Re: [silk] bangalore public transport

2008-02-08 Thread Vinayak Hegde
On Feb 9, 2008 10:26 AM, va <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Another nice thing, the front seats are for women (even BEST has 6
> seats for women) only, which ensures i dont have to argue or use any
> kata's on men who think its fine to accidentally brush against or feel
> up or fall (by mistake of course) on you each time the driver brakes.
> Buses here are well networked (if i can remember all 999AtoZ
> extensions)

Well one of my grouses with the Bus ssystem is all the boards are
in Kannada. Why not have them in dual languages such as Hindi / English.
BEST does this well.

> I dont particularly care much for elitist snobs anywhere, which even
> if plentiful are free to live in their ivory towers. I miss vada-pav,
> bhel, panipuri and every street-junk food in Bombay but definitely
> dont miss the maddeningly crazy crowds nor the heat, pollution and
> dust (which is the story in many major Indian metros today).

I miss street-food as well. There used to a place near V V puram which
was similar to the Khau-galli (Food Lanes in Marathi) in Mumbai. But it
has depleted thanks to high-handedness of the Bangalore police.

-- Vinayak



Re: [silk] bangalore public transport - was Re: another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Vinayak Hegde
On Feb 9, 2008 12:31 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Nice rant, Vinayak! :-)
>
> But I completely disagree with the take on the public transport.

Then we agree to disagree. I was obviously exaggerating a little :-)
But public transport in Bangalore works only if you have loads of
time. Still not as good as some of the other cities I have been to.
But it has improved a lot over the last couple of years. Especially,
the Red Volvo buses are a welcome change but Bangalore was one
of the later cities to adopt them Mumbai and Hyderabad already
had them more than 5 years back.

> Bangalore bus system has good connections, reasonable frequencies,
> laid back population, chatty passngers etc etc.  I am very happy with
> this as a constant user of the system. I was 'working' in the s/w
> arena till about an year back and for most of the last year of my
> career, I used busses extensively. I did not miss even ONE meeting
> (how could one ever miss one), nor did I waste too much time on
> commute. I realized that, with not having to drive to work or
> wherever,  the mind is free of the 'where do I get to park' and 'what
> if that horrendous sedan bumps into my honda civic while pulling out'
> kind of traumatic ;-) problems, the moment you outsource your worries
> to some other III party.
>
> It merely requires some planning - which could be painful to start
> with but becomes easy in a week or so.

I do not think that the connections are good enough. Reasonable frequencies
depends on route. Like buses to Koramangala from Majestic are fairly frequent.
But my experience with other routes was not very good. Especially the east
and west of Bangalore. North and south seem to be very well connected to
the centre.

> Also, the bus journeys have the following advantages operating at
> various levels:
>
> 1. In the heart of the city, as there is no byepass or pacemaker, the
> traffic crawls and a bus is better or equal to any other vehicle.
> 2. The level of the bus is higher - therefore there is less pollution
> (to you, that is).
> 3. You can take a paperback and stat reading it, while listening to
> popular and attrotious film music
> 4. You can hallucinate that you are polluting less.
> 5  You can also selfrighteously assume that you are experiencing the
> *real* india.
> 6. 
>
> Suggestions:
>
> 1. Take up your acco very near the office (in Bangalore there are
> residential tenements  or the new fangled 'serviced apartments'
> available in practially all loations) in which case you may not need
> to commute much by vehicles at all.

This is not exactly a pro for the public transportation.

> 2. The smaller roads in Bangalore are fun to walk. If you dont stick
> to the main roads, then the life is easy. Arm yourself with an Eicher
> roadmap which is nicely updated and usefully granular. Even a bicycle
> is not a bad idea at all.(and while leaving India, donate it to me)

Yeah it is still possible to use the bicycle on some of the smaller roads
in Bangalore. You are good if you keep off the main roads.

> 3. If you want to use the bus system - always buy a Rs. 30/- (around
> 75 cents) wholeday pass - you can hop in and out of as many buses and
> as many times as possible. In this case you dont have to haggle for
> coin change. If you know your destination, you can very easily packet
> switch. Please note that it is okay to hop in and out of buses at
> traffic signals, wherever. I think probably this could be some
> solution like an unconcscious ant colony optimization problem. :-)
> Doing a constant trace routing during travel by asking the fellow
> travellers is an useful idea. While hopping etc, don't be too bothered
> by your TTL. ;-)

Yeah this is a big plus, which I use frequently.

> 4. Even with the Autos - if one does the groundwork (a couple of
> enquiries with your office colleagues, Eicher map, Rs. 7/- per
> kilometre, etc) this is not a problem at all. One piece of suggestion
> is that, it is better to approach a lone auto or wave it down rather
> to go an auto stand with n autos.

You get fleeced either ways. But if you stand your ground and pay them
the right fare, most of the auto drivers relent. For comparison, the Auto fare
in Mumbai is still 10 bucks minimum, Bangalore is 14 bucks. Also I found
that 8 out of 10 meters are rigged.
Tip: Hire the auto with the digital display. I have found that most of them
are accurate.

> 5. If you want to anyway use the cars etc - you can go to the office
> at 5/6 AM or so and get back home/hole by 2/3 PM - nicely avoiding or
> rather outbeating the traffic - and having the rest of the day to
> yourself, silk, whatever. I have used this technique when a client
> (from US) was visiting us a few years back; forced both the client and
> the team to come in early - no long and useless lunch sessions at
> distant hotels etc. Actually this tactic was very useful and
> productive.

Yeah This works well generally.

> I always feel that, if all the guys who whi

Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread va
On Feb 8, 2008 5:39 PM, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I crochet, and knit...mostly knitting these days.  I've done
> cross-stitch in the past, but not since I was a teenager.  No tatting
> (yet?).  I also sew, though not nearly as often as I used to.  Remember
> what I said in my intro about too many hobbies?

same here :) stopped knitting after making socks for 2 left feet,
sized for an elephant.

> A brief proof-of-concept test showed that I can embroider some seed
> pearls onto a piece of silk in a serviceable manner...and thus an
> elaborate bodice for a wedding dress will be born.

ah... indian embroidery is a wee bit different, too jazzy and
colourful is what i have been told. You will see it all when you land
here :)


> I get some of my best knitting done on airplanes, but sometimes they
> don't like to let you onto the plane with knitting needles.  I imagine
> they'll be more laid back about an embroidery needle.

Hmpf people get into trouble for carrying a clear bottle of
H2O...knitting needleson board? are you kidding me :-P


> How about you?

crochet, sew (less now), embroidery (to spice that boring kurta), and
anything that catches my fancy in between.

-- 
|| vid ||



Re: [silk] bangalore public transport

2008-02-08 Thread va
On Feb 8, 2008 7:01 PM, Ramjee Swaminathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On 2/8/08, Vinayak Hegde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Nice rant, Vinayak! :-)
>
> But I completely disagree with the take on the public transport.

