TOUCHMAGIX

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Relationship between Astrology, Belief and Destiny

I have recently been fascinated by Astrology and the fact that people believe it as a Science. This article is not to prove something is right or wrong, but just to express my understanding towards Astrology and its effects. I am not an expert in this field nor wish to hurt anyone who does believe in it. So feel free to correct my observations.

I strongly believe that Astrology is not a science but a philosophy of psychological belief. If you visit an Astrologer, don’t be surprised by the fact that he/she knows it all because the influences in your life have been set in such a way since childhood that they create your belief and drive your destiny. Let me explain why. Astrology is often claimed to be an ancient science that defines a person’s nature and future depending on planetary positions at the time and place an individual was born. They say that a large statistical sampling was conducted to come to generalized conclusions about a persons nature and destiny. This science has been widely believed and influenced India for generations together. The root of this starts at your birth. When a child is born in India, parents often get a “Kundli” i.e an astrological map drafted from an astrologer. Depending on the “Kundli” the parents are informed based on statistical data about the nature of the newborn and some generalized categorization. As the child grows, this information in parents mind has an unknowing psychological impact on the child’s upbringing. Many often people say that they don’t believe in astrology, but still visit an astrologer to just listen to the blabber. Even if the child does not know about these, there is an aura of belief that is created to drive the child’s destiny by the parent. It may not be 100% accurate but it has an influence and hence the person again falls into the same statistical sample set. Consider a person who has no influence of “Kundli” in life, you may find the behavior may not match with the statistical data.

I believe in the saying, “Your belief defines your destiny”. Nothing in this world can be predicted considering so many random variables. Nobody can predict death or an accident as these events are purely random. If the person has a strong ability to set a belief, it will automatically drive him to the destiny. To state an example, if a person believes that he/she is going to be an engineer and settle abroad, the career is influenced in that direction. The circumstances and opportunities are created in such a way to pursue the belief and to achieve destiny.

There is a unknown energy that creates this effect which is mutual. Usually it is highly influenced by the people who are close to your heart. This energy is more prominent among animals than humans. This is the same type of energy that helps ants co-ordinate among themselves to build colonies. The same energy by which a dog can sense danger before humans can. The same energy using which animal herds are formed and maintained in the wild. Same energy that fish use to swarm in formations. Animals cannot talk, so how do they communicate? It is this energy that enables them to communicate without speaking. Sometimes you may have felt that you are missing someone dear, and you realize that person calls you on your cell-phone at the same time. Has this happened to you? … Its an unknown form of energy which enables this communication.

Coming back to the relation with Astrology, some astrologers mention that wearing a particular precious stone can bring a change is your life. This is a matter of belief and the only change it brings in is the psychological change which in turn changes your life. So to conclude, Astrological information affects psychological behavior in people who believe in it. This continues the cycle of maintaining the same sample set and classification.

I believe that your final destiny is in your own hands. If you dream and believe in something so strongly, things are going to go your way, as you will be striving to achieve your destiny and define your own future.

Bullshit Bingo - How to stay awake in meetings

Do you keep falling asleep in meetings and seminars? What about those long and boring conference calls? Here's a way to change all of that.

1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call, prepare yourself by drawing a square. I find that 5" x 5" is a good size. Divide the card into columns - five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks.

2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:
* synergy
* strategic fit
* core competencies
* best practice
* bottom line
* revisit
* expeditious
* to tell you the truth (or "the truth is")
* 24/7
* out of the loop
* benchmark
* value-added
* proactive
* win-win
* think outside the box
* fast track
* result-driven
* empower (or empowerment)
* knowledge base
* at the end of the day
* touch base
* mindset
* client focus(ed)
* paradigm
* game plan
* leverage

3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those
words/phrases.
4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally,
stand up and shout "BULLSHIT!"

Testimonials from satisfied "Bullshit Bingo" players:
"I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won." - Adam, Atlanta

"My attention span at meetings has improved dramatically." - David, Florida

"What a gas! Meetings will never be the same for me after my first win." - Dan, New York City

"The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." - Ben, Denver

"The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'BULLSHIT!' for the third time in two hours." - Paul, Cleveland

Enjoy your meetings - Bullshit Bingo!

