[Original]: Article on Himesh Reshammiya

An original article written by yours truly (Amit Shirodkar).

Himesh Reshammiya

TanaHAIyaa!! TanaHAIyaa!! TanaHAIyaa …

These sounds from a passing car assault my ears.. I escape to a coffee shop. “O O OOOO --- Tera mera tera SurOOOOOrr!! OOOOOOOO…” is what they are playing proudly. I go home. Switch on the radio. “Naam hai tera tera – Naam hai TERA TERA!!”. Radio off. TV on. “Jhalak dikhlaja!! Ek baar aa ja aa ja aa ja AAAA JAAA!!”

There is no escape!! He’s everywhere!!

Thoughts swirl in my mind. Is there any place where “Himesh bhai” is not present? Apparently not. A TV set shows him, with the ubiquitous cap perched firmly on his head, his face snarled as if he just drank some castor oil, crooning away. Why does this guy never smile, anyway? I ask a friend (he is a fan of ‘The Cap’ ). “Because his brother died when he was just 11”, replies my buddy. Really? Has Himesh been this obnoxious for so many years now? His parents deserve a gold medal for patience then!! I would recommend them for a medal of valor - a Veer Chakra at least.

A Google search for "Himesh Reshammiya" results in 413,000 hits. Half a million!! Has the whole world gone stark raving mad? "Mohammed Rafi" returns 140,000. Where is the justice? People prefer songs sung by a guy who seems as if he has no mouth and instead has directly connected his vocal chords to his nostrils to those sung by the one and only Rafi?

It all started off so well. Himesh bhai was just giving music – and good music, may I add. The movie was “Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya”. Nice melodious songs. Pleasing to the ear. Many movies followed. Tere Naam was one such gem. It seemed as if ‘The Cap’ would give many hits. I was happy back then.

And then it happened. “Aashiq Banaya Aapne” was the movie. The title song was sung by Himesh Bhai. At first I said, let’s ignore the nasal sounds – it’s just a one-time thing. It will soon pass …

But no. This was just the calm before the storm. Before you knew it, ‘The Cap’ had gone off and blasted more songs that you could count. And best (or worst) of all – people were loving it!! They could not get enough of him. Hit after hit after hit followed.

As if the sounds were not enough, the eyes were being assaulted too. Cap-filled videos were sprouting all over the place like weeds. And just like weeds, they were very hard to get rid of. (They still exist). So now 2 out of my 5 senses were under a barrage of crappy (I mean cappy) songs.

Just when you thought that the end had come, came another chapter. Himesh bhai acted in a movie.The promos made you feel as if for once, the villain should win!! But alas, that never happens. And so AKS (Aap Ka Suroor) was about to be released. I thought that it would be a flop and so at least this avenue would end in a whimper. Things would go back to normal.

Wrong. Dead wrong. The movie is a hit!! People love him even in this avatar!! Looks like I am one of the few sane ones left on this planet. Stop this world, people, and let me get off!!

I suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Thus spake Hamlet, and exactly that is what I feel. What is to be done? What can be done???

Radio on.

TanaHAIyaa!!

I will not react.

TanaHAIyaa!!

I will not respond.

TanaHAIyaa …

Breaking news – there will be a sequel to Aap Ka Suroor.

Billions of blue blistering barnacles!!! Tana%@#$ HAI !#@ yaa %^$% !!!

AJAX / RPC - Prevent IE Caching During Partial Page Updates

Recently I faced a problem when developing an AJAX application. In Internet Explorer, the request was being cached - a new request would never go to the server in some cases. To prevent this, there is a workaround.

Read more at: AJAX / RPC - Prevent IE Caching During Partial Page Updates

The Ten Most Common Photographic Mistakes

Nice articles on what mistakes we often make while taking a photo and how to avoid them.



Link: The Ten Most Common Photographic Mistakes

The Best Online Research Apps/Sites You've Never Heard Of

Great sites for doing research online.



Link: The Best Online Research Apps/Sites You've Never Heard Of

Presenting dialogues by the one and only Mithun!!



Main hoon Do Numbri, ek se jyaada, teen se kam

Dikhne mein bevda, bhaagne mein ghoda, aur maarne mein hathoda




" Bheegi hui cigarette jal nahi sakti

aur yeh tay hai ki teri maut ki tarikh tal nahi sakti "




"Apun ka naam hai HEERA,

Apun ne sab ko Cheera..."





Mithun da: "mai hun tum jaise logon ki nafarat karne wala, garibon

ke liye jyoti, gundon ke liye jwala"

"tuze banake maut ka niwala, tere sineme gaad dunga mai maut ka bhala. dekh lenga salaa tereko."





Kyunki ab mein Indrajeet nahi......chandaal hoon

Tum chaho toh mera program note karlo

...Tum sab meri diary mein mar chuke ho!

