New Artworks

I have been twiddling my thumbs doing pretty much nothing so I explored the web and downloaded a trail version of the Gif Animator software and played around with it. Here is one of the animations I created.

Trashed up Hiking Trails in Texas

The tower in Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, Plano, one of my favorite places to hike, bicycle, or simply walk amidst nature. I haven't visited this nature preserve in quite sometime... perhaps 6 months or so. Last time I was there I noticed tons of trash around the creek and the hiking trails. I thought I'd post these pictures on my blog to make people aware how much trash is being mindlessly discarded in public spaces. If this trend continues there will be no pristine natural place where one could spend a quiet moment. I wish people would be more careful about the way they discard their trash. There are enough trash cans and recycle bins in the nature preserve, one just needs to have some patience to carry the coke cans, plastic wrappers, and other trash to them.
The picture below is how the nature preserve looks during a fall sunset. Let us ensure that it is kept this way and not full of plastic and other trash that is seen in the pictures above. If you have any feedback or opinions on this do let me know!!!

Creating Artworks

Here is a bookmark I created while exploring the options presented in InkScape, the freeware alternate for CorelDRAW. The software is indeed good with a few glitches, but then when compared to $500 plus which has to be spent to buy CorelDraw I'd rather live with the glitches. I will work on the software more and try to come up with more designs. Feel free to copy and use them in your blog/ site, one request though attribute them to me and if possible give a link to my blog.

Holidays are here!!! Where are you going???

Every year I look forward to this time of the year. There are several reasons for this anticipation, firstly the weather is simply superb; secondly the holiday season is just round the corner. It is time for families to get together and celebrate festivals, enjoy holidays, and probably take trips to exotic places. As for me I have kinda decided where to go and where to stay. I will be heading straight to Branson, Missourie and my stay will most probably be at the exotic Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing or the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel.

I chose these two hotels because they are offering some fantastically customizable holiday packages startring at just $329 per night from November 15 through December 23. I wouldn't miss this opportunity to enjoy with the family in the warmth and comfort of an Ozark Mountain Christmas.

Why, Branson? Because I have heard so much about this city from family, friends and read about it online. This is the ultimate place for shopping, relaxation, and live entertainment. The reason for choosing Branson to holiday during winter is the numerous live events that take place here. The festival of lights will have all of Branson aglow. There will be special holiday shows and over a one-mile long drive through light displays. This would be a great place to spend the holidays with the family.

Why Hilton because the Branson Landing passport is loaded with discounts at several exclusive shops, restaurants and also at Aspire Medical Spa. For the tiny tots in the family there is Santa himself handing out presents, cookies and goodies. This Santa's coming to town package starts at just $189 per night.

The kids would be thrilled to be on the Polar Express. There is a Package option which starts at $289, for a family of 4 including deluxe accommodation, a ride on Polar express and a souvenir ceramic mug. If you would rather content yourself with just a ride in the Polar Express then the tickets would be just $49 for adults and $39 for children (2-12).

Book Review: Into the Wild

Tragic Saga of a Spiritually Confused Rebellious American Young Man
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher:Anchor Books, New York, 1996, 207 pp.
Attracted by the title and the cover image of a youngster sitting on a bus, I bought this book in an estate sale for $1. This is the work of a journalist turned author who is also into outdoors and adventure sports. The book traces the journey of a rebellious, confused, young man Chris (Alexander) McCandles along the South, West and mid-west parts of North America till his death in Alaska.
The book starts off with a brisk pace with the picture of an optimistic, proud, Alex McCandles seeking a ride to Denali National Park, Alaska. Alex's intentions was to live off the land in the wild away from civilization for some time and discover himself.
What is intriguing about Alex is that he belongs to a fairly affluent family, ha gone to college and could have done whatever he wished. On the contrary he chose to live like a tramp often calling himself "Alexander Supertramp". An excerpt from his diary reveals that Alex "lived on the streets with bums, tramps, and winos for several weeks".
One thing is obvious the author has unnecessarily glorified the exploits and the tragic story of McCandles. In my opinion McCandles was nothing but a confused, high-energy young man with no emotional, and spiritual foundations. He had access to money and hence he could lead a wayward life. He drops his adventures midway when he suffers setbacks and moves to the next item, which makes him a person of weak resolve and scant dedication/ commitment. His story is worthy of telling because it displays the underlying confusion and mental and spiritual weakness of the youth of America. The story of McCandles has also been made into a major motion picture and quite predictably it did not do very well at the box office.
Though in substance the book is not path breaking in any sense. It doesn't offer any insight into life in the wild or the lessons one could learn while alone in the forest etc. But in terms of adventure, what not to do in the wild, and a good read this books scores above most of its peers. After reading the book I have two things to say, one it is a very well written book which makes the reader stick to it to completion; and two Americans especially its youth are in desperate need of true spiritual teaching. This kind of rebellious behavior which often ends up in self destruction like it did for McCandles would greatly reduce if only people are more spiritually aware of their place in the cosmos.

