Smile please!

Guess who this is. Lindsey Evans, Miss Louisana Teen USA 2008.

Guess what this is. Her mugshot when she was arrested recently.

Is she smiling? Yes.
Is she posing for Miss Congeniality? Probably yes.

Who smiles like that when their mugshot is being taken? :-O

What happened? She decided to dine-and-dash at a restaurant with her friends, i.e. leaving the restaurant without paying, over a $46 bill. For one thing, if you are stupid enough to commit a crime, don't leave your purse behind. Yes, she left without paying, and left her purse behind. DUH.

That's not even the best part. When the cops were called, they obviously found the purse. Within the purse was some weed! Wow. She got arrested, and thereby came that photo up there. Why on earth did she decide to smile when she was being arrested?

Obviously, the pageant "dethroned" her on 20th October 2008; she lost her crown 11 days before her reign ended. Girl, you could have waited 11 days more.

It COULD NOT have been done in any other way

I was following election day in the US on CNN. All day. Little did I know that CNN will pull of a Star Wars. Remember the way they used to communicate in that movie?

Yeah, so I was thinking, CNN "beamed in" their correspondents and interviewees, for the first time ever on TV (see video). While it is a brilliant technological marvel, what was the point in spending so much infrastructure in doing something that could have been done by:
a. Cutting the scene reporting in the far-away location
b. Showing the reporting on a large screen TV
c. Telephone!
May be it was all about the ratings. But then, hands down, you've got to admit it is pretty cool - to see how far technology has reached from the time cell phones used to half the size of briefcases. It's also a good idea to see this being used in other aspects probably unimaginable right now. Hologram-conferencing is going to be a terrific idea when it comes to education in less privileged areas.
I am interested to see what The Daily Show has to say about this!

Aaah, Google Ads!

Google's Ad server thinks I am up to something. And that's why it provided this "non-intrusive text ad" based on the content of my email. What was that email about? I was sending a video link to a friend. Non-intrusive... really? :)
Yeah... what about these links, eh... WHAT ABOUT THESE LINKS?

I did not visit the website for these reasons:
1. May be it's a move by the government to expand their existing list. People who are into such activities would want to see if they are being watched. They type in their name into the website, and bingo, the CTU has a new name. Heh heh... I don't want to be on that list. As it is, I look like one!
2. It's a sponsored link? :-O Rac1st bum, that sponsoring dude.

Life. :-)

The latest gossip

Left brain, right brain and optical illusions

I have a question for you. What do you think, is this girl spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise?

If you think it is spinning only one way and not the other, look away and then look at it again. Has it changed since you had first laid eyes on it? Can you change the way you see it at will? :) That's the beauty of this illusion.

The Spinning Dancer, also known as the silhouette illusion, is a kinetic, bistable optical illusion resembling a pirouetting female dancer. The illusion, created by web designer Nobuyuki Kayahara, (his website) involves the apparent direction of motion of the figure.

There are studies that report that how you see the girl spinning determines which part of your brain you think from. If you see this moving clockwise, you use your right brain. If you see in counterclockwise, you are using your left brain. Why is it important? According to this report in The Sunday Times, the left brain and the right brain control different aspects of the way you think.

Left brain function:
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

Right brain functions:
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

When I read this, I was confused as to how to categorize myself. Because I see it happening both ways, and can control it as well! Don't I think from any side at all? (That would surely explain several things!)
I wonder if all this brain hemisphere analysis is true. In my opinion, it is merely an optical illusion. How can an optical illusion determine how your brain thinks? May be it does... may be it doesn't. Frankly, I do not find any significant differences in the above report of the left brain and right brain. I thought the hemispheres of the brain decide is handedness and language function. May be a neurological explanation can back up all this.
That's when I came across this post in a blog dedicated to Neuroscience. According to Steven Novella, the author of the post, it's just an illusion! And it has nothing to do with hemispherical dominance of either side of the brain.

[...] This news article, like many others, ignores the true source of this optical illusion and instead claims it is a quick test to see if you use more of your right brain or left brain. This is utter nonsense, but the “right-brain/left brain” thing is in the public consciousness and won’t be going away anytime soon. Sure, we have two hemispheres that operate fine independently and have different abilities, but they are massively interconnected and work together as a seamless whole (providing you have never had surgery to cut your corpus callosum).
We also do have hemispheric dominance, but that determines mostly your handedness and the probability of language being on the right or the left. There is also often asymmetry for memory, with some being right or left hemisphere dominant. But none of this means that your personality or abilities are more right brain or left brain. That much is nonsense.
Further, how your visual cortex constructs this optical illusion says nothing about your hemispheric dominance, and is absolutely not a quick personality profile. [...]

