Suramya's Blog : Welcome to my crazy life…

Ironsky is a new Science fiction movie that has an interesting premise: In 1945 the Nazis went to the Moon. In 2018 they are coming back. Normally I wouldn’t be this excited about a movie but a few months ago they released three comic books that are prequels to the movie and if the quality of the comics are anything to go by then the movie is going to be amazing. Check out the first issue here.

As per the official site:

Towards the end of World War II the Nazi scientists made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right.

Now it’s 2018, and it’s the time for the first American Moon landing since the 70′s. Meanwhile the Nazi invasion, that has been over 70 years in the making, is on its way, and the world is goose-stepping towards its doom.

I had planned to post about this movie when I first read the comic back in Oct 2011 but other things came up so this post sat collecting dust in my drafts folder. However they released the Theatrical Poster and I had to share it.

Since this movie is not by big studio’s (in fact a lot of the work was done online via crowd sourcing) I don’t know if it will be released in Bangalore but I am still eagerly waiting for this release.

Check out the movie site: Ironsky.

– Suramya

Most companies have a referral program where employes can refer their acquaintances for positions in the company. The idea behind the program is simple, smart people have smart friends and you have a higher chance of finding a qualified person through a referral than a cold interview.

I got the following email today which turns the entire concept on its head and tries to convince you to game the system:

As a qualified professional in a reputed firm you are probably on the lookout for good candidates to refer. I’d like to introduce Round One – an innovative new platform that connects you to job seekers so you can refer those you choose:

Once you sign up you can:

• Receive profiles of candidates interested in your company via email, who you can unofficially interview over the phone
• Earn incentives from Round One for each candidate you speak with
• Refer candidates you choose, via your firms referral program and earn your company’s referral bonus

The third point makes is really clear what their selling point is: make money by referring candidates to your company. But instead of referring people you personally know are qualified for the position, you will be referring people you have talked to a couple of times on the phone and have know idea about. In essence you are acting like a head hunter but instead of being upfront about it you are gaming the company.

I am sure that this practice would be discouraged in most companies and if a person is caught doing this they would face some action. Actually I would hope that this would be the case because this offer is dishonest and sneaky. If you really want to spend time headhunting you should start/join a headhunter company.

What do you folks think? Is this a smart idea, or just underhandedness and not something to be encouraged?

– Suramya

Yes. You read that correctly, Catholic Church’s exorcist thinks that yoga and Harry potter are evil. I could understand if we were talking about Twilight :p 😉 but yoga? Seriously? Yoga has nothing to do with religion, it is a means to attain of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility. Now this insight can be a belief in Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or just a way to calm yourself after a stressful day and get a toned body while you are at it. In certain religions yoga does have a big significance but that doesn’t make it evil. Just as anything that doesn’t fall under your narrow definition of good doesn’t make it evil.

Father Gabriele Amorth, who for years was the Vatican’s chief exorcist and claims to have cleansed hundreds of people of evil spirits, said yoga is Satanic because it leads to a worship of Hinduism and “all eastern religions are based on a false belief in reincarnation”.

Coming to Harry potter being evil, I find that even more silly than people believing that Yoga is evil. If your people can’t understand the difference between fantasy and reality then I am sorry but you have bigger problems to worry about. The books, even though they have magic are about how you can win against all odds if you have the determination and strength to persevere.

I am not a very religious person, if you are a religious person good for you. I don’t use religion to figure out what/who to like or what to ‘hate’, I make my own choices. If that makes me a sinner in your eyes that’s your problem not mine. We are like blind men trying to describe an elephant, and each one insisting that they have the only correct interpretation. Found this image a couple of days ago on the web and had to go find it again for this post as I find it apt.

Finally I would like to end this post with a quote “I don’t fear God, I fear those who claim to speak on his behalf”.

This is all for now. Will post more later.

– Suramya

Source: ‘Harry Potter and yoga are evil’, says Catholic Church exorcist – Telegraph

The famed science fiction series on BBC Doctor Who, celebrates its birthday today. It was 48 years ago we were introduced to the crazy loveable time traveling Doctor and his TARDIS.

