Monday, December 12, 2011

How to pick a digital camera... Useful info

Digital Cameras Digital Camera Buying Guide

Posted by rajesh |

Friday, May 13, 2011

Jaya Ho!!

It came as a fresh lease of life when the election results started to trickle in.The view of huge crowds taking to the streets celebrating the results seemed really to be a harbinger of good things to come for the people of Tamilnadu. Right from the beginning of the election results release within 5 minutes into the flash news, it was evident that DMK was going to get a huge drubbing in the hands of the AIADMK. What was surprising was the candid admission of loss to AIADMK by SUN TV election number updates. Even before Jaya news updated about AIADMK leading across many constituencies, SUN TV already admitted their leads.Kalaignar TV as expected went about their business with stupid 'Maanada Mayilaada' program as if no such event as the election has happened in Tamilnadu. That was so lame of them They should have admitted their loss with a bit of grace.

Jayalalitha truly deserves this victory for her steadfast and tireless efforts all through the years to keep criticizing the DMK government at every available opportunity. I can still feel the words "Minority Thi Mu Kaa" reverberating in my ears after having been used so many times during each and every News bulletin in Jaya TV. At times it seemed as if Jayalalitha was barking at the wrong tree as nothing seemed to be happening to her favor. But then Raja and the 2G scam really turned the tide for her.The talk shows that they hosted on Jaya TV to expose the 2G scams were really well researched and well organized. I did see a bit of biased reporting in those talk shows but then whatelse could one expect from the jingoistic talk show host whose main aim is to somehow make the viewers form a negative opinion of the DMK.One of the speeches from Cho Ramaswamy at the Tuglak function was really awesome and it did seem to spell the doom for DMK when he accurately predicted Captain joining forces with AIADMK and also suggested that the people teach a lesson to the thieving DMK.

The next few weeks are going to be really interesting in TN. Once Jaya takes the helm at the top of the CM of TN, her tail is going to go wagging towards the center. It won't be long before the Congress takes sides with her and starts digging into the 2G scam.They have an excuse of doing this just to retaliate for the worst election defeat in tn. Thangabalu - the leader of TN congress losing in Mylapore adds salt to their injury. Jayalalitha will take all means to book each and every family member of the Mu.Ka family and I am sure we would see them lodged in every available cell in the jails all across TN and also probably in Tihar

Kanimozhi's arrest is imminent and Rajathi Ammal maight get summons pretty soon. I hope Karunanidhi doesn't die soon from heart attack before he sees his family collapse. He needs to experience every bit of pain possible by seeing his ill-gotten family businesses go down in flames starting from Kaliagnar TV to the the 3 cinema production houses to every other business entity they have gotten their hands into. I would love to Azhagiri and Stalin getting arrested , which might give a good impetus for them to hit back in the next election.The audacity with which the DMK has conducted themselves even after publicly being exposed of multi-crore corruption is bewildering.I guess there was nothing better and bigger than the drubbing in the elections that deemed fit to their public wealth robbery.

Finally, I hope Jayalalitha seriously doesn't keep her promises that she made via the retaliatory hasty election manifesto that she put up. Tamilnadu people need to understand that these promises were election gimmick by the prior DMK regime to garner their precious votes. Hope they get educated and don't take it as a revenge in the next election. Jayalaitha has a lot of scope to really do a great deal of work for the people.Hope she does something constructive in the next 5 years instead of just concentrating solely on killing the dead snake, Karunanidhi that is.

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A trip to Vietnam!!!

This seems surreal!
Vietnam of all places on earth.
I would never even dream of visiting Vietnam but then this happened due to the the mandatory educational trip for a week as part of my my MBA at UT.We stayed at the historic Caravelle hotel. Vietnam always brought the picture of a war ravaged land in my mind having watched those war movies where Charlie Sheen and co go crazy on local Vietnamese guerrilla soldiers.
But then this visit was an eye-opener. The people were very friendly.The place looked similar to any town in India. Ho-chi-minh city or the old Saigon buzzed with activity the entire day. It is a shopper's paradise with knock-offs of every known brand available for very cheap prices.The key to shopping in vietnam is doing cut-throat bargaining never minding the ridiculous prices quoted by the vendors.Whether it is a 1 $ item or a 20$ painting, it took the same amount of time to agree on the price which was around 30 minutes on average.Ended up buying a lot of supposedly Nike and adidas t-shirts for self and the misses. Also, Dhwani now has dress for the next 2 years after my visit. :)

The only disappointment was the entire hype of this being an educational trip.There was probably 10% education and the rest being sight-seeing and mindless time passing.It was a fairy tale come true for my american classmates who have never seen any place other the US or Europe and were flabbergasted by the cheap prices of every commodity - read Booze in particular.Ideal location to indulge in all kinds of fun activities for them namely - bar hopping,drinking, gluttony and such.

