Re: [silk] Grief during a pandemic

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, 23 Jul 2021 at 12:54, Pooja Sastry  wrote:
>
> Thankfully, I have been well and I am fortunate that I have lost no loved
> ones in this time.
>
> However, I got divorced after four years in an abusive marriage, just
> before the pandemic. Divorce and pandemic, for me, are intertwined. It
> isn't the divorce itself, as you can probably imagine. It is what preceded
> it, the enormity of which I am still making my way through.
>
> Drug abuse, almost being charged with the possession of restricted
> psychotropics that I had no idea existed, emotional abuse, physical
> assault, entirely avoidable financial insecurity via my ex-husband
> repeatedly leaving jobs while his parents did everything in their power to
> get me to leave mine (and eventually succeeded) - most of these flew under
> the radar in my marriage. Each of these were explained away by the
> pronouncements of "daughters-in-law have to adjust", "getting high once in
> a way is OK", "nobody has job security these days", "wait for a while,
> things will get better".

Reading this made me sad and angry, I sat for a while trying to sort
out what to say as a response. Not responding wasn't an option -- I'd
feel complicit in your abuse.

You have much greater courage than I have -- not just being able to
live through your experiences and fight your way out but also in
opening up to a bunch of random internet people -- who might be as
judgemental as the neighbourhood aunties.

I can't hope to understand what you've gone through and how you feel
about it. I feel helpless at the enormity of it. In general, this is
how I respond to grief in other people -- I shrink away in fear of
making things worse with the wrong words.

But when I think back to a period of my own blackest grief, I realise
that it was my clumsy friends who didn't understand who got me through
it. They produced facile cliches but the spirit of deepest concern and
sincerity. Somehow, knowing people cared helped.

I hope things get better for you Pooja. I hope the people around can
do a better job than I could in being there for you.

*hugs*

-- b

Re: [silk] Silkmeet on Friday? (21st May, Zoom)

[Biju Chacko]

+1

On Tue, 18 May, 2021, 18:16 M.K.Pai,  wrote:

> Please count me in too.
> -- Saint Pai
> Hero of Socialist Labour
> People's Commissar for Permanent Revolution
> Supreme Director of Party Enlightenment
> Rootless cosmopolitan bourgeois nationalist
>
>
> On Mon, May 17, 2021 at 5:20 PM Vinit Bhansali  wrote:
> >
> > Dear fellow Silklisters,
> >
> > Udhay, Surabhi and I are hosting a SilkMeet this week.
> >
> > We haven't met in meatspace in years (literally) and thought we should at
> > least catch up over Zoom.
> >
> > We plan on meeting this Friday, (21st May, 7pm IST) and hope it works for
> > most of you.
> >
> > *Requirements:*
> > 1) Your favourite drink in hand
> >
> > I'll create a zoom link and share it with you in a couple of days.
> >
> > +1 away.
> >
> >
> >
> > *_Vinit Bhansali*
> > vinitb [at] gmail
>
>

[silk] Stephen King

[Biju Chacko]

Hi,

I stopped reading Stephen King in the mid to late nineties. Though I
enjoyed his earlier books, I started to feel like he had become so popular
that he stopped listening to his editors. The books were getting
excessively long and tiring.

I recently listened to an interview of him and he seemed interesting. I was
wondering if I should revisit the decision. I have less time to read
nowadays so the opportunity cost is higher. I thought I'd ask for reviews
before I pick one up.

Thoughts?

-- b

Re: [silk] An anniversary

[Biju Chacko]

On Mon, 21 Dec 2020 at 05:10, Radhika, Y.  wrote:

> I was introduced to Silk via Biju Chacko in 2003. I was dating some loser
> in Bangalore and on one of the train journeys I made from Chennai to
> Bangalore I ended up chatting with Biju. Later, I met Udhay through
>
> I'm glad you remember that -- that was a pleasant journey. I have only
suggested silklist to 2 or 3 people in the past 20 years -- mostly people
I've known for a long time. You must have made an impression. :-)

-- b

Re: [silk] An anniversary

[Biju Chacko]

I guess I joined around 2001 or so. I was already acquainted with Udhay via
the Linux community, but it was Jace (Kiran Jonnalagadda) who told me about
Silk and suggested I join. This was around peak mailing list and it seemed
interesting so I requested to join. Silk was young and vigorous then --
very unlike it's current somnolent old age. I remember many near-flame wars
and the occasional surreal post. I was pretty engaged in those days, but as
email as a medium dies a long, gory, death I have become more of a lurker
-- as has pretty much everyone else on the list. Still, of the 30-odd
mailing lists I was a subscriber to at the time I joined this is the only
survivor -- which says something about the value I place on it. I have made
many good friends via this list including several I have yet to meet IRL.

-- b

On Sun, 20 Dec 2020 at 07:06, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> The first message on silklist went out 23 years ago.
>
> There are some members who have been around since then, and many others who
> hopped on at a later time.
>
> How did you find out about silklist? Share your stories.
>
> Udhay
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))
>

Re: [silk] What are the things you splurge on that are worth the money?

[Biju Chacko]

- Cars. I don't change cars frequently, but when I do I invariably
overshoot my budget.
- Electronics especially camera gear -- but I find that I'm spending a lot
less lately.
- Food -- I'll spend a lot for good food
- Books (obviously)
- Travel

On Mon, 7 Dec 2020 at 10:14, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> Like it says. I know there are similar threads out there on reddit etc -
> this question is for silklisters. :)
>
> My list:
> - Computers. Every 5 years or so I replace my computer with the best specs
> I can afford.
> - Fragrance. I look at these as art and collect them for regular use.
> - Good gin/vodka. Nuff said.
>
> Udhay
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>

Re: [silk] Anil Kumar

[Biju Chacko]

As someone who had experienced his helpful nature, this is very sad news. A
good man, taken away too soon.

Most of the usual phrases used at these times, even when expressed
sincerely, always seem a little inadequate.

I think it's a tribute to the man that the grief of his family and friends
is shared (in a smaller way) by people, like me, who've had only limited
experience of him.

My thoughts are with you Udhay and with his family.

Take care,

-- b

On Sun, 18 Oct, 2020, 08:08 Udhay Shankar N,  wrote:

> For those of you who knew him, I have sad news. Silklister Anil Kumar
> passed away of a cardiac arrest a few days ago.
>
> We were friends for ~30 years. That involved many many shared experiences,
> including youthful indiscretions, late night conversations, and using each
> others' residences as crash pads with zero notice.
>
> I used to like introducing him as "possibly the only normal person I know"
> - but he was so much more than that.
>
> He was a warm, thoughtful and unfailingly helpful person. He enriched my
> life greatly, and I'll miss him terribly.
>
> Udhay
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>

Re: [silk] Spammer attack

[Biju Chacko]

I feel like *I'm* stuck in the 20th century because I still like mailing
lists. Recently when I tried to explain that for engineering discussions a
mailing list would be better than a slack channel I had to stop to explain
what a mailing list was. (!)

Email doesn't come naturally to a lot of people. Apparently, some people
are beginning to wonder whether this is becoming a problem for open source
projects:

https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/25/linux_kernel_email/

-- b

On Fri, 28 Aug 2020 at 10:20, Madhu Menon  wrote:

> Mailman is firmly stuck in the 20th century, unfortunately. Pity you can't
> throw a CAPTCHA or something else at it.
>
>
> >
> >
>

Re: [silk] test

[Biju Chacko]

Who knows?

On Wed, 1 Apr, 2020, 14:50 Radhika, Y.,  wrote:

> what is this test?
>
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 9:00 AM Biju Chacko  wrote:
>
> > Error: Success!
> >
> > On Wed, 1 Apr 2020 at 11:54, Tomasz Rola  wrote:
> > >
> > > On Wed, Apr 01, 2020 at 11:15:41AM +0530, Biju Chacko wrote:
> > > > Failed
> > > >
> > >
> > > Fail passed.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Regards,
> > > Tomasz Rola
> > >
> > > --
> > > ** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature.  **
> > > ** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home**
> > > ** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened...  **
> > > ** **
> > > ** Tomasz Rola  mailto:tomasz_r...@bigfoot.com **
> > >
> >
> >
>
> --
> *Translator/Owner*
> *AzulIndica Translations*
> *North Vancouver BC, Canada*
>

Re: [silk] test

[Biju Chacko]

Error: Success!