I too use the bus network a lot (especially when i get frustrated
after asking atleast two dozen autos, who never ever want to go where
I want to go) and because of the cost factor. Imagine paying just 30
bucks (<$1) and travelling all over the city all day. Inconvenient and
time-consuming BUT most importantly I dont have to worry about getting
mugged or assaulted on lonely deserted roads and definitely no
haggling over the direction or intent of the driver. Auto drivers
fleece anyone and everyone and women are the easiest targets,
especially if the roads are a maze. Drunken drivers, going around in
circles, taking deserted roads is something I find stressful, so
prefer the safety in numbers.

Another nice thing, the front seats are for women (even BEST has 6
seats for women) only, which ensures i dont have to argue or use any
kata's on men who think its fine to accidentally brush against or feel
up or fall (by mistake of course) on you each time the driver brakes.
Buses here are well networked (if i can remember all 999AtoZ
extensions) ... although much lower cleanliness standards than BEST
which coupled with the Rail system, few other Indian cities can match
'that' nice a public transport system :)  BUT I cant ever imagine a
BEST driver waiting for the passenger to board/alight the bus
perpetual motion, always. Here, the drivers stop the bus when women
flag it down and they have the patience and courtesy to wait for her
to board/alight. That care never ceases to amaze me and makes me
smile.

Roads-- Much much cleaner and wider than Bombay will ever be. The rash
driving (been a pedestrian victim), pollution, crazy traffic with no
respect for rules and speeding is something I am learning to trade-off
with pedestrian walk-a-ways,  parks (atleast one/km), nice weather,
pockets of convenience (read hospitals, markets, school,
entertainment, etc..) a slower life in short.

I dont particularly care much for elitist snobs anywhere, which even
if plentiful are free to live in their ivory towers. I miss vada-pav,
bhel, panipuri and every street-junk food in Bombay but definitely
dont miss the maddeningly crazy crowds nor the heat, pollution and
dust (which is the story in many major Indian metros today).

If the freedom women in Bombay enjoy to travel anywhere ALONE at any
time of the day or night by public transport existed here, it would be
heaven.

-- 
|| vid ||



Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Ingrid
On 09/02/2008, Abhijit Menon-Sen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> If chini is Chinese, is misri Egyptian?
>
> -- ams
>
>
... and shakhar, chakkarai etc. indo-aryan, sharing a root with zucker,
sugar?


Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Suresh Ramasubramanian

Linda L. Julien [08/02/08 11:01 -0500]:
Thanks.  You've got to love those India (American-Indian, not India-Indian) 
words...place names around here are full of them.  Even the locals tend to 
abbreviate the state name in writing and speech as "Mass."  Where I grew 
up, in central Mass., learning to pronounce "Lake 
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" was a rite of passage. 
Attempting to spell it is not for the faint of heart.  :-)


Algonquin words certainly make great sounding place names, yes



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Suresh Ramasubramanian

Linda L. Julien [08/02/08 08:43 -0500]:
I work for Akamai Technologies in the US, and it looks like they'll be 
sending me to our Bangalore office within the next month or two, for 3-4 


Great. If you know John Payne or Patrick Gilmore say hi to them from me
And welcome to silklist

srs




Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Abhijit Menon-Sen
At 2008-02-08 08:11:07 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> misri or chini - white crystalline sugar

If chini is Chinese, is misri Egyptian?

-- ams



Re: [silk] bangalore public transport - was Re: another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Udhay Shankar N

Radhika, Y. wrote: [ on 01:03 AM 2/9/2008 ]


The only time i
didn't like the bus system was when i was sandwiched within a foot of a bus
on either side standing on the median in MG Road.


In Madras, I've once been "driven" - while riding a motorcycle - 
almost a hundred yards or so while having the handlebar firmly stuck 
*between* two autorickshaws. Fairly harrowing experience, though it 
predates today's traffic woes - happened while I was attending the 
IIT Madras festival in 1990.


Udhay

--
((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))




Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Hassath
On Feb 8, 2008 11:26 PM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
> I also thought of  "gulkhand" which seems to be a popular sweet in
> many parts of India. Was this of Mughal, or Indian origin? I never
> liked it, and could not understand my grandmother's need to dunk rose
> petals in sugar syrup!...

It's gul*kand*, not gulkhand. I suspect it's of Mughal origin, because
of 'gul' - which means flower or rose, I think, in Arabic.
And yes, Deepa, even I never liked it- notwithstanding childhood
memories of nice neighbours offering it to us. :-)
-- 
- Hassath



Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Hassath
On Feb 8, 2008 9:41 PM, Ramjee Swaminathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> misri or chini - white crystalline sugar
>
> It would be of interest to note that, of all the above products, misri
> or white crystalline sugar is a very late entrant to the scene of
> Indian cuisine in a major way and has quickly become predominant.

In UP and Delhi, I believe misri refers not to the everyday small
crystalline sugar, but the bigger chunks. And in some parts of Kerala,
I've heard the same thing referred to as 'kalkandam'.

Chini is the white crystalline sugar which is now predominant.

Or does someone know it differently?

-- 
- Hassath



Re: [silk] bangalore public transport - was Re: another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Radhika, Y.
I love the bangalore bus system. When i traveled everyday for 6 months in
2004 from Padmanabha Nagar to Indra Nagar and took the bus, i felt cleaner,
safer and more well-read to boot(reading books or people's faces-either way
there is a whole new world to be explored). And it was fantastic seeing the
little children flutter their schoolbags and ribbons strike up a cacophony
like wailing birds when the crowd wouldn't let the kids get off in time. No
schadenfraude here mind you, just fascination with all the systems of
communication at playI also like meeting people who are not working at
my work place or doing anything that I can understand or pretend to
understand-in fact, it makes me conscious of the alternate realities i can
never have and they become more mysterious and intereto me. The only time i
didn't like the bus system was when i was sandwiched within a foot of a bus
on either side standing on the median in MG Road.

