Read my other blog on International Relations cataloging my graduate work.
I just returned from for one of the most wonderful concerts that I’ve seen in my life — G3 live. The lineup consisted of Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy (both from Dream Theater) and of course, Joe Satriani.
And I almost died when all three came on stage and started playing Jimi Hendrix numbers. Guitargasm Extreme!
And here are some pictures to satisfy your curiosity — sorry about the poor quality. Taking pictures wasn’t exactly my first priority! 
When I was younger, I used to love several other sports besides cricket. Doordarshan, the national TV channel in India back then, would occasionally show a tennis or a soccer game but every time there was a cricket game, it would be at the expense of the other games.
It never made sense to me, because as far as I knew, India almost always lost. When I saw the spirit that teams and players exhibited in soccer and tennis, it did not compare to the callous attitudes demonstrated by the Indian cricket team. Yet, fools all over the country would act as if the players were demigods. I mean, I would watch Steffi Graf come back from a losing game and I would watch the Indian cricket team whine about some ridiculous excuse after losing, and I would stand there bewildered at the stupidity of the players and the fans.
Even when I grew older, the many cable sports channels would always kill every other game at the expense of cricket. This drove me nuts to no end, especially since I really do not remember the Indian cricket team playing even half decently, ever. In fact, during the many, many series that India consistently lost, I would find that cricket was being shown in place of my favourite channels. And it was always at the expense of a good channel. Somehow, the local language crappy soap-opera channels were left alone.
Now, you should understand Indian culture — good, thoughtful shows are not liked by the populace. Stupid soap operas are famous, but anything to do with thinking in any form simply does not go over well with the general populace. Science? Nature? Bah, we have no need for that. Just watch one of the many Indian movies if you do not believe me.
Me: “But today is the season premiere of Farscape!”
Cable dude: “Saar, nobody watches that saar. You should watch cricket saar.”
Me: “I don’t give a damn. India’s going to lose anyway.”
Cable dude: “You should not say that saar! You are an Indian.”
(I have never understood what being an Indian has got to do with supporting a team. You should support the best team, not a crappy team, just because they are from your country.)
Me: “But what about National Geographic! That’s a good channel.”
Cable dude: “Saar, we cannot get national geographic when we are showing cricket. They are part of the same package saar.”
Me (frustrated): “Can I kill you?”
Of course, this never changed through the years. And I could never understand why people would fawn over a team that always lost.
You see, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan etc. are teams that play to win. India? Not so much. In fact, Indians cannot play any sport half decently, the only reason we get up there is because the competition isn’t so bad. Once it goes up, we bail out. I’m fairly certain that if the Cincinnati Reds started playing cricket, the idiots in blue will get their asses kicked. And as cricket becomes mainstream, we are finding out just how well we do. Oh, it was all joy when there were all of 5 or 6 good teams in the world. But today? Not so much.
The saddest thing is that cricket in India has grown at the expense of every other game — even in school, you don’t get to play very many other games. If you wanted to play something else, you better find a way to do it on your own. And I have never understood this mad, crazy fawning by a billion idiots.
Indians do not play a game to win. Nor do they play because they like the game. They play to stay in the international team, make ads and while away their time. They play for fame and glory.
The best example of this is what Akshay was talking about the other day — the Ranji trophy players do not play for the sake of the game or to win, they play to get into the international team.
I am a big fan of the Australian and Pakistani teams. Why? Because they play well and they play to win. Because they have the spirit to do their best, no matter what. The Indian cricket team is like Britney Spears, a commercial product for the consumption of the Indian masses. But don’t you ever mention that to the Indian masses — in college, I have been threatened to be beaten up by people for suggesting that Australia or Pakistan should win.
And why not? It’s a game — and may the best team win. I’m sorry, my vote goes for the team that has it in them, not for a team whose only purpose is to make ads for companies and play cricket for snagging the hottest model in town. Maybe now, they could pay attention to the Indian talent in tennis or soccer.
So, I am finally rejoicing in the fact that team India has gotten kicked out of the world cup. Like the Brits say, about bloody time.
Now, on to the world cup. I’m rooting for either Australia for New Zealand!
For the past couple of months, I have been considering going on an Earthwatch Institute expedition either this year or the next. As you folks have probably guessed, I am interested in those that are out in the remote, cold parts of the world, particularly the Arctic.
So far, here is a list of expeditions that I have shortlisted:
And since the expeditions are a tad expensive, I’m considering setting up an expedition fund in the hope that all the wonderful folks that know me can help me save the environment.