On Wed, 1 Apr 2020 at 11:54, Tomasz Rola  wrote:
>
> On Wed, Apr 01, 2020 at 11:15:41AM +0530, Biju Chacko wrote:
> > Failed
> >
>
> Fail passed.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Tomasz Rola
>
> --
> ** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature.  **
> ** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home**
> ** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened...  **
> ** **
> ** Tomasz Rola  mailto:tomasz_r...@bigfoot.com **
>

Re: [silk] test

[Biju Chacko]

Failed

On Wed, 1 Apr 2020 at 11:07, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] When life gives you lemons....

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, 9 Jan 2020 at 20:57, Thaths  wrote:
>
> It was 1998 and Ms. Prabakaran, a former lawyer living in Chennai, a major
> city on India’s southeastern coast, had just slogged through a decade of
> research and recipe testing for her comprehensive, single-subject cookbook,
> “Usha’s Pickle Digest.” A party was scheduled for the following week.

Amazon.in seems to have only an ebook. Any clue where I could get a hard copy?

-- b

> --
> Homer: Hey, what does this job pay?
> Carl:  Nuthin'.
> Homer: D'oh!
> Carl:  Unless you're crooked.
> Homer: Woo-hoo!

Re: [silk] What did you change your mind about in 2019?

[Biju Chacko]

I stopped being an optimist. Why? I read the newspapers.

-- b

PS: I've also stopped reading newspapers
PPS. I'm only slightly joking.

On Thu, 9 Jan 2020 at 09:32, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> Like it says. What have you started or stopped believing in in 2019, and
> why?
>
> Udhay
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Yahoo Groups shutting down, and Silklist archives

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, 18 Oct 2019 at 12:41, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> Also, just to be clear, there does exist another archive that dates from
> October 2005:
>
> https://www.mail-archive.com/silklist@lists.hserus.net/
>
> So we need to rescue the first 8 years of traffic (from December 1997). I
> do have this as Eudora mailboxes if someone wants to volunteer to parse and
> host this.

I can convert this to mbox if you want. We can then contact
mail-archive support to add it to the existing archive.

-- b

Re: [silk] projects in Art And Science

[Biju Chacko]

My brother-in-law Bruce, is fairly well connected in the music scene.
I can provide an introduction.

-- b


On Thu, 19 Sep 2019 at 19:05, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> I sometimes get interesting mail like this out of the blue. Anyone feels up
> to suggesting something to this person?
>
> Udhay
>
> -- Forwarded message -
> From: Tam Treanor 
> Date: Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 6:47 PM
> Subject: Art And Science
> To: 
>
>
> Hello I am a sound designer and musician based in Scotland with an interest
> in cross disciplinary projects. I shall be visiting India in October and
> November 2019. I looking to get involved in interesting projects,
> festivals, events, teaching, learning, performing etc.
>
> Skills Overview
> MSc in Sound Design
> Studio Production Experience
> Spatial Audio expertise (3D Audio)
> Composition
> Teaching
> Interactive software coding.
>
> I generally like to be involved in projects rather than simply being a
> tourist so I am reaching out to see what opportunities there might be while
> i am in India.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Tam
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Bangalore and Chennai food/restaurant recommendations

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, 18 Sep 2019 at 10:01, Suresh Ramasubramanian  wrote:
>
> Oota Bangalore has my 100% reco. MTR's quality is way down these days, riding 
> on a past reputation even more than Koshy's is.

+1 to Oota. Karavalli used to be my goto for coastal cuisine, but I
haven't been there for several years so I don't know if it's still
good.

-- b

Re: [silk] Bangalore and Chennai food/restaurant recommendations

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, 18 Sep 2019 at 07:52, Anil Kumar  wrote:
>
> There is a long time running debate/fight on North Blr vs South Blr (CTR
> better than MTR; Malleswaram better than Jayanagar) among some
> Bangaloreans.  I (West Bangalorean; staying at similar distances to both
> places) have my popcorn ready. :-)

Not being a big Dosa guy, I ignore this fight and head to Brahmin's in
Basavangudi. Now, there's one place that lives up to the hype!

-- b

Re: [silk] Bangalore Visit

[Biju Chacko]

An address might be handy. Suggested parking location would also be helpful.

-- b


On Thu, 23 May 2019 at 11:26, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> On Fri, May 17, 2019 at 12:06 PM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> > Show of hands so far:
> >
> > Jim Grisanzio
> > Udhay Shankar
> > Kavita Chaudhury
> > Biju Chacko
> > Huda Masood
> > Jessica Prabhakar
> > Naresh Narasimhan
> > Jahnavi Phalkey
> > Vinit Bhansali
> > Surabhi Tomar
> >
> Adding to this list:
> Venkat Mangudi
> Alok Prasanna Kumar
> Jayadevan PK
> Vinay Rao
> Kiran Karthikeyan
>
> See you all tomorrow!
> Udhay

Re: [silk] Bangalore Visit

[Biju Chacko]

I'm game.

On Fri, 10 May 2019 at 14:23, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> Silkmeet on Fri May 24 then? Show of hands?
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))

Re: [silk] Flamebait of the week

[Biju Chacko]

On Mon, 6 May 2019 at 12:06, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> So. What are you suggestions for potential "flamebait of the week" topics?
>
> Random example (be kind, I'm out of practise): What's a "GoT"?

How about: "Don't you mean 'practice'?"

-- b

Re: [silk] Silkmeet in Bangalore 18 Feb 2019

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, 14 Feb 2019 at 10:38, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> OK, let's go ahead and lock this for Naresh's place.

What's the parking situation in this area?

-- b

Re: [silk] Silkmeet in Bangalore 18 Feb 2019

[Biju Chacko]

I'm in.

On Mon, 11 Feb, 2019, 16:01 Udhay Shankar N  Silklister Danese Cooper will be in town, possibly with Zaheda Bhorat and
> Alolita Sharma. Let's use this as an opportunity to meet up.
>
> Show of hands?
>
> Udhay
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>

Re: [silk] Slow thinking

[Biju Chacko]

Let me get back to you on this.

-- b

On Thu 9 Aug, 2018, 10:29 Udhay Shankar N,  wrote:

> Very interesting point. The part that had the most resonance is "Your first
> reaction is usually outdated".
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Udhay
>
> https://sivers.org/slow
>
> I’m a very slow thinker
> 2016-08-26
>
> When a friend says something interesting to me, I usually don’t have a
> reaction until much later.
>
> When someone asks me a deep question, I say, “Hmm. I don’t know.” The next
> morning, I have an answer.
>
> I’m a disappointing person to try to debate or attack. I just have nothing
> to say in the moment, except maybe, “Good point.” Then a few days later,
> after thinking about it a lot, I have a response.
>
> This probably makes me look stupid in the moment, but I don’t mind. I’m not
> trying to win any debates.
>
> In fact, I’ll tell you a secret. For most of those interviews at
> sivers.org/i, they sent me their questions a week in advance. I’d spend
> hours writing down answers from different perspectives, before choosing the
> most interesting one. Then once we were in a live conversation, I’d try to
> make it sound spontaneous.
>
> It’s a common belief that your first reaction is the most honest, but I
> disagree. Your first reaction is usually outdated. Either it’s an answer
> you came up with long ago and now use instead of thinking, or it’s
> triggering a knee-jerk emotional response to something that happened long
> ago.
>
> If you take some time to think it through, you might find that your first
> reaction wasn’t current and true. Or if it was, then you can say so with
> more conviction.
>
> Point is: When you’re less impulsive and more deliberate like this, it can
> be a little inconvenient for other people, but that’s OK.
>
> Someone asks you a question. You don’t need to answer. You can say, “I
> don’t know,” and take your time to answer after thinking.
>
> Things happen. Someone expects you to respond. But you can say, “We’ll
> see.”
>
> And maybe, through example, you can show them that they can do the same.
>
> (Can you imagine how the world would work if this was the norm?)
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>

Re: [silk] Anonymous web hosting

[Biju Chacko]

Madhu:

Stay away from large hosting providers, especially those based in
India or US. Given the commoditised nature of the hosting market,
it's not worth it for most providers to put up an expensive legal
fight to protect the privacy of a customer who's lifetime revenue
potential is minimal. In the US, the most you can expect is for a
provider to wait for a valid search warrant before folding. In India,
you can can't even do that -- a couple of years ago one of our guys
got badly thrashed by the cops when he was unable to comply with a
verbal request for information in a political case.

