Wild guess.

Guess You-know-who.

1) Tom Marvolo Riddle - One of the founders of Hogwarts himself namely, Salazar Slytherin.

or

2) Voldemort is a split personality of Harry himself (my bet) - Another connection, Prof Snape giving off his life in the end to save Harry, thats the whole point of even Dumbledore to die in the hands of Snape. All the death eaters, malfoys, Blacks, are nothing but doing good in controlling Harry's other side. Sounds crazy huh?

Wow!

This was the description of one of the courses that was offered next semester :)

COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

550.672 Graph Theory

Spring 2007

Writing in Nature in 1878, J.J. Sylvester (the first professor of mathematics at the newly established Johns Hopkins University) coined the word “graph” to describe mathematical structures consisting of objects called “vertices,” some pairs of which are joined by “edges.” The word “graph” comes from “graphical formula” for an organic molecule. The vertices of a graph are abstractions of the atoms and the edges are abstractions of the bonds between the atoms. Today, graph theory is a vibrant area of research attracting the interests of pure and applied mathematicians as well as computer scientists.

In this course we will emphasize graph theory, i.e., our focus will be on developing the mathematical foundations of the subject. Heavy emphasis will be given to proof writing. Our topics include trees, connectivity, Eulerian and Hamiltonian cycles, matching, vertex/edge coloring, Ramsey theory and planar graphs.

Prerequisites: 550.171, and 110.201 or 550.291

Text: D.B. West, Introduction to Graph Theory, 2nd Edition

Time: MTW 10
Section 1: F 10:30

550.472 and 550.672 meet concurrently

Instructor: Edward Scheinerman
Whitehead 205
410 516-7210
ers@jhu.edu

Power of expression.

I am writing this piece while in library. It was an odd day after long restless days of assignments and tests. When I entered the systems room in the B-level, I already started feeling dizzy which resulted from continuous lack of proper food and sleep.

I opened my laptop, hey! I am back to this junk world of Gmails, Orkuts, Myspace and what not. I could see how dormant I was for the past six months, earlier dreaming about new graduate life later dreaming about the past life, has led me to pass no more than very few google hits.

Then I got a subscription mail from this JoelOnSoftware thing which lead me the rest of the hours peacefully and not less productively. The JoelOnSoftware.com is one heck of an archive of articles related to software engineering, business, coding, careers, anything and everything I would like to spend time on. Thanks mainly to Paramanand Singh, for introducing me to this one great site couple of years back.

How does a software click? Is it the efficient implementation? Or does it involve breakthrough ideas? Does it have a business appeal? Or more importantly does it convey clearly on what it wants to convey?

The answer is weighted mix of all the above with considerable weight given to the last point, that is making it easily understandable. (Like the one found in this specification by Linus Trovalds). The difference between a tolerable programmer and a great programmer is that the ability of the later to communicate his ideas better. Another example is Firefox, by Blake Ross & co., though a complex implementation it is growing at rapid rate. Besides much of the innovation like tab browsing and efficient footprint, it is the clarity of the specification given by Blake (as in article of ddj.com) that made the software click.

Clear write ups enable the software to be widely followed by the masses, as a result, more and more people view your ideas and you emerge as a winner. Quite simple!

Happy Deepavali.

Things supposed to be done before this deepavali (set last year):

1) Did you get a girlfirend? (hmm... pssst... uuuuuu... no!)
2) I know you would fail in step 1, any bright or vague or dim or ray like prospects? (Darn!!)
3) How closer did you get, anything better than the feat that you achieved in 2004 when you asked a girl to get a ticket for movies cos the ladies' line was short? (I give up!)
4) Any other activities, like badminton, violin or juggling? [Nope, cudnt find time :( ]
5) So, you didn't get a girlfriend, you are not even into improvement and you have no other activities, so you must be doing Master's in CS. Are you fully into it. (Oh shit, I dropped a course today!)
6) Any plans to put up a checklist for 2007, better not!

