Democratization of personal genetics

Look at whats just got democratized :)

Ever heard of 23andme ?

For backgrounds go here, here, and (**) here.

(** Super)

Heck, even Esther Dyson is involved!

What the fuck am i doing writing up stone age business plans to manufacture paints, chemicals and the likes ! Wheres the world going to !?

Little things about life

Two separate things i chanced across today - some article remembering Christopher Reeve - who as all of us know - got involved in a horrific accident which paralyzed him from the neck down - while he was at the peak of his popularity, prowess - then a second bit of information about Paul Nurse (scroll to the bottom of the linked page for the relevant info) - the Nobel prize winning British Mol.biologist - who discovered - at the age of 57 that the lady who he thought was his sister was actually his Mother - it was hidden from him from the beginning.

In this context - imagine going along with your daily chores, living each day recklessly like theres no tomorrow - then if suddenly something unexpected, profoundly life changing happens - like getting involved in an accident, getting diagnosed with some life threatening disease, losing a close family member, discovering something shocking - like Paul Nurse did

- how mentally tough one must be to take it as it comes and get on with life - and how precious & important it is to live a balanced life, take care of one's health, relieve stress from aging parents etc.

I can hear content snoring from across the hallway and i cant help but wonder how blessed & darned lucky i really am - and how - as much as it is a blessing - it is that much of a responsibility towards getting into a more healthy, stress-free, stable, balanced, predictable pattern of life.

Second innings

Nothings been published on this new blog yet. But i had been contemplating archiving my old blog (which is 200 odd posts long & 5 years old -) in another name and get a new one started - and keep posts non personal (in terms of details at least) & general in nature. The old one remains - archived in another name. Might make interesting reading sometime :)

Uh, here it is. (yeah the templates all crappy and all - but will sort it out soon)

Season's Greetings, everyone!

UPDATE: Ive actually merged the old blog and new one together - and get on with it. The old one reads funny now. The new one even funnier :x - so WTF. They all belong together.

Rain

Did i ever mention it before - i HATE rain - especially the 24x7, nagging kind. Before i jumped ship yesterday - Parts of T Nagar had joined the Titanic & Atlantis under the abyss - most of GN Chetty road was missing - Just imagine - whats left is just a bunch of holes & stones - the road is just washed away.

VERY interesting

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/nixon/e7/48529.htm

Its an official transcript of a conversation between Henry Kissinger & Richard Nixon - and the subject -Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Indians - somewhere around 1970 i think - they refer to her as 'bitch' several times - Indians are referred to as 'bastards' atleast once - and the whole conversation reads like a script from one of those gripping White House/Thriller type movies where every one bangs on the table and say stuff like 'goddammit' 'bastards' 'i'l hang their asses out to dry' etc.

I understand even the president of the United states & his Secretary are human beings and will swear in private - I dunno what kind of clowns will actually release these old transcripts anyways ! - Kissinger must be like 90 years old now - i dont think hes dead yet - but whats the point now in getting these released now !?

Imagine Kalainger Karunanidhi and his progeny sitting around the table after dinner and showering Jayalalitha with the choicest of epithets ! :) My oh my - will be quite an earful with Stalin, Azhagiri and their ilk !

Prof. Krugman

Well heres someone every reader of The Hindu looks at daily - Prof Paul Krugman - theres his column on the Hindu every day syndicated from the New York times.

Ive always been a follower, and subscribe to his NY times blog : http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Hes one of those guys like Thomas Friedman - who are are original, widely travelled and are their work is always extremely lucid & is as insightful, informative as it is simple.

In case you arent aware - Prof Krugman won this year's Nobel Prize in economics for "New trade theory" - and heres the post from his blog explaining the concept - heres a student's pictorial illustration of this theory's crux - its oversimplified - but it still is alright

Show me one Nobel Laureate - from any discipline - whos as hip, current and able to explain his Nobel prize winning work as simple as Krugman :)

A lot of people say -Krugman won his Nobel partly because of the global meltdown & his subsequent, continuing coverage of it & the impact / relevance his theory has on the current scenario - hes amongst the most respected voices who write on a daily basis on the global situation.

