Re: [silk] "Old book" smell
On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 6:11 PM, Biju Chacko wrote: > > 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. > This reminded me of something I read somewhere this past week. It *ahem* got right up my nose till I found it : From: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5872414 JWZ: "Be careful. Music engages your creative hemisphere. This doesn't matter much if what you're doing is a simple, repetitive task. But if you're trying to design or program, it might kill your ability to "think outside the box" and invent creative solutions. In my case, listening to music while programming has a very pronounced effect: I will spend 30 minutes crafting a function that will do something. The function will eventually work. And then I will stop listening to music and several minutes later notice that the function was entirely unnecessary, because I can make an architectural or data structure change instead and avoid writing the function altogether. This is something I am unable to do while listening to music. Once I noticed this, I started being careful: I'd listen to music while configuring routers, but not when planning and designing the changes. You get the idea. So, before you start listening to music while working, I'd advise you to check if your brain works the same way (the effect might not be exactly the same for everyone)." -J > -- b
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meet, Food & Drinks
On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 10:34 AM, Naresh wrote: > We need a app for landmark based directions !:) > > http://www.latlong.in/ Their directions include local landmarks, eg. 'Turn left at Geetha stores' ( not as effective as "Geetha Stores Leftu", still.) They used to run a rather decent directions-by-SMS service as well, till the recent bulk-SMS clampdown happened. -J
Re: [silk] bangalore treats
On Fri, Mar 29, 2013 at 5:26 PM, Shrabonti Bagchi wrote: > Just curious -- what's the source of this compilation? Timeout Bengaluru, the magazine. One of the first issues, IIRC. -J
Re: [silk] Savita
In memory of Savita : http://savitarao.wordpress.com/ -J
Re: [silk] Ombaba gets Nobel peace
On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 12:30 PM, Vinayak Hegde wrote: > On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 4:24 PM, ss wrote: >> Ombaba gets Nobel peace prize >> >> What for? > > A Cartoonists looks at Obama's Nobel Prize. > > http://blog.cagle.com/news/2009/10/09/live-blog-cartoonists-respond-to-obamas-nobel-prize-win/ > http://blog.cagle.com/news/2009/10/09/live-blog-cartoonists-respond-to-obamas-nobel-prize-win-page-two/ Here's my cartoon on the win (laced with some Internet nostalgia) : http://iyermatter.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/how-obama-won-the-nobel/ -J
Re: [silk] Turtles all the way, #216379
On Mon, Sep 7, 2009 at 7:05 AM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > This post is then a report about a report about a report about a report. > Infinite regress is one step closer. :) > > Udhay > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/sep/01/improbable-research-texas-reports > > > The report to end all reports > > The state of Texas requires a report on all the reports produced by its > own agencies Reminds me of this thread on Slashdot where someone posted about a poster he'd made of the Periodic Table. He'd also made an actual table of the periodic table in the past (and posted about it), so he concluded his post with: "And if I post about posters again, I could be a Periodic Periodic Table Table Poster Poster." http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/05/2118205 -J
Re: [silk] A long time ago...