Mein chahoo toh tum sabko abhi mar sakta hoon

Magar abhi maarne se tumhe maarne ka credit meri bullet ko mil jayega!!!!







Mantriji:- "Ye kanch bullretproof hai. tum mujhe chu bhi nahi sakte"

Mithun Da:- "Ye kanch bulletproof hai magar patthhar proof nahi"

AND HE BREAKS IT BY THROWING SMALL STONES ON THE GLASS.





"Mere seene mein itna lava hai...ki sunoge to tumhare kaan ke parde jal jaayenge..

tumhare haathon se hosh ke kabootar ud jaayenge"





"Truck Driver Suraj !! Raasta mera baap aur truck meri maa"




Mithun da is one of the greatest. Koi Shaq???

Favourite Daily Dilberts

This guy has a good collection of some hilarious Dilbert strips.



Go visit: Favourite Daily Dilbert's

Poetry: W.H. Auden --> Funeral Blues (Stop the Clocks)

Funeral Blues (Stop the Clocks)


W H Auden




Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,


Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,


Silence the pianos and with muffled drum


Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.





Let the aeroplanes circle moaning overhead


Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead,


Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,


Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.





He was my North, my South, my East and West,


My working week and my Sunday rest,


My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;


I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.





The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;


Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;


Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.


For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Programming: Move up a gear with Google Gears

Google
Gears (BETA) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications
to provide offline functionality using following JavaScript
APIs:

Ø      
Store and serve application resources
locally

Ø      
Store data locally in a fully-searchable
relational database

Ø      
Run asynchronous Javascript to improve
application responsiveness

 

 

1. http://gears.google.com/
   
   
2. http://code.google.com/apis/gears/
   
   
3. http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=H2KKC1DR1SRFUQSNDLRCKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=199703671
   

[Original] Poetry in Symantec, India

[Original] Poetry in Symantec, India

Some poetry that I and a few other folks wrote in Symantec, India as part of an email thread.


Original Post: Anshuman Atre

Hi,

Sorry for the group-wide spam,
I wouldn't have, but for my current jam!

I need someone to please free,
This particular static IP..

It goes 10.212.97.233..
And believe me, its not at all free!

All my work has got cut shorted,
And my downloads; they've aborted!

So whoever's using it, kindly see,
Don't "borrow" the IP that's been assigned to me!

Rgds,
Atre



Follow Up 1: Udipta Das
Twas my lappy
Who sent ur IP swappy.
And 'coz my lappy
Just *uses* DHCP ....

Why IS&T dear
Has set your IP free?
I know not, but I fear
IS&T should hear some poetry


- U Das



Follow Up 2: Hetal Rach
Can't resist the temptation to re-send the response that I'd sent to
Anshuman in September 2006 :-)

I checked my IP Address today, for a change
And also to figure out what was the DHCP range..

10.212.97.232 address is what I got
And it comes to me via the DHCP lot

When you use 10.212.97.233 address as static one
Are you sure that it is yours and can be claimed by none ?

hetal.



Follow Up 3: Me (Amit Shirodkar)
On Anshuman's travails I have to comment
Because things are not going well for him like he meant

All he tried to do was a Siebel download
But in return he got troubles by the truckload

After starting the download in the night
He came in next day all cheerful and bright

What he saw shook him to the core
He looked at the screen aghast
All his data was torn as if by a blast
"Oh no - my Siebel!!" he cried, "My Sap!!"
All ripped asunder by a mighty zap
He thought he heard a voice say
"You will see your data nevermore!!"

"Where is my data???" he roared
"In which deep dungeon is it stored???"


His productivity is not at all well
His feelings about the IT folks will land him in jail
He says aloud "What can I do, please do tell"
"Abort, Retry, Ignore or Fail???"


-- Amit Shirodkar

Some good blogs ...

Some good blogs ...

Some good blogs found on the net:

1. Scott Adams Blog: http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/
2. Dave Barry Blog: www.davebarry.com

Below are popular blogs by people of Indian origin:

1. Great Bong's Blog (this is the best known blog by a person of Indian origin): www.greatbong.net
2. Blog of any IIM Calcutta Alumnus (humor blog): www.mydayzwithmyself.blogspot.com
3. Blog of a female NRI software professional (humor blog): www.meghalomania.com

Brilliant piece of writing. Some strong language, but very well written.

Long, but definitely worth reading.





Link: Inside the Monkeysphere

Developer cheat sheets

Lots of languages, commands, etc.



Link:Our Favorite Cheat Sheets - a definition from Whatis.com

Windows: Repairing and re-registering the WMI

If every you get any error related to WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation), then this might help.



Especially the

• net stop winmgmt
• Rename Repository
• net start winmgmt

worked for me.



