Avial

IndiaTrip_PhotoBook

2011-10-22T23:53:00.001-04:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Is Google+ a Facebook Killer?

2011-06-28T18:26:00.004-04:00

Google has come up with an interesting social networking platform - Google+. It has some nice features, pleasant look and most importantly an intuitive interface. Will it be a Facebook killer? Here is my take on it.

Circles
Google has gone one step ahead of Facebook in creating an online society. As in reality, some friends are closer than the others even on the web. It is desirable to share photos or status updates with only certain group of friends instead of everyone. Circles in Google+ allows one to do this by way of organizing friends. While Facebook also has a way to organize friends, I don't find it as intuitive as Circles; probably circles is marketed while its counterpart's utility is not.

Hangout
For me, if anything can recreate the feeling of society, then its got to be the concept of get together for a conversation. Hangout is designed to do this precisely. If you are chatting with people in a circle, the others in that circle are invited to come hang out. Hangout is a clear winner; forget video conferencing, even a fundamental chat requires improvement in Facebook.

Sparks
Sparks is, in principle, an integration of Google's search, news and buzz. It allows one to search for articles/ news related to a topic (marketed as hobbies). Upon marking the topic as an interest, related news will show up in the spark space in the user's profile. The user can then conveniently share the link on his profile.

As a side note, Google must have been working on this vision for a long time. I have been using the contact organizing feature in gmail since a long time. Hangout is a natural extension to voice/ video chat.

Google vs Facebook is a favorite topic for any technology analyst. A very good analysis of their products in the past, present and projected future based on emerging trends of mobile networking can be found in IEEE Spectrum. In that analysis, Facebook was given an undue advantage over Google in social networking related products. However, it is possible that Google+ can attract users due to the above mention cool features. With Google+ in place, Google has the potential to overtake Facebook even in social networking sphere, given that Google already has an edge in the mobile aspect (Android) of mobile networking.

With so many things possibly going Google's way, its still not easy to beat Facebook; Google Buzz was supposed to be a twitter killer. Gmail, Google's second most successful product, still competes with yahoo mail. Google docs can not replace MS Office. Ad Words is a failure. Google WAVEd it good bye :-).

So is Google+ a Facebook killer? I don't think so...

TJ

Jimmy John's Sandwich: Its not just the food, its also about the attitude

2011-06-12T23:25:00.000-04:00

I was at Baltimore last week to attend RFIC Symposium. I had the chance to try (read forced to try; food in conferences are sad and overpriced) a sandwich shop called Jimmy John's (JJ's) which was right outside the conference venue. They serve very good sandwiches which are actually cheaper than subway. However, their USP is ATTITUDE. Check these out:

Do's and Dont's at JJ's

More Stuff

Nice one. I will use it to sell my recipe sometime :-).

This is super cool. It works well in my case, at least the last one.

Really??

Do you use that in $5 sandwiches??

Dig at Jack Daniels.

Didn't get this one myself. May be they are talking about pork sandwiches flying off their shelves.. Not sure...

"16 things it took me 50 years to realize" - Dave Barry

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a
laxative the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race
has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word
would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost
never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
(This one is very important.)

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling
reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests
that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging
from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to
make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age 11.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age,
gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep
inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice
person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur
built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as
grapes; and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they
turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

JJ's is a chain and seems to be popular in college towns (Ref: Wikipedia). They seem to be expanding rapidly to big cities as well. Try it..

TJ

Item song of the year (so far)

2011-04-25T22:06:00.000-04:00

The title song from the movie Dum Maaro Dum is my favorite item song of the year so far. It has sultry Deepika Padukone groving to some catchy tunes; credit goes to the original composer, R.D.Burman. The remixed version, particularly the lyrics, has attracted a lot of criticism. I think it is mainly because of the cult status of the original version and rather lewd lyrics in the modern version.

I started following Hindi movies after Dilwale Dulhaniya leke gayen and Kuch Kuch Ho Chuka Tha. If Zeenat Aman was the star of 1971 version, I felt Deepika Padukone was equally good in the new one. I will probably watch the 120min movie just for this 4 min song.

You can be smarter and watch the song here and lyrics are as below.

Hai Phir Dekh Raha Hai
Aaj Aankh Sek Raha Hai Kal Haath Sekega
Aaj Dhil Choda Hai Kal Khud He Rokega
Aaj Mere Liye Chair Kich Raha Hai
Kal Meri Skirt Kichega
Kichega Ki Nahi
Aakad Bakkad Bombay Bo Aasi Nabbe Pure So
Sau Rupiyon Ka Dum Jo Lun Do Sau Gum Ho Udan Chu
Phir Kyun Mein Tu Kar Rahe Tain Tun
Unche Se Uncha Banda Kothey Pe Baithe Nanga
Phir Kahe Ki Society Sali Kahe Ka Pakhanda
Bheje Se Kaleje Se, Kaleje Ke Kaleje Se
Mitjaoge Gum Maroge To Jioge Dam Maro Dam
(dam Maro Dam Mit Jaye Gham
Bolo Subah (sham Hare Krishna) - 3 Hare Ram) - 2
Duneeya Ne Hamko Diya Kya, Duneeya Se Hamne Liya Kya
Ham Sab Kee Parwah Kare Kya, Sabne Hamara Kiya Kya
Aah Aah Aah Aah............
Dam Maro Dam Mit Jaye Gham
Bolo Subah (sham Hare Krishna) - 3 Hare Ram

Kya Hai Kahani Tere Paap Ki Ho
Topi Hai Pyaare Har Naap Ki Ho
Khuli Hai Supermarket Baap Ki Ho
Kya Hai Pasand Kaho Aap Ki Ho
Andar Ke Bandar Se Ho Guftgu Si Ek Baar
Thi Justju Si Ek Baar, Ho Guftgu Si Ek Baar
Phir Kyun Mein Tu Kar Rahe Tain Tun
Unche Se Uncha Banda Kothey Pe Baithe Nanga
Phir Kahe Ki Society Sali Kahe Ka Pakhanda
Bheje Se Kaleje Se, Kaleje Ke Kaleje Se
Mitjaoge Gum Maroge To Jioge Dam Maro Dam
(dam Maro Dam Mit Jaye Gham
Bolo Subah (sham Hare Krishna) - 3 Hare Ram) - 2
Sham Hare Krishna- 5

TJ

Shell Script for 'Latex'-ing from vim

2011-04-20T12:37:00.000-04:00

I am a vim loyalist.

Features in Emacs like compiling latex code and viewing the output without having to switch to the terminal is awesome. However, having used vim (and recently gvim) for more than 5 years, its easier for me to write scripts for vim to implement the cool features of Emacs rather than switch to Emacs. Below is a simple shell script to compile latex document and show the output without leaving the editor.