Data Recovery Planning

If you work in the IT industry you will be aware of this. For those of you who have online banking accounts, online correspondence, online business, etc, make a proper disaster recovery plan to save your data. You may be in for a surprise when you least expect it.

Today is National Writer's Day

The Showpiece of the Western World... i.e. US of A is built on the solid foundations of Marketing and business. The smooth-talking marketing experts of this country are constantly looking for ways and means to sell something to their own people and to people of other nations. Today, October 20th has been declared as the National Day on Writing.

Who declared this day as such? Well the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) decided that October 20th should be the National Day on Writing and the senate Senate passed the motion on October 8th. So from this year onwards October 20th will go down the history as the National Writing Day.

The broad aims of the National Day on Writing are:

Celebrate the foundational place of writing in Americans’ personal, professional, and civic lives.

Point to the importance of writing instruction and practice at every grade level, for every student and in every subject area from preschool through university.

Emphasize the lifelong process of learning to write and composing for different audiences, purposes, and occasions.

Recognize the scope and range of writing done by the American people and others and honor the use of the full range of media for composing.

Encourage Americans to write and enjoy and learn from the writing of others.

Next year onwards one can expect to see millions of greeting cards, gifts, celebrations, functions, etc, which will see millions of dollars going to these manufacturing and marketing companies. This is how the world's richest country becomes even richer...

Computing and Automation for the Emergency Departments

Computer software is available for pretty much every specialized application one can think of. Recently I came across EDIS a software solution exclusively for the emergency departments of healthcare facilities.

Downtown Dallas Views

Downtown dallas is one heck of a congested area with narrow roads, high rise buildings, very few parking facilities. Since all the major corporations, museums and galleries are located there lot of people travel to downtown for work and pleasure. Here are few pictures....

Job Search Needs More than just a Great Resume!!!

The recent economic downturn has made the job market highly competitive. There are hundreds of thousands of people out there looking for a job. How is it possible you make yourself uniquely different so that you will land the job? Moreover the bad news is that most people who have lost jobs are men and not women. It has become increasingly challenging for men to land jobs in this economy. In order to get men out of this predicament, Gillette decided to commission a survey of HR professionals to find out what it takes to be successful in interviews.

According to the survey of over 500 HR professionals commissioned by Gillette (R) it seems that personal grooming creates a much greater positive impression than even the firm handshake. Over 84% of the HR professional surveyed agreed that a well-groomed employee is more likely to climb the corporate ladder than other who are not so well-groomed.

In order to help the millions who are unemployed Gillette promoted the Gillette Career Advantage program by engaging career expert, Mark Jeffries and GQ style correspondent, Brett Fahlgren. These two professional will add to the knowledge derived from the HR survey and enhance it with new insights and provide the much needed advice for guys who are looking for jobs.

This program features expert advice from Mark Jeffries and Brett Fahlgren; a career quiz; a comprehensive hire guide compiled from the views of HR professionals from across the country. This is designed to empower men and give them the tools necessary to succeed in the job market.

Ofcourse if you would like to know more about the survey and read the raw data, findings and get details about Gillette products, the Gillette Resource Center is at hand to clarify all your doubts.

Two years down....

It has been two years since I landed here... two years since I went home... two years since I tasted true Masala Dosa of Janata Hotel, Malleswaram... Two years since I had the spicy Szechewan Fried Rice at Beijing Bites or Chungs... Two years since I walked down M.G. Road... Two years since I climbed rocks at Ramanagaram... two years since I hiked in the green mountain ranges of Devarayanadurga... two years since I swam in one the pristine azure waters of Y.G. Gudda dam or Kanva dam or Manchinbelle dam... I could go on and on about all the things I DID NOT get to do in the past two years.