Just wanted to jot this trip down the blog archive.
Few things that I can put a check mark on my list of things to do. Actually some of them were not in the list to begin with.
-Visit to Cu-chi tunnels in vietnam
-Firing bullets using an AK-47

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Shwetha's graduation photos

These are Shwetha's Graduation photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/shwetha.swami/ShwethaSGraduation#

Posted by rajesh |

Ribbon Pakoda,Thattai and Cheedai - A business idea!

So many trips have happened to India and back to the US all these 10 years and I thing that has always remained unchanged is the neatly packed ziploc bags full of savories that Amma delicately packs and places amidst all the clothes in the huge American touristers. Extra care is taken that the oil effusing out of the ribbon pakodas and cheedais don't get out of the polythene bags.They are tucked in between towels or clothes of relative unimportance.

Once the jetlag wears down and there is enough enthusiasm to dig into the baggages, one sights the delicacies.Once the staple pins are removed and the first bite is taken, its wholesome bliss!

The crispiness and the correct level of spiciness makes it an excellent snack. God knows why not even a single american snack has a taste or crispness close to our homemade India snacks.

So this time, my in-laws brought the snacks that my amma had sent me. It was really a great treat to be treated to puran bholi,chakavarty along with the above mentioned savories.

Puran bholis, once microwaved just oozes out with the ghee in them and within splits seconds they just melt inside ones mouth.

May be, it wouldn't be a bad idea to come up with a business strategy to efficiently manufacture and market these to the masses in the US whose tastes buds have been dormant and almost extinct from the bland preparations here. Think of Lays chips competing with ribbon pakodas or tortillas sitting side by side by Puran Bholis!! wow - the thought just perplexes me.May be...later..

-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Indian government links

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, August 02, 2010

32nd birthday

Birthdays come and go every year and for the last few years, its been just another day with the expected phone calls from the close ones and the birthday cake being cut,in spite of me vehemently opposing it.
This year it was a different experience .My day started with Gmail showing that I have 29 unread mails, which kind of alarmed me as I only used to get 7 or 8 new mails daily out of which 5 or 6 used to be advertisements/spams.The bulk of these 29 mails were Facebook updates with Birthday wishes.
It was weird initially to see so many wishes but then it gave a sense of goodness as I thought about how people were warm enough to spare a few second to wish me good health and a good year ahead.
Thanks to all the folks in whose good books I still hold a place. Thanks a lot and apologies in advance if I didn't return the favor of wishing you all on your birthdays.Its just that I don't check Facebook or orkut that often and especially look out for the birthday dates.

Long time since I wrote anything on my blog.
Things have been hectic the past few months and its not seeming to ease down in the next couple of months.I just wish all the good wishes that I got today help me get through the intriguing times ahead.

Signing off for now...
Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Jeeyapuram Thatha...Love you!Miss you!

Sad to inform the demise of my maternal grandfather - R.Venkatraman at around 5.30 pm,Thursday Feb 25th at Pondicherry.

Thatha was a great man, probably one of the most sincere and hard working persons I have ever known.A very methodical person who was a true engineer. He never wasted anything.I miss him a lot. As I sit in this far away land,I can't help crying silently for the departed soul.My heart goes to all my beloved ones crying their hearts out at Pondy at this hour of terrible loss for our Jeeyapuram family.The world has lost one of its favorite sons.He was an epitome of happiness, a signature of maturity and a symbol of hope. I recollect all the memorable incidents and mind boggling struggles he went through in his life to bring his sons and daughter to the status they enjoy today. A man who never expected anything in return.Simplicity is one word which could aptly describe him.