#! /bin/sh
source=$1
infile=${source%.tex}
latex $infile
bibtex $infile
latex $infile
latex $infile
dvips $infile.dvi
ps2pdf $infile.ps
evince $infile.pdf

You can use pdflatex instead of latex. Also, I use evince to view the pdf because any update in the file is updated in the viewer without having to restart it (unlike acroread). The script (I call it compile_latex.sh) needs to be saved in a directory included in the PATH.

Now comes the vim part. The following line needs to be added in .vimrc (or .gvimrc).

map :!compile_latex.sh %

I am now looking for a good psychiatrist program to integrate with vim; helps to vent out frustration :-).

My favorite technologies of the past decade

2011-01-12T20:32:00.002-05:00

The last decade witnessed quick and drastic revolutions in various fields of technology. (Children growing up in that period would not appreciate a large number of sci-fi movies :-). ) Google conquered the web world while facebook defined e-society. Electronics have been applied extensively to improve every aspect of life; watch out for electronics in toilet paper. Communication has become so fast and cheap (read free) that collaboration with my professor was not affected when he left to Belgium on a sabbatical. Thanks to amazon.com, our shopping strategies have changed. Overall, our lifestyles have changed; food and language are probably the only common aspects that I share with my grand parents, who have chosen to abstain from this never ending revolution.

Among the developments (too humble a word; don't have a superlative term at the tip of my finger now) that have taken place in the last ten years, I have picked my three favorite ones

Smart-phone

I own a blackberry which acts like my personal assistant by maintaining my calendar, tasks, delivering my mails, giving me road directions, restaurant suggestions, playing my music, taking notes, on and on and on. The iPhone and Evo 4G are much smarter with great cameras, enabling check deposit, document scanning, face time video calling (only on iPhone) and more useful features.

Smart-phones, with the criticism of providing continuous distractions, provide opportunity to immensely increase our productivity. Currently, it adds another dimension to our smartness. At the rate of growth of mobile phone industry (hardware, software and applications), the lack of proficiency with this device would become a serious deficiency.

Skype
People may argue that AT&T or Verizon is the largest phone service provider. If you are from India, you might vouch for BSNL to be the company with highest number of subscribers. However, Skype has to be the world's largest telephony service provider with more than half a billion registered users.

Skype uses the technology called VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). The voice (and video) is converted into data packets and sent to the destination over Internet. With a decently fast Internet connection, I am able to hold video conferences with parents in India, without paying anything. Recent versions of Skype allow the users to share desktop screens. This has enabled me to hold technical discussions with my professor who is on a sabbatical in Belgium. This technology has managed to make collaborations simple, even with people half way across the globe. I hope to be able to work from India for 6 months a year :-).

MP3

60min/90min cassette tapes used to be the standard audio storage medium back in my school days. Listening to music while traveling was a luxury. Yes, there were Walkmans but the battery life was not too good. And then the life of these audio tapes were not long either.

MP3 compression algorithm was perfected in late 80s and early 90s. However, MP3 players had to wait for the digital signal processors and memory technology to catch up. NAND flash memory was several hundred dollars for a megabyte in those days. A MP3 player with 30 min playback time (paltry by cassette standards) would cost few thousand dollars.

By late 90s, computers got faster and could remember more. Optical discs became common and a lot of audio was carried around on CDs - the first digital audio revolution. NAND flash memory got cheaper by the day (it costs less than a dollar for every GB), non-volatile memory technology was mastered. Apple launched its first iPod in 2001 - the revolution in digital audio. As Willie D. Jones puts it, time line can be split into B.C (before compression) and A.D (Apple Domination). Now, I carry all my favorite music in a small device that goes with my key chain.

There were probably other technologies which made more significant influences to this world, but as I told you before, these are my favorite. Please let me know about your favorite ones in comments.

What is in store next?
The coming decade can only witness an accelerated growth. The cool gadgets and technologies that I look forward to are

A super intelligent successor to a smart-phone with an intuitive voice based interface and 3D screens.
Techniques to generate, scavenge and recycle energy from the surroundings in a clean way.
Software defined radios. The success of my PhD work will give the much needed impetus to this dream of many a RF engineer ;-).

Pre-Distortion for Power Amplifiers. Interested?

2010-08-31T03:26:00.001-04:00

Driven by a high data rate and need for efficient spectrum utilization, modern communication standards like MoCA usually feature OFDM which has a high peak to average power ratio (PAPR). This constrains the designers to resort to the most linear version of PA, a Class-A PA. In addition to having a poor maximum efficiency, a Class-A PA’s efficiency degrades rapidly under back-off. On the other hand, a Class-B PA, albeit very non-linear compared to a Class-A PA, has a higher maximum efficiency and it degrades less rapidly under back-off.

Similar to the idea of pre-equalization used in communication, the input signal of the PA could be pre-distorted effectively to compensate for its non-linearity. In standard CMOS process, particularly with technology downscaling, the cost of digital signal processing has reduced dramatically, making it a smart choice to implement the pre-distortion in the digital domain.

If you are interested in working on this problem, please contact me.

Karthik

Chef TJ's Kurma for Idiyappam/Chappathi/Barotta

2010-08-12T20:07:00.001-04:00

Having been deprived of this Madras Style Kurma for 2 years now, I have learnt to make this amazing dish, purely out of desperation. I thank Abinesh for teaching me this recipe. Folks, it tasted better than any "South Indian restaurant in the US" could offer. Following is the recipe.

Ingredients
1) Scraped Cocunut - 50g
2) Fennel Seeds - 1 table spoon
3) Channa Dal - 50g
4) Tomatoes -2
5) Onions - 2
6) Ginger-Garlic paste - 3 tbl spoon
7) Cloves - 3
8) Cinnamon - half a stick
9) Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
10) Sambar powder - 3 table spoon
11) Salt - As per personal taste (roughly 1 table spoon)
12) Vegetables - Cauliflower/ Peas

Procedure
1) Cocunut, channa dal and fennel seeds are ground to paste.
2) On a frying pan, oil is heated. Cloves and cinnamon are added to the oil.
3) Finely chopped onions are cooked (till golden brown), followed by the addition of ginger-garlic paste.
4) After the raw smell of ginger-garlic is gone, boiled vegetables are added followed by finely chopped tomatoes. The tomatoes can also be ground for quicker cooking. Salt, turmeric and sambar powder can also be added at this stage.
5) The kurma is allowed to cook (for beginners: 20 mins on medium flame).
6) The coconut-dal-fennel paste is added in the end.

Why I respect Shashi Tharoor...

