Lucas jokingly replied “This is one of the first things I wrote in the very first script. He comes from the planet Stewjon.
via thenextweb.com
A fitting tribute.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Obi-Wan Kenobi's Home Planet Named After Jon Stewart!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Man arrested at Large Hadron Collider claims he's from the future | CNET UK
Mr Cole was taken to a secure mental health facility in Geneva but later disappeared from his cell. Police are baffled, but not that bothered.
via crave.cnet.co.uk
Nobody is bothered?!?!?!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Magic Kingdom: Is Qatar Too Good To Be True? - Global Spin - TIME.com
If there ever were a country that resembled a fairytale kingdom as imagined by Disney, it would be Qatar: A benevolent monarch and his beautiful queen rule over a peaceful populace, untroubled by the revolutions in neighboring lands even as they support those revolutions financially and through the modern-day equivalent of a magic wand: the government backed satellite news channel al Jazeera. They spend the country's wealth on the arts and sciences. They have built not one, but seven temples to education in what was once barren desert. The ever-blooming skyline of the capital Doha reflects a 2010 growth rate of 19 percent and the second highest per-capita GDP in the world. Unlike other insta-cities whose crystalline growth effaces cultural identity, thoughtful architecture negotiates the constant preoccupation of the Arab world: how to be modern without losing identity.
There's a reason i've always loved the place
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Steve Jobs last words: Oh wow! That was a clever way to go...
When Voltaire was on his deathbed, a priest asked him to renounce the Devil. He replied: ‘This is no time for making new enemies.’ And then, with perfect timing, he died. But, with such a good witticism under his belt, what if he had struggled on for another few days? The same goes for Oscar Wilde, who is always meant to have looked at the vulgar curtains of his cheap hotel, and then to have said: ‘Either those curtains go or I do,’ before dying.
via dailymail.co.uk
some of the smartest people in the indeed!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Making Friends in Mumbai | Mumbai Boss
Hothouse friends, he called them. Like exotic flowers suddenly in full bloom, there’s no telling how long they’ll last. And the hothouse was Zenzi. This was six years ago, and I’d come to the city more or less alone. For people like me, it was a living room. You’d expect to see everybody you knew; anyone you didn’t know, well, you’d know soon enough.
That kind of awkward, desperate manoeuvre, the flurry of uninvited text messages, felt somehow beneath me. Shouldn’t friends just, y’know, happen? Develop organically, like in a garden? And, wait a sec—didn’t these people already have a life? Their own friends, family? Where were they all week?
via mumbaiboss.com
Love the other parts of the write up too. Also love how the article doesnt really try to achieve anything or really make a point. Its just thoughts.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
How to Read More: A Lover’s Guide :zenhabits
1. Don’t read because you should — read for joy. Find books about exciting stories, about people who fascinate you, about new worlds that you’d love to visit. Forget the classics, unless they fit this prescription.
2. Carve out the time. We have no time to read anymore, mostly because we work too much, we overschedule our time, we’re on the Internet all the time (which does have some good reading, but can also suck our attention endlessly), and we watch too much TV. Pick a time, and make it your reading time. Start with just 10 minutes if it’s hard to find time — even 10 minutes is lovely. Try 20 or 30 if you can drop a couple things from your schedule.
3. Do nothing but read. Clear all distractions. Find a quiet, peaceful space. It’s just your book, and you. Notice but let go of the urges to do other things instead of read. If you must do something else, have some tea.
4. Love the hell out of it. You’re not doing this to better yourself. You’re doing it for joy. Reading is magic, and the magic will change everything else in your life. Love the experience, and you’ll look forward to it daily.
5. Make it social. Find friends who love to read, or find them online. There’s a world of readers on the Internet, and they’d be happy to make recommendations and talk about the books you’re all reading. Try a book club as well. Reading is solitary, but is also a social act.
6. Make it a habit. Pick a trigger in your daily routine, and consistently read exactly after that trigger each day. Even if it’s just for 5-10 minutes. The more consistent you are, and the longer you keep the streak going, the stronger the habit will become.
7. Don’t make it a chore. Don’t make it something on your todo list or schedule that you have to check off. It’s not part of your self-improvement plan. It’s a part of your Make Life More Awesome Plan.
8. Give up on a book if it’s boring. Reading isn’t something you do because it’s good for you — it’s not like taking your vitamins. You’re reading because it’s fun. So if a book isn’t fun, dump it. Give it a try for at least a chapter, but if you still don’t love it, move on.
9. Discover amazing books. I talk to other people who are passionate about books, and I’ll read reviews, or just explore an old-fashioned bookstore. Supporting your local bookstores is a great thing, and it’s incredibly fun. Libraries are also amazing places that are underused — get a card today.
10. Don’t worry about speed. Speed reading is fine for some, but slow reading is great too. The number of books, and the rate of reading them, matters not a whit. It’s not a competition. You’re reading to enjoy the books, so take your time. It’s like enjoying good food, or good sex: better savored, not rushed.
via zenhabits.net
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Artificial rain project in Horn of Africa (sponsored by Qatar)
In Qatar, ORA has also proven effective bringing four gigalitres of rain in Ramadan last year, equal to the volume of water supplied in the country for 10 days. And as a follow-up, they again delivered 35 gigalitres of rain in the country.
Oh Kay!!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Squibble (from @gitangalic 's blog)
I have forgotten what it feels like to finish a book.
The physical turning of a page, or the filling up of that electronic status bar. It’s all the same to me, really. At this point I just want to pick up something and read it from start to finish and I just can’t seem to do that any more.
