The life and times of Tapan Parekh, Los Angeles, USA

Music using ONLY sounds from Windows XP and 98!

2008-05-01T15:06:00.001-07:00

Facebook Anthem

2008-04-05T11:54:00.001-07:00

Bob Dylan's Facebook Song

2008-04-05T11:53:00.001-07:00

Currency Tracking Project - Interesting

2008-03-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

WheresGeorge.com

I got a $15 haircut the other day and paid with a $20 bill to get back $1 bills as change. One of the bills had this message "Track this bill at www.WheresGeorge.com" message stamped on it in red ink. (below is an example, though the bill I received had different markings)

I obviously had to look up the website and see what this "Currency Tracking Project" was all about. WheresGeorge, named after George Washington, the first President of the USA, whose face features on all dollar bills is an experiment in Tracking currency notes as they circulate around the country and the world. Obviously the success of such an experiment depends entirely on public participation.

According to the website itself "Where's George? was not created to make money or collect email addresses or anything like that. It was created to simply allow people to track their currency as it circulates around the country and the world. The funds generated from the banner ads and the Friends program go to help pay for the hardware, software, and bandwidth it takes to keep the site running. The point is to have fun tracking your dollar bills and interacting with thousands of other fun and interesting people here at Where's George? Please join in the fun!"

So I logged in to the website and found out that this bill was first tracked in Seattle, WA three years ago.. check this out

Happy Diwali everyone

2007-11-09T17:29:00.001-08:00

Saturn and Me

2007-09-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

I was born on a Saturday, the Indian name for which is "Shani-var"
"Shani" literally means the planet "Saturn" so Saturday is basically "Saturn Day".

I was born in August 1981 on a Saturday.. thats the same month and year that a spacecraft from Earth, Voyager 2 was actually near Saturn, clicking away at 'my' planet.

Just something I discovered :P

Some interesting stats on Voyager 1 and 2

As of August 2007, Voyager 1 is approximately 9.7 billion miles from the sun. Voyager 2 is at approximately 7.8 billion miles. Voyager 1 is in the heliosheath, and Voyager 2 is approaching it.

In the next ten years, scientists expect the Voyagers to cross the heliopause, the edge of the bubble created by the sun's supersonic wind, and become the first craft to reach interstellar space.

As of July 2, 2007, at the speed of light, it takes 14 hours and 12 minutes for a signal from Voyager 1 to travel over 103 AU to reach one of the giant antennas of the Deep Space Network, and 11 hours and 24 minutes for Voyager 2, which is over 83 AU away.

Learn more:
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/
www.nasa.gov/voyager

Google Unveils Paid upgrades

2007-08-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Google has finally unveiled paid upgrade options. I discovered this since my Gmail account was at 97% capacity and I got an option to buy additional space when I logged in.
$20 for 6 GB per year is what I paid.. look at the screen shots below

Quintessensial Kishore Kumar

2007-07-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

Hilarious and funny, this interview is all what Kishore Kumar was about. One of the greatest male playback singers out of Bollywood, never trained to be one.
This is certainly one of the best Kishore Kumar interviews, which noted journalist and producer Pritish Nandy took during his tenure as editor, The Illustrated Weekly of India. He shares this interview exclusively with Ram Kamal Mukherjee. This interview was published in The Illustrated Weekly in 1985.

Read on...

PN: I understand you are quitting Bombay and going away to Khandwa…KK: Who can live in this stupid, friendless city where everyone seeks to exploit you every moment of the day? Can you trust anyone out here? Is anyone trustworthy? Is anyone a friend you can count on? I am determined to get out of this futile rat race and live as I've always wanted to. In my native Khandwa, the land of my forefathers. Who wants to die in this ugly city?PN: Why did you come here in the first place?
KK: I would come to visit my brother Ashok Kumar. He was such a big star in those days. I thought he could introduce me to KL Saigal who was my greatest idol. People say he used to sing through his nose. But so what? He was a great singer. Greater than anyone else.

Read the entire interview at the link below

http://www.buzz18.com/showstory.php?id=3252

Physics in the real world

2007-07-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

Law of queue: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone.

Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.

Bath THEOREM: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.

LAW OF ENCOUNTERS: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

LAW of the RESULT: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will!

LAW OF BIOMECHANICS: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

Mid-year update

2007-06-21T21:27:00.000-07:00

Time flies as they say and it surely has for me. One year of my two year MBA program is already over and it seems like not so long ago that I left Mumbai to come to the University of San Francisco.

I have traveled quite a bit since I got to the US. I was in Chicago in October for a NetImpact (www.netimpact.org) conference at the Kellog School of Business. I spent my winter break in Orlando, Florida with my sister and family and took a vacation in Keywest, Florida. The traveling has continued in the first half of 2007 as well. I spent my spring break in March visiting friends in Washington DC after which I went on to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Just returned from another short 10 day trip to Orlando where I got to meet my parents who were visiting from India.

