Nari Blog at Penn State

Movies

2009-07-07T14:33:00.002-04:00

Fifty greatest trailers from all time (Links to IFC)

State College Summer 2009 June/July

2009-07-02T05:57:00.003-04:00

This post contains (mostly free) things to do in State college penn state area in july and rest of summer 2009.
[older cached version of page in June with info about 4th fest]

If you are looking for hikes/nature hotspots etc, browse the archives here or check pahikes.com.
If you are a graduate student at Penn State, for more events check here and here .
If you are interested in (free) stress busting workshops email to me directly at nari at psu.edu

JULY 9-12, 2009 Arts Fest [C ENTRE PENNSYLVANIA ARTS FESTIVAL]
[Children's Day is July 8, 2009] [parking info]

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will bring over 125,000 people to downtown State College and the University Park campus of Penn State to celebrate the arts with its nationally recognized Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, gallery exhibition, sand sculpture and music, dance and theatrical performances in a variety of traditional and non-traditional venues.
[Artsfest official website]
The image to your left is the 2009 Arts fest poster (link). Clicking on the image will take you to the press release.

** new ** Artsfest Webcam - Live Coverage ** new **

FOOD OPTIONS
Apart from the arts, you can also find lot of street level food stalls set up by Indian/Thai/American/Italian/Meditteranean/Italian vendors and some amazing apple strudel sellers on Allen Street. Also at night, the bars are great for those who come to town only for the bacchanalian fest. Please be responsible though. Tip: If you are hungry late at night, Canyon Pizza on Beaver/McAllister and Bell's Greek Pizza (see map below) are options open till 3-4am usually. The McDonalds at E College and Dunkin Donuts at Fraser & West College are open 24/7.

CORN ON THE COB (very good)
The (now) famous and amazingly tasty cuban "corn-on-the-cob"* would be available from a street vendor on Calder Way (behind the Got Used book store and across from Bell's Greek Pizza. If you go to the cuban corn stall, please do tell them you heard about it here, on the Nari Blog (I get no incentive for promoting it here, I do know the guys who run it from my yoga class though).

View Larger Map

[* cuban denotes the preparation style, the corn is US grown corn]

--------------------------------------
JULY 9-12, 2009 People's Choice Arts Festival
(one where you can afford to buy stuff)
Location: BOALSBURG (from State College take South Atherton / Business 322)

When
July 9–12, 2009

Hours
Thursday–Saturday: 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Sunday: Noon–5 p.m.

Where
Pennsylvania Military Museum Grounds
Business Route 322
Boalsburg, PA

A special attraction: The Little Smilin’ Choo Choo will take riders throughout the festival. The charge to ride is $1.00 per rider. The train station is located at the center of the festival in the kids area. (image courtesy PCAF)

DES MARAIS ARCHITECTURE EXHIBIT
SATURDAY JULY 25 2009 RECEPTION

CCHS presents a new exhibit, the 4th installment in a series of contemporary homes conceived and designed by Robert Malcom: "Des Marais: A Preservation Enthusiast,” a photo retrospective of the architectural legacy of M. Robert Des Marais.

The exhibit will be shown in the exhibit space at the Schlow Centre Region Library during the library's regular hours throughout the month of July.

A closing reception for the exhibit will be held on Saturday, July 25 from 3:00-5:00 p.m., in the library's community room. The architect’s widow, Sally, and exhibit curator Robert Malcom will be available for questions. More information will be available on the CCHS website shortly.

Centre County Historical Society
Centre Furnace Mansion
1001 East College Avenue
State College, PA 16801
814.234.4779

Terror in Mumbai (from 2008) Release of Documentary

2009-07-01T21:26:00.001-04:00

VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. The untold story of 2008's terrorist attack, in the words of its victims and the gunmen. The programme contains graphic images and descriptions of the atrocity which may upset some viewers. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Dan Reed, Terror in Mumbai tells the story of what happened when 10 gunmen held one of the world's busiest cities hostage; killing and wounding hundreds of people while holding India's crack security forces at bay.
PART 1

Featuring footage of the attacks and interviews with senior police officers and hostages, including the testimony from Kasab - the sole surviving gunman, Dispatches reveals what happened, hour by hour, from the perspective of the security forces, the terrorists, their masterminds and the victims.
PART 2

PART 3

For PART 4 and PART 5 Go to YOUTUBE
and Click on Related in the Right hand side of the video.

