www.BPODigest.com i-Vortal

White Mountain Flume Trip

Today I went to WhiteMountains - Flume in New Hampshire trail and absolutely love it. Went along with Kumar Babu. I am gonna come back again and again here. I am falling totally in love with this place, there are endless trails, beaches and more things to explore. Summer is the best place to be arround here and I am here in Summer, I am sure I am gonna have a blast this summer here :-)

Who Invented Zero?

A malicious software daemon has been continuously sending pings to my previous post 'Who Invented Zero?' which I originally posted on '2005.03.23'. The daemon got pretty annoying, so I decided to deleted the original post and make a new post out of it.

Today morning, my brother called me up and asked - 'Brother Who Invented Zero?'. I replied who else, its Indians. Later he told that in a discussion on NPR show they were talking as if it is introduced by Greeks. So I thought of asking Dr. Google and find out. Here I found an intresting link on the history of Indian Mathematics: Indian mathematics Index. The article says that the notion that Indians invented zero might be overrated. They gave illustrations about how babylonians and greeks used zero.

The historical record, however, shows quite a different path towards the concept. Zero makes shadowy appearances only to vanish again almost as if mathematicians were searching for it yet did not recognise its fundamental significance even when they saw it.

One thing for sure is that Indian mathematicians used sunya(zero) very extensively during historic days.

According to Saxakali

Although in recorded history the place-value number systems have been developed four times (by the Babylonians, Mayans, Chinese, and Hindus), and the zero concept has been evolved three times (by the Babylonians, Mayans, and Hindus), none outside of the Hindus have devised such a complete system of numerical operation. Furthermore, none outside of the Hindus evolved the zero concept to the degree that it is used as the null-value in all facets of calculation.

Indian philosophies from Hinduism to Buddhism, although they differed in various issues, all held that reality could not be known by reason and logic but only by a mystical union with existence called samadhi or nirvana, purported to be transcendental to reason and logic. They believed that reason and logic could take them only to the point where they could merge into existence through the cessation of the mind. In truth, their mystical union, samadhi or nirvana, was nothing more than a glorified perception or sensation. They inverted the epistemological order of human cognition, which proceeds from sensation to perception and perception to conception, and gave perception and sensation the ultimate cognitive status.

Therefore, albeit the Hindus perfected one of the greatest discoveries in human history -- the zero, they could not realize its cosmic function as a mathematical tool of science. Although it required a conceptuality-centered modality of consciousness to conceive of the zero, the Hindus did not possess a conceptuality-centered philosophy -- an Aristotelian philosophy -- to integrate the zero concept into a larger philosophical scheme so as to bring about its fruits. The zero, thus, had to wait for nearly 1000 years until the time of Leonardo da Vinci and Copernicus in order to bear its fruits and transform the human world forever.

Check google search results for more infomation here.

A comment by a visitor 'Parag' on the original post:

To say that,
"Zero was Invented by HINDUS, but, The zero had to wait for nearly 1000 years until the time of Leonardo da Vinci and Copernicus in order to bear its fruits and transform the human world forever" is like playing down the invention of wheel and saying "The Wheel had to wait thousands of years until the engineers at GM(General Motors) used the concept to tranform the world by creating HUMMER.".
Whether the biased Western-World believe it or not, credit them or not, The Ancient Civilizations in INDIA were far ahead of their times in the science of mathematics and astronomy and have invented many, so called concepts, on which is based our current science and technology. Grow up guys.

Indian Railway - A Success Story Under the Leadership of Laloo

Washington Times writes about the Indian Railway Success Story under the Leadership of Laloo Prasad Yadav:

A visitor to the New Delhi railway station could not be faulted for thinking nothing has changed. Tobacco stains still speckle the platforms, bleary-eyed travelers are sleeping on the floor, and a stink of garbage rises up from the tracks. But after a few minutes wait, the tracks bring a fresh sight: A high-speed train capable of traveling 93 miles per hour pulls up, the first of its kind in India. A trip that used to take four hours now takes two. And this is just the beginning. The man who brought about this transformation is an unlikely sort. Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav was formerly known for cracking jokes in rough Hindi, corruption scandals and ruling over chaotic Bihar state. He even poured cow dung over the heads of some reporters at his recent party celebrating Holi, a Hindu holiday welcoming spring. But few now doubt that Mr. Yadav has presided over an impressive business turnaround. He's the darling of industry groups and business newspaper headlines, doling out privatization of container traffic and 24-hour food courts. But more importantly, he's taken the world's largest employer -- a government giant of 1.5 million employees -- and boosted revenues by 15.5 percent without raising fares. D.H. Pai Panandiker, head of RPG Foundation, an economic think tank, said "Indian Railways has turned around and made an estimated profit of [$2.5 billion] in 2005-2006. What is important, however, is that, unlike previous ministers, Mr. Yadav has looked upon Railways as a commercial enterprise and not a social welfare institution. [He] is a hard taskmaster and will ensure his subordinates carry out the projects." Contradictions abound

Indian media which gets highly vocal about the eccentricities of Laloo, has remained relatively less vocal on his successful leadership. I think its painful for the media to see unexpected results.

www.baaldan.com - Helping Children in Need

Tanya is a very good friend and a mentor of mine. She is always filled with an infectious enthusiasm. She is one of the most giving person you can ever find. Before she actually went to India to donate time for Mother Theresa's ashram, we discussed about the trip on numerous occasions. With everybody’s support, she did make the trip in 2005 and here we go, she is more than ever motivated to make even greater difference in the lives of street children through a charity organization of her own: www.baaldan.com.

