Birthday Calculator

Interesting links:

- Birthday calculator

- Numerology - Birth, soul urge, and inner dream numbers.

Get a Flickr Badge

Flickr Fun
Get a Flickr photographer badge using the unofficial Flickr badge maker.

Rains

Our world spins with purpose and precision, however sometimes it takes the rain Gods to turn things topsy-turvy.

It is raining since last night. Potholes have reappeared (in Pune they are never lacking), vehicles are moving at a snail's pace, and there are unscheduled power cuts.

Low-lying areas of the city have been flooded with water released from dams near Pune.

It takes me 25-30 minutes to reach home and it took 65 minutes this evening. There was a major traffic jam, mid-way through, from Wadia College to Yerwada.

A power cut to disturb sleep early in the morning and then low voltage at home late in the evening.

--
Mumbai, the city that never sleeps, has come to a standstill with local train services suspended, power cuts in suburban areas, flooded roads, traffic jams, and disrupted mobile and landline services. Read more on Satish's Bombay blog.
--

The Meteorological dept. predicts heavy rains for the next 24 hours throughout Maharashtra.

Search Google with your Logo

Make your own Google logo and search page with Logogle—the Google Logo making web site.

Information via Philipp Lenssen's Google Blogoscoped, which always has something new about Google.

Spot Quiz:
What's the difference between logos from Logogle and Google's logo?
The logos don't follow the BRYBGR colours of Google's logo, that is, a Blue Red Yellow Blue Green Red pattern of the Google logo.

People Search Engines

- A list of People Search Engines.
- Google search results for People Search Engines.
- Meta Email Search Agent MESA

Book: Google Power

A new book on effective Google searching:
Chris Sherman's Google Power.

Power Cut

A note in my diary - It's raining since last night. There was a power cut from 4:30 to 5:30 this morning.

Presentation

Ram Shriram's Presentation on entrepreneurship. (PDF, 65 KB)

Current Read

I'm reading Thomas L. Friedman's The World Is Flat.

BlogPulse

Intelliseek's BlogPulse—the blog search engine and blogosphere trends tracker sports a smart new look in sky blue, navy, orange, and white colours. Try BlogPulse' new feature on Blog Profiles and related information.

Suggestion for BlogPulse: Take the Top Links, Key People, and Key Phrases from the bottom left-hand side to the top right-hand side on the Home page.

Technorati Tags: Search Engines, Search, and BlogPulse.

Google gets a presence in Brazil; to open R&D center for Latin America

Close on the heels of its decision to open a R&D center in China, Google has bought Brazil's Akwan Information Technologies and will use it to set up a R&D center for Latin America.

Akwan Information Technologies creates specialized search engines for businesses, institutions, and Web portals and is based in Recife, the fourth-largest city of Brazil and capital of the north-eastern state of Pernambuco. Akwan's search technology used in TodoBr.com.br is now a part of Google Brasil.

- Read a Portuguese to English translation of Google's Press Release.
- Read the Press Release in Portuguese.

Technorati Tags: Google, Brazil, Brasil, Recife, Search, and Search Engines.

Cricket: Schedule of Ashes 2005

England v. Australia - First Test match starts tomorrow.

- 1st Test at Lord's, London.
July 21-25

- 2nd Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham
August 4-8

- 3rd Test at Old Trafford, Manchester
August 11-15

- 4th Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
August 25-29

- 5th Test at The Oval, London
September 8-12

Spot Quiz:
1. Where did Sachin Tendulkar score his first test century?
Hint in the names above.
2. Do you remember the date and year?
3. How many runs did he score in that innings?
4. Off whose bowling did Sachin get his 100th run in that test?
5. What shot did he play to reach his First Test century?

Request to Google for India Local Search

Please provide Local search for India like Google Local USA and UK.

Google Moon

Google commemorates the 36th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic Moon landing with Google Moon that combines NASA imagery with Google Maps and provides a view of the lunar surface with names of people involved in Apollo's missions to the moon.

