A positive impact

If you look at the current plight of Indian education, it truly sucks and with such state of affairs we can imagine how much of a positive impact that education offers, though few kids especially the ones in metros turn out good either through good parental mentoring or through social environment most of the ones in smaller towns and rural are at a huge disadvantage not due to lack of intellectual capability but solely due to lack awareness and good mentoring. The sorry state of affairs is the amount of emphasis placed on IT careers while ignoring other more fulfilling options like Medicine, Civil, Political and options in Arts etc. I feel if we can positively mentor a school age kid by building a interest in education and showing various exciting options that lay ahead of then, this can be a real positive contribution from us.

The difficulty is how can we actually go about doing this, I was thinking about this for a while and here is my thinking so far. There are two aspects to the issue, first is providing the educational tool and second is building a relationship with a particular child by way of mentoring him. If you guys remember few weeks back I sent out a mail about "One Laptop per child". Personally I feel this is a remarkable self educating tool, don't think of it as a fancy laptop but think of it something which lets a child learn through self-exploration with minimal hand holding, the strenght of XO laptop is its pre-loaded educational Software. The second aspect is mentoring a child, nowadays we have number of social sites like Orkut, myspace, facebook etc, though these are commercially oriented sites, there are few like Ning which let you create a exclusive social networks. With net access available in most of the towns lately, we can mentor each of the adopted kids using these networks. It can be simple things like helping them use the XO laptop or answer their queries or even guide their future, the possibilities are huge.

If you feel these are idealistic or impractical thoughts, with given due attention I feel it is possible. If enough guys are interested this is something that can be worked out.

Some useful links:

Negroponte's speech at TED conference about XO laptop:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o97UD78s6iM
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/41

Bulk Purchases:
http://laptopfoundation.org/participate/givemany.shtml

If sounds plausible drop me a line.

Venkat Reddy

Moods 12/22, Money

“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”
By Ayn Rand

Picture Source
http://www.flickr.com/photos/inkyfingerz/454976773/

Venkat Reddy

Ticket Exchanges

If you thought India was the only place where they openly sell black tickets, well don't be surprised to find plenty of them here especially at Websites like StubHub.com. In recent months it garnered some handsome profits by brokering to sell sold out tickets to various concerts and events. When sites like Ticketmaster.com open the sale of concert tickets these guys unleash automated web-bots to make the purchases in matter of minutes and in cases human intervention is needed people from India are used at $2/hr to complete the purchases. This is really a serious problem, a recent concert with sale price of $20-$60 sold for avg $280 on StubHub. If these guys keep snatching the tickets, people would be forced to pay inflated prices for no apparent reason.

NewYork Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/business/16digi.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=technology

Venkat Reddy

Lead India TOI

I am not sure how many of you are aware of this "Lead India" initiative by Times of India, their Ads seem quite impressive. In a nutshell TOI came up with this contest as a springboard for people interested in public service.

Excerpt from TOI:
"The Lead India campaign stemmed from our belief — and overwhelming reader feedback — that even as India takes giant strides towards fulfilling its undoubted potential, it is doing so despite, not because of, its political leadership. ''Good people don't want to join politics'' is an oft-heard lament. And yet, good governance is the cornerstone if India is to overcome the many hurdles that threaten to slow its journey to developed nation status."

I definetly agree with that, we are in acute shortage of strong leadership, lack of leadership is like a rudderless ship. Of note an IPS officer Soumya Mishra from Warangal district also made it to the finals, looks like a tough contender.

Here is a Ad clip which impressed me quite well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSIX-pVfDc

Lead India Official Site
http://www.lead.timesofindia.com/aboutthemission.asp

Venkat Reddy

One Week Job

Though most of us change jobs once in couple of years may be due to better offers or in times when we are axed, but rare is the case when we would change just for trying out what other jobs feel like. There is this new MBA grad with a 4.0 GPA not sure what to do in his life ventured out to try 52 jobs in 52 weeks, hoping in the end he would figure out something. The best part is that has set out to donate his entire year worth of earning to charity. Couple of jobs from his wish list like
* MTV/Much Music VJ,
* Fisherman
* Stock Broker
* Florist
* Stand-Up Comedian
* Pizza Delivery Driver
* Intern At The Trump Organization and so on.

