Nokia and batteries

I am not sure why people say that this battery recall is going to hurt Nokia. I rather think that if there is something wrong with my phone I would like the handset manufacturer to be someone who comes out in the open and says so before any lasting damage is done. Is there anything more to this whole thing than meets the eye?

A Zen Story

Anyone for a Zen Story? Well....there was this zen master whose master passed away. He started crying and lamenting the loss. One of the people present asked him "Why do you cry so much when you are yourself a master?"

He said "I am mourning my master because he was an extra-ordinary man".

The person asked "What was so extra-ordinary about him?"

The zen master said "He was the only extra-ordinary person I knew who considered himself ordinary!"

2 amazing news items

Someone has said "It's not a news if dog bites man but it's news if man bites dog". These days media has pretty much pulled out all stops when it comes to delivering the "Breaking News" but I found 2 pieces in the printed world that rather amused me.

The first one was about this border town in Mexico - this whole town thrives on the industry of sending illegal immigrants thro the Sonoran desert into Arizona. There are grocery stores where you can purchase eatables and water to tide you over the long trek. Moreover, a bank has opened a branch for people whose relatives in US send money for the journey. As Mr. Spock of Star Trek would have said "Fascinating!"

The other news was about the Indians (not red Indians but people who are from India) in US who were rather irked by the immigration authority USCIS over the delay in processing their green card applications. What did they do? They sent flowers to the Director of USCIS - as a "Get Well Soon" gesture. Those folks who have seen the Hindi movie "Lage raho Munnabhai" will recognize this as a form of Gandhigiri. Isnt it funny that these people who want to stay in US have to resort to "Satyagraha"tactics by the Father of the nation - Mahatma Gandhi?

The Runaway Jury

I have seen many court room scenes in which the presiding judge asks the members of the jury if they have reached any verdict. They say they have so the judge asks the defendent to rise. And then the leader of the jury finds the defendent either guilty as charged or not.

But I had no idea that an elaborate process exists for jury selection and that both the sides - the plaintiff as well as the defendents - appoint jury selection consultants. But John Grisham's "The Runaway Jury" talks about this and many other things......I know I am going to like this book :-)

India's Independence

I was reading an article about India's Independence. The writer mentioned what a British High Commissioner said back in the 60s about it. He referred to a mutiny by the Indian Royal Navy in 1946. The writer said that many in the audience that time including himself were surprised at the mention because none of them had heard about it. I dont remember reading about it either. The British High Commissioner said that this mutiny rattled the British because they thought it was going to be a repeat of the 1857 mutiny. Their fear also stemmed from the fact that they had trained many Indian soldiers for the World War II. They feared that they will now rise against the British slaughtering them down to the last man. That's the reason they finally left India. I dont know how much water does theory hold.

So I am done reading with "The fourth protocol". Didnt understand half the words mentioned in the preparation of the SAS team.....I am still not sure whats the difference between SAS and SIS :-) Just a naive question.....won't publishing all such details in the books help criminals?

The Fourth Protocol (16th August)

I am currently reading Frederick Forsyth's "The Fourth Protocol". In the beginning it sounded pretty dull compared to Forsyth's other books - The day of the jackal, Odessa file, The Afghan and the Fist of God. I was seriously thinking of abandoning it. But somehow I hung on and am being amply rewarded for it. I can hardly keep it down now that it has reached its final few pages of climax.

It's printed on the front page of the book that it was made into a movie starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan. Pierce Brosnan!! :-) I have never been a fan of Bond movies but when Brosnan was 007 I watched Bond movies religiously. I think he was a perfect fit for the character of Bond. :-)

So let's see what the final pages have in store for me......:-)