A Good comic video found some where on Net

A Good comic video found some where on Net

I've been teaching tamil to an american friend, Rob, for the past few months. His wife is a tamilian from Singapore. I got a mail from him today saying that he was moving to Memphis, Tennesse for a new job. I am glad that I had a chance to know him. But its unfortunate that he is leaving.

- Siva.

ZERO

As a result of the lack of any exciting things at this point of time in my life, I've decided to do something to my long forgotten blog. Let me see how long I can keep my blog alive this time around.

This blog is about something I wanted to do, ever since I had one of those amazing conversations with Dr. Suresh. It was a brief glimpse on the beauty and mystery of 'Zero' (Yes the number '0'!!). Well, the conversation didn't actually start with the zero, but somehow the discussion led to Dr. Suresh asking me what I thought was the meaning of zero? It was actually a very strange question for me because, till that point I'd never given much thought about the number zero. Well, have you? I gave him a rather naive answer saying, zero means nothing. He just smiled and then started talking about something we were talking about before the question on zero.

But, that question has remained in my mind since then and I've been looking in the internet for some answers. I also found this book titled, 'Zero - The Biography of a Dangerous Idea' by Charles Seife and wanted to read that book sometime in the future. And, that is what I am doing right now. I got this book last Thursday, when I was just going through some books at a bookstore. I saw this book and immediately decided to buy it. I am presently reading the book, hoping to learn something about this wonderful number that has been substantial in the development of modern mathematics. I am actually really proud of this number, and so should be all Indians, because its we who discovered and nurtured this mysterious number, that had terrified western mathematics for a long time.

- Siva.

The Riemann Hypothesis Song

What a song? This is probably one of my favourites songs..Ha..Ha.. I am sure you will also have the same opinion, once you've seen the online lecture on Riemann Hypothesis. Do see this nice lecture that serves to introduce the idea of the Riemann Hypothesis. http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=4&EventId=275

And, here is that very important song I was taking about.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT!!

The most important thing for the song, is the TUNE. You have to sing it in the correct tune, otherwise don't sing it. Here is a short demo for you to practice..
http://olimu.com/Riemann/Song.MPG .

- Siva.

Recent Happeneings

This is the mail I had posted in my school and college yahoo groups about the new things that have happened at my end. I was feeling a bit lazy to write the about the whole thing and that is why I've just posted the mail.

I have safely reached the US and have also moved into a new apartment with a couple of B.Techs-one from IITB and the other IITG. The climate is quite hot and quite similar to Pondicherry and Chennai with very little humidity.
I left India on 13 August from Chennai by Delta Airlines. My route was something like this.
Chennai to New York (JFK) with a&halt at Paris.
New York to Cincinnati
Cincinnati to Phoenix.
The flight from Chennai was right on time (spot on) to Paris and New York. And, the flight from New York was supposed to leave at 5:30 PM from New York, but was delayed by 3 Long Hrs!!! So, I had missed my connecting flight at Cincinnati which was scheduled to leave at 8:55 Pm from Cincinnati. I reached Cincinnati at around 11 Pm and had to go to the Delta information center to inquire about the alternative arrangements that they had made. So, the alternative arrangements were,
1. I was given a seat in the flight to Phoenix the next day. It was not a direct flight but, I had to first go to Atlanta, Georgia and then take another flight to Phoenix from there. And, the best thing was that they gave me a first class seat in the flight from Atlanta to Phoenix. Wahooo!!!
2. I thought I'll spend the night at the airport and board the flight the next morning. But, guess what they gave me accommodation in a Hotel that was in the airport premises. The name of the hotel was Radisson. Visit the following link to see the hotel.

The room was amazing. I am sure there are places better than this but, this was the best I've seen so far in my life. (I was actually expecting hotel like one of those hotels that they show in the movies that are on the sides of Highways.) But the worst part was I could not make use of the things in my room. It was really cold inside because of the AC and I did not know how to get hot water to take bath. And I wanted to drink something but did not know how to use the coffee maker that was in the room. The one thing that I did make use of was the TV. I reached the hotel at around 12 Pm and was had to be at the airport by 5.00 Am. Aware of my nasty sleeping habit I decided to stay awake till four and leave for the airport.(The hotel's shuttle service to the airport starts at 4.00 am) Somehow I managed very well to stay awake and I think I might have dozed for a few minutes just after 3.30 am. But I got up right on time and washed my face and checked out of my room.
I was at the airport at 4:15 am anwas all-set to check in. Meanwhile, when I was waiting for the security officials to get things ready for the check in and securitcheckek ups i got to meet a lady from Ethiopia. She was heading to San Fransisco via Atlanta. She gave me a good company. After checking in I went to the appropriate gate from where my flight was to leave.
3. Delta Airlines had also given me a food voucher for $ 7 which I used at the airport to have some breakfast. I got dough-nutut and a coffee. The dough-nut wasOK but the coffee was horrible. After having taken a few sips I decided to just throw it into the trash bin.
4. They also gave me a phone card which i used to call my parents and let them know about my situation. As I had expected they were not very happy. I also called Aakash and asked him some help about how to call home and etc. The help which he extendeded was more than I could ask for. He also helpemere when I reached Phoenix which i would describebe later.

