Nice Photographs

Source: E-mail from Ed (original source unknown)

E-mail up to 1 GB Attachments

Read about this in Tech Monday Section of Austin American Statesman. I used this. It is pretty user friendly (and free!).

There's a new way to send large movie, music and other files without worrying about whether the e-mail systems involved can handle large attachments.

Free software from Pando Networks Inc. automatically converts your attachments into a small file that the recipient can simply open to download the original file from Pando or elsewhere. Major e-mail providers generally limit the size of files you can send or receive to 10 megabytes. That's fine for text and even small photos but not for sending an entire photo album, music or video.

And even if your provider lets you send the large files, the recipient's service provider might not accept them.

With Pando, files larger than a specified size are automatically converted. A copy of the file is sent to Pando's servers, and only a small attachment gets sent to the recipient, who must have or obtain the free software from Pando.

Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browser are required to send files using the Web-based plug-ins, but Mac users can get the free stand-alone application to open them — as well as to send their own.

— Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press

Big Easy and Cajun Country

Rama, Radhika, Rushil, Sas, and I spent the evening of Thanksgiving in New Orleans. It was my first visit to NO after Hurricane Katrina. On our way back to Austin, we spent a couple of hours with Ramayya, Ramya, and Sangam in Lake Charles on 11/25/06; they were visiting their friends. I lived in New Orleans for 5 years (1993-98) and in Lake Charles for about 2.5 years (1998-2000).

We entered New Orleans during twilight hours, and watching empty streets that were once crawling with people was depressing. Watched 100s of damaged buildings along I-10 while entering NO. While driving along Canal Street, noticed lots (all most all of them) of abandoned buildings (that used to be very nice once) with piles of sheet rock, insulation, and shingles in front of them. It was hard to believe that this is a part of the US. It reminded me of scenes from Escape from New York. Went to the River Walk on Mississippi and it was deserted with eerie silence, broken occasionally by bells of the Street Car; used to be lively with lots of people walking around. Here are some pictures.

On University of New Orleans campus - saw many of these "No Guns" signs. Of course, now we find them at middle and high schools too!


6217 Wain Wright Drive. I lived at this place for a couple of years. This place was mostly not affected by Katrina:-) Three successive batches of Desi students can do more damage to houses than a Category 4 Hurricane!


Intersection of Robert E. Lee Boulevard and Paris Avenue. Used to be a busy place with tons of students and PJ's Coffee shop; now, not a single person in sight.


Levee at Canal Boulevard


Abandoned house on Canal Street; used to be a busy street w/lots of people and traffic; now it is deserted.


We all had Cafe Au Lait with Beignets at Cafe Du Monde on Decatur Street. Fortunately, the French Quarter was not directly affected by Katrina, as it is above sea level. Though there was some crowd in this area, it was no where compared to what it used to be like. We noticed a lady reading Tarot cards to a couple in a dark alley near Cafe Du Monde - that alley used to be filled with people and street side vendors. To sum up, we failed to see the New Orleans that we remember. I hope that this once-lively city regains its past glory soon.

Thanksgiving 2006 in Baton Rouge, LA

Rushil Yadavalli (born April 2006). If you think that he is cute in this picture, you should see him in real! He attracts us like a magnet.

Rama and I visited Rushil, Radhika, and Sas in Baton Rouge during Thanksgiving holidays (11/22 through 11/25). Had tons of fun (esp. w/Rushil) and shopped a little bit on Black Friday. This was my first non work-related visit to LA in about 4 years, and we met Rushil for the first time. Also, it had been a while since we met Sas and Radhika last time (in 2001?) when they came to Austin to watch Mexican free-tailed bats in flight (sorry Sas, felt compelled to mention this!). Here are a couple more pictures taken in Baton Rouge.

Sas and Rushil


Had to take this pic. just for the caption: Sassosaurus at Toys"R"us! It is Radhika by his side.

M.I.T. Digital Drawing Board

A potential job security threat for crash test dummies?!

Tattoo Tailor Made for Me...

...and probably for a few of my buddies!

Incredible Drawings on FLAT Sidewalks!

Source: Ed

Men Vs. Women

This pretty much sums up the essence of hundreds of books on men vs. women:-)

I am sure women can find a zillion pictures like this about men!

Why is It 7 Up? Why not 6 Down, or 11.9 to the Right?!

Answer to this question, and hundreds of other not-so-important questions can be found in The Book of Answers. Rama (my wife/my wifi in Raama's language!) bought this book last year. I skimmed through it recently and realized that it is a must-have for porcelain scholars, in addition to The Book of Lists and Strange Stories and Amazing Facts. These books are packed with utterly useless information! Of course, there is tons of other light reading material too.