Link: Repairing and re-registering the WMI

The Developer Cheat Sheet Compilation

Lots of cheat sheets for developers. Enjoy !!



Link: Bookmark Bliss: The Developer Cheat Sheet Compilation by Fuzzy Future

10 Eclipse Navigation Shortcuts Every Java Programmer Should Know

SNIPPET:

Man, I’m such an impatient guy. I cringe whenever I see somebody
squint and frown, looking for a JSP file in Eclipse by browsing
painfully through the gazillion JSPs in multiple folders in the Package
Explorer. I squirm whenever I see somebody looking for a Java class by
clicking through packages, one by one, backtracking if it’s the wrong
package, and so on, until he sees the correct Java class.

I mean, any resource in the workspace is literally seconds away. Ditto to classes (and interfaces, and members, and so on).



END SNIPPET



Link: 10 Eclipse Navigation Shortcuts Every Java Programmer Should Know

House Search at Pune - A big joke

*** Author unknown ***. This piece is about Pune, India.



I work in a Small IT firm at Pune. I have been looking for a house at Wanawadi area for last six months. I have visited several new Constructions as well as contacted various dealers.

i have had discussions with agents, who quoted Rs 45 lakhs on PHONE FOR A 3bhk and which went up to 55 lakhs the moment he come to know that I work in an IT Company.



I finalised a Dupleix for 30 lakh only to see the owner jack its price to 40 lakhs because some agent in his society told him that he is selling him cheap and he should sell at 40 lakhs. Till now the flat is unsold and i am now quoting 25 lakhs for it.





I have visited new constructions and they keep on hiking prices by 200 every week till last month. Its a another fact that most of the units are not yet sold.



One Builder in Lullanagar keeps on increasing his flat rate by 8 lakhs every four months with atleast 30 flats not yet booked. He has completed his construction four year back. This alone shows the type of demand.





In one society the rate has gone from 1800 to 3100 in one year and with the fact that only 50% of the flat has been sold and most of them at below 2100.

So what make them think that they are worth 3100 per sq feet or 60 lakhs for a 3 BHK when the going rate was half a year back.





The common answer is - IT is coming. They have very high salary and low mental aptitude and can easily be fooled into paying that rate.

There is an another angle to it. It is the agent lobby. They have now started to work on anything beyond X is mine policy.Talk to any agent and you find that They have flats at baner worth 1 crore and if you dont buy it in a day it will go. If you happen to meet the same agent six months back, he had said the same thing abouth that flat at Baner, but at 25 lakhs.





Suddenly Baner, Kharadi has become as expensive as the heart of Pune.

Its a another fact that it still resembles a Village and if you have not got your own car, you will be skimmed big time by any auto that you find after waiting for one hour.





House search is a big joke. I have simply laughed at whenever any agents tell me that if I dont take a decision in another Ten minutes,someone else will buy the flat. Trust me, no one is going to buy that. Ask your wife to call that same gentleman again after 2 months and he will still be selling you at the same time.



I have the following suggestion for any flat hunters-



1. Tell them beforehand that you are from IT and listen to whatever price they quote.

2. Go and see the flat.

3. Meet the owner.

4. Quote him and not the agent around 10-15 lakh lower than its price.

5. Come out.



Trust me, if he really wants to sell he will follow you after a month.

Till the time you can live on rent. At the maximum a 2 BHK will cost you 10000. Please remember that if you buy anything for the rate they quote and if you need to shift to Bangalore, you wont even get half of it. The same agent who sold you at that rate will quote 75% when you plan to sell.





Remember all the resale flats are owned by investors who themselve are feeling the pinch of high interest rate and want to get out. Its the greed installed by the agents which is stopping them.





Call every builder you get. Tell them that you work in Oracle and IBM etc. They will tel you that only two units are left. Then say that you dont want because you need a choice. They will then say that there is lot of flats from which you can choose.

Now ask for the price. The moment they quote laugh heavily and say that they must be joking and then disconnect. Please remember to give them your phone number. Trust me I still get calls from these guys.





This strategy has worked for me. Prices have come down from 65 lakhs to 50 lakhs now and I have become greedy. Remember Pune is not Mumbai. Just drive through 10 kms and you see so much empty land.





This is just greed where they have assumed some wrong things about IT

Industry--

They all are idiots.

Every IT person makes 1 lakh and above.

Again they are fools.





Remember there are guys out to exploit you.

Disable Ctrl+Enter shortcut in Outlook

If you press Ctrl-Enter in an Outlook compose email window, then it sends the email without any warning at all. This can be very annoying, especially if you didn't want to send the email just then.