The spring semester from January to May was very eventful in my MBA experience so far, some highlights
-The university team I was part of, won an award at the VCIC business plan competition held at the University of Santa Clara.
-I began my term as VP-IT of the Graduate Business Association, the student body at the business school at the University of San Francisco.
-Served at the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a non-profit, on their bay area chapter’s advisory board.
-Worked on the Marketing Taskforce for TiEcon 2007, one of the world’s largest conferences on entrepreneurship between January and May (www.tiecon.org)
-Visited the capital of the United States of America, Washington DC where I got a chance to meet some dear friends and attend a session at the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill among other things.
-Got selected to participate in the McGinnis Venture competition at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, which was an amazing learning experience.
-On the same Pittsburgh trip got a chance to visit Fallingwater, a house built by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright on a waterfall in the 1930’s. The residence has been voted among the best of the last century and is a place I had always dreamed of visiting someday. Traveling with new found friends from Colombia, made the trip all the more memorable.
-Applied for and received the McGowan scholarship towards the second year of my MBA program.

Just this past week I also commenced my summer internship at Network Appliance Inc. (www.netapp.com). I am working with the Customer Advocacy and Quality group as a Business Systems Analyst till August. NetApp is a great company to work at; having being voted as the 6th Best place to work in the United States. I am sure its going to be an amazing three months other than the 3 hours of traveling I have to put in each day to get to and from work.

The Software Story

2007-05-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

Mind your Language

2007-04-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

I love English
Can you read these right the first time?

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.--
You lovers of the English language might enjoy this . . . There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

Fess UP...you like this!

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so............ Time to shut UP.....!

Ganesha Idol in San Francisco

2007-04-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable, believe it. This is a huge 20-30 foot Ganesha Statue installed outside Macy's in the heart of San Francisco at Union Square. Its part of a Macy's Imagine India campaign thats going on. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it by chance when I walked by Union Square after dinner one night with friends.

Life and Times an Update

2007-02-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

The first month of 2007 has already gone by. A summary of the events that shaped 2006 for me and plans for 2007 follows.

2006 was an exciting year for me, as you might know I have shifted base to San Francisco, USA since August of last year to pursue my MBA - Entrepreneurship at the University of San Francisco -USF ( http://www.usfca.edu)

I started 2006 at Asia Plateau, Panchgani, India planning for the annual MRA-IofC youth conference slated for June 2006. I remained busy with my work and other activities between January and March. Also in the meantime I received admission to the Executive MBA program at NMIMS in Mumbai. In the months between April and June I began the process for business school admissions abroad, eventually sending out applications to just USF and another backup school in San Francisco towards May end. I also undertook a road trip to Pondicherry, Chennai and Bangalore and a short trip to Nagpur prior to that.

In June I was in Panchgani for the MRA-IofC National youth conference as I have been for the last 10 years, that trend is likely to break this year since I will be in the US. Soon after my return to Mumbai, I commenced my Executive MBA program at NMIMS. By end June I received a acceptance letter from USF and things started moving really fast. I received my visa in the third week of July and by first week August I was already in the US of A.

I spent the first month in San Francisco, pretty much looking for a place to live. Finding apartments in San Francisco can be quite challenging as I found out. I lived out of a Hostelling International, youth hostel for little over a month before I finally found a paying guest style accommodation at a retired school teachers home, a short 10 minute walk from my university. Really comfortable and convenient, as I didn't have to spend a dime for furniture or appliances and it feels like home. This house where I am now was originally built in the year 1915. The Indian consulate in San Francisco is on the same street too, a 5 minute walk from where I live.

In September I also took a trip to Orlando, Florida where I met my sister and bro-in-law after 5 long years and my 2 year old twin nieces for the first time.

I soon got busy with lots of activities at school. September to December the following things happened
- a part time job at the IT department on campus
- Activities with different clubs/societies both on and off campus
- played on the MBA American football team for inter department sports
- represented USF at the annual Www.NetImpact.org conference at the Kellog school of Business, Chicago.
- Won the student body elections at the business school for the post of VP - Information technology
- Commenced a research internship with TechBA, a Technology Business accelerator program funded by the Mexican government

After exams got over in mid-december, I was again in Orlando, Florida to spend 3 weeks of my 5-week long winter break with my sister and her family. During this time we took a short vacation to Keywest, the southern most tip of the United states, a series of small islands (key's) connected by a thin trip of road, the Overseas highway (US Route 1). I also drove around Orlando in my sister's car, visiting Kennedy Space Center, the home of the US space program. I returned to San Francisco by 10th January in order to prepare for a reverse business plan competition that I was selected to participate in.