Nature Hotspots near Penn State & State College, PA

2009-06-23T11:12:00.000-04:00

Featured above: a composite shot of the Arboretum at Penn State. [Courtesy Andy Colwell] Screenshot link

Here I will try to list the places that caught my attention. I have really enjoyed visiting these places and spending time there, either walking, running or just seeing nature at its best. The places listed are all given with driving times from downtown State College (time in minutes).

A very good book with a vast collection of hikes in Centre county is The Short Hiker, by Jean Aron. [link to Amazon]. If you are a local you may also find the book at Websters Cafe (or ask me if you know me!)

WINTER SPECIAL (Frozen Lakes!) - walk at your own risk only after considering all safety aspects.
COLYER LAKE (10 mins)
This lake is located on South Atherton/ East 322 as you leave State College towards Lewistown. Once you cross Tait Farm and then drive for a mile or so, look out fot the Harley Davidson motorcycle dealership (this will come on your left). Immediately after the Harley shop, on your right you should see a green sign saying COLYER LAKE ACCESS (PA Fish and Boat Commission). Turn right into that winding road and follow the signs and drive for about 5 mins (slow pace) and you will reach the lake parking lot. There are NO FACILITIES at this location so be prepared by taking water etc to drink and also doing the necessary at home or a gas station ahead of time.
As of Dec 8 the lake is frozen but easily cracks and you can see several visible cracks. Also me and my friend both jumped on the ice to make more cracks. Hehe, have fun!
FALL SPECIAL
(5-10 mins) Awesome Drives in Fall
The other day I was driving in Lemont (see embedded image below that opens in google maps) and got "lost" and discovered a beautiful winding road lined with trees on both sides, some of which were already changing colors!! So if you go there by Sep 30-Oct 10 I am guessing you will be in for a visual treat, not to mention the exhilaration of driving on near empty roads (caution advised- speed limit posted is 25 mph) with brand new paved surfaces! (Click Here to View Larger Map )

Click Here to View Larger Map

(2-5 mins) Penn State Arboretum
Walking, Jogging, Pet walking, biking. Special: Trees

(5 mins) Milbrook Marsh http://www.crpr.org/Millbrook/MMNC-Menu.html
Walking, birdwatching, pet walking, Special: Flowing water

(5 mins) Walnut Springs Park
Walking, Trail running, trail Biking, Special: bubbling brook.

(5-10 mins) Parks in SC Borough
Walking, assorted options for kids (slides etc.) Special: None (imo).

(10-15 mins) Fisherman's Paradise . Click here for directions or email me. near Bellefonte, PA off Rt 220) [This week's featured item]
Walking, flyfishing (catch and release), Running, Photography, Fishery. Special: Beautiful stream, catchment ponds, fish!
Picture here.

(15 mins) Colyer Lake

(30 mins) Shavers Creek/Stone Valley Recreational Area
Boating (canoes and kayaks on still water), walking, trail running, easy trails, cabins for overnight stay, Shavers creek has educational programs about nature, wild animals etc.
Special: Beautiful Lake Perez! Cabins!

(30 mins) Whipple Dam Area
12 miles from the town of State College, sitting right on PA 26, Whipple dam area offers "beach volleyball" opportunities, Barbeque pits, a little swimming area in the dam reservoir/creek. One can also rent small boats and do a little bit of pedal boating or canoeing while there. There are also different hiking and running trails near the dam area. Overall it is a great place near town to get away from the town and hang out in the woods and see some open water. [Official Information]
(40 mins) Greenwood Furnace
More links will be added as time permits, if you have a suggestion email me at naridon at yahoo dot com.

A general website that offers information on outdoor activities in Central PA.

Cooking Lesson (part of service activity)

2009-05-21T01:50:00.004-04:00

CAULIFLOWER-CARROT CURRY (IN TOMATO SAUCE)

- Nari Soundarrajan
@ State College May 2009

Accompanies: Naan or roti or steamed rice, quinoa etc.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)
Vegetables

Cauliflower ½ to 1 head Remove stalks, break into small 1 in pieces
Carrots 1 large Chop into small bits, or ½ in small rounds
Green chilis 1 or 2 Serrano peppers; chop in ¼ in chunks
(or chop fine if you want to sneak it in)
Cilantro 2-3 stalks chop fine, or pinch to small pieces
Onions 1 med chop fine or slice into long thin pieces
Tomatoes 2 medium Chop fine;
(or 1 small can of paste for laziness or big hurry )

