I could not have received a more enlightening introduction to the DNA and Genetic Sciences and BioTechnology than this book from a worthy and eminently illuminating author - Dr. Watson.
He weaves his book with tales, trivia, history and facts and information as well as deeply involved scientific subject matter from the world of DNA and Genetic Sciences.
From DNA fingerprinting to Genetically modified Corn and Potatoes that is ubiquitous in the Soda, Sweeteners, Chips and Fries, I bet that no one living in the US is left untouched by the genetic technologies.
What i liked about Dr. Watson's book is that parts of it is history and tales around this large subject area: Biology, Genetics, Forensics, Law, Science, Technology, etc. I listened to the audiobook version of the book so that style works well for the audiobook. I think the printed version might feel excessively long winded.
Dr. Watson is a controversial figure. I do not agree with all the ideas that he espouses. Especially in the last chapter, he argues for aggressively pursuing Gene Therapy and advocates differential learning programs to account for the difference in learning potentials that are dictated by the genes. I thought those arguments were not clearly articulated and I do not agree with all those ideas.
In any case, for a novice to these subjects, this book presents the best choice by weaving several threads in this large story and presenting how all these connect and intertwine. The blurb says this book is an "Instant Classic". I think I agree.
PV Dharan's Blog On Computers, Technology, Books, Music, Movies and Living In The San Francisco Bay Area.
Google Plus Profile
Twitter:pvmdharan pvscooking.blogspot.com
Monday, October 06, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The HP Way - David Packard - Book Review
I was led to this book after reading Tom Perkins' Valley Boy. The book is somewhat of an inconsistent read though. It is part memoir and part Valley history. But partly it reads as the HP employee benefits package explaining the history and values of HP. You can learn about how Fred Terman mentored Packard and other entrepreneurs of the Bay Area. In turn, Packard helped other budding businesses (Tektronix for ex.) The book illustrates the spirit of cooperation amidst competition that existed in the hi-tech industry, HP and General Radio, for example.
Many of the practices that are taken for granted in the Valley companies like: comprehensive benefits program, profit sharing programs like ESPP, stock options, education reimbursement, etc., company offsites and company picnics, informal work atmosphere, de-centralized organization structure, open door policy, etc. all of these were pioneered or early adopted by HP.
The takeaway messages from the book are the principles of Management by Objective and Management by Walking Around. Packard talks about how the management works effectively by laying out the objective and leaving the details to the team doing the execution. He also talks about Management By Walking Around (MBWA), which balances the former principle. He talks about how the managers need to have a deep view of their business, including all the details of how execution happens. His approach for gaining that is by walking around the factory floor and watching everyone doing their jobs. He argues that detailed view is vital for effective management and that Walking around will help in overseeing exactly how the goals of a business are carried out and in correcting the mistakes that could happen in Execution.
The book although it was a very good read, it somehow did not fit together and did not feel complete to me. I still recommend it.
Many of the practices that are taken for granted in the Valley companies like: comprehensive benefits program, profit sharing programs like ESPP, stock options, education reimbursement, etc., company offsites and company picnics, informal work atmosphere, de-centralized organization structure, open door policy, etc. all of these were pioneered or early adopted by HP.
The takeaway messages from the book are the principles of Management by Objective and Management by Walking Around. Packard talks about how the management works effectively by laying out the objective and leaving the details to the team doing the execution. He also talks about Management By Walking Around (MBWA), which balances the former principle. He talks about how the managers need to have a deep view of their business, including all the details of how execution happens. His approach for gaining that is by walking around the factory floor and watching everyone doing their jobs. He argues that detailed view is vital for effective management and that Walking around will help in overseeing exactly how the goals of a business are carried out and in correcting the mistakes that could happen in Execution.
The book although it was a very good read, it somehow did not fit together and did not feel complete to me. I still recommend it.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Quote of the day - from John Adams
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. - John Adams
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Rise and Fall of King Cotton - Book Review
This is a book about the history of Cotton plant. This is a very well written book. It is out of print now and can be either loaned from libraries or purchased from used book sellers. I loaned it from our library.
I grew up in a cotton town - Erode. My town was a big market for cotton clothes. I had many many friends from the weaving families and i had even visited their family handlooms and powerlooms. We had a spinning mill (natesar mill) in front of my house and everyday the mill workers came on bicycles with their lunch pails. When the siren went on, workers would enter and the earlier shift workers would leave. Occasionally there would be picket lines for the workers strike. Almost every month there would be union members standing outside and would shout slogans announcing their demands. I was naturally curious to know about Cotton. India was a major cotton producer in the ancient times. Indian cotton was the luxury fabric used for the Roman togas.
This book combines the history of technology of processing cotton with the social impact that the crop had on so many continents.
o Cotton was the crop that largely fueled the Slave trade and the Plantation system in American South.
o The Lancashire cotton mills employing poorly paid and treated workers and that produced cotton cloth were essentially funding the whole Slave operations!
o When American Civil War raged, it shut off the cotton from American South and thus pushing the British to go to India to source their Cotton. They had originally given up on growing cotton for their industries in India due to various reasons.
o Many of the Indian Railway projects that the British built were actually for transporting cotton! And many were funded after civil war, perhaps indirectly by the Cotton industry. The cotton crop was introduced in my home town Erode around 1819. I believe, the original railway lines (railroad) and railway station in my home town were originally built by the British. It is astonishing to know that it perhaps got built there only because of the American Civil war!
The book chronicles how many important inventions that made the cotton cloth production possible were invented by American and English inventors and how despite the patent laws, they were cheated out of their inventions by the ruthless capitalists of the early industrial age.
The book is a strong cautionary tale for the modern times. Technology, Trade, Consumption and Social changes all feed off of each other in powerful ways in both good and bad. There are plenty of examples that were contemporary to the cotton's development like: Automobiles. But there are also plenty of modern examples: internet, mobile phones, etc.
I grew up in a cotton town - Erode. My town was a big market for cotton clothes. I had many many friends from the weaving families and i had even visited their family handlooms and powerlooms. We had a spinning mill (natesar mill) in front of my house and everyday the mill workers came on bicycles with their lunch pails. When the siren went on, workers would enter and the earlier shift workers would leave. Occasionally there would be picket lines for the workers strike. Almost every month there would be union members standing outside and would shout slogans announcing their demands. I was naturally curious to know about Cotton. India was a major cotton producer in the ancient times. Indian cotton was the luxury fabric used for the Roman togas.
This book combines the history of technology of processing cotton with the social impact that the crop had on so many continents.
o Cotton was the crop that largely fueled the Slave trade and the Plantation system in American South.
o The Lancashire cotton mills employing poorly paid and treated workers and that produced cotton cloth were essentially funding the whole Slave operations!
o When American Civil War raged, it shut off the cotton from American South and thus pushing the British to go to India to source their Cotton. They had originally given up on growing cotton for their industries in India due to various reasons.
o Many of the Indian Railway projects that the British built were actually for transporting cotton! And many were funded after civil war, perhaps indirectly by the Cotton industry. The cotton crop was introduced in my home town Erode around 1819. I believe, the original railway lines (railroad) and railway station in my home town were originally built by the British. It is astonishing to know that it perhaps got built there only because of the American Civil war!
The book chronicles how many important inventions that made the cotton cloth production possible were invented by American and English inventors and how despite the patent laws, they were cheated out of their inventions by the ruthless capitalists of the early industrial age.
The book is a strong cautionary tale for the modern times. Technology, Trade, Consumption and Social changes all feed off of each other in powerful ways in both good and bad. There are plenty of examples that were contemporary to the cotton's development like: Automobiles. But there are also plenty of modern examples: internet, mobile phones, etc.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World - Alan Greenspan - Book Review
The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World By Alan Greenspan - Audiobook version
This is a very long volume. Thankfully, the audiobook version was very well produced and did not induce sleep despite the mundane subject that it covers - economics. Actually that is not quite true, because although Alan is the personification of an economist and the tone his memoir sounds very much like the his congress briefings, he covers a lot of history and current events. After all, he is the ultimate insider who was thick in the middle of so much action in the recent times.
He argues forcefully this book behalf of market based economy, rule of law, strong property rights, free trade and globalism. He expresses disgust at Nixon and George W's presidencies. He doesn't have much of an opinion for Bush Sr. He adores Bill Clinton as he probably achieved the most under his presidency. He readily admits that Iraq was was about oil. He proclaims that "the Republicans traded power for principles and ended up with none", which rings very true. He certainly does not come across as the "Republican Hack" as Harry Reid called him.
When i finished the book, i got a very good insight into how the macroeconomics works and i got a very good introduction into how the government regulates the monetary system. I am now very curious to read Adam Smith's book. I am going to start with P.J. O'Rourke's The Wealth of Nations.
I thought his long term economic preditions are a wash. They are very much similar to his famous Fedspeak pronouncements. It was like if we don't run into any crisis and if we dont screw up, we will do just fine in the long run. Thank you very much Nostradamus!
o I very much agree with his stressing of the "Rule of Law" and strong property rights as a key foundation to the Wealth of a nation.
o He seems to be still convinced that Gold Standard is a good idea. Similarly there are several instances where he seem to adhere to ideas that have more to do with Libertarian purity than being more practical.
o Regardless of his convictions he seems willing to set them aside to arrive at practical solutions under the rules of the economic system we have setup for ourselves. His libertarian bent and strong advocacy of free market economy seems to have checked the tendency of politicians to meddle in the economy.
o His argument that Adam Smith's approach won over Keynesian, Fabian and Marxist economic philosophies is very convincing. Having grown up in the centrally planned economy of India, I still remember the days when we had to stop the building of our house because of the cement scarcity. We had used up our quota, which was grossly inadequate for the building requirements, and we had to wait for the next cycle to get our next quota.
o His survey of the major economies was very interesting. He is very bullish on china, not very impressed with India, understandably so.
o He is very much against the dependence on foreign oil and optimistic about the technologies which can reduce that like: plugin hybrids. And the surprising thing was that he was not opposed to introducing taxes in order to promote and accelarate the adoption of green technologies that will reduce our oil dependence. I thought that was remarkable coming from a staunch libertarian.
However, he certainly seemed to have made compromises in order to remain in power. The constant support of Republican administrations, even when they pursued bad economic policies is a good example. He strongly supported Republicans even when Nixon imposed price controls. He supported George W Bush's tax cut even when the balanced budget was clearly resulting in widespread prosperity for the country and the tax cuts essentially would bring back the deficits.
Overall a very worthwhile book for understanding the world that we live in and the political and economic context of our generation. I highly recommend it!
This is a very long volume. Thankfully, the audiobook version was very well produced and did not induce sleep despite the mundane subject that it covers - economics. Actually that is not quite true, because although Alan is the personification of an economist and the tone his memoir sounds very much like the his congress briefings, he covers a lot of history and current events. After all, he is the ultimate insider who was thick in the middle of so much action in the recent times.
He argues forcefully this book behalf of market based economy, rule of law, strong property rights, free trade and globalism. He expresses disgust at Nixon and George W's presidencies. He doesn't have much of an opinion for Bush Sr. He adores Bill Clinton as he probably achieved the most under his presidency. He readily admits that Iraq was was about oil. He proclaims that "the Republicans traded power for principles and ended up with none", which rings very true. He certainly does not come across as the "Republican Hack" as Harry Reid called him.
When i finished the book, i got a very good insight into how the macroeconomics works and i got a very good introduction into how the government regulates the monetary system. I am now very curious to read Adam Smith's book. I am going to start with P.J. O'Rourke's The Wealth of Nations.
I thought his long term economic preditions are a wash. They are very much similar to his famous Fedspeak pronouncements. It was like if we don't run into any crisis and if we dont screw up, we will do just fine in the long run. Thank you very much Nostradamus!
o I very much agree with his stressing of the "Rule of Law" and strong property rights as a key foundation to the Wealth of a nation.
o He seems to be still convinced that Gold Standard is a good idea. Similarly there are several instances where he seem to adhere to ideas that have more to do with Libertarian purity than being more practical.
o Regardless of his convictions he seems willing to set them aside to arrive at practical solutions under the rules of the economic system we have setup for ourselves. His libertarian bent and strong advocacy of free market economy seems to have checked the tendency of politicians to meddle in the economy.
o His argument that Adam Smith's approach won over Keynesian, Fabian and Marxist economic philosophies is very convincing. Having grown up in the centrally planned economy of India, I still remember the days when we had to stop the building of our house because of the cement scarcity. We had used up our quota, which was grossly inadequate for the building requirements, and we had to wait for the next cycle to get our next quota.
o His survey of the major economies was very interesting. He is very bullish on china, not very impressed with India, understandably so.
o He is very much against the dependence on foreign oil and optimistic about the technologies which can reduce that like: plugin hybrids. And the surprising thing was that he was not opposed to introducing taxes in order to promote and accelarate the adoption of green technologies that will reduce our oil dependence. I thought that was remarkable coming from a staunch libertarian.
