Myopic View of Harry_Potter
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
Je t'aime, Je t'adore
Decision Making Techniques - Introductory Articles
We encounter them everyday - decisions. Business Managers make a career out of making decisions, and rely on scientific ways to arrive at the best decision. Even with the most scientific of methods, nothing will replace good old fashioned research. Decision theory helps in identifying the right choice based on good research.
Mindtools has a set of articles that introduce Decision Making Techniques. link.
Mindtools has a set of articles that introduce Decision Making Techniques. link.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Silly Season gets worse - Toyota bid for Raikkonen
According to Pitpass, Toyota are going to place a bid on Raikkonen's services for 2007. link.
The figures quoted are an amazing Euro 275 Million for a long term deal! On TV, there was report that this was a 5 year deal. This is huge considering that Raikkonen's hasn't yet won a championship and until last season had won only 2 races in 3 seasons.
If Toyota want to win a championship, then they need some serious talent behind the wheel. With all due respect to Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, neither one of them can be considered to be world beaters. If not Raikkonen, Toyota can and should also look at young talent.
The figures quoted are an amazing Euro 275 Million for a long term deal! On TV, there was report that this was a 5 year deal. This is huge considering that Raikkonen's hasn't yet won a championship and until last season had won only 2 races in 3 seasons.
If Toyota want to win a championship, then they need some serious talent behind the wheel. With all due respect to Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, neither one of them can be considered to be world beaters. If not Raikkonen, Toyota can and should also look at young talent.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Google Video hack
One of the biggest problems with Google is that they don't provide their services to all locations. Take maps.google.com. You can get satelite pictures with google earth but you don't get the same service with maps.
One more problem is Google Video. Give a search and if you are not from a couple of 'selected countries', we get the following message.
One more problem is Google Video. Give a search and if you are not from a couple of 'selected countries', we get the following message.
Thanks for your interest in Google Video.
Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn't available in your country.
We hope to make this feature available more widely in the future, and we really appreciate your patience.
This really sucks!!
Luckily there are a couple of hacks. A crude method is to use lifehack's method, which involves viewing the source code, and doing so magic. link.
A better method is to use a google video downloader. link.
In both cases, you need to download a FLV player.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Alonso to McLaren
This is a very surprising development. link. (via doctorvee). Patrick Faure's comments are here.
I wonder how this will play out. One scenario that a lot of people are talking about is - M Schumacher Retires, Kimi moves to Ferrari. If this is going to happen, where will Rossi fit in? The implication of Alonso's move is that McLaren would rather have Alonso instead of Kimi. It could also be due to Kimi making a move to Ferrari.
With all these wholesale changes, fan loyalty is going to be tested, but moving to Ferrari will be a really smart move for Kimi. 2007 is when all teams, including McLaren and Renault move from Michelin to Bridgestone. Both Kimi and Alonso would then have to settle down in a new team and get used to different rubber, but Kimi would have the advantage given the "special" relationship between Ferrari and Bridgestone.
All this hangs in the balance. Kimi moving to Ferrari is only speculation at this point of time. Plus, we don't know if Micheal Schumacher is going to retire or leave Ferrari or partner Kimi. Where does this leave Felipe Massa? Or are we definitely going to see a Rossi-Kimi combination at Ferrari?
Its Silly Season at its very best!!
I wonder how this will play out. One scenario that a lot of people are talking about is - M Schumacher Retires, Kimi moves to Ferrari. If this is going to happen, where will Rossi fit in? The implication of Alonso's move is that McLaren would rather have Alonso instead of Kimi. It could also be due to Kimi making a move to Ferrari.
With all these wholesale changes, fan loyalty is going to be tested, but moving to Ferrari will be a really smart move for Kimi. 2007 is when all teams, including McLaren and Renault move from Michelin to Bridgestone. Both Kimi and Alonso would then have to settle down in a new team and get used to different rubber, but Kimi would have the advantage given the "special" relationship between Ferrari and Bridgestone.
All this hangs in the balance. Kimi moving to Ferrari is only speculation at this point of time. Plus, we don't know if Micheal Schumacher is going to retire or leave Ferrari or partner Kimi. Where does this leave Felipe Massa? Or are we definitely going to see a Rossi-Kimi combination at Ferrari?
Its Silly Season at its very best!!
Sunday, December 18, 2005
TV on Demand via the net
TV4all has links to different TV stations that broadcast on the net. link.
The biggest advantage for me personally is that, I now will have the opportunity to get some "real" news when travelling in the US. So far, most of the news channels that hotel rooms provide are local news or CNN national news. The thing I crave for the most is BBC News. While BBCWorld is not on the list, there are other channels.
The biggest advantage for me personally is that, I now will have the opportunity to get some "real" news when travelling in the US. So far, most of the news channels that hotel rooms provide are local news or CNN national news. The thing I crave for the most is BBC News. While BBCWorld is not on the list, there are other channels.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Using Text to speech as a means for Podcasting
Feed2Podcast is an interesting concept. Folks behind the site, have used Text to Speech to convert an RSS feed into a Podcast. Its not a perfect voice that speaks when using the converted podcast, but its a start. Its a dead giveaway that the voice is computer generated. In addition, the intonation is incorrect at times.
I couldn't resist giving it a try and so I did sign up.
Feed2Podcast currently support only RSS feeds and not atom feeds. Since, this blog is on blogger, there is support only for atom. So, the first thing to do, is to sign up with Feedburner. Next, sign up Feed2Podcast, and point the Feedburner RSS feed to Feed2Podcast. Viola!! Its done. The podcast can be subscribed to from here.