You can turn this feature off by doing the following:



Original Link: Outlook Tip Request - Disable Ctrl+Enter shortcut

You can disable CTRL-ENTER
in Outlook by adding the two following registry keys:



Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\DisabledShortcutKeysCheckBoxes

String
Value: CtrlEnter

Value Data: 13,8



Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word\DisabledShortcutKeysCheckBoxes

String
Value: CtrlEnter

Value Data: 13,8



NOTE: I'm using Office 2003 = 11.0
(XP = 10.0, 2000 = 9.0)





Step-by-Step Instructions:



1. Start
--> Run, type REGEDIT press OK

2. If you can locate the folder
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\

Microsoft\Office\11.0\ skip directly to
Step #7



ELSE: We'll need to create the necessary Registy
Keys



Locate and click on the folder
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\

Microsoft\

3. From the Edit
pull-menu, select New, then Key

4. Type Office

5. Click on the new Office
key folder you just created

6. From the Edit pull-menu, select New, then Key,
type 11.0



Note: Office 2003 = 11.0, XP = 10.0, 2000 = 9.0



7. Click
on the new key 11.0 folder you just created

8. From the Edit pull-menu,
select New, then Key

9. Type Outlook (the second time type Word)

10. Click
on the new Outlook (or Word) key folder you just created

11. From the Edit
pull-menu, select New, then Key

12. Type
DisabledShortcutKeysCheckBoxes

13. Click on the new key
DisabledShortcutKeysCheckBoxes folder you just created

14. From the Edit
pull-menu, select New, then String Value

15. Type CtrlEnter

16. Double
click on the CtrlEnter String Value and enter 13,8 in the Value Data
field

17. Return to Step #7 substituting Outlook for Word

18. Close
REGEDIT and restart Outlook for the changes to take
effect

 

Docs Change the Way They Think About Death

Very interesting article. Might change the way people with severe injuries are treated in the hospital in an emergency.



Link: Docs Change the Way They Think About Death - Newsweek

MoD opens its files on UFO sightings to public

UK: The Ministry of Defence plans to open its "X-Files" on UFO sightings to
the public for the first time. Officials have not yet decided on a date
for the release of the reports, which date back to 1967, but it is
hoped to be within weeks.



Link: MoD opens its files on UFO sightings to public

12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

Good article on the US laws that concern blogging. Useful for US based bloggers ...



Blog Law » 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs to Know

Revolution OS

Revolution OS

The film by J.T.S. Moore is about the growth of
the free software movement, and its eventual
co-option by the open source movement. 

Has FSF (Free Software Foundation), GNU,
Linux, Open Source.

Worth watching. 

 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7707585592627775409 

 Duration: 1 hr 25 min

JIbJab: What We Call The News

The latest funny animation from JibJab. Go see it !!



Link: What We Call The News

All (known) Bodies in the Solar System Larger than 200 Miles in Diameter

Very cool page. Check it out ...



Link: All (known) Bodies in the Solar System > 200 Miles in Diameter

101 Shareware and Freeware Programs Every Nerd Needs

A list of some very useful applications that might help you be more productive ...



101 Shareware and Freeware Programs Every Nerd Needs

Gmail Craze: 30 + Tools and Hacks for Gmail

All for Gmail: handy Firefox extensions, best Greasemonkey scripts, some desktop tools and lots of useful tips.



Link: Gmail Craze: 30 + Tools and Hacks for Gmail

Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest.



Worldmapper: The world as you've never seen it before

Unbelievable graphic art pictures by Rob Gonsalves

Extremely well made. Computer generated pictures ....



Unbelievable graphic art pictures by Rob Gonsalves

Top 5 Things That Should Be Taught In Every School

A nice list of 5 things that really should be taught early to us, but sadly aren't. All of us would have benefited if these were known to us ...



Link: Top 5 Things That Should Be Taught In Every School

End of JPEG?

End of JPEG?

Microsoft has proposed a new image format that could signal the end of JPEG ....

Microsoft move could be the end of the JPEG

Plot Thickens Around Google's Alleged Mobile Phone Plans

Is Google making a mobile phone? Hmm ....



DailyTech - Plot Thickens Around Google's Alleged Mobile Phone Plans

Top 10 Firefox Extensions to Improve your Productivity

Very nice extensions ...



Top 10 Firefox Extensions to Improve your Productivity

Some nice snaps

Some nice snaps

http://webshots.com/s/cache1/ProInternalUse/87/64287_poster2000.jpg

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Bizarre divorce: Far apart under one roof

Truth is stranger than fiction.



Read it to believe it : Los Angeles Times: Far apart under one roof

The Best Place To Hide Money

A conversation with a burglar reveals some good places to hide your money. Interesting.



Link: The Best Place To Hide Money: Conversation With A Burglar

25 things to see at the Googleplex before you die

Well, I have never visited the Googleplex. But if I do, I will refer to this ...



