Good Rule of Thumb

A letter to the Editor of Austin American Statesman on June 19, 2007.

Many years ago a physician, in discussing treatment options for a family member, told me that the first rule of practicing medicine was: "First, do no harm." This is probably a good rule of thumb for almost anyone, including the leader of the free world.

I believe that one of the main reasons that most Americans do not support the Bush administration's invasion and occupation of Iraq is that the harm that has been done to that country and its people and to our military are impossible to ignore while it becomes more obvious with each new development that all of this damage has been caused without a coherent mission.

Looking at the bright side, the world is very lucky that George W. Bush is not a physician.

A Tree Hugger

My colleague Desi, an avid tree climber was featured in our recent newsletter. He is probably very close to his retirement but he is very young at heart. Here are some excerpts from the newsletter.

I have some large oak and cedar elm trees at my house here and always wanted to be able to climb on them and prune them in a safe manner. Climbing on a ladder is very risky. I am naturally inclined to learning new outdoor activities, so technical tree climbing was the logical and safe approach. However, the only experience I had was climbing the many high pines and mango trees we had on my family’s ranch in Venezuela. So about three years ago, I started reading up on the basics of tree climbing—and, after a few frustrating attempts, I was able to climb one of the large oaks in front of my house.

Recreational tree climbing involves the use of technical gear designed for professional arborists, foresters, and tree researchers. The main difference is that we climb for fun and as a form of relaxation while others climb for their particular business, be it tree maintenance or research. Recreational tree climbers try to increase the understanding and the importance of protecting trees for future generations. It’s very important to respect the trees that we climb. We adhere to a “do no harm” credo whenever we take part in this activity. We even ask for permission* from the tree before we climb—and we give thanks to the tree after we get down.

I have personally attended three Tree Climber International Rendezvous: 2004 in Fontanelle, Nebraska; 2005 at Caves National Forest in Oregon, and 2006 in Canton, Mississippi. I am registered to attend the 2007 Tree Climbing Rendezvous in Jamestown, Colorado this August. I belong to the Tree Climber’s Coalition, which is a non-competitive group that brings together people and organizations that would like to see recreational tree climbing achieve credibility and accreditation within the outdoor adventure community.

There is nothing like the peacefulness that comes with climbing a tree—and the view from some of the trees is spectacular. Also, resting on a treetop and sleeping in a tree hammock are very fulfilling experiences. You never know what you will find in a tree. I’ve had encounters with bees, snakes, eagles and some other local wildlife—I recently met a friendly climbing Texas rat snake in my backyard tree.

* usage of the word "permission" is funny; we know the tree's response, and our course of action! - However, I understand and appreciate the spirit behind it. Reminds me of a couple of things: (1) Bushmen begging forgiveness before harvesting animals in The God's Must be Crazy and (2) Homer Simpson offering milk and cookies to God.

Oscar - The Furry Grim Reaper

Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill

She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near.

Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.

The Good News - You Are Not Paranoiac!

Every time his supporters feared that he hit the rock bottom, he proved them wrong!

Itzbig

I thought this might interest my IT friends, esp. those who intend to look for jobs discreetly!

After being laid off from his job as a software development manager, Asad Khan turned to job recruitment Web sites. But his searches went nowhere. "It was like entering a black hole. You'd get back about 5,000 job matches, but once you started clicking on them, it was clear there weren't any real fits," says Khan, who oversaw a 40-person development team at i2 Technologies Inc. in Dallas before being let go in 2003. "When you did apply for something, you would get no feedback."

A recruiter told Khan that employers were equally fed up with the process, which often inundated them with hundreds of irrelevant résumés for every job they posted. "I still had some money left over from i2, so I got a group of three developers and said, 'There's a problem out there, so let's try to solve it,' " says Khan, who turned his study into a software development shop and tapped into his 401(k) when money ran out. The result is Itzbig Inc.

