The Vinegar Test

Interesting technology for developing countries - a lot more going on, other than just cheap computing.

The vinegar test for cervical cancer - here.

"At the moment, five per cent of women in the developing world are screened for cervical cancer. In industrialised nations the figure is 70%.

Vinegar - acetic acid - could be used where the standard Pap smear is unavailable or too expensive."


"The researchers found that both techniques had a similar detection rate.

It could help health care workers make an instant decision as to whether a patient needs further treatment.

This is an important factor in areas where women live far from medical facilities.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting women, killing 200,000 each year.

. . . where scientists examine the cells for signs of pre-cancerous changes
It is the leading cause of cancer deaths in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The earlier it is detected, the better the chances of defeating it. If it is caught before it spreads beyond the cervix, 95% of cases are curable."

PCs for the 3rd world - The saga continues

So intel jumps onboard. The tech review article here. A older post on Negroponte's plan.

"On Wednesday, Intel unveiled a product it has demonstrated several times in recent months -- the Community PC, which is designed for use in rural India.

That PC reflects design ethnography of the sort Salvador practices. The Community PC is rugged, designed to withstand temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius and equipped with a special monitor and filters to deal with dust. It comes with a software-restore key that will rebuild the system's software at a keystroke if the PC fails. Finally, it can use a car battery as a backup power source, which is useful in areas where power failures are a daily fact of life. The PC will switch automatically between AC and DC power." - The technology review

This is not a $100 dream. Its more than twice the price, but a more realistic plan. Because selling a computer is not the ultimate goal. To service it, maintain it and build infrastructure for all this costs $$ too.

Dr. Oppenheimer or: How I Learned to Start Worrying and Hate the Bomb

click here to listen

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." I suppose we all thought that one way or another.

-J. Robert Oppenheimer

atomicarchive.com

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your hearts desire.

I doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure
of being alive.

IT doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals; or if you have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!
I want to know if you can sit with pain--- mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, ---mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal, and not betray your own soul.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where, or what, or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from within when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself; and if you truly love the company
you keep in the empty moments.


ORIAH, Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder

src

Nietzsche, Goethe, Boldness, Genius

I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!""

Friedrich Nietzsche

to tag or not to tag

... that is the question...

books[1] [2] [3] ...! how quaint. people do that any more?

let me make it movies instead.

I start this knowing very well that I am going to miss some of the best. But what the heck, this is just a list.

1. Casablanca(1942)
2. Julius Caesar (1953)
3. The Bridge on the River Kwai(1957)
4. À bout de souffle (Breathless)(1960)
5. The Great Escape(1962)
6. Lawrence of Arabia(1962)
7. Doctor Zhivago(1965)
8. [Per un pugno di dollari(A Fistful of Dollars)(1964)
9. Per qualche dollaro in più(For a Few Dollars More)(1965)
10. Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo(The Good, The Bad & The Ugly)(1966)] Dollar Trilogy
11. Un homme et une femme (1966)
12. The Graduate (1967)
13. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid(1969) Wasn't this the original cowboy love story?
14. Z(1969)
15. The Godfather(1972)
16. Le Dernier métro(The Last Metro)(1980)
17. Cocktail Molotov(1980)
18. Ordinary People(1980) And Redford can direct too.
19. The Big Chill(1983)
20. The Princess Bride (1987) Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
21. Chung hing sam lam(chung king express)(1994) If my memory of her has an expiration date, let it be 10,000 years...
22. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
23. Fargo (1996)
24. Kolya(1996) The perfect grouch has met his match. A five-year-old boy named Kolya.
25. Thin Red Line(1998)
26. Ha Hesder(Time of Favor) (2000)
27. Amores Perros(2000)
28. Elling(2001) They're packed and ready for the greatest adventure of their lives. All they have to do is get out of the house.
29. Ying xiong(Hero)(2002)
30. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2004)
31. Before Sunset(2004)
32. Brokeback Mountain(2005)

the black mamba in me
33. Pulp Fiction(1994)
34. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels(1998)
35. Lola rennt (Run Lola Run)(1998)
36. Fight Club(1999)
37. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)

anim+ (e /ation)
38. Antz(1998)
39. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away)(2001)
40. Sennen joyu(Millienium Actress)(2001)
41. Ice Age(2002)

A whole bunch of Woody Allen's - 42. Manhattan(1979), 43. Annie Hall(1977) ... and Tarantinos. and the whole BMW Films series.

