Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2015

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

The books I liked are:

* Bottle of Lies (Katherine Eban) - from having a very scattered
awareness of the underbelly of generics, the book was useful to
understand what goes on.
* Coming Out As Dalit (Yashica Dutt) - aside from the topical nature
of the memoir, the writing/prose has strength which is both authentic
and makes one pause
* Assam - The Accord, The Discord (Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty) - have
always had fragmented understanding of the accords and this provided
an opportunity to seek to know more and have better understanding of
the troubles.

full list of books I read are at



On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 9:04 AM Thaths  wrote:
>
> On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 7:49 AM Anil Kumar 
> wrote:
>
> > Any takers for a book recommendation thread this year?
> >
> > Two books I enjoyed reading are:
> >
> > 1. This Divided Island - Samanth Subramaniam.
>
> 2. A Beginner's Guide to Japan - Pico Iyer.
> >
>
> I also enjoyed 'Autumn Light' by Pico Iyer.
>
> Other books that I read and enjoyed in 2019:
>
> * We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
> (Gourevitch, Philip) : Excellent book about the Rwandan genocide, and the
> aftermath
>
> * The Fat Years (Koonchung, Chan): Sometime after the 2008 Great Financial
> Crisis, China becomes the dominant world superpower following the collapse
> of the Western economies. But there seems to be a collective amnesia in
> China. People don't seem to remember what happened during some crucial
> months. Only a handful seem to be immune from this amnesia.
>
> * A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth (Weinberg, Samantha)
> : The story of the discovery of the Coelacanth.
>

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2015

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Fri, Dec 11, 2015 at 8:35 AM, Thaths <tha...@gmail.com> wrote:
> What have you read over the last year that has left a mark on you? What are
> you eagerly looking forward to reading over the Christmas/NewYear's
> holidays?

<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20696006-being-mortal>
<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23596977-the-colonel-who-would-not-repent>
<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27274955-for-king-and-another-country>
<https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22535415-john-le-carr>


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
<https://about.me/sankarshan.mukhopadhyay>

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2014

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 4:17 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 Books that are easy to get a hold of in India (and more difficult elsewhere)
 preferred (but not required). Fiction and non-fiction recommendations are
 equally welcome.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21897728-india-psychedelic---the-story-of-a-rocking-generation
and 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18118195-illicit-worlds-of-indian-dance


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://about.me/sankarshan.mukhopadhyay

Re: [silk] Books and libraries

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Nov 5, 2014 at 3:23 PM, Venkatesh Hariharan ven...@gmail.com wrote:
 Dava Sobel's Longitude is a fascinating account of how longitude was fixed.
 I never realized how challenging this task was.

On that note, 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17239116-everest---the-first-ascent
is an interesting read as well.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://about.me/sankarshan.mukhopadhyay

Re: [silk] Books and libraries

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Mon, Nov 3, 2014 at 8:34 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 A few historical non-fiction books I read recently and really enjoyed:

 1. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

 2. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

 3. A Strange Kind of Paradise: India Through Foreign Eyes


I was surprised by the last one. For some reason I hadn't expected it
to be as engaging as it turned out.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://about.me/sankarshan.mukhopadhyay

Re: [silk] Employee-Employee agreement for open source activity

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 1:08 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:
 A colleague wants to start an open source project and wanted to make
 sure our employer is ok with it.

What does the phrase is ok with it mean in this context?


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] have your reading habits changed?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 12:28 PM, Venkatesh Hariharan ven...@gmail.com wrote:
 I was also thinking that with the cost of real estate hovering around
 15-20,000 rupees a square feet in Mumbai, a Kindle pays for itself
 immediately. Today, I simply have no space to store more books, and the
 Kindle is therefore very handy.

 Another benefit with the Kindle is that one can download a sample and
 decide if I want to go ahead and buy the book. I find that very useful.

 I love both formats, but ultimately, the content has to be really
 engrossing and nothing is more engaging than great writing!

Kindle/Kindle_app/Flipkart_app/e-book_reader_app are somewhat
irrelevant for me when it comes to reading books in the local
languages. There is a tremendous lack of books and, this makes the
usage of the devices a bit limited for me (even though I am staggering
under a load of books and, lack of bookshelf space)


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] have your reading habits changed?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 So I got myself a Kindle. And whether it is the novelty or the
 device-specific aspects (doesn't need ambient light, sufficiently
 booklike that one can read sprawled in bed, etc) - I have consumed 3
 books in 3 days, more than in the preceding 3 months.

The availability of the Kindle app and my (converted to) mobi
collection has indeed contributed to being able to read more.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Fwd: Wine tasting is bullshit. Here's why.

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 9:29 PM, Alaric Snell-Pym
ala...@snell-pym.org.uk wrote:
 which contained 1000mg paracetomol
 (why can't they just say 1g?)

On a tangent, this reminds me of the PR blitz about the new Honda
city - claiming 50mm increase in wheelbase. 50mm - and they
unfailingly report it everywhere. Including the TV shows on cars etc


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Book of 2013

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 3:40 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 On 24-Nov-13 5:42 PM, Udhay Shankar N wrote:

 Nilanjana has a new book out:

 http://www.infibeam.com/Books/hundred-names-darkness-nilanjana-roy/978938224.html

And, I quite liked it enough to recommend to a few readers. I don't
know if it would be Book of 2013 but it is definitely worth the
time.

 https://www.facebook.com/ShaktiBhattFoundation/posts/593078010759171

 Boats on Land by Janice Pariat (Vintage Books Random House India)
 India Becoming by Akash Kapur (Penguin Viking)
 The King’s Harvest by Chetan Raj Shreshta (Aleph)

^^^ All 3 are great reads. And, the publishing value/aesthetics of the
printed texts are much improved than how it has been since the past
couple of years.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] MOOCs, Thrun, Udacity

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Nov 16, 2013 at 7:41 AM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote:
 The idea of an online classroom that controls the direction and speed of
 thinking in a medium that can break free of such constraints befuddles me.