2010-08-06T20:03:00.003-04:00

Shashi Tharoor is a Member of Indian Parliament. Prior to his current political career in India, he served the United Nations (UN) as the Under-Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information. It is important to note that he was a close second to Ban Ki-Moon in the polls conducted for the post of UN Secretary General.

Shashi Tharoor received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from St. Stephen's College, Delhi. He then went on to receive two Masters degrees and a PhD from Tufts University, all by the age of 22 years. Tharoor happens to be the youngest person in the history of "The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy" to be awarded a doctorate. Despite finishing his thesis, Reasons of State, in a very short time, it is of the caliber of required reading in courses on Indian foreign-policy making. I wish my 4 or 5 year PhD will produce anything close to that.

Tharoor started writing at a young age of six and published his first novel when he was ten. Currently he has authored eleven books; most of them being bestsellers. He is also a regular contributor to the columns of The Hindu, Times of India and Indian Express. His articles and book reviews have appeared frequently on New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington post.

I see Shashi Tharoor as a focused and a brutally efficient person, ready to adopt the ideas of the newer generation, as evident from his tech savvy habits. Unfortunately, his inability to steer away from the controversies and allegations have dented his public image. To me, he remains a winner; would have been my role model, had he stayed clean on the IPL controversy.

TJ

Sakshat - I am not too excited about it.

2010-07-26T19:35:00.001-04:00

Indian government recently announced the launch of Sakshat - a $35 tablet. The tablet has 2 GB RAM, no hard disk, USB port, and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. It comes with a PDF reader, multimedia player, video conferencing, Web browser, and word processor. If all these work, I think we have a product which is worth every cent spent on it. However, I am still not gung-ho about the product.

South East Asian countries manufacture electronic products that are imitations of big brands at a very cheap price. My Taiwanese friend claims that an iPhone equivalent and look alike costs $15 in the streets of Taipei. These products suffer from poor reputation; they are branded unreliable. Sakshat, I fear, might turn out to be one such product.

Indian govt. should have waited till Sakshat was field tested before making tall claims about it. From business point of view, the press release stunt was unnecessary because the market was guaranteed anyway. Gaining international reputation being the motive, after giving the hype, it better deliver the goods especially after the $10 laptop debacle.

The Indian Electronics Industry has a lot of potential. Indian engineers are masterminds behind many cool American innovations and products; Ajay Bhatt, the inventor of USB 2.0, is a case in point. However, the Indian companies are yet to make a name for themselves. The $10 laptop has only handed the Indian Industry an early setback. I sincerely hope that Indian govt. has not made any mistakes with $35 laptop.

Fall 01 in Summer 10

2010-07-15T20:08:00.006-04:00

One could have the balls to try mountain biking but the real challenge is to have them intact at the end. I believe that I do, because of the urge in me to get on the bike again and complete the trail that beat me. Alas, if only I could walk.

Folks, I went mountain biking on Pacific Ridge Trail, Irvine, CA last saturday with a couple of friends from Broadcom. I have biked earlier on Whiting ranch wilderness park trail. This trail, facing NewPort Beach for a stretch, is supposed to be more scenic. The first third of the trail was narrow and winding with bushes on either side, demanding intense concentration. After a water-break at a summit, we started going down on a broader path (a highway by mountain biking standards) at a high velocity. Blame the lapse in concentration or the the view on my left and or the speed (that thrills but kills), I did not notice the sand in front of me. The sudden slow down along with my poor technique in navigating sand caused the front wheel to wobble and turn 90; thus, the cycle flipped over and TJ made a landing on hard ground after a couple seconds of flight.

I sustained injuries on my right hip and bruises on arms and legs rendering me unfit to walk for a week (my guess; hopefully not worse). I am frustrated at my inability take part in the SF half-marathon race on 25th of July. My plan of writing "36 hours in Bay Area" has gone down the drain and so might the trip to Las Vegas on July 30th. Considering that every mountain biker has gone through a similar or a worse injury, I feel proud about it; however, the pain of having to stay put in a place is intolerable.

A few thing that I want to tell an aspiring mountain biker:

Mountain biking is totally different from road biking. Infact, no two trails of mountain biking are the same.
Never try to compete with an experienced guy. This sport could be dangerous.
Every protective gear is important. The helmet, the gloves, the knee guard, the elbow guards, ... Thanks to the helmet, I escaped with a black-out.
Bike should be in perfect condition. The brakes, the shock absorbers, the gears and the tyre pressure.
As a beginner, safety should be the only concern. Enjoying mother nature is secondary.
The most important thing: You will injure yourself despite all the precautions. Be prepared to take it.

After recovery, I plan to complete this beautiful trail and take nice pictures along the way. As for the half-marathon, I hope to get into the Philly competition in September.

TJ

Een ezel stoot zich geen tweemaal aan dezelfde steen
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Dutch_proverbs

A weekend in Austin

2010-07-11T19:20:00.001-04:00

Austin, I am told, is the only liberal city in an otherwise conservative state of Texas. Though irrelevant to this topic, I like adding that :-). It is the capital of Texas, fourth largest city in the lone-star state and fifteenth largest in the country. Austin was a part of my long weekend travel plan that included San Antonio. I reached Austin on the 3rd of July, late in the night and left on the 6th of July before daybreak.

Day One - 4th of July

Meeting with Anuranjan and Navin
Anuranjan Jha was my senior at CISL Lab, Columbia University who graduated just when I joined the lab. Anu (as he is fondly called) and me share a common interest - Running. We met for lunch (actually he picked me up from Kumar's house) at Trudy's, a Tex-Mex cuisine. We had some elaborate discussions on half marathon/ marathon training, music that inspires running, music in general, general fundaes on life, life, ... :-). To cut the long story short, we did a lot of catching up. After meeting Anu, I am now sure about buying Bose Companion 3 speakers when I return to NYC.

Navin is also a friend from Columbia University, a dude sometimes more American than an actual American. Don't ask me what I mean because you will have to interact with him to understand what I said. After picking me up from Texas Capitol, Navin and his girlfriend, Nita, took me to Mozart's Cafe. If you are an Austinite and haven't been to this place, I would urge you to try it asap; particularly try their Mocha Special.

Navin, Nita and me gossiped about our friends at Columbia University and Broadcom, sitting on the banks of Lake Austin watching the sun set. Later, we left to downtown Austin to witness the 4th of July Fireworks.

4th of July Fireworks
Kumar and Baradwaj (Bwaj) joined me after I reached the downtown. Independence day fireworks is a very colourful event in the United States and a joy to capture on camera. Being an ardent fan of Trey Ratcliff (a Photographer from Austin), I wanted to emulate his fireworks pictures. Having messed up royally last year, I had to make the opportunity count this year. Bwaj and Kumar got me the best possible spot and the following was the result.