As Badri suggested, a EU provider would be subject to GDPR and would
be required to anonymise a lot of customer data. It's important to
note that they would still be subject to local law and would be forced
to comply to a court order for info. Also, given the nature of GDPR
it's probable that non-EU residents data would not be anonymised.

-- b


On Sun, Apr 15, 2018 at 5:38 PM, Madhu Menon  wrote:
> Greetings, folks.
>
> Are there any web hosting providers you recommend who protect customer
> privacy strongly and could be used for hosting content of a
> politically sensitive nature? Asking for a friend, of course. ;)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Madhu
>
> --
> Madhu Menon
>
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/madmanweb
>

Re: [silk] War on Science?

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Feb 21, 2018 at 2:31 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan  wrote:
>
> Paying respect to science is good form, but doesn't always mean it's an
> indication of quality. Neither is questioning science inherently a bad
> idea.

Erm, there's a hell of a difference between questioning specific
studies or hypotheses and dismissing established scientific consensus.
And in either case, any serious disputation demands support of
objective evidence. Unless, of course, you're saying the scientific
method itself is questionable -- in which case I'd humbly ask for your
alternative way of understanding reality.

You also seem to be saying that we have no right to expect better from
politicians. I'd question that. In my opinion, science is as close as
we are getting to objective truth. Am I being idealistic If I expect
truth from our politicians.

Is it wrong to expect people to be honest about their views? Why can't
the BJP say that it wants to protect cows because it's religion asks
it to and that it thinks most Indians would agree. Don't invent
pseudoscientific drivel!


-- b

Re: [silk] The end of the teens

[Biju Chacko]

I prefer weekdays -- generally weekends are for the family.

-- b

On 24 Nov 2017 20:35, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:

> I have a request to move this to Saturday 16 Dec. All in favour say aye.
>
> Udhay
>

Re: [silk] The end of the teens

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, Nov 23, 2017 at 7:40 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> Sounds good. I will be traveling from the 21st onwards, so perhaps the
> previous weekend? Anytime between 15-17 Dec 2017. Show of hands?

*raises hand*

Re: [silk] Happy Founder's Day

[Biju Chacko]

It'd probably require a lot of staggering

-- b

On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 3:55 PM, Deepa Mohan <mohande...@gmail.com> wrote:
> *Biju*, any particular reason to use the word 'staggering'?
>
> On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 3:18 PM, Biju Chacko <biju.cha...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 2:19 PM, Venkatesh H R <hrvenkat...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Happy Birthday Udhay!
>> > 20 years is staggering.
>>
>> Gee, you don't 20. Cramming that much aging into 20 years is indeed
>> staggering.
>>
>> -- b
>>
>>

Re: [silk] Happy Founder's Day

[Biju Chacko]

On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 2:19 PM, Venkatesh H R  wrote:
> Happy Birthday Udhay!
> 20 years is staggering.

Gee, you don't 20. Cramming that much aging into 20 years is indeed staggering.

-- b

Re: [silk] What's your primary computing device?

[Biju Chacko]

80% of my work on my MacBook Pro. 20% on my phone. Play 50% phone +
50% kindle paperwhite.

Udhay: I assume you're collating this data and will send us an
all-singing, all-dancing PPT with pie charts and stuff.

-- b



On Tue, Sep 12, 2017 at 2:02 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> As in, what do you spend the most time doing serious work/play on? For any
> definition of 'work' or 'play' that appeals to you?
>
> For me, it is still an assembled desktop computer running Windows.
> Notwithstanding the existence in the house of 3 laptops, sundry tablets,
> and many, MANY phones.
>
> Udhay
>
> --
>
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Kids and porn

[Biju Chacko]

My plan is to convince my kids that the Internet is a myth.

-- b

On 3 Sep 2017 09:50, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:

> I saw this article [1] that makes the (quite obvious, if you think about
> it) case
> ​ that kids will look at porn whether you want them to or not - and that
> people need to figure out how they will deal with that.
>
> Since many people on silk are in the right demographic to have seen this
> either with their own kids or with friends/family, please share
> thoughts/advise/experiences.
>
> Udhay​
>
>
> [1] https://www.wired.com/2017/08/kids-and-porn/
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>

Re: [silk] Memory QotD

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 7:31 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> "I miss what I had in terms of the speed of memory access. If I needed
> a word or a fact it was already at my fingertips and now it’s like an
> arthritic and elderly gentleman has to sit up and go down many, many
> flights of stairs very slowly and go and rummage in dusty drawers.
> Eventually he will return four days later, normally at about 1.30 in
> the morning, and I will sit up and go, “Oh yes! ‘Crepuscular.’ That
> was the word I was looking for.”"
>
> --Neil Gaiman

I'm fairly sure I had something relevant to say about this topic, but
I can't remember what it was.

-- b

Re: [silk] When to quit

[Biju Chacko]

After some amount of prodding by Udhay, I decided to think about this a bit.

In my opinion, most people quit because it's just the easiest thing to do.
It's the final step in a sequence of small decisions that paint you into a
corner whose only exit is quitting.

Interestingly enough, I don't think the lack of explicit decision making
always results in bad outcomes. I think you end up doing what you *really*
want, rather than what you think you want or what society tells you to want.

This is good thing when you're making career choices, less so when you are
trying to eat more healthily or exercise more.

At some level, wisdom is knowing when to trust your gut.

-- b

On 27 Jul 2017 08:31, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:

> I occasionally listen to the Tim Ferris podcast, and I found last week's
> episode [1] particularly fascinating. It's a panel of people giving their
> take on the question "how does one decide when to quit and when to
> persist". I recommend listening to the episode, but my intention in posting
> here is to ask the community the same thing.
>
> How do *you* decide when to quit and when to persist?
>
> Udhay
>
> [1] https://tim.blog/2017/07/23/when-to-quit/
> --
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))
>

Re: [silk] Silkmeet on June 28 - bangalore

[Biju Chacko]

On 28 Jun 2017 21:16, "gabin kattukaran"  wrote:

On 28 June 2017 at 17:55, Vinit Bhansali  wrote:
> Her birthday is tomorrow.
> Silkmeet always T-1 day to Sara's birthday.
> Long story, happy to explain over drinks


Tomorrow is a good day for a birthday.


Unless you're a decrepit old fart.

-- b

Re: [silk] CAT5 vs CAT5E vs CAT6 cable for home

[Biju Chacko]

Don't get Cat5, even home routers support gigabit now. With whatever active
components you have now, you probably won't see much difference between
Cat5e and Cat6. However, given that installing cable is a gigantic pain, if
there isn't a big price difference go with Cat6. No doubt 10G home
networking kit will be standard in a few years.

-- b



On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 11:48 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> Note that wireless tends to flake out while streaming large media files
> within the internal network - as in streaming a movie from a NAS to a AV
> receiver.
> --
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N))  ((via phone))
>

Re: [silk] Silklisters in Boston/Cambridge?

[Biju Chacko]

On 29 Mar 2017 05:48, "Sean Doyle"  wrote:




I really don't think it's bad at all but it's probably Stockholm Syndrome.


This explains why I think, "Traffic is pretty good today" when it takes
"just" 30 minutes to cover the 7km to work.

-- b

Re: [silk] Gaurav Vaz - Introduction

[Biju Chacko]

Welcome. You may find some familiar faces here.

