Wii Horse Racing

Wii remote and racing game hooked up to a child's bouncy horse. Check it out..hilarious!



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Why you need to increase your vocabulary Now!

Here is an altruistic way to increase your vocabulary.

By doing so, you also help provide food to the hungry.

Check out http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Leopard and the new-born Baboon

Watch the transformations of a young leopard's emotions as life demands the more important natural call of duty from him. To save a life? Or follow your hunger? Touching and amazing!

Physical Therapy

Continuing from my previous post; I went to the Ortho with the MRI films today. He said what I had suffered was a Patellar dislocation (knee cap dislocation) and that my ACL was fine.

This means the main shock absorbers in my knee are fine. However, my knee cap could dislocate in the future again. Since this was the first time it has happened, he suggested a non-operative treatment with physical therapy for 4-6 weeks! Luckily, there is a therapy place close to where I am staying right now and I hope to join there. Till then, its one more week of rest and working from home.

Between all my visits to the doctors, I was able to get to know a lot of cab drivers. I learnt that almost everybody or someone in their family had knee dislocations and, a lot of them are unable to do anything about it since they cannot afford medical insurance! This was quite disturbing to me. One cab driver had torn all his ligaments and was living with it. Living with twice or thrice the pain I am complaining about. And for 5 years! He wears a double knee-brace, but he says he frequently dislocates his knee. I wonder why the US Govt. cannot give the poor free treatment. There are a lot of charitable hospitals in India. I like India for such culture.

For those who are lucky to not have had knee problems, its great, but please be cautious. Your knees are very important to you and also quite susceptible to injuries. They take 7 times our bodyweight during strenuous activity. This even includes climbing down stairs! To prevent knee injuries, make sure you do a host of knee strengthening exercises before any sports/strenuous activity. Its also good to do this generally. Take care!

October updates...

October has been a nasty month for me so far.

Week 1: I injure my ankle bad enough that I had to take a day off of work

Week 2: I get involved in a car accident. Not hurt, car needs repairs.

Week 3: It hurts to even talk about it: I dislocate my left knee. Here's the scoop:

I was kicking around with a soccer ball and I suddenly felt something in my left knee and I take a fall. I look and find to my utter disbelief that my knee is dislocated. I mildly tried to press it to put it back in and it luckily did. I lied in some pain for some time and then I got up and try walking. Though it hurt too bad, I was able to walk ok. I couldn't bend my knee backwards too much since I felt something locking. I have no idea what the problem is.

I rested for a few hours, and the knee got swollen. I then went to the ER of Bryn Mawr hospital (many, many thanks to Lana for being with me from then and also helping me out finding the best available treatment!). A couple of quick jokes with the triage nurse and I was soon X-Rayed. No visible bone damage. I got immobilized with splints and was given crutches. Oh boy. I was then referred to an Ortho and spent my time trying to get an appointment with an available Ortho.

I got the earliest appointment on Tuesday - Oct 16th. Till then, I had to pass 4 days in bed, immobilized. I used this time to find the agonizing truths about knee dislocations. I hate to even talk about it.

On Tuesday, I took a long cab ride all the way to Devon to see the Ortho. As expected, he asked me to get an MRI. He said his gut feeling was that I have a Patellar (knee cap) Dislocation and a torn cartilage. Anyway, I was sent back to get an MRI and to then report back.

I am currently trying to schedule an MRI. The center the hospital suggested has no openings until next Monday. That would mean another 5 days of wait. A friend of mine suggested a closer option, and I have scheduled for the MRI there, this afternoon. See you after that!

[update] Scanning complete & back. Report will be sent to the Dr. tomorrow. I also got an appointment with the Ortho Dr. for Friday, Oct 19th.

Magic Show

Here are a couple of hilarious magicians. Normally I don't care about magic stuff, but I was wiping the tears away from my eyes as I watched this.

Orkut

8-10 years have passed by since I left my best friends at school. Suddenly BOOM they reappear on Orkut, with a pic in place for their profile. From weird parts of the world, doing something you never thought they'd. Some totally changed, some the same.

