The sun revolves around the United States of America
Overheard in an elevator in Bangalore - two international women chatting.

Person 1 (aghast) : "Oh no is it raining again?"
Person 2 (knowledgeably) : "Hmm the monsoor season has started."
*image of neural activity inside the head of person 1*
P1 (one up on p2) : "Hmm.. Is it monsoor or is it monsoon?"
*confused slience*
P2 (genuinely confused now): "Hmm.. Is it monsoon or is it tsunami?"
*Shock on the face of the other individual. Shock on my face too.*
P1 (almost punching victory fist in the air): "NO!! Tsunami is not here."
*relief on my face*
P1 : "Tsunami is what happend in Iraq"

Any guesses which country the women were from?
- posted by Rallix @ 11:14 PM 1 comments

 
Phrase for the day
"Sensibly provocative"
- posted by Rallix @ 3:21 AM 0 comments

 
And then there were students
Pl check out the review for the book at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0849317096/qid=1118687568/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/103-1328974-5584647?v=glance&s=books

More comments..

Abominable said
Though 'crap-weasel' is like the best new noun i'veheard in a long time LOL,I actually think waterboy is right...all you guys who'reraging at TSR should stop to think whether wecompletely misjudged him all these years. I think thefact that some junta retained the books shows a deepfreudian admiration of the book which perhaps peerpressure is not letting them admit to. And as maladpointed out it helped some of us learn a lot (e.g. ADgot an AA)...maybe chau you should change the rightworth of the book to 0.000002 (i didnt keep track fothe 0s but you get the drift...or should i say current:)As Farhat's signature says 'don't think twice beforelistening to your heart.'PS: Also I suggest we all go and click on yes i foundchau's review helpful :))

Waterboy said
Enough with the grades suckers.
PS: I flunked the lab

Malady (w) said
We have hope I am still regretting the fact that I didnt buy more of his books and increase my net worth And I am also enlightened to know that King, Kalashnikov, Abominable and myself didnt have a different IQ level after all. All of us got CC in Digital Measurement Techniques course.
Thank you all

Waterboy said
To refresh your memories from amazon, these are the most used phrasesin the book not used anywhere else..:Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)auto ranging circuit, voltage ratio meter, reciprocating curve, zerophase condition, sampling wattmeter, minimum total resistance, phasecompensation method, hybrid multiplier, ith comparator, widthconverter, shunt reduction, digital ratio, digital phase meter,counting time interval, inverted ladder, shunt method, unknowncapacitor, voltage transfer characteristic, programmable gainamplifiers, programmable amplifier, minimum spread, voltage transferfunction, null frequency, converted gains, clockwise hysteresis

Waterboy said some more
" The only way to recoup your $4 is to take those circuit diagrams and pitch a> couple of diodes and triodes here and file a patent on your name. You can then try to sell the patent :)"

If you change "try to sell the patent" to "stick it up your ass" it sounds really funny


- posted by Rallix @ 1:51 AM 0 comments

 
Once there was a prof
The prof wrote a book, took a course, announced the mid-semester exam an open book exam, and that the only book that was to be "open" was the book he wrote.
In the end he gave 14 Fs and other similar grades to the batch that had purchased the book with such fondness.

7 years down the line, the book has found its way to an international audience on the net - available for a whopping dollar 60 (and a bit more). This has led to discussions among the sufferers. A snapshot follows (with names masked). I am hoping for a few more such messages. I'll keep adding if there are.

Vivacious C. wrote:
Guys XYZ's book is available on nile.com for only $6x.yy. Please review this book on nile so that the world can finally knowwhat a masterpiece it was

Dynamic J wrote:
I saw some fine books by Feynman for 10 bucks on amazon..And this one is $6x? I dont think we need a review,the price puts it down already.. I cant believe I read this trash (more than one time) onlyto get a CC. N its such a shame that this 175Rs (orwas it275?) book made it as one of the 3 books that i boughtinwhole btech..!
cheers,
Dynamic.

