Re: [silk] Few MacOS questions [was: What's your primary computing device?]

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 2:22 AM, Tomasz Rola  wrote:
>
>
> Q1. I am becoming addicted to abusing Emacs (editor, but also host to
> Elisp scripting language, which I am using to write more sophisticated
> versions of some crude makeshift sh scripts from the past), but I have
> read somewhere that MacOS port was not very good. Any comments on this
> from Emacs users (if there are any)?
>

You may also want to check out this project: http://aquamacs.org/  I use it
on my personal MBP

Re: [silk] Has anyone here made the switch on their work email from Outlook to Google mail?

[Sriram Karra]

If you are happy with your solution, and have an option to stick to it, why
bother even considering a change

On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 12:37 AM,  wrote:

> Thanks for the tip re Thunderbird
>
> Alas, at this point, I am loath to move to a 3rd email platform
>
> It's Outlook unless I find a solution for the problems I've listed below
> with Google Mail
>
> -Original Message-
> From: silklist [mailto:silklist-bounces+ppkothari=gmail.com@lists.
> hserus.net] On Behalf Of landon hurley
> Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 11:53 AM
> To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
> Subject: Re: [silk] Has anyone here made the switch on their work email
> from Outlook to Google mail?
>
> On 09/12/2017 11:49 AM, Prashant P Kothari wrote:
> > I have switched from MS office to the Google equivalents for all
> > programs but email
> >
> > Still on Outlook - and that's where I spend 75% of my computer time
>
> I would recommend Thunderbird, with the lighting and enigmail plug-ins;
> all emails may be sent plain text, as it was truly intended to be.
>
> > a) the font sizes and types get a bit messed up if do a copy & paste
> >
> > b) limited # of fonts available
> >
> > c) still uncomfortable with labels... much prefer foldres
> >
>
> Thunderbird displays a folder structure for handling the labels. I believe
> Yale does Microsoft servers for handling their mail, and to be honest I
> never recognised a difference between it and any of the three gmail based
> corporate accounts I have. It works quite nicely.
>
> > I know that Google mail can be accessed offline as well - haven't used
> > that but am assuming that works out OK?
> >
> > Is there anyone that's made the switch and can share their experiences?
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards
> > Prashant
> >
>
>
> --
> Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
>
>
>
>

Re: [silk] Kids and porn

[Sriram Karra]

Here is a publication that was cited in an article that was circulating on
Facebook a few months back. I have no idea about the reputation of the
journal, but the Results of the study are disturbing but not
counter-intuitive.

http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/4/8/e004996.full.pdf

*"Results: Anal heterosex often appeared to be painful, **risky and
coercive, particularly for women. Interviewees **frequently cited
pornography as the ‘explanation’ for **anal sex, yet their accounts
revealed a complex context **with availability of pornography being only
one **element. Other key elements included competition **between men; the
claim that ‘people must like it if they **do it’ (made alongside the
seemingly contradictory **expectation that it will be painful for women);
and, **crucially, normalisation of coercion and ‘accidental’ **penetration.
It seemed that men were expected to **persuade or coerce reluctant
partners.*

*Conclusions: Young people’s narratives normalised **coercive, painful and
unsafe anal heterosex. This study*
*suggests an urgent need for harm reduction efforts **targeting anal sex to
help encourage discussion about **mutuality and consent, reduce risky and
painful **techniques and challenge views that normalise **coercion"*

That paper includes a reference to an earlier review of the literature on
this subject. Again, the conclusions are disturbing, but not
counter-intuitive in the least.

http://psych.utoronto.ca/users/tafarodi/psy427/articles/Owens%20et%20al.%20(
2012).pdf

*"Conclusions: Increased access to the Internet by adolescents has created
unprecedented **opportunities for sexual education, learning, and growth.
Conversely, **the risk of harm that is evident in the literature has led
researchers to investigate **adolescent exposure to online pornography in
an effort to elucidate **these relationships. Collectively, these studies
suggest that youth who **consume pornography may develop unrealistic sexual
values and beliefs. **Among the findings, higher levels of permissive
sexual attitudes, sexual preoccupation, **and earlier sexual
experimentation have been correlated with **more frequent consumption of
pornography. Researchers have had difficulty **replicating these results,
however, and as a result the aggregate literature has **failed to indicate
conclusive results. Nevertheless, consistent findings have **emerged
linking adolescent use of pornography that depicts violence with **increased
degrees of sexually aggressive behavior.*

*The literature does indicate some correlation between adolescents’ use **of
pornography and self-concept. Girls report feeling physically inferior to **the
women they view in pornographic material, while boys fear they may **not be
as virile or able to perform as the men in these media. Adolescents **also
report that their use of pornography decreased as their self-confidence **and
social development increase. Additionally, research suggests that
adolescents **who use pornography, especially that found on the Internet,
have **lower degrees of social integration, increases in conduct problems,
higher **levels of delinquent behavior, higher incidence of depressive
symptoms, and **decreased emotional bonding with caregivers."*

On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 3:52 PM, Charles Haynes 
wrote:

> Given that "porn addiction" isn't any kind of scientific thing I would be
> extremely surprised at any scientifix studies at all linking it to
> anything.
>
> -- Charles
>
> On Mon., 4 Sep. 2017, 6:56 pm Nikhil Mehra 
> wrote:
>
> > On 4 September 2017 at 05:07, Charles Haynes 
> > wrote:
> >
> > > As far as I know there is no scientific evidence that viewing porn is
> > > harmful. Lots of anecdote, lots of "it's obvious that..." but no data.
> > >
> > > So what's the (supposed) problem?
> > >
> > > -- Charles
> > >
> >
> > Aren't their studies now linking behavioural and physiological changes to
> > porn addiction? Like erectile dysfunction in physiologically healthy
> males?
> > Some of the theories are available here: www.yourbrainonporn.com
> >
> >
> > Nikhil Mehra
> > Advocate
> > B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) (NLSIU), LL.M (Northwestern)
> >
> > Chambers of Nikhil Mehra
> > E-348 Ground Floor | Greater Kailash - II | New Delhi 110048
> > +91 98107 76904
> > nikhil.mehra...@gmail.com
> >
> >
> > >
> > > On Sun., 3 Sep. 2017, 10:35 pm Ingrid 
> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > > On 03-Sep-2017, at 9:50 AM, Udhay Shankar N 
> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I saw this article [1] that makes the (quite obvious, if you think
> > > about
> > > > > it) case
> > > > > ​ that kids will look at porn whether you want them to or not - and
> > > that
> > > > > people need to figure out how they will deal with that.
> > > > >
> > > > > Since many people on silk are in the right demographic to have seen
> > > this
> > > > > either with their own kids or with friends/family, 

Re: [silk] Malware encoded in a strand of DNA

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Aug 11, 2017 at 10:14 AM, Thaths  wrote:

>
> Malware for one platform encoded into code on another platform.
>
>
Very cool. Maybe the Planetary Protection Officer
 should now be trained in SQL
Injection attacks and how to safeguard data plane / control plane
boundaries :)

Re: [silk] Disposing off film SLRs in Bangalore / Bay Area

[Sriram Karra]

Just for closure, I thought I'd drop a note to the list... a Silk Lister
picked up the two camera bodies; the cameras will eventually be used in a
photography club / class.

Thanks for all the pointers on places where gear can be sold. Will surely
come in handy for other stuff gathering dust as well!

-Karra

On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 6:36 PM, Sriram Karra <karra@gmail.com> wrote:

> Gaurav, They are a Nikon N80, and a Canon Rebel 2K, both purchased in the
> US ~15-17 years old. They were in working condition ~5 years ago, when
> their batteries ran out and they have been untouched since. My guess is
> they should be OK, but it's only a guess.
>
> Thaths, I did not anticipate anyone will actually pay for these film
> cameras! But I am happy to give them away to anyone who will actually use
> them as they were intended.
>
> Udhay, yes I joined Google as a PM late last year. I keep shuttling
> between our Hyderabad and Bangalore offices.
>
> -Karra
>
> On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 11:59 AM, Gaurav Vaz <m...@gauravvaz.com> wrote:
>
>> Are these cameras in working condition? And what cameras are these?
>>
>> On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 2:27 AM, Sriram Karra <karra@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > I have two Film SLRs that I'd like to give away or dispose off in some
>> > other way. I am looking for ideas on how to responsibly get rid of them
>> in
>> > Bangalore. I *could* carry them with me on a work trip to the Bay Area
>> if
>> > there are significantly better ("greener") options available there...
>> >
>> > Any recommendations from first or second hand experiences?
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!
>>
>> Gaurav Vaz | m...@gauravvaz.com | +91 99005 16145 | http://gauravvaz.com
>>
>
>

Re: [silk] Disposing off film SLRs in Bangalore / Bay Area

[Sriram Karra]

Gaurav, They are a Nikon N80, and a Canon Rebel 2K, both purchased in the
US ~15-17 years old. They were in working condition ~5 years ago, when
their batteries ran out and they have been untouched since. My guess is
they should be OK, but it's only a guess.

Thaths, I did not anticipate anyone will actually pay for these film
cameras! But I am happy to give them away to anyone who will actually use
them as they were intended.

Udhay, yes I joined Google as a PM late last year. I keep shuttling between
our Hyderabad and Bangalore offices.

-Karra

On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 11:59 AM, Gaurav Vaz <m...@gauravvaz.com> wrote:

> Are these cameras in working condition? And what cameras are these?
>
> On Sat, Jun 24, 2017 at 2:27 AM, Sriram Karra <karra@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I have two Film SLRs that I'd like to give away or dispose off in some
> > other way. I am looking for ideas on how to responsibly get rid of them
> in
> > Bangalore. I *could* carry them with me on a work trip to the Bay Area if
> > there are significantly better ("greener") options available there...
> >
> > Any recommendations from first or second hand experiences?
> >
>
>
>
> --
> If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!
>
> Gaurav Vaz | m...@gauravvaz.com | +91 99005 16145 | http://gauravvaz.com
>

[silk] Disposing off film SLRs in Bangalore / Bay Area

[Sriram Karra]

I have two Film SLRs that I'd like to give away or dispose off in some
other way. I am looking for ideas on how to responsibly get rid of them in
Bangalore. I *could* carry them with me on a work trip to the Bay Area if
there are significantly better ("greener") options available there...

