The Joy of Tech

-NEETS

Adele's 'Rumour has it' A cappella from the 'kitchen'

For those of us who love Adele’s work, here is an a cappella performed by a talented bunch from their kitchen… they pull it off reaaaal well and screw it in the end :D but it doesn’t hurt the performance.

Way to go girls!

-NEETS

Push Pin Pixels

Remarkable work of science-turns-art using Push pins :

Enjoy,

NEETS

Quote Maatha - Sine Life

"Life is an erratic sine wave and never can be a flat line." - Maatha Nita Maatha

Quote Maatha - Black or White

'There is no black and white. There is only grey, dark enough to be confused for black or light enough to be confused for white' - Maatha Nita Maatha

Something interesting happened yesterday night...

Imagine this...

You are spending time with your family or loved ones at your home, doing something or chatting up with them. Lets assume your mobile phone is in a bag just within your arms reach.

Now, I get a call from your mobile phone. But you are not talking to me... you are going about talking with your family/friend/love-interest/underworld Irish mob/whatever. I can hear every single word you say. Remember the mobile phone wasn’t too far away.

I being the nice person I am, don’t cut the call I received in my mobile phone, instead, I reach out for my land line and call over to your land line and ask you, ‘Dude, why do you call me if you don’t want to talk? And nothing i hear on my phone is worth eavesdropping. :P . Go check your mobile phone!’

You give me the usual expected response...blah blah blah... you reach out for your phone and what do you see?

There is no live call from your phone!!!

You are pissed. You think I am playing a prank... I, to make my point, tell you I am going to cut the call I made from my land line to your land line and then you have to say something specific into the mobile phone... like read out of a book of your choice, and then I will call you back on your land line. And you grumble and mumble, “You and your weird ideas... if this turns out to be a prank and a waste of my time... you are in trouble, lady”.

You obey and say something only you could have chosen to say at that time and place. I on the other end have already started recording the whole conversation on my mobile phone. I call back on the land line and tell you to cut the call on the mobile phone. And you say, “Stupid, I already told you I have not made a call to you and therefore there is no live call that i can CUT!!!”.

Nita: “Oops forgive my occasional stupidity! I am now cutting the call on my mobile phone and will send you the recorded file.”

You: “Yeah right... you better.”

In minutes you get a audio file emailed to you, that, indeed turns out to be... what I told you.... a record of whatever you said and the whole conversation that ensued.

QUESTION 1: How would you feel about this?

Though, this example was fiction. This, really, truly, happened yesterday night to my friend (S) and I bore witness to this. It happened twice to her yesterday – two different calls to different people. Her phone was transmitting whatever she was saying in the form of an invisible call to another friend (R) who happened to be with us at that time, luckily. We all took it lightly... till I wondered if this technology (or technological flaw) could be used to eavesdrop? Here are the known facts:  

1)      all the people involved in both the calls had subscribed to the same provider.

2)      The phone (S’s mobile) that made these ghost calls to people was an sony ericsson and an android

3)      The call was not recorded in the outgoing calls register of S’s mobile phone

4)      The call was recorded in the incoming calls of the register of R’s mobile phone (this holds true for the other call that i did not witness)

5)      R’s number was not the last number dialled

QUESTION 2: Has this ever happened to you or someone you know?

QUESTION 3: Does anyone know why or how this happens?

Waiting with abated breath to see if my friend will get billed for this ghost call.

Man surfs a 90ft wave

American surfs a 90 ft wave in Portugal. Possibly the largest wave ever surfed!

http://youtu.be/dyBzYCEyUlE

 

Happy Surfing!

-NEETS

What a movement needs

NOTE: I have used the word

OPPONENT =  Govt and their opposition (Since we do not value the support of any political party or politician)

Education:

1)     Education about the Movement: This is my observation – some of us who support this movement don’t really know how our demands have changed with the time and circumstances. We need a visual, simple to understand, chronological record of events. I am sure we can find skills that can do this amongst our supporters around the country.