On Feb 8, 2008 11:08 AM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Ramjee...that was an excellent treatise on how to use the Bangalore
> bus system, thank you. I too have been using buses almost exclusively
> (green decision!) and though I disagree with you on the time
> taken...it took me 2 hours to go from my home to Vidhan SoudhaI do
> agree that the bus services have improved a lot lately. But then, I
> don't travel at peak times, either.
>
> And I am still laughing! Why would you want a rickety jeep at the end,
> when you will have Linda's cycle?
>
> Deepa.
>
> On Feb 9, 2008 12:31 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan
>  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > On 2/8/08, Vinayak Hegde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >On 2/8/08, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > 
> > >> How's the public transportation in Bangalore?
> > 
> >  >
> > 
> > > Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in Bangalore.
> (unless your
> > > starting point or destination is Majestic). The traffic problem is
> > > horrendous as
> > > everyone wants to drive their own vehicle. Driving in Bangalore is
> algorithmic.
> > >
> > 
> >
> > Nice rant, Vinayak! :-)
> >
> > But I completely disagree with the take on the public transport.
> >
> > But my opinion is that (there have been a few legit exceptions) the
> > 'public' transport system as defined ONLY by the bus system itself is
> > very good in Bangalore. I am not comparing it to chennai or Mumbai.
> > IMO, Coimbatore has the BEST bus system that I know of - with
> > surprisingly polite and friendly staff, apart from coverage,
> > punctuality and stuff.
> >
> > Bangalore bus system has good connections, reasonable frequencies,
> > laid back population, chatty passngers etc etc.  I am very happy with
> > this as a constant user of the system. I was 'working' in the s/w
> > arena till about an year back and for most of the last year of my
> > career, I used busses extensively. I did not miss even ONE meeting
> > (how could one ever miss one), nor did I waste too much time on
> > commute. I realized that, with not having to drive to work or
> > wherever,  the mind is free of the 'where do I get to park' and 'what
> > if that horrendous sedan bumps into my honda civic while pulling out'
> > kind of traumatic ;-) problems, the moment you outsource your worries
> > to some other III party.
> >
> > It merely requires some planning - which could be painful to start
> > with but becomes easy in a week or so.
> >
> > Also, the bus journeys have the following advantages operating at
> > various levels:
> >
> > 1. In the heart of the city, as there is no byepass or pacemaker, the
> > traffic crawls and a bus is better or equal to any other vehicle.
> > 2. The level of the bus is higher - therefore there is less pollution
> > (to you, that is).
> > 3. You can take a paperback and stat reading it, while listening to
> > popular and attrotious film music
> > 4. You can hallucinate that you are polluting less.
> > 5  You can also selfrighteously assume that you are experiencing the
> > *real* india.
> > 6. 
> >
> > Suggestions:
> >
> > 1. Take up your acco very near the office (in Bangalore there are
> > residential tenements  or the new fangled 'serviced apartments'
> > available in practially all loations) in which case you may not need
> > to commute much by vehicles at all.
> > 2. The smaller roads in Bangalore are fun to walk. If you dont stick
> > to the main roads, then the life is easy. Arm yourself with an Eicher
> > roadmap which is nicely updated and usefully granular. Even a bicycle
> > is not a bad idea at all.(and while leaving India, donate it to me)
> > 3. If you want to use the bus system - always buy a Rs. 30/- (around
> > 75 cents) wholeday pass - you can hop in and out of as many buses and
> > as many times as possible. In this case you dont have to haggle for
> > coin change. If you know your destination, you can very easily packet
> > switch. Please note that it is okay to hop in and out of buses at
> > traffic signals, wherever. I think probably this 

Re: [silk] bangalore public transport - was Re: another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
Ramjee...that was an excellent treatise on how to use the Bangalore
bus system, thank you. I too have been using buses almost exclusively
(green decision!) and though I disagree with you on the time
taken...it took me 2 hours to go from my home to Vidhan SoudhaI do
agree that the bus services have improved a lot lately. But then, I
don't travel at peak times, either.

And I am still laughing! Why would you want a rickety jeep at the end,
when you will have Linda's cycle?

Deepa.

On Feb 9, 2008 12:31 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On 2/8/08, Vinayak Hegde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >On 2/8/08, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> >> How's the public transportation in Bangalore?
> 
>  >
> 
> > Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in Bangalore. (unless your
> > starting point or destination is Majestic). The traffic problem is
> > horrendous as
> > everyone wants to drive their own vehicle. Driving in Bangalore is 
> > algorithmic.
> >
> 
>
> Nice rant, Vinayak! :-)
>
> But I completely disagree with the take on the public transport.
>
> But my opinion is that (there have been a few legit exceptions) the
> 'public' transport system as defined ONLY by the bus system itself is
> very good in Bangalore. I am not comparing it to chennai or Mumbai.
> IMO, Coimbatore has the BEST bus system that I know of - with
> surprisingly polite and friendly staff, apart from coverage,
> punctuality and stuff.
>
> Bangalore bus system has good connections, reasonable frequencies,
> laid back population, chatty passngers etc etc.  I am very happy with
> this as a constant user of the system. I was 'working' in the s/w
> arena till about an year back and for most of the last year of my
> career, I used busses extensively. I did not miss even ONE meeting
> (how could one ever miss one), nor did I waste too much time on
> commute. I realized that, with not having to drive to work or
> wherever,  the mind is free of the 'where do I get to park' and 'what
> if that horrendous sedan bumps into my honda civic while pulling out'
> kind of traumatic ;-) problems, the moment you outsource your worries
> to some other III party.
>
> It merely requires some planning - which could be painful to start
> with but becomes easy in a week or so.
>
> Also, the bus journeys have the following advantages operating at
> various levels:
>
> 1. In the heart of the city, as there is no byepass or pacemaker, the
> traffic crawls and a bus is better or equal to any other vehicle.
> 2. The level of the bus is higher - therefore there is less pollution
> (to you, that is).
> 3. You can take a paperback and stat reading it, while listening to
> popular and attrotious film music
> 4. You can hallucinate that you are polluting less.
> 5  You can also selfrighteously assume that you are experiencing the
> *real* india.
> 6. 
>
> Suggestions:
>
> 1. Take up your acco very near the office (in Bangalore there are
> residential tenements  or the new fangled 'serviced apartments'
> available in practially all loations) in which case you may not need
> to commute much by vehicles at all.
> 2. The smaller roads in Bangalore are fun to walk. If you dont stick
> to the main roads, then the life is easy. Arm yourself with an Eicher
> roadmap which is nicely updated and usefully granular. Even a bicycle
> is not a bad idea at all.(and while leaving India, donate it to me)
> 3. If you want to use the bus system - always buy a Rs. 30/- (around
> 75 cents) wholeday pass - you can hop in and out of as many buses and
> as many times as possible. In this case you dont have to haggle for
> coin change. If you know your destination, you can very easily packet
> switch. Please note that it is okay to hop in and out of buses at
> traffic signals, wherever. I think probably this could be some
> solution like an unconcscious ant colony optimization problem. :-)
> Doing a constant trace routing during travel by asking the fellow
> travellers is an useful idea. While hopping etc, don't be too bothered
> by your TTL. ;-)
> 4. Even with the Autos - if one does the groundwork (a couple of
> enquiries with your office colleagues, Eicher map, Rs. 7/- per
> kilometre, etc) this is not a problem at all. One piece of suggestion
> is that, it is better to approach a lone auto or wave it down rather
> to go an auto stand with n autos.
> 5. If you want to anyway use the cars etc - you can go to the office
> at 5/6 AM or so and get back home/hole by 2/3 PM - nicely avoiding or
> rather outbeating the traffic - and having the rest of the day to
> yourself, silk, whatever. I have used this technique when a client
> (from US) was visiting us a few years back; forced both the client and
> the team to come in early - no long and useless lunch sessions at
> distant hotels etc. Actually this tactic was very useful and
> productive.
>
> I always feel that, if all the guys who whine incessantly about bad
> traffic conditions (of course the roads are cong

[silk] bangalore public transport - was Re: another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Ramjee Swaminathan
On 2/8/08, Vinayak Hegde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>On 2/8/08, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>> How's the public transportation in Bangalore?

 >

> Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in Bangalore. (unless your
> starting point or destination is Majestic). The traffic problem is
> horrendous as
> everyone wants to drive their own vehicle. Driving in Bangalore is 
> algorithmic.
>


Nice rant, Vinayak! :-)

But I completely disagree with the take on the public transport.

But my opinion is that (there have been a few legit exceptions) the
'public' transport system as defined ONLY by the bus system itself is
very good in Bangalore. I am not comparing it to chennai or Mumbai.
IMO, Coimbatore has the BEST bus system that I know of - with
surprisingly polite and friendly staff, apart from coverage,
punctuality and stuff.

