1950 -

Just when we thought that we had almost accomplished victory, India takes another step backwards. Religion becomes the defender of Polio. It is such a shame!
My earlier post on Polio

Marathon Diary - Part 1

Things to Do Before I Die?

I am training for the Chicago Marathon that takes place on the 22nd of October. Why? Because, it's on my list and I am better off doing this when I am younger than older. Some people think that's plain crazy. For example: as encouragement, the M.D. in my lab told me that the "human body is not supposed to run 26.2 miles" and asked me, "What happened to the first runner of the marathon - Pheidippides?" Well, he ran from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon and after passing the message of victory, he did not just pass out, he dropped dead! So, the first goal is not to complete the distance, but - "Try not to die!". But, now runners are a little better equipped with scientific training programs, shoes for particular foot types, refuelling gels, GPS systems and adequate hydration. I told him if you think this is crazy, I'll show you crazy - Dean Karnazes.

Recent Comment

Another anonymous comment:(sic)

Yes, I support Parimal in all his efforts. Maharashtra needs to be saved from vulutres of south and north.

We have certain danger from these vultures whose population is growing like cancerous cells.

How many Marathis have migrated to Kerala, TN, Andhra, Rajasthan, UP and Bihar? They why should we respect chutyas from these states?

I was little disappointed by the rather tame tone. When will I succeed in getting some real hate mail or comments full of spite? Who are these people anyway?

Grad Students Cheat

Grad students cheat . The MBA student excuse is that it prepares them for the real world where cheating is an accepted business practice. Aha! Interesting demographics. 50% of engineers cheated. While arts majors were the most honest lawyers were rather honest too. Did the budding lawyers lie on the survey since lying in law is an accepted practice?

Memories of My Melancholy Whores

See review of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's not-so-recent, but latest book Memories of My Melancholy Whores on the book blog.

Reply-All

The "reply-all" option is probably one of the most misused inventions of mankind. Inventions that seemed like a good idea at the time but opened a whole can of worms, e.g.: CFCs, breast enhancements, Duckworth-Lewis Rule, polythene bags, etc.

On September 11, 2006, a sociology student at the University of Michigan posted an invitation for a "Ladies Bible Study". Quoting from a quote in the original email - Who Can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies?

The mail might not have been such a bad idea, but sending it to almost every single listserv on campus certainly turned out to be not such a good idea. The email probably went out to atleast 10,000 students who were members of some listserv or the other. While the student can hardly be blamed for the umpteen nincompoops who hit (mercy me!) the 'reply-all' button asking to be (guess) taken off the list and then the bigger unsolicited guardians-of-the-flame who replied to all asking people 'DO NOT HIT REPLY-ALL'.

This soon snowballed into a 2-week 'mail storm' which has not abated. It did bring out a number of parallel threads which involved jokers, anonymous annoying personalities and the administration to vent their anger against the church, the First Amendment and stupidity of Arts Majors. Yesterday, some bright spark designed a T-shirt to commemorate the event which reads "DO NOT REPLY ALL!" at the back.

Since this whole episode can be an interesting study of public response to such provocation, my friends and I created a wikipedia article this morning presenting the entire episode and its various flavours on Wikipedia (where else?). Already, there is a request to have the page marked for deletion. So while it lasts, check out Ladies Bible Study

Remember: DO NOT HIT REPLY-TO-ALL

Update: It's official the article has been now deleted. The discussions are very interesting. Democracy in action!

Pass the Decaf

If you have had it with music geeks, wine geeks, pasta chefs and other forms of pretension, consider adding coffee geeks to the list of people who annoy you.
As I sip my drip-coffee (< 10c a cup) made on a 15-dollar machine from Jewel Osco, I get this feeling that I was somehow cheated out of it all. Do drinkers of country liquor know what fine whisky is?

Appreciation: It's a matter of taste, training and a little stupidity.

Am I Back?

I was away in beautiful Cape Cod for a 2-week workshop which ended two weeks ago. Back in rainy and cold Michigan I have only wanted to simply curl up. I continue to feel lazy to post or even comment on blogs. That's what holidays can do to you. It has been a nice and long summer and I am just not ready for Fall. Just as I was about to wake up from blog aestivation I ran across this . Perhaps, I better go back to sleep.