On Sun, Jul 19, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Giancarlo Livraghi wrote: > ... actually ten months ago. In September 2008. > > I wonder if anyone remembers. I "asked a silly question". And I got lots of > not-at-all-silly answers. :) > > It was about cases in (Indian or other) folklore or fiction where "things > come alive". Not too long ago (actually, last week), I drew a cartoon about a thing-that-comes-to-life (and inflicts much pain thereafter) : http://iyermatter.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/indian-transformers-autorickshawbot/ Have a good week. -J
Re: [silk] Oracle Agrees to Acquire Sun
On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:28 AM, Venky TV wrote: > > Personally, I am concerned about OpenSolaris. Solaris as an operating > system probably has a brighter future under Oracle than before, but > the OpenSolaris project does not seem to make too much sense for > Oracle. I don't see them being too interested in an Ubuntu-like > desktop-friendly OS being developed out in the open. Solaris might > just go back to being a closed-source big iron operating system, which > would be a terrible shame. > Hmmm. I'd like Solaris to be an open-source, big-iron OS. The concept of Solaris on the desktop has always disturbed me, it's like err the Pope featuring in Playboy. In (related?) news, J.G.Ballard, author of 'Empire of the Sun' passed away on Sunday. My cartoon on the Oracle-Sun acquisition : http://iyermatter.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/oracle-buys-sun/ -Jai > As for MySQL, I just don't know. It is kind of like the Vatican > picking up Playboy, Inc. It might make sense to keep it going from a > business perspective, but something *just* does not seem right. > > Venky (the Second). > > -- > One hundred thousand lemmings can't be wrong. > >
Re: [silk] projectors
On 4/5/09, Thaths wrote: > On Sat, Apr 4, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Abhijit Menon-Sen wrote: >> If I want to buy a projector that is good for showing films to a small >> (<10 people) audience, what should I be looking for? Price is the major >> consideration, but not the only one. > > Pico projectors? Of course if you're the adventurous kind, you could give this a shot : http://audiovisualizers.com/madlab/lcd_proj.htm -Jai http://iyermatter.wordpress.com
Re: [silk] Urban Rhythms
On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 9:50 AM, Carol Upadhya wrote: > This is interesting, especially in view of the ongoing project in Bangalore > to mine cell phone data to help the traffic police predict traffic jams: > > http://www.mapunity.in/ > > I don't know whether this initiative has been discussed on silklist or not. > > Carol > > On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 9:40 AM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > >> This is rather cool, though there are obvious implications for privacy >> here. >> >> Two things come to mind: >> >> * The "mapping a city using the sound of footsteps" bit from >> _Cryptonomicon_ >> * This is "traffic analysis" in more than one sense. :-) More err imagery that comes to mind : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_intelligence You're now a worker-ant, effusing pheromone all over the city, for the smart algorithms to sniff out and optimize. Welcome to the ant colony you've always lived in. -Jai http://iyermatter.wordpress.com >> >> Udhay >> >> http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22286/?a=f >> >> Friday, March 13, 2009 >> >> Mapping a City's Rhythm >> A phone application highlights hot spots and will soon show where >> different urban "tribes" gather. >> >> By Kate Greene >> >> Over the course of any day, people congregate around different parts of >> a city. In the morning hours, workers commute downtown, while at >> lunchtime and in the evening, people disperse to eateries and bars. >> >> While this sort of behavior is common knowledge, it hasn't been visible >> to the average person. Sense Networks, a startup based in New York, is >> now trying to bring this side of a city to life. Using cell-phone and >> taxi GPS data, the startup's software produces a heat map that shows >> activity at hot spots across a city. Currently, the service, called >> Citysense, only works in San Francisco, but it will launch in New York >> in the next few months. >> >> On Wednesday, at the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies conference in San >> Jose, CA, Tony Jebara, chief scientist for Sense Networks and a >> professor at Columbia University, detailed plans of a forthcoming update >> to Citysense that shows not only where people are gathering in real >> time, but where people with similar behavioral patterns--students, >> tourists, or businesspeople, for instance--are congregating. A user >> downloads Citysense to her phone to view the map and can choose whether >> or not to allow the application to track her own location. >> >> The idea, says Jebara, is that a person could travel to a new city, >> launch Citysense on her phone, and instantly get a feel for which >> neighborhoods she might want to spend the evening visiting. This >> information could also help her filter restaurant or bar suggestions >> from online recommendation services like Yelp. Equally important, from >> the company's business perspective, advertisers would have a better idea >> of where and when to advertise to certain groups of people. >> >> Citysense, which has access to four million GPS sensors, currently >> offers simple statistics about a city, says Jebara. It shows, for >> instance, whether the overall activity in the city is above or below >> normal (Sense Networks' GPS data indicates that activity in San >> Francisco is down 34 percent since October) or whether a particular part >> of town has more or less activity than usual. But the next version of >> the software, due out in a couple of months, will help users dig more >> deeply into this data. It will reveal the movement of people with >> certain behavior patterns. >> >> "It's like Facebook, but without the self-reporting," Jebara says, >> meaning that a user doesn't need to actively update her profile. "We >> want an honest social network where you're connected to someone because >> you colocate." >> >> In other words, if you live in San Francisco and go to Starbucks at 4 >> P.M. a couple of times a week, you probably have some similarities with >> someone in New York who also visits Starbucks at around the same time. >> Knowing where a person in New York goes to dinner on a Friday night >> could help a visitor to the city make a better restaurant choice, Jebara >> says. >> >> As smart phones with GPS sensors become more popular, companies and >> researchers have clamored to make sense of all the data that this can >> reveal. Sense Networks is a part of a research trend known as reality >> mining, pioneered by Alex Pentland of MIT, who is a cofounder of Sense >> Networks. Another example of reality mining is a research project at >> Intel that uses cell phones to determine whether a person is the hub of >> a social network or at the periphery, based on her tone of voice and the >> amount of time she talks. >> >> Jebara is aware that the idea of tracking people's movements makes some >> people uncomfortable, but he insists that the data used is stripped of >> all identifying information. In addition, anyone who uses Citysense must >> first agree to let the system log her position. A
Re: [silk] Police Ram Sene?
