Abhinav Agarwal

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Whitewater Rafting

The only time I went whitewater rafting was in August 1999 with three other friends (Subhash, Zahid, and Ramesh), in the Wenatchee river (Wikipedia link). The rapids were level 3, which meant there was no real risk of death by drowning, though the guide did tell us that if we didn't listen to him and row as he told us to, there did exist a real threat of capsizing.

The entire adventure took a little over 4 hours. The rapids started appearing only after some half an hour or so, which gave the guide time to get everyone familiarized with how to paddle correctly, and other commands.

The next thing that Subhash wanted me to try was bungee jumping or parachuting, both of which I was not going to try anytime soon. As Seinfeld said in one standup show, the helmet is wearing you, not the other way round. And the helmet is really there to try and protect a head that has stopped functioning...

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Multnomah Falls

This photo of Multnomah Falls, that I took in 2000, is one of my favourite photos, and have an enlargement that hangs in my house. As I remember, I had to place my camera on a tripod for this, and the exposure was 2 seconds. This image is a scan of the print photo, so something had indeed been lost in the scan... Anyway.

You can read more about Multnomah Falls on Wikipedia, and here is another link from the trips.stateoforegon.com site. This is the link from the US Forest Service site.
This is what the Wikipedia entry has to say about the fall:

"The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet and a lower falls of 69 feet, with a gradual 9 foot drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet."

A foot trail leads to Benson Footbridge, a 45-foot-long footbridge that allows visitors to cross 105 feet above the lower cascade.

This below is the 242 foot Wahkeen Fall, one of the many beautiful falls along the historic Columbia River Gorge highway.

This below is the view from one of the trails along the Multnomah Falls. Just beyond the photo, not visible, is the interstate highway, that runs parallel to the Columbia River.

I didn't go to the Benson Bridge that is visible in the photo below - maybe some other time...

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Vista Point

Some seven years back (1999), when I had a lot of free time on my hands that summer, I travelled a lot around the Pacific Northwest - the Cascades, Olympic Peninsula, Columbia River Gorge, Mt Rainier, Pacific Coast, Mt St Helens, skiing, and more...

I also took a lot of photos with my Canon 35mm film SLR, and had posted many of them to my web site. Now that I have switched to a blog, I shall try and post at least some of those photos to the blog over the next several months.

The photo above is of Vista Point, as seen from the Portland Women's Forum Viewpoint (Chanticleer Point). This is a favorite with photographers, both amateur and professional. When I took this photo, I had a professional photographer there for company, who had been waiting patiently for a long time. He said, "the light is finally starting to get better" - though I admit I could see no such thing... But, taking his expert opinion - that he shared for free with me, I took out my camera, plonked it on a tripod, and took some photos - this above is one of the better ones, I think, though some of the background scenery is a bit washed out.

This on the left remains one of my favourite photos - it also would have come much better in the right lighting conditions, but I didn't have the luxury of waiting (possibly) several hours for that to happen...

If you observe, there is a train track that runs parallel to the road - Interstate 84 (link to Oregon state gov site, wikipedia link) - on the left side of the photo. When I took the photo there was a train steaming along, and I managed to catch it at that instant. And, what I didn't realize at the time, there was a boat that is also captured in the photo - look on the right and you can see the wake of the boat in the Columbia River.

Finally, if you observe the top center portion of the photograph, you will see there is a scenic point that you can stop at to take even more photographs. At sunset, you can watch and catch some spectacular sights as the sun sets over the massive Columbia river.

And this photograph above is of the Columbia River, as seen from Vista Point.

This scenic route is best seen on the "Historic Columbia River highway"

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini (Collins Business Essentials)

Had I not read "Fast Food Nation" last month, I would have said that this book is by far the best book I have read this year.

Everytimg you have been left wondering and feeling conned, or felt that you were talked into, or otherwise cajoled into buying something or saying yes when you weren't sure or wanted to say "no" or "let me think about it", this is the book to read. Written by an academic, this book is a marketer's nightmare, and strips bare the mechanisms and the techniques that are employed by advertisers, con artists, and what the author calls "compliance professionals".

