'The Great Animal Orchestra' - Bernie Krause

Heard this awesome program on radio show 'Forum with Michael Krasny'. 


Musician and naturalist Bernie Krause and his book 'The Great Animal Orchestra'.


The sounds of nature are not obvious and in your face as the pictures of nature. 
But these sounds pack so much of information that we do not get. 
Nature holds so many secrets in the form of sounds!!

Stand up for your right to stand up!

Came across this interesting infographics. Take a look:

Fireworks 2012 - San Francisco (playlist)

Caste system in India

Caste system is a crock of sh*t.

Caste system can be completely done away with if we start with ourselves first. As all the issues Aamir pointed out in his Satyamev Jayathe series, he has not set the emphasis on the govt but on each individual to take a personal necessary step in right direction.

First, do what Sree Narayana Guru suggested with a lot of success in Kerala. "Ask not, think not, speak not caste". Never ask anybody of full name to find out about his/her caste, never think in terms of caste and do not speak about caste. And if somebody does so then humiliate and alienate that person from society. It should be a taboo to ask, think or talk about caste.

Second, is overhauling education system. Do away with private education. Slowly and methodically increase the number of government schools, and take away the licenses of private schools. Provide more grants and commissions to running schools and give good salaries to teachers and principals running these govt schools so that quality of this education improves. Make good standard education available to everybody for free. A business man's son and rickshaw puller's son get the same quality of education. So when they go to find a job, they will be judged on their personal merit in the subject and not based on what quality of education they received. This should do away with need for reservation.

Inter caste marriages will keep happening and further blur the lines between castes.
With just these two steps caste system will disappear in a decade or two.

I know it is easier said than done. There is politics involved. Castes are vote banks and livelihood of some political parties and future roadmap to power of some political leaders.

But if we come to think of it, politicians are nothing but a reflection of the society which they represent. Have not heard any politicians say anything that angered his parties vote bank (unless media misconstrued or misrepresented a remark for sensationalism). So if we make abolition of caste system an issue then its only a matter of time when the politicians will echo the thoughts of the society.

Google Glass - Why announce now?

Google Glass is futuristic to say the least. As of now its highly desirable. As of now, if its available for purchase, it will sell like hot cakes. There is iPhone-launch-like buzz around it ... a game changer!!


But it will not be available until 2014, two years away.


What I do not get is, why this device is being announced now when it cannot be made available for purchase for another two years?


Isn't this announcement giving a heads up to competitors like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, etc?
Will Google not be at a loss when its competition gets to know two years in advance on where Google is going with its Android OS and hardware form factor?


I think that to get the maximum mileage out of such innovative products, Google should not have disclosed its product so early.  Isn't having the best product in market, with competition 'desperately' taking time to catch up, desirable for a product company? 


This announcement is also not cashing on the buzz created now. Two years later, will Google Glass still have the same freshness as a jaw dropping idea that it enjoys now? Will not the 'two year old idea' tag linger in the back of your mind when its available for you to buy? Remember, this is a rapidly changing and innovating industry of mobile devices and social networking.

Microsoft Surface Tablet - First thoughts

It's late it's late it's late but not too late... That's how the famous Queen song goes.

Microsoft dives into tablet market with Surface tablet. Reminds me of Microsoft Surface - the table-top gadget. Did it ever go commercial?

Surface - the tablet- looks very promising. Also this time Microsoft is not going to depends upon HP, Dell or Lenovo for the hardware, Microsoft will do it on its own.

What I like most about it are:

• Awesome looking OS. Though so many 'tiles' make it look cluttered but its a very fresh look.
• A 3 mm keyboard, which also acts a cover, and a kick stand are great ideas and has every potential to unsettle other tablets.

What I do not like about it are:

• WiFi only??? Thats what is in the news. How can a portable gadget like tablet be wifi only? That would severely restrict its usability. I hope its not true.
• $600/- Now that is not cheap but steep. When the most desired tablet has some features like stunning resolution, killer looks, wireless, etc Surface should have been priced a bit cheaper.

What I do hope to see in MS Surface:

• I hope the keyboard is foldable. Like foldable between the keys.
• I hope the kick stand is not flimsy. Hanging and dangling parts generally do not last long.
• Apps, apps, apps... Apple and Android have a great ecosystem of applications. Its not just hardware and OS that sells. We need a vibrant ecosystem for this tablet.
• MS Surface is not priced to kill at $600/- I hope its priced at least $100/- below this price.

Forget about the Surface crash on debut. These things happen. If anybody thinks that a mac or a iphone never crashes... well that is a myth.

Its extremely competitive out there in the tablet market, Surface shows promise to make a mark.

Heated debate on Indian tennis team to Olympics - 1

(I do not own this content. These are from the comments section of a TimesofIndia article.)