2005 on S Anand

Are the free Mac Minis for real

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Are the free Mac Minis for real? Hardy tries to get one – and succeeds. But… is it worth it? Pretty good economic analysis.

Most blogged books

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Most blogged books of 2005.

Da Vinci Code trailers

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Da Vinci Code trailers.

Comments

Sai 15 Dec 2005 9:56 pm: Anand, tell us a bit about Infosys consulting. They seem to be on a big expansion drive. Hows it out there?
S Anand 16 Dec 2005 7:32 am: I can mail you, Sai. What’s your e-mail ID?
S Anand 16 Dec 2005 9:39 am: BTW, the del.icio.us tag on “The Da Vinci Code” is an anagram: c i con thee david.
Sai 16 Dec 2005 7:42 pm: Anand it is peaceforall@gmail.com
Sai 16 Dec 2005 7:46 pm: Thanks!

Lists for 2005

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Top lists for 2005 – books, movies, etc.

Google Calender

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Will Google Calendar go live today?

How to survive worst case scenarios

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 12:00:00 +0000

How to survive worst case scenarios, like a riot, plane crash or car without brakes. Also includes an alien abduction scenario.

Comments

Rajiv 5 Dec 2005 7:50 pm: Are you still at BCG?
S Anand 5 Dec 2005 9:08 pm: Infosys Consulting right now.

Coloured soap bubbles

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Coloured soap bubbles.

Google Adwords algorithm

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Interesting experiment to test the impact of changing the rate for Google Adwords. Two identical sites have Adwords account. One has an established account paying $0.10 per word. Another is a new account, and begins by paying $1.00, then lowers it to $0.40. The former got 15,000 click-throughs regularly. The latter started just above 15,000 and fell to 1,200 after the rate drop. Does the Adwords algorithm favours rate increases disproportionately (and hence is evil?) Or is the fact that the former site an established one create the difference?

Simple framing

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Framing - using words to build a frame of mind.

A Senator goes on a Fox News show in which a conservative argues with a liberal. The conservative host says: “Some say that more tax relief creates more jobs. You have voted against increased tax relief. Why?” The Senator is caught. Any attempt to answer the question as asked simply reinforces both the Tax Relief frame and the “Tax Relief Creates Jobs” frame. The question builds in a conservative worldview and false “facts”. Even to deny that “tax relief” creates jobs accepts the Tax Relief frame and reinforces the “Tax Relief Creates Jobs” frame.

Comments

Dhar 24 Sep 2005 12:00 pm: LOL.
Dhar 24 Sep 2005 10:45 am: Had heard about concept of Framing earlier too. For example, it is always “Defense Spending”. While the fact of the matter is that all weapons creater are for offense. But it is easier getting buget for a Defense program rather than an Offense Program. Lakoff I believe has done a lot of work on Framing and his books are mentioned on the side bar in the link you provided.
Dhar 25 Sep 2005 12:34 pm: Just found out Lakoff is the person behind Rockridge Institute. I am just going through his book “Metaphors We Live By”. Slightly dense, takes time to read/understand.
Alpha Geek 26 Sep 2005 5:29 pm: I logged to google fight web page and gave S-Anand.net as one key word and sumitdhar.bogspot.com as another keyword.The result was, S-Anand.net got a maximum hits of 276 result and dhar’s page got 267 hits. S-Anand.net won by 9 hits.
S Anand 26 Sep 2005 6:46 pm: Pity. My vote would’ve been for Dhar’s site.
Name M 4 Oct 2005 10:30 pm: AlphaGeek, you may have had better luck if you used sumitdhar.blogspot vs bogspot

GMT

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

I cross the prime meridien almost every day. I live 0 degrees 5 minutes east of the prime meridien. I travel to Liverpool Street usually, which is 0 degrees 5 minutes west of the prime meridien. The station closest to the meridien, on my route, is Stratford, which stretches from 7 seconds to 17 seconds west of the meridien.

Of course, crossing the prime meridien has no time-zone related significance like the international date line. But it does mean that I travel to the western hemisphere and back every day.

There is a place near Stratford station called Meridien Square. Should visit it some time.

Comments

Shiva 19 Jul 2005 4:48 pm: Hey after a radar search i found this link http://www.bibliomania.com has a quite a large collection of Classic Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Short Stories and Contemporary Articles and Interviews. Quite an interesting site to bookmark

Resilience of London transport

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

The public transport reacted beautifully to the damage. I had to take Bus 259 from Finsbury Park to Tottenham Police Station. As I waited at the bus stop, I saw a 259 double decker pull in. Followed by another. And another. And another. Four double-decker buses following one after the other – and they ended up getting filled. Almost felt like a train, except without rails and a floor above.

