Lose it...Find it...Boomerang It!!

Now!....This is one interesting service that I came across (although I am still unsure if its really worth it). It's called BoomerangIt. The whole idea is to tag all your prized possessions and in the event of a loss, the person who finds it can easily report it on their website. They then take care of collecting it and shipping it back to you.

Everyday, an average business traveller is being accessorized by all kinds of gadgetry. Laptops, PDA's, cell-phones, Mini DV camcorders, digital cameras, travel scanners are the business travellers' best friends. With the advent of compact memory cards and drives, the idea of 'travelling with data' is exploding in every sense. It's not a bad idea after all to have everything tagged. The website claims that their tagging system can help you find everything from watches to boats.

The only problem that I see with this is that your item has to be found by a 'good samaritan'.

Fact

350 million Indians speak Hinglish as a second language, exceeding the number of native English speakers in Britain and the US.

Hinglish : ' a mixture of Hindi and English widely spoken in India

Bill Gates v/s Conan O'Brien

I have talked about both of them in my previous posts on Bill Gates and Conan O'Brien. Both these guys clashed at the CES.

When : January 2005

Where: CES Annual Show, Las Vegas.

CES is the biggest consumer electronic show on earth. At the 2005 CES, Bill Gates was invited as the keynote speaker. And none other than Conan O'Brien was selected to host the sultan of software. Both guys were at their best. The hour long discussion between them is a must watch. Conan did have the better share of the laughs, specially when the Microsoft Media Center's remote picture uploading feature failed to work. "....and nine people are getting fired right now..remotely" is what Conan said when this happened.

The video stream is available on Bill Gates' homepage.

On an advertising note, my company's receipt organizing and expense reporting solution, NeatReceipts received the Newsmakers award at the 2005 CES :)

Pool Busters!

Friday Night, B-52 Sports Bar, Harrison, New Jersey.

Me and my friend entered the bar. We took a seat near the pool table and were waitin for our turn. We could see this huge group of caucasian guys and girls, who had encroached the table. It seemed like it was someones birthday. Their games went on and on and so did their orders of beers. There was this guy whom everyone called Alex. He was the undisputed champion of the lot. Out of the few games that we saw, he had a high win to loss ratio. Frankly, I thought he sucked. He was just winnig coz his friends were...err...losing.

It had been almost an hour, and we were still waiting for our turn. I walked up to Alex ( he behaved like he was the one in charge of the proceedings at the table)

Me: Hey, we've been waiting here for some time now.
Alex: Yeah, I saw that maan....(putting his arm on my shoulder and slowly walking towards a corner).....but you know waaat duude...we are gonna play till the end of the day, why donchuu try the bars across the street.
Me: What do you mean, have you reserved this table or something?
Alex: Naaah, its just that we aint gonna move from here.(winks at his girlfriend)

And suddenly, he played a horrible shot..the cue ball flew..it hit the wrong ball and a ball actually fell out of the table. I broke into laughter, and kept laughing..heading back to my table. The next thing I see is Alex following me. He came up real close to me.

Alex: Whatchu laafing at maan?
Me: That was a funny shot.
Alex: Where are you from originally?
Me: I am from India
Alex: Hahahaha....so you think you know a lot about pool?
Me: Well, I haven't played that horrible shots, I am sure about that atleast.
Alex: Oh yeah??....You know whaat?...why don't you just bang with me at the table man?..Lets do it...
Me: Naah, thanks, I am more interested in playing with my friend.
Alex: Aaaaah, cmaaan....five games...loser pays twenty.
Me: No man, not interested, thanks again
Alex: Hahahaha...I knew it, didn't I?...(He turned and mumbled) ....Middle Eastern f*****.
(That was a fit case for racist advances)
Me: Hey..hey..hey ....look man, you're drunk, don't utter another word, that's gonna get you in trouble.
Alex: Oh yeah? What you gonna do huh?...Wat you gonna do??...Challenge me at a 5-gamer maaan...
Me: Alright..I am in.

Final Score: 5-0 to Me.

Me to Alex: Hey, just coz you don't know....India's not in the middle-east alright?
Alex: Aiiight man...PEACE!

(Rakesh, if you're reading this...this one's for you my friend!)

Prepone....An Indian Word?

A few days back, a roommate of mine talked about how 'prepone' is not an english word. I have used this word all my life as an opposite of postpone. My roommate's claim was interesting enough for me to google the word 'prepone'. And yes, not once on the first few pages did I find, a dictionary.com meaning of prepone. All I found is discussion forums, blogs and other articles which talked about that word.

Here's what an entry in the Word Fugitives said about it ..

The word 'prepone' is found in The New Oxford Dictionary of English, published 1998. It is listed as being Indian (from India) and is defined as: to bring forward to an earlier date or time. Example given: The publication date has been preponed from July to June.

People in the U.S. use words like 'advance' and 'move up' to explain the opposite of postpone. Languagehat.com has a complete and comprehensive discussion forum on this word, and it is exciting to see what the world thinks of this word.

It is clear that the word prepone had its origins in India. And I feel good about it. Because the word prepone ... as someone at languagehat.com calls it.....is unquestionably useful.

The cry of the Dance Bar Girls.....

Bar Dancers from all around Mumbai, gathered at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai to protest against the recent ban from the Government of Maharashtra to shut down the dance bars that operate in Maharashtra.

Seen in this picture are a few bar dancers standing and shouting in unity. If you look closely, Rekha (name changed) has a Nokia 6600 phone! For one, thats the phone I have. I love it. I have always been a fan of Nokia phones and when I felt this in my hand, I knew I wanted it. Camera, Bluetooth, Infra-Red, Real Media Player, MP3 player,expandable memory and thousands of other applications all over the web which can be downloaded and run in this phone. You name it, this phone got it. I still remember the day, when I was going through the process of buying this phone. It was a hefty 15 grands. I spent two days trying to think if I could afford this phone and whether I should actually spend this much. I bought it, and I am so happy I did.

Err...Sorry..coming back to the Bar dancer story...

Government's Stand: Dance bars encourage prostitution and illegal activities. They are against our culture and are spoiling the young generations

Bar Dancer Association Stand: 75,000 of us are going to lose our jobs. No alternate work arrangements.

My Stand: Oh hell yeahh....If I am fired from a job that lets me afford phones like these with ease. I would probably scream harder than they are right now.

Gates does it again..!!

Another great quote from Bill Gates. This time taking a jab at Apple.

"You can easily find out if you are working on a Mac or a PC. Just throw your applications in there, and see if they work!"

Hehehe.

Road

Another picture taken in the Adirondack Mountains. This is the road to the Whiteface Mountain Summit. One can easily guess how beautiful the drive was.. eh?