Re: [silk] Founder's Day!

[Valsa Williams]

Happy Birthday  Uday 

Best regards

Valsa


On Wed, Oct 23, 2019, 8:54 AM Radhika, Y.  wrote:

> Happy Birthday Udhay!
>
> El mar., 22 oct. 2019 6:56 p. m., Deepa Mohan 
> escribió:
>
> > Here's wishing Udhay the very best for the years ahead!
> >
> > Deepa.
> >
>

Re: [silk] In praise of slowness

[Valsa Williams]

​I retired in July 2015 and not 2014 ! Sorry about the typo


Best regards,

Valsa



On 24 January 2017 at 17:32, Valsa Williams <valsa.willi...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Interesting thread !
> There was an earlier thread on ‘To retire or not ‘. It motivated me to
> retire in July 2014. At Intel there is no retirement age, so I could have
> continued the 30 km commute, innumerable emails to respond to, a good
> salary package and trips to the US and rest of the world for many more
> years. The email thread on retirement had many comments, two of them which
> struck in my mind is – “No regular inflow of money into your bank” and “You
> get to see your spouse 24x7”!!! Both very true.
> However, I have finally found my space. slowed down from work but not from
> life ! I have enough time for my long walks, swimming, music, watching
> movies, hanging around with friends, staring at the rain with a cup of
> coffee.   I can take off for a holiday whenever I want. I plan to learn the
> piano this year ! I  spend my time on few topics of technical interest.
> However, it is not easy to earn as a Consultant. I am lucky that I still do
> some work for Intel.  Others that asked for my help, did not offer
> anything!
> My advise to those who plan to slow down is to ensure you keep developing
> your skills or learn new ones. Most importantly, have enough finances to
> back you up. The next big question would be 'how much' ??
>
>
> Valsa
>
>
>
> On 24 January 2017 at 16:39, Charles Haynes <charles.hay...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> > the above probably doesn't apply to the typical intelligent,
>> multi-dimensional silk lister.
>>
>> Hah. It especially applies to people who think it doesn't apply to them. I
>> found when I first started "slowing down" that my partner and I, as much
>> as
>> we love and are devoted to one another, need a certain amount of "our own"
>> time. That if we spend all of our time together we are less happy than if
>> we spend a certain amount of it apart. So we have that built in.
>>
>> For me "slowing down" has meant spending more time doing fewer things but
>> really paying attention to the things I do.
>>
>> -- Charles
>>
>> On Tue, 24 Jan 2017 at 21:51 Shyam Sunder <shyam.sun...@peakalpha.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Fascinating thread. I have a slightly contrarian view.
>> >
>> > Probably not very relevant to silklisters but I am very wary when my
>> > clients talk about early retirement. Not because they would put their
>> > financial independence at risk, but because they hugely overestimate
>> their
>> > ability to fill the day with meaningful pursuits. A typical conversation
>> > (which occurs very frequently, I might add) would go along the lines of
>> >
>> > Client - I would like to explore retirement by 50.
>> > Shyam - Given your financial situation, it is quite likely you will be
>> > able to do that from a financial perspective. But what do you plan to do
>> > after you retire?
>> > Client - I really want to make time for the things I enjoy. I want to
>> > spend more time with the family (First red flare), travel (second red
>> > flare), and volunteer my time with NGOs (big third red flare) or
>> coaching
>> > young professionals or start-ups
>> > Shyam - Great. How specific are your plans?
>> > Client - What do you mean?
>> > Shyam - Is there a specific NGO you have already been associated with? /
>> > Do you currently mentor start-ups or coach?
>> > Client - Not really. But I am sure I can easily figure that out. I
>> mean, I
>> > don't want any money for it.
>> >
>> > I fear that the above describes someone who will wake up six months
>> later
>> > with nothing to do during the day, and drives everyone around him / her
>> up
>> > the wall! For someone aged 50, they need a plan that will last decades,
>> not
>> > months. Their family perhaps doesn't want them hanging around all the
>> time.
>> > Their life's travels can be completed in six months, and reasonably
>> > well-run NGOs want a volunteer who comes and wishes to
>> > optimize/streamline/improve the set-up like they want a bullet to the
>> head.
>> > For many, work gives them identity and self-worth. My advice for someone
>> > without specifics is to work for as long as they can. For most people,
>> > there is 20% of the job that makes the remaining 80% worth it.
>> >
>> > Like I said at the beginning, the above probably doe

Re: [silk] In praise of slowness

[Valsa Williams]

Interesting thread !
There was an earlier thread on ‘To retire or not ‘. It motivated me to
retire in July 2014. At Intel there is no retirement age, so I could have
continued the 30 km commute, innumerable emails to respond to, a good
salary package and trips to the US and rest of the world for many more
years. The email thread on retirement had many comments, two of them which
struck in my mind is – “No regular inflow of money into your bank” and “You
get to see your spouse 24x7”!!! Both very true.
However, I have finally found my space. slowed down from work but not from
life ! I have enough time for my long walks, swimming, music, watching
movies, hanging around with friends, staring at the rain with a cup of
coffee.   I can take off for a holiday whenever I want. I plan to learn the
piano this year ! I  spend my time on few topics of technical interest.
However, it is not easy to earn as a Consultant. I am lucky that I still do
some work for Intel.  Others that asked for my help, did not offer
anything!
My advise to those who plan to slow down is to ensure you keep developing
your skills or learn new ones. Most importantly, have enough finances to
back you up. The next big question would be 'how much' ??


Valsa



On 24 January 2017 at 16:39, Charles Haynes 
wrote:

