Re: [silk] Free software made mandatory (In Kerala)
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 Biju Chacko wrote: Venky (Hariharan) would be able to comment more on this, but when I was in Red Hat I remember working on a proposed curriculum that was neutral. It had items like How to use a Word Processor rather than How to use MS Word or even How to use OpenOffice.org. It had suggestions for what software could be used to teach the curriculum, with both FOSS and proprietary software listed. I think that the above mentioned work-in-progress is still WIP with some additional bits thrown in as to what all could be suggested as a necessary (but optional ?) reading to get FOSS going. A generic syllabus does help in terms of providing choice. However, I have seen examples where a generic syllabus did not do much to change status quo due to lack of proper training or skills -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Fedora - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFG8LicXQZpNTcrCzMRAlzwAKCkKnA1Ff6MpTO5qBzcyRnqWI7r4wCdG2bj rqEjNYT0OE+bDA+89Dse9eA= =DhxG -END PGP SIGNATURE-
Re: [silk] Free software made mandatory (In Kerala)
On Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 10:57:36AM +0530, Biju Chacko wrote: At that point, other advantages come into play. For the man on the street, let's face it, software is just a tool. Choices should be made based on what the best tool for job is. Somebody make Redmond play fair, then. It's not like they didn't a lot of bullying and backstabbing to get where they are, so why the kid gloves? It's only fair if things eventually come around, and it's them who're squealing. I wish I could ignore them, but I'm faced to deal daily with their crap, which is a direct result of business-types ignoramuses. Even developers don't make the connection why their stuff runs on one OS fine, and craps out on the other. And don't tell me I have a choice of making a career in FOSS. -- Eugen* Leitl a href=http://leitl.org;leitl/a http://leitl.org __ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
Re: [silk] Hitler had an Indian Army?!
Another bit of trivia on the same lines... : the first jet fighter aircraft built in india, the HF24-marut was designed by, a german aircraft designer who was the designer for various WW2 german aircraft.. most notably the Fw190 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_HF-24_Marut On 9/19/07, shiv sastry wrote: On Tuesday 18 Sep 2007 10:23 pm, shiv sastry wrote: Pictures of them; http://www.geocities.com/alvinlee_81/WarPicsIndian.html More info http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/3/4/Borra407-439.html http://www.feldgrau.com/articles.php?ID=8
Re: [silk] Hitler had an Indian Army?!
On Wednesday 19 Sep 2007 3:25 pm, ashok _ wrote: Another bit of trivia on the same lines... : the first jet fighter aircraft built in india, the HF24-marut was designed by, a german aircraft designer who was the designer for various WW2 german aircraft.. most notably the Fw190 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_HF-24_Marut Having been interested in military aircraft since 1962 - I have known this factoid for about that long. India's underpowered fighter that should really have been developed further. But there were powerful geopolitical factors at play on a fundamentally naive Indian polity (and population). Pakistan got a ready-made Air Force by 1965 ( as part of CENTO - to combat the Soviets) and India did a panic purchase of Soviet MiG 21s in a love affair that is only now showing signs of the beginning of the end Check http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/Aircraft/Polly-Marut.html Not only did Kurt Tank design the HF 24, he also helped design VTOL (Vertical take-Off and Landing) aircraft long before any other design team - but in the post war climate of not allowing Germany to take to fruition any projects with military significance - nothing came of them. shiv
[silk] Book Autopsies
I suppose many of you would have seen this before, because you all know Cory wellbut it was the first time I saw it... http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/19/brian-dettmers-book.html Deepa.
Re: [silk] The Christian, the Muslim and the Hindu..
in infinite wisdom shiv sastry spoke thus On 09/18/2007 09:00 AM: Yesterday I decided to take an Auto (rickshaw) to go and pay my advance tax dues. On the ride back I encountered what we in Bangalore are encountering more and more often around this time of year - i.e in the time frame between Ganesha habba and Diwali. A narrow Gandhinagar street was further narrowed by a truck carrying a huge idol of Ganesha being taken for immersion. I had a similar encounter. However, I must say that the Bangalore traffic police did a great job of clearing a way through the street packed with dancers and devotees so that the people returning back from the office could pass through. Had this been in Delhi, the police would have simply given up and waited for the procession to clear up on its own accord. Given the limited road space in Bangalore and the heavy monsoons here, it is really great to see the traffic police managing the resources so well. -- raj shekhar facts: http://rajshekhar.net | opinions: http://rajshekhar.net/blog I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none.
