█ █▀ O █▀█ 59

Back to Blogosphere, with a Gold medal!

2008-04-18T17:28:00.003+09:00

Hi friends,

I'm happy to announce that I got purr-fect 7 O' 7 in BBC weekly quiz just taken today! As it's once in a lifetime event for mediocre news readers like me, you know, I'm jumping out of pure narcissism!

My iGoogle featured in lifestyle blog: "Lifehacker"

2007-06-25T10:58:00.000+09:00

Eh hey,

My iGoogle is voted as one of the geekiest at famous GTD blog: www.lifehacker.com

This is a screenshot of my iGoogle, let me see yours!

Spring 2007 Picasaweb set

2007-04-23T20:06:00.000+09:00

Kingdom by The Cats

Who want Joost invitations?

2007-04-03T22:57:00.000+09:00

Joost have caught my attention lately, a Video Streaming Software (or call it as Broadband TV) I came to know through Lifehacker. If you are looking for a software that lets you watch lots of entertaining indie English channels, this is for you.

I previously reviewed TVU player in this blog and recently I came across yet another copycat called Sopcast that eventually allowed me to watch ICC worldcup through Banglasmash live streams. Joost is based on altogether new concept, not merely relaying TV recorded streams through P2P. Over the time TVU and Sopcast has became so slow and flooded with Chinese. And yeah, as in real TV you will see lots of commercials with the programs, but not in Joost.

I came to know about a lot of good indie productions through Joost. Joost is more like a TiVo in a sense that you will be able to choose the exact program not merely Channels, and you can rewind or forward when you watch.

Currently Joost is By Invitation-Only download, if someone want invitation, contact me I would be happy to share :)

岐阜旅行

2007-01-02T22:00:00.000+09:00

Bonenkai 2006

2006-12-27T21:39:00.000+09:00

108 New Year chimes and 'Golden' contemplations

2006-12-22T18:15:00.000+09:00

New year celebrations is one thing common to wherever you live in, so as Santa and Christmas lights harbingering the onset of new year. Along with "mochitsuki", the making of mochi: glutinous rice cake and exchanging "nengajou": New year postcards, one of the remarkable characteristic of Japanese new year celebrations is the traditional ritual of tolling temple chimes 108 times . When I first saw it in the TV, last year, 108-toll of Japan's biggest bell at the famous Chion-in temple, Kyoto I could instantaneously track its origin back to India, the country where I hail from.

108 has always been the most divine number in Hinduism. Thoughts about number 108 also became reminiscent of my grandmother, who used to chime Hindu litany 108 times when I was a kid. Later I came to know that 108 is a holy number in Buddhism as well, most relevant example being 108 balls in Buddhist prayer bead: Juzu. As with Juzu, one of the most famous explanation could be Lord Buddha's teaching that there are 108 earthly temptations that which an individual needs to be "Nirvana"-Sanskrit word for "to extinguish". The year-end chimes can thus be explained as extinguishing the material sins we all have done in this year, one ring being one sin, in order to make the new year, a year of enlightenment.

Researching further on the divine origin of number 108, I came to know that an ancient Hindu epic 'Bhagavata Purana' narrate an instance in which lord Krishna made love with 108 'gopikas'-the sanctified cow-herd ladies of 'Vrindavan', the divine garden. As the archaeologists date back the manuscript to 3100 BC, this is obviously much older than Lord Buddha's period.Thus followers of 'Hare Krishna' sect hold 108 as a number of great significance.

Lord Shiva is depicted of performing his cosmic dance of creation and destruction: "Nataraja"in 108 poses, and this is the most ancient instance where the number 108 is portrayed as divine. Nataraja is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly expressed as a symbol of Indian culture. Within Lord Shiva's dancing manifestation is represented not only all of time and space but also the primal creative force that is beyond the circle of illusion that mortals live within, all movement and vibration of the universe, and the stillness beyond all existence. Through this dance, Lord illustrate a way towards 'Moksha', liberation from the sensual universe of 108 sins. This is yet another instance I was bemused at the Buddhist identity crisis resulted from plagiarizing deep-etched Vedic concepts though the silk road.

108 is an exquisite number in mathematics, inner angle of an equilateral pentagon. It is hyperfactorial of 3 as it is in the form 1^1. 2^2. 3^3. 108 is the famous 'tetranacci' number, indirectly related to the Fibonacci series (0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13...) that can be best explained by the classic illustration of Ptolemy's Pentagon.

Before that, let me introduce you to the magic world of golden ratio. In Fibonacci series, ratio between any number and immediately preceding number approaches to 1.618 as you go along the series (3/2, 5/3, 8/5, 13/8...). This ratio is amazingly followed by many natural objects such as sunflower, pineapple, mapple leaves, sea shell etc. According to Leonardo de Vinci's illustration of human body, ratio between a person's height and distance between her navel and foot would also become 1.618, in perfection. There are many ancient archaeological wonders geometrically follows the golden ratio such as Parthenon's facade and Ancient Egyptian pyramids. A review about the significance of golden ratio in nature as well as ancient civilizations would be beyond the scope of this essay.

