Niladri Kumar - Priority

This is fantastic!

Just came across this on FROGBLOG on my Google reader.

"In an historic partnership between frog design, Pop!tech, iTeach, Praekelt, Aricent, Nokia Siemens and a number of other collaborators, Project Masiluleke (which means "lend a helping hand" in Zulu) is using mobile technology to tackle the worst HIV epidemic in the world in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, where infection rates are over 40%."

Take a look at the video on FROGBLOG here.

Hey! My company is part of the program too. ;)
Kudos!

Useless Humor ;-)

Came across this "USELESS" comic on xkcd. Enjoy it!
:-)

Mathologue - 1

I'll start with a story. There is a legend related to Hanuman in Mahabharata. It is said that due to his mischiefs in his childhood, Hanuman was cursed by a saint that he would forget all his supernatural powers. As Hanuman was an incarnation of Lord Shiva and his existence on earth was for some purpose, this curse would have nullified the purpose. So, Shiva foretold that Hanuman's supernatural powers would reinstate at proper times when somebody reminds him of his powers.
In Ramayan, most of the times, Jamvanth reminded Hanuman of his powers and his capabilities.

The aforesaid analogy came to my mind when I was reading GEB. The author talks about Achilles and the Tortoise who are contemplating on the relations of Math and artistic elements of life. On the same lines, I want to write about the dialogues of Hanuman and Jamvanth. Jamvanth is an aged fellow who has done enough reseach in applied Mathematics. Hanuman is a young graduate from Surya University (as Hanuman studied under the SUN god). Hanuman comes out as an outstanding student who has done pathbreaking innovations in mathematical research. He talks about his research and his future plans in the conversation.

Hanuman meets Jamvanth for the first time. So it began...
[Please note that I want to make this a comic dialogue.]

Hanuman: Jai Shree Ram!
Jamvanth: Jai Shree Ram!
Hanuman: Hi, how are you?
Jamvanth: I am doing great, what about you?
Hanuman: I am fine too.

So the conversation started after a brief round of introduction.

Jamvanth: Hanuman, do you ever notice mathematics in nature?
Hanuman: Yes, I have noticed it.
Jamvanth: Give me an example.
Hanuman: Did you ever see the shell of a nautilus?
Jamvanth: Yup.
Hanuman: You know, the shell grows by a factor of golden ratio in one turn in the nautilus.
Jamvanth: That's incredible. But for your kind information, I studied that one during my childhood. ;o)
Hanuman: Hmm.. do you know, many plants show fibonacci series in the arrangement of leaves around the stem. Flowers like daisies and sunflowers also show the same. Isn't it fabulous?
Jamvanth: Yes it is. Yet again, you said something which I knew.
Hanuman: Argghh!! You asked me to give examples. Obviously, I would tell you the ones you already know. I am yet to do my research and create somethings based on Mathematics.
Jamvanth: Ok.. Ok.. But I expected somethings more out of you. Anyways, I know you'll learn with time.
Hanuman: Thanks. I should take a leave now. I'll explain my thesis some other time. Is it fine with you?
Jamvanth: Before you leave, a thought for you.
"Remember, the circle is the best example of symmetry."

Contd..

[Please note that I have taken the liberty of using the word Mathologue which is created by combining Math and dialogue. I don't know whether this word exists in the dictionary.]

A subtle comedy

I was chatting to a friend recently who reminded me of a comic incident that took place long time back during my childhood.
I was a very good student and came 1st in some class (I don't remember).
The teacher congratulated me, gave me the report card and said, "Well Done! Keep it up!"
I didn't understand back then what she meant. I started searching for a place to keep the report card.
The teacher asked, "What are you doing?"
I said, "I am searching for a place to keep the report card."
The whole class started laughing at my statement.
:D

My first dubbing

Lots of my friends have been persuading me since long time to make dubbings. This is my first attempt. I know this one is hilarious and it is done just for FUN!
:)



Script Translations and Dubbing done by me
;)

Something unique!

I'm going to post something very unique in my next post. I'm going to try it for the first time.
Wait for some time.
:-)

[Hint: It is related to animation.]

Thanks nithya!

Thanks Nithya for such a nice award. I dunno whether I deserve it or not but it is worth the take. I think that I am not matured enough to give awards but this time, as a blog friend, I would like to forward this award to some of the blogs which I follow.
(I won't give any introduction about the person. I want you to visit their blogs and know them) :-)

Mathematical Poetry by Kaz Masalanka
Laketrees - Kim Barker
Digital Neurons
Awmyth
KK
Which main? What cross? - Gopal

Google - Ambigram

It is beautiful. Isn't it?

Another Award in my bag

Kim gave me another award. Thanks Kim!
I think I still have a long way to go to prove myself uniquely creative. Isn't it?

Experience of a lifetime - Finale

Picture of one of the works by Yvonne Kracht

I forgot to mention one of the best moments for me. I met Carlo Sequin who is the main juror of the conference. I gave him my introduction. To my surprise, he knew me. Oh! My god. I'll never ever forget that moment. A person of his stature knew me. He is a gem of a person and anything is less to write about him.