Any recommendations from first or second hand experiences?

Re: [silk] Books about the Bhakti movement?

[Sriram Karra]

I would love to hear your views on the book once you have read it. I am
basically alarmed / amused by the blurbs on amazon.com (partly reproduced
below) which go against everything we as practicing Hindus have learned.

*"Challenging this canonical narrative, John Stratton Hawley clarifies the
historical and political contingencies that gave birth to the concept of
the bhakti movement. Starting with the Mughals and their Kachvaha allies,
North Indian groups looked to the Hindu South as a resource that would give
religious and linguistic depth to their own collective history. Only in the
early twentieth century did the idea of a bhakti “movement” crystallize―in
the intellectual circle surrounding Rabindranath Tagore in Bengal." *

(Emphasis added)

Perhaps the author is defining the "Bhakti Movement" (or at a minimum the
word "crystallize" in that context) in a very specific way ...

On Wed, Jun 21, 2017 at 12:13 PM, Thaths  wrote:

> This book seems to be the one I am looking for:
>
> A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement
>  by John Stratton Hawley.
>
> Thaths
>
> On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 3:52 PM Thaths  wrote:
>
> > I am looking for a book that explores the origins of, and gradual spread
> > of the Bhakti movement in India. Not  interested in one specific strand
> of
> > Bhakti. More interested in understanding the economic, social and
> cultural
> > conditions that led to the rise of these movements across India.
> >
> > Have you come across such a book?
> >
> >
> > Thaths
> >
> >
> >
>

Re: [silk] What are the books you've gifted?

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 2:57 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> Another book recommendation thread. This time, I am interested in the books
> that made enough of an impression that you gifted them to one or more
> people.
>

One-time gifts are not that interesting. There was one book that made such
a deep impression that I bought 15 copies and gave it to anyone I thought
would be interested. That was Hesse's Siddhartha. It took a few years for
me to realize that not even one of them had actually read it. That put an
end to my missionary zeal, alright :)

Re: [silk] Bump in the road, or end of the road?

[Sriram Karra]

It is not a law of nature that Infosys and its ilk will keep making PAT in
excess of 20%+. Even if profits halve in the next 2 years to 10% - does
that constitute a death of the industry? Pai's point is is that these are
high cash flow businesses, with enough margins and buffer to keep them
afloat and going for long. Further it's *my thesis* that these companies
have enough strengths they can leverage to turn it around. Yes, there's a
lot of pain in the short to medium term and many things will need to get
reinvited - such as change of hiring strategies that many have mentioned in
this thread, but this is just a bump in the larger scheme of things.

On Sat, Oct 22, 2016 at 1:20 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian <sur...@hserus.net>
wrote:

> As for Pai pointing at Infosys PAT .. they're in that moment where wile e
> coyote is perfectly safe, only he's stepped off a cliff, standing over thin
> air and just about to raise a sign that reads "help"
>
> I'm sure Deepak Shenoy can poke a few more holes than I can but .. Here
> are the rest of the numbers that blowhard / great financial genius missed
> out on
>
> http://www.indiainfoline.com/article/equity-earnings-
> result-commentary/infosys-q1fy17-consolidated-net-
> profit-declines-4-qoq-to-rs-3436-crore-in-line-with-
> estimates-116071500326_1.html
>
> --srs
>
> > On 22-Oct-2016, at 12:35 AM, Sriram Karra <karra@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > So many thoughts on this topic... having spent 8 years in various roles
> in
> > this industry Just a few quick observations here (in no particular
> > order) on the specific challenges facing the Indian IT industry and some
> of
> > the comments in this thread:
> >
> >   - IT Services is not all about server maintenance or routine sysadmin
> >   work. Application Development & Maintenance (of bespoke systems),
> Product
> >   Engineering, Customisation and deployment of complex packages (like ERP
> >   systems), and so on cannot be automated with the current state of the
> art,
> >   nor are they dull or monotonous drudge work. I have myself worked as a
> >   contractor for Cisco, maintained critical parts of their embedded OS
> (the
> >   original IOS), developed thousands of lines of code, and new features,
> that
> >   have powered (in some ways quite literally) the Catalyst 6500, a cash
> cow
> >   for Cisco for nearly 15 years. It was a great experience to see
> engineers
> >   from humble backgrounds perform high quality engineering for Cisco
> even in
> >   its heyday.
> >
> >   - Innovation comes in all sizes and shapes. We romanticise the Google /
> >   Apple style of innovation at the expense of other forms. When my former
> >   boss, at age 34, convinced John Chambers and Cisco at its peak (mid
> 90s) to
> >   offshore product engineering work to Chennai, that was business
> innovation
> >   too. The situation now is the Indian model is so well understood that
> there
> >   are few levers left in negotiation, and the downward margin spiral that
> >   Sikka keeps lamenting about are defining the mood about the industry
> (more
> >   on the margins later). But this is not new either. Even way back in
> 2007/8
> >   it was clear to insiders that more innovation is required with the
> business
> >   models. We started talking the language of 'Fewer Better People' to
> change
> >   the customer mindset from hourly billing to more outcome based pricing
> >   models. Many companies have seen success in these endeavours. But no
> clear
> >   industry-level breakthrough has emerged, and that is a worry. Maybe it
> >   won't, but that does not mean the death of the industry.
> >
> >   - What is certainly lamentable is these companies have gotten left
> >   behind in the latest technology trends and by not paying enough
> attention
> >   to building scalable businesses. But the threat of automation and "AI"
> is
> >   somewhat exaggerated: the domestic IT demand is just warming up and
> you can
> >   be sure that journey is going to start at the bottom of the pricing
> >   hierarchy; in technology the next wave is always round the corner and
> they
> >   only need to survive till the next wave comes around;
> >
> >   - Mohandas Pai's response has some valid points. Infosys PAT was 21.9%
> >   in FY 2015-16, which is very respectable. For comparison: Google's PAT
> for
> >   FY 2015 was 21.8%. Accenture's was 12.5%. There is scope for players to
> >   change their cost structure, remove dead wood, and change the reward
> system
> >   to make them more competitive viz a viz the MNC biggies.

Re: [silk] Bump in the road, or end of the road?

[Sriram Karra]

Bhaskar, I can totally understand how these conversations would have gone
even a few years back. While these are the challenges, they also point to
the significant untapped strengths these companies have (knowledge of
customer's processes and levers for operational efficiencies etc.). In
these difficult times I am sure the savvy ones will figure out how to
leverage them better.

A tangential note on processes: most of IT work is related to business
processes, and that is one of the reasons I feel automation is not an
existential threat for the industry as a whole. It is just a bump.



On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 11:06 AM, Bhaskar Dasgupta 
wrote:

> one of the examples I had asked to be funded was to leverage their data.
> this company manages banking processes. what i wanted was to tie up with
> ISI (not that one) and hire a small skunk work of data scientists and a
> data design / visualisation centre. And then wanted to do what rolls royce
> have done with their trent engines - they make a stupendous amount of money
> by monitoring their engines on a real time basis in flight and saving
> airlines shed loads of dosh. So i would’ve provided a set of tools,
> constantly evolving, to the heads of operations on their process flows,
> heads of sales on sales analytics, heads of product design on competitive
> features, and so on and so forth. And once I have sufficient coverage, I
> can setup a banking product market place. World Domination! result? god no,
> we cant pay these phd’s that much! no? then you will lose them to american
> firms who can and will. but that will cause the pay scales to be fucked up
> internally. ok, lets spin off this firm. we don’t do spinoffs. why? 100%
> owned subsidiaries are good and actually you can IPO it as their multiples
> will be better. Oh! that decision is above my pay grade (this is the
> president of the division!) you can fuck off. /facepalm.
>
> forget about creating new products, buggers don’t even leverage what they
> have! they are sitting on a fucking gold mine of rivers of data (if you
> don’t mind me mangling metaphors) and are happy to sit there and fish for
> minnows or get paid lowly for tending the sodding river bank.
>
>
>
> > On 19 Oct 2016, at 06:06, Suresh Ramasubramanian 
> wrote:
> >
> > IT companies buying product companies in a desperate bid to innovate ..
> let us just say that I’ve seen a lot of that happen at a previous workplace.
> >
> > The usual end result is that the founders and key employees quit in
> disgust after a while and those that are left are gradually absorbed into
> the company doing something totally different than what they set out to do.
> >
> > And meanwhile the product itself is killed off immediately, or maybe
> dies a slow and lingering death with a few legacy customers left behind and
> practically zero further development.
> >
> > Big companies that don’t have DNA beyond being pushers of software that
> most if not all users have a visceral hatred for, and/or bloated services
> contracts, are absolutely not going to infuse any magical fresh DNA into
> them by acquiring successful product companies
> >
> > The prospect of such foreign DNA taking root in the company is far less
> than in the case of an organ transplant – the sort you get in mad scientist
> movies where a scientist transplants human dna / tissue / whatever into an
> ape and suddenly ends up with a super intelligent planet of the apes or
> Gorilla Grodd variety animal.
> >
> > Mohandas Pai is a smug and opinionated twit but he got one thing right
> though. The software industry didn’t die – it will survive and it will
> probably hang on, but the traditional indian (or even foreign) services
> model is long dead in favour of automation.  The only things that won’t be
> automated to a large extent are higher up the value chain than such
> companies generally play around at.   And the hanging on will be the way a
> really old and sick man keeps hanging on – perpetually in the chasm between
> Allopathy and Tirupathi.
> >
> > In other words, the days of 15% raises are dead and gone, companies
> outsourcing basic bargain basement sysadmin and datacentre work will
> outsource far less after automating the hell out of everything they can,
> testing will be automated.
> >
> > Of all the cash cows out there, telemarketing and support still needs
> humans to a larger extent and will hang on but higher up the value chain –
> because a lot of it has moved to social media, marketing rules in this
> space have tightened etc.
> >
> > And even that is going way down after all the tech support scams in
> India that flourish tarring even the legit players with the same brush,
> with at least some of the legit players looking wistfully at the “upsell”
> angle that, if pushed a few hairs farther down the line, becomes those
> scams where someone claims to be “tech support” for your OS or device
> manufacturer and cons you into paying for a 

Re: [silk] Bump in the road, or end of the road?