Ptolemy's pentagon illustrates that ratio between any interior diagonal to any side of an equilateral pentagon is the golden ratio ie, 1.618. Thus, to relate 108 with this golden ratio directly, we need to find significance of yet another number, 5, as the only way to arrange 5 points in a two dimensional space such that each points should have minimum distance between them, is by equilateral pentagon.

The godai, "five great," of Japanese tradition is perhaps best known in the West for their use in Miyamoto Musashi's famous text Gorin no sho (The Book of Five Rings), in which he explains different aspects of swordsmanship by assigning each aspect to an element .Number 5 is significant to both Buddhism and Hinduism. Excavated original Nataraja sculptures from south India are all made up of 5 metals, perhaps owing to the belief that Lord Shiva is the god of 'panchabhoothas'- the five classic elements.

According to Veda, there are 5 classic elements by which we are all made up of, ie., Air, Fire, Aether (Void/Sky/Space), Earth and Water and this concept has also been adopted by Buddhism as Go-Dai (The Great Five). Major Buddhist pagodas have 5 tiers of ceiling (Gojū no Tō), each tier, naturally, represents one of the elements, beginning with Chi (earth) at the bottom, and ending with Kū (Void or Sky) at the top. Often, the spire at the top is also divided into five sections.

A logical explanation why 5 became significant in ancient times could be considering the facts that we have 5 fingers and there are 5 planets naked eye can see.

Relating 108 with 5 through an equilateral pentagon also obviously explains the origin of golden five pointed star, an important mythological symbol in ancient Hinduism and Kemeticism adopted by many recent sects such as Christianity and Judaism. Drawing all possible five diagonals of an equilateral pentagon give rise to the pentagram or so called 'five pointed star'.

Hence, when you see 5 tiered pagoda, five pointed Christmas star and hear 108 chimes of New Year, let these musings be with you, the two classic numbers of ancient Veda, adopted by the Buddhism... an echo from the world of natural symmetry can be heard through them.

Is this the way to teach kids about abortion?

2006-12-10T14:04:00.000+09:00

土佐市人権教育第4回　同和問題・外国人の人権

2006-11-16T17:30:00.001+09:00

The iFlux's take on "The Saddam Hussein Indictment"

2006-11-09T18:57:00.000+09:00

The verdict has come, Saddam has given the capital punishment by the American puppet administration in Iraq.

There were much controversy surrounding the timing of this, especially when 'W' is struggling to win the congressional elections. Now that the strategies of W miserably failed to bag support from the American taxpayers, but i would still argue that this gubernatorial fiasco has nothing to do with his Iraq arbitration, the decision of invading the state 3 years ago. It IS Rumsfeld who has to be blamed for this Republican annihilation; especially after reading Slate 's portrayal of his biggest blunders.

I dream of tomorrows when the countries and the differences wherein can be merged to the 'one world' full of happiness. There exists a huge responsibility for rich and powerful democratic countries of today to fight for the human rights anywhere else where it is being questioned, let it be in Africa or in Middle east.

It is apparent that ALL of the Muslim and Socialist states where the autocracy prevails, never possess history of venerating personal prerogative. I repeat, ALL, because I find not even a single exception. For the same reason I would back any legitimate action by the powerful states to safeguard humanitarian interest and to let down dominance of detested figures.

Either you consider W as the head of republican party or as a leader of US, the American invasion of Iraq is not justifiable still, providing every nation has to respect other's independent spirit and "the republican essence". Let us forget how prejudiced the new Iraq parliament is, how logical Saddam's resonating clamor: "I, the president of Iraq" inside Baghdad court room was, it was still profoundly exhilarating to read about the Saddam's verdict. Let us not forget 1000s of Kurdish lives taken by this 'Satan' and still echoing grievances, how his atrocities corked up the democratic outcries of Iraq. Saddam is cruel, and he deserves to be punished to any extreme.

Amnesty spoke against the verdict, as they always been. Look back their comments when the verdict to hang Slobodan Milosevic came out (Look Screen capture Below). Given that Amnesty Int. acknowledges Milosevic and Saddam and both of their governance as inhuman, totalitarian and cruel to free thinking womankind, it is irrational to only criticize the manner in which Saddam is prosecuted.

Saddam deserves nothing but pinnacle of menial treatment, but the question is that death sentence, an answer? I don't agree with decision of scores of Christian states like Portugal to ban death sentence. This is not a question of providential belief, I am a believer though. My simple logic states "If you can kill a plant or fish and agree with the reason that both has essence of divine life within, you can kill another human as well, because the world is not anthropocentric".