-- b

On 21 Jan 2017 13:47, "Gaurav Vaz"  wrote:

> Hi Everyone!
>
> I finally managed to join this amazing group after years of hearing and
> reading about it. Thanks a lot Udhay for the invitation :)
>
> I am a proper jack of all trades and I might have interacted with a few of
> you in different capacities. I play the bass guitar and am the artist
> manager for The Raghu Dixit Project, a contemporary folk band from
> Bangalore and am quite active in the Indian indie music scene in different
> capacities.
>
> I work as a web consultant with my start-up, The Random Lines, and am also
> a very small scale angel investor who loves working with small businesses
> and start-ups in various capacities.
>
> I am really looking forward to catching up with all of you at some point
> and being part of some great conversations here.
>
> Thanks,
> Gaurav
>
> --
> If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!
>
> http://gauravvaz.com
>

Re: [silk] Mysore Masala Dosa in Bangalore

[Biju Chacko]

When I worked in Bombay for a bit about 15 years ago, the difference seemed
to be that mysore masala dosa had mixed vegetables stuffing versus potato
only in the regular dosa. For the latter, refer Venkat's mail. The former
is an abomination which, I am glad to say, no reputed establishment in
Bangalore will deign to serve.

-- b



On Thu, Dec 8, 2016 at 4:40 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
s...@venkatmangudi.com> wrote:

> If you mean masala dosa with chutney smeared inside, that is just a
> regular masala dosa here. It’s called Mysore Masala Dosa in Mumbai and
> places north. Good dosas at
>
> 1. Central Tiffin Room, Malleswaram
> 2. Dosa camp, Jayanagar
> 3. Food street, V V Puram (no sitting)
> and many many more places.
>
> Cheers,
> Venkat
>
>
>
> > On 08-Dec-2016, at 4:02 PM, Aditya Kapil  wrote:
> >
> > Anyone know any good Mysore Masala Dosa place in Bangalore? Preferably
> > where one might sit and eat.
> > Thanks, Adit.
>
>

Re: [silk] Tom Athanasiou's TedX talk on the climate crisis

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 5:19 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
 wrote:
>
> There's a known fix but it requires a mailing list server upgrade among other 
> things for me to implement it

I seem to recall that you know a little about email -- I'm sure you'll
fix it. ;-)

-- b

Re: [silk] What replaces Landmark in Chennai?

[Biju Chacko]

I only read on the Kindle now. The convenience trumps most downsides.
However, I'm yet to find a good replacement for browsing a bookstore to
discover new authors and books. This is a slightly newer version of the
problem in the mp3/streaming music world of finding new music.

Suggestions, anyone?

-- b


On Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 2:36 PM, Thaths  wrote:

> Now that Landmark (the main bookstore and the various branches) is dead[1],
> where do literate silklisters in Chennai go to buy books?
>
> Thaths
>
> [1] Much as I loathed their slide into a glorified Hallmark card and
> stationary sales, they had an (for Chennai) unsurpassed selection of books
> and staff who could talk intelligently about the books in their store.
>

Re: [silk] Bangalore

[Biju Chacko]

On Tue, Jun 21, 2016 at 1:28 AM, Thaths  wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 20, 2016 at 5:16 PM Samanth Subramanian 
> wrote:
>
>> I'll be in Bangalore through next week -- beginning June 27 -- and was
>> wondering if any of you might be up to meeting Udhay and me for a beer one
>> of those evenings. Tuesday and Wednesday work best for me.

Out of town that week.

>
> I am planning to be in Bangalore for a couple of days in late August. I'll
> send an email to Silklist as my dates become clearer.

Looking forward to this. It's been a while.

-- b

Re: [silk] Danese in Bangalore...time for a Meetup?

[Biju Chacko]

Looks like I can get there relatively early: between 6 - 6:30pm. Ping
me if anyone needs a lift from the RMZ Ecospace (Bellendur) side of
town.

-- b

On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 8:22 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 2:05 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
> s...@venkatmangudi.com> wrote:
>
> That works too. Earlier the better. How early can everyone get here? :)
>>
>
> I can get there (ABC) by around 6:45pm or so. Others?
>
> Udhay

Re: [silk] Danese in Bangalore...time for a Meetup?

[Biju Chacko]

Friday -- I'm in Bombay till Thursday.
On Mar 2, 2016 08:53, "Danese Cooper"  wrote:

> Which is better, Thursday or Friday evening?
>
> D
>
>

Re: [silk] intro

[Biju Chacko]

Nothing's off topic here, most people have varied interests and have
surprisingly deep knowledge of a broad swath of things. So keep it on list,
please.

Also thread drift is inevitable.

Welcome by the way,

-- b
On Jan 5, 2016 8:26 PM, "maia sauren"  wrote:

> let's talk offline, varun.
>
> On 5 January 2016 at 20:04, Varun Sahni  wrote:
>
> > Would love to learn more as am doing a lot of work in digital primary
> > care, mobile health and digital health care platforms ...
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Varun
> >
> > > On 5 Jan 2016, at 14:16, maia sauren  wrote:
> > >
> > >> On 5 January 2016 at 17:40, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>> - things that are open, particularly around the intersection of
> > software
> > >> &
> > >>> science, and lately, software and healthcare, mostly in and around my
> > >> dayjob
> > >>
> > >> What is the day job, if I might ask? There's a number of folks here
> > >> who might intersect with some portion of the above (including, in a
> > >> few past lives, myself - I helped found the first Linux User Group in
> > >> India, among other things.)
> > >>
> > >> certainly! i work as a business analyst for an international software
> > > consultancy, currently on a project developing data tools for médecins
> > sans
> > > frontières.
> > >
> > > udhay, sounds like we definitely overlap one way or another. until
> > recently
> > > i was co-chair of the board of australian arm of open knowledge, for
> > > example.
> > >
> > >
> > >>> - food, at all stages of its formation and disformation
> > >>
> > >> This is now reminding me of a past thread on flatulence. :)
> > >
> > > is this the point where someone tells me the golden age ended before i
> > got
> > > here? :)
> >
> >
>

Re: [silk] Legal adulthood

[Biju Chacko]

I'm out of town that weekend.

-- b
On Dec 19, 2015 12:01, "gabin kattukaran"  wrote:

> On 19 December 2015 at 11:05, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> > It turns out that all friends and family are unharmed. So we shall just
> > defer the plans to meet. Perhaps sometime in January?
>
>
> The weekend of 23/24 Jan, perhaps?
>
> -gabin
>
> --
>
> They pay me to think... As long as I keep my mouth shut.
>
>

Re: [silk] New Someone in an Old Someplace

[Biju Chacko]

Welcome!
On Dec 19, 2015 10:50, "Vani Murarka"  wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
>
> Just joined Silklist - thank you Udhay.
>
> An 18 year old forum that its electic owner is proud of, was enough to
> pique my interest. So here I am, out of curiosity.
>
> While I have earned bread and rent from technology, I still keep wondering
> what my relationship with technology is. Philosophy, Art - now those are
> essential to my inner being.
>
> My current projects of self expression:
> * Geet Gatiroop - a software that creates a data visualization out of Hindi
> poetry - focusing on the poems phonetic and rhythmic patterns. It is used
> by amateur poets to fine-tune their writing.
> http://manaskriti.com/geet-gatiroop
>
> * Kaavyaalaya - the first Hindi poetry website on the internet - my oldest
> still-running project
> http://kaavyaalaya.org
>
> * MeULib - The Public Library by Me and You - aiming to get people within
> cities and neighborhoods to lend and borrow books to create a
> self-sustained public library.
> http://meulib.com
>
> * Science and Me - article series on my blog - don't know when I will write
> the next one -
> http://manaskriti.com/vani-expressions/category/writings/sam-writings/
>
> Looking forward to seeing what happens here and meeting all you invisible
> folks.
>
> Vani Murarka
>
> --
>
> Vani Murarka
>
> * MeULib: Book Garden grown by Me and You 
> * Kaavyaalaya: House of Hindi Poetry 
>
> * Manaskriti (homepage) 
> * on Facebook 
> * on Twitter: @vani_murarka  |
> @vani_hindi
>  | @vani_tech
> 
>

Re: [silk] Indo-Mexican fusion restaurants and recipes

[Biju Chacko]

Starting the obligatory thread drift: does anyone know of an authentic
Mexican restaurant in Bangalore? I've experienced little Mexican food and
I'd like to fix that.

