Chetan's web scribblings! » Etc

nFAQ: Air Travel

Chetan — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 05:04:16 +0000

nFAQ: Not Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do they ask us to make seatback upright while landing and taking-off?
A: So that if aircraft crashes, we do not easily slip out of our seat belt.

Q: Why do they ask us to keep window lid open?
A: So that if there is something wrong outside (i.e. engine is on fire), one of us can see and inform them.

Q: Why do they ask us to keep mobile phones in switched off mode?
A: So that there is no chance of interference with radio devices on aircraft.
Note that it is just about not taking chance. If every phone would cause interference then they would not allow us to carry it on aircraft at all.

Q: Why do they serve candies before take-off?
A: So that we can ‘suck’ candies to avoid ear-whistles or change in blood pressure.

Tree of Knowledge about Tea !

Chetan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:09:00 +0000

Tea

From warm weather plant – Camellia sinensis
- Except herbal tea
Black tea
- Oxydized for 2-4 hours
- Most used
- Adding milk ruins advantage!
- Helps in
  - Blood Pressure irregulation
  - Arteries get relaxed
Green Tea
- Not oxydized
- Leaves are steamed, rolled and dried
- Has antioxidant – rich in polyphenols – epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)
- Helps in curing
  - Cancer, Rheumatoid arthritis, High cholesterol levels,
    Heart disease, Infection, Impaired immune function,
    Obesity, overweight, High blood sugar levels, Ageing
Oolong Tea
- Leaves are withered, rolled, semi-fermented and fired
- Rich in polyphenols
- Helps in
  - Obesity, tooth decay, atopic dermatitis
  - Drink after high-cholesterol meal to reduce fat intake
White Tea
- Least processed
- Leaves and buds are steamed and dried
- Helps in
  - Like Green tea, but better
Matcha Tea
- High quality green tea
- Leaves are ground fine
  - Tea particle goes to water
  - instead of steeped/strained like other tea
- Strong, sometimes bitter flavor
- Helps in
  - Like green tea, but better
Pu-erh Tea
- processed, fermented, formed into bricks or cakes and aged
- Older is costier
- Named after chines town
- Strong earthly taste
- Helps in
  - Cholesterol level, indigestion, hangover
Red Tea
- rooibos
- Herbal tisane grown only in South Africa
- Rich in polyphenols and flavonoids
- Naturally caffeine free
- Has iron, potassium and copper
- Helps in
  - Boosts immune system
May contain fluorides and pesticides like all veg
- Harms bones

List of ‘Joke’ ideas!

Chetan — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:06:30 +0000

Source: Outlook

Paperless Office
Five Year Plan by Indian Government
World Institutions like UN
Nine-To-Five work time
Corporate Social Responsibility

Accidental ideas are valueable, too! do not ignore them!

Chetan — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:40:18 +0000

To prove, here is partial list of useful things produced, discovered or invented by accidental idea(s):

1. Microwave Oven
2. Pacemaker
3. Velcro
4. Slinky (Spring like toy)
5. Saran Wrap
6. Safety Glass
7. Urea Synthesis
8. Teflon
9. Super Glue
10. Scotch Guard
11. Helium
12. Iodine
13. Polycarbonates
14. Celluloid
15. Rayon
16. Indigo
17. Saccharin, Aspartame, Acesulfame – sweeteners
18. Penicillin
19. LSD
20. Viagra
21. Laughing Gas
22. Oral contraceptive
23. Vaccination
24. Uranus
25. Superconductivity
26. X Rays
27. Inkjet printer’s working principle
28. Rubber Vulcanization
29. Corn Flakes
30. Ice Cream Candy Bar
31. Post-It Notes
32. Potato Chips
33. Frisbee
34. Sandwich
35. Coca-cola
36. Champagne

Happening changes in India

Chetan — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:38:59 +0000

Here is 25 things which would change things in India. And so, may have effect elsewhere in world as well .
List is from Outlook Business May Anniversary Edition.

If you are not from India, this will give you an idea of what is going on in India.

1. India, with China, will dominate world economy.
It is still early days. Too many things need to be done, before ‘world domination’ can be claimed.

2. $3000 Car
Negative: Road infrastructure is too bad. Traffic is going to be too bad even in small cities of India.
Positive: Hopefully this will awaken governments, both local and central.

3. Rice Intensification System (RIS)
This will double rice production in India. Rice is staple food in India. And RIS is needed for India’s growth.

4. Smart Cards
All numbered cards (Income tax card, election card, ration card) will be unified. Hopefully, there will be better control over corruption.

5. Aerotropolis (Airport City)
City center will shift. If Airport will have SEZs around them, then lot of things will change.

6. Rs 5 Lakh ($12500) House
This, though less than one bedroom apartment, will make lives of people living in slums better.

7. Rural BPOs
Rural areas will develop. Villagers will have wealth.

8. Piped Gas Ecosystem
Gas will always be cheaper than crude. And it will help fight pollution.

9. Micro-pension schemes
This will increase social security for poor people by making them able to financially self reliant during old age by investing micro-amounts while they are earning.

10. Mobile Wallet
Mobile will not be only for talking anymore. Not too much cash needed to be carried.

11. Commodities Aggregators
This will make agricultural supply chain more efficient and fair to farmers.

12. Migration Services
India already Border-less workers! This will happen internally among Indian states, too.

13. Coal to Oil
Oils is and will be made from coal instead of crude. India has lots of coal. And various gases are by-product.

