Quintessential Googleness

Google shadiness

Google has this habit of testing out new features without so much as a peep. Just today, I discovered this: an option to search the "I'm Feeling Lucky" site (for sites that offer additional options below the main search hit) from within the main search results page.

Nice. Saves me the effort (sometimes) of doing a "site:example.com" manually. I don't think that site would like it too much though, as it could detract from their pagehits.

iMeh, redux

What's that sound? I feet a great disturbance in the iForce, as if millions of voices cried out in iLust, and were suddenly silenced.

The Nokia N96 was tipped at a price-point of 36k. I guess Nokia might peel that back a tad and make it more like 32-34k. At 16gb + features that iPhone lacks in + the non-requirement of Our Lord & Saviour Sir Steve Jobs' blessing for everything you do, should see this slick piece do a fair bit better than the iPhone.

Sadly, however, it seems likely that the type to plop down 30k+ for a cellphone might not be too sensitive to a Rs.2000 difference, and forge on ahead for the "TEH SHINY!!1" and "2 KEWL 4 U LOL!" factors..

Have Babelfish, will use

I wonder if there's a Chinese bar called 403 Forbidden. That would be cool..

iMeh

Why I will not buy an iPhone:

Although I'm tempted by Apple's user interface extravagance, I simply can't live without a hardware keyboard, microSD slot, and the countless other features that Lord Steve has deemed unfit for his iChildren.

Amen to that, brother.

Update: Crowing about aforementioned countless features.

Limeritech!

Paraphrased from the QDB:

A programmer started to cuss
Because getting to sleep was a fuss
As he lay there in his bed
Looping around in his head
was: while (!asleep) sheep++;

Ha ha, indeed :)

Interesting thought

Oscar Pistorius, a 21-year-old South African double-amputee sprinter, wanted to compete in the Olympics. NOT the Paralympics, but the regular one - with prosthetic limbs.

The IAAF (fairly, in my opinion) disqualified him because of the ridiculous mechanical advantage he would have over the other runners because, essentially, the man's wearing springs where his legs should've been! However, recently, the CAS upheld his appeal and overturned the IAAF ban, thus allowing him to compete.

This is where I get to the point. It would be terribly interesting to have some sort of a "Supralympics" where basically, anything goes. Steroids, bionic attachments, jet-engines in shoes, and other assorted artifical enhancements! A commenter on Slashdot echoes my feelings:

I've wanted this ever since I watched the Olympics and realized how bored I was. Putting people who won the genetic lottery into similar training programs and seeing who comes out on top isn't that interesting to me. But pushing people 'beyond' their natural limits, and in the process potentially expanding the meaning of being human and the possibilities for the species at large...that's interesting.

It would be, indeed!

Reflection on the Mumbai Indians vs KKR whitewash

It wasn't a Twenty20 match, it was a Twenty match.

Badum-tish!

Not cricket? Think again!

All too often, one is left stranded for words when Captain Jojo brandishes his cricket-purist tendencies in one's face. The combination of a lack of suitable eloquence, and laziness in bothering to string together a coherent argument meant one would always come out second-best in such discussions. The hunt for a reasonable argument in favour of Twenty20 games of cricket was well afoot. Okay, not WELL afoot, but it was chugging along (again, that laziness..)

Until now.

Peter Roebuck's article, and a very nice clutch of comments following it, do the job very nicely.

No version of cricket featuring fearless tacticians, shrewd selections, daring strokeplayers, fast bowlers, legspinners, swift running and athletic fielding deserves to be scorned.

As I see it, all that is stiff-upper-lip talk for:

In your face, purists!

Update: As bolsters, a couple of earlier articles, one again by Peter Roebuck, and one by Lawrence Booth.

Short open letter

Dear IPL commentators,

Stop ruining the sixes that are hit - nobody gives a rodent's posterior about the DLF Maximum Sixes.

Kindly STFU about it.

kthxbye.