I wish someone could skin Saddam and let him live "F" days in extreme pain anyone could probably imagine, where, F=the number of people who were estimated to be killed in his regime.
I wish the same Bushian logic needs to be applied wherever the personal liberty is jeopardized, To name few: ALL Nations designated as MUSLIM and (out of context, but) China, Myanmar (haven't you seen video of Than Shwe's daughter's wedding? For your viewing pleasure, I put it below), Brunei and so on.

PS: I am reconsidering the original "Suggestion 1" after reading Dr.Jayshankar's comments. Instead of 'incineration', 'recycling' is definitely much better for recyclable garbage, and I guess Saddam can be recycled for the 'benefit of the humankind'.

Professional Diving Business: India as a potential candidate.

2006-11-04T19:41:00.000+09:00

Current status of professional diving in India.

The scene of Pro-Diving business in India is still at startup stage, that could perhaps make it an intelligent choice for the future investment. A quick search at PADI would reveal that only 4 major dive schools are situated in India, 2 in Andaman Islands and 2 in Goa, both are beach/ocean tourist destinations. In parallel to PADI, SSI also administer few diving schools in Goa.

Ideal location to Invest

Consideration of Indian coral-reef distribution for a thoughtful integration into pro-diving business would be a good approach. 4 major reef locations in India are

GULF OF KACHCHH
LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS
GULF OF MANNAR
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

Only Andaman Island in the above list is being utilized as a dive location at the moment. By far, the most wide-stretched coral reef ecosystem is Lakshadweep's and that remains one of the major tourist location. It won't be a good decision to start a business in kachchh, that is situated in state of Gujarat notorious for religious instability. Major Hindu-Muslim riot happened recently left 10,000s dead and tourists in general have a tendency to avoid this "hindu" state. Gulf of Mannar could be a location of interest but proximity to Tamil-Tiger controlled Northern Srilanka would have some serious implications on tourist inflow.

There are other parameters to be considered as well, major being the integration with existing tourist destinations. Let us consider Goa, one of the leading destinations in beach tourism that ranks second only after south Indian state, Kerala. Goa does not have a good coral reef system - that can be trapped as a futuristic fun-diving destination-yet some of the pioneers in dive school business in India are located here. The scene of pro-diving in Goa is almost saturated, 2 or 3 major dive schools meets and exceeds current demand from researchers and tourists.

South Indian state of Kerala is noteworthy to mention as a destination for investment. Kerala is the Indian state that earns maximum revenue from tourism. For the last 26 years, Kerala stood first place in list of major tourist destinations in India, and has been featured in http://www.lonelyplanet.com as world's 4th best tourist spot. The beach Kovalam has been featured as 3rd most beautiful beach on earth by National Geographic Channel.The state is 100% literate, and IT is a blooming industry. Though the state Kerala is famous for its exquisite palm beaches, it is ironical that it has no certified Dive Schools. Kerala also includes Union Territory of Lakshadweep, an archipelago spread in Arabian sea. Lakshadweep houses the most important coral reef ecosystem in India.

Given these facts, the state of Kerala and Union territory of Lakshadweep seems to be two of the best locations in India for a futuristic investment in Dive School Business.

Implementation Strategies

a) Collaboration with academics/industries associated with pro diving business.

For the parties who plan to invest in dive schools in India, I would suggest a thorough advertisement plan combined with collaboration with Oceanography laboratories. NIO, NCAOR and NIOT are three of the nationally well known oceanographic laboratories in India. My own personal experience suggests that scientists in these labs promotes and advertise the commercial dive schools. Hence a collaboration with researchers in these labs would definitely improve the chances of success.

b) Advertisement

As for the advertisement, my recommendation is to get listed in ISS/PADI Online referral sites, as majority of prospective applicants search in PADI/ISS Database prior to decision making. It is highly recommended to get '5star dive resort' certification from PADI, and 'NatGeo Dive Paradise' certificate from National Geographic Channel, though it would demand a higher investment. Advertisement in tourism magazines, posters in major beach resorts, internet, TV etc would immensely boost the revenue.

Slowly pivot your arm forward till it dominates the disputed territory.

2006-11-04T16:22:00.000+09:00

When you're flying coach, every inch counts. Follow these three simple steps to claim the elbow room – and comfort – you deserve.

