Creative commons
thescian | September 8, 2006Like most people who don't own Bermuda shorts, I'm bored by ordinary travel. See the Beautiful Grand Canyon. OK, I see it. OK, it's beautiful. Now what? And I have no use for vacation paradises. Take the little true love along to kick back and work on the relationship. She gets her tits sun-burned. I wreck the rental car. We've got our teeth in each other's throat before you can say 'lost luggage'. Nor do attractions attract me. If I had a chance to visit another planet, I wouldn't want to go to Six Flags Over Mars or ride through the artificial ammonia like in a silicone-bottomed boat at…
thescian | September 3, 2006Read the science fiction novel Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling over the weekend. The story follows the lives of a bunch of unreasonable people who hack the weather - where hacking means getting in the middle of storms and capturing a lot of scientific data. The year is 2031 and the world is a dismal place with earth warmed-up and chaos abound. The story has enough pace to keep you going but does not provide much adrenaline rush. The main characters are all over the story but they are not sticky. Much of their background seems to be an afterthought. The scientific ideas are neat and that's…
thescian | August 31, 2006Fun stuff. Search and download. See the announcement. A fable I liked from Aesop's Fables book below. We call this desensitization in the modern lingo.
thescian | August 30, 2006
Very cool page at the AAAS Kids section.You can also upload a picture and create an instant genius out of your favorite person.
thescian | August 22, 2006An artful way to expose the unreasonable assumptions we make when we stereotype people. Click around. Surprise yourself. [via]
thescian | August 18, 2006Colbert thrashes the new planets. Neil de Grass Tyson, Astrophysicist and Director, Hayden Planetarium, of New York City is on the show. A planet is something that's round?
thescian | August 18, 2006The book tagging meme is back! I love it. Arunn of Nonoscience has a nice list up and has passed on the book love to yours truly. So here goes.
One book that changed your life?"The Real Man" by Boris Polevoi. I read the tamil translation from Mir Publishers.
One book you have read more than once?"Surely you're joking, Mr.Feynman"
One book you would want on a desert island?The Feynman Lectures on Physics
One book that made you laughThe Last Hero by Terry Pratchet. All the Hitchhiker books.
One book that made you cry
None. But, some books brought a lump to my throat. India: A Million Mutinies…
thescian | August 17, 2006Your truly's responses to a bunch of fun questions asked by Seed Magazine's Katharine Sharpe. This would be a weekly feature at Page 3.14, the blog by Seed editors. Keep a tab on the page. More accomplished men and women of science would feature there in future. Enjoy.
thescian | August 15, 2006A report at IHT on the perky little electric car called Reva that you may have seen in Bangalore."We were looking at making a car for the crowded new cities in India and China, not a green vehicle for the Californian market," he said.
Amen. And, they sell it in Europe. My next car may as well be this. The secondhand VolksWagen I bought in desperation when I arrived in the UK is bleeding my wallet. Look! I already found a nifty blog on this by a Londoner!
thescian | August 15, 2006Today is India's Independence day. I was born long after that day. Because my people had the courage and fortitude, I was born in a society that was free. I was born in a society that controlled its own destiny. Freedom is the breath of a society. It is the heartbeat of a country. Freedom is life.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of…
thescian | August 14, 2006A single parent at 25, struggling to feed her three children by working as a maid for a series of exploitative employers, Ms. Halder had no time to devote to reading or to contemplating the harsh reality of her existence until she started work in the home of a sympathetic retired academic, who caught her browsing through his books when she was meant to be dusting the shelves. He discovered a latent interest in literature, gave her a notebook and pen, and encouraged her to start writing. "A Life Less Ordinary," this season's publishing sensation in India, is the result of her nighttime writing…
thescian | August 14, 2006 A friend of mine sent an invitation for his sister's wedding. This image was on it. Such fun! I love the way the image is done. All those fat buggers blowing and bangin happily. Wonderful caricature. For those not in the know, the long pipe instrument is Nathaswaram and the other one being banged on is Mridangam Thavil.
Let me tell you my personal marriage story. For my marriage I was woken up at 5 AM or thereabouts, dressed up and bought into the marriage hall. Ramya had the same done to her. We were kept awake by the insanely happy guys who played the Nathaswaram and Mridangam in such…