Itzbig focuses on information technology workers whom it calls "quiet working professionals" — those who already have jobs and don't want to post their résumés online for all to see but want to keep tabs on the job market and build relationships with prospective employers. The service uses online surveys, not résumés, to match job seekers with employers.

"Everything in the past has focused on quantity, not quality," says Hammock, the CEO. He cited Monster.com's boast that it lists more than a million job openings at any time and has a database of 41 million résumés. "In reality, the best candidates are often already employed. We offer them a way to explore opportunities in a private and secure way that provides immediate feedback."

Itzbig's service acts like a matchmaker. Instead of relying on résumés, which are rarely updated by workers who aren't actively looking for jobs, users fill out an online survey. Based on their responses, they are matched with jobs, and the matches are rated according to how closely users fit the job requirements. Recruiters can chat online instantly with top-rated candidates.

The LinQ That Raised Hell

And suddenly it is all Iraq's fault for not meeting the Bench Marks!

A Burd's Eye View of Austin

Talk about Voluntary Simplicity!

It's a 3 1/2-mile walk between Gene Burd's apartment near Barton Springs Road and his office on the University of Texas campus, a walk that he makes twice a day. He's easy to spot on downtown streets, namely because Burd hoofs his daily commute at a brisk pace that belies his 76 years.

A compactly built man with thinning white hair, Burd has walked the same route — with only slight variations — since he started teaching journalism at UT in 1972. He eschews cars, believing they have a negative effect on the urban environment. He walks to the doctor, to the grocery store and to work. He never uses elevators because "you meet a better class of people" on staircases, he says.

A reporter since 1953 and teacher since 1959, Burd has a gentle, high-pitched voice and often holds his hand over his mouth when he talks, as if telling a secret. His office is so full of papers and books stacked to the ceiling that it's nearly impossible to step inside.He's also famously frugal...

He seldom buys new clothes. Those New Balance shoes? He found them in the trash somewhere. He rarely goes out to eat and doesn't have a car. Never married, he says growing up in rural poverty taught him to be a good saver. He says he invests conservatively and wisely, and has used stockbrokers for many years.

Gene Burd is a man who loves cities. It's why he created his foundation. It's a curious passion, considering Burd was born in a cabin in rural Missouri and was educated in a one-room schoolhouse in the Ozarks.

Though he now has the longest tenure in the journalism school, Burd is still an associate professor and his $73,779 annual salary ranks beneath many younger peers. While he says that he's "a little bitter" about that, he has nonetheless made a lasting impression on many of his students.

"He's a wonderful professor who really understands journalism and its course over time," said Megan Larson, a recent graduate and former student of Burd's. "One thing he told us was that if you want to be a good writer, you have to know a little bit about everything," said Dennis Killian, another former student.

...in 2004, he used more than $1 million of his own money, most of it just from saving up his paychecks and investments, to establish the Urban Communication Foundation, which gives financial awards to journalists and researchers who specialize in city planning, architecture, zoning, environmental issues and other urban topics. He has since given the foundation $25,000 for operational costs.

Older Broad Band

According to AP, Ms. Sigbritt Lothberg (75 years) in Karlstad, Sweden has 40 gigabits per second fiber optic connection at home. Finally, there is some healthy competition for Sify:-).

Lothberg's 40 gigabits-per-second fiber-optic connection in Karlstad is believed to be the fastest residential uplink in the world, Karlstad city officials said.

In less than 2 seconds, Lothberg can download a full-length movie on her home computer —many thousand times faster than most residential connections, said Hafsteinn Jonsson, head of the Karlstad city network unit.

Jonsson and Lothberg's son, Peter, worked together to install the connection. The speed is reached using a new modulation technique that allows the sending of data between two routers placed up to 1,240 miles apart, without any transponders in between, Jonsson said.

"She's a brand new Internet user," Lothberg said by phone from California, where he lives. "She didn't even have a computer before." His mother isn't exactly making the most of her high-speed connection. She only uses it to read Web-based newspapers.

