What not to blog
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
I had always wanted to write a post about employers looking at their employee’s social lives to find out more about them, but Bhaktha beat me to it by writing a column in The Hindu.
That was a very ‘official’ column; identifying what to blog and what not to is difficult.
I have developed a very simple yet effective method to censor your own writing:
“Imagine the following persons reading your blogs: Your parents, your employer, your professor and your immediate friends.”
Once you think of this, it will be easier to write or trash about that incident you always wanted to. I say this because my friends have written posts about their companies, managers, profs, rants on friends… In fact the last post was taken down in a matter of hours by the that person. Hence, a simple check, to determine if any of these persons will be offended, should always be done.
I read somewhere that a Google employee had written a critical piece about his employer in his blog, albeit in a comical manner, but if I remember he lost his job. So it is always better to leave out ’sensitive’ matter in blogs. As always, ‘Prevention is better than cure’. If your superiors might billow steam, just don’t write about it.
Instead, if you really want to write about them, there is a simple solution, used for ages: it’s called a Diary. Maintaining one is definitely better. If you still want to claim your blog as a diary, keep it anonymous, without including any personal details. The difference between the two is that noone will know you maintain a Diary/the contents of the Diary, and if someone reads your anonymous blog, they won’t know who/what you are talking about.
There have been many instances of persons using their online public profiles as their Diary, but it is in fact doing just the opposite: making your feelings/babble public for THE WHOLE WORLD to see.
Dear friends, I hope you read this and make amends.
first posted at http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com
Popularity: 8%
My takes - Peak Oil Crisis and the Energy policy
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
Peak Oil
I was listening to a talk on the Peak Oil Crisis, there are a few points I must share too. These are not points I have come up with, but I have read/heard over time.
There was an article in The Hindu reproduced from the New York Times about 2 years back. It was a very introspective, and threw up a lot of interesting facts. The OPEC stated that the production of a country shall be a percentage of their reserves, which would means that the oil produced would be severely limited by a number. However, after this policy came out, many countries, especially in the Gulf, increased the estimates of the reserves they had overnight - without any scientific proof. What this essentially means, is that we don’t actually know exactly how much oil there is in these countries, and, when it will run out.
Regarding Peak Oil, as the person mentioned, many oil fields have hit peak oil, which is basically that the oil produced from the oil field will not increase any more, due to lack of new oil finds. These include the ones in the North Sea(BP) and the American ones. The newest major oil fields are Venezuela and Africa. Strategic investments by China means that they are taking control of a lot of the African reserves, while Venezuela is constantly threatening USA with a boycott, constantly keeping them on tenterhooks. There is always news of new finds - the Orinoco belt in South America, off the Brazilian coast, the Arctic and the Antarctic - which we may soon turn to if need be.
Energy policy
There is a lot of hue and cry about China being the largest polluter, being the next largest consumer of oil and so on. India is also being ‘accused’ of being behind them in such statistics. But my point is, being the two largest countries by population, aren’t we supposed to have such proportional usage? Well, the fact that we are increasing our rate of consumption at a time of crisis is also a valid argument, but with many parts of the country still lacking infrastructure and the benefits others enjoy, I feel we have every right to use necessary resources. On the one hand, we are taunted for having a backward society. On the other, we are rapped for consuming resources. Why?
The European Union recently announced measures to take ‘action’ on the world’s largest polluters, read China and India, but we are simply providing facilities to our people. The finger in fact should be pointed at the major consumers, the US mainly, for ‘using more than what is required’. Indoor temperature control, mass movement of goods, fuel inefficient vehicles(imagine - a ‘normal’ SUV has an engine capacity of 4 litres - in India that powers a truck).
In essence, rather than make comparisons by plainly quoting No.1 and No.2, the statistics need to factor in per capita consumption, economic development, current usage and the actual want for consumption. If such a chart is ever prepared(has it been?), India and China will be justified in their efforts.
