Blog of Parag

Steve "Monkeyman" Ballmer

Saw this really bizzare video of Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft at Kiruba's blog. I was very surprised as I had never seen how CEOs of tech companies behave. My experience is limited to very formal straight-laced Pharma compnay execs and they donot jump around like this.

It is also interesting to note that this billionaire couldn't spare a few bucks to buy some antiperspirant.

Master's thesis in a trash can

Linda Cerniglia lost her only copy of her Master's thesis saved on a jump drive when a burgler stole her purse from her car. After a few hours of her own detective work and a dive inside a dumpster, her perseverance paid off and she found her purse with her jump drive in it. She graduated soon after that and everything worked out well. Read the whole story here.

I am just totally and completely amazed that this lady was so absolutely careless to have only one copy of her thesis on a small device that can be easily lost. I remember from my thesis-writing days that I used to back up my thesis on 2 computers (one at home and one at my lab) and one Iomega zip-drive every night.

Just to be the devil's advocate: It almost seems unfair that Linda got her thesis back. She should have been punished for being so careless by making her write the whole thing again.

Fishing for sharks

The photo in this story is really sickening. These people are actually using dogs as bait for catching sharks. uugghhh.

Photo in the News: Dog Saved From Shark-Bait Fate

IIPM

I am sure many of you have been following these ridiculous events revolving around a management institution, called Indian Institute of Planning and Management.

This episode goes like this...

• IIPm's false advertising,


• an article in a web-based magazine, exposing the fraud,


• a post made by a popular blogger about that article on his personal blog,


• IIPM threatening to sue him and others,


• IIPM threatening to unnecessarily put the blogger's employer in the middle of all this,


• popular blogger resigning from the company.

Don't know what IIPM has gained from this episode other than bad publicity, which it seems that they deserve. I think they should have come out defending themselves against all the allegations with facts and not lawsuits. If they had facts on their side, they wouldn't have reacted the way they did. Seems like a lot of people are unhappy with IIPM and have written about it.

All this lawsuits for defamation is a load of crap. If one is not free to express their opinion, they might as well live in communist China. As Kiruba mentions in his post, at this rate, the whole Bollywood should be after me with lawsuits for writing bad reviews for many Hindi movies over the last year or two.

Kudos to Gaurav Sabnis for standing up for his views on his blog.

WHOA!!!

Consider yourself warned, before you click on the following links. These are not for the faint of hearts. They are horrible even by my standards.

A perfect car for you, if you have problems with your neighbour's cat.

This guy needs to see a doctor.

via _flyonthewall_

Make your own Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich

eBay item 5574030908 (Ends Apr-26-05 11:25:58 PDT) - OFFICIAL HOLY PAN THAT MADE THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

A few months ago, a 10-year old grilled cheese sandwich made big news. Virgin Mary appeared on that sandwich as it was made. The sandwich hasn't gone bad in all these years beacause of the power of blessing of Virgin Mary or it says something about the power of chemicals put in Wonder Bread and Kraft sliced cheese-like-substance. It was sold on eBay for thousands of dollars, bought by a gambling company called Goldenpalace.com. Now, here is an opportunity to buy the holy pan that made this sandwich.

Here is a hot tip... I am telling you all, just because you are my friends. If you know how to make grilled cheese sandwiches, this could change your life. It could be the greatest money-making opportunity ever. You can make a lot of Virgin Mary sandwiches and sell each of them for thousands of dollars. Do you get it? Isn't that great? Thank me after you make your first million.

Sick sick people

I made a post about the Terry Schiavo fiasco last Friday. Over the weekend, my blog received several hits through Google and Yahoo from people searching for 'Terry Schiavo pictures'. Google search page for these words yields the following as #4 entry. Can't imagine how sick some people really are.

HR gobbledeegook

It is interesting to see how goal setting and performance evaluation policies are changed by HR.

From this year, goals should be written at a very high level; not too much detail. There is no such thing as a stretch goal. Every goal must be a stretch goal. One will not be penalised for not reaching the goal as long as there is documented proof of trying really hard.

So, it is possible for a person to not successfully complete even a single goal through the year but, exceed expectations while doing that.

Huuh!!!

The A$$hole Factor

Why do all the conservative stuck-ups have this repressed sexuality? And itt comes out in the ugliest form possible. The latest scandal is the Bill O'Reilly sexual harrasement case. Check out these pages (here and here) from the complaint filed by Andrea MacKris against Bill. Highly entertaining!!!

Wife-killer

Educated or not, employed or not, software professional or not, living in India or not, a scumbag is a scumbag.

