Cricket, CAS and more… Part 2 - LOL

Thanks Muralee and Sudhakar for reading the previous post patiently and commenting!!… :-)

@Sudhakar, Of course DTH is an exciting option IFF all the providers agree to share all feeds with competitors.. A classic example is the Sun Network denying feed to both DishTV and TataSKY. In the same lines we can foresee a day when ESPNStar or Zee deny rights to others?? Dont we!?!?

Muralee put it exactly… We are left stranded and forgotten in their war for money

And when I see today’s developments (as I was writing this as comment), I just can’t do anything more than Laugh Out Loud and share it with you! Thus comes this part 2!!

The Most hilarious thing first.. Our middleman has issued a very bold statement! HE says, “I will resign if I can’t carry out my duty”- when there is nothing he has to do. We have 2 parties – Nimbus and Prasar Bharathi fighting over this issue under the judicial system. What does the government have to do in this case??? :-) What say guys?

The next one is even better - “Why did BCCI sell rights without consulting us?” said Dasmunsi. AaHa..!!! Wasn’t there a similar issue sometime back when the Court ruled out the allegations as baseless and pointed out that the BCCI is a private body??

“Doordarshan wanted us to give them fifty-per cent. It’s not just in the interest of the nation,” said Nimbus Executive Chairman Harish Thawani. ??!!??*&^ - You can ask for what ever you want when the ball is in your court and if you have backing! Is it??

But one thing is pretty clear… This face off is not going to end in the near future since it is before the courts it looks like on Wednesday too I won’t be able to catch the action!!… And this time I’m prepared to check Live commentary in the internet and wait for the providers to give me the feed (of course, otherwise* )

Do share your thoughts!

Updates :

A few more munshisms on Cricket

According to Dasmunsi, “Cricket as a product has been built over the years, even before the invention of television in Asia, by radio commentary. It became a household property only through radio in the days when money was not important. And secondly in critical days it was Doordarshan. So, whenever a sports group sells its property, should they not carefully speak on whether the property belongs to them or not?”

Wah! Kya Baath Hein! Never knew the IP side cricket! Did we??

And I finally got an answer to the encryption question!

Doordarshan then sends the signal up to another satellite which is their own, which sends the signal to the kendras from where the signal is then sent to viewers by means of terrestrial transmission. The transportation path is the problem. Doordarshan sends the signal unscrambled and visible to other countries. Every neighbouring country can have access to these signals. Hence Nimbus wants it encrypted..

Cricket, CAS and more… :-(

India is a nation of a billion cricket experts. We do anything and everything to get a glimpse of the action.

The recent stalemate between Nimbus and the Prasar Bharati over telecast rights depriving the poor & needy (for the want of quality cricket) prompted for this nostalgia.

My Grandpa once told me that he bought a Radio to hear Live commentary when a sovereign (forgive me if this is not the correct spelling) of gold was cheaper than that. I still remember traveling miles to see cricket matches.

Cricket matches have long been fun and frolic. It has always been a wonderful occasion for a family get-together. I cherish those old memories when comments pour in from pillar to pillar (of course in foul language) when Gavaskar misses a century or when one of self-proclaimed cricketing gurus tries to explain why he was beaten on a half volley!!!

Not so surprisingly we were one of the very firsts to jump into the CAS system as and when it was introduced, just to get our cricket unabated. Just after CAS came into picture, every single series in which India played has been downlinked and given to homes free, lawfully – Courtesy : SCV or otherwise^*.

But the saddest part of it all was the last three days. I was totally pissed off when my cable operator told me that he wont go all the way to SCV office and pay 5 bucks for me to get NeoSports! Believe it or not, I went all the way – around 25 Km from my place – only to find out that they will get the subscription only from the Cable operators and not from me

Yesterday morning, I woke up and pushed off a frantic search through all the frequencies available in my Idiots box only to find out every single person in my family had already searched for that before I woke up!!! The day was reduced to seeing Dada blasting off the windies bowlers in all news channels one after the other…

* I started getting the feeds when India was on the verge of winning. But still our boys made a match out of it – giving a life to Chanderpaul, a series a juicy full tosses etc., But the asterisk was to point out How did I get the feed when I did not subscribe?

Now coming onto the situation:

This is not the first time that Prasar Bhrarthi has been accused of not serving the interest of the public and acting only with money making motives.

Neo argues that it is asking DD to encrypt its telecast… But what I can’t understand is What is the use of such an encryption when DD itself is free to air and anybody can downlink it if they intend to?

DD claims that the converse accusing Nimbus of imposing unrealistic conditions like having a 15 min deferred live… BTW, most of us would not have forgotten that it was DD themselves who brought in this wonderful concept of deferred live back during the 98 FIFA and 2000 Olympics when recorded events were telecast “live”

And adding fuel to the fire, we have one more middleman claiming that he will pass a law in the cabinet mandating all “Exclusive Rights owners” to share their feed with DD unconditionally…

!@#$%^&*()

Hmph.. It’s a total blackout when I try to think on how I can conclude this post! But that’s the l’affaires now…

I know this post is more of my ranting Thanks for your patience reading this. Do share your experiences and of course, if you know what can be achieved through encryption!!!

