Posts
I wished to register my concern over the latest terror attack that happened in India, on the same day itself. Then I thought it is too early to comment on it, though it was the worst I have ever seen happening in India.
But I can’t help comment on two things. One, how it’s being reported in Pakistan by most of their media and secondly, some comments by some ‘Israeli Expert’ about how the situation was handled.
About the Pakistan media.
Thy reported it as its being carried out by Hindu terrorists. Absolute nonsense. The most stupid thing I have ever read recently.
They need to understand that there is nothing like Hindu terrorism. Hindu’s don’t have any such enemy to fight with. We are matured enough to respect any other religion that exists in this world or which are going to come. I agree that there are some Hindu extreme groups in India. They are not terrorists. Extremism and Terrorism has difference. What is happening in Thailand now is not terrorism, though one sees violence.
Look at some of the facts:
One terrorist has been caught alive and he himself admitted that he is a Pakistani and they came from Karachi, Pakistan, by sea route.
Intelligence department successfully intercepted (and recorded) the communication between terrorists and they spoke the Pakistani Punjabi with their accent.
He admitted that he is part of LeT, which is a muslim terrorist group.
The mobile phone recovered from the terrorists clearly shows they were in constant touch with somebody in Pakistan.
Look at the names of these terrorists – Abu Ali, Omar Shoib, Umer, Abu Ismail, Abdul Rehman… dose it sound like Hindu names?
They killed Jews deliberately; Hindus here don’t have any issues with Jews at all
They were very well trained (no nation offers such a training for a ‘Hindu terrorist’, in this world)
Their mobile phones (unfortunately for them, they could not clear the call history before they got hit by the commandos), the SIM cards, the GPS device used by them, the credit cards – these are all solid evidences and they did not even point to India.
Some Pakistanis reacted in a strange way - India is just blaming Pakistan as if they want a war with them and says ‘BRING IT ON’
Dear friend, we Indians don’t fancy war with anybody. In the history of India, we never attacked any other nation. And don’t get carried away by the act of these terrorists. So far, India and Pak fought 3 wars (including the one lead by Musharaf in Kargil) and all the time it was India who won.
Now about the Israeli Expert.
I understand that it’s by somebody who was a former official from the Israeli anti terror agency. Well, that means he is supposed to be an expert where as I am not at all an expert in fighting terrorism. His allegation is India’s fight back was ‘Ineffective, premature, too early firing’ etc etc
We all know why Israel responded to the terror attack. Its coz some Jews got killed which included a Rabbi.
I don’t know whether he did watch the live telecast by the media (not just Indian ones but international ones too did live telecast). I did. This was for the first time in my life that I spent this much of time in front of the TV. For the past three days, I got only 8-9 hours of sleep. I was following it up for about 20 hours or more a day.
Once the operation was over at the Jewish building, it was found that the Rabbi was the one who got killed first. That means the terrorist killed him very early, just coz he is a Jew and then he was a Rabbi. If that expert thinks if he was there he could have saved the Jews, he is living in Utopian world and underestimating the skills of the terrorist and the training they got from real professional agencies.
The terrorist came here to kill people. That includes Indians, westerners and yes Jews too. This Jewish institution was selected as a target months ago (as per the admittance of the caught terrorist). This is India and not Israel. We can not make out the difference between a Pakistani and Indian from their looks. Those guys visited this place months ago and planned this act.
That building is in thickly populated and congested area. Not even a single civilian or hostage got killed by the bullet from the commandos. And the commandos did not give any priority to save Indians or Hindus. They did not show any partiality and it is mostly Indians who lost their lives.
It is very easy to blame Indian agencies sitting in some other country. When dead bodies were taken out from the Taj Hotel, it was found that some of them already started decomposing. What does it mean? It clearly shows that terrorists killed many of them very early (it took 60 hours to flush out them).
Why this operation took this much of time? First of all, terrorist were very heavily armed. The checked into the hotel days ago, smuggled in all the arms and explosives well in advance. They had enough stuffs to blow up the entire hotel. The hotel has about 500 rooms. Terrorists had clear idea about the layout of the hotel since they studied it using various methods and then staying as inmates. Terrorist had hostages with them. Commandos had to open up each and every room with the master key, since inmates hesitated to open the door since they were not sure whether it’s the terrorists or the police who are knocking. Then they had to check the credentials of every inmate before taking them out. In some cases, commandos forcefully opened the doors. Every inmate who was rescued were personally accompanied by commandos till the ground floor. Their priority was to rescue as many hostages as possible than risking everything and kill the terrorists. Finally they did foil the terrorist’s plan to blow up the entire hotel.
So, common sense will tell why it took so long. But yes, there was a shameful delay in starting the operations (Shame on you dirty politicians plus bureaucrats and your system).
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Mikaeel Jackson !?
It’s official now. We are hearing about this since couple of years. The king of pop got converted into Islam, “the religion of peace”. Michael Jackson is Mikaeel now (I don’t know what happened to the Jackson part, though I read over 5 reports, nobody says anything about it). Some reports say he even bought a palace in Bahrain and donated huge amount to build a mosque near his new residence. (He needed lots of money to settle two cases against him (including child molestation) and he even ended up in debts. Finally he sold his multi million estate in California). I don’t know what made him change his religion. I even doubt whether he had gone through Holy Koran.
What do people think about his brand new faith? I read lots of comments from common people in many different sites. Muslims invited him. Some people wrote against him but the funniest thing I read is by one of his fans. He said he is going to throw away all his Michael Jackson collections. Can Islam offer peace to Jackson?
Terror makes people think of peace.
What do people think about his brand new faith? I read lots of comments from common people in many different sites. Muslims invited him. Some people wrote against him but the funniest thing I read is by one of his fans. He said he is going to throw away all his Michael Jackson collections. Can Islam offer peace to Jackson?
Terror makes people think of peace.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Atheism and Two of a Kind
One among the most popular atheists this world had seen is Karl Marx. A socialist and an anti-capitalist. He was brainy too. Then there is this man who changed this whole world with his technology, Bill Gates. A capitalist, from world’s number one capitalist country. Two people with one common thing, but with diverse thought patterns.