So far he is into week 38 as a Vintner in Yakima Washington making wine. Its really interesting that he could think of something like that.

Link to this Journal:
http://www.oneweekjob.com/

Venkat Reddy

Moods 12/13 Meditation

“We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don't do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.”

By
Alan Watts

Picture Source
http://www.flickr.com/photos/noeltykay/84610281/

Venkat Reddy

The Story of Stuff

Here is a short documentary on the consumer culture so prevelant in US which is also rampantly spreading like a virus to other developing nations. We rarely realize how deep we are getting sucked into a constant cycle of consuming more and more.

Excerpt about the film:

"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."

Link to the film:
http://storyofstuff .com/index.html

Venkat

Moods 12/01, Snow

“Genius is an African who dreams up snow”
by Vladimir Nabokov

Picture Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoie/747307480/

Venkat

Emotionally Charged Song

"The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
By Allan K Chalmers

Effective Presentations

Check out the complete presentation to learn to avoid bad presentations and cultivate good habits in designing a good presentation.
Core77 Design Blog

Venkat

How to think

1. Synthesize new ideas constantly
2. Learn how to learn (rapidly)
3. Work backward from your goal
4. Always have a long-term plan
5. Make contingency maps
6. Collaborate.
7. Make your mistakes quickly
8. write up best-practices protocols
9. Document everything obsessively
10. Keep it simple

Original Article:
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/boyden/

One laptop per Child

For a long time Nicholas Negroponte from MIT media labs has been pushing the idea of $100 laptop meant for the children in developing countries. Finally starting this month it has entered a mass production stage though not at a initial envisioned price but for $200. Even at that price the lap top is really radical in design and features.


Here are few innovative features that stand apart:

• Because of very low power consumption you can actually human power it, there is a small crank provided which you can use to charge the battery.
• Each laptop intrinsically acts as a wireless router, there by forming a mesh network with other laptops. Effectively you need one laptop connected to the net for the rest to take advantage.
• The best part is the Linux based open software aimed at learning and exploration than mere instruction. There are tons of social and learning tools.
• They are highly durable, drop it, bang it, kick it, they still work. They aren't any moving parts in laptop like disk drives, so this improves the durability of the laptop.

Its not just MIT backing this project but a whole range of companies like Google, Intel, AMD and major backing by UN. I guess it would be a good idea to have some kind of volunteer organization to make these available in rural India through contributions from us. The basic step would be building awareness about it among the Indian community.

Here is a excellent talk by Negroponte about the laptop:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/41

Official Site
http://www.laptop.org/en/index.shtml

Venkat

Impressionism by Van Gogh

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

“For an impressionist to paint from nature is not to paint the subject, but to realize sensations”
By Paul Cezanne

Source:
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starrywallpaper.html

Venkat

Leapfrog ideas for HealthCare and Education

We pretty much tend to accept the high costs associated in health care and education sectors, but on questioning deeply if the value delivered is justified, its often a hard no. Watch this talk by Clayton Christensen, a pre-eminent Professor at Harvard where he points out the root causes associated with these high costs and suggests various solutions to address these. One particular thought that resonates through out is the idea of modularity, to give you an idea think of Windows vs Linux operating systems. Windows is like a one size fits all, on the other hand Linux is built out of well defined independent building blocks where in you can mix and match based on your need. His talk was like a mind candy, watch it to admire his thinking.

http://www.businessinnovationfactory.com/innovationstorystudio/bif3_cchristensen.php

I am not sure how practical it would be to start afresh these ideas in monopolistic US, but India can be a good candidate.

Venkat

Moods 11/14, Contemplation

“I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.”
By Harold Kushner

Image Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/welshbaloney/412660010/

Venkat

Fun things to do

• Have more fun than anyone else
• Get some insight
• Get some dept
• Find a place to escape reality
• Write something at the end of everyday
• Make yourself interesting
• Live alone for a while
• Treat yourself
• Live like you have nothing to lose

Source :
Ten Fun things to do before you die

Venkat

Mahindra Scorpio on US Roads

On the outlook it might sound ridiculous for Mahindra even to think of competing with heavy thugs like Ford, Toyota and GM likes in US market. But the bravo is planning to sell Scorpio SUV's and altered pickup version of it in US. Since all of them run of diesel, their offering is on fuel efficiency. These vehicles are projected to give 30 mpg in cities and 37 mpg on highways, a mileage like that for SUV's can be a huge selling point inspite of image problems.

