Tiffinbox: Rucksacks In Nottinghill: "You gotta love this. If you are brown, in or around London, don't carry a rucksack/backpack or wear a large coat. And definitely don't run with any of the aforementioned items in hand onto a bus or attempt to get onto a train. You are asking to be harassed.
I am apalled by this. The thing that gets me the most is about 'looking a bit foreign.' Hello! London is quite likely the most cosmopolitan city in the world [thanks to their colonial past, but that's another post]. Are they going to stop just everyone who isn't WHITE and interrogate them? I called this a long time ago when this whole Iraq mess was brewing; the civil liberties of brown and non-white people was going to take a major hit. And it's happening. Slowly but surely our travel will be restricted, our intentions questioned and lives rebuked."
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Madeup women
Should liberation of women mean, women not being obsessed with their makeup kits?
I see women who always have makeup on their face and men hardly do. In general women are more concious of their appearance than men. Is this because they are not confident of their other abilities/strengths.
I see women who always have makeup on their face and men hardly do. In general women are more concious of their appearance than men. Is this because they are not confident of their other abilities/strengths.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Why Bill Gates Wants 3,000 New Patents - New York Times
Why Bill Gates Wants 3,000 New Patents - New York Times: "All software published in the United States is protected by strong copyright and trademark protection. Microsoft Excel, for example, cannot be copied, nor can its association with Microsoft be removed. But a patent goes well beyond this. It protects even the underlying concepts from being used by others - for 20 years.
As recently as the 1970's, software developers relied solely upon copyrights and trademarks to protect their work. This turned out rather well for Microsoft. Had Dan Bricklin, the creator of VisiCalc, the spreadsheet that gave people a reason to buy a personal computer, obtained a patent covering the program in 1979, Microsoft would not have been able to bring out Excel until 1999. Nor would Word or PowerPoint have appeared if the companies that had brought out predecessors obtained patent protection for their programs.
Mr. Bricklin, who has started several software companies and defensively acquired a few software patents along the way, says he, too, would cheer the abolition of software patents, which he sees as the bane of small software companies. 'The number of patents you can run into with a small product is immense,' he said. As for Microsoft's aggressive accumulation in recent years, he asked, 'Isn't Microsoft the poster child of success without software patents?'
So why didn't Mr. Bricklin file for a patent for VisiCalc in 1979? Patents for software alone were not an option then. He consulted a patent attorney who said that the application would have to present the software within a machine and that the odds were long that the ploy would succeed. The courts regarded software as merely a collection of mathematical algorithms, tiny revelations of nature's secrets - not as an invention, and thus not patentable.
The legal environment changed not because of new legislation, but by accident. One important ruling here and another there, and without anyo"
As recently as the 1970's, software developers relied solely upon copyrights and trademarks to protect their work. This turned out rather well for Microsoft. Had Dan Bricklin, the creator of VisiCalc, the spreadsheet that gave people a reason to buy a personal computer, obtained a patent covering the program in 1979, Microsoft would not have been able to bring out Excel until 1999. Nor would Word or PowerPoint have appeared if the companies that had brought out predecessors obtained patent protection for their programs.
Mr. Bricklin, who has started several software companies and defensively acquired a few software patents along the way, says he, too, would cheer the abolition of software patents, which he sees as the bane of small software companies. 'The number of patents you can run into with a small product is immense,' he said. As for Microsoft's aggressive accumulation in recent years, he asked, 'Isn't Microsoft the poster child of success without software patents?'
So why didn't Mr. Bricklin file for a patent for VisiCalc in 1979? Patents for software alone were not an option then. He consulted a patent attorney who said that the application would have to present the software within a machine and that the odds were long that the ploy would succeed. The courts regarded software as merely a collection of mathematical algorithms, tiny revelations of nature's secrets - not as an invention, and thus not patentable.