Link: GOOGLE: 25 things to see at the Googleplex ...

11 Most Important Philosophical Quotations.

Feeling philosophical? Try this....



Link: 11 Most Important Philosophical Quotations.

Fake Holograms a 3-D Crime Wave

If you thought that

1. A hologram is a sign of a genuine product
2. Holograms could not be duplicated

Think again ....



Link: Wired News: Fake Holograms a 3-D Crime Wave

The Pompous Ass Words Home Page

Snippet from the site:



This is the Pompous Ass Words site, a place dedicated to identifying words that shouldn't be used on the grounds that doing so makes you sound like a pompous ass.





Link: The Pompous Ass Words Home Page

How to Make Google Go Crazy

Go try it ...



Link: Make Google Go Crazy

10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

Link : 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world



Actual article (copied from the site above):

10 tips for time management in a multitasking world

Time
management is one of those skills no one teaches you in school but you
have to learn. It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t
organize information well enough to take it in. And it doesn’t matter
how skilled you are if procrastination keeps you from getting your work
done.

Younger workers understand this, and time management is becoming a
topic of hipsters. One of the most popular blogs in the world is Lifehacker, edited by productivity guru Gina Trapani, and her forthcoming book by the same name is a bestseller on Amazon based so far on pre-orders.

In today’s workplace, you can differentiate yourself by your ability
to handle information and manage your time. “Careers are made or broken
by the soft skills that make you able to hand a very large workload,”
says Merlin Mann, editor of the productivity blog 43 Folders.

So here are 10 tips to make you better at managing your work:

1. Don’t leave email sitting in your in box.


“The ability to quickly process and synthesize information and turn it
into actions is one of the most emergent skills of the professional
world today,” says Mann. Organize email in file folders. If the message
needs more thought, move it to your to-do list. If it’s for reference,
print it out. If it’s a meeting, move it to your calendar.

“One thing young people are really good at is only touching things
once. You don’t see young people scrolling up and down their email
pretending to work,” says Mann. Take action on an email as soon as you
read it.

2. Admit multitasking is bad.


For people who didn’t grow up watching TV, typing out instant messages and doing homework all at the same time, multitasking is deadly. But it decreases everyone’s productivity,
no matter who they are. “A 20-year-old is less likely to feel
overwhelmed by demands to multitask, but young people still have a loss
of productivity from multitasking,” says Trapani.

So try to limit it. Kathy Sierra at Creating Passionate Users suggests practicing mindfulness as a way to break the multitasking habit.

3. Do the most important thing first.


Trapani calls this “running a morning dash”. When she sits
down to work in the morning, before she checks any email, she spends an
hour on the most important thing on her to-do list. This is a great
idea because even if you can’t get the whole thing done in an hour,
you’ll be much more likely to go back to it once you’ve gotten it
started. She points out that this dash works best if you organize the
night before so when you sit down to work you already know what your
most important task of the day is.

4. Check your email on a schedule.


“It’s not effective to read and answer every email as it arrives. Just
because someone can contact you immediately does not mean that you have
to respond to them immediately,” says Dan Markovitz, president of the productivity consulting firm TimeBack Management,
“People want a predictable response, not an immediate response.” So as
long as people know how long to expect an answer to take, and they know
how to reach you in an emergency, you can answer most types of email
just a few times a day.

5. Keep web site addresses organized.


Use book marking services like del.icio.us
to keep track of web sites. Instead of having random notes about places
you want to check out, places you want to keep as a reference, etc.,
you can save them all in one place, and you can search and share your
list easily.

6. Know when you work best.


Industrial designer Jeff Beene
does consulting work, so he can do it any time of day. But, he says, “I
try to schedule things so that I work in the morning, when I am the
most productive.” Each person has a best time. You can discover yours
by monitoring your productivity over a period of time. Then you need to
manage your schedule to keep your best time free for your most
important work.

7. Think about keystrokes.


If you’re on a computer all day, keystrokes matter because
efficiency matters. “On any given day, an information worker will do a
dozen Google searchers,” says Trapani. “How many keystrokes does it
take? Can you reduce it to three? You might save 10 seconds, but over
time, that builds up.”

8. Make it easy to get started.


We don’t have problems finishing projects, we have problems
starting them,” says Mann. He recommends you “make a shallow on-ramp.”
Beene knows the key creating this on ramp: “I try to break own my
projects into chunks, so I am not overwhelmed by them.”

9. Organize your to-do list every day.


If you don’t know what you should be doing, how can you manage your
time to do it? Some people like writing this list out by hand because
it shows commitment to each item if you are willing to rewrite it each
day until it gets done. Other people like software that can slice and
dice their to-do list into manageable, relevant chunks. For example,
Beene uses tasktoy
because when he goes to a client site tasktoy shows him only his to do
items for that client, and not all his other projects. (Get tasktoy here.)