Iron Maiden Concert

Iron Maiden concert was one of my dream concerts which materialized last Friday 1st Feb at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. There were about 30k-40k people at the concert. Initially some smaller bands and Parikrama played after which there was the main event. We came early to be closer to the stage. Standing for 1 hour in the front below the stage and being pushed around, I decided to get out of the sweaty mess and watch the concert from far. It was an amazing experience and like a dream come true. Some of the great numbers they played that night-

Aces High (Inro Song)
The Trooper
Can I play with madness
Number of the beast
Fear of the dark
Hollowed by thy name
Wasted Years
Seventh Son

Indian tax watch

1) Qus. : What are you doing?
Ans. : Business.
Tax : PAY PROFESSIONAL TAX!

2) Qus. : What are you doing in Business?
Ans. : Selling the Goods.
Tax : PAY SALES TAX!!

3) Qus. : From where are you getting Goods?
Ans. : From other State/Abroad
Tax : PAY CENTRAL SALES TAX, CUSTOM DUTY & OCTROI!

4) Qus. : What are you getting in Selling Goods?
Ans. : Profit.
Tax : PAY INCOME TAX!

Qus. : How do you distribute profit ?
Ans : By way of dividend
Tax : Pay dividend distribution Tax

5) Qus. : Where you Manufacturing the Goods?
Ans. : Factory.
Tax : PAY EXCISE DUTY!

6) Qus. : Do you have Office / Warehouse/ Factory?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY MUNICIPAL & FIRE TAX!

7) Qus. : Do you have Staff?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY STAFF PROFESSIONAL TAX!

8) Qus. : Doing business in Millions?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY TURNOVER TAX!
Ans : No
Tax : Then pay Minimum Alternate Tax

9) Qus. : Are you taking out over 25,000 Cash from Bank?
Ans. : Yes, for Salary.
Tax : PAY CASH HANDLING TAX!

10) Qus.: Where are you taking your client for Lunch & Dinner?
Ans. : Hotel
Tax : PAY FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT TAX!

11) Qus.: Are you going Out of Station for Business?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY FRINGE BENEFIT TAX!

12) Qus.: Have you taken or given any Service/s?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY SERVICE TAX!

13) Qus.: How come you got such a Big Amount?
Ans. : Gift on birthday.
Tax : PAY GIFT TAX!

14) Qus.: Do you have any Wealth?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY WEALTH TAX!

15) Qus.: To reduce Tension, for entertainment, where are you going?
Ans. : Cinema or Resort.
Tax : PAY ENTERTAINMENT TAX!

16) Qus.: Have you purchased House?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY STAMP DUTY & REGISTRATION FEE !

17) Qus.: How you Travel?
Ans. : Bus
Tax : PAY SURCHARGE!

18) Qus.: Any Additional Tax?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY EDUCATIONAL, ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL & SURCHARGE ON ALL THE CENTRAL GOVT.'s TAX !!!

19) Qus.: Delayed any time Paying Any Tax?
Ans. : Yes
Tax : PAY INTEREST & PENALTY!

20) INDIAN :: can i die now??
Ans :: wait we are about to launch the funeral tax!!!

Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

A must see video

Food spot "Swati Snacks" -- Mumbai

Panki from Swati Snacks

I had been to Mumbai yesterday for some shopping and for a wedding to attend in the eve. One of the highlights of my trip was the place where me and my family picked for lunch. It was a place called Swati snacks which serves mainly Gujju cuisine. We came here by recommendation from dad's friend. I came across this dish called Panki, which was some kind of rice+dal mixture cooked inside a banana leaf. It tasted quite like Khandvi which is a popular gujju dish, but I liked this one as it was served hot and it also had a slight hint of banana flavour as it was cooked in a banana leaf. I highly recommend this place for anybody visiting Heera Panna close to Haji Ali. The place is in front of petrol pump right after Ganga Jamuna Juice center.

Accident Dangers

After watching my skydiving video, many people asked me the same question, "Is it dangerous to take the plunge?" ... Well here are some results on what is dangerous and what is not! I Googled for "Died in a ______ accident" and here are the results.