I have been a fan of doctor who since the early 90’s when I read the novelizations of the series by Target. Then I went to the US and there managed to find the episodes themselves and was hooked. Now Dr Who is back on BBC and I make sure I don’t miss a single episode. The best part was when my mom saw my collection of Dr who books and told me that she used to watch the show and read the books when she was in college. Talk about a time loop.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. You will love it. Don’t start at the very beginning as you ‘might’ not like it that much initially, my suggestion is that you start with the 2005 reboot of the show and then once you are hooked start watching the previous seasons.

Source: Happy Birthday to Doctor Who, Wired

– Suramya

Today I checked my email and saw an email from Cleartrip asking me ‘Are you Cleartripper of the year?” and the following text:

Dear Suramya

You have completed 9 trips with Cleartrip in the last 6 months and you are 4 bookings away from becoming the Cleartripper of the Year!

Since I wasn’t interested I read through and then deleted the mail. After a little while I checked my gmail account and I had the same email sitting over there as well (I had booked a couple of flights using that email address in the past) with the following different text:

Dear Suramya

You have completed 2 trips with Cleartrip in the last 6 months and you are 2 bookings away from becoming the Cleartripper of the Year!

So for my suramya.com account I have flown 9 times I need 4 trips more before I was eligible to become the Cleartripper of the year but for my gmail account using which I have flown 2 trips I only have to complete 2 more trips to get the same ‘benefits’. Now that’s what I call being flexible! Wonder if anyone else caught this.

– Suramya

PS: and yes before you ask, I have been flying around a lot these past few months.

I mean, seriously? This is getting to the point where its ridiculous. Don’t you know, its basic human psychology that if you try to hide something or make it inaccessable people are going to try to find out more about it? The idea is to resist temptation, not remove it so that you don’t even get a chance to resist it. If you have such that little control over yourself that looking at ‘tempting’ eyes is enough to corrupt you then you are probably a gone case anyways and will be tempted by something else.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi women with attractive eyes may be forced to cover them up, the news website Bikya Masr reported, in a move that could mark the latest repressive measure taken against women by the Islamic state.

A spokesperson for Saudi Arabia’s Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV), Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, said the committee had the right to stop women revealing “tempting” eyes in public.

At times I really feel sorry for women in these countries. and all because some men don’t have the self control to resist temptation…

Source: Saudi Women with Sexy Eyes May Be Forced to Cover Them Up

Now there is actual ‘proof’ about something that all of us have known about/believed in for a long time (at least I have). According to a study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology; infants who encounter a wide range of bacteria are less at risk of developing allergies later in life. So if you coddle a kid too much you are putting them at an higher risk of having health issues later in life. Which means a kid that is out there playing in the field is less likely to have allergies than a kid who is kept in a sterile environment. BTW, just to be clear I am not saying that all kids should be made to play in a dumpster, just that its ok for them to play in a bit of mud and rain etc.

Infants who encounter a wide range of bacteria are at less risk of developing allergies later in life, researchers in Denmark said. Professor Hans Bisgaard of Gentofte Hospital and the University of Copenhagen said 25 percent of the population of Denmark suffer from allergies.

Before I went to US, I didn’t know anyone with any dairy allergies or peanut allergies etc. Its only when I got to the US I found people with such allergies and found it a bit surprising. I think it has to do with the more outdoor games all kids in my friend circle/acquaintances played. We were usually out in the field playing soccer or running around in the mud or just on the field having outdoor picnics instead of playing video games. I didn’t die of weird diseases although I believe I did get a stomach upset a couple of times. I think kids should be allowed to be kids and play. Not saying that they shouldn’t be stopped from eating mud or harmful chemicals but if they managed to swallow a bit of mud, its not the end of the world.

Now even in India a lot of kids have allergies and similar issues and I think it has to do with the limited exposure these kids have to the outside world. A lot of the schools are now air conditioned, and most houses are as well which removes all the pollens/dust etc from the air thanks to the filtering. In the evening most of the kids are over at a friends place or at home playing video games instead of being out in the field/pool. (atleast that’s the perception I have talking to my niece and younger cousins) So this limited exposure to outside world means more health issues and more medicines etc.

What do you think?

– Suramya

Source: UPI.com Health news