> > the above probably doesn't apply to the typical intelligent,
> multi-dimensional silk lister.
>
> Hah. It especially applies to people who think it doesn't apply to them. I
> found when I first started "slowing down" that my partner and I, as much as
> we love and are devoted to one another, need a certain amount of "our own"
> time. That if we spend all of our time together we are less happy than if
> we spend a certain amount of it apart. So we have that built in.
>
> For me "slowing down" has meant spending more time doing fewer things but
> really paying attention to the things I do.
>
> -- Charles
>
> On Tue, 24 Jan 2017 at 21:51 Shyam Sunder 
> wrote:
>
> > Fascinating thread. I have a slightly contrarian view.
> >
> > Probably not very relevant to silklisters but I am very wary when my
> > clients talk about early retirement. Not because they would put their
> > financial independence at risk, but because they hugely overestimate
> their
> > ability to fill the day with meaningful pursuits. A typical conversation
> > (which occurs very frequently, I might add) would go along the lines of
> >
> > Client - I would like to explore retirement by 50.
> > Shyam - Given your financial situation, it is quite likely you will be
> > able to do that from a financial perspective. But what do you plan to do
> > after you retire?
> > Client - I really want to make time for the things I enjoy. I want to
> > spend more time with the family (First red flare), travel (second red
> > flare), and volunteer my time with NGOs (big third red flare) or coaching
> > young professionals or start-ups
> > Shyam - Great. How specific are your plans?
> > Client - What do you mean?
> > Shyam - Is there a specific NGO you have already been associated with? /
> > Do you currently mentor start-ups or coach?
> > Client - Not really. But I am sure I can easily figure that out. I mean,
> I
> > don't want any money for it.
> >
> > I fear that the above describes someone who will wake up six months later
> > with nothing to do during the day, and drives everyone around him / her
> up
> > the wall! For someone aged 50, they need a plan that will last decades,
> not
> > months. Their family perhaps doesn't want them hanging around all the
> time.
> > Their life's travels can be completed in six months, and reasonably
> > well-run NGOs want a volunteer who comes and wishes to
> > optimize/streamline/improve the set-up like they want a bullet to the
> head.
> > For many, work gives them identity and self-worth. My advice for someone
> > without specifics is to work for as long as they can. For most people,
> > there is 20% of the job that makes the remaining 80% worth it.
> >
> > Like I said at the beginning, the above probably doesn't apply to the
> > typical intelligent, multi-dimensional silklister.
> >
> > Warm regards
> >
> > Shyam
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: silklist [mailto:silklist-bounces+shyam.sunder=
> > peakalpha@lists.hserus.net] On Behalf Of Vijay Anand
> > Sent: 24 January 2017 11:06
> > To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
> > Subject: Re: [silk] In praise of slowness
> >
> > "Slowing down" - the phase in life when making money is not the priority
> > anymore and there is the intention to expand to other interests that have
> > been at best side projects, so that they get focus.
> >
> > It seems that the more i read the viewpoints, unless and if there is a) a
> > significant windfall that money isnt a big concern anymore or b) you make
> > the financial planning so that  there is an insurance of sorts so that
> > something doesnt take you unaware - worse put your dependents ar risk,
> 

Re: [silk] Things that are worth the money

[Valsa Williams]

Mine would be a good dinner with friends at a fine dining place good wine
included, a music recital, fragrance :-)


Best regards,

Valsa



On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 8:47 AM, Venkatesh H R 
wrote:

> Interesting site! My list would include three things at least: organic
> food, hardback or trade paperback books, and any food from bangalore (khara
> chips, dil khush/pasand, dosai, etc.)
> On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 8:26 AM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> > I saw a post by Ramit Sethi [1] that got me thinking.
> >
> > What, to you, are the things that are worth the extra that you might pay?
> >
> > My incomplete list:
> >
> > Shoes, computers, fragrance.
> >
> > Udhay
> >
> >
> > [1]
> > http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/5-things-that-are-worth-
> the-money
> >
> > --
> > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> >
> >
>

Re: [silk] Delhi meetup?

[Valsa Williams]

This time made sure only silksters are addressed
So Udhay and Venky, when and where are we meeting in Delhi
Need to block my retired life calendar to make sure I am there

On 8 Nov 2016 08:22, "Preetha Chari-Srinivas"  wrote:

> Howdy folks,
> What about poor ol' Namma Chennai - there never seems to be a Silk meet-up
> in my neck of the woods :-)
> Cheers,
> Preetha.
>
> On Oct 28, 2016 8:48 PM, "Udhay Shankar N"  wrote:
>
> > Hello folks:
> >
> > I'm in Delhi between 5th - 12th November. my evenings are booked on 10th
> > -12th, but any other day should work for a silkmeet. Where and when?
> >
> > ​Udhay​
> >
> > --
> >
> > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> >
>

Re: [silk] Delhi meetup?

[Valsa Williams]

Casa Satyanand ? Where is that ?
I was not aware that a venue had been agreed upon.
What time and what day ?
Looking forward to meeting all  of you

On 7 Nov 2016 18:34, "Nikhil Mehra"  wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Have we settled on a venue? I think Valsa's email has caused me some
> confusion. I thought this was going to be at Casa Satyanand. Please do
> clarify. thanks.
>
> Regards,
>
> Nikhil
>
> On Fri, 28 Oct 2016 8:48 pm Udhay Shankar N,  wrote:
>
> > Hello folks:
> >
> > I'm in Delhi between 5th - 12th November. my evenings are booked on 10th
> > -12th, but any other day should work for a silkmeet. Where and when?
> >
> > ​Udhay​
> >
> > --
> >
> > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> >
>

Re: [silk] Delhi meetup?

[Valsa Williams]

Finally a silk meet in Delhi !

I am free on 8th, 9th evening, 11th & 12th !!

Evening should be great, lovely weather  here

Venue Cyber Hub in Gurgaon ??


​Cheers !


Valsa



On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 8:56 PM, Venkatesh H R 
wrote:

> Good to know. I'm free on all days except 7th evening. Can do lunch/tea as
> well.
> On Fri, Oct 28, 2016 at 8:48 PM Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
>
> > Hello folks:
> >
> > I'm in Delhi between 5th - 12th November. my evenings are booked on 10th
> > -12th, but any other day should work for a silkmeet. Where and when?
> >
> > ​Udhay​
> >
> > --
> >
> > ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
> >
>

Re: [silk] Maacher Jhol

[Valsa Williams]

Assamese Masor Tenga is also a very delicious fish  preparation.
The base curry is made with lots of tomatoes and garlic. Fish is added to
this gravy  along with green chillies. Fresh lime juice added just before
serving . Try it 

On 4 Aug 2016 10:28, "Suresh Ramasubramanian"  wrote:

> Almost every coastal state has a fish in gravy sort of dish
>
> Udhay Shankar N [04/08/16 10:22 +0530]:
>
>> On Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 10:20 AM, Deepa Mohan 
>> wrote:
>> http://www.sawandutta.com/#!macherjhol/kf04t
>>
>>>
>>> Are there equivalent "fish stews" in other parts of India?
>>>
>>
>> There are many different kinds of "meen kuzhambu" in Tamil Nadu. Was that
>> what you meant?
>>
>>
>

Re: [silk] Maacher Jhol

[Valsa Williams]

Koorka is not Arbi
Koorka is a tuber consumed I think only in Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Arbi is Chembh in Malayalam.
Hope this is helpful 

On 5 Aug 2016 13:39, "Rajesh Mehar"  wrote:

> Koorka is called kurrukkankizhangu in Tamizh. I think this is also what's
> called Arbi in Hindi. Right? Seems to be a pan-Indian tuber? May have been
> the precursor to the potato. Would be good to know if someone has already
> explored this idea...
>
>
> >
> >
>

Re: [silk] Not quite your dad's cup of tea

[Valsa Williams]

RO should be used if you have hard water with a lot of salts etc.  Tea made
with hard water is horrible. So RO water is better. However, RO also
removes some of the good stuff in water .
The quality of water does affect the taste of the tea.
Color of the tea ??? I dont think so. You may have changed the brand of
your tea ?