Re: Helping children in need.

Baal Dan is a unique charity started by Tanya Pinto in Dallas, Texas, after she went to India last year and volunteered at Mother Teresa's orphanage. Did you know that India has over 18 million street children?

Help Tanya raise as much money as possible before she goes back to India in December 2006. Her goal is to help as many kids on the streets as possible in simple and immediate ways. Finding them shelter, providing food and clothing and getting them into school. She will also take them to the movies (probably their first time ever) and get them toys. Anything to help give them more of a childhood in small and simple ways.

$1 = 43 rupees and your money will go a long way.
Plus, 100% of your donation will go to the children, as Tanya is funding all expenses herself. And, once you give, she will send you an email detailing exactly what she did with YOUR donation and how many children it helped. Visit baaldan.com to donate now.

Thank you.

Citizens For Global Solutions

Citizens for Global Solutions http://globalsolutions.org/ has a bunch of flash videos that are made by people across the world with ages ranging from 14 to 32. All the videos focus on promoting political will to solve the world problems.

Citizens for Global Solutions envisions a future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms, and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone. This vision requires effective democratic global institutions that will apply the rule of law while respecting the diversity and autonomy of national and local communities.

A Helping Hand......

[Via Atanu Dey] VentolatorBlues tell a story of helping hand.

As the escalator carries me up, I cannot keep myself from turning back to take a look. What I see startles me. The girl who had been screamed at has also got off. And she is offering her arm to the woman. The woman is accepting it. Together, they head towards the elevator since the station is two floors down from ground level and the elevator will be easier for them.

7 Reasons why webapps fail

Bokarado.com has an interesting post 7-reasons-why-web-apps-fail

1. Focus on social instead of personal.
   
2. They solve too many problems, or try to.
   
3. They’re about making someone other than the user happy.
   
4. They sell it the wrong way.
   
5. Not in it for the long haul.
   
6. They show too much of what’s going on, and get gamed.
   
7. They don’t have an underlying business strategy of improving people’s lives.
   

Brand INDIA

IBEF ( India Brand Equity Foundation http://www.ibef.org/ ), an organization that started a couple of years back to rebrand the image of India has released an awesome video I AM INDIA. I wanted to do a video like that when BPODigest was launched, however gave up on that.

About IBEF:

One and a half decades into the process of economic liberalisation and global integration, India, today, is well established as a credible business partner, preferred investment destination, rapidly growing market, provider of quality services and manufactured products; and, stands on the threshold of years of unprecedented growth.

Achievements. Successes. Growing consuming class driving demand. Vibrant democracy. People who dare to dream. Indians and India have a story to tell. IBEF collects, collates and disseminates accurate, comprehensive and current information on India. In the overall nation branding campaign for India, IBEF plays three well defined roles:

* Forum for brand vision development
* Co-ordinator of strategic marketing initiatives
* India Resource Centre

From the time of its inception, IBEF has been doing a great job of rebranding India across the global economic scape.

However, Atanu Dey has an interesting take on the video @ Oh No! India is Shining Again

I have a thumb rule which goes: if you really have it, you don’t have to shout about it. The really academically qualified person does not have to put “B.S, M.Tech, M. Phil, PhD” after his name, nor a “Dr” before his name. The really wealthy person does not have to advertise that he is rich. A truly vibrant economy does not have to produce promotional videos.

The day that these idiots stop producing these silly “India Shining” videos, we will know that India is no longer at the bottom of the heap. Until then, enjoy the videos.

True isn't it?

If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em!

A new movement has started in New York City to fight Street Harassment and that is "If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em!". The concept is pretty simple if you find anybody harassing you and you are afraid of slapping them, just snap their picture by using your cell phone camera and post the pics at http://www.hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/.

Actually, HollaBackNYC is a collective comprised of men and women who believe in building communities where everyone feels comfortable, safe, and respected. Many people, particularly men, are unaware of the frequency and severity of disrespect and intimidation that numerous folks, especially women, experience in public spaces on a daily basis. HollaBackNYC aims to expose and combat street harassment as well as provide an empowering forum in this struggle.

Blank Noise Project is another initiative from India to fight Eve Teasing and Street harassment. I think Blank Noise project and other similar organizations should popularize the concept of If You Can't Slap 'Em, Snap 'Em! across India.

Pallavi Is Famous Now.....

Pallavi Srichinta, or should I say Mrs. Anand Dasari, is famous now. Sun has posted her picture in their Student Internship program webpage. Congrats Pallavi.