SPICES

Cumin seed 1 tsp
Garlic cloves 1 or 2 chopped fine or minced
Ginger 1 inch piece chopped fine or minced
Asafoetida ½ tsp or less powdered
Dry red chilis 1 or 2 Only if NOT using green chilis
1/4 tsp salt
1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil or butter if you prefer rich taste
½ cup water or vegetable broth
1 Tbsp curry powder (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a skillet or wok heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add the cumin seeds, as they start browning, add onions. (don’t let cumin blacken)
3. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are golden, ~ about 5 minutes.
4. Reduce the heat a little, stir in the garlic, ginger and green chilis and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 mins. (optional)
6. Add the cauliflower and carrots, and stir for 1 min. Sprinkle some water.
7. Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes. Stir once in 3-4 minutes lightly to prevent charring at the bottom.
8. Season with salt. Add the cilantro, switch off the heat and cover with the lid. When you open again, the flavor would be really uplifting.
9. Spoon the rice into individual soup bowls and top with the curry. Serve immediately.

Pictures will be added soon at: http://naridon2000.blogspot.com
This cooking lesson was taught as part of service activities (SEVA) performed by Art of Living Foundation Volunteers. It is a global volunteer organization with a focus on wellness through our breath, prana.

Reporters Need to Be Objective (Police Beating of Suspect Tape News)

2009-05-21T01:26:00.004-04:00

It is all over the news today that five police officers have been fired in Alabama for beating a suspect. Now let us analyze this whole reporting incident carefully and see how adjectives are used by CNN. I am writing this post because I am annoyed at the manner in which this news is being covered by CNN without any regard to objectivity.

Only a few seconds into the video you can CLEARLY see that the "suspect" mercilessly (emphasis mine) drives the van on to a police officer (a HUMAN BEING) who is writhing in pain immediately on the road. And what exactly this (innocent until proven guilty) suspect do? He keeps on driving, at high speed, posing a danger to others on the road.

If you hit a person, any human being would stop and try to help, not just keep on driving. and driving dangerously. This "suspect" fails the innocence test right there. But that is not the point here, the issue is one of adjectives, adverbs and sensationalism.

CNN reporters are quick to use the adverb "ruthlessly" when describing officers beating the subject, but when the subject mows down a human being, somebody's son, somebody's husband or dad or friend, the reporter just uses these words

"The video captured the van knocking down a police officer standing on a roadway"

HELLO, WHAT THE FUCK I SAY, the van is not knocking anyone down by itself. A merciless driver is knocking down the police officer using the van as a deadly weapon. THAT, my dear reporter friends, is how that little detail (in your mind) should have been reported. If you look at any justice system during the course of humanity's evolution, you would know exactly what to do, to a person who wilfully runs their horse over another person.

For all you reporters who are quick to use adjectives use your brains first. Learn to write, then to report. Mainly learn to be objective, don't do biased reporting especially when it is so clear right from the onset as to who is wrong.

I don't see any segregation (not at least from the video). If you try to kill someone by running your car over them, then you probably deserve a good beating, whether from vigilante justice mobs or from cops, it does nt matter. I know this goes against the established justice system in US, but once you wilfully try to hurt somebody, then human rights availability becomes suspect. Imagine if that person who is mowed down by a van happened to be a school kid walking home, then how does the public and the news media feel about beating the driver?

Anywasy I am really tired of reading stupid sensationalist news like this. You are probably better of getting scared of swine flu, than about police violence.

In closing, my thoughts go to the officer who got hurt by the reckless driver/criminal who was driving the van.

Repost about Bank Stress Tests

2009-05-10T17:30:00.003-04:00

This post is not about food or travels or pennstate. Instead, it is a repost of something I wrote on Magsformiles.blogspot.com
Exhibit A; Stress test results reported as generally positive (all major news sources). One link: CNN-Money
Exhibit B: Details of a new twist into the stress test results, as reported by the WSJ.

The WSJ reports a new twist about the recently concluded "stress tests" on US banks. It was reported that Bank of America, Wells Fargo, GMAC and Citigroup rounded up the top four of the nine banks that needed altogether a combined 74.6 Billion dollars of additional capital. However if you look at the column worst case loss scenario in the ~~NYT~~ CNN-Money article, you see that Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells (all 3 need addl. capital) and JP Morgan (no addl capital needed) altogether could lose up to $420 billion. That is interesting!!