Re: [silk] Free software made mandatory (In Kerala)
Even the BBC is not sacrosanct... it wasnt long back that there was a controversy about video media players on their site. Then yesterday, on their Digital Planet radio show on the world-service.. the program was almost entirely devoted to microsoft...they even had a guy come on and flay openoffice http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4849402.stm On 9/19/07, Eugen Leitl wrote: On Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 10:57:36AM +0530, Biju Chacko wrote: At that point, other advantages come into play. For the man on the street, let's face it, software is just a tool. Choices should be made based on what the best tool for job is. Somebody make Redmond play fair, then. It's not like they didn't a lot of bullying and backstabbing to get where they are, so why the kid gloves? It's only fair if things eventually come around, and it's them who're squealing.
Re: [silk] The Christian, the Muslim and the Hindu..
On 19 Sep 2007, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: it is really great to see the traffic police managing the resources so well. I have always had this idea that the traffic police are in many ways similar to sysadmins. One common trait is that no one appreciates them when things are going right, but they are the first to be blamed when things go wrong. -- Alok Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.
Re: [silk] Free software made mandatory (In Kerala)
On Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 09:46:44PM +0300, ashok _ wrote: Even the BBC is not sacrosanct... it wasnt long back that there was a I gave up on mass media some 15 years ago. Right now I can't even to the local government-sponsored radio for a few minutes, without instant nausea from propaganda and shallowness. Nobody dares touch the truly important topics with a 10 ft pole. -- Eugen* Leitl a href=http://leitl.org;leitl/a http://leitl.org __ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
Re: [silk] The Christian, the Muslim and the Hindu..
Sending again - this was meant to go on Silk - but I seem to have done something wrong.. On Tuesday 18 Sep 2007 9:08 am, Lawnun wrote: (I really could hear, 'Come again...' after the thank you, so I blame the Simpsons on that) Can you explain what the immersion business is about? I'd not heard of that as one of the ceremonials... Immersion is a fundamental part of the ceremony. The idol is immersed any any body of water. With concern being increasingly expressed about pollution and silting because of this - we tend to immerse in a bucket of water in the backyard at home. Lakes in Bangalore are no longer open for immersion of such idols - there are special water-filled tankers on standby for this purpose. The actual ceremony is something that I got some insight into from my late father in law - who, like many of his generation was a Sanskrit scholar, but also wrote translations (for us in English). I expect there are many explanations but here is one that i got. Ganesha himself is credited with many attributes and powers and his worship is said to lead to inevitable success in any venture. A lot of public info is available about these attributes and qualities. Anything I have written below will be hotly contested by people who claim to know.. quote me at your own risk. The actual reason for having a big celebration on a particular day every year has many explanations - but seems to be linked up with another Hindu story relating to (I think) the slaying of a mythological bear (Jambuvantha) by Lord Krishna and the retrieval of a precious jewel. Apparently the worship of Ganesha may well have been only a symbolic Vedic ritual in ancient days with no idol. After Hinduism got pushed into the background by Buddhism, Hindu revivalists brought Hindu rituals back to the masses by various means and giving form to Ganesha as an idol may have been one of those means. This explains the curious mix of ancient Vedic chants intermingled with ritual related to the mythology of Ganesha. In the actual ceremony a place is prepared for Ganesha - a little room, a seat etc which are suitably cleaned and decorated. An idol in Ganesha's form is placed on there and Ganesha is invited to come and take the place of the idol for the duration of the ceremony, and he is offered things that are said to please him. Each of these offerings has a story behind it, largely forgotten by the mindless ritual repetition that is done in most places. Once this is done, there is a specified period after which Ganesha is declared to be satisfied, and the idol (traditionally clay) is sent back to where it came from - ie a water body. Mind my disclaimer above if you quote me.. shiv
Re: [silk] The Christian, the Muslim and the Hindu..
On 9/20/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Apparently the worship of Ganesha may well have been only a symbolic Vedic ritual in ancient days with no idol. I remember being told that the festival was a recent (late 1800's - early 1900's) entrant and that it originated in a curious mix of the Indian independence struggle, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Marathi identity and the rise of a Hindu-right identity. I could be wrong, however.
Re: [silk] The Christian, the Muslim and the Hindu..
Exactly right .. it was a political statement tilak made, and it caught on rather well as you can all see srs -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gautam John Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 10:20 AM To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Subject: Re: [silk] The Christian, the Muslim and the Hindu.. On 9/20/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Apparently the worship of Ganesha may well have been only a symbolic Vedic ritual in ancient days with no idol. I remember being told that the festival was a recent (late 1800's - early 1900's) entrant and that it originated in a curious mix of the Indian independence struggle, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Marathi identity and the rise of a Hindu-right identity. I could be wrong, however.
