LATEX rules!

Ah, then! We do have LATEX support in wordpress… although I’ve taken nearly a year to realise this

Check out http://wordpress.com/blog/2007/02/17/math-for-the-masses/

So, then we can have , and what not, all written in these blogs…

India Rising…

My Sunday’s been wonderfully brightened by two posts on rediff:

• Are India’s infrastructure woes over?

I think all of us have been witness to the mobile phone revolution and the telecom revolution in general in this country. Village or city, the connectivity has improved drastically. The new expressways, improved roads as part of the golden quadrilateral project etc, have helped to facelift the roadways. With the advent of the low cost domestic airlines, air traffic has increased sufficiently and been extended even to the common man many times. And the railways silently keeps carrying efficiently, crores of people. It is really heartening to see the intelligent design of the new railway coaches, the e-ticket concept and all other railway improvements…

Just for a moment though, let’s not believe that the situation is all too rosy and get our feet back to the ground: Mumbai still struggles to live with its monsoon rains, Chennai still has sporadic water problems and Bangalore, as the PM Manmohan Singh just almost said has become the proverbial hare: just struggling to live up after a bright start, with pathetic infrastructure, esp. roads and traffic. Delhi remains the unsafest place in the country, esp. for women. If this is the scenario with the metros, where are we headed? It’s more or less the case of the proverbial drunkard who steps 4 paces ahead and falls back 3. At least, there is progress! However, the situation is not bleak and only a bright future for India seems to beckon! Companies like Reliance, TATA’s, Infy are all making big strides and the economy has been in a bull run (though with hiccups) for long. Let’s hope things only improve! JAI HIND!

• India 12th richest nation in 2005: World Bank

1. US, $12.46 tn
2. Japan, $4.51 tn
3. Germany, $2.78 tn
4. China, $2.23
5. Britain, $2.19 tn
6. France, $2.11 tn
7. Italy, $1.72 tn
8. Spain, $1.124 tn
9. Canada, $1.115 tn
10. Brazil, $794.10 bn
11. South Korea, $787.62 bn
12. INDIA, $785.47 bn

Though I am not a great fan of these numbers, I guess wealth/GDP is one of the important indicators to at least the quality of life. Of course, contentment should rank higher, and I do think such a study (of satisfaction) was done sometime back, though I fail to recall the results. The important goals for India should be the creation of a caste-free, reservation-free society, with sufficient social security and justice, with an emphasis of primary education and food for all.

Let’s hope we can indeed become a developed nation by 2020 (or even earlier :D)

Why Are Nails On A Blackboard Irritating?

“Fingernails on a blackboard. Why does the very phrase send chills down one’s back? The question has annoyed scientists for at least 2,300 years. Aristotle mentioned “hard sounds”, but didn’t try very hard to explain them.”

Amusing that this is such a common phenomenon…. eeeeks… Check out the whole digg story.. quite interesting :D!

read more | digg story

पल पल है भारी (Pal Pal Hai Bhaari)

One of the most extraordinary songs I’ve heard recently, not just the music but even the lyrics… Kudos to A R Rahman and Javed Akhtar…

मधुश्री:
आ… आ…

मधुश्री:
पल पल है भारी वो बिपता है आ‍ई
मोहे बचाने अब आ‍ओ रघु-रायी
आ‍ओ रघुवीर आ‍ओ, रघुपति राम आ‍ओ
मोरे मन के स्वामी, मोरे श्री राम आ‍ओ
राम राम जपती हूँ, सुन लो मेरी राम आ‍ओ
राम राम जपती हूँ, सुन लो मेरी राम जी
भजे सत्य का डंका, जले पाप की लङ्का
इसी क्षण तुम आ‍ओ, मुक्त करा‍ओ
सुन भी लो अब मेरी दुहा‍ई
पल पल है भारी वो बिपता है आ‍ई
मोहे बचाने अब आ‍ओ रघु-रायी
विजय / आशुतोश:
राम को भूलो ये देखो रावण आया है
फैली सारी सृष्टि पर जिसकी छाया है
जो जपती हो राम राम तुम क्यों लेती हो राम नाम तुम
राम राम कारण जो ये तुमने है लगाया, सीता
सीता तुमने राम में ऐस क्या गुण पाया

