Government banning blog websites

A recent news curious enough to make it to BBC headlines has me shocked.
India is blocking some blog websites ... what kind of watchdog policy is that.. reminds me of Iran blocking orkut.. and some other countries like who use Internet filtering.
Don't know what to say... looks like an infringement on the fundamental rights!!!

World cup continued...

I am tempted to write again... in again a dramatic and unexpected turn... Germany (which I was at one point thinking would win the world cup ;) ) .. have lost to Italy... I was watching the game on my laptop.. but it didnt strike me to record the goals scored by Italy and post it on google video .. i guess i would do it for the next two games... however the first goal scored by Italy was really magnificent.. also the defence of the winners was commendable.

On a different and orthogonal note, this article A guide to Banaras published in The Hindu is worth reading and brought back some memories of Banaras to me :-).

P.S. If anybody gets the links to World cup semifinals and quarterfinals highlights videos, post it in the comments.

World Cup Fever

I know I haven't updated my blog in like ages.. and all the while I havent been doing anything marvelous.. a bit busy on acads ;) (sounds good.. no details extended).. but havent cracked anything significant anyways. I guess the situation will continue to be like that for more than a month .. until I change my mind.. or may comment on the world cup :-).
Sometimes, I simply get lost about whats going on in the world nowadays.. and rely on my friends and roommates to update me.. other than that.. yes the world cup is going on interesting now... with a few surprises.. England and BRAZIL out of the game .. it was simply impressive how France outplayed Brazil. In my opinion Germany and France should reach the finals.. and we can expect an interesting finish to the world cup.. somehow I feel that Germany will clinch the world cup.. but i'm always up for surprises :P .. not as momentous a thing to keep my fingers crossed though.. all i can say is wait n watch.
Those who want to watch the world cup online and are not already aware of the TVUPlayer can download it and watch online streaming for free... otherwise TV is always there.

P.S. Best wishes to everyone for Canada day (July 1) and American Independence Day (July 4).

Don't aid spam...beware of the hoaxes!!!

Hello friends,

Some of you might have received my personal emails... informing u about the orkut hoax.. or some related hoaxes. Here I am putting up some common hoaxes / spam chain mails floating on the web, so if you get any such kind of emails.. plz. delete and ignore them instead of sending them to everbody or atleast 12 people or some related kind of crap. Below are listed some common hoaxes that I frequently see. Plz. dont believe these mails.. be rest assured that nothing untoward will happen just because u didnt forward some god's photo to 12 person.. a girl with some rare heart disease who is 5 years for the last 5 years will not be saved if you forward the mail .. u will get no free cellphone or dollars from microsoft.. ur orkut or yahoo account will not be deleted.. the list goes on.. I've tried to list below the format of common ones... readers are also encouraged to visit http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ for the latest scams and hoaxes.. thanks!!!

1. Orkut Deleting your account

------------------------------------------------

Important

Dear user because of sudden rush of people signing upto orkut is come

to an attention that we are vastly running out of resources so with in

a week any one who does not receive this scrap will be deleted of our

server . We know that you are still using this account We

want to find out which users are actually using their orkut accounts so

if you are using your then please send this scrap to every orkut user

that you can if u do not pass this scrap to anyone then we will delete

your account

Just follow these simple steps.
1. Click on the "Messages Tab" in your account.
2. Click on the "compose mail" option which is the last
one of the four icons you see together.
3. Select "all friends"
4. Cut and Paste this mail
5. Send it........

--------------------------------------------------

2. Rohypnol drug and permanent female infertility

--------------------------------------------------
A woman at a Gas nightclub (Mumbai) on Saturday night
was taken by 5 men,Who according to hospital and
police reports, gang raped her before

Dumping her at Bandstand Mumbai. Unable to remember
the events of the evening, tests later confirmed the
repeat rapes along with traces of rohypnol
http://www.4woman.gov/faq/rohypnol.htm in her
blood.

Rohypnol, date rape drug is an essentially a small
sterilization pill.

The drug is now being used by rapists at parties to
rape AND sterilize their victims. All they have to do
is drop it into the girl's drink. The girl can't
remember a thing the next morning, of all that had
Taken place the night before. Rohypnol, which
dissolves in drinks just as easily, is such that the
victim doesn't conceive from the rape and the rapist
needn't worry about having a paternity test
identifying him months later.

