Review Central

Heal the world... make it a better place

2007-04-12T19:28:00.000+05:30

Problems, problems, everywhere…
Not a soul to solve

OK, OK, I admit that is a weak rip-off of the Ancient Mariner, but hey, I have tougher problems to tackle. Oftentimes, you get so overwhelmed by the myriad problems around you – from the communal riots in India to starvation in Africa and the incurable pains of AIDS that you just throw up your hands and shrug your shoulders. Maybe you are better-off helping the society by trying to catch the cheat who tops up your tank or the shopkeeper who conveniently “forgets” to give you your freebies.

Ever so once in a while though, there comes an opportunity where you can make a difference to the whole world – in a small yet significant way through projects like folding@home and rosseta@home. Both these projects engage in basic scientific research (to increase understanding of a phenomenon) as opposed to applied research (such as developing a cure for a disease).

Eh? Well, these projects study proteins. Before proteins carry out important biological functions they assemble themselves or fold. However, when they do not fold in the way they should (ie they misfold) they can lead to serious diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancers etc. many of which do not have a cure today.

Because this process of folding happens in about 10 one-millionths of a second (that’s about the time I take to comb my hair) scientists must leverage computer simulations to study them. Some of these simulations could take 30 years to run on a single PC, so the folding@home (FAH) program sends small packets of information to millions of networked computers and collates the updated information in a central computer. You can get a much better explanation of this here.

So, how can I help? I can be one of the millions of PC’s that help FAH run its simulation models by simply downloading a software and letting Stanford access my PC during my downtime! The system is extremely safe, secure and hardly costs anything (if you subscribe to the “unlimited” plan from your broadband service provider) - convince yourself by downloading the pdf from here. The world is supporting is supporting this initiative – PS3 have packaged an FAH client in their application – maybe you can too! Or even better, form a FAH team and try and put India in the rankings map!

Colpo di Fulmine

2007-04-09T02:54:00.000+05:30

Non-Indian cuisine? Check; vegetarian? Check; Italian food? Check; Valet Parking? Check; Good wine list? Check; Centrally located? Check. Considering it checked all the right boxes, Little Italy Ristorante Bar was love at first sight (rather, at first aural reception) for us. No sniggers there from the back row – it is “aural”, note.

Ambience: The restaurant is divided into four distinct areas for seating. Outdoors on the remnants of the lawn is the place to be seen in. Don’t expect to be seated here unless you have reservations. There is a cozy little bar area as well adjacent to this. The indoor mezzanine lounge area is usually occupied by those who couldn’t make it to the outdoor area – it looks snug and comfy, though I must confess I haven’t been there yet. If you are in a group you might prefer the first floor indoor sitting area. There is a second floor family area as well that is usually opened up only when the other three areas are occupied (and that is quite often in the weekends). This has what looks like a dance floor and a DJ’s console and if you have kids, is a good place to let them loose.

There is a choice between chaired and sofa seating in most of these areas and I found the sofa’s, though low, very comfortable.

Other than this the ambience is nothing much to speak of; nothing much to complain – a lot of whites and brightly lit. Tables are reasonably well spaced. A fountain is thrown in at the waiting area. Popular music is played at most times.

Food: I really enjoy the food at this place. The variety available is excellent. The pizzas are of the classic, thin crust variety and are quite delicious. The pasta sauces taste fresh and the combination of ingredients and sauces are quite innovative. I especially liked the pesto sauces available. The starters could have been better, though. I would not particularly recommend the bruschetta. The selection of wines is pretty good and I have heard the desserts (esp. the home-made gelatos) are worth a try.

Service: I have had mixed experience with the service – pretentious once, but helpful and friendly on other occasions. Catching the eye of the bearer might be tough at times – though you could attribute that to their respecting your privacy!
In short, if you like Italian food, this is a place you must not miss. I would recommend that you make your first visit on a week day though!

Little Italy is at No. 1135, 100 Ft Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Bangalore-38. Ph. 25297482, 25289126.

Colpo di Fulmine in Italian literally means a thunderbolt (of love) – love at first sight.

Finito!

Australian for Beer – or not

2007-04-03T23:04:00.000+05:30

With all the brouhaha surrounding Australia and their on-field behavior in cricket I thought it was surprising that Fosters have re-launched their “Australian for Beer” campaign in Bangalore billboards.