[Sriram Karra]

So many thoughts on this topic... having spent 8 years in various roles in
this industry Just a few quick observations here (in no particular
order) on the specific challenges facing the Indian IT industry and some of
the comments in this thread:

   - IT Services is not all about server maintenance or routine sysadmin
   work. Application Development & Maintenance (of bespoke systems), Product
   Engineering, Customisation and deployment of complex packages (like ERP
   systems), and so on cannot be automated with the current state of the art,
   nor are they dull or monotonous drudge work. I have myself worked as a
   contractor for Cisco, maintained critical parts of their embedded OS (the
   original IOS), developed thousands of lines of code, and new features, that
   have powered (in some ways quite literally) the Catalyst 6500, a cash cow
   for Cisco for nearly 15 years. It was a great experience to see engineers
   from humble backgrounds perform high quality engineering for Cisco even in
   its heyday.

   - Innovation comes in all sizes and shapes. We romanticise the Google /
   Apple style of innovation at the expense of other forms. When my former
   boss, at age 34, convinced John Chambers and Cisco at its peak (mid 90s) to
   offshore product engineering work to Chennai, that was business innovation
   too. The situation now is the Indian model is so well understood that there
   are few levers left in negotiation, and the downward margin spiral that
   Sikka keeps lamenting about are defining the mood about the industry (more
   on the margins later). But this is not new either. Even way back in 2007/8
   it was clear to insiders that more innovation is required with the business
   models. We started talking the language of 'Fewer Better People' to change
   the customer mindset from hourly billing to more outcome based pricing
   models. Many companies have seen success in these endeavours. But no clear
   industry-level breakthrough has emerged, and that is a worry. Maybe it
   won't, but that does not mean the death of the industry.

   - What is certainly lamentable is these companies have gotten left
   behind in the latest technology trends and by not paying enough attention
   to building scalable businesses. But the threat of automation and "AI" is
   somewhat exaggerated: the domestic IT demand is just warming up and you can
   be sure that journey is going to start at the bottom of the pricing
   hierarchy; in technology the next wave is always round the corner and they
   only need to survive till the next wave comes around;

   - Mohandas Pai's response has some valid points. Infosys PAT was 21.9%
   in FY 2015-16, which is very respectable. For comparison: Google's PAT for
   FY 2015 was 21.8%. Accenture's was 12.5%. There is scope for players to
   change their cost structure, remove dead wood, and change the reward system
   to make them more competitive viz a viz the MNC biggies. But it is an open
   question on whether they can pull off the execution. Maybe most won't, but
   I do hope at least a few will, and we will all be better off for this
   shakeup.


On Sat, Oct 15, 2016 at 8:52 PM, Srini RamaKrishnan 
wrote:

> Comments?
>
>
> http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/737W8zcjPA6lGWIajRCd6K/Indian-
> software-dies-at-17-from-failure-to-grasp-future.html
>
>
> Indian software dies at 17 from failure to grasp future
> The Indian software services industry died on Friday after a short
> battle with newer digital technologies
> 
> A slowdown alone wouldn’t have stopped the Indian industry if it had
> been able to embrace ‘smac,’ or social, mobile, analytics and
> cloud-based technologies. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint
>
> Singapore: Seventeen years ago an Indian man from New Delhi mesmerized
> the technology departments of global corporations with a doomsday
> story many times more puffed up than the luxuriant crop of hair he
> sported.
> The latter was a wig, and the former was just bad science fiction
> packaged by consultants as a $600 billion hair-raiser. But Dewang
> Mehta, the chief lobbyist for India’s fledgling software services
> industry, carried off both with aplomb, convincing businesses that at
> the stroke of midnight of the new millennium, their computer systems
> would crash because old programs measured years in two digits instead
> of four. The solution, he persuaded them, was to let a horde of
> techies from Bangalore and Hyderabad go through each line of code and
> fix the Y2K bug.
>
> That was the birth of India’s massively successful software services
> industry, which died on Friday after a short battle with newer digital
> technologies. At the time of its demise, the business was worth $110
> billion in annual export revenue.
> The first hint that the end was near came on Thursday when Tata
> Consultancy Services, the biggest Indian software vendor by market
> value, announced a virtual stalling of its business in the September
> 

Re: [silk] To retire or not - that is the Q.

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Sep 21, 2016 at 8:42 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> ​Something just floated past on the clickstream that seemed appropriate in
> this context:​
>
> http://www.npr.org/2016/03/17/469822644/8-ways-you-can-
> survive-and-thrive-in-midlife
>
> 8 Ways You Can Survive — And Thrive In — Midlife 7:52
>
>
On this sub-thread, the following is amazingly well written by our good
friend Peter Drucker: "Managing Oneself". The whole article is a great
read, but of specific relevance to this discussion is the final section
called "The Second Half of Your Life". He has published slightly different
versions of the article under the same title at different times. Here is
one I found in a Google Search:

http://academic.udayton.edu/LawrenceUlrich/LeaderArticles/Drucker%20Managing%20Oneself.pdf

*"..We hear a great deal about the midlife crisis of the executive. It is
mostly boredom. At 45, most executives have reached the peak of their
business careers, and they know it. After 20 years of doing very much the
same kind of work, they are very good at their jobs. But they are not
learning or contributing or deriving challenge and satisfaction from the
job. And yet they are still likely to face another 20 if not 25 years of
work, That is why managing oneself increasingly leads one to begin a second
career.*

*... There is one prerequisite for managing the second half of your life:
you must begin long before you enter it. ... If one does not begin
volunteering before one is 40 or so, one will not volunteer once past 60...*

*... There is another reason to develop a second major interest, and to
develop it early. No one can expect to live very long without experiencing
a serious setback in his or her life or work. There is the competent
engineering who is passed over for promotion at age 45. There is the
competent college professor who realise at age 42 when will never get a
professorship at a big university, even though she may be fully qualified
for it. There are tragedies in one's family life: the breakup of one's
marriage or the loss of a child. At such times, a second major interest -
not just a hobby - may make all the difference. The engineer, for example,
now knows that he has not been very successful in his job. But in his
outside activity - as church treasurer, for example - he is a success."*

Re: [silk] The IYIs, according to Taleb

[Sriram Karra]

On Sun, Sep 18, 2016 at 6:17 PM, John Sundman  wrote:


> And furthermore, Taleb is hypocritical. I mean, what is Taleb if not a
> “public intellectual”? What kind of “skin” does he have in the “game”.
>

That's exactly why I found the article funny. It's like a self-referential
joke with some secret terminal condition that excludes him and his inner
circle.

-Karra

[silk] The IYIs, according to Taleb

[Sriram Karra]

https://medium.com/@nntaleb/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e2d0577

Found this funny.  But just to question the opening statement (for the rest
are mostly his delightful opinions)... are we seeing the 'rebellion"
anywhere? In particular in India?

===
The Intellectual Yet Idiot

What we have been seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the
rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking
“clerks” and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic
semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league, Oxford-Cambridge, or
similar label-driven education who are telling the rest of us 1) what to
do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think… and 5) who to vote
for.

Re: [silk] What Should I Do With My Life, Redux

[Sriram Karra]

I got to this point, and then took the advice. :P

On Wed, Aug 17, 2016 at 10:13 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:


> 6) Talk to people more.  Read more long content and less tweets.  Watch
> less TV.  Spend less time on the Internet.
>
>

Re: [silk] Podcast recommendations?

[Sriram Karra]

My list these days:

- Accidental Tech Podcast
- Nature podcast
- Stuff You Should Know
- a16z
- Intelligence Squared [Debates]
- Planet Money
- The Economist

On Tue, Aug 9, 2016 at 1:03 PM, Srijith Nair  wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> After discovering the magic of 1.4x audio speed and apps that support
> them (along with removing silence), I  have been binging on podcast
> episodes. Being new to this, I was wondering if this amazingly diverse
> group would have recommendations on podcasts to listen to?
>
> I have an eclectic taste (or so I keep telling myself), but it
> gravitates towards general technology if not course corrected. My
> current list includes:
>
> 1. Recode Decode
> 2. Recode Media
> 3. Too Embarrassed To Ask
> 4. McKinsey podcast
> 5. Planet Money
> 6. Exponent
> 7. Invisiblia
> 8. RadioLab
> 9. You are not so smart
> 10. The Tim Ferriss Show
>
> Srijith
>
>

Re: [silk] Eating Millet

[Sriram Karra]

Keeping aside anecdotes of success, it appears like recent studies have
only shown that

(a) earlier correlation studies were flawed by design.

(b) the homeostasis of serum cholesterol is more complex than thought
earlier, and earlier risks of high correlation between dietary cholesterol
and CHD are exaggerated.

>From here to claim that there is no correlation at all appears like a leap
of faith? Not to say anything about the claimed lack of correlation of
dietary fat -> serum lipids while not considering the type of fat... mufa /
pufa etc.