Ladies and Gentlemen, let this Deepavali bring lots of joy, so lots that you will start celebrating when its not deepavali, and you celebrate much that you start enjoying deepavali again and the cycle continues... (Now I know why exactly the other side doesnt even bother to turn in your direction)

Vijay's guide to Paris

Vijay's guide to Paris:





Metro (M) Stops in Bracket.
French (F) Translations are also in brackets.
Common Tourist Attractions:
1) Eiffel Tower (F - Tour Eiffel, M - Bir Hakeim)
2) Louvre Museum (F - Musée de Louvre, M - Palais De Royal Louvre)
3) Arc De Triumphe ( M - Charles de gaulle Etoile)
4) Notre-Dame Cathedral (M - I dont Remember)
5) Sacre - Coeur Basilica / MontMartre
6) Chateau De Versailles ( For this you have to take a RER-C )
7) Champs Elysees (M - Charles des Gaulle Etoile, dont forget to have a stroll on this street from Arc De Triumphe to Concorde.)
8) Disney Land (RER - A)
9) Montparnasse (I dont remember)
10) Opera (M - Opera)
11) Place Vendome (M - Opera)

My Personally Marked Places :
1) Moulin Rouge (M - Blanche)
2) Roland Garros (M - Pont Du Accentueil)
3) Stade De France ( French Football Stadium, M - I dont Remember)
4) Pont du L'Alma (Tunnel where Princess Diana was killed, M - Alma Marceau)
5) Boat trip covering the whole of Paris. (M - Pont Neuf)
6) Palais De Elysees. ( M - Champs Elysees Clemenceau)
9) Madelin. (M - Concorde)
10) Statue of Liberty. ( M - Bir Hakeim)

Paris Night Life:
1) Moulin Rouge
2) Dont ever miss "La Loco" just pay and enter, its cheap and its just touching near to Moulin Rouge. (M - Blanche)
2) Place Pigalle (M - Pigalle)
3) Le Marais (M - I dont remember)

Shopping:
1) La Fayette near Opera
2) Barbes Rochercheu and shop called Tatti(For cheap Perfumes) (M - Barbes Rochercheu)
3) Champs Elysees - Its one of the costliest places in the world, do u have any guts to shop here?

English Book Shop:
W.H.Smith (outside concorde metro stop) here you get the France Guide Books.

Tamil Area:
La Chapelle , there you get ananda vikatan, kumudam etc. go to rajah fast food to have idli and dosai. Go to the theatre near by (i dont remember its name) to see a tamil movie (i saw pithamagan out there).

Here is the Plan for the Paris If you are planning for 2.5 days( minimum time you require to skim through the paris).

1st Day
------
First find out if Louvre musueum is opened on sunday and monday. If not saturday afternoon visit the Louvre musueum. The metro is Musee de Louvre. See the Monolisa, statue of venus, works of michelangelo and some priceless drawings in this musueum. Hey, on first sunday of every month entry is totally free, if you are going on the first weekend of the month then change your plan accordingly.

2nd Day
------
If Versaille palace is open, go and visit this. This is in the suburbs of Paris. Ask your hotel for help in going to this palace. In French Chateau de Versailles. Visit the Kings or Queens bedrooms, also visit the hall of mirror. Take a Petit Train and have a glimpse of the gardens surrounding it (Petit Trianon, Grand Trianon and Grand Canal). Its a paradise for the photographers. Try to leave as early as possible. Have Lunch.
(This should be over by 2PM)

Go to Arc e Triomphe. Go and see the Arc. Do not cross the road on this dangerous round about. There is a underground path to reach the arc. You could get good panoramic view of paris and of Avenue Champs Elysee from here. Then walk on the Champs Elysee. Be careful of pick pocktes here. This is supposed to be the most beautiful road in the planet for Parisians. Stop near Lido and take photos. Continue on Elysee road and do window shopping. Try to have a glimpse of the Elysee palace (Palais de Elysee), this is the French Presidential palace. This is midway off Elysee avenue. Continue and you will see Grande Palace and Petit Palace. Then walk upto Concorde. Take photos and see the statues of women which represent French cities. Cross the bridge and you see the French Parliment in front of Concorde, Also you get a view of Eiffel Tower. Walk upto Eiffel from Concorde called Tour Eiffel. Also on the way get a glimpse of Invalides. In Eiffel go upto 3rd floor. After coming down from the Tour cross the road and goto Trocadoro to get the best pictures of the Eiffel.

