The Coolest Comment to my Blog Posts so far!!!

I thought this was the coolest comment to any of my posts so far. The comment comes from an "Anonymous Reader" and in response to my post titled "My Idea for a source of Energy" . S/he has an alias name of "ask me about it" and I thought I wouldn't be doing it enough justice if I didn't post the comment as a separate blog. So, here it is:

Ask me about it. said...

Energy can be classified into two types.. energy that can be "stored/transmitted/used else where" and energy that can be "used where it is produced". For the stored/transmitted/ used else where type of energy a good source is justified based on three aspects... reliability, cost and environmental impact. It might be interesting to note that environmental impact and reliability rank as the best parameters besides cost (although reliability and environmental impact can also contribute to costs as maintainance and remediation issues) in comparing the various energy sources. So unless you have a gym where bikes are running non-stop(with bonded labour from some asian / african nation i presume....) this is not a viable option for reliability purposes (assuming energy is transmitted for use as it is generated). For purposes of storing energy and then using it elsewhere the accepted method is converting mechanical energy to electrical energy and storing this in chemical storage devices or electrical storage devices (devices like flywheel type energy storage where inertial energy is stored are also available). For storing in these type of devices the obvious problem is storing enough energy before you can remove the storage device and use it else where... if you generate very small amounts (like those that you would generate during ur two hour work out) the losses are significant as compared to the generated energy. Again you would need a dedicated workforce to generate enough storage energy. (a good question to ask would be where do we see people exerting energy solely for the sake of spending it.. like they do in a gym) To talk of the obvious, dynamo installed on the cycles (remember HERO cycles??) is an application of "use where you produce" type of energy. Hope I didnt bore you.. nice blog though.

3:42 PM

The DOT COM Start - Up Worthy Idea...

Alright, first of all my apologies for not being able to do this yesterday! I was a little surprised I got just ONE caustic comment to my last post :P

Anyways, without further do, here it is. The idea that came up during a conversation with my brother is, to develop a search engine that would take in a zip code (and possibly a given mile radius) as input and return a list of gas stations in that area.

What use would that be? Well... here's the real deal. The search engine would have to organize the gas stations is ascending order of gas prices on that particular day!!! Some add-ons could include providing the user with the option of ordering the results either by gas price or by distance from the source zip.

So.... now for the ground work.... WHAT's IT GONNA TAKE? Hmmm... off of my head, I can think of a few scenarios:

1. Have people drive around gas stations on a daily basis and send back information to a central database. Simple, but not the most economical and certainly not scalable.

2. Have a "tie-up" with gas stations (thinking on the lines of mobile phone manufacturers tieing up with service providers) and have them send information to your database. Slightly better and more scalable.

3. (This assumes the existance of networkable databases in gas station systems) Have automated programs (WEB SERVICES, SOAP, XML, WSDL, if you will) extract information from the gas station databases and feed them to yours. Very scalable but, a wee-bit far fetched in its assumptions!

Cool.... I'm out for now, but this thing is gonna sit in my head for SOMEtime :-) Other inputs/ criticism appreciated!

Idea for a Search Engine Start-up!!!

If you are reading this, the title of this blog has done its job well in getting you excited! Well... come to think of it, it wasnt too hard, because in today's world the words web, search engine, google, yahoo... are an instant eye catcher.

So, whats all my fuss about? Rest assured it isn't just to get you to click on my blog post. If you have been reading (or atleasting looking at) my blog now and then, you must have observed that my last post sprung out of my frustration over the ever-rising gas prices. As a Civic owner I am way better off than the sports coupe folks or SUV fans, but still, a national average of $2.15/ Gallon, does pinch!!

Speaking of gas prices, brings to mind a conversation I had with my brother a few days ago. We were comparing gas prices between Santa Barbara and Portland (OR) and we quickly realized that the rest of the nation had made bigger (in comparison to CA) strides over the last couple of months. To put things in perspective, last November ('04), when I visited Portland I noticed my brother could get gas for as low as $1.90/ Gallon. It was unbelievable, for a moment I though the prices actually went down that day. I was eager to find out, and I did as soon as I got out of SB airport, only to see the same old... $2.45/ Gallon. And now, SB stands at around $2.60/ Gallon, while Portland is at $2.45.... see what I am saying??