The author, Robert Cialdini, lists the following principles that people - marketers, fundraisers, con artists - use to persuade other people to buy into whatever they are selling:
1. Contrast
2. Reciprocation
3. Commitment and Consistency
4. Social Proof
5. Liking
6. Authority
7. Scarcity

Each principle, when explained as lucidly as does the author, seems obvious, but only in hindsight. The author explains the reasons why these principles work the way they do, and how people exploit our tendency to react without too much forethought to these stimuli.

In his words:

... The blitz of modern life demands that we have faithful shortcuts, sound rules of thumb to handle it all. These are not luxuries any longer, they are out-and-out necessities that figure to become increasingly vital as the pulse of daily life quickens.
Therefore, it is all the more important that we learn to recognize when someone tries to exploit these "shortcuts", and how to respond.

If you try and judge this book by it cover, it may come across as another "pop-psychology" book that attempts to teach you in a matter of a few minutes how to better your life, make you more assertive, and make you everthing you always aspired to be but could not become.

So, don't judge this book by its cover.

There are more than 25 pages of notes and bibliography for those wanting to delve deeper.
Also, the author has a site http://www.influenceatwork.com/, that tells us that "In the field of influence and persuasion, Dr. Cialdini is the most cited social psychologist in the world today."

I think I first saw this book listed on Joel Spolsky's blog (link to post). I reproduced that list on my blog (link). Then, during one of my frequent visits to Amazon.com, I read more about this book, where the Amazon editorial review described it as "Arguably the best book ever on what is increasingly becoming the science of persuasion.". I finally decided to bite the bullet and ordered it last month, despite having a backlog of a dozen or more books that I have bought and have not read. Oh well - this - book buying - is a weakness that I am perfectly happy to live with.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Jayadeva Flyover

Jayadeva Flyover in Bangalore - the night before it opened to the public.
If you see the flyover now, and the traffic that flows through the underpass, I sure am glad I got this photo for posterity.

This is from near the underpass. If you can spot the plants, it is worth noting that they were gone the next day.

Closer to the underpass, you can see that the combination of yellow lights to the underpass, and white lights in the underpass made for an interesting photograph.

This building on the left is Mantri Commerce. The road near this intersection -of Mantri Commerce and Casa Ansal - is more than six lanes wide...

During the day, I also managed to walk up the connector (is that the right word, or is it something else?) and take this photo - this leading towards Jayanagar / JP Nagar.

These are the Laxmi/Ganesh idols, to be used for the inauguration of the flyover.

While the city goes to the dogs, thanks to inept, apathetic babus and netas (I had to take a shot :), how could I not snap this dog having a siesta, even as he kept one eye on me (and I both eyes on him).

Any guesses what this granite slab would have had inscribed on it?

This frantic cement pouring work took place the day before the opening of the flyover. And I think this is the last set of photos I have to post on the Jayadeva Flyover - I may do a reprise sometime later...

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Golden Gate Signage

Lots and lots of signs to be seen in and around the Golden Gate. Including this one, on the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which also includes a long scenic drive along the shore in Marin county.

The day was really nice - warm and sunny, and all along downtown and the piers you could see throngs of joggers.

Among al these, note the blue sign at the lower right bottom, that reads, "There is hope... make the call"

More signage along the Golden Gate bridge.

I really like these bus signs.

Friday, October 20, 2006

RK Laxman on Reincarnation

This cartoon had also originally appeared as a "Science Smiles" cartoon by RK Laxman.

© 2006, Abhinav Agarwal (अभिनव अग्रवाल). All rights reserved. Reposted to this blog, Nov 2012

Stanford University Burghers of Calais

While in the US last month, I managed to eke out a couple of hours to visit the Stanford University campus. One of the more striking things I noticed (the vast oval and the Hoover Institution's tower being among them) was something labelled as "The Burghers of Calais".

