Saturday, July 4, 2009

Computerization demands extra verification

Computers have crept into every nook and corner of our life. It comes at an expense. Extra verification might actually help deal with it well.

For my 24th birthday, my girl friend gifted me an audio (radio, stereo) player for my car. I was really happy with it. Not even 2 months, it got stolen when I parked it right next to my Department in the amazing city of West Lafayette. I thought it would be sensible to report the same to the cops and did so. The cop asks me to give him the serial number of the player and so I do.

Next day, I wake up with a call from the same cop. Apparently, my player was already reported stolen. They didn't put it that way but the cops suspected me of theft from the "actual owner" of the player. It is only after confirmation from BestBuy did they let me go.

I felt we rely a little too much on the reports that are filed electronically. I strongly recommend extra verification in these cases. I suspect some guy has lost his car stereo player and the serial number got distorted either at source or at entry. A little verification as to whether he has already bought it would have not put me in a spot. And in case, it really happens, they would have had a way to track down how it got back onto the shelves of BestBuy.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Questions from India

One friend of mine already stole this idea from me.

When I call people back at home in India, they always ask the same questions. Here they go, in the reverse order of sensibility.
  1. Is it day or night at your place?
  2. What is the time? (as if they won't talk to me if it was an odd hour)
  3. What did you cook today? ( For Pete's sake, I don't cook. Even if I do, it is not like I know what I cooked.)
  4. When would you be visiting India again?

Round figures

I never understand why people associate a lot with round figures...

Why is Sachin Tendulkar's 99 so different from his 100. Why can't people just talk about averages? Why do they talk about number of centuries, number of 5 wicket hauls? It is pretty weird.

I do understand that there should be milestones to chase and celebrate. But, why associate so much to a milestone?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

The Village Bride of Beverly Hills

Yeah. I am talking about the book by Kavita Daswani.

My first read in that genre. It was a small book (size does matter, I picked just coz of its size) which talks about the culture tension through a traditionally wed Indian woman's life.

Bottom line: Okay book. Good to read once. Very hard to read the second time.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Do colours bring "colour" to life?

For Americans - Colour = Color

This is the beginning of February. It has been quite sometime (more than 2 months) since it is all white. It was much better when eye could see different colors - green, blue, yellow, red. As if to rub it in, Fall comes just before Winter.

Back at home, winters were also very colourful. And, life is happier too. I do understand there are other aspects which make life more interesting. But, I was just wondering how big a role colour plays. Would West Lafayette be a lot merrier if it was colorful (but equally cold)?

I wish there were a clear answer to this - is research not to find such interesting things? Or, rather, I wish I could find that answer if anyone had found it.