The Federal Reserve significantly scaled back the size of the capital hole facing some of the nation's biggest banks shortly before concluding its stress tests, following two weeks of intense bargaining. But the guv-meant, also made math errors! (see below in read)

In addition, according to bank and government officials, the Fed used a different measurement of bank-capital levels than analysts and investors had been expecting, resulting in much smaller capital deficits.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124182311010302297.html#mod=todays_us_nonsub_page_one

the Fed used a different measurement of bank-capital levels than analysts and investors had been expecting, resulting in much smaller capital deficits....

...Government officials worried San Francisco-based Wells might file a lawsuit contesting the Fed's findings.

By the way if you look into the Interactive, I would say that Amex looks strongest in terms of exposure. However futures earnings are not estimate here so how they do in the coming years would be an interesting prediction to make.

Other interesting excerpts:

SunTrust Banks Inc. also persuaded the Fed to significantly reduce the size of its estimated capital gap to $2.2 billion, after identifying mathematical errors in the Fed's earlier calculations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Poor PNC .. but not too bad ,....

PNC Financial Services Group Inc., saw a capital hole materialize at the last minute. As recently as Wednesday, PNC executives were under the impression they wouldn't need to find any new capital, according to people familiar with the matter. Thursday morning, the Fed informed PNC that it had a $600 million shortfall.

The whole article is a great read.

Pita

2009-05-07T18:11:00.006-04:00

Courtesy Flickr User

For those of who know me, you know that I really like taking pictures of food, both prepared food as well as raw material under preparation. One of the foods from a non Indian cuisine that I love = pita. So when I heard that a friend of mine was into pita's and is going to France, I quickly googled out restaurants serving pita based foods in Paris [basically, procrastinating] and whipped up this post.

View Larger Map

Mashup Link

I also ran a youtube search on Pita sandwich recipes and found the one that is not too boastful about their recipe. I dislike sites/video that overpromote their recipe as BEST BEST BEST, whatever. lol.

Pita making videos

Change Travel Plans for the FLU or Weather

2009-05-05T12:52:00.000-04:00

THE SWINE FLU STORY
AIRLINE FLIGHT CHANGE INFORMATION

CDC TRAVEL ADVISORY

To change your travel plans access the website link provided or call the reservations number of the airline. All information provided was checked for accuracy but if any errors are present please post a comment and we will try to fix it asap.

AIR TRAN AIRWAYS (800 AIR TRAN) || AMERICAN AIRLINES (800 433 7300) || ALASKA AIRLINES (800 252 7522). HORIZON AIR (800-547-9308)| | CONTINENTAL (800.525.0280) || DELTA (800-221-1212) || FRONTIER (800-432-1359) || HAWAIIAN (1-800-367-5320) || JETBLUE (rebook online w/o fee) MEXICANA || MIDWEST (No MX flights) AEROMEXICO || US AIRWAYS || UNITED Travel Waiver (800 864 8331) (Schedule Changes)|| NORTHWEST (800 225 2525) ||

Organic Kitchen Garden at the Whitehouse

2009-03-20T23:47:00.003-04:00

Just came across some news that an organic kitchen garden has been started at the White House. One of the goals of this garden and the message from this act is one against obesity, according to a WH press release.

A layout of the garden can be found on the White House blog. I am also adding a small video clip (courtesy cnn.com) below which shows school kids helping the First lady working on creating the garden patch.

While cnn is reporting that this is an organic garden, I did not find any clear information on the White House website nor did I hear a confirmation to that end from the First lady's video remarks. If someone else verified information that the new garden will be organic, it would be great. Thanks.

If you are interested in organic gardening you can find some books here.

Obama Retakes Oath

2009-01-21T22:09:00.004-05:00

In a move that will disappoint several burgeoning conspiracy theorists, President Barack Obama, retook the oath of office today (on Jan 21, 2009).

This time around, both CJ Roberts and the President said it flawlessly standing inside the White House. However, this time around he (BHO) did not use a bible, so the extreme "conservatives" are going to be whining anyways.

But that is not a big deal, because according to the US Constitution, Obama became the president automatically at 12 noon on 20th January. So the oath is mainly a symbolic gesture.
I also found out that the phrase "so help me God" is nonobligatory!

A satirical piece on the same news

Your learn something new everyday!
Hat tip: Times of India

Obama Inauguration

2009-01-20T12:53:00.010-05:00

Wow. It happened!! Obama is now the P.O.T.U.S. or President of the United States. I should like to give a shout out to my parents who called from India to make sure I am watching it. [I wasn't when they called, as I was tied up with some work.

