If Only I Had Cut That Article . . .

The other day I saw pamphlets in my newspaper, Hindustan Times. I quickly kept the needy ones like discounts in kirana stores, local Chinese restaurant and rejected most of the others.
I wish I had this acumen earlier. There were so many articles that were worth cutting and keeping. In Hindustan Times(HT). One was on KK Birla, the founder of HT. There was a series of articles continued for months. This was worth keeping. Mr.Birla was easily the most widely regarded businessman in India. Incidentally my father served in a Marwari organization. My father worked with JK group. Singhanias were the owners. So right from my childhood I was curious about rich people. About their lives. Their secrets of success. And the article on KK Birla gave a lot of insight on his persona. The lesson learnt was give attention to small details. I read in Business India, Shri Hari Shankar Singhnia commenting that India should have promoted entrepreneurship in a big way. He is right. Especially young men who are "destined" to lead a free life should take up entrepreneurship. But I went on to join a PSU. The factories impressed me.
Another article that was worth keeping from HT was the series on music directors. Lengthy articles on the lives of famous music directors. And of course the famous Khushwant Singh columns "With Malice Towards One And All".
I have learnt that rejection is a good policy for leading a life. You have to be choosy and reject what is unwanted strongly.
 

CORBA issue

The government has worked a lot on providing web services in their sites. Even Metro Apps are available.
The SOAP and XML issue are OK. But what about CORBA? Does the government has clear guidelines on this. Who are advising on this issue? UIDAI would have installed their systems and must have given utmost care. It has been done by topmost expert.
The government is making hue and cry over Huawei hardware.
It is essential to know the CORBA guidelines followed by GOI. Are you with me folks?
 

Doomsday - December 21, 2012

The Mayan calendar does not have a date beyond December 21,2012.
People all over, hear the rumours of the end of world. Will the world end?
Now consider a sample astrological prediction."If you go in a crowded bus, you may meet with an accident". How far is this statement accurate? Logically it has ifs and mays. If you go in a crowded bus. Remember only crowded not empty. Ok. Then what will happen? You may meet with an accident. Again may here.
The probability of accident happening is nearly same as the statistical accident data. So astrological prediction do not mean a thing.
Coming back to Doomsday prediction, there must have been some basis for the calendar of Mayans. Some beliefs. Based on these beliefs the calendar must have been made. I do not wish to state that these beliefs are wrong. But wish to say that people have changed a lot. Most of the beliefs may not be applicable today.
If we look at it closely and think, then we can appreciate that some of the countries' can go for war anytime. This is no prediction. But actual reality. This may happen anytime.
The probability of Doomsday matches with the probability of triggering of a war. So in real terms, the Doomsday prediction should not mean anything significant. Only that Mayans were correct in understanding the way time will change.
 

Windows 8

I have upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.
Microsoft claims the software will get installed in 30 minutes or so. But it took me 5 hours. The reason could be that my laptop had proprietary software like face recognition and other Dell software. These were not removed when Windows 8 was installed. They now work in conjunction with Windows 8. 30 minutes installation time must be on a machine with pure Windows 7.
What is Windows 8 about? It is mainly about all your social accounts at one place. It is also about an excellent interface called Metro Apps. It is also about promotion of Microsoft products like Messenger, Calendar, Finance etc.
I was finding it difficult to read my blogs and other blogs I follow at one place. There did not seem to be any Metro UI for this. After about 3 days, I managed to find the right Metro app. News Bento App for Windows 8. This app supports google reader.
So finally I am well settled with my laptop configured with applications of my realm of interest. Books, news, blogs, games and social communication apps.

Spectrum Allocation - an attempt to explain

Today, I somewhat understood about the spectrum allocation.
Spectrum is frequency ranges.
Hardware and devices were available for utilising spectrum. Digital revolution was happening all over the world and India cannot stand alone. That is probably the best reason why India was considered for using these hardware and devices.
Let us say 1000 spectrum was there to be used. Initially, I remember there was an attempt to make mobile wireless completely private company affair. Batata (Birla, AT&T, Tata) term was coined.
Then do not know what happened. Government came in.
Government kept 300 out of 1000 for some unknown purpose. Rest (700) was planned to be auctioned.
Reserve price was fixed for 700. The 700 would have been auctioned to 7 companies, let us say. 100 each. The 7 companies will have 100 customers each.
This is what is spectrum all about.
Spectrum is easily one of the best ways to make India modern. e-governance, communication, idea flows all could have been a reality. But somehow not much was achieved in the rural areas. Instead we are being choked out of software and many software professionals are facing problems with regard to permissions to objects(software).
 

Petrol for Military Vehicles

The other day I was going to my office in car. My car was getting filled with petrol. On the other side I saw a military car filling up petrol.
Immediately a thought came to my mind. Do military men get allowance for petrol or do they fill from their salary? Then I consoled myself with the thought that oil from Bombay High is used for filling up military vehicles. Of course, imported oil may be used but accounting can be managed with Bombay High output.
Then I switched my thought and wondered how money works. I always read Richie Rich and was impressed with photos of money and cartoons showing man with bulging pockets filled with hot crispy cash. Smells fresh !!
Well, upar wala jab deta hai to chappar phad ke deta hai. This is the truth for money. Personal accounting and being a self cop never really works when it comes to briefcases stuffed with cash.
I believe everyone gets one opportunity to get lucky and become filthy rich with all the fingers having rings of diamond. But my opportunity has gone. I know it from my heart.
Never mind, I consoled myself. Work hard and keep taking in instalments the way they do it now. It is also safe for me.

The role of a father

The other day I was going to the market. In front of me about 3 metres ahead was a couple walking holding the small hands of a child which was walking between them. The child was obviously the couples' child.
From the opposite side about 5m ahead an old man of about 65 years was walking towards the couple. The couple seemed to know the old man. The old man greeted the lady and did not look at the man. He said pleasant things to the lady and enquired about the health of the child. The lady seemed happy at the concern of the old man and replied back. Then the young man tried to break ice and talk with the old man. Again the old man ignored the young man and kept talking with the lady. The lady smiled and seemed to be thankful of the old man's concern.
I crossed these guys and went ahead to the market to buy my objects.
Then I thought about the whole thing. The couple, the child and the old man. A husband always has a view contrary to his wife. There may be some stupid exceptions !! If it is blue for him, it is red for her. If it is Shimla for him, it is Goa for her(holidays). And then if she wants to keep the child close to her, he would want the child to be independent. By default a mother would want the child close to her. So one may confidently conclude that the role of a father is to make the child independent. To be free. To fly in air. To explore. To discover.
That cleared a lot of rubbish from my mind. And hey . . . . what about the old man? He is just a onlooker ensuring that the roles of the father and mother is maintained properly or not.