-- b
On Oct 21, 2015 06:14, "Thaths"  wrote:

> Inspired by the biography of M.N.Roy for the last couple of years I've been
> thinking of Indo-Mexican cuisine's possibilities. There are a handful
>  of  restaurants
>  around the world that serve this food, but
> I've haven't been to any of them yet (came close to going to Avataar's in
> Sausalito, but they were closed the day I walked to Sausalito from San
> Francisco). Their menus seem to full of "curry" in mexican clothing
> (Chicken Tikka Burrito, Prawn vindaloo enchiladas..., you get the idea). I
> was thinking of food that was fused the other direction.
>
> Some of the potential dishes I've been dreaming of:
>
> Bhel puri with chorizo (or soyrizo), pico de gallo, sour cream
>
> Pani puri with tomatillo rasam
>
> Uppuma made with masa harina
>
> ...
>
> What are some dishes that you think would make great Indo-Mexican dishes?
>
> Bonus points if you can actually whip up and share a recipe.
>
> Thaths
>

Re: [silk] Puns in other languages

[Biju Chacko]

I once managed a tri-lingual pun. Unfortunately, it wasn't actually
funny. But, purely for academic interest, here it is:

Our milkman always greets me with a "Hey dude!" I wondered why, and
realised that it's because he's my pal.

Hindi doodh = Malayalam Paal = English Milk.

It's pretty cheesy, I know, but I'm going to milk it for whatever I can get.

-- b


On Thu, Sep 24, 2015 at 12:37 PM, Shyam Sunder
 wrote:
> How many legs does an ordinary hen have? In English, two. In tamil, ten.
>
> Warm regards
>
> Shyam
>
> -Original Message-
> From: silklist 
> [mailto:silklist-bounces+shyam.sunder=peakalpha@lists.hserus.net] On 
> Behalf Of Thaths
> Sent: 24 September 2015 12:12
> To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
> Subject: Re: [silk] Puns in other languages
>
> One interesting thing I'm noticing is that all three Tamil puns are punning 
> with English. Anyone know of ones that pun within the language itself? Or are 
> homonyms a rarity in Tamil?
>
> Thaths
>
> On Thu, 24 Sep 2015 13:19 Naresh  wrote:
>
>> Bus-sa pin aale thallina ennagu?
>> Pin valanju pogu!!
>>
>> Naresh Narasimhan
>> Sent from my Phone
>>
>> > On 24-Sep-2015, at 8:42 AM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
>> s...@venkatmangudi.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Opposite of area? Eranguya Old Tamil PJ.
>> >> On Sep 24, 2015 8:37 AM, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, Sep 17, 2015 at 5:05 AM, Thaths  wrote:
>> >>
>> >> What are your favorite puns in languages that are not English?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "Hold my bike" = "encyclopedia".
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >>
>> >> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
>> >>
>>
>>
>
>

Re: [silk] Renaming Aurangzeb Road

[Biju Chacko]

On Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 7:02 PM, Mohit  wrote:
>
>> On 12-Sep-2015, at 18:52, Madhu Menon  wrote:
>>
>> Just told him to kiss my ass.
>
> Tch tch. You guys have no compassion for a deranged high iq soul.

I do. This list is full of them after all. That's why I gave him one
polite, reasoned explanation for the reception he received here before
I told him to take a flying fuck through a rolling donut.

I have to say it's been a good 10 or 15 years since I've felt like
strangling someone after reading an email. I can't remember if on the
last occasion it was Suresh or Atul, though. :-)

-- b

Re: [silk] Renaming Aurangzeb Road

[Biju Chacko]

On Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 7:23 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk
 wrote:
> Tsk , tsk... This kind of language is going to get you *blocked*.  Ignoring
> his emails have been working for me so far. And if it persists,  I'll
> "report spam". Deal with metta, y'all.
 I put him in my killfile about a minute ago. It's been working real
well so far. :-)

-- b

Re: [silk] Renaming Aurangzeb Road

[Biju Chacko]

On Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 6:52 PM, Madhu Menon  wrote:
> On 12 September 2015 at 10:41, Venkat Mangudi - Silk
>  wrote:
>> BTW, James Bond has been writing to me directly. Did anyone else get emails
>> from 007?
>
> Yes. And he's pissing me off. Just told him to kiss my ass.

Ditto.

Re: [silk] [ADMIN] noise reduction

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, Sep 11, 2015 at 9:21 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> I took a chance and went against my usual policy of adding only people I
> know or have been recommended by someone I know. I am wondering if I made
> the right call in this case. I am not sure I made the right decision, based
> on the lecturing of listmembers I am seeing
> , and the persecution complex, strongly reminiscent of a prior poster from
> a few years ago.

OTOH, this list seems to have achieved a somnolent middle age. Senor
Bonilla successfully poked it with a stick -- which I suppose is to be
commended. Perhaps we need to recruit a resident troll to keep us on
our toes.

-- b

Re: [silk] Renaming Aurangzeb Road

[Biju Chacko]

On 10-Sep-2015 08:38, "James Bonilla"  wrote:
>
> My short answer to that is : do you really want to pay more taxes?

Most middle class Indians would respond that they really have no influence
on this. Many feel that the system is gamed against them and they have no
voice.

Most then respond by ignoring whatever they can and grudging compliance
when they can't.

In any case, corruption is a much bigger problem in India than the legal
idiocy you mentioned.

-- b

Re: [silk] Bangalore Silkmeet?

[Biju Chacko]

I'm in.

-- b



On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 5:03 PM, Vinayak Hegde vinay...@gmail.com wrote:
 In for 16th Dinner.

 -- Vinayak

 On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 4:15 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk
 s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote:
 In for the 16th. 5ish? I'm ok with any place around MG Road.
 On 11 Feb 2015 07:02, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 9:31 AM, Danese Cooper dan...@gmail.com wrote:

 On the 16th I get back to MG Road 4:30pm-ish...if that helps any with
  scheduling.
 

 I prefer 15th dinner, but can also do 16th.  Let's just meet in teh MG
 Road area, thee's plenty of options within walking distance of Danese's
 hotel.

 Show of hands? Date preference?

 Udhay

Re: [silk] Bangalore Silkmeet?

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 2:05 PM, Danese Cooper dan...@gmail.com wrote:
 Hi,

 I'll be in Bangalore 2/15 mid-day through 2/18 early morning.

 Shall we have an evening meetup?

15th and 16th work for me. +1 to the Leela.

-- b

Re: [silk] So, hi! An introduction

[Biju Chacko]

Biju Chacko welcomes Esther Schindler to silklist and wonders if the
third person is the new appropriate mode on silklist.

-- b



On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 8:56 PM, Esther Schindler est...@bitranch.com wrote:
 I'm the newest kid on the block. I'm told that I should offer some kind of 
 introduction.

 Esther Schindler has been writing about computers and technology since 1992, 
 and these days is the editor of Druva.com's blog. She has optimized 
 compilers, written end-user applications, designed QA processes, and owned a 
 computer retail and consulting business. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, 
 with a husband, two cats, and a well-known tropism for anything chocolate.

 …and she never shuts up.

 Anything else you'd like to know?

 --Esther Schindler
   twitter.com/estherschindler

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2014

[Biju Chacko]

The most memorable books I read in '14:

* The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
* The Locke Lamora series by Scott Lynch
* Zealot by Reza Aslan
* Silkworm  The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
* The Skeptical Patriot by Sidin Vadakut

Now that I rarely visit book stores (all my reading is on a Kindle) I
seem to have some difficulty discovering new books and authors. What
do other silklisters do?

-- b


-- b

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 11:26 PM, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
sankarshan.mukhopadh...@gmail.com wrote:
 On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 4:17 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 Books that are easy to get a hold of in India (and more difficult elsewhere)
 preferred (but not required). Fiction and non-fiction recommendations are
 equally welcome.

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21897728-india-psychedelic---the-story-of-a-rocking-generation
 and 
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18118195-illicit-worlds-of-indian-dance


 --
 sankarshan mukhopadhyay
 https://about.me/sankarshan.mukhopadhyay

Re: [silk] The least random number

[Biju Chacko]

Jace suggested I join silk some time in 2001 I guess. I remember some epic
threads those days. Things are very tame nowadays.

-- b

On Fri, 12 Dec 2014 14:30 Amitha Singh amithasi...@gmail.com wrote:

 Some time in 2000 when we were using our Grey Cells to find a mythical
 creature, Unimobile (not related in any way to the Unicorn) and you invited
 me to join in one afternoon when bunch of us were talking about the
 universe, psychology, technology and everything else under the sun!

