Miscellany
Too little time to browse, too many interesting links!
It's gonna take me ages to sift through this site on word trivia, but I think it's worth it. Also came across double dactyls, which, contrary to my first impressions, had nothing to with cretaceous flying creatures.
It's gonna take me ages to sift through this site on word trivia, but I think it's worth it. Also came across double dactyls, which, contrary to my first impressions, had nothing to with cretaceous flying creatures.
Iraq Graffiti
Make your very own Iraq message. Usage of "I got invaded and all I got was this stupid cardboard" is forbidden.
The Tree of Life, which I used in my first GRA project, was posted on MeFi today. MeFites came up with some interesting members of the TOL.
The Tree of Life, which I used in my first GRA project, was posted on MeFi today. MeFites came up with some interesting members of the TOL.
Waffles
After Dubya's 'Miserable Failure' googlebomb, comes John Kerry's 'Waffles'. The reason? Kerry has backtracked on so many issues in the past. Given a choice between the devil and the deep blue Kerry, I would definitely go for the latter.
I now have a gmail account. Reach me at iam.dev2r [at] gmail.com! All blogspotters who sign in should see an invitation on the page immediately after login. I LIKE it! My only grouse: It spoils my text-search capabilities on Firefox since gmail's shortcuts override those of Firefox's.
I now have a gmail account. Reach me at iam.dev2r [at] gmail.com! All blogspotters who sign in should see an invitation on the page immediately after login. I LIKE it! My only grouse: It spoils my text-search capabilities on Firefox since gmail's shortcuts override those of Firefox's.
Business Forecasts...
This article paints the current U.S. economy in the right colors. There has been a shift from hiring full-time workers for longer periods to hiring temps for shorter project-based periods. This seemed to be restricted to high-tech areas like call-centers, consultancies etc., but now it seems to THE business model for almost all kinds of businesses, from manufacturing to state government agencies.
But here's a forecast that I really liked: Those concerns will ease over time, and employers are likely to convert some of the jobs now staffed with temps to full-time positions. But the new approach to employment is likely to be more permanent, analysts say.
Yay for me, possibly.
But here's a forecast that I really liked: Those concerns will ease over time, and employers are likely to convert some of the jobs now staffed with temps to full-time positions. But the new approach to employment is likely to be more permanent, analysts say.
Yay for me, possibly.
For all you Gmail wankers...
The low-down/411/*insert urban street talk term here* on Gmail... Just like Orkut, a few selected elite are testing a preview release of Gmail. Here's the long and the short of it. 9 frames??? Sweet Allah!
Current opinion? A long way to go.
EXTRA! EXTRA!: Get your woefully information-sparse GMail screenshots here and here!
Current opinion? A long way to go.
EXTRA! EXTRA!: Get your woefully information-sparse GMail screenshots here and here!
Binge Watching
My own personal Lent officially ended when I went on a heavy bout of movie watching.
I started out with "Dawn of the Dead". Great zombie movie, and enough gore to keep you wincing. Even before the opening credits start to roll, we get treated to an aerial view of a truck crashing sideways into a car and then crashing into a gas station, thereby causing everything in the vicinity to explode. If that's not a great opening for a disaster movie, I don't know what is. Other scenes that I really liked:
* Ving Rhames chooses the next zombie to kill by writing "Jay Leno" on a whiteboard. The sniper stuck on another roof, picks the zombie that resembles Jay Leno the most. It was pretty funny, almost like a macabre "Where's Waldo". I'm sure there's a postmodern allusion in there about celebrity status and the plebian desire to see celebrities get their come-uppance, but I'm not going to go into that.
* The arrival of the truck with a few survivors to the mall. It's a satisfying feeling to watch the truck back up into the standing zombies and see the their heads go splat !
The second movie was "Mystic River". Great performances by Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. But the ending left me feeling ambiguous. Hmm, maybe I need to watch it again for it to make any sense. Great study of characters, though.
But the piece-de-resistance was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I was buying tickets, and I forgot the name of the movie. The couple who bought the ticket after me forgot the name of the movie too! This seemed to set an appropriate tone for a movie about forgetting. It was funnier than I expected. It's a great movie about love and the lengths one can go to, to avoid remembering past love. It chaotically plunges into the darkest recesses of the mind(quite literally) and brings back past memories. Jim Carrey (Jim Carrey's memory image) leads his ex-girlfriend, Kate Winslet (Kate Winslet's memory image, to be more precise) through the maze of his mind to keep the doctors from finding her and erasing her. The ending is very satisfying and the beginning scenes make more sense when the last minutes of the movie roll in. If you've ever truly thought you loved someone in the past and tried simultaneously to forget and remember him/her, this is the movie for you! Even if you don't belong to the previous category, you should just go see the film for its novelty and technique. Heck, go see it if you want to see Kirsten Dunst dancing in her underwear!