All would have been forgiven, were it not for some Aussies equating it more with horse-piss than to beer here, here and here.

Still, the ad is good value for motorists stuck in traffic jams and a cricket theme in world cup time is as good a strategy as any to re-launch their campaign in India.

Project Manager and Software Quality Assurance

2007-04-02T23:28:00.000+05:30

I have been on both sides - in delivery as well as in SQA - and I still not entirely convinced which side of the toast is buttered better! But I can empathize with both sides and laugh at both. Here is a WIP* look at how an SQA dictionary would look like for the project manager.

Audit - An inspection of accounting procedures and records; conducted to confirm that you are grossly overpaid

Black Box Testing - Also called *cat-with-eyes-closed* testing or *ostrich-with-head-under-sand* testing

Certification - The document that makes you feel a spade is a WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction)

CiMAP - See Map to realize where you are at this time

CMM - Is passé. Has been sunset. Check CMMi

CMMi - A rehash of the old buzzword; check CMM

CoB - Cover ones Backside in case something goes terribly wrong; Sometimes refered to as Contingency of Business

Deviation - The work around to ensure that software can be released irrespective of its state

DPB - The Defect Prevention Board prevents you from generating defects for the duration of its meeting

Escalation - "You'd better do as I say, else…"

Estimates - Representing your gut feel in a scientific manner

Follow-up - Constant, ceaseless, irritating gnawing… a sure way to get things done. The precursor to escalation

FP - Important jargon to prove that you do have a gut feel

GDSN - A conglomeration of Management Terminology: Global, Design, Strategy and Note

Hand Over - An over hand tactic to facilitate underhand takeovers

Impact Analysis - Judging how badly the change you have made will blow up in your face

Judgement - Like a fingerprint; varies from person to person

KoM - Kick off Meetings; self explanatory; thick jeans recommended

Labeling - The beginning of the end. The formal way of saying " I am not going to trouble you any more for now. Let us renew our rivalries some time later…"

Measurement - Translating the abstract into numbers

Minutes - Representing the hours wasted through a mail

Mock Installation - A s/w installation done in jest

NC - Non Consensual; its chains and whips next…

OOP - Oops; leaked out of the Java handbook

Planning - Sorry; am not sure of that one; Is it something a PM should know?

Project Book - The one stop information repository

Project Office - The stewards in F1; responsible for the green lights and the chequered flag

Proposal - Usually done on bent knees; usually falls on deaf ears

Quality - Greek Mythology; the Godess of Perfection

Quality Manual - The quality Bible; written in Greek

Release - Opening Pandora's Box

Reporting - Dreaming up innovative reasons why you are so far behind schedule

Risk Management - The art of creating risks to keep people high on adrenaline and awake

Sampling - Working on the principle that one rotten apple in a bunch, rots the rest

Sigma - Sigma is the English 'S'; Six sigma is Six S; Repeat it fast enough and it becomes the road to success

Tracking - Usually done by dogs; What you should start doing if she is good looking

UCF - Unit Construction Form; Prepare this to realize how deep in s**t you are

Verification - Documented confirmation that things indeed do not work

Versioning - Various shades of the truth

Walk-through - Trespassing into someone else's property and questioning its legality

X-tension - The inevitable request on deadline day

Y - Why me?

Zzz - What training sessions on the dictionary above will inevitably evoke

* - Work in Progress

Is Indian cricket going the way of hockey?

2007-04-02T18:33:00.000+05:30

Mathew Hayden
Sanath Jayasurya

Ricky Ponting
Yuvraj Singh
Keiron Pieterson

Andrew Flintoff
Adam Gilchrist
Jacob Oram

Shane Bond
Makhaya Ntini
Mutthaiah Muralidharan

What does the team above tell you? For one, it is a very good team – one that would certainly do extremely well at this world cup (maybe even run Australia very, very close!). Off the top of my head however, this is a team that epitomizes modern day limited-overs cricket. The cricket that oozes POWER from every pore – in a team into which Shahid Afridi, Mark Boucher, Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar failed to make the grade.