Anyways, the next day, the conference started. Carlo gave the introductory speech which triggered a thumping start to one of the best events of my life. The next five days involved phenomenal talks by Rinus Roelfs, Chaim Goodman Strauss, George Hart, Dick Termes, Paul Prudence, Javier Barrallo, John Sullivan, Benjamin Storch, Akio Hizume, Erik and many others. Of course, it is needless to say that all the talks were extraordinary. Also, I happened to see original works by M.C. Escher. The Escher foundation had organised the exhibit in the university.

On one of the days, we went for an excursion to 7 churches. Exhibits of 7 mathematical artists were organized in these churches. I was dumbfounded as I realized that people had done so much work in this field and I never knew about it. Those works were not only logic driven but also remarkably beautiful.

The time for departure had come. I learnt so many things in those few days which cannot be explained just by writing. You have to be at the place to feel it and learn from it.

I'll write about Amsterdam and the museums some other time.

Experience of a lifetime - Contd.

After meeting Benj, I met other mathematical artists (mostly mathematicians) who had come. Elaine, who is a retired professor, makes mathematical quilts. Honestly speaking, they are wonderful. You must have a look at her site. She told that she took 382 hours to make one of the quilts. It had Leonardo's claws in it.
Umphh.. there is so much to write. I would suggest you guys should go to the sites of the respective mathematical artists and check out their works. Some time I'll try to put up all the links of the artists.

Benj, Edmund and his girl friend and David Bailey had come from UK on a car. It was evening and I had met most of the people by now. I was feeling hungry. Benj and others were going out. I accompanied them. We went to Dutch restaurant SPINOZA (It seems that Spinoza was some famous person of the Renaissance period). I, being vegetarian had to bear a lot in the foreign country. :-(
So, I had the Italian Lasagna. We tried the Rosa Beer.

We headed for the boat hotel. On the boat, we met Robert McDermott and Nate. And also not to forget, Erik Kurvenbau. Robert is quite old but a lovable personality. He is the head of the Visualization Department at the University of Utah. Robert shared a lot of his experiences with us through out our stay on the boat hotel for 5 days. Nate is an undergraduate student at the UCB.
Erik - I would like to mention the style of his introduction. "My name is Erik with a K not C." Erik is a Scottish who is the owner of a company which owns the Tess3D software. He has a fantastic sense of humor and his Scottish accent of English speaking is clumsy but nice.

Soon, Eva Knoll and Simon Morgan arrived. Both are mathematicians and teach at universities in US.

We sat on the dining and started chatting after an informal introduction.

Contd..
I'll try to finish in next post. :D

BTW, I met Matt in Amsterdam who just forwarded me a link. I strongly recommend to see the link. It is just marvelous.

Experience of a lifetime - Arrival

I would like to share my experience at Bridges 2008. Oh! I must say it was an experience of a lifetime. So here it goes...

I reached at Stenden University on the morning of 23rd July. I was just wondering how would it feel to be with people from so many countries. How would they behave? Would they appreciate what I have done? Lots of questions hovering my mind.
Nevertheless, I was there. The first persons I met were Eliane and Robert Fathauer. They saw my work and appreciated the use of pencil. I was the only person with a mathematical art done in pencil out there. Robert said, "There are lots of computer works." Good to know that I brought something different with me. I never felt that I was in a different country with different people (I mean non Indians). Then I met Nathan Selikoff and his wife Amy. Nathan has done enough work as an artist which you can make out from his site.

Now more and more people were coming. Hans Dehlinger is a German Artist who seemed to be a fantastic person. It was really nice talking to him.

Then we started to put up all our works on the panels. We started to arrange the panels so that they were in the proper order. So, people kept coming and the round of introductions never ended. :)

Soon, most of the artworks were on their right places.

I was awaiting a guy named Benjamin Storch with whom I had  done lots of correspondence recently. We were to stay in the same boat hotel which we booked ourself. Then, I met Benj(as I use to call him). A very light hearted and phenomenal person. His work "Manifold" was an exquisite piece of art which was built on Lorentz equation. Most of the people loved it.

What more?
There are so many things to write. Through the whole next week, I'll try to write all I can and share my experiences with you all.

My experience at Bridges 2008

AWESOME!!

I'll write about my experience sometime later.
For now, you guys can take a look at the pics from the conference.
They are here. Also pics of Amsterdam and Leeuwarden.
:-)

Sand Castle

After long time, I thought of posting a poem from my archives.

Sand Castle

In this jaded night,
when the sky has been smeared with pale clouds.
And I stand under,
infront of the white tides,
Which are struggling to reach my feet.
Dying at the shores; they are so weak.
The silent sea says 'watery' words,
Much like the tearful eyes of a hungry child.
The phlegmatic wind also has something to say,
But it's on its course.
Still! I sit on the sands,
Building my castle.
A gush comes and retreats after demolition;
O nature! The world is so fickle.

Anand Bora