Bill Gates doesn’t believe in the conventional God theory. And hence this philanthropist doesn't extent his help or service in exchange of religion. He is very logical (obviously). A logical mind naturally hesitates to accept most of the God stories (but I think Gates has very good idea about most of these stories - the why is it there aspect)
I have observed one thing in many (successful) atheists, they believe in themselves. Their belief in their ‘self’ is very strong.
May be its unfortunate that they don’t realize that believing in the self is one way of believing in God and they are closer to understanding God than the conventional believers. (am not referring to the God of common man’s God theory).
Are they better believers than the believers? Aren’t they better humans than many believers?
Bill Gates doesn’t believe in the conventional God theory. And hence this philanthropist doesn't extent his help or service in exchange of religion. He is very logical (obviously). A logical mind naturally hesitates to accept most of the God stories (but I think Gates has very good idea about most of these stories - the why is it there aspect)
I have observed one thing in many (successful) atheists, they believe in themselves. Their belief in their ‘self’ is very strong.
May be its unfortunate that they don’t realize that believing in the self is one way of believing in God and they are closer to understanding God than the conventional believers. (am not referring to the God of common man’s God theory).
Are they better believers than the believers? Aren’t they better humans than many believers?
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Coping with Stress at Work
I wrote about stress sometime back. But thought of it again, since a friend of mine was under stress for many weeks. Many a times a promotion comes with more work and responsibility, and more stress to offer. That was what happened here.
There are many ‘usually unnoticed’ factors or stressors in our working environment which can give us stress:
Noise
Congested working area
Very bright lights
Interacting with rude, impolite, uncouth and bossy people
Insecurity of job
Traffic jams and other commuting problems
Taking too much coffee
Company rules and regulations (eg. waiting for their work getting audited etc)
Hectic schedule (mainly with people who don’t know how to manage time)
Overloaded with work
Deadlines
Gossips and negative thoughts
Taking things personally
Being workaholic
Appraisals
Peer competition (competition among people of same level)
Internal politics
Where one has to report to less competitive/capable people (who reach that position by playing politics)
Meetings which leading to nowhere ….
How to handle this?
In many cases we can not change the system or environment. So what we can do is coping it with some life style changes and adjustments. There are many small things that can give good results. Like:
Yoga
Breathing exercises
Taking breaks and going for vacation (not too frequently)
Getting fresh air
Regular physical exercise
Getting enough sleep at night
Including more fresh food in diet (than canned ones, ready made ones, fast foods etc)
Pampering yourself once in a while with massage or similar stuff
Keeping a pet (if you are a pet lover)
Be with nature (at least in my city, it still has lots of trees)
Go to parks and look at the trees and listen to the birds chirping or attend to any natural sound
Have some hobby
Spent some time with friends
When you eat, try to taste the food and enjoy it
Learn relaxation techniques
Practice deep breathing at work, at least a couple of times (if you don’t get any chance, at least fake a ‘I need to use the restroom’)
....coz stress is a silent killer
There are many ‘usually unnoticed’ factors or stressors in our working environment which can give us stress:
Noise
Congested working area
Very bright lights
Interacting with rude, impolite, uncouth and bossy people
Insecurity of job
Traffic jams and other commuting problems
Taking too much coffee
Company rules and regulations (eg. waiting for their work getting audited etc)
Hectic schedule (mainly with people who don’t know how to manage time)
Overloaded with work
Deadlines
Gossips and negative thoughts
Taking things personally
Being workaholic
Appraisals
Peer competition (competition among people of same level)
Internal politics
Where one has to report to less competitive/capable people (who reach that position by playing politics)
Meetings which leading to nowhere ….
How to handle this?
In many cases we can not change the system or environment. So what we can do is coping it with some life style changes and adjustments. There are many small things that can give good results. Like:
Yoga
Breathing exercises
Taking breaks and going for vacation (not too frequently)
Getting fresh air
Regular physical exercise
Getting enough sleep at night
Including more fresh food in diet (than canned ones, ready made ones, fast foods etc)
Pampering yourself once in a while with massage or similar stuff
Keeping a pet (if you are a pet lover)
Be with nature (at least in my city, it still has lots of trees)
Go to parks and look at the trees and listen to the birds chirping or attend to any natural sound
Have some hobby
Spent some time with friends
When you eat, try to taste the food and enjoy it
Learn relaxation techniques
Practice deep breathing at work, at least a couple of times (if you don’t get any chance, at least fake a ‘I need to use the restroom’)
....coz stress is a silent killer
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Good Name
“What is your good name?” Does anybody ask that way?
Yes, sometimes it happens in India. I remember one of my English teachers telling us that it’s a wrong usage in English.
Today I got reminded of this class room session when I read a sarcastic writing by someone who visited India and got surprised by this ‘good name’ thing.
What does it mean? Does it mean that you have two names – one is good and the other one is bad? Nope.
There is a usage in Hindi ‘ Aap ka shubh naam kya hai?’
(aap ka - your; subh – good; naam - name; kya – what ; hai – is )
In Hindi, there are three forms of ‘You’. “Tu” is used to address younger ones or between close friends of equal age. “Tum” is used to address people of same age or even elders, in some cases (eg. a servant who is elder to us). “Aap” is the most respectful form of You. This is used to address the elderly persons, people we want to/have to address with respect etc. But in many civilized families/royal families, they use this even to address younger ones.
So, when somebody is using ‘Aap’ to address you, it should be understood that they are addressing you with most respect. And then comes the good name part. There is this belief in Hindu tradition that all the names we use are just attributes of God’s name. Any name is God’s name, and hence it’s a good name. So, ‘good name’ usage is just asking your name with respect. And this doesn’t mean that you have a bad name too.
Obviously there are people who might ask:
“If all names are good names, why you want to specify it?”
Pope is considered as a holy person. We all know that. Not just one particular pope, but anybody who takes that post. Then why do we need to address him as His Holiness? After all, he is not holier than the Jesus himself (addressed by most of the Christians as just Jesus). Then why? Is that wrong then? Nope. Coz, that is the tradition.