However, he certainly seemed to have made compromises in order to remain in power. The constant support of Republican administrations, even when they pursued bad economic policies is a good example. He strongly supported Republicans even when Nixon imposed price controls. He supported George W Bush's tax cut even when the balanced budget was clearly resulting in widespread prosperity for the country and the tax cuts essentially would bring back the deficits.
Overall a very worthwhile book for understanding the world that we live in and the political and economic context of our generation. I highly recommend it!
Valley Boy - The education of Tom Perkins Book Review
This is a memoir from Tom Perkins a founding partner of the legendary Silicon Valley Venture capital firm: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
This book provides a rare insight into the personal dynamics between some of the legends of the Silicon Valley, Hewlett, Packard, Perkins, etc. It chronicles the adventures of founding new companies and in many instances new industries that generate billions in turnover. It has an interesting interview about Perkin's relationship with Danielle Steele, which talks much about the prolific author's writing habits. It also has a great chapter on building of Perkins' high tech yatch: Maltese Falcon.
These days venture capital has become a big industry that in many instances they don't provide the value in guiding a young company by providing the executive input and connecting it to the vital network of people that will help the company to succeed. Instead they just provide the money, which seems to be abundant these days in the venture capital industry. Even hedge funds are getting into providing venture capital and they provide nothing other than money to the budding venture.
For anyone living in the valley and working on hitech, i think this book should be high on their reading list. If you want to understand how the valley was founded and the values of entrepreneurship that still powers it and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, you must read this book.
This book provides a rare insight into the personal dynamics between some of the legends of the Silicon Valley, Hewlett, Packard, Perkins, etc. It chronicles the adventures of founding new companies and in many instances new industries that generate billions in turnover. It has an interesting interview about Perkin's relationship with Danielle Steele, which talks much about the prolific author's writing habits. It also has a great chapter on building of Perkins' high tech yatch: Maltese Falcon.
These days venture capital has become a big industry that in many instances they don't provide the value in guiding a young company by providing the executive input and connecting it to the vital network of people that will help the company to succeed. Instead they just provide the money, which seems to be abundant these days in the venture capital industry. Even hedge funds are getting into providing venture capital and they provide nothing other than money to the budding venture.
For anyone living in the valley and working on hitech, i think this book should be high on their reading list. If you want to understand how the valley was founded and the values of entrepreneurship that still powers it and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, you must read this book.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
In Defense of Food - Book Review
This book by Michael Pollan warning the public about the harms caused by our modern culture of food and eating is built around a simple set of rules of eating that he outlines:
Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.
The first one points out that the modern and scientific sounding inventions of food industry like "fiber rich", "vitamin fortified", "omega 3 enhanced", "protein formulated" etc. probably come at a high cost to us. The industry takes the basic food ingredients, processes them removing them of one nutrient or the other and then adds others to make up for the ones they removed like a mad scientist who always invents things that always have a downside to them.
He says: if any food is marketed for its nutrients, avoid it.
The middle rule talks about our culture of fast food, of removing the culture of eating from our lives and turning ourselves into food processors for the Food industry so they can sell us more food than we need, sell mindless nutrients instead of food and later sell food to deal with the effect of too much food and thus pocketing the profits.
The final rule talks up the benefits of not eating too much meat. It illustrates how humans had never in the past, late as much meat as often as the western world does today. It talks about how so much meat eating was due to the promotion of Meat by the Meat industry with ample support from government.
This is not a big book but it is well written and is a wonderful read.
Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants.
The first one points out that the modern and scientific sounding inventions of food industry like "fiber rich", "vitamin fortified", "omega 3 enhanced", "protein formulated" etc. probably come at a high cost to us. The industry takes the basic food ingredients, processes them removing them of one nutrient or the other and then adds others to make up for the ones they removed like a mad scientist who always invents things that always have a downside to them.
He says: if any food is marketed for its nutrients, avoid it.
The middle rule talks about our culture of fast food, of removing the culture of eating from our lives and turning ourselves into food processors for the Food industry so they can sell us more food than we need, sell mindless nutrients instead of food and later sell food to deal with the effect of too much food and thus pocketing the profits.
The final rule talks up the benefits of not eating too much meat. It illustrates how humans had never in the past, late as much meat as often as the western world does today. It talks about how so much meat eating was due to the promotion of Meat by the Meat industry with ample support from government.
This is not a big book but it is well written and is a wonderful read.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Basic Brown - Book Review
For a memoir from a politician, this book from Willie Brown, the colorful and engaging mayor of SFO was a very gripping read. I loaned this from the library not expecting to read it within the 1 week rental period. I finished it in 2 days. I bought Hillary's memoir but never read more than 2 pages.
Willie fills the book with anecdotes, his political conquests and skullduggery, sacremento and san francisco politics, san francisco city vibes and lots of fashion tips.
o Im rather proud of the liberal and progressive roots of the Bay Area where i live.
o California is on the forefront of forward thinking legislation (Civil Rights, Environment, etc.) because of the liberal influence of our area and of the politicians coming from our area like Willie.
o As much as i do not like the politicians who tax and spend, I do not like the direct democracy system either. Proposition 13 is evil and took the pendulum in the other extreme. This is Athenian democracy and ultimately, it is not not very democratic. I like the Roman republican system better.
o Term limits are not evil. They are absolutely necessary for posts with a lot of power like presidents. But term limits for legislators are completly useless. Perhaps term limits for powerful assembly positions like Speakership could be term limited.
o Business people seem to have huge influence in the California government. Lots of bad initiatives come from down in SoCal.
o Anti Politician attitude may be good populist politics but not good for our civic system and government. Legislators control a lot of our lives and take a number of important decisions, you want it or not. So instead of bringing quality people into the system by paying them fairly, why treat them in a miserly way thus encouraging corruption? Im not convinced "Citizen Legislators" idea will ever work in the modern world unless you pay them properly.
I do not believe all of what Willie says in the book but a lot of it. I do not like some aspects of his persona but i do respect him much better than the likes of people like Gingrich, Dashle, Byrd, DeLay, Bob Dole, etc.
Very interesting book, i recommend it!
Willie fills the book with anecdotes, his political conquests and skullduggery, sacremento and san francisco politics, san francisco city vibes and lots of fashion tips.
o Im rather proud of the liberal and progressive roots of the Bay Area where i live.
o California is on the forefront of forward thinking legislation (Civil Rights, Environment, etc.) because of the liberal influence of our area and of the politicians coming from our area like Willie.
o As much as i do not like the politicians who tax and spend, I do not like the direct democracy system either. Proposition 13 is evil and took the pendulum in the other extreme. This is Athenian democracy and ultimately, it is not not very democratic. I like the Roman republican system better.
o Term limits are not evil. They are absolutely necessary for posts with a lot of power like presidents. But term limits for legislators are completly useless. Perhaps term limits for powerful assembly positions like Speakership could be term limited.
o Business people seem to have huge influence in the California government. Lots of bad initiatives come from down in SoCal.
o Anti Politician attitude may be good populist politics but not good for our civic system and government. Legislators control a lot of our lives and take a number of important decisions, you want it or not. So instead of bringing quality people into the system by paying them fairly, why treat them in a miserly way thus encouraging corruption? Im not convinced "Citizen Legislators" idea will ever work in the modern world unless you pay them properly.
I do not believe all of what Willie says in the book but a lot of it. I do not like some aspects of his persona but i do respect him much better than the likes of people like Gingrich, Dashle, Byrd, DeLay, Bob Dole, etc.
Very interesting book, i recommend it!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond
I listened to the audiobook version of this book
It is a treasure trove of facts, history and science and was intellectually stimulating.
The author uses anthropology, history, linguistics, archeology, etc. to make a case for his theory on how the European/Eurasian dominance of the world was due to environmental and geographical reasons and not a result of any genetic or racial superiority.
The book won lots of prizes. However, it had a lots of sweeping generalizations. Maybe in order to embrace his theory more completely, author did not spend much time on the shortcomings and determining factors, other than the environmental ones, of some of the areas of the world that did not fare as well as Eurasia.
Here are somethings i learnt from the book:
o Humans are so different. They come in all different kinds and they can survive in all kinds of places and conditions.
o The achievements of Australian aborigines who landed and colonized the continent probably about 60000 years ago are as amazing or more amazing than the european expeditions to Northpole.
o Polynesian people are fantastic. They could go on the unbelievably expansive pacific ocean in their puny canoes for thousands of miles and reach the island they intended to go land in. All using their neolithic technology and using only the stars and other natural elements as their navigatory aids. Im going to feel so little when i fire up my GPS to go to an address 5 miles away!
o Different hunter-gatherer people survived their entire life, just eating fruits, tubers, grubs and worms, moths and insects and occasionally some people ate others as delicacy when they had meager food and protein supply.
o Competition between countries is good for our collective advancement, as long as it doesn't involve violence.
o So called "advanced and civilized" people who call others "savages" or "uncivilized" or perhaps the real "uncivilized" ones because in spite of their so called advancements, they are unable to understand why other people are the way they are.
In summary, i was left with awe of our shared human heritage and with deep respect for the land, the environment that we live in, where ever we are, because the environment is what shapes our collective destiny.
It is a treasure trove of facts, history and science and was intellectually stimulating.
The author uses anthropology, history, linguistics, archeology, etc. to make a case for his theory on how the European/Eurasian dominance of the world was due to environmental and geographical reasons and not a result of any genetic or racial superiority.
The book won lots of prizes. However, it had a lots of sweeping generalizations. Maybe in order to embrace his theory more completely, author did not spend much time on the shortcomings and determining factors, other than the environmental ones, of some of the areas of the world that did not fare as well as Eurasia.
Here are somethings i learnt from the book:
o Humans are so different. They come in all different kinds and they can survive in all kinds of places and conditions.
o The achievements of Australian aborigines who landed and colonized the continent probably about 60000 years ago are as amazing or more amazing than the european expeditions to Northpole.
o Polynesian people are fantastic. They could go on the unbelievably expansive pacific ocean in their puny canoes for thousands of miles and reach the island they intended to go land in. All using their neolithic technology and using only the stars and other natural elements as their navigatory aids. Im going to feel so little when i fire up my GPS to go to an address 5 miles away!
o Different hunter-gatherer people survived their entire life, just eating fruits, tubers, grubs and worms, moths and insects and occasionally some people ate others as delicacy when they had meager food and protein supply.
o Competition between countries is good for our collective advancement, as long as it doesn't involve violence.
o So called "advanced and civilized" people who call others "savages" or "uncivilized" or perhaps the real "uncivilized" ones because in spite of their so called advancements, they are unable to understand why other people are the way they are.
In summary, i was left with awe of our shared human heritage and with deep respect for the land, the environment that we live in, where ever we are, because the environment is what shapes our collective destiny.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Article on Ankle Pain and Injuries
Here is a very interesting NYTimes article on Ankle Injuries and Ankle Pain.
Monday, June 23, 2008
In a Sunburned Country
I listened to the audio book version of this. It had 10 discs. Bryson's books are very long but they are very interesting reading. I had read the Short History of Nearly Everything book and it was one very good reading. But i do not have the time or inclination for reading long books these days. Audiobooks are another matter.
I learned so much about the Down Under in this book. This book is a cross of a travelogue and a memoir. Many facts and historical notes and stories were narrated in such an engrossing way you almost feel mesmerized by the story telling.
I thoroughly loved it and at the same time learnt a lot!
I learned so much about the Down Under in this book. This book is a cross of a travelogue and a memoir. Many facts and historical notes and stories were narrated in such an engrossing way you almost feel mesmerized by the story telling.
I thoroughly loved it and at the same time learnt a lot!
firefox 3 upgrade!
I participated in the firefox 3 download record breaking attempt and upgraded my browser.
The upgrade was uneventful. The browser feels great! doesnt look all that different. Everything seems to work a bit faster.
Proxybutton plugin i had did not have a ff3 upgrade. So i downloaded FoxyProxy add on.
It works fine. QuickProxy addon installed but it did not work.
Now waiting for Thunderbird 3.0
The upgrade was uneventful. The browser feels great! doesnt look all that different. Everything seems to work a bit faster.
Proxybutton plugin i had did not have a ff3 upgrade. So i downloaded FoxyProxy add on.
It works fine. QuickProxy addon installed but it did not work.
Now waiting for Thunderbird 3.0
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Build Your Own Business Networks Course
Recently I attended this course and i thought of writing a post summarizing just 2 of the many lessons that i learnt in that course that will be of interest to the team.
Personally, I thought this course was somewhat timely given that we are now in the era of Social Network sites (facebook, linkedin, orkut, myspace, etc.). However, this course was probably written in ancient times (about 5 years ago) although the concepts taught here are very general and timeless.
Despite the title sounding somewhat like a jargon, the course is about how to build communication and relationships with the community of people that you work with and how to maintain them. If you draw a Network diagram and plot yourself and the teams and people you work with, as nodes in that diagram, that is your Business Network diagram.
So, Lesson 1. People networks and Business Networks are very similar to Computer networks. First, you need to establish connection. Then you need to keep the connection alive (periodic pings?). In order to derive value out of your network, you need to be ready to provide value yourself. And often, like good karma or a savings account, you may have to pay your dues to the network before reaping benefits.