Huge Victory for U.S. Green Card Applicants

The USCIS has admitted its fault, reversed its earlier decision, and opened doors for tens of thousands of Green Card applicants again. So, pretty much all those who are eligible for filing application for the last stage of their permanent residency can do so by August 17, 2007. Business Week (wrongly) calls it "Gandhi Protests Pay Off". I don't think that the USCIS lost its sleep over all the bouquets it received. This reversal was primarily due to political pressures, threats of litigation by the AILF, and protests by immigrants and their employers.

The fiasco started when the USCIS opened doors for all employment-based Green Card applicants in June 2007. Most applicants (mainly Desis) spent a few grand for getting their application packages ready. The USCIS suddenly changed its mind at the end of June 2007, and refused to accept AOS applications. AILA threatened to sue the USCIS and there were wide-spread protests from the stake holders. Finally, the USCIS caved-in yesterday and reversed its decision.

I am wondering how this wave of applications is going to affect software job market. Tens of thousands who apply for Green Card in August 2007 will be eligible to change their employers in February 2008 (6 months after their application). Also, 65,000 H1-B Visa holders start their employment in October 2007. Some of these (those who are recruited by head hunters w/o actually having a job) will be looking for a real job in Jan. '08 (as Nov./Dec. are slow months for recruitment). Added to this, a few thousand Fall'07 graduates will be looking for jobs starting Jan. 08. I have a feeling that the software job market will get tighter in early 2008. Excess long-term labor availability might reduce outsourcing too.

Don't mind my ramblings on this subject too much:-) I am just an environmental guy with a few friends in the software industry!

This is America

Stupid Law Suit of the Year 2006. Pretty interesting.

Back in August, Starbucks launched what was meant to be a small promotion. The company e-mailed a coupon for a free iced coffee to a "limited group" of employees, encouraging them to forward it along to friends and family. When the promotion got out of hand -- with the e-mail zooming all over the Internet -- Starbucks announced that it would stop honoring the coupons. That might have been a clumsy P.R. move, but it definitely didn't justify what happened next.

A 23-year-old New York paralegal named Kelly Coakley claimed that she felt "betrayed" by the company and filed a lawsuit against Starbucks for a whopping $114 million. Where does that insane figure come from? According to published comments by Coakley's lawyer, Peter Sullivan, it's a "conservative figure" based on a cup of coffee per day for all the people turned away during the promotion's original 38-day time frame. Sullivan says he intends to make the case into a huge class-action suit. Wonder if he takes milk and sugar with his greed.

Say Ciao to Ego, Says Chao

What has happened to Americans? Once a proud people, many of us are now so thin-skinned that it's easy to get our feelings hurt.

As when someone says there are jobs that Americans won't do at any wage, or that many of us lack a work ethic, or that young people in particular make lousy employees because they take themselves too seriously and don't take work seriously enough.

That's essentially the kind of straight talk Labor Secretary Elaine Chao recently dished out to Parade magazine. Chao said that American workers could lose jobs to foreign workers — and not just because the latter often work for lower wages. It's more than that, she said: Foreign workers often have better skills, and better manners.

"American employees must be punctual, dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene," Chao said. "They need anger-management and conflict-resolution skills, and they have to be able to accept direction. Too many young people bristle when a supervisor asks them to do something."

Chao was blasted on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight," a show whose ratings have soared since the host started peddling the fear that corporate executives are "exporting America." An online publication, the Job Destruction Newsletter, went so far as to accuse Chao — who is Asian American — of making "racist remarks about U.S. workers."

The racism charge is absurd. The labor secretary was critical of American workers, all right, but since when are all Americans part of one race?

The newsletter also said that Chao was "manipulating our sense of self-esteem and value to instill an inferiority complex in us so that we will accept the destruction of the American middle class." The irony is that, according to researchers, inferiority complexes are not the problem with Americans today — especially the young Americans who make up "Generation Me."

