Life in Balance: Amit D. Chaudhary’s Blog
• • • • •

A few tips for Palm Treo 650. My service is from Cingular and the hardware is B.

• Removing hangs and lockups with Palm Treo 650.

If the hang is when receiving a call or calendar access, etc, run dbScan. It is a free utility which checks the database on the Treo and fixes it.

It found problems with the database on my Treo 650 and the hangs during incoming phone calls were gone after the fix.

• Another reason for hang happens if you press the unlock or center key lightly.

Now the phone becomes unresponsive for around 3-5 minutes. You can hit the reset at the back or wait till the backlight is off after the 3-5 minutes and the phone locks\sleeps again. Now press unlock and center key firmly.

I have sent back the Treo 650 twice to Cingular and even the new units had the same problem, so I have decided to live with it.

• If the time on the Treo 650 is not correct 

If network time (Main Home->Prefs->Date & Time->Enable local network time) is enabled, the time on Treo will lag real time. Just disable it to have correct time. I am not sure if it is due to the Cingular network in washington or the Treo itself. 

What is Hot Yoga\Bikram Yoga

Hot Yoga or Bikram yoga is a set of 26 yoga asanas, two sets of each and 2 breathing exercises for 90 minutes in a room heated to 105 degree F. That is hot, expect to sweat. The asanas are held for 60 or 30 seconds. To see all the asanas in the series, please use Bikram Yoga Asanas link 1 or Bikram Yoga Asanas link 2.
There is no background music during the class, no props are used, hands on alignments are rarely provided. The instructor\teacher is continuously talking during the class, either giving the directions and tips or encouraging.

The name comes from the creator of the concept of yoga classes in heated studios and the sequence arrangement, Bikram Choudhary (No relation to me). See picture on left, some information from the official website.
The complete list of Hot Yoga studios around the world. None in India yet.

What’s the big deal about it?

• It is an intense aerobic and stretching exercise which means one loses weight (my rough guess ~900 calories spent in a single class)
• The heat and sweating makes it detoxing and leaves on feeling great later. The heat is great even colder places like Seattle, WA.
• The non-impact method avoids injury and the yoga makes it great health and flexibility wise.
• I also like that it is the same set of asanas in every class, the selection is an all around good mix and it helps to measure each session against the earlier ones.

What does one have to be aware of?

• The heat takes some getting used to.
• It is not calming like a typical yoga class. It is more of a intense workout and draining. Since the instructors are continuously talking as I mentioned earlier there is not much of quiet time, except for one two minute savasana.
• Each teacher uses almost the same instructions and words, you will hear a lot of “Go back, push back, wayyyy back”, “full body stretch” and “full body sensation”.
• Be careful, the teachers tend to push the students, you will hear “If you are feeling pain in your back, you are doing it right” or equivalent. I do not go that far to avoid potential for injuries

How to prepare for your first three Hot Yoga classes:

What to carry: A Yoga mat, Large towel for mat and a smaller one for sweat, and a large water bottle (32 oz\500 ml or more)

What to wear: See above picture, the mirrors make the room seem larger than it is (If wearing a T-shirt, do not wear cotton, go for polypropylene or similar material)

General tips:

• Expect a good workout and a lot of sweat.
• If feeling dizzy (which I did 3 times in the first session), pause and catch your breath in either tadasana(standing), sitting down or savasana(lying down), till you feel better.
• Remember to be cautious the first few times and do not over-extend, the instructions are also for advanced students.

Review of Bellevue Hot Yoga (Now called Bellevue Bikram Yoga):

The studio I go to is Bellevue Bikram Yoga. It is also the most popular Yoga studio in the Bellevue Redmond area by far. The evening classes tend to have 15-20 people atleast.

The key for any yoga studio is the teachers. Here is my opinion and experience about the Bellevue Bikram Yoga teachers (number of classes I have attended by each.)
Teachers:

• Katy(5+): Great teacher and very good attitude. Timings: Tue & Wed evenings.

• Hilarie (5+): Again Great teacher, explains reasonings, Owner of Bellevue Bikram Yoga. Timings: Fri evenings, Sat & Sun mornings.

• Elliot (10+): good teacher, consistent instructions and quite a nice guy. Timings: Thu & Fri evenings.

