Monday, July 31, 2006

Shakespeare- Beyond Omkara...

10,000- This is the number of words which Shakespeare invented in English language according to Oxford English Dictionary.


The words, which the great playwright invented are so much integrated with our lives that we would be surprised at the prowess of the man.


e.g. Dheerubhai might have been Useless had there not been Shakespeare. Because the Bard invented Reliance, the word. This may seem Baseless. but even 'Baseless' was invented by Shakespeare, besides 'Useless'!


Very common words like 'Bedroom', 'Belongings', 'Birthplace', 'colourful', and 'Eyeball' went from head of the man, into making English dictionary fatter.


Now we know one of the reasons why English is so much proud of him.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

A Shot Of BOTOX



Botox: Botulinum Toxin A- basically used now a days to reduce the lines or wrinkles. Botox is injected directly into the target muscle (e.g. above and below eye). A boon for who will go to any length to look young (for 3 to 8 months). Botox is not without its side effects.

Recently in news because in Malaysia some Council issued a fatwa against use of Botox.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

End Of An Era...Bill Quits.



The world stirred five times in it's history- when fire was discovered, when wheel started rolling, when printing came on block, when computers were invented and when Internet came to life. We are a fortunate enough generation to have witnessed the last two of the epoch. If Google rules the minds of people in Internet era, it was certainly Bill Gates and his Microsoft Corp. which defined the preceding era.

General public has an interesting habit. They think that Nirma is nothing but another name for detergent powder, and Bajaj is not a poor fellow in Andaj Apna Apna, but ..a Scooter.

We are part of this general public. Most of us would die before we get to see an operating system other than Windows and DOS. (I strongly feel that there should be exhibitions and museums parading Linux and Macintosh, the other Operating Systems). Such was the genius and business acumen of this man called William Gates III.



When I think of his career, three things pop up to the mind immediately- one, he was immensely successful in achieving his aim- Software Empowerment of masses through a desktop on each desk. Look at today's world. Telling about how software has really empowered us is mere wastage of words. Second thing is monopolistic ambitions of Microsoft. Microsoft just ruled the fourth era. No competition. This caused heavy resentment against his business policies. Anti-trust suits and Microsoft are linked permanently. However I can't forget that this strategy was the reason why we know Sabeer Bhatia, and why the world knew (with a bang) Indian software talent. Third and most important thing is- Bill Gates and all values he represents are outdated actually in Google dominated Internet era. Microsoft model is based on aggressive marketing, heavy royalty through 'All rights reserved' tag, routing out the competition etc. Google however has brought a kind of information democracy in the Internet era. Google's revenue model differs from Microsoft totally. Low key marketing, 'Some rights reserved' strategy- which is more appropriate for the information age are the basic pillars of Google's model. Furthermore now the focus has also shifted from software to information and then to information services. In this scheme of things,  Microsoft,MSN etc. were not the buzzwords (this may qualify for being an exaggeration). Bill left the post of CEO in 2000 for his long time associate Steve Ballmer. This year, he declared to transition away from Microsoft over next 2 years and (still) will remain Chairman after 2 years.

The world transitioned from Computer era to Internet era minus Bill, and look at the genius of the man, Bill has transitioned from an identity of the richest on earth to that of biggest donor on earth. Working through Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, he has now focused on the world health scenario and is sure to make a positive impact on it. He was also successful to get hefty donation from Warren Buffet who is also a richest like himself.

So, William Henry Gates III's exit from Microsoft is only a semicolon and not a full-stop. Let's see if his marriage of capitalism and society becomes successful or not.

(p.s. Here is a peep in the day of Bill- http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2006/4/4/3461)

 

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

My love for Haiku...

Remember Shirish Pai from the old Balbharati books? Well, apart from being the daughter of legendary Pra. Kay. Atre, she is a  noted Haiku writer in Marathi. Basically a Japanese form of poetry, Haiku is now a world famous form of expressing one's daily experiences in minimum of words. One example of Haiku in Marathi which comes instantly to my mind is-

Ek Talav,

Ek Beduk,

Dubuk.

-this, we treated as a joke. But it is a very beautiful piece of Haiku.

What I like about Haiku is its simplicity. Three lines, 9- 10 words, a daily experience (or anything)- and a Haiku is ready. You need not be a great poet like Kusumagraj and write-

'ghevun pisara prakashacha,

Devdoot koni,

Khodit basala kalokhavar,

Tejachi Leni.'

Man, not for me! I can't be that great. It needs a genius in you. But yeah, I can write-

'Aalas angaat,

prakash anganaat,

Uthlo cholat dole'

Now you see. This is a poetry form of a common man. Genius not needed.  So simple, so easy.

Here, are some good links if you want to dig deep...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku

http://raysweb.net/haiku/

http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=3804

I am also planning to write some Haiku's on my own. Your contributions are welcome.

Haiku One

Sitting on a comp

out of window

noisy child

 ______________________________________________________________________

aching back

tingling eyes

on the web,

mingling mind

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Emerald Mountain!

"What is to be done then?" The king then asked the mind.


"Go to the Emerald Mountain. Emerald mountain is where the great sages of yesteryear meditated in silence for thousands of years. From the time when you were not born, nor was the Manu, Emerald mountain stands there like the only truth. On it's shoulders, does the moon comes in night to weave the net of magic and in whose caves the Sun goes to sleep. O Great King! go to this mountain and you will find what you wanted."


"Will I be ever able to reach there?"


"A long ago there lived a king who toiled for ages to bring on the Earth the mighty river of Ganga. That Bhagirath is in your heart, dear King. So, don't waste your time and go to Emerald Mountain quickly for if the night falls, it will be too late."