Bangalore bus system has good connections, reasonable frequencies,
laid back population, chatty passngers etc etc.  I am very happy with
this as a constant user of the system. I was 'working' in the s/w
arena till about an year back and for most of the last year of my
career, I used busses extensively. I did not miss even ONE meeting
(how could one ever miss one), nor did I waste too much time on
commute. I realized that, with not having to drive to work or
wherever,  the mind is free of the 'where do I get to park' and 'what
if that horrendous sedan bumps into my honda civic while pulling out'
kind of traumatic ;-) problems, the moment you outsource your worries
to some other III party.

It merely requires some planning - which could be painful to start
with but becomes easy in a week or so.

Also, the bus journeys have the following advantages operating at
various levels:

1. In the heart of the city, as there is no byepass or pacemaker, the
traffic crawls and a bus is better or equal to any other vehicle.
2. The level of the bus is higher - therefore there is less pollution
(to you, that is).
3. You can take a paperback and stat reading it, while listening to
popular and attrotious film music
4. You can hallucinate that you are polluting less.
5  You can also selfrighteously assume that you are experiencing the
*real* india.
6. 

Suggestions:

1. Take up your acco very near the office (in Bangalore there are
residential tenements  or the new fangled 'serviced apartments'
available in practially all loations) in which case you may not need
to commute much by vehicles at all.
2. The smaller roads in Bangalore are fun to walk. If you dont stick
to the main roads, then the life is easy. Arm yourself with an Eicher
roadmap which is nicely updated and usefully granular. Even a bicycle
is not a bad idea at all.(and while leaving India, donate it to me)
3. If you want to use the bus system - always buy a Rs. 30/- (around
75 cents) wholeday pass - you can hop in and out of as many buses and
as many times as possible. In this case you dont have to haggle for
coin change. If you know your destination, you can very easily packet
switch. Please note that it is okay to hop in and out of buses at
traffic signals, wherever. I think probably this could be some
solution like an unconcscious ant colony optimization problem. :-)
Doing a constant trace routing during travel by asking the fellow
travellers is an useful idea. While hopping etc, don't be too bothered
by your TTL. ;-)
4. Even with the Autos - if one does the groundwork (a couple of
enquiries with your office colleagues, Eicher map, Rs. 7/- per
kilometre, etc) this is not a problem at all. One piece of suggestion
is that, it is better to approach a lone auto or wave it down rather
to go an auto stand with n autos.
5. If you want to anyway use the cars etc - you can go to the office
at 5/6 AM or so and get back home/hole by 2/3 PM - nicely avoiding or
rather outbeating the traffic - and having the rest of the day to
yourself, silk, whatever. I have used this technique when a client
(from US) was visiting us a few years back; forced both the client and
the team to come in early - no long and useless lunch sessions at
distant hotels etc. Actually this tactic was very useful and
productive.

I always feel that, if all the guys who whine incessantly about bad
traffic conditions (of course the roads are congested, but why? It is
because of all those other big and bigger cars, all those other jokers
who drive with one or two occupants at best per car, other clowns who
dont do their town planning, other nincompoops who want to bend all
the rules because they have to atttend some goddam meetings, other
gluttons who want to drive to the other part of the ciry for extended
lunch sessions at the expense of productivity etc etc) started using
the bangalore bus services, then this city would be a far better
place.

Note: And after all these whiney folks switch to buses, I plan to
royally drive my rickety jeep all over the city congratulating myself
on the consummate devilishness of my plan. buwahahahaha!

Linda, welcome to India and 

Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Linda L. Julien

Deepa Mohan wrote:

Ha...don't be too sure about that. The last time at JFK, they let my
little swiss army knife through in my handbag, where I had forgotten
it was...and they threw out all mysafety pins. The ones I had on,
pinning up my scarf, went right through...I was trying to figure out
how to terrorize the pilots and crew with both of them!


Our tax dollars at work...or something.  You hear these kinds of stories 
all the time.


Last I knew, they were even allowing small pairs of scissors on flights 
originating in the US, but someone told me recently about having such 
things confiscated, so who knows?  I always bring a pair of nail 
clippers just in case.


I've been pondering the idea of wearing my hair in a bun and using my 
knitting needles as hairsticks.  I suspect that storing them with pens & 
pencils would do the trick, too.


It's a crazy, crazy world these days.

Linda



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
get some of my best knitting done on airplanes, but sometimes they
don't like to let you onto the plane with knitting needles.  I imagine
they'll be more laid back about an embroidery needle.



Linda


Ha...don't be too sure about that. The last time at JFK, they let my
little swiss army knife through in my handbag, where I had forgotten
it was...and they threw out all mysafety pins. The ones I had on,
pinning up my scarf, went right through...I was trying to figure out
how to terrorize the pilots and crew with both of them!


Deepa.

On Feb 8, 2008 11:15 PM, Dave Kumar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On 2/8/08, Gautam John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > On Feb 8, 2008 11:06 PM, Dave Kumar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > at a law school there a couple of years ago
> >
> > Oh? When was that? I graduated in '02, assuming it's NLS you are
> > referring to. What did you teach?
> >
> > Yup, I taught at NLS in 2004-05, taught Telecommunications Law and Policy
> (which is what I do in DC) one term and Competition Law the next, both 5th
> year seminars.
>
> (Probably best to continue the conversation off-list.)
>



Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
On Feb 8, 2008 10:53 PM, Ramjee Swaminathan
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Yes, :-) And nice to note the 'Telegu' as opposed to Telugu. :-))
>
> Actually it was something like:  "stones the colour of frankincense,
> sweeter than figs or honey" [1] - referring to Khand; this was in
> 326BC. Arthatshasthra of the same time also refers to the whole gamut
> of products of sugarcane.

I also thought of  "gulkhand" which seems to be a popular sweet in
many parts of India. Was this of Mughal, or Indian origin? I never
liked it, and could not understand my grandmother's need to dunk rose
petals in sugar syrup!...

And "khand" as in "piece"..." khandam", I think, also denotes "region"
in Sanskrit and its derviatives,as in "Bundelkhand"and so on.

Words are just amazing, the way they lead you into further drifts!

Deepa.
>
> [1] JB Hutchinson (ed), Diversity and Change in the Indian
> Subcontinent, Cambridge University Press, 1974.
>
> __r.
>
> On 2/8/08, Radhika, Y. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > in Telegu, it is Panchadara and chakkira. my understanding is that there is
> > a greek account in Alexander's time that refers to the sugarcane
> > as producing "honey without bees".
> >
> > On Feb 8, 2008 8:35 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > wrote:
> 
>
>



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Dave Kumar
On 2/8/08, Gautam John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On Feb 8, 2008 11:06 PM, Dave Kumar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > at a law school there a couple of years ago
>
> Oh? When was that? I graduated in '02, assuming it's NLS you are
> referring to. What did you teach?
>
> Yup, I taught at NLS in 2004-05, taught Telecommunications Law and Policy
(which is what I do in DC) one term and Competition Law the next, both 5th
year seminars.

(Probably best to continue the conversation off-list.)


Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Gautam John
On Feb 8, 2008 11:06 PM, Dave Kumar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> at a law school there a couple of years ago

Oh? When was that? I graduated in '02, assuming it's NLS you are
referring to. What did you teach?



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Linda L. Julien

va wrote:

working on the embroidery that I wanted to do for my wedding dress anyway.


do you crochet ? or cross-stitch ? or tatting ?


I crochet, and knit...mostly knitting these days.  I've done 
cross-stitch in the past, but not since I was a teenager.  No tatting 
(yet?).  I also sew, though not nearly as often as I used to.  Remember 
what I said in my intro about too many hobbies?


A brief proof-of-concept test showed that I can embroider some seed 
pearls onto a piece of silk in a serviceable manner...and thus an 
elaborate bodice for a wedding dress will be born.


I get some of my best knitting done on airplanes, but sometimes they 
don't like to let you onto the plane with knitting needles.  I imagine 
they'll be more laid back about an embroidery needle.


How about you?

Linda



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Dave Kumar
On 2/8/08, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.
>
> Linda
>
> As a former resident of both Bangalore (middle school, high school, taught
at a law school there a couple of years ago, parents still live there) and
Somerville (while in law school at that other university up Mass Ave from
MIT), welcome to the list! I hope you enjoy your time in Bangalore.

DK


Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Vinayak Hegde
On Feb 8, 2008 8:43 PM, Madhu Kurup <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hmm:
>
> Vinayak Hegde wrote:
> >
> > Good to see another Akamite (that sounds like a pest doesn't it :) on Silk.
> > I work in the Bangalore office.
> >
>
> When I had work dealings with Akamai (circa 2000-2002) I often wondered
> how much easier it would be if they did have a Bangalore office. I asked
> once and was politely shooed away.
>
> Vinayak, is this relatively new?

It's been around for more than 2 years now. Akamai acquired Speedera
which had the Bangalore office.

-- Vinayak



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Vinayak Hegde
On Feb 8, 2008 9:42 PM, va <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > How's the public transportation in Bangalore?
>
> *sigh* (. that is not a negative sigh) its so much better than
> Bombay (Mumbai if you must) but my pet grouse is No train/rail network
> exists in Bangalore.
> And ofcourse beware of the autorickshaw guys, their life motto is to
> rob you blind. No, i kid you not.

Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in Bangalore. (unless your
starting point or destination is Majestic). The traffic problem is
horrendous as
everyone wants to drive their own vehicle. Driving in Bangalore is algorithmic.

Everyone in Koramangala drives the following way.

1. Start
2. Honk away to glory to make sure the guy in front of you breaks the
Stop signal
and goes to the next traffic stop.
3. See if there is small vacant spot on the road ahead of you. Honk
again till cars ahead of you are
packed like sardines.
4. If that doesn't work, check if pavements are empty. If you are on a
motorbike take it.
Make sure you have taken every vacant spot on the street. If you have
a car mull over
the thought of using the pavement. Pause for a second but take it anyways.
5. Repeat till you reach your destination.
6. Stop

Bonus points if you complain how everyone in Bangalore drives badly.
(Obviously it does not include you)

The auto will only come to a place where *they* want to go at *their* price.
If not then the meters been rigged (very badly). Every auto guy considers
his birthright to fleece "IT/Software" people.

Mumbai in comparison is heaven. Autos don't try to cheat you (unless you are
at the airport). Trains are crowded but they keep Mumbai running.
BEST (The Bus transportation company) is really good. Lots of routes and
frequencies are good.

Mumbai is egalitarian. Bangalore's snobbish and elitist.

I like Bangalore's weather though but it is getting worse. I wish
Mumbai were a lot cleaner.
Bangalore's better that way. I wish I were exaggerating but I am not.

-- Vinayak (lived in Mumbai > 2 decades and Bangalore for a half)



Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Ramjee Swaminathan
Yes, :-) And nice to note the 'Telegu' as opposed to Telugu. :-))

Actually it was something like:  "stones the colour of frankincense,
sweeter than figs or honey" [1] - referring to Khand; this was in
326BC. Arthatshasthra of the same time also refers to the whole gamut
of products of sugarcane.

[1] JB Hutchinson (ed), Diversity and Change in the Indian
Subcontinent, Cambridge University Press, 1974.

__r.

On 2/8/08, Radhika, Y. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> in Telegu, it is Panchadara and chakkira. my understanding is that there is
> a greek account in Alexander's time that refers to the sugarcane
> as producing "honey without bees".
>
> On Feb 8, 2008 8:35 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:




Re: [silk] yet another introduction

2008-02-08 Thread va
On Feb 8, 2008 2:47 PM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Hi VA,  and welcome! But...being a non-geek and all, I must confess,
> that I thought you were (like several others)  a lurker who  was
> belatedly introducing..er..hesself...and"vid" or "va" don't give me a
> clue to your name, either...are you based in India?

absolutely a lurker, in Bangalore :)


> Your blogposts (about the Indichix) makes me think so..but I can't
> make assumptions...and Blogger doesn't seem to have a nice handy
> "userinfo" like LJ has, to go and see.

actually there is an "about" page in WP, which lazy me never bothered
to fill *sheepish*
but, https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Svaksha , has some outdated stuff.


> But...I am especially saying hi to you after reading your Jan 28th
> entry...Rockolate chocks! I am a complete and hopeless chocoholic,
> too.  In fact, give me a piece of paper with "dark chocolate" written
> on it and I would probably chew contentedly on that...

nooo.. you just made me reach out for that addictive thing again :-)


|| vid ||



Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Radhika, Y.
in Telegu, it is Panchadara and chakkira. my understanding is that there is
a greek account in Alexander's time that refers to the sugarcane
as producing "honey without bees".

On Feb 8, 2008 8:35 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

> :-) the rambler strikes again. Probable reason: too much sugar.
>
> On 2/7/08, Abhijit Menon-Sen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> > > (but again, not in all languages - in Malayalam and Tamil, they are
> > > respectively called charkarai and chakkara, AFAIK - there are also
> > > cheenchakkari, chenjeeni etc in colloquial refs) .
> >
> > BTW, in Malayalam, cc sugar is usually called "pan[cha]sara". I've only
> > heard the "charkarai" form used for gur or perhaps palm sugar. Is there
> > a similar distinction in Tamil?
> >
> Thanks! I forgot this pansarai funda. We used to have Nair neighbours
> and they used to tell us that from region to region there were
> different and slightly varying references to sugar and that anyway
> only after moving to Madras they even 'saw' white sugar!
>
> vella chakkarai - pounded and granulated gud/jaggery
> panam-khandu - palm khand
> panam-cheeni :-) - palm sugar
> panai-vellam - palm jaggery
> etc etc...
>
> > > There are some recorded instances of cc sugar being imported into
> > > western india from china (during circa 1-200 ad)
> >
> > Fascinating. I did not know that. What route did it take?
> >
> When there were no wars in the NE, NW and N of India, there was very
> little that was imported from china as there was no need to import
> sugar as it was never an issue of scarcity then. During wars, however,
> the sea routes were used (malacca straits, ceylon, round kanyakumari
> and onwards to either musiri or kollam or n other ports near what are
> now famous as Kanhoji Angre's (one of the greatest naval strategists
> and admirals) port bastions.
>
> In any case, the shipments apparently werent huge or anything, White
> crystalline sugar must have been a 'delicacy'  considering everything
> (my take) - the echoes of a similar context are found in paperback
> 'pioneer' recap literature of North America, such as that of Laura
> Ingalls Wilder. That white sugar be used for 'company' and as a status
> symbol.
>
> > > * Om Prakash - Food and drinks in ancient India
> >
> > I think I'll try to find a copy of that. Speaking of which, I should go
> > to the book fair in Delhi before it ends.
> >
> Good luck and warm regards:
>
> __r.
>
>


Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Ramjee Swaminathan
:-) the rambler strikes again. Probable reason: too much sugar.

