Ringtones for your Iphone

1. Right click on the song
◦ Select “Get Info”
2. Hit the “Options” tab
3. Check both the “Start Time” and “End Time” boxes
4. Specify what time interval you’d like to use as your ringtone clip
5. Click “OK”
◦ Make sure the song you want is still highlighted
6. Click on “Advanced” in your menu bar
7. Select “Create AAC Version” or “Create Apple Lossless Version” (Make sure your iTunes “Import Settings” are set to “AAC” or “Apple Lossless” and not “MP3″)
8. A duplicate copy of your song will appear in iTunes - this new song will have the same filename but shorter “Time”
◦ Go back to the original song and uncheck those “Start Time” and “End Time” boxes
9. Drag the duplicate song to your Desktop
10. Once the duplicate song is copied to your Desktop, delete the duplicate file in iTunes
11. On your Desktop, rename the file with the “.m4r” file extension - Use the new extension
◦ This turns your song file into an iPhone ringtone file
12. Your “songname.m4a” file should now be named “songname.m4r”
13. Drag the newly renamed .m4r (songname.m4r) file back into iTunes
14. Drag the file over the “Library” column and release when “Library” becomes highlighted
◦ You have to delete the duplicate song file (Step 12) otherwise iTunes won’t import your new .m4r file
15. You should see your new ringtone under “Ringtones” in iTunes
16. Sync your iPhone to get jiggy with your new iPhone ringtones!

Idly Chutney

For Idly:

Ingredients:
par-boiled rice (raw) 1 cup
urad dhal 1/4 cup
flat rice (Poha/avalakki) 1 tbsp.
fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp.
salt 1/2 tsp.
1. grind the above adding water to form a thick batter.
2. leave it over night for fermentation (during winter- add 1/2 spoon of sour curd)
3. grease the idli plates with butter/ghee and pour batter into the sockets.
4. pressure cook it for 15 minutes.

For Chutney:

coriander 4-5 sticks

green chillies 8 (small size)
coconut 1/2 cupfried channa dhal 1 cup
salt to taste

1. grind the above to form a smooth paste
2. for tempering: head 1 tbsp of oil in a seperate pan,
add:
mustard seeds (1/4 tsp),
urud dhal (1 tbsp), curry leaves (4-5 leaves),
red chillies (3 nos.)
and cook till urud dhal turns light brown.
3. add the above mixture into the paste and mix well.

Tiramisu

This is a classic Italian dessert. The name translates to "pick-me-up" (in the idiomatic sense).

Ingredients:

8 oz mascarpone (~225g)
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, divided
12-18 ladyfingers (Savoiardi, not lady's finger)
1 cup espresso (minimum)
1 Tbsp liqueur, typically marsala or rum (optional; I omit it)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (minimum)

1. Mix the egg yolks, sugar, and mascarpone until very smooth.
2. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. Briskly beat 1/5th of the meringued egg whites into the custard mixture; stir until an even texture is reached.
4. Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the custard.
5. If using liqueur, mix it into the espresso.
   
6. One by one, soak the ladyfingers in the coffee, trying to make sure they absorb a fair amount of it without becoming soggy. Layer them in the bottom of the serving dish.
7. When a layer is complete, cover with a layer of the custard mixture.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the custard is gone, making sure to finish with a layer of custard.
9. Ideally, allow the tiramisu to be refrigerated for several hours before serving to allow the coffee to infuse into the custard.
10. Immediately prior to serving, dust the tiramisu with a medium-thick layer of cocoa powder.

Notes: this should serve 4-8, depending on serving sizes; the recipe doubles trivially. The most finicky portion of this relatively-simple preparation is the soaking of the ladyfingers; too little coffee and one ends up with spongy biscuits that are hard to cut, too much and one has a puddle of coffee in the bottom of the dish. It can be helpful to err ever-so-slightly on the side of caution and then let it sit overnight to allow the custard and coffee to more thoroughly soften the biscuits.

Mary Poppins!

Tuppence a bag :(

Date Pecan Bread

This is a sweet quick bread; very rich and very dense.

