One More Drop In the Ocean

Renegades of The Ordinary

“What the hell happened, man!”

Posted by vineetgupta on October 14, 2009

Some guy sent me an email a couple of days ago.

While the mail was pretty interesting in it’s delivery, the basic message of the mail was

“What the %#@& happened, man? Update the damn page!”

Seems there haven’t been a lot of updates lately. I’ve been busy. If you’ve been coming by to look for updates and getting frustrated, consider subscribing by one of the options here. That way you don’t need to bother to check the page personally.

I haven’t been updating because I’m (temporarily) in a busy phase of my life. I haven’t got a lot of material in place either, because everything up here is instantaneous. I could write a shitty post to fill up space and keep you happy, but I don’t do that. I don’t write unless I want to.

Here’s what you can do in the meantime – check out the archives. The page is now well established, getting 150-200 hits a day but some of the best stuff was written when few knew this place existed. It’s been two years since I started this page and some great content is buried in the archives.

That’s it. Do your thing and don’t be a retard.

Cheers

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

I just realized Katrina Kaif looks like a dude with a wig

Posted by vineetgupta on July 27, 2009

I saw it, I can’t unsee it, and I’m scarred forever. Never again will I look at her pic without the image of a dude popping into my head.

Katrina Kaif the dude

kat closeup

I blame the false excitement with a dead look in the eyes.

Who cares, a lot more where that came from.

Posted in bollywood, gender issues, humor, images, india, katrina kaif, movies, new york, photos | 2 Comments »

Judge this, prick!

Posted by vineetgupta on June 30, 2009

Like I said before, I don’t watch much TV anymore.

Well the problem begins when I am sitting at home sometimes, and someone else is watching TV. And that leads to accidental exposure to the true opioid of the masses.

The opiate

Well I don’t grudge other people their entertainment… My policy is pretty much live and let live and stay out of others way unless it actually concerns you. But recently I ended up accidentally watching a couple of TV “talent hunt” shows.

Man, humanity is insane, retarded, illogical, fucking crazy – I’ve come to accept that, and I love my fellow man nevertheless… But WOW, man, wow. Yesterday was the first time I actually felt physically ill while watching TV.

The latest addition to the long list of things I hate? Arrogant, douchebag TV judges.

I remember this whole stream of bullshit on Indian TV started way back with the original Indian idol – a rip off of American idol where Simon Cowell plays the douchebag, the judge who is “cutting edge” and “tells it like it is”.

The gimmick worked, and American Idol made money… And so the Indian version had to rip it off, had to have judges who were douchebags as well. And thus started the trend. Have you seen the average judge in a “talent hunt” TV series nowadays? There’s usually three of them, all B-grade celebrities themselves, some of them without an ounce of talent. There’s usually one douchebag who insults everyone, one smily happy girl who loves everyone, and one “voice of reason”. This American Idol formula has made its way into every Reality TV show.

And then they judge people.

Now I wouldn’t mind the judging if inherent in the judging was the understanding that a person can only be judged by an EXPERT in the particular field which he is involved in. So if I am a singer, it takes a singer to judge me, right? If you’re not a singer or a professor who wrote books on the art of singing, get lost. You can’t judge me. You don’t know what you’re talking about. At the very maximum you can like or dislike what you hear. But musical taste is subjective, man. Your opinion does not count as a judging. So, for instance, I don’t really enjoy metal music, but does that mean that if Metallica performs in front of me, I have the right to say “Man, this is the worst band i ever heard. This is a waste of my time, they have no talent whatsoever!”

No, of course I can’t. Yet here, we have the epitome of being a retard: There’s actresses judging singers!! Has humanity gone completely insane? Going by the principle that you can only judge what you’re an expert in, these actresses can pretty much only judge strippers… Or maybe other actresses. But an actress cannot judge a singer. It’s that simple.

And then, they humiliate people.