 I vastly prefer reading a text book at my own pace, jumping across books
 and between chapters and working on problems with my own mental models than
 adopting the pace and thinking style of a lecturer.

The current form and shape of the MOOCs are merely the first/second
generations. There will be more tweaks to the story of massively
online learning pieces before they reach a stage where learning routes
become personalized.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Nandaja Varma - debian contributor / linux foundation awardee

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Sep 24, 2013 at 9:57 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
sur...@hserus.net wrote:
 Says in the article that she's got herself a GSoC working on indic.

 Thaths - you might want to say hi to her. And kingsley jegan as well, based on
 the last thread we had here.

Hop on to the SMC (Swatantra Malayalam Computing) list and say hi :)


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] [intro] Hello people of silklist!

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Sep 3, 2013 at 7:25 PM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 Since you are interested in languages/scripts, you'll be interested in one
 of the projects I'm working on - developing a harmonious font family to
 cover all of the world's (encoded) languages. More details (including some
 fonts to download) at noto.googlecode.com

A quick tangent - you don't have a font off the Noto family for Bengali, do you?


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Valerie Wagoner: Tapping the missed-call trade

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 4:55 PM, Vinayak Hegde vinay...@gmail.com wrote:
 Also another thing that stuck out of the article was 87 broad patents. Will
 be interesting to know what they are.

Among other things, wouldn't inassignee:Zipdial Mobile Solutions
Pvt. Ltd. allow you to get a fair idea about them?


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] India Considers Banning Pornography as Reported Sexual Assault Rises - NYTimes.com

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 1:59 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote:
 The conservatives will obviously welcome this and the politicians will love
 it because it's a meaningless but decisive move; with no political downside
 to it because of the taboo.

It would take a remarkable politician to bet him/herself against the
(s)he opposed the anti-porn bill and betrayed our women tirade. Our
current crop of elected representatives are not made of that stuff.

--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] bangalore treats

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 11:25 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
sur...@hserus.net wrote:
 I wouldn't wish ccd coffee on my worst enemy these days

 1. Walk into a CCD
 2. Order a double shot of espresso
 3. Waiter warns you sir, it is very strong coffee
 4. Yes I know, I still want it
 5. Brings you a watery brew, with two sachets of sugar and some creamer

There's that. And then there's the unrelenting attempt to sell their
coffee kits etc.


--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Why don't women write or reply more on Silk?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 11:05 PM, Indrajit Gupta bonoba...@yahoo.co.in wrote:
 A film about Alatriste? Sensational! but what about more Indian bookstores
 storing Alatriste first?

That's asking too much. But then the much vaunted Flipkart inventory
will also fail to show any.



--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Chennai Silk meet this week?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 2:43 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
sur...@hserus.net wrote:
 here's a homesick bong reviewing it

 http://saptarshichakraborty.me/blog/food/dinner-at-bay-leaf-cathedral-road-madras/

small portions is probably a polite way of putting it. If the
photographs are anything to go by then these are borderline miniscule


--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Chennai Silk meet this week?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 10:15 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 v. The Bay Lead - Bong food

Except for some random stuff in the seafood section, there's nothing
pretty much Bong on the menu. How's that for oddity ?


--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Chinese martial arts movies

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Dec 22, 2012 at 3:37 PM, Divya divyasamp...@yahoo.com wrote:
 I second the endorsement of Wu Xia. Terrific martial artistry courtesy
 Donnie Yen, and excellent performance by Kaneshiro Takeshi as the persistent
 cop.

On the subject of Donnie Yen, I was fascinated with Ip Man (not so
much with the sequel though) because of the effort he'd have put
himself through to get the Wing Chun moves as documented.

--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Mumbai Silk List Meet - 16th December

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Fri, Dec 14, 2012 at 2:51 PM, Venkatesh Hariharan ven...@gmail.com wrote:
 (I was wrongly referring to it as Salt Water Grill)

If that is any indication then you should organize one at Pune ;)

Have fun at the meet.


--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Chinese martial arts movies

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 6:47 PM, Venkatesh Hariharan ven...@gmail.com wrote:
 To that list of movies, add The Banquet a stylishly mounted Chinese
 adaptation of Hamlet.

Is this the same movie which is also The Legend of the Black Scorpion ?

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] The Invisible Bank: How Kenya Has Beaten the World in Mobile Money

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 2:26 PM, Surabhi Tomar surabhi.to...@gmail.com wrote:

 This could very well work in India where the migrant workers have
 trouble opening accounts in the urban areas and sending money to
 remote areas back home is their primary concern.

Isn't this already being done albeit in an off-the-regulation manner -
folks topping up cash cards of a person at a location in order to pass
actual cash across (after deduction of a service charge). There was
large coverage in the weekly/fortnightly magazines on this around a
year or two back.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] On Facebook? So Are Your Future In-laws

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Fri, Jun 15, 2012 at 7:41 PM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 Fascinating how countries add a twist, in India's case one would say a
 sprinkling of masala, to technology that they adapt.

 http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/15/on-facebook-so-are-your-future-in-laws/

I know of at least one incident when photographs were asked to be
taken off public/social networks citing in-laws. This isn't new is it
? We have always liked to have more input sources for our gossip -
real or, pretend, fodder.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] bih jolokia is bhut jolokia, right?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 7:17 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 On 07-Jun-12 11:55 PM, Eugen Leitl wrote:

 Just ordered some from the local Amazon, wanted to be sure it's the right 
 thing.