The fact that this latest generation isn't big on rules won't come as a surprise to human resources managers, who say they are at wits' end over dealing with young people. They tell me that potential employees younger than 30 do things such as strutting into interviews with an air of entitlement and acting as if they're doing the company a favor by applying to work there.

Once hired, young people too often come in on Day One wanting to be vice president but not wanting to pay the dues to get there. They want to know what the company is going to do for them, and they rarely think about what they intend to do for the company. In fact, the whole notion of working often seems like an inconvenience, something they'll tolerate until they get a minute, between YouTube and iPods, to figure out their destiny.

According to a recent report on National Public Radio, there is even a new industry where companies hire consultants to show them how to manage this self-important and overpraised generation. Employers are being advised to offer younger workers rewards for showing up on time and meeting deadlines — things that used to be considered essentials.

That's too bad — because Chao's remarks, as reported in Parade, do seem to be an accurate description of at least part of our work force. And we wonder why foreign workers are often snapped up by employers as the better deal. Why wouldn't they be?

If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in everyday and do it really half-assed. That's the American way - Homer Simpson

యధా రాజా తధా ప్రజా!

Source: E-mail from Phil (my ex-boss); original source unknown.

Vis–à–vis Visa Numbers

Disgruntled green card applicants from India sent hundreds of flowers to the U.S. immigration agency on Tuesday to protest a recent policy flip-flop that hurt their quest for permanent residency.

The campaign that directed around a thousand flower deliveries to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez was modeled on a popular Indian film promoting the peaceful protest methods of Mahatma Gandhi.

The U.S. government's surprise offer, then abrupt reversal, of an opportunity for thousands of skilled foreign workers to obtain permanent residency in the U.S. highlights the problems of the overtaxed immigration system and the frenzy that results from a rare chance to apply for a green card.

The problem began June 12 when the government seemed to open the door for thousands of foreign workers and their families to end the long wait to apply for a green card.

The June bulletin announced that practically all skilled foreign workers who had been previously deemed eligible for an employer-sponsored visa could now take the final step of applying for a green card.

By law, the U.S. can issue about 140,000 employment-based green cards each year. Last year, the government fell short by about 10,000, despite the long waiting list; leftover visas can't be rolled over to the next year. The June announcement aimed to prevent the visa slot from going to waste, according to a State Department spokeswoman.

Working ahead of a July 2 date for filing the application, intending immigrants rushed to gather documents, complete paperwork and obtain medical exams. Many of their dependents -- such as children enrolled in college overseas -- boarded planes for the U.S. to meet a requirement that all family members be present at the time of filing.

"The bulletin created a land rush among legal immigrants desperate to finalize their green-card applications," said Steve Miller, a Seattle-based immigration attorney and head of the state chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Then, on July 2, the State Department issued an "update" that reversed the previous bulletin. It stated, effective immediately, there would be no further authorizations for employment-based cases. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which processes the applications, said it would instead simply process existing applications to meet this year's quota. "We already had sufficient applications pending without new applicants," an agency spokesman said.

Mike Aytes, head of domestic operations for the USCIS, said all 147,141 employment-based green cards have now been issued for the year. "We are very sympathetic to the fact that people really had expectations … Folks spent a lot of time and effort, but it turned out they couldn't file, after all," he said.

News of the revocation of the previously announced bulletin dashed the hopes of thousands of foreign workers, many of them currently on an H-1B professional visa normally valid for up to six years. These workers face the possibility of being forced to return home if their visa expires before they get the chance to apply for a green card.

The June 12 announcement set off a stampede to government-approved doctors, because green-card applicants must pass medical exams. Apurva Pratap, a Seattle-based senior manager for a multinational corporation, said he and his wife traveled 40 miles for a medical exam after they couldn't secure an appointment in town. To fulfill a requirement for a vaccination, they waited eight hours in a line that snaked around a mobile unit in Tacoma. Mr. Pratap, a native of India, has been in the U.S. since 1999.

