Meditation..

The geek way of meditation :)

(Source: The joy of tech)

Flu trend

Now that Purdue has increased the awareness on H1N1 Influenza, I just wanted to see how it is being treated in rest of the world. I used Google Trends assuming the volume of search is roughly proportional to what I am after (there may be better tools for this?). Looks like Asians are more obsessed with H1N1 Influenza (aka swine flu). Also checked the trend in USA..people in USA have also started to search on H1N1 again from last month; there's a similar tend in Indiana state (looking at the cities it appears to be mainly by people in universities P, IU, IUPUI) .

H1N1 - All regions in 2009 for the term H1N1
Swine flu - All regions in 2009 for the term "swine flu"

Thought of the day

"Our intentions and goals alter the information that the brain pays attention to." (ref)

Cybersecurity awareness sessions at Purdue

This could be of interest to those who would like to be aware of the data security policies and procedures at Purdue.

Thought of the day

From Kung Fu Panda animation which I have watched many times:

Master Oogway (MO): Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, But today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present".

...

MO: There are no accidents..you just need to believe.

...

And one of my favorite scenes is..

Master Shifu (MS): No one knows..But legend says you will be able to hear a butterfly's wings beat.
Po: Wow! Really? That's cool.
MS: Yes! And see light in the deepest cave..You will feel the universe in motion around you.
Po: Wow! Can I punch through walls? Can I do a quadruple back flip?
MS: Focus. Focus. Focus!

Thought of the day

We tend to LIKE people who mostly talk GOOD about others. We tend to DISLIKE people who mostly talk BAD about others. I don't know why we feel like this way but this is the way it is. Ever thought about which category of people you fit into?

Lack of natural resources is not a barrier

I recently visited UAE; spent most of the time in Dubai and Sharjah. I was simply amazed by the rate of economic growth in this country given that the country is basically a barren land. (Unlike other middle east countries, here only 7% of the economy is made up of oil) Even with the harsh weather conditions they have, they have been able to attract people all over the world to invest in their developments & trades and make up for what they don't have.

We in Sri Lanka sometimes complaint that we cannot grow since we don't have natural resources, mainly oil. Comparing to UAE, SL has a far better landscape but still we are way behind in development or as a tourist destination. IMO, we as a country don't have a vision what it will look like in, say, 10 years; the government is not committed to have such a vision.

Why is that brain drain is so common in SL? I have many educated friends who have migrated to different countries..it's true we get foreign currency but the damage caused by that is far greater; the government does not have a plan to retain educated people in the country.

It is time we as a country realize these weaknesses and have an action plan to overcome them.

(I am no expert to comment on the economy; this is what I feel about it).