Go Green Tip

Conserver water by switching to powder detergents. Liquid detergents are mostly water (up to 80%).

via National Geographic

Moment of Zen

“I think your organization particularly depends too much on principle and not enough on fact,” Jobs told the Greenpeace representatives. “You guys rate people based on what people say their plans are in the distant future, not what they are doing today. I think you put way too much weight on these glorified principles and way too little weight on science and engineering. It would be very helpful if your organization hired a few more engineers and actually entered into dialog with companies to find out what they are really doing and not just listen to all the flowery language when, in reality, most of them aren’t doing anything. That’s my opinion.”

– Steve Jobs

Chased by a Boxer

For someone who has canine phobia, it was absolutely frightening during an evening run yesterday, when I saw this boxer at full throttle, sprinting across the lawn towards me. My first instinct was to run faster, but soon realized I was not going to out run a dog at full speed, and there were flashes of scenes from discovery channel of a cheetah chasing a deer, only in this case I was not as fast as a deer. (more…)

Catching a Monkey

It has been so long since I posted something on here, looks like my Karmadude mojo has started to wear off. So, in the hope of getting back to blogging on here again, here is a little story about how South Indians used to catch monkeys using a coconut. I came across this story used as an example for, How can attachment bring us suffering, in an article about The Four Noble Truths.

One takes a coconut and makes a hole in it, just large enough that a monkey can squeeze its hand in. Next, tie the coconut down, and put a sweet inside. What happens next is pure attachment. The monkey smells the sweet, puts his hand into the coconut, grabs the sweet and … the hole is too small to let a fist out of the coconut. The last thing a monkey would consider is to let go of the sweet, so it is literally tied down by its own attachment. Often they only let go when they fall asleep or become unconscious because of exhaustion.

If I were the monkey and my laptop the sweet, I could totally be the monkey that gets caught!

PHOTO SHAUN ANTHONY

Moment of Zen

Belief may be no more, in the end, than a source of energy, like a battery which one clips into an idea to make it run
– J. M. Coetzee

Indibloggies 2006

Looking through the site stats, I just realized that this site has been nominated for 2006 Indibloggies under—Best Designed Indiblog—Wow! That is definitely a first and very humbling indeed. Being up against the likes of Chugs and Megha, I am probably the unpopular underdog here, and so I am just going to be happy with the nomination.

However, do check out some of the interesting and popular Indian blogs that are nominated and if you feel like it vote for your favorite blogs. As for those who are new to the blog, welcome! Take a look around, and maybe you will find something you like.

Here are the other nominees in the Best Designed Indiblog category:
1. Blogchaat [Megha]
2. Ckunte.com
3. Desipundit [Chugs]
4. Mediajunk blog [Chugs]
5. Meghalomania [Megha]
6. Swaroop C H, The Dreamer [Chugs]
7. The Kamla Bhatt Show
8. To Each Its Own [Chugs]
9. Trivial Matters [Chugs]

The Sycomore Fig Tree

Trees and their stories have always fascinated me, and I admire great story tellers who tell the stories of some of the most magnificent trees on our planet. One such story is that of the Queen of Trees, the Sycomore Fig tree. I recently got to watch the evolutionary paradox and ecologically astound footprint of the Sycomore Fig tree through some excellent story telling in the documentary by filmmakers Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble.

It may be one of nature’s oddest couples: a tiny wasp that can barely be seen, and a giant fig tree, the sycomore, which shelters a remarkable menagerie of wildlife among its limbs. The wasp and the fig depend on each other for survival. Without the wasp, the tree could not pollinate its flowers and produce seeds. Without the fig, the wasp would have nowhere to lay its eggs.

You might be able to still catch this show on PBS or watch it on their website. This show definitely provides a great insight into the workings of the interrelationship between species, and in the end makes you wonder about what intelligence and workings at the cellular level makes all this possible at the evolutionary domain. Maybe recent studies at Rice University, about transfer of DNA between species by bacteria and viruses, might provide some answers to these questions.

Tree photo via Bionatics

Moment of Zen

Your imagination is your most powerful tool.

You learn more by falling than by the fear of falling.

Avoid unchallenging occupations—they waste your talents.
– Fortune Cookie

Review: Envirofit Jute Yoga Mat

There was a time when yoga was a medium for one to unite with the universal soul through channeling together ones mind, body, and soul. Those days are long gone, and in today’s over commercialized, desire brimming world, yoga is a huge money making machine, with US consumers alone spending over $3 billion on Yoga related products and services. With that level of consumption , today’s version of yoga seems to have lost it’s soul, and is probably a burden on the environment. (more…)

Moment of Zen

The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.
– Galileo Galilei