The Drug's affects ARE NOT TEMPORARY - they are
PERMANENT. Any female that takes it WILL NEVER BE
ABLE TO CONCEIVE. The weasels can get this drug from
anyone who is in the vet school or any university.
it's that easy, and Rohypnol is about to break out big

on campuses everywhere.

Believe it or not, there are even sites on the
Internet telling people how to use it. Please forward
this to everyone you know, especially girls.

Girls, becareful when you're out and don't leave your
drink unattended.

(added - Buy your own drinks, ensure bottles or cans

received are Unopened or sealed; don't even taste
someone else's drink)

There was already been a report in Singapore of girls
drink been Spiked by Rohypnol.

Please make the effort to forward this to everyone you

know.

For guys - Pls inform all your female friends and
relatives.

"Your life is God's gift to you. What you do for
others is your gift to God" I had been forwarded this
mail you SHOULD do the same
--------------------------------------------------

3. Some rare mail / file with rare virus.. which will completely destroy ur C drive

--------------------------------------------------
Please be extremely careful especially if using internet mail such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and so on. This information arrived this morning from Microsoft and Norton. Please send it to everybody you know who accesses the Internet. You may receive an apparently harmless email with a Power Point presentation " Life is beautiful. pps ". If you receive it DO NOT OPEN THE FILE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES , and delete it immediately. if you open this file, a message will appear on your screen saying: " It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful ", subsequently you will LOSE EVERYTHING IN YOUR PC and the person who sent it to you gain access to your name, e-mail and password. This is a new virus ! which started to circulate on Saturday afternoon WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO STOP THIS VIRUS. AOL has already confirmed the severity, and the antivirus Software's are not capable of destroying it. The virus has been created by a hacker who calls himself " life owner ". PLEASE MAKE A COPY OF THIS EMAIL TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS and PASS IT ON IMMEDIATELY.
--------------------------------------------------

4. A Rare God photo u need to send to atleast 12 people

--------------------------------------------------
I forgot the exact structure. .but its something like u will see a rare pic and are requested to send it to atleast 12 or some other number of people.. else something bad will happen to you.
--------------------------------------------------

5. Money from Microsoft

--------------------------------------------------
From: Sankhala, Suresh Singh
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 12:48 PM
Subject: UK Requirement

Dear Friends,
Please do not take this for a junk letter. Bill Gates is sharing his fortune. If you ignore this you will repent later. Microsoft and AOL are now the largest Internet companies and in an effort to make sure that Internet Explorer remains the most widely used program, Microsoft and AOL are running an e-mail beta test.

When you forward this e-mail to friends, Microsoft can and will track it (if you are a Microsoft Windows user) for a two week time period.

For every person that you forward this e-mail to, Microsoft will pay you $245.00, for every person that you sent it to that forwards it on, Microsoft will pay you $243.00 and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $241.00. Within two week! s, Microsoft will contact you for your address and then send you a cheque.

Regards.
Charles S. Bailey
General Manager Field Operations
1-800-842-2332 Ext. 1085 or 904-245-1085 or RNX 292-1085
Charles_Bailey@csx.com
--------------------------------------------------

Well the list could go on... but i think its intuitive as well.. so I'd request the readers to think a little before intentionally or unintentionally spamming ur friends.

thanks a lot!
-Vinod

Memoirs of a vaishya... (oops Geisha!)

This is a post long due... and might have lost its significance with a significant passage of time since the release of the movie... anyways, guess I'll give it a try and vent out some of my feelings and reactions!!!
Needless to say... the movie was well picturized and typecasted... had beautiful and artistic cinematography.. a bit different from the tastes of characterisitic bollywood cinema but still good. Of course, those who have seen might agree and the critiques might differ!
The definition of 'geisha' as stated in Merriam Webster online dictionary says "a Japanese girl or woman who is trained to provide entertaining and lighthearted company especially for a man or a group of men".. however those who have seen the movie know that this was not the case .. and this prompted me to write this piece.
We can draw similar parallel in the Indian society .. where there were women were supposed to entertain men in a gathering... (particularly, "tawaif" who were supposed to earn patronage and support by practise their art and not by prostituting themselves) .. however, whats supposed to be and whats true are different!
Interestingly, strikingly similar is the case with 'Geishas' who though supposed to practice art.. but occasionally are forced to do prostitution to eke out a living.
Now, a few doubts arise in my mind... one how is the situation in the two cases (there may be more in other societies which i am not aware of) similar.. is it because of a traditional male dominant society with the women being dependent for their needs and livelihood .. and being treated as material entities by the society? Secondly, parallels need to be cited in other societies .. otherwise it could mean a negative portrayal of Asian / mid-east / oriental cultures :-) .. and finally how come the names "vaishya" and "geisha" sound similar .. any more connection than a figure of speech?