मधुश्री
गिन पा‍एगा उनके गुण को को‍ई क्या, इतने शब्द ही कहाँ है
पहोंचेगा उस शिखारी के कौन भला मेरे रामजी जहाँ है
जग में सब से उत्तम है, मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम है
सब से शक्तिशाली है, फिर भी रखते संयम है पर
उनके संयम की अब आने को है सीमा
रावण समय है, माँग ले क्षमा

All:

भजे सत्य का डंका, जले पाप कि लङ्का
आ‍ए राजा राम करे हम प्रणाम
संग ला‍ए लक्ष्मण जैसा भा‍ई

मधुश्री:
पल पल है भारी वो बिपता है आ‍ई
मोहे बचाने अब आ‍ओ रघु-रायी
विजय:
राम में शक्ति अगर है, राम में साहस है तो
क्यों नहीं आ‍ए अभी तक वो तुम्हारी रक्षा को
जिनका वर्णन करने में थकती नहीं हो तुम यहाँ
ये बता‍ओ वो तुम्हारे राम है इस पल कहाँ

मधुश्री:
राम हृदय में है मेरे, राम ही धडकन में है
राम मेरे आत्मा में, राम ही जीवन में है
राम हर पल में है मेरे, राम है हर स्वास में
राम हर आशा में मेरी, राम ही हर आस में

विजय:
हो…

राम ही तो करुणा में है, शान्ति में राम है
राम ही है एकता में, प्रगति में राम है
राम बस भक्तों नहीं शत्रु के भी चिन्तन में है
देख तज के पाप रावण, राम तेरे मन में है
राम तेरे मन में है, राम मेरे मन में है -२
राम तो घर घर में है, राम हर आंगन में है
मन से रावण जो निकाले, राम उसके मन में है -२

All:
आ… हो… आ… हो… हो… हो…

मधुश्री
पल पल है भारी वो बिपता है आ‍ई
मोहे बचाने अब आ‍ओ रघु-रायी

All:
सुनो रामजी आ‍ए, मोरे रामजी आ‍ए
राजा रामचन्द्र आ‍ए, श्री रामचन्द्र आ‍ए
रामजी आ‍ए, मोरे रामजी आ‍ए
श्री रामचन्द्र आ‍ए हो

All:
सुनो रामजी आ‍ए, मोरे रामजी आ‍ए
राजा रामचन्द्र आ‍ए, श्री रामचन्द्र आ‍ए
रामजी आ‍ए, मोरे रामजी आ‍ए
श्री रामचन्द्र आ‍ए हो

Bill Gates’ e-mail to employees on his retirement plans

This is an awesome email, in terms of both the content as well as Gates’ own vision. I admire the philanthropist in this man. Make sure you read some of the most ‘dugg’ comments on the digg story… Damn good read..

read more | digg story

Happy Birthday, Dr Doyle!

 

147 years ago, on this day, was born the creator of arguably the most famous detective of all time, fictional though, Sherlock Holmes! 

 

There are two famous lists of favourite stories: that of Conan Doyle himself, in 1927, and that of the Baker Street Journal in 1959.

Conan Doyle's list:

1. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
2. "The Red-Headed League"
3. "The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
4. "The Adventure of the Final Problem"
5. "A Scandal in Bohemia"
6. "The Adventure of the Empty House"
7. "The Five Orange Pips"
8. "The Adventure of the Second Stain"
9. "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot"
10. "The Adventure of the Priory School"
11. "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual"
12. "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"

The Baker Street Journal's list:

1. "The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
2. "The Red-Headed League"
3. "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
4. "The Adventure of Silver Blaze"
5. "A Scandal in Bohemia"
6. "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual"
7. "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans"
8. "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"
9. "The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
10. "The Adventure of the Empty House"

 

 

Illegal prime

An illegal prime is a prime number which contains information forbidden by law to possess or distribute.

