US - Embargoed By Sun Java?
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Most likely not. But while trying to help a colleague resolve a Java related issue, we un-installed the existing incompatible version of Java and tried installing the latest one from the net. But this is the error we got while doing it -
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This when we were trying to download and install in New York. OK, the company is part of a German conglomerate so the routers may be based in Germany but even then we shouldn’t be seeing this message. The possibility is still remote, they could be right here in US, in New York.
I am sure countries like Cuba, Syria, Iran etc. would not have the privilege to directly access all this stuff from American company websites but why in heaven’s name should somebody sitting in US get this kind of a response from the website.
English In India?
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A Tech news journal while covering the recent launch of MySpace India and MySpace Korea, found it strange that while Korean MySpace was offered in Korean language, the Indian one was in English.
What was he or she expecting, the “Indian” language? Something Indianese?
The writer has to be totally clueless about the language situation in India if he/she finds it difficult to comprehend how come the site is in English.
India probably has the largest number of English speakers in the world in one country. Perhaps the accent is different and the style is more British oriented, but it is English nevertheless. (Have an American listen to the Brit cockney accent and I’ll be damned if they make out a even single word spoken).
IIT On Dilbert - Yet Again
Today again IIT was featured on the Dilbert Strip. Check it out on the right. But I have to confess the strip did not make any sense. Not to me at least. It wasn’t even remotely funny, just some inter department politics and war. Maybe its some total nerdy geek corporate drama.
Asok conjures up all his IIT might to vaporize the powers of a stink eye that a colleague was giving him. In the process it seems he bit off the poor guys head.
The secret behind the power is of course his days spent in not just any Indian under graduate school but THE IIT.
His win is all that matters. Go Asoook!
On a side note it would be interesting to hear what Scott Adams thinks about the, much under fire, American skilled worker program. Also known as the H1B visa.
I am going to research a bit on this and dig out his thoughts, this is if he has already made them known. If he hasn’t. then I am going to leave a post on his blog urging him to write something about it. (I recommend you to nudge him too).
Think about it. Had the H1B program not been there, Indians would not have been working in US in such high numbers and consequentially, Asok may not have seen light of the day in this, by now legendary syndicated cartoon strip.
So in effect, Asok is a direct result of the success of Indians in the H1B program. Does Scotty like that? We hope to find that out soon.
On a related note, what do you think are the odds that the next new character introduced would be a Chinese. Possibly a fire breathing dragon.
Dilbert Strip
I am going to experiment for a few days by placing the Dilbert widget on the right side bar. This way we won’t have to visit the official site to check the latest strip while at work. We all can pretend to innoxiously land up on TechBanyan, read the posts and also read what Scott Adams has in store for us and have a great laugh.
The widget is quite easy to use, you might want to click on Prev button and read what the jokes were for the previous day.
Let me know what you think of the idea.
A Wierd Bug In MS Windows
If you are using Microsoft Windows Operating System, do the following:
Create a notepad file with any name anywhere on your system and copy paste the following text in the file - ‘Bush hid the facts’ (without the quotes).
Save the text and close the file.
Open th file again.
Notice the weird behavior?
Any explanations?
In An Absolut World…
…Things would be Absolutly awry. Below is the recent ad from Absolut for its popular Vodka. The ad was meant for the Mexican audience where it would definitely please its audience.
Texas and California used to be part of Mexico when these regions were lost to US in a war.
I have lived and worked in both the states, California as well as Texas. I can imagine what effect it would have had on both the sides. The chord it would have struck in every chicano’s heart and the consternation it might have cause in a Texan’s mind.
Absolut has already apologized for the ad though but without doubt it proved a big hit among the audience it was meant for. However angry denizens of the state and else where are demanding willful boycott of this brand of Vodka in US.
You Know India Has Arrived…
When a local pub at a nearby village downtown advertises to patrons using the following poster.
The original saying had India and China being used as a bugaboo by American parents who often reminded their kids to finish dinner cuz there were starving kids in India.
Another one more recently had American parents asking their kids to complete the science and maths homework because of high rate of outsourcing and how kids when they grew up were “hungry” for jobs.
What the pub management decided to do with the famous bugaboo is totally different and creative.
An Onion A Day…
This week the popular parody site Onion is featuring India in its Our Dumb World series. The series is basically a caricature (or call it a skin developed by Onion) built on top of Google Earth with funny, and at times quite outlandish, quips about various Points Of Interest around the world.
As expected, when it comes to western humor on India, the stereotypes run galore. India gained prominence in the western popular culture by riding primarily on its success in tech related services. Among other things, this handle was seized by the professional joke writers as well who used it as creative fodder in their businesses. Popular examples are most Indian jokes in shows like Jay Leno/David Lettermen, Dilbert’s Asok or as we see in this case, Onion. indian fun, offshoring india, onion article on india, tech call india, tech support funny
Given the excruciating circumstances of our nation’s birth, Indians everywhere today can be proud of their country and its achievements. (Although we still have a long way to go). But if somebody makes fun of things Indian, our success has given us this much strength that we can take the ribbing in good humor and specifically, without getting offensive about it.
Onion doesn’t have a reputation of mincing its words. So if you read their articles for the first time, it may seem like they are making pointed, offensive remarks. But rest assured, I have been reading them for a long time and can definitely vouch that they are an equal opportunity butt kicker with no agenda except spoofs. funny indian article, funny indian news report, india around the world, india outsource funny,
Here’s another gem on the site - For nearly 200 years, England ruled over 500 million people on six continents-a time in which it was commonly said that the sun never set on the British Empire. Today, however, the sun sets on the British Empire at precisely 5:47 p.m. GMT.
Head over to Onion for more of this.
Google’s Outrageous Executive Compensation Plan
Guess how much do the founders Sergey and Larry, and CEO of Google Eric Schmidt pay themselves?
Finally the search engine giant has filed its 2008 proxy statement which shows what insane amounts these guys pay themselves as Salary at Google:
Happy Greetings
World over today is the day for festivities and merry making.
Holi, Good Friday, and Eid Milad-un-Nabi are being celebrated in different parts of the world.
Hope you all have a good time.