The legal environment changed not because of new legislation, but by accident. One important ruling here and another there, and without anyo"
NOVA | scienceNOW | How Fuel Cells Work | PBS
NOVA | scienceNOW | How Fuel Cells Work | PBS: "Think of them as big batteries, but ones that only operate when fuel—in this case, pure hydrogen—is supplied to them. When it is, an electrochemical reaction takes place between the hydrogen and oxygen that directly converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Various types of fuel cells exist, but the one automakers are primarily focusing on for fuel cell cars is one that relies on a proton-exchange membrane, or PEM. In the generic PEM fuel cell pictured at left, the membrane lies sandwiched between a positively charged electrode (the cathode) and a negatively charged electrode (the anode). In the simple reaction that occurs here rests the hope of engineers, policymakers, and ordinary citizens that someday we'll drive entirely pollution-free cars. (For more on the likelihood and timing of this, see Point-Counterpoint or ask our expert.)
Here's what happens in the fuel cell: When hydrogen gas pumped from the fuel tanks arrives at the anode, which is made of platinum, the platinum catalyzes a reaction that ionizes the gas. Ionization breaks the hydrogen atom down into its positive ions (hydrogen protons) and negative ions (electrons). Both types of ions are naturally drawn to the cathode situated on the other side of the membrane, but only the protons can pass through the membrane (hence the name 'proton-exchange'). The electrons are forced to go around the PEM, and along the way they are shunted through a circuit, generating the electricity that runs the car's systems.
Using the two different routes, the hydrogen protons and the electrons quickly reach the cathode. While hydrogen is fed to the anode, oxygen is fed to the cathode, where a catalyst creates oxygen ions. The arriving hydrogen protons and electrons bond with these oxygen ions, creating the two 'waste products' of the reaction—water vapor and heat. Some of the water vapor gets recycled for use in humidification, and the rest drips out of the t"
Here's what happens in the fuel cell: When hydrogen gas pumped from the fuel tanks arrives at the anode, which is made of platinum, the platinum catalyzes a reaction that ionizes the gas. Ionization breaks the hydrogen atom down into its positive ions (hydrogen protons) and negative ions (electrons). Both types of ions are naturally drawn to the cathode situated on the other side of the membrane, but only the protons can pass through the membrane (hence the name 'proton-exchange'). The electrons are forced to go around the PEM, and along the way they are shunted through a circuit, generating the electricity that runs the car's systems.
Using the two different routes, the hydrogen protons and the electrons quickly reach the cathode. While hydrogen is fed to the anode, oxygen is fed to the cathode, where a catalyst creates oxygen ions. The arriving hydrogen protons and electrons bond with these oxygen ions, creating the two 'waste products' of the reaction—water vapor and heat. Some of the water vapor gets recycled for use in humidification, and the rest drips out of the t"
Friday, July 22, 2005
Craig Venter: DNA's Mapmaker
Craig Venter: DNA's Mapmaker: "Who could ever have imagined that a surfer working as a night clerk at Sears, Roebuck & Co. (S ) would eventually become the driving force behind the race to read the genetic code of humanity? That's the unlikely story of J. Craig Venter, a brash biologist who engineered a major leap in scientific knowledge -- and earned millions -- by masterminding efforts to probe the DNA of everything from microbes to man.
Venter might not have broken his surfing habit were it not for the Vietnam War, he says. Faced with the draft, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and ended up as a medical corpsman patching wounds in a hospital in Da Nang. 'I got a lifetime of education packed into one year,' he recalls.
He came back to the U.S. energized and ambitious, zipping through college and a PhD in six years and landing at the National Institutes of Health in 1984. At the time, scientists were spending years finding individual genes. But Venter had a better idea. He quickly fished out the copies of many genes that cells make and use in the production of proteins. Then he employed a new sequencing machine to analyze the code in these genes rapidly.
Soon Venter had sequenced parts of hundreds of genes -- and became the center of a firestorm when the NIH filed patents on them. 'Outrageous,' fumed Nobel Laureate James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA's structure. He charged that Venter's semi-automated operation 'could be run by monkeys.' Venter was unrepentant. 'I had three strikes against me,' he recalls. 'I had a radical idea, it worked, and I was an outsider.'