Comments

harish 15 Jul 2005 1:52 am: hey i did not know you were in london. glad to know u guys r fine.

Low Shutter Speeds without Tripod

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Taking pictures at low shutter speeds without a tripod.

Comments

Anonymous Hero 5 Jul 2005 9:56 am: About why Google History is important: I had searched for something from home laptop and I was at office and needed the same info. Went into Google history and found the same thing… So the search history and the links I clicked on were available from any computer attached to the Net. Found it pretty useful…
Ram 5 Jul 2005 4:51 pm: Pls update the placement section with new useful links…
S Anand 5 Jul 2005 6:36 pm: Ah… that’s a good use. I was also wondering if we could do some profiling of the kinds of sites we visit – perhaps by checking what their tags are on technorati or del.icio.us
sathish 22 Jul 2005 11:14 am: probably based on our search history, there could some recommendations to given

Sound effects

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 12:00:00 +0000

It’s interesting how Steven Spielberg created his sound effects in movies. For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark,

Indy’s whip is the treated sound of a jet taking off; the punches in fist fights are the result of bashing leather jackets with baseball bats; and the rolling boulder rumble is a Honda station wagon coasting down a gravel road mixed with a rocket blast-off.

… or in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

… the bulk of E.T.’s utterances were delivered by Pat Welsh, a 65-year-old Marin County housewife. The sound designer, Ben Burtt, overheard her distinctive vocals in a camera store and cheekily asked the retured elocution teacher to remove her dentures and talk without her teeth. Convinved that her screechy voice was ideal for the role, Burtt paid her $350 to spend a day recording E.T.’s minimal dialogue. Subsequently her voice was enriched by watery textures.

… or in Jurassic Park

… many raptor screams were taken from dolphins recorded at Marine World. The call of the brachiosaurus came from both whale songs and donkey brays slowed down with added echo. The dilophosaurus had its sound broken into two types: for the early, playful spitter, Rudstrom employed a variety of swan calls; yet as it turns nasty, and egret sound is mixed with Rydstrom’s own voice (to add a sense of weight) to suggest venom. The rattling noice produced by an exotic insect doubled for the sound of the spitter’s vibrating cowl.

Yet the most complex-sounding character was the mighty tyrannosaurus. The vocal effects came from a diversity of sources – elephant, alligator, penguin, tiger and dog sounds – all mixed together to create a rich, naturalistic dinosaur vocabulary. Whale blowholes repeated into a regular rythm created tyrannosaurus breathing patterns. For his world-shattering road, a blast from a baby elephant created the high end of the frequency, while the low end was provided by alligator growls and tigher shrieks.

Comments

Dhar 29 Jun 2005 2:33 am: Anand, can you put up the link from where you got this info?
S Anand 29 Jun 2005 8:01 am: Typed it in from The Complete Spielberg
jayant 30 Jun 2005 4:14 am: Will not mobile theft be very high in London given this door security system? Guess they must have some other system too, like some door code other than pressing just 0…may be ppl dont do such things there…
jayant 30 Jun 2005 4:29 am: huh..had put something on mobile phone and door security…where did it disappear?
S Anand 30 Jun 2005 6:40 am: Mobile theft is pretty high, but not because of the door security system, I think. That’s only for new constructions, and they are not too common.

Expensive phone

Tue, 31 May 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Time: early in the morning, waiting for office to open.
Location: public phone booth.
Situation: calling a mobile number in London.

Insert coin
20p goes in. Press button to push coin in.
Credit: 20p
10p goes in. Press button again.
Credit 30p
Call mobile number...
07xxxxxxx
"Hi Malu, this is Shobana."
Credit remaining: 20p
"We..."
Credit remaining: 19p
"...just..."
Credit remaining: 18p
"...got..."
Credit remaining: 17p
"...here..."
Credit remaining: 16p
"...last..."
Credit remaining: 15p
"...night..."
Credit remaining: 14p
"...and..."
Credit remaining: 13p
"...are..."
Credit remaining: 12p
"...staying..."
Credit remaining: 11p
"...at..."
Credit remaining: 10p
"...a..."
Credit remaining: 9p
"...hotel."
Credit remaining: 8p
"OK..."
Credit remaining: 7p
"...I..."
Credit remaining: 6p
"...will..."
Credit remaining: 5p
"...call..."
Credit remaining: 4p
"...you..."
Credit remaining: 3p
"...back..."
Credit remaining: 2p
"...later..."
Credit remaining: 1p
"...bye."
Credit remaining: 0p

Chemosphere

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Chemosphere is the world’s most modern residence. Incidentally, Charlie’s Angels 2 was filmed here. via MeFi

Leonard Malin was a young aerospace engineer in late-1950s L.A. whose father-in-law had just given him a plot north of Mulholland Drive, near Laurel Canyon. The only catch: at roughly 45 degrees, the slope was all but unbuildable. Lautner sketched a bold vertical line, a cross, and a curve above it. “Draw it up,” he told his assistant. Now publisher Benedikt Taschen owns Chemosphere.