Date Pecan Bread

Ingredients:

6-8 ounces dates, chopped
1 cup water, boiling
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cups sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1. Place chopped dates in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8" or 9" bread pan. Line the bottom with baking parchment, and grease this as well.
3. Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in another bowl.
4. Add dates and water to egg mixture.
5. Sift (or simply mix) together the baking soda, powder, and flour. Stir this into the egg mixture just until incorporated.
6. Stir in pecans.
7. Spread into loaf pan.
8. Bake for one hour or until a toothpick or knife inserted into center comes out clean. Optionally, for a less browned top, cover with foil after 20-30 minutes.

Fırında sütlaç

Fırında sütlaç (scorched Turkish rice pudding)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp rice (heaping)
1 1/8 cups water
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream*
1 tbsp cornstarch**
1/2 tbsp rice flour**
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
Cinnamon and/or pistachios to garnish (optional)

1. Place rice and 2/3 cup water in small saucepan; cook over medium heat until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat
2. Place milk and cream in medium saucepan with cooked rice and salt; bring to a boil over medium heat.***
3. Mix rice flour and cornstarch in a bowl; add 1/2 cup cold water, and stir until smooth.
4. Gradually stir starch mixture into boiling milk; stir constantly for 10 minutes.
5. Add sugar; continue stirring over medium-low-ish heat until desired thickness is achieved.****
6. Remove from heat, and pour into broiler-safe dish(es); place under broiler until surface is browned.
7. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours; if desired add garnish before serving.

* Base recipe calls for 4 cups milk and no cream. I have never gotten the pudding to set up with only milk.
** This can (and probably should) be increased in a manner directly proportional with the desired thickness, and inversely proportional with the preparer's time and patience.
*** If one is going for a long-cooked thick pudding (i.e., one that will properly set up), especially if one isn't going overboard with starches, it may be helpful to use a double broiler to avoid burning the rice and to minimize required stirring.
**** Cook until pudding approaches desired thickness or patience approaches end. Some further setting will occur while cooling, so this is subjective, especially given leeway with starches. Bare minimum is 20 minutes. I usually go 2-3 hours. Seriously. But then, getting baked items to set up properly is the bane of my culinary existence.

Ladies Finger curry

1. grind the following (masala):

coconut- 1tbsp
poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp
Bengal gram- 1/2 tsp
garlic- 1/2 tsp
chopped onion-1
tomato-1
dhanya powder-1 tbsp
chilli powder -1 tsp
coriander leaves (optional)
tamarind(optional)


2. fry ladies finger (10 chopped) (till the stickiness disappears) in hot oil.

3. in a separate pan, fry onion(2tbsp chopped) in hot oil till it turns light brown. Then add the masala into it and cook for 20 mins

4. add the fried ladies finger into the masala and cook for 5 minutes.

Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino

blend the following:

half glass of milk
1 tsp vanilla

ice
3 spoons of Chocolate syrup
3 spoons of chocolate chips 
1 spoon coffee decoction

pour the mixture into a glass and top it with whipped cream.

Masala bun or masala bread

• 2 cups of warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour
• coriander leaves
• 2 tsp geera
• 2 onions (chopped)
  
• 10 chillies (the Indian one which is smaller)- you could add more if you want to :)

1. add yeast to warm water and wait till it looks bubbly
2. add flour and knead (just like how you prepare chapathi dough) and keep it untouched for sometime till it doubles in size (app. 1.hr)
3. now add salt, onion, chillies, gera, coriander leaves, turmeric powder into the above dough and knead dough again
4. place it in an oiled pan and bake it at 350 F for 30-40 minutes.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

We saw this movie last night (at 3:00 AM since both of our sleep cycles are screwed up :).

I was expecting a total chick flick :) but it actually wasn't.. We both enjoyed the movie, which was awesomely funny without any of the usual grossness that passes of as humor these days.

Also, the british dude (Russel Brand) was a riot, the girls (Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars and Mila Kunis from that 70's show) were cute and movie drew you in. If we need any more proof, Rashmi didn't fall asleep!