On 2/7/08, Abhijit Menon-Sen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> > (but again, not in all languages - in Malayalam and Tamil, they are
> > respectively called charkarai and chakkara, AFAIK - there are also
> > cheenchakkari, chenjeeni etc in colloquial refs) .
>
> BTW, in Malayalam, cc sugar is usually called "pan[cha]sara". I've only
> heard the "charkarai" form used for gur or perhaps palm sugar. Is there
> a similar distinction in Tamil?
>
Thanks! I forgot this pansarai funda. We used to have Nair neighbours
and they used to tell us that from region to region there were
different and slightly varying references to sugar and that anyway
only after moving to Madras they even 'saw' white sugar!

vella chakkarai - pounded and granulated gud/jaggery
panam-khandu - palm khand
panam-cheeni :-) - palm sugar
panai-vellam - palm jaggery
etc etc...

> > There are some recorded instances of cc sugar being imported into
> > western india from china (during circa 1-200 ad)
>
> Fascinating. I did not know that. What route did it take?
>
When there were no wars in the NE, NW and N of India, there was very
little that was imported from china as there was no need to import
sugar as it was never an issue of scarcity then. During wars, however,
the sea routes were used (malacca straits, ceylon, round kanyakumari
and onwards to either musiri or kollam or n other ports near what are
now famous as Kanhoji Angre's (one of the greatest naval strategists
and admirals) port bastions.

In any case, the shipments apparently werent huge or anything, White
crystalline sugar must have been a 'delicacy'  considering everything
(my take) - the echoes of a similar context are found in paperback
'pioneer' recap literature of North America, such as that of Laura
Ingalls Wilder. That white sugar be used for 'company' and as a status
symbol.

> > * Om Prakash - Food and drinks in ancient India
>
> I think I'll try to find a copy of that. Speaking of which, I should go
> to the book fair in Delhi before it ends.
>
Good luck and warm regards:

__r.



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Gautam John
On Feb 8, 2008 9:42 PM, va <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> > working on the embroidery that I wanted to do for my wedding dress anyway.
>
> do you crochet ? or cross-stitch ? or tatting ?

Speaking of crochet, I saw this yesterday:

http://www.monster-island.org/tina/index.html

The wedding dress must have taken a heckava long time...



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread va
On Feb 8, 2008 4:01 PM, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi Linda,
Welcome to India

> How's the public transportation in Bangalore?

*sigh* (. that is not a negative sigh) its so much better than
Bombay (Mumbai if you must) but my pet grouse is No train/rail network
exists in Bangalore.
And ofcourse beware of the autorickshaw guys, their life motto is to
rob you blind. No, i kid you not.


> working on the embroidery that I wanted to do for my wedding dress anyway.

do you crochet ? or cross-stitch ? or tatting ?

-- 
|| vid ||



Re: [silk] long

2008-02-08 Thread Ramjee Swaminathan
On 2/7/08, Gautam John <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Feb 8, 2008 9:05 AM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > No...gur is called "vellam"...and palm sugar is "panam kalkandu".
>
> There is also this liquid palm sugar syrup, in Kerala, that is called "paani".
>
>
:-) Sugar daddy wants to inject some noise here.

There are various byeproducts, and products of sugarcane (not
including the bagasse, which was called Khali) that are referenced in
literature - mostly in sanskrit but adapted in other indic languages
too:

phanita - thickened sugarcane juice (now called rab?)
guda - jaggery or brown sugar
khand - large indian sugar  faceted crystals (kalkhandu is a tamilized
version of khand, meaning 'stone'khand - which is a very apt
description - does 'khandsari' ring a bell in the context of sugar
mills?)
sharkara - brown sugar or bura which is actually gud crystals,
thorougly drained of molasses, but not refined in anyway
matsyandhika - crystalline sugar (fish egg like) (I was rather
pleasantly surprised to see this along with handpounded rice etc, in
RelianceFresh, of all places in Bangalore - but it was plainly labeled
'white sugar!' bah!)
misri or chini - white crystalline sugar

It would be of interest to note that, of all the above products, misri
or white crystalline sugar is a very late entrant to the scene of
Indian cuisine in a major way and has quickly become predominant. I
very seriously wonder whether it has something to do with the common
indian fixation on melanin(actually the lack of it).  May be gud
(actually too gud), unpolished rice and small grains (such as millets
etc) have fallen by the wayside because they are antithetical to the
'fair and lowly' aspirations?

hmmm...


__r.
-- 
http://www.qsl.net/vu2sro/
"Mathematics has given economics rigor, but alas, also mortis."
-- Robert Heilbroner



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Linda L. Julien

Deepa Mohan wrote:

Welcome to the silklist Linda! And welcome, slightly in advance, to
Bangalore as well. Oh, after Massachusetts (have I got all those s's
in place?) 


Thanks.  You've got to love those India (American-Indian, not 
India-Indian) words...place names around here are full of them.  Even 
the locals tend to abbreviate the state name in writing and speech as 
"Mass."  Where I grew up, in central Mass., learning to pronounce "Lake 
Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg" was a rite of passage. 
Attempting to spell it is not for the faint of heart.  :-)



you are going to just LOVE Bangalore traffic...especially
if this is your first visit to India.


I admit that I've got it good here at home...though I live in the city, 
I can take the train to work, so I rarely even need to deal with the 
worst sort of traffic (or the exorbitant parking prices) that the Boston 
area has to offer.  Call me blissfully ignorant on the topic.


How's the public transportation in Bangalore?


And congrats on your marriage-to-be...I hope to be able to say that in
person. AMS has been a good friend to me, too.


Thanks again!  Of course, traveling nearly halfway around the globe for 
a month while attempting to plan a wedding might not be the wisest idea 
I've ever had.  Thankfully, a lot of things can be done by email these 
days, anyway, and maybe I can spend those two very long plane flights 
working on the embroidery that I wanted to do for my wedding dress anyway.


Linda



Re: [silk] Introduction

2008-02-08 Thread shiv sastry
On Friday 08 Feb 2008 12:05 pm, Abhishek Hazra wrote:
> indeed. the pleasures of workmanship (yes, its a gendered word, but
> you get my point) thanks for sharing the details - i am always
> fascinated by workplace details, particularly the accretion of traces
> of use - small alcoves with well thumbed paperbacks, or the softboard
> that becomes a palimpsest of markings, jottings and random visual
> ephemera.
> what is also interesting is how this description uses the question of
> the "color and texture of the desk surface" to shift the register of
> the description - from a bulleted list to a more narrative mode. and
> though "gaps" remain in this narrative mode too, as a reader you don't
> sense it immediately - rather you are left with a sense of rich
> detail. (a 72 dpi photo that looks more like a 300 dpi one)
> i guess the interesting thing about a narrativised description is
> precisely this tension between the real and perceived "resolution" of
> the description.
> and also here the fascinating thing is the 'biography of objects' and
> how an apparently simple structure like a workbench can reveal such a
> wealth of meaningful detail.

