Kirukkalkal

Paul Krugman's NY Mag article, How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? , Sep 6, 2009 Complicated Pay Structure for American Doctors - A good read from Slate , Sep 10, 2009 Is China deliberately understating the size of its trade surplus? - The Economist article on Sep 3, 2009 http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/ Wharton's Knowledge web-site specifically dedicated to things happening in India

http://jeyamohan.in/ Nenjil Nirpavai by Sivasankari Tamil-English Dictionary - http://www.tamildict.com/english.php http://www.varalaaru.com/ http://thamizham.net/naalorunool-u8.htm http://azhiyasudargal.blogspot.com/

வெகு எளிமையான, ஊடுருவும் விளம்பரங்கள் இல்லாமல் ஒரு அருமையான இணைய புத்தகக்கடை. உடுமலைப்பேட்டை போன்று ஒரு சிறிய நகரத்தில் இருந்துக்கொண்டு இப்படி ஒரு அருமையான இணைய புத்தகக்கடையும், அதில் இவ்வளவு ஏராளமான புத்தகத்தொகுப்பும் இருப்பதைப் பார்க்கும்போது மகிழ்ச்சியாக இருக்கிறது. இதற்கு முன் மனுஷ்யபுத்திரனின் http://www.uyirmmai.com/ மூலம் சில புத்தகங்களை பெற முயற்சித்தேன். ஆனால் அந்த இணையம் சில மாதங்களாக செயலற்று கிடப்பது பிறகு தான் புரிந்தது. அதனோடு ஒப்பிடுகையில் உடுமலை.காம் ஒரு துரிதமான இணையமாக இருக்கிறது (இந்த இணையத்தில் புத்தகத் தேடலும் எளிமையாக உள்ளது). மற்றும் அவர்களின் வாடிக்கையாளர் சேவையும் சொல்லிக்கொள்ளும்படியாகஉள்ளது. எல்லா இந்திய இணையங்களிலும் ஆங்கிலப் புத்தகங்கள் எளிமையாக கிடைப்பது போல் ஏனோ தமிழ் புத்தகங்கள் கிடைப்பதில்லை. அந்தக் குறையை நிச்சயமாக http://www.udumalai.com/  சிறிதேனும் நிறை செய்யும் என நினைக்கிறேன். இவர்கள் இச்சேவையை தொடர்ந்து இதே சிரத்தையுடன் செய்வார்கள் என நம்புகிறேன்!

October 9, 2009 Though we had been crazy about visiting Acadia National Park , I got to be honest! We enjoyed the ride upto ANP, through VT, NH and ME more than the ANP itself! Probably because of the time of the year we chose for the trip.. Autumn. The foliage in NE is certainly much more gorgeous than in Ohio where we lived longer than anywhere else in US. It is a long drive from our home, but the ride through the fall foliage and through the state highways made the drive that much easier and enjoyable than the ride back home mostly along the highways... Our first stop was for breakfast at Papa Pete's just outside Bennington, VT. It was an amazing breakfast! We actually wouldn't mind a bit to go there on a normal weekend, though it was a 45 min drive from home.. After reaching Brattleboro, VT, we took the highway I-91 up North and went east to go through the White Mountain National Forest . That is where the Mt. Washington is located. Along the way, we stopped at every v