This reads hilarious, if not crazy!

Check out the digg page with the comments, as well as the wikipedia article.

read more | digg story

Cometh Holi, cometh the Ho(o)ligans!

Holi, the Indian festival of colours is quite a one-of-its-kind festival, commemorating both the destruction of Holika, as well as the burning of Manmatha, symbolising desire/lust. Read more on the mythology on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi

However, the colour-throwing, as fun as it may be, has often been quite a nuisance, since a lot of people are quite paranoid about the synthetic colours, their adverse effects on the skin/eyes, leave alone merely getting very very dirty! A lot of hooliganistic behaviour has often been seen in various cities, Delhi I think, being particularly notorious, and Bombay too, uncharacteristically.

Even in an elite place like IISc, there is too much of hooliganism to believe or bear. The messes were messed up, as were several corridors. And after all this, this was probably the cleanest of the last three Holi’s I have seen here. The first one was a veritable disaster with colourful handprints on the brand new hostel’s walls. The next time, not even departments were spared, with colour strewn all over. This time, being a working day, the damage was contained I should guess. People walking into messes with colours strewn all over is never an endearing sight, more so if they take food — from the perspective of everyone’s health and hygiene! — dirtying chairs and the food alike.
The bottomline is that the celebration of the victory over the Asuras, of Prahlada being saved is celebrated indeed in Asura fashion. Some serious soul-searching needs to be done by these people. No one objects to peaceful enjoyment. Why drag in someone who is not interested? (Curiously, I say all this even though I’ve had to suffer nothing!) Why is there a failure to merely respect each other’s preferences?

Alarm Clock - Snooze Button + 4 Piece Puzzle Puzzle = Awake

“This mild challenge apparently will wake you up. So, for the snooze button kings, this is for you”:

If you’ve snoozed through one-too-many alarms and then way overslept, Bim Bam Banana’s Puzzle Alarm Clock will give you a quick intelligence test that is bound to wake you up before it will stop its incessant honking. As soon as you can assemble the four puzzle pieces that are popped up into the air at your predesignated time, the thing will finally shut up. That should be just enough commotion to assure that you won’t go drifting back into la-la land. You’ll pay $52 for that privilege.

That was hilarious!

read more | digg story

The Similarity Transform Song

(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It“)

Note: This song describes what to do for a similarity transformation to find the eigenvalues of a matrix A. A similarity transform changes the matrix but does not alter its eigenvalues. Ideally, if you could find a similar matrix that was diagonal, you could pick the eigenvalues right off the diagonal. A similarity transform is of this form: B = T^{-1} A T, where T is the similarity transform matrix, and B is the matrix that is similar to A.

If your matrix has distinct eigenvalues,
It is very much apparent what to use:
Choose nonsingular for T,
and get a diagonal B,
If your matrix has distinct eigenvalues.

If you have a real symmetric matrix A,
Choose orthogonal for T: it’s the best way!
Because, after all
B is real diagonal
If you have a real symmetric matrix A.

If it’s complex and Hermitian, never fear!
The solution to your problem is quite clear:
Use a unitary T,
to get a real diagonal B
If it’s complex and Hermitian, never fear!

If your matrix A is normal as can be,
Take the following advice from me:
If your T is unitary
B’s diagonal (how scary!)
If your matrix A is normal as can be.

If A is chosen arbitrarily,
and you find a T that’s unitary,
Then B has the form of Schur
(that’s upper triangular)
If A is chosen arbitrarily.

If A is once again arbitrary,
Then you choose “nonsingular” for T,
B is almost diagonal,
(that’s Jordan form, y’all!)
If A is once again arbitrary.

---

“The Similarity Transform Song” Copyright (c) 2000 Rebecca Hartman-Baker.(from http://www.cse.uiuc.edu/~rjhartma/eigensong.html)

Found this while surfing. Was really funny and interesting.