But I would rather focus my post on all the things I did in the past TWO years. First of all I made a 100 percent score in Mathematics (college algebra), a score that I had never made all my life... My academic progress was so good that I was chosen for the Dean's list of exemplary students... I was the star of a panel discussion on fuel consumption in which I beat the crap out of Americans who were contemplating whether the federal government should force India to stop TATA from manufacturing the Nano.

I have traveled to 9 states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Arkansas) out of 50 in the US. I have been to Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Walnut Canyon and a host of other natural wonders in this country. I have learned how to rollerskate (still not an expert) without falling on my butt every time I attempt to move forward on the wheels. I participated in two long distance bicycle rides the MS-150 (90 mile) and Collin Classic (55 mile). I hosted a Kannada radio show on local desi FM station for over six months.

I still haven't found a job - this is the longest unemployed stint in my life after I started working. It sure feels like being a vegetable... but with the economy going south I take small consolation with the fact that I am not alone in the job market looking for work.

Do I have regrets for having left India? Yes of course... who doesn't? I think there would be a very small population of this immigrant nation who wouldn't miss their home country and at some point regret having come here.

Wish you all a very Happy Diwali

Image via Wikipedia

Deepavali (Diwali) the festival of lights during which we Hindus symbolically eliminate darkness, ignorance, and evil from this world and work for a better tomorrow is here. We kicked off the three day festival by visiting the temple and one of our close friends. We look forward to the weekend which will hopefully full of festivities.

California's Ocean front views....

I was posting pictures of my visit to California's water front areas, the Point Lobos National Park which presents some of the most stunning view of the ocean. While at Point Lobos we also took time off to hike on the Cypress Groove Trail which traverses the cliffs along the ocean. It is a great feeling to watch the waves thunder and collide with the rocky cliffs. The sound of water hitting the rocks and receding back appears like the drum beats of a rock concert. Along the trail there are places where the ocean is completely hidden behind a curtain of trees and suddenly comes into view between rock formations or between two cliffs. There is abundance of wildlife such as deer, seagulls and other herbivores. At least during the day we didn't see any carnivores like the Cayote or Hyena or Mountain Lion. I guess hikers are safe in this region because the deer and rabbits wouldn't harm us.

Ocean views along the Cypress Groove Trail at Point Lobos

Stunning Scenery....

Waves crashing into the rocks along the coast

The surf comes in....

Defending People Charged with White Collar Crimes!!!

The United States is a knowledge economy and has outsourced all its manufacturing to China, services to India and other nations. In this kind of scenario the kind of crimes that take place are also equally complicated. The most high profile frauds take place in the financial and banking sectors. Most of these crimes come under the category of white collar crimes. There is no violence, blood shed, criminal intimidation or anything as such. Crimes are carried out on paper and sometimes through the use of computers and internet.

The city of Dallas has seen lot of people being charged under white collar crimes during the past few years. It is important that these people have a good dallas criminal lawyer fighting their case. This is more important if one is innocent and trying to clear their names and preserve their rights. Often people are under the false impression that white collar crimes are not taken so seriously. That is not correct if anyone is charged with credit card fraud, embezzlement, bribery, larceny, tax evasion, healthcare fraud, etc, it is a serious issue. The defendant will surely need a white collar crime lawyer dallas to represent them in the court of law.

There are few experienced criminal lawyer dallas so it is best to go with them and save your name and rights.

Water... Water... In every picture...

I was blogging about my love for waterfront getaways and was posting pictures of the various beautiful waterfronts I have visited during the past 2 years in the US. There are so many pictures that I had split the post into several instalments to be able to do justice to them. The vast azure oceans in California, frothy beaches of Santa Cruz, calm coves of Big Basin National Park, the numerous community lakes and small water bodies all provide great picture opportunities. Here are some of those pictures... would love to hear whether you like them or not.

Frothy oceanfront at Santa Cruz, CA

Big Basin coves, waters appear calm... but beware

The true vista of the ocean

Beautiful picture postcard scenery...

Save on Auto Insurance!!!