The last movie I watched - 44. Walk on Water(2004)

ok, will never get done...and don't even get me started with Indian movies...

btw, veena, what % of these have you watched?

feel like a sad little chibi boy

Don't ask...

The War Against Intelligence

(A sign posted on a trail in CA, explaining the right of way)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood

...and stared at this stupid sign. Was reminded of those simple puzzles (questions that test your logic(?) skills)from back in middle school... something along the lines of, Sita is taller than Gita. Mita is shorter than Gita. Is Sita taller than Mita?

Doesn't this sign translate to, If bikers yield to pedestrians and pedestrians yield to horses. Will bikers have to yield to horses?

Is the arrow pointing down from the bike to the horse really needed? Is this one of the WMDs used by the ID-warlords in the war against intelligence? An attack on perfectly logical and well accepted theorys, like the survival of the fittest? Or is it just me, having a bad case of the frydays*...

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning. - Rich Cook (thx nutcase-in-a-suitcase)


* Think the annoying co-worker in Office Space saying, “Uh-oh! Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays!” Believe me, fridays can be just as bad.

Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata

Sahir Ludhianvi (from Hum Dono)

What's cooking? your brain?

This one is for all you cellphone yappers...

How to cook a (rather modest) dinner while you are on the phone? Easy, just make sure you and your roomate /friend /innocent-bystander /random-intruder-in-your-apartment / officemate have your cellphones charged.

A couple of other stuff you will need are - an egg, something to hold it in place, a hifi - and you are all set.

cellphone a --> egg <-- cellphone b

"Note: We cooked our egg during the evening using free local calls, if you were to cook an egg for lunch it would cost £3.00 - not cheap but you do have the convenience."

Be intelligent or Be square

Veena's post reminded me of this new thing (actually old wine in a new bottle), that seems to be the latest craze in Britain. Debating. Some enterprising chaps across the pond, realized that there was a market for "High Quality Debates" and enter Intelligence Squared. Apparently, people are sold on this idea and are parting with cash freely enough to make this company a huge success.

Now, if you are wondering why I was reminded of the above by Veena's post - well, the idea is not just to debate, but to meet your match while doing it. As NPR puts it, - "British company mixes debate and dating"

That might not seem like a match made in heaven, to some of you folks. You might wonder, who would want to come home, after a hard day's work, to fight, argue and debate?! Well, there is a market for it too, as they say. Silence might be golden, but Arguments make the world go around :)

Waiting for Spring

Click here for a larger version.

Remembering last spring. At Santa Cruz. :)

All life is an experiment

“All life is an experiment. The more
experiments you make the better.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Brand new year (well, almost. Its only been like 2 weeks and 2 days) . And a brand new experiment (well again, as new as the year atleast) ;)

Over the years, the lazy self has wanted to read more poetry than it ever got around to reading. As if that weren't enough, the self enjoys poetry being read out loud. Which in turn implies exercising more muscles than it would ever consider moving.

The idea - Outsource the reading.
The name - pō'ĭ-trē

This is a pre-alpha proof of concept. So be patient :)

And what is this all about? A perfectly valid question. In an ideal world, it would be a scene from Kabhie Kabhie, where the Big B woos Rakhi with"Kabhie kabhie mere dil mein". But in a less than perfect world, the self has created a blog by recording poetry in its own voice - hoping others would get interested and add to the collection. (Yes, it believes that this will be a collection. Well, it also naively continues to believe that america will one day elect a woman president) :)

Poetry in any language is welcome. As long as there is not too much of @#$%!*, everything goes. Please try to respect copyright and other such brutalities that society imposes on the self (and the others).

As the collection grows, it will be indexed to make it more navigable. And yes, it will be made searchable by google (or your favourite extension of the brain on the internet). All that is still in the works. (Did the self mention it was lazy?)

About now you begin to have these great ideas on how to improve or support this blog. Or you might be thrilled that there is some use for all those flamethrowers in the attic. If you want to help, here are some ideas.

a) suggest a better name, a better tagline, a writeup about why the self and anyone else would want to do something like this.
b) record a poem of your choice - its easy. *
c) suggest a better layout
d) any suggestions infact :)

(until telepathic communication between us higher beings is perfected,) please email your ideas, audio recording, suggestions etc to



e) the self also appreciates kind words, dark chocolate, great movies, good food, lazy vacations and of late, has been interested in collecting mughal miniature paintings. Help with any of these would be greatly appreciated too.