During last month, I read a study which says any two humans in this world can be connected with the help of less than 10 people in between. For example any of my friends can be connected to the CEO of Hewlett Packard thru me. So, the world is becoming small and humans are coming closer. People travel extensively to many parts of the world. Travelling to the USA was a very big thing during my childhood. But now? My brother-in-law travels to the US 4-5 times a year. My son had been to US and Canada. So, that’s how things are these days.
So, if somebody thinks only their customs and way of living is right, that is wrong. When such a thought comes from somebody who is a believer in God, it turns ugly. We need to understand that there exists a world other than our little town. There are thousands of other languages, millions of recipes, thousands of traditional dress forms, thousands of human names, even in the same family members look different, hundreds of forms of worshiping the God……. This world has diversity, coz God loves fun and he did not want to make this place a boring one with only one kind of people and culture.
So, it is better we have some respect for the other fellow humans in this planet irrespective of their country of origin and culture. It is better we don’t laugh at other people’s customs or traditions. Its better we don’t think people from other countries are just stupid. That will only show the level of one’s ignorance. Coz, its all created by a single God (or Nature or Super Natural Force or Higher form of Energy or whatever, but with a reason).
Yes, sometimes it happens in India. I remember one of my English teachers telling us that it’s a wrong usage in English.
Today I got reminded of this class room session when I read a sarcastic writing by someone who visited India and got surprised by this ‘good name’ thing.
What does it mean? Does it mean that you have two names – one is good and the other one is bad? Nope.
There is a usage in Hindi ‘ Aap ka shubh naam kya hai?’
(aap ka - your; subh – good; naam - name; kya – what ; hai – is )
In Hindi, there are three forms of ‘You’. “Tu” is used to address younger ones or between close friends of equal age. “Tum” is used to address people of same age or even elders, in some cases (eg. a servant who is elder to us). “Aap” is the most respectful form of You. This is used to address the elderly persons, people we want to/have to address with respect etc. But in many civilized families/royal families, they use this even to address younger ones.
So, when somebody is using ‘Aap’ to address you, it should be understood that they are addressing you with most respect. And then comes the good name part. There is this belief in Hindu tradition that all the names we use are just attributes of God’s name. Any name is God’s name, and hence it’s a good name. So, ‘good name’ usage is just asking your name with respect. And this doesn’t mean that you have a bad name too.
Obviously there are people who might ask:
“If all names are good names, why you want to specify it?”
Pope is considered as a holy person. We all know that. Not just one particular pope, but anybody who takes that post. Then why do we need to address him as His Holiness? After all, he is not holier than the Jesus himself (addressed by most of the Christians as just Jesus). Then why? Is that wrong then? Nope. Coz, that is the tradition.
During last month, I read a study which says any two humans in this world can be connected with the help of less than 10 people in between. For example any of my friends can be connected to the CEO of Hewlett Packard thru me. So, the world is becoming small and humans are coming closer. People travel extensively to many parts of the world. Travelling to the USA was a very big thing during my childhood. But now? My brother-in-law travels to the US 4-5 times a year. My son had been to US and Canada. So, that’s how things are these days.
So, if somebody thinks only their customs and way of living is right, that is wrong. When such a thought comes from somebody who is a believer in God, it turns ugly. We need to understand that there exists a world other than our little town. There are thousands of other languages, millions of recipes, thousands of traditional dress forms, thousands of human names, even in the same family members look different, hundreds of forms of worshiping the God……. This world has diversity, coz God loves fun and he did not want to make this place a boring one with only one kind of people and culture.
So, it is better we have some respect for the other fellow humans in this planet irrespective of their country of origin and culture. It is better we don’t laugh at other people’s customs or traditions. Its better we don’t think people from other countries are just stupid. That will only show the level of one’s ignorance. Coz, its all created by a single God (or Nature or Super Natural Force or Higher form of Energy or whatever, but with a reason).
Thursday, November 13, 2008
of 'Kind of' Situations ...
There is this theory of us creating situations in our life.
Yesterday I dated numerology. Numerology or any other branch of astrology is quite enough to throw doubt wrt the situation theory. So, let me date something else today. Putting our head into too many things at a time can also make us confused. (This doesn’t mean that one should not do that. It all depends on your ability to multitask). May be this confusion is coz we don’t understand things at the deepest level. But who understands things in a deepest level? Almost nobody.
When our understanding (I mean knowledge) about something (anything - a tree, a seed, a fish, a stone, a cat, a bacterium, a virus, a planet….) becomes 100%, we equal that with the creator. And when that happens it results in a BIG surprise and then WE or I won’t exist anymore.
But the thing is not that. Its about us creating situations. As a Reiki man, I am supposed to believe in that. We can not be sincere to something if we don’t believe in it. If we cant believe 100%, at least don’t start doubting it. In my case, as a man of confusion, I shift the thoughts to fit the situation. When am on Reiki mode, I don’t doubt and when I am in a mood to question astrology, I dare doubting.
I have seen situations being created and happening. But again, the thing is not that. Situations that I did not expect or did not wanted to happen. I did not keep a thought like ‘ I don’t want that situation’ (yep, that has a funny effect). Sometimes such situations lead to misunderstandings and can even weaken relationships where the bond is not strong. One such thing happened the other day, though its silly as an incident.
I was telling to one of my social network friends that I don’t have much (true) friends there.
Then she visits my profile (usually she don't do that or leaves any comment) and with her own eyes views some comments which showed some intimacy. The worst, one of them was ‘ I love you’ ! I don't think I ever got such a one till that day.
And she says ‘ hmm I think you have lots of fans there’
She had visible things to counter my statement.
My ‘they are fake’ explanation wasn’t of much use. Why should somebody post such a fake comment there? Even I don’t understand how people can become such fakes.
I felt helpless. How was my relationship with that person who posted that? We don’t chat, We don’t exchange messages, I don’t have any idea about her other than her profile info. She don’t know anything about me or my family other than my profile info. We aren't even good friends. Still why some people post such comments?
If we look into the details, we can see some people posting the single comment to all their contacts (both male and female) for a particular day. Some posts same comment for a bunch of people. Many a times, the words don’t really MEAN anything. It won’t be coming from their heart. They don’t take this as something serious. Its just fun and time pass. And yes, they did not mean any harm too (talking in general).