P.S. Comments invited... and the movie is worth seeing!

A pillar collapsed...

Shocking as was the news of Pramod Mahajan being shot by his brother... it is distressing to know that Pramod Mahajan has unfortunately succumbed to bullet injuries... and India has lost a prominent politician.
Prominent figures and personalities may be granted a high grade security but who would suspect the evil snakes amongst the family?
Enraged!
-Vinod

Chaos exemplified: the last week of the sem

I know that i have not blogged for many days... and there are tons of things to say!
But that has to wait as I enter the last week of the sem.. busy to set things straight amidst the prevailing chaos.. and the deadlines.. that seem to come way too fast. I had a preview of this last semester also.. but i guess i didnt learn much out of it :-) and things are no better this time.
However, I am almost decided on one thing.. now on, I wouldn't take more than two courses in a semester.. it generally becomes a pain later on!!!
Still aching ...
-Vinod

Reservation in premier indian colleges... a retrograde move!

I feel enraged by the recent announcement by our 'esteemed' Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh proposing 49.5 per cent reservation in IIMs, IITs, and central universities. (... for news link, read this or this.) Though I call the title of my post as a retrograde move... it would be better called an instance of decadent politics. I sometimes wonder why the Indian HRD ministry acts like bull$#|^ and this is not something like this has happened for the first time. During the previous government, when Dr. M.M. Joshi was our HRD Minister he invoked the same response in me by some proposals like intervening in IIMs and the like (.. I dont properly remember those things now.. yeah but the ire remains!)

The brand image that India predicts to the world is in a great part attributed to its IIT /IIM graduates who have made big in various sectors and shown to the world the brainpower that India is. It is a shame that these institutions are being subjected to the ministry’s own political and intellectual predilections.

Quoting from on of first article cited above:
-------------------------------------------

According to a highly placed source in the government, Singh did not consult either the Prime Minister or the Congress leadership before making his announcement. “Arjun Singh is Arjun Singh. He’s a law unto himself,” the source remarked.

Singh’s bombshell is being seen in Congress circles as an attempt to get back in the limelight after a three-month hibernation forced by ill-health. Since January, Singh has hardly attended office and important files have been going to his house for clearance.

In the present proposal, Singh has gambled on the fact that no party can oppose reservations for the OBCs in today’s caste-driven politics. He is bolstered by the fact that an interpretation of Article 15(4) of the Constitution by a nine-judge bench allowed for caste-based quotas up to 50 per cent. So Singh’s proposal only needs Cabinet approval to become an order.

The reaction is yet to set in. The Congress leadership and the government are waiting to see what impact the proposal has on students and educational authorities. Also, the Election Commission is yet to decide whether Singh’s revelation violates the code of conduct.

Singh himself was aware that he was dangerously close to a violation. He confessed to journalists that he would make an official announcement only after the assembly polls.

-------------------------------------------
Even the PM's panel is divided over the announcement (read this).
Some interesting discussion ensued on this topic on my college webmail.. and a very good point was raised that:

Why people are afraid to move to Economy based reservation from Caste based reservation? If I am SC and my dad has same income as your dad, then why I need more privilege than you? Why I have more "ignorance"? How many of our IIT SC/ST friends really needed reservation for their Socio-Economic status? There were few, but 27% reservation was enough.

Further, the intention of the reservations initially might have been good but the implementation has been real pathetic. Supreme court has already passed a ruling long time back that says that efforts should be taken to list who exactly is entitled for reservations but no one heeds care to that. Instead, such issues are exploited by our system to generate vote bank, gain power or some other similar ulterior motive... which I would summarize in short as "decadent (political) virtues" .. yes, it makes a good and befitting oxymoron on the morons who are our leaders!

more later,

P.S.
There is a petition protesting against this move which you could sign.
Some other interesting reads:
i. Read the editorial 'Caste Away' appeared in the Hindustan Times.
ii. Views and counterviews on reservations, as appeared in Times of India.
iii. Read the blog article Historical perspective on reservations in India with numerous comments.