• Amber (10+): Excellent teacher, respects your space and the best teacher. Currently teaches mostly at West Seattle Bikram Yoga

• Tracy (2+) and Saiko(1): Overall pretty good teachers. Timings: Varies.

• Loressa (2): Unbearable and I have returned from the studio without taking a class, if she is teaching. She is overbearing, rude and physical(snatches towels, etc), though her instructions are not bad. My suggestion, avoid her as she will kill the Hot Yoga experience for you. If you want to read more, see my earlier post: Immaturities by Bikram Hot Yoga Teachers

Studio and facilities:

The studio address is 626 120th NE, Bellevue, Washington, 98005 and phone no is:425-637-9642

There are showers and the studio wall has glass on two sides to check alignment. Mats, Towels are available for rental and water bottles are available for purchase.

The Palm Treo 650 (PDA\SmartPhone) has Quad GSM support which means it is capable of being used in India and other countries.

The typical Cingular Treo 650 is subsidy locked. This means, you cannot just put a prepaid SIM card in it and use it in India or other non-US country. The details about the subsidy lock are in the informative document on the palm website, How to use your Treo smartphone internationally

The way to unlock your Treo 650 is simple

• Call up Cingular support (611 on your cellphone) and ask for technical support

• Tell the person on the line that you are going outside your country and would like to use your cellphone there. Is there any way of unlocking it.

• All things being same(account in good standing), the person would ask for your phone’s IMEI number (Goto phone mode, then press *#06#)

• She or he would, after a small wait give the key sequence which in unique to each IMEI to unlock the phone.

• Type the key sequence and a message is displayed saying “Your phone is now unlocked”.

It is now ready to be used with any SIM card including the prepaid ones in India.
Image courtesy the palm website.

Update: In India, I tried a third party GSM provider (AirTel prepaid SIM card) and it worked well with the unlocked Treo 650.

Following is a test to evaluate your Gunas (attributes) as per the Samkhya philosophy. This I believe is a core part of Yoga and Ayurveda and can appeal to you as a self-evaluation, even if you do not believe in any of the other stuff.

For an introduction to Gunas, the amazing wikipedia.

My simpified version, a high Sattva means you are working on your spiritual quest, a high Rajas you are the typical go-getter\achiever, high on Tamas means you are not living to your potential.
This particular test is derived from Yoga and Ayurveda by David Frawley (Dr Vamadev Sashtri. Fill in a cross for each section that matches your current position and then total each column at the bottom to see your current leanings.

Guna\MENTAL CONSTITUTION CHART

DIET: Vegetarian__________Some meat_____________Heavy meat diet__________

DRUGS, ALCOHOL AND STIMULANTS: Never___________Occasionally_________Frequently______________