How it works :

"What you don't do can be a destructive force." -Eleanor Roosevelt

pō'ĭ-trē runs democratically. As long as the self is the only one running the blog, it decides what goes. If you are inclined to join the club, you will get voting/vetoing rights too. :) For now the hazing rulebook recommends that one must have atleast three poems recorded in her/his/its voice and up on the blog before membership and voting rights are assigned (and now,it feels as powerful as Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List) ;) Ok, the other option is to be really nice to the self (for helpful hints refer e) in the list of suggestions). But the true strength of any democracy lies in the power vested in the people. So contribute and make this a better place, for one and all.

Aside:
The self is no great reader of poetry. (That it is a great admirer of poetry well read, is a different matter altogether.) It does believe that, recording poems in its own voice and putting them up in public domain, might in a small way, help coax others to do the same.

The self is a very sensitive being, with a huge ego. So it fully understands the risk involved in doing this. It worries that all this might just result in the brutal slaughter of its own precious ego. But what is that sacrifice, compared to the pleasure of being able to sit (rather, recline) and listen to poetry at the click of a button (ok, a couple of buttons, you nitpickers!)

Other minor details:
* Here are some ways of recording audio.
i) you can actually do it on any windows PC - (start -> all programs -> accessories -> entertainment (or multimedia) -> sound recorder) and get a .WAV file.
ii) if you own a fancy-smancy voice recorder you use to secretly tape interesting book reading etc, use that. :)
iii) if you are on skype and use it often, it is sure you already know you can save audio recorded while chatting on skype - try that. the self does not use skype, but it hears this is a good option.
iv) go figure a better option and let the self know, as it loves to learn about these things.
v) came across this really cool open source audio recorder - Audacity. Lets you do a lot of complex recording, multiple tracks etc. But should work well for recording your readings. This works way better than the windows sound recorder. **

It Hurts, Again!

Hurt

I hurt myself today
to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
the only thing that's real
the needle tears a hole
the old familiar sting
try to kill it all away
but I remember everything
what have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
and you could have it all
my empire of dirt

I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
upon my liar's chair
full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
beneath the stains of time
the feelings disappear
you are someone else
I am still right here

what have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
and you could have it all
my empire of dirt

I will let you down
I will make you hurt

if I could start again
a million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

- Trent Reznor

Hearing Johnny Cash perform this song, can move you to tears.

Play on Real Player or WM

He brings all his pain, years of drug addiction, his struggles with his inner demons, and makes this song - his own.

Here was Reznor's reaction to Cash's performance.

"I pop the video in, and wow… Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn't mine anymore. … It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form. I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning—different, but every bit as pure."

Hurting oneself, or more specifically, cutting oneself, is supposed to be one of these horrid hobbies young people in some civilized countries indulge in, just to know, they can still feel! When Nine Inch Nails, first performed this song, that was the core audience, this song was targeted at.



Cash was given these lyrics, along with a bunch of others, of which he had to choose a couple and perform. He had no background on this song.

Love Two

Two movies, two beautiful love stories. Two women, two men. Alice Wu, Ang Lee.

Saving Face



Story of a young asian surgeon, who is coming to terms with sharing her apartment with her mother, after her mom gets kicked out of her grandparent's house. And managing to date her boss's daughter, a dancer!

The first film by Alice Wu (Stanford grad, ex-code monkey, self-proclaimed geek). The movie is set in New York. There are parts that are homage to classics like 'The Graduate'. The theme reminds you of 'The Wedding Banquet' (by Ang Lee) , set in New York and about Asian-american families coming to terms with the fact that, yes, their loving, devoted, sincere, successful children can actually be - Gay!

The actors were all excellent in their roles (Joan Chen, Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen). One way to tell a movie will be good, is when you can actually relate to or love the minor characters in the movie and they are also played by wonderful actors. There is also something about first time directors, that add so much to the soul of a film. They add these tiny details, nuances in the dialogue and scenes that add so much more life to the movie and the characters.

