Ethics is not for Wimps

I noticed the following content on a nice poster in the dining hall of our office. It is hard to disagree with this.

Let's be honest. Ethics is not for wimps. It's not easy being a good person.

It's not easy to be honest when it might be costly; to play fair when others cheat or to keep inconvenient promises.

It's not easy to stand up for our beliefs and still respect differing viewpoints.

It's not easy to control powerful impulses, to be accountable for our attitudes and actions, to tackle unpleasant tasks or to sacrifice the now for later.

It's not easy to bear criticism and learn from it without getting angry, to take advice or to admit error.

It's not easy to really feel genuine remorse and apologize sincerely or to accept an apology graciously and truly forgive.

It's not easy to stop feeling like a victim, to resist cynicism and to make the best of every situation.

It's not easy to be consistently kind, to think of others first, to judge generously, to give the benefit of the doubt.

It's not easy to be grateful or to give without concern for reward or gratitude.

It's not easy to fail and still keep trying; to learn from failure, to risk failing again, to start over, to lose with grace or to be glad for the success of another.

It's not easy to avoid excuses and rationalizations or resist temptations.

No, being a person of character is not easy. That's why it's such a lofty goal and an admirable achievement.

Orange

O.Henry Pun-Off - 2008 World Championship

Rama and I had tons of pun at this year's O.Henry Pun-Off World Championship at O.Henry Museum. In the morning, it was a contest of rehearsed short speeches. In the afternoon's pun slinger's competition, participants competed with each other in rapid-firing of puns, with about 5 seconds time for each participant - no pun in 5 seconds?, out they go. Response with no pun meant a strike, and three strikes meant Adios Amigo. They had a creative (picture above) score-board for counting strikes. Didn't get what it was initially, and I started laughing after 15 minutes!*

I shot a 12 GB video of this event. Compressed a part of it for uploading to Google Videos/You Tube, but the quality of the picture went down significantly. Since low resolution videos are available on the web already, I decided against blogging my video.

Pun slinging finals

* iPods!

Puzzles

A couple of puzzles - the fist one is for warming up and the second one needs some creative thinking!

Back in the old days ships of yesteryear were driven by steam and it was often the case that the ship would outlive the engine and the boiler and they'd have to replace them.

"Now, take one ship for example. When you add the age of the ship and the age of its boiler, it totals 42 years. The ship is twice as old as the boiler was when the ship was as old as the boiler is now."

The question is how old are they?

Now that we are warmed up, here is a harder one!

Pandora, Harry, Alec, Gemima and Geoffrey are animals in a zoo. The other day one of them ate an animal called Tabitha. Who ate her and what type of animal was it?

It Finally Happened...

At this rate, gas may even get costlier than a bottle of water soon:-)

Tesla's Field Day in Austin Area

Watched an interesting program on Nikola Tesla, on History Channel yesterday. Nikola's why not? attitude coupled with Texas-size ideas really impressed me - he conceived some grandiose projects like harnessing power from lightning and Niagara Falls, and wireless transmission of electricity across the globe! I didn't know until yesterday that Tesla was the inventor of radio and not Marconi; I think my school books said otherwise.

The funny part is, as we were watching this program involving lightning and Tesla, there was this spectacular lightning display going on, right in our backyard. KXAN reported a tornado sighting near Lakeline Mall which is not very far from where we live. So, for the first time, we obeyed (and really felt like obeying!) the TV warnings based on Live Doppler Radar, and spent a few minutes in the bathroom while the storm was passing Round Rock. Here are some photographs (that I found on the Internet) from yesterday's storm in Austin area. Heard that some large oaks were uprooted by the wind, many windows were broken, and about 11,000 folks in Austin area will be without power through Sunday.

Zorba the Buddha

The following is from the The Book of Understanding. Though I do not agree with some of Osho's preachings (esp. his explanations on non-existence of God in conventional sense, and excessive liberalism in the name of freedom), I am very impressed by his teachings on pursuit of spirituality. He was very eloquent with his arguments.

Freedom from the outside does not come by escaping. Freedom from the outside comes by living it totally, and then there is nowhere else to go. Only one dimension remains, and it is natural that you would like to search in that remaining dimension. And there is your buddhahood, your enlightenment.

Faith-Based Initiative

Happiness

Simplicity is not grinding poverty: It is not the polar opposite of wealth. To live simply is to pursue a quiet path of moderation. In a life of balance between opposite extremes lies inner happiness.

