Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Nov 5, 2009, 6:15 pm
I have an issue with those who claim that the world you see around is just a holographic projection of what your senses tell you. And that, that is not the reality.Let's examine this for a little ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Nov 3, 2009, 6:07 pm
Bill Strickland.No, he is not a Nobel Laureate. Not yet.But if his job training centre and crafts school model is successfully replicated all over America and the World then it wont be long coming. If...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Nov 1, 2009, 1:24 am
Ancient Egypt has a strange attraction to most of us. Many of us yearn to go to the land of Pharaohs. But do you want to be just like any other tourists: been there, done that? Of course not.Now here...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 31, 2009, 12:24 am
I have been drooling after Kindle since ages. (See here, here and here). Now that Kindle is available in India, I am hesitant to buy it.Why? Because of negative reviews by an Amazon Kindle user who ca...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on Aerospace (DO-178B) Software - Oct 30, 2009, 10:12 pm
"Doing things right" versus "Are we doing the right thing"; Verification versus Validation ... easy to get lost, right? DO-178B makes life easy. How? Check out section 6.0 of DO-178B. What does it say...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 29, 2009, 7:35 pm
Remember Howard Roark? The hero of The Fountainhead. The architect who never gave up or gave in in his quest to achieve the sublime? I always thought he would remain the figment of Ayn Rand's imag...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 29, 2009, 10:32 am
Almost everyone has read (or at least heard) of The Goal written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The sequel too turned out to be very popular - though not immediately in India; only when It's Not Luck was...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 15, 2009, 8:16 pm
And then there was a king who wanted to repay all his debts before he dies. Debts of even those who helped him in his childhood. If someone had shared lunch with him when he was small, he gave them a ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 14, 2009, 9:28 am
We missed out on a golden opportunity to redress the wrongs done to us by the Gods at Babel. Different languages ensured that we will not be able to build the Tower of Babel. But surely the grammar wa...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 13, 2009, 11:19 am
When we were small we were told that snakes can see with their tongue. Some of us dismissed it as old wives' tales and others believed it.We had no way of verifying such facts on Internet those da...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 12, 2009, 12:57 pm
You do not believe in God? Fine with me. Nor do I.You believe in spirituality? Again, fine with me, though I think spirituality is religion in disguise.You believe in E=mc2? I do too. Or that's wh...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 10, 2009, 2:12 am
The Nobel Committee has failed in executing Sir Alfred Nobel's will.The peace prize is to be given to person(s) / society who meet very specific criteria: that renders the greatest service to the ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 9, 2009, 11:04 pm
This is not exactly a bhajan. It is what might be called a nazm, I think. Anyways, coming back to the topic ...This is from the collector's item of a musical album called Sajda. Sajda is one of it...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 8, 2009, 8:49 am
This might seem like splitting hair, but then I could not pass an opportunity to highlight native intelligence over management knowledge.As per this article called, The Illusion of Control: Dancing Wi...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 8, 2009, 8:45 am
Some management studies surprise me no end. Take this study on How To Stimulate Creativity? for instance. "Go live abroad", it says. Immersing yourself in local experiences for a prolonged period help...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 7, 2009, 5:30 am
Didn't have to wait that long, now, did I?I blogged my desire of an Indian winning a Nobel in the Sciences just yesterday (here) and just now received the news that Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has wo...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 6, 2009, 9:55 pm
Have you ever heard of S. R. Srinivasa Vardhan?I bet you haven't.This is a country that worships cricketers and movie stars. How could you have ever heard of a mathematician of International reput...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 6, 2009, 9:54 am
I am waiting for ...the first Indian to break the 10s barrier in 100mthe next Indian to get a Nobel prize in sciencethe first Indian to get the Fields Medalthe next Indian to become the world chess ch...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 5, 2009, 8:47 pm
Today we take World Wide Web and Google to be synonyms of the Internet. But what of tomorrow? Will Google still be the force they are today. Let us take a brief look back at history ...This book, Perm...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 5, 2009, 8:39 am
30,000+ songs. How does one choose? Obviously I am not going to sift through this huge data. I have a simpler way. I will type in whichever Lata song comes to my mind as I blog. Blogging does not get ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Oct 3, 2009, 8:51 am
Two reasons to be proud of India: Mahatma Gandhi and Lata Mangeshkar. These two people define the essence of India for me. One the apostle of peace - the greatest human being to have walked the earth;...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 30, 2009, 7:35 pm
Durga Puja - celebration to mark Durga's yearly visit to her father's house on earth - the central theme of a Hindu Bangali's religious, cultural and social existence, can be extremely dis...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 24, 2009, 1:24 pm
I have been on a personal mission to find out a technique that helps me learn language faster. I think I have managed to find one. Check out my Squidoo lens on Learn Spanish Rapidly. What do you think...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 20, 2009, 9:17 am
The Congress Party leadership evidently doesn't read a lot. Otherwise, Shashi Tharoor definitely wouldn't be in Congress Party. The tweeting ("cattle class") controversy pales in front of this...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 17, 2009, 10:58 am
The Spanish language has two words for "be".Thus, for example, "I am" could be "soy" (=saw-ee) or "estoy" (=es-toy-ee).Soy is used for things that are permanent in nature, whereas Estoy is for those t...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 13, 2009, 12:00 am
