Evolution Kills!

An astute observation based on the finding that chicken probably evolved from dinosaurs!

Five-Second Rule

According to the proven Five-Second Rule, we can eat cookies, candy etc. dropped on non-carpeted floors, if we manage to pick them up within five seconds of dropping!

This (kind of gross) 53-second video made a persuasive comment on this rule:-) I say, a video is worth a thousand pictures!

Change is the Only Constant!

Here is a 1946 advertizement of Western Electric.

I am sure people are going to giggle when they come across advertizements for iPod and iPhone, and the name "Goolge", 20 years from now!

Speeches of Swami Vivekananda

I came across these speeches delivered by Swami Vivekananada in the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, USA in 1893. I thought I should compile these in one place. The following are 17 files (audio with video transcripts) totaling about 31 minutes. Thanks are due to the person who uploaded these to You Tube originally. I heard only few minutes so far. What an eloquent and persuasive speaker!

Swami Vivekananda Speech at Chicago - Welcome Address (3:46)


Part 1 - Religion of Vedas (2:17)


Part 2 - Law of Creation (1:31)


Part 3 - Why Should People Suffer (1:44)


Part 4 - Mind and the Matter (00:39)


Part 5 - Life After Death (1:43)


Part 6 - Evolution of Soul (1:04)


Part 7 - how to Get Rid of Problems (2:12)


Part 8 - Nature of God (00:28)


Part 9 - How to Worship God (00:59)


Part 10 - Incident from Epic Mahabharata (00:57)


Part 11 - Mukthi - the Ultimate Freedom (3:52)


Part 12 - Science and Religion (1:14)


Part 13 - Polytheism, Pantheism, Idol Worship in Hinduism (4:38)


Part 14 - Contradictions in Hinduism (1:23)


Part 15 - Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism (00:22)


Part 16 (Final Part) - Universal Acceptance of all Religions (1:54)

US Presidential Trivia

I though these trivia are pretty interesting, in addition to what I posted earlier.

Three of the first five U.S. Presidents died on July 4th. They were John Adams, the second President; Thomas Jefferson, the third President; and James Monroe, the fifth President.

No president was an only child.

No president has ever died in the month of May.

Classic Marketing Technique?

Long time ago, I used to read Reader's Digest (RD) religiously. The RD I fondly remember used to have excellent articles with tolerable number of advertisements. I don't feel motivated to read RD any more, as many articles are of mediocre quality and it contains tons of advertisements.

Anyway, I was reminded of an RD article on marketing, when I visited IKEA for the first time earlier this year. According to this article (I read it while I was in Intermediate):

The classic marketing technique was to place bread at one end of the store and milk at the other. Pretty much everyone needs milk and bread on a regular basis. So, they likely will walk the whole store for these items, and they pass rest of the products while doing so.

On visual contact, the customers will likely remember/get tempted to buy some products that they were not planning on buying originally. So, more sales, more $$. This article also talked about things like the optimum height (depending on the angle at which we generally keep our eyelids open) at which the products should be placed on shelves to maximize their exposure; pretty interesting reading.

The layout of IKEA-Round Rock (below) reminded me of the above-mentioned marketing article, and, the way Abhimanya probably felt after entering Padma Vyuham! I feel intimidated in the store as it takes for ever to reach the exit. But I am very impressed by their inventory management, and some of the innovative and space-saving products they sell.

Sportakrobatik - Die 5 Disziplinen

Amazing!

3 Year Old Solves Rubik's Cube in 114 seconds

Inspiration

Euphemisms

This is a follow-up to EEO - a few alternative descriptions I loved.

Dog Catcher - Canine Relocation Specialist

Security Guard - Loss Prevention Officer

Truck Driver - Logistics Manager

Sanitary Worker - Commode Commando

Georgia's Rain Prayer

From Daylight Atheism:

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue stepped up to a podium outside the state Capitol on Tuesday and led a solemn crowd of several hundred people in a prayer for rain on his drought-stricken state.

"We've come together here simply for one reason and one reason only: To very reverently and respectfully pray up a storm," Perdue said after a choir provided a hymn.

The logic behind intercessory prayer makes no sense. Does Gov. Perdue suppose that Georgians' prayers will bring to God's attention a need of which he was not previously aware? Is God forgetful, so that he needs to be reminded to send rain each year? Or did God knowingly cause the drought for reasons of his own - and if so, what arrogance it would be for a Christian to assume that they know better than God what God should do and that they can persuade him to alter his plan!

About 20 years ago, I had the same though process. Now, I believe that God is everywhere and hence He (She/It) is within us too. So, I think that our thoughts can result in physical manifestations.

Technically, I am with separation of church and state; faith-based initiatives shouldn't costs tons of tax payer's money. However, I prefer to see these Atheists show some compassion and respect the beliefs of these poor farmers who are desperately looking for some comfort; faith is a great healer. Unlike wars, this prayer didn't cost billions of dollars. If it resulted in even a slight relief to a segment of adversely-affected population, shouldn't we all be happy for them?

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black!

Talk about hypocrisy! This guy went to a preemptive war, occupied a sovereign country for all wrong reasons, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, and coolly calls on Musharraf to go easy on the State of Emergency! What Musharraf is doing is his business (be it right or wrong). W is the last person who should be poking his nose into other's affairs.

EEO

Been through mandatory EEO training and testing in the office today for about two hours - painful, but every government employee is required to go through this once in two years. I must admit that I do enjoy some of the new things and euphemisms these folks keep coming up with.

Calling someone handicapped used to be OK. It is not politically correct now, as the word originated from hand in cap. Even though hand in cap is not derogatory Per Se, as it sounds like cap in hand (which is begging), we are being told to avoid this word. Now we need to call it disabled.

The other interesting thing I learned is, it is not OK for an employer to ask the question Have you ever been arrested?, on employment applications. This is because minorities get arrested more than Caucasians. Therefore, based on answer to this question, an employer can potentially commit racial discrimination. To look for employees with no criminal background, an employer is allowed to ask Have you ever been convicted? Neat! Conviction is a solid record, whereas arrests can be made on illegal racial profiling.

దీపావళి శుభాకాంక్షలు!&#33

Navras - Juno Reactor

I don't think that I will ever get tired of the movie The Matrix, and techno music in it.

Mars, Venus Thing

Don't Judge Too Quickly!