2)     Educate the vote-bank: We must have imagined some politician say this, “I can’t care about you and this movement, if it fails to move my vote bank away from me”. And I think some politician must have had the nerve to say this out loud by now. But we should remember to thank him for reminding us what really matters to our opponents. Understanding the people on the other end is an essential clue to how we can win this war against corruption.

3)      Education about Civil Disobedience and Non-violence: We are lucky to be here in this moment in world history. I don’t know of a time in world history where so many people from different countries, of different cultures have employed Civil Disobedience in their own ways to demand or bring about change in their own communities ( country/states/city/villages,etc ), big and small (Arab Spring, Budrus ). We have living examples to observe and learn, evaluate, tweak and implement. Brainstorm on new ways and methods. We have to re-educate and constantly remind ourselves of what Non-Violence and Civil Disobedience is and literally practice it. I have heard that in the Black Civil Rights led by Martin Luther King, people would get together to enact how they would have to react non-violently in preparation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. You would be nudged, pushed, shoved to the back of the bus, but you should resist the need to react violently and refused to stay in the back of the bus. This might sound drastic, but these values have to be repeated so many times to be engrained in our psyche. Almost like a sermon.

Re-evaluation/Review: Let us look back in to the past few months, pick a date from which we think the movement had gathered significant momentum. Systematically review and objectively re-evaluate all the events, our conduct, our demands, the consequences and the counter offers. If we have lost steam/sense of direction, we have made a major fundamental mistake somewhere in this orchestration. We did not lack in intent. We did not lack in enthusiasm. We did not fail in drawing attention. It is possible we lacked in our assessment of our opponent’s (Govt and their opposition) next possible moves. If we have got someone to compare the proposed bill to a “noose around our necks” in full view of the media, we definitely did a whole lot of things right. But, knowing where we could have done better can help us in really doing better as we move ahead – irrespective of what direction we decide to move in.

It will not be a bad idea to spend some effort to consult people like Arun Gandhi (http://gandhiinstitute.org/) - I recently heard his interview on an American Radio Show and when questioned about what he thought of the movement here. I  felt his answers would perhaps give us a few pointers to finding out what the flaws were. We could benefit from an outsider’s view to this – don’t know who these people could be - Mark Rudd(may be), if they are willing to observe this movement as a case study. [In the hope, the future generations will not just have events to study from but a scientific analysis of these different cases of non-violent protests. It will not just encourage Non-Violent means of protests but also create ambassadors. ]

Strategy: In doing the last two, we would have gained clarity and a heightened awareness that would help us chart out strategies, fully taking advantage of cards we are dealt with, the time and the needs of our opponents at the time. We have to brainstorm and explore other means of garnering attention and newer forms Non-Violent Civil Disobedience. We have to look beyond candle light marches and fasts. Think of innovative means. The other thing I feel we should do, is run separate and distinct strategies in parallel. There is another big odd against this movement – the complacent Indian attitude – there has to be a number of initiatives that should focus on attempting to change it, without seeming very obvious.  

Collaborate: It is a good idea to have collaborative projects with other local causes. Come up with innovative ideas – it gets both causes attention and both can benefit from the synergy.

Mathematics: The war against corruption is one of numbers. There are people for corruption, then there are the ones against it and then there are the people who can’t take a side or don’t wish to take a side for whatever reasons. We apart from focussing on the immediate need to ensure the bill in its current form is not passed, have to also have smaller focus groups/think-tanks that will channelize efforts in educating people to take a side – we don’t tell them which side to take, but instead make them understand why this is their business.

Then the other mathematical aspect of this war, is that this problem is so huge that we find it difficult to simplify its understanding to the level that the less-fortunate, uneducated, disconnected people would be able to understand it. Break it down to the level that the people who add up to make the vote-bank will understand why this should matter to them. Best done diagrammatically. I have an idea in my head, but I need the help of a cartoonist or an artist to help translate it into paper.