At the end? I think she might have thought that it’s me who is pretending… very funny…
I had nothing to say.
It’s up to us to decide to what extend we want to understand others. Sometimes we need to take some extra effort to understand our friends (only if somebody is serious), else it can lead to many misunderstandings.
But the thing is not that..The situation.. Who created it?
Not meeeeeeeeee
("well well well... I seeee" says the man of confusion)
Yesterday I dated numerology. Numerology or any other branch of astrology is quite enough to throw doubt wrt the situation theory. So, let me date something else today. Putting our head into too many things at a time can also make us confused. (This doesn’t mean that one should not do that. It all depends on your ability to multitask). May be this confusion is coz we don’t understand things at the deepest level. But who understands things in a deepest level? Almost nobody.
When our understanding (I mean knowledge) about something (anything - a tree, a seed, a fish, a stone, a cat, a bacterium, a virus, a planet….) becomes 100%, we equal that with the creator. And when that happens it results in a BIG surprise and then WE or I won’t exist anymore.
But the thing is not that. Its about us creating situations. As a Reiki man, I am supposed to believe in that. We can not be sincere to something if we don’t believe in it. If we cant believe 100%, at least don’t start doubting it. In my case, as a man of confusion, I shift the thoughts to fit the situation. When am on Reiki mode, I don’t doubt and when I am in a mood to question astrology, I dare doubting.
I have seen situations being created and happening. But again, the thing is not that. Situations that I did not expect or did not wanted to happen. I did not keep a thought like ‘ I don’t want that situation’ (yep, that has a funny effect). Sometimes such situations lead to misunderstandings and can even weaken relationships where the bond is not strong. One such thing happened the other day, though its silly as an incident.
I was telling to one of my social network friends that I don’t have much (true) friends there.
Then she visits my profile (usually she don't do that or leaves any comment) and with her own eyes views some comments which showed some intimacy. The worst, one of them was ‘ I love you’ ! I don't think I ever got such a one till that day.
And she says ‘ hmm I think you have lots of fans there’
She had visible things to counter my statement.
My ‘they are fake’ explanation wasn’t of much use. Why should somebody post such a fake comment there? Even I don’t understand how people can become such fakes.
I felt helpless. How was my relationship with that person who posted that? We don’t chat, We don’t exchange messages, I don’t have any idea about her other than her profile info. She don’t know anything about me or my family other than my profile info. We aren't even good friends. Still why some people post such comments?
If we look into the details, we can see some people posting the single comment to all their contacts (both male and female) for a particular day. Some posts same comment for a bunch of people. Many a times, the words don’t really MEAN anything. It won’t be coming from their heart. They don’t take this as something serious. Its just fun and time pass. And yes, they did not mean any harm too (talking in general).
At the end? I think she might have thought that it’s me who is pretending… very funny…
I had nothing to say.
It’s up to us to decide to what extend we want to understand others. Sometimes we need to take some extra effort to understand our friends (only if somebody is serious), else it can lead to many misunderstandings.
But the thing is not that..The situation.. Who created it?
Not meeeeeeeeee
("well well well... I seeee" says the man of confusion)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
An Email to God
Dearest God,
I have couple of friends who live abroad (don’t ask me what is abroad and try to be funny. You know what I mean). I wish to visit them when I have some hair left on my head. So, you have two choices left.
Arrange funds right away
Re-grow my hair
Thanks! Do take care..
BIG HUGS,
Love,
Jay
I have couple of friends who live abroad (don’t ask me what is abroad and try to be funny. You know what I mean). I wish to visit them when I have some hair left on my head. So, you have two choices left.
Arrange funds right away
Re-grow my hair
Thanks! Do take care..
BIG HUGS,
Love,
Jay
Monday, November 10, 2008
Goodbye Sourav !
Farewell to you, Sourav.
It was so nice to see you captaining the team on your last match. And we won the test defeating Australia. Not just test, but we won the series and the Border-Gavaskar trophy comes to us. Thanks a lot for heading this historic win. Wishing you everything best in your future life.
It will be unfair if I don’t mention Dhoni. You are so sweet to hand over the captain’s cap to Sourav. I don’t know whether somebody else could do that. That’s Dhoni.. Keep it up..
It was so nice to see you captaining the team on your last match. And we won the test defeating Australia. Not just test, but we won the series and the Border-Gavaskar trophy comes to us. Thanks a lot for heading this historic win. Wishing you everything best in your future life.
It will be unfair if I don’t mention Dhoni. You are so sweet to hand over the captain’s cap to Sourav. I don’t know whether somebody else could do that. That’s Dhoni.. Keep it up..
Lies Hurt...
Today, two of my friends lied to me. And I felt hurt. I just want to throw it away. But there is nobody (human) to listen to me. So thought I just write it here, straightaway…Its not a complaint…No, I don’t have any complaints..
Now it became more clear to me why and how the ‘stamps’ originated…why registered letters originated…in the electronic era, why mail clients implemented acknowledgement option..and so on.
This reminds me of one of the biggest lies I ever faced. A person asks me to wait at a particular place by 9 am. I, along with my brother-in-law arrive there at 8.45 and waits till 9.30. He did not turn up. Brother-in-law calls up and fixes another appointment and we wait another day. He came and asked me:
“Why you did not come the other day?”
“WHAT? We came on time and waited half an hour. Its YOU who did not turn up”
“NO, I came exactly at 9 YOU did not come.”
“You are lying” there was a change in my tone and my brother-in-law interferes and tells:
“Hey, it’s ok, drop it”
Lies can weaken any relationship, including friendships. Lies when found out causes losing respect. It builds up a gap. Once your lie is caught, you can hardly pretend. And even if you pretend, it won’t look nice; in fact it might look ugly. If you cant help lying, use lies that go with the other person’s intellect and don’t just try to fool others. Before you lie about things where technology is involved, be a little more careful. If the other person is technically good, respect that instead of telling more lies to cover the first one. Coz, for those who have a heat that can feel,
It really hurts…
Now it became more clear to me why and how the ‘stamps’ originated…why registered letters originated…in the electronic era, why mail clients implemented acknowledgement option..and so on.