Long live R.Venkatraman's name. He is someone who can never be replaced by anyone! Love you Thatha. You were/are and will be the best!

More videos of my beloved Thatha here at this Youtube link
My old blog post regarding my thatha and paati is here

-Rajesh

Labels: great man, paati, thatha, Venkatraman

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, February 22, 2010

US Labor charges and Utility value…

Seetharaman Srinivasan - Buzz - Public

The labour charge that costs more than the material in US. No one can help it. We have to live that.

Siva Balan - In a way I like that model. It forces you to do a lot of things by yourselves before you get someone else to do it for you. If forces you to learn things that you will never dream of learning.10:07 am

Seetharaman Srinivasan - For that one must equip himself with tools and tech. know how10:17 am

Siva Balan - Tools are one time investment. If you compare the cost of hiring someone to do the job vs the cost of tools, you will end up saving money buying the tools, except in some cases where you may want to rent it.10:26 am

Seetharaman Srinivasan - Thats good in one way10:56 am

rajesh vijayaraghavan - One can have the tools and also the know how to mend things but then if you go in search of a spare part ,that might cost an arm and a leg ;sometimes as expensive as the product you are trying to repair.
In the US, the utility of any product is very low. Once it encounters a minor repair, it gets thrown out and gets replaced by a newer product.Look around the house/garage and see how many such junk stuff lay around.

Case in point:
My mom still uses the Sumeet mixie that she bought 10 years ago. The rubber valve gets replaced almost every 6 months from the local technician. I don't remember doing any such thing here in the US.I have replaced atleast 5 different mixers/juicers for faults which I didnt bother to investigate.11:54 am

And so the argument continues in Buzz here…

http://www.google.com/buzz/106773455705875752785/ERNVJVUNnL6/The-labour-charge-that-costs-more-than-the

-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, November 02, 2009

Are you on twitter?

Are you on twitter?

If not go to www.twitter.com and create yourself a username

You can then follow a number of people who cater to your likes.
Some big names like Pritish Nandi,Sashi tharoor,Anand Mahindra regulalry send 140 character messages called "tweets".These are really interesting.
My twitter username or "Handle" as it is called is 'raaapi'.

Then in firefox you can install an addon called 'echofon' or 'twitterfox' which will open up a small window on the side of your firefox main window and update you with any new tweets from people you follow.

Here is something that wrote about twitter and its hidden potential specifically for people looking for jobs
http://raapi.blogspot.com/2009/06/twitter-how-to-tap-its-hidden-potential.html

-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, October 08, 2009

British Airways and Orbitz Goof up on this one big time!!!

I have not been blogging regularly but this incident stands out to such an odd magnitude that I have been compelled to jot it down in my blog for people to read about it and be aware of British Airways and Orbitz' shenanigans. The US businesses speak high of their customer focussed attitude and going to any extent to honor their word but this incident is a blatant reminder that all those words stated above are just bullshit and the businesses, when it comes to reality don't walk the talk.

Okay, the burning issue that I am alluding too is the instance of British Airways wrongly advertising very low fares(I agree they were ridiculously low) to India in the peak December season. As I said, I do agree that it was a very low and an unseen fare for India travel - average around 600$ for a round trip.But then the ridiculous behavior of both these companies is worth of a class action suit and complain to the better business bureau.They issue the tickets,ticket numbers,seat numbers and everything and take their own sweet time of around 5 to 6 days to inform the customers that they had a glitch and cannot honor their tickets.Now the question is, what about the subsequent plans that the travelers would have done/ What about the hotel books,train ticket within India or flight tickets for subsequent travel.Who is going to compensate for those losses incurred due to Orbitz and British Airways' dumbfuckery?

This is the email that someone in my family sent to a newspaper seeking help

Hello Dennis,

I have been reading your action line column for past many years and am impressed with the help that you provide to your readers. I am hoping you can help me understand the process and if Orbitz can/should honor my reservation.

Orbitz record locator: APXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Airline record locator: United Airlines - MBXXXX
British Airways - Z5XXXX

Oct 2nd: 7:00pm: Reservation made online.

Oct 2nd 7:24 pm: Itinerary received with seats confirmed and airline record locator received.

Oct 2nd 8:30pm: called Orbitz to make sure all was fine with reservation and it was good to go. Confirmed on the phone with customer service that it was good.