7 UP: The 7 stands for the soft drink's original 7-oz bottle, the UP for the bubbles from its carbonation.

Dr. Pepper: Dr. Pepper bottles bear the numbers 10, 2, and 4 as these represent the times between meals when a person's energy is at its lowest and can be revived by Dr. Pepper.

Chanel No. 5: Coco Chanel considered 5 a lucky number, and when she introduced the perfume in 1921, she did so on the 5th day of May, the fifth month. She called the fragrance Chanel No. 5 (with "O", shown as superscript).

WD-40: WD-40 stands for "Water Displacement, 40th attempt", a name which came from Larsen's laboratory notebook. Larsen was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion by displacing water, and arrived at the formula on his 40th try.

Indians in the US of A

I agree with this article by Mr. Paramendra Bhagat.

I think the Indians are the most successful ethnic group in America is nothing to do with any kind of racial superiority. There are over a billion Indians back there. A few million of the brightest, most educated come over. I am surprised the crowd is not more successful than it is. Why so few Indians in the top positions of government and business, academia and media?

The number one factor is education. These are cream of the crop people for the most part.

It is not fair to compare the top 0.1% of the Indians with the average American. As in, it is not fair to all those Indians who have been left behind. The average Indian has to be compared to the average American, and the relationship between the disparity in income and the differing political infrastructures in the two places has to be tallied.

Talent is evenly distributed, what is not evenly distributed is opportunity.

We have to take pride in our achievements. But we also have to face the fact that we are not doing as well as we should. The glass walls and ceilings are still there. And the political battle has to be waged for equality. And we have to see there is a direct relationship between the political empowerment of the Indians in America and the plight of the Indians in India. We have to take active interest to better the lot of those in India.

Related Quote:

The greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none - Thomas Carlyle

Finally, excerpts from a nice article about Indians in Business Week.

Are Indians The Model Immigrants? 2000 ...the median household income of Indians was $70,708—far above the national median of $50,046 .... Indians own 50% of all economy lodging and 37% of all hotels in the U.S. .... in the late 1990s, close to 10% of technology startups in Silicon Valley were headed by Indians. ....Indian physicians working in almost every hospital as well as running small-town practices .....Indian journalists hold senior positions at major publications, and Indian faculty have gained senior appointments at most universities. Last month, Indra Nooyi, an Indian woman, was named CEO of PepsiCo .... 81.8% of Indian immigrants arrived in the U.S. after 1980. .....63.9% of Indians over 25 hold at least a bachelor's degree, compared with the national average of 24.4%.

A Bad Case of Mondays!

Funny Epitaph:

Here lies mangled Hiriam Brown
Peered up the shaft to see
If the elevator was coming down.
It was.

Money Trail!

Painting Porch

A blonde, wanting to earn some money, decided to hire herself out as a handyman-type and started canvassing a wealthy neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any jobs for her to do.

"Well, you can paint my porch. How much will you charge?"
The blonde said, "How about 50 dollars?" The man agreed and told her that the paint and ladders that she might need were in the garage. The man's wife, inside the house, heard the conversation and said to her husband, "Does she realize that the porch goes all the way around the house?"
The man replied, "She should. She was standing on the porch."

A short time later, the blonde came to the door to collect her money.
"You're finished already?" he asked. "Yes," the blonde answered, "and I had paint left over, so I gave it two coats. "Impressed, the man reached in his pocket for the $50. "And by the way," the blonde added, "that's not a Porch, it's a Ferrari."

Source: Wocka

Cowboy Joke

A cowboy in Montana got pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding. The trooper started to lecture the cowboy about his speeding, and in general began to throw his weight around to try to make the cowboy feel uncomfortable. Finally, the trooper got around to writing out the ticket.

As he was doing that, he kept swatting at some flies that were buzzing around his head.

The cowboy said, "Having some problem with Circle flies there, are ya?"

The trooper stopped writing the ticket and said, "Well yeah, if that’s what they are. I never heard of Circle flies."

So the cowboy says, "Well, circle flies are common on ranches. See, they're called circle flies because they're almost always found circling around the back end of a horse." The trooper says, ”Oh," and goes back to writing the ticket.

Then after a minute, he stops and says, "Are you trying to call me a horse's ass?"

The cowboy says, "Oh no, officer. I have too much respect for law enforcement and police officers to even think about calling you a horse's ass."