Original Article
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_45/b4057063.htm

The problem with American companies is the image thing where everything has to be big without regard to any efficiency, they build SUV's the size of a elephant when the matter of fact all it has to move is a silly needle.

Venkat

Top Technology Conferences in US

Source
http://www.downtheavenue.com/2007/05/top_technology_.html

GreenTech Sectors

• Solar Energy
• Biofuel & Agriculture
• Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel)
• Energy Storage Systems
• Energy Management, Smart Grid & Energy Efficiency
• Water Technology & Treatment
• Green Materials, Green Buildings, Green Nano/Micro-Tech
• Green Automobiles & Transportation
• Clean Manufacturing & Clean Products
• Resource Recovery & Waste Management

Visual Dictionary

Quite often we come across the need to look up the definitions or synonyms for a particular word. Though sites like dictionary.com or merriam provide the service, the problem is that they don't easily convey the context or its relationship to other words. If this can be conveyed in a compact visual manner its easier to remember the word. Look at this site which displays words as a graph with all its relations centered around the word you are searching for.

http://www.visuwords.com/

At the bottom of the graph there is a legend which explains various relationships. Wish I had this during college days, atleast my English wouldn't have been pathetic
.
Venkat

Moods 11/10, Rain

Seattle Moods:

"The best thing one can do when its raining is to let it rain" or may I add "drink more coffee".

Picture Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1bluecanoe/1647578854/

Venkat

GVK Group

Its interesting to note the meteoric rise of GVK from a small construction company into a massive US 3 Billion dollar diversified conglomerate of Infrastructure, mass transportation, hospitality and Bio sectors. This company was slightly personal since their early power plants were built right close to the place where I grew up thats Kadiyam. Late did I know that they bought out the entire Taj group of hotels in Hyderabad ie's Taj Banjara, Taj Krishna and many others. Here is a article in LiveMint about G V Sanjay Reddy the young driver of the company, I liked the way he relates Scuba diving to navigating a company.

Excerpt
"In business as in scuba diving, unexplored terrain is an opportunity in waiting"

Original Article:
http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/08233029/GV-Sanjay-Reddy--Taking-off.html

Venkat

Micro Lending Vs Aid

We often associate charity and aid as humane and noble actions like monitory Aid for African nations or a donation to a charitable organization. But if we closely look at the effectiveness of monitory aid like in African nations it has barely lifted them out of poverty and worse yet it even increased the poverty rate. The most effective way people can get out of poverty is by providing an economic opportunity to make them self reliant. What I mean is instead of providing a day's meal why not help them become self-sufficient and all is needed a micro finance to jump start them.

I came across this Non-profit effort to address the issue I mentioned above. The way it works it you make a micro lending (like $25, $50 or what ever) to a individual you choose in a developing country and in a agreed term he has to pay you back. The risk could be a possibility of non-repayment as the business are very small and tend to operate in a fluctuating markets. All along you are posted of the progress of his operations.

If interested here is the link to Kiva.org
http://www.kiva.org/

Venkat

Robotics

If you thought boy bands are pretty good at doing synchronized dance moves, well think again after you watch this Japanese ingenuity in robotic design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZzLAsHiGHU

It could be easier to design one bot to perform a pre-programmed dance moves but the challenge here is synchronized move by multiple bots. Every bot here needs to know what its position is in relation to all the rest of the bots. Its interesting how they designed it, Japs definetly have a huge lead in Robotic design.

