wisdom tooth

Yesterday I got one of the wisdom teeth extracted. This brought curious questions, what is the purpose of these teeth? why is it so late? and most often pulled away due to rouge behaviour.

Searching net didn't give enough info compared to the info available about extraction. A relevant article is at ask yahoo. This talks about a nice concept of wisdom tooth pushing other teeth in order to compensate the space of any lost tooth.

Good that I am looking at these pages after the extraction :-)

java chart

I got an urge to try out a data chart in my apps. After figuring the chart lib available in my ide is not that useful, I searched for the open source stuff. Downloaded jFreeChart and went thru the bundle. Didn't know where to start. Then I came to know that the user guide should be bought. Couldn't understand the open-sourceness of this project ..

... and then moved on to jChart. First thing I checked is the user guide and if they are charging for any of the free stuff. This is decent and easy to use. Compared to jFreeChart, jFreeChart has rich features and many more chart presentation. However, for a trial attempt, jChart is sufficient .. particularly if u r not going to make any extra bucks for putting a chart in the page.

Day light saving scheme

I wish we have a better electrical switching controls. During the day time, the electrical switches connecting to the bulbs and tubes should be disabled; ie switching on will not result in a dull glow of the light against the bright sunlight. There is a high chance people forget to switch off as the light is not visible enough. So, with this new control, these unwanted lights will not be turned on. This will happen only during day time. Of course, there will be methods to by pass this blockage.

The need of such instrument came out an angel at our home. Which ever room my wife enters, the angel switches on the lights in a subconscious manner. While my wife leaves the room, you guessed it, the light remains on. While discussing this phenomena with my wife, she told about the angel. Since then I am thinking about the day light control switch to save electricity.

Body atlas

I saw this video from Discovery Health in a vcd. The title is Body Atlas - The Human Design.

Very interesting to see the functioning of our body. Each organ has a function and they interact among themselves to produce marvellous effects. The inside story at an microscopic level to macro level is a tour of its own.

Quite informative study. Would suggest folks to have a look.

Village life

GA invited us to his native home. We went in the evening and enjoyed the scenic route on the way. Had to take a cut from the busy road into a single lane road amidst of paddy field. Upon reaching near his home, GA greeted us and showed the house. His parents and brother live here. They had two water wells and grooves, fields. The atmosphere was very nice. Calm, away from the city buzz.

This is something many have in mind, particularly the city dwellers. Most want to own a farm house, spend quite hours and be close to the nature. Hardly few of us get a chance to do so. Even who does, not sure how many can enjoy to the fullest without feeling the boredom.

Thanks to GA for inviting us to a different heaven, less experienced by many of us.

The selfish Gene

Very interesting book by Richard Dawkins. The book throws a different perception about world and life. The way genetic materials behave, think, plan etc are amazing concept. The scientific findings are given in a layman format. Analogies like functioning of computers, science fiction stories etc help a lot in understanding complicate topics.

Earlier I had many doubts like the male attraction
This books clears such doubts and open our eyes on many areas. For eg, I had been in the impression that the beautiful feathers, tusks, lion's facial hairs etc are ornamental and luxury. Looks like they have purpose and also used as measuring gauge to check the animal's health. (this is comparable to the by gone practice - while searching for a bride, the groom's side ask if the girl can sing or dance. )

Many of our day to day simple acts have roots till the pre-historic animal rituals. Just to mention few of the fascinating ideas :

• limited resource enable species to slowly evolve and acquire new skills or new equipments


• why do other birds feed cuckoo's baby (at the cost of their own)


• on a general scale, why predominantly males wander off or break out of relationship?


• what is the significance of diamond ring for proposal?

Read the book Selfish Gene to get many more questions answered.

btw, the soldier anecdote is pulled from this book.

Friendly enemies

Happen to catch this anectode while reading about symbotic relations and Prisoner's Dilemma.

From a blog of British officer during one of the world wars:

I was having tea with A company when we heard a lot of shouting and went to investigate. We found our men and the Germans standing on their respective parapets. Suddenly a salvo arrived but did no damage. Naturally both sides got down and our men started swearing at the Germans, when all at once a brave German got on to his parapet and shouted out 'We are very sorry about that; we hope no one was hurt. It is not our fault, it is that damned Prussian artillery.'

Air hostess requirement

Happen to go through an advt from a leading airlines. Apart from the standards, there were few notable points.

• age between 18 to 27
• edu can be HSC & up
• status - single (that is interesting)
• min height - taller than me :-(
• no scars, tattoos etc in visible parts

Acknowledging the proposal

Prompt reply was sent to the proposal for the car:

Dear aspirant of a car,

Your project is well aimed and lists out the motive. However, the proposal lacks certain vital criteria:

• the risk factors
• pros and cons
• budget section is incomplete without sundry costs like registration and there off.
• what about maintenance?

Kindly furnish these details for your proposal to be consider for further actions.

Regards
Balaji

Disclaimer: All the above statements are expressed as per the mood of Balaji at 6.45pm on 6th Feb of 8. These and any of the unsaid statements may change as the time goes on. The receipt and reply of your proposal doesnot gaurentee acceptance of your whims and fancies. Any conflict arising out of this dealing shall be settled at The Court Of Balaji.

A strange proposal

Got an interesting requirement in the mail:

Buying a car for our family

Author: Swarna
Date: 6th Feb 2008

Background:

We have moved to Manipal where we might stay for a few years at least. As it rains continuously in Manipal from the month of June to October, commuting becomes difficult on a two-wheeler in those months. So, hereby I put forward the proposal of buying a car for our family.