The trooper says, "Well that's a good thing," and goes back to writing the ticket.

After a long pause, the cowboy says, "Hard to fool those flies though."

Source: Unknown

Bush Quote:

I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.- George W. Bush, September 29, 2000

God's Paint Spill

A result of the unusually wet winter in the desert areas of the southwest. An occurrence said to occur about every 20 years or so. Long dormant seeds erupt to color the usually barren landscapes. This almost looks unreal in its beauty! Desert Flowers on the east side of the Carrizo plain, in the Temblor Range (about 50 miles due west of Bakersfield, California). Someone said it looks like God spilled his paints...

Source: Unknown

Related Quote:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away! - Anonymous

405 The Movie

State Mottos

Pretty funny - courtesy: Ed

Alabama: Hell Yes, We Have Electricity

Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong!

Arizona: But It's a Dry Heat

Arkansas: Literacy Ain't Everything

California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic than Your Honda

Colorado: If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother

Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only the Kennedy's Don't Own it yet

Delaware: We Really Do Like the Chemicals in Our Water

Florida: Home of the headless drivers

Georgia: We Put the "Fun" In Fundamentalist Extremism

Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, Leave
Your Money)

Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes ... Well Okay, We're Not, But the Potatoes Sure Are Real Good

Illinois: Please Don't Pronounce the "S"

Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free

Iowa: We Do Amazing Things with Corn

Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States

Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names

Louisiana: We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, but That's Our Tourism Campaign

Maine: We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster

Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It

Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's

Michigan: First Line Of Defense From The Canadians

Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes... And 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes

Mississippi: Come And Feel Better About Your Own State

Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars Hard At Work

Montana: Land Of The Big Sky, The Unabomber, Right-wing crazies, and Very Little Else

Nebraska: Ask About Our State Motto Contest

Nevada: Hookers and Poker!

New Hampshire: Go Away And Leave Us Alone

New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto right here!

New Mexico: Lizards Make Excellent Pets

New York: You Have the Right to Remain Silent, You Have the Right to an Attorney.....

North Carolina: Tobacco Is a Vegetable

North Dakota: We Really are One of the 50 States!

Ohio: Home of Lake Erie and the Mistake by The Lake (Cleveland)

Oklahoma: Like the Play, Only No Singing

Oregon: Spotted Owl...It's What's For Dinner

Pennsylvania: Cook with Coal

Rhode Island: We're Not REALLY An Island

South Carolina: Remember The Civil War? We Didn't Actually Surrender

South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota

Tennessee: The Edjucashun State

Texas: Si' Hablo Ingles

Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus

Vermont: Yep

Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs and Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?

Washington: Help! We're Overrun by Nerds and Slackers!

Washington, D.C.: Wanna Be Mayor?

West Virginia: One Big Happy Family....Really!

Wisconsin: Come Cut the Cheese

Wyoming: Where Men Are Men ....and the sheep are scared!

Deal or No Deal

I read this article on yesterday's Wall Street Journal. It says that bfads and Blackfriday.gottadeal.com are going to post information on sale items on Black Friday. Check out the complete article below.

Sneak a Peek At Sale Prices, By JACLYNE BADAL, November 12, 2006

Bargain hunters may be able to spend less time scouring Thanksgiving Day advertisements this year, courtesy of two Web sites that claim to give shoppers a sneak peek at holiday sale prices.

Retailers usually wait until the last minute to announce which products will have slashed prices on the day after Thanksgiving -- called Black Friday because it's reputedly when many retailers start to make their profit for the year.

But since last month, Black Friday Ads, bfads.net, and another site, BlackFriday.GottaDeal.com, have been posting what they say are leaked advertisements for retailers including Circuit City, KB Toys and Sears. More sale previews are expected to follow.

The prices are "speculation" until the official advertisements are published, says bfads.net founder Michael Brim. But shoppers may find the previews useful as they decide whether to snag some holiday gifts now, or brave the crowds on Black Friday for better prices.

The bfads.net site, for example, says Best Buy will sell a SanDisk 1-gigabyte MP3 music player for $34.99. (The current Best Buy price is $59.99.) The GottaDeal site says EB Games will sell Nintendo's DS handheld gaming system for $129.99 on Black Friday, but shoppers can already get that price at EBgames.com.

A Best Buy spokesman says the company doesn't comment on the accuracy of the Black Friday sites, but warns shoppers to take third-party information with "a grain of salt." EB Games did not return calls requesting comment.

Among the two sites' features: PDF files of the supposed Black Friday sale fliers, printable shopping lists, and the ability to search an item's prices at multiple stores.