These concepts apply to everyone. All of us have colleagues and other teams we work with. That is our internal business network. And our business networks are often larger than the slice that we interact with everyday(external network, previous colleagues, classmates, etc. etc.).
I related these ideas also to the Metcalfe’s law of networking: (which i think very much applies to the people networks as well) The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n²).
But the important thing is to start today and set forth some time every week to nurture your network. Like gardening this is a job that never stops. Perhaps it is time for me to schedule that lunch meeting with a colleague that i haven’t met with in years.
Lesson 2: What do we get out of these networks?
Information, knowledge, knowhow and best practices, support among others. Often these will make the crucial input to turn a so-so performance into fantastic success. I saw that first hand in some of the simulated activities or group exercises in the course. We had 3 teams working together as a (virtual) corporation and our mission was to develop technology to manufacture a product (using rubber tubes, cans, buckets, water, etc.), transport it (after building bridges using blocks and wood) and deliver to the customer.
No team was able to work successfully all on its own. When the teams passed on information back and forth, they transferred knowhow and best practices and all teams gained very rapidly.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Project planning and execution
I am taking a class and they had an assignment where they gave the following list in a jumbled order and asked participants to order it as they see fit. This is how i ordered it. I thought it was an interesting exercise. Im sure different people can have a slightly different take on this based on how they see the world.
I also thought the list captured fairly completely a manager's responsibilities.
1 Set project objectives (desired results).
2 Develop strategies (priorities, sequence, timing of major steps).
3 Develop possible alternative courses of action.
4 Identify the negative consequences of each course of action.
5 Decide on a basic course of action.
6 Determine when and how overall progress will be measured.
7 Determine the allocation of resources (including budget,facilities, etc.).
8 Establish qualifications for new positions.
9 Define scope of relationships, responsibilities and authority of new positions.
10 Find qualified people to fill positions.
11 Identify and analyze the various job tasks necessary to implement the project.
12 Assign responsibility / accountibility / authority.
13 Develop individual performance objectives which are mutually agreeable to the individual and his / her manager.
14 Train and develop personnel for new responsibilities / authority.
15 Coordinate day-to-day activities.
16 Measure individual performance against performance objectives and standards.
17 Measure progress toward and/or deviation from the project's goal.
18 Deliver appropropriate consequences for individual performance.
19 Gather and analyze the facts of the current project situation.
20 Take corrective action action on the project (recycle project plans).
I also thought the list captured fairly completely a manager's responsibilities.
1 Set project objectives (desired results).
2 Develop strategies (priorities, sequence, timing of major steps).
3 Develop possible alternative courses of action.
4 Identify the negative consequences of each course of action.
5 Decide on a basic course of action.
6 Determine when and how overall progress will be measured.
7 Determine the allocation of resources (including budget,facilities, etc.).
8 Establish qualifications for new positions.
9 Define scope of relationships, responsibilities and authority of new positions.
10 Find qualified people to fill positions.
11 Identify and analyze the various job tasks necessary to implement the project.
12 Assign responsibility / accountibility / authority.
13 Develop individual performance objectives which are mutually agreeable to the individual and his / her manager.
14 Train and develop personnel for new responsibilities / authority.
15 Coordinate day-to-day activities.
16 Measure individual performance against performance objectives and standards.
17 Measure progress toward and/or deviation from the project's goal.
18 Deliver appropropriate consequences for individual performance.
19 Gather and analyze the facts of the current project situation.
20 Take corrective action action on the project (recycle project plans).
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
IPL Cricket Match - Kolkata vs Mumbai
Very exciting match! I saw the second part. Mumbai did a great chase on 137 with Dawayne Bravo and Robin Uthappa. Jayasurya did 3 wickets earlier.
this is kolkata's second loss. Chennai is still unbeaten!
Next Chennai match is on May 2 - Friday.
Points Table:
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ipl/engine/series/313494.html?view=pointstable
this is kolkata's second loss. Chennai is still unbeaten!
Next Chennai match is on May 2 - Friday.
Points Table:
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ipl/engine/series/313494.html?view=pointstable
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Geothermal heating
Article on heating or cooling home using geothermal energy.
Apparently the trenches needed for this system in the author's home is:
300ft long 5 ft wide 5 ft deep. That probably is the downside of this kind of system, requirement for large amount of backyard space.
But the technology seems very simple, using PVC pipes and a compressor and a heat exchanger, heat and cool your home with minimal electricity requirement. Sounds cool!
Stumbled into this article while following an article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4245896.html?page=1
on low temperature geothermal power generation at Chena-alaska: http://www.yourownpower.com/
Apparently the trenches needed for this system in the author's home is:
300ft long 5 ft wide 5 ft deep. That probably is the downside of this kind of system, requirement for large amount of backyard space.
But the technology seems very simple, using PVC pipes and a compressor and a heat exchanger, heat and cool your home with minimal electricity requirement. Sounds cool!
Stumbled into this article while following an article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4245896.html?page=1
on low temperature geothermal power generation at Chena-alaska: http://www.yourownpower.com/
Thursday, January 24, 2008
ipod nano and accessories
(originally posted on 7/29/07)
I finally gave in and purchased ipod nano (about $190) - silver from costco on july 2007.
When i went to buy sleeves for ipod, i noticed they are all overpriced (although stylish).
I settled for Belkin F8Z060 Sports Sleeve for iPod nanos (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000DLB91A/ref=s9_asin_title_2-1966_g1/002-8483196-6299211?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=10P7AB0B31G0C33C74VM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240701&pf_rd_i=507846
for $15 at officemax. it comes with a protective screen overlay and armband and it is a silicone sleeve.
I like the nano and the sleeve!
I finally gave in and purchased ipod nano (about $190) - silver from costco on july 2007.
When i went to buy sleeves for ipod, i noticed they are all overpriced (although stylish).
I settled for Belkin F8Z060 Sports Sleeve for iPod nanos (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000DLB91A/ref=s9_asin_title_2-1966_g1/002-8483196-6299211?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=10P7AB0B31G0C33C74VM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240701&pf_rd_i=507846
for $15 at officemax. it comes with a protective screen overlay and armband and it is a silicone sleeve.
I like the nano and the sleeve!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Cut and Paste while using vncviewer
In order to transfer data through clipboard and cut and paste, while using the vncviewer (realvnc or tightvnc) on windows machines (dont know if it is an issue on other OSes), you should run the app: vncconfig.
This is an X app, you start it per display and leave it running in the background.
This has options to enable clipboard data transfer.
This is an X app, you start it per display and leave it running in the background.
This has options to enable clipboard data transfer.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
GPS devices info
One of the top GPS receiver seems to be: TomTom One
http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navigation/tomtom-go/4505-3430_7-30960607.html
it is about $250 and is the cheapest one in that range and has the best reviews and features.
Its competitor is: Garmin Nuvi 350 its review is:
http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navigation/garmin-nuvi-350/4505-3430_7-31518214.html?tag=also
GPS How stuff works: http://www.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm
It seems like TomTom brand is a european company (dutch) and is developing as a strong competitor to garmin and megellan brands. The company recently is aquiring TeleAtlas the map provider.
There are some reviews comparing Navitec maps and Teleatlas maps. Both provide map and routing info to major online sites like google maps. But Navitec is more popular and more widely used. But TeleAtlas seems to be catching up.
Other good sites for reviews of gps devices.:
http://www.gpsreview.net/
http://www.gpsmagazine.com/
http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navigation/tomtom-go/4505-3430_7-30960607.html
it is about $250 and is the cheapest one in that range and has the best reviews and features.
Its competitor is: Garmin Nuvi 350 its review is:
http://reviews.cnet.com/car-gps-navigation/garmin-nuvi-350/4505-3430_7-31518214.html?tag=also
GPS How stuff works: http://www.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm
It seems like TomTom brand is a european company (dutch) and is developing as a strong competitor to garmin and megellan brands. The company recently is aquiring TeleAtlas the map provider.
There are some reviews comparing Navitec maps and Teleatlas maps. Both provide map and routing info to major online sites like google maps. But Navitec is more popular and more widely used. But TeleAtlas seems to be catching up.
Other good sites for reviews of gps devices.:
http://www.gpsreview.net/
http://www.gpsmagazine.com/
Monday, November 19, 2007
restoring user profile in vista
This link says you can restore user profiles from backups in vista by restoring Users\ directory. Im going to give this a try.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Vista PCs nasty crash
So my relatively new, 5 month old vista PC crashed. The data seems to be intact in the drive but the boot sequence seems to do a check disk (chkdsk) and it doesnt complete. I left it running for a week and it was still checking the disk.
Vista's repair PC functionality is a complete Dud! I ran into atleast 2 bugs:
o when i initiate Repair, it just goes on the chkdsk check (although the screens dont tell you that) and runs for days without stopping. Shouldn't such programs detect that they are getting on endless loop, especially if their purpose is to help with disaster recovery?
o I tried to initiate advanced tools, i.e. windows recovery console so that i can get to copy my disk contents to another drive before reinstalling. There is a bug in recovery console initiating sequence where if you selected "Load Drivers" option in that dialog, the system goes into a state where you will no longer be able to start recovery console.
So i googled and found the Ultimate Boot CD for windows
which seems to work like a charm. I needed another working PC for building the Boot CD image. It booted fine and had a number of useful tools for repairing the hard drive, etc.
I used the tools to copy the data that i had in the hard drive.
Another alternative could have been Puppy Linux.
I am going to reinstall vista now and going to buy another internal drive to setup a backup drive. Unfortunately vista home premium doesnt come with a complete pc backup utility.
I need to research for an alternative.
Vista's repair PC functionality is a complete Dud! I ran into atleast 2 bugs:
o when i initiate Repair, it just goes on the chkdsk check (although the screens dont tell you that) and runs for days without stopping. Shouldn't such programs detect that they are getting on endless loop, especially if their purpose is to help with disaster recovery?
o I tried to initiate advanced tools, i.e. windows recovery console so that i can get to copy my disk contents to another drive before reinstalling. There is a bug in recovery console initiating sequence where if you selected "Load Drivers" option in that dialog, the system goes into a state where you will no longer be able to start recovery console.
So i googled and found the Ultimate Boot CD for windows
which seems to work like a charm. I needed another working PC for building the Boot CD image. It booted fine and had a number of useful tools for repairing the hard drive, etc.
I used the tools to copy the data that i had in the hard drive.
Another alternative could have been Puppy Linux.
I am going to reinstall vista now and going to buy another internal drive to setup a backup drive. Unfortunately vista home premium doesnt come with a complete pc backup utility.
I need to research for an alternative.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Time-Managing Time management
Thanks to Google's Tools, I'm the Most Efficient Time-Waster Ever
>>That's when I realized I wasn't actually accomplishing anything. My campaign to increase productivity had become yet another distraction — and a significant one. Suddenly I needed to time-manage my time management. So last week I installed a timer on my desktop (and, no, it's not a Google Timer) to help me limit how long I spend on Google-related sites. I allot myself a half hour a day; after that, I force myself to quit optimizing how I get things done and start actually getting things done. Of course, I still check the Links to Google Services tab on my Google homepage every day. How else will I know when one of the whizzy new tools will be just the thing to make my life easier?s-Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Copy only subtotals in excel
Short summary:
a) edit->goto and then select visible cells to select only visible ones.
b) You can pick the "select visible cells" menu item (tools->customize) to your toolbar.
c) Highlight the region, press Alt-; (semicolon) and then Ctrl-C. to copy only visible cells.
Friday, September 07, 2007
History's first taxi meter
A very interesting description of history's first Taxi Meter in first century Rome in this nytimes article:
>> The use of metering to measure distance traveled by a vehicle for hire was nothing new. It’s been traced to first century Rome, to a device that dropped a stone into a receptacle underneath a carraige at every 1,000 paces. At the end of the ride, the driver computed the fare by counting the
stones.
>> The use of metering to measure distance traveled by a vehicle for hire was nothing new. It’s been traced to first century Rome, to a device that dropped a stone into a receptacle underneath a carraige at every 1,000 paces. At the end of the ride, the driver computed the fare by counting the
stones.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Perl script to remove duplicate files created by itunes
The following scripts recursively runs and scans directories. If it finds a directory that has files: song.mp3 and song 1.mp3 or song 2.mp3 then it keeps song.mp3 and removes the others. It does a size check before removing just to make sure they are duplicates (it doesnt do content checking or bit by bit comparision).
By the way this is a windows specific script. it needs a bit of customization for unix, etc.
i am using fc to do a binary file compare on vista.