Ten Commandments for TreatGoers!

First things first…Vinu… Thanks for another invite… I have already posted one. Yet, here is another entry! And for those of you wondering what this is all about read this.

1. Thou shalt be punctual

§ Remember that your colleagues / friends may not be as patient as your spouse/ would be’s (??!!) and they don’t have to bear with you all the time. Better not follow your Indianness here!

2. Thou shall not table hop

§ Even if you switch tables, there will prying eyes in the group to take not of how much you eat. :-) Better book in advance and get the best seating arrangement!

3. Thou shall not talk policies, diets, or family

§ Remember, you are here to eat and not to debate! Have fun!

4. Thou shall not dominate conversation

§ And you can eat as much as you want in the process!!!

5. Thou shall not dawdle over ordering or eating

§ Take your time and allow the food to sink in! ;) Just remember that you are there only for one meal and restaurants have a break between them!

6. Thou shall avoid / not drink too much alcohol

§ Think twice, even if it is free. Don’t regret later!

7. Thou shall not fight over who pays the bill

Corollary: Thou shalt decide who is the scapegoat beforehand!
§ Self Explanatory!! :-D

8. Thou shall not neglect thy table manners

Corollary: Thou Shall Not Embarrass Others.
§ You need not be Queen Elizabeth (or equivalent) on the table. Make sure that the people around don’t feel sorry that they accepted the invitation…

9. Thou shall not forget to show appreciation.

Corollary: Thou shalt not make public comments about the quality of food served even if it is bad.
§ Another person from the group may like what you detest! And you are putting him in a soup…

And last but not the least,

10. Thou Shalt Act and Look Your Best!

§ Savor the moments when good friends, good conversation and good manners bring about the best life has to offer. :-)

And my invite goes to…

Sankar, Sajith - Communications Musings

Chandragiri, Muralee - Blah, Blah, Blog!

Subramaniam, Anita - Absolutely Simple and

Periaswamy, Senthil Raja - Knowledge Encryption on ancient shlokas

I know that Senthil is already in the loop. But, I’m tagging him again for escaping without a post all this time… :-D

Slow Down Culture

got this as a forward mail and thought that it was worth posting… ;)
-=o0o=-
An interesting Reflection

It’s been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It’s a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn’t say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, “Do you have a fixed parking space? I’ve noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot.” To which he replied, “Since we’re here early we’ll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don’t you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there’s a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of “hurry” and “craziness” generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of “having in quantity” (life status) versus “having with quality”, “life quality” or the “quality of being”. French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US’s attention, pupils of the fast and the “do it now!”.

This no-rush attitude doesn’t represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the “now”, present and concrete, versus the “global”, undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans’ essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It’s time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there’s a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, “I can’t, my boyfriend will be here any minute now”. To which Al responds, “A life is lived in an instant”. Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.

-=o0o=-

More on the slow movement / culture can be found at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Movement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Food

-=o0o=-

Whatever be our take on the movement, we cant deny the fact that this fast paced world takes the joy out and makes us a self-centric robot :-(

Your comments are most welcome…

The Rise of India

Here is the link if you are not able to see the embedded object : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XehNQ2OMfE&eurl

Take timeout and checkout this video on YouTube! It’s worth a watch in home if Mr. Websense says Nay…

Whatsoever be the apprehensions surrounding Thom Friedman, I go with what he says in the midst of all these : “India is a miracle” . Do concentrate on the end. It is a fitting climax. :-)

The Ten Commandments of Java!

Meenaks [Insured Face Value] has started a meme and invited a few to post on Ten Commandments.

Here is another entry… Though not Original, it is worth a read…

[…]
7. And the Gosling spake unto them, saying:
8. I am the Gosling who brought you out of the land of Stroustrup, out of
the house of the C Preprocessor.
9. Thou shalt compile with -deprecated frequently, and study its
pronouncements with care, even though it be a pain in thy ass.
10. Thou shalt put in meaningful javadoc comments, so that thy beloved
brethren may read thy code with a joyful heart.
11. Thou shalt study the standard library, and strive to understand it,
yea, even though it sucketh rocks, that thy days may be productive and thy
typing fingers rested.
12. Thou shalt make thy subdirectories with the same capitalization as thy
package identifiers, for the God of Unix is an pedantic God, and swift to
return File Not Found errors.
13. Thou shalt not break the nightly build.
14. Thou shalt not assume that thy code runneth on other browsers.
15. Thou shalt not ignore a caught exception.
16. Thou shalt not compare Strings with ==.
17. Thou shalt stick to the style guidelines, even though it maketh thy
fingers ache and thy brain hurt, yea, even though it commandeth not the One
True Indentation Style, lest thy brethren read thy code without
understanding and curse thee.
18. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s class. Thou shalt download it off
the net, read the documentation thereof, and use it all the days of thy life.

Update :

Thanks Karthik for the invite. I cant think of another topic for now. ;) Will do try to do a authentic post in the near future.. :-) For this to grow, here are my nominations

Govindarajula, Sravya

Harikrishnan, Aiswarya

Rahman, Kalilur

Easy escape!!