Last few days I’ve been excited all the time. Ask me why. Ok I’ll tell anyway.
Thats because this time next month I’m going on a trip to Israel sponsored by my b-school. I’m a part of an elite team ‘chosen’ by the school. We are supposed to go to Tel Aviv, whip our magic wands, churn out analyses, strategies and do some MBA giri in general and suddenly the world was a better place.
Anyway.
That’s just for few days, then begins the fun part. I’ll spend another 10 days traveling across the country alone – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, West Bank, Dead Sea, Hafia, Golan heights, and even sneak to Mt. Sinai, in Egypt. Israel is such a tiny country – just 8 hours from North to South and 2 hours from East to West.
Awesome 
If you have been there, or have some tips for me (apart from sermons of being careful), I’m all ears 
PS: Yes, some people from my school do read this blog.
Previous post had a picture puzzle. Unfortunately nobody could precisely spot the thing I edited, although your responses might have been influenced by the effect generated by the edit. So, if you said ‘horizon’, then you get a passing grade
This is what I edited. A light pole in the middle of the picture. I removed it because it was ugly, right in the front and appearing important:
The horizon was NOT edited, it looks like one, but thats just a coincidence
Thanks all for participating. Funny thing is that none of my real-world friends commented here, they preferred chatting
Update Note: The picture posted here is the original pic. Thanks Mandar for the hint 
407 Express Toll Route, going East-West just North of Toronto
Highway 407, a 107 km long route, is one of the better-designed freeways in the province of Ontario because of its recent design. This road opened in 1997 and is one of the few freeways in Canada that are privately owned. Users have to pay toll to access it.
The 407 uses a system of cameras and transponders to toll vehicles automatically. There are no toll booths, hence the name “Express Toll Route” (ETR). Highway 407 is designed as a normal freeway but without the need for toll booth intermediaries which could otherwise take up significant land, raise operating cost and increase travel time. A radio antenna detects when a vehicle with a transponder has entered and exited the highway, calculating the toll rate. For vehicles without a transponder, an automatic number plate recognition system is used. Monthly statements are mailed to users. The 407 is the world’s first highway to feature this system throughout.
- (Wikipedia)
The reason this highway is special for me is because:
a. I see it thru my window, and
b. A frequently used bike route passes over this freeway.
:::::And now a simple question:::::
I have edited this picture, can you spot the edit?
I thought I was immune to tags, until Celine pointed her tag gun at me. Here it goes:
Two names you go by (besides your given name):
1. final_transit (virtual name)
2. Puku (पुकू) (thats what everyone calls me)
Two things you are wearing right now:
1. underwear
2. errmm… hey! its almost bedtime
Two longest car rides:
1. Some car trip that went as follows: Mumbai – Pune – Kolhapur – Badami – Gokarn – Goa – Mumbai
2. Another car trip that went as follows: Mumbai – Pune – Mahabaleshwar – Ratnagiri – Murud – Mumbai
Single non-stop journey I remember was Mumbai-Goa (600 km)
Two of your favorite things to do:
Just 2?? damn! let me voluntarily change the question
Two of your favorite things to do in a library:
1. Look out for people who are sleeping
2. Prevent myself from sleeping
Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. I don’t wanna sleep alone today, so…
2. If I get #1, I’m good.
Three animals you have or have had:
1. I prefer them in the forests.
2. Okay, or the zoo.
Two things you ate today:
1. Cereal for breakfast
2. Pad Thai for lunch
Two things you are doing tomorrow:
1. Going to that expensive apparel store again hoping to get a discount
2. Buy snow skates (regardless of how much they cost)
Two favorite holidays:
1. Diwali, for obvious reasons
2. Ganpati (will be replaced by Christmas soon)
Two favorite beverages:
1. Cranberry juice, the one served by cute bartender
2. Green Tea, the one I make
Who am I tagging? If you think it was going to be you, then it probably was you. Go ahead, do it
On October 14th, a newly arrived Polish immigrant died at Vancouver International Airport after being Tasered by the police.
Taser is an electroshock weapon that is used by the police to fire a high-voltage electric shock at the victim in order to subdue his muscles. “Electroshock weapon technology uses a temporary high-voltage low-current electrical discharge to override the body’s muscle-triggering mechanisms. The recipient feels great pain, and can be momentarily paralyzed while an electric current is being applied. It is reported that applying electroshock devices to more sensitive parts of the body is more painful.” (Wikipedia)
Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant arrived at Vancouver, Canada after his first international flight. Speaking only Polish, he was left helpless at the airport arrival lounge for over 10 hours. This left him frustrated, he turned violent, and was left dead when the police fired Tasers at him aiming to control the unarmed man. The whole incident was captured by an eye-witness Paul Pritchard on his camera.
While I strongly condemn the Taser incident there is something in the Canadian society that I think is worth appreciating:
- I respect Paul for handing over the video to the police in order to help the investigations. Note that this incident involved the police, who, were also the investigators of the incident.
- I respect the faith a common man has in the police and law enforcement officers here.
- I respect the fact that the police returned the video back to Paul, fully knowing how humiliating and embarrassing it would be – not just to the RCMP, but to Canada itself.
- I respect the freedom of press here and how the matter is being discussed openly and transparent manner.
- Finally, I respect the fact that the common here man believes that justice will be delivered, despite the police themselves being involved in the incident.
The video is here. Content warning.
Indeed, there are many things we (Indians) need to learn…
Image from CBC News
Oemar posted this video on his blog sometimes back, prompting me to write this.
Wikipedia defines subtitles as ‘textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen’.
Subtitles
Subtitles can be (a) Translation, or (b) Caption – text version of events on screen.
Here in Canada, Hindi movies shown in movie halls always have subtitles to them. These are, expectedly, English translation of Hindi dialogs. I have a nasty habit of reading the English subtitles ahead of the dialog delivery in Hindi. The minute the subtitles appear on screen, I digest them, and by the time the Hindi dialog ends, I am already reacting to it. Especially while watching Om Shanti Om, often I was laughing all by myself, because I read the subtitles but the Hindi dialogs were still getting spoken
Captions
In US and Canada, the words ‘captions’ and ‘subtitles’ have different meanings. Subtitles are only a textual version of the dialogs on screen – assuming that the viewer can hear the sounds. On the other hand, Captions mean a little more than that. The symbol CC (not to be confused with Creative Commons) seen in the picture stands for ‘closed captioning’ and is specifically aimed at people who have hearing disability. The CC’s transcribe speech and all the relevant sounds in the video being played.
Captioning has progressed immensely and eventually it aims to describe all non-speech information – such as the identity of speakers and their manner of speaking, along with music or sound effects using words or symbols.
Me
I know it would be foolish to ascertain ‘which disability is the highest disability’, but I feel more for the hearing disabled. Probably because sound takes me close to myself more than anything else. For me, voice is one of the important things that makes the other person sexy Finally, I’m overly musically oriented.
Among the games I like to play, Half Life 2 and Doom 3 feature CC. The best thing I can do is – switch off the noises sounds in the game, turn on the CC’s and play my favorite music in the background instead. That way I get the best of both – my music and my game. Even on TV shows, it would feel funny to read stuff like (phone rings), (serious music in the background) and things like that, but once used to it, I find it equally enjoyable. Expressive content, such as Bollowood movies, rely solely on the background score to enhance the intensity of the scene. Think about shehnai music, and it reminds you of either a marriage or something tragic, doen’t it?
The sense of hearing is something I always took for granted, until few years back when I made a new friend. Now I see it in a different perspective altogether.
It’s too noisy out there. Try to read the sounds sometime
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