Kalashnikov wrote:
I remember that one fine day when I, Botox and Kingsy got kicked out of XYZ's class for goofing up during his lecture... I cant believe the 3 of us actuallywent over to his house to beg for his forgiveness (read that as to prevent a FF).. Botox, Kingsy: i swear on my BC "its payback time :)".. what say we knock his b&lls out when we go to IITthe next time .. :) .. ..

Abashed stop grinning :)
Cheers
Kalashnikov

Shakin' A wrote

Probably every book that sells has a signature and a personal note on 'how to make a trivial amount ofmoney (275 x 80 = Rs. 22,000)' from the author which makes it so precious. I invested 275 to pass the course by reading it duringexams. Midsem let me read it up to page 55 but to mysurprise the end sems were closed books. I kicked myself to not sit with good ol' Harrison S to read it properly during the end sems. But it was a blessing in disguise because eventually the author summoned some of our mates who read thebook very well ... I was lucky because I did not.
- posted by Rallix @ 11:02 PM 0 comments

 
Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Tony Thompson
Inspired by Raj's purchase, and the show on soul music on BBC, I went ahead and purchased a Diana Ross album called, well, Diana. There were a number of albums, and the reason I purchased it was that it was not the most expensive and it was not the cheapest either. I had a budget in mind, and I did not have any particular album in mind, and hence I bought it.
And then I heard it. It was quite cool and now I know what "groovy" really means. And then I heard it a second time and a third time. And slowly it dawned upon me that it wasn't the vocals, nor the songs, but the accompaniment that was really kickass! And so I looked at the sleeve - and there it was! Composed and written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. Produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers. Bass by Bernard Edwards, guitar by Nile Rodgers. And since the drumming was cool, I noted the drummers name too - Tony Thompson.

And what do you know! They were a band that "helped propel disco to new levels of popularity." They were the funk/disco band of the 70s, "Chic"! I've never heard of any of these before, but I sure am excited by the prospect of checking them out.

Nile Rodgers turns out to be one of the most influential producers of all times, having produced albums for David Bowie, Madonna, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck, Diana Ross (of course) and many others, including the "We are Family" album by Sister Sledge (honestly I have only heard the title song, but if these are anything to go by, there is a minefield waiting to be explored out there!). In fact, he was honoured as the "top producer in the world" in 1996.

Bernard Edwards - wikipedia has the following to say about him

Bernard Edwards is considered one of the most important bass players of the 20th century. His bass line from Chic hit "Good Times" has become one of the most copied pieces of music in history, and had a huge influence on musicians of all genres when released.
The bass line was used without credit or royalty for the first rap hit in history, Sugarhill Gang's "Rappers Delight" in 1979, and copied by Queen's bass player John Deacon for Queen's rock hit "Another One Bites The Dust" in 1980. The following twenty-odd years has seen it sampled inumerable times by artists of the most diverse genres, from Rap to Punk and Techno to Pop. Duran Duran bassist John Taylor often played the song in homage during his solo performances, and cited Edwards as his primary influence.

Tony Thompson - apart from a lot of the above, he performed with Led Zep for Live Aid, and was ultimately invited as a replacement for John Bonham during their reunion attempt in 1986.

Man, the things you find by chance :)

Large part of the credit above goes to, once again, Wikipedia! *Applause*
- posted by Rallix @ 8:15 AM 0 comments

 
Back home
Escaped a week early. Flight back was a nightmare. Took 26 hours to reach home from the time I left my room. This included a 6 hour wait at Colombo airport - of which the last 3 were spent amongst hoardes of people returning from "Gulf." Unbelievable set of people - the belt at the airport gave up after some 200 televisions and other electronic gadgets had appeared. At this point I got to know that their were another 8 such loads waiting to emerge.
- posted by Rallix @ 9:13 AM 0 comments