This reminds me of one of the biggest lies I ever faced. A person asks me to wait at a particular place by 9 am. I, along with my brother-in-law arrive there at 8.45 and waits till 9.30. He did not turn up. Brother-in-law calls up and fixes another appointment and we wait another day. He came and asked me:
“Why you did not come the other day?”
“WHAT? We came on time and waited half an hour. Its YOU who did not turn up”
“NO, I came exactly at 9 YOU did not come.”
“You are lying” there was a change in my tone and my brother-in-law interferes and tells:
“Hey, it’s ok, drop it”
Lies can weaken any relationship, including friendships. Lies when found out causes losing respect. It builds up a gap. Once your lie is caught, you can hardly pretend. And even if you pretend, it won’t look nice; in fact it might look ugly. If you cant help lying, use lies that go with the other person’s intellect and don’t just try to fool others. Before you lie about things where technology is involved, be a little more careful. If the other person is technically good, respect that instead of telling more lies to cover the first one. Coz, for those who have a heat that can feel,
It really hurts…
How to find Yahoo Avatar?
Is it possible to find the yahoo avatar/display image of someone who is not my contact?
Oh yeah… it doesn’t matter whether somebody is your contact or not. Yahoo is a socialist in this aspect. It should work if they don’t change the server. You can use any browser. Just type in the following URL.
http://img.msg.yahoo.com/avatar.php?yids=?(id you want to check)
That is, if the user id you want to check is ‘ yahoo25’, it should be:
http://img.msg.yahoo.com/avatar.php?yids=?yahoo25
Oh yeah… it doesn’t matter whether somebody is your contact or not. Yahoo is a socialist in this aspect. It should work if they don’t change the server. You can use any browser. Just type in the following URL.
http://img.msg.yahoo.com/avatar.php?yids=?(id you want to check)
That is, if the user id you want to check is ‘ yahoo25’, it should be:
http://img.msg.yahoo.com/avatar.php?yids=?yahoo25
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Why Knuckle Pop?
“What is that sound we hear when we crack our knuckle?”
I remember my son asking me this, couple of years ago…
I had asked this very same question when I was a kid. That time, I got different answers. Some
said its bones sliding over…some said they don’t know…Some said its a bad habit…Some, told me that it would lead to arthritis and hence asked me to not to do that. But what is the reality?
Instead of telling what not it is, it is better we understand what it is. Simply put, that sound is coz of some gas bubble (mostly nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide) bursting.
Knuckle is a joint and just like any other joint its covered by a capsule form which is called synovial capsule. Inside this capsule there is some fluid called synovial fluid. The major function of this fluid is lubrication. There are many gases dissolved in this fluid. When we crack a knuckle, we stretch the capsule that creates a low pressure inside the joint which results in a vacuum and some already dissolved gas gets released. This vacuum then gets filled by these gases which then form a bubble and finally bursts (at the peak of we applying the pressure to crack) resulting into that funny sound. It take some time for the process of gas getting dissolved in the synovial fluid again and hence we cant crack a knuckle immediately.
Now the ‘what is not’ part. As I mentioned earlier, some people even told me its coz of the ends of two bones touching and slipping over and hence it will lead to arthritis. As far as the bones touching part is concerned, it is wrong. Will it lead to arthritis? As of now, we can’t say. Coz nobody has done a solid study which resulted in sufficient data to prove it. But the health pro people thinks that habitual knuckle cracking can lead to some damage to tendons or ligaments (this can further lead to arthritis, depending on many other factors like age, nature of work etc - a possibility, since that is the case with knee joints ).
I remember, when I was practicing Karate, during the warm-up stretches we used to interlink our fingers and stretch the hand forward resulting in knuckle cracking. Why we do this is coz this makes that joints little more lose and thus flexible. This is not believed to be harmful.
I remember my son asking me this, couple of years ago…
I had asked this very same question when I was a kid. That time, I got different answers. Some
said its bones sliding over…some said they don’t know…Some said its a bad habit…Some, told me that it would lead to arthritis and hence asked me to not to do that. But what is the reality?
Instead of telling what not it is, it is better we understand what it is. Simply put, that sound is coz of some gas bubble (mostly nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide) bursting.
Knuckle is a joint and just like any other joint its covered by a capsule form which is called synovial capsule. Inside this capsule there is some fluid called synovial fluid. The major function of this fluid is lubrication. There are many gases dissolved in this fluid. When we crack a knuckle, we stretch the capsule that creates a low pressure inside the joint which results in a vacuum and some already dissolved gas gets released. This vacuum then gets filled by these gases which then form a bubble and finally bursts (at the peak of we applying the pressure to crack) resulting into that funny sound. It take some time for the process of gas getting dissolved in the synovial fluid again and hence we cant crack a knuckle immediately.
Now the ‘what is not’ part. As I mentioned earlier, some people even told me its coz of the ends of two bones touching and slipping over and hence it will lead to arthritis. As far as the bones touching part is concerned, it is wrong. Will it lead to arthritis? As of now, we can’t say. Coz nobody has done a solid study which resulted in sufficient data to prove it. But the health pro people thinks that habitual knuckle cracking can lead to some damage to tendons or ligaments (this can further lead to arthritis, depending on many other factors like age, nature of work etc - a possibility, since that is the case with knee joints ).
I remember, when I was practicing Karate, during the warm-up stretches we used to interlink our fingers and stretch the hand forward resulting in knuckle cracking. Why we do this is coz this makes that joints little more lose and thus flexible. This is not believed to be harmful.
Celeb Me
I live in a small physical world. I don’t have any friends or collogues around me. I don’t even have any relatives around me with whom I am in touch with. But that wasn’t the story before I move into this city. I had a life of a normal office going man. That is not the thing. The thing is the BIG people in the life of this little man. Yes, I happened to have some connections (or memories, better put) with some big and small celebrities in my life so far.
Let me keep aside my Guru from this, the biggest global celebrity this century has seen or the celebrity of celebrities. I know he don’t mind that.
There was this film star called Prem Nazir . He was the biggest name in the Malayalam film industry, as an actor. He holds two Guinness records. One for being the lead actor in most number of films (over 700) and another one for acting opposite to same heroine (more than 100 films). I think he is the first celebrity I could see very close. His sister was living in my neighborhood. One day when I was passing that house and there he stands ! It was a real shock and surprise for me. I think it was a private visit and that is the reason why there weren’t any fans or police.
