Saturday, December 29, 2012

If Only I Had Cut That Article . . .

The other day I saw pamphlets in my newspaper, Hindustan Times. I quickly kept the needy ones like discounts in kirana stores, local Chinese restaurant and rejected most of the others.
I wish I had this acumen earlier. There were so many articles that were worth cutting and keeping. In Hindustan Times(HT). One was on KK Birla, the founder of HT. There was a series of articles continued for months. This was worth keeping. Mr.Birla was easily the most widely regarded businessman in India. Incidentally my father served in a Marwari organization. My father worked with JK group. Singhanias were the owners. So right from my childhood I was curious about rich people. About their lives. Their secrets of success. And the article on KK Birla gave a lot of insight on his persona. The lesson learnt was give attention to small details. I read in Business India, Shri Hari Shankar Singhnia commenting that India should have promoted entrepreneurship in a big way. He is right. Especially young men who are "destined" to lead a free life should take up entrepreneurship. But I went on to join a PSU. The factories impressed me.
Another article that was worth keeping from HT was the series on music directors. Lengthy articles on the lives of famous music directors. And of course the famous Khushwant Singh columns "With Malice Towards One And All".
I have learnt that rejection is a good policy for leading a life. You have to be choosy and reject what is unwanted strongly.
 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

CORBA issue

The government has worked a lot on providing web services in their sites. Even Metro Apps are available.
The SOAP and XML issue are OK. But what about CORBA? Does the government has clear guidelines on this. Who are advising on this issue? UIDAI would have installed their systems and must have given utmost care. It has been done by topmost expert.
The government is making hue and cry over Huawei hardware.
It is essential to know the CORBA guidelines followed by GOI. Are you with me folks?
 

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Doomsday - December 21, 2012

The Mayan calendar does not have a date beyond December 21,2012.
People all over, hear the rumours of the end of world. Will the world end?
Now consider a sample astrological prediction."If you go in a crowded bus, you may meet with an accident". How far is this statement accurate? Logically it has ifs and mays. If you go in a crowded bus. Remember only crowded not empty. Ok. Then what will happen? You may meet with an accident. Again may here.
The probability of accident happening is nearly same as the statistical accident data. So astrological prediction do not mean a thing.
Coming back to Doomsday prediction, there must have been some basis for the calendar of Mayans. Some beliefs. Based on these beliefs the calendar must have been made. I do not wish to state that these beliefs are wrong. But wish to say that people have changed a lot. Most of the beliefs may not be applicable today.
If we look at it closely and think, then we can appreciate that some of the countries' can go for war anytime. This is no prediction. But actual reality. This may happen anytime.
The probability of Doomsday matches with the probability of triggering of a war. So in real terms, the Doomsday prediction should not mean anything significant. Only that Mayans were correct in understanding the way time will change.
 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Windows 8

I have upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.
Microsoft claims the software will get installed in 30 minutes or so. But it took me 5 hours. The reason could be that my laptop had proprietary software like face recognition and other Dell software. These were not removed when Windows 8 was installed. They now work in conjunction with Windows 8. 30 minutes installation time must be on a machine with pure Windows 7.
What is Windows 8 about? It is mainly about all your social accounts at one place. It is also about an excellent interface called Metro Apps. It is also about promotion of Microsoft products like Messenger, Calendar, Finance etc.
I was finding it difficult to read my blogs and other blogs I follow at one place. There did not seem to be any Metro UI for this. After about 3 days, I managed to find the right Metro app. News Bento App for Windows 8. This app supports google reader.
So finally I am well settled with my laptop configured with applications of my realm of interest. Books, news, blogs, games and social communication apps.