SENSORY IMPRESSIONS: Calm, pure______Mixed_______Disturbed__________

NEED FOR SLEEP: Little__________Moderate__________High________________

SEXUAL ACTIVITY: Low_________Moderate__________High________________

CONTROL OF SENSES: Good______Moderate__________Weak_______________

SPEECH: Calm and peaceful________Agitated___________Dull________________

CLEANLINESS: High_____________Moderate___________Low_______________

WORK: Selfless_______________For personal goals_______Lazy_______________

ANGER: Rarely______________Sometimes___________Frequently_____________

FEAR: Rarely________________Sometimes___________Frequently_____________

DESIRE: Little_______________Frequent_____________Excessive______________

PRIDE: Modest_______________Some Ego____________Vain_________________

DEPRESSION: Never___________Sometimes_________Frequently_____________

LOVE: Universal_______________Personal___________Lacking in love_________

VIOLENT BEHAVIOR: Never______Sometimes_______Frequently_____________

ATTACHMENT TO MONEY: Little______Some_________A lot_______________

CONTENTMENT: Usually____________Partly___________Never______________

FORGIVENESS: Easily__________With effort________Holds grudges___________

CONCENTRATION: Good_______Moderate_____________Poor________________

MEMORY: Good_______________ Moderate____________Poor_________________

WILL POWER: Strong___________Variable_____________Weak________________

TRUTHFULNESS: Always______Most of the Time_______Rarely_______________

HONESTY: Always____________Most of the Time_______Rarely_______________

PEACE OF MIND: Generally______Partly______________Rarely_______________

CREATIVITY: High_____________Moderate____________Low________________

SPIRITUAL STUDY: Daily________Occasionally________Never______________

MANTRA, PRAYER: Daily________Occasionally________Never______________

MEDITATION: Daily_____________Occasionally________Never______________

SERVICE: Much_________________Some______________None________________

Total: Sattva_____________Rajas_____________________Tamas________________

I read Niniane’s post: wherein I learn about my twisted back

and her experience during the free Google Massage (Now that is a great perk, second only to allowing afternoon naps).

When he got to my right shoulder, it became much more painful. “This must be your mouse hand,” he said. “Years of stretching forward to use the mouse has caused this muscle to deform. Your rib is sticking out in the back, and your shoulder is contorted forward.”

Been there done that, over extending my body many times, particularly with extended sessions of computer programming. The methods I use to build my body again.

-Sleep (7:30-8:30 hours)

-Yoga (Particularly poses which one stays in for 10-30 seconds, called Iyengar Yoga in the US)

-Hot Soak in a bath tub. Doing this less than I would like.

It was amusing, ironic and yet sad when I read in the Yahoo Personal Finance article: US economy fears mount as housing starts dive:

“If the heavily indebted US consumer suddenly decides to appreciably increase savings next year, a recession would be more likely than a soft landing,” Manufacturers Alliance chief economist Daniel Meckstroth said.

It comes on tail of Tim of Seattle Bubble taking about considering the complete price of a house instead of the monthly payments in The Monthly Payment Buyer

Coming from India, where one has to have to pay for all the price of their home (Think $600-$800k in the US tech areas like Bay Area and Redmond) when buying there house, it is still a changing mindset for me.

Now the question is when do I start saving for Rs. 3 Crore? (Indian Rupee) or skip the plan for the sake of USA.

We all have morals and values (or standards, if you prefer) that tend to operate in certain band, fluctuating up and down a little, but overall staying in a certain range. Whether we are aware of it or not, we tend to apply or skip them when it comes to our work life (our employment or the startups we create.)

The reality:You can succeed with higher personal morals at work, whether it is working for your employer or your own startup. It happens in many fields including technology companies (Google: make money without doing evil) and Movies (Forest Gump made U$320M, My Big Fat Greek Wedding made U$240M neither of which are your typical violence prompting movies.)
If you stay with your morals, the satisfaction will be higher, you will sustain or increase your personal values. It might be tougher journey, the percentage of success might be lower. Finally your impact\contribution on\for others  will be much more and you would have lived an authentic life.

The choice is your to make, knowingly or it will just happen over time.

A few thoughts:

• Think about your need for success:

The more desperate you are, the more likely you are bound to comprise everything including the original idea, the values and so on.

• Decide your level of handling difficulties.

Yes, it is easier to sell the concept of a movie like “Die Hard” than “Good Will Hunting”, but it is possible. Be ready to handle more difficulties.

• Decide your personal resistance level

There are multiple ways to resist a direction. Since all of us have someone we are answerable to at work atleast upto a certain extent, decide your personal resistance level. It could be, you will refuse to follow a company with a conflict, you will follow(stay employed), but resist publicly and vigorously, you will resist in a subtle and diplomatic way with moderate intensity, you will not support it publicly but not oppose it either.

• Do not equate loyalty with blind support

Note, loyalty should not mean blind support. You can still care about a company, but criticize it from time to time. Scoble in his older role at Microsoft was an example of this.

• Your choice of employer or partners will have an impact on this.

If your partner in a startup or your employer do not share your values, lot of energy will be misdirected on convincing them instead of doing the right thing.

Your personal values:

If you want to evaluate or work on your personal values, I would recommend

• Levels of Consciousness by Steve Pavlina

• Gunas test: A self-evaluation method from ancient Indian texts & Ayurveda: This test is from the book Yoga and Ayurveda by David Frawley,

• Consider adding more of Yamas and Niyamas: The Yoga guidelines for conduct to your life.

Background:

It was surprising to me that what a person would never do himself, he or she is fine letting it happen (slowly) at their work. Hence this post.