If you search for this term on Wikipedia, this link -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burghers_of_Calais - provides a good deal of detail on what is one of the most famous sculptures by Rodin.

As you would expect, it makes for a very popular photo destination.

The inscription here provides some background information on the history behind the sculpture as well as the historical incident that inspired the sculpture.

"In 1884 the French city of Calais commissioned Auguste Rodin to create a memorial honoring heroes of the Hundred Years War. He depicted the six burghers, or citizens, who in 1347 volunteered to leave the defeated city barefoot, tied by rope at the neck, and offer their own lives and the keys to Calais to King Edward III of England. The burghers's fortitude, determination, and devotion to their community preserved Calais from being pillaged at the end of a devastating siege. The burghers are shown at the moment of departure from the city."

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

The Brethren, The Partner by John Grisham

The Brethren by John Grisham (Flipkart)

3 stars

Finished reading Grisham's The Brethren last weekend, and The Partner this Sunday night.
The Partner is very much a darker and more somber read than The Brethren. The Brethren actually makes you feel that Grisham wrote this over a lazy weekend. There is no real climax to the novel - it kind of peters to a tame and predicable ending, without any big surprises or twists at the end. The three judges (brethren) walk away free, with a couple of million dollars in the bag, the poor kid facing a lifetime in prison for no crime walks out free, even Aaron Lake seems to have escaped with his skeletons in his cupboard.

Kindle Excerpt for The Brethren

The Partner by John Grisham (Kindle e-book, Flipkart)

4 stars

As for The Partner, the book travels in kind of reverse gear, with Patrick's capture and torture being the gruesome preface. The novel eases off considerably after that, with small come uppances satisfying the feeling for revenge in the mind of the reader throughout - like the filing of suit against the FBI, the photos of Patrick's wife with her gigolo, and more. The ending though is not a 'happy' one as one has come to accept in Grisham's novels (The Rainmaker, Runaway Jury). Think more like The Summons.....

Kindle Excerpt for The Partner

Monday, September 11, 2006

RK Laxman on Psychiatrists

This RK Laxman cartoon appeared in a Science Smiles compilation, and was re-published in the Sep 10 2006 Sunday Times edition.

Reposted to this blog, Dec 2012

Saturday, September 9, 2006

Muir Woods

Golden Gate and Muir Woods, 2001 - from my photo archive, so to say.
This and the rest of the photos were taken on a trip to Muir woods.

The Golden Gate bridge, seen through a mist.

Millions of photos of the Golden Gate, and here is another one.

Muir Woods

Looking up a tree, as opposed to a looking glass.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

State of Fear by Michael Crichton

State of Fear by Michael Crichton (Kindle e-book, Flipkart)

The book is like other Cricton novels in that it is eminently readable, fast paced, and the focus more on the plot and action than the characters. Some of the characters are not that well etched out, and stand out as near superhuman—like Sarah, Jennifer, or the NSIA agent plus MIT professor plus 007 on duty dude who is also upto date on every known and knowable fact on global warming (or climate change as you choose).

The book also makes the claim, backed by copious footnotes, facts, and references provided at the end of the book, that the whole theory and crescendo of near-paranoia surrounding global warming and the impact that it is having on climate change, does not seem to be borne of facts or scientific observations made over several decades. It does make a person pause for thought. Especially when towards the end of the book, a character conveniently placed for the sake of providing some context to the name of the book - State of Fear - describes that the modern Industrial Military complex needs to create a state of fear with which to control society.

The book seems to be tailor written for conversion into a $150 million summer blockbuster screenplay - wonder whether one is not already in the works...

The New Orleans flooding last year, tsunami in India and sout east Asia in 2004, and other events in the last few years - do suggest that the climate is changing. How much of it is human influenced is something to study more, I guess.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Barista Koramangala

Barista in Koramangala - combine a fairly quiet environment for coffee, a newly acquired digital camera and the realization that the marginal cost of taking photos is close to zero, and you have lots of shots of coffee cups, with coffee.