 Wikipedia and other pages say that they are the same thing. Caveat: I
 have not personally heard anybody of Assamese origin use the term bih
 jolokia. Anyone?

Probably a variant/form of the word for poison.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/
https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan

Re: [silk] Netiquette / Top posting (was: Re: aqvavit)

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 8:07 AM, Charles Haynes
charles.hay...@gmail.com wrote:

 You mean it doesn't thread the way you like. It does do threading
 just not in the model you're used to.

Which could be the case as I'm more familiar and comfortable with the
way offline mail clients handle and display threads. That pattern
makes it easy to follow various conversation forks. If the Gmail WebUI
does this differently, I'd be interested in understanding how it does
so, and reading up on it.

For example, the Y! and Zimbra WebUIs tend to mimic the offline client
threading model.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Netiquette / Top posting (was: Re: aqvavit)

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 6:29 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian
sur...@hserus.net wrote:
 Gmail on the web has its own idiosyncracies and some context sensitive 
 advertising that occasionally tends to the bizzarre

That the Gmail WebUI doesn't allow any form of threading is still a
sore point. And, although I use the WebUI (and, the app), to avoid
chunks of email folders all over disks, it still is an ugly path to a
conversation.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Airtel 3G

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 12:00 PM, Aditya Kapil blue...@gmail.com wrote:

 I want to shift to 3G on my Galaxy Note. How has the 3G experience been, on
 this forum? I've had mixed views from my colleagues at work. Some say that
 the speed isn't remarkably better; others say that they experience
 call-drops more frequently. Given that we all have wi-fi now at office and
 home, is it really worth shifting. Can't change from Airtel due to company
 wide discounted plans etc.

At Pune it is nothing worth raving about. The coverage is a bit spotty
and, call drops are routine unless you force the handset to use 2G
networks when not using data. Airtel couldn't care less about
improving things as far as I can figure out.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Fwd: [ISN] Certified Ethical Hacker Ankit Fadia Hacked by TGH

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 3:30 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote:
 On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:01 PM, ss cybers...@gmail.com wrote:
 7000 x 15000/50 is $2 million. No one can hack into hard cash.

 Well, for some people their reputations are worth more than that.

Ankit Fadia's (in)abilities haven't been completely secret to a
certain group of people and, his 'reputation' in that circle might be
non-existent.

However, there are circles where his abilities are talked about,
revered and feted. And, these don't only including the various TV
shows, they also include some of the premier engineering/research
institutes where he organizes talks/coaching etc.

Reputation is relative and fickle. And, those making serious money
have always ignored the first group.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2011

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 12:30 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
 For the third year in a row, I am turning to silk listers for book
 recommendation this holiday season.

 What have you read over the last year that has left a mark on you?
 What are you eagerly looking forward to reading over the Christmas/New
 Year's holidays?

Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars by
Sonia Faleiro (although this seems to have been published during 2010)

Opium War by Julia Lovell

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] an-NRI again

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sat, Oct 22, 2011 at 6:27 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 Interesting piece. I know a few people who decided to return to
 (usually) the US after the Return To India didn't go as well as they
 wanted, but this is an interesting way of putting it.

And, among other folks, Chetan Bhagat chimes in as well
http://www.chetanbhagat.com/blog/2011/10/24/happy-diwali-and-why-i-am-still-here/

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] My Airtel Saga

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 6:32 PM, Vijay Anand vi...@vijayanand.name wrote:

 Ive exhausted all my resources. Their twitter id is handled by some gorilla, 
 i am assuming. Their only response was that they sensed i didnt have a good 
 customer experience. Called the Akosha guys to handle the situation, they dug 
 up some high profile contacts, got someone from airtel to call, but  two days 
 later the verdict is that the billing system has logged usage Sir. I dont 
 know how to break it to them that if we had exhausted our 50GB limit, and 
 dropped to the 256kbps plan that they call an excuse for broadband, how it is 
 even possible to download 70GB of data in 5 days, but logic is out of the 
 window at this point.

 I am at my final point, before i talk to lawyers to file a case in consumer 
 court. Silk listers, what would you suggest?

Is this after you've had a chat with their Nodal officers/offices ?
Most ISPs have, at one time or the other, done this, Airtel reasonably
more in recent times. The folks at the Nodal offices are generally
patient enough to give a hearing and provide a resolution.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Why I love Hindi film music from the 50s and 60s.

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 3:24 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.com wrote:

 India graduates a surprisingly high number of engineers and doctors
 every year from its Universities, yet, barring a handful, most of them
 are ill qualified to be honored with their degrees. This is a charade
 that modern Indian society willingly indulges in.

The degrees are conferred after they do successfully navigate the
examination system. I don't think it is a fair trade to say that the
individuals are ill qualified when the baseline against which they
measure themselves and, are themselves measured, is flawed.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] thunderbird conversation view

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 3:03 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:

 I don't know exactly. The UI I guess. I tried it for a couple of days
 and just couldn't take it anymore.

I installed it yesterday and thereafter realized that the Vertical
View Layout was allowing a better comprehension than the Classic one.
I'll probably stick with it for a while even though the grouping of
Inbox(es) and Sent Items is something that I still need to get used
to.



-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] thunderbird conversation view

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 5:26 PM, Aadisht Khanna li...@aadisht.net wrote:

 It also seemed to kill the right-click context menu items for move/
 copy to folder - dealbreaker for me.