In passing, I would definitely watch a Dracula Rock Ballad with puppets (and people!).

And the fat guy from Superbad was there.

 

Navratan Korma

I am going through a phase - trying to make all the different flavor I can, using large amounts of vegetables :). By different I mean no sambar podi since this seems to dominate the taste all the time.

Yesterday I made a simple curry, i.e no sambar podi, no chilli powder just some flavor. It came out awesome.

Today, feeling more adventurous, I made a version of navratan korma. No Paneer, and butter since I didn't have 'heavy cream'. As a side note, it's a lot easier to cook interesting stuff when the ol' ball and chain stocks the kitchen so well. I don't think I would ever have had 'assorted nuts' or 'cayenne pepper' as a bachelor :).

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1/3 cup mixed nuts (cashews, pistachios, almonds)
• 1 medium onion, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh green beans
• 1/2 cup green peas
• 1 cup chopped potatoes
• 4 ounces paneer, cubed
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place mixed nuts in the skillet, cook and stir until golden brown, and set aside. Stir onion into the skillet, and cook until tender. Mix in garlic paste and ginger paste, and cook 1 minute. Stir in tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, turmeric, coriander, and garam masala. Pour in water, and mix in raisins, carrots, green bell pepper, beans, peas, and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
2. Heat remaining oil in a separate skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the paneer on both sides, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Place in a bowl with enough hot water to cover for about 2 minutes to soften, then stir into the skillet with the vegetables.
3. Stir milk and cream into the skillet with the vegetables and paneer. Bring to a boil, and continue cooking 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

New cell ringtone

I wonder if this got the bump too ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJw-9Fdu208

Don't worry I didn't link to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

The Olympics : Where did all the time go ?

We've been watching the olympics pretty religiously (actually more than religiously - haven't been to a temple in more than a year:). We saw:

1. Nastia Liuken win the all-round gold
2. Yang Wei win the all-round gold 
3. All of Phelps' gold medals : including 'The touch'
4. Walsh-Treanor win the beach volleyball gold
5. Brasil win the women's volleyball gold : As an example  of the american bent of the reporting - it's really hard to find a good picture of the team. Instead here is a picture of Kimberley Glass.
6. Bolt win three golds - he's so much faster than the rest of the field it's awesome! They actually complained because he had time to showboat before the end. In the 100ms. He had time to spare in the shortest race on earth!
7. Shawn Johnson win the gold on the balance beam - it was amazing to see her smiling through all the close losses (for silver - which isn't so bad if you think about it) - so it was nice that she finally got one!
8. The Chinese Team win the team gold (women's). The americans really should stop complaining about how young these girls are. They are amazing nonetheless. Huang Xu, Chen Yibing, Li Xiaopeng, Xiao Qin, Yang Wei, Zou Kai

Guacamole and chinese fried rice

Rashmi made some guacamole .. seems to have come out amazingly. However, I don't know what we are going to eat with the guacamole. She also made some chinese fried rice. Tastes amazing. Pictures!

The fried rice was made in our new 'wok' from ikea of all places. We also got this huge storage thingy, and it's full already as you can see.

Ahh crass consumerism! How much stuff we own! I can just imagine my mom's reaction to us becoming this american!

P.S: Rashmi says the fried rice tastes weird. Do I have to eat it ?

Sams club

So we went and got a Sams club membership. I wonder if it's going to be worth it.

The Breakfast Club

We saw The Breakfast Club, as part of my multi-part 'Watch all shows alluded to in Psych' binge. The Breakfast Club was in Murder?Murder? Anyone ? Bueller?

I loved it. Rashmi and Satashu didn't :(. According to wikipedia:The Breakfast Club is a 1985 American teen film widely considered as the definitive work in the genre. Written and directed by John Hughes, the storyline follows five teenagers (each representing a different clique in high school) as they spend a Saturday in detention together and come to realize that they are all deeper than their respective stereotypes. The film has become a cult classic and has had a tremendous influence on many coming-of-age films since then. The film was shot entirely in sequence. Shooting began on March 28, 1984 and ended in May of 1984.