Well... it might sound like I am contradicting what I said earlier, but I have had my writing dose for the day and I am kinda sleepy, so I think I am gonna write about my "Start-Up" Idea tomorrow ;-) ... please be gentle on the comments :P

My Idea for a source of energy

Gas prices in the US seem to be on a steady climb nowadays. Buying a hybrid vehicle seems to be the best way to go in the present times. Thinking of this makes me realize the significance of all the research that goes into finding new and alternative sources of energy. The list of alternative sources of energy that are actually being harvested at the moment includes, Hydroelectric, Solar, Tidal, Geothermal, Wind, Biomass and Biogas.

I came up with a workable idea for a new source of electric power. It is not novel in the way power is generated, but it is in novel in the part of the available energy (remember the universal law of energy transformation?) it converts to electrical energy. It all started with me fogeting to carry my Audio Player to the gym. Since, I didn't have any music to listen to while I biked, I got thinking....!!

If you have ever been to a gym, you have probably observed that all the cardio exercise machines, except the treadmills, do not require external power for their operation (if you discount the LED diplays). So, I wonder if it might be posible to use all the human energy that gets expended on the bikes, the elliptical machines and the stepping machines to power the treadmills, and possibly some more?

MS Walk/ Run

I plan to spend most part of tomorrow, participating in an event to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) research. :

Feet 2 Beat MS

Apart from the monetary contribution, I will also be a part of my company's team, and I am hoping to complete a 10 Kilometer run :-)

Wish me luck!

MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS consists of the brain, spinal cord, and the optic nerves. Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibers of the CNS is a fatty tissue called myelin, which helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses.

In MS, myelin is lost in multiple areas, leaving scar tissue called sclerosis. These damaged areas are also known as plaques or lesions. Sometimes the nerve fiber itself is damaged or broken.

Myelin not only protects nerve fibers, but makes their job possible. When myelin or the nerve fiber is destroyed or damaged, the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain is disrupted, and this produces the various symptoms of MS.

Conquered Montecito Peak

Today me and my Hiking Buddies hiked up to the top of Montecito Peak which, I think, is one of the highest peaks in the Santa Barbara area and also one of the toughest hikes. It was a 9 mile round trip hike and took us about 2.5 hrs to get up and about 1.5 to get down. When we reached the top, we found this book with entries by hikers who have managed to make it to the peak. We flipped through it and found entries as old as 1994 (there may have been older, but this was the oldest we caught at a glance). Here is one that I thought was cute enough to take a picture of, seems like a little kid who hiked up the trail with her dad:


A Cute Entry that caught our eye ! 

And of course we were sure enough to leave our mark...


Our Entry in the Hiker's Log ! 

Why the K??

This rather wierd and curious question just hit me a few mins ago... while watching the daily news on KCAL 9. Why do all the news channels in CA have their names starting with "K"?? I tried googling on this but couldnt get anything.... the only sensible explanation that comes to mind is, they wanted to use "C" for California, but that must have been used by some other state..... any comments??

My New Car :-)

My New Car !!! 

We actually thought of this...

I came accross this article about Samsung's new innovative ideas for their next generation mobile phones... when it hit me that I had actually thought of something similar a few months ago. Sometime ago I was chatting with a friend on the phone when she said that she really wished there was some way people could pinch or slap each other on the phone and what ensued was a discussion about the possible ways in which this can be done.... and I cant believe we actually came up with a marketable idea:

Soon, Mobile Phones will feel emotions

Trade-offs Everywhere in Life..

If you observe closely enough, you will find that there are tradeoffs in virtually everything in life. Almost every design, task, action or decision can be executed in more than one way and changing one parameter always affects the others and ultimately a tradeoff has to be made to suit our requirements/ expectations from the task, at that moment. And even more interesting is the fact that the trade-offs we make for a given task can change even if the task doesnt change... but the time is different.

I just got back from a 4 hour hike a few hours ago and I discovered yet another tradeoff... The weather today was cloudy.... there was no sun visible directly and there was also a very slight drizzle. It seemed like perfect hiking weather to me.... no sun, no sweat.... meaning far less exhaustion and more hiking for the same effort. But as always there was a tradeoff... I realized this when I reached the peak... all I could see below was a white sheet :-(


See what I am saying? 