Let justice be served...

In a new twist to the Mehar Bhargava murder case, Sunny Rawat, the man identified on Wednesday of having fired the fatal shot, confessed to the killing on Thursday. (read the complete article here.)
Here is an interesting article that gives some views why Indians bloggers should remain angry on such blatant travesty of justice on our streets.

I hope the authorities and the media do justice this time... and let it not be just another run of the mill incident.. with the case hanging in court for weeks.. until the incident fades away from public memory as is usually the case!

Uttar Pradesh - Anarchy galore

"The murder in broad daylight of a middle-aged Parsi woman in the capital of India's most populous state has sent one message loud and clear -- if you dare, be prepared to face the bullet in your face.

That was exactly what happened in the case of 52-year old Meher Bhargava, nee Shapurji, who was shot at a month back and died last Saturday. She was shot simply because she objected to eve-teasing that was rampant in a nearly lawless Lucknow." (... read the complete article here "Lucknow's shame: No law in Mulayam land").

I was born in Gonda, a place in Uttar Prades, barely known to many in India. I never actually repented being born in that place, or in UP for that matter. But my preparations to come to USA, minor things created some frustrations over the basic system prevalent there. I used to get irritated over the fact that how even very small things would take so much time to be done.. and you have to give some money to an inconsequential guy whom you would even detest to talk; just to get the work done. This interesting article shows how the progress of India is dragged down by the worse performance of Uttar Pradesh. To quote

"But the world’s second-most populous nation can’t make it because heavily across its heart sits the world’s sixth most populous “nation” — Uttar Pradesh. UP drags India down (of which some evidence later). The battle between the India-we-have and the India-we-want is being fought in UP. War dispatches so far suggest the India-we-want is losing."

Another interesting paragraph:

" Per capita income in UP has been growing at less than one per cent since the 1990s (national average is around 5.5 per cent). Its infant mortality rate is 87.6 per cent (national average is 67.6 per cent). Its child immunisation coverage is 21.2 per cent (national average is 42 per cent).
One-sixth of India’s population is in UP. Take UP out of the equation, India’s averages improve. But say this about the state, it entertains us even as it keeps us back — the state’s electoral populism is a hard-to-match spectacle."

Talking about the Meher murder case, she was shot allegedly by Sachin Pahari who is in the "safe custody" of a ruling party legislator, who was known for violating laws with utter impunity.

It is really sad that social activists and those who raise their voice against corruption and anarchy are silenced to death while the culprits and criminals escape the law due to the patronizing politicians.
The broad daylight shooting on February 28 outside a residential apartment -- barely 100 mt from the office of Lucknow district police chief -- and the failure of the administration to arrest the culprits speaks volumes of the state of law and order in Uttar Pradesh. She battled for a month for her life, but it did not arouse concern with the people in power.

Now only, with mounting public pressure, has Mulayam Singh ordered some action, though I hardly see them adequate.
Our political and police system needs a drastic revamp which should be nothing less than a revolution. Its high time the people in power realized their responsibilities to govern and not to perpetrate and aid crime by patronizing the criminals.
Is India shining? Atleast, I can't say so.

Politics is all about screwing each other...

'Anonymous' commented to my previous post... 'politics is all about screwing each other every other night'... over the recent BJP-Sonia issue. To a certain extent.. or rather for sure, s/he is right that this will fade over time which led me to contemplate further on whether raising one's opinions serves any useful purpose after all. One thing is that you can vent out your feelings about any particular issues you feel strongly about.. but I am definitely unsure if this would lead to any effect on the current societal trends. To consider two examples, one of Satyendra Nath Dubey who died a 'martyr' fighting the rampant corruption prevalent today in India and another, not that widely known episode.. where Nimish Adani (an IT-BHU and IIM-Bangalore graduate) was again a target of a similar nexus between police and criminals.. and corruption. (see link for details).
All this leads me to vacillate regarding the utility or rather 'futility' of such blogs... I agree that public opinion is a strong might.. but is this the way to go?
-Vinod

India, I prostrate to thy politics !

