idli...they came out decent...thought i was not such a bad cook ....then after a year of living like this i lived alone in a room for 6 months without a kitchen...i had just a microwave owen and a fridge..could use a cookinng range once a week...so my cooking was restricted ..basically noodles and some rice with curd etc...miserable..then i landed up with two new roomies. one of them is a great cook. really puts heart into cooking...learnt from him wot it really means to cook. started cooking in all earnest


started making all types of dal,bhaji etc. also started cooking dishes like dosa,idli,sambar etc more regularly. i even had a party for 38 people where i cooked idli,sambhar,two types of chutney and falooda for everybody. it meant making abt 200 idlis..worked my ass of for more than 18 hours for that...i have never worked that hard for anything...honestly...i moved up the scale of things. i experimented with different stuff. i tried cooking in a minimalistic way. that was really good. minimum spices, no oil and things like that. the natural flavor of the vegs and other stuff is preserved. i also tried the other extreme. let me call it heavy coiking. liberal use of oil and spices. this also tasted pretty nice. but this type of cooking requires patience and slow heating, frying in needed. now i can say with some honesty that i am a pretty decent cook. maybe the next step is to venture out of desi cooking and try maybe thai or mexican stuff....so next time you are near my house you can expect strange new smells originating fron apt#C4...

nuclear rocket propulsion: use small nuclear explosions to propell(in the most literal sense of thw word) a space craft). it seems a manhole cover was launched into space during a nuclear test in earth. believable but just believable!!

Operation Plumbbob

Mumbai Police using the services of a Hacker for tracking online payments and cracking passwords

Mid Day - City - City hacker helps trace D-gang cash

Japanese restaurant uses naked girls as tables: But the guests are not expected to touch the females. Very interesting. A novel form of stip club with food thrown in for equal measure.
Ananova - Restaurant uses naked girls as tables

intercarrier rates of ILD calls in india

VSNL, BSNL ink interconnect deal - The Times of India

A bizzare story in Madhya Pradesh where a producer for publicity sake arranged to be manhandled by Bajrang Dal activists. Story of movie includes a Muslim who plays the priest in the film and that in one scene he rapes the lead actress inside a temple.

the producer actually arranged the bajrang Dal activists through his Congress contact. Can you be more weird...!!!!

Producer's hit plot kicks back : HindustanTimes.com

Article stating that India has the maximum number of students in US: more than china. The figures are:
From students in 2001-2002

India - 66,836
China - 63,211
Korea - 49,046
Japan - 46,810
Taiwan - 28,930
Canada - 26,514

seems 9/11 has not affected Indian students much.



India emerges No. 1 in US varsity enrolments : HindustanTimes.com

a very good analysis of michael's(jackson) facial features and how they have changed so dramatically over the years. Check out the Nov 13 2002 photo. weird. really weird.

The HisTory of Michael Jackson's face

the complete story of Micorsoft and Bill Gates

William H. Gates IV Page

The article is a fictionalised account of Adi Sankaracharya's journey to the Narmada river to become the disciple of Govindapada.
From Sulekha.

The Master by B.S.V. Prasad on Sulekha.com

A very good article o the symbolism in mahabharata and geets in particular. Inspiring. Goes very well with my limited understanding og Geeta.

The Story of the War of Kurukshetra by Nilesh Nathwani on Sulekha

We may be closer to destruction than we think. Experts say the earth's magnetic poles will dissapear/shift in 1000 years. This has happened before. This leads to intense heat due to solar and cosmic rays penetrating the Earth's atmosphere and causing widespread destruction.

Guardian Unlimited Observer | International | Sun's rays to roast Earth as poles flip

Wot happend when one puts dry ice in acidic liquid in a airplane commodore. very amusing

Salon.com Technology | Ask the pilot

the vulture-baby photo by Kevin Carter

Wanting a Meal

story of Kevin Carter. One of the most sensational photographers of our time and his cruel life and suicide

The Life and Death of Kevin Carter

Best photos of Maha Kumbh Mela

Display folder

Indian CTO of microsoft- this is the guy who wrote DASH in stanford and the famous book with kuller and singh. Nice biography

rediff.com: Microsoft's Mr Technology

the shoe bomber incident. one of the most unbelieavable episodes against the war of terror. if it were a movie i wouldnt have believed it. i guess its the same abt 9/11

Face-to-face with terror

an expert article on the newly found stone-box supposed to contain the bones of jesus' relative

israelinsider: Views: Ossuary was genuine, inscription was faked

first practical "beam assisted push off" kind of craft

Special Cosmos Sail Uses Earth-Bound Energy To Assist Ascent

wireless keyboard writes on two different computers: they happen to belong to neighbours and colleagues in the office.

Aftenposten Nettutgaven, Local

an excellent piece by an indian POW of the 1962 war. full of anecdotes. shows how china was prepapred for the war and it was not an attack by the indians which started it.

rediff.com Special Series: 40 years after the Sino-Indian 1962 war

An excellent expose of sai baba- the haired one including clinching movie evidence

Sathya Sai Baba movie clips and video clips

25 million SMS messages on Diwali day!!!

Diwali SMS surge clogs networks : HindustanTimes.com

They are trying to turn fish into vegetarians as fish eat other fish ten times their own weight befoe they are eaten by humans. Wonder when they will realise it will be more efficient if we all resort to eating plants directly.

Scientists trying to turn fish vegeterians - The Times of India

Why and How the brahmins are still strong in India even after mandalisation.

India: IThe resilient Brahmin, Nov 10, 2002 The Week

India moving up the value chain in software and design services

BW Online | November 11, 2002 | Calling Bangalore

a great piece on how life in swaziland is: a king and his 10 wives.

CBS News | Swaziland's Royal Bridal Mess | November 4, 2002 16:27:41