வன்முறைக்கு வன்முறை தான் தீர்வா? பெரும்பாண்மையான கமல் ரசிகற்களால் பெரிதும் ரசிக்கப்பட்ட வெற்றிகரமான பட வரிசையில் இந்தப்படமும் ஒன்று என்ற போதும், இது ஒரு சராசரி மசாலா வெற்றியல்ல என்பதே எனது எண்ணம்... கமலின் நடிப்பிலோ கடமை உணர்ச்சியிலோ எந்த குறையும் மிகையும் கூறாவிடிலும், இந்தப்படத்தின் வெற்றிக்கு அவை மட்டுமே காரணமாக கூற முடியாது என்று கொளலாம். ஏனெனில் -இந்தப் படத்தின் வெற்றியை ஊர்ஜிதப்படுத்த கமல் கையாண்ட வியாபார உத்திகளும் வெகுஜன ஊடகங்களின் விளம்பர திறமைகளும் பெரும்பங்களித்ததை மறுக்கமுடியாது. மொத்தத்தில் இந்தப்படத்தின் வெற்றி சற்றே கவலை அளிக்கிறது! திரு ஞாநி அவர்களின் இத்திரைப்பட விமர்சனத்தை ( அவரது ஓ பக்கங்களில் ) முழுவதுமாக ஒப்புக்கொள்ளாவிடிலும், அதில் அவர் கூறியுள்ள அடிப்படை யதார்த்தத்தை கருத்தில் கொள்ளவேண்டும். மாபெரும் விளம்பர வியூகங்களினால், இத்திரைப்படம் முன்வைத்த கருத்து அநேக தமிழ் மக்களை சென்றடைந்திருக்கும். இந்த கருத்தின் பாதிப்பை சமூக அக்கறையுள்ள எவரும் அறியாமல் இருப்பர் என்பதை ஏற்றுக்கொள்வது கடினமே! அது ஏனோ தெரியவில்லை சமூக அக்கறையும் வியாபாரமும் பெரும்பாலும் முரண்தொடை

This is a pretty big book for a light reader like me! That said, this one is not a tough read for a book on such a subject! I really started the book with some kind of skepticism on how well the author would stay away from the taboo 'racism'! To me, he stayed pretty away from that line and tries to give a very good bird's eye view of several thousand years of human development across the continents. It is really an eye-opening interpretation as I haven't really read anything this deep about humanity and its development. I am a little disappointed to not see any deep references on Aryan civilization and Indian subcontinent... On the whole, he doesn't credit any particular civilization as being superior to anything else. Apparently, every invention seems to have been a culmination of some kind of evolutionary process and starting point for another set of inventions designed for a totally different or similar needs. Necessity is often not a mother of invention! In m

This past weekend would have turned out to be a total bummer if not for the day trip into Adirondacks... It was supposed to be a muggy and rainy weekend, clearing up later on Sunday. So, our expectations to take the trip to Adirondacks for fall colors fizzled out on saturday... Later in the day, sun came out and we decided come what may, we are driving first thing in the morning on sunday to Adirondacks... This time we decided to go west from the southern tip of Adirondacks at Warrensburg and go through Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and take the Rt 73 back to get on I-87, so that we could make a good loop inside the park. Immediately after we took the exit, we had to go through the town of Warrensburg where they, apparently, had a huge fair/garage sale ! It was really huge - that lasted about 3 miles across the town! After we got out of the town and entered the park, it was a totally different kind of beauty with sun playing hide and seek with rain! The brightness of the color

This 'Duncan's Farm Market' is about a mile from our apartment and we haven't got a chance to go over there all this summer until today when we are almost in the middle of autumn! It is a cute little space by a local farmer.. While talking to him, he mentioned that this is his first year of starting a farm market. I am really amazed at how good a local farmer in a remote upstate NY village has done such a good job of marketing and publicizing (for instance, we mainly went there to get some organic tomatoes for which he had put up signs all near the neighborhood)! He already got his own logo for his 'Duncan's' brand name. He's done such a good job of presentation that anybody who visits them would certainly make it a point to visit again. There were another old couple who were actually taking pictures of their farm and floral plants. Fortunately, we had our camera too and here are some pictures here.. It was a cloudy day, but had enough sun and warmth to

We have been planning to visit this place since we moved to this place.. Finally, we booked a place here - Acadia Pines Motel - and are planning to go on the trip between Oct 9-11, 2009. We are excited to see the fall colors in peak and the sunrise (maybe the sunset too!) at the Cadillac summit (supposed to be the highest peak on the easter seaboard!). Here is another link about the Cadillac Mountain

