Eddie's first-grade class was having a game of Name That Animal.
The teacher held up a picture of a cat and asked, "What animal is this?"
"A cat!" said Suzy.
"Good job! Now, what's this animal?"
"A dog!" said Ricky.
"Good! Now what animal is this?" she asked, holding up a picture of a deer.
The class fell silent. After a couple of minutes, the teacher said, "It's what your mom calls your dad."
"A horny bastard!" called out Eddie.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Buildings go up, economies head down.... "Skyscraper Curse"
There's an uncanny correlation between attempts to construct the world's tallest building and financial crises. Be it New York in 1930, Chicago in 1974, Kuala Lumpur in 1997, China in 2008 or the biblical Tower of Babel long before that, efforts to erect mankind's next architectural monstrosity have proved a reliable indicator of economic meltdowns.
In the late 1920s, the completion of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings coincided with the Great Depression. The 1970s saw the erection of the 1,368-foot World Trade Center and Chicago's 1,450-foot Sears Tower amid stagflation, a fiscal crisis in New York and the breakdown of the Bretton Woods monetary system. The completion of Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers in 1997 coincided with the collapse of Asia's economies. Year 2008 saw the collapse of the world's financial markets with the completion of Shanghai World Financial Center, China.
What's the connection between the skyscraper's and the crises? Over-Investment, speculation.
The desire to erect the tallest building seems to have much to do with sudden capital inflows that pump up credit creation and confidence. It's often periods of over-investment and financial speculation, fueled by excessive monetary expansion, that drive developers and politicians to architectural one-upmanship.
What all this means for economies and markets is highly debatable. Still, history shows skyscrapers may provide more information than meets the eye. Building trends may just prove to be one of the very few economic barometers with real foundation.
Note: Excerpts as taken from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2120898/Buildings-go-up-economies-head.html
In the late 1920s, the completion of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings coincided with the Great Depression. The 1970s saw the erection of the 1,368-foot World Trade Center and Chicago's 1,450-foot Sears Tower amid stagflation, a fiscal crisis in New York and the breakdown of the Bretton Woods monetary system. The completion of Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers in 1997 coincided with the collapse of Asia's economies. Year 2008 saw the collapse of the world's financial markets with the completion of Shanghai World Financial Center, China.
What's the connection between the skyscraper's and the crises? Over-Investment, speculation.
The desire to erect the tallest building seems to have much to do with sudden capital inflows that pump up credit creation and confidence. It's often periods of over-investment and financial speculation, fueled by excessive monetary expansion, that drive developers and politicians to architectural one-upmanship.
What all this means for economies and markets is highly debatable. Still, history shows skyscrapers may provide more information than meets the eye. Building trends may just prove to be one of the very few economic barometers with real foundation.
Note: Excerpts as taken from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2120898/Buildings-go-up-economies-head.html
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Newly married couple in hotel
After their wedding reception a newly married couple went to their hotel and asked for the honeymoon suite.
"Do you have reservations?" the desk clerk asked.
"Only one," the groom replied. "She's not into anal sex,"
"Do you have reservations?" the desk clerk asked.
"Only one," the groom replied. "She's not into anal sex,"
Husband reading book and fondling his wife
A married couple is lying in bed one night.
The wife is curled up, ready to go to sleep, and the husband turns his bed lamp on to read a book.
As he's reading, he periodically reaches over to his wife and fondles her special bits. He does this a few times, but only for a very short interval before returning to read his book.
The wife gradually becomes more and more aroused and, assuming that her husband is seeking some encouragement before going further, gets up and starts stripping in front of him.
The husband is confused and asks, Why are you taking off your clothes?
His wife replies, You were rubbing me downtown. I thought it was foreplay.
The husband says, No, not at all.
His wife asks angrily, Well, what the hell were you doing then?
I was just wetting my fingers so I could turn the pages in my book.
The wife is curled up, ready to go to sleep, and the husband turns his bed lamp on to read a book.
As he's reading, he periodically reaches over to his wife and fondles her special bits. He does this a few times, but only for a very short interval before returning to read his book.
The wife gradually becomes more and more aroused and, assuming that her husband is seeking some encouragement before going further, gets up and starts stripping in front of him.
The husband is confused and asks, Why are you taking off your clothes?
His wife replies, You were rubbing me downtown. I thought it was foreplay.
The husband says, No, not at all.