It was a joint work by Kumar and me. For more pictures, you should visit Kumar's and my flickr streams. Bwaj captured amazing pictures with his point and shoot which can be viewed here. It was a very satisfying day for photography.

Day Two

Jog on River Colorado

Siddhartha Bannerjee (known as Bofi to most of us) is a friend of mine from my undergrad. After coming to the US, we used to run together in Central Park when he interned at Alcatel Lucent, NJ in the summer of 2009. So we decided to do the catching up while doing something both of us relish - Running. We ran the along R.Colorado on the Lady bird Lake trail, starting from Mopac Express-way, going till I-35 and back on the other bank of the river. Thanks Bofi for taking me on this picturesque route and I still owe you a couple of runs more.

Long Drive
After it got relatively cooler in the afternoon, we (Bwaj, Kumar and me) decided to go on a long drive; just drive on with no real intention. We went to Mount Bonnell, a prominent tourist destination alongside Lake Austin. It offers a good view of the city of Austin. Owing to the oppressive weather, we got ourselves a few portrait pictures quickly and drove to Lake Travis. After spending sometime there, we hit the road again to stop at Pennybacker Bridge; to get this view (there were no fireworks when we went). After all the driving (actually being driven) around, I know what is missing in my NYC life. I promise myself driving classes and a license without much delay.

My weekend in Austin is less of a conventional tourist's trip and more of a localite's weekend-off. However, its the most enjoyable travel experience that I have had recently. I hope to visit this place again, hopefully for a week and live Austin - bike, kayak, dine at Hula Hut, catch some live music, help myself with Tex-Mex food, ...

Coming Soon: Weekend in Bay Area.

8 hours in San Antonio

2010-07-04T00:17:00.004-04:00

I promised Kumar to visit him at Austin during the Independence day long weekend. However due to exorbitant ticket prices ($500 for round trip to AUS from SNA), I took a flight to San Antonio for my onward journey, where Kumar joined me. In retrospect, it was a wise decision as I might not have visited this historical city otherwise.

La Alamo
After watching Colbert interview (read make fun of) the mayor of San Antonio, Julian Castro, during the week before my trip, I was eager to visit La Alamo which is the venue of a pivotal event in Texas Revolution, Battle of the Alamo. During this battle, a Mexican army of more than 2000 soldiers were defended by a Texian army of 200 soldiers for 13 days before the Texians capitulated. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texian army with aid from adventurers from United States defeated the Mexicans, thus ending the revolution. This monument tells the story of important personalities of this war. Artifacts such as the guns, swords, knives, letters and maps are still on display for the tourists. It is a must visit, particularly for a history buff.

River Walk
In one line, River Walk is an attempt to recreate Venice in downtown San Antonio. I need to visit Venice before deeming it successful or otherwise. Lined with pubs and restaurants on either side of the river, it is a very colorful and active place, thus an attraction in its own right. It is important not to miss out on killer deals at souvenir shops along the walk; I got a Texan Hat for $7. Since we were at the River walk at an unfavorable-for-a-meal time, I did not dine; but I could tell that the restaurants here offer good options for a date.

Tower of the Americas
Tower and observation deck are synonymous in the US according to me and I was not disproved by "Tower of the Americas". This 750 feet tall structure offers an incredible view of the entire city. Contrary to my belief (that Texas is a desert) , San Antonio looks to be filled with green lawns all over. The entry ticket includes a 4-D movie called "Skies over Texas", presenting the history of Texas. There is a restaurant located one storey right below the observation deck. Its USP is that it rotates slowly, offering its diners a 360 degree view of the landscape of San Antonio.

San Antonio being the second largest city in Texas and the seventh largest in the United States, certainly has much more to offer for a tourist. It is worth stopping here if you are riding on I-10 sometime.

Stepping Stone to Success

2010-06-28T17:38:00.003-04:00

June 28, 2010

Dear Karthik Tripurari:

I would like to express my appreciation for your submission to CICC 2010 of the paper entitled:

ID#: 231
Title: A Digitally Controlled CMOS Phase Shifter with Frequency Doubling for Multiple-Antenna, Direct-Conversion Transceiver Systems

With the large number of submitted papers and a limited number of time slots available for presentations, the committee had a particularly challenging task this year to determine which papers were accepted. I regret to inform you that we were unable to include your paper in this year's program.

I look forward to seeing you at this year's conference and hope that you will consider submitting a paper for CICC 2011.

Sincerely,
Tom Andre
Technical Program Chairman

Bollywood Movie for Rs.95

2010-06-20T02:04:00.005-04:00

"2 States- The Story of My Marriage" is a novel by Chetan Bhagat about love, struggle and marriage of a Punjabi boy from Delhi and Tamilian girl (oops should I say Iyer?) from Mylapore, Madras (also called Chennai these days).

Act I: The Boy ('s family) and the Girl ('s family) Meet
The story begins in IIMA dining hall, where Krish (the boy) meets Ananya (the girl) and develops a crush instantaneously. On the other hand, Ananya finds him to be a "safe-zone guy", who is content with just friendship with girls (There can never be a safe-zone guy in this world. That is inhuman.) and deal of "friendship" is made. With time, additional benifits get added to the deal and it evolves into love. Behaving maturely, they decide to marry only with their parents consent. Their parents meet during the convocation ceremony but Northie-Southie incompatibility issues surface.

Act II: The Boy Impresses the Girl's Family
Having failed in their first attempt, Krish gets himself posted in Citibank, Madras. He has hilarious encounters with his boss, house-wife clients, apartment owner, cops in the beach, and prospective in-laws in their own house. The plot of a well educated, teetotaller, non-smoker, Cisco-employee, Bay Area resident, hero-in-mami's-eyes - Harish's proposal getting turned down by Ananya is sure to make you roll on the floor laughing. After initial stiff resistance, Krish manages to impress Ananya's parents by helping her father with a critical PowerPoint Presentation and her mother by securing a chance to showcase her musical talent. Meanwhile, he is stressed out at work and decides to return to Delhi. Before leaving, he takes Ananya, her brother and parents to a Restaurant and proposes to the entire family (I don't know about you, but I find this rather stupid) and they agree to their marriage plan.

Act III: The Girl Impresses the Boy's Family
I have not mentioned about the unpleasant relationship Krish shares with his father. They are not on talking terms and Krish decides that convincing his mother (Kavita) would suffice. He brings Ananya along with her while returning back to Delhi, without informing Kavita. Kavita is unhappy about Ananya's feminist attitude and her poor culinary skills does not help the cause. Kavita starts feeling insecure and sees any attempt by Krish to defend Ananya as a step to corner her. Krish realizes that his mother could be convinced only with her siblings' approval and arranges for Ananya to go to his cousin's wedding. At the wedding, Ananya manages to impress his uncle and aunts by smartly solving a dowry issue, thereby earning the nod from Kavita.