Begin Perl Script: removedupmusicfiles.pl
# This script scans the itunes music folder and removes duplicated files created by itunes.
# run this as:/perl removedupmusicfiles.pl
sub traverse($)
{
my($dir) = @_;
# print "\nTraverse: $dir";
removeDuplicates($dir);
local *DIR;
opendir (DIR, $dir) or die "Could not open directory $dir: $!";
while (defined(my $f = readdir (DIR)))
{
# Only recurse on directories, which do not start with '.', and skip symbolic links
if (-d "$dir/$f" &&
!(-l "$dir/$f") &&
($f !~ /^\.{1,2}$/)
)
{
traverse ("$dir/$f");
}
}
}
sub removeDuplicates($)
{
my($dir) = @_;
my %fnamehash;
# print "\nremoveDuplicates: $dir";
local *DIR;
opendir (DIR, $dir) or die "Could not open directory $dir: $!";
while (defined(my $f = readdir (DIR)))
{
#my $fsize = -s $f;
$fnamehash{$f} = $f;
}
foreach $f ( keys %fnamehash ) {
# if you find files like "foo 1.mp3"
if($f =~ /(.+)\s\d\.mp3/) {
#print "\n$dir: $f could possibly be duplicate of $orig";
$orig = "$dir/$1.mp3";
if(-e $orig) {
my $fsize = -s "$dir/$f";
my $osize = -s "$orig";
#print "\n$f Size: $fsize could be duplicate of $orig Size: $osize ";
if($osize == $fsize) {
my $cmd = "\"$orig\" \"$dir/$f\"";
$cmd =~ s/\//\\/g;
my $output = `fc /B $cmd`;
if ($output =~ /no differences encountered/){
my $name = "$dir/$f";
print "\n$dir/$f ( $fsize bytes) is a duplicate of $orig ( $osize bytes ) ";
print "\nRemoving: $name";
unlink($name) || die "Cannont unlink $name: $!";
}
}
}
}
}
}
$dir = shift;
traverse($dir);
End Perl Script: removedupmusicfiles.pl
By the way this is a windows specific script. it needs a bit of customization for unix, etc.
i am using fc to do a binary file compare on vista.
Begin Perl Script: removedupmusicfiles.pl
# This script scans the itunes music folder and removes duplicated files created by itunes.
# run this as:
sub traverse($)
{
my($dir) = @_;
# print "\nTraverse: $dir";
removeDuplicates($dir);
local *DIR;
opendir (DIR, $dir) or die "Could not open directory $dir: $!";
while (defined(my $f = readdir (DIR)))
{
# Only recurse on directories, which do not start with '.', and skip symbolic links
if (-d "$dir/$f" &&
!(-l "$dir/$f") &&
($f !~ /^\.{1,2}$/)
)
{
traverse ("$dir/$f");
}
}
}
sub removeDuplicates($)
{
my($dir) = @_;
my %fnamehash;
# print "\nremoveDuplicates: $dir";
local *DIR;
opendir (DIR, $dir) or die "Could not open directory $dir: $!";
while (defined(my $f = readdir (DIR)))
{
#my $fsize = -s $f;
$fnamehash{$f} = $f;
}
foreach $f ( keys %fnamehash ) {
# if you find files like "foo 1.mp3"
if($f =~ /(.+)\s\d\.mp3/) {
#print "\n$dir: $f could possibly be duplicate of $orig";
$orig = "$dir/$1.mp3";
if(-e $orig) {
my $fsize = -s "$dir/$f";
my $osize = -s "$orig";
#print "\n$f Size: $fsize could be duplicate of $orig Size: $osize ";
if($osize == $fsize) {
my $cmd = "\"$orig\" \"$dir/$f\"";
$cmd =~ s/\//\\/g;
my $output = `fc /B $cmd`;
if ($output =~ /no differences encountered/){
my $name = "$dir/$f";
print "\n$dir/$f ( $fsize bytes) is a duplicate of $orig ( $osize bytes ) ";
print "\nRemoving: $name";
unlink($name) || die "Cannont unlink $name: $!";
}
}
}
}
}
}
$dir = shift;
traverse($dir);
End Perl Script: removedupmusicfiles.pl
itunes management
itunes presents several problems for an advanced user to work around. If you have multiple computers, keeping the libraries in the different computers synchronized is a difficult and non-trivial task even for an advanced user.
I finally copied all my music into the new vista PC with a 300G hard drive. However, due to the paranoia about losing any content, i ended up with multiple copies of my music files in different harddrives and computers. Beyond Compare and Check Identical Files are the 2 software that i used to minimize file duplication. But a strange thing happens when you move files and then get itunes to rescan the folders. itunes creates duplicate copies of files itself (and i have not kept track of the exact conditions that trigger this). For example, in your itunes folder: c:\users\joe\itunesmusic\myalbum\song.mp3 existed before itunes would create: c:\users\joe\itunesmusic\myalbum\song 1.mp3
This effectively duplicated my entire collection. i had to create a perl script to clean this mess (see my other post today on this)
I then used: ITLU (itunes library updater) utility to cleanup itunes database. After removing the files, running itlu can scan and identify orphan entries and it will clean them up.
I finally copied all my music into the new vista PC with a 300G hard drive. However, due to the paranoia about losing any content, i ended up with multiple copies of my music files in different harddrives and computers. Beyond Compare and Check Identical Files are the 2 software that i used to minimize file duplication. But a strange thing happens when you move files and then get itunes to rescan the folders. itunes creates duplicate copies of files itself (and i have not kept track of the exact conditions that trigger this). For example, in your itunes folder: c:\users\joe\itunesmusic\myalbum\song.mp3 existed before itunes would create: c:\users\joe\itunesmusic\myalbum\song 1.mp3
This effectively duplicated my entire collection. i had to create a perl script to clean this mess (see my other post today on this)
I then used: ITLU (itunes library updater) utility to cleanup itunes database. After removing the files, running itlu can scan and identify orphan entries and it will clean them up.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Firefox and thunderbird woes
Firefox 100% CPU hog and freeze symptoms
Running: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6
Firefox is not getting better in stability in some corner cases. Some of the webpages (probably content rich pages) seem to quickly hang the laptop. I found this link that recommends disabling flash thru flashblock plugin and java:
http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-solve-100-cpu-hogging-by-firefox-in-2-steps/
im going to try that.
But my Thunderbird woes are worse than Firefox. I would love to upgrade to TB 2.0 but the
remove duplicate messages plugin:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/956
is not ready for TB 2.0
i like the tagging feature in tb2 and would like to use it. i am moving away from using folders.
I have bought into the notion of tag+search is much better than ontology and classification.
I keep all of my mail in a handful of folders these days and i search them using gmail like expressions f:santa s:christmas using the gmailui plugin. But TB is not quite elegant in handling folders with large number of messages.
Case in point: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Duplicate_messages_received
and
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Thunderbird_:_Tips_:_Compacting_Folders
With TB's instabilities and without remove duplicate messages plugin, my mail handling will not be productive.
I am fondly looking forward to the day when my TB (or any free competitor) would work reliably without choking, freezing, duplicating, etc.
Running: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.6) Gecko/20070725 Firefox/2.0.0.6
Firefox is not getting better in stability in some corner cases. Some of the webpages (probably content rich pages) seem to quickly hang the laptop. I found this link that recommends disabling flash thru flashblock plugin and java:
http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/how-to-solve-100-cpu-hogging-by-firefox-in-2-steps/
im going to try that.
But my Thunderbird woes are worse than Firefox. I would love to upgrade to TB 2.0 but the
remove duplicate messages plugin:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/956
is not ready for TB 2.0
i like the tagging feature in tb2 and would like to use it. i am moving away from using folders.
I have bought into the notion of tag+search is much better than ontology and classification.
I keep all of my mail in a handful of folders these days and i search them using gmail like expressions f:santa s:christmas using the gmailui plugin. But TB is not quite elegant in handling folders with large number of messages.
Case in point: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Duplicate_messages_received
and
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Thunderbird_:_Tips_:_Compacting_Folders
With TB's instabilities and without remove duplicate messages plugin, my mail handling will not be productive.
I am fondly looking forward to the day when my TB (or any free competitor) would work reliably without choking, freezing, duplicating, etc.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Using free LAME encoder with MediaMonkey
I have finally figured this out. It was actually pretty simple. MediaMonkey says this in it's help search for LAME:
>>Unlimited MP3 encoding - Allows you to encode MP3s in an unlimited fashion (the free version of MediaMonkey includes a time-limited LAME MP3 encoder. If you're so inclined, you can manually replace it with the free LAME encoder, or you can just upgrade to MediaMonkey Gold).
You dont have to upgrade just to get the free LAME encoder. Although i did not find this through multiple searches on this topic, here is whatneeds to be done:
o google LAME and it will get you to LAME sourceforge site
o click on version (i did 3.97). It takes you to the software downloads page. click on "LAME related links". Click on LAME binaries for Windows link. It shows Rarewares.org site reference.
o Download lame_enc.dll from this site.
o goto c:\program files\mediamonkey directory. Rename the LAME_ENC.dll file to somethingelse. Copy the file you grabbed.
o Happy rippin...
o I use the Standard Very High Quality+ format, which is VBR/192kbps. I have read that this is one of the best tradeoff between filesize and bitrate/quality.
>>Unlimited MP3 encoding - Allows you to encode MP3s in an unlimited fashion (the free version of MediaMonkey includes a time-limited LAME MP3 encoder. If you're so inclined, you can manually replace it with the free LAME encoder, or you can just upgrade to MediaMonkey Gold).
You dont have to upgrade just to get the free LAME encoder. Although i did not find this through multiple searches on this topic, here is whatneeds to be done:
o google LAME and it will get you to LAME sourceforge site
o click on version (i did 3.97). It takes you to the software downloads page. click on "LAME related links". Click on LAME binaries for Windows link. It shows Rarewares.org site reference.
o Download lame_enc.dll from this site.
o goto c:\program files\mediamonkey directory. Rename the LAME_ENC.dll file to somethingelse. Copy the file you grabbed.
o Happy rippin...
o I use the Standard Very High Quality+ format, which is VBR/192kbps. I have read that this is one of the best tradeoff between filesize and bitrate/quality.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Lots of posts around digital audio
stumbled across this while researching how to replace the encoder in mediamonkey to the free lame encoder. Im yet to find an answer to that....
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
dr. house md. - TV show
dr. house md. - TV show
i watched the first season dvd. the show is very good, but i do not know how anyone can follow this properly without subtitles during the scenes with a lot of medical lingo.
hugh is a lovely actor. i liked him from his jeeves/wooster shows. His rendition of wooster was exactly how i imagined, although jeeves (stephen fry) in that show was not so much to my liking, he was a giant compared to wooster and that is not how jeeves dominates wooster.
i watched the first season dvd. the show is very good, but i do not know how anyone can follow this properly without subtitles during the scenes with a lot of medical lingo.
hugh is a lovely actor. i liked him from his jeeves/wooster shows. His rendition of wooster was exactly how i imagined, although jeeves (stephen fry) in that show was not so much to my liking, he was a giant compared to wooster and that is not how jeeves dominates wooster.
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
Fantastic book about building the railroad that opened up the west. I learnt about the history of the united states, lobbying, western US, california, immigration labor, racism against the asian americans, ingenuity of the engineers, ruthlessness of the early capitalists, government-industry nexus of colloboration and exploitation, poor working conditions, business competition, visionaries, wallstreet and financing in the early years and much more.
Fantastic book about building the railroad that opened up the west. I learnt about the history of the united states, lobbying, western US, california, immigration labor, racism against the asian americans, ingenuity of the engineers, ruthlessness of the early capitalists, government-industry nexus of colloboration and exploitation, poor working conditions, business competition, visionaries, wallstreet and financing in the early years and much more.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Useful Thunderbird Extensions:
Useful Thunderbird Extensions:
http://lifehacker.com/software/thunderbird/geek-to-live--eight-killer-thunderbird-extensions-234350.php
http://lifehacker.com/software/thunderbird/geek-to-live--eight-killer-thunderbird-extensions-234350.php
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sunbird and Lightning
i downloaded Lightning extension for thunderbird which added calendar capability.
My oracle calendar client now has icalendar support and so i could export my appts as icalendar and import them back into thunderbird.
Unfortunately i ran into the import bug:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=315672
described in the bug
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=338880
The next version of sunbird should bear patch for that.
My oracle calendar client now has icalendar support and so i could export my appts as icalendar and import them back into thunderbird.
Unfortunately i ran into the import bug:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=315672
described in the bug
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=338880
The next version of sunbird should bear patch for that.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
firefox toolbar issues
and the method of fixing that corruption works as advertised. I was actually considering a more heavy approach of resetting my profile to remove corruptions. It will be good if firefox releases a tool for fixing such corruptions. It is rather difficult to go about and find such information in various KBs.
firefox toolbar issues
I use Proxybutton extension for switching proxies heavily. I drag the proxybutton to the toolbar. But everytime the browser restarts the toolbar state vanishes away.
i searched firefox bugs and found this:
which pointed me to this article.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Toolbar_customizations_reset_on_startup
im gonno try this now.
i searched firefox bugs and found this:
Bug 341696 – Tool bar customization is not maintained after closing and re-starting the browser. (edit)
which pointed me to this article.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Toolbar_customizations_reset_on_startup
im gonno try this now.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Ubuntu install was a breeze on a Pentium III
I had a Pentium 3 Circa 2000 with 256 MB memory. It was running win2k and was slow as a snail. I cut an ubuntu cd and installed ubuntu on it. The machine is fairly responsive and will be fine for server tasks. I installed desktop version and pulled in the server packages (apache, php, mysql, etc.) Im going to make it my home server and expose it to internet thru dyndns.org
Im planning to put wordpress, twiki, etc. on it and use it as a personal productivity server.