Then this ‘Thikkurissi’ Sukumaran Nair. He was a poet, actor, playwright, orator, film director etc. Though I never was a fan of his, I had the opportunity to see him up close and even visit his house. The other celebrity who is almost like him (writer, actor, lyricist, director etc etc) and I had seen is Balachandra Menon. Once I had been to his house to collect some funds in connection with some social activity.
The poet and lyricist Bichu Thirumala and then this music director Mohan Sithara, they lived in my neighborhood, for sometime. How can I forget Prof.O.N.V.? The great poet, lyricist and professor.. He was my sister’s professor. I had seen him so many times and I used to greet him. Same is the case with Prof.Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri…
My State has a long history of social activity related plays which had strong roots to communism. KPAC was the main drama troupe to mention in this connection. When we remember KPAC, we can’t ignore K.S. George. He lived as my neighbor for sometime and his son, Lezy George was my guitar teacher. He wasn’t just a tutor for me and I used to call him ‘Ichayan’ which means elder brother in Christian community of my State.
Last, but NOT the least comes the international figure. Dr.Jane Goodall, the world known primatologist and anthropologist. She is more known for her 45 years of study of Chimpanzee. I got an opportunity to see her close, when I attended a Science and Spirituality open conference.
Sorry, but I want to ignore the politicians I have seen and even spoken to in my life so far, though one even became a minister…
Let me keep aside my Guru from this, the biggest global celebrity this century has seen or the celebrity of celebrities. I know he don’t mind that.
There was this film star called Prem Nazir . He was the biggest name in the Malayalam film industry, as an actor. He holds two Guinness records. One for being the lead actor in most number of films (over 700) and another one for acting opposite to same heroine (more than 100 films). I think he is the first celebrity I could see very close. His sister was living in my neighborhood. One day when I was passing that house and there he stands ! It was a real shock and surprise for me. I think it was a private visit and that is the reason why there weren’t any fans or police.
Then this ‘Thikkurissi’ Sukumaran Nair. He was a poet, actor, playwright, orator, film director etc. Though I never was a fan of his, I had the opportunity to see him up close and even visit his house. The other celebrity who is almost like him (writer, actor, lyricist, director etc etc) and I had seen is Balachandra Menon. Once I had been to his house to collect some funds in connection with some social activity.
The poet and lyricist Bichu Thirumala and then this music director Mohan Sithara, they lived in my neighborhood, for sometime. How can I forget Prof.O.N.V.? The great poet, lyricist and professor.. He was my sister’s professor. I had seen him so many times and I used to greet him. Same is the case with Prof.Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri…
My State has a long history of social activity related plays which had strong roots to communism. KPAC was the main drama troupe to mention in this connection. When we remember KPAC, we can’t ignore K.S. George. He lived as my neighbor for sometime and his son, Lezy George was my guitar teacher. He wasn’t just a tutor for me and I used to call him ‘Ichayan’ which means elder brother in Christian community of my State.
Last, but NOT the least comes the international figure. Dr.Jane Goodall, the world known primatologist and anthropologist. She is more known for her 45 years of study of Chimpanzee. I got an opportunity to see her close, when I attended a Science and Spirituality open conference.
Sorry, but I want to ignore the politicians I have seen and even spoken to in my life so far, though one even became a minister…
Friday, November 07, 2008
Keygen
How are keygens made?
Ok, applications which ask for a serial number knows which right ones are or which are wrong ones. That means there is some mechanism (a chunk of code) which compares the serial we enter with ‘something’. Here, what is important is that something, which is a valid key/serial.
There are applications like SoftICE (a debugger) which can be used to ‘open’ the application, (or the exe file) and see the code in assembly language. And it allows to keep a break point when this comparison is done. That is, when you enter the serial and when the application compares this with something, the control goes back to the SoftICE and one can see the code.
So, is it that easy? Nope. Many a times some number or alpha numeral is generated using some tough logic. So, it all depends on how well one can understand this part. Then the programmer uses his/her favorite programming language (mostly C (family), VB or Delphi) to code a keygen . Usually they make use of windows API/dll and link them dynamically to make the size of the keygen tiny.
Ok, applications which ask for a serial number knows which right ones are or which are wrong ones. That means there is some mechanism (a chunk of code) which compares the serial we enter with ‘something’. Here, what is important is that something, which is a valid key/serial.
There are applications like SoftICE (a debugger) which can be used to ‘open’ the application, (or the exe file) and see the code in assembly language. And it allows to keep a break point when this comparison is done. That is, when you enter the serial and when the application compares this with something, the control goes back to the SoftICE and one can see the code.
So, is it that easy? Nope. Many a times some number or alpha numeral is generated using some tough logic. So, it all depends on how well one can understand this part. Then the programmer uses his/her favorite programming language (mostly C (family), VB or Delphi) to code a keygen . Usually they make use of windows API/dll and link them dynamically to make the size of the keygen tiny.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Black Man in the White House..
I wished so…I wanted it to be…and I knew it…
Its Barack Obama. He became the first African American president of the U.S…... Congratulations..
I was just listening to the first public speech given by him after him being elected as the President. Wow! What an orator he is. What a public speaker!
No idea whether he will be as friendly as Bush or Clinton, but we the Indians preferred Obama to win. He carried a lucky charm given to him by the American Indians, the idol of Ganesha, who is the destroyer of obstacles. There were prayers and poojas offered for him in lots of Temples. Personally, I too prayed for him.
It’s a good sign that the people of U.S thought against skin color. He wouldn’t have won had the whites did not vote for him. It’s a comprehensive win and it shows he got lots of white vote (it is said that half the whites voted for him).
It was really surprising for me that some people, who are not considered as white by the real whites, even questioned the purity of his blood. For a moment, I was thinking ‘Are we going back to the Nazi era?’
Is Hitler back? He is not dead.. He still lives in the hearts of many.
Its Barack Obama. He became the first African American president of the U.S…... Congratulations..
I was just listening to the first public speech given by him after him being elected as the President. Wow! What an orator he is. What a public speaker!