There are number of ways to listen to Podcasts. Since podcasts are essentially mp3 files, they can simply be downloaded and listened to on a PC or an MP3 Player.
At first, I tried downloading different podcasts and listening to them on my ipod. But two things got in the way - firstly the download was taking way too long, and secondly, listening to podcasts on an ipod is seriously overrated. This is especially the case when you are trying to get some work done. I rather listen to music while working or in the gym.
The solution? Podnova and Yahoo Podcasts are two options that stream the podcast from the net.
I couldn't resist giving it a try and so I did sign up.
Feed2Podcast currently support only RSS feeds and not atom feeds. Since, this blog is on blogger, there is support only for atom. So, the first thing to do, is to sign up with Feedburner. Next, sign up Feed2Podcast, and point the Feedburner RSS feed to Feed2Podcast. Viola!! Its done. The podcast can be subscribed to from here.
There are number of ways to listen to Podcasts. Since podcasts are essentially mp3 files, they can simply be downloaded and listened to on a PC or an MP3 Player.
At first, I tried downloading different podcasts and listening to them on my ipod. But two things got in the way - firstly the download was taking way too long, and secondly, listening to podcasts on an ipod is seriously overrated. This is especially the case when you are trying to get some work done. I rather listen to music while working or in the gym.
The solution? Podnova and Yahoo Podcasts are two options that stream the podcast from the net.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Its official - Michelin to quit F1 end of 2006
Planet-f1 has the story. link.
This definitely gives Ferrari et. all esp. the new Bridgestone boys a huge advantage in 2007 and perhaps in 2006 itself. This was always on the cards, and today's announcement comes as no surprise.
McLaren left Bridgestone in 2002, saying that, they were investing in the future by going with Michelin. Well... The future is now clear. There will be a single tyre supplier not in 2008 but earlier .
This definitely gives Ferrari et. all esp. the new Bridgestone boys a huge advantage in 2007 and perhaps in 2006 itself. This was always on the cards, and today's announcement comes as no surprise.
McLaren left Bridgestone in 2002, saying that, they were investing in the future by going with Michelin. Well... The future is now clear. There will be a single tyre supplier not in 2008 but earlier .
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Red Bull and the Red Baron
Here's an bizarre story. Planet-f1 hints that Red Bull racing may be looking for Micheal Schumacher. link.
Christian Horner had this to say :
Hate him or love him, one must give him credit for what he has achieved. 7 World Championships isn't exactly a walk in the park. With the change in rules for 2008, every team starts afresh in the engine department. It would be really foolish to write off MS or Ferrari.
Christian Horner had this to say :
"It would all depend on (Schumacher's) motivation and if the timing was right," he said, adding that it's a "difficult question to answer."Its not surprising that if a team is interested in MS. Ron Dennis had famously remarked during the late 90's that he didn't need a MS, because his cars were faster. However, I'm sure he wouldn't have said "no" to MS, had he been interested.
Hate him or love him, one must give him credit for what he has achieved. 7 World Championships isn't exactly a walk in the park. With the change in rules for 2008, every team starts afresh in the engine department. It would be really foolish to write off MS or Ferrari.
Monday, December 12, 2005
firefox howto - increase speed
I found this to be a bit useful. Not quite the 30 times faster that the hack suggests, but I did find an improvement. link (www.halomods.com)
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Number 35
Finally!!! Its taken 1 year and an agonisingly long 6 tests for Sachin Tendulkar to move from number 34 to 35. Cricinfo has the match home. link.
SRT's career record is here.
There is only one person who can be compared with SRT - Brian Charles Lara.
A statistical comparision of two masters is here.
Myopic view of cricket, india, sachin, tendulkar
SRT's career record is here.
There is only one person who can be compared with SRT - Brian Charles Lara.
A statistical comparision of two masters is here.
Myopic view of cricket, india, sachin, tendulkar
delicious and yahoo - not so strange bedfellows
The official del.icio.us blog spills the beans. Yahoo has bought del.icio.us. link.
I also tried to find a press release on the same from Yahoo, but no such info was available. Hmmm.
We're proud to announce that del.icio.us has joined the Yahoo! family. Together we'll continue to improve how people discover, remember and share on the Internet, with a big emphasis on the power of community. We're excited to be working with the Yahoo! Search team - they definitely get social systems and their potential to change the web. (We're also excited to be joining our fraternal twin Flickr!)I'm interesting in seeing how yahoo will use delicious. It already has flickr but there is no "integration" of any kind between some of the traditional yahoo services such as mail, geocities etc and flickr. For that matter, there is no integration, that I remember of, between yahoo photos and flickr.
I also tried to find a press release on the same from Yahoo, but no such info was available. Hmmm.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Count down till GWB retires
A funny program that counts down the seconds left before George W Bush ceases to be President of the US. link.
Karthikeyan at Williams
ITV has interesting news that Narain Karthikeyan is being considered as Williams 3rd Driver. link.
Karthikeyan was the brand ambassador for the Ford Ikon at home before joining Jordan. This perhaps was the link between the two.
Its going to interesting to see how he compares against Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, if the rumors are true. Till then, we can only wait for the announcement.
By the way, googling for Williams F1 still brings up the BMW Williams website. However, the link doesn't load!! Irony.
Karthikeyan was the brand ambassador for the Ford Ikon at home before joining Jordan. This perhaps was the link between the two.
Its going to interesting to see how he compares against Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber, if the rumors are true. Till then, we can only wait for the announcement.
By the way, googling for Williams F1 still brings up the BMW Williams website. However, the link doesn't load!! Irony.
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