Oct 3rd: 5:40am: Email received stating cannot honor the reservation.

Oct 3rd 11:40am: Spoke to Orbitz customer service. They not only refused to honor the reservation, they were extremely rude, stating that we were ignorant to be expecting tickets for such low price ( though they were clearly published). They were very condescending.

Oct 3rd 6:00pm: Friends who booked at the same time, called us to say they all got confirmed ticket at the same price.

Oct 4th: 7:10pm: Spoke to Orbitz again. Supervisor: Sarah—who admitted there was a “rate loading” error on Orbitz and they were working with British airways to fix it. Mgr Name: Edward, id: mql. He was extremely arrogant (& dramatic J), refused to help and said he will respect any procedure we want to take! He also mentioned that there was no error in Orbitz (which was contradictory to what Sarah else said on the phone)

I am attaching all the emails received from orbitz for your reference. Following are our questions:

1. Can orbitz publish seat availability, take our credit card information, confirm the booking saying “seats confirmed – with seat numbers” and then many hours later state they cannot reserve the seats any more ? We did not see any where in email that the reservation is pending confirmation. What are we missing here?

2. What happens if we change our mind later and do not want to honor the reservation? They would not refund our money then!

3. Can you talk to Orbitz to see if they would honor this reservation?

I spent so much time and energy in it. It looks to me like the store publishes a price, states the product is available, but once they realize the price is too low and people are buying, changes the price !!! It’s very stressful that orbitz just does not seem to know what is happening and are refusing to even make an effort to help resolve it.

Dennis, I am sincerely hoping you can help us understand what should a customer do in such instances and if there is any help if we are right?

According to them, there are 3500 others in the same position !! ( a bit of information orbitz offered in consolation) I am sure any help you can offer will help all of us who have had to go through this!

Thank you,

These are other places online where this issue is being spoken about
http://tinyurl.com/yc545c9

http://tinyurl.com/y8gsuo5

http://tinyurl.com/y8rcwo8

One of the comments in the forum states this

Hi,

Pl file the complaint against BA and Orbitz as we can
go to Link [ftccomplaintassistant.gov] and click on FTC complaint assistant and fill out all the information...no need to give your contact information...no name require...no personal detail require...just basic questions. Its BA and Orbitz mistake that, they didnt agree to issue ticket at deal prices... and if it was the limited time offer then they should have closed the deal once they get enough reservation..they should not have promised....so legally you can file the complaint. Please report the incident as an active consumer......

So I encourage everyone affected by this issue to go to https://ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en and lodge a complaint against orbitz.

Here is another comment giving a link to another website to file a complaint

I filed a complaint with the DOT. Here's the address again:

http://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm

It only takes 2 minutes to do. It seems like the least any "hosed" pax should do.

Given that BA perpetually has AA codeshare issues before the DOT, you might think they'd care if the DOT questions them on this.

FWIW, I once got a $150 voucher from UA after complaining to the DOT, so the airlines do read and respond to this stuff.

EDIT: There seems to be somebody at the DOT collecting these complaints in real time. I got the previously-reported "we're looking into the issue" response within 1 hour. I think everybody needs to send them their complaint ASAP. It stands to reason that, the more complaints, the more likely the DOT will put pressure on BA.

I just saw an update.

This issue, including a mention of this thread, had made one of the big UK quality newspapers The Guardian in the past 15 mins, should be in the printed version tomorrow
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/08/ba-tickets-fare-booking-error

What a mess!
Although I have not been affected personally by this, my heart goes to atleast 5 or 6 of my close friends and relatives whose dreams to go to India just lasted a few days.

-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

golu 2009

Posted by rajesh |

Sunday, August 23, 2009

At the Duomo - Florence Jan 2009

Posted by rajesh |

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Krishna Jayanthi 2009

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, July 09, 2009

V.S.Narasimhan...Wish I had discovered his music earlier

At the outset, I have to admit that I am very bad when it comes to carnatic music details.I know for a fact that I like Carnatic music and like it better when it is fused with western elements.It kind of makes a mark even in an ordinary person like me who has not made too many attempts to understand the nuances of the music. I happened to listen to V.s.Narasimhan's fusion music through youtube(From Lazygeek's blog). It is really fascinating and instantly sending one into a trance.After a very boring day at work and frying heat in Texas, as I got home and listened to some of his pieces from youtube I am filled with awe and totally forgot all the day's irritating thoughts.I wish I had discovered his music earlier. Now its time to hunt down some of his compositions online and through CDs available in stores.
Heres some details about him.
An article from Hindu

Some of his compositions from youtube:

I came to know that my all time favorite "How to name it" also had V.S.Narasimhan's Violin masterpiece.

