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

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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

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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.