Act IV: The Actual Problem
As in most practical love stories, the problem is not with the individuals but it is with the two families getting along. Though they approve their child's choice of life-partner, the two families do not bond well during the Goa trip. Ananya decides that they need to break-up for everybody's good, thus throwing Krish into a depression. None of his desperate attempts to revive their relationship works and he resorts to working hard to keep his mind occupied. Alternate marriage plans are made for both and it seemed like the love story is over.

Act V: The Happy Ending
As a popular movie saying goes, "If the ending is not happy, the story isn't complete yet". Krish gets a call one early morning from Ananya and finds out that all issues have been sorted out by his father, who flew to Chennai personally. Krish is doubly elated as this settled the misunderstanding with his father in addition to winning his girl. The marriage is arranged in Chennai and the entire Punjabi family travels south to spice up the Tamil Style ceremony. The story ends on a romantic note; having crossed the finish line, they do it (again) for the sake of uniting the nation.

Though this is the story of countably infinite Indian movies, Chetan Bhagat manages to keep the reader interested, thanks to a refreshing treatment of the romance and hilariously naive observation of Madras and its culture. Characterization of Krish's father could have been worked out better. To sum up, I strongly recommend this for a in-flight or a Tirupati-temple-queue-time reading.

TJ

Ubuntu Upgrade

2010-06-15T00:43:00.003-04:00

I upgraded my OS to Ubuntu 10.04. The update went smooth except for 2 glitches. Wifi did not work initially but it got sorted by itself upon restarting the system. Secondly, youtube videos played without sound while amarok worked just fine. The problem turned out to be a conflict between flash 9 and 10. Typing about:plugin in firefox address bar confirmed this and rm ~/.mozilla//plugins/libflashplayer.so solved the problem.

Also, I installed the Mac OS theme for my desktop. The desktop is as shown in the screenshot below.

If you like it and want to try for your desktop, just follow the instructions on
http://maketecheasier.com/turn-ubuntu-lucid-mac-os-x/2010/06/01

Cheering for Argentina

2010-06-14T00:46:00.006-04:00

2010 FIFA world cup started on June 11th. Thirty two teams compete in this month long event for the coveted 5-kg gold trophy. In the past, Brazil has been the most successful team of the competition with 5 victories, followed by Italy with 4, Germany with 3, Argentina and Uruguay with two each while England and France have won it once. There are other strong contenders which have not opened their count yet; The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, to name a few.

So, who is most likely to win the tournament?

On paper, Spain looks like the most complete team with star performers in every position. It is important to note that they are all in prime form and confidence after a Euro victory. Thus Spain would be the obvious favorite to win this tournament. But they have always been an under-performer at the World Cups and there is no reason to believe that it is going to be different this time.

Soccer crazy Brazil is a favorite anytime. The talent in the country is so abundant that a team of any random 11 interested candidates will be able to see it through till quarter-finals. Obviously an exaggeration but you get the point :-). Though the current form of Brazil's top players is not good enough to win the seventh game, everything can change with one good game.

Germany is known for its never-say-die attitude and it is evident from its past performances in the world cup. Apart from winning the tournament thrice, it has managed to reach finals and semifinals on several occasions. The lack of a super-star is more than compensated by efficient planning and clinical execution of the plans. Moreover their physical superiority makes them extremely lethal, particularly towards the full time.

Despite all this, I cheer for Argentina. Not many expect them to win the World Cup after their performances during the qualifiers. In my opinion, this eases some pressure off them. The Argentine team comprises of a bunch of supremely talented young lads; most of them younger than me. The man in-charge of the team, Diego Armando Maradona, is a yesteryear world cup hero and person with a mind younger than his players'. With such a combination, I expect them to play with a lot of hunger and passion to show off their skill and flair. For the sake of stylish, sneaky passing game they display and the exuberance they exude, I cheer for Argentina.

Life in California so far

2010-06-13T04:10:00.004-04:00

I flew to San Jose on May 25th from NYC. This was my first trip to West Coast, discounting the one day trip for an interview at Broadcom. The difference from NYC is immediately obvious: Great weather, great roads, thus great dependence on cars and not so good public transport; intimidatingly polite people, and so on.

My internship at Broadcom started on Jun 1st and I came to Irvine on May 31st. I am staying in UCI housing with a group of Indian grad students. The house is conveniently situated, within walking distances from Super Markets, Post Office, Cinemas, etc. Broadcom is 1.7 miles away from the house and I use a bike for commuting to office.

I work in the Tuner group at Broadcom which designs chips for set-top-box applications. To be specific, I am designing a Power Amplifier which would go into the transmitter module; the one that transmits signals into the cable. The experience of working here is good so far. The engineers are very smart and work efficiently to make the job look very simple. Particularly, I am in awe with my office-mate called Marcel who is a rock star. The guy has all sorts of devices on his desktop: fancy lighting, water heater, coffee-maker, mini-refrigerator storing Vodka, Rum, Wine, Whipped Cream,... Upon noticing the surprise on my face, he was quick to say, "Well, I need to take care of myself". To add to this, he is very popular among the engineers at Broadcom for his technical prowess. I need to learn some tricks from this fellow.

Irvine is a fine place. Though not as happening as New York, Orange County has enough weekend-to-dos. While I spent my first weekend biking around Irvine and learning the neighborhood, Vedam (telugu movie) followed by dinner of Pesarattu-Upma at Bhimas was my today's achievement. I plan to go to Newport beach tomorrow. My initial plan of mountain biking with my manager got postponed due to his personal commitments.

In the coming weekends I hope to visit San Diego, Las Vegas and Austin. Whenever I am staying back at Irvine, a movie at the Cinemas, a long jog, and an interesting cooking experiment will be my recipe for a relaxed weekend. Now if only there was a girl to add spice ;).

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill : An Engineer's Perspective

2010-06-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been making the headlines for more than a month now. The gravity of the situation is best explained by the graphic images here. One of the reader writes, "I am heartbroken after seeing these pics... so sad... this creature has done nothing to deserve this.", reflecting the sentiments of many of us. However, the main stream media has focused mostly on the political and environmental repercussions, ignoring the engineering challenges; thereby making BP a public enemy. Through this article, it is my intention to create an awareness about the methods employed by BP to tackle the situation.

The Problem
Deepwater horizon was an ultra-deepwater offshore drilling rig. In September 2009, the rig started drilling the deepest oil well in the history, measuring more than 10km in vertical depth. On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred in the rig, leaving the well gushing, causing a major oil spill. According to the estimates, 5000 barrels or 210,000 gallons of oil is lost everyday.