I use RO since Gurgaon does not have clean or soft water. Tea is ok. Add
some ginger to it !


Best regards,

Valsa



On Tue, Dec 8, 2015 at 5:24 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian 
wrote:

> Does the tea taste any different if you make it using aquafina or other
> bottled drinking water?
>
> > On 08-Dec-2015, at 5:22 PM, Udhay Shankar N  wrote:
> >
> > Interesting thing I just noticed.
> >
> > I upgraded my water filter to an RO based system. The water tastes
> > different, which is understandable. The tea made with it tastes
> different,
> > which is also understandable. But the tea *looks* different. The liquor
> is
> > lighter and more reddish. All other conditions (tea used, time steeped)
> are
> > same. Any ideas?
> >
> > Udhay
>
>
>

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

[Valsa Williams]

I am normally silent but read all silk-lister's emails diligently !
Coincidentally the thought of retiring is strong in my mind and I need to
get the guts to do so !
I must be older than many of you yet go through this dilemma
Surely, I am not retiring from productive life, have years of that left.
With the knowledge and contacts gained I am sure I will be an asset to
anyone who wants to engage with Govt. projects which has been my line for
almost half my life !!   Of late I have spent a year working with Govt. on
their smart cities project.
Everybody wants 'pro_bono' consultancy !
I have met many consultants looking for business in the project. Most of
them from Bangalore !
Managing a Govt. project and relationship  needs a lot of patience and
understanding of Govt. behavior, , believe it or not !

How much money do you need in the bank to retire ?
 I will follow this email chain and maybe get the guts to retire by year
end.  Good luck to all !

Cheers

Valsa


On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 8:47 AM, Venkat Mangudi - Silk 
s...@venkatmangudi.com wrote:

 On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net
 wrote:

 
   On 22-Sep-2014, at 23:26, Sandhya aka Sandy sandhya.varn...@gmail.com
  javascript:; wrote:
  
   A few of you gave some good tips on consulting. Makes sense. During
 that
   post-Intel break, I had tied up with a firm who signed me up for x
 days a
   month and gave me y rs. That worked out well, and I have a few such
   possibilities in the pipeline. The idea here is to have a supplemental
 
  And as a recent toe dipped into the consultancy sector to feel out a
  pipeline before I took the plunge forcibly reminded me that, least in
  India, prospective customers willing to pay for work tend to drive
  extremely hard bargains and expect five star service at maruti lodge
  prices, so you're stuck with roping in as many foreign clients (who pay
  better though they may well be just as demanding) and late night calls.
 
 
  My recent experience with consulting in India is very similar. Took me
 seven years to realise how tough the market here is for consulting. Maybe ,
 I had a reasonably unique model that did not sit well with the markets I
 targeted.  People just did not understand what the value of time means to a
 consultant. In fact, I've heard downright derogatory statements such as  A
 consultant is. One who looks at your watch and tells you what the time
 is.. Funny but true. So you just have to be prepared for the gigs and
 expect to Actually do way more than what you would have done in a corporate
 setting. And if you work with US companies, be prepared to Justify that
 charging $20 is not what you had in mind retiring...

 It'll be interesting in any case. Good luck...

 Cheers
 Venkat

 PS typing this on an iPad . It seems to add periods and upper case as it
 pleases. Apologise for the funny sentences.




-- 
Cheers !

***  Valsa

Re: [silk] India Govt to develop own operating system

[Valsa Williams]

If all this is true I shudder to think of the enormity of such a project.
They should learn from the Indian Airforce and Army who have built secure
tiers over a Linux OS

On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 3:38 PM, Vijay Anand vi...@vijayanand.name wrote:


 On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.net
  wrote:

 Vijay Anand [11/05/10 15:20 +0530]:

  Given how the 10$ - or was it 5$ laptop was essentially a thumb drive,
 wouldnt be surprised if this is another glitch by some reporter. The
 points
 behind this development seems to be security - which also sounds
 ridiculous
 that we want to develop simple OS to make things secure, when you can
 technically just unplug the computer from the network and it is as secure
 as
 it could be.

 For all you know, going with hint of antivirus there, this might
 actually
 be a firewall software which someone misheard or misrepresented.


 There was this very interesting article I saw about how china was
 requiring
 source code and encryption key disclosure from all suppliers to its govt
 of
 encryption enabled gear (chip OS / OS / firewalls / routers / antispam
 software etc). Think about that.


 I heard about it as well. But then again, they are the biggest *threat* the
 world is worried about :) Wonder whom they are worried about. There were
 whispers sometime back within the ministry that some countries *who shall
 not be named* might target our infrastructure to dampen the economic growth.
 I still dont think they'll go and build an OS cause of that.


 --

 ---
 The Blog: www.vijayanand.name
 Twitter: www.twitter.com/vijayanands




-- 


***  Valsa

[silk] India Govt to develop own operating system

[Valsa Williams]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech/Enterprise-IT/Infrastucture/Govt-to-develop-own-operating-system/articleshow/5913140.cms

NEW DELHI: The government has set in motion an ambitious plan to develop its
own software and end the reliance on foreign operating systems and
anti-virus products after growing worries over the spurt in cyber attacks on
Indian establishments.

The government formed a high-level taskforce in February to devise a plan
for building indigenous software, said a senior intelligence official who is
a member. The panel will also suggest ways to conduct third-party audits on
existing software in government offices to prevent online sabotage attempts
until the software’s launch, he said.

The overwhelming belief among government bosses is that an indigenous
low-grade, but clean, software could nix the chances of foreign states
infiltrating the computers of key Indian establishments and compromising the
country’s security. “A sanitised, lower level operating system and
application software may be preferred to the advanced versions, which
necessarily require access to internet for upgrades,” the official said. The
new software could be deployed in key departments that have been under
constant cyber attacks. The taskforce also includes officials of the Prime
Minister’s Office as well as defence, home and telecom  IT ministries.

The move to constitute the taskforce comes after the defence ministry raised
concerns over use of anti-virus products of foreign vendors in the wake of a
series of attacks on its systems by China-based hackers.

The technical arm of intelligence agencies too have objected to the use of
foreign-made operating systems. Last December, PMO computers were attacked
by hackers traced back to China. Similarly, hackers from Pakistan and
terrorist organisations too have stepped up attacks on Indian websites in
recent years. The taskforce is expected to submit its recommendations by
June.

