Top Ten - You know it's summer in Champaign when...

- The windows and doors need to be kept closed from preventing the outside (fresh and hot) air from getting in.

- The power in the living room keeps tripping because there is a fan, AC, laptop and microwave connected.

- Evening tennis begins only after the sun sets. Suddenly indoor badminton is better. But nothing beats the feeling of an optimized breast stroke in the cool swimming pool.

- You would rather just sit in the AC bus and roam around campus rather than wait at the bus stop for a connecting bus.

- You get up early and run to the office or library to study because there's central AC there and you will end up saving on your monthly electricity bill.

- You feel like having the AC for lunch and the fan for dinner.

- You start visiting people who keep their houses cooled the whole day.

- You postpone meetings because you don't want to walk one block in the scorching heat.

- You say it out loud, "India is better (temperature-wise)"

- You wonder why God gave you hair all over.

The 'Chitragupt' joke

A Gujju, a Bhaiyya and a Bihari & Malayali died and were facing Yama.

Yama asked them if they wanted some facilities & told Chitragupt decided on their accommodation.

The Gujju said : "Hey Yambhai, aa marathi loko toh mane shaanti thi jeeva nathi deta. Maari dukaan fodi naakhi. Aa marathi loko ekdum junglee chhe. Mane maari baaju maa marathi maanas nathi joto."

The UP wala said : "Theek kaha gujjubhai ne. Shriman Yam, in marathi logo ne to hamara jeena hi mushkil kar diya hai....eemaan se! Arre, meri dukaan ka board bhi kala kar diya. Kahat rahi ki dukaan ka naam marathi bhasha mein hona chaahiye. Ab ee bhi koi baat hui kya? Mujhe bhi mere baaju mein marathi aadmi nahi chaahiye."

The Bihari said : "Yeh dono sajjan aadmi theek kahat hain. Arre main thode din pehle railway ki pariksa dene mumbai gaya tha. Raam Lalla ki sougandh, in marathi logun ne humka bahut hi peeta. Hamaar haddi pasli ek kardi. Aisa junglee marathi humka hamaar saath naahi chaahiye."

The Malayali said "aiiyoo humoko bhi marathi baaju main nahi mangta, bahto pareshaan karta hai yeh log. kuch kaam kerne ko nahi aata phir bhi hosiyari maarke kaheta hai ki tumko hamare mumbai se nikal dega.

Yama turns to Chitragupt and says : "Aayla Chitrya, ya saglyanchya files majhyakade gheun ye re!!! Baghto ekekala"

You know what the problem with hollywood is...

"You know what the problem with Hollywood is. They make shit. Unbelievable, unremarkable shit. Now I'm not some grungy wannabe filmmaker, that's searching for existentialism through a haze of bong smoke or something (slight chuckle) No, it's easy to pick apart bad acting, short-sighted directing, and a purely moronic stringing together of words than many of studios term as prose. No, I'm talking about the lack of realism. Realism. Not a pervasive element in today's modern American cinematic vision.

Take 'Dog Day Afternoon' for example. Arguably Pacino's best work, short of 'Scarface' and 'Godfather' part one of course. Masterpiece of directing, easily Lumet's best. (cuts cigar) The cinematography, the acting, the screenplay, all top notch. But. (lights cigar, puffs twice) they didn't push the envelope. Now what if in 'Dog Day,' Sonny really wanted to get away with it? What if - now here's the tricky part - what if he started killing hostages right away? No mercy, no quarter. "Meet our demands or the pretty blond in the bellbottoms gets it in the back of the head." Bam, splat! "What, still no bus?" Come on. How many innocent victims splattered across the window would it take to have the city to reverse it's policy on hostage situations? And this is 1976, there's no CNN, there's no CNBC, there's no Internet!

Now, fast-forward to today. Present time, same situation. How quickly would the modern media make a frenzy over this? In a matter of hours, it would be the, the biggest story from Boston to Budapest. Ten hostages die. Twenty, thirty. Relentless, bam bim, one after another. All caught in hi-def, computer-enhanced, color-corrected. You can practically taste the brain-matter. All for what, a bus? A plane? A couple of million dollars that's federally insured? (takes deep breath) I don't think so. Just a thought. I mean, it's not within the realm of conventional cinema...but what if?"

- Gabriel Shear

written by Skip Woods

To Vegas or not to

I don't know why but for some reason everybody wants to go to Vegas. EVERYBODY!! Either it is their wish to lose a lot of money, or they have the misconception that Vegas has many tourist attractions. What is it about Vegas that attracts them so much?

So many other cities have casinos, what makes them unattractive? If you ask a good poker player, he would prefer going to Vegas only when he is sure that there will be many people who want to lose their money. Well, that is almost everyday. That's why the good poker players go there. The same reason for good blackjack players and other card game players. My curiosity begins when people can find casinos in their backyard, with the same game stakes, same setup, yet still want to go to Vegas to do the exact same thing. Weird!!