Yeah, it was real funny on TV, the judges taunting the contestants who “sucked” and telling them off for “wasting their time”. Real funny. These were kids who stood in eight-hour long queues, practiced for months, maybe years. Young kids, 16-17 years old, who had dreams and hopes which had been crushed and it wasn’t enough to just tell them “No kid, I’m sorry, your dream is not going to happen.” No, you have to humiliate them on national tv? And “wasting your time”? For Christ’s sake, aren’t you getting paid to listen to them? You are just doing what you’re getting paid to do. You aren’t doing them a favour by listening to them. Control your fucking ego.

It’s all hypocrisy, man. These pricks would never treat one of their own that way. I remember a celebrity dance show and the judges used to treat the contestants with kid gloves… No one ever got less than 8/10 points and every soft, weak, powerless criticism was delivered with a qualifier that the performance was “still totally awesome”. Its only a bunch of nobodies who have their dreams crushed and get insulted on national TV, and the retarded populace of India applauds it as “hardcore honest reality TV.” jump off a bridge, sheep.

Posted in Hypocrisy, american idol, douchebags, entertainment, expertise, humanity, india, indian idol, indian television, insults, judge, reality, reality tv, simon cowell, talent, talent hunt, television, tv | 2 Comments »

Hari and Aino, free! Get it while it lasts…

Posted by vineetgupta on June 4, 2009

hariaino

For those interested in discovering great indie music, the awesome Swedish band Hari and Aino is offering its albums free (with an option of naming your price if you want higher bitrate music). Check it out here!

It’s a great opportunity, and do this little known band a good turn – if you like the music, spread the word… It’s the least you can do to help them out.

Enjoy!

Posted in downloads, freebies, hari and aino, indie, indie pop, indie rock, music, pop, rock | Leave a Comment »

Mumbai and the candle-lighter

Posted by vineetgupta on May 6, 2009

Oh man! Mumbai was PISSED OFF after the terror attacks! I mean, candle light marches! Ooh, you guys are EXTREME!

And come election day, you guys just lay on your fat lazy ass and ignore the one thing which actually can achieve something.

voting-vs-candles

Are mumbaikars dumb or something?

I don’t get it. What’s so awesome about a candle light march? What is it supposed to accomplish?

The answer – it is supposed to show off your numbers, so that the politicians are actually aware of the fact that there are people (voters) who believe in an issue a certain way.

So do you understand what’s important in the above line?

Voters!!! FOR GOD’S SAKE!!

And if you don’t actually go out and vote, all your faggy little candle holding parties don’t mean jack.

Even politicians have learnt that lame, spur of the moment rallies and candle marches and other such crap really don’t mean anything. This new generation candle light bullshit has become the refuge of lazy, ignorant, far too secure urbanites who don’t really have the time to do anything substantial but want to contribute “something”. It doesn’t matter that their something accomplishes as much as an elephant farting on the road (global warming and a 3-hour coverage by India TV, the channel which will get excited about anything). These people get out on the street, light candles, and return home 2 hours later, satisfied of achieving something meaningful.

And when it’s time to vote, these same martyrs to their cause are too lazy to get off their ass. And not to mention, they aren’t even bothered about learning anything about the issue concerned – That’s more work than we asked for! Come on! Isn’t there a candle we could light or something?

_______________________

A: Man, shouldn’t you be voting?

B: Hey come on dude! I just went on a candle light march a week ago!! I’m still recuperating from the ill-effects of 2 hours of exercise! Do you expect me to vote?

A: You’re a lazy prick and all your candle waving bullshit was meaningless. Admit it.

B: That’s not true… Er… Er… All the parties are corrupt anyway, who do I vote for?

A: OK, so you know that every single candidate who is up for election in your area is corrupt? You went and did some research before deciding to throw away your vote?

B:What? Who will do all that work?

A:  You’re a lazy prick and all your candle waving bullshit was meaningless.

B: OK, I’m a lazy prick. But suppose someone did do the research and didn’t find a single non-corrupt candidate. Then what?

A: Then vote for the least corrupt one.

B: And suppose I’m a perfectionist who cannot bear the thought of voting for criminals?