Since it was close to lunch time, I gave in and decided to watch history being made. I googled "live feed of inauguration" and went to the usual sites like cnn, foxnews, nyt, cspan, etc. But all of these sites were incredibly slow and choppy, and were lagging the live event by several seconds. I expected this as the popular sites are where all the people would go first.

Then, I went to the 2nd or 3rd page of search results and stumbled upon the good folks of Daily Press. Thanks to you guys for a high speed, trouble free coverage on windows media player.

My lab office colleagues also watched with me. Interesting fact is that when Obama mentioned about Christians & Muslims and Jews and Hindus and non-believers, I looked around and realized that the three of us were each from a different faith, one Christian, Jewish and Hindu. If only my friend Mohammed had been there, we would have encompassed all 4. lol. Add to the fact within a 200 ft radius there is probably Buddhists, one or two Sikhs, other religions and plenty of non-believers :).

Just finished watching the inauguration, best thing I liked was the 'Benediction: The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery", tha man totally rapped at the end and I loved that more than the poet just before!
You can listen to the benediction here on NPR.Or in the embedded video

[Edit] The South Asian blog Sepia Mutiny carries a special post on exactly this subject. Thanks to them (abhi) now the exact transcript is available.

Some things I caught from this ending note and am trying to remember, sounded like this:
If a man is black, he is not held back
If a man is brown, he can still get around...
Exact text from transcript

black will not be asked to get in back,
when brown can stick around
when yellow will be mellow
when the red man can get ahead, man;
and when white will embrace what is right.

he really rhymed well and everyone was laughing by the time he finished! I guess Mr. Joseph Lowery clearly overshadowed Rick Warren's invocation in the process.

A little note about Obama's fumbling with the oath, it seemed a little funny, both to see him start soon after Justice Roberts started saying his name, as well as his pause when he wanted Roberts to repeat the phrase about "that I will execute the office of the president of the united states faithfully". It seemed unrehearsed, but perhaps it was. You also have to cut him some slack for the enormity of the occasion and the thousands of things going through his mind (or so say my office mates.) I also realized when I played back the video, that Roberts also had some contribution to messing up the oath. But, hey no big deal, in the long run these minor things do not matter.

Highlights in Obama's Address:

Obama saying that
"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. "
drew lot of applause.

"With hope and virtue, let us endure the icy currents".. etc.
I liked it.

He also mentioned something about people listening to him, son of a man who 60 years ago might not have been served in a restaurant in the Mall area, and listen to him (Barack Obama) take the most sacred oath. I was't able to find that text in the transcript, but I heard it and then listened at ~ 20:00 on the C-Span video replay.
This also drew good applause.

That's it folks. Back to work now. Today has been decent till now on the work front!

Thanks and Credits to:
Daily Press
Dallas News (transcript )
C-Span (pdf transcript)
C-Span Video Playback

$1CinemaTix

2009-01-15T22:54:00.006-05:00

Just read on the "Collegian" (Penn State's College Newspaper) that Carmike Six Cinemas (Nittany Mall) is offering weekend deals of $1 movie tickets to "second run movies". That includes movies that are past 3-4 months after their release, new enough, but not brand new. [Link]

This weekend (Jan 16, 09) the movies that will be screened at Carmike 6 are Quantum of Solace James Bond movie], and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa [Family movie/animation].

The news report did not mention if the promotion was only [for college students or if anybody going to Cinema 6 on weekends would get the $1 tix. I will be calling the Carmike Cinema 6 office [Ph: (814) 237-1998] on Friday to clarify this issue. Once I have the full information, I will update this post. Note, from the Carmike 6 Cinema website it appears that all movies tickets are down to $1,(+ appl. taxes, so carry change, and oh..they accept only cash). Who would whip out plastic for $1 and change anyways?

By the way, my personal opinion is that Carmike 6 (at the Mall) does not compare very well to the newer Premiere 12 (near the Nittany Mall) and the College 9 ($6 to $6.75 w/Student ID, near Lowes on N Atherton). I personally did not like the sound system at Carmike 6, so I have not been there in the past 7-8 months. Also all these three cinemas are far away from campus, so they may not suit many students at Penn State (those who don't have a car).