So, at 6.10 am I left for Atlanta and was there in 1 Hr. The place was very good. So, was Cincinnati. (The Airports here are huuuuuuggggggggeeeeee). I had to board my flight to Phoenix almost immediately after having reached Atlanta so could not do much in the airport. The flight left at around 8. 30 Am and reached Phoenix in 3 Hrs and the local time there was 9.15 Am.
At Phoenix I had tclaimin my baggage and call a guyIndiaia student) and ask him for directions on where and how to come or ask him for a pick up. But, then number was engaged from last night. I did not know what to do and I had to call the only other person who I knew and i had his number. Aakash. He said he'll contact those guys and ask them to pick me up from the airport. I had given him the number of the public phone that I had used to contact him so that he could contact me back. So, to make things more confusing my baggage did not arrive at the specified baggage claim carousel. I think my baggagees were routed through another flight. I had 3 big suitcases and a cabin luggage. I got one mluggagees in another carousel. Aakash had called me back after some time back and told me that someone called Nihar is coming to pick me up from the airport and Terminal North-side near the baggage claim. That was the place were I was waiting. Actually things did not happen that easily. We had to call each other 3 to 4 times to get all things settled and the same thing between Aakash and the Indian Student's Association at ASU. So, Nihar was there around 11.15 and we went to the apartment complex where he was staying. Temporarily I was put up with some guys from Karnataka(Banglore) . One of the guys was from Tamil Nadu.I got to meet some more people and talked to them about the available rooms where I could move in. I had to go back to the airport at around 1 Pm to report about my baggage to the Delta officials. So, I went back and reported about my baggage. The person told me that my baggage might be coming direct flight from Cincinnati to Phoenix which was expected at 1.45 PM. So, I waited till 1.45 and got my remaining two baggage. Then , I got a cab (that how people here call a taxi) and went to theapparentt. The apartment is called University Crossroads and is very close to the University.
I moved into my new apartment on Monday with two other guys. Both are B.Techs from IIT. One has come for MS in Electrical Engineering and the other guys has come for a PhD in Material Science. Both of them are from Andhra Pradhesh.
I will be meeting my PhD supervisor on Thursday.
I met a guy from Mexico during my orientation. He seems like a decent guy. He has come for MS in Mechanical Engineering.
I met one of our juniors from PEC. He was a hostler from Chennai and he is from the EEE department. His name is Harish. He is a bit dark in complexion and has a childish face.

A Weekend of mixed emotions for a fan

What has gone wrong, this year, with Ferrari? Its is very difficult for me to comprehend how the Italian giant has lost it completly this year. This year's Ferrari is very much unlike the one we have been used for some time in the past. All the hopes for Ferrari and Schumi were completly wahsed out after the mediocre show by the Ferrari in the recent German grand prix. And, what is Barichello upto? Can 't he even manage to finish in point scoring positions?

This is what the german master had to say after the German grand prix. "I don't think I can count myself in this battle any more. It's obvious that we have to get faster. Our main problem is the tyres. The main problem is the lack of grip with the tyres."

I just hope Ferrari and Bridgestone can come up with something better next year.

And, an era came to an end last sunday in Paris, when Lance Armstrong crossed the finish line to win his 7th Tour de France tittle and announced his retirement. It was great to see him clinch the 7th tittle in a row but its bad that we will not get to seem him around anymore in the Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong with his children after wining the Tour de France 2005

A lot has happened

It would be an understatement, if I said that its been a long time since I even logged into my blog account. Its been almost four months (120 days to be exact) since my last post. A lot has happened in these four months.
First and foremost, my two year stint at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is over. I have finished my M.Tech in Biomedical Engineering. I successfully completed my M.Tech defense on the 27th June. I had a very good time at IITB and the memory of the place will be with me for a long time to come. I made some good friends and got the oppurtunity to work under Dr. Suresh Roland Devasahayam, Dr. Rohit Manchanda, Dr. Rakesh Lal. It was real pleasure working under them. I must thank Dr. Suresh for having given me an oppurtunity to work in my prime area of interest. Working under his supervision was simple amazing and I couldn't have expected a better start to my research career.

I will be, very soon, joining the Arizona State University (Tempe, USA) for pursuing my PhD in Bioengineering. I got my admit on 5th May. I had applied to four universities and got an admit only in ASU. I still have to give my visa interview, which is presently scheduled on the 12 of August.

And regarding the things I've been doing these four months, I have been able to keep my reading habit alive through these months. Though I started reading a few books, I've finished only one of them (The Guide by R K Narayan).

'The Guide' was a real good read. The story was nice and R K Narayan's writing was even better. I had, previously, read one of R K Narayan's novels titled Sweet Vendor, which I didn't find that interesting. But, 'The Guide' was very different. The book was actually suggested to me by my brother, who seems to have a taken a lot of interest, recenlty, in reading; he has been propogandizing about the book to many people (Suja being one of them). The other books which I started reading, but still have not completed, are The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Phantoms in the Brain, Shortest Lines.

I have been keeping myself abreast of the developments in the present F1 season. Though the chips are down in Ferrari's camp, the season has been quite interesting. Alonso defintely looks menacing this season. With each race passing by, the chances he being crowned this year's world champion are getting stronger.

I am really looking forward to the Indian Oil Tri-nation Cup in Srilanka that is starting in August. I would like to see what change Greg Chappel's coachinjg brings into the team. I am sure Greg Chappel is not going to be a as easy as John Right was, sometimes, on our players.

Presently, I am enjoying the live telecast of Tour De France. Lance Armstrong looks well set for his 7 (& final) straight Tour De France victory. (If you are looking for a story to inspire you, then reading about Lance Armstrong is more than sufficient. Do visit his site to know what is so special about him)

Lance Armstrong

But, its bad that this will be the last time we will be seeing Lance racing as he will retire at the end of this year's Tour de France (July 24th).