10. Dare to be slow.


Remember that a good time manager actually responds to some things more
slowly than a bad time manager would. For example, someone who is doing
the highest priority task is probably not answering incoming email
while they’re doing it. As Markovitz writes: “Obviously there are more
important tasks than processing email. Intuitively, we all know this.
What we need to do now is recognize that processing one’s work
(evaluating what’s come in and how to handle it) and planning one’s
work are also mission-critical tasks.”

No Big Bang? Endless Universe Made Possible by New Model

A new theory has come up that challenges the "Big Bang" theory for the Universe's creation ...



Link: No Big Bang? Endless Universe Made Possible by New Model

Found this puzzle on the net. I do have the solution and will post it soon ...



PUZZLE:

---------

"I believe you are unfamiliar with the penal system in our country," said the warden, as he led the new prisoner to his cell. "We find that it improves prison morale for each prisoner to have a chance to end his sentence at any time. In your case, we have set up a combination lock on your cell door.

There are ten dials, on which you can set up any ten-digit number. If you set
up the right one, the cell door will unlock and you will be free to leave."


"I see," said the prisoner. "Then if I try every possible number, I'm sure to hit the right one."


"True," said the warden, "but even if
you were able to change the numbers at the rate of one per second without rest, it would still take you a hundred years to hit the right combination.
However, you could try numbers at random and have a chance of choosing the right one. Or, you could search for the clue which we always provide."


"What sort of clue?"


"Well, it might be almost anything. For example, one of our prisoners was put in an escape-proof cell and told that he would be pardoned if he could break out. He was also given permission to keep any plants he wished in his cell."


"What became of him?"


The warden chuckled. "After more than two years, he suddenly realized that some words may have more than one meaning. He requested a poison ivy plant. Soon after receiving it, he broke out – in a rash. Naturally, he received his pardon."


The warden unlocked the cell and ushered the prisoner in. "Your cell contains a desk calculator and writing implements. Good luck."


The prisoner was left alone. He tried a few combinations on the lock without success. What could the clue be? A thought struck him. It seemed worth a try. He made a few calculations, and then set up a number on the lock. The cell door opened and the prisoner strolled out, after serving less than an hour of his sentence.

What number did he
try?

INSANE Japanese obstacle course

This obstacle course is absolutely INSANE. And the guy actually completed it !!



Link: Sasuke Obstacle Course - YouTube

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep

Taken from Top 10 Foods ... Yahoo! Food

What is the secret to getting a
solid 7 to 8 hours of sleep? Head for the kitchen and enjoy one or two
of these 10 foods. They relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds,
and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones - serotonin and melatonin
- Yawning They're
practically a sleeping pill in a peel. In addition to a bit of soothing
melatonin and serotonin, bananas contain magnesium, a muscle relaxant.

Chamomile tea.
The reason chamomile is such a staple of bedtime tea blends is its mild
sedating effect - it's the perfect natural antidote for restless
minds/bodies.

Warm milk. It's not a myth. Milk
has some tryptophan - an amino acid that has a sedative - like effect -
and calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan. Plus there's the
psychological throw-back to infancy, when a warm bottle meant "relax,
everything's fine."

Honey. Drizzle a little in
your warm milk or herb tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little
glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered
neurotransmitter that's linked to alertness.

Potatoes.
A small baked spud won't overwhelm your GI tract, and it clears away
acids that can interfere with yawn-inducing tryptophan. To up the
soothing effects, mash it with warm milk.

Oatmeal.
Oats are a rich source of sleep - inviting melatonin, and a small bowl
of warm cereal with a splash of maple syrup is cozy - plus if you've
got the munchies, it's filling too.

Almonds. A
handful of these heart-healthy nuts can be snooze-inducing, as they
contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium.

Flaxseeds.
When life goes awry and feeling down is keeping you up, try sprinkling
2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal.
They're rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter.

Whole-wheat bread.
A slice of toast with your tea and honey will release insulin, which
helps tryptophan get to your brain, where it's converted to serotonin
and quietly murmurs "time to sleep."

Turkey.
It's the most famous source of tryptophan, credited with all those
Thanksgiving naps. But that's actually modern folklore. Tryptophan
works when your stomach's basically empty, not overstuffed, and when
there are some carbs around, not tons of protein. But put a lean slice
or two on some whole-wheat bread mid-evening, and you've got one of the
best sleep inducers in your kitchen.

What if none of these
foods help get your Check out your sleep habits with this
quick RealAge test to find out what?s keeping you up at night. http://www.realage.com/health_guides/RLS/intro.aspx

For an extra treat, here's the ultimate sleep-inducing snack...