My new Work Desktop Image

Stamp this one "Software For Work" !!! 

Understanding the problem is half the solution

Today was a pretty hectic day.... I have been trying to fix this issue for quite some time now and for some reason although, I was making good progress, there was this inkling feeling that I am not going the right way. At one point I decided I was going to put aside what I have done so far and attempt the problem afresh. So, I saved what I had done and began to go around cubicles, asking folks what they thought of it. At the end of the day I realized that I had been trying to solve a much bigger problem than I actually had to. I spent the last hour at work trying to chalk out a clear plan of action to solving this new/ smaller problem... and now I can't wait to get back to work on Monday... :-).... isn't it true... that many times in life... "Understanding what the problem is, is half the solution".

On a Day Like Today...

I was just listening to this song and for some reason I feel I can kinda relate to it!
If you are also one of those who's life keeps changing faster than they can think... you might like this one:

Singer: Bryan Adams
Album: On a Day Like Today (1998)
Song : On a Day Like Today

Lyrics:

Free is all you gotta be
Dream dreams no one else can see
Sometimes ya wanna run away
But ya never know what might be comin’ round your way ya
Ya ya

On a day like today
The whole world could change
The sun’s gonna shine
Shine thru the rain
On a day like today
Ya never wanna see the sun go down
Ya never wanna see the sun go down

Somewhere - there’s a place for you
I know that you believe it too
Sometimes if you wanna get away
All ya gotta know is what we got is here to stay
All the way

On a day like today - the whole world could change
The sun’s gonna shine - shine thru the rain
On a day like today - no one complains
Free to be pure - free to be sane
On a day like today
Ya never wanna see the sun go down
Ya never wanna see the sun go down

Free is all we gotta be
Dream dreams no one else can see
But ya never know what might be comin’ for you and me ya
It’s gonna be

On a day like today...

Life is a Marathon...

.. for the "lucky few" ;-)
... the only way for us (the "lucky few") to get through it... constantly remind yourself that "YOU never lose until YOU give up" (Courtesy, Abhishek's MSN Nick).... keep pluggin' away folks!!

"Marathon"

Since, we are on the topic of "running", an interesting conversation I had with my brother a while ago comes to mind. My brother is a very serious runner and probably the only "full marathon" runner I know of, personally. If you are an athletics/ sports enthusiast you probably know that, to qualify as a Marathon, a run (or race, if you will) must be 26.2 miles long. Turns out there is quite a history behind the reason why the distance is what it is and equally interesting is the origin of the word "Marathon".

The word comes from the name of the greek city, Marathon and, the reason it is 26.2 miles long is because that is roughly the distance between Marathon and Athens (both, ofcourse, greek cities). But why would the distance between these two cities be of relevance?
In 490 BC, the Greek army repelled a persian naval invasion on the plains surrounding the coastal city of Marathon. And legend has it that a runner (the only way to convey news of war or invasion at that time, was by foot messengers) was sent to Athens to relay news of the victory. Upon reaching Athens, the messenger shouted "Rejoice, we conquer" and fell to the ground, dead.

If I have you enthused enough by now and you wish to read more about this stuff, here are some interesting links:

Prologue: The Legend
(Excerpted from "Olympic Marathon", by Charlie Lovett)

FAQ's about the ancient Olympics"

Now. if you have been reading todays blog carefully enough, you may have noticed that I "italicised" the word "roughly" when I refered to the distance 26.2 miles, above. The reason is because, the distance from the Marathon battlefield to Athens is estimated at 21.4 miles. The lenght of the Marathon was not standardized initially and the first official marathon was held at the first modern Olympics in 1896. The distanced kept varying, until a distance of 42.195 Km was adopted in 1821:

Year Distance (km)
1896 40
1900 40.26
1904 40
1906 41.86
1908 42.195
1912 40.2
1920 42.75
Since
1924 42.195

Jim Fixx...

Thanks to the comments to my previous post by an Anonymous reader, I ended up discovering some interesting facts about "James M. Fixx".

Jim Fixx was a famous author credited with starting America's Fitness revolution. His 1977 bestseller, The Complete Book of Running , still in print, sold over a million copies and helped launch the "running boom" in America. Apparently, when Fixx took up running in the late 1960's he wieghed 220 lbs and by the time he completed his book he had given up smoking and was down to a 159 lbs!