India and China’s energy policies
At the same time, our own energy policies are flawed - many elders would recollect that Beijing was a country of bicycles - very few cars - and now that trend has reversed. As with India, I read an article in the Frontline, that the current policy of the government, which is encouraging auto manufacturers, is wrong, as it puts more pressure on limited roads and subsidised oil, which has to be imported. It should be the opposite - investments should be made in public transport, simultaneously with heavy taxes on private transport - in an effort to push people to use more cheaper forms of transport. Hence instead of allowing a Tata Nano we should think about more metros, ways of including them in already existing infrastructure. From my previous post on the Tata Nano, I would like to reproduce:
A very simple example to quote, from my experience, is that in places like Erode, Salem and Namakkal, many businessmen travel a lot by bus - because there it is reliable, cheap and on time.
Note that they can’t afford it, but choose not to.
This ultimately boils down to what every person should do to reduce energy consumption, or to be even more specific reduce dependence on non-renewable sources of energy. Dumping as little as we can, reusing as much as possible, recycling the best we can…. Writing is one, reading is one, thinking is one, doing things, is altogether different.
first posted at http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com/
Popularity: 11%
Marr(y)-age
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
Had gone home durin 3rd year undergraduate college and was doing shopping when I see a person I know I have met before. Happened to be my classmate(business section) from class 11/12.
Me: Hey Neema.. How are you..
She: (taking a few seconds to recognise me) Hi Abhijith
Me: So where are you now(it was college time you see)
She: Eh I’m getting married next week (takes out an invitation and hands it to me) Please don’t take it badly that I have to give this to you here, don’t forget to come for the marriage. This is my mother,
Me: ?
She: I’m in a little hurry ok.. bye..
And off she went. The combined effect of a short meeting between classmates, an unexpected surprise and a sudden exit didn’t play lightly on my mind. I was going to college. She was getting married. Hmmmm…. life is real funny…. I didn’t know her that well(you see I wasn’t on her original invitational list), so it wasn’t that dramatic, but still it has an effect on your mind, that you have to be lucky to have people who want you to achieve rather than settle down once and for all… But for her… society might have been paramount… Life… is unique…
And talking about Ashwin Kanna’s marriage, it’s being touted as child marriage - that was some fun. He’s a tiny guy, can be mistaken for a child, and is getting married when most of us(rest of us in college) are just settling down in our jobs/studies…
first posted at http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com/
Popularity: 7%
Something special about Pehli Nazar from Race
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
Did you love the song? You might not like this then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-7-gD4Uio0
Pay close attention to the upload date.
More information on this webpage, No.44. You might want to go through the ones before that as well.
Popularity: 8%
The case of the sticky feeling
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
My eyes caught a customer getting a couple of small honey servings(given in sealed packages of 14g each) for her meal at McDonalds. I too wanted to taste honey, after a long time. I asked and got 3 packs. The come in plastic cups sealed in plastic, in packaging similar to the ones used for jelly, only tougher. I used one pack for my meal, and put the other two into the pocket of my snow jacket.
Now why I did that, instead of carrying it along in a separate paper bag, I don’t know. It so happened that in my room as I was undressing I lost my footing and fell onto the jacket. I didn’t realise anything because those packs seemed to be sealed well.
Fast forward to a few days later. Warmer weather meant I didn’t wear that winter jacket, instead opting for a lighter jacket. I was in outside my lab, on a cold day wearing that jacket searching for my keys. I put my hand inside one of the pockets, there is a sticky feeling. Damn! Some of the honey had leaked and there was a sticky feeling inside that pocket. I kicked myself for keeping the honey there and took the packs out.
Fast forward a couple of days. Over the weekend I was mainly at home; didn’t wear too much to wander around. I decided to head to the university for some work to be done, I put on the shirt, jeans, put my mob in one pocket of the jeans and the wallet in the other… wait a minute.. what’s that sticky feeling?
