Wired logic, weird logic

If you have been following the news, you'll know that I'm referring to the stupid money-grabbing move of Airtel to charge extra for using VoIP services over their network . To the unaware about how this affects them, any app which routes calls over the internet - Google Hangouts, Viber, Skype - uses Voice over IP : VoIP. Airtel will charge users for calling/answering such calls, over and above the charge for data you consume for this type of call. This logically makes no sense to me. If it were Skype/Viber charging users for the service, I would have unerstood. Is Airtel providing this VoIP service - no. Does it agree to provide internet - yes. Then why are they trying to control what traffic is there on the internet channels by putting differential pricing? It is something like the municipality charging different rates for how we use drinking water. "Hey, you are going to put this water in a filter? It'll cost Rs.1 per litre. But if you put it through RO-purifier, ...

This is pretty much about me. So yes, I'm that self-centered sod who is writing an entire post about himself. I write this as I wonder if I should get myself checked in the head. It is very tough for me to get angry and even tougher to speak unless it conveys previously unknown information. I don't know why but it is just so. The threshold for my tolerance is high, so much so that people question my sanity. The other day an autorickshaw lightly scraped my car and the best I could do was "Dude watch where you're going." I mean I didn't even abuse the guy, which is considered "normal" by my peers :P. Very few of my friends have actually seen me angry. Their reaction was "O_O I've never seen you like this before. Chill dude. Please." The thing is none of these get me really angry. I end up questioning the outcome of the anger and more often than not I realize that anger is not worth it. I just hope I don't turn green in a blind rag...

While navigating through the interwebs and dodging those paths leading to cute cat videos, I stumbled upon some remarkable lectures by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and biologist Richard Dawkins. Even more remarkable was one involving both of them : In the course of the lecture they discuss about evolution and how almost all life on earth is made up of the same 4 amino acids - A,C,G,T. Also how the vastly more intelligent homosapien shares ~98% of the DNA with the relatively dumb primates. What really caught my attention was the Dawkins comment on how intelligence is not merely because of the extra 2% unique DNA but rather the sequence in which the other other common DNA line themselves up. Blame me for being a geek, but I can't help drawing similarities to how computers are designed and how they have evolved. The binary designation of 0/1 (Ground/rail voltage) are akin to the 4 basic DNA components (a quaternary system). The 98% common sequences are the microinst...

"You have a particular facial hair pattern. Let me judge and stereotype you." (Fair warning : Don't expect a thought-provoking / life changing / revolutionary post) I don't like to shave. Mainly because of my irritable skin and also because I am plain lazy. Four years in a hostel with like minded people doesn't help either. In the hallowed corridors of the hostel or the classroom, no one really questions your appearance, as there are more pressing issues on mind - "Will there be water in the morning?" "Is the internet working yet?" "Wonder how my MMORPG character is faring in the virtual world? It has been 5 mins since I checked." Anyway, coming back to the point. People judged you, in an instant, based on the your mustache, your beard or the non-existence of it. Sometimes I grow a liking to a particular look (usually donned by a fictional character in the movies). The days following this change will attract several (typical) ...

If you don't like signals and systems, you should probably leave now. (PS : I'm writing this while under medication, so this might make sense to me only till the morn. Damn you fever! Edit : I read this again when in a better condition. There are unexplored analyses corners. I shall leave this as an exercise to the reader to figure out :-P ) TL;DR : Exams are too easy. Tough to differentiate. OK, I'm going to model the current examination and selection procedure very simplistically. The student is an deterministic function who can reproduce the same level of throughput at any given time plus a uniformly distributed random noise. Deterministic part says that the guy knows the answer independent of the situation he is in (like answer to 2+2). The noise accounts for the time variation of the student's ability - he may be sick on a day and not remember anything, or he may take a double dose of red bull and mug the entire text book. (or he may get access to a text ...

Hogenakkal falls is located Tamil Nadu, about 40 km from Dharmapuri and 180 - 200 km from Bangalore, depending on the route you choose. This spot rose to fame when it was pictured in the '90s movie "Roja". Tourists flock to this spot every weekend, many from Bangalore, as the drive to the place is an absolute treat to the petrolheads. Winter is the best season to go there apparently. Planning This was an impulsive trip, with very little planned, I just wanted to have a road trip. Just looked up the route on google maps and drove down to the place. There are a few alternatives to the route itself, but I chose the one with the best road. Though Google says its 160 km, the odometer ran to 194 km on this route. View Driving directions to Hogenakkal Falls, Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, India in a larger map There are few pit stop points along the way, and since I was cruising in top gear I didn't feel like stopping. We got stuck in a 30 min traffic stall at Hosur, b...