A spokeswoman for the American Immigration Lawyers Association said it has called for a congressional investigation. An affiliated organization is expected to take legal action via a class-action lawsuit. "This is an example of how badly our immigration system is broken," says Kathleen Walker, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Look Who is Talking!

'Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical. And it is not the only option before us.'

President Bush after vetoing a bill that would have eased restrictions on federal funding of stem cell research. That American Digest item from June 24 prompted a batch of responses from readers who seem to feel that Bush still has some explaining to do:

Have we fallen asleep? Have his speech writers fallen asleep? Is the irony lost on us, or are we too beaten down to speak? Ben Sargent, where are you? - CAROL VAUGHAN, Austin.

When I first read that quote, I thought it was by an anti-war activist. I was quite surprised that it was said by our warrior president. Strange that President Bush believes that stem cells have more value then the innocent human life in Iraq. - JAMES C. OBERKROM, JCOberkrom@att.net, Austin

If only he utilized this same moral compass in regard to the "pre-emptive" war he started in Iraq. Thousands of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians have died in this campaign whose very basis, according to the White House, was to stave off future bloodshed. This administration's hypocrisy knows no limits.- DAVID KARABINAS, Cedar Park

He was referring to stem-cell research, but he could have been talking about Iraq. After all, aren't we killing them there so they won't kill us here? Aren't we destroying human life in the hopes of saving it? - KEITH KEALEY, Wimberley

Well, George, does this apply to the invasion of Iraq and destruction of human life there? - PHILLIP PETERSON, phillippeterson@yahoo.com, Lockhart

Bottled Water Hatao!

Is Bottled Water Better? - June 2007

Bottled water manufacturers’ marketing campaigns capitalize on isolated instances of contaminated public drinking water supplies by encouraging the perception that their products are purer and safer than tap water. But the reality is that tap water is actually held to more stringent quality standards than bottled water, and some brands of bottled water are just tap water in disguise. What’s more, our increasing consumption of bottled water—more than 22 gallons per U.S. citizen in 2004 according to the Earth Policy Institute—fuels an unsustainable industry that takes a heavy toll on the environment.

Environmental Impact

Fossil fuel consumption. Approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil—enough to run 100,000 cars for a whole year—are used to make plastic water bottles, while transporting these bottles burns thousands more gallons of oil. In addition, the burning of oil and other fossil fuels (which are also used to generate the energy that powers the manufacturing process) emits global warming pollution into the atmosphere.

Water consumption. The growth in bottled water production has increased water extraction in areas near bottling plants, leading to water shortages that affect nearby consumers and farmers. In addition to the millions of gallons of water used in the plastic-making process, two gallons of water are wasted in the purification process for every gallon that goes into the bottles.

Waste. Only about 10 percent of water bottles are recycled, leaving the rest in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.

The Simple (and Cheaper) Solution

The next time you feel thirsty, forgo the bottle and turn to the tap. You’ll not only lower your environmental impact but also save money—bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more per gallon than tap water. And because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for tap water are more stringent than the Food and Drug Administration’s standards for bottled water, you’ll be drinking water that is just as safe as, or safer than, bottled.

If, however, you don’t like the taste of your tap water or are unsure of its quality, you can buy a filter pitcher or install an inexpensive faucet filter to remove trace chemicals and bacteria. If you will be away from home, fill a reusable bottle from your tap and refill it along the way; travel bottles with built-in filters are also available. Finally, limit your bottled water purchases for those times when you’re traveling in countries where water quality is questionable.

First plastic bags, now bottled water; San Francisco is certainly setting an example. Mayor Gavin Newsom signed an order this week banning the use of City funds to purchase single-serving bottled water.