{ Related reading: The EXTREMELY well written - The Lexus and the Olive Tree - by Thomas.L.Friedman . I have 2 copies and one is for sale ;) if there are takers }

The last month or so - id always been meaning to get myself a copy of The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - recommended by a friend, and being centered around a very interesting subject, i nearly picked it up the last time i was at the bookstore - but wasnt prepared to be riddled with something mentally demanding - so decided to pick it up the next time - It won the Booker yesterday - now i guess the prints'll get cheaper :)

This is what i ended up with as a 'light read' from the pirated book vandi - its called - hold your breath - 'Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging' - it is amongst the chicklitest from the pick of the chicklit genre i guess - it took about an hour and half i guess to get through - and i dont recall anything from it today.

Look at this- the author's next book is called : 'Its OK - I am wearing really big knickers' -

Iam keeping up with my sema reading standard i guess :)

Lots of work these days in general - time consuming, boring - but no real option - life is always like that, eh?

I think within the next month or so - i am going to be here - for a week

Its a great place, i hear. We'll see - wont we ?

Worst week EVER for the Sensex and Nifty

http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/local-markets/worst-weekly-performance-for-sensex-nifty-ever/13/38/360464

I checked my portfolio (Otha - Long term, value principle based, scientifically built up - portfolio) - which has been largely been unattended in the last few months - and i havent seen a bigger mess in my lifetime. I instinctively feel up my pants - to see if i can have my chuddi left - i guess its still there.

I think we've lost more money than what we made in the last 2 years on the portfolio - i should be feeling guilty, stupid and fucked up - strangely i feel detached, helpless and kind of numb

Theres something wrong with my life and all thats happening in it - i cant quite put a finger on it yet

Iam contemplating turning into a big time alcoholic or something - like in the movies - i wonder if it will help :)

Interesting thing

P - a friend from school - and I spoke on the phone today (I never had thick friends from school anyways - but he was one of the nicer ones - We used to sit on the bench together back in class IX when we met first - we took tuitions together, study together - take the same school bus - watched movies together taking permission from parents and all - we were friends till we left for colleges outside town and then we lost touch)

He was home for a break from some MBA course for Puja - and now he lives like a 10 minute walk from our place - so i took the walk and visited him today - the guy hasnt changed that much - he claims that i speak different, look different..- remember this is like after 8 years -

What struck me as odd after i got back - after about 15 mins of small talk - i cant fucken think of anything to talk about with the guy - we finally asked each other about the other kids we used to be with - half of whom i dont remember - and the rest i havent heard of in many years - so it was mostly him telling me stuff and me saying "oh him" "oh him" "oh okay"

Now i have nothing against the guy nor is there anything wrong with him - but i bring this up because i guess its something a guy like me always has to think of - to spend time, effort and develop a consistency in approach when making, retaining friends & social ties - its like moving from one phase of life to another - burning bridges as you go along - not really keeping any1 else along

Maybe i have a different sort of life - maybe every1 has this problem with old friends and stuff - but i am kind of worried if i have a bigger problem - i even remember one time about 6 months before - some guy from college called me up and was like chatting with me - and me thinking "fuck! I dunno what to say to him"

It'll be interesting to see what other people feel in this context (especially those living single, adult lives - and working - not studying or something)

Sema Song

Are you tired, bored, lonely and feeling hopeless ?

Listen to this

I know i make it read like an ad for Vicks vaporub :) - but it actually is a link to this lovely song -Mundinam Paarthen - from Vaaranam Aaiyiram - the new Gautam Menon flick.

Some ass i met last week told me that is sounded a lot like one of George Micheal's songs - but hey who gives a $#%@ - when you have some1 singing as good as him and a chick as yum as her featured in the song ;)

One of those songs which makes me so goddamn proud that Im tamil - Remember to pay attention to the lyrics when you listen.

(If the Youtube quality isnt gr8 - send me an email and il send an mp3)

Frankfurt > Part II

Back to horrible weather in chennai - dry, dusty, sunny, muggy and rainy all on the same day !!