Shows what they know.

Rashmi and the fizzy water incident!

Rashmi & Murali - Wedding Photos

2 years in the making -- the blockbuster hit of the summer!

The Olympics : China's coming out party (and where's India?)

We saw bits and pieces of the olympic ceremony - beautiful, astounding, amazing. I'm still looking for a high res video to see the parts we missed. I think that there is no doubt about which country is going to be the next great superpower.

And it isn't going to be us.

Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

I thought this was brilliant - especially the ending - which apparently _none_ of my friends liked. Though I don't know if they would have liked the ending - since none of them agreed to watch more than the first episode. However, I am not alone! Tycho agreed - and he gets more than 2 million page views a day - that must count for something.

The ending does tell you that Whedon must have had a pretty screwed up life. I mean if an online series with a name like Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog can't have a happy ending....

Serenity/Firefly

I think I'm reading too many comics. And watching too many movies. This blog is becoming like the TV giude. Rashmi and I (surprising, considering that we never like the same stuff) loved the Firefly series by Whedon. Unfortunately FOX didn't agree and didn't pick up the series after the first year. The series is awesome, and another one where the moralities of the heroes is iffy :). Watch it! 

On a side note there was a lot of protest in the "blogosphere", and so they made a movie called Serenity to finish some of the story lines. 

Never one to let a potential source of procrastin-X  go to waste, I decided to read the 'graphic novel' series Serenity-Better Days. Also awesome, and highly recommended.

Graphic novels

Once I started reading Gaiman (because of Terry Pratchett but that's another post), I started reading a bunch of graphic novels.  I now understand that comic books (sorry is that "graphic novels") are not for kids anymore. These are riveting stories, so dark that they are almost believable.Like Agent Smith said - "human beings define their reality through misery and suffering".? I mean, these couldn't be fantasies right ? Normal people do not fantasize about such imperfect worlds where superheroes loose and nice people die.

 Here are some of the best ones:

1. The Marvel Universe Civil war arc: Amazing stories. I think the future Iron Man movies are headed here (that where SHIELD and Nick fury are from), so if you refuse to read all the comics - there are about 50 of them - you can get some of it from the movies in the next 10 years. The story so addicted me, that I spent most nights awake for 4 days reading them, almost without pause.
2. Watchmen: Really cool plot lines. Unfortunately most of the story happens in the mind of the "hero" Rorschach, who is crazy, psychotic and kills people for fun. Did I mention he is a superhero who helps people? And that the night owl is 40, overweight and out of shape? As wikipedia notes (and it definitely deserves these awards and more!).: To date, Watchmen remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels" published since the founding of the magazine in 1923.

Sandman

Speaking of new stories, the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is uniformly amazing. All the stories are new, amazing beautiful stories I had never heard before. Gaiman doesn't have any rules, he is free to make the Sandman despicable (which he often does). He uses some characters from greek/roman/christian mythology, but the ideas in each story never cease to astound. 

My favorite one is Worlds' end (note the position of the ' - took me a while to find that gem). It has stories within stories. Each story is set in a different reality/time/planet each with its own rules - and once those are fixed these stories make perfect sense.

My words cannot do justice :) to the awesomeness in these books, so read them!

Harry potter and the deathly hallows

Finally read this one. Completely forgot that the series was not done.  Unfortunately the main story line is amazingly predictable. What happens to side characters is random anyway, since there are no real rules in their universe :). However, if you know it is a story for "tweens?" then you can predict most of the story line. Where have all the good stories gone ?