3rd Day.
------
Goto Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of Paris. Go inside and see the glass work. As monday is a religious day be careful do not make noise, remove the hat. Then walk on the quai of river Seine towards Eiffel Tower. Stop at St-Michel and take photos. Continue, you will see the oldest clock in Paris. Then take a boat trip from Pont Neuf bridge. This will take and show you all the monuments in Paris. After that if
you are still fit without eating a good rice and curry for 3 days, goto Sacre Coeur in Montmartre. This is white church on top of a small hill. And comment me how the experience was.

Copyright (c) Vijay Venkatasubramani.

Interesting read.




One day In 1939, George Bernard Dantzig, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, arrived late for a graduate-level statistics class and found two problems written on the board.

Not knowing they were examples of "unsolvable" statistics problems, he mistook them for part of a homework assignment, jotted them down, and solved them. (The equations Dantzig tackled are perhaps more accurately described not as unsolvable problems, but as unproved statistical theorems for which he worked out proofs.) Six weeks later, Dantzig's statistic professor notified him that he had prepared one of his two "homework" proofs for publication, and Dantzig was given co-author credit on another paper several years later when another mathematician independently worked out the same solution to the second problem.

George Dantzig recounted his feat in a 1986 interview for the College Mathematics Journal:

It happened because during my first year at Berkeley I arrived late one day at one of [Jerzy] Neyman's classes. On the blackboard there were two problems that I assumed had been assigned for homework. I copied them down. A few days later I apologized to Neyman for taking so long to do the homework — the problems seemed to be a little harder than usual. I asked him if he still wanted it. He told me to throw it on his desk. I did so reluctantly because his desk was covered with such a heap of papers that I feared my homework would be lost there forever. About six weeks later, one Sunday morning about eight o'clock, [my wife] Anne and I were awakened by someone banging on our front door. It was Neyman. He rushed in with papers in hand, all excited: "I've just written an introduction to one of your papers. Read it so I can send it out right away for publication." For a minute I had no idea what he was talking about. To make a long story short, the problems on the blackboard that I had solved thinking they were homework were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics. That was the first inkling I had that there was anything special about them.

A year later, when I began to worry about a thesis topic, Neyman just shrugged and told me to wrap the two problems in a binder and he would accept them as my thesis.

The second of the two problems, however, was not published until after World War II. It happened this way. Around 1950 I received a letter from Abraham Wald enclosing the final galley proofs of a paper of his about to go to press in the Annals of Mathematical Statistics. Someone had just pointed out to him that the main result in his paper was the same as the second "homework" problem solved in my thesis. I wrote back suggesting we publish jointly. He simply inserted my name as coauthor into the galley proof.

Dr. Dantzig also explained how his story passed into the realm of urban legendry:

The other day, as I was taking an early morning walk, I was hailed by Don Knuth as he rode by on his bicycle. He is a colleague at Stanford. He stopped and said, "Hey, George — I was visiting in Indiana recently and heard a sermon about you in church. Do you know that you are an influence on Christians of middle America?" I looked at him, amazed. "After the sermon," he went on, "the minister came over and asked me if I knew a George Dantzig at Stanford, because that was the name of the person his sermon was about."

The origin of that minister's sermon can be traced to another Lutheran minister, the Reverend Schuler [sic] of the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles. He told me his ideas about thinking positively, and I told him my story about the homework problems and my thesis. A few months later I received a letter from him asking permission to include my story in a book he was writing on the power of positive thinking. Schuler's published version was a bit garbled and exaggerated but essentially correct. The moral of his sermon was this: If I had known that the problem were not homework but were in fact two famous unsolved problems in statistics, I probably would not have thought positively, would have become discouraged, and would never have solved them.

Thought for the day.

karmany evadhikaras te
ma phalesu kadacana
ma karma-phala-hetur bhur
ma te sango 'stv akarmani

karmani--prescribed duties; eva--certainly; adhikarah--right; te--of you; ma--never; phalesu--in the fruits; kadacana--at any time; ma--never; karma-phala--in the result of the work; hetuh--cause; bhuh--become; ma--never; te--of you; sangah--attachment; astu--be there; akarmani--in not doing.

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.