I have some rules about going to Vegas that I wouldn't like to break. These simple thoughts usually determine how much you get raked.
1) If I go to Vegas 'to play', I would prefer going alone. Simple. Isn't it? No worries about what the time is, who's waiting for you, whether they are getting bored. You have complete control over your decision-making on and off the table.
2) Play in games that you don't find elsewhere. For somebody who has never been to Vegas, you wouldn't know what is different in Vegas unless someone else tells you or if you analyze each casino website and game format closely. Whatever you find in most casinos across the world, you find in Vegas. But the casinos have more to offer. Did you know that there are almost 20 different 'satellites' to the World Series of Poker every day around April-May? That's what I call different, something you won't find in your backyard casino.
3) The strip ain't everything. If you are a tourist, i.e. not a person who has any skill or idea about any gambling that Vegas has to offer, then you really need to think if Vegas is the place where you want to visit by spending your hard-earned cash. If you think it is, then check out this link, which gives you most of the attractions that you can see.
4) Be as thrifty as possible in Vegas. Yes, I said it. I have seen people have a margarita, then some more, before sitting down at a table. My only suggestion to these people is to try and calculate how much they pay when they order those very same drinks 'after' sitting at a table. If you are going to play, then most casinos offer exclusive game suites with excellent benefits. But you gottta make sure that you play, and play well.
5) Who are you going to Vegas with? If its your new wife/husband, are you telling me you couldn't find a better, more romantic honeymoon destination? If its your entire family, what are the kids going to do while you're sitting at the tables or at the strip club with your uncle/father-in-law and the ladies are at a beauty parlor? If its with friends, will you really get a chance to coordinate with each one of them and party better than if you were in your home city considering each of your friends plays a different game?

Some might feel that I'm being too harsh when I say the above. Well, try this. If you are a good card player, go to Vegas for a week. ALONE!! Stay at the best game suite which might cost 35$ per day plus casino money. Work hard on your game and don't spend too much money off the table. Quit early on bad days, i.e. not days when you lose money but days when you are actually playing bad).

Vegas is a good place, lots of attractions. Gotta give kudos to marketing and the sheer lure-factor that they have managed to create. Going there won't be a complete waste of time, but you can bet good money that it will be a waste of money.

Bring it on

"I will not be beaten. You have yet to see me shining, shining... I won't take this lying down."

- Kristian Leontiou

A solid day at work..

Even though I am extremely tired after the day I have had, I'm making sure it stays in my memory through this post. I might forget details by tomorrow. Today has been one of the longest work days I have encountered at IATA.

Location, International Air Transportation Association, Montreal

Department - Infrastructure Strategy

8.30am - Arrived at work.

8.45am - Meeting with Assistant Director (AD) to discuss format of technical papers to be submitted at the ICAO General Assembly.

9.15am - Started working on the papers. No time for coffee.

10am - Meeting with Senior Manager (SM) about data analysis for the iFLEX project, particularly the Atlanta-Johannesburg and Dubai-Sao Paulo routes.

10.10am - Working on assembly papers and flight plans for iFLEX.

10.30am - Conference call with Head of Department - Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois and graduate coordinator to discuss my future semesters.

10.50am - Finally, coffee time. Director (D) notifies me of a 1.30-3 meeting, which means that the papers must be ready by then.

11.00am - Started filing, categorizing the papers based on Assembly timetable, Agenda and Working Paper number.

11.15am - I was told by SM that the State Gate review is on Thurs. Lots of prep left.

11.30am - Started running additional flight plans alongside.

12.00pm - Conference call with 7 more executives in 7 different countries for iFLEX implementation.

1.30pm - No time for lunch. Got done with the call and headed over to the meeting with the D and AD.

3.00pm - Concluded and finalized the papers. Started reading two last-minute technical paper additions.

3.30pm - Got a snickers bar from the vending machine as lunch and some coffee. Went downstairs to post a document to India.

4.00pm - Met with D and AD to discuss last two papers. Decided they were useless.

4.30pm - Statistical analysis and construction of tables, graphs, which is easier than it sounds.

5.30pm - Started reviewing the iFLEX Guidance Material (GM) with the data, analysis, tables, graphs, etc for the State-Gate review on Thurs. I had to use two different versions and combine them into one after adding my inputs, which is not as easy as it sounds considering it is a 50 page document.

7.30pm - I was officially the last one on the floor working.

8.40pm - I decided to leave before I got burned out.

I would have continued working had I decided to have a cup of coffee. But I didn't want to overwork myself. The next day was going to be an important one too. Lots of final drafts of the GM to write. Overall, it was a very fulfilling, productive work-day.

I can relax on Thursday evening at the ICAO Assembly drinks and dinner party. I'm pretty lucky to be attending it considering the Assembly takes place only once in three years.

Up and Running

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Presenting ...

After months of learning how to work this out....

And uploading files, folders and data...

A portal for all of my stuff...

A portal for me, of me, by me..

A central executive for my research, blogs, publications, info about me....

http://www.ashwinjadhav.com/

Sigh of relief!! Maintaining it will be tougher than creating it... LOL. But it's all worth it!