That's interesting. I can select emails and right click to move/copy
them into desired locations.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] thunderbird conversation view

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 10:23 AM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:

 I tried it again yesterday. I noticed that for certain threads it was
 incorrectly displaying the sender. I noticed that when I wondered why
 a colleague was having a long complicated conversation with himself.

Oh ! How naughty ! What tripped me up yesterday was a thread to which
I had already responded, the add-on neatly picked up that response
from the Sent Items and inserted it at the right place in the thread.
I haven't noticed Gmail do that, perhaps it does, and I haven't really
paid attention.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] samsung 8.9 tablet

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 8:12 PM, Tim Bray tb...@textuality.com wrote:
 I don't agree that 7 is too small.  I have had my hands on a lot of
 Android devices, and the original 7 Galaxy Tab remains my favorite.
 Easy to carry, plenty big enough for news or browsing or email or
 games, light, even works as a phone if you have that model.  -Tim

The Androids (handset and tablet) don't handle Indic at all. And for
me that's a good point when considering an Android Tablet or, iPad.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 8:45 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 I got recommended a book called The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work[1]
 today. I am unlikely to get hold of it due to a couple of adverse
 reviews I read

It isn't specifically a bad read. I was a bit intrigued by the
reviews. The book picks up specific occupations and, not too diverse
at that, and thereafter provides some narrative to the pleasures and
sorrows part.

Worth a read if you pick it up from somewhere.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] What's on your bucket list?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Jan 20, 2011 at 6:47 PM, Madhu Menon c...@shiokfood.com wrote:

 Here, something to use as your mobile phone ring tone till I get there:
 http://madhumenon.posterous.com/madman-evil-laugh

For those who are lazy, can we receive the same as an attachment offlist ? ;)


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] server hosting in india

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 3:27 PM, Abhijit Menon-Sen a...@toroid.org wrote:

 My general reaction to Net4 is uniformly negative and I'd really rather
 not host with them, but I'm told they've become better recently.

Whosoever has told you about them getting better should either get off
your friend list ;) or, use their VPS within the limits imposed. That
is, if the said limits can actually be attained.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Silk meet in Kolkata?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Jan 11, 2011 at 4:13 PM, J. Alfred Prufrock
another.prufr...@gmail.com wrote:

 I'm 5 mins down the road from you - Park Plaza, at the head of Camac Street.
 Call me on 98300-62242, we should do something.

This makes a nice cue to ask about a place I noticed opposite Park
Plaza called Flame something. What's that ?


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Book recommendations

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 11:47 AM, Supriya Nair supriya.n...@gmail.com wrote:
 Random House has just published the first two translations in their new
 Classics series, both from the Bengali: one is Bankim's Durgeshnandini,
 which is widely considered the first novel written in an Indian language.
 The other is called Three Women and is a collection of three Tagore
 novellas.

http://randomhouseindia.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/arunava-sinha-bankim-or-tagore/
in context. I've had the chance to speed read parts of the
Durgeshnandini translation and, I'd heartily recommend it to anyone
who'd love to read a reasonably rich and complex novel. The caveat is
that since I've read the Bengali and, other works from Bankim, I'd
probably be prejudiced :)

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Kindle readers?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 8:57 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 From a journo friend of mine. Any suggestions?

 hope all is well. so far so good here.
 would you know anyone in bangalore who read books only on kindle,
 i-pad, etc?  it's for an article.

The 'only on' clause is interesting. Given certain limitations of the
devices and, availability of content, I'd be interested in knowing
who, after the purchase of a similar device, is shunning physical
books completely :)

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] What's the strangest thing you've eaten?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 12:24 PM, Gautam John gkj...@gmail.com wrote:

 The time I ate it, it tasted like cardboard.

So cardboard isn't one of the strangest things you've eaten ?


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Kindle your children?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 5:41 PM, J. Alfred Prufrock
another.prufr...@gmail.com wrote:
 How does one borrow books on a Kindle?
 One of the best things about growing up with friends was that our personal
 collections were effectively pooled.

The Kindle and the Nook allow 'lending' for a limited period during
which the book disappears off the bookshelf/collection of the person
lending.


-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Kindle your children?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 5:55 PM, J. Alfred Prufrock
another.prufr...@gmail.com wrote:


 The Kindle and the Nook allow 'lending' for a limited period during
 which the book disappears off the bookshelf/collection of the person
 lending.

 Wunderbar. Thank you.

Slight correction required here -
http://www.gadget.com/2010/10/24/just-like-nook-kindle-will-have-lending-features/
Kindle would start this 'soon'. Nook already does that.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Techno-literacy and its implications

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Sep 28, 2010 at 9:56 PM, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:

 When someone uses English with this level of skill, and expresses original
 ideas, we applaud them as being very smart...what about others, who may have
 the same original ideas, and are not able to express themselves thus?
 Hmm...I am not being very articulate myself...I guess I am getting bothered
 (another thread, present continuous tense!) by the elitism of English
 usage.

Is that not sometimes a factor of the chosen specialization ? For
example specialists in diverse fields have their own lexicon or,
stylized way of using English (or, any other language for that matter)
as opposed to generalists who may want to keep things to a different
tack.

-- 
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog/

Re: [silk] Migrating an organization to FLOSS

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 10:16 PM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 Invest in automating the installation. Have someone figure out how
 things like cfengine could be used to do automated installations. If
 the desktops and laptops your company is using are diverse, expect
 more troubles. Uniformity in hardware makes such roll out easier.

Yeah. Having a vetted 'recipe' for the kind of installations and
getting a plug_into_the_network and get_your_hardware_installed would
save you a large number on aspirins.