Turns out I’d transferred the honey packs from my jacket pocket to my jeans pocket.
first posted at http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com
Popularity: 7%
When Google’s parents leave town (NFSW - Not Safe For Work)
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
This video may not be suitable for all audiences, contains strong language. Viewer discretion advised.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgQMTLKmwrA (screw wordpress.. try as I might I can’t seem to embed the vid)
This video is a skit with various websites as people attending Google’s party. An accurate representation of the actual virtual world. The websites are:
Google: She knows everyone on the internet (I use it regularly)
Fling: Must be a dating site (No idea)
Rate…… : No comment (O_o Never heard of it)
Flickr: Photo sharing site (I don’t use)
Ebaumsworld vs Somethingawful: Supposed to be a real world war where the former is accused of copying stuff from other websites, especially the latter (I don’t use either)
Ebay: Home of the weirdest home-collections, also notorious for fake goods/excessive charges/cheating (I don’t use)
Amazon: More ‘official’ than Ebay, a contender (I haven’t used)
Paypal: The ‘partner in crime’ to Ebay, infamous for bad PR and lost money (I don’t use)
Cracked: The creators of the vid. They have to be in it, don’t they
Mapquest: Frequently used map-generating service in the US (I use Google Maps)
Digg: Some kind of weird bookmarking site, which, really, is in the hands of only one stereotypical group of individuals (I don’t use, but visit occasionally)
Facebook: The pokey social networking site (I don’t use)
Myspace: Best summed up by “Who wants to be my * friend?” Supposed to be the hang out of emo kids (I will never use)
Snopes: Ever heard a rumour? Check out it’s validity on Snopes. Awesome collection. (Regularly visit)
Wikipedia: An unverified ‘encyclopedia’. (No wikipedia = slow death)
AskJeeves: Now just plain Ask.com, another search engine supposed to be ‘formal’ (Ask.com? What’s that?)
YouTube: Omnipresent eye of the world. Video camera = anything is news (YouTube = aaraam timepass)
Craigslist: The classifieds of the the web; an empire managed with simplicity and just 15 people. Huge database and very localised (Haven’t used)
UrbanDictionary: A reference point for any term you find on the internet you don’t understand (Look up when I want to e.g. emo)
Nice video, overall.
Popularity: 30%
Seven Samurai (Shichinin no samurai) (1954)
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
I was surprised to say the least that one of the Nittians reviewed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa without including Seven Samurai. Mark my words, there can be no bigger mistake than this.
On the other hand, it reminded me to write that review I always wanted to before someone else does. Lucky me.
Seven Samurai, most of us will know as the movie which influenced Sholay. I picked up the DVD at the County Library only because of that.
Hardly 10 minutes into the film, I knew this wasn’t an ordinary film - there was a magical touch to the direction and the screenplay. I promptly Wikipedia’ed it - and lo - it features in many Top Ten lists as an all time great. I was really excited. Here was a film worthy of watching and an acclaimed one.
The first half is wonderful - the villagers convincing the samurais, their antics, Toshiro Munife’s monkey-acting are so natural. The best of all is Takashi Shimura, the leader of the pack. His performance is par excellence, it flows so well taking the movie along with it.
The second half, like most movies, is slower than the first half. Nevertheless it makes for great viewing; the love story between the young samurai and the boy-like farmer’s daughter is subtle; the night-scenes, very difficult to shoot in those days, are awesome. The ending is slightly tragic, like Sholay, and the final scenes with the mounds for the samurai brought tears to my eyes(no, not crocodile tears).
Overall, it is a film I would recommend to any movie buff. I did so to my friends, who reprimanded me for hyping it up - it so happened they got together and didn’t progress beyondn the 30 minute mark. They don’t have the taste of Shichinin no samurai.
Bottom line: Ultimate classic.
first posted at http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com/
Popularity: 5%
USA… In case you thought otherwise…
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
This is very old news, but worthwhile anyhow…. ‘Informative’
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Associated Press
1 in 4 Teen Girls Has Sexual Disease
By LINDSEY TANNER 03.11.08, 12:32 PM ET
CHICAGO - At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.
