How Disney re-uses its cartoons

A Russian site that shows how Disney re-uses its cartoons/animations. I don't know Russian, but still the pictures tell the tale. Very interesting ...

How to Become an Early Riser

An article that outlines steps on how to become an early riser. Check it out.

Also by the same guy: How to get up right away when your alarm goes off

Column from PC Magazine: The Great Microsoft Blunder

An article by John Dvorak that calls bundling of the browser into the Windows operating system as the "worst decision" ever by Microsoft.

The Harvard Crimson :: News :: Examples of Similar Passages Between Viswanathan's Book and McCafferty's Two Novels

NEW YORK: A recently published novel by Harvard undergraduate KaavyaViswanathan, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life, containsseveral passages that are strikingly similar to books by Megan FMcCafferty -- the 2001 novel Sloppy Firsts and the 2003 novel SecondHelpings.

Prima facie it looks like plagiarism was done - the similarities are too much to ignore ....

Diary of a Non-Obc Man

Got this forwarded email. Hilarious...

An excerpt from Emcee's diary exactly 50 years from now
Ahmedabad, 30 April 2056 : I attended the bash at the IIM-OBC Alumni Association to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the reservation of seats for OBCs (Other Backward Castes) in IIMs. Since I'm not an OBC, I was not supposed to attend, but at present, we MBFCs (Moderately Backward Forward Castes) together with the Non-Scheduled Tribes have a political alliance with the OBCs. We sipped champagne and talked about how so many of us had progressed from reserved seats in the IIMs to reserved jobs to reserved promotions. Unfortunately, the party broke up when a Non-scheduled Tribes faculty member objected to the OBCs dancing with all the pretty girls — he wanted equal opportunities for every caste at each dance. I pointed out that the Non-scheduled Tribes had exceeded the quota of champagne reserved for them. The party ended in a pitched caste battle.

1) May 2056: Today, I became president of the IIM Board of Directors. Under the present rotating presidency system, a member of each caste is made the president by turn. When it was the turn of the MBFCs for president, they had to choose me because I'm the only MBFC on the campus. True, I'm only the campus dhobi, but then every caste must be given an equal opportunity. All those centuries of oppression by the OSBFCs (Only Slightly Backward Forward Castes) and the OFCs (Other Forward Castes) must be rectified. I hope to restore the high standards at IIM — I overheard some foreigners calling it the Indian Institute of Morons, the other day.

2) May 2056: They've announced the cricket team for the series against Australia . I was overjoyed when they chose an MBFC man as captain. But my hopes were dashed when I realised he was a Most Backward Forward Caste and not a Moderately Backward Forward Caste. The selection committee lamented that it was gross discrimination that no member from the Jarowa tribe (the Stone Age tribe in the Andamans) had ever found a place in the Indian cricket team. A squad has since been dispatched to the Andamans to capture a Jarowa tribal to play in the national team. I hope he will improve their performance — they had an innings defeat against the Maldives recently. I would have played myself except for the fact that I lost a leg some years ago when I was in hospital with a toothache and a doctor recruited through the Unscheduled Caste quota extracted my leg instead of my tooth.

3) May 2056: There are too many NFCs (Neo-Forward castes) in the IT business. Under the terms of the Business Reservation Act, their firms will now be taken over by the other castes. I hope they will be able to restore the Indian IT industry back to its former glory. For some unfathomable reason, it has gone down the drain after job reservations were implemented. I went for a movie featuring star actor Mungeri Ram. He may lack teeth, be four-feet-three and have hair growing out of his nose, but this year it's the turn of the EBC-RYs (Extremely Backward Caste-Rural Yokels) to be stars and Mungeri Ram is the best of the lot. I wonder why foreign movies have become so popular.

4) May 2056: A truly great day. We now have an OFBMBC (Other Forward But Moderately Backward Caste) general as the Head of the Armed Forces. I hope he'll be able to win back the territory we lost ever since reservations were implemented in the Army. Since then, the north has been taken by Pakistan, the North-east by China , the east by Bangladesh and the south by Sri Lanka and the Maldives . Only last winter, we lost the war against Bhutan and free India is now limited to the western coastal states. But I'm sure the OFBMBC general will turn the tide.


5) May 2056: My wife and I have been blessed with a bonny daughter. Since my wife's an SBBNSBC (Slightly Backward But Not So Backward Caste), my daughter will be an MBFC-SBBNSBC. I must lobby for reservation for her caste. She's the only member and I'm sure she has a great future.

Fifty Ways to Take Notes » Solution Watch

A lot of useful tools that help you take notes very quickly.

Project Planning Links .