A: Well then, maybe you should step up to the plate instead of sitting on your ass, eh? Stand up for elections yourself. Either that or stop complaining over how shitty the government is.

Tomorrow, it’s time for Delhi to vote. Do some research (That’s what the internet was originally made for, porn came later). Vote for someone you can agree with (or atleast stand). Don’t make excuses.

Then, and only then, light a candle.

Posted in achievement, candlelight, candles, civics, corruption, delhi, democracy, duty, humanity, ignorance, india, laziness, mumbai, politicians, politics, protest, rally, retards, stupidity, voting | 6 Comments »

Find the move: Tactics 2

Posted by vineetgupta on April 26, 2009

White to move and win
White to move and win

Tactics 1 available here

This is a famous win by Capablanca. Similar positions arise frequently against castled kings on a weak back rank.

It’s white to move and win. Try to find the winning sequence of moves.

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Solution

This is a complex win, involving the following tactical motifs – Pin, Fork, Sacrifice, Zwischenzug and Back rank mate.

1. Nh6+!

tactics2a

This is a Zwischenzug, an in-between move. White ignores the threat of Bxg3 to check the king. Black cannot take the queen because the king is in check. The g pawn is pinned to the king and cannot take the Knight. This leaves only one legal move for black – Kh8.

1. … Kh8

2. Qxe5!

tactics2b

Surprise! White takes the bishop, temporarily offering a sacrifice of his queen. The pin is maintained, and the Knight cannot be taken. The logical move (and the best one) is for black to take the offered queen.

2. … Qxe5

3.  Nxf7+!

tactics2c

The final devastating move. A Knight fork of the king and queen. The Black rook cannot take the Knight, as that loses immediately to Rd8+! (Back rank mate) by the sequence 3. …Rxf7?? 4. Rd8+ Qe8 5. Rxe8+ Rf8 6. Rxf8#

That leaves only one move, Kg8.

3. …Kg8

4. Nxe5, winning back the sacrificed material.

And white wins, being two pawns and a piece up in a straightforward endgame. Black resigned.

A description of some alternative variations in the position is given below.

1. Nh6+ Kh8 2. Qxe5 Qxe5 (2… Rc8 3. Qxc7) (2… Qb8 3. Qxb8 Rxb8 4. Nxf7+ Kg8 5. Rd8+ Rxd8 6. Nxd8) (2… Qb6 3. Qe7) 3. Nxf7+ Kg8 (3… Rxf7 4.Rd8+ Qe8 5. Rxe8+ Rf8 6. Rxf8#) 4. Nxe5 1-0

Posted in capablanca, chess, chess puzzle, logic, mind games, tactics | Leave a Comment »

Not so subtle propaganda in today’s HT?

Posted by vineetgupta on April 9, 2009

I don’t know what this is, but I know doublespeak when I see it.

This looks like something smack out of George Orwell’s 1984 – Are we that stupid? Propaganda, lies, misinformation – spread by advertising?

F### you.

I don’t know whether the Chinese have actually done any development in Tibet (and why would someone risk being killed to get out of such a heaven) but advertising? And presenting it like news?

This little footnote at the very end of the advertisements says it all (click to enlarge)

disclaim

So  basically, what they’re saying is: “Someone paid us money and we published whatever they wanted us to and allowed them to make it appear like genuine news. In short, we’re whores. Please don’t sue us if this news is fake.”

Anyway, this little advertisement was full of little interesting snippets which just shows us what our “Overlords” would like us too believe.

tibet2

Statistics derived from peer reviewed research and Big Brother

tibet3

I cried when I read this

tibet4

My favorite part of the entire article - a comparison chart.

You owe it to yourself to look at it - the modern world is exactly the same as Nazi Germany or the Cold War, People are still stupid and ignorant and governments are quick to exploit it.

And if nothing else, the article does provide a couple of laughs.