His wife asks angrily, Well, what the hell were you doing then?
I was just wetting my fingers so I could turn the pages in my book.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Confession of Tommy
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose woman for the last three weekends."
Father Donavon asks, "Is that you, little Tommy Shaughnessy?"
"Yes, Father, 'tis I."
"And who was the woman you were with?"
"I can't be telling you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."
"Well, Tommy, I'm sure to find out sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now. Was it Brenda O'Malley?"
"I cannot say Father, please."
"Was it Patricia Kelly?"
"I'll never tell."
"Was it Brydie Sharon?"
"I'm sorry, but I'll not name her."
"Was it Mary Catherine Morgan?"
"My lips are sealed, Father."
"Was it Fiona McDonald then?"
"Please, Father, I cannot tell you."
The priest sighs in frustration. "You're a steadfast lad, Tommy Shaughnessy, and I admire that. But you've sinned, and you must atone.You cannot attend church for three months. Be off with you now."
Tommy walks back to his pew. His friend Sean slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"
"Three month's vacation and five good leads."
Father Donavon asks, "Is that you, little Tommy Shaughnessy?"
"Yes, Father, 'tis I."
"And who was the woman you were with?"
"I can't be telling you, Father. I don't want to ruin her reputation."
"Well, Tommy, I'm sure to find out sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now. Was it Brenda O'Malley?"
"I cannot say Father, please."
"Was it Patricia Kelly?"
"I'll never tell."
"Was it Brydie Sharon?"
"I'm sorry, but I'll not name her."
"Was it Mary Catherine Morgan?"
"My lips are sealed, Father."
"Was it Fiona McDonald then?"
"Please, Father, I cannot tell you."
The priest sighs in frustration. "You're a steadfast lad, Tommy Shaughnessy, and I admire that. But you've sinned, and you must atone.You cannot attend church for three months. Be off with you now."
Tommy walks back to his pew. His friend Sean slides over and whispers, "What'd you get?"
"Three month's vacation and five good leads."
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sushil Kumar wins bronze in wrestling
This news ought to be bigger than Michael Phelps winning 8 Golds (the most by any athlete in a single Olympics) or the great Sergei Bubka breaking his own world record many times over. India has won 2 individual meet medals in Beijing'2008. Abhinav Bindra did India proud just before her 61st Independence day by winning the first ever individual . Sushil Kumar put the icing on the cake by winning the bronze medal in the men's 66kg freestyle wrestling event at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday, August 20, 2008.
This rejoice does not here for more than 1 Billion people who have been starved of Olympic glory. In boxing, Vijender Kumar, a resident of Bhiwani, has reached the semi-finals, assuring himself a Bronze medal. This is the best ever show by India in Olympics. Move over Phelps, Bolt.. here comes INDIA.
Chak de India.. Chak de India.. Chak de India.. Chak de India.. Chak de India..
Friday, August 15, 2008
Phelps wins his 6th Gold
Michael Phelps wins his 6th Olympic Gold in 200m Medley by breaking another World record.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Find Unclaimed Money, Assets and Cash
FindUnclaimedMoney.net is the Internet's premiere web site for unclaimed money and assets. The database contains over 50 million records from the States' unclaimed property databases including millions from 12 Federal Government agencies' databases.
• Lost Assets due to name changes, marriage, divorce, etc.• Unclaimed assets from all 50 States.
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• Unclaimed dividends and interest payments.• Unclaimed Royalties for American Indians.
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• Unclaimed Private Pension plans taken over by PBGC.
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• Literally dozens of other sources.
The powerful search system at FindUnclaimedMoney.net is designed around "advanced name match" algorithm, that quickly searches the database from 50 million records to help locate one's unclaimed money.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Driving License
A blonde was speeding in a 30 mile per hour zone when a local police cruiser pulled her over and walked up to the car. The police officer also happened to be a blonde and she asked for her driving license.
The driver searched frantically in her purse for a while and finally said to the blonde policewoman, "What does a driver's license look like?"
Irritated, the blonde cop said "You dummy, it's got your picture on it!"
The blonde frantically searched her purse again and found a small rectangular mirror down at the bottom. She held it up to her face and said, "Aha! This must be my driver's license" and handed it to the blonde policewoman.
The blonde cop looked in the mirror, handed it back to the driver and said, "You're free to go. And, if I had known you were a police officer too, we could have avoided all this hassle."
