Moon gas could power your home

The same gas used to blow up balloons could be mined from the Moon's surface and transported to Earth to meet future energy demands, say U.S. scientists.

Read more on ABC

Hmmm. About time.

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Was Taj Mahal a Vedic Temple?

I got an e-mail forward today that argues that Taj Mahal was a vedic temple. And that Shah Jahan usurped it from the Maharaja of Jaipur.
Don't know how far this is accurate, but makes for an interesting read. I was sad when I read there was no love story between Shah Jahan and Mumtaz, but it was created by court sychopants and blundering historians. But then, I'd like the Taj to remain that way; exuding an eerie and haunting aura, like a woman wailing in the middle of the night, and as a symbol of eternal love. I like it that way.
Given below is an excerpt from one Mr.Stephen Knapp's site.

The story of the Taj Mahal that most of us have known about may not be the real truth. Herein Mr. P. N. Oak presents an interesting set of proofs that show a completely different story. Contrary to what visitors are made to believe the Tajmahal is not a Islamic mausoleum but an ancient Shiva Temple known as Tejo Mahalaya which the 5th generation Moghul emperor Shahjahan commandeered from the then Maharaja of Jaipur. The Taj Mahal, should therefore, be viewed as a temple palace and not as a tomb. That makes a vast difference. You miss the details of its size, grandeur, majesty and beauty when you take it to be a mere tomb. When told that you are visiting a temple palace you wont fail to notice its annexes, ruined defensive walls, hillocks, moats, cascades, fountains, majestic garden, hundreds of rooms archaded verendahs, terraces, multi stored towers, secret sealed chambers, guest rooms, stables, the trident (Trishul) pinnacle on the dome and the sacred, esoteric Hindu letter "OM" carved on the exterior of the wall of the sanctum sanctorum now occupied by the cenotaphs. For detailed proof of this breath taking discovery, you may read the well known historian Shri. P. N. Oak's celebrated book titled " Tajmahal : The True Story". But let us place before you, for the time being an exhaustive summary of the massive evidence ranging over hundred points:Read more on The True Story of Taj Mahal by Prof. Oak @ Stephen-knapp.com

Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Tom Hanks to star in Da Vinci movie?

Via BBC: "Actor Tom Hanks is being lined up to star in the movie adaptation of the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. "

Perfect! Hanks matches my imagination of Langdon. Wonder who'd play the female lead. By the way, did you hear? There's an 'Illustrated Da Vinci Code'! Check your local bookstore.

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Diwali: Uli and other stories

Have a cracker of a Diwali people!
When I was a kid, I used to get up early morning, bathe, wear new clothes, and burst crackers. Mom would make my fav sweet Athirasam (among a host of other sweets).
Crackers remind me of what my younger brother Suren used to do as a kid during Diwali. He discovered this amazing 'Slam-Bang' tool called 'Uli' (Telugu word). I guess he got it from one of the Ironsmith's sons who lived in Kolimi Street.
An Uli is contraption made of a small iron block with a hole on its head, a thick Iron nail, and a rope that connected both. What Suren used to do is roam around the streets of the neighborhood in Greamspet, Chittoor; collect all discarded crackers (those that never blew up) and extract the ammo-powder. Then, he would fill the Uli block with the powder, insert the nail, hold the rope, swing it and ram it against a wall. Boom! The effect of a Lakshmi out at no cost at all! Most important: it was very safe. As kids, we (Suren and I) were more than happy watching others burst crackers. We loved money too much to blow it up on crackers. Suren had this great business plan of mass-producing Uli and selling it to people who had no money for crackers. It never took off, anyway, like his plan to have a monkey for a pet (oh, that's another story. I'll save it for later.)

