Phoenix to mars

which would make us happy if we find life or if we don't?

Frankly, to me i would like it if we do find life on mars.... but then life as in? often we picture life as something that is close to humanity or something that is similar to animals as such...but then most often what we are looking for is a life form na? anything like a bacteria too is a life form rite? or something like virus which exists between both (though i was taught this is school, its kinda interesting and disturbing to think of something in between life and non-life)...could the discovery of a virus be counted as life??????????

I really dunno about that, but I've always pictured a parallel world to us where a guy exactly like me exists, doing exactly the same thing ....right now...like writing this same blog.....

whatever.... i hope we find life..

Calvin n Hobbes

I picked this up from another site........... this is dedicated to Calvin's dad.....with his really awesome answers to Calvin...

Astronomy

Q. Why does the sun set?
A. It’s because hot air rises. The sun’s hot in the middle of the day, so it rises high in the sky. In the evening then, it cools down and sets.
Q. Why does it go from east to west?
A. Solar wind.

Q. Why does the sky turn red as the sun sets?
A. That’s all the oxygen in the atmosphere catching fire.
Q. Where does the sun go when it sets?
A. The sun sets in the west. In Arizona actually, near Flagstaff. That’s why the rocks there are so red.
Q. Don’t the people get burned up?
A. No, the sun goes out as it sets. That’s why it’s dark at night.
Q. Doesn’t the sun crush the whole state as it lands?
A. Ha ha, of course not. Hold a quarter up. See, the sun’s just about the same size.
Q. I thought I read that the sun was really big.
A. You can’t believe everything you read, I’m afraid.

Evolution of Technology

Q. How come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?
A. Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It’s just that the world was black and white then. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.
Q. But then why are old paintings in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?
A. Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.
Q. But… But how could they have painted in color anyway? Wouldn’t their paints have been shades of gray back then?
A. Of course, but they turned colors like everything else did in the ’30s.
Q. So why didn’t old black and white photos turn color too?
A. Because they were color pictures of black and white, remember?

Theory of Relativity!!

Q. Dad, will you explain the theory of relativity to me? I don’t understand why time goes slower at great speed.
A. It’s because you keep changing time zones. See, if you fly to California, you gain three hours on a five-hour flight, right? So if you go at the speed of light, you gain more time, because it doesn’t take as long to get there. Of course, the theory of relativity only works if you’re going west.

How things work?

Q. Why do my eyes shut when I sneeze?
A. If your lids weren’t closed, the force of the explosion would blow your eyeballs out and stretch the optic nerve, so your eyes would flop around and you’d have to point them with your hands to see anything.

Q. How do bank machines work?
A. Well, let’s say you want 25 dollars. You punch in the amount and behind the machine there’s a guy with a printing press who makes the money and sticks it out this slot.
Q. Sort of like the guy who lives up in our garage and opens the door?
A. Exactly.

Simple Physics

Q. What causes the wind?
A. Trees sneezing.

Q. Why does ice float?
A. Because it’s cold. Ice wants to get warm, so it goes to the top of liquids to be nearer to the sun.
Q. Is that true?
A. Look it up and find out.
Q. I should just look up stuff in the first place.

Secret of omniscience

Q. How come you know so much?
A. It’s all in the book you get when you become a father.

tamglish

as·sault

–noun

1.	a sudden, violent attack; onslaught: an assault on tradition.

2.	Law. an unlawful physical attack upon another; an attempt or offer to do violence to another, with or without battery, as by holding a stone or club in a threatening manner.

3.	Military. the stage of close combat in an attack.

4.

rape1.

–verb (used with object)

5.	to make an assault upon; attack; assail.

dictionary. com states the above as the meaning of assault...... u must be wondering why this is up here....well, go on read!

assault-a mudichudivean............................................assault-a iruku ma!


how often have u heard this? if u stay in Tamilnadu, more specifically Chennai....and u speak the local lingo, you def must have come across this statement, esp with d urchins and college going crowd. I've often wondered how this English word became so very Tamil! and more than that, what bugs me is how did its meaning change? from its original meaning?? the Tamil version of assault is quite simply put, as follows;

assault = easy


so when someone says "assault-a mudichudivaen" they mean that they'd finish watever it is, quite easily.....in other words it is like a "cakewalk"


so from where did this term stem? and how did its meaning change? i have seen the English adapt Tamil words into their language...catamaran etc etc and we are often proud tat they did so! the buggers couldn't just pronounce and couldn't find another word so they just added it to their vocab! though i fail to understand whats there to be proud about it, i appreciate English as a language, coz it adapts, borrows and evolves with time. Most purists of any language would disapprove of such "borrowing" or adapting.... they'd say it spoils the language and dilutes its form.

I beg to differ! a language is to communicate! to bring people together and make them understand each other, not to fight over its purity! and in tat case no matter what purists stand for, English is by far one of the languages that has managed to adapt and penetrate world over...