But the biggest of changes so far were to see all the still-so-young-and-childish-in-memory girls holding a couple of grown up kids and some new dudes by their side. I secretly naughtily cant help thinking - how on earth did they get there :) Few more years and I'd be seeing the guys from school holding their kids and secretly showing off their wives..ah and then I'd be thinking..lucky guy - he got that damsel, and oh poor him, how on earth did he fall for her..and so on. Sigh, now poking fun seems to be taken seriously all the more!

Accidents

The most horrifying thing about an accident to me is that more than bodily injuries that can happen to you, you could be the cause of injuries/death to others. All because of a momentary lapse on your part, it could cause you or others life long trauma. Thanks to God, I narrowly avoided that and just inflicted minor damages to mine and the other car.

Semantic Web

I'm currently captivated by this concept on Semantic Web. Right now I can think of it being close to Artificial Intelligence with both highly detrimental and constructive capabilities. But I wonder on the processing power of machines to accomplish really deep Semantic output.

Need a vacation!

Every morning I walk into office I wish to take the next day off. But it never happens. Damn!

Held up by thought

Sometimes there are situations where we are given a piece of work and we put too much thought into it which presents with dilemmas on choosing from the many 'best' ways of doing it, that eventually harbingers us from actually starting off with the work. Putting that first step into it becomes increasingly difficult!

In such a situation, it would be great to hear the opinion of a second person and ask him/her to see what they come up with or help you do the same. This atleast gets you going, albeit in a different mode of start!

Constructive Vs. Destructive Management

Constructive - Offers rewards for good performance

Destructive - Threatens job security for bad performance

Software

Under the architecture of every software is the behavioral pattern of the software developer. Trace it and you would learn to break it. - My latest software propaganda.

The general dynamics of every family

Very interesting to see the dynamics of every household. Some with high tension, pessimism, opulence, simple fun, etcetera etcetera. Its possible to describe the family together in 1-3 words. Wonder if the child of the family was being bought up in a totally contrasting household. Would the inherent traits lie dormant in him? Long story short, all I wanted to say is..the atmosphere of the household is very important to the world..The median of all the household wavelengths is the wavelength of the world..

I should stop. No am not drunk. Just lost my thought..something good going on on TV.

Robbed!

So how easy is it starting over again after being robbed?

In my case I just lost my baggage on a plane which I found out upon landing at my destination. Far from the scenario of being totally robbed, I was almost in that situation for atleast a few days (unless if it weren't for credit cards that came to emergency rescue).

I needed to buy everything to survive in the new place. I was on a business trip for a week. I needed formal clothes, shoes, toiletries, perfumes, and pretty much thankfully that was just about it for me. But I was imagining the case when somebody looses all his luggage traveling to a new country for the first time. He is lost! He ends up as a beggar..

I went from a person with a decent lifestyle to a bare basics life in just an hour of realizing I lost my belongings. My outlook quickly changed. I realized my haves versus the have-nots I keep thinking about. Humility suddenly rushed to me and it also made me realize how much my mind is controlled by material aspects.

We are lost when we loose our belongings. And we are overjoyed when we earn something new. Such transient objects lay a huge impact on ourselves. Sad but true and quite often forgotten. How exactly do we get mind over matter?

UPDATE: Yes!! Finally I managed to buy a toothbrush and a shaving set..ah what luxury! I can stop feeling like a barbarian in this concrete jungle.

---

On a slightly different topic..

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got
due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From world
over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed:

"Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?


To this Arthur Ashe replied:

The world over –

50 million children start playing tennis,

5 million learn to play tennis,

half a million learn professional tennis,

50,000 come to the circuit,

5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbledon,

4 to semi final,

2 to the finals,

When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD " Why me?".

And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

Tagged by Mithra

Rules

1. Players start with 5 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 5 random facts.
3. Players should tag 5(Mithra says 3) other people and notify them they have been tagged.

