Recently read non-fiction books

Just finished these two non-fiction books -

1. My Secret Life on the Mcjob: Lessons from Behind the Counter Guaranteed to Supersize Any Management Style

By Jerry Newman.

Jerry is a Management Professor & Consultant who took a 14 month long sabbatical to go undercover and work as a 'Burger guy' behind the counter. He shares his findings with readers.


2. Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival

By Anderson Cooper.

Anderson Cooper -- the name needs no introduction. In his book he looks back on his experience as a on-site journalist, reporter, and host of show 'Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees' on CNN. He also draws a parallel between sadistic part of his personal life and the events he reports on.

Recently read books

Just finished reading these three books ...each on a different topic altogether

1. Unsafe at any altitude

By Susan B. Trento and Joseph J. Trento

Unsafe at Any Altitude made me think on the flight security, 9/11, and terrorism.

2. Damnation Street

By Andrew Klavan

I read this author for the first time. I must say his style makes you feel you are watching a Hollywood flick!


3. The Innocent Man

By John Grisham

Perhaps the only work on non-fiction from John Grisham. It is about a small town guy Ron Williamson who gets trapped in the mess created by justice system.

Summer Weekend # 4 - American Museum of Natural History and Central Park

A visit to Museum of Natural History (http://amnh.org ) was overdue so I planned a visit this weekend. I did shoot some of the exhibits in this museum using my Canon ZR 200. A link to my recording will be posted soon!

In the evening Mandar and I just could not resist our temptation to visit Central Park which was just across the street. When I saw the snaps taken by Mandar, I could not resist my temptation to make some graffiti :)

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चाकोरीमधे सुदधा सुंदर आयुष्य जगता येते.

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ओल्या पालवीची मी वाट पाहते!


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झाडावर प्रेम करा , झाडाखाली नको!

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फोटो काढायचा म्हटले की मी एका पायावर तयार!

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Summer Weekend # 3 - Cycling in Central Park

In Central Park one can rent cycels and have some fun. Rental cycles are available near Boathouse. I got off at 81ST West subway stop, entered the Park, and headed for Boathouse. The rent is $9 for first Hr and then $5 for each subsequent half hours.
The bikeway circles entire Park. Important point to note is that bikeway is oneway so literally there can be no looking back! The ride was real fun. After I long long time I had a chance to ride a cycle.

Summer 2007 Weekend #2 - Hershey's Park

One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy
-Milton Hershey

Hershey's Chocolates used to make me happy long before I came onsite. The mails with subject line " Chocolates at my desk" were harbinger of hopes that one fine day I would also get a chance to go onsite.

I spent my last weekend in the Hershey's park.
The amusement park was good; enjoyed almost all the rides and water sports. The fireworks were really spectacular.


Pune Vs America :)- I often get Fwd mails with "Puneri patya" .Now look at this "American paty" which I saw near the 'Kissing Tower''in this park.

Summer 2007 Weekend #1 Brighton Beach

On a chilly weekend back in December, I had been to Coney Island. The beach and boardwalk both were almost deserted and I didn't feel what I typically feel whenever I visit any beach.
So I went there on a sunny weekend. I think, it was a fun to visit the same place in summer .
There is a beach called Brighton Beach near Coney Island beach. This one is less crowed and much cleaner than Coney. So first I went there and then to Coney Island.

I took subway line 'B' and got off at Brighton beach. Spent around 2/3 hrs there and came back.

More info can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Beach

DayLight Saving Time Explanined!

Thanks to Daylight Saving Time (DST), last night I hit the bed a little early, snuggled myself under the rug, and kept wondering how exactly DST helps save energy.

This is what I thought.

Let us assume that the Sun sets at 6.00 PM in March. Mr. Raghav leaves his office at 6.00 PM, takes 1 hour to drive back home in his car. He keeps his car's headlights on while driving in the dusk per rules of DMV.

Thus Raghav spends energy for 1 hour.

Now Day Light Saving starts - it "makes" the Sun to set at 7.00 PM. Raghav still leaves the office at 6.00 PM ( That's the catch!). He drives back home in his own car in broad light of the day( or evening) without having to turn his car's headlights on.