Blazing saddles

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/

While all the town people are fighting with the junk people, the old crazy guy does HAAAAA and destroys the bad guy with his awesome breath!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake à l'Ankrom

My standard cheesecake recipe, from which nigh all cheesecakes I make are derived. It's a New York style cheesecake, in that it contains cream and is cooked at two temperatures.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake à l'Ankrom

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 3/4 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (melted)

Filling:
24 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
12 oz white chocolate (melted)
3 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla

Topping:
2 cups raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Mix sugar & crackers in a bowl; add melted butter; press mixture along bottom and 2" up the sides of a 9" springform pan
3. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and flour; mix very well; add eggs one at a time, mixing very well between eggs; finish by mixing in the cream; set filling aside
4. When all of the above is ready (including preheating), melt the white chocolate; as soon as it's melted it must be quickly mixed into the filling; pour filling into crust
5. Set cheesecake in middle of oven and bake at 400° for 10 minutes; reduce temp to 300° and cook for 55 to 65 minutes (until filling is set)
6. Remove cheesecake and let cool for 10 minutes; carefully run knife around the edge of the pan to loosen it; cool in fridge for 2 hours
7. Place raspberries, sugar, and cornstarch into a pan; stirring often, bring pan to a low boil and cook until raspberries are broken down; remove from heat and pour over the cheesecake
8. Replace cheesecake in fridge for 2 more hours

Note: this recipe can be made in a 7" springform pan simply by reducing crust ingredients to ~60%, and filling and topping ingredients to 50%.

Bottle Gourd Peels Chutney

Recipe for Bottle Gourd Peels Chutney
Ingredients:
Peels of one biggish bottle gourd (I took 1½ cups.)¼ cup dry-roasted sesame or ¼ cup roasted and peeled peanutsor ¼ cup roasted Chana Dal (Dariya in Gujarati/Pandharpuri Daale in Marathi)or a combination of any of these making ¼ cup(I used 1/8 cup dry-roasted sesame + 1/8 cup roasted & peeled peanuts.)¼ cup yogurt2 green chillis (or to taste)¼ cup chopped coriander leaves1 tbsp sugar (or to taste, depending upon the heat from the chillis)salt to taste1 tbsp oil½ tsp mustard seeds½ tsp cumin seedsheaped ¼ tsp asafoetida powder

Method:
1. Chop the bottle gourd peels and green chillis.2. Heat the oil in a pan. When hot, add mustard seeds. Once they start popping, add the cumin seeds, and then the asafoetida powder.3. Add the chopped bottle gourd peels and green chillis. Stir. Sprinkle some water, cover the pan and let them steam-cook. (I usually use a non-stick pan for this, so I do not really need much water. However, if you are using a regular pan, you might need to add about ¼ cup of water, and also keep a close eye.)4. Once the peels are soft (They fall apart easily when pressed with a ladle.), add sugar, salt and chopped coriander leaves. Sauté until most of the water has evaporated. Turn the heat off, and let it cool.5. Once it is cool, add it along with the roasted sesame seeds or peanuts or the combination you are using and the yogurt to the jar of your mixie or food processor. Grind it till you get a fairly smooth paste. The chutney is ready!

Not only posted, made also by Murali. Useless!!!!!!!!!!

Bottle Gourd Curry with Moong Dal & Yogurt

Recipe for Bottle Gourd Curry with Moong Dal & YogurtServes 4.Ingredients:approx. 500 g. bottle gourd/Doodhi/Lauki (3 packed cups, when diced)1 tbsp Moong Dal, washed and soaked in about ¼ cup water for ½ hour4-5 tbsp yogurt, beaten smooth3-4 green chillissalt to taste
1 tbsp oil½ tsp mustard seeds1/8 tsp turmeric powdera pinch asafoetida powder
chopped coriander leaves for garnishing


Method:
1. Wash and peel the bottle gourd. (You need not throw away the peels. This chutney can be made using them.)2. Dice the peeled bottle gourd. Cut the green chillis in ½ inch long pieces.3. Heat the oil in a pan, and add mustard seeds once it is hot. Once they splutter, add the asafoetida powder.4. Add the Moong Dal along with the water and quickly cover the pan with a lid. The water tends to jump high at this point, and may burn your fingers.5. After about two minutes, open the lid, and add turmeric powder and bottle gourd dices to the pan. Stir and add ½ cup of water.6. Cover and cook the bottle gourd on medium-high heat for about ten minutes.7. Once the bottle gourd is cooked, add salt, yogurt and green chilli pieces.8. Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes, while stirring often, so that the yogurt does not separate too much.

