thescian | October 30, 2006So, what's keeping me from blogging? Two things really. Firstly, we moved to a new house over the weekend. It's a bigger and better house. The move has taken all my time and has also put my back through a wringer. Secondly, I've got no internet at the new house. That'll take a few more days to arrive. Trying to get British Telecom to move it's lazy rear to provide us a phone connection (for DSL) has been a herculean task. Anyway, all shall be well soon. Your patience is, of course, much appreciated.
thescian | October 28, 2006Am back in Amersham after a three week trip to India. The vacation (a misnomer) in India was wonderful. So wonderful it was that at one point my body gave up digesting in disgust. A few books I read during the vacation:-
Temptations of the West by Pankaj Mishra - Very engaging autobiographical sort of book.
Tom Sawyer and The Innocents Abroad by Twain
Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour - Thanks to a note sometime back on Sunil's blog that introduced me to this book.
The Enigma of Arrival by Naipaul (currently reading)
I'll post a longer list of books I have bought to read…
thescian | October 5, 2006Yours truly is travelling to his beloved country early morning today for three weeks (real early, am sleepless in amersham). Expect a short break at this blog for the next few days. I'll make the odd post from Namakkal and provide you with a glimpse of the southern country with my newly minted Sony camera. If you are hanging about in Chennai, you can spot me at Shaastra. I'll be there on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
I am quite thrilled to have Mark Twain in my bag. A couple of books of his to enliven the trip. So long.
thescian | October 3, 2006Let's talk music and software for a moment. Shall we? This post is about the software I use at home to organize the audible bits I have accumulated and keep accumulating everyday. You must remember that I am not an expert on any of the software applications discussed below. If you have technical questions, try the forums of the software you are curious about.
For the past one month I have begun to regularly use three OSes at home (Mac OSX, Ubuntu Dapper, Windows XP). Ubuntu and Windows are new to my home. Like all new arrivals, they've given me both joy and pain. Ubuntu's Disk Manager can be…
thescian | October 3, 2006Religion is like Pornography sez PZ. Indeed, they both leave a nasty aftertaste. No amount of sugar coating can rectify what happens to be a fundamental perversion of the intellect. PZ is taking the offensive one step further. The offensive is necessary when you consider how entrenched religion is in our society and minds.
thescian | October 3, 2006Al Gore at TED Talks. He mentions releasing the climate crisis presentation under an appropriate licensing term (he's working with Lawrence Lessig) for young people to remix. Brilliant. A tremendously engaging talk with Gore relating hilarious stories in the first few minutes. via The World's Fair.
thescian | October 3, 2006The Nobel Prize in Physics 2006 has been awarded to John C. Mather andGeorge F. Smoot "for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation". I read Smoot's Wrinkles in Time when I was doing undergraduation in Physics in Vivekananda college, Chennai. That's when I learnt that the Big Bang had an afterglow and there were people actually trying to measure it. I thought it was the coolest thing to do. I still think it is the coolest thing to do. The afterglow has many Nobel prizes to its credit. Arno Penzias who co-discovered the afterglow with…
thescian | October 2, 2006Then go checkout the Shaastra Festival at IIT where a lot of very smart people would be talking. Via nonoscience.
If you are going, can you take a audio recorder or a camcorder with you and get us the fine moments of science from there?
thescian | October 2, 2006Oh dear! I can't get this out of my head [embedded audio. Via MF]. Want more? Try setting this to music.
thescian | October 2, 2006It's a gritty movie that was surprisingly good and highly engaging. I and Ramya watched it a week ago. The movie is based on the novel by P D James (I haven't read the novel). The story is set in 2027 when the world of humans has gone infertile. No more babies. While the science behind this is not bad, the real impact of the movie lies in the camera work and the deft handling of the plot. I am impressed.
thescian | October 2, 2006Habeas corpus is the name of a legal instrument or writ by means of which detainees can seek release from unlawful imprisonment. A writ of habeas corpus is a court order addressed to a prison official (or other custodian) ordering that a detainee be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he or she should be released from custody. The writ of habeas corpus in common law countries is an important instrument for the safeguarding of individual freedom against arbitrary state action. -Wikipedia
A bill recently passed in the…
thescian | October 2, 2006Have assembled at Salto sobrius. Go forth and partake at the Carnival of the Godless 50.
In other news, I bought the new Dawkins book, The God Delusion. It's a captivating book in the usual Dawkins' style. This time, he's out not to educate but to eradicate. Eradicate that delusion called religion. Delusion, incidentally, is a clinical state. A pathology. Dawkins talks about the choice of the title in the preface.
thescian | September 30, 2006Ladies and Gentlemen, the submission date for the Scifi Contest has ended and I am absolutely delighted with the response. We've received around thirty stories for the contest. About ten were received before Sep 15 and the rest in the past two weeks. I am thrilled by the enthusiasm and energy. By any measure, we are onto a fantastic start. The panelists have already started reading the stories.
A word on how the stories will be judged. The method is quite simple. I asked the panelists to supply me with a single rank for every story at the end of their exercise. They would use their own set…
thescian | September 29, 2006"Blogger. N. Someone with nothing to say writing for someone with nothing to do,", kindly ventures Guy Kawasaki. Shit. There's no middle ground for bloggers, is there? Bloggers either hold their gaze steadily to their navel or fanatically bludgeon their flailing egos. Anyho, go Heighten Your Sense of the Absurd.
thescian | September 29, 2006Floss and you shall have a healthy heart. There's a whole load of fun stuff at The Register's Odd Body page.
thescian | September 28, 2006A joke I heard over the beebs as I was driving today. I paraphrase.
An old lady was talking to a friend.
The Friend: "You seem quite happy and in good shape. What's the secret?"
Old Lady: "I have two packs of cigarette everyday. Drink a bottle of whiskey every week and gorge on fatty food all year."
The Friend: "My! That's something! How old are you?"
Old Lady: "26".
thescian | September 28, 2006"This will be a scientific horoscope which will be prepared on the basis of genes and chromosomes of the animals," said DK Singh, additional Director, BAU. Link
Scientific horoscopes?! IMHO, 'Additional' Director and his esteemed university should stop screwing the cows and get their heads out of their behinds (yes, the cow's behind). [via Amit. Read his post. It's hilarious. ]
thescian | September 27, 2006
Kurinji is a flowering plant found in the southern parts of India. It blooms once every 12 years. You heard it. Every 12 years! And, what are we doing to it? Killing it. That's what. Take a look at this page that shows how the habitat has been destroyed. Save Kurinji Campaign website. [via Independent]