Write to Jaclyne Badal at jaclyne.badal@wsj.com

Kullu* Joke (KJ)!

I received the one above from somebody, and I thought that this would be the kullest joke that I would ever see. My buddy Som proved me wrong by sending the following!

This stinker would keep skunks on a constant run! They all thought that Iraq had those WMD; they sure were looking at wrong places! Som, just kidding. It is funny. Also, there is no such thing as a useless joke. As they say, "if not for a pessimist, an optimist wouldn't really know how happy he actually is" So, KJs make us appreciate non-KJs better! I am sure I will beat this someday.

*Kullu - means stinking the Telugu, a major language spoken in southern part of India

Not So Long Horns:-(

Lieutenant Commander Uday Kiran

I will stick with Chanti, and this Post is dedicated to you! You commanded (from now on, you never "ask"; your wish would be our command!) us to start a Sea Sands group as you (think you) are technologically challenged, though you can navigate a ship! I think effort involved in creating an e-group these days is delta x when compared to navigating a ship! To begin with, most of us can't even spell or pronounce your job title w/o help from spell check and voice dictionary! I can spell the first three letters using the golden rule "i before e except after c and when the sound is ay as in neighbor and weigh and when cie makes a 'she/sheh' sound". I get lost after that. Very good to know that you are in the business of keeping huge things in water afloat, and moving them.

Kumar, Anand's buddy (Anand is my brother-in-law), who used to work as a Chief Engineer on ships, gave Rama and me a tour of his ship (an oil tanker) when he was docked in Beaumont, Texas. These things are huge, w/no brakes! I guess you can turn the propellers the other way, but you really can't come to a screetching halt at a stop light (in your case, the dock). We had fun time with Kumar and his colleagues, and we are thankful for the experience.

I developed a lot of respect for moving things in water from one of my few experiences with Waverunners. Few years ago, our (then) company rented Large Marge Party Barge for company picnic on Lake Travis, along with a couple of waverunners and a speed boat. I got excited and enjoyed rough, bumpy, and thrilling ride for about an hour. When I was returning to the barge, I noticed that all my colleagues on the barge were waving at me. I felt really proud that so many folks were eager to see me back.

Then, I heard this air horn from behind. I turned my head and I saw a police boat (with flashing lights and everything) with cops asking me to stop. Apparently, I produced "wake" in a "no wake" zone (as people were swimming). My colleagues were merely trying to warn me of the cops and I didn't get it! Actually, I noticed the signs and I was riding very slowly but I guess it wasn't slow enough. Anyway, at that time, I realized the importance of friction and brakes.

Though I turned off the engine, it was windy and the thing wouldn't stop. Those were painful moments. So, I started the engine and turned to ride towards cops and that upset them more (more wake). So, I cut the engine off again. They had to come really close to me, hold my vehicle from moving, while they issued me ~ $250 ticket.

In addition to that, they made me take a Boating Safety Course. Luckily, as this happened when I was "officially" at work, our company took care of the ticket, boating license fee, and gave me time-off for taking the course. They even allowed me to ride these things the next year (God bless my boss)! I learned later on that many people get these tickets, and that made me feel a little better.

In the boating course, I learned some really interesting things about navigating in fog and at night, signaling system, and the route markers. I think they (the coast guard and others) did a wonderful job in developing this system for waterways. So, I think I can understand a little bit of the complexity of your job.

Just felt like taking this opportunity (i.e., responding to your e-mail) to memorialize my experience. It's funny that I laugh at the same event (in retrospect) while I was anxious when it was actually happening. This kind of experiences make us remember to take "things" seriously and not "ourselves", as Anand (my BIL) used to say.

PS: I took liberty and edited your picture, by increasing brightness and contrast.

Christmas Bird

Provided by my colleague Kim. Really funny to me coz I worked w/a few hillbillies who speak just like this! I have nothing but a lot of respect for their practical wisdom, sense of humor, and genuine friendship (once you get to know them). Most of them are good samaritans.

One Down, Two More To Go!

First the good news. Rumsfeld is gone!

Excerpt from CNN:

Don Rumsfeld has been a superb leader during a time of change," Bush said Wednesday. "Yet he also appreciates the value of bringing in a fresh perspective during a critical period in this war."

A couple of questions to you, Mr. President.

(1) If Rumsfeld has been superb, what ever happened to that Texas' saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Why take someone out when he is doing a great job?!