People everywhere, in their quest for happiness outside themselves, discover in the end that they’ve been seeking it in an empty cornucopia, and sucking feverishly at the rim of a crystal glass into which was never poured the wine of joy.

Gold is not Worth its Weight in Gold

Professor Franklin Allen, professor of finance at Wharton, says that holding gold is not a good long-term investment. The basis for his argument? - an ounce of gold costs over $1,000 now, which is a peak value when compared its value in the recent past (a few years ago). The previous peak value was about $850/oz in 1980. So, the appreciation in the values doesn't even beat the inflation during these 28 years. He says that gold is a risky investment as its value fluctuates significantly (relative to other popular investments).

Also, professor Jeremy Siegel of Wharton says that:

...a dollar invested in gold in 1801 would have grown to just $1.95 at the end of 2006, while a dollar put into a basket of stocks reflecting the entire market would have grown to more than $755,000. A dollar put into long-term bonds would have grown to more than $1,000, while a dollar in Treasury bills and similar short-term "cash" holdings would have grown to about $300.

Guns for Peace

The following is an excerpt I liked from JFK's inaugural address. Basically, he was implying that if everybody owns a big gun, the world would be a safer place (this logic didn't help him personally). I see merit in this argument, especially in global sense - the best way to stop a war is by creating conditions that deter it. Thieves don't try to break into the White House every day, for a good reason! Gandhi was imprisoned in his own land because India was (and still is, for its size) defenseless and divided.

Even in local sense, guns will even out (to a large extent) the unfair advantage physically stronger people have over the weaker folks. I used to think differently on this issue about ten years ago. May be I have been eating Texas' soil for a little too long!

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

Oxyhydrogen Automobiles

Mr. Teddy Cline claims that for $150, we can convert our cars into some sort of hybrids that run on gas and water, and save over 40% on fuel. If it works, this is not a bad deal at all - an average driver can save about $800 a year*. I came across several companies with similar claims.

Mr. Cline believes that most of the cars would be running on water by 2012**. What struck me the most was his 56-day 100% money back guarantee:-)


This is an odd ad, even though the number 56 is even! We typically see guarantees for 30 days, 90 days, one year, etc. - not for 28 days and 56 days. May be he is trying to make a point "why not?". If we (humans) are born with 7 fingers on each hand, we probably will be using a non-decimal numbering system now, and 10 would be an odd number for us. Or, may be his gizmo self destructs on day 57, 56% of the time! Here is a video about his HHO machine.



*My guesstimate - 15,000 miles/year, 27 miles/gallon, $3.70/gallon

**My buddy Raama must be thinking, "they better run on water, coz a good chunk of world will be under it by 2012 :-)"

Spiel on Sleep

These days, every day is some day like Fight Procrastination Day, and every month is some month, like National Biscuit Month! On our intranet, I noticed that the month of May is National Sleep Comfort Month, and there is an organization called National Sleep Foundation (NSF).

Whenever I come across an unusual organization like this one and Texas Quarter Horse Association (used to see their office on my way to work in my previous job), I wonder how a hectic day in these offices would feel like. I find it hard to imagine employees in these places running around in the last minute to meet project deadlines. They probably feel the same way about my line of work.

Anyway, I thought NSF is a neat website. I realized the importance of well-rested body almost the hard way last month. While driving back from Houston on US 290 around midnight, I became the subject of Highway Hypnosis and fell asleep on the wheel for half-a-minute or so. It was a surreal feeling - I remember seeing a couple of traffic lights about 30 seconds ahead, and the next moment they were gone! I immediately pulled over and rested for a few minutes. NSF says that we are capable of performing some complex tasks (like sleep walking) while sleeping.

While I was working in Vadodara, my childhood buddy Ravi Ram used to complain that he was having trouble in falling asleep. NSF is a really neat site for the seekers of Morpheus. Here are some sound sleep facts.

• We (both young and older) need about 8 hours of sleep a day.
• Turning up radio, cracking windows open, or cranking up the AC to beat the sleep while driving, just doesn't work. In fact, this can harm us. Best thing to beat fatigue is to pull over and rest.
• If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall asleep for 20 minutes or so, the best thing is to get up and do something relaxing, like reading a book, until you feel sleepy again.

Denigration of Hinduism?