Operating system and anti-virus software makers said their products were
completely safe. No company official spoke on record. The government is key
customer, and sales to its departments are a big driver of revenues. Even
so, some welcomed the move.

“It’s prudent for the government to develop an open source-based operating
system on which it has total control. Codes for even anti-virus software and
processors are available which can be customised,” said a technical head of
a US-based network security giant.

The government’s move shines a light on a major chink in India’s
technological armour. Despite home to nearly 10% of the world’s software
developer base, the country still lacks an operating system or security
product of repute. India is now making a late scramble to join nations that
own both hardware and software technology critical for the safe upkeep of
their defence, space and nuclear programmes. The government recently
sanctioned Rs 50 crore to design an indigenous microprocessor.

The government’s unease with foreign technology and hardware has been on the
rise in recent years. Recently, it warned telcos against installation of
foreign gear. Last week, junior minister for communications  information
technology Sachin Pilot told the Rajya Sabha about several measures the
government has taken to detect and prevent cyber attacks.

No sensitive information will be stored on systems connected to the
internet, while ministries and departments have been told to carry out
regular IT systems audits. The government has also established a Crisis
Management Plan against cyber attacks to be implemented by all central
ministries, state governments and critical sectors, he said.
-- 


  Valsa

Re: [silk] Danese is the new Wikimedia CTO

[Valsa Williams]

Yes it is Public news !

On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 9:09 PM, Udhay Shankar N ud...@pobox.com wrote:

 Not sure why this hasn't shown up on silk yet, but...congrats, Danese!
 Can you talk about it in public now? ;-)


 http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Danese_Cooper_joins_Wikimedia_as_CTO

 Udhay
 --
 ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Alternative careers

[Valsa Williams]

The ex chief of the Navy,  grows exclusive vegetables  flowers in his Delhi
farmhouse.  He makes more money now and is a happier person !

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 7:33 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian sur...@hserus.netwrote:

 Udhay Shankar N [01/10/09 07:10 +0530]:

 Deepa Mohan wrote, [on 10/1/2009 12:44 AM]:

  I suppose many people on this list might know/ know of Tarique Sani  he
 is a
 close friend of Atul Chitnis)  who turned from medicine to run a
 successful
 software company in Nagpur, India.


 There are also a couple of folks with medical degrees who don't practice
 here, such as Anish, and now Rajesh.


 I've got an MBA in HR - for whatever good it does. Never did use any of it
 in the last 10 years of my career.




-- 

Cheers !

Valsa

Re: [silk] Oracle Agrees to Acquire Sun

[Valsa Williams]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 5:40 PM, Biju Chacko biju.cha...@gmail.com wrote:


 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/technology/companies/21sun.html?ref=business

 Well ... what to the Sun and ex-Sun folks on the list think of this?

 -- b


What they do with MySQL and Open Solaris would be interesting to know .
Lets hope Oracle does not undo all the Open Source initiatives of Sun, that
would be disastrous !


-  Valsa

Re: [silk] how to get an idli cooker

[Valsa Williams]

You can use a normal steamer, like a vegetable steamer, put the idli batter
in any mould that fits into this steamer and steam for 15 mins !
Make sure you put enough water into the  steamer, You will get idlis in a
different shape but will taste the same :-)
I once used a round cake tin this way and then sliced out the idlis !
Shape doesn't matter, taste does, so make sure your batter is right !
Enjoy !

On Sat, Oct 4, 2008 at 6:04 AM, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Friday 03 Oct 2008 8:31:30 pm Martin Senftleben wrote:
  Hi folks,
 
  sorry to bother you with this. We wanted to make Idli here in Germany,
  but didn't take a cooker with us when we left India. Stupid. So I
  tried now to get one from a shop in the US, but they charge about six
  times the price of the cooker for postage (180 US$). I think that's
  not worth it.
  Are there other means, e.g. in Europe (UK), to get such a set? Who has
  an idea?
 
  Thanks for all meaningful suggestions!
 
  Martin

 All you need is a standard pressure cooker and idli plates that fit
 inside.
 Indian shops in the UK stock the stuff.

 shiv




-- 

Cheers !

Valsa

Re: [silk] Disturbing

[Valsa Williams]

That's a beautiful reminder of our core values.

On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 9:50 AM, ss [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Tuesday 24 Jun 2008 9:19:23 pm Sirtaj Singh Kang wrote:
   The Pune police on Saturday arrested one more person for posting
   derogatory content about Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on an orkut
   community. Police have identified the accused as Nithin Chkravarthi
 
  Does anyone here know if there is a specific law  he has broken, or is
 this
  more random police gunda-gardi?

 Yes of course. All laws and all norms of decency have been broken by this
 reprehensible act of criticizing a mother figure.

 Does no one recall the Upanishads any more?

 'Matru devo bhava,
 Pitru devo bhava,
 Acharya devo bhava,
 Atithi devo bhava'

 shiv






-- 
Valsa

Life is unsure ; Always eat your desert first :-)

Re: [silk] One Laptop Per Hamster

[Valsa Williams]

I have one too .  I hear Asus is open to suggestions for improvements. The
next version is supposed to have a 40GB HDD and will be available at the
same price.  That's the challenge keeping the price low. We also got Tata
Indicom wireless USB to work.  I think it fits more into the first time
users space or those who do not like to carry around a large laptop like me
:-)


On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 1:07 PM, Kiran Jonnalagadda [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On 23-Apr-08, at 1:01 PM, Biju Chacko wrote:

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

 I've found the keyboard manageable -- takes a few days to adjust and a
 particular posture for optimal use. The screen's tolerable most of the time
 -- the limited space helps me focus on one activity at a time.

 What bugs me is the lack of a decent outliner on Linux. FreeMind is
 unusable on the small screen.




-- 
Valsa

Life is unsure ; Always eat your desert first :-)

Re: [silk] Laptop recommendations

[Valsa Williams]

Most of these MNC OEMs, will not offer any Windows refunds and will not
extend their warranty etc , if Windows is removed, so one must be prepared
to take care of the machine . Fortunately,  laptops are very robust and you
may not face any problem.
HCL T5550 machines are Intel Core2 duo based and HCL offers Ubunutu Linux on
them and HCL is more  flexible than the MNCs.  In the last Freed.in
Community event in Delhi an HCl dealer sold 50 laptops during the event and
supports the same.

On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 12:23 AM, Sajith T S [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Aditya Chadha [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

  I think the new Lenovo made Thinkpad hardware is pretty much equal
  in quality to Apple hardware, if not worse.

 Hmm.  Is this true about R series too?  Just a couple of months back a
 Debian Developer I know chose Dell, after mightily disappointed by an
 R series Thinkpad.  This, despite a lot of the Debian crowd cheering
 for Thinkpads.  He said the new ones felt flimsy, as compared against
 the older IBM made versions.