 Amitha

Re: [silk] Books and libraries

[Biju Chacko]

On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 6:09 AM, Charles Haynes
charles.hay...@gmail.com wrote:

 On the other hand, those PocketBooks look nice...

Kobo makes some nice looking devices too. Very-Kindlish. Haven't
bothered to check how open they are -- any clue?

-- b

Re: [silk] Subtitles for movies in Bengaluru theatres

[Biju Chacko]

On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Radhika, Y. radhik...@gmail.com wrote:
 I would like to see this film. Just finished reading On the Beach by Nevil
 Shute about a few survivors waiting to die on post nuclear war Earth.

How is it, BTW? I'm a bit of a Shute fan, but On the Beach seemed too
depressing to be worth the effort.

-- b

Re: [silk] To retire or not - that is the Q.

[Biju Chacko]

On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 12:26 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:

 The older your daughter gets (and sucked into the Education Industrial
 complex), the harder it is going to be for you to pick up sticks and go
 live in rural Botswana.

 I've lived in small town Botswana, and it's not that difficult.

 I think Thaths meant the difficulty would lie in uprooting oneself
 from the Education Industrial complex.

I was saying that it has reasonable presence in rural Botswana, hence
the uprooting would be purely voluntary.

-- b

Re: [silk] Introducing ...

[Biju Chacko]

On 24 Aug 2014 13:22, Jahnavi Phalkey jahnavi_phal...@yahoo.com wrote:

 Indeed, Suresh. A Kurt Tank design but even more than that, the history
of its making is incredibly interesting.


Where can I read more about this?

Re: [silk] Introducing ...

[Biju Chacko]

On 24 Aug 2014 17:40, gabin kattukaran gkattuka...@gmail.com wrote:

 On 24 August 2014 15:20, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net wrote:
  And the history of its undoing due to bureaucratic bungling too
 
  It had potential as a ground attack aircraft like the a10 warthog


 They used to have one at the Nehru Science Centre. I remember spending
 hours walking around it as a kid.

They have one at the HAL heritage centre.

Re: [silk] Bangalore silkmeet

[Biju Chacko]

I'm bringing a friend along, so you might want to add 1 to the headcount.

-- b

On Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 7:44 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 On Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 7:41 AM, Lakshmi Pratury laks...@inktalks.com wrote:

 when and where is the meet?  I just got back into town and if its not over
 year, can join in

 At cobaltblr.com tomorrow, 7pm onwards. Come by!

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

Re: [silk] Bangalore silkmeet

[Biju Chacko]

I'm in.
On 13 Aug 2014 08:58, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 On Tue, Aug 12, 2014 at 4:49 PM, Shrabonti Bagchi shrabont...@gmail.com
 wrote:

  I'm in.

 Current headcount:

 Sumanth Cidambi
 Nandita Iyer
 Gabin Kattukaran
 Thejaswi Udupa
 Naren Shenoy
 Sharat Satyanarayana
 Naresh Narasimhan
 Shrabonti Bagchi
 Shoba Narayan
 Vinay Rao
 Vinit Bhansali (+ Surabhi Tomar?)
 Julian Philips
 Rashmi Vallabhajosyula
 Meera K

 Maybe:
 Aditya Kapil
 Lahar Appaiah

 Others, speak up!

 Udhay

Re: [silk] Introduction

[Biju Chacko]

Welcome Rajesh!

It's nice to see that you identify yourself first as a parent. Too
many of us think their identity is their jobs, which is sadly limiting
and so transitory. I think I'll do the same.

Hi, I'm Biju C and I'm father to two boys, 7 and 4 respectively. Is
there a 12-step programme to restore my sanity after such trauma?

:-)

-- b

On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 10:19 AM, Rajesh Mehar rajeshme...@gmail.com wrote:
 Hi all,

 My name is Rajesh Mehar, Uday just added me to this list. I'm a parent of a
 three year old, and I live on a relatively quiet street in Jayanagar,
 Bangalore. I was born in and grew up in Bangalore and other than for a
 one-year-stint in Mumbai, I've lived here all my life. Happy to join the
 fun.

Re: [silk] A woman's reaction to England's world cup knock-out

[Biju Chacko]

This brings to mind the famous quote:

The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never be sure
if they're genuine -- Abraham Lincoln

On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 4:19 PM, Mahesh Murthy mahesh.mur...@gmail.com wrote:
 98% of the statistics quoted online are false

 Including this :-)
 On 01-Jul-2014 2:54 pm, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 2:49 PM, SS cybers...@gmail.com wrote:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbISE9IM5Sk


 There is no explanation of how that statistic, 38% rise in domestic
 violence...women being knocked about as a direct result of England being
 knocked out, was arrived at.

 I am getting warier and warier of internet statistics and datathe net
 seems to be our modern equivalent of the vedas...ask not any question, but
 accept unhesitatingly...

 Deepa.

[silk] Employee-Employee agreement for open source activity

[Biju Chacko]

Hi,

A colleague wants to start an open source project and wanted to make
sure our employer is ok with it. I was wondering if anyone here could
point me to some templates or other resources for this kind of
agreement. A quick google didn't get me anything useful.

-- b

Re: [silk] Employee-Employee agreement for open source activity

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 1:25 PM, Sudhakar Chandra tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 I don't have a template or resources I can point to. But some things both
 employer and employee should consider before embarking on this:

 1. Is this a brand new, from the ground up project or the open sourcing of
 something the company had that was previously closed? The former is
 marginally less complex than the latter.

This is a brand new project

 2. Is the project in an area of that the employer is currently involved in?
 Is the employer likely to become involved in this area in the next 1|3|5|10
 years?

No and No.

 3. Does the employer understand open source? Is employer an active
 supporter of open source? Is employer a beneficiary of open source?

Yes. Yes and Yes.

 4. Would the employee use any of the employer's resources (computers,
 bandwidth, electricity, office space, email address, hosting space, etc.)
 in developing the open source software? If not, how would the employee
 ensure that they are not using any resources from the employer in building
 this software?

There is no intent to do so but no way has been proposed to verify that.

 5. Even though employee might be developing the software purely on an
 individual basis, there is a chance that the software is perceived to be
 from the employer rather than the employee's personal project.

The company has has already declared no interest in the project.


 6. What license does the employee plan to use for the project? Is this in
 the best interest of the employee? The employer?

AGPL. It was selected by the employee so presumably it is in his
interest. The company doesn't care really.


 7. What happens if someone sues the employee for the open source software?
 Can the employer get sucked into the dispute?

The intent is that the company be insulated from this.


 8. What happens to the employer/employee if the software turns out to be
 the next What's App or InstaApp?

Ensuring clarity on this is one of the goals of this exercise.

 Some sort of agreement between the employer and the employee addressing the
 details of these would be a good starting step.

Exactly -- a template for this was precisely what I was looking for.
While my company is supportive it really isn't considered important
enough to spend lawyer hours on. We're trying to set a precedent so
that there is some boilerplate in place for other people.

-- b

Re: [silk] Employee-Employee agreement for open source activity

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 1:15 PM, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
sankarshan.mukhopadh...@gmail.com wrote:
 On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 1:08 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:
 A colleague wants to start an open source project and wanted to make
 sure our employer is ok with it.

 What does the phrase is ok with it mean in this context?

You can do what you want as long as there is no conflict of interest
and no blatant misuse of company resources (ie replying to project
related email on company time is probably fine but hours of writing
code isn't).

-- b

Re: [silk] What You Learn in Your 40s

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, May 23, 2014 at 11:14 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 My definition of 'retire' may be slightly divergent from the above - it
 means I will continue doing [stuff similar to] what I currently do, but
 without needing to bother if I get paid or not.

Lucky you. My definition would be, I will continue to do those things
I actually like doing currently without bothering whether I get paid
or not. I'm no longer sure that will ever happen.

-- b

Re: [silk] What should I do with my money?