Posted in 1984, George Orwell, advertising, china, cold war, dictatorship, doublespeak, fascism, humanity, lies, misinformation, nazism, propaganda, stupidity, tibet, truth | 4 Comments »

Object Permanence and Psychology of the Infant

Posted by vineetgupta on April 2, 2009

Pediatrics was one of the postings I enjoyed for the stress on sound clinical knowledge and the large variability in presentation of patients.

One of the important aspects of pediatrics even laymen are aware of is “developmental milestones” – we all know that kids are supposed to walk and say their first words around 1 year of age. A recent field of interest is Developmental psychology, which deals with evolution of the human mind as an infant learns about the world. A lot of interesting findings surround these “milestones”: For instance, the A-not-B error.

First a little background – There is a developmental milestone called “Object Permanence”: A young infant is really not aware where objects go when they are hidden from view – the moment the object vanishes from the field of vision, the infant believes that it has disappeared. For example, the infant is shown a toy and he reaches for it – then, while the infant watches, the toy is hidden or removed, and the infant does not understand that the toy still “exists” – to him, it has just “disappeared”.

At some point the infant understands or learns that objects do not disappear when they are covered – this is called object permanence.

However, this psychological concept is learnt slowly by trial and error – creating the classic A-not-B error.

The A-not-B error can be seen in children in the age group of approximately 8-12 months. Here is how to do it. You need two different coloured towels, an attractive toy and of course, the child.

  • Show the kid an attractive object.
  • Hide it under one towel.
  • Prompt the child – if he has progressed to the stage of basic object permanence, he will uncover the towel and get the toy.
  • Repeat the experiment, this time, first hiding the object under the original towel, then, while the child watches, move it under the other towel (in plain sight of the child).
  • Watch the child make the mistake of searching under the first towel.

Here are a couple of interesting videos about the phenomenon with two demonstrations of the experiment.

Educational video

A mother trying it on her daughter – this experiment may not have been perfect – but the child is obsessed with the first cloth.

The theories behind the experiment are controversial – as are all psychological theories.

Posted in child psychology, childhood, development, developmental psychology, experiment, humanity, infant, medicine, object permanence, pediatrics, psychology, science | 3 Comments »

You’re off the deep end, cap’n!

Posted by vineetgupta on March 28, 2009

Wicked artwork. Pity it was drawn by some anonymous guy on the internet. Best amateur art I’ve seen in a while.

whitewhale

Well, don’t go stabbing people now.

Posted in art, artwork, comics, humor, sailor | Leave a Comment »

Forget Polio, let’s eradicate stupidity first

Posted by vineetgupta on February 21, 2009

So, the blog is at the 30K mark, and while some guys would consider that a landmark, for me it’s only a beginning.

Because I have a mission.

Because, scary as it may be, there are retards among us.

Yes.

It’s true.

Retard

Once upon a time, I used to be like you guys. Innocent, pure. I used to believe that most of humanity was endowed with at least the minimum basic amount of common sense.

But then something happened.

I turned eight.

And I suddenly realized that I had a pretty high opinion of people who were so incredibly stupid that it’s a wonder how they survived evolution at all.

The reason why evolution can't fight stupidity.

Realizing my mistake, I was quick to correct my falsely high opinion of humanity.

But as time passed, I realized that retards were more common than I had suspected. My initial estimate was that maybe one in hundred people might be dumb, but with time I realized it’s more like one in four.

pregnant-smoker

It didn’t matter how old, they were, how rich or poor they were, how educated they were or their standard of living. Stupidity was the new epidemic. And no one seemed to be doing anything about it. Everywhere I look nowadays, there are idiots running amok. It’s like an uncontrollable riot of mental retardation.

QandA

And then I realized – this is my mission. Someone has got to get these idiots under control before they make life unbearable for the rest of us.

I realize that eradication of stupidity is an impossible goal. But every little bit helps. If my efforts can discourage even one idiot from doing that incredibly stupid thing he was about to do, my objective is achieved.

And that, my friend, is my dream.

Cell Phone driver

Posted in aspiration, disease, dream, eradication, evolution, fight, goal, idiocy, idiots, la resistance, mental retardation, mission, retardation, retards, stupidity | 6 Comments »