Idea courtesy xkcd.com

Some random guy messaging Skype

[1:17:02 PM] NIDA AMIR says: HI
[1:17:42 PM] anup tapadia says: whoz this ?
[1:18:16 PM] NIDA AMIR says: I M NIDA FROM PAKISTAN?
[1:18:19 PM] NIDA AMIR says: I M NIDA FROM PAKISTAN
[1:18:25 PM] NIDA AMIR says: AND U?
[1:18:40 PM] anup tapadia says: do I know u ? or do you know me ?
[1:19:54 PM] NIDA AMIR says: NO I SEARCH ON SKYPE ONLY FOR CHATING BCOZ TODAY I M BORING IF U WANT TO CHAT WITH ME I CONTINUE OTHERWISE BYE.

Geek tricks

Web 2.0 Bubble

Ozzy and Rob Zombie concert

Just came back from a truly outstanding performance by Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie at San Diego Sports Arena. Some pictures posted below -

Bill Gates vs Steve Jobs

Lego NXT Walking

It happens only in India

I clicked these photos on my way to Jaisalmer during September this year. These people are devotees of Baba Ramdevji at a small village called Ramdevra. About 0.5 million people visit this place everyday during this time of the year. Most of them travel barefoot from their villages. Now this is some amazing devotion !

Funny signages

Yeah Right ! Point noted !


I am still not sure why do they put ash trays below no smoking signs on airplanes.

Beer for children

Just a funny poster

Quite detailed explanation @ Taj (Jodhpur): "Press 3 in elevator"

These folks can sue Linus Torvalds for using their registered name :)





The Real Test !





I just find this one funny because the man is floating in mid air !

The Declining US Dollar: Winners And Losers

A good article. Source: TechCrunch

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/14/the-declining-us-dollar-winners-and-losers/



This is a sign that outsourcing to India will decline in the future due to effective increased cost. US companies have to pay more than before to have offshore offices and development centers now.

Value of information

I woke up today morning (as usual around 11am) and was checking my mail sitting in the living room. The door bell rang and I saw some people, whom I had never met before at the door. I was little resistant to allow them in our house, but they claimed that they knew our family. They started of by calling a list of people they know and most of the names sounded familiar. So out of courtesy I allowed them to come in and have a seat.

They said they were Jaggas from Rajasthan. Jaggas are people who maintain family information for several families, and they were the one who maintained for our family since last couple of centuries. This concept sounded familiar to the concept of Pandaas my dad had told me few years ago. Pandaas are folks who maintain information of people who have visited Haridwar (holy place in India). In India, I believe there are hardly any families who don’t visit Haridwar in their lifetime. Hence these people maintain a list of people who visited Haridwar since last couple of centuries at this central place. There is a master record which is passed on from generations to generations and this master record connects all the families to their roots.

After talking to the head Jagga, I realized that he knew much more about our family than anyone else in our family would know. They told me about 100 names of the people in my family. I must confess that there were some whom I never knew existed. I believe the reason they could do this is the vast information base they had gathered over generations and also because of the fact that they make their living on this information. I was amazed to see the information they had collected and memorized. They were recalling it faster than what Google would do in the modern world.

Another amazing thing I was told that they visit each of the families on their record every year and keep on updating their information base. They maintain records in a big fat book. When I asked if I could see that book, they replied saying it was extremely hard for them to carry it as it was about 2 feet tall !!! I was thinking on back of my mind it would be so cool if we could just gather all this information and upload it online so that it would help families re-connect.

Another thought that came to my mind was that the value people find in this information or consider any information. This value existed since last several centuries even when internet and computers never existed. The reason these people could run their business is only because other people were ready to pay for this information. Typically each family pays around Rs.500/- to Rs.1000/- per year to Jaggas.

Another interesting aspect is that these people realized several centuries ago that there was a business opportunity in collecting information. A lot of information existed in fragmented form and if they could collect this information into a single source it could turn into a business. This business model can still be applied on internet today. A lot of information on Internet today is fragmented. The one who can collect this information and re-organize, can turn this collective fragments of information into money. I believe search engines like Google are just beginning to this.

A lot of information exists in scattered form on internet today. The one who is willing to collect and re-organize this information can make money on it. Any ideas on what type information might be of interest to people?

Throw things into space

This product called Slingatron can throw things into space by spinning the object until it achieves escape velocity and then releasing it. Will be cool if it works ... sending people you don't like away from you into space would become much cheaper :)

Source : Gizmodo

Nike commercial