1. I have a lot to learn about life. Almost every new day baffles me with some surprise. Yes, am philosophical. Its my pain killer.

2. I do believe in the Matrix and the concept of illusion..

3. I instinctively stand up for what I believe in and deeply stand by others for the cause of justice.

4. I would prefer a time out with close friends rather than a night at the disco.

5. Life's tough. But you're in it for a reason. Its what you make out of the lemons thrown at you that matters. And not that lemons, instead of something else were thrown at you.

I tag -

Rajesh, Prem, Zahir..

Changing India every small way..

My friend and I were having a discussion about the changing India, the other day. People have so much money and along with it came more greed and desire..and the bottom-line that very few people sacrifice a significant amount of their effort doing something for the nation.

I am happy to note that my father contributes in a very noble way to improve India. He runs a charity school in our home town in Kerala for 300 kids of the poorest people of our society - the coolies, autorickshaw drivers, plumbers, and the unemployed. Needless to say, most of the kids study there for free.

My mother works there as a teacher too. They get a pittance of a salary - about Rs 3000 a month (about USD 45)! While I work in the big metro cities of India and US among other yuppies with glittered dreams, they do not care about any returns and a glossy life anymore.

I feel really proud of my parents courage. Even though they have atleast a decade of service left between them, they have chosen this path for the rest of their lives. I too contribute but only by sponsoring a couple of kids' education (which comes around to only Rs5000 per kid for a year!)

Definitely, my parents are contributing in the noblest way they can in improving the society!

Stoop over aggression

Reincarnation of the Laughing Buddha!

Stop the bloody war !

More than 100 people die daily in Iraq since the US invasion. Soon a country could be wiped out.

How brutal!

Stealing satellites? You got to be kidding!

Heck, I never knew one could 'hack' or 'steal' a satellite till I saw this article on slash.

From computers to satellites! And its also speculated Al-Qaida groups could be doing the same as well. Huh!!

On an afterthought - wonder if Intelsat is running on Windows? :)

What to do over the weekend

..is a ubiquitous question popping up every Friday. Saturday I'll be checking out different homes in the city and probably finalizing on a good deal for a shared apartment close to Philly downtown. So far I've got leads and all from really different kinds of people!

Sunday is going to be very rainy and I might as well end up gaming or so.

..and all that said, the death count in Philly still continues to increase at a record pace. Should I just modify my search for a coffin to rent instead?! (dark humor regretted)

Philly

Currently sitting in a Philly office and wondering how to lead a team in a project I know nothing of!

Music Site from Music Genome Project

http://www.pandora.com/ is a nice site. It allows you to search for an artist or track title and creates a channel with similar music. More features on site.

Where is the 'I'?

Our physical structure is hereditary. Yeah, true. What about our mental stuff? Our mind? The way the neurons connect between our brain cells to create thought?? That's hereditary too, isn't it?

To us, our deepest conscious self is our mind and our thoughts.

If this is not the real us, then what is the eternal 'soul' that we are, that has no birth or death?

How do we perceive our undying soul? Perhaps, is this 'spirit' referring to the life force? The force that keeps us breathing and our heart beating?

Which Micro$oft Vista to Buy?

Confused choosing between

• Windows Vista Starter,
• Windows Vista Home Basic,
• Windows Vista Home Premium,
• Windows Vista Business,
• Windows Vista Enterprise, and
• Windows Vista Ultimate?

Consider the following links to help you choose:

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsVista/vista-which-version.html

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/winvista_02.asp

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/operating_systems/microsoft_plans_six_core_windows_vista_versions.html

One can Never Ever be an honest man in India

--For reasons known.

Racism above Casteism & Untouchability?

There's no other country like India in the world, to have so many castes, sub-castes and sects. Our famed culture also had untouchables class. The top class treated the lowest like animals. Inter-caste married couples were burnt! Mingling with people of lower castes were shunned.

Even today, we divide the country through the reservation raj and the quotas.

Yet we made such a row over actress Shilpa Shetty being racially abused?!

Yet we watch CNN IBN, NDTV,TIMESNOW etc., . What a shame!