Well blow me down! That was one heckuva piece of prose.

shiv



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
On Feb 8, 2008 8:43 PM, Madhu Kurup <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hmm:
>
> Vinayak Hegde wrote:
> >
> > Good to see another Akamite (that sounds like a pest doesn't it :) on Silk.
> > I work in the Bangalore office.
> When I had work dealings with Akamai (circa 2000-2002) I often wondered
> how much easier it would be if they did have a Bangalore office. I asked
> once and was politely shooed away.
>
> Vinayak, is this relatively new?
>
> Cheerio,
> M

Madhu..if you were not already doing other things...I would wonder, at
this time, why you were asking...!

Deepa (ha, this is probably the one place where you know me by that
name alone! Though why you never told me about silk, and it was Udhay
who finally put me on, I will never understandboo to you for
that.)

Deepa.



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Madhu Kurup

Hmm:

Vinayak Hegde wrote:


Good to see another Akamite (that sounds like a pest doesn't it :) on Silk.
I work in the Bangalore office.



When I had work dealings with Akamai (circa 2000-2002) I often wondered 
how much easier it would be if they did have a Bangalore office. I asked 
once and was politely shooed away.


Vinayak, is this relatively new?

Cheerio,
M
--
Madhu M Kurup /* Nemo Me Impune Lacessit */ mmk222 at cornell dt edu



Re: [silk] Meeting on 10th - Venue

2008-02-08 Thread Vinit Bhansali
Damn the drunks I say.

Having said that, I can offer safe driving (well, not my wife's view, but
still) from the Lavelle Road area.


- Vinit 

> -Original Message-
> From: 
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> et] On Behalf Of Udhay Shankar N
> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 5:09 AM
> To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
> Subject: Re: [silk] Meeting on 10th - Venue
> 
> Venkat Mangudi wrote, [on 2/6/2008 2:09 PM]:
> 
> > When and Where?
> 
> I thought I heard Windsor Pub. Shall we say around 7:30 ish?
> 
> Udhay
> 
> -- 
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> 




Re: [silk] yet another introduction

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
Hi VA, I had a really bad experience with Bangalore Mirror and I
stopped writing  for them very soon after starting...and if my
articles/reviews are not coming out in it, why would I want to buy it?
:) Their practices are shoddy and unprofessinal.

Deepa.

On Feb 8, 2008 8:05 PM, va <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Seems like my kurtz intro got lost in the excitement of discovering
> Hassath's gender/identity and address :-) so yeah /me is yet another
> woman joining silk.
>
> On Feb 7, 2008 6:48 AM, Hassath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Because I couldn't think of a better introduction.
>
> if '/me' implies 'person' and 'person' implies 'www.svaksha.com',
> then /me => www.svaksha.com
>
> || vid ||
> ...crawls back into her shell after waving a hello to Hassath :) and
> Bernhard and ofcourse Kavita for silk !
>
>



Re: [silk] yet another introduction

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
so yeah /me is yet another
> woman joining silk.


Hi VA,  and welcome! But...being a non-geek and all, I must confess,
that I thought you were (like several others)  a lurker who  was
belatedly introducing..er..hesself...and"vid" or "va" don't give me a
clue to your name, either...are you based in India?

Your blogposts (about the Indichix) makes me think so..but I can't
make assumptions...and Blogger doesn't seem to have a nice handy
"userinfo" like LJ has, to go and see.

But...I am especially saying hi to you after reading your Jan 28th
entry...Rockolate chocks! I am a complete and hopeless chocoholic,
too.  In fact, give me a piece of paper with "dark chocolate" written
on it and I would probably chew contentedly on that...

Deepa (probably the oldest "female person" on this list.)
>
> On Feb 7, 2008 6:48 AM, Hassath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Because I couldn't think of a better introduction.
>
> if '/me' implies 'person' and 'person' implies 'www.svaksha.com',
> then /me => www.svaksha.com
>
> || vid ||
> ...crawls back into her shell after waving a hello to Hassath :) and
> Bernhard and ofcourse Kavita for silk !
>

On Feb 8, 2008 8:05 PM, va <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Seems like my kurtz intro got lost in the excitement of discovering
> Hassath's gender/identity and address :-) so yeah /me is yet another
> woman joining silk.
>
> On Feb 7, 2008 6:48 AM, Hassath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Because I couldn't think of a better introduction.
>
> if '/me' implies 'person' and 'person' implies 'www.svaksha.com',
> then /me => www.svaksha.com
>
> || vid ||
> ...crawls back into her shell after waving a hello to Hassath :) and
> Bernhard and ofcourse Kavita for silk !
>
>



[silk] yet another introduction

2008-02-08 Thread va
Hi,

Seems like my kurtz intro got lost in the excitement of discovering
Hassath's gender/identity and address :-) so yeah /me is yet another
woman joining silk.

On Feb 7, 2008 6:48 AM, Hassath <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Because I couldn't think of a better introduction.

if '/me' implies 'person' and 'person' implies 'www.svaksha.com',
then /me => www.svaksha.com

|| vid ||
...crawls back into her shell after waving a hello to Hassath :) and
Bernhard and ofcourse Kavita for silk !



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
Welcome to the silklist Linda! And welcome, slightly in advance, to
Bangalore as well. Oh, after Massachusetts (have I got all those s's
in place?) you are going to just LOVE Bangalore traffic...especially
if this is your first visit to India.



And congrats on your marriage-to-be...I hope to be able to say that in
person. AMS has been a good friend to me, too.

Deepa.

On Feb 8, 2008 7:29 PM, Vinayak Hegde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> On Feb 8, 2008 7:13 PM, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi folks,
> >
> > I've known ams for a number of years, and he directed me to this list.
> >
> > I work for Akamai Technologies in the US, and it looks like they'll be
> > sending me to our Bangalore office within the next month or two, for 3-4
> > weeks.  The timing isn't settled yet, but I hope I might get to meet a
> > few of you while I'm there.
> >
> > I live in Somerville, Massachusetts, not far from the location of the
> > recently-mentioned Great Molasses Flood
> > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster).
> >
> > A brief summary of me:  I write code for a living (and for fun), I have
> > too many hobbies, I have two cats, and I'll be getting married in June.
> >
> > I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.
> > Linda
>
> Welcome to Silk.
>
> Good to see another Akamite (that sounds like a pest doesn't it :) on Silk.
> I work in the Bangalore office.
>
> -- Vinayak
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/VinayakH
>
>



Re: [silk] a standard XML representation for queries

2008-02-08 Thread Vinayak Hegde
On Feb 8, 2008 6:31 PM, Abhijit Menon-Sen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm looking for a simple way to represent a search query as XML.
>
> The query language applies to email messages, and is a superset of the
> IMAP SEARCH syntax. It can express things like "flag blah is set, and
> the subject contains foo, and the text contains bar or baz": a handful
> of primitives plus the usual logical combinators.
>
> I want to take that query (stored internally as an sexpr-style string)
> and render it as XML. I don't really care what the output looks like, I
> only need to be able to manipulate its structure with some JavaScript,
> and then send it back to the server.
>
> Of course, I could just sprinkle some < and > around and come up with
> something; but I'm wondering if there's something around that is meant
> to be used for such purposes already. It's hard to ask Google for such
> a thing (because of e.g. XQuery and XPath) and so far I have failed to
> explain what I want to people who know more about XML than I do.
>
> Why XML? Because it has to be something. I don't care, I just want to
> be able to simply edit it with JavaScript.
>
> Any thoughts? (Tim?)