 Figure out if you are going to keep your 100 computers up with all
 upstream package changes or whether you don't mind lagging by a few
 months and having more controlled (and tested) roll out of selected
 and vetted changes.

That's the LTS part isn't it ?

-- 
You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw

Re: [silk] Migrating an organization to FLOSS

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Gautam John gkj...@gmail.com wrote:
 So I've been using Ubuntu on my machine at work and the team I manage
 all use Ubuntu - the rest of the organization seems to wonder why I
 never have virus problems and have seen that the basics an office
 computer requires, browser + office suite, is available on Ubuntu and
 we're considering migrating everyone to Ubuntu. Some 50 desktops and
 50 laptops.

 Would anyone have advice? A manual? Guidelines?

You could ask on the ubuntu-india mailing list(s) to begin with. There
are the standard manuals/guides on System Deployment and stuff on the
ubuntu wiki, but you probably have been there.

 (And yes, other distro's might be better but this is the only one I'm
 comfortable using...)

Heh :)


-- 
You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw

Re: [silk] Lyrics for song by Avial

[sankarshan . mukhopadhyay]

Biju Chacko wrote:

 I've heard them a few times, they're not bad. I didn't know about this
 gig though -- and I usually hear about them.

Now you know.

Re: [silk] last-minute itinerary for southie lens workout

[sankarshan . mukhopadhyay]

ashok _ wrote:

 There is no national identity card system.. which probably makes
 having a dynamic voter registry impossible.

They have been working on getting one for a while now. Turns out that
one of the stumbling blocks is the need to have the name in native
language and the searching for the same.

Re: [silk] WiFi in Chennai

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Gautam John wrote:

| I have a tata indicom usb thingy but I haven't been able to get it to
| play nice with Ubuntu.

there was an article in the LFY ~2 issues back around getting it to work
on debian

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Re: [silk] One Laptop Per Hamster

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Biju Chacko wrote:

| I find the keyboard annoyingly small -- otherwise it's really nice.
| It's the first linux box that I could get my wife to use on an
| extended basis.

the keyboard is a pain - i nearly got RSI-ed from extended usage of it.
and, since i have heavy hands on the keyboard it is already showing it's
usage

the battery is starting to suck a bit. and perhaps they could have
shoved in a laptop light - would make it more better.

the speakers are so so, the camera is nice though.

the reason she's using it for an extended period is perhaps her use case
makes it immaterial whether she's using a linux box or a windows or
anything else. that's perhaps the beauty of this box - makes it
irrelevant as long as there's web based work

~sankarshan

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Re: [silk] Calorie Count

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Deepa Mohan wrote:

| Over the next five years, the city says, the labelling
| will help prevent 1,30,000 New Yorkers from becoming
| obese and 30,000 from developing diabetes.

reminds one about the small entry in
http://www.madetostick.com/excerpts/ but does it really work ?

~sankarshan

ps: this is about the popcorn thing and not the kidney thing

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Re: [silk] Very Novel Open Source Project

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Vinayak Hegde wrote:
| Open source 3D printer copies itself
| http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/2F5C3C5D68A380EDCC257423006E71CD

'tis crazy i tell you ... what is the world coming to ? :)

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Re: [silk] Fwd: [schooltool] Janastu and SchoolTool

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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va wrote:

| After getting Suresh's mail (told him am writing to the list) I
| checked the archives of Silk where one thread says the person's real
| name is Dinesh BUT the description (glasses, ponytail) matches that of
| a person who called himself Prashant

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramkrsna/2106560440/ is one Dinesh who was
there at the LCIN BoF - no clue if he was there was a Dinesh | Prashant
as well.

This Dinesh is from http://servelots.com/#item01 is what i recall

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Re: [silk] open source in government

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Valsa Williams wrote:

| This distro is Debian based/GNU,  and has Open Office in local
languages and
| other apps. They have done upstream contribution to  Open Office.org and
| claim to have even contributed to Debian kernel.

it would interesting to know why they don't contribute to the other
components from upstream that they use :) but that's a rant for a
different list

~sankarshan

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Re: [silk] Ugadi

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Srini Ramakrishnan wrote:

| Where can I get a copy? The link to Amazon doesn't work, but in any
| case Amazon also seems like a round about way of acquiring a book on
| Tamil Nadu when I am in India.

http://www.flipkart.com/books/Ethnicity-And-Populist-Mobilization/Narendra-Subramanian/0195652231/DQW3FXKFND.html
(URL may be wrapped)

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Re: [silk] An interesting meeting

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

On Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 3:23 PM, Valsa Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 I had the pleasure of travelling with Shubha Mudgal, the musician.
  We spoke of many challenges faced my musicians. The lack of an organised
  guild that takes care of artists and keeps the spirit of Indian music alive.
  She spoke of poorly paid music teachers and rich commercial organisations
  that exploit the artists and the associated ecosystem.

there's been a fair amount of interest in independent music the
issue along side the lack of an organized guild is that who owns the
rights to the music which the musician produces. that would, to a
large extent determine how much money the artist actually makes




-- 
You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw

Re: [silk] romance and reading

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Rishab Aiyer Ghosh wrote:

| i hardly ever re-read, despite building up a huge collection. i find i
| almost always end up remembering the book quite well once i'm back in
| it. some times that is the point of re-reading, of course.

the added complication for me is that i am loathe to give the books away
since i don't like to be separated too much from them




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Re: [silk] romance and reading

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Srini Ramakrishnan wrote:

| http://cheeni.net/books/

i'd be very interested to know as to how you got that going. it is time
that i worked on arranging my bookshelf