I am not an expert in any of this. Just a guy who is very interested to
know whether to order my next omelet with the yellow or not :)

-Karra

On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 8:32 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
s...@venkatmangudi.com> wrote:

> There are many studies that have shown that the dietary cholesterol does
> not increase blood cholesterol. Of course, there are older studies that
> negate this. However, a bunch of new research such as this one [1] shows
> that blood cholesterol depends on other factors.
>
> I have been on the Keto diet for the last 3 years. My cholesterol levels
> that were considered dangerous on a normal low fat diet is now normal on
> a High fat diet. All I eat is fat, with a bit of protein and almost no
> carbs. I know a whole lot of people on this list who are ketoers with great
> results. While it is difficult to believe, considering that all of us have
> been preached to about low fat, high carb foods, I can confidently say that
> dietary fat has no effect on blood lipids.
>
> [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22037012
>
> Cheers
> Venkat
>
> On Monday 8 August 2016, Sriram Karra <karra@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hm, I'm interested to know more. Are there are any caveats or special
> > conditions that you omitted?
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
> > s...@venkatmangudi.com <javascript:;>> wrote:
> >
> > > Cholesterol in food doesn't affect your blood cholesterol. :)
> > >
> > > --Venkat
> > >
>

Re: [silk] Eating Millet

[Sriram Karra]

Hm, I'm interested to know more. Are there are any caveats or special
conditions that you omitted?

On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
s...@venkatmangudi.com> wrote:

> Cholesterol in food doesn't affect your blood cholesterol. :)
>
> --Venkat
>
> On Monday 8 August 2016, Suresh Ramasubramanian  wrote:
>
> > Yes - but there's always cholesterol from what happens when you cook
> rotis
> > - high heat to rather beyond the smoke point of most oils.
> >
> > --srs
> >
> > > On 08-Aug-2016, at 2:00 PM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk <
> > s...@venkatmangudi.com > wrote:
> > >
> > > Weight loss has nothing to with eating fat, and vice versa. Starch is
> > > another thing altogether.
> > >
> > > --Venkat
> > >
> > >> On Monday 8 August 2016, Suresh Ramasubramanian  > > wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Both very useful suggestions but I sort of fail to see the point about
> > >> adding fat and starch to something that you’re supposed to eat to
> > produce
> > >> weight loss ☺
> > >>
> > >> --srs
> > >>
> > >> On 08/08/16, 1:35 PM, "silklist on behalf of Simmi Sareen"
> > >> 
> >  on
> > >> behalf of bombayfoo...@gmail.com  >
> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 1:02 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian <
> > >> sur...@hserus.net  >
> > >>wrote:
> > >>
> > >>>
> > >>> Adding them to dosa batter, roti dough and such tends to be an
> > >> experiment
> > >>> that goes wrong very easily – and you just have to eat them hot,
> > >> can’t even
> > >>> pack them in a kid’s lunchbox or they turn into shoe leather in very
> > >> short
> > >>> order.
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>I have a friend who regularly brings soft textured millet
> flatbreads
> > >> for
> > >>lunch at work. Apart from the usual 'add oil/ghee to the dough and
> > >> while
> > >>cooking' tip, there are two tricks I learnt from her that make for
> > >> millet
> > >>rotis behaving for several hours:
> > >>1. Try a dough with equal quantities of millet and rice flours,
> > kneaded
> > >>with warm water
> > >>2. Add a boiled, mashed potato per cup of dough. You are adding
> both
> > >> starch
> > >>and moisture this way, making for a much better texture.
> > >>
> > >>Simmi
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
>

[silk] Survey on QR Codes

[Sriram Karra]

Hi everyone,

Some of you may have seen this request on Facebook already... if you have
already filled out the survey, then you can ignore the rest of the email.

If you have a few minutes to spare, I'd like to get your help on something
I am working on. I am considering using QR Codes as an important component
of the user interaction experience of something I am developing. To ensure
I get the right first run experience for users I wanted to run a short
survey to understand how aware people are about QR codes, and also how they
are perceived.

I'd be really happy if you can take a few minutes to complete this survey.
After that If you can forward this email to some of your friends, that'd be
even cooler :) I am specifically interested in responses from people across
the age and geo spectrum. So if you have college-going friends / kids, or
elderly parents etc. would love it if you can forward this to them as well.

Once I am done collating results, I am happy to share them with anyone who
is interested.

http://bit.ly/2aFJMaf

-Sriram

Re: [silk] [ADMIN] noise reduction

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Sep 11, 2015 at 9:21 AM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:

> ​[ADMIN]
>
> The "James Bonilla" account is now on moderation. I will have to approve
> each post made by this account individually.
>

I fully expect to be informed soon that someone, say Shiv, ran a social
experiment on the list and to expect the results soon.

Re: [silk] Renaming Aurangzeb Road

[Sriram Karra]

On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 6:38 PM, Sean Doyle  wrote:

>
> When I visit Long Island (part of New York State) I'm always amused when I
> see the road signs for "New Highway":
>
> https://www.google.com/maps/place/New+Hwy,+Amityville,+NY+11701/@40.708254,-73.4014755,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e82b3ce1fb74e7:0x114871aa590cfd8c
> I don't know the history - but "New Highway" has been around for a while.
>

This chap will be a serious contender for the record for this sort of
thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mosque_(Istanbul)

Re: [silk] silklist Digest, Vol 62, Issue 8

[Sriram Karra]

On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 7:45 AM, Dave Long dave.l...@bluewin.ch wrote:

People who actually managed to do anything at all are already at the 88th
 percentile of the hackerrank general leaderboard; and if I understand the
 scoring system properly, doing a gimme exercise in each of the domains
 would suffice to put one at the 95th percentile (40th percentile of
 actives).  There's a short tail at the high end (6% of actives, 1%
 overall, with 200-100 points), about half the actives are between 100-50
 points, and a long tail dribbling off towards the great sea of 0's.


Dave, that's reasonably accurate data. May I ask you where you got it from?
Fixing these figures in some way is why we have hired dedicated product
managers on the community side. I manage the enterprise side of the
business.

I totally agree with your point that it is important to understand
objectives of the users. At HackerRank we have our roots in the competitive
programming world of IOI and ACM ICPC and the like. The demographic and
retention characteristics are very different for that base. But the real
volume opportunity is elsewhere - in the self learning crowd. Even there we
have noticed there is a huge cohort of re-skill users - programmers with
even 12+ years of quality experience who want to check out what this whole
web dev paradigm is all about. The world has more high quality telecoms
engineers than it needs. There are fewer quality full stack devs that can
put together a system as web scale. There doesn't seem to be enough
rebalancing going on yet, surprisingly.

The novice cohort is the most challenging and perhaps an even more
lucrative opportunity. Goals for this group can be as prosaic as pick up a
skill that will lead to a well paying job in computing. Suffice to say we
(or any one else in the space) have barely gotten started in putting
together an engaging product for this crowd.

Re: [silk] So, hi! An introduction

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 9:08 PM, Rajesh Mehar rajeshme...@gmail.com wrote:


 I've been looking to get back to it. Any ideas on how I can get started on
 this project? I may be able to afford a couple of hours a week.


You can signup for an account on www.hackerrank.com and ease your way back
into programming.

Disclaimer: I work at HackerRank.

Re: [silk] Slacktivism

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 9:14 AM, SS cybers...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Thu, 2014-08-21 at 14:29 -0400, John Sundman wrote:
  Surely humankind is capable of addressing more than one problem at a
  time?

 Yes, but that is a general reply that does not answer my specific
 question? Why ALS? Why not, for example, Pontine Glioma?


You might as well be asking Of all the videos mankind makes every day, why
did Gangam Style go viral?

Re: [silk] Riders on the Storm - pliss yenjaay

[Sriram Karra]

Just in case anyone did not notice: Krish Ashok (the main singer of the
linked piece) is an old timer on silk.


On Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 8:55 PM, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:

 Yz. I enjaayed. thank you SS. I like your generational communication
 methods :D


 On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 11:25 AM, SS cybers...@gmail.com wrote:

  Link sent to me by Pooja sitting in the next room
  https://soundcloud.com/krishashok/riders-on-the-auto

Re: [silk] The Arranged Marriage That Ended Happily Ever After, 30 Years Later

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 3:57 PM, SS cybers...@gmail.com wrote:


 Below is a quote from a biography of one of India's most famous former
 Presidents, S. Radhakrishnan, written by his son, S.Gopal, detailing his
 father's extramarital liaisons covered up by a holier-than-thou façade

 http://dryfacts.blogspot.in/2008/05/radhakrishnan-as-philaderer-dr.html



Fascinating.

Re: [silk] What You Learn in Your 40s

[Sriram Karra]

To bring some variety to this thread would someone like to take a stab at
what a 48 year old Barak Obama or Narendra Modi would have said?

On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 8:37 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 This is a fun list. Please add your own discoveries here.

Re: [silk] On self-improvement

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Aug 20, 2013 8:48 PM, Sriram Karra karra@gmail.com wrote:

  
   I was asking if GTD can be considered self help.
 
 
  The above strongly indicates your question is really something else.
 If not
  why do you care one way or the other? So, Thaths, what is your *real*
  question?

 I don't understand. Can you elaborate?


Hehehe. What I am personally curious about is to know why you asked that
question in the first place. Do you have a particular view on the self-help
genre? Do you feel it changes anything about the self-help genre or about
the GTD cult one way or the other? It was the juxtaposition of your
question with Kiran's strong views that triggered this curiosity.

Re: [silk] On self-improvement

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 9:44 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

   The above strongly indicates your question is really something else.
 If not
   why do you care one way or the other? So, Thaths, what is your *real*
   question?
 
  I don't understand. Can you elaborate?


 Sounds like Karra is experimenting with an ELIZA bot. :)


Heh, reading the above exchange, hard to say which side Eliza is on? :)

Re: [silk] On self-improvement

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 6:46 PM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 1:51 AM, Deepak Misra
 yahoogro...@deepakmisra.comwrote:

  On Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 2:51 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:
   What do Silk listers think about blogs like Life hacker or a
 GTD-focused
   tip-sharing mailing list? Is they in the same genre? Or a different
 one?Are
  you asking about the efficacy of say  GTD or a mailing list
  dealing with GTD?


 I was asking if GTD can be considered self help.