Immortal Combat

There is this syndrome amongst all of us now-a-days to post everything we find on Blogger or Facebook or Twitter. It's a nice way of sharing information, attracting attention and telling people you're active. I never used Blogger to share anything Ive found online that has amused me or for something I want to share.

This picture reminds me of the time I used to make the draws for the Grand Slams for men and women by hand, and then update it according to who won or lost. I'm sure if I look in the right places at home, I'll find the 1999 Wimbledon draw amongst others.

First of all, a troll would destroy an elf, unless the elf had some random magical power. Just beating the troll in terms of "number of eyes on face" isn't enough. Also, how on earth (maybe it was middle earth!) did the elf reach the semi-finals, I'll never understand.

Secondly, I don't understand why a fairy would even contest. I think the gnome got a "walkover".

Thirdly, I don't know where the mermaid and the centaur fought, on water or on land, or somewhere in between the stratosphere.

Finally, a zombie-ghost final would be tough. It would be hard to bet on any one of them. But how the already-blind zombie beats the already-invisible ghost is an interesting conclusion to an eventful tournament.

We shall call this one "Immortal Combat"

Road to salvation

I've been reading Ankit's blog quite a bit recently and there is one post (called 911 vs 100) that really echoes my thoughts. It's the basic, simplest and minutest of differences between a developing nation (India) and a developed nation (USA). Say India is developed, it is not!

Infrastructure is the spine of a country. I had been to India recently and I know where we stand in terms of infrastructure. We will get there though, in a few years. I really don't know about the whole country, but the cities are developing. Rules and regulations are having some meaning. I'm not going to pretend to know too much. All I'm going to do is try and take a closer look at a developing India, through its developing cities.

Water and electricity, 2 of India's biggest problems have been banished from the cities. The BMC has very stringent rules on water these days and new constructions are encouraging rain water harvestation and/or bore wells.

Transportation is taking a new turn this decade. By 2020, the 4-5 metropolitan cities will have an excellent core network including monorails, metro systems. Roads and rails will be well maintained allowing better flow of traffic. Check out the various projects underway in Mumbai at the MMRDA website http://www.mmrdamumbai.org/ Here you can get details on all projects including skywalks, flyovers etc.

Politics, unfortunately, has not even managed to peek its head out the window to see the rising sun. Corruption, corruption and more corruption. I understand it completely, but with limits. If you are not corrupt in India, you will be killed by somebody one day for not being corrupt. But I'm happy to see the average age of the politician reducing. One thing I'm not happy about is the Shiv Sena thinking they have the biggest Maharashtrian brain possible.

We need a better educational system, something without the quota system. A place where students won't be ragged and a place where they won't hang themselves. It is improving, but at a snail's pace. We need more schools, colleges and universities. There are hardly any aviation schools and places to study astronomy, aerospace engineering. Not only that, I've heard that there are only 3 accredited institutes in the whole of India where one can learn marine biology.

Finally, more security. Something like 911. I don't think even 50% of the population knows about the 100 system. On most occasions, they feel that it is best not to dial that number. Myth or joke - India is a country where the pizza arrives faster than the police. I want to see the police deliver the pizza someday.

Brick in the wall

I recently visited Orlando, FL for the Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) and I took my first step into the conference-world. I probably wouldn't have gone if I hadn't been presenting a paper. But the experience was amazing. Never had I thought that just sitting all day attending presentations, with lunch and coffee breaks in the middle, then talking to the presenters and researchers at the end of the day would be so much fun. I really felt like I wanted to be a bigger part of this world and venture deeper into the rabbit hole. It also made me want to go to such an event even if I wasn't publishing. I also realized how I'm just another brick in the wall, how tiny I was when all the industry professionals got together under one roof.

I did successfully present my paper and defend a few questions thrown towards me, met many different people from all over: Boeing, NASA, FAA, MITRE (CAASD), Eurocontrol, Lockheed Martin etc. Most of the people who attended my presentation really liked it, mainly because it was so relevant to their papers and/or everyday travel. My paper was titled "Impact of Critical Hub Airport Configurations in the Next Generation Air Transportation System". When I started talking about Chicago's O'Hare airport, I asked a question that told me the audience was really interested. The question was, "Has any of you been delayed for a long period on the tarmac at O'Hare?" Everyone just smiled.

The whole AIAA/IEEE community is so dedicated to finding solutions to such problems related to Air Traffic Management, safety issues, etc. It is just amazing! After all said and done, my flight from ORD to CMI took 35 minutes to taxi. It was taxiing longer than the flight time. That is just ridiculous. The guy next to me was speechless when I told him what my presentation in Orlando was all about. I think he felt like choking me because he wanted to get to his girlfriend quicker and the Chicago ATC just wouldn't let him.

I decided to celebrate this momentous trip to Orlando by starting by new professional blog: http://turbulenttarmacs.wordpress.com/ It will be my wordpad for everything related to the industry. I hope to integrate everything into my own website someday, hopefully in the next month ;)