A Blowout preventer is a fail safe mechanism which kicks in to check the oil flow in the event of any accident. The problem with this incident is that the precautionary measure has failed to kick in. The reason for this failure is not known yet and is still being investigated. My belief is that the blowout preventer could have failed due to the depth which is the greatest in history.

Quick Fix Solutions
In British Petroleum's defense, they are trying out every method in the textbook. The first attempt was to activate the blowout preventer. Remote controlled submarines with robotic arms were used to kick it into action. As cool as it sounds, the technique did not work and the reason is not known.

Deepwater Horizon accident is the second major oil spill in the last one year; the other incident being Montara oil spill which happened on August 21, 2009, in Timor Sea off the northern coast of Western Australia. The Australian rig spewed oil for 10 weeks, until November 3, 2009 when a decidedly primitive technique was used; the leak was plugged with large amounts of mud. However, the same technique did not work in Gulf of Mexico.

The other less catchy solution would be to create chambers around the leaks and connect pipes from those chambers to funnel up the oil up to the surface. Though this solution sounds simple, it has never been tested at these depths.

The Last Resort

Given that the quick fix solutions have failed, BP is left with no option but to create relief wells. According to my understanding, the creation of relief wells decrease the pressure of oil gushing out of the leaks, thereby making it simpler to plug them. However, it is going to take about 90 days before the relief wells are completed. At the current rate, 210,000 gallons per day, 18.9 million gallons of oil would have been spilled into the sea; this is not even accounting the oil already into the ocean.

I feel very bad for the affected creatures and we need to do everything possible to help them . It is also important for us to acknowledge the technological challenge faced by the engineers of British Petroleum. Though they are accountable for the mishap, they need our support right now; at least we could check our criticisms till later.

TJ

Next Up: A study of Exxon Valdez Oil Leak and Methods adopted for cleaning up the slick.

One day in Mylapore

2010-02-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

For those who are unaware, Mylapore is an orthodox (not the orthodox in Christianity sense but more like traditional) neighbourhood in Madras with a historic significance. When I went to India in Jan 2010, I decided to take a trip through the nostalgia lane like every other earning-in-dollars-US-return dude. Though not very related to the topic, can someone answer why such people take pride in dining at "Kai-endhi Bhavan" (street food, especially the ones outside star hotels), ability to argue with autowalas, board a moving bus, ... ? It is my observation that they would not settle for anything less than a Bisleri for water, pay an additional Rs.20 (40cents) to avoid any argument with autowala and dread to board a bus with no vacant seats citing unrelated reasons like timing constraints. Without further digression, let me tell you how I enjoyed my Mylapore day.

Marina Beach

After waking up at 5AM, checking gmail for online friends and other routine morning ablutions, I headed straight to the Light House - the southern end of Marina Beach. The timing was perfect (courtesy: no reply for any of my gchat pings) as the sun was just rising. A slow jog on the footpath along the beach took me past Queen Mary's college, Presidency college and many statues. For a more elaborate list of landmarks on that route check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_beach#Structures. When the sun had completely risen and started shining in its Madras glory, I stopped for a delectable mushroom-soup, cornflakes, sprouts and peanuts breakfast followed by tender cocunut. Alas, I must have gained weight by the end of this exercise :-). Who cares as long as it was an enjoyable experience.

A trip on MRTS to Inox

After a relaxed Hindu news-paper reading session and a heavy brunch, it was time to get back to action. When I mentioned the idea of going to the Kapaleeshwarar temple, my mom dismissed it deeming it inappropriate to go to temples immediately after a meal. A new Aamir Khan movie, 3-idiots, had released just a few weeks back and had very positive reviews. Moreover, it was an adaption of a novel based on IITs which motivated me to give it a try. I took this opportunity to ride on the MRTS (an intra-city rail transport network) to Inox, the most expensive cinema in Madras; costs Rs. 120 or $2.4 (Ok, I am showing off).

Tiffin at Saravana Bhavan
At this point, a small detour is necessary to explain the food habits and timings of an average, relaxed, nothing-much-to-do Mylaporean, a category I fitted in. One has an early morning dose of caffiene and sucrose by means of coffee, followed by a heavy brunch consisting some or all of rice, dal, sambhar, rasam and curd (yogurt) depending on motivation levels of the lady of the house, around 10AM. The next meal (tiffin), which is usually a snack like idli/ dosa, happens at 3PM, typically after a mid-day nap. Finally the dinner is had in the night a couple of hours before bed-time.

When I was finished with the movie, it was already time for tiffin. Mylapore offers a lot of quality options like Karpagambal Mess, Mami's Tiffin place, Saravana Bhavan, Sangeetha, and so on. Though I do not have strong reasons to prefer one over the other, it was Saravana Bhavan that day. It is a restaurant chain which has established quite a reputation and various branches even outside India. My favourites at Saravana Bhavan Idiyappam, sambhar vada and the aromatic coffee (Saravana Bhavan's coffee is probably the only coffee I would not refuse).

Temple Tour
A tour of Mylapore is nowhere close to complete or even claimed to have been done without the temple tour. The first on the list was Kapaleeshwarar temple which is also the oldest one in the locality. Details about this famous temple can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapaleeshwarar_temple In addition to everything mentioned on the wiki page, this also serves to be socializing place for the Mylaporeans. One can find old mamis discussing their daughters-in-law and old mamas debating social issues such as the biological, sociological, psychological, economical, .*cal impact of mobile phones. According to a source, the temple also serves to be a meeting place for young lovers. But we are also aware that 96.5% of the information without reference is made up impromptu.

Another such famous temple is the Alwarpet Hanuman temple. Over years, the diety has gained a reputation of a reliable boon giver. In particular, there seems to be a heavy patronage by the students preparing for Chartered Accountancy and apparently Anjaneya is fondly called as CA Anjaneya in their circles. To be honest, I used to visit this temple every Saturday for 2 years during my JEE days.

To finish off my pilgrimage of sorts, I finally visited the Luz Ganesha temple. In order to be understandable to my non-Tamilian readers, I have called it a Ganesha temple which is actually known as Luz Pillayar or Sidhi Vinayagar. This is a small temple located right at the Luz Signal Junction and it is a quick visit. Vinayaka of this temple, as suggested by the name (sidhi vinayagar), is considered to enable you to succeed in your earnest endeavours.

Off Topic Question: Is there a god who is considered powerless and incapable of giving us what we want?