Common conduct and Value system: The movement had to suffer a few setbacks because of a lack of common code of conduct. There should be a common agreed understanding of the values we stand for. Remember, the very stand against corruption, though we are focussing on how money is siphoned off from the system and people are swindled, is actually one that is rooted in our values and ethics. If we can’t set that right in us, how will we be able to confidently stand up against such evil.

Flat Leadership: This is so important, that I would have mentioned it first. This is how I felt seeing the growth of this movement – proud, hopeful, confident, enthusiastic. But there was this one feeling that I am still not able to put to rest. If it isn’t for Anna, if isn’t for Arvind... if it isn’t for XYZ... this movement will lose steam and cease to exist. Meaning that this movement will breath, literally, as long as these people breath. This is a failure in the making. Along with reminding people that this issue is closer to their home that they think it is, we should also embed a sense of ownership in them. We all share the same idea, but we have got together to collaborate and co-operate towards a common goal. I am as responsible for making this work as much as you are. Just as I may learn a few things from you, so will you from me. What we need are not a flock of sheep that obediently follow a shepherd, but a colony of ants with their own individual skills coming together to become a single minded strong being.

Ladies and GM, only for you to drool

It might or might not match up to your expectations of an ‘exquisite’ machine.

Recently a colleague expressed his wish to have a ‘BMW 7 series’.

 

But whats interesting to think about is ... what do people like us have to do to buy such pieces of engineering? What do you think, you need to do or change in order to be in a position to acquire these?

 

I usually get to notice these in the night... God knows why... but today morning I saw it and even better, got to stop at the signal close to these people so I had the opportunity to ask the question thats always been on my mind whenever I see such magnificent pairing of man and machine... here is the short conversation for your delight

 

I: Excuse me. What do you do?

Pillion lady: (Smiles) Its imported

I: No... What  do  you  do?

Pillion Lady: (Smiles) Oh! Its a long procedure!

I: No... As in, WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? [Thinkin: God! Do I have to spell it out to you?!!]

I got the rider and the pillion lady cracking, a little awkward wondering ... now how do we answer that?!! Lets continue laughing.

 

Thankfully signal turns green while they are still cracking, I tell them .. nice piece of machine... and we drive off.

 

Tell me ... what is your dream machine and what do you think you have to do to get it? Dont give me become a polition / underworld don

 

Woman waiting for her machine,

NEETS

Wish you a fabulous New Year!!!

Another wonderful 365 days and each day is a treasure trove of wonderful opportunities.

Embark on new journeys.

Find new words to share about them.

Put plans into actions.

Push limits.

Enjoy.

Love.

 

 

Holstee Manifesto

 

 

Regards,

Nita Arvind

'What do you want of me, Lokpal?!'

Some of us believe we can initiate a change and some of us believe that no matter what we do, this country isn’t going to change. Though clearly, both these stands seem to be diametrical opposites, they have something in common … both stands DO NOT DENY THE NEED FOR CHANGE. So in other words, it looks like, that though we all BELIEVE things need to change, but we might not BELIEVE our collective efforts might be powerful enough to initiate or sustain a change.

“This movement believes in making a change. “ -  Nope, this movement is only a stage , a platform to EXPRESS THE NEED FOR CHANGE. Remember that no matter whether we believe this will bring about change or not, we all DO NOT DENY THE NEED FOR IT. In effect, ‘making a change’ is a consequence the movement is working towards – we might succeed or fail in doing so.  All that this movement asks of us, is to EXPRESS our belief that change is necessary. Let us not judge the consequence without putting some effort towards expressing ourselves.

Any stage/platform needs audience and performers… this movement has set the stage, it has a well-defined audience - the politicians and bureaucrats, now it’s left to us, the performers, the citizens of this country to stand together and use this stage to express our beliefs about ‘change’ despite our disagreements on the ‘consequence’. Remember, the last few months are witness that the audience is paying attention. It has brought them to bringing about a change that they have been putting off for almost half a century.