Aside, I found this piece astounding. It replaces my all time favorite illusion: the Lilac Chaser.

Ann Louise Nixon Cooper and Barack Obama

Ann Louise Nixon Cooper, 106

It's a pity that Barack Obama's grandmother did not live to see him become the first black president of the United States. But someone else did. Ann Louise Nixon Cooper. Does it ring a bell? President-elect Obama mentioned her several times during his speech yesterday in Chicago - "Yes we can."

Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old, and is from Atlanta. On November 4th, she left her home early, just so she could vote for Barack Obama. She has seen the history of US from 1902 - World War I, World War II, the cold war, Vietnam... and now she also saw America have its first ever black president.
"I ain't got time to die", she said to CNN.
She comes from a time when she was barred from voting on two counts - being a woman, and being black. She has seen America, and the world too, through thick and thin - and as Obama puts it, "she knows how America can change".
Here is where Obama talks about her in his speech:

[...] This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing -- Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?[...]

Colin Powell wept at Obama's victory. So did Rev. Jesse Jackson. I watched the elections for most of the evening yesterday - and more than experiencing the sheer joy of seeing Obama win the election, I was in awe because his persona inspires me to do something worthwhile... and to be a better person.
Update: Thanks to Nina for this video link! The 106 year old voter reacts to how she was an integral part of Obama's victory speech.

Sober enough to email?

Introducing Gmail Goggles.

Have you ever sent an email late one night when you were sloshed... and you woke up the next morning and wished you hadn't sent it? Let's say you are drunk-soaked-to-the-bone. And you decide to email your ex/crush/boss/coworker/ENTIRE-OFFICE and tell something you wouldn't want to tell when sober. Google kind of prevents that. By asking you a series of simple timed arithmetic questions. Just to make sure you are not drunk. Or stoned.

By default it is enabled on late Friday nights. But you can schedule it according to your drinking needs. For example, daily. :P

Guess what? A professor in my department told me about this!

I feel they should have this in cell phones and GPS devices as well. Just to save your life. :-)

Bungee rope

And now they passed the $700B bailout. Only two days after they rejected it.

In a country where I am yet to figure out what is the best way to drink from a water fountain. But then that is only me. :-)

Economic Plunge

DOW plunged 778 points today, the worst drop ever, after the $700 billion bailout was rejected by the United States House of Representatives.

Wow. I am not sure what the repercussions of this depression is going to be like.

DOW had dropped 685 points on September 17th 2001, the first trading day after 9-11.

Developing story

Wait... what?!

I like the Mac vs. PC ads by Apple. Mac and PC are two buddies. Mac is cool, but PC is not. In the past year or so, they basically say that Microsoft's Vista sucks and by releasing Vista, Microsoft has increased the sales of Mac.

Wow. Microsoft employees are going to lose their jobs because of Jobs. Heh.

So... after the really likable ads by Apple, Microsoft made its own ad. Starring Jerry Seinfield and Bill Gates. Shoe shopping. Somehow, this ad is supposed to draw the connection between... er... *nothing* and Microsoft Windows. Will someone shed some light on what this ad means?

Microsoft's ad

Waah Google Waah

Really really cool - Google's new browser - Google Chrome. :) Clean and light, and somehow SUPERFAST in loading webpages. It's almost instant!

Even more cool - Google Picasa 3. Newer features and major overhaul of Picasa Web Albums...

Also, Google's answer to Microsoft's Picture Viewer. Comes with Picasa 3. Truly beautiful.

Waah Google Waah!

Research Group Website

After a lot of ... repeat - LOT OF effort, I finally finished designing and got my research group website up and about. :) In the next year or so, lots of changes are going to be there, I suppose.

Its not funny!!!

I have to mention here that this incident was very very mortifying for me. I was scared out of my wits and took a good 5 minutes to figure out what has happening.

