Spain is to football, what South Africa is to Cricket. The ultimate team on paper, but the CHOKERs. Even though I am no man to pass a judgement, there are shady glimpses of match-fixing in South Africa s past and present. Without a great fan following and ad market like Asia, South Africa will do no good to the sponsors by winning a trophy. But the players can always win by throwing matches.
But this is not the same with Spain. It has a football crazy population, s atrong league; and football is also used to express regional feelings. FC Barcelona, one of the most strong and famous footballing clubs, were primarily formed to express the Catalan feelings which were suppressed by the tyrannical regime of Spain. Real Madrid is the club with the richest history and the most cups. Yet collectively Spain fails in all major tournaments - expect last Euro cup.
It again has repeated in this Confederatiosn cup. It took only USA, who miraculoulsy reached the semi to kick out the 'La Furia Roja'. Many a world cup and Euro, Spain was always tipped to win the cup, but always found to lose their the way, in the fight to reach the last eight.
It may be a psycological barrier or over confidence - with a line up of Torres, Villa, Xavi, Alonso, Fabregas, Puyol, Pique and Casilas; how can any USA team beat them ? But failing to understand ' You have to play to WIN' ; Turing up on the pitch does not guarantee a win; the same lesson Champions League final taught.
But is the curse more deep rooted - a curse of Football itself ; Even though many countries try to own up origin of football - many factors point to an origin to Americas; in the tribes of Mayas and Aztecs(near modern Mexico) . No offence to Chinese and Japanese; who also seem to have an early form of football. But the presence of rubber balls and strong written information about early football makes Americas seem a contender for the birthright. But this history takes a tragic turn when Spainish landed in Americas. Rubber was a new commodity to them at that time. During the reign of King Charles V of Spain, teams from Americas were taken to perform before his court. But the ultra-religious Spainsh found the bounce of ball and rhythm of the game as handicraft of Devil. They cruelly suppressed the game in Americas. Their cruelty and also the diseases they introduced ultimately wiped out a major chunk of these cultures and also did much damage to the 'BALL GAME'. Is football taking its revenge on Spain ?
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Monday, 15 June 2009
T20 Exit - Surprised ?
When I saw Indians exit from T20, it was English football team that came to my mind. There are so many similarities for comfort. EPL and IPL attracts the global attention. Players over-rated by the hyping media. Fooling themselves by these myths and going out in field with no preparation.
Individually take any players in both teams even though both sports are different. Best on the paper, but collectively failing to click. Lampard, Terry earns more than CR7. So do Indian players, who earn more than SA players, even though a reality check on the talents prove otherwise.
It is foreign players who shine in both IPL and EPL, doing nothing for the host countries. Compare this to Spanish league which nurtures local talent, and the success of Spanish national team.
The amount of time dedicated for preparations for representing the country, are severely restricted by IPL and EPL. Because of the money and glamour involved in both, nobody even opts out for a rest. Such is the greed that, we saw how WI captain arrived for the England tour ill-preapred. Same was the case even with India. Any fresh players out there ? You can justify, so was the case with all teams.
This is not entirely true. The athletic ability of SA, NZ players make them more adaptive in such busy times. Many an Indian lack this kind of fitness, and hence a pathetic show in field.
Even a shoulder injury of a player was not found out. So much for pre conditioning for a world cup.
Even though the team boasts of a long batting line, it entierly falls on 3 players - YR, YP and VS, to give the explosive RR. Rest are all run a ball batsmen.
If it was one Ganguly which struggled against rising ball, now we seem to have built a team full of it.
It is not a rant, when a successfull team fails once. But still if we need to take up the place now left void by Oz, lot more has to be done. And GK as defensive as a brick wall as I remember him from playing days as a T20 coach? Some joke :)
Just some points worth a look into - Cut down on the amount of cricket, or have a large squad and rotate players. Make IPL more domestic oriented. Those who arenot motivated should be dropped from national team however skilled they are. Physical fitness is a must.
Individually take any players in both teams even though both sports are different. Best on the paper, but collectively failing to click. Lampard, Terry earns more than CR7. So do Indian players, who earn more than SA players, even though a reality check on the talents prove otherwise.
It is foreign players who shine in both IPL and EPL, doing nothing for the host countries. Compare this to Spanish league which nurtures local talent, and the success of Spanish national team.
The amount of time dedicated for preparations for representing the country, are severely restricted by IPL and EPL. Because of the money and glamour involved in both, nobody even opts out for a rest. Such is the greed that, we saw how WI captain arrived for the England tour ill-preapred. Same was the case even with India. Any fresh players out there ? You can justify, so was the case with all teams.