Venter then became even more of a maverick. He snared venture capital bucks to set up his own nonprofit research institute, linked to a company called Human Genome Science (HGSI ) that would get first crack at the genes he found. There he pioneered a technique dubbed 'whole genome shotgun sequencing' to read all the DNA in an organism quickly, not just the 2% in the genes themselves. The "
Venter might not have broken his surfing habit were it not for the Vietnam War, he says. Faced with the draft, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and ended up as a medical corpsman patching wounds in a hospital in Da Nang. 'I got a lifetime of education packed into one year,' he recalls.
He came back to the U.S. energized and ambitious, zipping through college and a PhD in six years and landing at the National Institutes of Health in 1984. At the time, scientists were spending years finding individual genes. But Venter had a better idea. He quickly fished out the copies of many genes that cells make and use in the production of proteins. Then he employed a new sequencing machine to analyze the code in these genes rapidly.
Soon Venter had sequenced parts of hundreds of genes -- and became the center of a firestorm when the NIH filed patents on them. 'Outrageous,' fumed Nobel Laureate James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA's structure. He charged that Venter's semi-automated operation 'could be run by monkeys.' Venter was unrepentant. 'I had three strikes against me,' he recalls. 'I had a radical idea, it worked, and I was an outsider.'
Venter then became even more of a maverick. He snared venture capital bucks to set up his own nonprofit research institute, linked to a company called Human Genome Science (HGSI ) that would get first crack at the genes he found. There he pioneered a technique dubbed 'whole genome shotgun sequencing' to read all the DNA in an organism quickly, not just the 2% in the genes themselves. The "
Friday, July 15, 2005
Christine Todd Whitman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christine Todd Whitman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Ms. Whitman was born Christine Todd, in New York City. She was raised in New Jersey and attended the Chapin School in New York City. She graduated from Wheaton College in 1968. After graduating, she worked on Nelson Rockefeller's presidential campaign.
During the Nixon administration, she worked in the United States Office of Economic Opportunity under the leadership of Donald Rumsfeld.
She became involved in Somerset County, New Jersey politics in the 1980s and served on the state Public Utilities Commission."
During the Nixon administration, she worked in the United States Office of Economic Opportunity under the leadership of Donald Rumsfeld.
She became involved in Somerset County, New Jersey politics in the 1980s and served on the state Public Utilities Commission."
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Koovagam Festival
I saw a program on National Geographic about the Koovagam festival in India. Hadn't heard about this ever before.
Indian eunuchs' day in the sun [article]
According to Hindu scripture, Aravan had to be sacrificed by his people, the Pandavas, to win a war. He asked to get married and enjoy sexual bliss on his last night alive.
http://www.chennaionline.com/society/aravaani.asp
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/25463
Indian eunuchs' day in the sun [article]
According to Hindu scripture, Aravan had to be sacrificed by his people, the Pandavas, to win a war. He asked to get married and enjoy sexual bliss on his last night alive.
To fulfil this wish, Lord Krishna briefly took on female form - then became a "widow" the next day.
At the Koovagam festival, not only thousands of visiting hijras but many ordinary young men from the neighbourhood, too, act out this role of bride. For once, the hijras are out of their ghetto, performing an age-old ritual. And they revel in it.
More :http://www.chennaionline.com/society/aravaani.asp
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/25463
Friday, July 08, 2005
Mumbai Mirror
"After Mumbai Mirror exposed the inhuman 'sale' of a two-month-old at Lal Batti in Byculla, Mumbai police have identified five more places in Mumbai -- at Lalbaug, Govandi, Kurla, Madanpura and Mumbra -- where children are sold by 'brokers' at throwaway prices.Meanwhile, the infant Asif who was ‘sold’ yesterday has been sent to the Children’s Remand Home at Dongri, and an NGO has already come forward to take care of him. A broker-woman at Lal Batti had on Friday 'sold' a two-month-old boy Asif to two Mumbai Mirror correspondents for Rs 12,000 and told them that children labelled as 'flop bachchas' because they were born of an illegitimate relationship were sold at the spot to any couple wxho wished to buy them. The police, who were informed of the 'sale' beforehand, told this paper that such illegal trade was also on at Qureish Nagar in Kurla (E), in a slum locality of plot no 41 at Baiganwadi of Govandi, in Mominpura at Madanpura near Byculla and at Rashid Compound in Mumbra. An assistant commissioner of police said: 'The selling of infants to willing couples, without going through adoption hassles and legal procedures, has been a business in some parts of the city for the last two years. It is the safest way of disposing of an unwanted child.'A senior doctor who did not wish to be named said the business had begun after some women from Mumbai's affluent areas, in order to keep their 'secrets', had given their new-born babies to their housemaids, cooks and even women at the local beauty parlour."