No idea whether he will be as friendly as Bush or Clinton, but we the Indians preferred Obama to win. He carried a lucky charm given to him by the American Indians, the idol of Ganesha, who is the destroyer of obstacles. There were prayers and poojas offered for him in lots of Temples. Personally, I too prayed for him.
It’s a good sign that the people of U.S thought against skin color. He wouldn’t have won had the whites did not vote for him. It’s a comprehensive win and it shows he got lots of white vote (it is said that half the whites voted for him).
It was really surprising for me that some people, who are not considered as white by the real whites, even questioned the purity of his blood. For a moment, I was thinking ‘Are we going back to the Nazi era?’
Is Hitler back? He is not dead.. He still lives in the hearts of many.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Trans Fat
Continued from cholesterol blog..
Is it possible for a common man to understand what Trans fat is? We all are told to avoid it. But if we can’t understand what it is, how can we avoid it? For people from developed countries, it is not that difficult but for others, it’s not that easy, coz it may not be shown on the label.
A major reason for heart related diseases (coronary heart disease (CHD) or coronary artery disease (CAD) whatever it is) is high blood cholesterol and this trans fat is one major contributor to it. And that is the reason why it is said to avoid it or ‘have an eye’ on it. Take the case of the U.S (it is easy to get health related data from that country, coz they HAVE something like that.) it is said that more than 14 million Americans suffer form coronary heart diseases and 500,000 die each year. If that is the case with America, we can guess what it will be like in other underdeveloped nations.
If it is THAT dangerous, why is it still available in the market? Why don’t governments restrict its manufacturing? Why don’t governments keep its price high, so that its misuse will be less? This is the ‘I don’t know’ part for me, as of now.
Understanding these fatty acids are not that easy… Why? Coz, it has a lot to do with chemical bonds.
This is not a scientific article and hence I am not bothered about the deeper aspects, or the carbon-hydrogen bonds. Lets look it from layman’s point of view. Fats (or fatty acids) are mainly classified as ‘saturated’ and ‘unsaturated’ (which again divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated). Technically, the major difference between these two is that, in unsaturated fats, there is no ‘double bond’ between the carbon atoms, if we check the chemical structure. How can we find that? Not easy and hence what is used is a different method, to easily distinguish them.
In general, naturally occurring saturated fats (or oils) becomes solid when cooled (congeals) or kept at room temperature (assuming that the room temperature is not too high). Examples are animal fat found in meat and poultry or dairy products. Unsaturated fat (oils) stays as liquid. Best example is olive oil (and many other vegetable oils).
Then where do trans fat stand?
They are actually unsaturated vegetable oil but its not naturally occurring. What they do is to add hydrogen into vegetable oil (under pressure) and thus makes them ‘more saturated’ (with hydrogen) than its natural state. Thus trans fats are man-made (its natural presence is in very little quantities, otherwise). Because of this process, these oils are commonly known as hydrogenated ( or partially hydrogenated )which tells us that hydrogen is added to it. If any label says 'Partially hydrogenated oil' it means it contains trans fat.
If they are not good, why are they used?
Hydrogenation increases the shelf life of food made out of trans fat oils (mainly used in baking and frying). It also helps to stabilize flavor. And many a times, its used instead of saturated fats, as an alternative or as a better option.
The main source of trans fats are cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, animal products, margarine, fried potato, potato chips etc
Among vegetable oils, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are said to be saturated and hence avoided. (I was using coconut oil continuously for 30 years -and my mom for 76 years- so if anybody is using it, don’t get panic, you still have time to shift to another oil)
So, a healthy person should limit the use of saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. And someone who already has high blood cholesterol should try to avoid these, to the extent possible.
Is it possible for a common man to understand what Trans fat is? We all are told to avoid it. But if we can’t understand what it is, how can we avoid it? For people from developed countries, it is not that difficult but for others, it’s not that easy, coz it may not be shown on the label.
A major reason for heart related diseases (coronary heart disease (CHD) or coronary artery disease (CAD) whatever it is) is high blood cholesterol and this trans fat is one major contributor to it. And that is the reason why it is said to avoid it or ‘have an eye’ on it. Take the case of the U.S (it is easy to get health related data from that country, coz they HAVE something like that.) it is said that more than 14 million Americans suffer form coronary heart diseases and 500,000 die each year. If that is the case with America, we can guess what it will be like in other underdeveloped nations.
If it is THAT dangerous, why is it still available in the market? Why don’t governments restrict its manufacturing? Why don’t governments keep its price high, so that its misuse will be less? This is the ‘I don’t know’ part for me, as of now.
Understanding these fatty acids are not that easy… Why? Coz, it has a lot to do with chemical bonds.
This is not a scientific article and hence I am not bothered about the deeper aspects, or the carbon-hydrogen bonds. Lets look it from layman’s point of view. Fats (or fatty acids) are mainly classified as ‘saturated’ and ‘unsaturated’ (which again divided into monounsaturated and polyunsaturated). Technically, the major difference between these two is that, in unsaturated fats, there is no ‘double bond’ between the carbon atoms, if we check the chemical structure. How can we find that? Not easy and hence what is used is a different method, to easily distinguish them.
In general, naturally occurring saturated fats (or oils) becomes solid when cooled (congeals) or kept at room temperature (assuming that the room temperature is not too high). Examples are animal fat found in meat and poultry or dairy products. Unsaturated fat (oils) stays as liquid. Best example is olive oil (and many other vegetable oils).
Then where do trans fat stand?
They are actually unsaturated vegetable oil but its not naturally occurring. What they do is to add hydrogen into vegetable oil (under pressure) and thus makes them ‘more saturated’ (with hydrogen) than its natural state. Thus trans fats are man-made (its natural presence is in very little quantities, otherwise). Because of this process, these oils are commonly known as hydrogenated ( or partially hydrogenated )which tells us that hydrogen is added to it. If any label says 'Partially hydrogenated oil' it means it contains trans fat.
If they are not good, why are they used?
Hydrogenation increases the shelf life of food made out of trans fat oils (mainly used in baking and frying). It also helps to stabilize flavor. And many a times, its used instead of saturated fats, as an alternative or as a better option.