Passing of  a bill only acknowledges the fact that we have been heard, but does it mean that the audience has been listening? Only the contents of the bill can confirm that. Go through the details of the Lokpal Bill the government is proposing to pass, make your own opinion of its effectiveness and inadequacies. Decide for yourself if what the government is offering can result in sustainable change. Are you satisfied with their offering?

If you feel its not good enough, go ahead and let the decision makers know we want sustainable change. And a strong law, devoid of accommodations and loop holes is the only true path towards sustainable change.

Walk tonight

Today had been to meet a friend over dinner. When it was time to get into my car and head home at 1030 I felt this familiar wish resurface ... a wish to take a walk in the night, alone. Wide empty roads in a residential area, wet from the drizzles, gentle breeze rustling the leaves... a full moon would have made it perfect. I so wanted to do it, I took my phone and keys (including one with a tiny blade) put them in the pocket and stood outside the car looking at the road, wide and mostly empty. Then the same old familiar voice spoke. " crazy?!  10:30. Alone. Get in! " Stood facing the door, hesitant, key in hand. Voice spoke,  "Now! ". Just as always, I obeyed. Again. Opened the car and sat for a few minutes with my legs dangling out, dipped in the breeze, feeling it against my skin, listening to the rustling, the laughters coming from the restaurant behind me... the voice interrupts, "Enough." I sigh. Lock myself safely in the car, strap myself safely to it and drove away. Drove away, again.

LYRICS: Games People play - by Alan Parsons Project

A very unusual subject for a song. Depressingly real. But this doesn’t need to be the way life has to turn out. We might have to plan for that time, strengthen ourselves, adapt and adopt new interests that will accommodate our limitations. Companionship might take the centre stage in that phase. There is no age to broaden our intellect and horizons, we still will be growing up and we still will be learning, till the end.

-NEETS

 

Games People play - by Alan Parsons Project

 

Where do we go from here now that all other children are growin' up
And how do we spend our lives if there's noone to lend us a hand

I don't wanna live here no more, i don't wanna stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life, quietly fading away

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, honor brite
If i promise you the moon and the stars, would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Where do we go from here now that all of the children have grown up
And how do we spend our lives knowin' nobody gives us a damn

I don't wanna live here no more, i don't wanna stay
Ain't gonna spend the rest of my life, quietly fading away

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right
If i'm telling you the truth right now, do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, honor brite
If i promise you the moon and the stars, would you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right
If i'm telling you the truth right now, do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night

Aaromale - my beloved! Lyrics Translation

Aaromale – means Beloved in my mother-tongue, Malayalam.

The song under discussion is ‘Aaromale’ from the Tamil movie “Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa”.  A Malayalam song in a Tamil movie - Interesting! You should watch the movie. It is perhaps one of the best romantic movies I have seen. I rarely ever like one. For years my brother and I have discussed the failed attempts to westernize commercial music in Malayalam. I actually had come to the conclusion that it perhaps might have something to do with the language’s capacity to adapt to new sounds. All attempts that we had heard till recently, tried too hard that it would sound over the edge or sound like a skewed interpretation of Western music by someone who didn’t believe in it. My brother and I gave such music in our mother-tongue a name – “Wannabe Music”. They try too hard but, not just fail miserably but can sound sadly tacky. I had heard of a lot of promising individual artists who proved to me that my language had no constraints like I had believed it to have. But will someone come up with a successful commercial proof? This, my dears, is that song. I have no doubt that there will be more new sounds to hear in my mother-tongue.

I loved this song ever since I heard it the first time and that was when I watched the movie. At times, it gives me goose bumps. The rock version I mean! ( Some of you might be just thinking the way I was till today, “What?! There was another version?!!!” Yep there is a female humming version ). My brother and I would rock to it, sing it in the car. Like any song, it’s fun to sing it with people who enjoy it, no matter how out of tune it might sound to the rest of the world. Ok, back to the point.