1. Midway through takeoff, recline your seat 2 inches.

2. Slip your elbow into the gap between your neighbor's seat back and your own.

3. Slowly pivot your arm forward till it dominates the disputed territory.

Pics and Vids from Sent-off party of Hiroko

2006-10-24T12:11:00.000+09:00

Culture of Seaweeds, paper discussion section on 10-24

2006-10-24T11:58:00.000+09:00

Paragliding at Niyodo beach, Usa, Japan

2006-10-22T20:30:00.000+09:00

TUV, Streaming Broadband to the commercial Channels

2006-10-18T20:21:00.000+09:00

I have been living in Japan for almost 1 and half years. Out of my great interest to access some english TV channels that I used to watch back in IIT-B, I did try all means. Inquiring at a local satellite TV vendor made me understand having access to all those channels at home TV is not a cakewalk. I gotta spend minimum 20,000 yen a month to access this list of english channels:

CNN, CNN Pipeline, ABC, FOX, Star world, Animal planet, Cartoon network,Channel V, MTV, AXN, ESPN, Comedy central and HBO

I then tried internet to access the low quality video stream, only ABC's stream that I could able to access (other than 100s of school/indie channels that are available here.). BBC still provide news roundup free of charge though video quality is so egregious. ABC has stopped streams for international users some 4 months ago, now that NONE of the above channels available through internet, until 2 weeks ago, when this application called TVU launched.

Download it here, unzip, install and have fun watching all of the above mentioned channels and more. If you are a cricket fan like me, there is a dedicated CHANNEL CRICKET too, ALL FREE! There is a dedicated channel for Hollywood movies too, though subtitles are of Chinese. (Double click on the video panel to see it full screen mode)

Cheers!

たいこーおどり

2006-10-05T01:04:00.000+09:00

宇佐のたいこー踊りの準備。日本人の友達と僕、アパートの前。

How to Increase your English vocabulary using internet?

2006-10-01T16:16:00.000+09:00

(In reply to Yahoo answers, original post appears here.

Let me summarize some of the tools computers/Internet has to offer you
to increase your vocab. Definitely you should look other ways as well,
but IT is damn powerful and easiest way!

I would suggest you to use web extensively to learn English. These are my few suggestions:

1.
Install Firefox (Internet Browser), install a plug in (Extension) called
Dictionary tool-tip. When you restart your fire fox, Tool-tip will work
:-) This will immensely help you to know meanings of words you
encounted newly. Just double clicking on any word will pop-up a
definition, you can chose any major dictionaries to do this task.

2)
Read lot. Especially from the good sources, I suggest you two major
sources: BBC English learning page and The New Yorker magazine (Sources
provided). BBC have H2G2 community, where you can put a writeup for
evaluation. H2G2 is great I tell you!

3) Install Real player.
Stream Radio stations, especially NPR and BBC. This might not help you
to immensely increase vocab, but definitely your English. If you are
using mac, install iTunes, and stream Old time Mystery radio. If you
are using Linux (like me, Ubuntu fan ;-) ) install RhythmBox or XMMS.

4)
As many already pointed out, Flash cards will be of great use. Go to
any book stall, get yourself a set of flash cards (Usually comes in
2000s) and start cramming. If you cant afford it, you can make
beautiful Flash cards using FX (look Source) and print it out, cut it
neatly.

5) Read a lot! If you are using windows OS, Install
Microsoft Reader (Free download from Microsoft). You can make a good
digital library of classics. Books need to be in .lit formats. I
suggest you to download utorrent, and search in ISO Torrents for .lit
books. When ever you see a new word, search in www.dictionary.com and
make a flash card. There are many free offline dictionaries (to
download) available in internet as well.

6)In yahoo games, play a game called LITERATI. That will help you great, I tell you!

7) Yahoo chat have many rooms in Education section, chat with a native English speaker will definitely help you as well.

8)
If you have apple's iPod, there are many podcasts available to help
your vocab. My Suggestion is: Away With Words (now known as: On Words)
of NPR (I love it). You don't have to have iPod to listen podcasts
anyway.

9) Subscribe to Anu Garg's Word of the day, email. A new
email will wait for you each day, with a fresh (probably a new word for
you, but not a "common" word). There are many word of the day mails
like webster, dictionary.com etc but I find wordsmith's the best, and definitely the original AWAD.

You can add this 'word of the day' in your home page (Google IG via gadgets or Yahoo home page via RSS). I use google/ig by the way ;-)

All the best!

身体障害の問題：インドー日本、土佐市役所、九月　十三日

2006-10-01T16:06:00.000+09:00

Summary of comments and evaluation from the attendees of this program.