via [thinking, are we]
via [thinking, are we]
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Why interview victims ??
Why does the media interview the victims ?? Is it useful and is it being sensitive towards the victims ??
The London blasts have shook the world. The news that should get out to the world is the what happened, how it happened and who is responsible. But then I think if the media is graphic in showing the tragedy it will evoke more empathy from the viewers and might inspire some to even act.
Maybe interviewing victims is a good idea.
The London blasts have shook the world. The news that should get out to the world is the what happened, how it happened and who is responsible. But then I think if the media is graphic in showing the tragedy it will evoke more empathy from the viewers and might inspire some to even act.
Maybe interviewing victims is a good idea.
Human Progress
We all run away frm the cities to trek and camp. We find a lot of peace being close to nature. This is a indicator of the fact that each 'development' needs to be highly environmentally concious. We should keep nature alive in the cities, people would be happier.
Bystander effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bystander effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The bystander effect (also known as bystander apathy) is a psychological phenomenon where persons are less likely to intervene in an emergency situation when others are present than when they are alone.
Solitary individuals will typically intervene if another person is in need of help: this is known as bystander intervention. However, researchers were surprised to find that help is less likely to be given if more people are present. In some situations, a large group of bystanders may fail to help a person who obviously needs help. An example which shocked many people is the Kitty Genovese case. Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in 1964 by a mentally ill serial rapist and murderer. The murder took place over a period of about thirty minutes, during which at least 38 alleged 'witnesses' failed to help the victim. For this reason, the name Genovese syndrome or Genovese effect was used to describe the phenomenon at the time. The death of Deletha Word in 1995 after witnesses failed to thwart her attackers, as well as the James Bulger murder case, may have been other well-publicized cases of the effect."
Solitary individuals will typically intervene if another person is in need of help: this is known as bystander intervention. However, researchers were surprised to find that help is less likely to be given if more people are present. In some situations, a large group of bystanders may fail to help a person who obviously needs help. An example which shocked many people is the Kitty Genovese case. Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in 1964 by a mentally ill serial rapist and murderer. The murder took place over a period of about thirty minutes, during which at least 38 alleged 'witnesses' failed to help the victim. For this reason, the name Genovese syndrome or Genovese effect was used to describe the phenomenon at the time. The death of Deletha Word in 1995 after witnesses failed to thwart her attackers, as well as the James Bulger murder case, may have been other well-publicized cases of the effect."
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Iff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Iff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The difference between 'if' and 'iff'
Put simply, the difference between if and iff can be explained with the following two sentences:
1. Madison will eat pudding if the pudding is a custard. (equivalently: If the pudding is a custard, then Madison will eat it)
2. Madison will eat pudding if and only if (iff) the pudding is a custard.
Sentence (1) states only that Madison will eat custard pudding. It does not however preclude the possibility that Madison might also be prepared to eat bread pudding. Maybe she will, maybe she will not. The sentence does not tell us. All we know for certain is that she will not refuse custard pudding.
Sentence (2) however makes it quite clear that Madison will eat custard pudding and custard pudding only. She will not eat any other type of pudding."