The driver searched frantically in her purse for a while and finally said to the blonde policewoman, "What does a driver's license look like?"
Irritated, the blonde cop said "You dummy, it's got your picture on it!"
The blonde frantically searched her purse again and found a small rectangular mirror down at the bottom. She held it up to her face and said, "Aha! This must be my driver's license" and handed it to the blonde policewoman.
The blonde cop looked in the mirror, handed it back to the driver and said, "You're free to go. And, if I had known you were a police officer too, we could have avoided all this hassle."
Hackers hacked at infamous DefCon gathering
by Glenn Chapman Tue Aug 12, 4:02 AM ET
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - In the end, it was hackers at DefCon that got hacked.
After three days of software cracking duels and hacking seminars, self-described computer ninjas at the infamous gathering in Las Vegas found out Sunday that their online activities were hijacked without them catching on.
A standing-room crowd cheered admiringly as Tony Kapela and Alex Pilosov showed them how they were "pwned" by a simple technique that could be used to "steal the Internet."
"Pwned" is popular computer and video game culture slang playing off the word "owned" and is used to describe someone being totally dominated or humiliated online or in-game.
"It's a nearly invisible exploitation," Kapela said while revealing a hack that exploits fundamental Internet routing procedure to hijack online traffic unnoticed. "A level of invisibility that is unparalled."
The beauty of the technique presented by Alex Pilosov and Kapela is that hackers don't need to break into websites or plant malicious computer code to control and tamper with data travelling the Internet, the presentation showed.
Instead, the Internet is duped into sending people's data to hackers.
"Someone can passively intercept traffic," Kapela explained. "We can store, drop, filter, mutilate, grope, or modify data heading to you."
The tens of thousands of networks handling traffic on the Internet are programmed to trust each other for the best routes for data.
The choice of optimal routes is made instantly; decided by a network claiming the longest numerical Internet addresses for data destination.
A hacker can hijack traffic to and from websites of choice by adding enough numbers to computer addresses to have his or her network automatically deemed the best path for the data.
"We construct the man-in-the-middle attack on the Internet," Kapela said, referring to a classic hack in which someone gets between a computer user and their online destination.
"Internet routing is inherently trust based. We told the route that we know the best way to an address. A hacker could blast a lot of spam or launch a lot of phishing attacks."
Kapela and Pilosov proved their point by displaying for the rapt audience email, online searches and other online activity conducted that afternoon on the Internet connection used by DefCon attendees.
Hackers could use the attack to block access to websites or send traffic to bogus Web pages crafted to look like legitimate websites such as Twitter or Google, according to Kapela.
"Imagine all the wonderful stuff you could insert," Kapela said. "You can hijack stuff from China or the opposite. It may already be happening. Who could tell?"
The presentation capped a DefCon gathering attended by more than 8,000 people.
Hackers shared ways to crack everything from mobile telephones, computer games and social networking websites to electronic hospital records and high security locks used at the White House.
One seminar included a way to remotely turn off pacemakers regulating people's heartbeats.
A cavernous room was devoted to a non-stop "capture the flag" contest in which players hunched over laptop computers battled to seize and keep control of a network set up for the game.
Nightly "Hacker Jeopardy" drinking games required teams of players to correctly answer geeky computer questions with those giving wrong responses punished by having to guzzle beer.
Another contest challenged hackers to slip malicious software code past increasingly sophisticated anti-virus programs.
Hackers also faced off in lock picking contests; Guitar Hero video game competitions, and computer simulated shooting used by police for firearms training.
Hackers also competed in making spy balloons that floated above the casinos.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) - In the end, it was hackers at DefCon that got hacked.
After three days of software cracking duels and hacking seminars, self-described computer ninjas at the infamous gathering in Las Vegas found out Sunday that their online activities were hijacked without them catching on.
A standing-room crowd cheered admiringly as Tony Kapela and Alex Pilosov showed them how they were "pwned" by a simple technique that could be used to "steal the Internet."
"Pwned" is popular computer and video game culture slang playing off the word "owned" and is used to describe someone being totally dominated or humiliated online or in-game.
"It's a nearly invisible exploitation," Kapela said while revealing a hack that exploits fundamental Internet routing procedure to hijack online traffic unnoticed. "A level of invisibility that is unparalled."
The beauty of the technique presented by Alex Pilosov and Kapela is that hackers don't need to break into websites or plant malicious computer code to control and tamper with data travelling the Internet, the presentation showed.