From Hero to Zero

Though I wish the best to the US, I don't like Bush's foreign policy (or the US' foreign policy in general). Bush recently proposed building a missile defense system in Czech Republic with 10 interceptor missiles housed in Poland.

I love the positive spin US puts on its so called "missile defense" plans. I think use of the term "interceptor missile" is very deceptive. A missile system used for defense can also be used for an offensive move (I don't believe any statements to the contrary). The UN should condemn use of such crafty language. Even though everyone realizes this possibility, if this defensive term is used over and over, it would induce some false sense of security in Eastern Europe (like, "at last, the US is here to protect our stability" kind of attitude!).

The good thing is, Putin firmly said, NIMBY! If the US really wants to thwart any Iranian aggression, I wonder why didn't Bush consider Albania as the base for these so called interceptor missiles instead of Poland? Albania is closer to Iran than Poland, and Albanians (for some strange reason) loved Bush during his recent visit.

I wish that the US treats other countries with the respect they deserve. There is a large chunk of US population that really respects other countries, but their voices get suppressed by a small fraction with a bellicose predisposition, I think.

Where Does Wisdom Dwell

From Zen Ramblings

The king said:
'Venerable Nagasena, where does wisdom dwell?
''Nowhere, O king.
''Then, Sir, there is no such thing as wisdom.
''Where does the wind dwell, O king?
''Not anywhere, Sir.
''So there is no such thing as wind.
''Well answered, Nagasena!'

I would have preferred "every where" to "no where", but we all get the message either way. For a few minutes, I was not sure if I wanted to post this Zen Rambling or not, as it conveys a trite message - we all know this! However, I went ahead and posted it, as I believe that most of us have not yet internalized the concept that the God is every where!

For example, many of us prefer not to sleep with our feet towards a God's picture or a statue, out of respect. On placing a statue or a photo of the God, we invocate God into that object, and we revere it as if the Supreme is present in it. I believe that it is a good practice. But, when we turn our feet the other way, are we implying that the omni-present God is not present in that direction?

To further illustrate this, here is an analogy that I can think of (as I am tying this). Let us say that we have a problem which can be solved by formulating three simultaneous equations with three unknowns. I can think of three kinds of people with reference to this problem.

Type I - those who cannot solve it as they are clueless;

Type II - those who know enough algebra to assume that the unknowns are x,y, and z, set up equations, and solve them;

Type III - those who do not have to set up equations to solve the problem. These type IIIs will have so much practice that they don't even need a pen and a paper. The answer just pops up in their heads.

I think those of us who try not to keep our feet towards God's statues and photos are Type IIs! It definitely is a good thing as we are moving in the right direction. I think characters like Sabari and Kannappa are Type IIIs.

When Sabari offered fruits to Lord Rama, she didn't bother about proper etiquette for dealing with the Kings or Incarnations! She was blessed with this unconditional, pure, and abundant love for God. So, whatever she did, Lord Rama was wise enough (of course) to understand her spirit.

I think we all should adhere to our Type II behavior, and humbly strive (meditate and beg God for wisdom) for becoming a Type III.

We live in a world where more and more of our responses to events are becoming programmed involuntary reactions (అసంకల్పిత ప్రతీకార చర్యలు! - this is one of the phrases that I loved in my Telugu Medium education through Intermediate) - like saying "how are you doing" when we accost strangers and "you must be kidding!" when someone reveals their age (whether we mean it or not). While it is good socially, I think this kind of artificiality when taken to excess, adversely affects spiritual progress. With this, I end my ramblings for the day and the week! My apologies for errors due my typing in haste:-)

Dark Energy

The biggest part of our universe had been hidden for all of human history. Some fundamental aspect of our world had been missed and altogether unknown.