2 Thumbs up Way up! for Ubuntu!
Im planning to put wordpress, twiki, etc. on it and use it as a personal productivity server.
2 Thumbs up Way up! for Ubuntu!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Wii found!
I finally found Wii in a BestBuy on Jan 19. It was the very last one on and was actually sold to someone. The buyer didnt turn up before deadline and i got that. Sweet!
Wii Sports is very intuitive and even kids picked it up quick. I rented cars game. The accelerometers work as advertised. The wiimote is easy to use. Kids love it. The internet connection works. The games look great on plasma with crisp pictures. Sure BluRay/HD pictures will look even better, but this is DVD quality. Wii unit looks stylish and well designed. I got Classic and Nunchuk controllers.
So far so good!
Wii Sports is very intuitive and even kids picked it up quick. I rented cars game. The accelerometers work as advertised. The wiimote is easy to use. Kids love it. The internet connection works. The games look great on plasma with crisp pictures. Sure BluRay/HD pictures will look even better, but this is DVD quality. Wii unit looks stylish and well designed. I got Classic and Nunchuk controllers.
So far so good!
Monday, January 15, 2007
My Expression Collection
Monday, January 15, 2007
My Expression Collection
This is the list of expressions that i collected moved from my old notes.
- Dont hide your light under a bushel
- Hang on to that thought, i'll be back
- He is not the choirboy/he is the poster boy/he is my evil twin
- Sing it sister cough it up old man
- oh brother!
- That place is a hell hole!
- Spiffy - stylish, smart, that neat!
- Cut to the chase
- If defeat is an orphan, success has a thousand fathers
- The tone rubbed me the wrong way
- Done in a cookie cutter manner
- Lets go through the whole drill once again
- You remember the drill
- I want this monkey off my back
- There is more to this than meets the eye
- Show him the ropes
- Learn the ropes
- Good cop/ Bad cop routine
- I was pouting for a long time
- They came out of the woodwork
- Set them up for success
- Hold that thought
- No fog/ Less fog (means more clear)
- Think on your feet
- Think out of box
- Walk the street
- Dont sit on ivory tower
- The best is the worst enemy of the good
- It was a one trick pony
- That gives a good segue for this next topic
- A day late and a dollar short
Thursday, January 04, 2007
how can you have a "dignified execution"?
CNN reports: President Bush said Thursday that he wished Saddam Hussein's execution had "gone in a more dignified way."
Politicians say the darndest things. How can you have a dignified execution? we all lose our humanity when we execute a human being.
Eventhough i support death penality and strongly think that Saddam deserved to die, i also believe "Justice should not only be done but also appear to have been done". In the case of Saddam, sadly for the number of people he victimized, it did not "appear" like justice was done. It appeared more like revenge was taken.
Politicians say the darndest things. How can you have a dignified execution? we all lose our humanity when we execute a human being.
Eventhough i support death penality and strongly think that Saddam deserved to die, i also believe "Justice should not only be done but also appear to have been done". In the case of Saddam, sadly for the number of people he victimized, it did not "appear" like justice was done. It appeared more like revenge was taken.
ps3 review from cnn/cnet
This was a very well rounded review. Bottom line is this: PS3 hardware is much better than 360. It is a better value for money with built in BluRay player which seems to perform well. No great games that exploit PS3 fully at the moment but they will come soon. Sony design and the specs are very good. If you want bluray player now, this is cheaper at the moment than any other player available. If you can spend $600 PS3 is the one to go. But if you compare that with XBox 360 the price is not that bad. However, if you compare it with Wii at 250$ it is a lot of money to spend.
For myself with 2 small kids, wii is the one to get, if only i can find them in any store around here.
For myself with 2 small kids, wii is the one to get, if only i can find them in any store around here.
Booklist moved from my old blogs
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Call # 629.2092 DUR
Author Weisberger, Bernard A., 1922-
Title The dream maker : William C. Durant, founder of General Motors / by Bernard A. Weisberger.
Call # 658.8 1999
Author Moore, Geoffrey A., 1946-
Title Crossing the chasm : marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers / Geoffrey A. Moore ; with a foreward by Regis McKenna.
Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser
The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen Hawking
Theodore Rex : Edmund Morris (about thodore rosevelt)
What Einstein Didn't Know Robert Wolke
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
City of Mountain View Public Library
The nature of space and time / Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose
Black holes and baby universes and other essays / Stephen Hawking
The future of spacetime / Stephen W. Hawking ... [et al.] ; introduction by Richard Price.
Universe [videorecording] / Thirteen WNET; Uden Associates; David Filkin Enterprises co-production in association with BBC-TV.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Movie Review: Sholay
Rating: Thumbs Up!
Starring: Amitabh Bachan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Amjad Khan
Review:
The movie is a fairly faithful reproduction of spaghetti westerns from the leone-kurosawa pedigree. It has good tunes a couple of them built more on good guitar rhythms and less on a typical hindi movie orchestration of a thousand garish violins. It has good antihero characters and a tragic protogonist, a great villan who plays the part with flair and was given great scenes and great lines. The action scenes are wonderful, with a lot of energy and wholesomeness and without a lot of the empty calories of special effects .
At times the movie is a bit relaxed and perhaps that is inline with the pace of a typical western.
For those who like westerns, this is not a bad movie and if you are a film buff type, you may want to see this to complete your survey of westerns around the world.
But for bollywood enthusiasts, this is a must see, if you want to understand the history of hindi movie making and watch the evolution of the BigB, in particular.
List of plants i planted in South Bernardo Ave
Planted on June 4 2000:
Sonata Mix Cosmos
Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Petunia
French Marigold (Tagetes Patula)
Snapdragon (Liberty White)
Pot Mums (Dendranthema Grandiflorum)
Sonata Mix Cosmos
Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Petunia
French Marigold (Tagetes Patula)
Snapdragon (Liberty White)
Pot Mums (Dendranthema Grandiflorum)
Plants that i got in sep 2006
Sagina Subulata - irish moss premium ground cover; plant in part sun/part shade. regular water I bought it for planters and other places
Soleirolia Baby's TearsInteresting reference in the movie: Sholay
I heard this interesting saying in (Bollywood movie) Sholay (and its meaning from: link)
If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain
Meaning:
If someone won’t do this thing for me, I’ll do it for myself. The proverb can also be interpreted this way: we may find a way to make a difficult situation better if we simply think about the situation in different terms.
If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad will go to the mountain
Meaning:
If someone won’t do this thing for me, I’ll do it for myself. The proverb can also be interpreted this way: we may find a way to make a difficult situation better if we simply think about the situation in different terms.
Desktop wikis
I settled on MoinMoin for my desktop wiki. This was the lightest of the solutions i investigated. The install was just an unzip and clicking on the app. This comes bundled with a webserver which is a bonus as you can put html pages.
I used this tool for converting my html page to moinmoin format. I havent found any interwiki converters. it will be nice if we have a common wiki markup language
I needed this as i want to start looking at most of the notes that i write as html pages browsable in a browser and that have the capability to interlink thru URLs. .txt files are not cutting it for me anymore. I want to browse my desktop and my files like i would browse a website. hopefully vista will bring those capabilities, including the integrated search abilities.
I used this tool for converting my html page to moinmoin format. I havent found any interwiki converters. it will be nice if we have a common wiki markup language
I needed this as i want to start looking at most of the notes that i write as html pages browsable in a browser and that have the capability to interlink thru URLs. .txt files are not cutting it for me anymore. I want to browse my desktop and my files like i would browse a website. hopefully vista will bring those capabilities, including the integrated search abilities.
Booklist
migrating from old notes:
Author Weisberger, Bernard A., 1922-
Title The dream maker : William C. Durant, founder of General Motors / by Bernard A. Weisberger.
>>I havent read this yet but i did read the alfred sloan's biography which was terrific
Call # 658.8 1999
Author Moore, Geoffrey A., 1946-
Title Crossing the chasm : marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers / Geoffrey A. Moore ; with a foreward by Regis McKenna.
>>Im reading this now
Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser
The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen Hawking
Theodore Rex : Edmund Morris (about thodore rosevelt)
>> This was a great book, although i listened to the audio book version
What Einstein Didn't Know Robert Wolke
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
>> this was a great book. I read it. describes the history of california and the integration of america through railroads.
Author Weisberger, Bernard A., 1922-
Title The dream maker : William C. Durant, founder of General Motors / by Bernard A. Weisberger.
>>I havent read this yet but i did read the alfred sloan's biography which was terrific
Call # 658.8 1999
Author Moore, Geoffrey A., 1946-
Title Crossing the chasm : marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers / Geoffrey A. Moore ; with a foreward by Regis McKenna.
>>Im reading this now
Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser
The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen Hawking
Theodore Rex : Edmund Morris (about thodore rosevelt)
>> This was a great book, although i listened to the audio book version
What Einstein Didn't Know Robert Wolke
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
>> this was a great book. I read it. describes the history of california and the integration of america through railroads.
Commandline completions in NT
For getting command line completions in the NT command line:
Copy the following to cmdline.reg and doubleclick it.
------------cut here---------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]
'CompletionChar'=dword:00000009
------------cut here---------
To enable autocompletion in ms command line
-----------------
Copy the following to cmdline.reg and doubleclick it.
------------cut here---------
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor]
'CompletionChar'=dword:00000009
------------cut here---------
To enable autocompletion in ms command line
-----------------
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Itunes tricks
Tricks on library consolidation: link1
ITLU:
Tricks on library consolidation: link1
ITLU:
Make iTunes rescan folders and remove missing files
This is a great tool. This is implemented using .NET and took a while to install as it pulled in .NET 2.0 as a dependency. But after that it seemed to work okay. I used it to remove the dead file links from itunes. It is a shame that itunes software doesnt provide this feature out of the box.
nvu
The install was just an unzip. nvu is the same as mozilla composer with all the fat of mozilla suite removed. Apparently the guy working on nvu is now the owner of mozilla composer. nvu is also documented in wikipedia in here
It works just fine. im going to uninstall amaya and use this instead.
The install was just an unzip. nvu is the same as mozilla composer with all the fat of mozilla suite removed. Apparently the guy working on nvu is now the owner of mozilla composer. nvu is also documented in wikipedia in here
It works just fine. im going to uninstall amaya and use this instead.
HTML editor
Although not hugely powerful Netscape/Mozilla composer had always been adequate. But it is bloated as i do not want netscaper or mozilla browsers. Firefox is just fine for me. I tried Amaya and it is very crippled and not easy to use. It is more like ed for HTML not even vi. I came across nvu
Seems like it will do the trick. im going to try it.
Although not hugely powerful Netscape/Mozilla composer had always been adequate. But it is bloated as i do not want netscaper or mozilla browsers. Firefox is just fine for me. I tried Amaya and it is very crippled and not easy to use. It is more like ed for HTML not even vi. I came across nvu
Seems like it will do the trick. im going to try it.
Consolidating music files
I started using itunes for music file consolidation now. I used Media monkey before, but itunes, being the defacto standard for music playing, im switching over to itunes. It is also pretty efficient so far. I liked the file renaming feature of media monkey and it was fast software. But it was quirky. So is itunes. Its selection handling is wierd and not intuitive to windows users. perhaps it is intuitive to mac users.
For duplicate file finding there were several options. i used http://www.identicalfiles.com/Download.
I had also used dupfiles from funduc software, but identical files seem to be quick and has a nicer interfaces IMO.
After moving all my mp3s to my mega harddrive, i eliminated the dups and then i am going to use consolidate library option of itunes.
I have to do a similar consolidation of my photos at a later date.
I started using itunes for music file consolidation now. I used Media monkey before, but itunes, being the defacto standard for music playing, im switching over to itunes. It is also pretty efficient so far. I liked the file renaming feature of media monkey and it was fast software. But it was quirky. So is itunes. Its selection handling is wierd and not intuitive to windows users. perhaps it is intuitive to mac users.
For duplicate file finding there were several options. i used http://www.identicalfiles.com/Download.
I had also used dupfiles from funduc software, but identical files seem to be quick and has a nicer interfaces IMO.
After moving all my mp3s to my mega harddrive, i eliminated the dups and then i am going to use consolidate library option of itunes.
I have to do a similar consolidation of my photos at a later date.