池川旅行２００６年

2006-08-05T17:16:00.000+09:00

７月１５日１０時半から、池川へ行きました。お母さんとその友達ふたり、小谷さんと島田さん、娘のゆかさん、ネパールのニラオラさんと一緒です。仁淀川の景色を見ながら行きました。仁淀川はとてもきれいでした。

途中で野菜を買いました。昼ごはんはいの町のむささびの里という、道の駅で、とんかつ定食を食べました。とてもおいしかったです。むささびの剥製を初めてみました。
ビデオはここにありますよ！

いの町から池川町へ行く途中、まわりの山にお茶の段々畑がたくさんありました。仁淀川もきれいだったけど、お茶の畑や山もとてもきれいです。

１時に池川町につきました。そこでNHKからもらった恐竜のおりがみを、お母さんがみんなに教えました。

とてもむずかしかったけど、緑の服を着た男の子は３時間で全部作りました。ひとりだけ　すごいですね！！！

５時から晩御飯の準備を始めました。インドのカレーとネパールのモモ（たぶん餃子のようなもの）を作りました。作るとき、学生さんもみんな一緒に作ったので、面白かったです。

７時から、作ったものをみんなで食べました。半分の人はおいしいと言ったけど、半分は辛すぎると言いました。

ご飯を食べ終わってから、ニラオラさんはネパールについてパソコンを使って、話をしました。
私は去年の秋、池川に行ったときにとった写真をみんなに見せました。そしてインドについての話をしました。そして私の作ったクイズを印刷して皆にあげました。

道の　おなじ　はし　に　五つ　の　家　があり　それぞれ　別々　の　色　です。四人　の　外国人　と　一人　の　日本人　で　別々　の　家　に　住んでいます。５人　は　別々　の　飲み物　を　飲むし　別々　の　タバコ　を　すうし　別々　の　ペット　を　飼っています。（だれも　おなじ　飲み物　や　タバコ　や　ペット　は　ありません、全部　別々　です）。

問題　は：
猫　を　飼っている人　は　だれですか？

ヒント：

赤い　家　に　イギリス人　住んでいます
アメリカ人　の　ペット　は　犬です。
ぺル人　は　お茶　を　飲みます
緑の家　は　白い　家　の　左にあります
緑の家　の　人　は　コーヒー　を　飲みます
パルマル　と言う　タバコ　を　すう人　は　鳥　を　飼っています
黄色　の家　に　住む人　は　ダヌヒル　と言う　タバコ　を　すいます。
真ん中　の　家　に　住む人　は　牛乳　を　飲みます
一の家　に　住む人　は　インド人　です。
ブレンド　と言う　タバコ　を　すう人は　魚　を　飼っている人の　隣　の　家　に　住んでいます
馬　を　飼っている　人　は　ダヌヒル　と言う　タバコ　を　すう人　の　隣　の　家　に　住んでいます
ブルマスタ　と言う　タバコ　を　すう人　は　ビル　を　飲みます
日本人は　プリンス　と言う　タバコ　を　すいます。
インド人　は　青い　家　の　隣　に　住んでいます
ブレンド　と言う　タバコ　を　すう人　の　隣　の　家　に　住む人　は　水　を　飲みます。

学生さんは皆帰ってから、あとでビールを飲みながら、国際会議をしました。（国際会議は私の考えた言葉です。）
池川の宇賀先生に学校について、質問しました。昭和６３年に学校ができました。いなかぐらしをしたい人や登校拒否などいろいろな事情で来る学生です。学生の生活費は毎月７万円くらいです。今まで卒業した生徒とあとで交流はありません。有名になった生徒もいません。と、先生は言いました。西添さんは学校ができた時に来て、２年間いて、帰ってまた来てから今もずっと先生をしています。
それから島田さんにこの学校をどうして知りましたか？と聞きました。島田さんはずっと前からお母さんと友達なので、お母さんに聞きましたと言いました。

今度はお母さんに聞きました。お母さんはNHKのテレビでこの学校のことを知りました。小谷さんとはじめはイスラエルとレバノンの問題について、北朝鮮のことについて、沖縄のことについて話しました。イスラエルのしたことはよくないと皆は言いましたが、私は違う意見でした。靖国神社のことについても皆よくないと言ったけど、私とゆかさんは小泉さんの方に賛成です。ゆかさんは話のときパズルをやっていました。
小谷さんが子供のとき、戦争であったこと、そして同じことを今、北朝鮮がやっていると言いました。みんなそれぞれの意見を話しました。　
ビデオはここにありますよ！

話が終わってから二つの部屋で寝ました。エアコンはなかったけど暑くなかったです。

朝起きてから、お持ちをつきました。私ははじめておもちの作り方を見ました。おもちを食べてから帰りました。１１時半に出てから３時半に帰り着きました。
今年行った時に比べて、去年の秋は自然の景色がとてもきれいでした。でも、去年言ったときより、今年　ビールを飲みながら話したのは楽しかったです。学生さんも去年の学生さんとかわって新しい学生さんは明るい人たちでした。

楽しい旅行でした。この旅行に連れて行ってくれた、お母さんと島田さん、小谷さん本当にありがとうございました。

Why I want to be a cat in my next birth?

2006-07-31T00:43:00.000+09:00

When people who believe in life after death asks me who I want to be in my next life, I say cat. Why?

Because cats, they are the beings I love most in this life. Refer to my home to know why I am a feline aficionado.

Yes, I want to be a cat.