Listen to them here.

Alphonse is a great music director, but I did not know that he could sing with such soul. The feel of both the versions are so diverse. Alphonse’s version has got a haunting feel to it, you can feel the yearning of an insatiable soul, demanding or may be begging answers from his beloved, while in Shreya’s version, she romantically playfully teases the beloved. Alphonse’s version starts slow, with a country string work, and then it slowly and steadily picks up momentum both in tempo and expression ... sounding like, rock music riding on the back of Hindustani. Shreya’s version speaks to you using only one word, ‘Aromale’,  but sensually toys around with Carnatic music to perfection and reaches out to the beloved in you,... gently holds your hand and tugs you,  teases you, beckons you ... drawing you, her beloved's attention back to where it belongs.

Any way this post was long pending. I wanted to share the translation for the haunting rock version of this song and this is the best I could find online : http://wersp.blogspot.com/2010/01/aaromale-lyrics-with-translation.html (special thanks to Wersp), I have taken the liberty to make a few changes to the translation though. Oh, before you get to the translation, the song was composed, lyrics was written and the song was sung ... all in 4 hours. Wersp, once again thank you for the translation!

Vocal: Alphonse

Mamalayeri Varum Thennal
(The breeze comes, riding the mountains.)
Puthu Manavalan Thennal, ...
( The breeze, the bridegroom,... )
Palli Medayae Thottu Thalodi Kurushil Thozhuthu Varumbol,
arrives after praying at the alter,
Varavelpinu MalayalaKara Manasammatham Choriyum,
And Kerala welcomes him by showering him, with her consent.

Aaromalae, Aaromalae, Aaromalae, Aaromalae....
(O Beloved....O Beloved...O Beloved.....O Beloved...)

Swasthi Swasthi Su Muhurtham,
(On this auspicious occasion ... )
Sumungali Bhava, Manavatti
(O Bride, may you be blessed with a long wedded life)
Swasthi Swasthi Su Muhurtham,
(On this auspicious occasion ...)
Sumungali Bhava Manavatti
(O Bride..,May you be blessed with a long wedded life)

Shyama Rathri Than Aramanayil,
( In the inner sanctum of the dark night )
Mari Nilkayo Tharakame,
(O Star..why are you keeping away ? )
Pulari Manjillae Kathiroliyay,
(Like a ray of light in the morning mist,)
Akalae Nilkayo Penmaname,
( Are you standing afar, my lady ? )

Chanju Nilkuma Chillayil Nee, Chila Chilambiyo Poonkuyilae
(Perched on the bent bough, O cuckoo, did you sing sweetly ? )
Manchiragile, Marayoliyae Thediyathiyo Poorangal
(Did the festivities come in search of the everlasting flame in the earthern lamp ?)

Swasthi Swasthi Su Muhurtham,
(On this auspicious occasion ... )
Sumungali Bhava, Manavatti
(O Bride, may you be blessed with a long wedded life)

Aaromalae... Aaromalae....
(O Beloved....O Beloved....)

Kadalinae, Karayodiniyum Padan Sneham Undo ?
(Does the sea still possess the love to serenade the shore?)
Mezhukuthurikalayi Urukan Iniyum Pranayam Manasil Undo ?
(Do we still have love, enough to melt away like a candle?)

Aaromalae.. Aaromalaeee.. Aaromalaee
(O Beloved....O Beloved...O Beloved.....O Beloved...)
Aaromalae.. Ohh.. Ho ! - (O Beloved....)

Truli Rndm Joy

I hate forgetting passwords. I hate having to click ‘Forgot password’...a symbol of me admitting defeat.

Most password generators produce a random senseless mix of alphabets and numbers, but there is this one place where the first half are alphabets and the second half are numbers. One of the times I forgot my password here, the password I got started with ‘chrmd’. I was ‘chrmd’ and it remained my favourite password till I forgot the second half. I love forgetting my password here, it feels like hitting a slot machine. You just wait and see what your password will turn out to be. If I am not impressed with the password I hit it till I get something that makes me happy. And I did get something that made me happy – the first half of the password reads ‘aNut’.