Scientists have long recognized that the universe has been growing larger since its origin 13.7 billion years ago in an extremely rapid expansion called the “Big Bang.” But we assumed that this expansion should be slowing down due to the pull of gravity. In 1998, however, two teams of astrophysicists discovered that the expansion is actually speeding up. They observed a mysterious form of “energy” that opposes gravity and is causing the galaxies throughout the universe to move apart faster and faster.

...the galaxies’ accelerated expansion signaled the presence of a previously unknown entity in the universe....“Dark Energy”...We call it “dark” because we don’t directly see it. “ Dark” is code for “we have absolutely no clue what it is!”

...Scientists have determined that Dark Energy makes up two-thirds of the universe. So, until we understand Dark Energy, we clearly cannot understand our universe. Also, Dark Energy was not predicted by standard theories of physics. That means our basic theories—our descriptions of elementary particles like electrons, neutrinos and quarks, and of the forces between them—need a major upgrade. Physics theories drive key parts of modern life, like electronics, engineering and medicine.

We’ve been in this position before. Around the turn of the 20th century, physicists thought they understood nearly everything. Starting with Sir Isaac Newton’s brilliant theory of gravity in the 17th century, scientists had successfully explained one natural phenomenon after another—from motion to optics to heat, sound and finally, by the late 19th century, electromagnetism. But then radioactivity and subatomic particles like the electron were discovered, and these phenomena could be explained only with the invention of quantum mechanics—a new theory governing the physics of very tiny distances. At the time, quantum theory appeared to have little immediate practical value. Yet quantum mechanics dominates our daily lives today. It’s at the heart of computers, medical devices, cell phones, cameras, iPods and every other modern electronic device.

Now history seems to be repeating itself. Until very recently, we thought we were on the brink of understanding all of cosmology—then came Dark Energy. It is far too soon to know whether Dark Energy will fuel the economic engine of the 21st century the way quantum mechanics drove that of the last 50 years. But if history is a guide, it’s clear we’re on the brink of dramatic changes.

...What’s next? NASA, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation have joined forces to plan space satellites and ground-based telescopes that will probe the properties of Dark Energy. What we observe about the history of Dark Energy light-years away will have huge implications for the future of the universe. If Dark Energy gets weaker, gravity could take over again and pull the universe back together. Scientists refer to this fate as the “Big Crunch.” If Dark Energy gets stronger with time, it eventually may pull apart the galaxies, stars and planets now held together by gravity. This is called the “Big Rip.” Or the universe could have an intermediate fate, expanding gradually to a vast, cold, empty place—called the "Big Chill.”

A Tea & Tee

Thought of Tag Heuer Woods and then Jack Nicklaus when I came across this Black Bear Tea Company. They probably could use Jack for uttering a catchy statement like:

"Thanks to Black Bear, I always look forward to my tea time." Which can be followed by a sales pitch:

- "Any day, the Golden Bear would choose a Black Bear over an Eagle!"*

* A native American touch

Red White and Boom

The U.S. will be celebrating its 232nd Independence Day tomorrow. New Englanders started the struggle for independence from Great Britain* in 1775 and the U.S. managed to gain independence in 1776, within one year! Starting with Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, it took 90 years for India to gain independence from the British. I have a feeling that if we had more people like Bose, we would have gained independence a lot sooner.

Here are some interesting trivia about the (rapidly changing) US, in commemoration of the July 4th:

In 2002, US imported eight million dollars worth of (US) flags and 129 million dollars worth of fire works from China.

In 2002, 11.5% of the US population was foreign-born. Among the foreign-born population, 52 percent were born in Latin America, 26 percent in Asia, 14 percent in Europe and the remaining 8 percent in other regions of the world, such as Africa and Oceania.