Heres nothing but wind from the maestro Ilayaraja

Finally here is the link to the website which sells his CDs

-Rajesh

-Rajesh

Labels: Carnatic Music, How to name it, Ilayaraja, V.S.Narasimhan, Violin

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Twitter - How to tap its hidden potential?

The underlying write up is based on my reply to a friend who questioned the use of the social media tool twitter.His point was that twitter carried incoherent snippets of personal details of people who didn't really know that well and that how it could possibly help him in any possible way.

Getting into the twitter bandwagon and posting pithy snippets of info that one deems interesting is not just about interacting within one's group and trying to pull each other's leg.In fact I feel that the twitter posts will help demonstrate the varied interests that people have which might not be possible to exhibit to conventional media.These tweets shall spawn constructive conversations and debates the next time when the group meets instead of the regular mundane topics.

The best way to tap the potential of twitter is to start following friends as wells as other people who are well known in their corresponding field. For instance, I follow the updates from the Austin American statesman,cricinfo,crossword related tweets.These entities update pertinent information regularly and cater to my tastes. In fact I feel that there are a number of diverse areas that I can follow and get informed but the paucity of time doesn't allow me to ramify my twitter network.
One needs to start thinking out of the box when it comes to Internet social media, wherein anything that gets posted is privy to a large audience all across the globe.This same fact illustrates that twitter and blogs could be put to use for great Internet activism or towards creation of positive endeavors.

As I was positing this write-up, I dabbled in twitter and found these links for a friend who got laid off recently and is seeking any leads for job info.

http://www.getaspjobs.net/job-seekers/job-search2.php?city=Austin&state=TX&ref=1

http://www.tweetmyjobs.com/

http://mashable.com/2009/02/24/top-10-social-sites-for-finding-a-job/

http://twitter.com/AustinTXJobs

http://twitter.com/ATX_Jobs

To get started with twitter,one just needs to visit www.twitter.com . Then if one really needs to have continued access throughout the day,it is better to get a firefox client like twitterfox or something which will keep popping up new stuff in the background,making it virtually effortless for one to follow tweets or post tweets. This makes one avoid spending a lot of time refreshing or having the twitter page open always.Using rss readers is also a good option.

The search utility in twitter ( http://search.twitter.com/ ) is yet to be tapped properly.Its been very useful when you want to follow specific stuff .For Eg:I was hooked on to twitter during the Bombay 26/11 happenings.Albeit being uncorroborated and repetitive sometimes,some updates were really fresh and interesting.
I am reminded of the tweet that I sent a few days ago:
In the country of the ignorant,one who twitters is the king! Get to know the latest hot topics http://tweetstats.com/trends

-Raapi

Labels: blogs, internet, social media, twitter

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Karunanidhi - The man,the machine,the villian - altogether Machiavellian to Srilankan issue

Albeit my indifference or unbiased emotions towards the whole LTTE issue and the recent news about the wiping out of the controversial group - LTTE and its self-made megalomaniac leader - Prabhakaran's death, I have been intrigued by the development and history behind the LTTE group.

This new article that appeared on the UK Mirror online gives a very good outline about the history of LTTE's connections with the Tamilnadu politicians. It asks a question as to whether the future of LTTE lies in the hands of the Tamilnadu CM Mr.Karunanidhi. My personal opinion is that Karunanidhi doesn't have the need currently to fight for this cause as he is busy fighting for ministerial berths for his close kith and kin and is hell bent on making sure his lineage is well represented in both the state and central ministries.

