Jolie says - Our priorities are quite strange

Xinhua - English: " “Our priorities are quite strange,” the 31-year-old actress said in an interview with CNN that aired Tuesday night. Jolie said spending money on war rather than 'dealing with situations that could end up in conflict if left unassisted' could prove costly in the end.

'We're missing a lot of opportunities (to do) a lot of good that America used to do and has a history of doing,' said Jolie, who is a goodwill ambassador for the U.N.'s refugee agency.

Jolie said that when she is in Washington to raise funds for AIDS orphans, she was often told the war in Iraq is the more pressing matter."

Germany 2 - 0 Sweden

Its halirious how they are setting up Ballack for the big 3rd goal and the swedish Goalie, Issacson is frustrating the hell out of him.

KLOSE rocks !!

Homegrown terrorists

The west is seeing this for the first time. I wonder how their reaction will evolve.
Kids like me have grown up hearing of homegrown terrorsists all across my country. But then we didnt have a cosmopolitan cities or multi-racial communities.

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Teams | Australia | Football on top Down Under

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Teams | Australia | Football on top Down Under: "Australian Prime Minister John Howard dubbed Harry Kewell 'King Harry' after his equalising goal in their 2-2 draw with Croatia, and few people in Australia would have disagreed.

The sight of Howard watching football in the early hours of the morning and jumping out of his chair with excitement summed up how Australia has fallen in love with football. And things may never be the same again.

For years, football was the poor relation in the sports-mad country.

Despite a steady stream of talented individuals, fate seemed to conspire against the Socceroos, with just one appearance at the World Cup finals - in 1974 in West Germany - to show for years of effort."

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Villagers take on India's Maoists

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Villagers take on India's Maoists: "The Indian government is experimenting with new ways of fighting back against Maoist fighters, who now operate in almost half of the country's 28 states. In the past year, the Chhattisgarh state government has introduced new anti-terrorism training for the police - and is backing a civil militia called Salwa Judum."

I dont think this is right. How can the state arm the civilians ? Prlofieration of guns in such a sensitive area ... anyone can get killed. there ought to be a better solution.

Southwest closer to assigned seating: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Southwest closer to assigned seating: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "he carrier invented the '20-minute turn' out of necessity in late 1971, the year it began flying. In order to meet its payroll, the thinly capitalized start-up had to return one of its four leased planes. But by turning its three remaining planes in 20 minutes, it continued operating its full schedule.

The idea worked. In the process, Southwest discovered that an intense focus on the highly efficient use of assets - planes, gates and employees - is a key to its profitability. That focus on efficiency became the company's hallmark. And it has paid off with 60 consecutive quarterly profits.

Southwest's turn times have stretched in recent years to around 30 minutes, on average. In part that's because it now flies larger-capacity planes. It also flies into more big airports where congestion slows operations.

Southwest ranks as the USA's No. 6 carrier in passenger miles flown, and it is on pace to move ahead of No. 5 Northwest Airlines in the 2006 rankings due out next spring. It already carries more domestic passengers than any other U.S. carrier"

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Day in pictures

BBC NEWS | In Pictures | Day in pictures

(England vs. Trinidad & Tobago) Crouch 1:0 - foul?

thats totally not fair, if its true

Pareto principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pareto principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that for many phenomena, 80% of the consequences stem from 20% of the causes. The idea has rule-of-thumb application in many places, but it is commonly misused. E.g., it is a misuse to state that a solution to a problem 'fits the 80-20 rule' just because it fits 80% of the cases; it must be implied that this solution requires only 20% of the resources needed to solve all cases. Mathematically, where something is shared among a sufficiently large set of participants, there will always be a number k between 50 and 100 such that k% is taken by (100-k)% of the participants. However, k may vary from 50 in the case of equal distribution to nearly 100 in the case of a tiny number of participants taking almost all of the resources. There is nothing special about the number 80, but many systems will have k somewhere around this region of intermediate imbalance in distribution.

