Vikas Kamat is a programmer- entrepreneur
living
in Atlanta. This blog is a complex mix of Indian
culture, life in southern USA, computer sciences, and sports. Opinions are his
own. About - Bio - Contact
Computing, Libraries, Tennis, India & other interests of Vikas Kamat
Humanizing the Terrorist
BBC: Rainbow House -- Photo essay of Mohammed Akram, once a militant, now a survivor of earth-quake.
I heard about another movie (I forget the nameThe War Within) that portrays the life from a viewpoint of a suicide bomber. I haven't seen it, but such efforts will go a long way in understanding causes of terrorism -- namely fanaticism, ignorance, and injustice.
Fall Weddings of Alabama
Although not very well known, the fall is a wonderful time in Alabama -- it's
not hot, it's not cold yet, and the colors of the trees vary from burnt green to blood red.
Weddings planned to coincide with the foliage especially provide a spectacular
opportunity to enjoy the season. Typically set in the backdrop of yellow and
orange mountains and serene lakes, they are a visual treat as much as an
introduction to the southern culture.
Instead of waiting for Thanksgiving and Christmas sales, I went ahead bought a nice development (lot of RAM, big display) computer.
I've named it after Alan Turing, the father of computer science. It's also the name of the very first computer Kim and I bought when we started our company many years ago. From the graphic below, you know it is in good company
One habit that I practice, but don't see other do, is telling the readers if an entry was modified subsequent to its publishing. For every entry, I maintain the time of original post and the time it was last updated.
Pen and Ink Portraits
If you haven't seen them yet, I have been adding beautiful pen and pink portraits of accomplished Indians, drawn by V.N. O'key.
Without Comment
From a Job Advertisement at Institute for Social and Economic Change in India: "Candidates are required to produce caste certificate establishing their caste."
Questions and Answers About India
Band Bajao has new
answers to many of the questions asked and answered on this site about Indian
Culture. hilarious!
We get so many questions. Many times they are amusing, and a few remain in my
mind because I can't answer them.
Examples (I paraphrase).
How do Indian women have sex?
If elephant is a god (in India) why did they chain it to the building?
Could a pregnant woman commit Sati? even if it were by her own choice?
When I was growing up in Dharwad, we regularly used to come across entertainer/devotees who would beg in the name of a deity. The woman would play the drums and the man would beat himself up with a humongous whip. They were referred to as "Durga-murga" or "Durgamurugi".
The superstitions perhaps have been healed, but the status of the descendants of the community who practiced this cult, is pathetic.
Anyway, I found this beautiful toy depicting a lost way of life, and thought I'd blog about it.
Do you know the difference between Islamic fundamentalists and Hindu
fundamentalists? The answer is none. They are both intolerant, ignorant fools.
Specimen Example:
This picture shows Hanuman
burning the island of Sri Lanka with a torch as Sita hangs on to his tail. The
accusers are saying Husain meant to depict Sita masturbating. Perversion is indeed in the eyes of the beholder.
Perhaps M.F. Husain is guilty. He is guilty of being a Muslim. He is also guilty of being a genius.
I attended the Microsoft Launch Event -- not the XBox, but the new versions of .NET, SQL Server and BizTalk Server -- I can never figure out Microsft's version numbers. The .NET is 2.0, SQL Server is branded 2005 and the latter as 2006.
Considering that Microsoft had the attention of the audience for a whole day, I must say that they didn't utilize it very well. There was too much hype, almost unbearable.
But I am excited about the new possibilities. There is a lot of new stuff and to me it looks like Microsoft has bet much more on these products than meets the eye. Anything less than spectacular success of these products could spell trouble for Microsoft.
Overall, I thought it was a day well spent. Thank you Microsoft, for the free copy of the Visual Studio and SQL Server. Also for breakfast and lunch.
Suggestions on Improvement - The event is like preaching to the choir; so please reduce the hype. "Server too busy" error doesn't go well when you are claiming "high availability".
Discaimers: I own Microsoft shares, and after this event, I am tempted to buy more. I dislike Microsoft --- especially their behavior in the antitrust case.
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