Note: This is an email received from a friend, Ashish today. Although the specifics are important, to me it highlights the media going down in a biased, meaningless path., rather than give equal priority to all truths.

By the time you read this news, the body of Major Manish Pitambare, who was shot dead at Anantnag, would have been cremated with full military honors.

On Tuesday, this news swept across all the news channels ‘Sanjay Dutt relieved by court’. ‘Sirf Munna not a bhai’ ‘13 saal ka vanvaas khatam’ ’although found guilty for possession of armory, Sanjay can breath sigh of relief as all the TADA charges against him are withdrawn’ Then many personalities like Salman Khan said ‘He is a good person. We knew he will come out clean’. Mr Big B said “Dutt’s family and our family have relations for years he’s a good kid. He is like elder brother to Abhishek”. His sister Priya Dutt said “we can sleep well tonight. It ’s a great relief”

In other news, Parliament was mad at Indian team for performing bad; Greg Chappell said something; Shah Rukh Khan replaces Amitabh in KBC and other such stuff. But most of the emphasis was given on Sanjay Dutt’s ”phoenix like” comeback from the ashes of terrorist charges. Surfing through the channels, one news on BBC startled me. It read “Hisbul Mujahidin’s most wanted terrorist ‘Sohel Faisal’ killed in Anantnag , India . Indian Major leading the operation lost his life in the process. Four others are injured.

It was past midnight, I started visiting the stupid Indian channels, but Sanjay Dutt was still ruling. They were telling how Sanjay pleaded to the court saying ‘I’m the sole bread earner for my family’, ‘I have a daughter who is studying in US’ and so on. Then they showed how Sanjay was not wearing his lucky blue shirt while he was hearing the verdict and also how he went to every temple and prayed for the last few months. A suspect in Mumbai bomb blasts, convicted under armory act…was being transformed into a hero.

Sure Sanjay Dutt has a daughter; Sure he did not do any terrorist activity. Possessing an AK47 is considered too elementary in terrorist community and also one who possesses an AK47 has a right to possess a pistol so that again is not such a big crime; Sure Sanjay Dutt went to all the temples; Sure he did a lot of Gandhigiri but then………..


Major Manish H Pitambare got the information from his sources about the terrorists’ whereabouts. Wasting no time he attacked the camp, killed Hisbul Mujahidin’s supremo and in the process lost his life to the bullets fired from an AK47. He is survived by a wife and daughter (just like Sanjay Dutt) who’s only 18 months old.


Major Manish never said ‘I have a daughter’ before he took the decision to attack the terrorists in the darkest of nights. He never thought about having a family and he being the bread earner. No news channel covered this since they were too busy hyping a former drug addict, a suspect who’s linked to bomb blasts which killed hundreds. Their aim was to show how he defied the TADA charges and they were so successful that his conviction in possession of armory had no meaning. They also concluded that his parents in heaven must be happy and proud of him.


Parents of Major Manish are still living and they have to live rest of their lives without their beloved son. His daughter won’t ever see her daddy again. Finally Major Manish, to my generation is a greater hero, someone who laid his life in the name of this great nation.

So guys, please forward this message around so that the media knows which news to give importance, as it is a shame for us since this Army Major’s death news was given by a foreign TV channel!!!

1 in 8 blokes would swap their lady for a "must-have" gadget?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/16/1-in-8-blokes-would-swap-their-lady-for-a-must-have-gadget/

The Passion of Natakairali

Last weekend, I had the honor of attending a Butoh and Koodiyattom performance at Natanakairali in the peaceful locales of Irinjalakuda in Kerala.

One of the first friends I knew in my life, Kapila and her parents have dedicated their lives in promoting the traditional dance forms of Kerala. This passion was so strong and very evident in their professional setup. They have disagreed to pursue the glamorous roles of movies to keep the art form pure and give it due respect. This level of sincerity was so hard to ignore and this prompted me to write this post. It is indeed a marvelous thing to be true to your passion and live for it!