But the sad and rather ironic way in which he died is probably the one that will be remembered the most. Jim died at age 52 while (of all the things) running! His autopsy revealed that one of his arteries was 99% clogged, another 80% obstructed and a third 70% blocked, resulting in a massive heart attack. His legacy still lives on... according to a survey by the USATF in 1984, the year of Fixx's death 170,000 runners finished American marathons, that figure jumped upto 400,000 in 2003.

So what does this mean to all the runners and fitness freaks out there? Does it mean that we are the same (if not better off!) being a regular couch potato? NO... research suggest that the number of people who die from heart attacks while exercising is aprox 1 in 50,000. Physicians admit that although runners are at risk during the hour or so a day that they train, particularly Marathon runners, but the reminder of the days they are at much less risk than the general population and can actually extend and improve their lifestyle. A classic study in harvard concluded that we can extend our lifespan by 2 years even with minimal exercise. Other researchers believe we may actually be able to extend our life 6-9 years through exercise and attention to diet....

Well... I am off to the gym :-) hope this motivates you enough to move your b*** too.. and thanks again to the Anonymous reader (see... thats why my blog's mission statement says "puhhhleeez do post comments"... thats my blog's dal roti ;-) )

"Not Excercising is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a week"

Just read that off of a banner in my Gym today... hmm... something to ponder about... so.... ponder away :-)

Competition brings out the best in Business and services..

If you have been following my blog you probably know that I was "hoping" to get up to Mammoth Lakes this weekend. Turns out I won't be making that trip afterall because commitments at work prevent me from taking Monday off. But I did go upto the point of doing some initial ground work and planning.
One of the essential things about driving up to a ski resort ofcourse, is having a reliable vehicle and snow chains. Since we were a bunch of folks making the trip, we decided to rent a car for the weekend. A few calls to car rental agencies revealed that none of them actually provide renters with snow chains. I found this really surprising for a country where businesses thrive on cut-throat competition and that's what ultimately goes on to create the best of services for consumers. We see this "one-upmanship" attitude in almost all sorts of businesses. Like, I just saw this "Applebee's" ad on TV, that boasts of a "CARSIDE-TO-GO" (way to take the drive through concept to the next level I say) and then there are the Bank of America "Drive-through ATM's" and even the rental car agencies have the "pick-you-up-from-your-home" concept
So, the question is, why would the car rental guys let this one slip away? Is it because, its hard to find snow chains that fit multiple tyre sizes? Is it because they end up changing their fleet too often? or simply because people dont really ask them for snow chains as much? I wonder why?

Is Windows that good??!!

A friend sent me this interesting email today and asked me what I thought of it and if it was true:

Interesting piece of info.
Windows crashes automatically if you don't switch off the machine for
49.7 days.This is accepted by Microsoft.
Do you know why?
In windows the Virtual Machine Manager(VMM) is responsible for
creation, exe cution, monitoring and termination of virtual machines.
This
VMM is a
32 bit protected mode operating system, provides a number of system
service at chip level of programming.
One of these services is "Get_System_Time". This particular service
loads the EAX register with the time in milliseconds since Windows
started.This service is accurate to 1ms.
EAX is a 32 bit register. So the maximum number of milliseconds it can
hold is:
(2^32) - 1 = 4294967295 milliseconds
= 4294967.295 seconds
= 71582.79 minutes
= 1193 hours
= 49.7 days
So after 49.7 days the EAX resets to zero.Most of the Drivers use this
Time Service to keep track of the time out of various services they
provide. So after 49.7 days the drives cannot use the Get_System_Time
funtion of VMM and they crash.
"SO DO NOT KEEP YOUR MACHINE ON FOR MORE THAN 49.7 DAYS. IT WILL NOT
ONLY CRASH BUT M AKE A BIG HOLE IN THE POCKET(THE ELECTRIICTY BILL)


Well... the only thing I had to say.... "I'll be really amazed if you can have windows running that long" :P

Mammoth Lakes...

... Hoping to drive up there this weekend and get some quality skiing and snowboarding done. The last time (and the first time) I went skiing was nearly 2 years ago in the Portland/ Seattle area.... should be fun!