This is not entirely true. The athletic ability of SA, NZ players make them more adaptive in such busy times. Many an Indian lack this kind of fitness, and hence a pathetic show in field.
Even a shoulder injury of a player was not found out. So much for pre conditioning for a world cup.
Even though the team boasts of a long batting line, it entierly falls on 3 players - YR, YP and VS, to give the explosive RR. Rest are all run a ball batsmen.
If it was one Ganguly which struggled against rising ball, now we seem to have built a team full of it.
It is not a rant, when a successfull team fails once. But still if we need to take up the place now left void by Oz, lot more has to be done. And GK as defensive as a brick wall as I remember him from playing days as a T20 coach? Some joke :)
Just some points worth a look into - Cut down on the amount of cricket, or have a large squad and rotate players. Make IPL more domestic oriented. Those who arenot motivated should be dropped from national team however skilled they are. Physical fitness is a must.
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Masters degree for UK visa
Strictly from a visa perspective, and a bit of learning interest
Last 2 months I was desperately searching for a Master s course. It has become a mandatory degree for UK visa. The search took me through different options.
Full - time courses were out of the equation as a break from employment was difficult at this time of recession. Also my visa did not allow me such a luxury.
The cost alone made me search in Indian Universities first. There are many Universities which offer Masters through distance education. The cost factor alone makes them attractive. Even travelling to India for writing the exams was not a problem, even with the travel cost they were much cheaper in India. But the villian was the attendance percentage needed for contact classes. 75 % or more is demanded by almost all Unis. Computer masters need labs too.
Example
http://www.keralauniversity.edu/ide/ide_prof.htm#prog
Now as this option was closed, I was looking in UK Unis. The main issue here is the course fee. You need to be a permanant resident, with at least 3 years of permanant address in UK at the momemt of application, to get good fee options in UK Unis. The fee structure is different even for Ireland, Europe and the rest of the world. In short we will end up paying 2 times the UK fees.
There was one University where I found a good part time course with a scholarship for Indians. But it is part time and you may have classes on weekdays. People not based in Preston may find it very difficult. Course length is 3 years, a bit long and repeating any module may become an issue (with application for visa in mind).
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/courses/index.php?discipline=Computing&level=Postgraduate&study_mode=Part+Time
I was looking at UK open university next.
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01F26
The modules are too many and it looks a tedious path to get a Masters. You have to do 8 - 9 modules and a dissertation, in 4 years and have to pay in the range of 12 K pounds. Installments are not there and funding will need a loan which may cost upto 8 % interest.
Anyway if you are inetersted,
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01F56
looks the most attractive as only 4 modules + dissertation is there. But as it is a Cisco course, contact classes and labs are mandatory :(
Then I started looking at complete online courses.
University of Liverpool was a good option. But the course fee was too high for comfort.
http://www.uol.ohecampus.com/index.php?mod=dcp&act=navigationindex&navigationid=6
Finally I struck upon this site.
http://www.rdi.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=70&category_id=1&lang=en&page=shop.browse1
Advantages (I am going to try it, these are from what I have searhed in net)
1. Full online courses.
2. No fee difference for overseas students.
3. Less time period (2 years compared to 3 years in most unis)
4. Fleaxible.
5. Better payment options.
You can check out the University rating for each course at (Thanks to my friend Kiran for this link)
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8726
Check also points at
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator
Last 2 months I was desperately searching for a Master s course. It has become a mandatory degree for UK visa. The search took me through different options.
Full - time courses were out of the equation as a break from employment was difficult at this time of recession. Also my visa did not allow me such a luxury.
The cost alone made me search in Indian Universities first. There are many Universities which offer Masters through distance education. The cost factor alone makes them attractive. Even travelling to India for writing the exams was not a problem, even with the travel cost they were much cheaper in India. But the villian was the attendance percentage needed for contact classes. 75 % or more is demanded by almost all Unis. Computer masters need labs too.
Example
http://www.keralauniversity.edu/ide/ide_prof.htm#prog
Now as this option was closed, I was looking in UK Unis. The main issue here is the course fee. You need to be a permanant resident, with at least 3 years of permanant address in UK at the momemt of application, to get good fee options in UK Unis. The fee structure is different even for Ireland, Europe and the rest of the world. In short we will end up paying 2 times the UK fees.
There was one University where I found a good part time course with a scholarship for Indians. But it is part time and you may have classes on weekdays. People not based in Preston may find it very difficult. Course length is 3 years, a bit long and repeating any module may become an issue (with application for visa in mind).
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/courses/index.php?discipline=Computing&level=Postgraduate&study_mode=Part+Time
I was looking at UK open university next.