Instead, the Internet is duped into sending people's data to hackers.
"Someone can passively intercept traffic," Kapela explained. "We can store, drop, filter, mutilate, grope, or modify data heading to you."
The tens of thousands of networks handling traffic on the Internet are programmed to trust each other for the best routes for data.
The choice of optimal routes is made instantly; decided by a network claiming the longest numerical Internet addresses for data destination.
A hacker can hijack traffic to and from websites of choice by adding enough numbers to computer addresses to have his or her network automatically deemed the best path for the data.
"We construct the man-in-the-middle attack on the Internet," Kapela said, referring to a classic hack in which someone gets between a computer user and their online destination.
"Internet routing is inherently trust based. We told the route that we know the best way to an address. A hacker could blast a lot of spam or launch a lot of phishing attacks."
Kapela and Pilosov proved their point by displaying for the rapt audience email, online searches and other online activity conducted that afternoon on the Internet connection used by DefCon attendees.
Hackers could use the attack to block access to websites or send traffic to bogus Web pages crafted to look like legitimate websites such as Twitter or Google, according to Kapela.
"Imagine all the wonderful stuff you could insert," Kapela said. "You can hijack stuff from China or the opposite. It may already be happening. Who could tell?"
The presentation capped a DefCon gathering attended by more than 8,000 people.
Hackers shared ways to crack everything from mobile telephones, computer games and social networking websites to electronic hospital records and high security locks used at the White House.
One seminar included a way to remotely turn off pacemakers regulating people's heartbeats.
A cavernous room was devoted to a non-stop "capture the flag" contest in which players hunched over laptop computers battled to seize and keep control of a network set up for the game.
Nightly "Hacker Jeopardy" drinking games required teams of players to correctly answer geeky computer questions with those giving wrong responses punished by having to guzzle beer.
Another contest challenged hackers to slip malicious software code past increasingly sophisticated anti-virus programs.
Hackers also faced off in lock picking contests; Guitar Hero video game competitions, and computer simulated shooting used by police for firearms training.
Hackers also competed in making spy balloons that floated above the casinos.
Phelps wins 10th, 11th golds of Olympic career
Michael Phelps swam into history as the winningest Olympic athlete ever with his 10th and 11th career gold medals — and five world records in five events at the Beijing Games.
A day after etching his name alongside Mark Spitz and Carl Lewis with gold No. 9, Phelps set a standard all his own when he won the 200-meter butterfly Wednesday morning. An hour later, he swam the leadoff of a runaway victory by the U.S. 800 freestyle relay team, which shattered the old world mark by more than four seconds.
"He is just another person, but maybe from a different planet," said Alexander Sukhorukov, who swam the anchor leg for the second-place Russians.
In his signature stroke, Phelps had a problem with his goggles. But that didn't keep him from touching first in the fly.
No such worries in the relay. Seemingly impervious to fatigue, the gangly, 23-year-old American set a blistering pace of 1 minute, 43.31 seconds that got the Americans rolling toward a winning time of 6:58.56 — the first team ever to break the 7-minute barrier.
"Come on! Come on!" he screamed at teammates Ryan Lochte, Ricky Berens and Peter Vanderkaay.
The previous record of 7:03.24 was set by the Americans at last year's world championships. Russia took the silver, more than five seconds behind the Americans, who mainly had to make sure they didn't jump in the water too soon. Australia won the bronze.
"Safe start! Safe start!" Phelps yelled at Berens before he dove in.
After a six-gold performance at the 2004 Athens Games, Phelps needed only five days in Beijing to surpass Spitz, Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi as the winningest Olympian ever.
Phelps is now all alone at the top of the career golds list, with three more chances to stretch his lead before he leaves China. He'll swim in the 200 individual medley, 100 fly and 400 medley relay.
"There is still something left in the tank," Phelps said. "I've got three races left, so there had better be something left in the tank."
In the fly, Phelps was second at the first flip, then pushed it into another gear, his long arms gobbling up huge chunks of water as he literally sailed along atop the surface. He finished in 1:52.03, breaking his mark of 1:52.09 from the 2007 worlds.
Phelps barely smiled as he looked at the board, breathing heavily and hanging on the lane rope. Hungary's Laszlo Cseh really pushed it at the end, but settled for silver in 1:52.70. Japan's Takeshi Matsuda took the bronze in 1:52.97.