The above strongly indicates your question is really something else. If not
why do you care one way or the other? So, Thaths, what is your *real*
question?

Re: [silk] we don't need no steenkin PRISM

[Sriram Karra]

If at all the government reads your e-mails, or taps your phone, that will
be done for a good reason. It is not invading your privacy, it is protecting
you and your country, he said.

I feel reassured, thank you.


On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 8:53 PM, Eugen Leitl eu...@leitl.org wrote:



 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/security/India-sets-up-nationwide-snooping-programme-to-tap-your-emails-phones/articleshow/20678562.cms

 India sets up nationwide snooping programme to tap your emails, phones

 Reuters | Jun 20, 2013, 12.32 PM IST

 India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will give its
 security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap directly
 into e-mails and phone calls.

 Hackers try to break into NIC serversStudy reveals data breach costs for
 Indian companiesMalicious or criminal attacks cause 37% of data breaches

 NEW DELHI: India has launched a wide-ranging surveillance program that will
 give its security agencies and even income tax officials the ability to tap
 directly into e-mails and phone calls without oversight by courts or
 parliament, several sources said.

 The expanded surveillance in the world's most populous democracy, which the
 government says will help safeguard national security, has alarmed privacy
 advocates at a time when allegations of massive US digital snooping beyond
 American shores has set off a global furor.

 If India doesn't want to look like an authoritarian regime, it needs to be
 transparent about who will be authorized to collect data, what data will be
 collected, how it will be used, and how the right to privacy will be
 protected, said Cynthia Wong, an Internet researcher at New York-based
 Human
 Rights Watch.

 The Central Monitoring System (CMS) was announced in 2011 but there has
 been
 no public debate and the government has said little about how it will work
 or
 how it will ensure that the system is not abused.

 The government started to quietly roll the system out state by state in
 April
 this year, according to government officials. Eventually it will be able to
 target any of India's 900 million landline and mobile phone subscribers and
 120 million Internet users.

 Interior ministry spokesman KS Dhatwalia said he did not have details of
 CMS
 and therefore could not comment on the privacy concerns. A spokeswoman for
 the telecommunications ministry, which will oversee CMS, did not respond to
 queries.

 Indian officials said making details of the project public would limit its
 effectiveness as a clandestine intelligence-gathering tool.

 Security of the country is very important. All countries have these
 surveillance programs, said a senior telecommunications ministry official,
 defending the need for a large-scale eavesdropping system like CMS.

 You can see terrorists getting caught, you see crimes being stopped. You
 need surveillance. This is to protect you and your country, said the
 official, who is directly involved in setting up the project. He did not
 want
 to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject.

 No independent oversight

 The new system will allow the government to listen to and tape phone
 conversations, read e-mails and text messages, monitor posts on Facebook,
 Twitter or LinkedIn and track searches on Google of selected targets,
 according to interviews with two other officials involved in setting up the
 new surveillance program, human rights activists and cyber experts.

 In 2012, India sent in 4,750 requests to Google for user data, the highest
 in
 the world after the United States.

 Security agencies will no longer need to seek a court order for
 surveillance
 or depend, as they do now, on internet or telephone service providers to
 give
 them the data, the government officials said.

 Government intercept data servers are being built on the premises of
 private
 telecommunications firms. These will allow the government to tap into
 communications at will without telling the service providers, according to
 the officials and public documents.

 The top bureaucrat in the federal interior ministry and his state-level
 deputies will have the power to approve requests for surveillance of
 specific
 phone numbers, e-mails or social media accounts, the government officials
 said.

 While it is not unusual for governments to have equipment at
 telecommunication companies and service providers, they are usually
 required
 to submit warrants or be subject to other forms of independent oversight.

 Bypassing courts is really very dangerous and can be easily misused, said
 Pawan Sinha, who teaches human rights at Delhi University. In most
 countries
 in Europe and in the United States, security agencies were obliged to seek
 court approval or had to function with legal oversight, he said.

 The senior telecommunications ministry official dismissed suggestions that
 India's system could be open to abuse.

 The home secretary has to have some substantial 

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

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, May 10, 2013 at 4:05 PM, Charles Haynes charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote:



 The wine tasting I have consistently advocated is personal double-blind
 vertical or horizontal tastings with a ringer. Let me explain :)


I wonder ... is there *any* way one can do the above in India over a
meaningfully long period of time in without having to, in parallel, plan a
heist at a local bank? Charles, can you shed some light on the economics of
running a structured and serious tasting like the one you sent in another
email? We can make some rough corrections for Indian import duties and
stuff.

Re: [silk] Fwd: Invites you to a talk on Fundamental and Applied: Religious Practices in U.S. and Indian Technology; Wednesday 10th April 2013; 4:00 pm

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Apr 6, 2013 at 11:04 AM, Carol Upadhya carol.upad...@gmail.comwrote:

[...]


 Examples from apocalyptic dreams of
 immortality and resurrection in U.S. technology and the integration of
 cultural traditions in Indian technology reveal how religion, science, and
 technology are intertwined, pulling one another first one way, then
 another. These are not religious ideas appended onto science and
 technology, but are perfectly ordinary examples of human scientific
 practice.


Carol, I am curious to hear what he has to say on the above. If any slides
or such from the talk are put up online could you post a link here?

Re: [silk] Fwd: Invites you to a talk on Fundamental and Applied: Religious Practices in U.S. and Indian Technology; Wednesday 10th April 2013; 4:00 pm

[Sriram Karra]

On Sun, Apr 7, 2013 at 9:25 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.netwrote:


 Denying it all and debunking any connection between religion and science,
 and ridiculing the people who profess it, kind of helps prevent several
 deliberate attempts to subvert and replace science with religious dogma.


Isn't that just replacing one pile of crap with another equally stinky
pile? Where is the nuance and subtlety that is needed to make sense of and
make peace with the pathetic human condition?

Re: [silk] temperature as forex

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 5:14 PM, Dave Long dave.l...@bluewin.ch wrote:

 Another metaphor for temperature: there are two basic currencies in
 physics, entropy and energy.  If you have an ordered state, you can usually
 easily trade it for a less-ordered state, and if you have an energetic
 state, you can usually easily trade it for a less-energetic state.
  Temperature is the exchange rate between these two currencies.  At low
 temperatures, energy is dear and order cheap, so we wind up with systems
 whose parts are predictably in one of their lowest energy states.  At high
 temperatures, order is dear and energy is cheap, so we wind up with systems
 whose parts are unpredictable, as likely to be in arbitrarily high-energy
 states as lower ones.


Nice.


 A negative temperature is then the equivalent of a negative exchange rate
 -- which is why it takes some effort to set up*, as the universe usually
 conspires to quickly arbitrage such situations away.


I am not sure the analogy reads well here. What is a 'negative exchange
rate' in the real world except as a convention denoting 'inverse'?

Re: [silk] lower than absolute zero?

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Jan 5, 2013 at 6:46 PM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote:

 I still don't get it, but that's not for lack of clarity on your part,
 Dave, for your write-up is excellent.

 Rather, it's like when you try to explain to somebody that one plus one
 equals two and they say I don't get it. At some point you just have to
 give up.


At this point, I suppose it should be considered mandatory to pay respects
to the Master: http://www.ditext.com/carroll/tortoise.html

Re: [silk] Recommended Reading from 2012

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Dec 7, 2012 at 12:58 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.


Are you into Spiritual stuff? There are plenty of books from the RK Mutt
Press and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan that are awesome deals when picked up
here in India. I can name a few favourites if that's your cup of tea.

Re: [silk] great piece on Bal Thackeray after all the other crap that's out there

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 7:29 AM, Shoba Narayan sh...@shobanarayan.comwrote:

 First time I am reading this writer.  Hope he writes more.


+1


 http://www.indianexpress.com/news/fear-and-loathing-in-mumbai/1032891/0***
 *

Re: [silk] Probability for kids

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 3:45 PM, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 3:17 PM, Landon Hurley ljrhur...@gmail.com
 wrote:
  -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-
  Hash: SHA512
 
  However, I am interested in how you ameliorate the paradox between the
  probability of rolling a one is .5, i.e. half of the N times you role a
  die, you will come up with a 1, and the empirical fact that a you role a
  large N, you come up with a number that approximates 16.66 out of a 100
  occurrences of 1.
 

 No, I am not able to treat it as a series of occurrences. Each is one
 event...that may or may not occur. It's very difficult to explain
 something that is patently nonsensical to everyone else, but which I
 am unable to shake myself out of.


Probability as used in regular conversation is a very different (and more
poorly defined) beast than what is referred to by the mathematical concept
of probability. That is the root of your problem, Deepa. You are trying to
fit Landon's attempt to describe the mathematical probability to your
understanding of a loosely defined colloquial probability.

Your difficulty is akin to difficulty in understanding or visualising the
mathematical Point - an infinitely small entity of 0 size, but that - due
to matters of practical limitations - has to be represented by a large blob
of chalk on the black board and visualized by everyone as such.

The existence of these two Probabilities also points to the real problem
in front of Udhay - which meaning of probability do you want to shine light
on for your child?

-Karra

Re: [silk] Probability for kids

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Oct 27, 2012 at 6:05 PM, Eugen Leitl eu...@leitl.org wrote:


 I wouldn't try to get too abstract on young kids.

 I think the idea of a sack full of colored legos and
 need for repeated draws in order to demonstrate
 expectations, and that a large number of measurements
 are needed for numbers to converge towards what is
 expected


+1 to the general approach and the core issues that need focus.

Re: [silk] 2 questions

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 7:25 PM, John Sundman j...@wetmachine.com wrote:


 2) In my inbox today a nice note from Amazon announcing a million or so
  ebook titles in the Kindle Direct Publishing program (including my 3
 books, yay), are now available in India, through Amazon.com.  I wonder if
 this will change your buying habits? Or were those of you who purchase 
 read ebooks in India already able to find the books you wanted through
 other sources?