One-day cricket today is an explosive combination of the three S’s - Speed, Strength and Stamina. You need to hit the ball harder than Peiterson does, bowl them faster than Shane Bond, be nimbler than a Yuvraj (at his prime), catch as safely as Matt Hayden, have the sustained accuracy of a Murali over long spells and be as pin-point with your throwing as Ponting. Preferably, you have to be able to do many of these things.

Rewind to the mid-70s and the end of the sub-continental domination of hockey began with the introduction of Astroturf. That immediately placed more importance to the physical aspects of the game – faster passing and quicker movement. With power and strength becoming the name of the game in penalty corners as well (with the rule changes), we witnessed the silent cremation of Indian hockey. The phoenix like resurrections during the Moscow Olympics (against a depleted field) and a couple of Champions Trophy triumphs in the 90’s (?) fooled no one. Indian hockey is today well and truly dead and buried – meandering without direction and led by autocrats.

Ditto with tennis – no one has quite managed to recreate the glories of Ramanathan Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj and to a lesser extent Ramesh Krishnan once the wooden racquets died their natural death. Leander Paes was a exception, Sania Mirza is no more than an illusion. Without having at least one of a Sampras-like Server, a motorized Michael Chang-esque court coverage or heavy ground strokes a-la-Nadal, we stand no chance in the modern tennis world. And our players are too “under-developed” for that! A similar tale with football – we were one of the better teams in the 30s and 40s – albeit plating barefoot!

Is cricket going down the same route?

Consider the following:
- In 1999, the South African cricket team was as fit as the rugby team competing in the 1999 Rugby World Cup – (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11138982&dopt=Abstract).
- Witness the bewildering assaults by both the teams in the two most memorable matches between Australia and SA recently (not coincidentally nos 1 and 2). The one in South Africa where the world record for the highest score was broken twice in a day and the more recent World Cup match in the West Indies – the batting was brutal, the bowling ferocious and the fielding electric.

While a Tendulkar, a Dravid and a Ganguly are still likely to win India a test match, they are hopelessly in danger of being dinosaurs in the one-day game. With 20-20 cricket growing in popularity by the day – this emphasis on speed, strength and stamina is only bound to increase (Is that why the BCCI is reluctant to adopt the 20/20 form of the game?). India have to think seriously of shedding some blood and bringing in a more young energetic and fighting unit if they want to withstand the furious pace of the modern one-day game. The game will be one of unrelenting energy for the course of 50 overs, with intensity never wavering. We need younger blood, stronger muscles and steelier minds to combat this insurgency. We need the Rainas, the Sreesanths, the Kaifs and the Uthappas. Let us leave the tried and tested “heros” for the longer version of the game where they can match their wits. Let us adopt the not-very-innovative policy of having a fresh one-day team that bears little resemblance to the test squad and opt for the longer haul.

We have to heed the clarion call now or face being also-rans in yet another sport.

The Lord with Three Eyes

2007-03-28T17:13:00.000+05:30

We had an opportunity to visit Trimbakeshwar (30 kms from Nashik) a year and a half back. Being one of the 12 Jyothirlingas (one corresponding to each sign of the zodiac?) of Lord Shiva, it is considered extremely auspicious by devotees. The uniqueness of the temple is derived from its 3-faced Jyothirlinga embodying Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

We had hired a Tavera from Mumbai and reached Trambak en-route Shiridi. The roads are pretty decent and the last stretch before reaching the temple is extremely scenic. The entire village is built around the supporting activities of the temple and it would be fair to say that the temple supports the entire ecosystem. You have to walk through a significant portion of the village before reaching the temple and hawkers of all kinds try to peddle their wares. Some extremely tasty looking sweet-meats (particularly jelabis) were very tempting. The place to stay is the MTDC Hotel, Trimbakeshwar though our stay was too short for us to pay a visit.

Architecturally, it was one of the most impressive temples I have encountered and it is located in a very scenic location at the foothills of the Brahmagiri hill. However, we reached here on the eve of a festive occasion (I forget which) and the crowd queuing up to enter the sanctum sanctorum was humungous. Add that to the poor upkeep and priests looking for a quick buck, and I must confess I was not very impressed. We managed to find our way inside the temple and the deity is very different – only the base of the lingas is visible and three thumb-like lingas representing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are said to be present there.