Phelps rubbed his eyes and said climbing from the pool, "I can't see anything." A pair of leaky goggles kept him from even seeing the wall as he touched.
"My goggles kept filling up with water during the race," Phelps said. "I wanted a world record, I wanted 1:51 or better, but in the circumstances not too bad I guess."
Still, he had two more golds and two more records before lunchtime, leaving him just three wins away from beating Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single games.
He's also keeping pace with Spitz on the record front. Spitz set world standards in all of his wins at Munich; Phelps is now 5-for-5 in China.
"I'm pumped about our relay," Phelps said. "It's the most fun thing to be in a team environment and be part of a relay. It's cool when you get four Americans who all swim well together. Everyone has to play their part or it's just not going to happen. We've been lucky that we've been able to do that."
The Americans are sure lucky to have Phelps, who is already recognized as the greatest swimmer ever — sorry, Mark — and plans to keep competing at least through the 2012 London Games.
After another trip to the medals podium, he flipped his flowers to mother Debbie, tears pouring down her face as she proudly watched from a front-row seat with her two daughters.
Everyone wanted to get a look at history, including the U.S. men's basketball team. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony were among those cheering on Phelps from poolside seats. James posed for pictures with Phelps' mom, Debbie.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
DNS attack writer a victim of his own creation
The creator of the Metasploit hacking toolkit has become the victim of a cache poisoning attack that targets a DNS bug. Reported by By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service on July 30, 2008
HD Moore has been owned. That's hacker talk, meaning that Moore, the creator of the popular Metasploit hacking toolkit, has become the victim of a computer attack.
It happened on Tuesday morning, when Moore's company, BreakingPoint, had some of its Internet traffic redirected to a fake Google page that was being run by a scammer. According to Moore, the hacker was able to do this by launching what's known as a cache poisoning attack on a DNS server on AT&T's network that was serving the Austin, Texas, area. One of BreakingPoint's servers was forwarding DNS (Domain Name System) traffic to the AT&T server, so when it was compromised, so was HD Moore's company.
[ See related story on how the DNS patch is causing problems at http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/DNS_patches_cause_problems_developers_admit_1.html?source=fssr ]
When Moore tried to visit Google.com, he was actually redirected to a fake page that served up a Google page in one HTML frame along with three other pages designed to automatically click on advertisements.
No BreakingPoint computer was actually compromised by the incident, but it was still pretty annoying.
BreakingPoint employees noticed the problem early Tuesday after friends and family who were also using the AT&T DNS server noticed that their Google.com Web page didn't look quite right (hackers had omitted the NASA-themed logo that Google used on Tuesday).
In early July, computer security experts began warning this type of cache poisoning attack could be pulled off much more easily than previously thought, thanks to a new technique. Early last week, technical details of this attack were leaked to the Internet, and HD Moore's Metasploit project quickly released the first software that exploited this tactic.
Now he's one of the first victims of such an attack. "It's funny," he joked, "I got owned."
Things may not be so funny to ISPs who are scrambling to roll out patches to their DNS software before these attacks become more widespread.
The flaw has to do with the way that DNS programs share information over the Internet. In a cache poisoning attack, the attacker tricks a DNS server into associating malicious IP addresses with legitimate domains, such as Google.com. Security experts say that this type of flaw could lead to very successful phishing attacks against Web surfers whose ISPs have not patched their servers.
Because of the nature of the AT&T hack, Moore doesn't believe that he was targeted by the hackers. Even BreakingPoint employees didn't realize that their internal DNS server had been configured to use the AT&T machine. Instead, he thinks that the hackers were simply trying to make a quick buck.
AT&T representatives were not immediately available to comment on the incident.
Moore believes that this type of attack may be going on at other ISPs as well, however.
Dan Kaminsky, the IOActive researcher who first discovered the DNS problem, said that he's heard reports of other attacks, although he declined to say how widespread they were. "The capability to do a lot of damage is out there," he said.
HD Moore has been owned. That's hacker talk, meaning that Moore, the creator of the popular Metasploit hacking toolkit, has become the victim of a computer attack.
It happened on Tuesday morning, when Moore's company, BreakingPoint, had some of its Internet traffic redirected to a fake Google page that was being run by a scammer. According to Moore, the hacker was able to do this by launching what's known as a cache poisoning attack on a DNS server on AT&T's network that was serving the Austin, Texas, area. One of BreakingPoint's servers was forwarding DNS (Domain Name System) traffic to the AT&T server, so when it was compromised, so was HD Moore's company.