Tip: However, for students who rely more on walking and the bus to get anywhere (the M bus by CATA takes you to the Mall), the movie options close to campus are at: State Theatre ($6 w/ Student ID downtown on College Ave) and the HUB Auditorium on most weekends when Late Night Penn State is active.

How to get to Cinema 6
1. Take the M bus (schedules)
2. Convince friends who have a car to join
3. Bike in summer, fall.
Till then, enjoy cheap movies.
Carmike 6 Local Wiki
Madagascar on IMDB
Trailer:

Facebook

2008-12-17T18:35:00.003-05:00

Facebook Users, Beware!

Be careful when accepting new "Apps" especially ones that say "Your friend is sending you a Cake or Hug or etc. etc.. or that somebody added you as a "Top Friend".
These might all be ploys to get you to give personal information. Once the information is with the hackers/spammers they can infect your computer with spyware and capture lot of financial and other useful information.

LONDON: A probe by security experts has revealed that cyber criminals tend to work up a fortune by selling stolen Facebook profiles for an amoun

t as low as 89p.

According to Trend Micro specialists, hackers break into social networking accounts to steal personal information of users to sell them off to criminal groups who then use the details to send "spam" messages to million others.

The wrong-doers tend to send an invitation to account holders to view videos or pictures of family and friends, which on being clicked allow access to the victims' computer, reports the Sun.

Read all about it here on Times of India.

Mumbai Terror Attacks

2008-11-26T23:57:00.005-05:00

My heart goes out to the victims and especially the injured in the Mumbai terror attacks. As I write this I am listening to breaking news stating that all hostages have been freed. However, more than 90-100 people have been killed by terrorists in this nightmare.

For more information on the happenings please visit these sites:

MUMBAI HELP

NDTV

NDTV Live Feed

TIMES OF INDIA

CNN-IBN LIVE

CNN International Video

Twitter Feeds

CNN Article

Indian Moon Craft Heats Up

2008-11-26T08:46:00.003-05:00

The Indian space craft orbiting the moon (Chandrayaan I) heated up because of the moon and the sun lining up with the space craft.
For once I thought this was something which happened due to some malfunction, But it was just good old radiation heating. What a disappointing headline! It is not like it was a race car on a circuit that heated up due to excessive performance measures.

CNNreports: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/11/26/india.moon.probe/index.html

Presidential Inauguration Tickets and Gubmint

2008-11-10T21:21:00.005-05:00

The government seems to be taking early action when it comes to the Presidential Inauguration Tickets craze going on out there.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, the senator overseeing Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony said Monday she's writing to Internet sites like eBay asking them not to sell scalped inauguration tickets. The senator also said she's crafting a bill that would make a federal crime of selling tickets to the historic event Jan. 20. Link to source

OFFICIAL STATEMENT BY THE GOVT.
The public should also be aware that no website or other ticket outlet actually has inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, regardless of what they may claim. Tickets will not be distributed to Congressional offices until the week before the inauguration and will require in-person pick-up.[Source]

Taxpayer dollars are used to run the Inauguration event, and consequently, any arguments bringing up "capitalism" just fall flat. Oh wait, did I hear whining about bailouts? Two wrongs don't make one right. Unscrupulous elements should just not be allowed to get in the way and speculate on items which people should be getting from their representatives in a straightforward manner. Of course, there might be (allegations of) favoritism coming into play, (e.g. people making donations to the party of the local rep might get better chances) but at least the chance to see this event will go to people who were more interested in this man's rise from the beginning.

The official press release http://inaugural.senate.gov/

CNN coverage on this issue.

Driving in India

2008-11-09T13:19:00.003-05:00

Well not everybody drives like this, but this is one crazy sport!

Originally spotted on:
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/worlds-strangest-sports

Removing annoying ads

2008-11-06T07:28:00.003-05:00

This post has been written for as a response to a Chowhound reader's request.

"can you all please fix this? It blocks the entire right column"

Solution from the user end can be achieved in this manner:

1. Download & install Firefox 3.0 browser (easy steps given once you click the green download button):
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

2. Launch Firefox and install Adblock plus extension by going to Tools> Addons or by going to the link(s) below:

Original installation instructions and Adblock Plus download location:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

Instructions with snapshots for Installing Adblock Plus:
http://blog.soliddocuments.com/2007/12/using-adblock-plus-in-firefox.html

3. Learn to configure Adblock plus to show ads on some pages and block it on others if you want to see google ads and other banner ads on some pages.