Because I love to be dynamic in my life. I always love the dynamicity, the change in me, try different things and to adapt with the reason why I changed. Being a cat would be just amazing, Changing into an altogether different perspective, an identity matchless to the material universe defined by human. Playful with anything I like, arrogant to the everything I hate, forgetting what has happened and possessing no grudge, adapting to an altogether different environment, play the prey before it's death or consumption, play the life to it is fullest...that is a cat, the most wonderful being on this planet. Cats, they are the model beings for the 'neutrality' as per the human perception are concerned.

Do I think being faithful matters much? NO, rules of nature are something else, hence dogs aren't my favorite.

Yes, I want to be a cat.

stairway to heaven

2006-07-27T12:39:00.000+09:00

How to recover and archive hidden flickr photos if you are not a pro user?

2006-07-20T23:35:00.000+09:00

Flickr is unarguably most popular photo site in the world. I have been using it from 2003 but unfortunately I could never change my subscription to paid 'Pro' status due to economical constraints. Successive to the Yahoo take over, Flickr has changed it's policy for free users by limiting the number of photos to 200. This means that though you can very well upload 20 MB each month for any long period, only last 200 photos are accessible through flickr site.

After seeing disappearance of thousands of my old photos that I have been uploading since 2003 at the flickr site and could not be found on 'archives' section, I contacted the flickr team. This is how they responded:

On 6/30/06, Flickr Support <case104601@support.flickr.com> wrote:

Hi Felix,

You will have to delete your newer photos or upgrade to Pro
in order to recover your older, hidden photos.

Regards,
Ana

If you are a huge flickr fan and have similar difficulties in accessing older photos just because you have not switched to pro subscription, this simple trick might help you. I am not sure any of the leading hack-sites like Life Hacker have published similar description.

First of all, go to Flickrleach or Flickrgrab (that site looks like a mirror of Flickrleech). Select 'By Username' if you have been using flickr before yahoo takeover. Or else select 'By User ID'. Type your User name (old users) or User ID (Yahoo ID won't work. You have to copy-paste the URL address of your flickr page). Now click 'Go'.

Now that you can see all of your photos no matter when you have uploaded, as shown in the photo below Permalink is here.

Now, select all photos by mouse. Be aware if you are a heavy flickr user, you will have thousands of photos and flickr leach too will have many pages (each page having 200 photos).

Now, drop these photos to your html editor like MS Frontpage or Dreamweaver, as shown below (in this case, MS Frontpage).

Now publish it if you like (have a look at my photostream), or just keep it by yourself as a secure archive of your whole flickr photos!

This method has only one draw-back. If you have some hidden photos in flickr that you would like to archive, flickrleach cant help to grab them. Any out sights on this issue are welcome.

PS: Some one might think why you need to do all these, depending flickrleach would be just simple to see your hidden photos. But no one knows when yahoo/flickr is going to change it's API policies such that flickr leach can no longer grab them. But yahoo cant change the URL address of your old photos or delete them, by breaching their promise gave to us years ago.

Lately I give a try at google's picasaweb and I found it impressive. Total upload limit for free users is currently 1GB and that obviously matters, but ability to make as many albums as you want is a plus point (in flickr, albums or so called 'sets' are limited only up to 3 for free users).

Name, that matters

2006-07-11T02:44:00.000+09:00

Many (thanks to social network services) asks me why did I change my name. To tell you that, let me give you a little of my back ground.

In India, there still exists thousands of years old hierarchical caste system in which there are 4 prevailing classes where topmost class is known as brahman. If you look in to history, brahmans are in fact not original indians, they are a clade migrated from Europe and conquered native indians (Dravidians) a long long time ago. A Recent rDNA Profiling evidence traces Brahman clade back to finland.

I was born in a hindu family, aristocratic and priestly as it has a tag of brahman. I remember when I was young, my grandma used to say we are living gods and goddesses and I have to be very reserved while making friends outside brahmans. She did not even care to touch low caste people, and this untouchability still exists in many part of greater India.

Brahmans are vegans, and I was brought up as a pure vegetarian too. Till I was 18 yrs old I never even tasted meat or fish or egg. Through all those years of regression and confinement, I started to dream a world of more freedom and intellectual integrity. It started at the age 18, through the age 21, much reading and thinking transformed me to an iconoclast, an upheaval from incarcerating stupidity. I bushwhacked dirty ideological bondage to the perfection, that I ever dreamed of. Listening to my heart's whisper became an impetus for decision making. I haven't read bible or koran or any of those supposedly sacred texts, as I need no other succor than my own heart. As a free thinker and pacifist, I believe all religions are preposterous, and till date there were not even a single moment I remorse this detest (Could anyone please tell me a month where NYT or BBC not reported bloody religious conflict, let it be Israel-palastine or India-Pakistan or Iraq or Afghan or thousands of dirty genocides in Africa?). Religion, what ever you name it, do no good than terrorism and strife (haven't you noticed? I have a reason why I never capitalize any religious words).