ஜெயமோகன் அவர்களின் 'காந்தியும் இந்தியும்' கட்டுரைக்கு எனது தத்து பித்து பின்னூட்டும் அதற்கு அவருடைய மதிப்பார்ந்த பதில்களும் ( பொருமையாக, எனது பின்னூட்டத்திற்கு பதிலளித்ததற்கு அவருக்கு மிக்க நன்றி) http://jeyamohan.in/?p=4087 எனது மின்னஞ்சல்- தாங்கள் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளது போல் காந்தி அடைந்த நடைமுறை விவேகத்தால் தான் இந்தியை முன்மொழிந்தார் என்றே வைத்துக்கொள்வோம் . எனது சொந்த ஊர் பழனியின் அருகே உள்ள பாலசமுத்திரத்தில் வாழும் ஒரு சாதாரண குடிமகனுக்கு இந்தியைக் கற்றுக்கொள்வதற்கும் ஆங்கிலத்தை கற்றுக்கொள்வதற்கும் என்ன வித்தியாசம் தெரியப்போகிறது ? காந்தியின் நடைமுறை விவேகம் வட இந்தியர்களுக்கும் தேவநாகிரி பரிச்சயமான பகுதிகளுக்கும் வேண்டுமானால் எளிதாக இருந்திருக்கலாம் . நீங்கள் சொல்வது போல் கணிப்பொறியின் உதவியால் கனநேரத்தில் தமிழில் வாசிக்க முடியும் காலத்தில் இணைப்பு மொழி தேவை இல்லை தான் . ஆனால் இந்த கணிப்பொறியும் நவீனமும் எதனால் முடிந்தது ? இன்றைய கணிப்பொறிஉலகில் தமிழர்கள் அடைந்த முன்னேற்றம் ( மொழியாக்க மென்பொருள் உட்பட ) எதனால்

Today, I went to the Dentist office for a routing cleaning and also to get couple of very small fillings. After the cleaning, the Doctor came in for the fillings. Initially, I was told that I can get both the fillings on the same day. Now the Doctor said, that I have to come again because he can't give Novacaine (or numbing) injections on both sides since the fillings were needed one on either side of the mouth. I asked if the numbing was needed and he goes that it is upto me! How the hell am I supposed to know how big a deal is this thing.. I took the chance and told him do without numbing so that I don't have to go again. I've had my share of root canals and fillings in the past.. So, I hate going to a Dentist office for anything other than routine cleanings... By the time he could inject me with Novacaine, he was already done with one filling! So, totally, it took about 20 min to get both the fillings without any numbing!!! No pain, just some sensitivity... That's it

Sept 5th, 2009 Trip to MET - We wanted to visit museums and spend some unplanned time in NYC for sometime. Came across this Museums on Us by Bank of America, which included free admission to some museums on the first weekend of every month. It worked out well for this labor day weekend and we decided to got to MET along with Raji's friends from Philly. Parked our car in Journal Sq and took the PATH and Metro to reach 86th street and walked couple of blocks to reach MET. Headed straight to Cafetaria :) Had good pricey food. Controlled our temptation to have a nap (!?) in the nearby Central Park and strolled through the museum.. Of all the pieces, we have to mention our appreciation of the Modern Art section! Man, do they put thoughts in modern art in the name of art! I will leave it at that... Real highlight was a supposedly first painting of Michelangelo . We were really tired after more than 3 hours in MET. Decided to call it a day, headed back to Jersey City, had good food a

Sept 6th, 2009 After the trip to NYC on saturday, we woke up relaxed and late in the morning of Sep 6th... Had some delicious left-overs and headed out to the Garlic Festival in Bennington, VT. $5 entrance fee gets you in and you can taste and feed on everything that you can put garlic in (Can you not put garlic in anything?!). Apart from all the different spreads and dips, the highlight for us was the Garlic Icecream! Great tasting for supposedly 'garlicky' icecream! It was just a regular icecream with lots of garlic bits, but still yummmmy garlicky! Of all the spreads and cheese we tasted, we really liked a spiced garlicky cheddar. When we went to buy it, we decided to read the ingredients carefully and to our disgusting surprise, it had bacon in it :( Raji couldn't stomach it for a while... But again, the journey continues as always... We were careful to read the ingredients from then on... Another noteworthy taste was a Maple Liqueur ! It was a great tasting liqueur!