I just realized today (after so many years of my existence) that advertisements are by their very nature, tools to lower productivity. Think about it, if you are reading a magazine article, the ad page serves to distract you. A TV or radio commercial comes in the way of what you were watching or listening.

A 'contextual ad' from google or yahoo, serves to take your attention away from the web page (although on many occasions they also help you reach your goal, so that is a marked improvement). In this context sponsored links that show up when you search for something on google, are definitely a step ahead, because they are not distractors, but they are the end goals of the activity (i.e. search).

McCain Congratulates Obama While Saving $$$

2008-11-04T23:38:00.007-05:00

I just watched Senator John McCain concede the Presidential election 2008 to ~~Senator~~ President-elect Barack Obama. It was a very classy speech and he was very gracious in concession. Insiders report that McCain had actually practised this speech several times in the past few months, leading to the flawless delivery.

Said McCain: I congratulate ~~Senator~~ President-elect Beerack (see video below), oops Barack Obama on winning the presidency of the USA.

Reliable sources confirmed that McCain knew the final projected outcome immediately after Pennsylvania and Ohio went Obama's way. However, we belive he waited till it was past 9pm in Arizona to call Obama to concede in order for his night time minutes to kick in. This is a clear indication of the strong conservative credentials of McCain and his party (and a smaller indication to the state of finances of the McCain campaign).

After finishing the call with McCain, Obama mentioned to this campaign advisors that he was going for a walk on Lake Michigan to collect this thoughts for the victory speech.

We also have breaking news that President (current) George Bush wants Barack Obama to visit him at the White House and celebrate the awesome win in true ivy league frat celebration style. He also wants Obama to take over immediately because the credit crisis is becoming too hard for him to handle, hehe.

We close with the news that people in Hawaii and Alaska are pretty pissed that their votes have been added to the 2012 polls because of the delay in transporting the ballots by boat to mainland USA. That's all for tonight folks,

(Disclaimer: The above is mostly satire, don't sue me, the credit crisis and market crash has bankrupted me. Also ,any of future earnings above $250,000 are going to be taxed heavily)

Happy Diwali from PA Governor

2008-10-27T13:53:00.003-04:00

So I just heard from a friend that the PA Governor Rendell and his offices have issued a special proclamation saying HAPPY DIWALI and declaring Oct-Nov as Diwali month.

Very interesting!

you can read the actual proclamation here. (opens a PDF)

Open Letter to Big Ten and Penn State Haters

2008-10-26T10:12:00.005-04:00

Tom Dienhart,
Are you a masochist or a desperate attention seeking individual? Because you sure are going to get a lot of (angry) emails and lot of attention in the process. Because other than that there is no reason to diss an unbeaten team. Admit first that the BCS system itself fairly screwed enough that several unbeaten teams from different divisions in the country (the non Big Six) don't even get a shot at the title game.

Isn't the saying: Don't hate the player, hate the game?

So I hope you are just hating the game (the BCS method) the way it is played. It is funny to see you bashing Big Ten just like that, when this only leads more credence to a play off system, where there will only be true contenders who work their way to the top.

Also while OhioSt. might have a sloppy record against SEC/USC etc , you have to understand that football teams are dynamic year to year and change. They don't stay the same team even if the coach stays the same over years. There are always talented athletes coming in and going out.

Coming to your choices, USC's performance record is so confusing that it makes me wonder why they lose to an Oregon state team that got handily defeated by Penn State. Then again, I think the Trojan's offense is sputtering enough (17-10 vs Arizona?).

Alabama & Texas Tech are the teams that I will be playing closest attention to this season, apart from the Nittany Lions of course. American football is finally looking like fun.

- Just a fan

PENN STATE BEATS OHIO STATE 2008

2008-10-26T00:52:00.002-04:00

Just adding two videos of students celebrating wildly on the streets back home in State College, after the PSU Nittany Lions defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 13-6 to remain 9-0 in season and 5-0 in conference (big ten). A recap is available here.

Youtube video of crazy crowds. (cellphone video,dont expect high quality)

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recap?gid=200810250033

and one more..

HAPPY DEEPAVALI HAPPY DIWALI

2008-10-24T08:19:00.004-04:00

HAPPY FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

Shower love on your family, friends and beloved ones.

This image was originally posted to Flickr by dhondusaxena at http://flickr.com/photos/36669145@N00/187469545

Fall Leaves

2008-10-16T17:18:00.001-04:00

Just to show the leaves.

The swinging screen door.