Visit Google Moon and see the lunar surface.

Google goes to China

Google to open a R&D Center in China in the third quarter of 2005.

Clusty's Blog Search

To use Clusty's blog search and advanced blog search more often.

Google Bean Bag

Buy the Google Bean Bag for $150 from the Google Store.

Convert 150 US Dollars to Indian Rupees.
$150 = Rs. 6526

Google Store

Get a Google License Plate frame for your car from the Google Store.

See what's new at the Google Store.

Dentist's Address

For my ready reference:

Dr. Milind Desai's Dental Clinic
1st Floor, Vishnu Darshan,
Opposite Bank of Maharashtra,
F.C. Road,
Pune - 411 016.
Tel: 2565-3354

I'd been to the dentist's clinic this morning. I'd to shell out Rs. 50/- for a 5-minute consultation.

I've to take an appointment to clean calculus* from my teeth.

* Calculus - Hard sticky film that acts as an irritant by wedging between the tooth and gum.

An interesting thing: I found addresses of dentists in Boston, MA from Google and Yahoo searches, however I couldn't find more than a few addresses of Pune-based dentists. Goes to prove, the Internet as a business generating medium is yet to catch on with individuals in Pune who have their own businesses.

Update: Tue., July 19, 2005. 12:40 p.m. IST.
A note in my diary.
Went to the Dentist's this afternoon. Didn't have to take an appointment as the clinic was empty. Paid Rs. 250/- as the cleaning charges.

Blowin' in the Wind

1. Download MP3 of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind.
Size: 2.52 MB

Read the lyrics of Blowin' in the Wind.

2. Download MP3 of Goo Goo Dolls' Iris. Size: 4.7 MB

Read the lyrics of Goo Goo Dolls' Iris

3. Download MP3 of Agar Tum Mil Jao Zamaana Chod Denge Hum from the film Zeher. Size: 8.60 MB

4. Download MP3 of Jo Meri Rooh Ko Chain De Pyaar De from the film Kasoor.
Size: 0.7 MB

Read the lyrics of Zindagi Ban Gaye Ho Tum.

To Download these songs.
- Select the above links
- Click on the Free button that appears at the bottom of the Web page
- Wait for five seconds
- Go to the bottom of the Web page
- Click on the mp3 link to start the download.

Pixsy Image Search

Pixsy is a new image search engine that finds unique photos not available on other search engines.

I found a 1996 article on Sachin through Pixsy's image search.

Rediff Shopping

I'd ordered Don Quixote from Rediff Shopping and on checking the Order Status, I've found the book to be out of stock.


Shouldn't they have mentioned this information while showing the Search Results and on the Booking page?

Top Selling Authors on Amazon

Amazon's list of top selling authors.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince set an online sales record on Amazon with 1.4 million orders before its release on July 16.

Shayari

Nice Shayaris.

Ek naam kya likha tera saahil ki rait par
Phir umr bhar hawa se meri dushmani rahi

I wrote your name on the seashore
Then was at loggerheads with the wind for a lifetime

Duniya bhar ki khushiyan hamare saath chali
Qadam mila ke jo hamare saath aap chali

A world of happiness walked with me
Hand-in-hand when you walked with me

This is lovely.
Dil ki bechain umangon pe karam farmao
Itna ruk ruk ke chalogi to qayamat hogi

Bestow your blessings on the restless expectations of the heart
Your slow gait makes my world stand still
(The second line needs better translation).

Isn't this a cool picture?

An Aircraft Crossing

You've seen a pedestrian crossing, a train crossing, and now take a look at an Aircraft crossing. Nice pic., isn't it? Image from Airliners.net

Lunch

A note in my diary.

I had teen chai, maska pav, and bread omelette for lunch followed by Calcutta masala paan and strawberry toffees.

Thoughts at Lunch Time

What does our office need?

