An inconvenient truth

I ordered the documentary video An inconvenient truth over netflix. It was an interesting watch. The only problem with Al Gore speaking about global warming is that it sort of brings in the question whether he is presenting the facts accurately. I am so skeptical about politicians. One statement he makes about ozone hole over Antarctica is such a thing. Ozone hole is still big, and this year's observation is one of the record highs. May be he meant only the politics that made US govt sign Montreal protocol. But has it succeeded in bringing down the levels of Chloro Fluoro Carbons? CFC has to eventually clear out of the ecosystem after years, but is the level of decrease in CFC reflecting the ozone hole size? Or has the level of CFC emission actually decreased? In other words is every nation true to Montreal protocol?
There is no denying of global warming. Everyone is experiencing it. Colder winters and hotter summers, droughts and floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, the nature unleashed. Since many tiny drops maketh the ocean, may be its time for each of us to make an effort to reduce green house gas emissions. Though I don't know how much it can change anything, but it is a part of living responsibly.

Cooking crisp apple

I am waiting for the crisp apple pudding to be baked. And guess what, I forgot to add. There is no butter in my crisp apple. I wonder how different this one is going to be from what Marsha makes. Either I will eventually be labeled a total looser in cooking, which I am even now. Or I will become an expert in low fat recipes.

Dr Cerf

Today I was listening to Vinton Cerf's near monologue for nearly an hour, although it was supposed to be a question and answer session. No wonder why he is the chief internet evangelist for Google, obviously in addition to being one of the 'father's of the internet', he is a persuasive speaker. Good things to know about him is that he is a supporter of strong encryption systems and he is against extension of CALEA to VoIP(whose implication means anything over the internet will be eavesdropped). His reasoning is simple and valid. One of the interesting projects that he really wants to do is a comic book on educating legislators on security issues. A comic strip model stripped away from all details so that people in the old school can understand issues that need to be addressed, but not so abstract that problem is no longer there.
I wonder what sort of comic model should be used to educate politicians in India about these issues when they tax ISPs because they sell light energy?

Finding Sam

Sam remarks,"Wonder if we will be ever put in songs and tales"
"What?", Frodo responds.
"Wonder if people will ever say, 'Lets hear about Frodo and the ring. Yes, its one of my favourite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he Dad?. Yes, my boy, the most famouses of hobits. Doesn't that saying a lot"
"You left one of the chief characters, Samwise the brave. I want to hear more about Sam. Frodo wouldn't have gone far without Sam"
"No, Mr.Frodo. You shouldn't be making fun. I was being serious"
"So was I",says Frodo.

Frodo is one of my most favourite characters among all the stories I know. He left his clique to go out to a world of darkness and shadow, to fight for the good. Sam, his loyal friend and servant never leaves his side other than for one occasion. In Sam one can find all the qualities of a loyal companion. One who zealously guards his companion's heart. One who exhorts against the evil. One who motivates to go further. One who never leaves his companions side.

When one decides to pick friends, in particular their best friend/soul mate, they set standards for them. One will wish he/she has to be like this, like that. One writes a specification for their best friend. But forgets what really matters is the qualities that one can find in Sam, although he is a simple gardener. One forgets that Frodo didn't choose Sam to be his companion for his adventure. It happened by chance and then by committment. One shouldn't forget in their flurry search for their best friend, that one's Sam is within oneself. If one could only listen to that inner voice of that simple guardian of heart. After all, the voyage began alone. And so it will be in the end.

Cats and dogs

Cats are pretty picky and dogs are jealous. Today I had to take Simba and Toby(dogs) to bed. They were unhappy to see Meow-meow(the spoilt cat) eat from their dish. I think Jack left the dog food on the floor. And Meow-meow was happily munching on it. So when I took the dogs to bed, I thought Simba won't give me any trouble. She went to garage and Toby ran around in the house. While I was trying to get hold of Toby, Simba changed her mind and came to the kitchen and ate all the cat food. Toby didn't care much about going to bed, after he had one of the cat food container. Once Toby was in the garage, I was wondering where is Simba. I had to wait all the time while Simba munched on. I didn't want to disturb a hungry dog.
A little while later, I took food to both dogs and cats and all four of them seemed not to be hungry at all! I am now trying to understand this behaviour. It seems to me, that even humans behave that way. Sometimes when someone else takes the position one wants, then they have an icy cold treatment towards the other person. I think as higher level animals we should show much better behaviour.

I am back

"I can't do this, Sam", says Frodo
Sam replies, "I know, its's all wrong, by rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories Mr. Frodo . Once that really mattered, full of darkness and danger they were. Sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how can the ending be happy? How can the world go back to the way it was when so much has happened. But in the end, its only a passing thing, the shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those are the stories that stay with you, that meant something, even if you are too small to understand why. But I think Mr. Frodo, I do understand . I know now , folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't . They kept going because they were all holding on to something. "
"What are we holding onto, Sam?"
"There is something good in this world and its worth fighting for."

This is one of my favorite lines from the movie adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the rings - The two towers. Darkness has passed. I am no longer paranoid. So I update my blog again, though not that frequent.

Philology- love for words.

Being a big fan of Tolkien's writings, I always like the new words that writers coin up. Rowling's writings also happen to be in that category. The etymological study of a word upto its root words is very interesting. Knowing older languages like Sanskrit and Latin are quiet beneficial. I wish at times I were doing some research on philology rather than computer science. But any ways the opportunity to challenge the mind, thats what matters most to me.

Addicted to sudoku

I spent so much time on solving sudoku puzzles these days. Its a good exercise for brains. Even though it's stimulating, it is definitely not a good idea to keep solving puzzles one after another, ignoring other work. How does addiction works? How can one get addicted to some simple things like playing sudoku?

State of mind

What could be the possible state of mind now? I mean the state of brain with all those indoleamines and catecholamines, are they balanced? I am wondering, as it is in its balance that each person feels good. Lack of seratonin(the feel good neurotransmitter) and indoleamine causes depression. Another aspect of the brain, how the primitive limbic system takes control of us and put us in a flight or fight situation even when we are just watching a horror movie amuses me. When information reaches thalamus, which is the sorter within the brain, the information is sent to the appropriate cortex area. But when the information has emotional content, amygdala bypasses the thalamus and takes control of the flow from reticular activating system and puts the person in the very emotional state as we see them to be in. This is one of the theories that I have come across today. It is pretty interesting.