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Re: [silk] romance and reading

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Deepa Mohan wrote:

| Yet, there are some books that are firm family favourites...indeed,
| that most people have read...oh, I forgot, they are called
| best-sellers...and these change quite drastically from generation to
| generation. I can't imagine today's twenty-somethings reading Anando
| Motth (for lack of a better phonetic spelling), or Ponniyin Selvan,
| or Godaan or even David Copperfield... And then, there is the
| whole field of poetryhowever, I am hoping to be contradicted.

they still do i believe - there are curricula that include a few from
the above as mandatory reading. however, whether they (re)read them is
something i am yet to know

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Re: [silk] ... or I will kill you

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Danese Cooper wrote:
| When I worked for Apple we did a product with French engineers and a
| Japanese customer (NTT).  We had these daily video conferences with the
| customer, and they used to say things like, If you don't fix this
| (completely cosmetic) bug...you will be victimized

that's an odd sentence construct :)

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[silk] Does there exist any public study on private healthcare in India ?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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On and off i read in papers or see on TV some cursory conversations
about private healthcare - does there exist any study (preferably
public) on what the state of the private healthcare system is ?


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Re: [silk] introduction

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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rene wrote:

| Since last September I'm in Bangalore, working with janastu.org and
| Dinesh from janastu pointed me to the list. Currently staying in
| Trivandrum I hope to have some nice fruitful discussions on the list.

If you are the same Rene who was/is at freed.in 2008 I hope you got your
backpack back (grrr...that's one bad phrase). As regards fruitful
discussions ... hmmm


- --



You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
www.linkedin.com/in/sankarshan



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Re: [silk] Got this from the IIM-A egroup

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Deepa Mohan wrote:
| ...and this made me feel pretty good, too! There was no info about who
| wrote this article though...Jace, could you enlighten me, you young,
| intelligent and dynamic  conqueror?

Jace plans to wow everyone with this at freed.in I read

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Re: [silk] Project Management Software (web based)

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Venkat Mangudi wrote:

| Does one have to use Agile methods to use this tool? AFAIK, Agile PM
| methods are a whole new world...

Umm... not really is what I hear. I say I hear since I had nudged a
friend (who doesn't do Agile) to use Mingle and have been hearing some
good things about it. That said - what are the features required in the
PM software ? The OP never did mention that I think


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Re: [silk] Introduction

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Deepa Mohan wrote:

| Er...what's a 5-subject notebook?

Possibly that kind of notebook that BILT retails through various outlets
- - has plastic or like material separator for subjects and has pages
which remind me of the arithmetic copies of my youth

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Re: [silk] long

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Abhijit Menon-Sen wrote:

| BTW, in Malayalam, cc sugar is usually called pan[cha]sara. I've only
| heard the charkarai form used for gur or perhaps palm sugar. Is there
| a similar distinction in Tamil?

Speaking of which, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster
makes a gory read

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Re: [silk] New Lurker Introduction

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Sirtaj Singh Kang wrote:

| I'm Sirtaj Singh Kang, I live in New Delhi where I write software,

Wah Taj !!

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Re: [silk] Introduction

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Venkat Mangudi wrote:

| What do you drive? I will add you to the list of BMTC and other BPO
| vehicles which drive me insane in Bangalore. :-)

The autos and of course the stray cows - why don't they drive you insane ?

Now I recall that bang opposite Brigade Towers was a banner
advertisement from the police that stray cows would be fined 50 INR -
that always did nag me a bit

~sankarshan

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Re: [silk] Introduction

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Venkat Mangudi wrote:

| When was this? Is it still there, would you know?

Unless it has been replaced by the ghoulish one that depicts the gross
remains from a traffic accident, it should be there - I saw it over a
year back.



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Re: [silk] Introduction

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Ashok Krish wrote:

| But I find the 50 rupee fine on bovines interesting. Do they eat the
| receipts?

The more interesting question is that given that 50 INR is for stray
cows - who ends up paying ?

~sankarshan


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[silk] Social network and then some ...

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Was reading http://stephenfry.com/blog/?p=34 and a conversation
throwback morphed itself into a question as to how much research has
actually gone inside the social aspect of a social network. For example,
sites like Flickr etc lend themselves well towards an increasing number
of communes rather than a world-is-flat kind of monoculture thought
processes. Any pointers ?

~sankarshan


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Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the Open Source Movement?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Gautam John wrote:

| http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4250#

Open source is a relatively new concept in India, says Hariharan of
the Open Source Foundation /me glares at Venky

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Re: [silk] Will India Become the New Vanguard of the Open Source Movement?

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote:

| Though, that's the old style of open source. I guess if you hire
people and pay them to work on open source, release open source, it just
might work far better.

Curiously similar to the conversation one was having at breakfast :)
regarding incidental and voluntary contributions. However, saving myself
the task of copy pasting, the section of the Linus interview Jim quotes
is perhaps relevant
http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/entry/torvalds_on_democracy_and_culture

The significant barrier to contributions in FOSS starting from a very
early age is the fact that the education system refuses to recognize the
concept of doing FOSS work (even GSoC work) as projects.

~sankarshan

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Re: [silk] Photos of first OLPC pilot in India

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Valsa Williams wrote:

| *Talk about strange bedfellows, but it would be a PR win for MSFT.
| However -- how could they run Windows on an XO without a full BIOS?
| Mr. Negroponte would have to back off from having a fully open source
| BIOS to make this happen, I'm guessing, not to mention backing off
| from the open source OS and apps

http://radian.org/notebook/paradox-of-choice (off http://planet.laptop.org/)

Yes, we’ve been meeting with Microsoft about their XP port. OLPC has not
dedicated resources to this work. We are not contributing engineering
time to it, considering it as part of our strategy, or getting ready to
replace Sugar. The extent of our involvement is having several meetings
with the Microsoft staff and allowing a Microsoft-paid technical writer
to work from our offices in order to produce specifications that will
aid the port — on the condition that the specifications are also
released publicly (they’re being posted to our wiki.)