I’ve never had to beg anybody to lay my hands on something interesting to read, I’ve been lucky that way. I remember how I felt while reading (and watching) Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda’ – her dad ripping that book to shreds, I could feel my own eyes tearing up. Anyway, the point is there has ALWAYS been something to read , and it’s very rare for me to leave the house without a book in my bag.
But that’s the problem. I’ve become so superficial, floating from one book to another. Disrespectful, I want to cringe with embarrassment, but it’s the truth. At the back of my mind, I know there’s no time limit, no ‘form of the book’ limitation either. Earlier, I would carry only one book with me pretty much everywhere I went. This meant I had no choice but to read that one, single book when I had the chance. If it was a library book (oh, those Mills & Boons!) I would try to not take them out of the house for fearing of losing them. So I’d end up rushing home after school or college, waiting for the moment when I could delve back into it. Now, I rarely go to libraries anymore because I hardly read physical books.
If I could, I would steal the articulating ability from her. Very few people I know can actually do this - no big words, no (in)famous long sentences, just pure thought, that flows.
I do disagree on the point that ebooks are wonderful though. Where's the fun without differences in opinion?
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Things you're proud of
Download it from Adobe. </div></div>
via youtube.com
but don't want to show them off cuz the way they were depicted
Thank you for bringing this to my attention Arunima Bera
Sunday, July 10, 2011
It was all lies, says Qatar 2022 'whistleblower' (via @MbinH)
Upset at being sacked, Almajid later fabricated what she now admits were lies about the bid having offered bribes to FIFA executive committee members Issa Hayatou, Jacques Anouma and Amos Adamu and that it had been considering financial support for the Argentinian federation led by Julio Grondona, FIFA’s senior vice-president.
Go Qatar
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Obama Jokes About Birth Certificate Controversy (via @florentdsouza)
via youtube.com
Certainly an improvement over the last one!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
World's last typewriter factory 'shuts down' in Mumbai - Yahoo! News
London, April 26 (ANI): Godrej and Boyce - the last company left in the world that was still manufacturing typewriters - has closed its production plant in Mumbai, India.
The company is now left with its last 200 machines - the majority of which are Arabic language models.
Although typewriters became obsolete years ago in the west, they were still common in India - until recently.
But with consumers switching to computers the demand for the machines started falling drastically in the last ten years.
"We are not getting many orders now," The Daily Mail quoted the company's general manager, Milind Dukle, as telling India's Business Standard newspaper.
"From the early 2000s onwards, computers started dominating. All the manufacturers of office typewriters stopped production, except us.
"Till 2009, we used to produce 10,000 to 12,000 machines a year. But this might be the last chance for typewriter lovers. Now, our primary market is among the defence agencies, courts and government offices," he said.
The firm began production in the 1950s. (ANI)
BOO :(
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song [Official Video] (via Swapnil Joshi)
Download it from Adobe. </div></div>
via youtube.com
Finally a good song that deserves to be stuck in the head
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Shahid Afridi on rivalry with India - RESPECT!
Download it from Adobe. </div> </div>
via youtube.com
Afridi inspires and commands respect for the second time this week, first being his post match presentation comment.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
How Did You Discover Your Ideal Career?
When you don't have a job in IT, working at a help desk sounds good. Until you have to deal with end users all day. Or get to support users on alpha-level software someone like the CEO decided must be deployed before it was ready.When you work at a help desk, working in data center operations sounds good. Until you have to work 3rd shift for 3 yrs as projects are deployed and be on call the other 24 hrs in a day.
When you work in IT operations, being a DBA sounds good. Until you have to deal with databases designed by college coders who've never heard of database design and have huge DB corruption issues due to poor coding. These issues go on month after month and your DBs are constantly going down and require selective restores using crappy tools.
When you are a DBA, being a coder sounds good. Until you are provided deadlines that have nothing to do with the amount of effort or time to actually complete a class or program. You are always 3 months behind on projects due to poor planning or decisions made by others, like marketing.
When you are in Operations, a DBA, or a coder then being a technical architect sounds good. For the most part it is, until a project you designed turns into a huge failure and you are fired (so I hear). It doesn't matter that 3 of the 10 vendors lied about capabilities. You get the blame. Or worse, you are constantly designing, but nobody ever gets enough budget to deploy these designs.
When you've been fired from an IT Arch role, being an IT project manager sounds good. Hopefully by the time you get here, you've learned from all the mistakes made at help desks, operations, DBAs, coders, and technical architects and you can properly budget and schedule IT projects. Then again, most IT project managers seem to skip half these preliminary jobs.
After you've done most of these, then you either become a CIO or get fed up working for someone else and you start your own company. Then you are the boss, but not really. Now you are a consultant, being lead around by a 2 yr experienced IT project manager trying to make a name for themselves by squeezing budget from your contract and blaming your company for any shortcuts they demanded to keep costs lower or other things they did wrong. "You didn't tell me that" is constant emergency text message at 3am.
The grass is always greener ... there are days when I wish I were loading semi-trucks with boxes of PVC pipe fittings again. Perhaps I'll start a landscaping business. Based on the amount those folks charge, I think I'd have greater satisfaction seeing the grass all cut to the same level.
via lifehacker.com
I love how TheFu takes you through a complete IT life-cycle, all so not-as-a-matter-of-fact ly
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Most Aggressive Defense Of Teachers You’ll Hear This Year
via front.moveon.org
Seen this all over the place today....
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Date a girl who reads.
"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes."
Dont remember why I did not mention this the first time I came across this a couple weeks back....but here it is again, after I landed on the page once again.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
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