Lullaby Muffins

Makes 12 low-fat muffins

Between the bananas, the whole wheat, and the honeyed touch of sweetness, these muffins are practically an edible lullaby.

· 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 1 tablespoon baking powder

· 2 large, very ripe bananas

· 1/3 cup applesauce

· 1/4 cup honey

· 1/2 cup milk or soymilk

Preheat
oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the flour (make sure it's
whole-wheat pastry flour or you'll produce golf balls, not muffins),
salt, and baking powder. In a blender, puree the bananas; add the
applesauce, honey, and milk. Blend well. Pour the banana mixture into
the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Line muffin tins
with paper muffin cups, pour in batter, and bake 30 minutes or until
tops are lightly brown and slightly springy.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving: 119 calories; 1g fat; 2.5g protein; 27g carbohydrates; 10g sugars; 133mg sodium; 3g fiber; 35mg magnesium

One of my favorites - attributed to Mother Teresa generally, but some sites say that it was written by Kent Keith in 1968. Irrespective of who wrote it, it is beautiful ...

Anyway

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.


People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.


What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.


People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.


Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

You call that a boat?

It's an alien ship!! No, its a new boat - the "Proteus".

Go look see ...



Link: MercuryNews.com | 01/19/2007 | You call that a boat?

Top 100 endangered species

A list of the top 100 species that have reached a critical stage in terms of their existence on this planet. We should act before it is too late...



Link: EDGE :: EDGE Top 100

Deep Space Images

DEEP SPACE.

One of the neat things about this (besides the killer images) is you only load the part of the picture you are looking at. Click a couple of times on the image to enlarge then you can pull the image to see areas that are off screen. When you get to an area that hasn't been loaded yet it will look blurry until the image loads. Too cool.



http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/mediaimages/zooms/index.shtml

Need a Good Painter? (This Guy Should Qualify)

Amazing wall paintings!! See them for yourself:



Link: Need a painter? ...

The distribution of world income

Which countries have the most money? No surprises here:



Link: Econbrowser: The distribution of world income

Space Shuttle Discovery Launch

Awesome video. Go see it !!



Link: YouTube - Space Shuttle Discovery Launch

How do you run a business without managers?

A nice story by a person who ran a company WITHOUT any managers. That's right, no managers !! Might not work for all cases, but it definitely is a case of really thinking "out of the box".



Link: Ask the CHO: How do you run a business without managers

Joke: Things you would never know without the movies...

Things you would never know without the movies... - During all police investigations, it will be necessary to visit a club at least once. - All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they are going to go off. - If you need to reload your gun, you will always have more ammunition, even if you haven't been carrying any before now. - You are very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home. - A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds. - When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a bill; just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare. - Kitchens don't have light switches. When entering a kitchen at night, you should open the fridge door and use that light instead. - Cars that crash will almost always burst into flames. - A single match will be sufficient to light up a room the size of any big stadium. - Any person waking from a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant. - Even when driving down a perfectly straight road, it is necessary to turn the wheel vigorously from left to right every few moments. - A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty. - It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts - your enemies will patiently attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors. - Once applied, lipstick will never rub off - even while scuba diving. - Any lock can be picked by a credit card or a paper clip in seconds - unless it's the door to a burning building with a child trapped inside. - Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment that it is aired.

Awesome car mileage

How to get awesome car mileage by driving efficiently.



Link: This Guy Can Get 59 MPG in a Plain Old Accord. Beat That, Punk.

100 Best Companies to Work For

If you work in one of these, you're lucky !!



List: 100 Best Companies to Work For 2007: Full list | FORTUNE

20 Different Ways to Manage Your To Dos

Simple, elegant solutions to manage your TODO lists:



Link: 20 Different Ways to Manage Your To Dos «

Offshore Wind Turbine Farms : Wind Power In Stormy Waters

Some wonderful snaps of offshore wind turbine farms. They generate electricity without polluting the environment, and yet manage to look really beautiful ...



Link: Dark Roasted Blend: Wind Power In Stormy Waters

Find what is the time anywhere in the world

Find what is the time anywhere in the world

Nice site. Has the current time for places around the world.

E.g. The time for India is:

New Delhi

And the time for Los Angeles, CA is:

Los Angeles

Link: Free Analog Web Clock for your website or blog

Top Ten Accidental Discoveries

The top 10 accidental discoveries of the 20th century. You can argue about some of the items on the list (popsicles?), but others are pretty much spot on.



Link: EXN.ca | Discovery

Feel like going on a roller coaster ride?