Some times we used to go to Chennai, to my grand ma's, for Diwali. My uncle from Kerala would bring crackers made from Palm leaves (Olai vedi); we used to carry bundles of 'Chittoor Out' (the best cracker in the whole world. The pride of Chittoor). And we used to make the landlord's (who owned the tenement where my grand ma stayed in one of the ten houses) life miserable by bursting crackers from dawn to dusk.
After we moved to Chennai in the early 90s, I got to experience the big city festival-experience. Most hated it. I liked it in a weird way. The cracker smoke creates a cover of thick smog over Chennai every Diwali. At the end of the second day of the festival, when the steady woof-woof of crackers gave away to a calm of discontent, I used to walk from SIET signal to Gemini. I loved it, for that's the only time Chennai resembled a hill-station town; misty, eerie, you know? And if you ever have experienced the Sun of Chennai, you'll realize what it means to me.
So, if you are anywhere close to Chittoor, please go there and get yourself some Chittoor Out. It rocks dude. If you want to give your cracker-maniacal neighbors some inferiority complex, buy a few bundles of Chittoor Out and have a go at it.
Diwali, or any festival for that matter, held a lot of excitement for us when we were kids; the idea of not having to attend school, the gaiety and pomp, sweets, new clothes, and most important, hanging out with cousins made it delightful. Now, all festivals appear the same. A wave of nostalgia would sweep over, just for a fleeting moment, and then I shrug it away, and get on with life. Most of us make that mistake. As THE scientist said, 'You can live life as if nothing is a miracle. Or live it as if every thing is.' So, go on make this Diwali special. Have a safe, cracker of a Diwali folks!

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Mozilla Mulls Desktop Search Features for Firefox Browser

PCWorld.com Mozilla Mulls Desktop Search Features for Firefox Browser
"Mozilla hopes to capture more than 10 percent of the browser market in 2005."
Hmmmm. If you have tried Google Desktop Search, you'll know what a relief it is to be confident about finding anything on your PC. The traditional, complex desktop search by Windows is as good as dead. I foresee that a major revamp is in the offing. Hope Mozilla makes it. We all love underdogs don't we?

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Bakery case: Zaheera turns hostile

The retrial in the Best Bakery took a dramatic twist on Wednesday, with Zaheera making a U- turn and retracting her statement. She claimed that her testimonies had been made under pressure and threats from social activist Teesta Setlavad. "I was forced to change my first testimony in Vadodara trial court," said Zaheera.
Teesta had intervened on Zaheera's behalf earlier, when she had for the first time turned hostile. Teesta took the case to Supreme Court and ensured that the Best Bakery case was reopened.
Zaheera's statement has stunned all those who have been fighting on her behalf. (via NDTV)

Good show Modi!
Modi said:

"Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today targeted the role of NGOs in cases as that of Zaheera. 'Yesterday's incidents raises serious questions. The country, its citizens and constitutional bodies now need to look into the role of NGO's,' he held." Via NDTV.com

Yea right. And who will look into genocide? ethnic-cleansing pogroms? No one I guess.

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The shadow of Theocracy (via BoingBoing)

Geek and new dad Glenn Fleishman tells BoingBoing,

"I've been Jewish, not very observant, my whole life. I'm one of the first generations of Jews to not fear assault as they went to school or lived their lives in secular or religious ways. To not worry about slaughter. I have only met a handful of concentration camp survivors, including a teacher in college. I don't know what it is to be oppressed or insulted for my ethnic and religious heritage.
Today is the first day I am afraid in America because I am Jewish. Today is the first day I fear for my new son, who is not, but has a Jewish father.
I'm lucky to live in Washington State, and specifically in Seattle. A haven of secular and broad-spectrum religious views in a sea of red. We went strongly, even among Republicans, to Kerry, and maybe I just won't leave this state much for the next four years." (Link)

I pray that Bush checks the dictionary and discovers this word called 'moderate'.

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The campaign of fear triumphs

Bush won. Who would have imagined that he would make such a clean sweep? People are fickle. People felt sad for Saddam when he was captured you know? Bush's campaign of fear worked. He ensured, through his campaign, that people's power of reasoning was numbed, nullified and rendered impotent. When you are scared witless, you don't weigh pros and cons, you don't think about what is right or wrong. You just run for cover or to people who promise it. America is no different. America has proved that people are people. You can never change the way they feel. No matter how advanced a society you are, at the core, you are but human.
Elections are won not by logic, compassion, or credibility. They are won by manipulating (mutilating if need be) perception; by fear of loss, and not by hope of gain. God bless America.
As conspiracy theories go, they'll remain just that: theories. Whether Osama's video-that surfaced right before the elections-was planted or not is debatable. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 exposed Bush. Everyone with some juice between their ears should have, would have voted for Kerry. But they did not. So, when it comes to elections, you never know, for people are strange.
I mean look here, some people are gloating about Bobby Jindal winning the election and making it to the house. Bobby who? Oh yes, we are a strange lot.

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Wipro blogs!

Wipro Technologies is probably the first IT organization in India to embrace blogging (on the public domain). They have started http://wiproweblog.com. I was surprised when I found a link to their blog site on their home page. Very cool.

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