Reid Hoffman

What’s a better way to introduce Reid Hoffman than introducing him through his Linked In profile. Reid is the founder of Linked In, the professional-networking-site.

A glance through his profile and I said, WOW!

Reid Hoffman

Not just the founder of Linked In, he’s also been on the founding board of Pay Pal. As an angel investor, he has facilitated angel funding for several ventures including http://www.facebook.com, http://www.zynga.com, http://www.digg.com, http://www.technorati.com, http://www.friendster.com, http://www.socialtext.com, http://www.jaxtr.com, http://www.flixster.com,  http://www.flickr.com, http://www.last.fm, http://www.ping.fm, and http://www.sixapart.com.

Amazing sense of ventures that would work and create an impact! Some of the investments made can be seen here

Hoffman was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Berkeley, California. He graduated from Stanford University (where he won a Marshall Scholarship and a Dinkelspiel Award) with a bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems and from Oxford University with a master’s degree in philosophy.

After working at Apple Computer and Fujitsu, Hoffman co-founded his first company, SocialNet.com. While at Socialnet, Hoffman was a member of the board of directors at the founding of PayPal, an electronic money transmission service, and later joined the firm as a full-time employee. At the time of PayPal’s acquisition by eBay in 2002, he was Executive Vice President of PayPal in charge of business and corporate development.

Olympic mascots

According to Wiki, since the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France the Olympic Games have had a mascot. The first major mascot in the Olympic Games was Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Misha was used extensively during the opening and closing ceremonies, had a TV animated cartoon and appeared on several merchandise products. Nowadays, most of the merchandise aimed at young people focuses on the mascots, rather than the Olympic flag or organization logos.

Before 1992, most Olympic mascots were created based on an animal unique to the host countries. Since then, human or invented figures have been used, and often more than one mascot – the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games had four mascots; the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games had three and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games had two. Click here for a complete list of mascots that have been used over the years.

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny personifies supreme heroism to generations of television viewers. He is the principal signature character for Warner Brothers animation and the beloved depiction of America’s- and humanity’s- aspirations to prevail over all difficulties and antagonists.

As this website suggests, Bugs is an always-appealing character in seeming harmony with the universe and its virtuous order. He was conceived by the combined talents of young animation directors at the Warner Brothers cartoon studio and appeared for the first recognizable time in the 1940, Tex Avery-directed classic, “A Wild Hare”, as the irrepressible foil for hunter Elmer Fudd, by representing nature’s ultimate bulwark against human presumptions of dominance and violent gamesmanship.

In 2002, TV Guide compiled a list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time as part of the magazine’s 50th anniversary. Bugs Bunny was given the honor of number 1. Additionally, in Animal Planet’s 50 Greatest Movie Animals (2004), Bugs was named #3, behind Mickey Mouse and Toto, making Bugs Bunny number two in the cartoon popularity once again behind Mickey Mouse. (Read more on Wiki)

Lady Justice

Lady Justice (Justitia, the Roman Goddess of Justice who is equivalent to the Greek Goddess Themis) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems.

According to Wiki, since the Renaissance, Justitia has frequently been depicted as a matron carrying a sword and measuring balances, and sometimes wearing a blindfold. Her modern iconography, which frequently adorns courthouses and courtrooms, conflates the attributes of several goddesses who embodied Right Rule for Greeks and Romans, blending Roman blindfolded Fortuna (luck) with Hellenistic Greek Tyche (fate), and sword-carrying Nemesis (vengeance).

As this website suggests, the origin of the Goddess of Justice goes back to antiquity. She was referred to as Ma’at by the ancient Egyptians and was often depicted carrying a sword with an ostrich feather in her hair (but no scales) to symbolize truth and justice. The term magistrate is derived from Ma’at because she assisted Osiris in the judgment of the dead by weighing their hearts.

To the ancient Greeks she was known as Themis, originally the organizer of the “communal affairs of humans, particularly assemblies.” Her ability to foresee the future enabled her to become one of the oracles at Delphi, which in turn led to her establishment as the goddess of divine justice. Classical representations of Themis did not show her blindfolded (because of her talent for prophecy, she had no need to be blinded) nor was she holding a sword (because she represented common consent, not coercion).

Maha Ashtami Durga Puja

It’s the most important day of the 5 day festivity…when every Bengali would be involved in the affair! It starts with the Pushpanjali where people offer flowers and pray to goddess Durga for strength and power.

As this website elaborates, an integral and important part of Durga Puja, Sandhi Puja is performed at the juncture of the 8th and 9th lunar day. Sandhi puja lasts from the last 24 minutes of Ashtami till the first 24 minutes of Nabami. During this juncture  (the “Sandhikhan”), Durga is worshipped in her Chamunda form. Devi Durga killed, Chando and Mundo, the two asuras at “Sandhikhan” and thus acquired the name of “Chamunda”.

Long back devotees in order  to perform the Sandhi Puja at the exact juncture used a number of methods. With the last 24 mins. of the Ashtami puja still left, a bronze bowl with a tiny hole was placed in a bucket full of water. The bowl  with the tiny hole was made in such a way that it took exactly 24 minutes for the bowl to submerge in the water. The moment the bowl submerged in the water cannon balls were fired announcing this moment of Sandhi Puja. This yardstick for measuring the “Sandhikhan” was very popular ages ago in many “Rajbaris”. Many “Rajbaris”, including, the zamindar of Sutanuti of Sobhabajar Rajbari  fired cannon balls to announce the “Sandhikhan”. (Read more)

Chola Dynasty

This post is a part of Indian History Series.