14. Work from Home
Less traffic, less fuel, more work, happy employee, …

15. Solar For Poor
India has lots of Sun. Solar lamps will become cheap enough.

16. Alternative Public Distribution System
New system is to execute most operations at village level. It is more efficient and fair.

17. Plastics to Fuel
This will be boon for environment as waste plastics will be used for production of fuel.

18. Digital Delivery of Movies
This will allow ‘real’ all India release to as many cinemas without too much distribution cost. Piracy can be beaten.

19. Bar Camps
These are informal forums with objective of sharing ideas. These will become brain storming vehicle.

20.Vernacular Keyboard
These gesture keyboards will allow villagers (who do not know English or cannot handle complex keyboards) access to computer and Internet.

21. Telemedicine
Remote and relatively cheap health-care delivery which knows no distance will become widely available.

22. Pay per Use
DTH, Video on Demand, Audio on Demand….

23. Online Education
Always available, no distance issue, cheaper once infrastructure is setup. Then India will have more people educated.

24. Computer-based Functional Literacy
Multimedia based literacy programs will make sure literacy rate increases.

25. Electric Vehicles
Average cost per Km will come down drastically.

Where eagles dare – Find a phone number!

Chetan — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:55:37 +0000

I was in Gurgaon, and I wanted some pizza to fill empty spaces in my body. Not my fault, my body was craving for it!

But good things do not come easy, they say. Guess what, I did not have Gurgaon Domino’s number or at least I believed so. My first massiah was Domino’s toll free number stored in my mobile phone.

Alas, that won’t work from my mobile. So, next nearest massiah was Guest House’s manager. I called him and asked how I can make local call from my reasonably good room. I cannot, he said, but he can call and transfer. Well, would work for me. And then he got busy with internet problem he was facing. It seems that he had bigger problems than mine, and forgot. So, onus came back to me.

Your brain can give crazy ideas somehow. Mine asked me to check newspaper. I immediately went to gather all news paper for that day recieved by Guest House. And to my horror/delight, I found that there are five with so many pages. Believe me that I went through all. And of course, my stars were not in good condition. Domino’s had not given any ad.

Not everytime powerful devices can do good to you. I searched my mobile phone for “pizza” and voila, there were not one number, but two of them. I realized how chaotic my contacts list was. One was of Raffle’s pizza in Delhi, and another was of Domino’s but from Bangalore. For people new to India, Gurgaon is part of Haryana state which shares border with Delhi. So, I dropped idea of
Domino’s and called up Raffle’s. Pizzas are pizzas, no matter where they come from, as far as they are tasty pizzas! But you know it by now. My stars are not in good condition.Raffle’s does neither deliver to Gurgaon nor have branch in Gurgaon. Sad!

So, I have to make call to Bangalore Domino’s to get number of Domino’s Gurgaon. So, I did. If you think, I would have succeded now, you cannot be more wrong. Story starts now!

I called number0. I was said that I should call number1 for help.
I called number1. I was said that I should call number2 which is regional Domino’s office.
I called number2. I was said that they cannot help me, but he gave me number3 for Domino’s office of Noida which also shares border with Delhi.
I called number3. I was said that I should call number4 which is regional office.
I called number4. I was said that I should tell my address as there are many Domin’s in Gurgaon. I told him postal address of Guest House. He could not figure out where I was. So, he chose random Gurgaon number and asked me to call on number5.
I called number5. I explained him address. He gave me number6.
I called number6. Nobody picked it! I missed, I think, few heart beats. Note that these all was while I was on roaming.
And then there was light. I incremented last digit of number6 and called number7.
Somebody took my order! Oooh la la!

Don’t you dare think I am bluffing! Here are numbers:
011-41708111,080-25322333,080-41314984,080-41530660,
0120-2516820,0120-2512050,0124-2312636,0124-2563236,0124-2563237

Life is not bed of roses!

Question: Is man supposed to be vegetarian?

Chetan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:25:09 +0000

Answer:
Mahatma Gandhi said “An examination of the structure of the human body leads to the conclusion that man is intended by nature to live on a vegetable diet. There is closest affinity between the organs of the human body and those of the fruit – eating animals. The monkey, for instance is so similar to man in shape and structure and it is a fruit – eating animal, its teeth and stomach are just like the teeth and stomach of man, while those of carnivorous animals, as for instance, the lion and tiger, are entirely different.”

Let us compare man with meat eaters and herbivores. Decide answer of above question for yourself!

Meat Eater	Herbivore	Man
Has claws	No claws	No claws
No skin pores	Has skin pores	Has skin pores
Perspire through tongue	Perspire through skin pores	Perspire through skin pores
Sharp front teeth for tearing	No sharp front teeth	No sharp front teeth
No flat molar teeth for grinding	Has flat rear molars	Has flat rear molars
Intestinal tract 3 times body length	Intestinal tract 10-12 times body length	Intestinal tract 12 times body length
Strong stomach acid to digest meat	Stomach acid 20 times less strong than meat eaters	Stomach acid 20 times less strong than meat eaters

A saying and a fact:
The stamina of a camel, the strength of an elephant, the beauty of a horse are all sustained on a vegetarian diet.