Thoughts Unlimited

I generally use a lot of Windows Notepad, for saving my clipboard text information.  I never found any of the clipboard managers really useful for me.  But it struck me, that I should try Google Notebook.  I am already a great fan of Gmail, Google Bookmarks and GReader.  So trying Notebook shouldn’t harm me.

I installed the Google Notebook for Firefox from here - http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/

It never stopped amazing me, from the time I did that.  Most of the information I collect are from the web; so adding my notebook to Firefox was my first choice.  It fits nicely into the bottom right of my Firefox window.

The Open Notebook/Close Notebook button toggles nicely, without any hitches.  One can add clipping from the web pages and also organize information by creating Sections.  And most importantly, my notebook information are available anywhere - from office and from home.  Any miscellaneous information that I save in office like phone numbers, can be retrieved at ease from home.   How cool is that!!

If you are not using Google Notebook with Firefox yet, should try it for sure!!

Gandhian ideas have helped forge a box office hit in Bollywood, in the form of Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Now, Udhayan and Pyramid Saimira has tried to replicate this success, in the context of Kollywood.  It is to be seen, whether this success formula works out well in the southern part of our country.

Story line is pretty simple.  A Gandhian-turned-rogue, Satya played by Sundar. C, follows the path of ahimsa to punish a corrupt politician.  But the core of the story comes up only towards the last 45 minutes of the movie.  All time before that were spent (read as wasted) in some regular colorful pieces and trying hard to bring the audience to this point.

Vivek has fared well, when compared to a few of his earlier movies.  Music is below average and better avoid the songs.  Anjali has been included in the picture to add some glamor to the eyes; nothing more.  Napolean, Nasser and Vijayakumar have done well in their respective roles.

Sundar. C has worked a bit on his acting; but a lot to improve.  Noisy introduction does not suit him.  I would like him avoid these, in his next venture and concentrate more on his acting skills.

Barring a few hiccups, the movie has done pretty well, in my opinion.  Go watch it.  It’s a feel good one.  Satyameva Jeyathe!!

Fuel prices are spiraling upwards.  In the near future, driving your way down to the multiplex might be dearer than taking an Auto or a Taxi.  We can try the following approaches – as they are friendly to your pocket friendly and to the environment.

• Avoid personal motor vehicles as much as possible.  Use public transport instead
• Much better – walk when you can!!
• Get a bicycle.  Serious! If possible, cycle your way down to the office.  It definitely gives a fresh start to the day
• Those who cannot avoid 4 wheelers, look out for car pooling possibilities
• Rigorously follow the procedures outlined in the auto manual like clutch-free driving, efficient usage of Air conditioners, etc., which might save you a lot of fuel

I am planning to follow a few of these, in the days to come.  Any more ideas are welcome!  Let’s work towards a greener environment.

Have a great week ahead!

Happened to watch Dasavatharam last weekend! Went into the movie with lots of talk about Chaos Theory, Butterfly effect and blah-blah!! But I was just there to witness a definite masterpiece by an ace actor, in 10 (distinct) roles. Following are my positives on the movie.

Versatility of characters

None can deny the distinction and versatility in each of the characters. Kamal had perfected the language of ‘95-year-old-iyengar-paati’ Krishnaveni with the same ease as he had that of Chris Fletcher. Awesome! Balram Naidu with the typical Andhra accent is an icing on the cake. Not to forget Kalifullah Khan and Poovaraghan for their respective accents and characters. Overall the choice of characters and execution of them to perfection - only possible by Kamal!

Flow of Story

The story, naturally is a flowing one, starting from US and ending in Tamil Nadu. But nowhere I have found a slowdown in the movie. The pace was maintained and never gave a chance to relax, for the audience.

Occassional but strong hints of Chaos theory

As pointed out by Kamal in his opening speech, everything that happens in this world have some weird resemblance to something that happened in the past or something that might happen in the future. Following are my observations on this front:

• Govind trying to save the world from the virus, as Rangarajan Nambi was trying to save Vaishnavism
• Govind getting hurt right on his forehead resembling the ‘Vaishnava Namam’, same way as Nambi was injured
• The virus getting into the Perumal idol and Govind trying to save that - similar to Nambi trying to save the Perumal idol
• Govind and Aandal resolving to be together, near the same idol, which led to separation of Nambi and his wife and many more…

Makeup

The makeup clearly shows the hardwork - both Kamal and the makeup team has put in. Especially, the Zen master and Chris Fletcher, were my favorites.

So overall, the movie was nice mix of hard work and commercial stuff. I enjoyed watching it!!

Asin: … kadavul ilanu soladhingo…
Kamal: … kadavul ilanu naan eponga sonen. irundha nalla irukumenu than sonen …

I read this interesting article about a woman, who can remember everything since she was 14.

As she rightly points out, it’s more of a burden than a blessing.  It may be of convenience at times, to remember important conversations in life.  But more often, it might turn out to be a hindrance for interpersonal relationships.  How can you be normal to a person, who had a bitter quarrel with you, that hogs your mind whenever you see him/her?