Venkat
 

Moka5

Through out my high school days I often used to admire a classmate of mine who was absolutely brilliant.  Though from a  very humble  family this guy went on to score a state rank in inter, headed to IIT, a masters from Urbana Champagne and a Phd from Standford. Lately I came to know he and a couple of his friends from Stanford started a company addressing the PC Virtualization for consumer market. In lay terms imagine  being  able to  carry  your complete laptop environment  (Windows OS, your applications like office, browser etc)  on a  pen drive or  even a  iPod. When you need to use it just plug the portable device to any computer be it PC, MAC or Linux and vola you have your familiar environment. Incase you lose your portable device you can just recopy the environment pack from home computer and you have all the environment back no re-installs to worry about.
The nice thing is that one of the angel funding is by Vinod Khosla of Silicon Valley. With very limited players and a huge market to tap into, I am sure it will be huge success.

Here is the link for Ramesh Chandra's company called Moka5:
http://www.moka5.com/about/team.html

Video of Vinod Khosla with Moka5 team
http://www.moka5.com/node/419

I wish him all the best.

Venkat

Kathakali Enactment

Watch this video of a foreigner trying to experience the act of Kathakali, on the outside it might it look trivial but the hardest part is conveying various expressions in a natural flow.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGYZWPhHJhk

 

Some interesting facts:

• Traditionally these were played to last whole night, but the modern versions have been condensed to 3-4 hr plays.
• There are subtle differences in the makeup colors each kathak character applies, predominant green for Noble or Kingly characters, red for demonic, black for uncivilized commoner and bright yellow for femenine roles.
• Each act conveys a story chunk from well known epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Should try to experience this play sometime.

 

Venkat

Photo of the day 10/24, Fall Colors

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
~Elizabeth Lawrence

Source:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96614226@N00/

Quotes on Technology

Technology is a way of organizing the universe so that man doesn't have to experience it.
~Max Frisch

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
~Elbert Hubbard, The Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams, 1923

I like my new telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!
~Author Unknown

The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.
~Karl Marx

The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
~Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations, 1988

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
~B.F. Skinner, Contingencies of Reinforcement, 1969

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
~Carl Sagan

Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them.
~Alfred North Whitehead

Education makes machines which act like men and produces men who act like machines.
~Erich Fromm

The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.
~Sydney J. Harris

If Al Gore Won the 2000 Election.

It would have been a much different America had Al Gore got elected in 2000. Electing bush plain reflects the level of dumb thinking majority of Americans have with the expection of few. Here is a commical talk of hypothetical events that would have happened if Gore got selected.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYuqoKxRhMg

 

After watching his recent movie "An Inconvenient truth", a documentary style movie about global warming, I really started to admire him. If you havent seen it, I would highly recommend watching it. Its high time every one has a understanding of this critical issue, especially people in India and China where there is least awarness.

 

Here is a trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_classics/aninconvenienttruth/trailer/

 

I hopefully wish he opts to elect for 2008 presedential elections.

 

Venkat

Rebel of the lord

No offense, its just hilarious

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fN1dPtEph2U

 

Venkat

Technium

A fine line I came across today :

 

"The finest use of technology today is to expose the largest number of people to the largest numbers of ideas, unprecedented on this planet."

 

Original Article

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2007/03/the-gift-of-stu.php

 

Venkat

Interviews from hell

Though I am not a big fan of David Letterman show, this particular show with Paris Hilton was quite interesting. This was shot after her short stint at the prison, boy isn't she grilled royally, letterman seems to be enjoying quite a bit. The best part is that she doesn't even get it,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKSxHYK_wfs

Venkat

A flight to nowhereville

You would have thought deccan air is the cheapest, guess what there is still a cheaper airline with a flat ticket of Rs100 bucks all taxes included. It sounds like a joke but the twist is that it doesn't fly, you pay the money just to experience what a aircraft looks like. Some Indian entrepreneur dreamed up to buy a dismantled aircraft just to give a flying experience to the less fortunate. Looks like he is doing well.

Here's the complete article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2558290.ece

"One can get anything if he is willing to help enough others get what they want.
– Zig Ziglar, salesman

Venkat

Desi Songs

If I put aside my desi bias and try to think of the lyrics desi songs put out, I should be mentally depraved to derive any meaning out of those. But they do rank quite high on hilarious note, watch this video of proximate translation of lyrics in English

It doesn't look like a one to one translation, not being a native Tamil speaker it would be interesting to know how close is the translation. Not that Telegu songs are better off, as matter of fact they are even worse.