The recent BJP-Sonia brawl (not lexically), that started with the demand and disqualification of Jaya Bacchan has gained significant limelight, thanks to our ever-agile media, flooding us with all sorts of accounts and viewpoints. The democracy preserves the freedom of the press, and then we get media reports that are biased and glamorised.. is that deviant from the intended motives of the free press?.. I guess I too deviated from my topic and would return to it some other day.

So the issue at hand.. as ably communicated to me by Animesh bhaiya :), is whether Sonia by resigning at the right moment has gained a moral highground for her.
Of course, I was keeping tracking of the event, but to write something for public view.. should be factually correct, unless it is my viewpoint.. which I, anyways am free to express.
Circa 2004, a similar situation arised after the general elections.. where the BJP took a stand against Sonia becoming the PM citing her foreign origin.. and Sonia took BJP by surprise.. and raised herself in the annals of Indian politics as a righteous and selfless individual working for the betterment of the nation and her party.
But today, the situation is, alas a different one! .. to begin with, all this row over disqualification was started by a petition filed by a congressman. If only the congress had known, it would turn a Frankenstein's monster situation.. anyways, i guess different things were in the offing.. and the BJP was of course, quick to pickup.. being a 'vigilant and responsible' opposition, though the Petition against Ms. Gandhi was initially filed by a TDP guy.
To quote in her words, "“atmosphere was being built up in the country to give an impression that government and Parliament were being misused for my cause only... This has hurt me greatly,” Sonia stated before stepping down. She also reminded everyone that she had “come to politics and public life not for any personal gains” but to serve the nation.
I am afraid however, this second renunciation may not have the same effect as the first one. To quote one of the articles I liked, (Click here for the complete article)
-----------------------------------------------

If Sonia Gandhi’s 2004 ‘renunciation’ gave her a halo that has stuck to her head more steadfastly than Manmohan Singh’s blue turban, her 2006 ‘resignation’ is the moment when we get to see the swathes of cellotape that keeps that halo in place. By pre-empting any embarrassing ordinance, Sonia may have come across — again — to those willing to be bewitched that she is the moral answer to immoral politics. But renouncing and being pushed to renounce have always been two different activities.

-----------------------------------------------

But, again there are counter-view points available as cited in this article "Turning outrage into applause" ..

Of course, BJP isn't letting it go out so early.. they are 'rightly?' describing is a ‘‘a move to save face’’ after having been ‘‘caught red-handed while trying to subvert Parliament and the Constitution.’’ The party has convened a meeting of senior leaders for tomorrow forenoon to decide its future course of action.
Describing the resignation as mere “eyewash”, Leader of Opposition L K Advani today made clear that his party would continue to target Gandhi’s “dual standards for herself and other leaders in the House” and for “still holding many a post of profit”. .. (see Link)

In all, I would say the reader has to take his own discretion and form his viewpoint.. though, in my opinion, Sonia is playing another schmaltzfest... are you game?

-Vinod

P.S. Your valuable comments and criticism are invited.
And thanks to Animesh for instilling in me enthu.. to write this.

Are You Romantic or Realistic?

Guess my blog has been inactive for a long time now.. and there is not much to write either :D.. anyways I've found this blogthings.. which is a funsite and lets to create a lot of quizzes.. so guess that will keep my blog running a few more days

here's what it has to say on how romantic I am :P

You Are A Realistic Romantic

You are more romantic than 60% of the population. It's easy for you to get swept away by romance... But you've done a pretty good job keeping perspective. You're still taken in by love poems and sunsets You just don't fall for every dreamy pick up line!

Are You Romantic or Realistic?

Musings of the heart...

Seeking a purpose
-----------------------------
Those yesteryears, I sometimes wonder
The childish fray and light-hearted banter
The feeling of joy at trivial finds
The thoughts that knew no binds
Why is it that we grow big and rational
Pursuing something feasible and practical
The issues of heart become so maimed
Advance in career is the sole thing aimed
Not that I'm unhappy with this way of life
Seldom a passing thought becomes so rife
Unseen unattended a feeling does linger
Shouldn't we cater to something tender?

- Vinod K. Shukla

Funny C Declarations!