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Re: [silk] Today's ET poll on Free Software

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Venkatesh Hariharan wrote:
 Since there are many FOSS enthusiasts on this mailing list, let me
 take the liberty of pointing out that today's Economic Times has an
 online poll that asks, Should India support free software to take PC
 penetration to the next level?

o how does supporting free software take pc penetration to next level ?
o what is the next level ?
o is free software the reason desktop pc prices are falling ?
o how relevant are these polls ?




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Re: [silk] Today's ET poll on Free Software

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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ashok _ wrote:

 You would still need to buy a Windows license to run that build of
 OpenOffice
 when you can run it for free on a Linux distro :)

What happens when there is a preloaded Windows at a pittance (and
official at that) ?

 Also think of a smaller scenario like a mom-and-pop cyber cafe with 10
 computers,
 if they had to buy licenses for everything from the OS to the Office
 suite its gonna hurt
 their margins.  When they can run a free distro on lower specced
 hardware without having to
 scale up hardware everytime a new release of windows pops up

Given that most mom and pop shops assemble their H/W - how much
effective is a Linux distribution in terms of hardware compatibility ?
And why is an online desktop scenario not ideal for them ?

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Re: [silk] Today's ET poll on Free Software

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Valsa Williams wrote:
 Besides just the free software, awareness campaigns should be loud and
 pervasive.  I just got a new laptop with Ubuntu 7.10. ISPs like Tata Indicom
  Reliance still do not support Linux openly. Their sales guys do not even
 know what Linux is. I know my problem of connecting can be fixed by my LUG
 friends but success will be when support is widely available from these
 vendors. Similarly websites that only open with IE !

Awareness without commitment from vendors in terms of putting
engineering resources to sustain the drivers is not going to take
desktop penetration to any amount of next level. (read: I am still yet
to know what this particular next level is)

ISPs like Reliance and Tata Indicom source their PCMCIA cards from ODMs
- - so who gets to latch on to ODMs and get them to engineer, maintain and
support the drivers for their cards with super funky PCI IDs ?

As regards websites ... ;)

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Re: [silk] Today's ET poll on Free Software

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Binand Sethumadhavan wrote:

 Presumably by reducing the cost associated with a reasonably-featured
 PC, so that more and more people can afford one (or several).

The prices for a XP preloaded desktop from an Indian OEM is not much
different from a Linux (in this case RHEL) preloaded one. So, given that
the Windows one allows the user to run their favorite games, play their
favorite codecs - what would be a compelling reason for a switch.

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Re: [silk] Today's ET poll on Free Software

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Venkat Mangudi wrote:

 Just *boot* it out and replace with Ubuntu. It is not just the cost of
 the OS. The other apps add up. What people don't understand that a linux
 OS does not just replace Windows, but also Office, AntiVirus, Firewall,
 Outlook, MS Project, Anti-Spyware all those apps that cost you money.

Aren't we mixing up UseCases here ? :D

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Re: [silk] FoU Camp V3 Pictures

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Ramakrishna Reddy wrote:

 /Me too.can't view the pics. I guess ,  vinit has made it a
 private set. BTW is there a Silklist group on flickr, all the tagged
 pics can be grouped there.

Are you sure about that Group name ? A cursory search does not seem to
turn up anything

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Re: [silk] Free software made mandatory (In Kerala)

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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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

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Re: [silk] Moto Q

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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shiv sastry wrote:

 I wanted, apart from a phone, the ability to play MP3s, a camera and an 
 ability to surf the net. I am against a stylus equipped device - having given 
 up on a Palm 505 many years ago for that reason.

What stops more models from having a huge address book, a reasonable
screen, mp3/radio and no camera is something that beats me. Surely there
would be a market for a phone like that given the hassles associated
with a camera phone


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Re: [silk] Seeking man-sized wheels

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Biju Chacko wrote:

 Well, if Tata does buy Land Rover maybe we'll start seeing them in the
 Indian market.

Given the awesome situation in Pune, I shudder at the mention of the 1L
car and this rumination from you would be the stuff of my nightmares

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Re: [silk] Another n00b

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Biju Chacko wrote:

 You do realise that joining this list is a counterproductive step for
 your stated goal of being ignored by the whole world (before taking
 over that is). My recommendation would be to disconnect your internet
 connection, don sackcloth and ashes, and retire to a cave somewhere to
 meditate upon your navel. Most people would ignore you that way.

Meditate upon the navel ? That's going to take some flexibility if not
attain a permanent crick in the neck


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Another n00b

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Biju Chacko wrote:

 Why not? I've been working for a long time now but I still haven't
 gotten around to growing up.

Hear hear ...

- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] YAII

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Biju Chacko wrote:

 PS: As a matter of mailing list courtesy, it's a good thing to trim
 off text from older mails that is not relevant to your post.

there you go, done :)



- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] online gift shop

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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savita rao wrote:
 I've ordered from indiaplaza.in a couple of times, and it's worked well.