This is no Ang Lee, but an excellent first film.

Moving on to the men,

Brokeback Mountain



After all the wonderful reviews, Ang Lee's direction, the amazing landscape and the two hot men, it was finally time - to go gawk at it all. (After all, my sister has been so smitten by Heath Ledger, without even watching the film - just the trailers)

Yes, when I said, two movies - I did mean an Ang Lee film - but not the other gay film ('The Wedding Banquet'), but this one seems to have swept everyone off their feet.

Checked to see where this movie would be playing in my part of the world and turned out that it is being screened only in two theatres as it is a "limited release" film! At 7:30 decided to race to the Landmark Theatres. (don't you love it when they actually spell it as Theatre!) to catch the 8:00pm show on friday. Drove around for 30 minutes. Raced around the block for parking. Ran to the tiny theatre - got in at 8:15, and occupied, what were, the very last seats - right at the front and ended up looking up to Heath and Jake, the whole time.

Have to say it was worthwhile. I actually caught myself crying (cringe!) towards the end. That is something, I did not expect, walking into the theatre. I loved Michelle Williams. She did a splendid job. The pent up frustration, the pain of being hurt by someone she trusted so much. Its beautiful. The same with the last meeting between Heath and Jake - there was so much frustration, love, helplessness and the desire to be in control. There are very few times, that one sees strong men - cowboys at that - cry.

Repressed Lives and Fireflies - Despair and Hope

A writer, a friend!

Rucha Humnabadkar, friend, has come out with her debut novel. - Dance of the Fireflies.



UPDATE[02/06/2006] : A whole bunch of book readings in India.

Here is an article on the book in Deccan Herald. One in the Hindu. Another in The Telegraph.

Tsunamika

A year (and a couple of weeks) after the dreadful devastation by the tsunami in asia, people still struggle to get back on their feet. There was an interesting campaign that caught my attention while in Chennai - the Tsunamika.



These tiny dolls of hope, created by women in villages around pondicherry, who were hit by the tsunami. (Some of her different avataars on sale.)

A Living Symbol

She is a symbol, a living symbol with her own life.

As her name suggests, she is a child of tsunami;
The tsunami that changed the lives of millions.
She is the memory of Tsunami...

She has been hand-made by women,
The women who live by the ocean,
The women whose lives changed forever after the tsunami,
The women who are exploring a new way of living,
The women who are empowering themselves.
Tsunamika is an expression of their creative fire;
Through Tsunamika they enter a new & wider world.

She is made out of bits and pieces of cloth
Left over from other works;
Made from what is known as waste.
There is nothing called waste in Nature,
Everything has its creative role.
Everything can be living & beautiful,
As Tsunamika is …

She is a living message,
A message of a new way of living
In which Life is respected.
A message of the Oneness of Life
In which love has a place.
A message of the sacredness of life
In which we can celebrate, together.

And life can be very simple
Like Tsunamika is.
She is our beloved.
She has touched many lives.
Now, she is here.
With you!

Tsunamika
Born in Auroville

-http://www.tsunamika.com/

Craving Perfection - In an Imperfect World

Time and again I have heard people complain about how imperfect the world is. And, how nice it would be to get rid of all the imperfection, yada, yada. Here is one for you. The Fourth Estate, seems to take you guys seriously.

Here is an interesting link (yes, it is work safe). Of Illusions and how they are created in the mass media.
This was pretty enlightening - atleast to me. I always thought airbrushing and retouching was for over-the-hill actresses and other celebrities who are more than slightly challenged in the looks department. This model looks fine to me even without any of the "additions and subtractions".

The (Ice Cream) Shop Around The Corner

"But where do you want to go? "

"Corner House"

" Which one?"

"On Residency road, right next to Galaxy Theatre "

"Wait, that is under demolition..."

"Ok, go to Victoria Hotel and drive towards Brigade road..."

"Ahem, you mean Bangalore Central Mall, no may-dum?"

Being away from a city for ages, can make you embarrassingly incompetent at giving directions and completely incapable of getting to a place, you thought, you knew damn well. The saving grace is that once you get there, the ice cream is still the same. You can walk up to the counter and get Death by Chocolate. You still have to wait around for all those young couples to get done with their sweet nothings, before you can get a table, to sit down and enjoy, the cold ice cream on the hot chocolate cake ... [This is(was?) one of the cool places where high school couples hang out. Atleast, they used to when I was young(er?). ]

My first day in Bangalore. Mom and I were running around the town trying to find clothes and jewellery I can take to Kolkata for the bride's wedding. Also some essentials like - a cell phone (a long embarrassing story - why are all embarrassing stories long?!). And in the midst of all that, we decide we need a break.