I have been attracted to ancient Egypt for several reasons, the reasons that I have explained elsewhere. Coming to the objective of this post, I changed my name because I would rather be known by a name best depicts me as a free thinking individual. I chose Felix as my first name because it resembles the name 'Felis', the genus of cats and as I like the animation "Felix the cat". I chose my sir name Bast to emphasize my love, devotion and reverence to my mother goddess, ancient Egyptian goddess of cats, Bast (some call her Bastet).

My godly faith is in 'Kemetic paganism'. As opposed to 'Kemetic orthodoxy' where humanoid priest- 'Netjer'-dominated church still exists, Kemetic pagans are not bound to any moral code of justice and we have no church. Kemetic pagans are segregated nature worshipers with only one thing in common, a deep sense of appreciation for the nature and the cult once prevailed on the banks of ancient Nile.

I was known as "Vadakke Madam Sreejith" till the age 24 in which the first two names refers to my brahman status and last, my hindu religion. I thought it is senseless to be known that way, especially given how much loathe hinduism or the archaic caste system. Being incognito in a society where the name matters much to earn respect, helped me immensely to boost my self confidence. It was tough, I was unable to convince my parents on the motivations. They opposed me, but I did not care because I knew it well how much matured I was then and how much needy this 'name change' was. Judicial proceedings was fortunately not that lengthy as I was expecting to be, and finally I have become Felix bast. The immense joy and confidence I experience while signing my name anywhere, even today, are ineffable.

I believe change of name is an inevitability to any freethinking person. Further, let me provide you with an excerpt from the talk I had with my friend Mr Haison Harold, during sometimes in my 3 yrs of stay at Hostel 4, IIT Bombay, India.

Me: man, why are you a catholic?
Haison: because my parents are christian
Me: Why is your name Haison Harold?
Haison: Because my parents named me so.
Me: Parents, parents... are you still fostered by the fetal placenta, you guardian vassal? If I where you I would have thought I have been enslaved by my parents.
Haison: *********

Haison can be contacted here to confirm the authenticity of this transcript.

Mr. Terumichi Kawanishi had recently organized a conference on "social injustice in India" where he felicitated my courage on taking such a rebellious step in my life. I believe his comments are relevant to this post. Excerpts:

"...Mr Felix has done something which not many of us ever do. His revolt against obsolete Indian system of social injustice is notable and let his decision to change his very name be an incentive to all who want to be pragmatic in this battle against racial prejudice..."

Me and my cat, honest arrogance justified!

2006-07-08T16:17:00.000+09:00

Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasion to change

He was a man of great creative energy. His architectural style was revolutionary in its design. The Journal of the American Institute of Architects at the time of his death stated that "his place in history is secure. His continuing influence is assured. This country's architectural achievements would be unthinkable without him. He has been a teacher to us all."

Frank Lloyd Wright, famous American architect and writer said the above quoted words and I find it pretty much like my own life. It is not that I upheld a puritan philosophy, but honest arrogance is what I value than the humility which is hypocritical. I was much attracted to him, his words and his style such an extant that if ever I have to name my model individual, just Lloyd! For those who have never heard about him, let me provide you a brief sketch of his life, mostly obtained from the sources: Frank Lloyd Wright. America's Greatest Architect, by Herbert Jacoby, 1965.
and The Lloyd Foundation

Lloyd was born June 8, 1869 in Richland Center, Wisconsin to William Russel Cary Wright and Anna Lloyd Jones Wright. Even before he was born his mother, who was confident her firstborn would be a son, had decided he would be an architect. While she was still carrying him she decorated the walls of the nursery with engravings of old English cathedrals cut from an illustrated English magazine.

While at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, Anna Wright bought her son a set of Froebel blocks, a new educational toy which consisted of cut maple blocks of various colors in the shape of cubes, spheres and cylinders, which were meant to be assembled into various patterns as illustrated in an accompanying booklet. The purpose of the blocks was to give a child a sense of color and form. Wright quickly duplicated the suggestive patterns and was soon inventing patterns of his own. This simple set of blocks made a lasting impression on the young boy for the forms of these blocks would influence his life's work to the day he died. In an interview at Taliesin West in Arizona, just days before he died, he told Louise Rago, an art teacher from Long Island, that a child should begin to learn art at the earliest possible age. "Put blocks into a child's hands," he told her. "Let the child hold a sphere, a ball and get a sense of the universe, a sense of God." Again he was remembering those Froebel blocks which his mother had put in his hands so many years before.