On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 5:55 PM, Mahesh Murthy wrote: > A khatmal in Hyderabad. > > On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 5:53 PM, Nikhil Mehra > wrote: > >> A thulla in Delhi. >> A 'pyaadhey' in Bangalore, actually. -Jai http://iyermatter.wordpress.com >> >> Nikhil Mehra >> Advocate, Supreme Court of India >> Tel: (+91) 9810776904 >> Res: C-I/10 AIIMS Campus >> Ansari Nagar >> New Delhi - 110029. >> >> >> On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 5:48 PM, Bonobashi wrote: >> >> > >> > >> > >> > --- On Thu, 12/3/09, ss wrote: >> > >> > > From: ss >> > > Subject: Re: [silk] Police Ram Sene? >> > > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net >> > > Date: Thursday, 12 March, 2009, 5:18 PM >> > > >> > > -Inline Attachment Follows- >> > > >> > > On Thursday 12 Mar 2009 3:58:11 pm >> > > Vinayak Hegde wrote: >> > > > I always thought the word Pandu was used in Mumbai to >> > > refer to >> > > > Policemen. Is this used in other cities as well ? I >> > > think the genesis >> > > > of the word Pandu was from the satirical/farcical Dada >> > > Kondke [1] >> > > > movies. >> > > >> > > It's only me. I grew up in Pune, and just like "cop" >> > > derives from London's >> > > copper - a Pandu is a Pandu anywhere, except when he is a >> > > Sakharam. >> > > >> > > >> > > shiv >> > >> > >> > Not so fast - in Calcutta, he's a Mama. >> > >> > >> > Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to >> > http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ >> > >> > >> >
Re: [silk] Gunmen attack Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore
On 3/5/09, Bonobashi wrote: > > > --- On Thu, 5/3/09, . wrote: > > From: . > Subject: Re: [silk] Gunmen attack Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net > Date: Thursday, 5 March, 2009, 4:25 PM > > On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 1:05 PM, Bonobashi wrote: >> --- On Thu, 5/3/09, Deepa Mohan wrote: >>> that sounds...surely there is a better word or phrase to >>> describe it than >>> conjuring up visions of derrieres being sent by Indian >>> Post?) > > lol > >> My mail settings don't distinguish my postings from previous ones. for >> instance, if you see above, you will see that your post, never mind > > ummby any chance are you using a rich formatting in your editor. > IIRC, you have to change your editor settings to "text" and the > problem will be solved. > > -- > . > > Tchah!! > > And that's all it was? Dang! Dang indeed. And to think Udhay ( so skillfully) got you to broadcast your password out to the alias for that. Udhay, a Nigerian connection in the family tree, perhaps ? -J http://iyermatter.wordpress.com
[silk] 'Sita sings the blues' - now online (legally)
Animator Nina Paley's much anticipated 'Sita sings the blues' is now online, for free viewing : http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/blog/watch-sita-sings-the-blues-online/347/ - Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by e-mail. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.” __ The film was(is) in copyright jail : http://www.questioncopyright.org/sita_distribution and is currently being aired thanks to a loophole in the Copyright Act. Eventually, Nina wants to make the move 'completely free' for public distribution under a Creative Commons Share Alike license . To quote her from her blog ( http://blog.ninapaley.com ) : "Why should techies have all the fun? The few publishers to embrace open content focus primarily on technical books. But an increasing number of artists and pop culture creators are seeking alternatives to copy restricting their works. " -Jai http://iyermatter.wordpress.com
Re: [silk] Regarding complaints to the police