The principle was suggested by management thinker Joseph M. Juran. It was named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy was received by 20% of the Italian population. (Since J. M. Juran adopted the idea, it might better be called 'Juran's assumption'.) The assumption is that most of the results in any situation are determined by a small number of causes. This idea is often applied to data such as sales figures: '20% of clients are responsible for 80% of sales volume.' Such a statement is testable, is likely to be approximately correct, and may be helpful in decision making. Richard Koch has written extensively on how to apply the principle in all walks of life."

Puzzle

There are 5 thives A, B, C, D, E with 100 gold coins that they have to divide among them.
Each of them proposes a strategy to distribute the coins starting from A. If this strategy is accepted by a majority it wins (even A votes). If not A is killed. This continues until a decision is reached.
The priority for the thives are
1. Their own life
2. Gold
3. Enemity with other thieves
What is the strategy for A to get max gold coins ???

Solution in rot13 :
V nz gbb ynml gb glcr guvf bhg - ohg guvf vf n pynffvp vgrengvir fbyhgvba onfrq chmmyr. Fgneg jvgu nffhzvat 1 crefba, gura nffhzr 2 naq pbzcner jvgu gur fvghngvba va gur cerivbhf pnfr naq pbagvahr vapernfvat zb. bs ccy.
Urer vf gur qvfgevohgvba sbe N, O, P, Q, erfcrpgviryl sebz pnfrf bs 1 crefba, 2 crefbaf, 3 crefbaf, rgp ner:

1 Crefba - uhaqerq
2 Crefbaf - mreb, uhaqerq
3 Crefbaf - avaglavar, bar, mreb
4 Crefbaf - avaglfrira, mreb, gjb, bar
5 Crefbaf - avaglfrira, mreb, bar, mreb, gjb

BBC NEWS | Technology | Google listens to screen routine

BBC NEWS | Technology | Google listens to screen routine: "A system that lets your computer 'listen' to your television to create targeted web adverts has been designed and tested by researchers at Google.

The 'mass personalization' system can identify a programme from as little as five seconds of sound.

It then presents related information or adverts in the web browser.

Google researchers believe it could also be used to monitor audience size or create social networks around viewers watching the same show.

'The system could keep up with users while they channel surf, presenting them with a real-time forum about a live political debate one minute and an ad-hoc chat room for a sporting event in the next,' wrote Google researchers Michele Covell and Shumeet Baluja on the Google research blog."

Germans play well

The Germany v Poland Game was a lot of fun. Klose, Podolski, Lahm and Ballack all played very well. They look very formidable. I hope England puts up a good show today and I hope Brasil plays well on Saturday. Lahm's runs with the ball are so bloody awesome.
Football fever is full on !!

Roney is back, not playing today though.

IndianExpress.com :: Brinda brainwave: no to private, foreign universities; yes to exit tax for students going abroad

IndianExpress.com :: Brinda brainwave: no to private, foreign universities; yes to exit tax for students going abroad: "NEW DELHI, JUNE 9:Want to go abroad for higher studies? You have to pay an “exit tax.” Want to hire a college graduate in India? Pay a “graduate tax.” Allow foreign universities but subject them to stringent controls. Bring about a new law to regulate the private sector in higher education.

If you thought these recommendations of a Parliamentary standing committee, chaired by Congress MP Janardan Dwivedi, submitted last month make little sense at a time the Prime Minister has called for more private participation in education, read the lone two-page dissent note by member and CPM MP Brinda Karat."

These guys are crazy !!

Football Spirit

No Indoor game can have as much human spirit as the outdoor ones.  Human spirit is somehow entwined with nature. Playing on grass is essential :)

Modi supporters

I am appalled by the supporters of Narendra Modi on Orkut.  So many calling him an able administrtator.
What is the youth thinking ?? How did GDP become the measure of everything ... Is the economic success of our coutry through the outsourceing model, masking other social issues ??

BBC NEWS | Americas | Web users to 'patrol' US border

BBC NEWS | Americas | Web users to 'patrol' US border: "A US state is to enlist web users in its fight against illegal immigration by offering live surveillance footage of the Mexican border on the internet.

The plan will allow web users worldwide to watch Texas' border with Mexico and phone the authorities if they spot any apparently illegal crossings.

Texas Governor Rick Perry said the cameras would focus on 'hot-spots and common routes' used to enter the US.