The other day, back in Frankfurt - i did manage a nice bus tour, followed by a quiet stroll around the old part of town - Old frankfurt - along the River Main - called Frankfurt am Main (- contrary to what i was told to expect -) was wonderfully european and photogenic - where stunning century old gothic cathedrals clutter around tall gleaming glass towers, modern buildings - a kind of a great blend of the traditional and the modern.

I spent a particularly wonderful hour loitering about the Römer - its surrounding shopping streets, cafes and the imposing views of Frankfurt's modern skyline all around it

- Standing by the Romer's main square you are like a stone's throw from St.Katherine's cathedral - the St. Paul's church visible nearby - all with the River Main running nearby - with the imposing Commerzbank tower and the Main tower (amongst Europe's tallest buildings) clearly visible in the backdrop.

So-so photos here (Theres no commentary yet - maybe later on)

Frankfurt > Oct 2008

Arbeit zieht Arbeit nach sich
[German Proverb - Translation: "Work involves, well, work" ]

I am in Frankfurt (Frankfurt am main) Germany since the Monday - spending working hours at the Messe - and the nights hanging around / meeting old customers in sports bars in the old part of town - Niederrard - and other places just near the Messe -

Small place, frankfurt, really - much of the financial sector / big offices of the Banks/services/i banks etc are in just within,say, a 2 square kilometer area downtown - its all glass, gleam and American style, tree lined avenues.

The other actual life - for much of the working folks is spread out - pretty much like France i guess - in small communities within, say, a 50 mile radius or so - all connected by gleaming autobahns, zippy trains, trams and pakistani cabbies driving top of the line Mercs. [ Taxis cost like from 3-4 Euros minimum to like 40 Euros for a 50 mile ride ]

Costs in Germany are *suprise* lower than french or UK costs - in terms of rooming, travelling - well atleast not higher definitely. 2/3 Euros for Burgers and the likes, about 10 Euros for like full orders even at pricey places like tradefair grounds - the bars i went to with customers both my previous nights were pretty cheap - like 3 euros for big orders - 1.30/1.50 euro for drinks etc - cheaper than the Uk definitely.

The biggest surprise for me was how wrong my perception was about German people i guess - i know a lot of germans - some of them behave / at least reputedly so - like pricks - they speak loudly, rudely, have ugly, dirty teeth :) - they have a pretty serious Language problem with English - I have spent a day in the past once at Dusseldorf - where i remember we had trouble finding taxis etc.

Frankfurters are warm, jovial and nearly every1 - Hotels, taxis, hostesses / the girls who work in shops and stuff, bar maids - speak, well, good english. I chatted with several people - it appears that frankfurt was the central base for american forces in Europe after world war II - to until recently - that - and that frankfurt also is home to lot of asians - pakistanis mostly - so it is reasonably mutlicultural.

I went into Mannheim / Ludwigshafen - the other day - its about an hour's drive from Frankfurt - just driving around - and mostly indoors meeting people - It is probably THE most important chemical industry center in the whole world - BASF employs, like, 60,000 people or something in just this one site (Ludwigshafen). Wow ! - Germany is a shining example of how manufacturing has gone High tech and efficient - costs are rising everywhere in the world - but German manufacturing has gone from one level of efficiency to another - and i am sure in like 5-10 years - Germany will be so advanced & India/China so expensive that there will again be a bullish case for manufacture inside Germany.

All in all - i am having a ball here - works wonderful - because im very relaxed and did not do hectic appointments - i am getting a lot of time to bump into old friends, new ones, go out for dinners with special customers and the likes - gr8 in every sense - give you a perspective of what you are doing vis-a-vis others - whats other people's perception of your work - etc.

Um, not too many photos - im afraid - but theres still a day or two left - lets see

Enough boring crap - i have lunch tomorrow with the delectable Isabelle - (she is my friend's booth receptionist hired for this week) - she is a college student in languages, looks like Claudia Schiffer's little sister and claims to know 'all about' bombaii, madrasse and dilli :)