It is certainly a good start. Publisher pricing of ebooks needs significant
tweaking, because books in the subcontinent are heavily discounted wrt US
list prices. To take just one random example: The Ruby Programming
Language from O'Reilly, costs: Rs. 1,172 in the kindle store now, while
the paperback has an official list price of ~575, with up to 25% discounts
easy to come. There is absolutely no way I am going to change my purchasing
behavior with those sort of pricing discrepancies.

I have noticed that kindle editions of your own books are very attractively
priced. A great move, I think. But such deals are clearly hard to discover,
and consequently the whole platform suffers from an image problem.

All that said, I have purchased Kindles as gifts for family members and
loaded them up with free, out-of-copyright books. The availability of large
numbers of  classics makes it a great gift item for people who are into
reading. I gave one to my sister, for e.g., to encourage her to free up
some shelf space :) But I am still holding out on buy one for myself.

Re: [silk] Want a one-way ticket to Mars? A Dutch company is looking for you

[Sriram Karra]

Heh, at age of 70 the question you should be answering is 'will they take
me' :)

On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 6:01 PM, Nikhil Mehra nikhil.mehra...@gmail.comwrote:

 If I was 70 years of age or more in 2023, I'd take this. Would be the
 ultimate fantasy come true to see space. And then die on Mars. I mean
 friggin' Mars!

 Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

 -Original Message-
 From: Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com
 Sender: silklist-bounces+nikhil.mehra773=gmail@lists.hserus.net
 Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:56:37
 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
 Reply-To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
 Subject: Re: [silk] Want a one-way ticket to Mars? A Dutch company is
  looking for you

 On 03-Aug-12 9:11 AM, Deepa Mohan wrote:

   http://mars-one.com/en/
 
 
  If you've always wanted to live on a distant world,
 
  Dutch company Mars One wants to give you your chance to settle on the
  red planet. There's only one catch: You'll never be able to return to
  Earth.

 My first thought was that this is some  kind of stealth marketing
 campaign for the remake of Total Recall [1] - except that the 2012
 version does not have the Mars setting.

 Hm.

 Udhay

 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Recall_%282012_film%29
 --
 ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Old Readers Digest

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Jul 17, 2012 at 5:16 PM, ss cybers...@gmail.com wrote:


 But after the 80s it seemed to lose its magic. After that it seemed to me
 that RD was just a
 load of raddi paper

 shiv


What would you recommend today. The Caravan?

Re: [silk] outdated words in Indian English

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Jul 13, 2012 at 7:12 PM, Eugen Leitl eu...@leitl.org wrote:

So I was going through this link. While I know that 'do the needful' and
 'revert back' are wrong usages even though it's common here


Do the needful - is it incorrect usage? I mean, really?

Re: [silk] Why Are American Kids So Spoiled?

[Sriram Karra]

Another way to see it is: Hey, old farts have been the same for ages!
Rejoice!

On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 11:26 AM, Charles Haynes
charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote:

 People have been complaining about the young people of today for as long
 as there have been young people. I believe there's an essay by Pliny on the
 subject, and I'm sure there are earlier versions.

Re: [silk] 500 mile emails, redux

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 5:29 PM, Charles Haynes charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote:


 Now go read the rest of the rant, because it's great.


Well written and, er, very pedantic. What next? Is he going to nitpick
about 'bitrot' saying the phenomenon is quite different from bits actually
rotting, because bits do not rot in the general sense that other things
rot? Methinks he should develop his sense of humour.

Re: [silk] 500 mile emails, redux

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 10:28 AM, Charles Haynes
charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote:

 On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 5:02 AM, Sriram Karra karra@gmail.com wrote:
  On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 5:29 PM, Charles Haynes 
 charles.hay...@gmail.com
  wrote:

  Now go read the rest of the rant, because it's great.

  Well written and, er, very pedantic. What next? Is he going to nitpick
 about
  'bitrot' saying the phenomenon is quite different from bits actually
  rotting, because bits do not rot in the general sense that other things
  rot? Methinks he should develop his sense of humour.

 Sorry his writing wasn't to your taste. I find his dry wit quite
 entertaining. Rob is one of the smartest people I know, but his sense
 of humor is not to everyone's taste; it often depends on the reader
 being (almost) as smart as he is, which means there's only a tiny
 audience for it.


Oh, well. Thanks for the closing out the discussion.

-Karra

P.S.: I am reading the following article. If one wants to be pedantic, why
not go all the way. Ref: section 2.4 in particular.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-uncertainty/#UncRelUncPri

Re: [silk] Mission: Bangalore silk meetup - Thu July 14

[Sriram Karra]

+1 for friday night. Good for any place in Indira Nagar or Koramangala.

On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 11:50 AM, Sruthi Krishnan srukr...@gmail.comwrote:

 Hokai. Fri night.

 Pizzeria Romano? http://www.pizzeriaromano.com/

Re: [silk] Lurkers, hidden audiences, and public archives

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Shoba Narayan narayan.sh...@gmail.com wrote:

 But I want to find out if anyone else on this list shares my views.  When I
 was invited into Silk by Dr. Shiv Sastry maybe two years ago, I didn't
 realize that all its archives were in the open domain.

 Now that I know this, I might hibernate into a lurker.

Does everything you say have to be crazy? The List is known to the
world merely as a place for Intelligent Conversation, after all.

 It is one thing to say crazy/funny stuff to a group of people, albeit a
 large and largely unknown one, but within a closed setting, but it is
 quite another to say something for anyone to see.

 Since Udhay said that he feels strongly about this, let me start by
 stating that I too feel very strongly about this group's privacy settings

It is very unfortunate that you went so long without realizing the
public nature of the archives. I am keen to understand how much of
your strong reaction is purely due to your shock from said
realization, and how much from a belief that it would improve the
quality of interaction on the list?

I would like to believe the tenor of conversation would have been
quite different if the list had been closed from day one. For e.g.
it's possible there would have been less 'elite' or snob quotient in
the whole business.

Of course, I am curious to hear Udhay's strong views for keeping the list open.

Re: [silk] Visa-free and visa-on-arrival travel for Indians: maybe useful for last-minute travel

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 10:27 PM, Vinayak Hegde vinay...@gmail.com wrote:
 On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 10:13 PM, Mahesh Murthy mahesh.mur...@gmail.com
 wrote:

 Figuring out where to go this weekend onwards, I spent a few hours on
 Timatic doing up this list.

 muchas gracias.

Are Thaths and I the only ones who did not find a list of countries
in Mahesh's original mail? Weird.

Re: [silk] Visa-free and visa-on-arrival travel for Indians: maybe useful for last-minute travel

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 11:04 PM, Mahesh Murthy mahesh.mur...@gmail.com wrote:
 Sorry for top-posting. Phone doesnt allow otherwise.

 Perhaps you didnt get the image in the earlier mail which comprehensively
 listed 58 countries that allowed Indians visa-free and visa-on-arrival
 travel?

Ah! Yes, and No. Gmail did not display the image by default; and I
missed the un-obtrusive note that said there's an image that gmail has
hidden from view. Most excellent, thanks.

Re: [silk] Silk meet in Bangalore

[Sriram Karra]

 On 8 December 2010 11:31, Venkat Mangudi s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote:

 On Wednesday 08 December 2010 11:19 AM, Biju Chacko wrote:
  Who else? Suggestions for venue please. Considering that it is a
  weekday, I will have to leave latest by 10 p.m.

 7:30 p.m at Windsro Pub, vasanth Nagar. Next to Kodava Samaj. Works for
 everyone? This way Danese can join us arnd 9:30ish.

You can add me to the 'tenative' list.

-Karra

Re: [silk] Antimatter

[Sriram Karra]

 Even Einstein believed in God.

 Kiran


If God refers to a supernatural power who created and sustains the
world and listens to prayers and doles out favours to the faithful,
then Einstein certainly did not believe in God.

Richard Dawkins' God Delusion goes into this very misconception in some detail.

Re: [silk] Antimatter

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 10:56 PM, Sriram Karra ska...@gmail.com wrote:

 Even Einstein believed in God.

 Kiran


 If God refers to a supernatural power who created and sustains the
 world and listens to prayers and doles out favours to the faithful,
 then Einstein certainly did not believe in God.

 Richard Dawkins' God Delusion goes into this very misconception in some 
 detail.

Now that I have my copy with me, I can give the following Einstein
quotes reproduced by Dawkins:

It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious
convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not
believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have
expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called
religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the
world so far as our science can reveal it.

I am a deeply religious nonbeliever. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.

I have never imputed to Nature a purpose or a goal, or anything that
could be understood as anthropomorphic. What I see in Nature is a
magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly,
and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This
is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with
mysticism.

The idea of a personal God is quite alien to me and seems even naive.

Dawkins refers to Max Jammer's Einstein and Religion as his source
for these, and other, Einstein quotes. I have not read Jammer.

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

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 10:35 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:
 I think we had a similar thread lo, these many years ago, but still.

 Inspired by a friend's status message about lutefisk, I ask silklisters
 to let us know what is the strangest thing they've eaten.

Wonder why an overwhelming number of the responses on this the thread
are about animals of some kind. Aren't there any veggies, fruits,
'dairy' products (Hm, let's say - Blue Whale's Milk?) that people
yearn to experience. Are vegetarians just plain dull?!

Re: [silk] Fwd: [CCM-L] Looks pretty good for me coming to Chennai (OT)

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Oct 26, 2010 at 2:05 PM, Eugen Leitl eu...@leitl.org wrote:


 find.  Then the actual application is something like five pages long,
 designed like an application to be a nuclear engineer and requiring
 simply useless information that's time and labor intensive to figure
 out.


This guy appears spoiled from not having to fill out too many visa
applications. Good for him, though.

UK visa application form was 21 pages not too long back; More recently it is
down at about 10 pages for many categories. Ofcourse he can argue about the
'nuclear engineer skills' required to fill them out :-)

Re: [silk] Buddhism Reading List

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 3:05 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:


  These are books I have read and like (in no particular order).
  - Herman Hesse's Siddhartha

 I read this 10 years ago and don't remember it too well. This book was
 highly allegorical (a la Jonathan Livingston Seagull) and I did not
 take very many practical lessons from it.


