Switching off lights for earth hour

I had switched off all the electrical equipment at home for an hour between 8.30 p.m and 9.30 p.m on 27th March, 2010 to show my support for earth hour

I not only switched off all lights at home, but also messaged more than 50 friends and relatives to do the same. A few called back to say that they did the same. Some called up to say that they switched off everything but kept TV on and a few switched off everything except one light as they had small kids at home.

As it was quite hot inside the house (since all fans were off), we all went out for a walk. I was happy to see that a few people in my area were doing the same. Some had switched off all lights and were sitting on the front porch.

Interesting profile for BBMP elections

Dr Shankar Prasad is standing for BBMP elections from my area. He had come home for campaigning and distributed pamphlets. I was very impressed by reading the profile. Our country should be ruled by such educated class.

You can read about him at here

I am pasting the site contents here

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Dr. Shankara Prasad

Chairman & Managing Director
INKROMA E-Business Solutions
Bangalore 560041
Shankara.prasad@inkroma.com (P) Ltd

Dr. Shankara Prasad is the Chairman and Managing Director of Inkroma E-Business Solutions, in Bangalore. The company focuses on developing Enterprise Portal ERP Software and Knowledge Management solutions for Indian and Commonwealth Government organizations. Dr. Prasad’s educational background includes an M. Tech degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York. Dr. Prasad is an active e-governance evangelist and his passion is to bring Six Sigma process methodology and philosophy into the Indian government domain. He and his team at Inkroma are the architects of the ERP / BPM software solution for Indian Government organizations, which is specifically developed to make Indian government organizations e-enabled and paperless. The team has developed the first Indian ERP product to meet the requirements of the government vertical. The product has been developed completely based on Open Standards, international software and communication standards. Dr. Prasad has been involved in many standards organizations in the USA, Europe and India, between 1982 and 2004. He was the Chairman of the SEMI Standards committee in the US, Member of European Union Standards organization, Member of the Rosettanet E-Business Standards in the Semiconductor vertical and active participant in the ebXML standards group. He has been actively advocating initiating the e-gov standards group in India since 2002. Prior to starting the software product company in the e-governance domain, Dr. Prasad has spent more than 20 years working in the computer chip manufacturing industry working for major semiconductor companies including Intel, California, Cypress Semiconductor, California, Robert Bosch, Germany and most recently as Vice President of Engineering & Technology Development at CS2 in Belgium. Dr. Prasad has traveled and consulted with more than 30 companies in 17 countries including Brazil, Switzerland, Singapore, and Italy. Since 1983 and he has developed and taught computer technology courses to more than 3000 technicians, engineers and managers worldwide. Kluwer-Springer published the 700 page book on Advanced Chip Interconnection Technology by Dr. Prasad in 2004. It is sold world wide and is available on Amazon. He has developed and published more than 10 interactive e-learning CDROMs.

Dr. Prasad was awarded the 1998 IEEE award for “Major Educational Innovation” for innovation in the delivery methods of engineering education. He was adjunct professor at California State University, San Jose and Advisor to Center for Electronics Development & Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He has published more than 40 papers in major international technical and trade journals and conferences. He has been Chairman, Secretary and Member of many National and International Organizations in India, Europe and the USA. (1980 – 2005); Most recently he was the Member, Karnataka IT Task Force for Rural Advancement (2002).

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IPL tickets buying spree

I watched RCB was Rajasthan Royals match on Thu, 18th march. I bought 19 tickets for RCB Vs DC on 8th April and 16 tickets for RCB Vs Mumbai on 17th Apr. All matches in Chinnaswamy stadium Bangalore.
Full family heading towards the stadium. I am planning to take my 3 year old son as well. Visited all the places where they sell tickets. Bought few from forum, few from RT Nagar cafe coffee day and a few from mobile. Did a lot of research and a lot of phone calls to find out where all tickets are available in Bangalore. Emptied the stock at both forum and at RT Nagar cafe coffee day outlet :)

6 minute entertainer

Forward this to 5 people

where did the 25paise go

A couple of days ago, there was news that the price of milk is going up by Rs 2/- or Rs 4/-.
The same morning, I was at a fast food joint (Darshini) to have breakfast. At the counter, I started a casual chat with the cashier on what would be the result of price rise on the price of coffee. He told me that there will definitely be an increase in the price of coffee by atleast Re 1/-.

Hmmm, that made me think. Using my logical brain (hehe), I continued the conversation and put forth this argument. He would atleast make 25-30 glasses of coffee with 1 litre of milk, which means that his overhead is about 10 to 20 paise per glass, but he was going to increase the price by Re 1/- resulting him in an extra profit of 80 paise per glass. The price rise announced by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is a blessing in disguise for these guys. When I asked him why they couldn't absorb the extra cost of 10-20 paise themselves(as they were already making a huge profit on their sale), he replied, 'why should we'. When I complained that it was not right to raise the price that drastically, he asked he one question, for which I didn't have an answer. He aked me that if he increased the price only by 25 paise, but where the hell would he get the change from? People would only pay him a complete rupee and expect their 75 paise change back.