Some nice lines:
"All nuns are gay"
"Some day I sell DNA"
"I know whats in butter....rum"
"My loony bun is fine Benny" and lot more.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1NoOOoaNw

Enjoy...
Venkat

Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon

Randy Pausch is a very well know faculty member at the Carnegie for his contributions in the field of virtual reality. One year ago he was diagnosed with cancer, and after a long and difficult fight he's been given just a few months to live. Watch his departing speech titled "How to Live Your Childhood Dreams" which was nothing short of inspirational and tremendously moving. Slightly lengthy though but worth every minute watching, here is the link to the page where you can find talk link (its a wmv file which would play in your windows media player)

http://www.metafilter.com/64880/Randy-Pauschs-Last-Lecture

Some lessons from Randy Pausch’s last lecture :

1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.

Venkat

St Bernard

Most of the times we come across common dog breeds like labs or Pomeranian's, this morning when I dropped by at a local starbucks I saw this unusual dog with a monstrous size, I should say I was amazed. I learnt from the owner that they are called St Bernards.

Some interesting facts about bernards:
They can grow anywhere from 130 to 220 pounds, imagine that.
Heights upto 27- 35 inches, people would mistake them for a lion
Even with sheer size they are not at all aggressive and quite tolerant to kids.

I should get one of these some day.

Venkat

Few Nice Quotes on Books

The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it   
P. B. Medawar (1915 - )

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.   
Charles W. Eliot (1834 - 1926)

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.   
Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier.   
Kathleen Norris 1931

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.   
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.   
Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)

Venkat

Geo tagged Panaromic Photos

We often come across gorgeous scenic photos not sure where exactly they were shot. Check out this new tool by Google Earth which lets users upload panaromic photos with geo tagg information. Now you know where to plan for the next vacation.

http://www.panoramio.com/map/

Venkat

Quote of the day 09/16

A Cherokee elder sitting with his grandchildren told them, "In every life there is a terrible fight - -a fight between two wolves. One is evil: he is fear, anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment and deceit. The other is good: joy, serenity, humility, confidence, generosity, truth, gentleness, and compassion."

A child asked, "Grandfather, which wolf will win?"

The elder looked him in the eye. "The one you feed."

Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hb2/499132570/

Venkat

Globalisation

We typically tend to view globalisation as a bad thing with notions like MNC's exploiting poor nations and creating greater monopolies. But a better understanding shows that globalisation is indeed a good thing giving a chance to third world countries to move out of poverty, current Indian economy is one good example to validate this. Watch this documentary where in the presenter makes the case for pro globalisation.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5633239795464137680&q=globalization&total=1838&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=2

Venkat

Experimental Radical Honesty

Read this funny article about a guy trying to speak up his mind honestly even if the consequences aren't that bright. It reminded of a old Telugu  move  "April 1st vidula" by  Rajendra  Prasad  who tries a  similar experiment for a months duration with  out  right hilarious  scenes.  Be forewarned that the language of the article is quite strong  (more Esqurish).

http://www.esquire.com/print-this/honesty0707?x

I was hesitant to send out this article but what the heck, just in tune with the articles theme.

Venkat

West vs India

This  interesting article  gives a  good comparison of western mind set vs Indian. The author points out that a western society is predominantly centered around by cultivating a dissatisfied mentality making people more materialistic driven and there by driving the capitalistic engine. On the contrast  ancient  Indian  mind set was  established towards serving the basic needs and striving for a balance through spiritual pursuit.

Don't mistake me into thinking that I am a ardent follower of any spiritual movement, its the ideas that impress me be it from any religious thought. Reading the article left me with more questions than answers as to how do you achieve a balance while still pursuing a capitalistic interests.

Here is the complete article
http://www.iskcon.net/lithuania/west_versus_india.htm

Venkat

Green Fuels

Watch this Charlie Rose talk with Vinod Kholsa and Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin) about prospects in clean fuels. From an opportunity perspective Vinod makes a nice point that growth in green fuels would be much  larger compared to IT or any other sector as there has not been much of innovation in this area and the scope of applicability is much larger.

Here is the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lRJnib93KVA

Their part of the talk starts somewhere at 27th or 28th minute.