Actually posted by Murali. Rashmi is too lazy to do anything.

Massive WiMax Network for India

http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/24/indian-telecom-company-to-rollout-massive-wimax-network/

Good news for us!

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN231153520080123?rpc=64

Awesomely talented CMU student

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/

Wii: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii
Steadycam: http://steadycam.org/
Photography:http://littlegreatideas.com/photography/

Israel lift-off makes ISRO rich

http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=1d1eab4d-b68b-4ada-96f9-64c0ccbc140e&&Headline=Israel+lift-off+makes+ISRO+rich

Balls of fury

He plays like the devil in short shorts.

A fistful of dollars

Crazy bellringer was right, there's money to be made in a place like this.

Shoot 'em up

 I'm a British nanny, and I'm dangerous.

Dr Who

Time lord!

  

The Conan-Colbert feud is ON

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=c4CFz82nUjE

An inconvenient truth

http://www.climatecrisis.net/
 [quoting Mark Twain] "What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so."

 [quoting Upton Sinclair] "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." 

Upcoming Talk by Kai-Fu Lee

Google China - Can a Multinational Internet Company Succeed in China?
Kai-Fu Lee, Ph.D. CS 1988, President, Google Greater China

---

Google entered China in 2006, just as virtually every multinational Internet company was failing or pulling out. Google also faced significant challenges in 2006, from public perception to government relations, from user experience to market share. In the past two years, Google China has turned the situation around - from having the best Chinese search engine to increasing market share. This talk will describe:

• How did Google learn to understand the Chinese user? How are Chinese users different from users elsewhere?
• How did Google translate that understanding into winning products and product features?
• What research and development areas are current priorities at Google China?
• What are the key success factors for multinationals in China?

When:
Friday, February 1, 2007
3:30 p.m. - Distinguished Donuts (a.k.a. refreshments), Connan Room
4:00 p.m. - Lecture in Auditorium

Where:
McConomy Auditorium, University Center

---

About the Speaker:
Kai-Fu Lee, Ph.D. CS 1988, is a Vice President of Engineering at Google, Inc. and President of Google Greater China. He joined Google in 2005 to start Google's operations in China. Prior to joining Google, Lee was a Corporate Vice President responsible for advanced natural language and user interface technologies at Microsoft (1998) and was the founder of Microsoft Research Asia, which has since become one of the best research centers in the world. MIT Technology Review called it "the hottest computer science research lab in the world."

From 1996 to 1998, Lee was the President of Cosmo Software, a subsidiary of Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). At SGI, Lee was responsible for several product lines and the company's Web strategy. Before joining SGI, Lee spent six years at Apple, most recently as vice president of the company's interactive media group, which developed QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, QuickTime VR and PlainTalk speech technologies.

From 1988 to 1990, he was an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he developed the world's first speaker-independent continuous speech-recognition system. This system was selected as the "Most Important Innovation of 1988" by Business Week. While at Carnegie Mellon, Lee also developed the world-champion computer program that plays the game "Othello" and that defeated the human world champion in 1988.

Lee holds a doctorate in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's in computer science with highest honors from Columbia University. Lee is a Fellow of the IEEE.

Brilliant chess master, world-class eccentric Bobby Fischer dies

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/18/fischer.obit/?iref=mpstoryview

checkmate - shah mat - 'the king is dead'