A zoom lens would have made me happier - I tend to obsess over that a lot in my blog postings I think.. Hmm...

I find it fascinating how they make these nice looking patterns with the cream. The moment you add sugar and stir it is gone. If you stir your coffee it's gone. Why have this pattern then?

Brown sugar is better than refined sugar. No sugar is even better. Though seeing the teanspoonfuls of sugar that people put in their coffee makes you wonder if maybe sugar was not going out of fashion, or maybe drinking coffee was really a very roundabout way of ingesting sugar.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

No Nuisance Here

"Please do not commit nuisance here" - prudishness meets well.... you can see for yourself.

Nuisance kind of keeps it vague and can include acts not quite intended by the sign.... btw - this is near the Ranka Colony on Bannerghatta Road.

Sunday, August 6, 2006

Amazon Pricing

As many, many surveys have revealed - people do not mind paying a little more at a store as long as they feel that everyone else is paying that much more at the store. If a store, surreptitiously, charges some less and some more, that pisses off people no end.

A couple of months back (I am trying to clear off some posts that have been sitting in my drafts folder for a long time) I was quite stunned to see Amazon.com display two different prices for the same item, within 5 seconds of each other, the higher price on a browser where I was logged in with my "Amazon Prime" account, and the lower price on a browser where I was not logged in.

Refreshing the page to clear any cache related issues did not help.
You have to start thinking just where else has Amazon shafted me...

See for yourself:

On Firefox, and on Internet Explorer - same machine, within 5 seconds of each other.
Repeated on another machine, not logged in. Lower price displayed for the same URL.

Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat

Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT by Chetan Bhagat
(Buy Five Point Someone: What Not To Do At IIT from Flipkart.com, Kindle e-book)

3 stars

Finished reading "Five Point Someone" in June. This book is acquiring somewhat of a neo-cult following among some sections of the urban educated class in India, partly because this happens to be possibly the first work of fiction set in the campus setting of an IIT.

The book is fairly readable, owing partly to the fact that it is less than 300 pages long. Also the fact that it has a sprinkling of most ingredients one expects to find in a pulp-fiction thriller. For someone looking for an insight into the secret sauce of IITs and the amazing success that it students have chalked up over the decades, this is not the book. It will disappoint. The book however does, should, strike a chord with most students or near pre or post college years in India. The ending is a bit hokey, with the Hari's dream downright melodramatic, as if the author realized he really did not have a proper ending to the book, and therefore had to resort to this stunt. Otherwise, you shall find a bit of everything in the novel - friendship, rivalry, intrigue, suspense, love, sex, proper Hindi movie style family melodrama, and most other ingredients that one would find in a Hindi potboiler.

If you read some of the reviews on Amazon.com you may feel the book is a lot worse than it is - and that is probably because people are either taking the book or themselves too seriously. And yes, the book does also take a dig at some of the bookworms, the "muggus" - which also may not sit too well with some "muggu" brethren. To be fair, these "ghota-totas" are also some of the same people who make it big in life, so to portray them as people-without-a-life is a tad unfair, bit that is a liberty the author takes - grant him that creative license.

In the end, take the bookwithout any tags attached to it - read it in 3 hours or less and be done with it.

Here is the synopsis of the book and author fromthe book site:

Set in IIT, in the early '90s, Five Point Someone portrays the lives of the protagonist Hari and his two friends Ryan and Alok. It explores the darker side of IIT, one in which students- having worked for years to make it into the institute-struggle to maintain their grades, keep their friends and have some kind of life outside studies.
Funny, dark and non-stop, Five Point Someone is the story of three friends whose measly five-point something GPAs come in the way of everything-their friendship, their love life, their future. Will they make it?
Chetan Bhagat graduated from IIT, Delhi in 1995. He then did an MBA at IIM, Ahmedabad, from where he graduated in 1997. Bhagat currently lives in Hong Kong and works at a prominent US investment bank. Apart from writing, Bhagat also has a keen interest in yoga.