You should read it again now. I must have read it atleast 5 times over the
past 10 years, and each time the perspective was different. The impact your
own state of mind has on how much you get out of this small book is not
funny... (I suppose that is true of any book related to spirituality!)

Re: [silk] Buddhism Reading List

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 6:46 AM, Charles Haynes charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote:

 On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 9:28 AM, Charles Haynes

 I've been reading The Tree of Enlightenment
  http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/tree-enlightenment.pdf which is a
  free online summary of the basic theology, philosophy, and practices



 [..]



 Actually - it's perfect if you want an intellectual understanding of
 the theory, basis, and historical schools of buddhism.

If you're looking for self-help or spirituality, I'm a big fan of Shunryu
 Suzuki
 Roshi's Zen Mind, Beginner Mind but then I'm one of those western
 zen buddhists.


Thank you for the two references. The PDF linked above appears, at a quick
browse, too 'heavy duty', but it will act as a good reference. Look forward
to reading Suzuki.

Re: [silk] Buddhism Reading List

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, May 25, 2010 at 6:23 AM, Indrajit Gupta bonoba...@yahoo.co.inwrote:




 Sriram

 Buddhism by Christmas Humphreys did it for me. Slim but reasonably
 comprehensive narrative.


Thank you, IG.

[silk] Buddhism Reading List

[Sriram Karra]

I am looking for recommendations for books on Buddhism (3-5) - I am
interested in (reasonably) authoritative history and teachings of the
prominent schools. If recommendations are based on second hand reviews,
please do mention that.

Re: [silk] Buddhism Reading List

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 10:47 PM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Mon, May 24, 2010 at 10:09 AM, Sriram Karra ska...@gmail.com wrote:
  I am looking for recommendations for books on Buddhism (3-5) - I am
  interested in (reasonably) authoritative history and teachings of the
  prominent schools. If recommendations are based on second hand reviews,
  please do mention that.

 For what purpose? Are you looking for spiritual/self-help purposes or
 for academic reasons?


Spiritual/Self-help it is.

Re: [silk] How does one unregister from Hinduism?

[Sriram Karra]

 (fried? what do you call it when you pour batter on a
 griddle and make pancakes?)


A literal translation from Tamil would suggest a dosa is 'shot'?

Re: [silk] online banking security analysis

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 6:52 PM, Abhijit Menon-Sen a...@toroid.org wrote:

 Has anyone done a security analysis of net banking sites in India? Have
 any actual attacks been dissected and documented? Does anyone know what
 measures are taken to safeguard authentication information?

 Someone used my mother's net banking account without authorisation, and
 the bank (ICICI) says, in effect, it happens, what can anyone do?. So
 I'm just wondering if there's any sensible/safe way to use net banking.

There are two components to security of net banking: (a) security of
processes and user visibile security features, and (b) security of the
technology platform including databases and their websites. Normal users
like you and me can satisfy ourselves of the former, but the latter would
need, one would presume, more detailed 'audit' and the analysis of experts.

From my experience ICICI's net banking is quite solid as far as user visible
security processes go. Apart from the dual 'login and transaction'
passwords, the following 'reassure' me considerably:

1. Virtual Keyboard for logging - to protect your username/password on
public computers (I would imageine this feature would not be much used as
most of us rely on finger memory, but you should highly recommend this to
your mother)
2. Apart from the transaction password, it has something called the GRID
password that is available on the back of the debit card, and for any third
party transfers (even if you had authorized them for an earlier transaction)
3 of the 16 (IIRC) cells from the GRID are queried
3. Adding receipients for transfers needs to go through an authorization
through code sent to mobile phone
4. The now enforced Verfied by Visa / MasterCard SecureCode help.

etc.

From a end user perspective it certainly feels more robust that HSBC UK
online banking (my one other significant net banking experience), where much
is hidden behind their all transaxctions and transfers are subject to our
usual fraud detection checks kind of opacity.

I am curious to know if data protection policies and programming security
are taken equally seriously... Would love to hear what Kalyan has to say...

Re: [silk] Writing with the pack

[Sriram Karra]

 Why do reporters report in a pack?


(a) laziness, and (b) publications catering to the same target population
are likely to have more or less the same criteria for what is considered
news worthy

Re: [silk] Zero rupees

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 8:16 AM, Mahesh Murthy mahesh.mur...@gmail.comwrote:


 http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/paying-zero-public-services

  For those who know Vijay, you'll know it's another instance where
 reality isn't allowed to come in the way of a good story and a naive
 journalist writing on developmental issues  :-)


So what *is* the real dope, please?

Re: [silk] Function [was Chennai Silk Meet on the 29th?]

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 9:04 AM, Srini RamaKrishnan che...@gmail.comwrote:

Or remember how the size of deep fried vadais at restaurants has kept
 increasing with every passing year? I hardly ever get to see the small
 vadais that would fit snugly into the palm of an open hand anymore.


You are ignoring the great Hotel Saravana Bhavan. The rate at which their
serving sizes are diminishing is only surpassed by the rate at which their
charges are shooting up...

Re: [silk] Intro

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 2:20 PM, Raul raul.li...@gmail.com wrote:


  The problem with this practice is neatly summed up by the following FAQ
 entry:

 A: No.
 Q: Should I include quotations after my reply?


The fallacy with that example is that no one has viewed the question
(Should I include ?) before the answer pops up. Whereas in real
mailing list conversations, the answer is always (99% of the cases at any
rate) 'below' the question in the temporal axis.

There are many things to be said in favour of proper quoting and bottom
posting on publicly archived mailing lists, but using the above example to
prove the point is improper and misleading to say the least.

Re: [silk] Reading recommendations on the Anti Brahmin Movement

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 7:02 PM, Sruthi Krishnan srukr...@gmail.com wrote:

 Hey Sriram,
 You could check out Navayana publishers


IMO Navayana seems to have a 'bring out the Dalit voice' slant, although
their stated mission is wider - one I hope they will fulfill in the years to
come. I have read two of their publications - The Dalit Dairy and Dalits in
Dravidian Land - both are compilations of articles that appeared elsewhere.

At any rate, their current catalog does not have something on the topic I am
after.


 and authors such as A.R.
 Venkatachalapathy and MSS Pandian. Will ask around for seminal or
 critically acclaimed works. :)


Thaths, Sruthi, thanks. will check out your recommendations.

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

[silk] silk archives in mbox format

[Sriram Karra]

Does anyone have silk mails over the past 5 or so years in mbox or similar
standard format suitable for offline indexing and consumption?

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] silk archives in mbox format

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 9:27 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

I see that you subscribe to the mailing list with your gmail account.
 It should be relatively easy to filter all threads to a lable,
 subscribe to that lable using the IMAP interface, download into local
 mbox. I think I might have silk-list mails in my gmail account going
 back at least 4 years. Probably 5.


That is my problem - my personal archive (in gmail) goes back only a couple
of years

Re: [silk] silk archives in mbox format

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 9:40 AM, Sriram Karra ska...@gmail.com wrote:

 On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 9:27 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:

 I see that you subscribe to the mailing list with your gmail account.
 It should be relatively easy to filter all threads to a lable,
 subscribe to that lable using the IMAP interface, download into local
 mbox. I think I might have silk-list mails in my gmail account going
 back at least 4 years. Probably 5.


 That is my problem - my personal archive (in gmail) goes back only a couple
 of years


To be very explicit, I am looking for the content - in bulk.

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] Indian foodies

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 6:37 AM, Charles Haynes charles.hay...@gmail.comwrote:

I was astonished to discover just *how* unadventurous your average Indian
 was with respect to trying new and different food.


In your experience how do people from other oriental cultures / countries of
a similar economic condition fare?

[silk] Reading recommendations on the Anti Brahmin Movement

[Sriram Karra]

Are there any generally accepted 'seminal'/'critically acclaimed' books
(preferably in English) on the anti-brahmin movement in Tamil Nadu?

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] What is Indian culture?

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 7:15 AM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:


 8. Children talk back to adults.


I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless
beyond words.

When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of
elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of
restraint.
--- Hesiod, Eighth Century B.C.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.quotations/msg/207140bd34d71a6b?pli=1

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

[silk] Trashy book amnesty

[Sriram Karra]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7926004.stm

[...]

*We like to pretend to have read great literature to sound clever. But what
about those well-thumbed novels we HAVE read, but are less keen to mention?
Time to 'fess up.*

At 3.1m characters, some 560,000 words and 1,400 pages, it's tempting to lie
about having read War and Peace. After all, what are the chances the target
of your fib has ploughed through the Russian masterpiece themselves

[...]

Well, there have been a few highbrow threads here on reading
recommendations. But's now's the time to fess up and balance that :-)
-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] scanning 35mm slide film in india

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 2:01 AM, Thaths tha...@gmail.com wrote:


 Most photo places (Konica, Kodak franchies) will get your slides
 scanned through their elaborate process somewhere upstream mechanism.


... and will protest  if you insist on high resolution scans saying they're
too slow... *sigh*

-Karra (who is stuck with a Nikon N80 body whose singular problem is the
Cycle Time to reach viewers - defined as time from click of photo to user
click when photo can be accessed by 'friend' - is just too large for the
21st century)

Re: [silk] bizarre news claims

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 8:50 PM, Perry E. Metzger [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 makes some rather bizarre claims, such as the suggestion that the
 attackers would have voluntarily dosed themselves with LSD before
 going into battle.


There was a news clip of the Maharashtra CM's official visit to the Taj
after the incident where the Police office talking him through the events
mentioned dry fruit and amphetamines were found in the terrorists'
rucksacks. With ampphetamines, atleast we are in the 'performance enhancing'
zone...