A virus that causes cervical cancer is by far the most common sexually transmitted infection in teen girls aged 14 to 19, while the highest overall prevalence is among black girls - nearly half the blacks studied had at least one STD………
Popularity: 7%
Nittwits
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
Reposted by request from “From the Dog’s mouth”
Nittwits
“He is a silent,ever-smiling, sarcastic b*****d who loves tearing peoples’ reputation to shreds with his blogs”
Hmmm (*enough adjectives used ,i guess)..Thats a very common opinion you would hear about me from most people in nitt. True enough, the 4-yr stay in the vast campus had given me enough to write about. But like most people, the senthu( senti + enthu) got to me in the last month of our final sem. The same things that we had complained n cribbed about all these years now became elements which aroused and added dollops of ’senti’ (nostalgia) in us. There was hectic frenzy all around as Reminiscence videos and pictures constantly circulated in the hostel lans. There were pictures of us in fake “study” postures, us in the depts n labs(yes, at least for once we had to show our parents bak home that their money wasnt going waste),pics of us at the roof-top,tree-tops,at 3-star hotels ..we were everywhere. Treats had now become as common a feature in our lives as bread for breakfast, much to an extent that we longed for mess food sometimes. Job-treats, get-togethers,wing-treats, dept-treats, hostel treats, timepass-treats..they just assumed different names but the objective was the same - To make the most of whatever little time was left, with our mates before we passed out of the insti and went different ways. And it all ended on the 15th of may,as I vacated my room and transferred all my belongings into the rickshaw and bid farewell to the college and my friends. As anticipated, it took quite some time for me to digest the whole “getting out” feeling. 4 eventful years have gone by and dvds (or comps) filled with college photos n videos are the only real snippets of reminiscence left with many of us. One thing which most of us wont forget is the nitt college lingo which was part n parcel of our lives ‘in’ there. These are just a few specimen words from my nitt lexicon.
Chaat ( ch’aat’, the number of a’s in “chaat” actually gives out the intensity of chaaat one is subjected to (chaatitude) )- Used to describe someone who is well accomplished in the field of dry humour to an extent that you tear your hair in frustration n start screaming, a PJist or someone who can keep talking endlessly. Quite easily the most frequently used word in daily nitt conversations. Used as a noun, verb, adjective. Normally all class lectures are classified chaaaat!
Eg: Abey chaat mat! (verb)
F**k u , chaat b*****d! (adjective)
Man, how can u be such a chaat! (noun)
Qjaada (Jaa’daa’, the q is just for timepass. its silent actually)- brimming with too much atti. Mostly used when talking about juniors
( “The guy has just too much ‘qjaada’. We need to increase his score.”)
Score- an outrageously crazy system put in place to measure the number of hits a hapless junior gets (for no fault of his).
Junior to other junior:” Look (gleefully showing his cheeks swollen like a fulka on the pan)!! my score is 200,its definitely more than yours)
Kela- ( K’laa’, dont confuse with banana because the meaning is completely different )- a failure, alternatively used for a situation where things dont work out the way u wanted and hoplessly become worse.
(”another kela for me! 5 kelas in 5 interviews! great going”)
funti- girlfriend or someone who can be remotely termed so
funti - male version of the above
Dosa - (dont confuse with the south indian dish) dean of student affairs
coe- (pronounced as ‘koi’ or just C O E)the richest person in college thanks to numerous students’ exam paper re-evaluation applications, transcript and grade card requests( along with the cash..i forgot)
cycles- Once in a month phenomenon. short for cycle tests.
afty- (aaf’ tee’)- still not sure about the spelling (whether its halfty or afty). It basically means that your day ends with the lunch break coz there r no classes after it.Afty can be a matter of pride especially when there are inter-dept clashes on the issue of which dept really works its ass out.
mornty- (mon’ tee’)- A situation where there r no classes in the morning and the day begins after lunch.
Fulty- (full’ tee’)- mornty + halfty - classes. Ok fine, its a weekday holiday!
supple (sapp’ lee’)- Another chance to screw up your grades. Arrears as they call it
baap/maa- one who chaats u, guides u, bugs u with useless advice, n basically gets to boss u around(during the first yr) just beacause you commited the cardinal sin of writing the aieee a year after him/her,from the same state as him/her and choose the same branch as his/her.
beta/beti - Someone who feels the same about u.
potha/pothi- part of the hierarchy
parpotha/parpothi- last in the hierarchy.
maal- Something nice to the eyes,, eye candy!
dog-rice- (the mess annas have a name for it- Pulav) a saturday-nite delicacy served in each n every mess across nitt campus.A must-eat for anyone visiting the campus. Every nittian had eaten it at least once (the only one time). This ‘nitt special’ comprises of undercooked rice and a generous sprinkling of vegetables, with a brownish-gold color to it.
