The Virginia Tech shootings

I was really shocked when I heard about the Virginia Tech shootings on the radio while driving back from the clinic on Tuesday evening.

Going through various blogs which posted about the tragedy, everybody seems to be asking "what drove the gunmen, Cho Seung-hui do it?"

Of course some are also asking why these shootings at educational institutions are so common in the US? It does not happen in any other country.

A lot of people are pointing their fingers at the lax gun control laws in the US and it's various states.

I am sure a lot of Americans who believe in the right to bear arms will disagree and say that " It's not guns that kill; its people who kill". This blog says that, "Once guns are banned, crime will explode". I totally disagree. You just need to look at the violent crime rate in countries that control guns and ones that don't. Just guess, which ones have lower rates.

The fact is that the US has the most heavily armed people and also the highest gun related deaths in the World. According to a Reuter's report, "there's an estimated 250 million privately owned guns in the United States, which has a population of about 300 million". In fact someone was telling me that a lot of Americans have automatic assault rifles in their homes. If that's for self-defense, that's really crazy.

To me, guns should be restricted to the armed forces, security forces and for certain purposes, namely hunting or for sports.

My sincere condolences to those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

Tags: Cho Seung-hui Guns Gun control Virginia Tech

Trip to Cambridge cancelled

We were planning a trip to Cambridge and had even booked the hotel rooms but had to cancel it at the last minute.

A few days back we noticed some red rashes on our son. The next day, water filled blisters developed on the skin. Checking on the Internet led us to a distinct possibility - chicken pox. However, the sites mentioned that the kids would suffer from fever but Imaan was normal. We decided to take him to our GP and she confirmed it as chicken pox.

I guess we have to take that trip to Cambridge some other time. Anyway, it's just one and a half hours away from here.

Hosting company goes green

I support all Green companies and was really nice to learn thatWebcity Web Hosting Australia is doing their bit for the environment. The company is funding the planting of trees to offset its carbon emissions.

For your information, Webcity is one of Australia's leading discount domain name registration and web hosting providers. In operation since 1997, the group services over 100,000 customers in Australia and neighbouring regions. It has it's headquarters in Sydney.

My sister who resides down under, was asking me about a reputable host. I think I am going to recommend this company.

The technorati experiment

I got to know about this experiment in the ppp forum and later Jimi Morrison added me. Joining the Technorati Faves Experiment too, to see if it helps me with my rankings.

If you want to join in too, read the directions given below:

***Start Copying Here:***

Here are the rules:

1) Fave all the blogs on this list.

2) Write a short introduction paragraph about how you found the list and include a link to the blog that referred you to the list.

3) COPY the Rules and ENTIRE List below and post it to your blog. To avoid duplicate content and increase the amount of keywords your site can accessible for, go ahead and change the titles of your blog. Just don’t change the links of the blog.

4) Take all of the “My New Faves” from the blog that linked you and add them to the “Original Faves” list.

5) Add up to 5 more faves to your “My New Faves” List along with a link to fave them. (You can just copy and replace a url from the other ones so you have the link and don’t have to hunt down the blogs on Technorati.)

My New Faves

Bringing up an Aidan and handling Holland-Fave the Site
Brajeshwar-Fave the Site
Dad of four-Fave the Site
Lil' Honey collection-Fave the Site
Larry Hnetka goes Hmm-Fave the Site
My Thailand diary -Fave the Site

The Original Faves

Shadowscope-Fave the Site
theapp.net-Fave the Site
Miles Business Blog-Fave the Site
The Pond-Fave the Site
ah ok lah - blogosphere and life-Fave the Site
CoolAdzine for Marketers-Fave the Site

Digital Nomads-Fave the Site
Soho Quest-Fave the Site
The Sovereign Journey-Fave the Site
Internet Serious Business-Fave the Site

Stephen Fung - Fave the Site Add him to your favorites and he’ll donate to charity!
Ed Lau - Fave the Site
QMusings - Fave the Site

Gary Lee - Fave the Site
Dosh Dosh - Fave the Site
Nate Whitehill - Fave the Site

Ms. Danielle - Fave the Site
Jeff Kee - Fave the Site
Scribble on the Wall - Fave the Site

ChaCha - Fave the Site
Jon Lee - Fave the Site
Samanathon - Fave the Site

Eat Drink & Be Merry - Fave the Site
The Man of Silver - Fave the Site
Hannes Johnson - Fave the Site
My Dandelion Patch - Fave the Site

Nathan Drach - Fave the Site
SiteLogic - Fave the Site
Julies Journal - Fave the Site

***End Copying Here***

Revolutionary brain tumour treatment

One of my close relatives passed away after fighting with brain tumor for quite sometime. An operation was never considered because the illness was detected unfortunately at quite a late stage.

Was really intrigued with this relatively new method of brain tumor treatment, which involves the gamma knife. This revolutionary medical equipment allows neurosurgeons to perform brain surgery without invasive surgery, that is, without having to cut into a patient skull. It involves using highly targeted radiation to destroy brain tumors.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that this is a relatively new technology, a lot of people including doctors as well as patients are not aware of this non-invasive surgery option.

Baldie dad

Yesterday, we were watching the TV and my wife was scratching my head. She suggested "Why don't you shave your head?"
"Do you want to shave my head?", I asked her.
"OK!" she replied.
So she took the electric hair clipper. We went outside and I lost all my hair.

And that is the short story of how I got my shining head. I can't actually remember the last time I was ever bald.

Flippies making a comeback

I am sure that all of you have come across or even owned a flippie at one time or the other. Flippies (or Flip books ) refer to "books with a series of pictures that vary gradually from one page to the next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change" (Source: Wikipedia).

Their popularity died out with the advent of movies and later TV. However, they are making a come back as an effective and unique advertising tool.

Recently, this company called Flippies has re-engineered the novelty into a bona fide promotional advertising tool. Now, commercials, sports moments, product demos and even your own video clips can be transferred into print as a flippie. Check out the Flippies Custom Flip Books


Among all the advertising mediums available today, I am sure you will agree that this is certainly a unique yet simple way of promoting a product or service. Presents a range of marketing possibilities - from product launches to conference giveaway items.