 Oh, and Dell too had no Windows tax refund, not in India.

 --
 Don't you wish you had more energy... or less ambition?
  9DB8FF06 : CB80 0BA6 7D13 B10A 6FBB  D43E B4D2 28AD 9DB8 FF06




-- 
Valsa

Life is unsure ; Always eat your desert first :-)

Re: [silk] open source in government

[Valsa Williams]

Ministry of Comms  IT 's venture called NRCFOSS - National resource center
for FOSS, hosted by CDAC and Anna Univ have developed a distro for the Govt.
called BOSS (Bharitiya Open Source Solutions) . This is now getting
acceptance across Govt. They not only have a dedicated team working 
maintaining it but a nation wide support center plan which will be hosted
across all CDAc offices and NIC offices in India. They are hiring support
personnel for each office.
This distro is Debian based/GNU,  and has Open Office in local languages and
other apps. They have done upstream contribution to  Open Office.org and
claim to have even contributed to Debian kernel.
They are also migrating several e-gov apps to this platform.
This initiative was encouraged by Rahul Gandhi.

Hope this info helps.

On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 5:37 PM, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 11:39 AM, Srini Ramakrishnan wrote:
  If I understood Ashok's question right, he is looking for Governments
   that have contributed back to Open Source, not just borrowed from it.

 Exactly...thats what i am looking for.

   There may be a few examples, however I don't know of any significant
   effort in this direction. Perhaps it's because Governments in general
   are used to taking rather than giving. There really isn't a culture of
   feeling accountable for what's been taken, whether it's my taxes or
   Open Source software.
 
   I'd be interested in knowing why you are on this quest.
 

 The organization i work for is involved in providing a suite of open
 source applications
 for parliaments.  At some point there is a requirement for the
 government departments
 to take ownership of these application, and customize it as they see,
 and then make
 avaliable such customizations for use by other parliaments.
 I was hoping to find some similar examples, and use that as part of an
 educational case
 study for the parliaments.




-- 
Valsa

Life is unsure ; Always eat your desert first :-)

[silk] An interesting meeting

[Valsa Williams]

I had the pleasure of travelling with Shubha Mudgal, the musician.
We spoke of many challenges faced my musicians. The lack of an organised
guild that takes care of artists and keeps the spirit of Indian music alive.
She spoke of poorly paid music teachers and rich commercial organisations
that exploit the artists and the associated ecosystem.

Interestingly,  she directed me to her venture called
www.UnderscoreRecords.com http://www.underscorerecords.com/ . It is an
initiative  stared on the Net 5 years ago and which provides a space for
artistes to share their work commercially on their own terms and conditions.
The music on the site is controlled by the artists themselves so most of the
revenue goes back directly to them and not any commercial organisation.

I downloaded her musicIs Ghat Antar Baag Bagiche  with ease for  $1.5
= Rs 63

Similar to Paul Mccartney's decision to say Sayonara to DRM and sell his
music on line ??


-- 
Valsa

Life is unsure ; Always eat your desert first :-)

Re: [silk] no Delhi get-together tonight...

[Valsa Williams]

Brian we really enjoyed your visit and hope you did too !
See you again soon !!

Valsa

On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 2:01 PM, Brian Behlendorf [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:


 ...the conference has Plans, and I kinda feel obliged.  Plus I'm
 leaving tonight rather than head to Dharamsala; too many commitments
 back home have gone unaddressed.  But I'll be back sometime soon.

Brian




-- 


Valsa

Re: [silk] greetings and salutations

[Valsa Williams]

can someone reconfirm venue, time etc for todays meet ??  Thanks a ton !

On Feb 9, 2008 11:10 PM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Rishab Aiyer Ghosh wrote: [ on 10:15 PM 2/9/2008 ]

   But the directions marked on the map on either side of the
  indicated location
   of the hotel are crazy.
 
 makes perfect sense, doesn't it? the intention is that you go round and
   round and round and round, whirling faster and faster until... oops.

 I'm getting reminded of a nice pterry rant:

 In Reading [England] there is this thing called the IDR, short for Inner
 Distribution Road, which is bureaucratese for Big thing that cost a lot
 of money and relieves traffic problems, provided all your traffic wants to
 orbit the town centre permanently. It's a 2-3 lane dual carriageway that
 goes round the town centre. It has lots of roundabouts, an overhead
 section, a couple of spare motorway-like exits (that's British motorways
 --
 y'know, the roundabout with the main road going under it), and a thing
 called the Watlington Street Gyratory, where you have to get in lane for
 your intended destination about three years and two corners before you get
 there *with no signposting*. I used to cycle along it every day to get to
 school, before I fell off at 35 mph. [Kids! Don't try this at home!]  I
 know it well. I believe it is impossible to leave Reading heading west.
 -- (Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett)

 --
 ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))





-- 


Valsa

Re: [silk] greetings and salutations

[Valsa Williams]

Hi Brian !

Welcome and welcome again to India.  Would love to join a silk meet during
your visit to Bangalore. I will be at Osiweek too and look forward to a silk
meet.  Venkat lets know where , when etc.  Madhu Menons place top on my
recommended list :-)


On Feb 4, 2008 2:54 PM, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Brian Behlendorf [03/02/08 23:27 -0800]:
  Feb 4-5: Chennai (fossconf.in, CollabNet's offices)

 Hi, I met you the last time you were in Madras - you were lecturing at the
 IIT, and had a salon reporter with you, who was struck by the fact that I
 was wearing a linux tshirt while the others were in business casuals (not
 surprising that, I work from home and most of the people there had come in
 straight from their workplaces, but well..)

 Pity I'll miss you this time - in GVA now. And glad to see you on silk -
 you will find a much more diverse open source type lot here (not just the
 foss.in usual suspects), and then there's a very weird mix of people, not
 all of whom are indian (or even totally sane) :)  In other words, the
 usual
 cross section of udhay's friends.

 You'll have fun here I guess - eoe the high volume

 pine / alpine is not as retro as it could be. try nail
 (nail.sourceforge.net) if you like.. imap / tls etc aware mailx clone for
 fun ..

 I'll add you on dopplr (I'm hserus there), you might also try the silklist
 group on linkedin (where I'm [EMAIL PROTECTED])

srs




-- 


Valsa

Re: [silk] The US of A is officially paranoid.

[Valsa Williams]

India is one of the safest countries. I have traveled all over and even my
friends from overseas seem to think the same. I am a South Indian Christian,
living in the North for many years (minority). I have  friends from all
communities.  In India, we   treat foreigners visiting our country with
respect and this comes from humble, traditional customs.
Of course, there are and will be exceptions to the rule !
The US on the other hand is a rich country where people have grown up with a
blinded, selfish view. Most of the citizens are unaware of different
countries, races, religions, customs etc. They are so clued into their own
lives and fail to look outwards.  There had to be a war for them to know
about a country called Afghanistan.  Most of the mistakes they make come
from this ignorance.
And of course, there are exceptions and some wonderful people there too  !