Monday, January 01, 2007
Classical Music pieces from an article on zubin from indian american:
Classical Music pieces from an article on zubin from indian american:
Mahler II Symphony - Resurrection
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture - Zubin with LA philharmonic
Ravel's Bolero
Beethoven's Violin Concerto
Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring
Three Tenor's concert with Zubin
Sitar Concerto #2 with Ravishankar and London Philharmonic
Mahler II Symphony - Resurrection
Brahms: Academic Festival Overture - Zubin with LA philharmonic
Ravel's Bolero
Beethoven's Violin Concerto
Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring
Three Tenor's concert with Zubin
Sitar Concerto #2 with Ravishankar and London Philharmonic
On Beethoven's symphonies
On Beethoven's symphonies
(from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?columnId=5477647)
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125
one of the finest with Ode to Joy - a poem of Friedrich Schiller chorus in the symphony.
AKA choral symphony; runs to around 74 mins
Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93
classical in style
Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Performed to benefit soldiers
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68
His full title was "Pastoral Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life." Beethoven publicly declared the
piece's "extramusical" purpose: an expression of nature.
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
- one of the greatest work of Beethoven
Symphony No. 4 in B Flat Major, Op. 60
More classical. Beethoven had a trend of keeping his even symphonies more classical in nature.
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55 - Eroica
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 21
Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
Beethoven's First Symphony, dedicated to Baron Gottfried Van Swieten, came at age 29.
(from: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?columnId=5477647)
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125
one of the finest with Ode to Joy - a poem of Friedrich Schiller chorus in the symphony.
AKA choral symphony; runs to around 74 mins
Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93
classical in style
Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Performed to benefit soldiers
Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68
His full title was "Pastoral Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life." Beethoven publicly declared the
piece's "extramusical" purpose: an expression of nature.
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
- one of the greatest work of Beethoven
Symphony No. 4 in B Flat Major, Op. 60
More classical. Beethoven had a trend of keeping his even symphonies more classical in nature.
Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major, Op. 55 - Eroica
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 21
Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21
Beethoven's First Symphony, dedicated to Baron Gottfried Van Swieten, came at age 29.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
A Classical music listening list
Good guide to listening is at: classical.netMedieval, Rennaisance, Baroque, Classical, Modern Music of the Baroque Era (1600-1750) was characterized by vastness of proportion, rich counterpoint, great splendor and a highly ornamented melodic line. JS Bach, Handel, Vivaldi BACH, Johann Sebastian
* Concertos for Violin BWV 1041, 1042
* Art of the Fugue BWV 1080
* Toccata and Fugue in D minor for Organ BWV 565 HANDEL, George Frideric
Acis and Galatea (oratorio)
Arias
Concerti Grossi Op. 3
* Concerti Grossi Op. 6
Concertos for Organ Op. 4 and 7
Concerto for Organ "Cuckoo and Nightingale"
Harmonious Blacksmith for Harpsichord
* Messiah (oratorio) ( Hallelujah Chorus work )
Operas (Flavio, Tamerlano)
Royal Fireworks Music ( I - II - III - IV - V - VI Royal Fireworks Music - Click on movement )
Solomon (oratorio)
Sonatas for Flute or Recorder and Harpsichord
Suites for Harpsichord
Susanna (oratorio)
Trio Sonatas Op. 2 and 5
* Water Music
VIVALDI, Antonio
* Four Seasons Spring
* Concertos (for violin, bassoon, cello, oboe, flute, etc.)
classical era: (1750 - 1820): Briefly, the characteristics of classicism are a concern for musical form with a greater emphasis on clarity with more concise melodic expression and clarity of instrumental color. composers: mozard, beethoven, haydn, cpe bach BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel * Concertos for Cello Wq. 170-172 BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
* Concertos for Piano (1-3, * 4, * 5)
* Concerto for Violin Op. 61
* Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello Op. 56
Diabelli Variations for Piano Op. 120
Eroica Variations for Piano Op. 35
Fidelio Op. 72 (opera)
* Missa Solemnis Op. 123
Overtures (Leonore, Coriolan, Egmont. etc.)
* Quartets #7-16 (* 8, * 14)
Quintet for Piano and Strings Op. 16
Serenade and Trios for Strings Op. 3, 8 and 9
Sextet for Winds Op. 71
* Sonatas for Piano (All, especially * 8, * 14 Piano Sonata #14, Op. 27 #1 (first movement), 21, * 23, * 29)
Sonatas for Cello and Piano (1-5)
* Sonatas for Violin and Piano (5, 9)
* Symphonies (1 Symphony #1, Op. 21 (first movement), 2 Symphony #2, Op. 36 (first movement), * 3 Symphony #3, Op. 55 (first movement), 4 Symphony #4, Op. 60 (first movement), * 5 Symphony #5, Op. 67 (second movement), * 6 Symphony #6, Op. 68 (first movement), 7 Symphony #7, Op. 92 (first movement), 8 Symphony #8, Op. 93 (first movement), * 9 Symphony #9, Op. 125 (first movement))
* Trios for Piano and Strings (* #7 "Archduke")
MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus
Arias (opera and concert arias) Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute
Concerto for Clarinet K. 622
* Concertos for Flute, K.313 and 314
* Concertos for Horn #1-4 K. 412, 417, 447 and 495
* Concertos for Piano (7-19, * 20, * 21, * 23, 24, 25, 27)
Concertos for Violin (#3-5)
Cosí fan tutte (opera)
Divertimenti #1-3, K. 136-138 and #10, K. 247
* Don Giovanni (opera)
* Exsultate, Jubilate (motet)
Idomeneo (opera)
La Clemenza di Tito (opera)
* Magic Flute (opera) Queen of the Night aria
Marriage of Figaro (opera) Overture
Mass in C minor "The Great"
* Opera Overtures Overture from Marriage of Figaro
Quartets for Flute and Strings
Quartet for Oboe and Strings K. 370
* Quartets for Strings(* 8-13, 14, 16, * 17, 18, * 19, 23)
* Quintet for Clarinet and Strings K. 581
Quintet for Piano and Strings
* Quintets for Strings (* K. 515, 516, 593 and 614)
Requiem K. 626 Confutatis
Serenade #6 "Serenata notturna" K. 239
* Serenade #7 "Haffner" K. 250
Serenade #9 "Posthorn" K. 320
* Serenades #10 "Gran Partita", 11 and 12 for Winds
* Serenade #13 "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" K. 525 ( I - II - III - IV Eine kleine Nachtmusik)
* Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola K. 364
Sonatas for Piano (8, 11, 13, 15)
Sonatas for Violin (K. 296 and 454)
* Symphonies (29, 35, 36, * 38, 39, * 40, * 41)
* Trio for Strings K. 563
Trios for Piano and Strings
Romantic Period: (1820 - 1910): Extending the bounds of music beyond the restrictive formality of Classicism was the prime function of the musical period known as Romanticism. Formal concern, intellectuality and concise expression have now been augmented by sentiment, imagination and effect. Romantic Period: (1820 - 1910): Extending the bounds of music beyond the restrictive formality of Classicism was the prime function of the musical period known as Romanticism. Formal concern, intellectuality and concise expression have now been augmented by sentiment, imagination and effect. composers: Bizet | Brahms Chopin Dvořák Liszt Puccini | Rachmaninoff J. Strauss Jr. | J. Strauss Sr. Tchaikovsky | Thomas | Verdi | Wagner | BIZET, Georges
* Carmen (opera)
BRAHMS, Johannes
Alto Rhapsody for Alto, Male Chorus and Orchestra Op. 53
* Academic Festival Overture Op. 80
* Concertos for Piano (1, * 2)
* Concerto for Violin Op. 77
Concerto for Violin and Cello Op. 102
Ein Deutsches Requiem (German Requiem) Op. 45
Hungarian Dances for Piano or Orchestra
Piano Music (Fantasias Cappricio Op 116 #3, Intermezzos, Ballades, Waltzes Waltz Op. 39 #1, Rhapsodies, etc.)
Quartets for Strings (1-3)
Quartets for Piano and Strings (1-3)
* Quintets for Strings
* Quintet for Clarinet and Strings Op. 115
Quintet for Piano and Strings Op. 34
* Serenades for Orchestra (* 1,2)
Sextets (1,2)
Sonatas for Cello and Piano
Sonatas for Viola or Clarinet Op. 120
Sonatas for Violin and Piano
* Symphonies (* 1, 2, * 3, * 4)
Tragic Overture Op. 81
Trio for Clarinet and Strings Op. 114
* Trios for Piano and Strings (* 1, 2, 3)
Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano Op. 40
* Variations on a Theme by Haydn Op. 56a
CHOPIN, Frédéric
* Piano Music (Ballades, Études, Nocturnes Nocturne #2 Op. 9 #2, Preludes Prelude Op. 28 #2, Scherzi Scherzo #1 Op. 20, etc.)
Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 65
DVOŘÁK, Antonín
* Concerto for Cello Op. 104
* Quartets (* 10, 11, 12, * 14)
* Quartets for Piano and Strings
Slavonic Dances
* Symphonies (* 7, * 8, * 9 "New World")
* Trios for Piano and Strings (1-3,* 4)
LISZT, Franz
Annees de Pelerinage for Piano
* Concertos for Piano (* 1, 2)
* Hungarian Rhapsodies Hungarian Rhapsody #2
* Les Préludes for Orchestra
Mephisto Waltz for Piano Mephisto Waltz
Paganini Études for Piano
* Sonata in B Minor for Piano
Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra
* Transcendental Études for Piano
RACHMANINOV, Sergei
* Concertos for Piano (1, * 2, * 3, 4)
* Études and Preludes for Piano
* Morceaux de Fantasie (* Op. 3/2 Prelude in C# minor, Op. 3 #2 )
* Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Sonatas for Piano
Suites for Piano Four Hands
Symphonic Dances
Symphony #2
Trios for Piano and Strings
TCHAIKOVSKY, Peter Ilyitch
Capriccio italien for Orchestra Op. 45
* Concerto #1 for Piano Op. 23 1
* Concerto for Violin Op. 35
Eugen Onegin (opera)
Manfred Symphony Op. 58
Marche slave for Orchestra Op. 31
* Nutcracker Op. 71 (ballet suite) Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Overture 1812 Op. 49 1812 Overture
Quartets for Strings
Roméo and Juliet Fantasy Overture Love Theme
Serenade for Strings Op. 48
Sleeping Beauty Op. 66 (ballet) Sleeping Beauty
* Swan Lake Op. 20 (ballet) Swan Lake
* Symphonies (2, 4, * 5, * 6)
Trio for Piano and Strings Op. 50
Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra Op. 33
* Concertos for Violin BWV 1041, 1042
* Art of the Fugue BWV 1080
* Toccata and Fugue in D minor for Organ BWV 565 HANDEL, George Frideric
Acis and Galatea (oratorio)
Arias
Concerti Grossi Op. 3
* Concerti Grossi Op. 6
Concertos for Organ Op. 4 and 7
Concerto for Organ "Cuckoo and Nightingale"
Harmonious Blacksmith for Harpsichord
* Messiah (oratorio) ( Hallelujah Chorus work )
Operas (Flavio, Tamerlano)
Royal Fireworks Music ( I - II - III - IV - V - VI Royal Fireworks Music - Click on movement )
Solomon (oratorio)
Sonatas for Flute or Recorder and Harpsichord
Suites for Harpsichord
Susanna (oratorio)
Trio Sonatas Op. 2 and 5
* Water Music
VIVALDI, Antonio
* Four Seasons Spring
* Concertos (for violin, bassoon, cello, oboe, flute, etc.)
classical era: (1750 - 1820): Briefly, the characteristics of classicism are a concern for musical form with a greater emphasis on clarity with more concise melodic expression and clarity of instrumental color. composers: mozard, beethoven, haydn, cpe bach BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel * Concertos for Cello Wq. 170-172 BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van
* Concertos for Piano (1-3, * 4, * 5)
* Concerto for Violin Op. 61
* Concerto for Piano, Violin and Cello Op. 56
Diabelli Variations for Piano Op. 120
Eroica Variations for Piano Op. 35
Fidelio Op. 72 (opera)
* Missa Solemnis Op. 123
Overtures (Leonore, Coriolan, Egmont. etc.)