Masala Scrambled Eggs With Tomato, Cheddar and Cilantro

4	large eggs or egg substitute
1	tablespoon olive oil
1/4	cup chopped sweet onions (I use Vidalia)
1	medium plum tomato, diced
2-4	tablespoons chopped cilantro, depending upon personal taste
	kosher salt
	black pepper, freshly ground
1/4	cup coarsely shredded low-fat cheddar cheese cummin seed, chilli, garlic, turmeric powder and salt  If using whole eggs, whisk together with 2 Tbsp water until well blended, this is not necessary if using egg substitute. In large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add onion and cook, stirring until golden, approximately 5 minutes. Add cummin seed, chilli, garlic, turmeric powder and salt and saute for a minute or two. Increase the heat to high and add diced tomto, cilantro, 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper. Cook until tomato is heated through and any juices have evaporated, about 1 minute. Add eggs all at once, reduce heat to medium and cook without stirring, for 1 minute. Using spatula, stir the eggs from the edges of the pan toward center. Continue to cook and stir gently until eggs are almost cooked, but are still moist, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with grated cheese and cook for 1 minute longer.

Spicy Spinach Curry

Ingredients:

1 lb [453g] cut spinach 2-3 tablespoons oil 4 dry red chillies 1/4 tablespoon jeera 1/4 tablespoon mustard seeds a pinch of asfoetida salt to taste a pinch of turmeric powder a little butter a small piece of ginger 2-3 cloves of garlic

Method:

Cut ginger and garlic into small pieces and make ginger-garlic paste. Take a bowl and boil water in it.Add the cut spinach and leave it to cook for a few minutes,till spinach becomes tender.Otherwise in a microwave safe bowl ,spinach in water can be allowed to cook in the microwave for 2 minutes. Drain the water and collect the cooked spinach in a bowl. Step 2 and 3 can be eliminated if cut leaf spinach is bought from frozen foods section of the grocery store. Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil to a pan on the stovetop.Set the heat to medium. To this oil add the ginger-garlic paste,then asfoetida,then jeera and mustard seeds.Add pieces of the 4 dry red chillies and turmeric powder to these. Leave the contents for about a minute or till the mustard seeds begin to crackle. Then add the spinach to the contents in the pan.Mix the contents thoroughly and cover the pan with a lid for about 2-3 minutes,till the spinach absorbs the flavors and becomes tender. Remove the lid,stir the contents and add salt as per taste.The spicy spinach curry is ready to serve.Serves 2-3 people.

Capsicum Bendi curry

Ingredients:

2 capsicums  10-12 lady's fingers (okra) 3-4 green chillies finely chopped 1 tbsp. coconut scraped 1 tsp. gram flour 1 tsp. lemon juice 1/2 tsp. sugar salt to taste 1 tbsp. oil 1/4 tsp. cumin & mustard seeds mixed 2-3 pinches asafoetida 1/8 tsp. turmeric powder

Method:

Wash and wipe okra. Cut into 1/2" slices. Wash and wipe capsicums. Chop into quarters and halve them. Remove seedheads and stalks. Do not remove all seeds. Heat oil in a heavy pan. Add okra slices and fry till bright and tender. Drain and keep aside. Add seeds and allow to splutter. Add asafoetida, capsicum, chillies and turmeric. Stir fry till capsicum is tender (3-4 minutes). Add gram flour, salt and stir till well coated. Add fried okra, salt, lemon juice and sugar. Stir for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with grated coconut. Serve hot with bread, paratha or chapati. Making time: 15 minutes Makes: 2 servings Shelflife: Best fresh

Maddur Vada

Ingredients:
1 cup Fine Suji or Fine Semolina(or Bombay Rava) 
1/2 cup Rice Flour 
1/4 cup Maida or All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Red chilli powder
5 tbsp Hot oil for kneading
2 big onions finely chopped onions 
1 small bunch Cilantro (Coriander leaves) Finely chopped
1 small bunch Curry leaves Finely chopped
7 Green chillies finely chopped or minced
2 tsp salt (or to taste) 
4 cups oil for deep frying 

Method:
1. In a mixing bowl put the rice flour, maida, suji, red chilli powder salt and hot oil and mix well.
2. Add the chopped - onions. cilantro, curry leaves and chillies and mix with water to make a thick paste.
3. Take a golf size ball of this mixture and flatten on your hand (apply a little oil over your hand before you do this) or a greased plastic sheet.
4. Drop into hot oil and deep fry until golden brown.
5. Serve hot with cocunut chutney and/or sambar.