In Tamil lexicon Chola means Soazhi or Saei denoting a newly formed kingdom. The Chola Empire was ruled by a Dravidian Tamil dynasty of that name that ruled primarily in southern India until the 13th century. The dynasty originated in the fertile valley of the Kaveri River.

The Cholas were at the height of their power continuously from the later half of the 9th century till the beginning of the 13th centuries. Under Rajaraja Chola I and his son Rajendra Chola I, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-east Asia. During the period 1010–1200, the Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the south to as far north as the banks of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.

Chola kings and emperors bore the titles Parakesharivarman and Rajakesharivarman, alternately. Their chronology is difficult. Vijayalaya (reigned c. 850–870) began the occupation of the territory of the Pallavas, which was extended under Aditya I (reigned c. 870–907). Parantaka I (reigned 907– c. 953), known as the destroyer of Madurai (the capital city of the Pandyas), defeated Sinhalese invaders and united the lands of the Cholas and the Pandyas between 926 and 942. Coming to terms with the Rastrakutas, he took Nellore from them about 940, but their king, Krsna III, seized Tondaimandalam.

By 1014 Rajaraja had acquired the Lakshadweep and Maldive islands. His son Rajendracola Deva I (reigned 1014–44) outdid Rajaraja’s achievements.

The Chola ruler Virarajendra (reigned 1063–69) attempted to render the Chalukya empire in the Deccan harmless, but his death enabled Vikramaditya Chalukya to dabble in Chola family quarrels.

From 1216 the Hoysala kings obtained lands in the Chola country, former Chola feudatories threw off their allegiance, northern powers intervened, and the upheaval facilitated the Pandya conquest of the Chola country in 1257. The Chola dynasty ended in 1279.

Refer wiki and britannica for more

Origin of kites

According to this website, the exact date and origin of the kite is not known but it is believed that they were flown in China more than two thousand years ago. One legend suggests that when a Chinese farmer tied a string to his hat to keep it from blowing away in a strong wind, the first kite was born.

The earliest written account of kite flying was about 200 B.C. when the Chinese General Han Hsin of the Han Dynasty flew a kite over the walls of a city he was attacking to measure how far his army would have to tunnel to reach past the defenses. Knowing this distance his troops reached the inside of the city, surprised their enemy, and were victorious.

There are 3 legends for the origin. According to this website, these are:

• Legend of Bamboo Hat and Leaf – It is said that a sudden violent wind blew his hat away while a farmer was working in the field. He rushed and chased after it. He caught the string of the hat, which is used to fasten it on the head. The hat was flying in the wind with the string in the farmer’s hand. He felt it’s so interesting that he did it for fun later. Afterwards, it evolved into the kite today.
• Legend of Sailing Ship and Tent – From the principle of sails drawing support from wind, kites were made. It’s also said that kite originates from the northern China in which people used to live. People made kites by imitating the tents flying in the sky, which happened when there was heavy wind. After that, it became a kind of amusement.
• Legend  of birds – An outstanding characteristic of the ancient kites, in term of framework, shape and techniques on making and drawing, was based on the shape of bird, which is generalized according to the history recordation. Therefore, we can draw a conclusion that the first invention of kite was inspired by birds.

786

I see 786 written on autos, in hotels and in some places that preach multi religions, I see 786 written next to Om (or aum).. so whats the sygnificance of the number 786?

According to Wiki

The Arabic letters of the opening phrase of the Qur’an sum to the numerical value 786 in the system of Abjad numerals. Not all Muslims place emphasis on this numerological analysis; however, some — mostly in Pakistan, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh — use 786 as a substitute for the phrase بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم bism illāh ir-raḥmān ir-raḥīm (“in the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate”)

More can be read on this

Green Field Projects

Was reading an article in ET about Unitus (I think this was the company) launching some greenfield project. This made me think what a “Green field” project is. Is it something that is very lucrative with lots of govt. support? environment friendly? what exactly?

Wiki says

In wireless engineering jargon, a greenfield is a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior networks. The first cellular telephone networks were built primarily on tall existing tower structures or on high ground in an effort to cover as much territory as possible, quickly, and with a minimum number of base stations. They were developed with no regard for future capacity considerations or Frequency reuse.

Similarly in other disciplines like software engineering, a greenfield is also a project which lacks any constraints imposed by prior work. Greenfield also has meaning in sales. A greenfield opportunity refers to a marketplace that is completely untapped and free for the taking.

Blurb

A blurb is a short summary or some words of praise accompanying a creative work, usually referring to the words on the back of the book but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases, web portals and news websites.

According to Wiki, a blurb on a book or a film can be any combination of quotes from the work, the author, the publisher, reviewers or fans, a summary of the plot, a biography of the author or simply claims about the importance of the work. Many humorous books and films parody blurbs that deliver exaggerated praise by unlikely people and insults disguised as praise.

The word blurb originated in 1907 when American humorist Gelett Burgess’s short 1906 book “Are you a bromide?” was released. The dust jacket promoting the word proclaimed “YES, this is a ‘BLURB’!” and the picture was of a (fictitious) young woman “Miss Belinda Blurb” shown calling out, described as “in the act of blurbing.” The name and term stuck for any publisher’s contents on a book’s back cover, even after the picture was dropped and only the complimentary text remained.