Sufi Poetry and translation.

The new MTV Unplugged ads are driving me mad. They are playing ‘Bullah Ki Jaana Mein Kaun’... a song I love love love. And its stuck in my head. So, I gave in today and have been playing the song again and again and again. I wanted to sing along... went lookin for the lyrics and stumbled upon this beeeautiful blog. For those of you have some interest in poetry, you will love this place too. http://sufipoetry.wordpress.com/

I am watching out for ‘The Dewarists’ too. The ads look too interesting. http://thedewarists.com/

To all my friends who are Married or about to be or are hoping to.

I read this article and found it to be nice. May be you might like it too: http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Secrets-to-a-Happy-Relationship-What-Makes-a-Relationship-Work

 

And the married ones are welcome to share what they think about this article.

 

-NEETS

Boys deserve life saving surgeries than girls do(!!!)

I had read this article last week:
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-22/india/30189083_1_heart-surgery-girls-congenital-heart

About how families wouldn't wait too long to have their boys go thru a life saving operation.... That when it comes to girls a lot of things come in the way - What will people say, what will we do about the scar, her 'marketability' as a bride.

I had never thought people would think this way, it never crossed my mind, up till about a month ago. When a very close friend of mine fell ill and needed an operation. No, I did not see this kind of thinking coming from her family, but in fact, it came from one of our friends. (!!!! I know). He said this not once, but twice. The second time was when it was clear that she just had to have the operation immediately and that too a key-hole on the abdomen mostly. That contrast... that despite a clear understanding of the dire need for this operation, the thought still remained his head, " If it was possible it would have been very good if they could avoid this operation and tried some non-invasive way. She is an unmarried girl. Marks might cause a problem." The second time, I lost my mind over the mindlessness of the logic and retorted, "Its mark vs. her life. You just need money and plastic surgery to cover that mark up!". His intent was clearly not to stop the operation, but that thought.. that a woman or her family would have to think twice about what the guy she chooses to live with for the rest of her life has to say or think of a post-operation scar ... a scar she might have needed to be alive to meet him in the future... seems so ... I am not getting the word!

So this line of thought isn't very remote as I would have imagined.

My 5-min GoGreen speech

My friend is in the HR dept at my office. She had wanted to make some Go Green clips to encourage people in our office to participate in the tree planting event. So she came in the afternoon and asked if we would like to help her on the project sometime in the evening. Typical of me... I said yes and again typical of me, I had got lost in work and forgotten about it.

Come evening and my friend pings me to inform that shes coming down to our floor and I realise... oops I forgot. So she comes down with a colleague-turned-camera man and starts rounding up people for the clips. So now I had to come up with something ... and Maatha did... in some 5 minutes... here it is:

Do you believe in the genius in your child?

Do you have faith in his/her talent?

So invest in your child's future.

Plant a tree.

Remember if it there were no apple trees

There would be no apple to bring out the genius in Newton

You never know which tree can do that for your child

Why take the risk? Make an investment for your little one's tomorrow

Plant A TREE

:D

Felt a little nervous... but was fun. Reminded me of college days.

Interesting Wedding invitation

For my friends who are on the road to getting married, here is a link to some wedding photographers and an interesting wedding invitation you might want to take some inspiration from.

For those of us who are not in the process of getting married... just enjoy this couple’s Invitation.

http://cuspconcepts.com/2011/shruthi-and-babu/

SOME MORE: 

Everyone,

Here is friend of mine who responded with another interesting invite.

Check it out!

Thanks Vivek!

-NEETS

From: Vivek
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 6:12 PM
To: Vallyeadath, Nita A
Subject: Re: Interesting Wedding invitation

Here is an interesting wedding invite of my ex-colleague - http://www.gopal-seema.com

Thanks for the share matha :)