All along the srilankan issue has been used as an efficient medium to garner some hardcore tamilian fanatics' votes in every election and to side with the local parties whose core initiatives lie on propagating pro-Eelam issues among the tamil diaspora.Karunananidhi has time and again proved how Machiavellian he is , by cunningly using the LTTE issue as a weapon to garner Tamilnadu junta's support and conveniently forget it when the group needs moral and strategic support to advance its cause. Had he really been an advocate for the goodness of the innocent Tamils stuck between the terrorist organization LTTE and the merciless Srilankan Government, he would have mobilized enough Indian government support to stop the killings of the thousands of innocent Tamils,instead all he could come up with was an obvious facade and drama of hunger strike which didn't even last for 4 hrs.Even this dharna was done in an air cooled,luxurious setting completely in contrast to the suffering public on Srilankan soil.

-Rajesh

Labels: Karunanidhi, LTTE, Prabhakaran

Posted by rajesh |

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

step-motherly treatment to blog

My blog has been getting step-motherly treatment or rather step-fatherly treatment from me in recent times.The main reason I think is the popularity with twitter.
The short,pithy messages with tinyurl based condensed content seems to be more interesting nowadays rather than the lengthy posts in the blogs,which does not guarantee a definite readership.

ANyways, I still like blogs better because of the seriousness in the posts in blogs.Twitter seems to be random updates with no real uniqueness in it.
follow me on twitter here
http://twitter.com/raaapi
-Raapi

Labels: blog, twitter

Posted by rajesh |

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Leaning tower of Pisa..

Posted by rajesh |

Leaning tower of Pisa

Posted by rajesh |

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

A french couple touring Rome.

Posted by rajesh |

Me at the Colloseum

Posted by rajesh |

The Pope at the Vatican

We had the luck of seeing the Pope in person at the Vatican on the new Year's eve Papal address welcoming the new year.
There were lots of celebrations and the choir kept singing the christian sermons.
It was really awesome.
-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

The colloseum in Rome

Posted by rajesh |

The modern day Gladiators at the Colloseum

Taken during our trip to Rome in Janurary 2009.

-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Friday, December 26, 2008

Chicago 2008

Visited Chicago in dec 2008.
spent time at the Field museum/Adler planeterium/Shedd aquarium on 24th dec.
(No photos as we forgot our camera in our hotel) :(

Spent 25th at Lincoln park zoo.Was an awesome experience at the Zoo.
Here are some photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/raaapi/Chicago2008#

Now going to Minneapolis from chicago using Megabus

-Raapi

Labels: chicago, MSP, Zoo

Posted by rajesh |

Friday, December 19, 2008

My europe trip...2009

Rome, Italy to Monaco di Baviera, Germany - Google Maps

Places of visit in europe:

rome..naples..florence..pisa..venice..paris...lausanne...interlaken..lucerne...munich

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Refinancing again

A few months ago I refinanced at 5.5% thinking the rates had come down a lot from the 6.25% rate I had from my original loan.

Of late the rates have been decreasing even more.

My mortgage broker,Brad Walters is helping me refinance again for a lower rate.

Here is my Linkedin recommendation for Brad and I could say again that hes really a nice guy to work with.He offered all options of refinancing with/without points/with and without origination fee and I was finally able to select the best possible combo for me.

Brad helped me refinance my home loan recently.He was very adept at handling all the aspects of the entire process with great professionalism and understanding.He is an expert when it comes to Home loan details and is easily reachable at all times. Brad was able to get the best possible mortgage rate with minimal fees and It was a pleasure to have dealt with him. -Rajesh November 14, 2008

Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity

Just in case anyone wants to refinance,it wouldnt hurt to consult him at "http://www.castlehillsmtg.com/"

-Rajesh

Labels: APR, mortgage broker, origination fee, points, refinance

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Visa Bulletin for January 2009

Visa Bulletin for January 2009

I got my green card few months ago and since then had stopped following the Visa bulletin.
Took a peek at it today and was amazed to find that nothing has changed since when I used to follow this.

Irritating to say the least!When will this system be set right?

-Raapi

Labels: green card, visa bulletin

Posted by rajesh |

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Honda radio code episode!

My Honda accord's battery died and it locked up my radio system in the car.The anti-theft thingy associated with this radio system gets locked up and needs a special code to make it work again.Little did I know that it was so sophisticated system.Since I had bought the car as a second hand car, I didnt have the original secret code/key and couldn't find it stuck anywhere in the glove compartment or the trunk.