At the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) on 19th January, student teams of 5 each were given business plans of real companies looking for funding, an interaction with the CEO's of these companies followed. Throughout the process teams had to act as venture capitalists (VC's) trying to decide which company they wanted to invest in and why. Real VC's judged the teams during the entire process and awarded winners. http://www.vcic.unc.edu/about.works.html

The USF team of which I was a part won "The Entrepreneurs Choice" award at this competition, the best our University has ever done at this event. It was by far the most exciting experience of my MBA career and an immensely intense learning too.

School began on 22nd Jan and the whole of this semester looks busy with my job on campus and added responsibilities as VP-IT of the Graduate Business Association. My work with TechBA continues and for the next two months I will be working with CEO's of two Mexican companies training them on different aspects of doing business in the United States.

This semester I am also with the Board Fellows program facilitated by NetImpact. Through this program MBA students get to be on the Board of Directors of Non-profits and add value to the Non-profits with their business skills. For the next 9 months I will be working with NFTE (http://www.nfte.com) The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, helping them look at various things including building a strong Board of Directors for their San Francisco operations and fund raising.

I will visit Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg in March for a business plan competition and will most likely begin a full time summer internship in June, I am on the lookout for the right opportunity at this point. I have also volunteered to help at TiECon 2007 in May, this is the annual conference by TiE silicon valley. TiE is The Indus Entrepreneurs, a global network of people interested in fostering the spirit of Entrepreneurship http://www.tie.org/

Best wishes for the remaining 11 months of 2007.

Indian Call Centre

2007-01-21T18:28:00.001-08:00

Awesome.. funny !!

LOOK ! Hilarious Lifeguard Pee Break ! HILARIOUS !! Mwahahah Very funny

2007-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00


Funny Video

The ultimate test of Age

2006-05-18T14:28:00.000-07:00

So if you are 40 years old and a dwarf, you still qualify for a half ticket on the state transport buses in Tamil Nadu. I thought it was brilliantly stupid.

Beautiful Pondi - Sunrise and Moonrise from my Room at the Guest House

2006-05-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

Pondicherry

2006-05-18T13:56:00.000-07:00

lman
After a overnight train journey to Chennai, I boarded a "Boing Jet 747 (above)" to take me to Pondicherry. ( 3 hours & Rs.55/ [approx 1 Euro] ).

I spent over a week in Pondi, mostly relaxing. Also I did these series of eye exercises at the School for Perfect eyesight there to help improve my "vision" ;)

I can say that those exercises definately helped, my number was down .75 point after a week.

Pondi is a former french colony and the french influence is still very much visible in one part of the town. The Indian part is fast growing over it though. Road names are still in french in some places but the other end of the same street would have an indian name, couldnt get more confusing.

I also visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville, both impressive institutions in their own right. The star attraction at Auroville is the 'Matri Mandir' this giant sphere with a mediation room inside.

Bangalore

2006-05-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

So once Citibank gave me the free ticket after that nasty negative review on Mouthshut, I was in bangalore, staying with Kamal. A friend of mine from mumbai, now working in Bangalore.

It was good to catch up with him after a long time.

Bangalore is a nice city, except its unbelievable how the who is who of the IT industry from the world over have setup shop there inspite of the pathetic condition of roads and traffic.

Its a city literally bursting at its seams in some places.

I met up with some old friends, bumped into one out of the blue at a mall . On my last day I took a half day bangalore city tour, which took me to some impressive sights, including the Vishveshwaraya Industrial And Technological Museum. The picture above is of this installtion there. The Magic tap, I couldnt figure out where the water came from . .. can you?

I also visited Tipu Sultan's summer palace in the city, Lalbaugh Botanical Gardens and the Bull temple. All in all it was a nice 4 days spent in Bangalore.

Who says complaining doesn't help

2006-05-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Whoever said complaining doesn't help .. In the last one month, my complaints have yielded results beyond my own imagination.

1) Citibank had this fly for sure offer in January, where if you spend 30K in a given month you were guaranteed to get a free air ticket.

I was sent a voucher to claim my free ticket, which I did. Subsequently I got calls from Citibank expressing unavailability of tickets for different choice of dates and destinations. In mid march I was 'given' confirmed return tickets to bangalore for the month of May. In end April a week before my travel date, Citibank calls me to inform me that tickets are not available.

I fired the executive who called me and wrote this threatening review on Mouthshut.com

I got a call within the next two days, offering me free tickets as per my original plans.

2) In April, I was booked by Mumbai Traffic police for over speeding. I was doing 55 Km/hr when the speed limit was 40 Km/hr while climbing a flyover at andheri, mumbai.

Anyways, I reasoned with the traffic cop on duty about there being no visible boards suggesting the speed limit on the flyover. Reluctantly I had to pay the fine that day.
The next day i visited the Mumbai Traffic Police website e and sent across a feedback using the form on their site.

