Windows Evolutions

TechRepublic has a great article on the evolution of Windows splash screens over the years. Safe to say I've seen all of them over the years.

Racist Prank Call

Imagine being a poor fast food store owner/employee and getting harassed by these racist bastards.


Prank Call - Click here for more home videos

Pictures for Perverts

Amazing picture of the Northern Lights

The Nothern Light a.k.a Aurora borealis as captured by a photographer on an Alaska Airline flight.

Race Relations in the Office

This is an example of how not to deal with your colleagues, when it comes to addressing race.
It cites the example of John Baker, an English expatriate and Chief Engineer of the Caribbean Bauxite Company of Barracania in the West Indies and his dealings with his successor, Matthew Rennalls, a native Barracanian. Of particular interest is the interview between the two and the subsequent resignation letter written by Rennalls, which is an instant classic.

The Marauder is back!

After a long hiatus, the Mousepad Marauder is back!
I currently blog at UberDesi on issues broadly related to desis and will continue to do so. This blog will be of a more unrestricted format to quench my bloggistic cravings.

Jack who?

Jack is the only son of Awe Schitt and O. Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, married O. Schitt, the owners of Knee-Deep Schitt, Inc.

In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt and the deeply religious couple produced 6 children: Holie Schitt, the twins: Deep Schitt and Dip Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Giva Schitt and Bull Schitt, a high school drop-out.

After being married for 15 years Jack and Noe divorced. Noe later married Mr. Sherlock and because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was known as Noe Schitt-Sherlock.

Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt and they produced a cowardly son, Chicken Schitt. Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt were inseparable throughout childhood and, consequently, married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony.

The Schitt-Happens children are Dawg, Byrd and Horse. Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned with his new bride, Pisa Schitt.

American food, desi flavor

Ham on the Street

The name of the show itself turned me off initially since I'm not a big fan of red meat (ham, beef, etc). But the other day I was watching the Food Network and Ham on the Street had an interesting show on making some quick fix guilty pleasures (desserts). The host George Duran showed a quick recipe on how to make some chicken fingers, which is not normally considered desi food. Besides chicken fingers are fried which is a big turn off. But the twist here was that, these were healthy baked chicken fingers with curry powder in them.
The (approximate) recipe:
1. Take skinless boneless chicken breasts and slice them into finger sized pieces.
2. Take light mayonnaise and mix curry powder in it and stir till it turns light brown in color. (You can add other spices also depending on your palette)
3. Dip chicken finger in mayonnaise-curry powder mix till they are completely coated.
4. Dip the coated chicken fingers in a bowl full of bread crumbs till they are completely coated with crumbs.
5. Preheat oven to 350°.
6. Place chicken fingers on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 15 minutes or until the crumbs start turning deep golden brown.
(This is my own twist to the recipe)
7. Pull out of oven and devour them with a side of Maggi hot n sweet tomato chilli sauce, it's different boss.

Disclaimer: I tried this at home and it worked for me. It's an easy to make recipe even for people with minimal cooking skills, like me. But I'm not responsible for any mishaps encountered by other desis while trying this recipe, which may or may not include getting your dharma-brashta.

Most eagerly awaited sequel ever

Cricket in USA at last?

Sachin in USA at last?

Last month the ICC formally recognized the USA Cricket Association (USACA) ..... again and with that (hopefully) all the internal wrangling and mud slinging has come to an end. USACA is working with India on playing some matches in New York, Texas, Chicago, California and woohoo......... South Florida. With the Indian team doing so well in one dayers, I can't wait to get a glimpse of them in action.

The US has a large South Asian expatriate population that is mostly doing well financially. South Asians love cricket. So cricket in USA should be taking off bigtime right?
To quote my favorite ESPN analyst (and former FSU alum), Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend!".
From cricinfo.com(1),(2):

Nine days ago there was a meeting in Dallas which was vital to the future of cricket in the USA. Coming at the end of a year of bitter infighting which has left the game's reputation in the US in tatters overseas, some would argue it was the most important meeting in the USA Cricket Association's history. And yet, almost nobody turned up.......................................

This part blows me away. You would think in one of the most sports crazy country and also the most technologically advanced country, you would at least have a decent website. The website looks like something a 5 year old would throw together.

...............The USACA has undertaken what I assume to be a deliberate policy of silence for almost a year. No events or explanations have been made to stakeholders, all information has had to come from third parties, and the board has been, in my view, utterly incompetent in its responsibilities to keep its own members informed.

In this day and age, a website is the first source of disseminating information, as well as the quickest and cheapest. The USACA claims that it has been having trouble with the site. Earlier in the year it said the URL had been "hijacked". But the refusal to maintain what most small clubs would accept as a decent site has been atypical of the board's reluctance - almost refusal - to share information. Anyone who runs a website would attest to the ease of adding a few basic details. Indeed, the USACA managed to update other information in the meantime. But the EGM was not deemed important enough. And, nine days on, there is not even a brief resume of what happened - or rather, didn't happen.

The story of the USACA from last year reads like a textbook on Bureaucracy 101.

Those who were at the meeting - and there weren't even enough directors to enable a board meeting to be held - say that there were useful discussions. So useful that the USACA has not let anyone know what happened. But whatever was mulled over, nothing agreed was binding and, given the USACA's track record, there must be grave suspicions that talk will not result in actions.

Are desis alone to blame for this mess? Certainly not! USACA is made up of members originating from South Asia, the Gulf, The Queen's boys, Down Under, South Africa and the Carribean. But among the above mentioned, desis form the largest contingent and with our history for internal squabbling and apathy, we are certainly need to take out share of the blame. All said and done, I hope Cricket in the USA takes off in a big way with the 2007 World Cup in the Carribean.