I shall, therefore, let the photos tell their tale. Do scroll down to read a piece on the legend of the Jyothirlingas as well.

The legend of the Jyothirlingas: Once Brahma and Vishnu were arguing about who was the most powerful Deva (god). Brahma, the great architect, thought he was best as he created the whole of creation. But Vishnu argued he wouldn't be able to keep it all running if it wasn't for Him the sustainer, and everyone recognized this worshiping Vishnu in his many forms. Brahma argued back, that love of materialism was love of Him and therefore…..

As they argued a huge pillar of light appeared, infinite and bright it stretched from one side of forever to the other. Awed they wanted to know of where and who this came from. Brahma went upward to search for and end or beginning, Vishnu went down to search the cause. Ages passed, and no end of this was found. In surrender they both prostrated before the blazing pillar of Light, and Shiva gave his blessing, acknowledging he was the infinite Jyoti (light).

The Lingam is the energy of creation, it is represented by a round stone (symbolic of the dome of the sky) and sitting in the yoni (representing the earth). Sometimes it has a more phallic presentation symbolic of the interwoven Divine male and female energies. There are twelve Jyotir Lingam temples found throughout India , where there are naturally occurring Lingas. These are places where the Linga was found and a temple was built around it. The found Linga already had the power of Shiva within it, it did not need pranipratishta to awaken it or instill Shiva's energy into it. The jyotir Lingam represents the atman.

There is a Jyotir Lingam associated with each sign of the zodiac. The cause of one's creation, the purpose of ones being is seen from the Linga that is associated with the sign. By meditation on this individual lingam, using its special mantra, and by pilgrimage to this holy site, one comes closer to an understanding of the purpose of the atman's creation. It will help reveal one's purpose of creation.

Reel Corporate Conundrums in Real Life

2007-03-28T15:49:00.000+05:30

After a really long time, Vidhya and I managed to catch a full movie (via DVD at home) and I was sufficiently impressed to pen down a few thoughts.

I know there have been several other reviews on this movie, so I will abstain from writing about what has already been written and try and give you some of my personal thoughts derived from the movie. But first, some links to set stall for those who have not watched the movie yet:

For the Cast and Plot, you can’t say it too much better than Chandrashekhar’s review in MouthShut. For some stills from the movie, check out this link from IndiaFM.

1. Bipasha Basu – I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of Bipasha in this movie. Maybe the role suited her – but she does an excellent job of disproving those who think she is all oomph and no substance. Her understated portrayal of Nishigandha Dasgupta deserves kudos when it would have been very easy to go over the top.

2. Kay Kay Menon – Excellent performance! People who watch Bollywood more often than I do say it is no surprise and that he is a proven performer. The biggest praise I could shower on him is that he looked like a failure from the beginning and even during his successes you knew he was doomed to failure.

3. The subtlety – Despite the handcrafted suits and the mahagony board-rooms, the subtlety in depiction of several scenes was commendable. Kay Kay’s murder and the role of Devyani Bakshi (Lilette Dubey?) are good examples.

4. The clichés – the god-men who drive Mercs, the corrupt politicians who transcend party lines for personal profits, the puppet-like role of the overseas partners, the Ketan Parikh-esque stock broker, the conflict between the traditional Marwaha and the socialite, squash-playing and modern Sehgal – they may all be clichéd and over-used, but they brought in the earthiness and the bland humor that blended well with corporate sophistication

5. The Thin Line – between right and wrong, success and failure, profiteering and ethics, loyalty to your company and loyalty to yourself is well played out by Madhur Bhandarkar (MB)

6. MB ishtyle – I think he still carries the hangover of the successful Page 3 party. Several of the “asides” with the secretaries, drivers and security men are very much an extension of what happened in Page 3. So too the voice-over he uses to explain the nuances of the story that could not be brought out through the characters. Funny enough, but you expect MB to be classier. Also, I think he may have got stuck into a particular style of movie making – Chandini Bar, Page 3, Corporate and now Traffic Signal, all expose the seedy underbelly of one aspect of society. And just how did Bipasha get the password to the laptop to uncover her rivals' secrets?