- 5-day week
- Lunch facility at subsidised rate
- Snacks in the evening
- Water bottles for all employees
- Better washroom (if I may call it that) facilities
- Proper vehicle parking space
- New chairs
- Less email server outages
- Lockers to keep belongings
- New air conditioners
- Cleaner office space
- Fresh coat of paint
- Faster Internet connection
- Less errors
- A good back-up facility

The change has to be drastic.

Something like a makeover from Sumanji to Chinky to make Munnabhai say, "Aye, Chinky, Tu bhot change ho gayeli re!"

PJ

A PJ in my email.

Q: By what name would you call a girl who is always frowning?
A: Hasina

Hasi+Na.

Rediff Newshound

Rediff's Newshound tracks all India news from 700 sources, and is updated every five minutes.

Spot Quiz: How many news sources does Google News search? Answer tomorrow.

T-Shirts

Xtees.com sells T-shirts with slogans. I bought the B+ T-shirt last week.

Time Magazine's List of Cool Blogs

To read:
Time magazine's list of cool blogs.

Lunch break

A note for my diary.

I had teen chai, maska pav, and bun omelette for lunch.

Leadership Article

An article on Leadership from Fast Company.

Find the best people, then become the person they want to lead them.

Be the leader your team wants you to be.

My self-assessment in italics.

1. Takes initiative.
# Their default mode is to be proactive rather than passive or reactive.

3.5 on 5

2. Makes (a) and keeps (b) commitments.
# They will give the same effort to a decision they disagree with as they will to a decision they agree with.

2 a. 3.5 on 5
2 b. 4 on 5

3. Co-operates.
# Says, "Yes," instead of, "Yes, but..."

4 on 5

4. Is accountable for decisions (a), actions (b), and consequences (c).
# They own up to their mistakes and pay the consequences.
# They know that saying, "I'm sorry," is just the beginning of being accountable.

4 a. 3 on 5
4 b. 3 on 5
4 c. 3 on 5

5. Learns from their mistakes.
# They make mistakes but don't keep making the same mistakes.

3 on 5

6. Talks about ideas and not about people
# They would much rather talk about ideas to make their company better and implement them, rather than talk about people and how unfair things are.

3.5 on 5

7. Has a strong sense of ethics.
# Their default mode is to do the right thing.

4 on 5

Some compliments that I've received as a leader:

Yohann in Bangalore.
Maan, I'd love to work with you. I want you to be my team leader.

Milind in Bangalore.
Given a chance you can lead people to the moon.

Navneeth in Bangalore
I look up to you. I want to be like you.

Some brickbats that I've received as a leader and an individual:

On occasions at work.

Pushes hard.
Intimidates people.
Tries to dominate. - I disagree with this.
Wants to change things overnight.

Personal

Random lines on a slow afternoon at work.

Looking out of the open window
Traffic flows on the road
Not one beautiful girl in sight
Colleague asks me, "Will it rain?"
I say, "If you want it to, it should!"

The Internet connection was down for an hour
Abhijeet's crow is sitting on the neem tree
I'm going to take a pic. and put it on our Web site.
We may not have a bottle of water to drink, but we have our customised crow!
That's something to crow about!

Co-worker checks a poem in her email.
I ask her to forward it to me.
She says, "It's in Marathi!"
I surprise her by speaking in Marathi!

A few gray clouds appear in the sky
Seem to be moving but are at the same place
Same as my work here

I tell my co-worker to change the grey colour on the Web page
She says no. Then adds in good humour,
Get used to listening to no from girls
You're going to get married! :-)

Humor:
The problem with the rat race is that even if you win you are still a rat.

Mid Day

Read Bombay newspaper Mid Day's 26th Anniversary issue.

Poetry

Nice lines taken from ebazm message boards.
Contributor - Karan.

Tip: Always good to acknowledge sources, whether you meet them in real life (IRL) or not.