A walk around the Tank and the Mada Streets

A short walk southwards from the Luz Ganesha temple brings you to a huge water pond, known as Tank which is used for the rituals of Kapaleshwarar Temple. The streets around the tank are called the Mada Streets. Of the four Mada Streets, the north and south Mada Streets are the more significant ones, known for the jewellery shops and footpath vegetable shops respectively. This area buzzes with activity during the evening hours, when the working class goes about its daily purchase on the way back from office.
To make my experience, a more authentic one, I bought some vegetables, making futile attempts at bargaining and entertaining my mom in the process. And finally on the way back home, with the left over change, we had paneer soda (soda with rose-water essence), not so much to quench the thirst as to quench simple desire of behaving like a common middle class Mylaporean.

I love to visit Madras

2010-01-19T04:00:00.014-05:00

To feel at home.
To step out of the airport to smell idli/ vada and sambar; to wonder if I am over-reacting and to realize that some family is invariably having idli/ vada and sambar in a corner of the arrival lounge.
To get on to 21G bus wearing my "I love NY" t-shirt, with a couple of large suit-cases; to extend Rs. 500 bill for a Rs. 10 ticket and be tempted to say - "Keep the change!".
To be the only guy to sweat in the bus during "Madras winter" evening.
To reach home only to be scolded for the "stupidity" of carrying huge luggage in the crowded public transport.
To bear hug my parents and sister.
To tell them all the NY stories and reasons for me growing "thin".
To get pampered unnecessarily for the imaginary "hardships" I am having to undergo in NY.
To go out to a store at 9PM and find the city already sleeping.
To be able to roam around in a shabby t-shirt, jeans and a slipper without feeling odd.
To be able to sit between an executive and a poor man in MRTS.
To catch people's attention with my SLR and tripod and get accosted for a picture.
To get caught for photographing "restricted areas" and get away claiming to be a journalist.
To do this with a courage that the fine is not a lot compared to a museum entry in NY.
To complain 25C to be uncomfortably warm and dream about the cooler weather in NYC.
While doing so, to be shouted, "Kayide, Kasmalam, veettula soltu vandiya" (Popular Madras slang for "watch out asshole") by a traffic rule abusing autowala, for letting his three wheeler bump into me.
To stand in non-existent queues and move backwards with time.
To discuss inflation and its effect on a common man with the mama in Karpagambal mess.
To discuss the dilution of culture due to western influence and IT companies with the gurukkal of temples.
To meet school friends and listen to their stories; especially their love life.
To feel like an ass to be living in the US missing all the fun.
Finally, to realize that this list can go on and on and on; that I should get back to reality and prepare to leave to NY.

Paranthe Wali Galli

2010-01-12T19:47:00.003-05:00

People of this world can be divided into 3:

Those who have no clue about Paranthe Wali Galli.
Those who have heard of it.
Those who have been there.

This entry is intended to enlighten the first category, remind the second of what not to miss and inform the third of what they probably missed.

Where is this?
Chandni Chowk, Delhi

How to get there?
The best way to get there is by Delhi Metro. You can get down at Chandni Chowk station and walk to this street.

Associated Activities

Red Fort
Jama Masjid
Saree shopping

Paranthe Wali Galli literally means bylane of Parantha (fried bread with a filling) makers. The first of the shops was established back in early 1870s. Owing to the increasing popularity of the Paranthas, the founder, Pt. Gaya Prasad brought his relatives to expand the business. Eventually, around 20 shops came up; all run by the members of the same family.

According to wikipedia, famous politicians such as Pt. Jawarharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Jayaprakash Narayan were regulars to this place and these shops show no restraint in showing off this; their walls are filled with pictures of big shots dining at their place. The otherwise very friendly Paranthe Walas are so proud of their VIP customers and popularity in media that they did not seem to show any interest in photographs.

The food served here is purely vegetarian since the owners are brahmins. In fact, no onion and garlic is included due to the large clientele from Jain community. One gets unique variants of Parantha fillings such as papad, parat (don't know what it is), gaajar (carrot), rol (don't know), lemon, dry fruits, rabdi (a milk product), khoya (another milk product), tomato, cashew, okra/ ladies finger, banana and jaggery in addition to the regular aloo, pudina, mooli, cauliflower... . Paranthas are served with helpings of pudina chutney, kele ki saunth (a chutney made of banana and jaggery), aloo ki sabji, sitaphal (sweet pumpkin) ki sabji and aloo mutter.

Unlike any other parantha which are fried on a pan, paranthas are deep fried in a kadai, which according to the owners, is one of the secrets behind the taste. As on 7th Jan 2010, these paranthas costed Rs.30 a piece while the more exotic ones costed Rs. 35. There is a catch that you are required to have atleast 2 paranthas (which you will surely do).

Daulat ki Chaat
After a sumptuous meal of Paranthas and lassi (don't miss this!!), I happened to taste "Daulat ki Chaat" for the first time. Before you get misled into wrong notions, this is actually a dessert. This not-so-famous-to-most-of-us dessert is apparently popular during the winter months. Purists believe that it should be made only during the nights under the gleaming moonlight.

Irrespective of what purists believe and when my Chaat was made, it is an amazing sweet that melted right away in my mouth. The mild sweetness allows one to go on, forever.

It is strongly recommended that Paranthe Wali Galli be added to your itinerary when you visit Delhi next time.

TJ

Italian Dinner in Veera Ishtyle

2009-12-13T02:28:00.023-05:00

"When the student is prepared, the teacher will appear"

I have always been a great fan of pasta, cheese, cream, olive oil and hence Italian food. Having spent a fortune in Italian restaurants, it was time for me to learn the technique of making good Pasta. Just as in the saying, Ms. Veera Cooper offered to teach me the art.

Whole Foods Store
Good food requires good ingredients. Fresh vegetables and cheese were purchased from the chef's favorite store, Whole foods. This store has some amazingly delicious fresh cheese, bread, deli products in addition to vegetables, meat and other groceries. A foodie can easily spend more than a couple of hours tasting the samples of bread, cookies, peanut butter/ almond butter and enriching his/her knowledge of available options. Located near WTC site, the prices could cause a few frowns; but the products are worth every cent you spend on them.

Pasta Recipe

Though thousands of recipes are available on-line, this section is here just to prove that I have learnt the recipe now :-).
Making pasta, it turns out, is not a difficult task at all. All you need is a good cook like Veera ;-). Jokes apart, the ingredients required are butter, light cream, pasta, mushrmooms, corn, olives, tomatoes, sliced onions, garlic, spinach, grated Parmesan and any mp3 player (also good speakers).
Pasta is put to boil in water with a little olive oil added to prevent the it from sticking. Simultaneously, butter is heated on a pan. Light cream is added to the molten butter and brought to boil. Garlic and pepper powder are added to the cream while it is getting heated. Time to multi-task: while the aromatic mixture is boiling, the cut veggie mix is sautéed. It is essential that tomatoes (also spinach) are sautéed carefully to avoid a mushy mix. Off topic: Music and cooking reminded the chef's assistant (its me) of his favorite musical instrument. Unlike him, the reader is recommended to stay focused to prevent over-frying the vegetables. The sautéed veggies and boiled pasta are mixed with the cream to get an entrée approximately like the one in the picture above.