Enter Corner House. We get in hoping to get a quick Ice Cream snack and move on. But once we enter, we sit there and talk about old times. Laugh and talk and relax. Before we know it we have spent 2 hours chilling there. Not bothered by the fact that we are surrounded by atleast 10 teen couples, flirting and sharing their cup of ... ice cream.

Good times. How long has it been since you got the chance to sit down and chill with your mom, at an ice cream joint or a coffee shop (or a cafe, or a barista as they call it these days)? Loving it!

W(B)edding in 'The City of Joy'

Celebrations continued in Kolkata. Managed to sneak in at the right time. Just before the Bride and Bill entered their home - as Man and Wife.

The celebrations mostly involved Bill's family handling all the appropriate bong looking rituals perfectly. A ton of very energetic relatives who managed to run the show just so. :) The bride, was not herself at all. She was busy being the epitome of virtue and patience (ok, that I am making up... alright, that was true, atleast with the makeup bit ;)). Estimated time for the face painting varied from 2 to 4 hours. End result - priceless. Some distant relatives were actually convinced that the bride was bong ;)


The groom was trying his best to keep up, with an interesting silk kurta, dhothi and topor.


For all the non-bongs (aka the bride's family), it involved hogging (awesome food) - most excellent fish and mithai, and lets not forget, gaping when any bangla was spoken - hoping we would understand some bit of what was going on.


Also had some other fun gastronomical adventures there, including K.C. Das, Flury's, roadside Chaat etc.


Did some mandatory sightseeing. Only could not make it to the Belur Math and Kali Mandir... Well, we need to save some for the next time, don't we. :)



If anyone is still interested in what I wore - here is what ;)



Now for the 'inside story'

The ceremonies themselves were filled with the hustle-bustle that makes a good wedding. There were people showing up from all over the world - well, some even hopped 4 countries to get there. :) There was a sweet cousin of the bride, who everyone is convinced, was there only because she has a bong boyfriend. (Well, time will tell. I am thankful she was around.) I was the offical photographer for the bride's family, and was promptly adopted by the rest of the real cameramen.

Given the amount of makeup and photo/video-graphy the bride and bill have been through in the past couple of days, I do expect them to have severe withdrawal symptoms. Friends, please don't be shocked if you knock on their doors sometime next month and see them dressed in heavy makeup, jewellery and rich silk, with bright lights, clicking pictures of themselves.

Bill's family was warm and very friendly. They did a great job of entertaining and feeding us. They are also a fun bunch to hang out with - in any city :)

This was my first trip to Kolkata - the city is very interesting. Not all I had heard about the city was true. It was much cleaner and organized than I had expected it to be. The weather was perfect - sunny, cool, not sultry - as it was december. I was not smitten by Flury's. On the other hand, all the other meals I had there were among the best. Most people I interacted with spoke and understood hindi, so transportation, food, bargaining etc was easy.

Victoria Memorial was very impressive. Got to see some interesting paintings of temples and nature from south india too - like the picture of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai etc. The park surrounding the building was very well maintained and being put to good use by the people. Though it does hurt to think all the money that went into building it, while majority of the people in the state were buried in poverty. Somethings don't seem to change.

The Indian Museum was huge. Totally beat my expectations. The sculptures from various regions and eras were excellent. Many were in very good condition too. Don't miss the ones from Java and Bodhgaya, the replica of the National emblem etc. The botanical and zoological collections were impressive in both size and variety. But I did not get to spend much time there.

The Rabindra Sethu and Vidyasagar Sethu were fun to drive by and on. The new bridge is definitely what any tween would call - neat.

Kalighat was an experience. Big crowd, people waiting outside and inside the temple ready to harrass you with all kinds of 'special' treatment you can get for the right amount. Beggars, handpulled rickshaws. A goat being sacrificed, right next to the queue for darshan. But also saw the faces of believers, who hoped this would get them a better life (in this world and the next).

More later!