So, has anyone gone on an Earthwatch Expedition before? Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions?
Here are the levels-adjusted versions of the previous two HDR images:
Thoughts?
Here are a couple of HDRs from my the living room of my new apartment (the surrounding structure is the rest of the complex; the tree is on my floor along with the pool and some fountains).
Ideas for the Wall is a Cincinnati based company that lets you take a photograph or a picture (digital or otherwise) and convert it into a wallpaper for your home.
After reading about them in the Cincinnati Enquirer, my friend Rebecca talked to them about their prices. It would seem that they charge about $3/square-foot. Which is not particularly bad, considering that the largest empty wall in my apartment is probably 10×10, and most people would want a much smaller wallpaper. The wall that I would probably like something like this is 7×5, which would probably come to about $105. While it’s not particularly cheap, keep in mind that it adds a great ambience to your home and can effect a very cool theme. And the fact that you can have your own art or photographs (digital or otherwise) converted into a wallpaper is an added incentive.
Beck is probably going to try them and if it does turn out to be good, I just might give it a shot. So, if you are in Cincinnati and are interested, you should definitely give them a go!
Like every true Tam Brahm, I was raised in an environment where we woke up to M.S. Subbulakshmi singing Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam in the morning and wrapped up the evening with her version of Vishnu Sahasranamam and Bhaja Govindam.
Originally, I used to own an MS compilation CD with these krithis, but it was lost during one of my many moves in this country.
Now, I have been able to get hold of both Venkatesa Suprabhatam (thanks to Alam!) and Vishnu Sahasranamam. However, I am looking for a copy (preferably an mp3) of Bhaja Govindam.
If anyone does have it on them, I’d greatly appreciate a copy!
Update: I just snagged a copy from this place.
Ars Technica has an interesting article on the information paradox.
Simply put, any quantum-mechanical system contains what is called zero-point energy or vacuum energy, which is the lowest energy that the system can have. The effects of this has been verified experimentally through the Casimir effect, which is the result of resonant fields created by virtual particles, which are cancelling each other out in vacuum all the time.
Now, consider a black hole, with an immense gravitational field. In the vacuum near the event horizon, these virtual particles keep getting created and destroyed. Stephen Hawking proposed that every once in a while, a virtual particle will get pulled into the black hole. Therefore, the black hole effectively acquired negative energy and the other particle will escape the gravity of the black hole. Under other circumstances, this particle would be a virtual particle, however the act of the black hole acquiring the negative energy will make it a “real” particle, resulting in its emission. This emission is what is now termed Hawking radiation.
Comparing this with the thermal black-body radiation, it has been found that unlike thermal black body radiation, Hawking radiation contains no useful information about the source of the radiation. What this translates to is that the result of the Hawking radiation is independent of the matter entering the black hole.
Enter quantum entanglement, which effectively states that two entangled quantum states have a correlation despite spatial separation. Now, imagine a pair of elements from an entangled system. If you pushed one into the black hole and left the other outside, the system is effectively destroyed, violating a very basic precept of quantum mechanics.
John Preskill won the famous bet against Hawking and Thorne when he challenged the destruction of this information.
Of course, Hawking radiation remains controversial and people have suggested alternatives to work around this paradox. One of the work-arounds suggests modifying the laws around Hawking radiation so that under certain conditions, quantum mechanical systems are non-unitary in nature (i.e. taking something away and putting it back does not change the sum-total of the system). Others have suggested that Hawking radiation is not purely thermal but rather thermal radiation after some quantum state corrections, while some others have put forward that the information is merely stored elsewhere, which can be calculated independently.
Either way, this is extreme interesting for some of us physics geeks!
Dear Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
How is the democracy thing working out for you?
First you had democracy overthrown by a lying, cheating military dictator.
Now you have the same dictator making his will the rule of law. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.
Democracy at work in Pakistan.
Maybe you should learn a lesson or two from your secular democratic republic neighbour, India.
Paraphrased:
“Everyone must be made to read 1984, no matter what!”
I kid you not — someone actually made that statement. Does anyone else see the irony in that?
How does a puzzle-solving game in an FPS environment sound? That’s just what Valve, the makers of Half-Life 1 and 2 have come up with.
This video, which was released a few months ago shows the concept of a “portal” which the player can use to solve seemingly unsurmountable puzzles. To add to the effect is the seemingly comical but eerie, synth female voice narrating the whole thing.
Personally, I am simply awed by the whole thing and can’t wait to lay my hands on it.
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