The French Model

Interesting excerpt from an article in The Economist

"..The French are champion rule-makers. There are rules about how many pharmacies any one pharmacist can own (one), and how many taxis there are on the Paris streets (15,300). There are rules about when lorries can use motorways (not on Sundays), or when shops can hold sales (twice a year, on dates set by officials). New rules allowing shops to pick freely another two weeks have been greeted as a revolution. “To have cut-price discounts in April without waiting for the June sales is unheard-of!” exclaimed Le Parisien newspaper ..."

Carry your own booze

Just came back from the trip.  What a drive. From Pugmark Restaurant (Beginning of Bandipur limits), the drive just keeps getting better until, of course, the hair pin bends start. There are 36 of them. By the time we made it to Ooty, it was 11 o'clock. So 61/2 hours - not bad. 

From Ooty to Destiny Farm Parking lot was interesting .. but the fun began when we boarded the Army truck that would take us to our (final) destination. A 2km drive that put us in 15  minutes of rush for our definition of 'non-existent' road kept changing as we got deeper. 

It was all worth it. For the next two days, we rested in the calmness of the that farm. They did a good job of letting us be & they did a good job of the bornfire cum barbeque. 

They are yet to get a license to sell booze so I had to make do with the next best thing - beer. I had an earful from wife for she had suggested that we carry our own booze. 

Way back is a different route (through Gudlur) . No hair pin bends  - about 40 kms longer. But you can go at a much more enjoyable speed and it's very scenic.

After driving so much in green forest the part from Mysore to Bangalore felt like desert .. 

Off to Avalanche (an hour from Ooty) tomorrow. Have heard good things about the drive. Hope to spot elephants (someone said you can see a herd crossing the road :-) )

Staying at Destiny - a highly recommended farm stay. No plans to leave it for two days but for a small trek around .. damn, need to buy a new book.  

Really excited. 

Interesting article about how gaming is shifting from console to web and evolving into a good marketing tool. Is this the Adwords/Adsense of the near future.

Popcorn & Pop Music

"Popcorn and pop music have a place in your life. They in the background. In the foreground you have work, home, wife and all that. So the effort you put into buying pop music should not be more than the effort you put into buying popcorn."
-Rohith K N
(one of the smartest guys i have known).

Finally I am on facebook

God ! this has haunted me for so long.

I was just going through some nerdy stuff like how to make facebook apps (people make it sound simpler than it is for someone who hasn't coded in years). The tutorial video started promising as well but pretty soon the guy was coding all over the place.

Somewhere along the way I realized I am not even there. So I guess I still have a few runs to complete before I make a cute lil app. But today's work is done.

Robin Williams

If Robin Williams ever took an IQ test, I am sure he crossed 175. The first time I realized how funny this guy was when I was watching him on Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

This weekend I went hunting for that show on youtube. I didn't quite find the clip but I saw so many other videos .. it has made for a perfect couch potato weekend.