Put simply, the difference between if and iff can be explained with the following two sentences:
1. Madison will eat pudding if the pudding is a custard. (equivalently: If the pudding is a custard, then Madison will eat it)
2. Madison will eat pudding if and only if (iff) the pudding is a custard.
Sentence (1) states only that Madison will eat custard pudding. It does not however preclude the possibility that Madison might also be prepared to eat bread pudding. Maybe she will, maybe she will not. The sentence does not tell us. All we know for certain is that she will not refuse custard pudding.
Sentence (2) however makes it quite clear that Madison will eat custard pudding and custard pudding only. She will not eat any other type of pudding."
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Net to help catch human traffickers
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Net to help catch human traffickers: "Tipinasia.info explains trafficking laws in different Asian countries.
The multilingual site, currently in Thai, Khmer and English, lists a directory of people working in the field in different parts of Asia, and describes what it is like to be caught up in trafficking.
It highlights the case of men taken onto fishing boats in Thailand who live in appalling conditions, and receive no pay.
They live under threat of execution - anyone who complains risks being shot, or thrown overboard. They work 24 hours a day and rarely come ashore.
The website relates the story of two brothers who were sold into virtual slavery for $150 each.
While young women forced into prostitution are often the focus for anti-trafficking campaigners, the crime applies to any use of labour where people are coerced by threats or the use of force."
The multilingual site, currently in Thai, Khmer and English, lists a directory of people working in the field in different parts of Asia, and describes what it is like to be caught up in trafficking.
It highlights the case of men taken onto fishing boats in Thailand who live in appalling conditions, and receive no pay.
They live under threat of execution - anyone who complains risks being shot, or thrown overboard. They work 24 hours a day and rarely come ashore.
The website relates the story of two brothers who were sold into virtual slavery for $150 each.
While young women forced into prostitution are often the focus for anti-trafficking campaigners, the crime applies to any use of labour where people are coerced by threats or the use of force."
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
This is what Sena said on rape & culture. Does the Congress agree?
This is what Sena said on rape & culture. Does the Congress agree?: "Translation from the Shiv Sena’s Marathi mouthpiece Saamna’s front-page article on Monday:
Be careful and the world will appear to be good...this is the advice, born out of experience, that growing children get from grandparents. But in today’s superfast world, grandparents have been relegated to old-age homes and youth have fallen in the page-three trap. In the attempt to provide a ‘free’ atmosphere at home, parents proudly allow girls to wear skimpy clothes and give boys uncontrolled freedom."
This is happening in a country which gave birth to the authors of the Kama Shastra and the Kama Sutra. Where the ancestors have passed a message down to generations that life revolves around 'Dharma', 'Artha' and 'Kama'. Maslow's Pyramid was well understood by our ancestors in 500 BC and this generation doesn't. What a shame. I would think that this article in Saamna is a reflection of the thoughts in a majority of the citizens of India. When we talk of India Shining, do we think that such citizens would enable India to become a world-power ??
Be careful and the world will appear to be good...this is the advice, born out of experience, that growing children get from grandparents. But in today’s superfast world, grandparents have been relegated to old-age homes and youth have fallen in the page-three trap. In the attempt to provide a ‘free’ atmosphere at home, parents proudly allow girls to wear skimpy clothes and give boys uncontrolled freedom."
This is happening in a country which gave birth to the authors of the Kama Shastra and the Kama Sutra. Where the ancestors have passed a message down to generations that life revolves around 'Dharma', 'Artha' and 'Kama'. Maslow's Pyramid was well understood by our ancestors in 500 BC and this generation doesn't. What a shame. I would think that this article in Saamna is a reflection of the thoughts in a majority of the citizens of India. When we talk of India Shining, do we think that such citizens would enable India to become a world-power ??
Friday, July 01, 2005
BBC - Science & Nature - Leonardo - Homepage
BBC - Science & Nature - Leonardo - Homepage: "Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.
Italian artist, scientist, engineer.
An all-round genius whose paintings and inventions changed the world.
Take an interactive journey through his life and works to discover what made him a true Renaissance man."
Italian artist, scientist, engineer.
An all-round genius whose paintings and inventions changed the world.
Take an interactive journey through his life and works to discover what made him a true Renaissance man."
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