Didn't know that wife abuse for dowry existed within the Indian community in US. Following link tells a story of a greedy non-human (my brain can't come up with a word for him, please help) who first abused his wife for money during the five years of their marriage and finally hacked her to death. It is truly disgusting.

Husband Charged With Murdering Wife

Get ready for a noisy Summer

This summer is going to be noisier than usual in Washington DC and 15 eastern states ranging from Michigan to New York to Georgia. Billions of large, noisy, winged, red-eyed insects known as periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp. Brood 10) will soon emerge from the ground as soon as the soil temperature reaches 64F. They have been waiting underground for 17 years for their month-long above-ground life. They will come out of the ground as wingless insects called nymphs, climb up on trees, lose their outer skin, spread their wings, fly, chirp in search of a mate, mate, lay eggs and die. The eggs will hatch in a few weeks and the nymphs will fall to the ground. They will burrow into the soil and stay there for 17 years before they emerge again.

In some areas, the expected population is more than a million cicadas per acre. But, there is nothing to worry about. They don't bite or sting and won't damage any plants or crops. They sure will be a big nuisance as they will fly into people, clog gutters and make enough noise to make people close their windows even on pleasant nights. The cicada explosion usually peaks between mid-May to mid-June depending on the location.

Get more information about brood 10 cicadas here and here, such as pictures and recipes with fresh cicadas.

Beyond Bizzare...

Infant dies after rats eat her eye

What did this mother smoke before going to bed? Wouldn't that infant scream if a rat is gnawing at her eye? How couldn't she hear those screams, if she was sleeping besides the baby? People, who can't protect their kids from rodents, shouldn't be allowed to have kids. And this woman had FOUR.

Arshi, a 22-day-old infant, died in Byculla after rats ate one of her eyes on Wednesday morning. Scared residents of Haji Kassim Chawl on Qazi Pura Street, Byculla, where the incident occurred, are now buying rat poison, air guns and traps to safeguard themselves from the rodent menace.

“She was sleeping beside me on the floor and was all right till around 2 am, when I breastfed her. It was only at 6 am that I found she (Arshi) was not making any noise. When I turned her over, I found blood all over her face,” recounted a shocked Anwari Mohammed, Arshi’s mother. In a state of panic, Anwari ran to her neighbours for help.

Kulsumbi, her neighbour, was shocked to see the child’s face. “Her right eye was fully bloodied and there were scratch marks on her cheeks and nose. I realised the girl was not breathing,” she said.

Residents seemed surprised that despite sleeping close to the child, the mother had remained unaware that rats were attacking her child. “The child did not cry in the night, maybe that’s why the mother was not aware of it,” Kulsumbi said.

Another neighbour, Nasser Hussain Maniyar, said the incident has forced locals to buy traps and poison for the rats. “It’s quite scary, they have nibbled at our clothes and made holes in the furniture, but no one had been attacked before,” Maniyar said.

“The rat menace is because of the garbage being dumped by shops. The BMC’s rat killers also do not come here anymore. We have purchased an air gun to kill the rats,” added resident Anwar Hussein.

Local corporator Abu Sahid Azmi said he would take up the issue with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) today. “We have been complaining regularly to the BMC, but no action has been taken about the rat menace,” he said.

Arshi was the youngest of Anwari’s four children, Ahmed (3), Saba (4) and Nizam (9). Her husband Shakeel Mohammed, who works as a tailor in Bhendi Bazaar, had come to Mumbai from Bihar with his family around 14 months ago.

Despite the tragedy, Shakeel left for work on Thursday morning.

According to his relatives, he is unable to come to terms with the incident and has decided to return to Bihar by February end.

via Mayuresh

Marriage

Heard on NPR, on the way to work...

Advantages of marriage:

- It domesticates men.
- It protects women from predatory men.
- It provides the safety of a home for women and their children.

So, basically it is good for women. Huh?!

Cannibal on trial in Germany

This German man is charged with murder, because there are no specific laws against cannibalism in Germany. He claims that his victim agreed to be slaughtered and then eaten. So, the defense attorneys are going to argue that there is no murder because the victim wanted and agreed to be killed. It is so weird that the victim wanted to eat himself in the process.

Mr Meiwes told investigators he took Mr Brandes back to his home in Rotenburg, where Mr Brandes agreed to have his penis cut off, which Mr Meiwes then flambeed and served up to eat together.

Strange coincidence

Watched 'Red Dragon' (2002 version) on Saturday night. When I switched off the PVR, the TV went back to the previous channel which was NBC. 'Saturday Night Live' was on and it showed one of the spoof ads. 'Hannibal Lecter goes to MSU'-- coming this fall.

How strange is that???