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 10:42 AM, Pranesh Prakash
the.solips...@gmail.com wrote:
 On Tue, Apr 8, 2014 at 2:03 PM, Sumanth Cidambi scida...@yahoo.com wrote:
 The ancient law (for want of a better phrase) - source, Dharma

 1/6 - spouse
 1/6 - progeny
 1/6 - parents
 1/6 - spouse's parents
 1/6 - charity (depending on your vocation)
 Remainder - self and general purposes

 But in a multiple-income household, what happens to the 1/{6/12/etc}
 of your {spouse,parent{s},kid{s}}'s income that you get?

Obviously, you divide it into 6 and share with spouse, parents,
progeny, et al. In short, it's turtles all the way down.

-- b

Re: [silk] What should I do with my money?

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Apr 9, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 Also, something is only an investment if there is a willingness to
 convert it into money, which does not typically seem to be the case.

Heh. This is one reason I have not invested in gold despite all the
expectations from relatives that I do so. The other reason, of course,
is that I don't have any money. But the first reason plays better with
the aforementioned relatives.

-- b

-- b

Re: [silk] Bangalore - 27th April

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 5:19 PM, Neha Viswanathan nehav...@gmail.com wrote:
 Some of you know me well, so apologies if you don't! Me and my more
 entertaining half, along with our freshly minted quarter are in
 Bangalore for a brief visit next month. Anyone up up for a Satin meet
 in Bangalore on 27th April which is a Sunday

Unfortunately, I'll be in Mumbai hobnobbing with the significant
others of an insignificant someone that weekend. Too bad, I'd have
liked to annoy in person someone I've only annoyed remotely till now.

-- b

Re: [silk] Introduction

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 5:07 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 On 12-Mar-14 2:19 PM, Pooja Sastry wrote:

 Those on silk-list will know my father as Shiv, so Udhay has known me since
 I was little and I am lucky enough to have met many of you. I have been
 lurking on the list for two years, so I thought maybe I should finally
 de-lurk and say hello.

Welcome Pooja. I too studied architecture -- but only for a while. I
learned the error of my ways and moved on to serfdom in the IT
industry. We have, therefore, nothing in common. :-) Welcome,
nevertheless.

When I studied architecture I was in the camp that considered
architecture an engineering problem that included aesthetics as one of
the requirements to be fulfilled. I annoyed (and was annoyed by) the
crowd for whom it was Art (with a capital A).

Where do you place yourself?

 There's at least one more parent-child pair on silk - I'll let them
 speak for themselves.

Cousin, you're even more annoying than usual when you allude to this
mysterious membership list that only you can see. Almost as annoying
as when you shamelessly name drop. [1] ;-)

-- b

[1] The primary annoyance is that when *I* want to name drop, I'm
reduced to saying, I don't actually know so-and-so but I know Udhay,
who does.

Re: [silk] Introduction

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 7:53 PM, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:
 Yes, who are these mysterious parent-child combinations that you keep
 talking about, Vod Ka Raja?

Quite clearly you wouldn't know Deepa.

-- b

Re: [silk] The march of technology

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 9:47 AM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote:
 Most educated people today earn enough by 35 to live simple but comfortable
 rural lives for the rest of their lives. Not a lifestyle unlike what their
 ancestors lived three generations ago.

 I think people should grow the habit of taking years off from professions
 to explore their inner selves. Most can afford it.

I don't know if I can be called educated, but I have a reasonably good
job. I'm 41 now and I can say with certainty that I couldn't afford to
take years off. My lifestyle is not spartan but it's not particularly
luxurious either. In simple terms, I have mortgage payments to make
and kids to educate. But maybe that's not the simple lifestyle you
talk about.

My grandfather had to quit school at 10 and start working because his
home burnt down -- they didn't have insurance or even fire services in
those days. His mother was my great grandfather's second wife. His
first wife died after a minor injury became infected. The nearest
hospital was several days journey away. My grandfather was one of six
siblings who reached adulthood. I've heard of at least two others who
died in infancy, there may have been more but people didn't really
note infant deaths those days because it was so common.

Many things we take for granted are products of our industrial
civilisation. There are certain costs to that civilisation. The right
thing to do is to be compassionate in our daily lives in order to
balance out the essential cold-bloodedness of how a market economy
works. Push for regulation to rein in money power, for a proper social
safety net for those in difficulty.

Yearning for a mythical rural idyll is just a way to whine without
trying to make a change in the real world. Don't even get me started
on the selfish self indulgence of exploring inner selves.

-- b

Re: [silk] have your reading habits changed?

[Biju Chacko]

On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 12:04 PM, Thejaswi Udupa
thejaswi.ud...@gmail.com wrote:
 My reading more than doubled this past year. Nothing to do with a Kindle
 (I'm still firmly in the deadtree camp), but a lifestyle change where I
 decided to ditch private transport and depend on public transport
 entirely--adds to my commute time, but also adds to my reading-time.

This matches my experience. Ten or fifteen years ago I used to average
about a book a day -- now it's down to about a book every month or so.
For a couple of months, though, I read more than 5-6 books in a month.
There were a few reasons for this:

- I got a driver -- thus giving me more than lavatory time to read.
- I decide to commit to ebooks after realising that I didn't have the
time to visit bookstores or the real estate to store them.

Having the books on my tablet/phone allowed me to grab a few minutes
every now and then through my day to read. My only irritation is that
they tend to run out of juice whenever I want to read.

-- b

Re: [silk] [intro] Hello people of silklist!

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 3:03 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk
s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote:
 Go to a website dedicated exclusively to Gobi Manchurian of you want to be
 free from Madman,  er,  Madhu Menon.  :-P

Or perhaps one dedicated to the mallu variant, Gopi Manjuri.

-- b

Re: [silk] Duck! Incoming! :) - Animals in war

[Biju Chacko]

What? You mean they didn't use an Ouroboros?

-- b

On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 7:30 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
sur...@hserus.net wrote:
 On 01-Sep-2013, at 19:26, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 I remember a piece I saw many years ago about Castro authorising a
 crocodile breeding program, for use against any future Bay of Pigs
 episodes, but can't find the link now.

 Not particularly original, that man.  Crocs were every medieval knight's 
 choice of critter to stock their castle moats with.

 --srs

Re: [silk] Meet up.

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 7:53 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 Maybe:

 Biju Chacko

I think I'll drop out too. I've had a lot of late nights lately and
I'd like to get home early for a change.

-- b

[silk] Valerie Wagoner: Tapping the missed-call trade

[Biju Chacko]

http://www.livemint.com/Industry/DxwH4TNGtKS58r7npgjnnO/Valerie-Wagoner-Tapping-the-missedcall-trade.html

Interesting.

If anyone knows her, please invite her to Silklist. :-)

-- b

Re: [silk] Valerie Wagoner: Tapping the missed-call trade

[Biju Chacko]

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 3:08 PM, Mark Bergen mberg...@gmail.com wrote:

 http://www.livemint.com/Industry/DxwH4TNGtKS58r7npgjnnO/Valerie-Wagoner-Tapping-the-missedcall-trade.html

 Yeah, but the author's a pos. Don't invite him.

Quite clearly a bit of a git. Unfortunately, that gets trumped by my
firm belief that the entire editorial staff of Mint should be on Silk.


 (Happy to make intros or send invite.)

Please do, though it's not clear from the article whether she's
eccentric enough to fit in. :-)

-- b

Re: [silk] Meet up.

[Biju Chacko]

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 9:57 AM, Andy Deemer andydee...@gmail.com wrote:
 Yep - I'm definitely in!


 On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 6:21 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 On 10-Aug-13 11:47 AM, rashmi v wrote:

  This weekend might be short notice for most people. I was thinking of
  Saturday August 31st.

 Current schedule appears to be Friday Aug 30th, at the same venue as
 last time (Naresh's office at Venkataramanan Associates in Langford Town)

 Current confirmed attendees:

 Rashmi
 Naresh
 Andy Deemer (+1?)
 Udhay

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




 --
 Have you played my new iPad game yet?  The Stormglass
 Protocolhttps://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id639520711?mt=8.
  Try it today!