[ See related story on how the DNS patch is causing problems at http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/DNS_patches_cause_problems_developers_admit_1.html?source=fssr ]
When Moore tried to visit Google.com, he was actually redirected to a fake page that served up a Google page in one HTML frame along with three other pages designed to automatically click on advertisements.
No BreakingPoint computer was actually compromised by the incident, but it was still pretty annoying.
BreakingPoint employees noticed the problem early Tuesday after friends and family who were also using the AT&T DNS server noticed that their Google.com Web page didn't look quite right (hackers had omitted the NASA-themed logo that Google used on Tuesday).
In early July, computer security experts began warning this type of cache poisoning attack could be pulled off much more easily than previously thought, thanks to a new technique. Early last week, technical details of this attack were leaked to the Internet, and HD Moore's Metasploit project quickly released the first software that exploited this tactic.
Now he's one of the first victims of such an attack. "It's funny," he joked, "I got owned."
Things may not be so funny to ISPs who are scrambling to roll out patches to their DNS software before these attacks become more widespread.
The flaw has to do with the way that DNS programs share information over the Internet. In a cache poisoning attack, the attacker tricks a DNS server into associating malicious IP addresses with legitimate domains, such as Google.com. Security experts say that this type of flaw could lead to very successful phishing attacks against Web surfers whose ISPs have not patched their servers.
Because of the nature of the AT&T hack, Moore doesn't believe that he was targeted by the hackers. Even BreakingPoint employees didn't realize that their internal DNS server had been configured to use the AT&T machine. Instead, he thinks that the hackers were simply trying to make a quick buck.
AT&T representatives were not immediately available to comment on the incident.
Moore believes that this type of attack may be going on at other ISPs as well, however.
Dan Kaminsky, the IOActive researcher who first discovered the DNS problem, said that he's heard reports of other attacks, although he declined to say how widespread they were. "The capability to do a lot of damage is out there," he said.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Life's Like that - Readers Digest Feb 2008
Reproducing a publication that I liked from Readers Igest February 2008 issue. It seems to be real life experience of a gentleman named RON BIRD.
One dark, rainy night, as I hitchhiked down a country lane, I was delighted when a car drew level and stopped. Without hesitating, I jumped in.
As the vehicle moved clowly off, I realized there was no no one behind the wheel. What's more, the engine wasn't running. Terrfified, I remained rooted to the seat until the lights of a pub came into view. I dived out and ran.
Once inside the pub, I was regaling my fellow customers with the spooky experience until, minutes later, two men came in, out of breath and wet. Looking round, one of them saw me, nudged his friend and said, "Look Tom,. There's that idiot who got into the car while we were pushing it."
One dark, rainy night, as I hitchhiked down a country lane, I was delighted when a car drew level and stopped. Without hesitating, I jumped in.
As the vehicle moved clowly off, I realized there was no no one behind the wheel. What's more, the engine wasn't running. Terrfified, I remained rooted to the seat until the lights of a pub came into view. I dived out and ran.
Once inside the pub, I was regaling my fellow customers with the spooky experience until, minutes later, two men came in, out of breath and wet. Looking round, one of them saw me, nudged his friend and said, "Look Tom,. There's that idiot who got into the car while we were pushing it."
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
What are Aussies fussing about now?
The Australian newspapers and media all over has headlines like
"Cricket's day of shame" - Sydney Morning Herald
"Cricket caves in to India's demands" - The Australian
"India gets its way, Harbhajan charge downgraded, ban overturned." - The Sun-Herald
Where were these very newspapers when Brad Hogg used foul and filthy language against the Indian players. For them that is appropriate conduct. These very newpapers did not pushed everything aside when Ricky Ponting and his "gentlemen" team shoved the BCCI president off the dias on winning the Champions trophy. Its a shame that Andrew Symonds got away without any punishment. He too should have been fined 50% of his match fees for instigating Harbhajan.
All the evidence points towards Andrew Symnonds calling himself a monkey and Hayden supporting him. Furthermore, as per Darwin, aren't we all decendants of these very apes. So is Darwin a racist?
Aussies, please remember, the new India is polite and still follows the Gandhian philoshy but we have learnt not to show our other cheek when hit by someone. We will hit back where it hurts most if we are offended in any way. You abuse us, we will kick the butt out of your ass. We are here for good, like it or not.