Well, fun-time's over. Like the Jesus-dude who died and came back to life today, it's time to start a new cycle.
I started out with "Dawn of the Dead". Great zombie movie, and enough gore to keep you wincing. Even before the opening credits start to roll, we get treated to an aerial view of a truck crashing sideways into a car and then crashing into a gas station, thereby causing everything in the vicinity to explode. If that's not a great opening for a disaster movie, I don't know what is. Other scenes that I really liked:
* Ving Rhames chooses the next zombie to kill by writing "Jay Leno" on a whiteboard. The sniper stuck on another roof, picks the zombie that resembles Jay Leno the most. It was pretty funny, almost like a macabre "Where's Waldo". I'm sure there's a postmodern allusion in there about celebrity status and the plebian desire to see celebrities get their come-uppance, but I'm not going to go into that.
* The arrival of the truck with a few survivors to the mall. It's a satisfying feeling to watch the truck back up into the standing zombies and see the their heads go splat !
The second movie was "Mystic River". Great performances by Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. But the ending left me feeling ambiguous. Hmm, maybe I need to watch it again for it to make any sense. Great study of characters, though.
But the piece-de-resistance was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I was buying tickets, and I forgot the name of the movie. The couple who bought the ticket after me forgot the name of the movie too! This seemed to set an appropriate tone for a movie about forgetting. It was funnier than I expected. It's a great movie about love and the lengths one can go to, to avoid remembering past love. It chaotically plunges into the darkest recesses of the mind(quite literally) and brings back past memories. Jim Carrey (Jim Carrey's memory image) leads his ex-girlfriend, Kate Winslet (Kate Winslet's memory image, to be more precise) through the maze of his mind to keep the doctors from finding her and erasing her. The ending is very satisfying and the beginning scenes make more sense when the last minutes of the movie roll in. If you've ever truly thought you loved someone in the past and tried simultaneously to forget and remember him/her, this is the movie for you! Even if you don't belong to the previous category, you should just go see the film for its novelty and technique. Heck, go see it if you want to see Kirsten Dunst dancing in her underwear!
Well, fun-time's over. Like the Jesus-dude who died and came back to life today, it's time to start a new cycle.
Once more, with feeling...
As a desi living in my comfortable off-campus residence, I've avoided the hassle of living in a dorm. Even during my undergrad days, I was a day scholar, thereby depriving myself of the little triumphs and tribulations of hostel life. College, is hands down, the best part of your life. College life, as an M.S. student, is even better. This funny article I read today reminded me of the non-drunken good times I've had over the last two years and the occasional episodes of intoxicated debauchery. As a true-blooded desi and a certified nerd, I've stayed true to my principles of lifelong virginity, but I can imagine the sort of life that goes on in American dorms.
The reason I'm reminiscing on the good times I've had as a student is that they may be coming to an end soon... maybe as soon as next week. It is time again to face the harsh world of corporate competence and one-up-manship. This time though, I can't sneak back into the protective folds of academia mater's skirts. It's time to put a fresh face on, and go through the rituals of trying to evoke sincerity and certainty.
This is good: Nickelback's Two Greatest Hits - now available in one convenient song! [3.61 MB] Scientific proof of Nickelback's suckiness.
The reason I'm reminiscing on the good times I've had as a student is that they may be coming to an end soon... maybe as soon as next week. It is time again to face the harsh world of corporate competence and one-up-manship. This time though, I can't sneak back into the protective folds of academia mater's skirts. It's time to put a fresh face on, and go through the rituals of trying to evoke sincerity and certainty.
This is good: Nickelback's Two Greatest Hits - now available in one convenient song! [3.61 MB] Scientific proof of Nickelback's suckiness.
Kaw Valley Christ
Some guy re-enacts the famous ketchup disaster of 33 A.D. I think this picture was taken before Jesus Chainsaw Massacre was released. I'm not sure, there is no way to confirm the date. In the background is the Granada, one of the hottest discos in Lawrence, KS. (One place I've never set foot inside... :( )
That's Kansas for ya!
