US Presidential Race 2012 getting crowded

Everyone is aware that America is going to elect a new president/ commander-in-chief in 2012. What most people don't know is that there 40 candidates in the fray to become the president. These people represent both the parties and come from varied backgrounds and have entered the fray for reasons of their own. I read about the primaries that are going to take place early next year in today's Wall Street Journal and was surprised to know that even in a two party democracy like America it is possible for so many candidates to be in the fray.

According to the news report there are 30 Republicans and 10 Democrats running to become the respective party's nominee for the presidential race that is going to take place next year. There is an engineer who is promoting alternative technology, then there is the war veteran who currently is a UPS pilot who wants to implement better benefits for servicemen and eradicate homeless. Then there is the home builder who wants to tour each of the 3,143 counties on a mobile home and campaign for his election.

Of course in the national focus are four Republican candidates Mitch Romney, Neut Gingrich, Rick Perry and Herman Cain. On the defending side there are no candidates on national focus except the incumbent Obama. I wonder how many of these 40 candidates will actually become nationally famous let alone become republican nominees. Time will answer the question, but for now New Hampshire primary voters have a truly wide choice in terms of the candidates.

Technology Security - A Vital Need For All

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Norton Small Business by Symantec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Information Technology and Internet have come to be ranked among the basic human needs of this era. It is unthinkable for anyone to live in an advanced economy like America without depending on technology. With advancement in technology and ease of internet access comes the perils of data security compromise, identity theft, hacking, malicious attacks by viruses, worms, and other malware. In these circumstances it is vital that everybody has adequate protection in the form of a reliable antivirus software program.

It is specially relevant to small businesses who have begun to depend on technology more than ever before. The best way to protect your Small Business from the latest online threats is to have in place great antivirus program such as the Norton Small Business by Symantec. This program not only protects your computer from viruses but also checks your emails, chat and all the sites you visit. It neutralizes the threats even before they come close to you. If you are a small business owner and want to keep your business safe from attacks I would encourage to check out the latest offerings from Norton.

Internet security is paramount for everyone, specially for small business. Norton has a fine solution for protecting your computer against online attacks. The Norton Internet Security 2012 is the finest tool to protect your enterprise against malicious spyware, malware, viruses and other online threats. Norton acts as your digital army to fight against online dangers and boosts your PCs performance.

One of my favorite products from the Norton is the Norton 360 which is a complete suite of protection for your computer, data and internet. Launched this past September along with Norton Internet Security 2012 this suite has been ranked No. 1 in online protection. There are a number of features including identity protection, parental controls,  online backup and storage. That is not all, Norton 360 makes your computer run faster. It optimizes your disk space by fixing problems, discarding cookies, temp files and other things that bog your computer down. 

I would also be happy if you would like to share your profession and what Norton product fulfills your security needs. That would give an indicator to other readers of this blog what to expect and what kind of security to opt for. At the end of the day remember your businesses survival and profitability is dependent on the data and security of this data is more important than anything else.

Beading Designs

I am preparing for my final exams and of course what is the best way to take breaks. Create some new beading patterns which I might or might not implement in beads. I sure hope I will have the time and inclination to create them in beads/ seed beads during the winter break from school. For now here are the designs for evaluation by all my blog visitors and readers.

Fresh Brewed Coffee at the Office

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tassimo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There is nothing like having a good cup of coffee between meals at work. A freshly brewed cup of coffee invigorates and makes me more productive. This is the opinion several of my colleagues at work also share and it is not surprising to see everyone walking into the office with a large cup of coffee from one of the popular stores every morning. It is not like we don't have a coffee machine at work, but it simply doesn't provide us the freshly brewed coffee that we love to drink and enjoy.

I recently came across the Tassimo Professional brewer which delivers high quality coffee-house style drink right in the office. The machine affords the possiblity of being able to prepare a Cappuccino or even a Latte using real Gavelia espresso and real milk creamer. The machine offers a wide array of beverage possibilities which will satisfy everyone's taste and preference. Thanks to the Tassimo Pro it is possible to enjoy Gavelia, and Suchard coffees and Twinings tea at your office. All you have to do is to convince your manager to install it at work. If your manager is worried that great coffee like this will be prone to pilferage by unscrupulous employees tell him that the double bar codes on the Tassimo Pro T Discs prevent it from being used in home brewers.

The best thing about the Tassimo Pro is the ease and speed with which one can get his/ her favorite brew. The one touch operation and beverages take less than two minutes to make. The machine is so easy to maintain that there is a LCD display on which prep and cleaning instructions are shown. Anyone can use this machine to prepare fantastic beverages.