Monday, January 28, 2008
New twist in Harbhajan case?
A new dimension has been added to the Harbhajan Singh's appeal case with Justice John Hansen, the judge who is scheduled the hear the appeal, suggesting that new evidence in the shape of recordings from the stump microphone could be used.
Harbhajan, the Indian offspinner, is appealing against a three-Test ban imposed by Mike Procter, the match referee, who upheld a charge laid by the Australian team that Harbhajan had racially abused Andrew Symmonds by calling him a monkey. Harbhajan has denied the charge.
Justice Hansen, who briefed the media about the hearing but didn't entertain questions, said "there may also be some additional evidence, such as transcript available from the stump microphone, which was not available to Mr Procter."
The Indian team management described the new development as strange and wondered if evidence had existed why it had not been used earlier. "If any new evidence is to be used, then they will have to show it us first," MV Sridhar, the assistant manager of the Indian team, said.
Another curious information to have emerged today is that the feed to the stump microphone was withdrawn from ESPN-Star by Channel 9, the host broadcaster, on the third morning of the Sydney Test, the day which the exchange between Harbhajan and Symonds took place.
"Through the first Test and on the first two days in Sydney there was uninterrupted feed from the stump microphone," a source in ESPN-Star, the Indian broadcaster, told Cricinfo. "But on that morning it was deemed fit that only the host broadcaster should have the complete feed, while we could have access it to it during play."
While outlining the procedures for the hearing, set to be held at the Federal Court in Adelaide, Hansen added, "in accordance with normal sporting disciplinary hearings, and previous appeals, the hearing will be in private." He confirmed that the evidence will not be under oath.
"It will be a re-hearing," said Hansen, "with evidence being given by all those witnesses who gave evidence to the adjudicator, Mr Procter." Australia will have six representatives at the hearing: Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and manager Steve Bernard. India will be represented by Anil Kumble, Harbhajan, Sachin Tendulkar, manager Chetan Chauhan and assistant manager Sridhar. Umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor are expected to be part of the hearing by means of video link.
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/333733.html
Harbhajan, the Indian offspinner, is appealing against a three-Test ban imposed by Mike Procter, the match referee, who upheld a charge laid by the Australian team that Harbhajan had racially abused Andrew Symmonds by calling him a monkey. Harbhajan has denied the charge.
Justice Hansen, who briefed the media about the hearing but didn't entertain questions, said "there may also be some additional evidence, such as transcript available from the stump microphone, which was not available to Mr Procter."
The Indian team management described the new development as strange and wondered if evidence had existed why it had not been used earlier. "If any new evidence is to be used, then they will have to show it us first," MV Sridhar, the assistant manager of the Indian team, said.
Another curious information to have emerged today is that the feed to the stump microphone was withdrawn from ESPN-Star by Channel 9, the host broadcaster, on the third morning of the Sydney Test, the day which the exchange between Harbhajan and Symonds took place.
"Through the first Test and on the first two days in Sydney there was uninterrupted feed from the stump microphone," a source in ESPN-Star, the Indian broadcaster, told Cricinfo. "But on that morning it was deemed fit that only the host broadcaster should have the complete feed, while we could have access it to it during play."
While outlining the procedures for the hearing, set to be held at the Federal Court in Adelaide, Hansen added, "in accordance with normal sporting disciplinary hearings, and previous appeals, the hearing will be in private." He confirmed that the evidence will not be under oath.
"It will be a re-hearing," said Hansen, "with evidence being given by all those witnesses who gave evidence to the adjudicator, Mr Procter." Australia will have six representatives at the hearing: Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Symonds, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and manager Steve Bernard. India will be represented by Anil Kumble, Harbhajan, Sachin Tendulkar, manager Chetan Chauhan and assistant manager Sridhar. Umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor are expected to be part of the hearing by means of video link.
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/story/333733.html
Sunday, January 13, 2008
What is patriotism?
What is patriotism? This is a question that flummoxes many Indians (including your truly) and we have never been truly able to define such.
Sania Mirza refuses to play for money (read Petro-Dollars) for other countries and puts playing for India above everything else. But she is issued a notice for keeping a foot close to the National Flag, thereby insulting the Tricolor, in a WTA event, on the basis of some gentleman in Madhya Pradesh. Who's more patriotic - Sania Mirza or the person who filed a case against her for his 5 seconds of instant glory.