Thus Raghav saves energy for 1 hour.

Now you may ask what happens when he drives to his office in the morning. He , anyway, does not use headlights in the morning.

Bottom line:

DST helps save energy for a small fraction of the day near sunset ( or sun rise in some cases)

Following note is a high fundoo theory; read at your own risk:

We follow two Times - A. Clock & B. Cycle based on sunset / sunrise. Some activities we do are mapped to Clock while some are mapped to Sunset / Sunrise.

e.g. Working in office from 9 AM to 6 PM is mapped to a clock while putting your headlights on while driving is indirectly mapped to avaialibilty of the Sun light. If we change the overlap between these two mapping we can re-map some activities to do them more efficiently and effectiviely.

Feel free to comment/argu.

Oracle Buys Hyperion

There are two types of players in an uncertain business scenario --- shapers and adapters. Shapers are aggressive leaders trying to shape the future by exploiting uncertainty. While adapters wait,watch , weigh their options, and then carefully choose the right mix of proven or semi-proven or likely to be proven strategies.

Oracle is a clear shaper in Enterprise Application domain. Oracle is on a buying spree aimed to consolidate first ERP and then BI market place. Recent acquisition of Hyperion makes the whole thing more interesting.

Anonymously famous

Jeremy Blachman .. a Harvard grad turned lawyer turned anonymous blogger turned famous author! So far so good.

This afternoon I just picked up his book "Anonymous Lawyer" kept on New Arrivals rack in my library with absolutely no idea what this freaking thing is all about.

This guy anonymously started writing a fictional blog . He kept writing and posting until his blog became so famous that he published a book!

Thanks Jeremy, I have atleast something to read over this long weekend :-)

मावसबोली

वाट चुकते ते पाऊल

टाकतो तो माणूस ....

वाट चुकली बिकली नाही .. पण एरवी मावसबोलीत असणाऱ्या माझ्या या ब्लॉग वर थोडस मायबोलीत् .....

This is it, one BIG game

THIS IS IT, ONE BIG GAME, THAT YOU CANNOT MISS
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE – EVERYONE'S ON THE LIST
THIS IS THE GAME OF LIFE AND WE ALL ARE ONE

-- The official song of ICC World Cup 2007

New teams such as Canada, Bermuda, Scottland, and Ireland are all dressed up for this one event for the first time ever!

So who is gonna lift the cup? The most anticiapted Men in Yellow or most desired Men In Blue :-)

Count down has begun ..!

Ski ...amazing experience!

Enjoyed Ski - a game which is worth playing & a risk worth taking!

We hit the slopes of Blue Mountain, PA. Consumed some extra calories by eating french fries, nachos, cheese sticks, and hot chocolate only to burn them in the snow flakes!

At the end of the day, I could say that -

1. I can use various accessories ( shoes, boards, poles)
2. I can get up if I fell down ( sometimes)
6. I can side-step
4. I can make a 'C' using my feet
5. I can walk like a duck
6. I can ski for 100 meteres before coming to a safe and proper halt.
7. I can ski in a 'S'. Making consecutive 'S' is something on my
'To Do' List.

Not bad for a fresher ... Huh!

Here comes Lil' Miss Sunshine

She is Olive, a seven year old chubby girl who loves ice-cream and dreams to win a beauty contest.
Her family -
Dad - a professionally flop motivational speaker
Mom - a chain smoker lady bogged down by her own life
Brother - a rebellious 16 year old guy who has been mute by choice for 9 months
Grandpa - a cribbing old bone who is on drugs.
Uncle - a frustrated scholar with a recent unsuccessful suicide attempt on track record.
Enough!

A family of five... common thing is all are big time LOSERS! Few of them admit that they are losers. Few of them hate that they are losers... few of them hate that they need to live with losers ...the only ray of hope is ...Olive' twinkel in her eyes or God knows perhaps the reflection from her specs.

They have one more thing in common ... in spite of being 'loser individually' the urge to make their road trip to Olive's beauty contest a success...! Simply put , 'Success is not a destination but a journey!' And they make it only to lose ... but that does not matter... in the end what matters is the ray of hope in her eyes and the fight to be successful as per one's very own definition of success!