Solve Sudoku (Without even thinking!)

Solve Sudoku (Without even thinking!)

For all those Sudoku maniacs out there - here is a method to the madness. All you need is a printed Sudoku puzzle and a pencil - yes, no high tech wizardry here! Try this and you may just get the bragging rights around your office water cooler for being the fastest Sudoku-ist.

technorati tags: sudoku, puzzle

The Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette

The Ten Commandments of cell phone etiquette - Dan Briody, InfoWorld

1. Thou shalt not subject defenseless others to cell phone conversations.

2. Thou shalt not set thy ringer to play La Cucaracha every time thy phone rings.

3. Thou shalt turn thy cell phone off during public performances.

4. Thou shalt not wear more than two wireless devices on thy belt.

5. Thou shalt not dial while driving.

6. Thou shalt not wear thy earpiece when thou art not on thy phone.

7. Thou shalt not speak louder on thy cell phone than thou would on any other phone.

8. Thou shalt not grow too attached to thy cell phone.

9. Thou shalt not attempt to impress with thy cell phone.

10. Thou shalt not slam thy cell phone down on a restaurant table just in case it rings.

The Dilbert Blog: Burning Flags

The Dilbert Blog: Burning Flags

A beautiful article on the Flag Burning issue (or non-issue) was just published by Scott Admas on his Dilbert Blog. This one sentence says it all "The thing to remember about freedom is that it’s not given, it’s taken."

technorati tags: flag+burning, flag, burning, congress, politics, republicans, senate, democrats

President Kalam's Sukhoi flight

President Kalam's Sukhoi flight:


June 08, 2006

President A P J Abdul Kalam, supreme commander of the armed forces, in the Sukhoi-30 MKI, Indian Air Force's state-of-the-art supersonic fighter aircraft.

On Thursday, the President undertook a historic 40-minute sortie in the aircraft, taking off from Lohegaon airbase in Pune at 10.25 am.

Kalam is the first Indian President to fly in the all-weather, air-dominance supersonic fighter aircraft.

'After flying this sortie, I now realise that India is in safe hands, our borders are safe. We have such good pilots, and good defence personnel,' President Kalam said.

Photograph: Rajesh Karkera

Are you a Googlehead too?

There's a whole new species in the Valley - they're called the Googleheads. You know what the characteristics are :-) are you one too?

Polar Bears- are their days on earth numbered?

Beautiful picture of a Polar Bear - sadly their days are numbered unless there are some drastic breakthroughs in alternate energy sources over the next decade.

Tags: environment, ice age, global warming, al gore, polar bear, polar ice cap, arctic

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Thought of the Day:
"If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion."
- George Bernard Shaw

You the man - Colbert!

The Blog | Arianna Huffington: Is Stephen Colbert the Last One to Know How Amazing He Was? | The Huffington Post:

Here's a great collection of reviews and comments on Stephen Colbert's amazing performance at the White House correspondents' dinner. I have watched the video a few times already - got to say - it's a classic - I don't know when was the last time anyone butchered the establishment quite this way. Way to go Colbert! And what a tough act to follow - for the mentor John Stewart. Looks like with this one performance Colbert totally came out of Stewart's shadow.

technorati tags: Colbert, John, Stewart, white+house, bush, cheney, comedy, truthiness

Gas prices are chaging driving behavior

MercuryNews.com | 05/10/2006 | Chung: Going slower makes driver mighty mellow

Here's a positive spin on the rising gas prices. Seems like a lot of people are driving slower - at the optimum gas mileage speed of 55 mph. I'm sure that would lead to lesser gas consumption and a safer driving manner. But you have to remember that the posted speed limit on most bay area freeways is 65 mph and if a majority of the drivers slowed down to 55 mph we're going to have major congestion problems - on top of already congested freeways during peak rush hours. Already there are reports of hybrid drivers driving at 55 mph or less in the car pool lane and causing major angst to other car pool lane users. I won't be surprised if we see some major road rage incidents due to a lot of people driving ridiculously slow trying to maximize their gas mileage. As for me, I'll stick to the a couple of mph above posted speed limits.

Another thought here - if people really started driving slower, why would we need all these cars, trucks and SUV's with high output engines. I think almost 30% of all vehicles sold in USA are having V8 engines - that is really ridiculous. Even V6 is considered uneconomical and a sinful luxury in most European countries. I would imagine that family sedans like Camrys, Accords and others with the standard 4 cylinder engines would make most sense. Another thing I noticed about European driving -they are getting twice the mileage because they use a lot of diesel engines. I think the whole Hyprid thing is a mistake - diesel can get you all the benefits at lower cost and lower pollution.

Banned in the U.S.A. - Gordon Lightfoot: Canada's Folk Laureate - CBC Archives

Banned in the U.S.A. - Gordon Lightfoot: Canada's Folk Laureate - CBC Archives: "

'Black day in July / Motor city madness has touched the countryside,' begins Lightfoot's Black Day In July, a song dealing with the 1967 race riots in Detroit. In this CBC Radio clip, an indignant Lightfoot explains why top-40 radio stations in the U.S. have banned the song. 'A lot of them don't want to upset their listeners. It's the housewife in the morning, let's give her something that'll make her happy, why give her something that'll make her think?'"

