Humour and the Blasts

Here are 2 of the funniest cartoons I have seen on the Blasts:

This one from the AsianAge:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While this one is from DNA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems some of you didn't get it, that the thought I had last expressed was a sarcastic one. I wrote that coz some sill hack would soon claim some numerical reason for the bomb blasts happening on 11/7/2006, and I wanted to pre-emept that.

And low and behold, I got two emails claiming exactly that.

The first one claimed:

11 minutes 7 places 8 blasts.
Tuesday was the 11^th day of the 7^th month, in the year 2006; and we know the numerical root of 2006 is 2+0+0+6=8

while another claimed that :

The blasts happened on 11/7/2006; Now 1+1+7+2+6=17; 1+7=8;
now we know that 8 is the number of Saturn, which brings along calamity and destruction; Further more 8 will explain why bad things happen on the 26^th; becaue 2+6=8 [refer to my earlier post: 26, The bad luck day!]

The thing with numerology, and especial this hindsight kind of numerology is that once you have a series of random numbers, you can definitely find some complicated formula which will fit that data. I'll start believing in numerology, once they effectively predict a future event, and it happens exactly when they claim it will happen.

Mumbai Train Blasts

So Mumbai now suffers from Terrorist attacks after the onslaught of Rain and hooliganism in the matter of 10 days.
They have attacked trains, which as you know are the lifeline of Mumbai. They have not only been well planned, but well executed as well.

If you look at it, they are quite different then the 1993 bomb-blasts. Those were targeted at prestigious places like Air India Building and Passport office.

This time the bastards have acted smartly. They have targeted those places which are frequented by the common man. They want to spread panic, terror and mayhem among the ordinary citizens of Mumbai.

Think about it: As an ordinary person how many times do you go to the Air India building and the BSE? Wouldn't you spend more time in the trains everyday.

With these blasts wouldn't you worry a little bit before taking a train? But the sad thing is that you have no choice. There are very few people who can travel by car or bus to work. About 5.5 Million people travel by train everyday, and some of those who left today morning, won't be reaching home tonight. Really sad to think about it. May god give strength to the families of the victims.

A totally inappropriate thought now:
Today is Tuesday, If you look at one of my earlier posts, http://dev3.blogspot.com/2005/08/26-bad-luck-day.html
Most of the incidents mentioned, also happened on Tuesdays
A lot to think about tonight.

Tags: Mumbai, Bomb blasts, terror, trains, terrorists

Feynman

Whenever we think of something, we often have thought along similar lines before, and we extrapolate that thought process to solve this new problem. Other people might call it 'Assuming'. Nothing wrong with it, except for the fact that this thinking becomes sort of mechanical and very often we do not understand the problem in a fundamental way. Feynman was never like that. He would like to understand a problem from a fundamental view in a sort of unconscious way and he would often come up with a totally new and better way of looking at the problem. His thought process was a very unique one, because he refused to have any preconceived notions and assumptions, looking only at the relevant factors. For example look at this link:

If Richard Feynman applied for a job at Microsoft

let me quote to show you how he thinks:

Interviewer: I mean, why are there round ones at all? Is there some particular value to having round ones?

Feynman: Yes. Round covers are used when the hole they are covering up is also round. It'’s simplest to cover a round hole with a round cover.

If you have more time, look at this link:

Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine

Tags: Feynman, thinking, though process

Pune

I have been enjoying a much needed vacation here in Pune, and Here are some bullets:

• Pune is well known for it's arrogant shopkeepers. After hectic shopping at West side we proceded home for lunch and we got a call from them explaining that there was some billing problem, so they asked us to come back. We thought that they had forgotten to bill something, and so were asking us to pay more. We asked them to come home. When they came home, they tallied the bill and told us that they had wrongly billed us for an extra Rs 499, which they will return! Punyat Ase hi hote!
• I am busy noting all the good eateries in Pune and today, I found the Pune University canteen to provide a heavenly Vada Sambhar.
• I also took all my younger cousins to watch Krrish and I might write abt it later.
• Now I am highly knowledgeable about Bey-Blades, which I am told is the latest rage amongst kids today.
  

Movies & more

Most of you know that I have a chronic affliction of watching movies, even bad ones. While chatting with someone, I was accused of wasting time watching movies, which according to him, I could have better used, by making something of my life.
I strongly disagreed with him, and here I would like to note down the things I have learnt from movies, which I could not have got from any other source.

Lessons from Movies

• The best time to do a quick Reconnaissance of a room, and check out the entry/exit points, as well as spy on the people present, is while doing a complicated dance, with atleast 50 extras dancing the same step in sync.
• 
  
• [On a related note].. The easiest way to gain entry to a high security party is to masquerade as a dance troop.
• 
  
• There are 2 ways in which a boy can meet a girl in college; firstly by having a big fight & secondly by being very clumsy and running into [literally] her, which result in both of you dropping all your stuff on the floor, thus giving ample opportunity for both of you to take each other's stuff.
• 
  
• If you meet someone and start off on the wrong foot, and you don't know their name, chances are high that, you will be spending a lot of the next day and a half, either saving the world from Nuclear disaster, or saving the POTUS, or falling in love, and quite possibly all three.
• 
  
• The skill most required of a criminal, is an ability to dance well.
• 
  
• If there is a shootout between rival gangs, the newbie will have the best aim.
• 
  
• The best time to have a secret, heated discussion with ur significant other is during a ball dance.[Ok I know I am coming back to dancing, but that's what I have noticed]
• 
  
• A Spy has the best sex life. [Even Arnold in True Lies has one by the end]
• 
  
• A porn star can pretend to be a hot school teacher and no one but the priest will know her true occupation.
• 
  
• Mafia Dons can't plan their next move unless the are being fitted a suit by an exclusive & expensive tailor.
  

These are the thing I have learnt in the past 3 days by watching movies, what have you learnt?

Tags: Movies, Life, lessons

Finally

I just read this link: Google route to track militants

Till some time ago, we used to read how pissed the Indian authorities were with Google earth [even APJ Abdul Kalam had spoken out against Google earth]. They were worried that terriorist and Naxalites could use Google Earth to undermine the security forces.

Now the army has realised that two can play at that game. Let me quote:

....that the satellite pictures would be able to pick out the green cover and the terrain clearly, enabling the forces to plan much better. They said it would be like flying over the area physically, instead of depending on two dimensional contour or relief maps.

Maybe now the Indian Government will realise that the benifits of Google Earth far outweigh any risks associated with security issues.

Google Earth, India