I first realized this inherent conflicting behavior during the Mid-2006 US Govt request for user search data which MSN & Yahoo provided quietly, but Google did not. Speaking on this with a friend in MSN, his personal opinion was it is not a big deal because. 1. The data did not identify users. 2. Google was not doing it to protect it’s users and 3. It was for a good cause, avoiding child pornography. Nothing from official MSN channel had anything on the topic.

Personally, I believe the data was handed over to avoid expenses associated with lawyers, etc and to stay on the favored (often ironically called good books) of the US govt, age old “money and favor over values” decision.

The second time I ran into it was when was reading the post by Gred Linden, Ruthless enough for a startup? and his probable conclusion

It appears the ideal startup will give away something that used to cost money for free (preferably copyright material and porn), use other people’s content and resources, appeal to the baser human instincts (especially vanity and sex), and spam massive e-mail lists at launch.

Update:

Marc Andreessen puts Ethics in the top 3 Qualities to look for when hiring.

Also see, the Steve Pavlina article, Living your values: Part 1, Part 2.

bot-check is a Wordpress anti-spam comment plugin originally developer by Brian at Blue Eye web development.

I have made changes to get it working with the latest Wordpress, version 2.0.5 which is used to host this blog. It requires GDlib and MCRYPT.
Download: bot-check-1.2.tar.gz

Changes:

-Make bot-check work for Wordpress 2.0.5 by correcting the add_filter call in bot-check.php

-Fixed the occassional corrupt image being displayed

-Fixed the comment being wiped out incase of incorrect or empty number (Captcha) field.

See install.txt in the file above for installation and license details (GPL, v2.)

PS: From what I know, bot-check works only with Wordpress 2.0.x. I do not have any plans right now for Wordpress 2.x or later.

Thanks to 37signals, I came to know of the Graphical adaptation of The 9/11 Report.

The final 9/11 Commission report is fairly large 585 pages, though available for free on the internet, I never got around to reading it. I ordered The 9/11 report Graphical adaptation from Amazon and read it in an evening and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in the events behind and before 9/11, the day of the largest terrorist attack on the US soil.

Click on these images above for a preview thanks to Amazon.com.

Summary

It covers the four planes used in the 9/11 attack on a timeline. It shows events before the attack including interaction or lack of it between the US intelligence and defense agencies, the reports that US government received, attacks on US embassies and interests in other areas of the world, growth of Bin Laden and depiction of actual attack, it’s preparation and the subsequent local agencies and US government response.

Here are a few notes from it about things I did not knew or register before:

Pre-event:

-Richard A. Clarke, member of National Security Council and Counter-Terrorism expert is shown repeatedly notifying Condoleezza Rice, then National Security Advisor to the US President about the threat of attack on the US soil. He is also the author of the book, Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror.

-Bin laden has desire of killing each and every American.

-Pakistan paid only lip-service to US co-operation requests against Al-Qaeda until Sept 2001 due to vested interests.

-US Department of Defence agencies including NSA have more than 80% of the US Counter-Terrorism budget. The rest is divided among CIA, FBI, etc. There was a long history of not sharing information between these agencies including details of known terrorists.

-Within agencies, there was a failure to escalate warnings from the field. This include a FBI field report about Terrorist planning to use planes for attack.
-All the terrorist came on visitor visas. This might explain the current 6-8 month delay in vistor visa appointments in US embassies in India and other countries.
During-event:

-The FAA or the airlines were not capable of co-ordination to handle terrorist attacks.
-After the North tower was hit by the plane, rest of the North tower evacuation was not started for a while. The Morgan stanley security department finally initiated evacuation for it’s employees.
-The South tower was not evacuated for the ~30 minutes before the second plane hit it. The NYFD personnel actually sent back up people trying to leave the South tower.
-The radios of only the NYPD were working inside the towers and underground. NYFD had a communication and co-ordination glitches results in personnel in wrong places, non-functional instruments.

Post-event:

-George W. Bush, then and current US president made the following statement. “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”

-There were already attempts at the start of the response phase to associate 9/11 with Iraq.

-The later pages discuss the 9/11 commission recommendations and a report card on changes made so far.