Heights of Testing

I found this funny video on another blog. This is the funniest way one can test their laptops for durability. The audio in Tamil.



Courtesy :Shri Phani's Blog

Gandhi Vs Che Guevara

Vs
I was going through a community on Che Guevara and there was a hot discussion on Che's ideology Vs Ghandhi's ideology.

With all due respects to those who participated in this discussion, Gandhi and Che are two different personalities with different ideologies all together. One can not compare their ideologies as such.

Che was the greatest humanitarian who fought for the welfare of people and unification of South America. His weapon was brute force on those who posed a potential threat for his goals. The society he belonged to demands that force. people there might not understand the Satyagraha. By profession, Che was a doctor and he saved lives. But, to bring a change in the society, he has to change. Demand of the Day.

Gandhi was from a country which taught us love and compassion. As an Indian, he believed in non-violence and followed it through out his life. He is the only person who led a nation to independence without firing a single gunshot. But whatever he did after independence is ridiculous. The Hindu-Muslim riots that lead to the partition would have lasted for four months or a maximum of four years. But the partition left a sour taste even after this long time. May be India and Pakistan will fight till eternity. This is all because of one man's fault. He thought the riots can be put off by simply dividing the nation. I personally love Gandhi for is pre-independence efforts and hate him to the core for his post-independence efforts.

At the end of the day, we are not equipped with enough knowledge to take a side when talking about two great personalities of History. They did whatever they did and they are the only people who can justify their actions.

Love them, Hate them but can't ignore them.

Hyderabadi Biryani

What's the fun in talking about Hyderabad and its culture without the taste of Biryani. Biryani was brought to Hyderabad by the invading Mughal army of Aurangazeb under the command of Khaja Abid, the father of the first Nizam of Hyderabad. The time taken for the preparation of Biryani is less compared to that of traditional food like Rotis and /or Rice cooked in steam. This became an excuse to use Biryani as the food for the soldiers in times of war. The rich ingredients like all the masalas(Spices) and meats along with Basmati Rice cooked in Ghee were perfect for energizing the soldiers in comparatively less amount of time.

The Nizams of Hyderabad perfected the recipe with the spices available in South India, placing the Hyderabadi Biryani in the top of the list. Biryani made in Hyderabad is far better than its variants available through the corners of the world as it is more spicy and rich in taste.

Ingredients

• 1 kg: Meat
• 750 gm: Semi cooked rice
• Sautéed brown onions to taste
• 1 tbsp: Ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp: Red chilli paste
• 1 tbsp: Green chilli paste
• ½ tbsp: Cardamom powder
• 3-4 sticks:
• Cinnamon
• 1 tbsp: Cumin seeds
• 4-5: Cloves
• 2 tbsp: Lemon juice
• 250 gm: Curd
• 4 tbsp: Clarified butter
• A pinch: Mace
• Mint leaves to taste
• 1 tsp: Saffron
• ½ cup: Water
• 1 tbsp: Salt
• ½ cup: Oil

Preparation

Hyderabadi biryani is of two types, the Kacchi(raw) Biryani and the Pakki biryani. Kacchi biryani is prepared with raw meat, which is marinated in curd and then cooked along with the rice by sealing the handi (vessel) with a layer of dough, and is cooked on dum - steaming over coals. This is a challenging process as it requires meticulous attention to time and temperature to avoid overcooking or under-cooking the meat.

In Pakki biryani, the meat marinating time is shorter, and the meat is cooked before being layered with the rice and cooked in a dough-sealed vessel. In Pakki Yakhni (with cooked gravy), the ingredients are already cooked before baking. The gravy is redolent of mace, ittar and kewra. Saffron and cardamom are also used.
There is also a vegetarian version of the biryani, which is made from vegetables such as carrots, peas, cauliflower and potato.

Biryani is best served along with Mirchi Ka Salan and Raita. A soda like coke or Pepsi will add to the taste of Biryani.

Hyderabad features many restaurants which are famous all over the world. Some of them are Bawarchi, located at RTC ‘X’ roads, Paradise Hotel in Paradise circle, Secunderabad, Bahar in Bashirbagh. If you are looking for a late night Biryani, Al-hum-Dulillah in Mallepally is the place. Personally, I like Hyderabad House’s Biryani.