(2) You said that you accept a major part of the blame for the situation in Iraq. If Rumsfeld was not at fault and soldiers are doing a marvelous job, through process of elimination, YOU are the bad apple. If you really want to bring fresh perspective to Washington, shouldn't you be stepping down?

I am not defending Rumsfeld here. I think that he shouldn't have been there in the first place. He has utter disrespect for the world community. He constantly reminds of Goebbels and I very glad that he is out.

Now, the bad news is, Former CIA chief Robert Gates,who headed that agency from 1991 until 1993, will be nominated to take over as defense secretary, Bush said Wednesday:-( I heard that he is not exactly a saint.

How Specifications Are Written?

Received this a while back from my ex-colleague and NASA-nut Nathan Block.

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?

Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.

Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.

Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.

And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.

Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.

The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.

And bureaucracies live forever.

So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.

Now the twist to the story... When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.

The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.

So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass....

And you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important?

This note is added on November 13, 2006

Apparently, width of the subject railroad is not related to that of a horse's behind per this article. Sudarsan, thanks for the link and clarification.

Big Rocks

Rambabu recently sent me a nice short-story based on Leo Tolstoy's How Much Land Does a Man Need? Unlike Pahom (the main character in Tolstoy's story), Rambabu has his priorities straight, and knows what he needs. In spite of running a successful software company by spending long hours at work, he makes sure that he allocates time for family and friends. While reading the story sent by Rambabu, I thought of this Big Rocks story I received a long time ago from Ed - my ex-client, and good friend. This has been around for a while.

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz" and he pulled out a one-gallon, mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. Probably not," one of them answered.

Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always find time. No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life-- time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all."

So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

Free Coffee!

It is going to hurt, if I need a wallet to enter this store on Mondays for picking up coffee on the way to work!

A sign on the glass window of Exxon Tiger Mart, close to where I live

Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments II - The Domino Effect

251 bottles of Diet Coke and over 1,500 Mentos mints. Mint-powered version of the Bellagio fountains. One giant Coke & Mentos chain reaction Keywords: eepybird eepy bird mentos coke diet coke mentos experiment fountain soda science geyser experiments fountains geysers

50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W - Part Deux

This is a follow-up to my previous Blog Post. Just to make sure, I checked on Terraserver to see if satellite image at this site matches with that in Google Earth. It did! (see below). You too may check it by entering the coordinates in decimal system (Lat=50.010611 deg, Long=110.113422 deg) on Terraserver. So, I would rule out Google's doctoring theory. I can't think of any explanation for this amazing resemblance to human face. Can you?

50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W

My colleague Tammy sent these coordinates to me. Here is the location of these coordinates on Google Earth!


Isn't it amazing? On a quick and dirty calculation, I found that the head is about the size of 5½ Football fields (~ 6½ without end zones!). I didn't research on this (as I am at work), but I wouldn't be surprised if one of the following possibilities turn out to be true.

(1) Google allows it's employees to spend 20% of the work-time on any project they like. Probably one of the employees doctored the map for fun, spread the rumor to a co-worker, and timed the arrival of an e-mail with this information from his/her aunt! (i.e., an experiment on finding the speed of gossip).

(2) This is a good way for Google to motivate people to install their product on our machines, w/o conventional advertisement! Even if a person from Zambia clicks on Chuy's in Austin (by turning the "Restaurants" layer on), Google gets the money per click!

PS: Noticed quite a bit of chatter on this topic. Didn't care to read, as I am on a short lunch break.

Halloween Festivities in Our Office

Here are a few pictures of Halloween party and Sue Rogers' farewell party.

Sue's farewell party

Susan (as a country girl), Stacy (as a bible lady), and Martin (as pimp daddy)


Martin, and Luda as a Russian princess. She made the costume herself!


A cow girl, and Peter as an aged employee


Martin and Peter in the hall way. Their offices are next to mine.


Costume award presentation in D-191 (the auditorium) downstairs.


A tug of war competition on campus


Martin as pimp daddy


Gary as a Bob Marley fan

New Words for 2006!

2006? Yes, its kind of late, but it is never too late! I came across this fun-mail I received from my colleage Roslyn. Njoy!

NEW WORDS FOR 2006: Essential vocabulary additions for the workplace (and elsewhere)

1. BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a Deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3. ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5. CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.

6. PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

7. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

8. SITCOMs: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. It's what yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

9. STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

10. SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

11. XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

12. IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example - Michael Jackson, another.

13. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

14. ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

15. 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located.

16. GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

17. OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting SEND on an email by mistake)

18. WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks.

19. CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.