I accidently browsed through this humorous page containing some funny C Declarations.. enjoy!

auto accident;
register voters;
static electricity;
struct by_lightning;
void *where_prohibited;
char broiled;
short circuit;
short changed;
long johns;
unsigned long letter;
double entendre;
double trouble;
union organizer;
union jack;
float valve;
short pants;
union station;
void check; unsigned check;
struct dumb by[sizeof member];
union onion; /*submitted by srp*/

/*if GCC extensions are allowed -- Dave Gilbert */
long long ago; /* in a galaxy far far away */

/* Submitted by James Buchanan */

const ipated;
case closed:
double or_nothing;
short sighted;
void if_removed;    /* warranty */
volatile buggy_code;
unsigned anonymous;
int erbreed;    /* duelling banjos */

/* Borland's additional C keywords */:
huge penis;
interrupt ed;
near sighted;
far out;


men()
{
   goto pub;
  pub:
   return pissed;
}

women()
{
   goto bathroom;
  bathroom:
   while (1) ;
}

(Source: http://gnuweb.binarycompass.org/fun/jokes/declarations.html)

Some interesting banned Commercials

Banned Master Card Ad Video
Soccer Ad
Some more interesting videos can be found on this link.

Ctrl-Alt-Delete

Ever wondered how easily you press "Ctrl-Alt-Delete" when your computer hangs up... and who was responsible for this innovation... the keyboard combination was designed by "David Bradley"
He is the One who spent 1 minute and 23 seconds in writing the source code that rescues
the world's PC users for decades This extraordinary IBM employee is retiring on
Friday, 25th March 2005 after a prolong service of 29 years.

His formula forces obstinate computers to restart when they no longer follow other commands.

By 1980, Bradley was one of 12 people working to create the debut.

The engineers knew they had to design a simple way to restart the computer
when it fails to respond the user Bradley wrote the code to make it work.

Bradley says. "I did a lot of other things than Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but I'm famous for that one."
His fame and success is achieved each time a PC user fails.

He Commented His relationship with Bill gates by saying
"I may have invented it, but Bill gates made it famous by applying my formula
when ever any Microsoft's Windows operating system made by him CRASHES,
thus I win when ever he looses..........."

Here is what wikipedia has to say more abt this great landmark.

Poems reloaded

I got this interesting e-mail today...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I wrote your name on sand it got washed.
I wrote your name in air,it was blown away.
Then...
I wrote your name on my heart & i got Heart
Attack.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
God saw me hungry, he created pizza.
He saw me thirsty, he created pepsi.
He saw me in dark, he created light.
He saw me without problems, he created YOU.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Twinkle Twinkle little star
You should know what you are
And once you know what you are
Mental hospital is not so far.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rain makes all things beautiful.
The grass and flowers too.
If rain makes all things beautiful
why doesn't it rain on you?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Roses are red, Violets are blue
monkeys like u should be kept in zoo.
Don't feel so angry you will find me there too
not in cage but laughing at you.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
(P.S. The views intended here are not mine. The information is fictional and any similarity of experiences would be purely coincidental !)

So dark the con of man :D

It some times looks like maintaining a blog is real difficult for me..i haven't written on the blog for many day..and the spring sem has started since 9th Jan 06. It's not that I dont find time..of course, I involve in lot of "productive" work :D ..anyways there can be hundreds of excuses for not writing!

Recently I have been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.. however I took a quick break to finish Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I read a special illustrated edition of the novel, so it was good that all the monuments, paintings and some legends had been illustrated through pictures to present a better view. However, the claim of the author that everything in the book is authentic is definitely deviant from truth. This article on wikipedia gives some listings of the discrepancies of the novel.
Interestingly, there are some popular books written to point out the fallacies of Da Vinci Code. Now, is this some kind of vicious circle to explore the truth?
Of course, the book raised many issues, which if authentic, may be claimed "heretic" to present Church.. any comments?

SO DARK THE CON OF MAN

There are many interesting thinks to write about this novel, but i guess the blog has to wait.

Halva

Recently at the HyVee store... I saw something called Halva..later I realized that it was Greek and had eggs in it so I didn't buy it ..
However i was surprised that the dish is common in other parts of the world too... I found this interesting article on Halva. The wikipedia article says that the dish is originally from India and later spread to other parts of the world. However there is such a variation in preparation, that the only ingredients common to all recipes are semolina and sugar.

More movies.. :D

Though not the best way to write on the blog... would just like to record some more movies I have recently seen in the past two days..so here goes the list :D

• Signs
  
• The Bourne Supremacy
• Legally Blonde
• Tuxedo
• Black Hawk down
• One fine Day
• I-Robot
• Rope