* Whenever I hear the name Great Britain, I think of కొత్త రోడ్డు (Kotta Road; Kotta means "new" in Telugu) in Vizag! I used to wrongly think that they called the UK "Great Britain" because of its superiority when they named it so - I didn't know of the 1707 Union then. I used to wonder, "what happens if the country breaks up into small pieces?" It wouldn't be so great then? Along the same lines, I used to wonder which genius in VMC came up with the name కొత్త రోడ్డు? Sure, it would be a new road for a few months after building it. But it wouldn't be so new after construction of another major road? What were they thinking? I still feel that it is a weird and funny name.

$$ Coming Out of the Whazoo!!

I was ROFL when I watched this Super Bowl commercial in 2000.

Pursuit of Happyness*

Watched a decent movie Pursuit of Happyness faily recently, and then I cam across an article on Martin Gardner, the central character in this movie. The title of the movie was deliberately spelt wrong*. I think the name of the movie is also kind of misleading as the movie is primarily about pursuit of wealth rather than happiness. As we know, wealth is most often a subset of happiness. I guess the title is OK as the US is an epitome for capitalism!

The movie touched me particularly as it reminded me of Som's heart-wrenching e-mail to the Sea Sands gang about a testing phase in his life. I am glad that he is living his dream now, and is rubbing his shoulders with movie stars and big wigs:-) Here are some excerpts from Homeless to Millionaire.

Chris Gardner's unlikely road to riches started in the parking lot of San Francisco General Hospital in 1982. Then age 29 and the father of year-and-a-half-old Christopher, he was barely making ends meet as a medical equipment salesman. He was about to get into his car when he saw a red Ferrari searching for a parking space. Impulsively, he waved the driver over and said, "I'll give you my spot, but I want to ask you two questions: What do you do, and how do you do it?"

The Ferrari's owner said he was a stockbroker. Gardner asked what the job paid. At the time, the top salespeople where Gardner worked were making $80,000 a year. "This broker was making $80,000 a month," Gardner recalls.

The two men hit it off. Over occasional lunches, the broker explained how the business worked and how to break into it. He even gave Gardner a list of referrals. Gardner began knocking on doors -- but had them slammed in his face. "At the time, brokerage firms were starting to require MBA degrees," he explains. "I didn't even go to college. It wasn't racism. It was place-ism. I did not have a college degree. I did not come from a politically connected family. I had no money. So who was going to do business with me?"

After ten months of pursuing fruitless leads, Gardner found someone willing to give him a shot. He quit his job and showed up for his appointment, only to discover his contact had been fired. No one knew who he was or why he was there.

But life remained precarious. After an argument Gardner had with his girlfriend, someone called the police. A routine check of his license plate number turned up a backlog of unpaid parking tickets. And that led to ten days in jail.

Once out of jail, Gardner went to the interview wearing all he had -- the Windbreaker and bell-bottom jeans he had been arrested in. The interviewer glanced up and said, "Deliveries in the rear."

Gardner decided to take a desperate chance. "I could not think of a lie bizarre enough, so I told the truth. I said, 'I just got out of prison on a parking ticket charge, my ex left me, and I don't know where my child is. But I am here because I believe I am supposed to be in this business.'" The interviewer had been through a couple of divorces and could sympathize. Gardner won a place in the training program. Now he had to do well enough to be offered a job.

"We would leave the shelter in the a.m., my son in his stroller, my duffel bag with all his clothes and diapers, my briefcase, one suit on my back and one in a bag. Many nights we slept in bathrooms in transit stations or under my desk at work."

Gardner took to the trade and, within a few years, fulfilled his dream of working on Wall Street. In 1987, he opened his own brokerage firm, Gardner Rich & Co., in Chicago. And he bought his own Ferrari.

Gardner doesn't see his story as a rags-to-riches fairy tale. Rather, he says, "mine is a story of how to empower yourself and beat the odds stacked against you. My life could have been easily derailed by domestic violence and homelessness, but I made a choice to not let those things sink me. You can break the destructive cycles that ensnare you. Be smart, have a plan and hold on to the people you love."

* According to Mr. Gardner, the misspelled title refers to a sign he saw at the daycare center his son attended during their dark days on the street.