Valsa

On Jan 21, 2008 4:53 PM, Eugen Leitl [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Mon, Jan 21, 2008 at 09:57:02AM +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote:

  Stories such as this *certainly* affect my (already reluctant and as
  infrequent as possible) travels to the US. When you add officially

 I boykott visiting the US. Haven't done for 6-7 years.
 If I had a business to take elsewhere, I would do it.

 That country needs a wake-up call.

  sanctioned harrassment to jet lag, airline food and zombie-like
  wanderings through the innards of airports, it suddenly seems not
  worth it at all.

 --
 Eugen* Leitl a href=http://leitl.org;leitl/a http://leitl.org
 __
 ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org
 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE

Re: [silk] OpenBravo anyone?

[Valsa Williams]

So is Opentaps suitable for small and medium businesses. Would you recommend
that ?

On Jan 14, 2008 11:50 AM, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 I have briefly evaluated WebERP before. When you take a look at the demo
 of Opentaps and WebERP, you will notice significant differences in the
 way they are set up. I would not say LAMP is unsuitable for large
 enterprise applications or that they don't scale. But I know that the
 Opentaps/OFBiz stack scales much better. Besides, Opentaps integrates
 CRM, Financial Accounting and Pentaho's BI tools. Therefore, a better
 choice. Smaller organizations might prefer the simplicity provided by
 WebERP.

 Venkat

 Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote:
  Venkat, what about WebERP? Have you tried it?
  http://www.weberp.org/HomePage
 
  J.
 
  On 13-Jan-08, at 12:25 PM, Venkat Mangudi wrote:
 
  Take a look at Opentaps (www.opentaps.org), based on Apache's OFBiz.
  Opentaps is a much better ERP system and I recommend it to all my
  clients.
 
  Venkat
 
  Bharath Chari wrote:
  Hi,
  Has anyone on the list implemented Openbravo ERP in a production
  environment? Was looking at it as an alternative to Compiere.
  Bharath
 
 
 
 
 





-- 


Valsa

[silk] Two Nations, Two Choices (Interesting article by Vir Sanghvi on India and Pakistan)

[Valsa Williams]

 T

*Two Nations, Two ChoicesVir Sanghvi
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/Search.aspx?q=Vir+Sanghvinodate=1*











 There's been a lot about Pakistan in the Indian media over the last 10
days: obituaries of Benazir Bhutto; predictions about the forthcoming
election; attacks on General Musharraf; and conspiracy theories about the
assassination.

 I have no problems with much of the coverage, but I am disappointed by the
unwillingness of most commentators to go further back in history. After all,
Pakistan was once a part of India. Both countries secured independence
within a day of each other in 1947. And both made many important choices in
the decades that followed: choices that explain why Pakistan and India have
developed so differently.

 And yet, there was a complete absence of historical perspective in much of
the analysis. Even a decade ago, I suspect that we would have covered
Pakistan's tragic slide into anarchy very differently.

 It's still fashionable for a certain kind of north Indian to say about
Pakistan and Pakistanis, we are the same country divided by politicians.
And we are the same people. But as the years go by and new generations take
over, this sentiment is fading. Punjabis may feel a kinship with Pakistan —
many belong to families divided by Partition — but the rest of India seems
much less empathetic.

 I've been in Bombay and Bangalore since Benazir's assassination and it was
interesting to note how little people cared about events in Pakistan and how
quickly even that interest has begun to fade.

 And if you follow the international press, you'll note that the old
equivalence, where India and Pakistan were always talked about in the same
breath, has now vanished. *If Pakistan is compared to any country, it is to
Afghanistan. India, on the other hand, tends increasingly to be compared to
China.* Few foreign journos even bother with the clichés they once used when
they referred to Pakistan — such as, for instance: compared to its
democratic neighbour India. And rarely does the prospect of another
India-Pakistan war (a traditional obsession with Western journalists)
intrude into their analysis of events in that troubled country.

 I remind you of all this to make two separate points. One: we must not let
the largely Delhi- and north Indian-dominated 'national' media blind us to
the increasing irrelevance of Pakistan as a factor in determining India's
future. Punjabi journos may be fascinated by Pakistan; the rest of us are
merely curious.

 But it is the second point that I regard as more significant. In the 1950s
and in the 1960s, when India was ruled by a Nehruvian consensus, there were
many critics — usually on the political right — who thought we had got it
badly wrong. How did it benefit India, they asked, to follow some crackpot
policy of non-alignment which involved a surreptitious tilt to the Soviet
Bloc when we could so easily be friends with the US, the world's most
powerful democracy?

 *There were only two major Asian countries that rejected the US
prescription for development and foreign policy: India and China. And look
where they are today. *



 Look at Pakistan, they said. Its rulers recognised that there was much to
be gained from linking up with Washington and enjoying the benefits of
American patronage. A steady stream of American aid dollars flowed into
Pakistan. The armed forces had access to the latest weaponry.

 The streets of Karachi and Lahore were full of imported cars — not a
Landmaster or an Ambassador in sight. Nor did Pakistanis have to put up with
all this socialist nonsense. They valued free enterprise and were proud to
say so.

 The America-Pakistan equation frequently annoyed Indians. It sent us into
paroxysms of rage when Richard Nixon and Harry Kissinger backed Pakistan's
whisky-sodden General Yahya Khan while his troops were committing genocide
in Bangladesh. And anti-Americanism reached a peak when Nixon sent the
Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. (He
wanted to warn us off invading West Pakistan). During the Zia-ul-Haq era,
when Pakistan's economy seemed robust and billions of dollars were pumped
into the state treasury while we struggled to make ends meet, many educated
Indians sincerely wondered whether we were paying the price for Pandit
Nehru's mistaken choices. Hadn't Mohammed Ali Jinnah's heirs got it right
while we floundered? Wouldn't India have been better off on America's side?

 There was a corollary to all this. In the 1960s, the Jan Sangh and
Swatantra parties, which wanted us to renounce Nehruvian non-alignment and
rush into Washington's embrace, also made the point that there was no harm
in declaring that Hinduism was India's state religion. If Pakistan could
flourish as a Muslim country, then why should India be shy of owning up to
its Hindu heritage?

 With the benefit of hindsight, we can today safely say that every single
one of those propositions was flawed.