Tujhse mile ik zamaana hua,
Maikhane jane ka bahana hua

It's been ages since meeting you
Just the reason for a visit to the tavern

Lunch

A note for my diary.

I had three chai and two maska pav for lunch at Cafe Ramsar on F.C. Road this afternoon.

Google Toobar for Firefox Browser

Install Google toolbar for Firefox browser. File size: 292 KB.

Google now supports Currency Conversion searches

What's New at Google?
Google Currency Conversion

Google now provides currency conversion results for a search query.
Yahoo! always used to support currency conversion, and now Google also supports currency conversion.

Try these currency conversion searches on Google

- Convert 400 US Dollars to Indian rupees

- Convert 107 Euros to USD

- Convert 1000 Yuan to Indian rupees

- Convert 26400 Indian rupees to US Dollars

- Convert 4000 Pounds to Indian rupees

- Convert 1 INR to USD

- Convert 5000 Australian Dollars to Pounds

- Convert 1 USD to INR

- Convert 10000 Yen to USD

- Convert 1 British Pound to USD

- Euro to INR

- Currency of Brazil in USD

Information via Google Blogoscoped. Thanks, Philipp.

Update:
- Convert 2.2 USD per gallon to Indian rupees per litre

All these currency conversion searches also work on Yahoo!

Technorati Tags: Google, Search, and Search Engines.

Google Zeitgeist India

Sania surpasses Ash on Google.

More people are searching for India's tennis star Sania Mirza than they are for Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai on Google India.

Read Google's list of popular search queries, Google Zeitgeist India, for May 2005.
Google, please update International Zeitgeist to show last month's popular search queries.

Afterthought:
Q: How would the S/ToI* write the above headline?
A: Craze for Sania's T-shirts beats Aishwarya's Kajrare Naina.

* For the un-initiated, The Times of India, that good ol' lady of Bori Bunder, is popularly known as The Slimes of India, and always makes for good tabloid/gossip reading. Mid-day is more readable than The ToI. The ToI is becoming more and more viewable and less and less readable, and now they haven't even spared blogs, linking to gossip blogs and such stuff on the home page.

Joke:
Q: What is the best way to watch a Mallika Sherawat film?
A: Watch it with the volume off.

Bombay Blog

I like to read Satish VijayKumar's BombayLives blog. His blog brings alive life and times in Bombay.

Read his post, Baarish Ka Dushman, about the entrepreneurship of Bombay and the one about a joke in a suburban local. Nice ones. Posts contain mild offensive language that blends with the mood of writing.

Related

Nice song from the film Paanch (2002).

Kya din kya raat hai yahan par, yeh saala dono barabar
Na raaste kabhi ho khaali, na band hoti hai gaali...

- Read the complete lyrics of Kya Din Kya Raat Hai Yahan Par
- Download MP3, 0.8 MB of the song Kya Din Kya Raat Hai Yahan Par...Yeh Kaisa Hai Shehar from the film, Paanch.

Nice One

A nice one liner.

If there are 'n' number of things on your plate from A to Zee, they definitely can't be more than 26, isn't it?

:-)

Exalead Desktop Search Beta

Download Exalead Desktop Search Beta.
Requires Windows 2000 or XP. File size: 8.4 MB

Dus Bahane Karke Legaye Dil

Dus bahane karke legaye dil is a fast, funky, foot-tapping, energetic number from the movie Dus, which releases this Friday.

Listen to the song once and you will feel like listening to it again and again.

Lyrics of Dus Bahane Karke Legaye Dil
--
Uski aankhon main baatein, baaton main jaadu
Jaadu main kho gaye hum hogaye beqabu
I looked at you, you looked at me aur hogayi mushkil
and you became my destiny tuhi meri manzil

Dus bahane karke legaye dil legaye dil
Dus bahane karke legaye dil
Dus bahane karke legaye dil legaye dil
Dus bahane karke legaye dil...
--
Listen online to Dus Bahane Karke Legaye Dil

Dus releases this Friday and stars Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Sunil Shetty, Zayed Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Dia Mirza, Esha Deol, and Raima Sen.