A few good links:

1. CHAOS report (Paper on budget, schedule, and general failures of software projects) : http://standishgroup.com/sample_research/
   
2. Pursuing the Perfect Project Manager : http://www.tompeters.com/col_entries.php?note=005297&year=1991
   
3. Work Breakdown Structure : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_breakdown_structure
   
   
4. Five Worlds (Different types of software projects): http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FiveWorlds.html
   
5. How to give and receive criticism : http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/essay35.htm
6. Tools for organizing thoughts: http://www.ms.lt/ms/projects/toolkinds/organize.html
   
   
7. The art of UI prototyping: http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/essay12.htm
   
8. Conversational Terrorism (WHAT NOT TO DO): http://www.vandruff.com/art_converse.html
   
9. Brand's Pace Law: http://www.edge.org/q2004/page6.html#brand
   
   
10. Saying NO: http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/Sayingno.html
11. Continuous Integration: http://www.martinfowler.com/articles/continuousIntegration.html
    
12. Painless Bug Tracking: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000029.html
    
    
13. Test-driven development: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_driven_development
    
14. Some essays on doing post-mortems (and other stuff): http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/

How I Work: Bill Gates - Apr. 7, 2006 .

A day in the Office life of Bill Gates (OK, that's a bad pun).

Fast Forward: The world's most modern management is in India - Apr. 14, 2006 .

HCL Technologies in India is doing all it can to keep employees and clients both happy. The 2nd part is done by every company. The 1st part is a pleasant surprise - keep it up, guys !!

Google Watch .

A blog that concentrates only on Google related news. Called - what else? - Google Watch.
Has some interesting info...

Strider URL Tracer with Typo-Patrol .

New Microsoft tool. Excerpts from the site:

When a user visits a Web site, her browser may be instructed to visit other third-party domains without her knowledge. Some of these third-party domains raise security, privacy, and safety concerns. The Strider URL Tracer, available for download, is a tool that reveals these third-party domains, and it includes a Typo-Patrol feature that generates and scans sites that capitalize on inadvertent URL misspellings, a process known as typo-squatting. The tool also enables parents to block typo-squatting domains that serve adult ads on typos of children's Web sites.

The Bong

A hilarious article about Bengalis. Great fun - don't miss this !!

Programmer's File Editor Home Page

Very good free editor. However, it is no longer in development. But it's free, and it's good ...

Startup called Webaroo touts 'Web on a hard drive'

Search without an internet connection. Good idea or will it fizzle out? Only time will tell ....

Creative Contents: A short course in using your digital camera

Nice tutorial. Helpful for people who have just started using digital cameras or for those who want to take better pictures overall.

Self-Reliance : by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This is a very long but fine essay on self-reliance. Find the time to go through it, and you will not be disappointed.

A snippet from the same:

It is only as a man puts off all foreign support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail ...
He who knows that power is inborn, that he is weak because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles; just as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.

Men Are Just Happier People .

One of my favourite articles. Note: this is not an anti-women posting. Take it in the spirit it is meant - just plain fun.

What do you expect from such simple creatures?

• Your last name stays put.

• The garage is all yours.

• Wedding plans take care of themselves.

• Chocolate is just another snack.

• You can be president

• You can never be pregnant.

• You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.

• You can wear NO T-shirt to a water park.

• Car mechanics tell you the truth.

• The world is your urinal.

• You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.

• You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

• Same work, more pay.

• Wrinkles add character.

• Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental -- $100.

• People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.

• The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.

• New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.

• One mood --! all the time.

• Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.

• You know stuff about tanks.

• A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.

• You can open all your own jars.

• You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.

• If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

• Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.

• Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.

• You almost never have strap problems in public.

• You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.

• Everything on your face stays its original color.

• The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.

• You only have to shave your face and neck.

• You can play with toys all your life.

• Your belly usually hides your big hips.

• One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons.

• You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.

• You can "do" your nails with a pocketknife.

• You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache!

• You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 45 minutes.
  
  No wonder men are happier......

Realtime Form Validation Using AJAX

Nice article from Sun about how to do real-time validation of data that can't be validated on the client side & has to be checked on the server (e.g. username already exists). Check it out.

The BlockHole.

A blog by 3 techies from Kolkatta (who incidentally call their city as Calcutta - hmm, I thought it was a unanimous decision to rename the city ...).

Has a large dose of cricket (hence the name). But they do post on other subjects as well. Worth a look ...

Marbles! (skip intro) - Best of Google Video

This is a great video. Those guys have way too much time on their hands, but the end result is great.
BTW, like the title says, skip the intro - the actual video has nothing to do with the introduction.