US lawmakers have been debating a divisive new immigration bill.

The Senate has approved a law that grants millions of illegal immigrants US citizenship and calls for the creation of a guest-worker programme, while beefing up border security.

"

This is very very silly !!

Rang De Basanti

Kya awesome movie banaya hai baap !! Hilaa diya !!

Ink Pot

I was watching 'Chashme Baddhoor' again and I was reminded of the time when I used to have an ink-pot and had to religiously fill ink into my pens. Hands stained with ink. I wonder if school kids still use Ink pens :) I still write a lot, most of it is rough work like parts of an algo or stuff. Well actually I do make notes in a 'fair notebook' about the design I am understanding :))

Is religion inevitable ??

Sun Jun  4 10:53:37 CDT 2006
When external forces drive this wedge between members of different groups(religions/classes/castes) how will people get back to
normal after the storm blows over. The feeling always lurks in your mind where you find yourself different from the other group.
You have forgive the other group from the bottom of your heart (not just in word, but from your sub-concious). It is inevitable
to have clashes between groups. I cannot see clashes not happening between groups of humans ever. Though cause and effect
keeps changing though. It should be part of primary education to teach people how to forgive others and realize that the worst
actions of the other group were perpetrated in their weakest moments. By perpetrating on the same acts you will just help
them rationalize their acts. Is religion the medium for spreading this realization ? Can something like the socratic method
work at young ages ? I say it has to work at young ages because, once you grow older you inevitably have a yellowed vision.

The human brain HAS to BELIEVE in certain facts to be able to generate an action. My minuscule reading on this topic ,
influenced primarily by Dr.V.S Ramachandran has given me the impression that the brain is like a state machine, which has to
generate an ouput based on whatever partial input it is given. It tries to use history to fill in values for the rest of the
inputs. When it goes into invalid states because it cannot possibly handle the inputs, we call it a mentally unstable condition.

Given this, does it not make education based on faith ineviatble ??

----------

Official Home Page of Taslima Nasrin

Official Home Page of Taslima Nasrin

'If any religion allows the persecution of the people of different faiths, if any religion keeps women in slavery, if any religion keeps people in ignorance, then I can't accept that religion.'

Ursrpache

I got home after trying to relax at this coffee shop with "Lajja (Taslima Nasrin's)" to my aid at around 900pm. As usual I grabbed the remote to assert my authority on the one thing which has been my most obedient companion since I gained consciousness, my TV.  ABC is showing Katherine Close, a 13 year old from Jersey facing the judges in the final round of the Scripps spelling bee contest. The commentators build the thrill. Not many girls have won in the recent years. I could see Indian parents with their kids who couldn't make it to the last round. This, in a game where Indian winners are very prominent. The word in the final round was Ursprache. You should check out the pronunciation of this word.

The point of this is not to reminisce about the ennui of my evenings. I wonder if the sudden popularity of events like the spelling bee contest are an acknowledgement of the fact that the "knowledge-economy" is upon us. Are books lilke 'The world is Flat' and constant surveys comparing the college graduates in the US to the those in India and China, finally setting the ball rolling. Is the common man of this country perceiving the power of specialized skill ? Movies show spelling bee contests as a way for kids from poor societies to move upwards.

I abruptly since I need to be somewhere :)

Tarnished German image on World Cup eve | csmonitor.com

Tarnished German image on World Cup eve | csmonitor.com: "Brandenburg and other states of the former East Germany make up just 20 percent of the country's population, but half of the right-wing activity, according to a report released last week by the Interior Ministry. The lack of economic opportunities for young people in the depressed regions has something to do with the problem, say sociologists. But so do crumbling family structures, a missing tradition of multiculturalism, and westward migration.

'The people who leave are the smart ones, the ones who are good in school,' says Mr. Reinecke, the columnist. 'What remains is a negative social selection. The people who stay are not mobile, are not smart. Frustration is their reason for violence.'"

This is one more sample of what not being able to fulfil the basic needs can turn a section of the society towards.
France is having similar problems hidden under the garb of religion. Why cant the political powers acknowledge the underlying social problems.