The main source of trans fats are cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, bread, animal products, margarine, fried potato, potato chips etc
Among vegetable oils, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are said to be saturated and hence avoided. (I was using coconut oil continuously for 30 years -and my mom for 76 years- so if anybody is using it, don’t get panic, you still have time to shift to another oil)
So, a healthy person should limit the use of saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. And someone who already has high blood cholesterol should try to avoid these, to the extent possible.
Monday, November 03, 2008
A Halloween...
Am taking off the blog titled ‘A Halloween I Don’t Understand’. Coz, the issue got settled between us…
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Cholesterol
If cholesterol is manufactured in our body itself, why does it go high? Why is it said to avoid fat when there is high blood cholesterol?
Yes, it is the function of the liver to make cholesterol but our body makes more of it when we (over )eat with fat (And in some people, this excess production of cholesterol happens by heredity). Plus, our body is capable of absorbing it from food we eat, though in very small quantities.
When we talk about blood cholesterol, we can not ignore the two main players. LDL and HDL. What are they?
Cholesterol is fat soluble and since blood is not such a medium, it won’t get dissolved in blood and move around. So, our body has a mechanism to carry the cholesterol through blood. It is done by attaching them to protein. This combination is called Lipoproteins. LDL is Low Density Lipoprotein and obviously, HDL is High Density Lipoprotein. In between comes a third one called Very Low Density Lipoprotein or VLDL.
So, LDL and HDL are not fully cholesterol but if we want to measure the cholesterol levels in our blood we have to measure lipoproteins, since cholesterol is attached to them and they are the transporters. And we call them ‘cholesterol’ in general.
LDL is considered as bad mainly coz it clogs the blood vessels. It builds up in the wall making the arteries narrow.
Where as HDL picks up the excess cholesterol in the blood and takes it back to liver. Since its doing a good deed, it’s good cholesterol.
Now it’s clear that why LDL levels should be low and HDL levels should be high.
Then from where does this Triglycerides come from? Why do docs check that?
This is a kind of fat and the specialty of this fat is that more we gain excess weight, more production in our body. There are many other factors that influence the excess production of triglycerides, like smoking, (alcohol) drinking etc. What is observed in general is that people with high triglycerides has high LDL and low HDL and a high total cholesterol level. That is why measuring this is also very important.
Here are the normal values, measured in milligram per deciliter
Total blood cholesterol – less then 200 mg/dL
HDL – 40-50 for men and 50-60 mg/dL for women
DL – less than 100 mg/dL is ideal.
Triglyceride – less than 150 mg/dL
So, should we completely avoid oil, meat and eggs?
What matters is the daily average (usually calculated on a weekly basis). That is, if we included (full) egg for breakfast for two days, and then had fish, lean meat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables for the rest of the days (for all meals), the daily average wont shoot up.
When we gain weight, all other organs wont grow/adapt to it accordingly, especially the heart which is the main organ affected by the extra cholesterol. It won’t develop any extra pumping capability. It doesn’t have any turbo mode. So, when the blood pipes get clogged and becomes narrow, it’s a strain for our heart.
What are the natural ways to keep cholesterol under control?
Regular exercises
Keeping weight under control
Include oatmeal/oat barn, lots of fruits, vegetables, walnut, almond, fish which has high Omega-3 like sardine, mackerel etc
Avoid Trans fats, to the extent possible.
(I will explain the Trans fat next time, coz an one-liner explanation wont look nice).
Yes, it is the function of the liver to make cholesterol but our body makes more of it when we (over )eat with fat (And in some people, this excess production of cholesterol happens by heredity). Plus, our body is capable of absorbing it from food we eat, though in very small quantities.
When we talk about blood cholesterol, we can not ignore the two main players. LDL and HDL. What are they?
Cholesterol is fat soluble and since blood is not such a medium, it won’t get dissolved in blood and move around. So, our body has a mechanism to carry the cholesterol through blood. It is done by attaching them to protein. This combination is called Lipoproteins. LDL is Low Density Lipoprotein and obviously, HDL is High Density Lipoprotein. In between comes a third one called Very Low Density Lipoprotein or VLDL.
So, LDL and HDL are not fully cholesterol but if we want to measure the cholesterol levels in our blood we have to measure lipoproteins, since cholesterol is attached to them and they are the transporters. And we call them ‘cholesterol’ in general.
LDL is considered as bad mainly coz it clogs the blood vessels. It builds up in the wall making the arteries narrow.
Where as HDL picks up the excess cholesterol in the blood and takes it back to liver. Since its doing a good deed, it’s good cholesterol.
Now it’s clear that why LDL levels should be low and HDL levels should be high.
Then from where does this Triglycerides come from? Why do docs check that?
This is a kind of fat and the specialty of this fat is that more we gain excess weight, more production in our body. There are many other factors that influence the excess production of triglycerides, like smoking, (alcohol) drinking etc. What is observed in general is that people with high triglycerides has high LDL and low HDL and a high total cholesterol level. That is why measuring this is also very important.
Here are the normal values, measured in milligram per deciliter
Total blood cholesterol – less then 200 mg/dL
HDL – 40-50 for men and 50-60 mg/dL for women
DL – less than 100 mg/dL is ideal.
Triglyceride – less than 150 mg/dL
So, should we completely avoid oil, meat and eggs?
What matters is the daily average (usually calculated on a weekly basis). That is, if we included (full) egg for breakfast for two days, and then had fish, lean meat, whole grains, fruits and vegetables for the rest of the days (for all meals), the daily average wont shoot up.
When we gain weight, all other organs wont grow/adapt to it accordingly, especially the heart which is the main organ affected by the extra cholesterol. It won’t develop any extra pumping capability. It doesn’t have any turbo mode. So, when the blood pipes get clogged and becomes narrow, it’s a strain for our heart.
What are the natural ways to keep cholesterol under control?
Regular exercises
Keeping weight under control
Include oatmeal/oat barn, lots of fruits, vegetables, walnut, almond, fish which has high Omega-3 like sardine, mackerel etc
Avoid Trans fats, to the extent possible.
(I will explain the Trans fat next time, coz an one-liner explanation wont look nice).
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