7. The ending – I like the ending, well ensconced in reality. If the preceding story were true, this seems to be the most plausible ending. One reason why I am not such a big fan of Hindi movies is that the endings can often be predicted in advance and I hate that. Alternatively, the conclusion is so implausible that you not just have to suspend disbelief, but store your brain in formalin as well. I hate that as well.

8. Conclusion – Very good movie and well worth a watch, but Page 3 was probably better.

7 Reasons why this might be the best World Cup yet

2007-03-14T12:24:00.000+05:30

Even odds: It’s the most open world-cup ever; you could draw up a reasonable case for any of 8 teams winning it. You got to thank the Australians for it, though. Just a few months back they were threatening to make it the most one sided cup ever – but after succumbing to injuries and letting West Indies, New Zealand and even England smell blood, they are looking very vulnerable. So expect a lot of close matches and teams squeaking through various stages.
The pitches: Forget talk of the Caribbean pitches being slow and low – on the evidence of the practice matches and the inaugural game these look like being the fairest wickets we have seen since the Australia World Cup. Some assistance for the pace bowlers with the new ball; some turn available for the tweakers and good value for the batsmen willing to take their time to get set before opening their shoulders.
The Grounds: rather, the sizes of the grounds. Expect to see a lot of boundaries during the power plays and the slog overs.
The Grounds: the locations – where can you get better setting for matches? The beaches, the hills, the breeze and the mounds.
The West Indies: The land of rum, reggae and ravishing beauties. Where you get the most appreciative cricket fans. A place that parties for no reason.
The swansongs: This is the last world-cup for some of the finest players of our generation – Tendulkar, Lara, Inzamam, McGrath, Kumble. They will all want to bow out in style.
The timings: How much better can it get – get home after work and spend the evening watching the match

Is the IT department becoming IT savvy?

2007-03-12T18:09:00.000+05:30

Thought I would do a piece on e-governance and take a slightly toungue-in-cheek review at the working of Information Technology in the Income Tax department!

Is the IT (Income Tax) department becoming IT savvy?

“I refuse to believe that there are only 1 lakh people in India who have an income of above 10 lakhs!” – P Chidamabram, Union Finance Minister.

Tax evasion (and the vividly named black money) has turned to be biggest bug-bear of the revenue department. It defies belief, that there are only 1 Lakh people who are in the highest tax bracket (out of the 10+ crore population)! Surely there must be someway of tracking down the tax evaders?

The revenue department projected the Annual Information Returns (AIR) as an effective tool to unearth accounted money. The AIR is filed by third party organizations – banks, credit card companies, listed organizations etc. The National Securities and Depositories Limited, which hosts the tax information network creates a PAN based ledger for each individual. Tax authorities match this information with the returns filed to see if an individual has evaded tax.

There are several crippling inadequacies in this process. The list of organization filing AIRs is limited (what about foreign travel, luxury auto dealers and property buyers?). A lot of individuals do not have or do not use their PANs for transactions (which leads to difficulty in pinpointing transactions to individuals). There is a glut of data that needs to be sifted through to ascertain evasion and the department is understaffed.

Enter Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. [Cue Drum Rolls]

The situation presents itself perfectly for the implementation of an enterprise-wide business intelligence system. There are multiple sources of data coming in from various sources in formats that are alien to each other. De-duplication of individuals and familial classification needs to be performed by the system as there is no single means of identification (till the PAN becomes mandatory for all transactions). Data needs to be cleansed as data-entry errors are rife. Unstructured data might need to be integrated as several departments do not capture data in electronic format. Complex business rules should be factored in to conform, consolidate, aggregate, allocate, and allot incomes and expenditures to various individuals and families. Finally the revenue department needs to be able to analyze this data to identify evaders.

Fast forward to the not too far future and Hey Presto, by March 31st of every year (ok – maybe a month later), before the first person has filed his/her tax returns, the Income Tax department shall have a precise idea (within a statistically defined error limit) of your income for the previous financial year! In fact, it might even be able to tell you from which sources your money came in and through what avenues it left you! They might even exempt you from filing your returns provided you have paid your taxes correctly and on time. However, if you are an evader, beware – you could end up like a burglar without gloves at the scene of crime, leaving your fingerprints all over the place.

