Recently Read

Quantum by Manjt Kumar. Saying this book is comprehensive, masterly or highly readable would be an understatement. A history of quantum mechanics from Planck to Bell, which importantly focuses on ideas as well as people. The story of quantum is a story of paradox. Einstein, who pioneered the use of quantum to explain the photoelectric effect, spent many later years trying to show the standard Copanhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics to be inconsistent / incomplete (the most famous example is the EPR paper). And Bohr, later the staunchest proponent of Quantum theory, went so far as to suggest the abandonement of conservation of energy when Compton effect proved the reality of light quanta (the BKS proposal). The book keeps you glued to your seat like a good novel, and you will learn a lot in the process. Highly recommended.

Blackberry by Rod McQueen. The device is in news recently and the book does a good job of profiling the company which created it. Worth your time, and I personally liked the fact that Mike Lazaridis, founder and co-CEO was instrumental in getting Perimeter Institute started.

The large, the small and the human mind by Roger Penrose. The book is not as long as the title :). It grew out of the Tanner lectures Penrose gave in 1995. The topic was 'values of the mind' and Penrose talks about his approach to the problem of consciousness which is detailed in The Emperor's New Mind and Shadows of the Mind. Afterwards there is commentary, from two philosphers of Science and Stephen Hawking. The reply from Penrose is also printed. I did not understand everything (as expected) but the book still classifies as a fruitful read.

माझे पौष्टिक जीवन

लाल पेटीवाली पोष्टं इतिहासजमा होऊन त्यांची जागा आता blog पोष्टांनी घेतली. पण ओळी तिथे पण खरडायच्या, आणि इथे पण.. [आम्ही भाग्यवान, दोन्हीकडे आमच्या एंट्र्या.. पुढच्या किंवा मागच्या पिढीचे ते भाग्य नाही].

तीन वर्ष, ३०६ posts आणि एक आनंददायी प्रवास.. माझे पौष्टिक जीवन, पु.ल. स्मृतीस सादर..

Rest of the weekend

Great Dictator येतोय World Movies वर, अभिजात विनोद म्हणजे काय ते Chaplin कडून शिकावं.. Chaplin चे सगळे सिनेमे पाहिले पाहिजेत..

अजुन पुस्तकं ढीगभर आहेत.. वाचायला आहे भरपूर, वेळ सोडून..

घरी राहण्याचा सगळ्यात मोठ्ठा फायदा म्हणजे 'चहा'.. त्यासाठी पायपीट आपल्याला मंजूर नाही.. [आता dinner साठी पायपीट..]

पुस्तकातले धड़े जिथून छापतात ती पुस्तकं आत्ता समजू लागली, म्हणजे त्यावेळी आपण गाढव होतो का?

मराठीत पहिलाच post, त्यामुळे मस्त वाटतयं.. त्यातून आता 'च्यायला' वगैरे अस्सल शब्द.. उदा. उद्या monday, च्यायला.. :) ['नाद खुळा', 'चक्कीत जाळ' वगैरे पण आहेच.]

माणसाच्या घराला खिड़की ही असावीच.. दोन चार झाड़ं, आणि मोकळं आकाश दिसावं.. सांगून कदाचित पटणार नाही, पण फार फरक पडतो त्याने..

चला हादडायची वेळ झाली.. परत भेटूच..

Weekend so far

And some other stuff..

The weekend started with a party. Let me say this is print, I do not have any respect left for people who build two hotels in the same galli with the same name (differentiating in the third word doesn't count, note for the nitpicks). It was a lot of fun, but afterwards my mind kept coming back to this, in IT your almost entire friend circle changes every few years (assuming you make friends at the workplace, some people successfully manage to not but I am not the one). My dad (who is a professor) has workplace friendships going back more than my age. I am sure that makes our lives a little less rich, a little less complete.

Finished reading Massive, on the enginneering scale a pass-class book (a distinction (not the grade) your truly used to enjoy while in college). Next came H.G.Wells' The Time Machine. I had heard so much about it that I was bound to like it :).

The mistake is to say life is one thing or another. It's an optimization problem. Which means most of philosphy is ruled out and you can not die in peace.

TV continues to insult and madden me, nowadays more than ever. They should design a game where you can shoot TV shows.

The sky is pale blue, I can see a few trees through the window. A bird flies by. The road buzzes with traffic. Life goes on..

Dialogue

Monday, around 9:00 PM,
A remote corner.

Pal do pal ka sath hai.. Ab na jaa..
Chhoti si ek baat hai... Ab na jaa..
The Machine says.