Aug 7-9, 2009 This was a vacation that we have been wanting to go for a long while and it worked out so fast this time that we didn't prepare anything except to pick up some maps from AAA (that was a big mistake, coming to know after the trip)!! We set out to visit my sister and family and decided to just turn around and take a trip to Yellowstone just like that.. With my cute little nephew, the trip turned out to be a pleasant one, even though we had some unpleasantries totally borne by ourselves! First Day - Aug 7th - ALB to SLC - had some delicious home-made rotis - and set out to West Yellowstone in the evening. Reached there past mid-nite sometime (I don't think I could properly recall things that happened in my moments of somnambulism!) I cannot not mention the cooperation we got from the 2-yr old nephew! He literally put a cap on his face to avoid the headlights during the drive and peacefully slept without disturbing any of us! The place we stayed was a very decent one

I've had this laptop for less than 3 years and the motherboard is cooked, already! Researched HP website and found that there was a recall on my model, but would only provide a limited enhance warranty! I don't understand this - they admit they have a defective product, but wouldn't replace it unless it is dead within a certain period! I scraped through their 'limited' warranty period and my motherboard is dead after this 'magic' period. So, I am stuck with no warranty and at the mercy of HP now! I called them and they graciously gave me a discounted price for repair (I agree it is cheaper than fixing it at a local computer shop or a service center), but still I don't feel it is fair to charge your customer who has a defective product to begin with! Am I expecting too much for the life of a laptop ?!? Or the life of a 'HP Laptop'?!

I am appalled to see the reaction to his book. I will state this - I HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, YET. Why did BJP expel him? What is BJP scared off? Jaswant wasn't trying to appease any religion or sect. Why shouldn't he have a freedom to interpret the facts the way he wanted? If you are a member of a Political Party, shouldn't you have your own opinion or takes on things? Should you subscribe your life and allegiance to a doctrine of the party like a dictatorship? Is this freedom of speech? Is this democracy? Should we take pride in being a citizen of the so-called 'largest' democracy in the world? I am just glad that he was not jailed! Even Nehru (Congress) Party doesn't seem to react that much! What is wrong in expressing some opinion and bringing some transparency to age-old facts? British did a great job of sowing seeds of separatism as a strategy (just like they did elsewhere). What a cunning strategy that they used to turn the attention from them and to f

Today morning, I was listening to a piece on NPR about how a hospital has dealt with an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who met with an accident and rendered brain dead... Hospital claims that it has spent more than a million USD and eventually rented a charter plane and deported him to his home country with a State Court's permission.... Of course, there are legal battles going on now (What do you expect, then?!?!) whether it is right or wrong.... For me, the bigger picture is - A 'well-developed', 'G-8' and a 'Superpower' seems to have trouble treating a single human being, citing the cost associated with it... So, USA cannot take care of a single human being because he doesn't have health insurance! I am not here to justify the immigration part or legality of the illegal immigrant's rights... There are of course millions of US citizens who can't afford health insurance. Is it really the people to be blamed for their ability (or inability) to

So much for 'categorizing' this under 'Fiction'!! To me, it didn't sound too far away from reality, looking at all the happenings around, these days.... Crichton attempts to extrapolate the gene patents and research in the medical field into a horror story (infact, it is a horror 'happening' and not a 'story'!). The author stuck only to the gene patenting in the medical field, but to me (should, for everybody else!), it is a reality check on the entire patenting business. I really don't understand what is patenting anymore (of course, I am just a layman in the technical terms, anyway)... Here is my understanding: You don't have to 'invent' something new to 'patent'. If you can invent 'something' that had not been patented 'already', then you can actually 'patent' it. Take for example the attempt to patent Basmati Rice by a Texas company Rice Tec (ooooh... Rice Technology!), when Kashmiri farmers have on

When we moved to the NY Capital region almost a year ago, we had our reservations about things to do in this region. We, mostly, like to do nature trails, casual photography and mild relaxing hikes. We were pleasantly surprised at the amount of stuff you can do within driving distance from Albany area, which is a welcome change for us moving from Houston, TX (I would have to crib about it in another blog for this!) Coming to the topic - Finger Lakes region. We haven't heard about this place until we moved to the area. It is about 3-4 hr drive from the Capital Region. If you want to go to the Northern part of the lakes, you can take I-90 west, which is a toll-way. If you want to go to the Southern part of the lake, you gotta take I-88 and so on... On Saturday (May 23rd, 2009), we took the southern route and reached Watkins Glen State Park . Its located in the middle of the town on State Highway 14. There are several trails and our recommendation is the Gorge Trail which goes along