Now that I have gotten your interest piqued about the Tassimo Professional coffee maker let me also tell you that they are offering a free demo. Yes! you can register for a Tassimo Professional free demo by visiting their website. I am real excited about the upcoming demo at our office and looking forward to trying the cappuccino and the tea. If you are interested in drinking world class coffee at work register for a free demo now.

The Beauty in the Beast

The Beauty

Picture courtesy: Internet (Santa Rosa Lioness Club

She walks like a river
Swaying and swirling
Beautifying the world around
With her thunderous roaring laugh.

It is not a wonder she commands
respect and fear from one and all
Adored by humans, feared by animals
She reigns supreme in the jungles

The lioness that nurtures
The cubs, feeds the pride, and
Rules the Jungle
Is now in a state so Fragile

That hunters, and poachers
Bay for her blood and fur
while governments look on
and do nothing to protect her...

Learning about Country Singer Buck Owens

This morning while returning from the library I was listening to Fresh Air program being aired on National Public Radio. The program was about Buck Owens, a renowned country singer who was born in Sherman, Texas, but made his fortune in Bakersfield, California. I am not a big fan of country music but I do enjoy good songs when I hear one. The song that was being featured on the broadcast was one titled "There Goes My Love" and the lyrics simply impressed me. I decided to post the same here for all of you to enjoy:
 
There Goes My Love
 
There goes the girl I used to know
There goes the girl that I love so

There goes the arms that used to hold me tight
There goes the reason that I sigh
There goes the reason that I cry
There goes the lips I used to kiss goodnight
There goes my love

Read the full lyrics on All Lyrics

America's Annual Shopping Frenzy Settles...

One thing I admire Americans for... their ability to amass... from household items to clothes to credit card debt to educational qualifications, pets, etc everything that can be hoarded they will do it. Both people as well as institutions - commercial and non-profit - have perfected the art of sales. If corporations offer deals and appeal to the consumers ego, non-profit groups dangle the carrot of self-actualization and make people part with their money.
 
Americans are in a shopping mood throughout the year as evidenced by the bustling malls that are always full of people buying stuff. The past few years this has been down due to the economic distress and job losses millions of Americans have faced. Otherwise it is business as usual in most shopping malls. The shopping reaches dizzying heights during the festival holiday season just after Halloween and continues until Christmas.
 
Since the economy has not turned around yet American corporations were impatient to rake in profits of the Thanksgiving shopping. So they decided to forget about the prayer and holy aspect of the holiday and just focus on the shopping aspect. The end result stores opened several hours earlier than before for the traditional black friday shopping. Of course there was some outcry but consumers nevertheless thronged to the stores looking for deals.
 
I wonder what it will be next year... maybe the stores will open a week in advance for shoppers of black friday. If that happens then consumerism would have successfully prevailed over tradition. I guess in the land of consumption and corporation few would rue this happening.
Now that the initial frenzy of holiday shopping has settled down we will have to wait and watch out to see how much money changed hands over the weekend and how much profit corporations raked in...

Happy Thanksgiving... or is it??

Today is the national holiday of Thanksgiving in America. Today is the day when people travel hundreds of miles to get together with families and loved ones. It is a day when people thank the lord for giving them everything that they need and pray for more next year. Of course like all other national events everywhere in the world there is a legend or story associated with this holiday too, but that is not the point of this post. 

Ever since I landed in America I have wondered about this festival where hundreds of thousands of birds are killed to satiate the hunger of humans. So whenever I hear someone say "Happy Thanksgiving" my mind travels to the plight of the innocent Turkey which was raised, fed, and fattened only to be killed today or perhaps a few days ago so that it's carcass may be cleaned, processed and packaged to be sold in the big box retailers across the country. It is not such a "Happy Thanksgiving" for these hundreds of thousands of birds afterall. They lose everything they had including their life.

The simple justification I have heard from lots of people here is that: "Animals don't have a soul, so they are born to be killed and eaten by humans. That is how god created the world." Really! you want me to believe that? If that is true why is that when animals become even remotely dangerous to humans they are instantaneously killed or quarantines or sometimes whole speicies decimated? It is this insatiable human greed that has become a danger for the planet that has given us so much and continues to sustain our lives. Do we ever stop and say thanks to this planet?

I wonder when that will happen... or should I say that if it will ever happen?

Native American Beading Patterns

I wanted to take a break between studies for the upcoming exam on Monday, so I decided to get creative and here is the result. This is a pattern to make a beaded bracelet leaning toward the Native American style. Once my exams are over I will try to create it in beads and post some pictures. For now let me know if the designs are worth anything at all...