Review of literature:
From their time of invention, cars have been a comfortable means of transport compared to two wheelers. Though it is also considered to be a symbol of status and luxury, it is very advantageous to own a car for the following reasons.

1. We can get protection from the fury of the weather, be it the smoldering sun, the chilling winter or a torrential rain. Weather will not be a limiting factor in our moving from place to place. This becomes important in places where the weather conditions are extreme.
2. We can escape the air-pollution in an AC car. It is important from the health point of view, since air-pollution is seemingly becoming one of the important causes for the onset and aggravation of respiratory diseases.(for Bala)
3. The better shock-absorbers in a car are less troublesome for people with spinal problems. Two-wheelers aggravate those problems esp. on bumpy roads (for Swarna)

Choosing the car:
The car we want to buy depends on why we want to buy it. Looking at our current need, i.e, we need a car to get transported during the rains, a basic model would suffice which would have an AC and a power steering.

AC is required because, when it rains, the windows have to be closed and it can get very stuffy without AC. (This comes with an addition of around 30-35000Rs upon the non-AC version)

Power- steering is required for us because it takes lot of effort to steer the car otherwise, and it can be a very tiring experience to drive without that. (This comes with an addition of around 20000Rs)

Now, the next question is, choosing the brand.

Maruti and Hyundai seem to be good in servicing and have a better re-sale value compared to the other brands. Compared to Hyundai, Maruti’s service is better, spares are easily available and cheaper. And also Maruti has some very good , pocket- friendly basic models compared to Hyundai. So, going for Maruti cars is a good choice.

The basic models available in Maruti are

1. Maruti 800
2. Maruti alto

Alto is better than M800 because

• M800 models do not have power steering
• Alto’s body is better built and offers more safety during collisions compared to M800
• Alto’s engine is better and it has 5 gears

All the above advantages and some more features come for a price difference of around 50000. So, weighing the benefits against odds, buying an Alto seems to be more sensible. (power-steering itself would cost around 20000Rs. So the better built and better engine comes for just 30000 Rs extra)

So, now going for a Maruti- Alto with AC and power steering (model LXi) seems to be the best choice.

Used or new?
The next question to be addressed is to buy a new one or used one?
Disadvantages of a new car:

• The moment a new car is driven out of the show room, its value depreciates by 20% and after that whether it is used or not, its value depreciates by 10% every year

Disadvantages of a used car:

• its very difficult to assess the condition of the car properly and correctly value the car
• it is sometimes difficult to get the car of your choice as a second hand in good condition

If there are budget constraints, and the car would be used only sparingly, it is wise to go for a used car with the help of a good mechanic.

If you happen to come across the car of your choice in a good bargain, it is a really good deal (as happens to be case now with us)

So, going for an alto in good condition as second hand is indisputably the best option !

Budget:

Coming to the formidable question of budgeting the project…

A research on buying used cars says that, the car of our choice (alto LXi) in good condition, as a second hand can be bought from 1.7 lakhs to over 2 lakhs depending upon the age of the car.

So, the minimum budget requirement is 1.7 Lakhs. Considering our financial situation, we can keep the maximum to be around 2 Lakhs

Conclusion:

So, I hereby conclude by proposing that we buy a Maruti-alto LXi, preferably a second-hand in good condition, which might require a budget of between 1.7 to 2 Lakhs.

References:

http://www.carwale.com/
http://www.mouthshut.com/
http://www.autocarindia.com/

Under the starry nights

Ever enjoyed sleeping in the terrace? Recently I had the opportunity - to admire at the majestic creation roofed above us. What an wonderful things, just twinkling ignoring the minor specs like us. The weather was pleasant and the atmosphere silent. I was stark naked! Only a thin blanket separated me and the stars. (Thanks to my wife who pulled off my dhoti in order to prevent me from going outside. Who cares about dress code when we enjoy the nature)

Many questions started springing from myself. When there are so many massive stars, planets, (in fact, galaxies and galaxies of stars) laying around, why do we feel space crunch? In fact, we feel scarcity for most of the resources. May be the time and space are separating us from the ready reachability. Other reason could be the way we misuse the resources and suffer. Or the usable resource might be in scarce surrounded by void or waste resources.

Another irrelevant thought occurred while gazing the stars. The way our perspective change as we gain knowledge about certain things. In olden literature, stars are seen as ornamental - from poetic view. They talk about hero pulling out stars to prepare a necklace for the heroine. However, there is a drift in that view. Recent flim songs and the poets view stars as a place. Hero says he will place the girl in so and so star. She responds with concern of melting out due to the over heat from the stars. Science findings does influence the literature.

Well, it became too cold outside. Dropped the ego and went into the house.

Wrong house

When it comes to getting internet connection, I end up being at the wrong house. The ill luck started being in the midst of the city. Airtel couldnt give a broadband connection because the house I was was slightly away from their network of connections. Had to settle with a slow gprs connection.

Then faced a strange issue when moving to a second tier city. The area counseler was not allowing airtel connection into the ward where I moved in. This ended up with struggling with a substandard connection.

Now in a town, airtel is happy to provide connection to right side of the street and not to the left. Guess where my house is .. yeap, in the left side. Apart from the lefties and righties strangeness, they have provided a line to the house just in front of us (which is in left), but still not to our house. Guess they know me whichever part of the world I go.

Atleast I got other form of connections in earlier cases. But in the town, I am not able to get a landline too. The house in front of us has a landline, house to left and right has. The ground floor house has a connection but not us. They said they have exhausted all the connections!! Now I see them dig the street to find a new point to allot us.