I concur. As always, it's useful to apply marketing/usability/KISS principles: 1. Call 100, and *yell* : "MADAM ! URGENT ! ROWDIES ! LADIES PROBLEM ! -GE HOYSALA KALSI !" The Kannada helps. The 100 helpline is recorded (useful from a legal perspective, I'd think) and manned by operators who are trained (enough to call the relevant Police station/closest Hoysala if they think it's important ). If you find a lady operator , it's your lucky(?) day. And the threat of an imminent Hoysala should deter (most) goons. 2. Learn techniques to memorise number plates. Make it a habit. Its not as easy when you're pumping adrenalin and seeing through a bloody eye, so you need practice. Keep the (healthier) eye open. 'Looking up a licence plate' is usually the only thing the cops are forced to follow up on (if it's in the FIR), so give them that information. I say this out of the wisdom of many years of dealing with cops in Bangalore. -Jai http://iyermatter.wordpress.com On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Deepa Mohan wrote: > With regard to > > > http://www.babajob.com/person.htm?user=10041 > > > I thought of having my police station number on speed dial on my phone..and > then realized it wasn't going to be that simple. I spoke to a couple of > friends, and some of us have been doing some research into this. Sadly, one > cannot call one's own police station. Wherever the harassment happens, one > must report at the police station that covers that area (and that may not be > the nearest police station, either.) We perceive a lot of people-unfriendly > problems here and will start working on it. > > I would suggest that since women do, usually, carry a mobile, the general > police number, 100, should be on it as a quick-dial no. (though I agree > that it may often mean nothing at all.) Perhaps, just the act of calling > will deter these goonsI am just not able to say anything definitively. > > I would welcome it if others could come up with small, concrete steps that > women could implement to ensure some degree of safety. > > Wearing only sarees and salwar kameez is NOT an option. Who knows, they may > decide next that salwar kameez is a "northern" dress. > > > Deepa. >
[silk] Siftables : Toy Blocks that think
>From TED : http://www.ted.com/talks/david_merrill_demos_siftables_the_smart_blocks.html Neat demo, especially the math trick. On a lighter note, blocks that are smarter that you - gee, that'd do wonders to a child's confidence. -J http://iyermatter.wordpress.com
[silk] [New Member]
>On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote: > Via a new member of this list, Udhay's rather subtle hint tells me an introduction is in order. Here goes. Humour me. _ I worked at Sun (the computer company) in the Solaris division for seven years.Currently (post IIM), I *am* the marketing division (+code-jock,etc) at a product startup that's been in err stealth mode for a while now. (We're making money, though.) I ( prefer to) code in Python on a Mac. I learnt my marketing lessons early in life. As a kid who could draw, I created and sold my own comics and magazines. At age thirteen I devised this image-based mnemonic system for memorizing a list of hundreds of random objects in order. I was thrilled, no one in my little South-Bangalore-middle-class-world had heard of such a thing and I spent weeks perfecting the technique and creating a vaudeville identity 'Memory Boy' for myself (complete with Houdini-like challenges , posters and pretty assistants). My dreams were shattered when a Personality Trainer dropped into school one day and did (a limited version of ) my memory stunt on stage. That was when I realized I had to do ordinary things like getting an engineering degree,a real job and all that. I'm a much humbler and wiser man these days, thanks to the internet. Interests worth a coffee-table-conversation include magic, graphic novels and Rajinikanth. Known super powers include amazing autorickshaw-fu. -Jai Iyer http://iyermatter.wordpress.com