Possum Sighting in McKinney

Image via Wikipedia

This evening there was a small incident of wildlife sighting in our apartment complex. I went to the apartment office to collect mail and as I stepped out of the door my eyes traveled upwards towards the entrance arch and there it was a large white and black coated animal. It looked like a huge rat but only difference was that it was bigger. The animal sat there frozen, motionless and for a moment I wondered if it was a decorative doll that the management of the apartment had placed for the recent Halloween festival. I stood still and watched it for sometime and sure enough it moved its head and stared at me. I retraced my steps and called the apartment staff and asked them if they had noticed anything outside their door.

One of the girls there looked me incredulously and stepped out with me and the moment her gaze fell on the strange looking creature a scream escaped her lips: "Oh! My God. It is a Possum." Then the frenzy of activity started, she called a colleague of hers who came, saw and went back to get her phone so she could take pictures of the creature.

As for me I was fascinated by this sighting. Having been in Texas for the past four years I hadn't seen any wildlife except dead armadillos, turtles, rabbits, and snakes during my drives in the countryside. This is the first instance when I came face to face with a Opossum or Possum. The animal looks like a huge rat with a mixed black and white coat. McKinney is indeed close to nature if these kind of critters can be seen in our apartment which is surrounded by retail stores and showrooms.

Cockroaches traumatise passengers on US flight

How would you like to be 30,000 ft above the ground, confined inside a box, with cockroaches for company? That is what happened to an American couple who traveled in the budget airline AirTran recently. Like all good consumers they promptly reported to the flight crew, who didn't take enough action to rid the plane of the arthropods. So like all good Americans they took pictures of the cockroaches and once they were safely on the ground they found an attorney and sued the airline for $100,000 damages for mental distress, negligence and failure to provide a pestfree environment.

I wonder how much this calim will be settled for. I have heard of millions of dollars claims being settled for a few hundred dollars. We will see what happens to this couple. Meanwhile I am sure Airtran cleaned up their act and of course their planes and perhaps a few cabin crew are back in the job market.

Read for more details: DOTWNews.com-News-Cockroaches traumatise passengers on US flight

Catholic Church To Buy Famed Crystal Cathedral in California

Catholic Church To Buy Famed Crystal Cathedral
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/18/142518963/future-of-ministry-uncertain-after-cathedrals-sale?sc=emaf

"Everything in this world is for sale, given the right price" goes the often heard saying. The truth of this saying can't be more appropriate anywhere else in the world but in the United States of America. In this capitalist economy if you aint making money and paying your bills and taxes you will be forced to declare bankruptacy and your property will be sold.

That is what happened to the congregation of the Famous Crystal Cathedral of California. I heard this newscast on the radio as I drove to work this evening and boy am I surprised. In a country which prides itself in saying "In God We Trust" and where millions of dollars poured in for a fake pastor who claimed that the world was going to end I wonder why nobody is opening up their purse strings to save this cathedral.

The congregation members of this church are outraged, the pastor says that the church is not a building... but isn't it true that when a place is sanctified by the pious prayers and good vibrations over several years the place becomes truly divine. Since this cathedral is being taken over by another caste (order as it is referred to here), I guess it is ok.

Business Takes Precedence Over Holiday Traditions!!!

Since the inception of the holiday tradition Thanks Giving has always been a time for families to get together and offer prayers to the Lord. Ever since I moved to the US I have noticed that people travel hundreds and sometimes even thousands of miles just to spend quality time with their families. Of course businesses have always used this holiday to sell more and there are discounts galore year after year. All the sales have always happened on the day after Thanks Giving, popularly known as Black Friday. Shoppers would get together with their families on Thanksgiving day, enjoy the Turkey dinner and prayers. Then on Friday early morning as early as 5 am head out to stores to shop. This has been the normal tradition in America till 2010.
 
This year is going to be different. Retailers have decided to open up their stores for black friday shopping on thursday itself. They are trying to entice shoppers to step outside their homes after dinner on Thanksgiving night and shop. This decision of the business owners and CEOs to open up stores on Thursday itself has angered both shoppers and store employees. Businesses seem to only be interested in money and nothing more, they don't care two hoots for tradition.
 
Hitherto I had believed that it was only the liberals, leftist and communists who didn't care for religion, tradition and heritage, but now it is becoming apparent that even hard core capitalist, right-wing conservative, businessmen also don't. I wonder if this is the way forward for the world or not.

380-Green Belt Park, Denton

I have to commute about 55 minutes one way to work everyday. It is a long and boring drive during which I just put the car on cruise control and let it run at 60-70 mph depending on where I am on the road. There are couple of places which do offer some relief from the otherwise boring scenery. The first place is where Lewisville Lake intersects the highway and the second is where the 380-Green Belt is located. Wide, long bridges have been built at both the places so that only those who are really interested in getting into either area will pull over and the rest will just drive on. I stop by sometimes at the 380-Green Belt Park to spend a few minutes amidst old trees and nature.