Venting out my frustration! (Ignore this if you are not used to me)
What are these weekend ideas for, if you can't vent out your frustrations? At the time of writing this article, I was extremely tired with giving accurate explanations, references and pointers, thanks to a series of scientific report writing excercises. In order to cater to my laziness, I have taken the liberty of assuming that a common reader, unlike a scientific one, will figure out which picture is being referred to in what context.

Tart: The Surprise Addition

The recipe for Tart was beyond the scope of author's comprehension and certainly a topic for another blog. Hence the reader is left to run his/her imaginations free based on the picture.

The outcome of this experiment was a great two-course Italian meal and numerous other interesting ideas. An attempt of this kind is strongly recommended for anyone who is even remotely inclined towards Italian food. Before I forget, remember to add the secret ingredient; the confidence that it will turn out tasty ;-).

TJ

Grimaldi's Pizzeria

2009-12-05T00:37:00.006-05:00

Where is it?

Grimaldi's Pizzeria is located in Brooklyn, near the water front below the Brooklyn bridge.

How to get there?

Take the A or C train to High Street and walk to the water front. The pizzeria is located on the Old Fulton Street and can usually be identified by a long queue.

Catch
* No slices
* Expect long queues.

Other associated activities
* Brooklyn Bridge walk
* Brooklyn ice cream factory for some great ice-creams.

In their own words, Grimaldi's is an institution in the world of Pizzas. According to some non-authentic sources, the reason for their location in Brooklyn is the ban on coal-oven cooking that existed in Manhattan when the Pizzeria was being setup. Grimaldi, who wanted to offer the experience of authentic pizza to his customers, decided to have it right across the east river under the Brooklyn Bridge.

The pizzeria is very popular among the residents of New York and enjoys patronage by celebrities like Mayor Bloomberg and former NYC Mayor Guiliani. Zagat Survey rates Grimaldi's as the best pizzeria in New York and Food Network lists it in their "Top 5 Pizzerias" in United States. To top it all, my Italian friend dines at Grimaldi's as soon as he arrives in NYC from Turin.

Remember to enjoy your thin crispy crusted, succulent pizza at Grimaldi's when you visit NYC.

Who should be my next Prime minister?

2009-04-01T11:09:00.010-04:00

I am one of those (read many) Indians who don't know what is the manifesto of any national party, confused about whom to support and hence I am politically neutral.

Though election in India is a humongous strain on our insufficient resources, we have been performing this democratic ritual "religiously" (pun intended). It gives the government a necessity to analyze and cater to the needs of the public. More importantly, it gives the public an opportunity to replace the failed government with a party with most appealing vision and manifesto.

At the end of a unsatisfactory governance by the UPA, I need to decide whom to hand over the responsibility of the next government. There are three possibilities: the incumbent Congress-led UPA, BJP-led NDA and UNPA. Of these, UNPA is a conglomeration of regional parties who are confused about their loyalties. They are bonded more by the force of animosity with UPA/NDA rather than their own ideologies. To state the truth, each member has an agenda specific to their own state/region and are clueless about the rest of the country. This is not a good news for a voter because the entire country is not represented in this team of regionals. Secondly, in the event of clash of interests, this alliance is bound to break, giving rise to chaos, possibilities of hung parliament and hence political instability.

Next alternative is the BJP-led NDA with their Hindutva agenda. They keep promising a Hindu temple in Ayodhya as if that is going to assuage a poor man's hunger (are they talking about free prasadam?). The media has drawn an interpretation of communalism from every action and inaction of theirs, thus making every other party "secular". Their leaders constantly attack the incumbent government on poor internal security while their term itself was stained by major terrorist attacks albeit less frequent. They opposed the nuclear deal with US, an idea proposed in their term.

That leaves us with the last option of UPA. Let alone the problems of inefficiency, incapability and corruption, common to any government, the leaders are not even inspiring. Their poster boy is as inspiring as a Sam Anderson movie. My sympathies are with the current Prime Minister, respected for his revolutionary economic ideas in the last decade of 20th century. They had a totally irresponsible Home minister, a failed finance minister and perhaps to clean the financial mess, Finance Minister was given charge of home ministry. I seriously doubt if a poorer choice for Indian President could have been made. At the helm of all these social experiments is a much improved, yet uninspiring Italian-Indian Politician.

Having exhausted all the possibilities, I am back to my first question. Dealing with the real issues of today, the above mentioned points do not really matter. In mudslinging and accusations, the parties are wasting their resources in defending themselves rather than the country. The homework before elections should include research about quality of primary education, public health, infrastructure, security and so on instead of opponent's weakness and strongholds. We have had enough unjustified claims like Secualar-Congress and NDA for development. It is time that any such claim is substantiated to the intelligent public. We should have grilling question hours of every deserving and undeserving prime-minister hopeful on a live TV Show, the result of which will be conveyed to them through elections. I see this happening in the near future. Till then, please tell me who should be my next prime-minister.

Portraits with 18/55 mm IS kit lens

2008-12-21T00:41:00.004-05:00

It was the first time that I took my camera out during the day time and I could immediately observe the power of 18/55mm IS kit lens. It is very easy to shoot portrait pictures using this lens. They provide lovely bokehs without too much effort. I am motivated to get up earlier in the morning to be able to shoot in daylight.

The following is the picture of my friend, Mr. Kuppambatti, taken in the Riverside drive (yes, it is next to Hudson river).

A snowy day in NYC

2008-12-16T19:26:00.007-05:00

After a hard day's work, I ran out of my lab to get a few pictures in natural light. But I realized that it was already dark and snowing. So I spent most of my day clicking pictures of Columbia University and NYC Taxis. The two photos in this post are the best of the day.

I am happy in a way that I missed the day light because I was forced to learn about AI Servo option in the Rebel Xsi and Panning. The taxi picture on top was taken using that option and it is very easy to get started. Well, before the critics pan me, I will confess that the photo looks very noisy (1600 ISO).

The other picture is that of snowfall as viewed from out apartment. I am uploading this for critics to have a good time and also for myself to learn from their comments.

TJ

Initial experiments with XSi

2008-12-16T00:07:00.000-05:00

This is a part of initial experiments with my new Rebel XSi and the kit lens 18/55mm. I am amazed by the quality of pictures this equipment is giving me (remember that I am a beginner and I have the right to get amazed by the silliest of things). I have toiled to get this kind of depth of field with a Point and Shoot. Moreover this was shot in an extremely lowlight room without flash.
I love SLR (so far ;-)).

TJ