PBM - Short for Paneer butter masala (also the conveniently modified name of a certain hostel deputy-warden)
barotta - No, not a failed attempt at pronouncing paratha. Its the staple diet of Tamil Nadu. The phrase ” roti, kapda, makaan” can be suitably modified as ” barota, lungi aur makaan”
dew lime - Water + Ice +Mountain dew + Lemon juice ( Pateneted by the roadside gate annas).
Rem - short for Reminiscence. A rem book and rem video are the highlights of the final sem.
Senti- (Sen’tee’) the feeling of nostalgia. If the things that you loved to hate all these years bring tears to your eyes, then you are feeling reaally “senti”!!
Regards
Vishwesh
Popularity: 6%
College Bakar
Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized
Reposted from “From the Dog’s mouth” by request
College Bakar
Now, this one should have come much earlier, even when I was in college. Nevertheless, better late than never. Its just part of the whole ’senti’ feeling when you think about your alma-mater. Far different from our work-places. The lectures,profs,depts,snacky,juicy,hostels etc.
One characteristic feature of our hostels were the bakar sessions. Bakar, in very simple terms, means a congregation of perennially jobless people, at any place, at any time of the day, completely focused on discussing all issues of seemingly national, international, political, economic and social importance. Such sessions do not have fixed timing schedules and cut across all language barriers. Bakar groups could be discovered outside the snacky, mess, near the coffee shop, etc.
A bakar session in a hostel room invariably consisted of a minimum of 2 people in the same room, who showed the same intensity as that of a placement Gd session, if not more. They covered a wide range of topics starting from the reason why each one of got ot this college to the rumors of a certain IT giant hiking its compensation package in the campus recruitment.
A bakar session was mostly put in motion by identifying the potential bakar room which was equipped well to deal with the rush. A simple session started as a mere after-lunch or after-dinner talk. As time went by, the crowd built up slowly but gradually thanks to the curious passersby who took time off to peep in and got absorbed in no time.
Placement bakar session:
The final year sessions were more of the research n analysis type about the ongoing placement process. Each participant pouring out his own written/gd/pi experience, trying his best to dissect his performance at every step of the placement procedure and presenting his own picture of how skewed the whole process was and where he lost out (. The victors, however, jubilantly shared everything in an “I-don’t-know-how-I-got-thru” manner in all modesty. After the post-mortems were done, the focus usually shifted to the “next probable big company”. Each expressing his opinion of how far the college lagged behind the IITs or how it was light-years ahead of other NITs in terms of the campus recruitments and the number of firms.
A few common statements that u would come across in the placement bakar sessions.
. “How come company X is not open for our dept…sheesh man, this is ridiculous yaar. I mean, look at the trical (electrical in our lingo) dudes, they r such lucky dogs, they do nothing in their dept for 2 whole years and end up getting all the companies in the 7th sem, pathetic.”
.” You guys should have been there for the ppt(pre placement talk)? That lady in the HR team was hot.
. “Who wants to hear the talk, I went there for a T-shirt. They were distributing many of them.I don’t have money to buy one.”
(The height of frustration) “5 kelas(failure in our lingo)in 5 writtens! Damn, I am absolutely useless. I shouldn’t have come to this college. I shouldn’t have taken engineering in the first place.”
. (height of Endurance) “2 hours, they made me sit for 2 frigging hours outside and my interview lasted another only 15 minutes, I started feeling hungry; that’s why I didn’t do well”.
. (The sporting type)“ To hell with Dream Company!! This company is not worth it. I knew that right from the start. Good I got chucked out in the written itself.”
. (The muggu) Arre yaar! I forgot to mug the previous year written paper’s answers for company X; the same paper came yesterday. Damn!
. (Mr. modest) Seriously dude, I can’t believe how I got through. I gave the written for time pass (and the company selected u for just the same thing).
(But the Oscar goes to….)