Now check out this cool video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5446091014702365336

source: asitis.com

nair tea kadai.

nilaavula orey astronaut koottam!
namma nair parthaaru, apparam...















chai chai chai...

iPod Blues

After relishing it for the past six months, my iPod video has become an important part of me. I simply feel handicapped without it, especially when I have to necessarily travel by bus to reach Office in the morning and return in evening; I had fun with all the music videos, games, movies and music. Though it is, and remains to be, convenient at a larger part certain flaws are quite apparant and need an immediate attention from the Apple guys.

Firstly, Music Videos are horribly costly to be bought from iTunes Store. Each costing about $1.99 you will be shelling out nearly $20+ for an entire album (if at all the entire album is available!). So are the TV shows.

Secondly, there are too few to select. I wish that one day I get TV shows of Russell Peters, Friends season 8, Tom& Jerry shows from iTunes store. I thought of having the whole collection of Michael Jackson but ended up with only 7 to 8 music videos of him. And movies - not in the near future as Apple itself is busy negotiating with the English-movie production houses, and getting Tamil movies is something my son or daughter will yearn for.

Thirdly, there is no suitable software that can convert other video formats to iPod format. I tried iTunes to convert MPEG files but instead it stripped off the audio leaving only video. I tried some open software available on the net but most of them generate video streams that are either out of sync or of very poor quality.

Fourth flaw is my favorite as this one is an authentic bug in iPod. When the software hangs there is no way you can reboot the system, instead you need to wait till the battery getting over and recharge it again so that it works.

And the last one, before you go for the latest iPod video make sure you prepare yourself to be careful with the device as its storage is a plain hard disk and not flash, so if you drop it once then don’t bother to pick it at all.

Whatever it is, the convenience of the podcasts is a cool luxury. Not less of its elegant design and simplicity. I love my iPod, and I am sure you too will love it.

Thought for the day.

"India must be the only country in the world, where people fight to be called backward" - Narayan Murthy

இன்றைய ஹைக்கு.

அன்பே. உள்ளொன்று புறமொன்று இருந்தால்
வஞ்சன் என்பார்கள்.

நானும் அப்படித்தான்,
உள்ளே நீ, வெளியே நான்.

- ஆற்குட் களஞ்சியம்

Why must we put on our pants one leg at a time?

Got this from one of the forwards.

Q: Why must we put on our pants one leg at a time?

Ans: If we jumped into our pants simultaneously placing both legs in at
one time, we would land heavily on the ground. As a majority of us are
getting dressed at the same time of the morning, the cumulative effect
would Cause an earth tremor. Due to the use of time zones, the tremor
established In Eastern Time would arrive in the central zone at
precisely the moment all those people were jumping into their pants. The
tremor would increase in size exponentially, and proceed west to combine
with the mountain zone folks as they get dressed. As this cycle
encircles the globe, it would feed upon the next day's Tremor and
eventually cause the earth's crust to break apart and float into space.
This is why we put our pants on one leg at a time.

Relient K.

Lyrics of latest song by someone called Relient K. (You can read it; I am having the pleasure of feeling it)

I watched the proverbial sunrise
coming up over the Pacific and
you might think I'm losing my mind,
but I will shy away from the specifics...

'cause I don't want you to know where I am
'cause then you'll see my heart
in the saddest state it's ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus]
Stop right there. That's exactly where I lost it.
See that line. Well I never should have crossed it.
Stop right there. Well I never should have said
that it's the very moment that
I wish that I could take back.

[Chorus]I'm sorry for the person I became.
I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I'm ready to try and never become that way again
'cause who I am hates who I've been.
Who I am hates who I've been.

I talk to absolutely no one.
Couldn't keep to myself enough.
And the things bottled inside have finally begun
to create so much pressure that I’ll soon blow up.

I heard the reverberating footsteps
sinking up to the beating of my heart,
and I was positive that unless I got myself together,
I would watch me fall apart.

And I can’t let that happen again
‘cause then you’ll see my heart
in the saddest state it’s ever been.

This is no place to try and live my life.

[Pre-Chorus x2]
[Chorus]

Who I am hates who I've been
and who I am won’t take the second chance you gave me.
Who I am hates who I’ve been
‘cause who I’ve been only ever made me...

So sorry for the person I became.
So sorry that it took so long for me to change.
I’m ready to try and never become that way again
‘cause who I am hates who I’ve been.
Who I am hates who I’ve been.