Malaysian government snubs the Indian Prime Minister when Indian PM voices his concern for the treatment meted out to ethnic Indians and Indian diaspora at a large in Malaysia. There is no outrage or political fallout of this statement and we continue to holiday in Malaysia. This in spite of the Malaysians truly showing no love for Indian tourists there and looking to cheat them at the first opportunity. Is this patriotism and love for our country and fellow countrymen.
I leave this question open and invite comments on what constitutes "true patriotism" in Indian context. All the comments will be published as a blog entry in the later part of the year.
Digg story
Sania Mirza refuses to play for money (read Petro-Dollars) for other countries and puts playing for India above everything else. But she is issued a notice for keeping a foot close to the National Flag, thereby insulting the Tricolor, in a WTA event, on the basis of some gentleman in Madhya Pradesh. Who's more patriotic - Sania Mirza or the person who filed a case against her for his 5 seconds of instant glory.
Malaysian government snubs the Indian Prime Minister when Indian PM voices his concern for the treatment meted out to ethnic Indians and Indian diaspora at a large in Malaysia. There is no outrage or political fallout of this statement and we continue to holiday in Malaysia. This in spite of the Malaysians truly showing no love for Indian tourists there and looking to cheat them at the first opportunity. Is this patriotism and love for our country and fellow countrymen.
I leave this question open and invite comments on what constitutes "true patriotism" in Indian context. All the comments will be published as a blog entry in the later part of the year.
Digg story
Surf anonymously & protect your identity
I came across an interesting tool that I feel could useful for many user surfing the Internet. It allows you to surf anonymously, protects your identity and moreover guards against hackers. Check this great too out by clicking the image below.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tata Motors launches Nano
Nano, the world's cheapest & smallest car labelled "People's car" from TATA Motors has been unveiled at a glittering ceremony in India Auto Expo minutes before.
The 4 door 5 seater car is extremely sleek and cute and comes in Standard and Deluxe variations. It has a top speed of 70 km/phr, is extremely fuel efficient (gives 20km/lt. or 50miles/gallon), has a 624CC 33bhp engine. As per Mr. Ratan Tata, the car meets the stringent Euro IV emission norms and is Bharat II compliant, thus being extremely environment friendly. On the safety front, it meets the front collision safety norms as per Indian standards and meets the side and rear impact norms of International standards.
The car is roughly 8% smaller in size than Maruti 800, the people's car so far but has 21% more interior space than it. It has a rear engine though.
In spite of rising input costs, Mr. Tata has promised the standard version of the car at a ex-showroom price of Rs. 1,00,000.00 roughly equivalent to $2600 (1$=38Rs) stating that "Promise is a promise".
Best of luck TATA Motors for launching of the car. Hopefully I can get my hands to it when its launched commercially in August / September 2008.
digg story
The 4 door 5 seater car is extremely sleek and cute and comes in Standard and Deluxe variations. It has a top speed of 70 km/phr, is extremely fuel efficient (gives 20km/lt. or 50miles/gallon), has a 624CC 33bhp engine. As per Mr. Ratan Tata, the car meets the stringent Euro IV emission norms and is Bharat II compliant, thus being extremely environment friendly. On the safety front, it meets the front collision safety norms as per Indian standards and meets the side and rear impact norms of International standards.
The car is roughly 8% smaller in size than Maruti 800, the people's car so far but has 21% more interior space than it. It has a rear engine though.
In spite of rising input costs, Mr. Tata has promised the standard version of the car at a ex-showroom price of Rs. 1,00,000.00 roughly equivalent to $2600 (1$=38Rs) stating that "Promise is a promise".
Best of luck TATA Motors for launching of the car. Hopefully I can get my hands to it when its launched commercially in August / September 2008.
digg story
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Hogg charged for making 'offensive remark'
Brad Hogg, the Australian chinaman bowler, has been charged under Level 3 of the ICC Code of Conduct following a complaint by Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan. Hogg was accused of making an offensive comment to Anil Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the second Test in Sydney and hearing is scheduled to take place on January 14, days before the 3rd test at Perth. If found guilty, Hogg could be banned for two to four Tests or for eight one-day internationals.
Paragraph 3.3 of the Code of Conduct refers to players or team officials "using language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person's race, religion, gender, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin".
Paragraph 3.3 of the Code of Conduct refers to players or team officials "using language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person's race, religion, gender, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin".
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