I compose this blog in my mind as I stand in a temple wondering at the milling people around me, eyes closed and palms clasped, mouthing barely audible prayers. Normally, I wouldn't be dragged int...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 10, 2009, 12:26 pm
When you come across books that have titles such as this ... The Calculus of Friendship: What a Teacher and a Student Learned about Life while Corresponding about Math ... you wonder who would buy the...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 9, 2009, 10:01 am
Someone told this to me long, long ago. Once in day Saraswati, the goddess of learning sits on your tongue. One doesn't know exactly when; she does so randomly. And at that instant whatever you sa...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 8, 2009, 9:39 am
Of all the online translators available, I think the Google Translate is by far superior. I used the Yahoo Babel Fish all these days. To put it as mildly as possible - the translation stinks. You need...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 7, 2009, 9:58 am
My fascination for the connection between Spanish and Hindi continues (see here). At times the connection stuns me. I hope you also will be.The word "ki" (कि) in Hindi is equivalent to the English...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on Aerospace (DO-178B) Software - Sep 4, 2009, 10:00 pm
DO-178B does not explicitly mention this but I am not aware of any better auditing technique. I am, of course, talking of Thread Audits. Just to explain the concept of thread audits to those who are p...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 4, 2009, 11:20 am
Oh! You love that jeans.It has the cut that you think will be a perfect fit.So what you have two already?This one is just perfect.Stop!Consider this: the amount of water it takes to produce a pair of ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Sep 1, 2009, 11:59 pm
I do not recollect any Beauty Pageant that did not feature a South American in the top three. Venezuela of course is going great guns now. Could it be that Yoga is a contributing factor?It seems so - ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 31, 2009, 9:08 am
Someone chose wisely.For some time I actually thought the 'COP' in COP15 (The United Nations Climate Change Conference) stood for Copenhagen. Turns out that COP stands for Conference Of Partie...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 30, 2009, 1:56 am
In another 100 days (7th December 2009) environment ministers from all over the world will meet in Copenhangen to discuss environmental issues and thrash out a new climate treaty that will succeed the...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 28, 2009, 10:12 pm
Don't get me wrong.I do not want to be an assassin or even a reformed one at that.I do not want to wield a pen or a rolled up magazine as a weapon.I do not want to run flat out, at a high altitude...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 28, 2009, 10:10 pm
All I know is German and Sanskrit are close relatives in the Indo-European group of languages. Spanish does not seem to be. But the more I listen to the audio lessons the more it is clear to me that t...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 28, 2009, 9:57 pm
I love the way Spanish has reduced many of the most commonly used phrases into small words. Let's take a few examples:one letter wordsy = and (pronounced "ee")o = ora = to (pronounced "aa")other s...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 28, 2009, 9:52 pm
The Marico Innovation Foundation was created in March 2003 under the stewardship of Dr. Ramesh Mashelkar. The Foundation’s Mission is to Fuel Innovation in India, by providing the nation with a...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 25, 2009, 9:13 am
I am sure this will not be reported in any newspaper.Yes! Bold headlines will be splashed all over to herald the flag of revolt raised against the BJP leadership by Arun Shourie. There will be charges...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 24, 2009, 8:46 am
In a planet far, far away there lived a carbon-based species who evolved to such great heights that they developed silicon-based intelligence that could live. The silicon-based intelligence could asse...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 22, 2009, 12:26 am
Bindeshwar who?You are unlikely to know this name unless you are preparing for the Civil Services Exams or you read newspapers till page 12.Bindeshwar Pathak has been awarded the 2009 Stockholm Water ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 21, 2009, 10:40 pm
Are the traditional news power houses keeping up with the times?How tech friendly are they?Here have a look.This study is driven by the fact that Dell is now entering the smart mobile market and Nokia...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 21, 2009, 10:37 pm
There could be up to four responses to the perceived threat of Global Warming.(a) The threat is real and I want to do something about it. And make some feeble attempts at it.(b) The threat is real but...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 20, 2009, 11:56 am
Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded has a very interesting story ...Read on ...I had traveled to the central Indian cityn
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 19, 2009, 5:11 am
Over the past decade, I have traveled with Glenn to some of the world's biodiversity hot spots and other endangered regions where CI is working - from the Pantanal wetlands in southwestern Brazil ...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 19, 2009, 5:04 am
Yeah! I am plugging in for someone I admire. And no he has not asked me to do so. I don't think he even knows I exist. I am, of course, talking of Chris Guillebeau, author of the free (yes! free!)...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 19, 2009, 12:09 am
I have a question regarding Influenza A/H1N1.Is there any reason steam inhalation is not being mentioned as possible prevention / cure?Or is it too simple a remedy that would kill business opportuniti...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on News, Views & Serendipity - Aug 18, 2009, 11:19 am
The saddest and yet the most telling comment describing the human impact on environment ...As Nate Lewis remarked to me one day: "You remember when you were a kid, your mom would ask you what you want...
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Amitabh M. posted an article on Want to be rich? - Jul 23, 2009, 1:40 pm
I am sticking my neck out here. I do not invest in equity - at least not directly. So it is kind of stupid to give advice on share markets. But here goes anyways ... 1) I believe that the world econ...
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