I have been trying out indiaplaza for a while now. While not generally
bad (they can sure improve their packaging *and* their website) the only
gripe I have had against them is the general lack of communication if
shipment is going to be delayed

- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Ethics in big Indian companies

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Deepa Mohan wrote:

[interesting exercise I must admit]

 Why things are so bad even in Big companies:
 
 1) Popular feeling among both the elite and common man
 that we can't change things as they are.
 (imagine if Mahatma Gandhi had felt the same way)

Well in this case given the fact that in most of the cases it resembles
the transition from frying pan to flame there is not much choice for the
consumer to seek relief by boycotting services from Provider1 in lieu of
services from Provider2 (the point below)

 2) Lack of competition (of good service providers)

 3) Public not giving incentives (e.g. tips- this is
 not bribe- don't we tip the waiter in 5 star hotels)
 to good service providers like e.g BSNL staff.

This bit is kind of a new one. The incentive for pushing quality of
service upwards for a Provider would be ensuring that the consumer base
does not reduce. Providing incentives for providing service that's
already part of an SLA reads like an expensive proposition

 4) Active consumer forums (a person I know- now in his
 seventies and severely ill) still runs an active
 consumer forum in Chennai. He does not have much
 support.

There's not an organized consumer movement based on forums and guidance.

 5) Lack of cooperation from Mass media dependent on
 advertising (but internet offers a e-solution via
 blogs, I think some of us  can start one)

The power of a blog is directly proportional to the number of
aggregators it hits or some such.

 6) Tendency of big companies (at mid levels) to
 discriminate from Big and important clients who follow
 up and common man clients- who do nothave the time, energy, or money
 to keep up the protest.

Airtel, ICICI and Dell (usage of the corporate and individual accounts
provide an unique experience)

:Sankarshan



- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Indian Economy's list of best Indian books.

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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ashok _ wrote:
 I have heard some good things about  a new book by Ramachandra Guha
 called India after Gandhi - the history of the worlds largest
 democracy ... Has anybody read it?
 

Aside from the fact that it is a heavy tome and thusly makes bad
keep-on-chest-and-lazily-read book it is well written and structured.
Although it does suffer from the same troubles books from Amartya Sen
face - too many links sometimes make you wonder whether an online
version would have been nicer (all hyperlinks etc..)

:Sankarshan


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] indian budget airlines

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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ashok _ wrote:
 Any suggestions on which budget airlines in india to avoid / go for.?
 
 Have been warned about the one called Air Deccan by many people...

Air Deccan seems to be taking a large bundle of flak these days it was
good earlier. IndiGo and Go seem to have nice clean interiors (more the
former than the latter), KIngfisher is kind of good although so is
SpiceJet. One thing you might want to do is buy direct rather than the
online travel sites (that's a tip from my wife who did prove it
conclusively yesterday)

Jet's nice but it does have some odd flight times sometimes

:Sankarshan

- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] indian budget airlines

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
Hash: SHA1

Abhijit Menon-Sen wrote:

 They haven't yet finished processing one booking for me, and I already
 hate them. Their web site is dismal. Their feedback form doesn't work.
 Their people are as broken as their web site.

Yeah, that site needs some love and given that the prices there are
pre-tax it is kind of a kludge

:Sankarshan


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Article in today's ET.

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Abhijit Menon-Sen wrote:

 Bruce: I didn't know what funnel cakes were (I always imagined them to
 be like conical muffins), but based on your message, I now realise that
 they are like large, non-syrup-soaked Jalebis. ;-)

A distant cousin of the Bengali Malpoa [মালপোয়া] I would guess

:Sankarshan

- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Article in today's ET.

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Ingrid wrote:

 The article of yours (in the E.T) engenders the de-gendering or
 deconstruction of the hegemony of patriarchy which has constructed specific
 norms of masculinity and femininity. This construction has confined people
 to look not beyond the box but within the rubrics laid by it especially in
 the arenas of choosing the field of study and profession. Your article has
 adroitly challenged the attributes of the mind and heart so synonymously
 attributed singly with the two sexes. The article has touched me
 immensely.'

Golly !! Someone whipped nonsense.sf.net mightily

:Sankarshan


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] contracts vs. copyright

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
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Abhijit Menon-Sen wrote:

 3. Suppose they take the GPLed POP3 server and modify it substantially
to suit their needs, and modify their program to talk to it.

Releasing the modifications (in readable and compile-able format or
such) and/or the modified server source code should cover all
obligations I believe. But I am not a lawyer and so expert opinions
should always be solicited

Why can't they write their own anyway ? Unless it is not POP3 at all and
POP3 is a placeholder

:Sankarshan



- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Speaker Series Bangalore, Vint Cerf

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Charles Haynes wrote:
 It looks like invitations for this event are closed. I put in my
 requests, but I don't know if they made it in time. Good luck
 everyone.

Any chance of seeing this talk on video.google.com ?


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Koshy's not 'old Bangalore' just 'old'

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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Biju Chacko wrote:
 I'm not sure if it's the best place for steak, but I like Herbs and
 Spice in Indira Nagar.

Don't know if that's the branch/sibling of the one in Pune, but the one
here serves oh-so-passable fare


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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Re: [silk] Koshy's not 'old Bangalore' just 'old'

[Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay]

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shiv sastry wrote:

 I believe veg only restaurants in Bangalore have a serious problem - because 
 they are the worst places to sit down and eat. They have too many customers 
 and there are places where the queue consists of people standing right next 
 to your table watching you eat and coughing over your dosa waiting for you to 
 finish. Darshinis are a better bet if you want a veg only place.

Can relate to that with our forays to RR and Nagarjuna :) around Brigade
Road, but then there was this Persian joint we went to which had Andhra
Pizza :P (/me pokes Ramakrishna Reddy)


- --

You see things; and you say 'Why?';
But I dream things that never were;
and I say 'Why not?' - George Bernard Shaw
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