Is this fact or Asimov-esque science fiction? Well, the National Data Center is building a data warehouse that is expected to be functional in August 2008. The revenue department is also taking steps to bring more organizations into the AIR mandate. If all goes well, and the Indian Government gets someone as good as Marlabs to design and implement their system, then it would be more fact than fiction and signify the onset of nightmares for some!

Lunch@TGIF - Worth a shot

2007-03-12T01:27:00.000+05:30

My other (who said it was the better one J) half works at Diamond District, bang opposite TGIF and being the foodies that we are, this has been a good enough reason for us to visit Friday’s for lunch.

I had been to Friday’s a few times prior to this, but mostly during early evenings, and usually during the Happy Hours. Visiting the restaurant during happy hours (from 4:30 to 8:30 pm everyday) is a great way to enjoy the place, without letting the expensive prices get to you. There is a “one-for-one” offer on for most drinks and selected short-eats!

Lunch: The entire experience was pretty impressive. The place is not too crowded for lunch and it is not too difficult to get a place you like. The air conditioning is well done – nice and cool, without the irritating draught you get in many places. The service is brisk. There is a decent mix of American, Mexican and Italian food to pick from. The portions are generous and the quality of food is impeccable. It is a trifle expensive, but then we expected that when we walked in.

There’s also an offer by which you can get a pint of Fosters for Rs. 50 along with select main course orders – try this out!

Recommendation: Surely worth a try. I intend to visit this place once a month myself for lunch! The evening visit during happy hours is also worth a shot. Try the chips and salsa along with your drink (Margaritas/Long Island Tea can’t go too wrong)

Location: TGI Friday’s is located close to the intersection of Airport Road, Inner Ring Road and the Indranagar 100 ft Road, beside the flyover and opposite Diamond District.

Ford Fiesta TDCi ZXi - Month1 Review

2007-03-11T00:02:00.000+05:30

After extensive deliberation (and no little research) I decided to plump 8.5 L of my hard-earned (ok, ok, not exactly) cash on the Fiesta TDCi ZXi. Some of my initial observations on the car for your benefit (hopefully)!

A word of warning though – the car is only a month old. I have, therefore followed the instructions provided to me pretty religiously. Hence, no speeding beyond 80, no revving at low rpm, no highway driving and generally has been handled with kid gloves. I shall update this when I get the car back from my first service and have started to explore its limits.

Engine, Gear Box, Drivability: Extremely refined for a diesel engine, though not as noiseless as some of the reviews might lead you to believe. However, if you switch on the AC, draw up the windows and you hardly hear any noise. Slight sluggishness and minor lag at low rpm - but very negligible and surely forgivable for its many other positives. Extremely smooth gear shifts – the car is tailor made for city driving in India. You are very comfortable driving at low speeds and low gear. The entire car has a very solid feel about it – from the reassuring “thud” the doors give you when you gently close them to the stability of the cars around corners to the smooth braking. It is definitely a drivers cars, without the sporty feel and exhilarating acceleration

Exteriors: Much better than the Ikon. I especially like the smooth body flow and the head-lamps. I do have some grudging admiration for the quirky looks of the Verna though!

Interiors: Pretty much satisfactory, though it gives a “plasticky” feeling for an expensive (hey, it is for me) car. Some good touches include:
(a) Warning when the headlamps are switched on while you exit
(b) Reading lamps at the rear
(c) Very comfortable seats – especially at the rear.
(d) “Kilometers to empty” is a cool feature to have – though I have my doubts about its accuracy!

Mileage: Have consciously not checked this yet – but I think I am currently getting upwards of 15kmpl – will keep you posted on this during my 3 month update!

Cons: There are a few which a potential buyer should be aware of:
(a) Ford is an expensive car to own – period. The savings you gain for this miserly diesel car would be more than off-set by the maintenance costs you may have to bear over the years.
(b) Limited options for authorized service stations in most cities
(c) Hydraulic power steering just does not give you the same joy as the electronic power steering does – that is a big negative
(d) Finally, it is clearly not a sporty car – I expect to have a lot of complaints about not being able to eat up the road on highways.

To summarize, I am pretty happy with what I have got; but I knew of most of the negative before I got the car and hence my expectations were suitably tempered. Know what you are getting into and buy the car on its positives – primarily fuel economy and driving and riding comforts and you will do fine!