That gave raise to this blog. Where did the 25 paise and 50 paises go? why did the govt. stop minting these coins? I am not an economist nor a financial guru, and hence I am still looking for answers. Can someone explain to me, how and when does Govt (RBI or whoever) decide to decommission currency denominations?

maya architects

These were the guys who built my house. Visit the project section on their website to see some wonderful work they have done

http://www.mayaarchitects.com/

Salman's gimmick on 'Dance India Dance' on Zee TV

My wife was watching 'Dance India Dance' on Zee TV. She exclaimed that salman khan (who was one of the judges) was crying after seeing a dance performance by a couple. I guess that sucker would have never cried after running his land rover over the people sleeping on footpaths of mumbai.
I have seen such gimmicks from other judges in the past where they watch a couple dance and start crying just to fool the audience that they are airing an amazing show. But Salman crying was a little too much digest.

Nasty thing I did

Recently, we had been to a friends place for lunch. On the way back, we stopped at a traffic signal. I saw a few eunuchs (khojas, hijdas) coming towards the car.

Let me pause here and give you a peep in to why they were coming near the car. Eunuchs are a menace at Bangalore traffic signals. They go and pester all the people traveling on two wheelers , cars and autos for money. Unlike other beggars on the street, who just beg for money, these eunuchs, try to harass you (by touching you, or abusing you etc). It is difficult to wade them off. If you show them that you are uncomfortable with their presence, then they take the advantage of the situation and would not leave you unless you give them money. Atleast people in the cars are safer as they can roll up the windows and avoid them.

Now, lets get back to the nasty thing I did at the traffic signal. We were 5 of us in my car with the windows closed. When I noticed that these eunuchs were coming close, I decided to play a small prank on my friend sitting at the rear seat. He had not noticed these visitors. I lowered the window on his side. Before he could realized why I had lowered the window, he saw the eunuchs talking to him and asking for money. He tried to close the window and the eunuch put his hand obstructing the window. Then the fun (for the rest of us in the car) started, with the eunuch trying to touch my friend and calling him names. This dude was very uncomfortable and this made scene more funny as the khoja pestered him more. This went on for a minute. We were all laughing, when the traffic light turned green. We managed to get away from that place without giving any money.
I regret having done this (but it was fun). My friend vouches to take revenge on me some day.

Google wave

checkout Google wave. There is a 1 hour 20 minute video on wave and its cool features.
http://wave.google.com/

I am too excited with this .....

I am too excited since I have read this ....

Sailing in Goa

YHAI is organizing a 6 day Sailing program in Goa
Read more about it at http://www.scribd.com/full/14653438?access_key=key-qerpw0exlgn4vz5uers

Finally my iphone is unlocked

After long hibernation of 7 months, my iphone got unlocked. I am very happy abut it now
Also, my external Hard disk got repaired, I had to replace the USB casing to get it working.
Read my other post Sakkappa September

what a victory

Superb semifinal victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore over Chennai Super Kings in the semi final of IPL2.
Good luck to RCB for the finals against Deccan Challengers

Back from the Himalayan trek

I finished my trek successfully to Saukundi Pass and came back to Bangalore on 6th May. I will write a trip report and upload the photos soon.

After a long gap of 2 years, I have packed my rucksack again. I am going on a Himalayan trek with YHAI. This time to Saurkundi Pass.
The details of the trek are at http://www.yhaindia.org/files/adv_programs/description/saurkundipass.htm
My previous trek was during April 2007 to Kedarkantha

No time to blog

There was a time when people used to ask me how I get time for blogging. I used to tell them, 'if you are interested in something, then you will find time for doing it'. Today, I am finding it very difficult to get time out of my hectic day. Damn Bangalore traffic, which eats away 3 hours of my precious time.
Some people tell me that they wished there was a couple of more hours in a day than just 24. I think, the way my day goes (between office, home and traffic), even the 2 extra hours will get eaten up without doing what I want to do.
Hope I can get some time for myself from May, so that I can get back to writing more.

Changes noticed in Pizza Hut

After I wrote to Pizza Hut, about their Anti kannada Policy, I was wondering if they have taken any action. Last week, I had been to the same Pizza Hut again and spoke to the staff. There was a change in the staff's approach. They replied to me in Kannada when I spoke to them in Kannada. I called the same waiter, with whom, I had interacted the previous time. I asked him if anything had changed. He told me that the one of the senior guy from the management team had come down to the outlet and had instructed all the staff to talk to the customers in Kannada if they preferred. He told me that the manager mentioned about the complaint they had received about the outlet's Anti kannada policy.
I was happy about their change. I was more happy that I had influenced a Pizza Hut to adopt and honor the local language.

Indian railways - Ticket availability info made easy

Their UI is amazing. By far the best for train ticketing online in India.

Cleartrip Train Calendar provides an indication of availability for a range of dates across trains, so you can find the best date and train to travel. The availability you see here may have changed at the time you try and book.



http://www.cleartrip.com/trains/calendar

Wingsuit base jumping - Awesome stuff

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Pizza Hut's response

After posting Pizza Hut's Anti Kannada policy blog, I even left a feedback at their website. One day later, I received a call from Pizza Hut. The representative apologized for their actions. However, he denied that they had any policy, which says that the staff cannot speak in Kannada. When I told him the whole story, about how the staff was afraid to speak in Kannada, he kept repeating that there was some confusion and mistake from the staff, but never admitted the fact that they have a Anti Kannada Policy. He also told me that he will talk to the staff to clear the confusion (if they have any) regarding their policy towards speaking in Kannada.
Some of the people whom I have to spoken to and some people who have read my blog have told me that they have had similar bad experiences with Pizza Hut.
All I can do is probably go to one of Pizza Hut outlets some time and verify.