Enjoy your Biryani.

Guinness World Record for Firefox 3.

We have done it. Mozilla Firefox 3 now has a Guinness World Record for the software most downloaded in a single day. On June 18 2008, the browser was downloaded by 8,002,530 users worldwide.

First Impression on Firefox 3.

I have been using the latest version of the best browser in the world today Mozilla Firefox 3.

Some of its features are very good but I am very much disappointed about the way it manages the saved passwords. The browser remembers the passwords like any other web browser available as on date but, it also shows them all "UNENCRYPTED" upon request. This can prove to be a big loop hole to the browser's credibility.

Movies

I was watching "Cars" and wondered how much movies inspire us in our daily lives..

I always loved movies more than any other channel of entertainment. They made me laugh, cry and for that matter, any emotion that is possible to a 25 year young heart. They made me propose a girl during my college, fight with my friends and reunite with them again etc...

If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that movies actually are all around. (In the lines of a famous quote from "Love Actually.")

Environment and US

Gaia philosophy states that Earth is a living organism and is based on Gaia(Greek name of goddess Earth). If this theory is to be believed Humans become perfect parasites depending on Earth.

I don't know whether Earth is a living thing or not, but humans definitely have the qualities of a virus. We not only are using up the resources that are allocated for us, but also consuming the reserves of our future generations and making this planet non-livable. In search of money, man is inventing some very dangerous technologies which eventually are destroying the environment. From a simple electric shaver to a nuclear plant, today everything creates electro magnetic fields which are dangerous to the human himself. We are filling our environment with carbon monoxide(CO) by the increasing usage of vehicles on the roads. Even a refrigerator or a television set emits carbo-floro gases which damage the ozone layer. If the cellular network can penetrate through the concrete walls, why can't it penetrate through the human tissue and create a cancer?? Yet, we all need those gadgets instead of the classical environment friendly tools just because they give us some extra time!!

I request everyone to please give it a thought and try to change your lifestyles as far as it allows you to do so and give a better life to our future generations.


Some basic definitions

Virus: A virus (from the Latin virus meaning "toxin" or "poison"), is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell. Viruses infect cellular life forms and are grouped into animal, plant and bacterial types, according to the type of host infected.
Host: A host is an organism that harbors a virus or parasite, or a mutual or commensal symbiont, typically providing nourishment and shelter. In botany, a host plant is one that supplies food resources and substrate for certain insects or other fauna.


"We didn't inherit the planet from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children.."


Definitions Courtesy :Wikipedia

Firefox Download Day

Mozilla is launching its web browser Firefox 3 on June 17 2008. They also planned for a creating a world record for the most downloaded software in a single day. The day coincides with Microsoft Day and Mozilla is all set to ruin the day for Microsoft.

By the way, I forgot to say that Mozilla Firefox is far better than Microsoft Internet Explorer in many ways. So any one interested to download can visit Mozilla Firefox Download Page

Balancing Work and Other things..

Every one of us in this world are different from each other. We make different and take different from life. But we all are having one thing in common. That is 24 hours a day. Yet, almost all of us feel that others are enjoying more time than us as we don't know how to manage our time properly.

The tool below will probably help most of us in managing our time properly.

Time Management Tool

Courtesy: www.cnn.com

Mumbai Monsoon

After a long and energy sapping summer, first rain poured from the heavens on 5th of june in Mumbai. I rushed out of home and roamed around on foot to enjoy the first rains. A hot chai,bhajia and surprisingly ice cream were on the menu that day and they were very much enjoyable in the scenario.

As this is my first monsoon in Mumbai, I took the rain so lightly. Today (12th June) is seventh day and it is still raining. No sun all these days and I already feel so depressed with the environment. Hopefully the sun comes out fast and shine all the day. But, friends say that this is only a HOPE for next 3 months at least...

Going out to office drenched in rain and waiting a long time for getting an auto rickshaw is very tiring experience, believe me.