Within four days I get a call from Traffic officer Patil (incharge for Bandra - Andheri) saying he is in receipt of my complaint and would like to come and meet me. He does and understands my point of view. Within hours I have a written letter confirming receipt of my suggestions and promised action.

3) The road outside my house had been dug up since the last four months. It was proving to be a traffic menace and a pedestrian disaster.
I complained to three different Municipal corporation departments using the Online Complaint management System provided by PRAJA in association with BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation).
The next day there were men and road rollers, working on the road outside and within 4 days a road which wasn't attended to in 4 months had some semblance of repair.

Three positive experiences in as many weeks. All of us should stand up for our rights.

Make the administration work for us, there are here to serve us. The government is working for us, the politicians are our employees. We pay them salaries through the taxes we pay.

Nagpur - Adventure, Misery and Triumph, You dont need to bribe

2006-04-28T04:14:00.000-07:00

Adventure and Luck don't always go together but that's what I experienced on my trip to Nagpur from Mumbai.

traveling by rickshaw from home to the local train station turned out to be more than the usual 10 minute rickshaw ride, as a result I missed my train to Nagpur. I had confirmed seats on that train.

Next I get the ticket cancelled. Unbelievable but true, in India you get 50% refund if you do not complete your journey. The deputy station manager advises me to buy a regular general class ticket (cost Rs.177/US$ 4 for a 800km train journey) and board the next train to Nagpur leaving in the next one hour.

I do exactly that without being sure of getting a seat let alone a berth for the overnight journey to Nagpur from Mumbai. I get on the train, leave my bags with a kind soul and set out on a mission to find the ticket checker. After walking through the train for 15 mins I finally find him and speak to him to see if its possible to accommodate me in the Air Conditioned coaches by paying the difference in fares.

Get a flat refusal from him saying that he cannot allot me a seat without taking care of the wait listed passengers first. I am not allowed to even sit near the AC coach and shooed away to the general coach which is literally bursting at its seams with people.

At this point the future looks bleak and I resign myself to spending the night on the floor of the train in the gangway between two compartments. If only I had started earlier from home and not missed my train .. If only..

Meanwhile I make interesting conversation with two other young men, sitting on either side on the floor of the train with me. They are in a similar situation as me, though not exactly. One had to rush in an emergency to Calcutta (eastern India) and could not get confirmed tickets. This chap is a Bachelor of Arts student from Bhawanipore college, Kolkatta (as Calcutta is now called). The other is a young man from Wardha, heading back home. He works as a service engineer with a diagnostic company in Wardha.

Soon we are outside city limits and cruising along at breakneck speed. This is the Superfast Howrah Mail. It takes 36 hours to cover the distance between Mumbai and Kolkatta.
Many others like me have given up hopes of getting a ticket without bribing the Ticket checker or some other official/authority on the train. None have funds to afford both, a ticket plus the bribe.

Hoping against hope I go to meet the ticket checker again to explore the possibility of a berth. I am very clear in my head that I wont bribe, and if at all he asks for something I would lecture him on morals, ethics and corruption :)

When I meet him, he recognises me immediately and says there is one seat available. At this point I am half expecting a mention of 'favour money' aka bribe.

Nexy he begins calculating the exact fare with taxes after deducting the fare for the general class ticket which was already paid for. He writes down a official receipt and I pay him exact change for the lawful fare being charged. He allots me a seat number and instructs the coach attendant to give me the blanket and pillow I am entitled to.

Thats it, no "favour money" asked for, no "favour money" offered. I head back to the general compartment to retrieve my bag. Along the way I meet others who are without a seat, they ask me "How much money did the ticket checker take?" meaning how bribe did you offer to get a ticket.

When I say, "nothing" I see about 10 people rushing in the direction of the ticket checker to get their tickets. I am not sure if they met with the same luck as me though. None of them could believe that one could get a ticket without paying "favour money"

You might say thats a very happy ending to the story of how I got a place to sleep without paying a bribe. But no. When I got to the Pantry section of the train, I discovered the shutters were down. Apparently after 10:30 at night they down shutters to avoid hungry "seat-less" hence sleep-less travellers looking for food.

The Pantry coach is the only coach seperating me from my bag and in turn from the berth I had just found, for a blissful sleep through the night.

Fortunately the train stops soon at a station and I get off the train walk up to the coach where my bag was, thank the young man from wardha for looking after it and head back to my bed in the AC coach.

Blissful sleep in air conditioned comfort for the rest of the night after that.
You really dont need to bribe to get your work done.

Writing this from Nagpur .. 43.5 degree celcius (approx 110 F I think) here.

Hello world

2006-04-23T03:51:00.000-07:00

Those two words "Hello World" is what most computer programming books teach you to print, when you write your first little piece of code.

Thats my way of saying hello to the world of blogs, with a promise of lots more to come.