Change of title?

I went to this bar/restaurant on a recent trip to Toronto. Now what? Do I change my blog title? And I thought it was such an innovative title. Sigh!

Another One Bites The Dust

... Zodiacal dust, that is.
Brian May (he of 'lead guitarist of Queen' fame) is completing his PhD in astrophysics.

"I didn't want an honorary PhD. I wanted the real thing that I worked for," he told the BBC. Got to respect that.

I've maintained that musicians, actors, even sports people are often very smart. That they choose to do what they do does not mean that they are any less smart than any of us. Far from it. They are doing what they have an absolute advantage in.

Never say never again...

For so long now, I have been discussing trivial issues in this space. I don’t feel the urge to do it anymore. I will not say this blog is closed, and I will not post on it. Instead, I intend to use it as web space where I can post something of interest if I think it is important, and send everyone a link in an email. That way, I will neither be spamming their inboxes, nor will I have to hope that all the people I interact with read my blog (I am quite sure they do not).

In fact, I am neither important enough to sustain your collective interest nor motivated enough in this way, to ensure that the content will pique your curiosity. I have numerous other interests and I’d be better served spending my energy in them. Also, I’d rather not feel guilty and upset about my neglected blog – every time I visit someone else’s. I enjoy reading blogs and participating in discussions a lot more than I do writing and moderating them. So, you will continue to see my presence anyway. I also enjoy collective writing, so I will continue to write in forums and blogs maintained by other people. I think the random posts with reminders of updates to those who I believe will be interested in the subject – is a perfect compromise.

For further justification, I point you to this wiki (thanks to Anita) that reflects some of my thinking with fair accuracy.

Blogger for Word Test

I am now testing Blogger for Word. I wonder if this will be posted alright.

My Footie Blog

My views on everything football (soccer) related - in my alternate blog.
My Footie Blog.

On Airport Security

I was a skeptic of airport security methods. Why are they reacting so naively to bomb threats, foiled terrorist plans and the 9/11 tragedy? The argument is as follows. If we (and by that I mean airport security) need to respond to these threats, we need to be prepared for what hasn't yet happened, not what has recently been carried out. Why would any smart bomber-to-be carry out the same procedure that the world has seen - the one that people are guarded against? And why are we banning (first) all sharp metal objects and (now) all liquids and gels?

The counterargument may be as follows. Wouldn't it be remarkably stupid if we got caught out once again to the very same methods that were tried a few days earlier? Wouldn't we feel terrible if we got burgled by the same people in the same way - twice in succession - simply because we discounted predictability? And in an uncertain environment, don't you solve problems by looking at both obvious solutions and previously encountered obstacles/solutions first? In the absence of accurate and correctly disseminated information regarding what the exact nature and cause of the recent attacks were - we're probably better off throwing a larger blanket over the space of potential problem areas. If we are wrong about the cause we isolated initially, then it would be disastrous if we implemented a focused plan to address one issue - and then, had to change plans due to this error. We are probably better off working our way from tackling the problem coarsely (all liquids, sharp objects) before we drill down to specifics, confirm these hypotheses - and then properly distribute this information, and relax security measures in certain areas.

In this situation, the false negative is a lot worse than the false positive; even if the cost of this exercise is our convenience.

I am still a skeptic of airport security methods. For various reasons. Just not this one.

Mohun Bagan vs. Manchester United

Mohun Bagan juniors (U-15) are going to play in the ManU invitaional tournament for junior footballers - the Manchester United Premier Cup. Regardless of the relative merits of the clubs playing, it's a good opportunity for the young lads to make a name for themselves - and positively impact the progress of football in the country. We need a spark, some spark. And their fearlessness and impetuousness just might do it!

More power to them.

(Also posted on http://greatsports.blogspot.com)

Point Tracker!

(Thanks to http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/pointtracker/index.html)

The point tracker at the Roland Garros (French Open) website is brilliant. It's an awesome feast if you can't actually watch the game on TV!! It's real time, it's got ball trajectory, description of who won the point, what happened, and various camera views! I've been using it this entire tournament, and it's been great.

The screenshot above is what it looks like - and as the camera tracks the trajctory of the ball, the Point tracker draws lines on the screen to show to show how the point progressed.

Barcelona 2 - 1 Arsenal

Image courtesy http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport

Let the songs begin
Dejalo nacer
Let the music play
Ahhhhhhhh...
Make the voices sing
Nace un gran amor
Start the celebration
Ven a mi
And cry
Grita
Come alive
Vive
And shake the foundations from the skies
Ah, Ah, Shaking all our lives

Barcelona - Such a beautiful horizon
Barcelona - Like a jewel in the sun
Por ti sere gaviota de tu bella mar
Barcelona - Suenan las campanas
Barcelona - Abre tus puertas al mundo
If God is willing
If God is willing
If God is willing
Friends until the end
Viva - Barcelona

- Freddie Mercury

Nacho Libre!

Jack Black is a cook in a Mexican orphanage and a lucha libre wrestler by night, in the movie Nacho Libre releasing June 16th. A story that promises so much! Can't wait to watch it!