New Helmet

I bought a new helmet (ISI mark Aerostar) for Rs. 500/- from Deo Sports on F.C. Road.

July 2005 Quiz

1. Which computer chip was code named 'Williamette' during its research and development?

2. Which blue chip computer company was originally named the Computer-Tabulator-Recorder Company (C-T-R)?

3. In old English it means 'to burn' what is the current word for it?

4. The name of which brand means 'Sunrise' in Japanese?

5. In 1904, which company received the first US patent on the safety razor?

6. This brand was first introduced in Switzerland on April 01, 1938 after seven years of research in Swiss laboratories.
Which brand are we talking about?

7. Which company is the second largest cell phone manufacturer in the world?

8. This company was earlier known as Birla Tata AT&T Communication Limited, how is it known today?

9. In the world of software, what would you be if you were a MCP?

10. BNP Paribas, which became one of the first international banks to start business in India, is headquartered in which country?

11. What is the desgination held by the chief of the Reserve Bank of India?

12. Which Indian car is sold in UK under the name 'City Rover'?

13. Who is the captain of England's cricket team?

14. Which beverage company has launched the Kinley brand of packaged drinking water in India?

15. Who won the Men's Wimbledon title this year (2005)?

16. What is the name given to a short song, usually mentioning a brand or product benefit, used in a commercial?

17. With which product would you associate the brand name Baume and Mercier?

18. Give one word to describe a situation when a fall in the value of money causes a rise in the cost of goods and services.

19. In the abbreviation EMI what does E stand for?

20. Asia's oldest stock exchange is in the subcontinent. Where is it located?

21. The BSE Sensex comprises of how many stocks. 10,20, 30, 40, or 50?

22. What is the informal name for Australian shares on the London Stock Exchange.

23. Which animal is a part of the Merrill Lynch logo?

24. What does s stand for in the protocol https?

25. Who is the coach of Bangladesh's cricket team?

26. When did England last win the Ashes cricket series versus Australia?

27. Who partnered Mahesh Bhupathi in winning the Mixed Doubles Wimbledon title in 2005?

28. What is V.V.S. Laxman's highest score in Test Cricket?

29. Who is the only Indian player to have taken ten wickets in an innings of a cricket Test match?

30. Which country won the 1996 Cricket World Cup?

31. Which Hindi movie, starring Amitabh Bachchan, is based on The Godfather?

Answers on July 28.

Cricket: Ashes 2005 will be exciting

Missed last evening's tied ODI Natwest final between Australia and England. ESPN is still off.

England is improving and the Aussies are nowhere near the all-conquering side they have been for the last few years.

So will Vaughan's England win the Ashes again after Gatting's 86-87 team?
Pieterson, Harmison, Gough, Trescothick, Strauss, Simon and Geriant Jones.
It seems England is Australia and Australia is becoming England.

Last night I was following the score on Rediff. I thought 40 to get in 6 overs and the Aussies had the match in their pocket. But England managed to level. The Aussies are slipping in batting and bowling and England is going to come hard at them in the tests.

Shane Warne has always troubled the Englishmen and if they find a way to counter-attack and stop him from taking regular wickets then they have a strong chance of winning the Ashes.

It won't be an upset if England wins the Ashes. Although I still support Australia because English batsmen have never played Warne well and if he has the upper hand in the first test then the trend will continue.

Australia has Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne, players who can change a test match in a session. England's top-order should watch Laxman's and Dravid's 2001 Kolkata innings vs. Warne. That will give them an idea of playing Warne. Attack Shane Warne.

It will be an exciting, interesting, and record-breaking series.

MIT Weblog Survey 2005

Do you blog? Do you have 15 minutes to spare?

If you answered yes to the above, then go ahead and take MIT's Weblog Survey.