Kamat's Potpourri

AnthoBLOGy: Obamaman is da Man!

Mon, 5 May 2008 15:18:41 CST

Why Obama is a Better Candidate

A lot of people are giving Obama grief over his pastor, over his race, and over his middle name. Let me tell you why exactly these things make him a better presidential candidate.

Let us pardon Jeremiah Wright for his excesses; he loved the limelight. But let's not forget that there is some elements of truth and reality on what he said -- like how the roots of 911 attacks were in the flawed US foreign policy. Whoever doesn't see that is plain ignorant. Importantly, Obama understands the deep resentments of the African-Americans. He may be our only bridge -- and we have come to realize how much gap there is between Blacks and Non-blacks in the recent days.

I believe that growing up in Indonesia (a predominantly Muslim nation) and exposed to the complexity of human races and religions makes Omaba a far superior person and a far superior, compassionate leader. In the new world where interactions between Islamic and non-Islamic cultures are increasingly hostile, I think Obama would be a brilliant choice.

We loved Bill Clinton, but the time has come for Bush-Clinton era to stop. We need a fresh facee and new approaches to solve the world's problems.

McCain could have become a better candidate, had he provided a new approach to economy, the Middle-East or the environment. But he doesn't, and instead embraces the failed and intensely disliked policies of the Bush administration.

Obama is da man.

AnthoBLOGy: Tennis Trophies!

Sun, 4 May 2008 23:07:53 CST

My wife and I signed up for some tennis lessons, and the investment is paying off!

Along with Jared Mattioli, I won the Men's B League Interclub Championship at the 3rd Court.

And Kim won the Member-Guest Tournament at Inverness Country Club benefiting the Alabama Head Injury Foundation, with Janet Adair (below).

AnthoBLOGy: Review of Ning

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:18:52 CST

As the members signed up for Kamat Network have increased, I am under a lot of pressure to add value for the members -- stuff like allow them to add blogs, pictures etc., which I have been reluctant to implement, because I don't have time to write all these programs.

Last few days I have been looking at FaceBook API, the OpenSocial API to see if I should abandon my development and instead use theirs. Out of the box, we'd get these cool apps.

But I have long been a critic of the Frankenstein Web, because of the subsystems eventually goes out of business and we are left with "upgrading" or "refactoring" our code. Recently Amazon did that with their e-commerce service, which was working just fine all these years.

Then today I read about Ning in the FastCompany magazine. First let me ~~criticize~~ review the article. Other than the pictures of "Silicon Valley Hottie" Gina Bianchini, the article itself is lame. I wonder how much money Ning paid FastCompany to be featured on the cover. The article reads like a marketing brochure of Ning and one of these silly, boastful pitches they give during "enterpreneur-meets-venture capital" shows.

Nowhere it explains why what Ning has cannot be accomplished by others.

What blew the credibility of the article was the claim that Ning is able to predict accurately the future behaviors. "...for reasons no one can explain seem to accurately describe a dizzying array of natural and unnatural phenomena.". What bunch of bull!

So I had to sign-up fro Ning and see it for myself.

Review of Ning

The signup process was painless, except it kept on telling me something about "Sorry, that address is the same as a Ning ID or reserved word". What address? My email address?!

Soon after its limitations were obvious to me. Everything had to be hosted at Ning.com, Oh, so lame.

I investigated the developer docs, and I couldn't figure out how to migrate my existing base to Ning. Perhaps it is not possible.

They also seemed to serve advertisements on the network I created.

Requirements for My Social Network

The question is, do I create new software and own it or should I use a service like Ning?

That is my dilemma this week.

What I need(as an administrator) is the ability populate and extract registration records, a stable discussion forum, and ability to manage mailing lists.

AnthoBLOGy: Surprising Bearers of Culture Torch

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:31:43 CST

There are a lot of people who believe that only prosperous people can practice and patronize art and culture. My own observations have proved otherwise. In India, it is the poorest and the most ignorant population that has preserved India's complex culture.

Even with that statement, you will find this story about how murderers, rapists, and other criminals have preserved a distinct Cajun culture in Louisiana, very fascinating.

