The Maverick Blog

The Beauty of Time Lapse Photography

Shakti — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 21:09:11 +0000

Watch this totally awesome HD video created using time lapse photography. Landscape photographer Terje Sorgjerd captures the beauty of the Milky Way from atop Spain’s highest mountain El Teide.

Sorgjerd writes, “The goal was to capture the beautiful Milky Way galaxy along with one of the most amazing mountains I know El Teide.”

Hardware Used: Canon 5D Mark II with a Canon 17mm TSE, Canon 16-35mm II, Canon 24/1.4II, and Sigma 12-24mm

The goal I am sure was more than accomplished! Sit back and soak in the splendid visuals.

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

The Climate Change Debate…Or is it?

Shakti — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 20:14:04 +0000

This is a factual look at the never-ending debate about global climate change. Click on the image for the high resolution graphic.

India’s Nuclear Polity: Shouldn’t we learn from Fukushima?

Shakti — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:55:36 +0000

The tragedy that Japan has just experienced is unprecedented and comes at a time when the ‘next in line’ countries especially India need to introspect on their nuclear policies. The West had always been keen to get India into the non-proliferation fold but in a dramatic show of sensitivity to India’s growth potential, the US signed a ’historic’ contract which would allow the US to enter a significant $150 billion market…the Indian civil nuclear energy market. It’s anybody’s guess why the US so avidly lobbied for India for the removal of the nuclear trade ban after China went aggressive on its own nuclear programme! I don’t blame the US for it nor do I intend to sound anti-capitalism…if not for the dire repurcursions that the Indian polity have conveniently chosen to ignore.

Let’s take a deeper look. As of today nuclear energy accounts for less than 3% of India’s power demand. This, as per experts should reach around 10% by 2013 and probably around 25% by 2050 thanks to an agressive plan of doubling the number of Indian nuclear reactors over the next 1.5 decades. While many may perceive this as yet another feather in India’s cap, a startling byproduct of this expansion plan is that India would almost entirely be in the radiation zone, should a Japan happen in India. By the way…India has its own share of seismically sensitive zones which only increases the probability of….God forbid. In short…India has allowed the West to make money out of its own doom’s day!

What’s even more disturbing is the fine print of India’s nuclear civil liability bill which ridiculously states the following as a facade for the people to believe that foreign nuclear suppliers share the responsibility of a damage caused out of a nuclear accident. Enjoy this clause!

Section 17 says:

The operator of a nuclear installation shall have a right of recourse where —

(a) such right is expressly provided for in a contract in writing;

(b) the nuclear incident has resulted from the wilful act or gross negligence on the part of the supplier of the material, equipment or services, or of his employee.

If you finished smiling at the jugglery of words, let me make the more obvious revelation that all responsibility can be shirked by the likes of GE, Areva or Westinghouse (the beneficiaries of the politics of nuclear power) through a carefully worded contract. That apart…would anyone ever put money on trying to prove a ‘wilful act of gross negligence’ in a court of law??

So what could the strategy be? Thankfully we do not have a dirth of options. Below are a few.

Plug the leaks: 25%-30% of the power actually created by India’s power plants (nuclear and non-nuclear) never reach the consumer. India’s power problems would diminish by more than half just by investing in bringing these transmission losses to a single digit percentage. Mind you..this investment is miniscule to what has been planned for nuclear expansion!
Harness and Promote Alternative Sources of Energy: Solar and wind power have great prospects in India but there is negligible funding towards research in this direction. The reason is simple…there is more money in tickling the ‘next in line’ countries to achieve nuclear stardom. In fact it would not be an overstatement if I said that the powerful nuclear companies stiffle the smaller and budding companies in the ‘Alternative Energy’ segment of business through not-so-fair means in the global market!
Decentralize Generation Infrastructure: This not only limits the extent of unavailability in the wake of a failure but also brings down transmission losses.
Invest in Energy Efficient Public Infrastructure: Investment in ensuring energy efficiency in public offices and infrastructure would go a long way as well.

Wake up India!

Essays in Programming Languages!

Shakti — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:03:25 +0000

Your Hand in Mine – Explosions in the Sky

Shakti — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:00:35 +0000

A great composition which serves perfect as a modern day lullaby for the tired man after a mad day. This one’s called ‘Your Hand in Mine‘ from the album ‘The Earth is not a cold dead place‘ by American post-rock instrumental band ‘Explosions in the Sky‘.

If you love this track…let it show.

Indian Roads!

Shakti — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 07:48:48 +0000

Quantum Physics Explained!

Shakti — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 07:01:15 +0000

Gaming can make the world better!

Shakti — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:50:01 +0000

Check out this great talk by Jane McGonigal, a game designer on how games and human strategies applied to playing video games could actually make this world a better place! This, I am sure would intrigue…since many of us have never perceived life and the bigger scheme of things as a ‘Big Game’ and neither have many of us tried the same strategies…zeal or enthusiasm to try and win it.

If most of us eventually come out victorious in video games…what really stops us from treating real life in the same light?

GMX – An e-mail service with a difference!

Shakti — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:05:36 +0000

Here’s an e-mail service that has something different to offer…something that none of the heavyweights like Google, Yahoo or Microsoft have! Well, if that has caught your attention already…read on.

GMX or Global Mail Exchange is an email service that provides some very intuitive features…features that I would personally be quite interested in.

Here are the details of the features I liked!

Mail Aggregation: GMX provides a nifty mail collector feature which enables users to view and access their mails from multiple e-mail providers in a clean and aesthetic interface! This would be quite useful for people who have many e-mail accounts and want to view and manage their emails through a single yet powerful interface. No we are not talking MS Outlook here.

Big Attachments: GMX allows attachments of upto 50 MB in size! Best in class…indeed.

No Ads: GMX never scans e-mails for advertisement opportunities. Google could probably take a cue?

User Labs: GMX listens to its user base…not just to resolve and fix problems but also for great ideas its users have to offer to make this e-mail service even better.

All in all…its a great e-mail service that pleases and refreshes!

I strongly recommend it