 The case of 

Re: [silk] Two Nations, Two Choices (Interesting article by Vir Sanghvi onIndia and Pakistan )

[Valsa Williams]

see another comment by a colleague


 *Two Nations, Two ChoicesVir Sanghvi
 http://www.hindustantimes.com/Search/Search.aspx?q=Vir+Sanghvinodate=1*

  And yet, there was a complete absence of historical perspective in much
of
 the analysis. Even a decade ago, I suspect that we would have covered
 Pakistan's tragic slide into anarchy very differently.

Ramchandra Guha writes (rightly) in his book India after Gandhi that
Historians in India have stopped writing history after 1947. For Indians
history ended in 1947. School books that my son studies now have no mention
of India after 1947.

And there has been embarrassment to write freely and frankly about Pakistan
lest we hurt the sentiments of our Muslim brothers - as if Indian Muslims
would get up and run en masse to Pakistan or break into furious riots if
people spoke freely and frankly about partition and the events therafter.

  History is full of ifs and buts. So who knows how things would have
turned
 out? But just suppose there had been no Partition. Would these same people
 have lived a very different life? Would they have been part of the Indian
 success story?

Partition was good for India in the same manner that the amputation of a
gangrenous limb is good and lifesaving for the person who had gangrene of a
limb.

India may not be the best country in the world, but it would have been torn
asunder with all those mad Islamists running amok.

Why does no one say the obvious? Pakistan was the first blow stuck in favor
of
pan-Islamist extremism in the 20th century. This fact will come to be
accepted some decads from now. Right now everyone on earth is busy saying
Al
Qaeda=extremism, Pakistan=moderation

This is complete nonsense. Pakistan was formed for Islam, because it was
felt
that Muslims cannot live and maintain their purity in a nation that had an
excess of non Muslims. It is only because they pimped for the US as Sanghvi
rightly points out that they were given a moderate tag, and allowed to
acquire nuclear weapons and proliferate.

shiv





-- 


Valsa

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

[Valsa Williams]

More on OLPC

*Microsoft about to join the OLPC program?

*http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/334/C14281/*

*Talk about strange bedfellows, but it would be a PR win for MSFT.
However -- how could they run Windows on an XO without a full BIOS?
Mr. Negroponte would have to back off from having a fully open source
BIOS to make this happen, I'm guessing, not to mention backing off
from the open source OS and apps
Quote
The word is that OLPC and Microsoft are now working very closely together
to develop a dual-boot Windows/Linux system for the laptop. There are even
reports that Mr. Negroponte, the man behind the OLPC program, has said that
Windows is both successful and fast on the charming green machines. This
move makes sense on several levels.  - Unquote


On Jan 7, 2008 7:35 PM, Venkatesh Hariharan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Ego clashes perhaps.

 Venky

 On Jan 6, 2008 11:12 PM, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  Intel pulls out of OLPC. Why?
 
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7171201.stm
 
 
 
 

[silk] FREE RICE ... an amazing concept to harness the power of Internet advertising ...for a great cause ...

[Valsa Williams]

*Read on … http://www.freerice.com/ *

* *
 Cheers !

Valsa

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

[Valsa Williams]

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


On Dec 18, 2007 4:13 PM, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Dec 18, 2007 1:08 PM, Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay wrote:

  Well the same office suite does have a Windows build does it not ? So,
  are HDFC, ICICI the next level ? How does the notion of online
  presence provided by Mugshot/OLPC fit in ?
 

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

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




-- 


Valsa

Re: [silk] FoU Camp V3 Pictures

[Valsa Williams]

Oops I dont have permissions to view.

On Dec 13, 2007 8:10 PM, Vinit Bhansali [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Here they are.

 http://flickr.com/photos/vinit/sets/72157603446375588/

 And they come with a story that involves a burnt external HDD case, a
 diamond-tipped electric saw, numerous trips to Bangalore's SP Road!

 :)

 - Vinit

  Subject: Re: [silk] FoU Camp V3 Pictures
 
  Ramakrishna Reddy wrote: [ on 04:08 PM 12/10/2007 ]
 
  Hey Silkers
  
  
  Moods and Dudes at the FoUCamp V3. These are a few pictures
  through my lens
  
  http://flickr.com/photos/ramkrsna/sets/72157603413659484/
  
  My favorite picture is the Coconut and the Vodka.
 
  Yes, me too.
 
  What about Vinit / Surabhi's pictures?
 
  Udhay
 
  --
  ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
 
 





-- 


Valsa

Re: [silk] 10th Anniversary silkmeet

[Valsa Williams]

Congratulations ! I wish I was there.

Cheers !

Valsa


On Dec 9, 2007 8:34 PM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 The first message on Silklist [1] was sent on 19 December 1997. Next
 Wednesday, it'll be 10 years since that happened. Many generations in
 internet time, or even in dog years.

 Anybody wants to do a meetup where lots of beer is comsumed, and
 stories are traded?

 Discuss.

 Udhay

 [1] http://www.netropolis.org/silklist/msg3.html

 --
 ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Open Source Evangalism

[Valsa Williams]

An organisation called L2C2 in Kolkatta contributes and implements Koha.
The lead  person's name is Indranil Das Gupta  email id :
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Gautam, do contact him.



On Dec 10, 2007 3:11 PM, Gautam John [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 On Dec 10, 2007 2:37 PM, Ramakrishnan Sundaram [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:

  Yes, but Koha's a pain to setup. I tried it some time ago and gave up.

 What did you end up using?

Re: [silk] Lights turn red for stunned Delhi jaywalkers

[Valsa Williams]

I live and drive in Delhi. It is a nightmare. The roads are great but you
are in constant fear of running over humans and  animals. Every time a good
road or flyover is built, the fences  dividers  are broken so that people
may still cross wherever  whenever they want to.
Glad that this is being enforced, hope it continues. Next target should be
drunken driving.
However in Delhi,  it is  Baap ka rasta  :-)

On Dec 6, 2007 5:46 PM, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-30854320071206?pageNumber=3virtualBrandChannel=0sp=true

 Lights turn red for stunned Delhi jaywalkers
 Thu Dec 6, 2007 2:10pm IST

 By Jonathan Allen

 NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pedestrians don't cross the Indian capital's
 chaotic streets so much as dash across as if their life depends on it,
 which it very often does.

 More than 900 pedestrians a year fail to make it to the other side,
 killed by the city's lawless drivers. So police decided on Wednesday
 it was time to start enforcing a 27-year-old rule against jaywalking.

 The result was puzzlement and sometimes anger from people for whom
 dicing with traffic death is a fact of Indian urban life.

 At six busy New Delhi intersections on Thursday, police officers
 grabbed jaywalkers by the arm, issued them tickets, and made them pay
 20-rupee fines before explaining the idea of waiting patiently for the
 lights to change.