Another strong influence from his early years was the times he had spend on his Uncle James' farm near Spring Green, Wisconsin. His mother's brothers had an enclave of flourishing farms in the area. Those periods spent on the farm instilled in Wright a lasting appreciation for the land with its woods, green valleys, furrowed soil and seasonal rhythms. Wrights designs would come to reflect a natural harmony between structure and the environment in which they were placed, an outgrowth of those wonderful childhood memories spent in the rural Wisconsin countryside on his uncle's farm. In 1911 he returned to Spring Green after many years absence and built his home, Taliesin, on two hundred acres of land given him by his mother, her inheritance from the family farms. The house was built off the crest of a hill and was constructed with local quarried stone. The effect was to create a structure which when viewed from a distance resembled a natural outcropping of native sandstone; the structure blended harmoniously into the hillside, a characteristic which Wright called organic architecture.

Another major aspect of Wright's designs also stems from still another incident which took place early in his life. As a youth, Wright read widely. While reading Victor Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame," in a chapter on the architecture of that great cathedral, he read the statement that the Renaissance was only a sunset that man had mistaken for the dawn. This statement so thrilled the young boy that it planted in him the seed which would grow into the conviction that architecture based on historic styles must be by their very nature esthetically false and should instead be an expression of the time and places for which they are designed. Although Wright was not the first to execute a contemporary design, he would become its major spokesman and give it its distinguishable form.

This executor of contemporary design was a practitioner by instinct. He had little formal training in his chosen field. He was unable to afford the cost of attending an architectural school and the University of Wisconsin in which he entered didn't offer courses in the field of architecture. So he took courses in engineering science. While attending the University he witnessed the collapse of the Wisconsin State Capitol building which was under construction. This graphic lesson in building failure became burned in his mind. He resolved subsequent to this incident that his designs would combine good engineering techniques as well as fresh architectural designs. Wright's engineering studies served him well for he received basic grounding in the science of calculating stresses and in the use of various building materials. When he designed the Johnson Wax building and was confronted by state inspectors who claimed that his slender lily pad columns would not support the weight of the building, he proved them wrong by constructing a test column and placing ten times the weight on it that it would normally have to support.

Designs flowed from the creative mind of Wright faster than he could get them transferred to the drawing board. He could look at a site and envision the design even before he left the site. When asked how he produced such a flow of creative ideas he merely said with a twinkle in his eye that they simply rolled out of his sleeve. Many of his designs were never executed and many were embroiled in controversy—too expansive, too costly, etc. Controversy not only surrounded his work but also his personal and financial affairs. Despite many setbacks, Wright weathered the storm of personal and professional criticism which would have broken many a weaker man.

In 1932 with few commissions now coming his way, and having already made his mark in his chosen field, with his work given the recognition it deserved, he decided to establish the Taliesin Fellowship and teach the essentials of architecture to aspiring young students, providing them with a well-grounded curriculum of philosophy, sculpture, painting, music, and industrial science. He set up the Fellowship in the old Hillside Academy which he had built many years before for his two aunts, who had operated a private school there. In the mid-thirties he also built a fall and winter retreat for the Fellowship near Scottsdale, Arizona, to be known as Taliesin West.

Wright was never totally comfortable in the role of instructor, for he believed that esthetics could not be taught, but only exemplified. He felt you could help create an atmosphere in which the components of design could be realized. but the key to creativity lay within each student. Long an enemy of sterile uniformity, he recognized the fertile imaginative resources within each student which is the true product of the divine spark in each person. Once a student understands his capacity for differentiation his work can become prolific and his capacity to turn out a different design from the one before would become inevitable.

One successful student, reflecting back on his Taliesin experience, stated that he received a better education there than he had gotten at Princeton and Beaux Arts in Paris.

It would be a mistake to give the impression that Frank Lloyd Wright's career as an architect ended with the establishment of the Taliesin Fellowship, for after a short hiatus he began to execute some of his greatest works, beginning with the Edgar Kaufman retreat at Bear Run, Pennsylvania, more commonly known as "Falling Waters." This was followed by the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin. He designed and executed the campus of Florida Southern College, the Madison, Wisconsin Unitarian Church, the H. C. Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, among many others.

Just short of his ninetieth birthday, the man of "honest arrogance," who once told the people of Los Angeles, with a twinkle in his eye, that their town was much worse than the average American city, because it was larger, and that the best way to improve Pittsburgh was to destroy it and start over, passed away at his Taliesin retreat in Arizona on April 9, 1959. He had just completed the design work on the Marin County Civic Center project. This grand design would be successfully carried out in all its major components by his associates. Frank Lloyd Wright was buried in the Lloyd Jones family churchyard at Spring Green, Wisconsin, in the rural setting of his cherished childhood memories and among the low-lying hills and valleys which had first inspired in him his unique sense of architectural design and which is today still a major influence in the field of architecture through the efficacy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

I find this honest arrogance of Lloyd more like mine. Because of this, I have undergone many bad times and made many friends to alienate me, yet this is how I am, how I gonna be!