• Radio stations in 30 states banned Black Day In July. The song was released in April 1968, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Lightfoot believed radio stations banned the song because they didn't want to further stir up existing racial tensions stemming from the assassination. The song appeared on Lightfoot's 1968 album Did She Mention My Name.

Here are the lyrics of this legendary song - and I dedicate it to the spineless American media companies.

Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside
Black day in july
Black day in july
And the soul of motor city is bared across the land
As the book of law and order is taken in the hands
Of the sons of the fathers who were carried to this land

Black day in july
Black day in july
In the streets of motor city is a deadly silent sound
And the body of a dead youth lies stretched upon the ground
Upon the filthy pavement
No reason can be found

Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And the people rise in anger
And the streets begin to fill
And there’s gunfire from the rooftops
And the blood begins to spill

Black day in july

In the mansion of the governor
There’s nothing that is known for sure
The telephone is ringing
And the pendulum is swinging
And they wonder how it happened
And they really know the reason
And it wasn’t just the temperature
And it wasn’t just the season

Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city’s burning and the flames are running wild
They reflect upon the waters of the river and the lake
And everyone is listening
And everyone’s awake

Black day in july
Black day in july
The printing press is turning
And the news is quickly flashed
And you read your morning paper
And you sip your cup of tea
And you wonder just in passing
Is it him or is it me

Black day in july

In the office of the president
The deed is done the troops are sent
There’s really not much choice you see
It looks to us like anarchy
And then the tanks go rolling in
To patch things up as best they can
There is no time to hesitate
The speech is made the dues can wait

Black day in july
Black day in july
The streets of motor city now are quiet and serene
But the shapes of gutted buildings
Strike terror to the heart
And you say how did it happen
And you say how did it start
Why can’t we all be brothers
Why can’t we live in peace
But the hands of the have-nots
Keep falling out of reach

Black day in july
Black day in july
Motor city madness has touched the countryside
And through the smoke and cinders
You can hear it far and wide
The doors are quickly bolted
And the children locked inside

Would you rather be the criminal or the victim?

"Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim." - Bertrand Russell

I just came across this quote on my Goowy Desktop - it just struck me as so insightful that I felt compelled to share it!

USA National Gasoline Price Map

USA National Gas Temperature Map: "Now you can see what gas prices are around the country at a glance. Areas are color coded according to their price for the average price for regular unleaded gasoline"

Firefox is going places - on wheels

Firefox is going places - aboard the wheels of a bus in Southern India.

Let's do something regarding these high gas prices

As the price of gas hits $4 in So Cal, here's a great idea circulating in the cyberspace. This is a chainmail that intends you to stop buying gas from the two largest companies - Exxon and Mobil (now one company actually) trigerring a price war. I guess anything is worth a try at this time - feel free to copy and send to 10 or more of your friends.

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

GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came
from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth
your consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a
gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come
down?
We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth
offered this good idea.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day"
campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies
just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt"
ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than
it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can
really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably
thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is
currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies
and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon
of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to
teach them that BUYERS control themarketplace..... not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers

need to take action. The only way we are going to see the
price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not
purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

How?

Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we
CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price
war.

Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two
biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not
selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce
their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon
and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at
this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach
millions of people.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at
least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten
more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth
group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If
those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30
million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you
guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If
you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do
is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a
mathematician.

But I am, so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to
ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could
conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did
you?

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to
you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL
UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.
THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

$4 per gallon gasoline this summer

Californians better plan for $4-5 per gallon gasoline this summer- it's alreay touched $4 in LA area and it's not even May yet.

A tribute to test pilot Scott Crossfield

Scott Crossfield, the hotshot test pilot and aircraft designer who in 1953 became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound, was killed in the crash of his small plane, authorities said Thursday. He was 84.

During the 1950s, Crossfield embodied what came to be called "the right stuff," dueling the better-known Chuck Yeager for supremacy among America's Cold War test pilots. Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947; only weeks after Crossfield reached Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound, Yeager outdid him.

Some interesting links
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/147296main_crossfield.pdf
http://www.edwards.af.mil/history/docs_html/people/pilot_crossfield.html

The picture says it all - airline unstable

2005's most appalling corporate tax giveaway. By Michelle Leder

2005's most appalling corporate tax giveaway. By Michelle Leder

Can you believe this - this just blows my mind! And to think that this only happened in the developing countries!

Will you pay $150 for this McDonald Sandwich?

London Chef Creates $148 Sandwich on Yahoo! News Photos


He could have done better than naming it "McDonald Sandwich" - after all who in his/her right mind would pay that much for a McDonald's sandwich. It sure looks delicious - based on the ingredients list here but I wouldn't pay $150 for it.

IMT Alumni

IMT Alumni Blog

A young IMT alumnus - Swaroop George has started putting together profiles of IMT alumni on his blog - seems like a very interesting idea. I am looking forward to seeing more profiles there and connecting with some of these people. All the best to you Swaroop!

technorati tags: IMT, Ghaziabad, MBA, Technology, Alumni