Seattle, 17th August 2008

It's 1:00 AM and I am sound asleep on a sleeping bag in the living room. I am waken up by something getting knocked over in the kitchen. When I open my eyes I see a *thing* moving around on the carpet with a blinking green light.
It's a *thing*, moving around on the carpet with a blinking green light.
Whenever it finds an obstacle like a furniture leg, it turns and sets off in another direction. Remember, it's 1:00 AM and I have been woken up from my sleep. This is what goes through my (very sleepy) head -

1. It's a robot. And it has been released by aliens.
2. Someone has broken into the house and has sent a life-form scanning device to scan for, well, life-forms.
3. It's something else probably.
I am still trying to figure out what is going on - and also considered the possibility that someone was playing a prank on me. But who would play a prank on me at 1:00 AM? I mentally counted that figured that there are a good number of people who are likely to play a prank on me at 1:00 AM.
I am petrified. While the thing is still whirring away on the carpet, I summon the courage to switch on the nearest light, still keeping my eyes on that thing, because it was right next to me. The lights are on, and I look closely.

Oh dear god it's a vacuum cleaner. A robotic one that is programmed to run at 12:02 AM every Sunday. And that thing had been running for a good hour before it woke me up.

I am still in a daze because of sleep and I think, I should just turn it over on its back so it could not move. Turned out it had a power button. I press that and it stays put.

**
Later in the wee hours of the morning I woke up time and again to make sure it had not moved again. It hadn't.

**

In action: Why it scared me.

A man of few words

Jishnu is my little-over-two-year-old nephew who has recently started talking. He talks in very few words. May be a word or two for the whole sentence. So Boudi and I were planning to go out and Jishnu was having his diaper changed. Clearly he was not wearing any pants. The following conversation happened (translated to English for blogging purposes).

Boudi: Eat soon Jishnu, and then we will all go out.
Jishnu: Pant?
Boudi: Yes you will wear pants.
Jishnu: Ma?
Boudi: Ma will wear pants too.
Jishnu: Shirt?
Boudi: Yes, Ma will wear a shirt.
Jishnu: Kaku?
Boudi: Yes, Kaku will wear a shirt too.
Jishnu: Pant?
Boudi: Yes he will wear pants as well.
Jishnu: Hmmm.

Boudi is what I call my sister-in-law. Kaku is me, Jishnu's uncle.

Wizard of Id

Ha ha ha!

Whatsisname - II

New Zealand is a fine country. I have always wanted to visit it because of it's scenic splendor. And now I have an additional reason to visit this country.
Names.
Really wonderful and creative ones, some being outright hilarious. The following are some of them - yes, they are fully official names, on paper.

Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii (who recently was allowed to change her name)
Benson (and his twin) Hedges
Violence
Number 16 Bus Shelter
Variable (whose plea to change name to 'F*ck Censorship' was rejected)
In God We Trust

Among the names that were not accepted by the Registrar General: Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Stallion and Sex Fruit.

I mean, who calls their son/daughter Sex Fruit? That poor thing will not make it through pre-school. What will he/she say when asked the meaning of the name? And I wonder how many people will turn around to look when someone hollers the name across the street!
Similarly, poor Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii... I wonder which is the first, the middle and the last name for this girl...

A New Zealand judge has made a 9-year-old girl a ward of the court so that her name can be changed from Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii, the country's national news agency reported Thursday.
Family Court Judge Rob Murfitt listed a series of unusual names that New Zealand parents had given their children, and said he was concerned that such strange monikers would create hurdles for them as they grew up.
"It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap," the New Zealand Press Association quoted the judge as saying.
Among the names Murfitt cited: twins named Benson and Hedges -- after a brand of cigarettes; Violence; and Number 16 Bus Shelter.
Some parents had named children after six-cylinder Ford cars, the news agency reported.
The Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages said in a statement that it had rejected names including Fish and Chips, Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi -- a staple food in Polynesian cuisine -- and Sex Fruit.
A lawyer for Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii said the girl is so embarrassed by her name that friends know her as "K."
Last month, an judge in the U.S. state of Illinois allowed a school bus driver to legally change his first name to "In God" and his last name to "We Trust."
But an appeals court in the state of New Mexico ruled against a man -- named Variable -- who wanted to change his name to a two-word phrase that contains a four-letter expletive and expresses opposition to censorship.

Source: CNN

Weird wild wacky world indeed.

Related post:
Whatsisname - I