* Quartets #7-16 (* 8, * 14)
Quintet for Piano and Strings Op. 16
Serenade and Trios for Strings Op. 3, 8 and 9
Sextet for Winds Op. 71
* Sonatas for Piano (All, especially * 8, * 14 Piano Sonata #14, Op. 27 #1 (first movement), 21, * 23, * 29)
Sonatas for Cello and Piano (1-5)
* Sonatas for Violin and Piano (5, 9)
* Symphonies (1 Symphony #1, Op. 21 (first movement), 2 Symphony #2, Op. 36 (first movement), * 3 Symphony #3, Op. 55 (first movement), 4 Symphony #4, Op. 60 (first movement), * 5 Symphony #5, Op. 67 (second movement), * 6 Symphony #6, Op. 68 (first movement), 7 Symphony #7, Op. 92 (first movement), 8 Symphony #8, Op. 93 (first movement), * 9 Symphony #9, Op. 125 (first movement))
* Trios for Piano and Strings (* #7 "Archduke")
MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus
Arias (opera and concert arias) Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute
Concerto for Clarinet K. 622
* Concertos for Flute, K.313 and 314
* Concertos for Horn #1-4 K. 412, 417, 447 and 495
* Concertos for Piano (7-19, * 20, * 21, * 23, 24, 25, 27)
Concertos for Violin (#3-5)
Cosí fan tutte (opera)
Divertimenti #1-3, K. 136-138 and #10, K. 247
* Don Giovanni (opera)
* Exsultate, Jubilate (motet)
Idomeneo (opera)
La Clemenza di Tito (opera)
* Magic Flute (opera) Queen of the Night aria
Marriage of Figaro (opera) Overture
Mass in C minor "The Great"
* Opera Overtures Overture from Marriage of Figaro
Quartets for Flute and Strings
Quartet for Oboe and Strings K. 370
* Quartets for Strings(* 8-13, 14, 16, * 17, 18, * 19, 23)
* Quintet for Clarinet and Strings K. 581
Quintet for Piano and Strings
* Quintets for Strings (* K. 515, 516, 593 and 614)
Requiem K. 626 Confutatis
Serenade #6 "Serenata notturna" K. 239
* Serenade #7 "Haffner" K. 250
Serenade #9 "Posthorn" K. 320
* Serenades #10 "Gran Partita", 11 and 12 for Winds
* Serenade #13 "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" K. 525 ( I - II - III - IV Eine kleine Nachtmusik)
* Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola K. 364
Sonatas for Piano (8, 11, 13, 15)
Sonatas for Violin (K. 296 and 454)
* Symphonies (29, 35, 36, * 38, 39, * 40, * 41)
* Trio for Strings K. 563
Trios for Piano and Strings
Romantic Period: (1820 - 1910): Extending the bounds of music beyond the restrictive formality of Classicism was the prime function of the musical period known as Romanticism. Formal concern, intellectuality and concise expression have now been augmented by sentiment, imagination and effect. Romantic Period: (1820 - 1910): Extending the bounds of music beyond the restrictive formality of Classicism was the prime function of the musical period known as Romanticism. Formal concern, intellectuality and concise expression have now been augmented by sentiment, imagination and effect. composers: Bizet | Brahms Chopin Dvořák Liszt Puccini | Rachmaninoff J. Strauss Jr. | J. Strauss Sr. Tchaikovsky | Thomas | Verdi | Wagner | BIZET, Georges
* Carmen (opera)
BRAHMS, Johannes
Alto Rhapsody for Alto, Male Chorus and Orchestra Op. 53
* Academic Festival Overture Op. 80
* Concertos for Piano (1, * 2)
* Concerto for Violin Op. 77
Concerto for Violin and Cello Op. 102
Ein Deutsches Requiem (German Requiem) Op. 45
Hungarian Dances for Piano or Orchestra
Piano Music (Fantasias Cappricio Op 116 #3, Intermezzos, Ballades, Waltzes Waltz Op. 39 #1, Rhapsodies, etc.)
Quartets for Strings (1-3)
Quartets for Piano and Strings (1-3)
* Quintets for Strings
* Quintet for Clarinet and Strings Op. 115
Quintet for Piano and Strings Op. 34
* Serenades for Orchestra (* 1,2)
Sextets (1,2)
Sonatas for Cello and Piano
Sonatas for Viola or Clarinet Op. 120
Sonatas for Violin and Piano
* Symphonies (* 1, 2, * 3, * 4)
Tragic Overture Op. 81
Trio for Clarinet and Strings Op. 114
* Trios for Piano and Strings (* 1, 2, 3)
Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano Op. 40
* Variations on a Theme by Haydn Op. 56a
CHOPIN, Frédéric
* Piano Music (Ballades, Études, Nocturnes Nocturne #2 Op. 9 #2, Preludes Prelude Op. 28 #2, Scherzi Scherzo #1 Op. 20, etc.)
Sonata for Cello and Piano Op. 65
DVOŘÁK, Antonín
* Concerto for Cello Op. 104
* Quartets (* 10, 11, 12, * 14)
* Quartets for Piano and Strings
Slavonic Dances
* Symphonies (* 7, * 8, * 9 "New World")
* Trios for Piano and Strings (1-3,* 4)
LISZT, Franz
Annees de Pelerinage for Piano
* Concertos for Piano (* 1, 2)
* Hungarian Rhapsodies Hungarian Rhapsody #2
* Les Préludes for Orchestra
Mephisto Waltz for Piano Mephisto Waltz
Paganini Études for Piano
* Sonata in B Minor for Piano
Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra
* Transcendental Études for Piano
RACHMANINOV, Sergei
* Concertos for Piano (1, * 2, * 3, 4)
* Études and Preludes for Piano
* Morceaux de Fantasie (* Op. 3/2 Prelude in C# minor, Op. 3 #2 )
* Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Sonatas for Piano
Suites for Piano Four Hands
Symphonic Dances
Symphony #2
Trios for Piano and Strings
TCHAIKOVSKY, Peter Ilyitch
Capriccio italien for Orchestra Op. 45
* Concerto #1 for Piano Op. 23 1
* Concerto for Violin Op. 35
Eugen Onegin (opera)
Manfred Symphony Op. 58
Marche slave for Orchestra Op. 31
* Nutcracker Op. 71 (ballet suite) Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Overture 1812 Op. 49 1812 Overture
Quartets for Strings
Roméo and Juliet Fantasy Overture Love Theme
Serenade for Strings Op. 48
Sleeping Beauty Op. 66 (ballet) Sleeping Beauty
* Swan Lake Op. 20 (ballet) Swan Lake
* Symphonies (2, 4, * 5, * 6)
Trio for Piano and Strings Op. 50
Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra Op. 33
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
shopping for piano
I stopped by colton pianos in 101; The salesman was very helpful: corey keating (www.coltonpiano.com) 408 986 9900
He demoed George Steck Pianos. These are built at: Sejung in Quingdao, China.
A 48" model was $2700 mahagony finish (delivery and tuning and bench extra).
Yamaha store salesman: David Blank quoted $3k for m425 piano ( i believe made in us ) and with bench and tuner. This piano is cherry/mahagony finish; made in the US; 44"; spruce keys and soundboard
Western music store in cupertino was renting yamaha for $50 per month.
blue book for pianos website lists retail prices;
im not sure what to buy at this point.
Both colton pianos and yamaha dealer have a policy of upgrading within 5 years where the full price of piano can be applied towards the upgrade.
He demoed George Steck Pianos. These are built at: Sejung in Quingdao, China.
A 48" model was $2700 mahagony finish (delivery and tuning and bench extra).
Yamaha store salesman: David Blank quoted $3k for m425 piano ( i believe made in us ) and with bench and tuner. This piano is cherry/mahagony finish; made in the US; 44"; spruce keys and soundboard
Western music store in cupertino was renting yamaha for $50 per month.
blue book for pianos website lists retail prices;
im not sure what to buy at this point.
Both colton pianos and yamaha dealer have a policy of upgrading within 5 years where the full price of piano can be applied towards the upgrade.
Moved from my Old Blog
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Booklist moved from my old booklist blog:
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Swimming books:
The Complete Book of Swimming by Phillip, Dr. Whitten, Ethan Berry (Illustrator)
Fitness Swimming by Emmett W. Hines
Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin (Author)
Swimming for Total Fitness by Jane Katz, et al
The Essential Swimmer by Steve Tarpinian (Author)
posted by Murali at 3:57 PM
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
The Day of the Locust (Signet Classic)
by Nathanael West, Alfred Kazin (Designer)
Forum did an extensive review of this book and gave rave reviews.
posted by Murali at 3:09 PM
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel (Author)
posted by Murali at 8:07 AM
Monday, November 24, 2003
Yoga Videos:
If you'd like to add variety into your practice, other relatively short yet challenging yoga routines I'd recommend are
Baron Baptiste's "Unlocking Athletic Power" and Rainbeau Mars "Pure Power" and "Pure Sweat" from her "Sacred Yoga" 4 tape set.
Also Yoga Zone's "Fat Burning" tape is a 20 minute routine that will push you pretty hard for such a short practice.
Living Yoga - Power Stamina Yoga for Beginners (1999)
Living Yoga's Power Strength Yoga for Beginners (1999)
Yoga Journal's Yoga Practice for Intermediates with Rodney Yee (2000)
more intense:
Bryan Kest tape "Energize" or Baron Baptiste's "Hot Yoga 1"
Look at: VHS > Yoga > Power Yoga
posted by Murali at 2:17 PM
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Indian Book Store WebSites
posted by Murali at 11:32 PM
My Amazon.com wishlist
posted by Murali at 4:49 PM
To Rent From Mountain View Public Library:
649.122
Author Acredolo, Linda P.
Title Baby minds : brain-building games your baby will love / Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn.
Publication New York : Bantam Books, 2000.
371.042
The well-trained mind : a guide to classical education at home / Jessie Wise, Susan Wise Bauer.
Mudpies to magnets : a preschool science curriculum / Robert A. Williams, Robert E. Rockwell, Elizabeth A. Sherwood ; illustrations by Laurel J. Sweetman.
The mudpies activity book : recipes for invention / by Nancy Blakey.
Homeschooling Handbook (Revised 2nd Edition)
by Mary Griffith, Lisa Cooper (Illustrator)
What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning (Core Knowledge Series) by E. D. Hirsch (Editor), John Holdren (Introduction)
posted by Murali at 4:36 PM
Monday, June 02, 2003
Authors:
California Authors: Here
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath (1939).
Frank Norris: The Octopus
Mark Twain
posted by Murali at 5:19 PM
Thursday, May 22, 2003
"Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Health." - Gina Colata
I heard her in Michael Krasny's program. went over interesting facts about how the exercising becomes a fad, how it is addicting due to physiology, etc.
posted by Murali at 5:57 PM
Stephen Ambrose: Nothing like it, men who built the intercontinental railroad
Pacific Railroad Museum
Great book. I started reading it from mountain view public library. (jun 1 - about to finish it. reads like a great novel. we can learn about how history repeats itself. railroad building boom = dotcom buidout boom; several people got rich over it but several others did the hard work on it; chinese built the railroad with backbreaking work but were treated like cattle; indians did much of dotcom work and treated poorly but to be fair much better than chinese; there were no chinese millionaire but many indian dotcom rich guys; benefits of railroad got realized much later than the building boom making modern america; i think building of internet is similar except it will transform the world; we can already see it with much of white collar work moving offshore.
Credit Mobiler of Union Pacific = Enron (both east coast); both greatest scandals of their time
Californian capitalists seem to have been mostly fair; Stanford became popular only because of the univ; other 3 of big 4 names faded in history
Related books to read:
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics)
by Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, Louis J. Budd (Editor)
Frank Norris: The Octopus are based on the struggle of the San Joaquin ranchers against the Southern Pacific monopoly,
Related links:
http://cpran.com/
http://www.cprr.com/
posted by Murali at 3:17 PM
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Call # 629.2092 DUR
Author Weisberger, Bernard A., 1922-
Title The dream maker : William C. Durant, founder of General Motors / by Bernard A. Weisberger.
Call # 658.8 1999
Author Moore, Geoffrey A., 1946-
Title Crossing the chasm : marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers / Geoffrey A. Moore ; with a foreward by Regis McKenna.
Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser
The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen Hawking
Theodore Rex : Edmund Morris (about thodore rosevelt)
What Einstein Didn't Know Robert Wolke
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
posted by Murali at 6:33 PM
Stephen Ambrose books in mtnview library
posted by Murali at 6:31 PM
Cosmology selections
Black holes and time warps : Einstein's outrageous legacy / Kip S. Thorne.
posted by Murali at 6:29 PM
City of Mountain View Public Library
The nature of space and time / Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose
Black holes and baby universes and other essays / Stephen Hawking
The future of spacetime / Stephen W. Hawking ... [et al.] ; introduction by Richard Price.
Universe [videorecording] / Thirteen WNET; Uden Associates; David Filkin Enterprises co-production in association with BBC-TV.
posted by Murali at 6:27 PM
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Cosmology
Michael Krasny talks to science writer Michael Lemonick about the latest news from the edge of the universe. His latest book is "Echo of the Big Bang."
Michael Lemonick , senior science writer for Time Magazine. His books include "The Light at the Edge of the Universe" and "Other Worlds."
posted by Murali at 5:05 PM
Monday, May 05, 2003
James Tobin, author of "To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight."
posted by Murali at 6:15 PM
Warren Zimmermann , Zimmermann was the former US Ambassador to Yugoslavia and the author of "Origins of a Catastrophe: Yugoslavia and Its Destroyers" and "First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a Great Power."
posted by Murali at 6:14 PM
posted by Murali @ 2:53 PM
Booklist moved from my old booklist blog:
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Swimming books:
The Complete Book of Swimming by Phillip, Dr. Whitten, Ethan Berry (Illustrator)
Fitness Swimming by Emmett W. Hines
Total Immersion by Terry Laughlin (Author)
Swimming for Total Fitness by Jane Katz, et al
The Essential Swimmer by Steve Tarpinian (Author)
posted by Murali at 3:57 PM
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
The Day of the Locust (Signet Classic)
by Nathanael West, Alfred Kazin (Designer)
Forum did an extensive review of this book and gave rave reviews.
posted by Murali at 3:09 PM
Life of Pi
by Yann Martel (Author)
posted by Murali at 8:07 AM
Monday, November 24, 2003
Yoga Videos:
If you'd like to add variety into your practice, other relatively short yet challenging yoga routines I'd recommend are
Baron Baptiste's "Unlocking Athletic Power" and Rainbeau Mars "Pure Power" and "Pure Sweat" from her "Sacred Yoga" 4 tape set.