Have you tried JSON ? You might want to check it out if you are looking to
manipulate data using JS. Less fat more data and more human readable methinks.

http://www.json.org/

-- Vinayak



Re: [silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Vinayak Hegde
On Feb 8, 2008 7:13 PM, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I've known ams for a number of years, and he directed me to this list.
>
> I work for Akamai Technologies in the US, and it looks like they'll be
> sending me to our Bangalore office within the next month or two, for 3-4
> weeks.  The timing isn't settled yet, but I hope I might get to meet a
> few of you while I'm there.
>
> I live in Somerville, Massachusetts, not far from the location of the
> recently-mentioned Great Molasses Flood
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster).
>
> A brief summary of me:  I write code for a living (and for fun), I have
> too many hobbies, I have two cats, and I'll be getting married in June.
>
> I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.
> Linda

Welcome to Silk.

Good to see another Akamite (that sounds like a pest doesn't it :) on Silk.
I work in the Bangalore office.

-- Vinayak
http://www.linkedin.com/in/VinayakH



[silk] another intro

2008-02-08 Thread Linda L. Julien

Hi folks,

I've known ams for a number of years, and he directed me to this list.

I work for Akamai Technologies in the US, and it looks like they'll be 
sending me to our Bangalore office within the next month or two, for 3-4 
weeks.  The timing isn't settled yet, but I hope I might get to meet a 
few of you while I'm there.


I live in Somerville, Massachusetts, not far from the location of the 
recently-mentioned Great Molasses Flood 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster).


A brief summary of me:  I write code for a living (and for fun), I have 
too many hobbies, I have two cats, and I'll be getting married in June.


I'm looking forward to getting to know you all.

Linda



[silk] a standard XML representation for queries

2008-02-08 Thread Abhijit Menon-Sen
I'm looking for a simple way to represent a search query as XML.

The query language applies to email messages, and is a superset of the
IMAP SEARCH syntax. It can express things like "flag blah is set, and
the subject contains foo, and the text contains bar or baz": a handful
of primitives plus the usual logical combinators.

I want to take that query (stored internally as an sexpr-style string)
and render it as XML. I don't really care what the output looks like, I
only need to be able to manipulate its structure with some JavaScript,
and then send it back to the server.

Of course, I could just sprinkle some < and > around and come up with
something; but I'm wondering if there's something around that is meant
to be used for such purposes already. It's hard to ask Google for such
a thing (because of e.g. XQuery and XPath) and so far I have failed to
explain what I want to people who know more about XML than I do.

Why XML? Because it has to be something. I don't care, I just want to
be able to simply edit it with JavaScript.

Any thoughts? (Tim?)

-- ams



Re: [silk] Fwd: Introduction

2008-02-08 Thread Deepa Mohan
> >we have conversations in public, in private, and in secret. All
> >three are quite separate. The public is what we say to a crowd; the
> >private is what we chatter amongst ourselves, when free from the
> >demands of the crowd; and the secret is what we keep from everyone
> >but our confidant.


Indeed very insightful, Udhay. Had not thought of the distinction
between private and secret, before this.

Deepa.



Re: [silk] Fwd: Introduction

2008-02-08 Thread Udhay Shankar N

Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: [ on 12:21 PM 2/8/2008 ]


This situation could have easily played out in a non-public space
following the same logical course, but exposed to a public list after
the the social context was better understood. In 20-20 hindsight, this
seems better. Given my preference for transparency over opaqueness
this is perhaps not going to be my first reaction, nevertheless
something I should mull over.


I would think it's a question of context. Or, as silk.lurker Danny 
O'Brien put it, a question of register [1].


Allow me to strongly recommend the post - it's very insightful on the 
topic(s) of what is appropriate and where, which seem to be what is 
at issue here as well.


See here:

The problem here is one (ironically) of register. In the real world, 
we have conversations in public, in private, and in secret. All 
three are quite separate. The public is what we say to a crowd; the 
private is what we chatter amongst ourselves, when free from the 
demands of the crowd; and the secret is what we keep from everyone 
but our confidant. Secrecy implies intrigue, implies you have 
something to hide. Being private doesn't. You can have a private 
gathering, but it isn't necessarily a secret. All these 
conversations have different implications, different tones.



Most people have, in the back of their mind, the belief that what 
they say to their friends, they would be happy to say in public, in 
the same words. It isn't true, and if you don't believe me, 
tape-record yourself talking to your friends one day, and then 
upload it to your website for the world to hear.



This is the trap that makes fly-on-the-wall documentaries and 
reality TV so entertaining. It's why politicians are so weirdly 
mannered, and why everyone gets a bit freaked out when the 
videocamera looms at the wedding.  It's what makes a particular kind 
of gossip - the "I can't believe he said that!" - so virulent. No 
matter how constant a person you are, no matter how unwavering your 
beliefs, something you say in the private register will sound 
horrific, dismissive, egotistical or trite when blazoned on the 
front page of the Daily Mirror. This is the context that we are quoted out of.



But in the real world, private conversations stay private. Not 
because everyone is sworn to secrecy, but because their expression 
is ephemeral and contained to an audience. There are few secrets in 
private conversations; but in transmitting the information contained 
in the conversation, the register is subtly changed. I say to a 
journalist, "Look, Dave, err, frankly the guy is a bit, you 
know.  Sheesh.  He's just not the sort of person that we'd ever 
approve of hiring.".  The journalist, filtering, prints, "Sources 
are said to disapprove of the appointment.".



Secrets have another register. They are serious (even when they are 
funny secrets). We are both implicated when we share a secret. We 
hide it from the world. Secrets don't change register - when they 
are out, they preserve their damaging style.



On the net, you have public, or you have secrets. The private 
intermediate sphere, with its careful buffering. is shattered. 
E-mails are forwarded verbatim. IRC transcripts, with throwaway 
comments, are preserved forever. You talk to your friends online, 
you talk to the world.



Udhay

[1] http://www.oblomovka.com/entries/2003/10/13#1066058820

--
((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))




Re: [silk] Fwd: Introduction

2008-02-08 Thread Hassath
On Feb 8, 2008 12:21 PM, Srini Ramakrishnan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> [...] Thanks Hassath and Abhijeet
> for accepting my explanation and apology.

:-) But now that you have our address, do something useful with it.
Send us a nice postcard at least!
-- 
- Hassath