How to retain servants

Getting a servant these days is like finding a unicorn in your backyard. Here are some tips to retain them.
1. Dispose of your old papers through them. The second hand market does give you some additional money, but it is more useful to them.
2. Utilize the examinations time to hand over the airline pens and conference goodies which you get to make the servant's children happy.
3. On a whim give them off - randomly at that
4. If you involve them to specially help you prepare difficult and one off food such as pickles, etc. share with them too.
5. Buy those brooms, buckets, soaps exactly as they ask for and when they ask for!!
6. Preferably do NOT peer over their shoulder when they are on work.
7. Do NOT compare them with another servant, or for that matter do not put down the neighbour's servant. Word gets around you know!
8. Do NOT give them food that you would not take. ( Many of us believe that the leftovers can be given to them irrespective of the state it is in)
9. Do NOT given your hand me downs that cannot be worn anyway. Buy them new ones instead.

Try them, who knows you may have a unicorn after all!!

The Cruciverbalist's Jeeves

It is a very fascinating way to spend the ealry morning coffee with the crossword. in the local. An insprining moment when you crack a difficult one. A sip and ha! another one bites the dust.

However things are not as easy enough. Either I am getting old or the crosswords are getting more difficult. Some of the clues are rank atrocious. The rationale known only to the setter. So I decided I must even the odds a bit. This is where I located three very good helpers. Absolutely marvelous.

http://www.amo.qc.ca/cgi-bin/pub/ODico/dico.out
A brilliant site for the unlucky ones at the crossword. Simply enter the pattern and lo you have the words. A bit of a killjoy for the puritan, but the joy of kicking the setter? Priceless.

http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/advanced.html
A terrific site thanks to Anu Garg. Simply the best for avoiding brain haemorrhage.

And finally
http://wordweb.info/
Quickly look up meaning with options to look up other online dictionary.

Next time be prepared to fight the setter!!

Shaastra 2008

Two days earlier I wandered though the throng known as Shastraa 2008, one of the more well known technology festivals at IIT-M. The first thing that struck me was the apparent absence of eateries. It seemed all work and no play. It turned out to be quite the opposite. I could see people lazing around with no evidence of organisation. But it was all happening silently, thanks to the ubiquitous use of mobile phones and internet; not as fast as the ‘speed of thought’ but nearly so.

The teen and teen++ are a very serious lot. Probably more serious than what I and my batch mates were in our teens. Focus is the first priority. Food naturally comes after Focus – both in the book of Webster’s and also theirs. Multiple programs, multiple locations forced clear selections of what one wanted to participate and attend. It was simply not possible to have the cake and eat it.

Apart from events on Robotics, puzzles, VC lectures, talks and lectures, Rubik’s cube extravaganza and 1001 things to try the mind, one event that was interesting was the one sponsored by Ex-IITians - The Water Filter Challenge. It had an attractive prize of Rs. 3 Lakhs! However robotics was the centre piece and the crowd seemed to have only that event in mind.

All in all a good weekend at IIT-M.

The new traveller

I rather stay in a hotel that has free wireless access than one that is say nearer to my place of work. This is the face of the new traveller. Bangalore airport has Passenger free internet. Send a SMS to the provider. A password is sent to you. You can avail free interet access for 1 hour. Coffee day - Park yourself on the high stool with Grande Mug, a vegetable croissant and the free internet will let you forget the airport environs!

On Creating New Passwords

My mail prompts me 'your password expires in 12 days. Please change the password.' This happens regularly and I have to change. The new password cannot resemble the old one. Wonder how that is checked? It must have small case, upper case, special characters and numbers and must be at least 6 characters in length. It must also be 'strong'. To top it all, there is no 'never expires' option! So how does one tackle this?

A good strategy is to have a password scheme which allows periodic changes without having to remember the password. The password can be say 'AugMonQ3wow!' or 'SepAutQ3Ahh!' . Here first three letters is month, next three letters is season, next two letters indicate quarter and then a three char expression followed by special char !. This was elaborated I think in one of the novels by Sidney Sheldon.

On Solving Crosswords

I like crosswords. Solving the crossword in the morning before actually getting in the daily rut is extremely satisfying. However the crossword is usually the winner with some words still hidden among the clues. Solution? Keep the paper down. Do your daily rut. Come back in the evening and try again. Not upto it? There are two sites that can help the cruciverbalist ( yes that is the word for a crossword solver!! )

http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/advanced.html - a good anagram site.

http://www.amo.qc.ca/cgi-bin/pub/ODico/dico.out - A brilliant helper for word finding.

Happy 'Crosswording'

At last - Managed to Create a Blog!

All things considered - I have managed to start this blog. I do not guarantee keep you upto date on what I think or do - only half. Hence Half the News.