Also Yoga Zone's "Fat Burning" tape is a 20 minute routine that will push you pretty hard for such a short practice.
Living Yoga - Power Stamina Yoga for Beginners (1999)
Living Yoga's Power Strength Yoga for Beginners (1999)
Yoga Journal's Yoga Practice for Intermediates with Rodney Yee (2000)
more intense:
Bryan Kest tape "Energize" or Baron Baptiste's "Hot Yoga 1"
Look at: VHS > Yoga > Power Yoga
posted by Murali at 2:17 PM
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Indian Book Store WebSites
posted by Murali at 11:32 PM
My Amazon.com wishlist
posted by Murali at 4:49 PM
To Rent From Mountain View Public Library:
649.122
Author Acredolo, Linda P.
Title Baby minds : brain-building games your baby will love / Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn.
Publication New York : Bantam Books, 2000.
371.042
The well-trained mind : a guide to classical education at home / Jessie Wise, Susan Wise Bauer.
Mudpies to magnets : a preschool science curriculum / Robert A. Williams, Robert E. Rockwell, Elizabeth A. Sherwood ; illustrations by Laurel J. Sweetman.
The mudpies activity book : recipes for invention / by Nancy Blakey.
Homeschooling Handbook (Revised 2nd Edition)
by Mary Griffith, Lisa Cooper (Illustrator)
What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning (Core Knowledge Series) by E. D. Hirsch (Editor), John Holdren (Introduction)
posted by Murali at 4:36 PM
Monday, June 02, 2003
Authors:
California Authors: Here
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath (1939).
Frank Norris: The Octopus
Mark Twain
posted by Murali at 5:19 PM
Thursday, May 22, 2003
"Ultimate Fitness: The Quest for Truth About Exercise and Health." - Gina Colata
I heard her in Michael Krasny's program. went over interesting facts about how the exercising becomes a fad, how it is addicting due to physiology, etc.
posted by Murali at 5:57 PM
Stephen Ambrose: Nothing like it, men who built the intercontinental railroad
Pacific Railroad Museum
Great book. I started reading it from mountain view public library. (jun 1 - about to finish it. reads like a great novel. we can learn about how history repeats itself. railroad building boom = dotcom buidout boom; several people got rich over it but several others did the hard work on it; chinese built the railroad with backbreaking work but were treated like cattle; indians did much of dotcom work and treated poorly but to be fair much better than chinese; there were no chinese millionaire but many indian dotcom rich guys; benefits of railroad got realized much later than the building boom making modern america; i think building of internet is similar except it will transform the world; we can already see it with much of white collar work moving offshore.
Credit Mobiler of Union Pacific = Enron (both east coast); both greatest scandals of their time
Californian capitalists seem to have been mostly fair; Stanford became popular only because of the univ; other 3 of big 4 names faded in history
Related books to read:
The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (Penguin Classics)
by Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, Louis J. Budd (Editor)
Frank Norris: The Octopus are based on the struggle of the San Joaquin ranchers against the Southern Pacific monopoly,
Related links:
http://cpran.com/
http://www.cprr.com/
posted by Murali at 3:17 PM
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Call # 629.2092 DUR
Author Weisberger, Bernard A., 1922-
Title The dream maker : William C. Durant, founder of General Motors / by Bernard A. Weisberger.
Call # 658.8 1999
Author Moore, Geoffrey A., 1946-
Title Crossing the chasm : marketing and selling high-tech products to mainstream customers / Geoffrey A. Moore ; with a foreward by Regis McKenna.
Fast Food Nation: Eric Schlosser
The Universe in a Nutshell Stephen Hawking
Theodore Rex : Edmund Morris (about thodore rosevelt)
What Einstein Didn't Know Robert Wolke
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 Stephen Ambrose
posted by Murali at 6:33 PM
Stephen Ambrose books in mtnview library
posted by Murali at 6:31 PM
Cosmology selections
Black holes and time warps : Einstein's outrageous legacy / Kip S. Thorne.
posted by Murali at 6:29 PM
City of Mountain View Public Library
The nature of space and time / Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose
Black holes and baby universes and other essays / Stephen Hawking
The future of spacetime / Stephen W. Hawking ... [et al.] ; introduction by Richard Price.
Universe [videorecording] / Thirteen WNET; Uden Associates; David Filkin Enterprises co-production in association with BBC-TV.
posted by Murali at 6:27 PM
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
Cosmology
Michael Krasny talks to science writer Michael Lemonick about the latest news from the edge of the universe. His latest book is "Echo of the Big Bang."
Michael Lemonick , senior science writer for Time Magazine. His books include "The Light at the Edge of the Universe" and "Other Worlds."
posted by Murali at 5:05 PM
Monday, May 05, 2003
James Tobin, author of "To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight."
posted by Murali at 6:15 PM
Warren Zimmermann , Zimmermann was the former US Ambassador to Yugoslavia and the author of "Origins of a Catastrophe: Yugoslavia and Its Destroyers" and "First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a Great Power."
posted by Murali at 6:14 PM
posted by Murali @ 2:53 PM
Tamil Song: Ninaithu Ninaithu
Ninaithu Ninaithu song from 7B rainbow colony
ninaithu ninaithu paarthaen
nerungi vilagi nadandhaen
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oh
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
eduthu padithu mudikkum munnae
eriyum kadidham edhaRku peNNae?
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oh
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
amarndhu paesum marangaLin nizhalum
unnai kaetkum eppadi solvaen
udhirndhu poana malarin mounama?
thoodhu paesum kolusin oliyai
aRaigaL kaetkum eppadi solvaen?
udaindhu poana vaLaiyal paesuma?
uLLangaiyial veppam saerkkum
viralgaL indru engae?
thoaLil saayndhu kadhaigaL paesa
mugamum illai ingae
mudhal kanavu mudiyum munnamae
thookkam kalaindhadhey
(ninaithu ninaithu...)
paesi poana vaarthaigaL ellaam
kaalam dhoaRum kaadhinil kaetkum
saambal kaRaiyum vaarthai kaRaiyuma?
paarthu poana paarvaigaL ellaam
pagalum iravum kaeLvigaL kaetkum
uyirum poagum uruvam poaguma?
thodarndhu vandha nizhalgaL ingae
theeyil saerndhu poagum
thiruttu poana thadayam paarthum
nambavillai naanum
oru tharuNam edhirinil thoandruvaay
endrae vaazhgiRaen naanum....
ninaithu ninaithu paarthaen
nerungi vilagi nadandhaen
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oh
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
eduthu padithu mudikkum munnae
eriyum kadidham edhaRku peNNae?
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oh
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
amarndhu paesum marangaLin nizhalum
unnai kaetkum eppadi solvaen
udhirndhu poana malarin mounama?
thoodhu paesum kolusin oliyai
aRaigaL kaetkum eppadi solvaen?
udaindhu poana vaLaiyal paesuma?
uLLangaiyial veppam saerkkum
viralgaL indru engae?
thoaLil saayndhu kadhaigaL paesa
mugamum illai ingae
mudhal kanavu mudiyum munnamae
thookkam kalaindhadhey
(ninaithu ninaithu...)
paesi poana vaarthaigaL ellaam
kaalam dhoaRum kaadhinil kaetkum
saambal kaRaiyum vaarthai kaRaiyuma?
paarthu poana paarvaigaL ellaam
pagalum iravum kaeLvigaL kaetkum
uyirum poagum uruvam poaguma?
thodarndhu vandha nizhalgaL ingae
theeyil saerndhu poagum
thiruttu poana thadayam paarthum
nambavillai naanum
oru tharuNam edhirinil thoandruvaay
endrae vaazhgiRaen naanum....
Saturday, December 23, 2006
I was curious to find what blog software were available in the free software domain.
Here is a top link i got containing a comparision matrix: http://asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm
This seems to recommend wordpress as explained here.
My problem with wordpress is that it is mysql based and doesnt seem to have any oracle plugin.
Im exploring twiki blog plugin at the moment.
Here is a top link i got containing a comparision matrix: http://asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm
This seems to recommend wordpress as explained here.
My problem with wordpress is that it is mysql based and doesnt seem to have any oracle plugin.
Im exploring twiki blog plugin at the moment.
Memtest86 - Memory Diagnostic Page This link has a tool for diagnosing PC memory instability issues.
Interesting article on the historical piano prices
chords for ninaithu ninaithu paarthen
From: Friday, April 08, 2005
Here it is... or atleast what I think..
G D Em G
ninaithu ninaithu paarthaen
G D Em G
nerungi vilagi nadandhaen
G D (Em)G F# G G D Em G
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oho oho oho oh
G D(Em) G F# G
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
G Bb G G D G
eduthu padithu mudikkum munnae
G F# G G D G D Em G
eriyum kadidham edhaRku peNNae ae ae a
G D (Em)G F# G G D Em G
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oho oho oho oh
G D(Em) G F# G
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
G D G
amarndhu paesum marangaLin nizhalum
G D G
unnai kaetkum eppadi solvaen
G Bm G Eb D G
udhirndhu poana malarin mounama Aaaa.. Aaaa
G D G
thoodhu paesum kolusin oliyai
G D G
aRaigaL kaetkum eppadi solvaen?
G Bm G Eb
udaindhu poana vaLaiyal paesuma?
Eb G Eb G
uLLangaiyial veppam saerkkum mmmm
G F#G
viralgaL indru engae?
Eb F# Eb G
thoaLil saayndhu kadhaigaL paesa Aaaa
G F#G
mugamum illai ingae
G Em D
mudhal kanavu mudiyum munnamae Ae
D G
thookkam kalaindhadhey
Here it is... or atleast what I think..
G D Em G
ninaithu ninaithu paarthaen
G D Em G
nerungi vilagi nadandhaen
G D (Em)G F# G G D Em G
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oho oho oho oh
G D(Em) G F# G
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
G Bb G G D G
eduthu padithu mudikkum munnae
G F# G G D G D Em G
eriyum kadidham edhaRku peNNae ae ae a
G D (Em)G F# G G D Em G
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen oho oho oho oh
G D(Em) G F# G
unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
G D G
amarndhu paesum marangaLin nizhalum
G D G
unnai kaetkum eppadi solvaen
G Bm G Eb D G
udhirndhu poana malarin mounama Aaaa.. Aaaa
G D G
thoodhu paesum kolusin oliyai
G D G
aRaigaL kaetkum eppadi solvaen?
G Bm G Eb
udaindhu poana vaLaiyal paesuma?
Eb G Eb G
uLLangaiyial veppam saerkkum mmmm
G F#G
viralgaL indru engae?
Eb F# Eb G
thoaLil saayndhu kadhaigaL paesa Aaaa
G F#G
mugamum illai ingae
G Em D
mudhal kanavu mudiyum munnamae Ae
D G
thookkam kalaindhadhey
Monday, December 22, 2003
Sunday, December 21, 2003
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Saturday, June 07, 2003
link on tamil literature
The Forum Hub - meeting, interaction and collaboration Tamil and other literature
Friday, June 06, 2003
oracle 25 year magazine
Oracle's 25 year issue of oracle magazine. Should read at leisure. http://otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/01-nov/o61cover_first.html
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
dual citizenship
http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html
The way I understand it, the oath you take (if you were to become a US
citizen) will require you to at least state that you renounce your
prior citizenship. The INS, however, does not seem to be pursuing
this issue very seriously, and you might actually be able to reap the
benefits of both citizenships, despite what you might have stated
under "oath".
Did somebody say sticky legal mess?
The way I understand it, the oath you take (if you were to become a US
citizen) will require you to at least state that you renounce your
prior citizenship. The INS, however, does not seem to be pursuing
this issue very seriously, and you might actually be able to reap the
benefits of both citizenships, despite what you might have stated
under "oath".
Did somebody say sticky legal mess?
Monday, May 05, 2003
Friday, May 02, 2003
to read
Need to read this page at a later time. could contain info about philosophy and how modern science originated.
Philosophy Pages
History of how isac newton discovered gravity and advanced science: Who2 Profile: Sir Isaac Newton
Philosophy Pages
History of how isac newton discovered gravity and advanced science: Who2 Profile: Sir Isaac Newton
Need to read this page at a later time. could contain info about philosophy and how modern science originated.
Philosophy Pages
History of how isac newton discovered gravity and advanced science: Who2 Profile: Sir Isaac Newton
Philosophy Pages
History of how isac newton discovered gravity and advanced science: Who2 Profile: Sir Isaac Newton
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)