Automobile ownership comes with several costs and many studies have proved that Insurance can be one of the top costs. I guess these studies are old because I just found a great new website where I can get Free Auto Insurance Quotes from a wide array of providers and choose the best that works. The website claims to provide you upto $500 savings on your insurance payments.

I decided to check it out for myself and visited PremiumAutoInsurance.net. I opted to get quotes from Geico and Nationwide insurance companies. We have two cars in our family. I commute to school and work while my significant other works from home. So her car is pretty much a vehicle for leisure. Under these circumstances I wanted to know if any savings could be achieved by switching to a new insurance provider.

The quotes I received online were free so that is one hassle free transaction. As per the Geico quote I stand to save over $800 a year on our auto insurance costs. That is a great saving indeed. Nationwide's quote was not so attractive, but did give me a small discount from the present rate.


After my experience with PremiumAutoInsurance.net I would encourage you all to check it out before buying insurance. If your insurance is due for renewal I'd suggest you consider your options and see if you can save money before blindly renewing your policy with the current provider.

Waterfront Vistas in the US

Water: The elixir of life!!!

One of the most fascinating things to me is the ecosystem of large water bodies. The numerous life forms that are supported by lakes, rivers, dams, and of course the mighty oceans attract me like iron to a magnet. I could spend endless hours just looking at fish swimming around in a pond. Just looking at the vast azure expanses of water soothes my soul.
Of course I love to take a dip wherever possible... When I was in Bangalore, India weekends I'd head out to Manchinbelle dam, Kanva dam or YG Gudda dam and take a refreshing dip. Here in the US that is one thing which is possible only for the rich. All the dams and public water bodies are fenced up and the water front lands have been sold to private entrepreneurs who charge an arm and a leg to enter and access the water. The only ocean front I have visited is California where waters are so cold that it is impossible to get in without a wet suit. So here I content myself by taking pictures of lakes, rivers, dams etc... Here are some of my favorite water fronts in the US.

Lake Travis, Austin, Tx

Grapevine Reservoir, Texas

A large dam on the highway which links San Jose with Los Angeles

The Ocean at Santa Cruz

Attn. Canadian Residents! Here is your chance to win a $32,000 Kitchen Makeover

How would you like to have a complete kitchen makeover for the oncoming holiday season? Well you can get a $32,000 Dream Kitchen, if you are a Canadian Resident and wish to participate in the Dream Kitchen Contest. Other prizes include Frigidaire refrigerators and a chance to get upto $500.00 off your next purchase from Frigidaire. Now that is what I would call a completely "win-win situation". Even if you don't win the $32,000 Dream Kitchen you still get a $500 rebate for nothing.

Let me tell you more about the contest, the phenomenal website I visited and all other details. The Maple Leaf website is the ultimate place for all kitchen stuff, there are lip smacking meats, mouth watering cold cuts and deli meats, and a great frozen selection. There are separate sections for bakery, pasta maker, meat, meals made easy.

I am not a great cooking enthusiast so I made a beeline for the meals made easy section and guess what I found! There are notes and tips which will help people like me to rustle up a great meal within no time at all. That is not all you could even create a custom shopping list for the meal you want to cook. This will save your time and your family will love the food.

Don't forget all you need to do is go to Maple Leaf website and register for the contest. Who knows! you may be the winner of $32,000 kitchen makeover!!!

Remember this contest is open only to Canadian residents!!!

Insurance Company Refuses to cover heavy baby!!!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Healthcare and insurance are two industries which pretty much control the lives of 300 million Americans. There are people who are perfectly happy with the present situation and would gladly oppose President Obama's Healthcare reforms. But then as I read newsreports from across the country I am more than convinced that these two industries have bled the nation enough, there needs to be a major revamp... not just a reform to set these greedy capitalists right.

Electric scooters From BSA

Several decades ago when BSA was still Birmingham Small Arms Limited based in UK, the company produced fantastic motorcycles ranging from 125 cc to 500 cc. Bikes like the Gold Star and B-31 reigned supreme in race tracks across the world.
Then the company went into a retrograde motion and limited itself to produce only bicycles. Now it seems like they are taking baby steps back towards its original products. This news item BSA Motors launches e-scooters in New Delhi sparked off my reverie about the past. It is good that at least the present BSA has decided to take steps towards Eco-friendly transportation. Hope it picks up momentum soon.