Monday 27 July 2009

Protecting your identity online

I just came across this article at Control Enter and thought of sharing this here. Internet users should be aware of this.

Monday 20 July 2009

Today marks 40th Anniversary of Moon landing!

Today marks 40th anniversary of one of the greatest technological achievements of the human being. On July 20, 1969, a human first set foot on the Moon. Neil Armstrong took the historic first step.

NASA has released some of the pictures in honor of 40th anniversary. Do check them out:


Switch on your speaker and hit NASA Home Page where you can see a small video clip which shows Neil Armstrong taking the first step on the Moon and he says "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".

Congratulations NASA!

Update: If you are interested to read more about Apollo program, do check here.

Thursday 16 July 2009

Old memories in a train!

Last week, I went to Mysore by Chamundi train. Six years back, I used to travel in this train on every Friday from the then Bangalore. After I went to Hyderabad, I didn't get chance to travel in this train. Even though now I'm in Bengaluru, my frequency of Mysore visit has come down drastically.

When I sat down in the train, my memories went back... This train was so familiar to me and the commuters too. Out of these commuters, some were regular passengers, few were vendors and beggars.

As my train started, I hoped to see some of those familiar faces(vendors and beggars). After 30mins of journey, none of those faces turned up. As my coach was at the engine end, I thought, it might take some time for them to come to my coach.

Even after train passed Ramanagara, nobody turned up. I was a bit disappointed. I still remember those faces.

There was this beggar who was blind and he had always carried a tamate (a Kannada word for folk musical percussion instrument) while singing a song. He used to sing folk songs and devotional songs.

Another beggar who was old but had good voice and he was known for his PB Srinivas songs from old Kannada movies. On public demand, he used to sing for a long time at one place!

There were two beggars (who seemed like couples) and both were blinds. Lot of people used to give coins to these couples. Some times, I had even seen a young girl along with this couple. Fortunately, this young girl was not blind. I still feel sad for their state.

How can I forget another beggar who was most irritating! He is a old person but he never resorted to any singing but he was "literally" begging from everyone. His voice was very loud and many people were giving coins only to make him leave their compartments!

As I said before, there were familiar faces who were Vendors. Just like, one old person (peanut seller) who always wears a white but dirty kurta. He never looked like clean. Most of the times, he was drunk!

Another old lady who was also selling peanuts and was very active.

I cannot forget one young man who was a peanut seller but conscious of cleanliness. To encourage people not to throw the peanut shells on the floor, he used to give additional paper to all the buyers! I really liked his idea. Over the period of time, other sellers were also giving additional papers and in some cases, commuters were demanding for that!

There was a coffee vendor, who was asking as if he's serving a guest at his home!

As the train had crossed Maddur, I was sure that none of these would turn up. Where are these people? Did they get a better job? Did they find a better place for their profession? Are they alive? I stopped myself from thinking more and called a new face for a cup of coffee and a Maddur vade.

Friday 10 July 2009

Help in finding this guy!

This guy is missing since December 1999. All the efforts to trace this guy went in vain. Now, the new search has begun. And you can also help in finding this guy! Yes, you can also!

Before you can think of where to find, let me tell you, this guy's name is "Mars Polar Lander". No, you don't have to find it on Earth! Rather, you have to search in Mars! And you don't have to go there. You can help in tracing the Lander from wherever you are currently located and by using HiRISE images posted here.

Good luck!

Thursday 9 July 2009

Portal dedicated to Electronics City, Bengaluru

I came across this site which is dedicated to Electronics City, Bengaluru. Here you can find a lot of information about E-city such as bus routes from/to E-city, bus/train/air ticketing centers, Companies, Hospitals, Help-line numbers etc. I found it very informative for the people who are residing/working in E-city.

Monday 6 July 2009

Federer The Legend

For some time I thought Andy Roddick will do what Nadal did in the previous year at Wimbledon. As the fifth set was going one after the other game, and keeping in mind that Federer has not broken the Roddick's game in the first 4 sets, I was just thinking if Federer would be able to create a history at Wimbledon. Two were playing like they are in a battle field and it is a do or die war. Nobody was sure when this match is going to end, and suddenly a couple of mistakes by Roddick brought this epic match to an end. Roger Federer had created a history by winning his 15th grand slam surpassing Pete Sampras's record. Sampras was in the stands looking at how his long standing record going into the archive.

With this win, Roger Federer also retained No. 1 position. When Sampras won his 14th grand slam, he was 31. Federer is only 27 and he can surely win more grand slams in the years ahead.

It would be interesting to see more Federer Vs Nadal matches once the latter comes out of the injury. Nevertheless, Federer will be remembered as one of the greatest Tennis players in the world!