The Amazing Eejanaika Roller
Coaster

Fuji-Q Highland
(Fujiyoshida, Shizuoka Japan)



Number
of Inversions 14 times (Guinness World Record)

Maximum Speed 126 km/h

Lift
Height 76 m

Angle of Descent 89 degrees

Track Length 1,153
m

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kMARGNfHfU

World Record skydiving parachute formation!

World Record skydiving parachute formation!

After almost a week of training a group of dedicated skydivers put together the largest parachute formation ever built. It consists of 81 skydivers in the formation and several video people flying around. It took place over Lake Wales Florida USA just before sunset and has some incredible shots by some incredible video fliers, and a picture-perfect "starburst" break-away.


Link: World-record skydiving parachute formation! (funzu.com)

Joke: W.C.

Joke: W.C.

It seems that a little old English lady was looking for some rooms in Switzerland. She asked the local village schoolmaster to help her.

A place that suited her was finally found, and the lady returned to London for her luggage. She remembered then that she had not noticed a bathroom, or as they called it in England, a "water closet." She wrote to the school master.

He was puzzled by the initials "W.C.", never dreaming of course that she was asking about a bathroom. He finally asked the help of the parish priest, who decided that W.C. stood for Wesleyan Church. This was the reply:

Dear Madam,

The W.C. is situated nine miles from the house in the center of a beautiful grove of trees. It is capable of holding 350 people at a time, and is open on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday each week.

A large number of folks attend during the summer months, so it is suggested that you go early, although there is plenty of standing room.

Some folks like to take their lunch and make a day of it, especially on Thursdays when there is organ accompaniment. The acoustics are very good and everyone can hear the slightest sound. All join in to sing.

A sheet of paper is distributed at the entrance, but if there is not enough to go around, you can always borrow your neighbours'. The paper must be returned upon leaving, to be used again within a month’s time.

It may be of interest to you to know that my daughter was married in W.C., and it was there that she met her husband. We hope you will be there in time for our bazaar to be held very soon. The proceeds will go towards the purchase of plush seats, which the folks agree are a long-felt need, as the present seats all have holes in them.

My wife is rather delicate, therefore she can not attend regularly. It has been six months since the time she last went. Naturally, it pains her very much not to be able to go more often.

I shall close now with the desire to accommodate you in every way possible, and I will be happy to save you a seat down front or near the door, whichever you prefer.

--Schoolmaster

Joke: Marriage and wives

Marriage and wives...

I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry.

That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste.

David Bissonette





When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

Sacha Guitry



After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together.

Hemant Joshi



By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. Socrates



Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.

Dumas



The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, "What does a woman want?

Sigmund Freud



I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.

Anonymous



"Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays."

Henny Youngman



"I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years."

Sam Kinison



"There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage."

James Holt McGavran



"I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me, and the second one didn't."

Patrick Murray



Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming

1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it,

2. Whenever you're right, shut up.

Nash



The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once...

Anonymous



You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.

Henny Youngman



My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.

Rodney Dangerfield



A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.

Milton Berle



Marriage is the only war where one sleeps with the enemy.

Anonymous



A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: "Wife wanted". Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."

Anonymous



First Guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!"

Second Guy: "You're lucky, mine's still alive."

Poem: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)

One more poem by Robert Frost



Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening



Whose woods these are I think I know

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.



My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.



He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.





The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Poem: The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

Poem: The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

A poem that I like ...

The Road Not Taken --> Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.	20

Funny Poem: My Boss and I

Funny Poem: My Boss and I

My Boss and I

When I Take a long time, I am slow,
When my boss takes a long time, he is thorough,

When I don't do it, I am lazy,
When my boss does not do it, he is busy,

When I do something without being told, I am trying to be smart,
When my boss does the same, he takes the initiative,

When I please my boss, I am apple polishing,
When my boss pleases his boss, he is cooperating,

When I make a mistake, you're an idiot.
When my boss makes a mistake, he's only human.

When I take a stand, I am being bull-headed.
When my boss does it, he's being firm.

When I overlooked a rule of ettiquette, I am being rude.
When my boss skips a few rules, he's being original.

When I am out of the office, I am wandering around.
When my boss is out of the office, he's on business.

When I have one too many drinks at a social, I am a drunken bum.
When my boss does the same, he appreciated women.

When I am on a day off sick, I am always sick.
When my boss is a day off sick, he must be very ill.

When I apply for leave, I must be going for an interview.
When my boss applies for leave, it's because he's overworked

When I do good, my boss never remembers,
When I do wrong, he never forgets.

Nice tool - Copernic Desktop Search

Fast, accurate search of your hard drive. Find emails, files, music, pictures, etc. in a jiffy.



I use this and I am very happy with it. It is free !!



Link: Copernic Desktop Search - The Search Engine for Your PC

Happy New Year 2007!!

A new year. A chance to begin anew. May we take this opportunity and make the world a better place.