 We have to run, the lights don't turn green long enough for us to
 cross, said D.K. Bhargav, an angry, 57-year-old office worker,
 fearlessly confronting an officer with his complaint.

 And in other places there's no crossing at all.

 Speak to the government and say, 'Kindly build us a crossing,' was
 the policeman's advice.

 In the city's Connaught Place commercial district, a troop of men in
 woolly jumpers, smart shoes and trousers were hastily painting a new
 zebra crossing.

 Then police reinforcements arrived and, for the first time that anyone
 could remember, made about 50 pedestrians line up and wait patiently
 on either side of the road while traffic rushed by, smearing the
 still-drying paint.

 People giggled self-consciously, smiling at those on the opposite
 curb. During a pause in the traffic someone tried to break ranks and
 dash across, but a whistle-blowing policeman intercepted him, making
 everyone laugh.

 How would a villager know about these lights? There are no traffic
 lights in their villages, said Constable Suresh Sharma, who thought
 that the widespread rule-breaking was partly due to Delhi's large
 population of rural migrants.

 Our aim is not to prosecute people, our aim is to educate them,
 police spokesman Rajan Bhagat explained by telephone.

 But not everyone who was fined took away the correct message.

 Next time I'll be watchful, said Vasant Pant, a 20-year-old courier
 late making his deliveries. I'll look to see if there's a traffic
 policeman before crossing.

 Some offenders, like Sachin Chaudry, a young, late-running bank
 executive, quickly handed over their fine and their details without
 even interrupting their cellphone calls.

 Others were more evasive.

 I don't have the money, pleaded Ankita Khurana, a nervous-looking
 18-year-old student.

 Then you'll have to go to jail, the policeman replied. She suddenly
 remembered she had change in her bag.

 But another jaywalker -- a scrawny man in unwashed clothes -- seemed
 to be telling the truth.

 This is all I have, he pleaded, holding out five rupees.

 The enraged policeman took this as an insult, waving a finger in his
 face before pushing him back the way he came.

 Next time don't cross without a green light, he snarled.

 (Additional reporting by Onkar Pandey)

Re: [silk] Need some info

[Valsa Williams]

There is one more that I found out  http://www.guruji.com/
According to my community friends, they havent got much visibility.  Their
solution has value as long as most of the indian language content is in some
font encoding system.
Thanks for all your help !

On Dec 6, 2007 12:09 PM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Valsa Williams wrote [at 11:52 AM 12/6/2007] :

 No  local heroes ? Indian search engines ?

 There are some specialised ones like http://asklaila.com/ but
 overall, I think that google/yahoo are it, apart from rediff (they
 used to use google as their backend, but it seems to be different now)

 Udhay
 --
 ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] Need some info

[Valsa Williams]

Thanks Gautam !

On Dec 6, 2007 12:24 PM, Gautam John [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

  Valsa Williams wrote [at 11:52 AM 12/6/2007] :
 
  No  local heroes ? Indian search engines ?

 http://www.onyomo.com/

 http://www.guruji.com/

 http://byindia.com/

 http://bhramara.in/

[silk] Need some info

[Valsa Williams]

Who are the top 2 India-based search engine companies for the Indian local
market by language type: English, Hindi, others?
Who are the Googles and Yahoos of the Indian search market?

Thanks for the info.

Valsa

Re: [silk] Need some info

[Valsa Williams]

No  local heroes ? Indian search engines ?


On Dec 6, 2007 11:39 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Google. And Yahoo.

Srs (they both offer Indian language search, news etc)

  -Original Message-
  From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
  Of Valsa Williams
  Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 11:36 AM
  To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
  Subject: [silk] Need some info
 
  Who are the top 2 India-based search engine companies for the Indian
  local
  market by language type: English, Hindi, others?
  Who are the Googles and Yahoos of the Indian search market?
 
  Thanks for the info.
 
  Valsa

Re: [silk] (no subject)

[Valsa Williams]

You wrote  the article on the cell phone and how you stayed without it
for a week or so? !
 That was very thought provoking. Since then I have tried to de-
addict myself :-)

Valsa

On Nov 25, 2007 10:37 PM, Shoba Narayan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Hello:
 I am Shoba Narayan, a writer and newcomer to this list.  Shiv brought
 me on board.  Poked around the archives...very interesting group of
 people and topics.  Hoping to participate but bear with me during the
 long stretches when I am on-the-road and away-from-computer.
 Shoba

Re: [silk] (no subject)

[Valsa Williams]

Welcome Shoba !

On Nov 26, 2007 5:36 PM, Valsa Williams [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 You wrote  the article on the cell phone and how you stayed without it
 for a week or so? !
  That was very thought provoking. Since then I have tried to de-
 addict myself :-)

 Valsa


 On Nov 25, 2007 10:37 PM, Shoba Narayan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  Hello:
  I am Shoba Narayan, a writer and newcomer to this list.  Shiv brought
  me on board.  Poked around the archives...very interesting group of
  people and topics.  Hoping to participate but bear with me during the
  long stretches when I am on-the-road and away-from-computer.
  Shoba
 
 

Re: [silk] To FOU or not to FOU

[Valsa Williams]

I plan to join you as well  will arrive with Danese on Dec 1st .

On Nov 23, 2007 11:10 AM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 Biju Chacko wrote: [ on 10:39 AM 11/23/2007 ]

 My poison of choice is cholestrol, preferably in the shape of meat.
 What's the policy on bringing, say, shikampuri kebabs? I undertake to
 clean up after myself and not leave any non-veg garbage for the staff
 of the veg venue to deal with.

  From my conversation with the Fireflies folks, they wouldn't have a
 problem - they're billing us a fixed price for all meals (whether you
 eat them or not) anyway.

 Udhay

 --
 ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))

Re: [silk] geek love

[Valsa Williams]

Dangerous Lover :-)

On Nov 14, 2007 12:48 AM, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 another great one from xkcd.

 http://xkcd.org/340/







-- 
Cheers !

Valsa

Re: [silk] Silk-list mailing list

[Valsa Williams]

Would love to. Where are you based. I plan to be in Bangalore last week of
Nov.
One of the challenges I face is the availability of sustained, reliable,
high quality support system for Open Source solutions. Customers are spoilt
with the proprietary system of hand holding, so thats a challenge too

On 10/18/07, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Welcome to Silk, Valsa.

 Valsa Williams wrote:
  more of a consultant/Manager. I am deeply interested in Open Source and
 ,
  evangelise the usage of OSS to the Govt., academia, endusers and
 consumers.
  I like to spread the Open Source Philosophy to  Content, research ,
 music

 We should talk more offline. I recently came back home from the US and
 started a consulting firm specializing in Open Source strategy and
 enterprise applications.

 Cheers,
 Venkat




-- 
Cheers !

Valsa