Would you like to have this extrasensory power?  In that case, will you call it a burden or a blessing?

Google’s proposed advertising partnership with Yahoo, has made Microsoft withdraw its takeover bid for the latter.

Google’s gain

• Microsoft-Yahoo would have been a huge entity to reckon with, for Google. At least for now, Google can breathe easy
• By proposing a advertising partnership with Yahoo and making Yahoo think about it, Google has made the world realize the shortcomings in Yahoo’s ad-serving capabilities
• Google’s share prices have shot up after Microsoft-Yahoo break up

At the end of the day, Google is the big winner in the Microsoft-Yahoo deal break up.

Based on the interviews I gave over the past 6 months or so, following is my view on the HR strategy followed primarily in IT servicing companies

Compensation offered to candidates is primarily governed by the skill set they possess; not on their expertise in the skill set. For instance, a highly skilled J2EE Designer will fall into the same compensation range as an average-to-below-average J2EE Designer. May be there is a slight advantage for the former, but not significant

This definitely makes the highly skilled ones, to explore their choices and ultimately go towards better opportunities. As a result only average-to-below-average folks join these companies (at least in majority).

Just a thought - In that case won’t the overall Intellectual Capital of the Company move towards the average?

I write many posts on Indian politics. Just for the sake of modularity, I have decided to own up one more blog of mine, dedicated to my views on Indian politics.

To view it - http://indianpoliticscornered.wordpress.com

To subscribe - http://indianpoliticscornered.wordpress.com/feed/

Thanks for reaching here!!

I have been using del.icio.us for quite sometime now. But, I felt it’s high time I choose a different bookmark manager, for the following reasons:

• I have gathered a huge list of bookmarks over time. Found it a little difficult to manage them using del.icio.us, partly because of my bad habit of using too many distinct tags
• There were a good chunk of bookmarks, which were either redundant or of no more use
• Firefox Addons for del.icio.us (at least the ones I tried) were too slow and not user friendly. I have never had good experience with them
• I use my bookmarks for private purposes. A bookmark sharing utility like del.icio.us doesn’t add a great value to my purpose

So I decided to give a try at Google Bookmarks. Following were the steps I followed, before I successfully migrated all my essential bookmarks.

Install Google Toolbar for Firefox, from here

Export bookmarks from del.icio.us as a HTML file. This is a relatively simple task!!

Import the bookmarks HTML file to Firefox

In the Google Toolbar, click on ‘Bookmarks -> Import Firefox Bookmarks‘

Voila!! All bookmarks will be imported. You can choose to Edit/Remove any bookmarks and their labels

You are done!!

Now you can access your bookmarks from your Google Toolbar.

Following are the advantages I found (so far)

1. Accessing the bookmarks from Google Toolbar is extremely fast
2. All bookmarks are private and secure
3. Adding bookmarks is highly simplified. You will never know that they actually get stored in Server. Performance is similar to adding local bookmarks to your browser

How can Google Bookmarks be improved:

1. Direct import facility from del.icio.us and other popular Online Bookmark managers
2. Sub-tag feature can be introduced (like Blogs -> Technology, etc.)

Overall, I started loving Google Bookmarks!!

Hmm… There is some food for my reading habit, which was starving for quite some time now

I got to know about the Orbis Terrarum Challenge through Ramya’s blog, which I regularly follow. She writes some nice reviews on books in her blog, which otherwise I would never have known about.

In a nutshell, Orbis Terrarum Challenge is a proposal to read 9 books - across 9 countries, 9 authors - by December 2008. To know more about the challenge, please click here.

B&b ex libris is one another good blog, for book lovers.

Following is my proposed list for this challenge. I have liberally assumed a few exceptions, as this is not a contest but a self imposed challenge.

• Few books are from authors of a different origin, from the subject
• I am not gonna maintain any order in the reading of these books. This is just a comprehensive list

Following is my list. Comments are welcome… On completion of each, I shall write a review on the book, in my own terms.

1) A Pale View of Hills

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Country: Japan
Amazon: Book link

2) The Color of Serendipity: A Journey Through Sri Lanka

Author: Nishantha Gunawardena
Country: Sri Lanka
Amazon: Book Link

3) Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

Author: Nelson Mandela
Country: South Africa
Amazon: Book Link

4) Paula

Author: Isabel Allende
Country: Chile
Amazon: Book Link

5) Neither Cargo nor Cult: Ritual Politics and the Colonial Imagination in Fiji

Author: Martha Kaplan
Country: Fiji
Amazon: Book Link

6) The Maya

Author: Michael D Coe
Country: Mexico (The Author is an American)
Amazon: Book Link

7) River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

Author: Peter Hessler
Country: China (The Author is an American)
Amazon: Book Link

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family

Author: Martha Raddatz
Country: Iraq (The Author is an American)
Amazon: Book Link

9) India After Gandhi

Author: Ramachandra Guha
Country: India
Amazon: Book Link