Venkat

Nice Composition

I bumped into this well captured photograph

Source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/avani/show/with/1190276465/

Venkat

A video game of a different league

Typical simulation games have a narrow themes like a war conquest or a building a city like in SimCity. Will Wright the creator of popular game SimCity is coming up with this new game called Spore which is a simulation of evolution itself. The current state of life is one of the path evolution has taken but with this game you are the creator starting with a single cell, you can take any path your mind fancies way out into outer galactic exploration. Here is a preview talk by him at TED:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/146

Venkat

Apocalypto Movie Review

Though the cast are all relatively foreign, the movie captured my attention right from the start. The depiction of Mayan civilization was noteworthy, their costumes, weapons and various rituals were portrayed really well. The story is about a young mayan tribal escaping from the captivity to rescue his wife and kid. They are a peaceful hunting tribe living in a relative isolation who are one day ransacked by a group of outlaws . As captives the surviving members are taken to a nearby Mayan settlement who are far more culturally and technically advanced. Upon arriving women are sold into slavery and men are offered as sacrifices to sun god. Scenes of human sacrifices are really raw and not for the faint hearted, the second half of the story is action packed with his escape and chase scenes in deep jungles of Mexico. Watch the "making of movie" included in DVD extras to better appreciate how the movie was made. As a whole I was impressed with the movie, it gave a good glimpse of Mayan life.

Movie trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/touchstone/apocalypto/

Additional reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Gibsons-Apocalypto-Widescreen-Rudy-Youngblood/dp/B000NOKFHQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-6134136-4746462?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1185661509&sr=1-1

Since the film is in some native Mayan language it does carry English sub-titles. Mel Gibson did a good job in directing this film, I need to check out his previous movie "The passion of Christ"

Movie Recommendations

When we think of watching a movie the common problem is lacking a good recommendation, at some point or the other we come across good recommendations but the problem is we loose track of it. No one person can possibly know the list of all decent movies out there but when done collectively and shared by everyone the list can become quite useful. Using Google shared documents I have put up a spreadsheet as a starter with 100 or so movies I could recollect, people can view/edit this one copy from anywhere. Here is the view link

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pZSDmgcA5zHkQef07YSZEfw

For edit privileges I need to add you to the list, the ones with the gmail account in my mailing list I will try to add them to the contributors list. Contributors can further pass on the privileges to others. The document structure is rather rudimentary if anyone wishes to enhance it feel free to do so.

Micheal Moore's Sicko

If you want to know the true state of health care in US I would recommend you to watch this movie. Though not a mainstream entertainment, its quite informative on the state of affairs of the greedy health insurance industry. The take on socialism is often received negatively in this country, but the movie portraits that there are cases where in socialistic approach benefits over capitalistic model as in the current US insurance model. Universal health care in Canada, france and Britain are far more superior and within reach of everyone than the hyper expensive US insurance model.

Though a affordable health care in US is a distant dream, the rise of medical tourism in countries like India and China can be turnout to be viable alternative for big ticket Medicare.

Too see more reviews here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Sicko/dp/B00005JPHT/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-6134136-4746462?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1185255856&sr=1-1

Social Operating System

With the recent growth in social networking sites like orkut, you tube, facebook, linkedin, skype etc we can see each bringing forth a unique value like social connectivity in Orkut, video publishing in you tube, voice communication in Skype etc. Though each social site offers a unique service we can see islands of disconnected services what would be great is a seamless integration of these serivces akin a ideal mashup. Though few social sites have started offering data services through which mashing is possible but still we are nowhere close to the ideal mashup. Nova Spivack a pre eminent thinker sheds light on how this trend is taking place also brings forth an idea of Social operating system, here is the link

http://novaspivack.typepad.com/nova_spivacks_weblog/2007/07/the-rise-of-the.html

What technology offers

Kevin Kelly in his talk at TED talks about how technology is evolving and ponders the question "what does technology want". Here is a excerpt what technology offers us:

Differences
Diversity
Options
Choices
Opportunities
Possibilities
Freedom

Just like any organism evolves over time even technology is evolving towards taking a life of its own. Here is the complete talk

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/19