I noticed that a good number of Hindus were upset by the way Clinton and Obama were depicted (above) in The Times of India (TOI), about a couple of months ago. To me, looks like TOI did not mean to insult Lord Krishna and Radha Rani here. But, if I were TOI, I would feel sorry for hurting the feelings of the devotees, and I would express the same on print.

However, to me, the key in determining guilt vs. innocence in a general sense is, the intent. Let us see if I can express what I mean, by cooking up a couple of hypothetical scenarios.

Case A: I was standing next to a person on a railway platform. As the train approached close to the platform, I saw this person stumbling, and realized that he was about to fall on the tracks to his death. With a rush of adrenaline, to save him, I held his hand and pulled him away from the tracks with all my energy. He fell on the platform away from the train, but he hit his head on a concrete step, and died on the spot. I committed a murder!

Case B: Due to my hatred, I took law into my hands, and tried to kill an official (who I thought was corrupt) by throwing him off of a moving train into a river, in a remote jungle. He survived the fall miraculously, and managed to swim to the shore. In addition to his survival, he found a historic buried treasure chest on the river bank. With this windfall (resulting from free fall!), he lived a luxurious life for the rest of his life. So, my act resulted in the happiness of a person for 50 years.

Now, would I acquire negative karma in Case A and positive karma in Case B? I think not! The energy controlling this universe knows a lot better.

If we look at this in legal context, at least in the US (the land of South Park) where the first amendment to the US Constitution is treated with reverence, TOI will be well protected from opposition.

So, say, for being a devotee (leaning towards fanaticism) of Lord Krishna, if I assume wrongly that TOI is a villain, create a huge uproar, cause the newspaper to shut down its operation, and cause 10,000 employees to lose their lively hood, how would my actions affect my karma? I think, while I would earn some brownie points for my love for the Lord, I probably would inherit a significantly more negative karma for the hatred (towards TOI) in my heart.

Hindu's are known for tolerance, and I think we would be better off by not going crazy on this case. The TOI guys were trying to be creative and it backfired - that's all. If we happen to know that someone is denigrating our values purposefully, then we can address that issue differently (starting with peaceful means, of course).

Check Engine Light

To me, a bright orange glow of Check Engine on car's dashboard used to mean - ~ $80 down the drain, or, a slight risk of rip off by an unscrupulous mechanic. Because, mechanics charge ~ $80 for diagnosing the problem; they would credit back the money if we get the car fixed at their shop. So, we will likely end up getting the car fixed by the mechanic who diagnosed it, as: (1) we don't like the hassle and time involved in dealing with another mechanic and (2) There is a chance for our disliking of charges/service of the second mechanic, which would cost us $80 more.

On gaining slight experience the hard way, I realize that orange flush on the dashboard does not necessarily mean that it is the end of the world (i.e., leaving the car in the shop for the whole day).


Now, before I explore other alternatives, I would try the following three easy fixes.

(1) Tighten cap on the fuel tank. Check Engine light can come on for many reasons - it can come on for as trivial fault as loosely secured cap on the gas tank. This happened to me a couple of times; I tightened the cap and the light was gone.

(2) Try fuel additives. This too worked for me once.

(3) Go to Auto Zone or Advance Auto Parts. They diagnose fault codes for Powertrain Control Module, for free! Auto Zone even gives us a print out with OBD Code(s), their descriptions, and possible causes. I recently used this free service from Auto Zone, and found out that the (car's) gas cap was not as tight as it should have been.

Belief in Belief

I used to think that Rajneesh was a radical and hypocritical cult leader (who owned about one hundred Rolls Royce cars). May be he was all that and much more, or may be not. Whoever he was, his thought process in The Book of Understanding impressed me, and it made too much sense. His main preaching was, self-realization is a do-it-yourself thing, and renunciation hurts spiritual progress. Gita said the same thing, but I think it wasn't stressed and elaborated adequately.

I do not believe in believing. My approach is to know, and knowing is a totally different dimension. It starts from doubt, it does not start from believing. The moment you believe in something, you have stopped inquiring. Belief is one of the most poisonous things to destroy human intelligence.

All the religions are based on belief; only science is based on doubt. And I would like the religious inquiry also to be scientific, based on doubt, so that we need not believe but we can come to know someday the truth of our being, and the truth of the whole universe.

Salt Water Fuel!

I am not sure about the Cancer cure, but it would be neat if salt water turns out to be a viable fuel source - one more energy source from Caspian Sea? This reminded me of air battery and the following crossword clue that I came across a while ago:

- Naclaaa (7,7)