Comments

Dennis 27 Apr 2010 6:08 am: I love this - also dome homes. I would love to see more photo’s than the few I have seen, as well as how the funicular (underground railroad thing) works to enter the house. Also it would be neat to see more about how the house was built, what is involved with keeping it maintained, and how it fared during the various earthquakes - any damage?

Perfect shave

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 12:00:00 +0000

How to get that perfect shave.

Keep your face wet with hot water, use a brush, and a double-edged razor.

Comments

Jetru 7 Apr 2005 9:18 am: errr.cool!

Droogle

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Droogle. Drink recipes.

Comments

Jetru 24 Mar 2005 5:04 pm: Doesnt look like the XML feed is working…
Deshi 24 Mar 2005 6:17 pm: This is one lousy blog!
Genmys 25 Mar 2005 1:49 am: Lassi features as South Indian drink. Obscure results for Butter Milk
ritzkini 25 Mar 2005 8:13 am: Bandwidth Limit Exceeded.The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.Apache/1.3.33 Server at www.droogle.ca Port 80(25/03/2005-at 1:45 PM IST)
Shamit 26 Mar 2005 4:41 am: It is getting a bit cluttered …
S Anand 28 Mar 2005 3:20 am: Yes, it is, rather. Will see what I can do about that.
S Anand 30 Mar 2005 7:23 am: Fixed the XML feed.

MoSoSos

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 12:00:00 +0000

MoSoSos: Mobile Social Software services.

I checked in to dodgeball, she said, and “I got an alert that ‘so-and-so has a crush on you, and he is at X bar, go and say hi.’” she said.

So McGunigle went to the bar, and by coincidence, it was the same guy she’d just seen on the subway. Like her, he’d been too shy to make an approach, but not to send a text message.

Comments

Dhar 8 Mar 2005 2:06 pm:

Nor do I. I host on Geocities, which serves ads.
So why not try rootshell.be. They give a free *nix account and currently they often have problems with quota system. So technically unlimited space, no banner ads, amazing uptime… blah… blah… blah.
S Anand 8 Mar 2005 3:06 pm: www.freestarthost.com is what I am testing right now.
S Anand 8 Mar 2005 4:47 pm: But in the meantime, the ads seem to have vanished!
Dhar 8 Mar 2005 6:54 pm: Yeah.. that is right. I wonder what happened.

Stadium photo

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 12:00:00 +0000

Fisheye photo of a stadium.

Comments

Aditya Chaturvedi 7 Mar 2005 7:28 pm: Really Nice Pictures
Nik 20 Mar 2005 12:22 am: Reminds me of a Calvin

Final Frontier of Science

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 12:00:00 +0000

We are the final frontier. The Guardian asks leading scientists what they think will be the next revolution in science. (It’s almost a trend, spawning books like The Next Fifty Years.)

First came the Copernican revolution in the 16th century. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus argued that the Earth was not at the centre of the solar system. Charles Darwin got personal more than 300 years later by implying that humans weren’t special either. With the publication of On the Origin of Species, Darwin promoted his theory of evolution via natural selection. Nearly a century later, two Cambridge-based scientists, James Watson and Francis Crick, unravelled the structure of DNA. So what’s next? What will be the fourth revolution?

‘We will invent our successors’ – Seth Shostak
‘We will understand the human mind’ – John Sulston
‘The existence of parallel universes’ – Michio Kaku
‘We will change our genetic makeup’ – Norbert Gleicher
‘We will find out if we are alone’ – Colin Pillinger
‘Humans become a collective intelligence’ – John Barrow
‘We’ll understand thoughts and feelings’ – Steven Pinker
‘The end of the individual’ – Susan Greenfield
‘What if God lives in a part of our brain?’ – Nancy Rothwell
‘What it means to be a person’ – V S Ramachandran
‘Conscious machines’ – Igor Aleksander
‘Higher dimensions’ – Lisa Randall
‘Humans are less miraculous than we thought’ – Stephen Wolfram