“Guys, where’s my R.S agrawal. (Searches underneath piles of books scattered all over the floor) Been searching for it for almost an hour.”
“But you didn’t buy a R.S agarwal, you moron !”
“Is it?? Then give me yours’, I have to practice for tomorrow’s apti paper”
.
CS (Counterstrike)gaming bakar sessions:
These PC-gaming bakar sessions were in full swing in 3rd yr hostel rooms and in the final yr mess. Discussing strategies and maps had become more than a way of life for these gaming gurus. The hardcore CS freaks could easily be distinguished from the rest of the tribe by their sheer enthu they displayed while going hammer-n-tongs over “who should be and shouldn’t be in the clan”. Infact , clan formations and clan defections sounded much more intersting compared to the real game that was played. The game,though,showed signs of losing its old charm in the final year hostels in the face of fast emerging DOTA(another popular game). But the old CS hawks continued to remain.
A few common CS comments:
. “X plays like shit, throw him out of the clan; he’s a complete disgrace.”
. “The guys from that hostel have absolutely no clue about this map…hehehe..They are screwed!!”
. “Oye, u should go and play with level 3 BOTS, not with us.”
. “Man, I m like really depressed . I don’t seem to be sniping well these days yaar. I have lost practice.”
CS had brought the junta closer than anything else though they no longer addressed each other by their real names but by their CS names.
Intellectual bakar sessions:
Well this sounds more like an oxymoron but these sessions did take place in all earnest.
Talks were mostly centered around preparation for the ‘BIG’ exams.
. “Yes man, Good long holidays we are getting naa?
Gonna be total freak-out for me.
Only a few exams in between; GRE, TOEFL, CAT, RAT, MAT, GMAT and XAT that’s it! “
(Phew!! That’s it?? Aren’t u guys forgetting a few more.)
“I cant understand why he is giving the entrance exam. Isn’t he content with his million-dollar job? Just another bloody show-off I say!!”
. I gave TOEFL in chennai. Damn AC went off first, then the keyboard, and then the mouse had to be replaced, speakers betrayed me in the listening….
. “My friend smashed 1500. I wanted to show him its no big deal. Anybody can do that. That’s why I registered.”
. (Wears a depressed look)” Booo hoo I got only 1440 and I only have a mediocre 9.3. I am doomed. Looks like CAT is my only path to salvation. “
. (A “cut-off” expert lost in his dreams)” If only I could get a decent break-up of 29 in English, 15 in DI/DS and another 17 in quants, I could get all the calls.”
.
. “Hey, applications over for you??? I thought of making a small change in mine. I have decided to take off “ University of X” from my application list. I took out the atlas yesterday night and found out that such a place X never exists.”
.” God, I need to do well in my F slot. I need at least an A (grade) in it. I am banking on him for a decent reco.”
Grade and study bakars:
Most bakar camps were self-introspection sessions in the “if only I had done better” or “So sad he got less than me” mode.
. “Hey did u hear, X got 8.4 He’s surely gonna hang himself now that his CG has dropped to 8.99”
. “Oh yes, I checked his GPA on the net; he got only a C in this slot. Felt really good!!”
.” I couldn’t believe my luck!! I didn’t deserve an S in this seriously. My internals were the lowest in class. Tsk…tsk. (talks of a female competitor) She had internals of 30 while I had 20;she ended up with an A…hehehehe.”
. (topper looks into the notes of a seven-pointer, look of (false)horror written all over his face)
“ Gosh, What are you studying!!!!! Man I am seeing it for the first time (in spite of revising it twice??)!! Sheesh…I am dead, please explain this yaar fast!
. “(Hands on head, repents)” Had I sincerely done a group-study with u guys and not wasted the holiday accumulating scraps on chirkut, I would have at least been in the top 3.”
. (And the first prize goes to…) Actually it should be voted as the most annoying reply in the campus.A pseudo-cool topper in reply to repeated queries of “ How much r u expecting da?”).
“I just want to pass this sem. nothing more. Like I have been doing in every sem, I started just 3 hrs before the exam.”
Regards
Vishwesh
Popularity: 6%