Re: [silk] obama on net neutrality

[Sriram Karra]

On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 10:40 PM, Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
  ps. the question was from joe the web-designer :-)


 And Barack the President is not bad with his algorithms either. Check out:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nnj7r1wCD4feature=related


Are you telling me that wasn't planted to demonstrate a sense of humour? :)

Re: [silk] Airtel Redirecting?

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 2:13 PM, Jude Britto [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 11:40 AM, Sumant Srivathsan [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:


 (+1 Xoogler)


 Thanks :).


Heh. did you just thank Sumant for quitting your company? :)

Re: [silk] Silk meet in London later this week?

[Sriram Karra]

Just a reminder - meeting in about 1.5 hours...

On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:43 PM, Sriram Karra [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 The plan is as follows:
 Date: Monday 20th Oct, 6:30 PM
 Location: Princess Louise, Holborn (
 http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=226)http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=226
 Plan: Meet for drink and conversation, with a possibility of going for
 dinner afterward

 We have four people confirmed: Divya, Anish, Badri and yours truly. Anyone
 else who is likely to be in the area around that time, feel free to drop in.

 -Karra

 On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 12:18 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Count me in.

 --Original Message--
 From: Sriram Karra
 Sender:
 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
 ReplyTo: silklist@lists.hserus.net
 Sent: 13 Oct 2008 23:20
 Subject: [silk] Silk meet in London later this week?

 I know there are at least two of us here now. How does a meet somewhere
 in/around the City on thursday evening sound for coffee/drink/dinner?

 --
 Sriram Karra
 You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do
 it
 really half assed. -Homer Simpson


 Sent from my BlackBerry(R) wireless device




 --
 Sriram Karra
 You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do
 it really half assed. -Homer Simpson




-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] Silk meet in London later this week?

[Sriram Karra]

The plan is as follows:
Date: Monday 20th Oct, 6:30 PM
Location: Princess Louise, Holborn (
http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=226)http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=226
Plan: Meet for drink and conversation, with a possibility of going for
dinner afterward

We have four people confirmed: Divya, Anish, Badri and yours truly. Anyone
else who is likely to be in the area around that time, feel free to drop in.

-Karra

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 12:18 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Count me in.

 --Original Message--
 From: Sriram Karra
 Sender:
 To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
 ReplyTo: silklist@lists.hserus.net
 Sent: 13 Oct 2008 23:20
 Subject: [silk] Silk meet in London later this week?

 I know there are at least two of us here now. How does a meet somewhere
 in/around the City on thursday evening sound for coffee/drink/dinner?

 --
 Sriram Karra
 You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do
 it
 really half assed. -Homer Simpson


 Sent from my BlackBerry(R) wireless device




-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

[silk] Silk meet in London later this week?

[Sriram Karra]

I know there are at least two of us here now. How does a meet somewhere
in/around the City on thursday evening sound for coffee/drink/dinner?

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] Food and Empire

[Sriram Karra]

On Tue, Sep 23, 2008 at 9:03 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 An updated, glossy version of Meenkashi Ammal's Cook and See, is
 avaiable. This new book


You mean, avialable?

Re: [silk] Send us your chefs, says the UK

[Sriram Karra]

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 2:15 PM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 How do you know it's a spoof?


Which self-respecting telugu-movie watching GoPaul from Hyderabad will go
looking for Rassam in New Jersey?

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] india's seat at the security council

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 1:54 AM, Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 This brings me to a huge economic presence in  India which keeps a very low
 profile..the administration of funds of religious bodies, like the Wakf
 Board, the  Church of South India, and so on.  The CSI owns immense amounts
 of property, and I simply have no clue how the money is administered...


and, in the case of that decentralized (Ultimate or otherwise) religion -
the devastanam properties belonging to individual temple trusts. Just as
opaque. And perhaps more litigation afflicted.

Re: [silk] indian parliament ict who-is-who ?

[Sriram Karra]

On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 7:04 PM, Ramakrishnan Sundaram [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:

 2008/8/23 Bonobashi [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
  The closest fit is Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who ... as an elected MP,

 Nominated. As this list is publicly archived, won't repeat gossip
 about the nomination process.


Hm, let me guess - probably something to do with the fact that he is the
nephew of M. K. Narayan - the National Security Advisor?

Re: [silk] Vir Sanghvi on Kashmir

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 4:10 AM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

This actually seems like a reasonable idea - hold another referendum in
 Kashmir and let them go if they want to. Anything I am missing here?


I, for one, think this would just rekindle the secessionist ambitions of
factions in the North East, Tamil Nadu and other places. It is too early to
declare them solved problems - some more so than the others, no doubt.

Re: [silk] Smoke and Mirrors

[Sriram Karra]

On Sun, Jul 13, 2008 at 10:22 AM, savita rao [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Sept 2008? The book is available here. I have a copy, have just started
 reading Smokes n Mirrors.


and here would be ... ?

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] Are you a different person when you speak a different language?

[Sriram Karra]

On Sun, Jul 6, 2008 at 12:04 PM, Charles Haynes [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 If you want to rank India relative to other indvidual countries in
 terms of diversity of thought I'd personally rate it relatively high
 in homogeneity. There are certainly outliers, but in general I'd say
 that Indian society was relatively homogenous in attitude. Just for
 one example take Indian attitudes toward arranged marriage.


I'm not sure that example proves your point. In India you are likely to find
about 3 views on arranged marriage. Outside India - how many? Unless I
completely missed your drift.

-- 
Sriram Karra
You don't quit your job because you don't like it; you just go in and do it
really half assed. -Homer Simpson

Re: [silk] Wanted: Exceptional parents

[Sriram Karra]

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 7:20 PM, Madhu Menon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 Delhi: Nice roads, lousy people
 Bangalore: Lousy roads, nice people


Come over to Madras, folks - all round nice place. Plus we'll throw in a
reasonably nice beach for free :)

Re: [silk] Jeremy Clarkson finds out the cost of privacy

[Sriram Karra]

On Jan 16, 2008 9:43 AM, Biju Chacko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

Evidentially, what they say about making sausage also applies to banking.


Reminds me of this joke. The instructor in a workshop for software
engineering project managers poses this question to his class: Imagine you
board a plane, and the captain announces that the flight control software of
that plane was written by your team, how many of you would get out in a
hurry?. All except one raise their hands, That one guy, on questioning,
replies if my team wrote this software, the flight has no chance of even
getting on to the runway.

Re: [silk] Silk list chennai meetup?

[Sriram Karra]

 Saturday  Sunday I have a dozen weddings to grace with my presence. Lunch
 on 25th is cool.


Lunch on 25th sounds good.

Re: [silk] Jeremy Clarkson finds out the cost of privacy

[Sriram Karra]

On Jan 9, 2008 8:32 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 Direct debit does exist, and I use it to pay my cellphone and some other
 bills.


Wait a sec. All direct debit's I have set up have been in writing - through
signed letters from me authorizing periodic debits, or limited
power-of-attorneys in case of trading accounts and such.

Badri, are you suggesting Jeremy lost money due to a legitimate feature of
his  banking system? I recently noticed a Funds Receive button in my
online bank account. I guess it is time to pay more attention to such new
'features' :)

Re: [silk] Indian Wine

[Sriram Karra]

On Dec 16, 2007 1:35 AM, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Are there any recommendations? I find anything else too expensive and
 too hard to find. I prefer the Grover Cabernet-Shiraz but perhaps
 there's something better?


I wouldn' know how they compare, but you should definitely try the Dindori
Shiraz Reserve from Sula

Re: [silk] Welcome

[Sriram Karra]

On Nov 26, 2007 10:41 AM, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 For an India the yatra to the temple of the West is essential for self
 realization and the existence of an entity called self that is separate
 from mummy, daddy, aunt, uncle. grandfather and grandmother.


Well put; many people would relate to that, although I'd say it is more
sufficient and less necessary, if you know what I mean...

Re: [silk] Silkmeet next week/Chennai

[Sriram Karra]

On Nov 12, 2007 1:07 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Badri Natarajan [11/11/07 22:00 -]:
 
 How does 8pm on Wednesday at Liu's sound to everyone who can make it?
 

 works for me


+1

Re: [silk] Mailing List Subscription Manager (Was Re: List admin?)

[Sriram Karra]

On 11/6/07, Eugen Leitl [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 03:23:43PM +, Sriram Karra wrote:

  In short, with access to your inbox, implementing such a system should
 be
  fairly straightforward... right? I'd like to think so. [Maybe one of
 these

 Oh, I don't think so.


Why so?

And automatic anythings won't work that well in future, given captchas.


I was only talking about unsubscribe and flipping vacation flags. Do you
know any list manager that uses captchas to unsubscribe? I haven't been
following this business all that much, but it makes no sense at all to do
that. It's a smart thing to ensure you let *in* only humans, that's for
sure. Once you do that, all you are left with on the list are humans. Not
that I can think of any reason why an automated bot would 'want' out, if it
ever got in anyway :)

Re: [silk] Why we curse.

[Sriram Karra]

On 10/17/07, Biju Chacko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20071008s=pinker100807c=1

 Why we curse.

There is a (rather long-ish) book titled Shadows of Forgotten
Ancestors in which Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan make a point that it is
a fairly common primate practice for males to mount (can't recall the
finer details) other males in a pseudosexual demonstration of
dominance (at the end of a fight?). Sagan notes that while this
practice is not prevalent among humans, the verbal equivalent (Fu*k
you with an implicit I) has taken its place. I think he used this as
one argument to assert our inherent primate nature.

[silk] Band rip off (Was: Re: Culinary musings from Steve Albini)

[Sriram Karra]

On 9/28/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 Steve Albini is, of course, the guy behind this [1] which is still
 required reading for anybody trying to understand what all the fuss
 about music and copyright is *really* about.


[...]


 [1] http://www.negativland.com/albini.html


Does anyone have similar insights on the Indian music industry? To take a
wild guess, I'd think it is very different. In which case is that sufficient
to take a very different stand on copyright from what is implied by you
(whatever that is :-))?