 *And my other projects:*

 - Creator, AsiaObscura http://asiaobscura.com (as seen in *The Daily Mail*,
 *BoingBoing*, *Weekly World News's The Sun, **io9*, *Ain't It Cool News*, *
 IncredibleThings*,* The Phnom Penh Insider* and *The China Daily*)

 - Producer, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken
 Deadhttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poultrygeist-night-of-the-chicken-dead/
 (Perfect
 - *The New York Times*, Terrific - *Entertainment Weekly*, Brilliant - *
 Salon.com*, Hilarious - Stephen King, Hilarious - *New York
 Magazine*, Hilarious
 - *MTV's The Big Ten*, Hilarious - *All Movie Guide*, Hilarious - *The*
 *SF Bay Guardian*, Hilarious - *Film Threat*, Hilarious -
 *Fangoria*, Hilarious
 -* **Rue Morgue, *A vegetarian-manifesto masterpiece - *PETA*)

 - Writer  Director, Poultry in Motion: Truth is Stranger Than
 Chickenhttp://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/poultry-in-motion-truth-is-stranger-than-chicken/
 (A
 fascinating, darkly funny glimpse into the underbelly of genre filmmaking
 - *The Dissolve*, Fascinating - *DVD Talk*, A must-see - *Blu-ray*,
 Fearlessly Honest - *MSN*, One of the best feature length behind the
 scenes documentaries. - *KillerFilm*)

 - Tributor, Pyongyang
 Toohttp://asiaobscura.com/2010/07/pyongyang-too-a-tribute-to-guy-delisles-pyongyang-graphic-travelogue-comic.html
 (Un
 belle hommage - *Télérama*, La surprise de sa vie! – *Casemate*)

 - Eater, via The Huffington Post http://huffingtonpost.com/andy-deemer (As
 seen in *Bon Appetit*, *The Village Voice, TrendHunter, That's Nerdalicious
 *and *IncredibleThings*)

Andy,

I've gotten fairly relaxed about mail etiquette over the years -- top
vs bottom posting, html vs non-html and so on. But I'm forced to point
out that your .sig is excessive. May I suggest a url to a page with
the same content instead?

thanks,

-- b

Re: [silk] genomic gastronomy (with a bgl connection)

[Biju Chacko]

On Sat, Aug 3, 2013 at 1:40 PM, Mark Seiden m...@seiden.com wrote:


 turns out zach spent some years in bgl before moving to portland (oregon).  
 he said it's the
 place he'd lived the longest as an adult (so far).


Just FYI: Blr is the more usual abbreviation than Bgl. Took me a
second to figure out what you were saying.



 they would be entertaining people to have on the silklist….


Please do invite them.

-- b

Re: [silk] Bollywood's Big-Screen Love Affair With Switzerland Fades To Black

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, Jul 26, 2013 at 3:00 PM, SS cybers...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Wed, 2013-07-24 at 17:01 +0800, Chew Lin Kay wrote:
  Am curious--a) do viewers expect dance scenes in foreign locales? Are
  films
  made exclusively in India seen as cheap/inferior/not-so-good? b) how
  does
  film financing work?--ie how much of the expenditure goes towards
  foreign
  shoots, stars' pay, etc?

 About a thousand films are made every year in India so the foreign
 locales are basically for variety/novelty as well as a possible way of
 using black money.


I'm told Bollywood is increasingly corporatized with a lot of funds being
raised in pretty conventional ways.

-- b

Re: [silk] Old book smell

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 1:24 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 11:54 AM, Indrajit Gupta bonoba...@yahoo.co.in
 wrote:

  Just say neigh, you think?
 

 A night mare race to find the worst pun?


I wanted to jump in, but I was afraid of making an ass of myself.

Re: [silk] Old book smell

[Biju Chacko]

On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 2:59 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.comwrote:

 On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 11:48 AM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com
 wrote:
  On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 1:24 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 
  On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 11:54 AM, Indrajit Gupta bonoba...@yahoo.co.in
  wrote:
 
   Just say neigh, you think?
  
 
  A night mare race to find the worst pun?
 
 
  I wanted to jump in, but I was afraid of making an ass of myself.

 This galloping thread is giving me a long face, please rein it in, or
 I'll be forced to dismount.

 I don't think anyone'll pay any attention to you. You'll just yell
yourself horse if you keep at it.

-- b

Re: [silk] Old book smell

[Biju Chacko]

On 21 Jun 2013 20:50, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 7:41 AM, Dibyo Haldar dibyo.hal...@gmail.com
wrote:

  now you lot are just flogging a dead thread.
 

 Why? I thought this thread, she is fine. Don't halt 'er. One might even
say
 she is whinnyng.


That was terrible. One more joke like that and I'm gonna  cry foal.

-- b

Re: [silk] Old book smell

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 On 19-Jun-13 3:31 PM, gabin kattukaran wrote:

  Trust you to make a hash of things.
 
 
  There's another thread going up in smoke.

 Confess, now...its absinthe made your heart grow fonder.


I expected a crack like this.

-- b

Re: [silk] Old book smell

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 6:09 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 On 19-Jun-13 3:31 PM, gabin kattukaran wrote:

  Trust you to make a hash of things.
 
 
  There's another thread going up in smoke.

 Confess, now...its absinthe made your heart grow fonder.


 I expected a crack like this.


Interestingly enough, I just discovered that I can't pun while I'm
listening to music. Its sort of like trying to hum a tune while another is
playing.

-- b

[silk] Atul Chitnis

[Biju Chacko]

A lot of people on this list are acquainted with Atul Chitnis. Many of us
got to know him in the Open Source scene in India in the late '90s and
early '00s.

I just heard that he lost his long battle with cancer earlier today.

He was not universally liked but I guess even those that didn't like him
would be saddened by the news.

-- b

Re: [silk] Atul Chitnis

[Biju Chacko]

On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 6:15 PM, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:


 My heart goes out to his family...to lose him so early must be agony.


The fact that the trolls start crawling out from whichever rocks they were
hiding under at times like this surely doesn't help:

https://twitter.com/geetanjalic/status/341522977860509697

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Biju Chacko]

On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 9:49 PM, Sumant Srivathsan suma...@gmail.comwrote:

  Mahesh (the restaurant) is one of my favourite places in Mumbai. I'm
 game.
  7:30-ish on Wednesday?

 Really? I can only assume you haven't been there in a while. The Lonely
 Planet curse had struck with a vengeance. Overpriced generic fare that does
 its reputation no justice, IMO. Decent wine list, though.


That's the reputation of the MLH in Bangalore too. I was hoping it was just
teething problems, but I guess it's a systemic problem. :-(

-- b

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 9:34 AM, Ingrid ingrid.srin...@gmail.com wrote:

 Juhu Mahesh?

 Gajalee JVPD?
 http://www.gajalee.com/rest_juhu.html

 7.30 pm?


The last time I ate in Gajalee I was violently unwell, so I'll vote for
Mahesh unless Sumant is really against it.

The time works for me.

-- b

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Biju Chacko]

On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 5:19 PM, Ingrid ingrid.srin...@gmail.com wrote:

 I'm leaving South Bombay shortly. Confirming 7.30 pm at Juhu Mahesh.


See you there. I'm 9845272618 if you need to co-ordinate.

-- b

Re: [silk] Fwd: Wine tasting is bullshit. Here's why.

[Biju Chacko]

On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 8:32 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On May 29, 2013 9:04 AM, Bonobashi bonoba...@yahoo.co.in wrote:
 
  One must share your well-founded fears. One might go so far as to say
 that one is apPauled.

 Why Ring o the bells of doom?


Yeah, just let it be.

-- b

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Biju Chacko]

On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 9:56 AM, Ingrid ingrid.srin...@gmail.com wrote:

 How about Mahesh Lunch Home at Juhu? I'm craving some Butter-Pepper-Garlic
 Crab.


Mahesh (the restaurant) is one of my favourite places in Mumbai. I'm game.
7:30-ish on Wednesday?

-- b

Re: [silk] In Mumbai

[Biju Chacko]

On 27 May 2013 10:41, Sumant Srivathsan suma...@gmail.com wrote:

 In, depending on which day gets frozen. I should know by tomorrow which
 days are out.

How does Wednesday night sound? And where would be a good place to meet?

-- b

[silk] In Mumbai

[Biju Chacko]

In keeping with current silk practice I thought I'd mention that I'm in
Mumbai Tuesday through Saturday. Anyone up for a meet?

-- b