Kudos to English...

as for how "assault" came into Tamil and that too with a different meaning........ go figure it yourself! and if you do find any other such words do let me know!

Indians? Achievers?

Stumbling has hooked me............. whoever came up with this idea deserves an applause.
its been quite a few months since i've started stumbling and its pretty addictive. The very idea of discovering new sites in your area of interest in amazing, and you get a chance to visit, ponder, revisit some really amazing sites which you otherwise would probably never stumble into during your lifetime....

since one of my interest areas is in Space & exploration.... i came across sites....and one link after another i reach a page with an article about Ms Kalpana Chawla & Sunita williams and the others alike....with an article hailing them as "Indian Achievers", now that sets tempers soaring!

Frankly, i don't understand the hype create over these characters, the only thing Indian about them is probably their lineage, in any other aspect, i fail to recognize their contribution to India, in any way except than their parents. There are many such characters...business men, scientists (esp this lot) who we hail as "INDIANS".

And soon enough some school textbooks have these characters on the books (i guess kalpana Chawla is already there as a martyr) ...........aaaarghh!!! With due respect to them, how have they contributed in the research and growth of India? I remember Sunita Williams trip to India was so publicized with media interviews and what not...........gimme a break!!

They have not contributed in anyway to India or its growth in science, they work for NASA! Did they DO ANYTHING for ISRO or Indian space research? nah!! we fail to recognize icons in our own country, take the case of M.S. Swaminathan - he contrubuted so much to feed our nation thru the green revolution, any sign of them?? nah?

we like to suck up to U.S and guess will continue to do so with brainless cheap politics in something like research and science. I Hope we realise who "true Indians" are, and show them some respect and gratitude.

Cos we don't want our children working in NASA? or do we? is ISRO so bad?? why should we show these characters as achievers? is it that working in NASA with an Indian lineage is more important than actually working in ISRO for INDIA as an INDIAN??

MAC vs PC

The Mac Vs PC wars are never ending, even after mac brought in a platform that supports windows and other PC based software....

Mac users swear by it and often take a dig at pc users being the lowlife... and to pull d carpet right under all PC manufacturers mac launched Macbook Air. I've come across many such comments/ cartoons.... but here's one which takes the other side.... and it comes as quite a surprise since only yest my BIG BOSS was going gaga over the same anti-virus capabilities and high speed net connectivity of a mac... lol (i hope he reads this blog)

Have a good laugh....

Remember everything

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University.

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Mbembe approached it very carefully.

He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it.

As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the wood out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments.

Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away.

Mbembe never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Mbembe was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son.

As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing.

The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant.

Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe' s legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly .

Probably wasn't the same elephant.

fried idlis.....yumm

I have got used to eating out so often, probably situations forced me to, but nevertheless no regrets!!

best places to eat............. not in any specific order though

• Sangeeta's - fried idlis, sambhar vada's, rasa vada's
• Ashok pan shop - Anna Nagar - Spl Sandwich, Masala thumbs Up, Cheese Puff
• Gangotree - Chaat - all types, esp the curd varieties
• Shiridi - Behind stella maris - good food, good view (;P) ....unlimited
• Outside Alsa Mall - Sandwiches
• Vishranti - besant nagar - just about anythin

Am no great foodie, and i don't experiment much... but then who wouldn't love good food?

back to cycling...back to life

Often i've noticed in my frens house...or wherever, there is a lifeless cycle that lies in corner with spiders, cobwebs and dirt for company...

Ever since i got my bike, my obsession with cycling, walking, running and traveling by public transport has faded....and in the corner of my house lied a lifeless cycle...

I remember, remember the days when i used cycle to school, speeding through the morning bustling roads and honking horns (aaarrrghh!) .......... i never wanned to be late, esp to chemistry class (I loathed chemistry as a subject, not that i liked others - i just hated them), which was always a special class every day without fail. And as chemi ma'am(the most sincere person ever, who tried hard to make some chemical reaction in my head and make it work - I'd dedicate a post to her RDS someday) put it... if no one came to class on the time she'd indicated, she'd rather start teaching d walls (I had a secret desire to catch her doing that, but unfortunately the bright "brainy" and budding kids of Hindu would nevertheless make it on time), and so as ever it always ended with me panting & rushing in.....

I remember, remember the time I graduated from an ugly but faithful "captian-paalkaran" cylce to a BSA SLR (it was d time of hercules MTB's with shox which i used to love). Now when i say graduated I mean that I inherited my brothers cycle - if u are a younger sibling probably, infact most likely you would have experienced the "hand-me-down" syndrome, where whatever your bro/sis used is passed on, right from dirty sneakers to cycles.... i'll probably write a separate post about the hand-me-down syndrome by itself.....


And yes, yes it feels great to get back air into the wheels of that rusty but trusty ol' cycle and pedal away.......into bliss.