If you are wondering what 380 stands for, it is the highway that I travel on and on which the park is located. It is also known as the University drive because the Texas Woman's University is located on this thoroughfare in the city of Denton. Of course this park is part of the Texas State Park System and as such it requires entry fees, which I don't have to pay because I bought a State Park Pass way back in May 2011. I am glad I did, now I can get into any state park by just waving my card and not bother about having to pay entry fees.

What I like about this green belt area is that the trees here are really old and tall. The place does look like a true green belt, unlike some others I have been to which looks more like a manicured golf course with grass all over and not a single tree. Here there are several thousand trees, and I'd not be surprised if I were to sight any wildlife. Here are some pictures for you to know what the park looks like.

Zenni - Offering affordable eyeglasses to all

America is the land of early adopters. Everything new is launched first here and people love change and things that make their lives better. Computers, vehicles, clothing, household items, appliances, etc are frequently changed not because the old ones are broken, but people want newer and better ones. The same applies to fashion accessories such as eye glasses - prescription or otherwise. People feel the need to change eyeglasses to match the trends or sometimes to get better quality frames, or because their prescription changed.

Eyeglasses can be expensive, specially when it is bought in a fancy store in the mall. In these days of economic hardship everyone can't afford to buy eyeglasses at these fancy stores. Identifying this need of the people Zenni came up with an innovative solution. They have merged technology with business acumen and are offering cost effective eyeglasses via the internet. Zenni uses the most modern materials, state-of-the-art manufacturing and marketing systems and offer their products direct to the customer. There are no middlemen to add margins to the price. The entire transaction takes place between the manufacturer and the consumer.

The result, an immensely happy customer base, and a nation of healthy-eyed, fashionable people. If you are looking for eyeglasses be it prescription or a fashion accessory or a protective aid then just visit Zenni's website and you will see their wide array of frames, and glasses at very affordable prices. Once a customer of Zenni, you will be their customer for ever.

A walk in the Wild

I went to the 380 Greenbelt park last week after work and walked a small part of the 10 mile trail that is part of the Lake Ray Roberts and Lake Lewisville trail system. This park and trail is one of the few places in DFW area where there is so much tree cover that sun light streaks through only at some places to illuminate the trail. Other places are quite dark during evenings and early morning. I was there at late afternoon and I thoroughly enjoyed the walk.

A Walk in the Wild
Looking for quiet and peace,
Seeking solitude and solace,
I venture out of urban space
Into the jungles and green space

Little did I know,
the wilderness is no longer the getaway place
for those who shun the corporate rat race
It has indeed become the competitive space

For all the naturalists, and eco-lobbyists
who solely live by creating tons and tons of drama
around the theme of environmental protection
have descended into the wilderness
To make it more constricted a space
than the narrow congested boulevards
Of Downtowns of American cities

Heaving a Sigh of sadness
I return home, which has less noise pollution
than the jungle where one hears
nothing but automobile sounds

Work is Worship - A Peom

Work is worship

They say "Work is worship"
So give it your best
But when office is like a "War Ship"
Full of oppression and harassment

It is tough even for the best
to endure the trauma for long
It would probably be best
If "work" was separate from "worship"
Then everyone would be
happy and give their best shot
Both at work and at life...

Happy Karnataka Rajyothsava

Image via Wikipedia

November 1 is the day when my home state of Karnataka was born, i.e. formed by amalgamating all the Kannada speaking regions of India. Today I am in Dallas, Texas, United States and pretty much not in touch with the language of Karnataka. Back home in Bengaluru there will be official and unofficial celebrations galore but in the US it is hard to get to know of these events and harder to attend one. For myself I have tried to remember the language by watching a Kannada movie on Youtube.

Wishing all Kannadigas worldwide a very very Happy Karnataka Rajyotsava 2011.

A Compassionate Biker

Happy Diwali 2011

Image by Jayesh Bheda via Flickr
Wishing all my readers, friends and family a very very happy Diwali 2011. May the year bring only light and no darkness in your life and if at all there is anything that is bothering you may the god bless you with enough joy that everything you touch becomes gold.

Diwali is the festival of joy, light, and the victory of good over evil. Every year it is one celebration that most Hindus don't miss. Now it has become so ubiquitous in India and the World at large that many non-Hindus have made it part of their culture to celebrate this festival of lights. The American Congress celebrates this festival as a official event. There are numerous Diwali parties that are happening across America in which several non-Indians, non-Hindus participate with full fervor.

Times of joy are to be shared and the happiness doubles for both the giver and the receiver. Let us promise ourselves that we will give out only joy to others from this day on. That would be the true spirit of Diwali 2011.