AnthoBLOGy: Link Suggestions

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:14:23 CST

Translation of Ajeeb Dastan Hai

The song Ajeeb Dastan Hai is one Bollywood gem that will be sung forever. I have a translation and a pirated clip from YouTube.

Please pardon/help improve my understanding of Hindi. During my teens I was swept by a strong anti-Hindi feeling prevalent in much of South India at the time, and never got a chance to learn to appreciate the beauty of the language.

But not Amma.

Amma at Hindi Association

Amma spoke as a chief guest at the Hindi Association of Bangalore and narrated many an instances of how Hindi culture has united India. She got much applause when she mentioned how M.S. Subbalakshmi rendered poems of Surdas in Carnatic music while visiting Calcutta, and how Pani Puri is now available at evry street corner of India.

A Rare Gandhi Stereoscope on Ebay

A rare stereoscope of Ganhi posing for a sculpture has come for sale on ebay.

AnthoBLOGy: Report from Birmingham Barcamp

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:35:13 CST

I attended BarCamp here in Birmingham (held in Innovation Depot), and for the first time spoke about Kamat.com in public. It helped that all in the audience were geeks, and understood terminologies like trackbacks, PR and such.

It was good to meet many people whom I had known only via their online avatars.

I was disappointed that there were not enough Microsoft developers (.NET etc), and everyone was chanting the Ruby mantra.

The arrangements were excellent (Thanks Jeremy, Mojo and gang), and I look forward to the next edition.

Sorry, no pictures, I forgot my camera. Here's a link to Flickr.

AnthoBLOGy: Die, Commies, Die

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:40:35 CST

The Chinese don't get it.

And this is especially true of Chinese who live in America, who have been rampaging the Internet forums with their pro-China messages.

Guys, we all support Olympics. Even the Tibetans do.

It is your bullying we are against.

So your relentless propaganda (example: "Dalai Lama is a terrorist" or "Buddhism is irrelevant") only makes you look silly.

Citizenship for Tibetans in India

I hereby voice my support for Indian citizenship for Tibetans who are born in India.

AnthoBLOGy: Misc Stuff

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 23:33:26 CST

via private phone call: Ambuja Tarasu, wife of Kannada writer Ta.Ra.Su passed away.

Today is Yugadi festival or Hindu New Year.

Taking Down a House is Easy. Even Tree-houses

We had bad storms on Friday it caused some damage to the tree-house in my backyard (it came with the house). I spent the day taking it down. Taking down was very easy.

That's why we say in Kannada, "Kumbaranige Varusha, Donnege Nimisha", roughly translated as "It took the potter an year to make (the pots). It took the stick only a minute (to break them)."

I Just Love Springtime in Alabama

As my dog TinTin will tell you, spring is a great time in Alabama. With so many flowers, it feels like paradise.

40th Birthday Came and Gone

I didn't quite realize it due to an error in calculating -- I somehow thought that since I was born in 1967, I turned 40 in 2007. Anyway, I turned 40 recently.

I don't know what it means, but Happy Birthday to Me!

AnthoBLOGy: Abraham Lincoln is My Main Man

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 10:37:56 CST

Recently, a Letter written by Lincoln was sold at 3.4 Million Dollars.

For me, that letter is priceless. The great man's conviction, strength, and belief is expressed so beautifully.

I am so glad once in a while, there are people like Lincoln, Gandhi, and Karanth (see Karanth's Letter to President of India) who make such powerful statements awakening the mankind on the injustices we engage in.

Lincoln replies to the teacher:

Please tell these little children I am very glad their young hearts are so full of kind and generous sympathy and that, while I have no power to grant all they ask, I trust they will remember that God has, and that, as it seems, He wills to do it.

AnthoBLOGy: Stop the Chinese Oppressions in Tibet

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 23:08:50 CST

The time has come for all the peace loving people to use whatever means necessary (boycott China made goods, shun the Olympics etc) and condemn the communists for suppressing the aspirations of Tibetans.

I consider it a great tragedy that there is no leader of stature in India to take on the Chinese diplomatically. This is a grave situation and very much concerns India -- after all the Tibetan refugees are in India, and even after decades, have not been naturalized.

See Related Contents at Kamat's Potpourri: * The Saga of Tibet * Satyagraha -- The Protest of Non-violence