After googling for this, I found out a way to get this done.

1. Turn off the audio unit.
2. Press and hold the 1 and 6 preset buttons, then turn on the audio unit. The display toggles between two screens. The first screen displays a U and the first four digits of the serial number (for example, U2100). The second screen displays an L and the last four digits of the serial number (for example, L8683). Ignore the U and L, and write down all eight digits.
3. Call Honda Dealer for Radio Code.
4. Use the preset buttons with numbers to enter the 5 digits of the anti-theft code into the audio unit. The system would spring back alive!

Awesome procedure!i am glad it worked without having to spend some 100$ through the dealer to take care of this.

-Raapi

Labels: Honda, radio code

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, December 01, 2008

India Security Faulted as Survivors Tell of Terror - WSJ.com

India Security Faulted as Survivors Tell of Terror - WSJ.com

I was wondering all the while during last week's attack at Mumbai, as to how any article would be able to capture the entire episode vividly with all relevant details.
Here is one such article!
Great piece capturing all the details.Really sad to go through it and realize the ordeal faced by innocent people who were just going ahead with their routine.
-Rajesh

Posted by rajesh |

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

AUSTIN BANK ROBBED - Google Search

AUSTIN BANK ROBBED - Google Search

Whats with Austin and its endless bank robberies?Almost every other week,I seem to read of someone just entering a bank and decamping with undisclosed sum at gunpoint.Can't they hire one of those retired ex-servicemen or someone who can work for cheap just holding an unloaded gun in front of the branch akin to the good old way it is followed in India?That thing for sure works unless and until the culprit gets to know the trick of the guns and gun wielders at the entrance being a fake.

I guess this trend of rampant robberies at the Brick n Mortar bank locations can serve as a good advertisement gig for online banking!Although online banking has its own risk of lot of scams,at least one doesn't have to fear about getting killed at the hands of some lunatic at the branch.

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, November 10, 2008

EETimes.com - Shedding light on solar cell technology

EETimes.com - Shedding light on solar cell technology

Just capturing this link for reading sometime.Looks like a very nice intro to Solar technology.
-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, October 27, 2008

Just another Diwali

Diwali 2008 just passed away silently devoid of any glimpse of reminding me of the festive mood in India.No crackers,no exchange of sweets,no calls from relatives with the clichéd question "Ganga snaanam aachaa?".

Well.Its been the same since year 2000 since I came to the US, the only change this time being that we had some friends at home and went out for dinner.Also, shwetha made it a little interesting by making ribbon pakodas.

The TV programs seem to suck big time.The faces of Vadivelu,Karunas and other uninteresting individuals don't seem to cheer anyone up.Very irritating programs all throughout the day.Gone are the days when it used to be really great with a Rajni/Kamal movie releasing or a barrage of interesting new movie songs coming out on the day of diwali.Also , isn't there no one else to conduct pattimandrams other than solomon papaiya and his oft repeated crew of individuals? That program really makes every occasion seem the same and not worthy of remembering anything in particular.

Diwali 2008 - RIP.
-Raapi

Labels: boring, diwali

Posted by rajesh |

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

AIG spent thousands on execs’ hunting trip

AIG spent thousands on execs’ hunting trip

I wish they allowed a hunting trip where these executives run for their lives with the shareholders behind them.

Bastards!I wonder how the people who signed up for this trip had the audacity to go to the trip when the sky was falling.But then what goes their father?The bloody govt was bailing them out with billions of dollars without considering the continued largesses on the part of this stupid company.

The Dow went down today.Well. What else to expect when there is so much of dumbfuckery going on at all levels in the US economy.

AIG should probably stand for "An idiotic Group"!

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Friday, October 10, 2008

Onus on us..but Bonus for whom?

Ruiz to get $3 million bonus for AMD deal

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Ten Things To Do To Save Yourself In a Market Meltdown (AAPL)(GOOG)(SIRI)(MCD)(INTC)

24/7 Wall St.: Ten Things To Do To Save Yourself In a Market Meltdown (AAPL)(GOOG)(SIRI)(MCD)(INTC)

Seemed good for a quick reference!

