Thursday, May 28, 2009

Locking systems

Lately I have gotten into the habit (read OCD) of checking the main door of the house to see if it is locked or not. Many a times I have come back after driving a couple of miles to see if the door is locked. This got me thinking. Brace yourselves reader as you are going to be graced by divine wisdom. How about having a security key similar to the centralized locking key systems found in cars for the house. Also, the house security key can be mapped to your phone so that at the press of a button the door will shut and lock. Build an sms based locking mechanism. If you have forgotten to lock, or like yours truly suffer from OCD, then send an sms to the system and it will automatically lock the door. No more driving all the way back to check or worse yet fretting over it all day causing unnecessary stress and heartburn.
Now many readers might tell me that I am already too late with the idea and there is already an existing system in place on the same logic. My question is how come no one is talking about it and where is that system.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Bird repeller

Why don't airlines carry a ultrasonic or some sonic bird repeller which will constantly emit a sound which can only be heard by birds and will discourage them in coming near to a flying aircraft. At least this will eliminate one potential risk which can bring down a plane.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Elections 2009

Boy, what a result. The 2009 Indian elections turned out better than the current season of IPL. What twists, turns and finally a surprise winner at the end. No one predicted Congress to have a thumping victory but they proved everyone wrong, and how. So much for these exit polls, surely they will be looking to make a hasty exit from the limelight now that all of their predictions have gone wrong. So much for these chaand taare waale babas (read astrologers and numerologists) who got it wrong and by a mile. A lot of positives came out of this election. Now, hope they deliver the goods. But for now, celebration. You have to "hand" it to Congress and by extension Sonia, Rahul and Manmohan.

Friday, May 15, 2009

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher - Socrates

Thursday, May 14, 2009

2009 Elections

Rahul Gandhi has finally come of age is the new notion doing the rounds of the hallowed Lutyens, buzzing kailash nagar and the queens necklace. However, I feel that he has a long way to go. Policits is not for novices and Rahul is as novice as they can come. He needs to read from scripts for his speeches and go back to his old timers to know the history of each constituency. This is being pitted against the season charm of LK Advani or the rousing rhetoric of Narendra Modi. Fat chance I would say. However, UPA might have a minor advantage over NDA as NDA has been out of action for a long time now. Internal feuds, missing Vajpayee and the much needed money which Pramod Mahajan was supposed to have stashed away in some Swiss bank has taken their toll on the popularity of NDA. But if one had to hand over the country then it has to be the congress. They are stable, they have steered the country through a rough economic patch affecting the world and this experience will give them a better handle on managing the economy and thereby growth for the next five years. This also is a time for Rahul to take on a major portfolio and show his mettle as a leader and start preparing himself for the ultimate honor of leading the country.

Monday, May 11, 2009

How is it that people who can talk 19 to a dozen develop writer's block?

Friday, May 8, 2009

Flu

Is the Swine Flu really an epidemic? So far only 1,000 people have been infected and only a handful dead. Every human life is sacred and each life taken is a huge loss.
But in today's day and age when the world is so easily connected the spread of such a flu could have been rapid and resulted in an epidemic of mammoth proportions. Some estimates say that if the Spanish flu epidemic in early 1900s is taken as a criteria, the flu this time around can claim more than 150 million people. Now that is a pandemic. However, so far, touch wood, only around 1,000 have been reported infected when potentially millions could have been. So, is this really an epidemic or this is just being too safe than sorry. If this epidemic scare shuts down countries, aborts trade and exchange of goods, stops people movement on business, that would be a epidemic of mammoth proportion as this can result in potentially billions of dollars of economic impact. Theoretically, flu might not claim a lot of lives but the economic impact it can cause might make it a huge epidemic.