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, October 06, 2008

Golu at 8717 Fenton Drive

This are some pictures of our first Golu in Austin.It was a nostalgic experience which brought in memories of childhood when we used to meticulously arrange the bommais and come up with innovative grocery stores/parks etc.An awesome experience.

Labels: bommai, dasavatharam, golu

Posted by rajesh |

A memorable Occasion

This weekend Shwetha and I had the privilege to host the famous vocalist Sanjay Subrahmanian, Naagai Murlidharan(violinist) and neyveli venkatesh (mridangist) at our house when they had come for a kuchery in Austin.

We had a memorable experience.We were touched by the simplicity and modesty of all the artists. The larger than life musicians were very easily approachable and humble.

-Raapi

Labels: austin, golu, kuchery, sanjay subrahmaniam

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Is this the right time to refinance?

Is this the right time to refinance?

So many things go into refinancing.
I have decided to refinance and used some of these tools.

Zillow.com has a nice little mortgage rate chart
Zillow has a neat little "Anonymous Loan request" option which lets lenders send your their GFE after looking into your loan requirement.You need to be logged in to Zillow to use this facility.

Texasmortgage.com has some very useful links on the left panel.

In refinancing 3 mains things to look out for and bargain:
The lender fees and the title company's escrow fees.
Also the home appraisal can be bargained for 250$ instead of the 350-375$ charged for their 1 hr work.

Steven Miller updates his rates daily here

A 30 year mortgage is better than a 15 year one as per this article.

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Hilarious Letterman jabs at McCain !!!

Labels: letterman, mccain, no show

Posted by rajesh |

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

How does the $700 billion bailout affect us? - Yahoo! Answers

How does the $700 billion bailout affect little old me? - Yahoo! Answers

This comment really made a lot of sense

The bailout will affect you because taxes payers have to foot this loan. You will see more inflation because it will weaken our dollar more than it is, causing products to be much higher. If they did not do the bailout, then all loans would screech to a halt and business could not operate. This is a lose, lose situation, due to the problem not being fixed when out of control loans were given out. Our government failed to protect the citizens and now we will pay. The extent of this disaster isn't even known, because it is the first of it's kind. Put in a nutshell, you will have to pay more for everything and the debt must be paid by the taxpayers by you and I and our children and their children, etc. We are only hoping this stops total failure of our system, they still don't know the full repercussion of what is to come, but it is going to be hard for everyone, except the rich people who will continue too collect from their investments, jobs, or whatever. They very wealthy are the only ones who will benefit for sure.~~

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, September 08, 2008

The For-Idiots, By-Idiots Guide to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Bailout -- Daily Intel -- New York News Blog -- New York Magazine

The For-Idiots, By-Idiots Guide to the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Bailout -- Daily Intel -- New York News Blog -- New York Magazine

Nice article in layman terms!
Hope the mortgage rate goes down to a level that I can refinance!

Posted by rajesh |

Man fires gun in movie theater, still on the loose

Man fires gun in movie theater, still on the loose

Such headline news for Austin don't seem surprising but then its scary to realize that this happened yesterday when I was sitting in an adjacent movie screening oblivious to this happen in the nearby room.

Insanity and weirdness of Austin!Anything can happen anywhere!
-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, August 25, 2008

Google Closes Its Soup Kitchen

Minyanville - NEWS & VIEWS-Google Closes Its Soup Kitchen

Habbaaa...yevan poata pogachaloa!!
Kinda gives a sense of satisfaction.
Yaam peraadha inbam..pera kuudaadhu vayyagam! :)

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Who Says You Need Four Cores?

Who Says You Need Four Cores? : Confessions Of A Guilty Editor - Tom's Hardware

Posted by rajesh |

Monday, August 11, 2008

Avani Avittam 2008.

Posted by rajesh |

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Best used cars for fuel economy: Consumer Reports Cars Blog

Posted by rajesh |

Broccoli..I knew it was unique

BBC NEWS | Health | Broccoli may undo diabetes damage

Posted by rajesh |

Did you know?

Charlie Sheen Tops List of Highest-Paid TV Stars at Hollywood.com

OMG!I could never come to terms with that stupid drug addict mentioned above earning close to a million$/episode.That serial is not interesting either.Its a stupid story of a womanizer and wastrel.

Hmm..Academics/toiling 20 years at school/college is a waste of time apparently.
-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

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