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01F26
The modules are too many and it looks a tedious path to get a Masters. You have to do 8 - 9 modules and a dissertation, in 4 years and have to pay in the range of 12 K pounds. Installments are not there and funding will need a loan which may cost upto 8 % interest.
Anyway if you are inetersted,
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01F56
looks the most attractive as only 4 modules + dissertation is there. But as it is a Cisco course, contact classes and labs are mandatory :(
Then I started looking at complete online courses.
University of Liverpool was a good option. But the course fee was too high for comfort.
http://www.uol.ohecampus.com/index.php?mod=dcp&act=navigationindex&navigationid=6
Finally I struck upon this site.
http://www.rdi.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=70&category_id=1&lang=en&page=shop.browse1
Advantages (I am going to try it, these are from what I have searhed in net)
1. Full online courses.
2. No fee difference for overseas students.
3. Less time period (2 years compared to 3 years in most unis)
4. Fleaxible.
5. Better payment options.
You can check out the University rating for each course at (Thanks to my friend Kiran for this link)
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=8726
Check also points at
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator
Friday, 8 May 2009
Run Forrest Run
Saw the London Marathon. Was truely an amazing event. The competition, the spirit, it was great. Many were running for charities and each runer had a story to tell. Many of them were finding this as an avenue to pay back the charities that had helped them or their beloved ones in times of difficulties. Costumes - they were colorful, and I think a world record was established for the fastest marathon in a super-hero costume. The authorities and organisers also did a good job, managing such a big event, and making roads in one of the busiest cities available for such an event. Another thing which caught my eye was the cleaning crew. There were cleaning the bottles and waste immediatly after the race.
Having said so much, there was a marathon (cross - country), I had run when I was in the 9 th standard. In our village, there was a small club of which we were all part of. If you are from such a place, you will know, it is always a club of big brothers, of which you desperately want to be a part of. It is not an easy task to get accepted, and you do not know when you become eligible too. The club used to conduct cross-countries on all Independence days(August 15).
Many used to come from neighboring places as a cash price was awarded to the winners. Also many local guys used to run. The year came and suddenly I was asked to run. For me it was an invitation to the elite group, to prove my worth. When I told to my father that I was running, he just said, "You walk with me along the route today. If you can walk at least a small part, then run". I did not have any doubts in my mind, and for that matter I did not have any clue of what I was going to do also. A month before we started to run in the morning. The funny thing was we were running less than 1 km and I was returning home all tired. Still I was sure that I can do it.
The day came. We had flag hositing in the morning and then the race started All boys from my age group , the wannabes were there. Many who had not even practiced. Race was falgged off, and a lot of people where there to cheer us. I started running. Many ran past me. But I was confident. I paced myself and was sure that many boys were behind me. As in such events in villages, there will be tempo travellers and autos accompanying such events, with blaring music and announcements. All the names of sponsors will be announced constantly. I had ran about 1 km and tiredness was creeping in. I turned a corner and I could nt believe my eyes. Many boys who I thought were behind me were in front of me. I ran fastto catch up with them.
In fact after some time I was with this group. We ran for a little more. The last announcement vehicle was now behind us. We ran a bit more and at last the guys in vehicle were getting impatient. OK now guys stop the race and get in the vehicle. We are pretty behind the seriuos runners. With half a heart I got in the vehicle with all. But we enjoyed ourselves.
But the surprise was when I came to know after many days what the actual plan was . There will be always serious runners for this race. But they will be very less in number. So when the actual event starts, to give it a glorious look, many will be asked to run. And boys behind me had not actually overtook me. They had got in vehicles at the first moment when the race was in secluded area, were dropped off just before next junction. It was all for the sake of the sponsors and public , to show so many were running. No malice as these guys would stop even before the half way as tired racers. Seeing my earnestness, they had never let me into the plan. And had a good laugh at my expense.
Having said so much, there was a marathon (cross - country), I had run when I was in the 9 th standard. In our village, there was a small club of which we were all part of. If you are from such a place, you will know, it is always a club of big brothers, of which you desperately want to be a part of. It is not an easy task to get accepted, and you do not know when you become eligible too. The club used to conduct cross-countries on all Independence days(August 15).
Many used to come from neighboring places as a cash price was awarded to the winners. Also many local guys used to run. The year came and suddenly I was asked to run. For me it was an invitation to the elite group, to prove my worth. When I told to my father that I was running, he just said, "You walk with me along the route today. If you can walk at least a small part, then run". I did not have any doubts in my mind, and for that matter I did not have any clue of what I was going to do also. A month before we started to run in the morning. The funny thing was we were running less than 1 km and I was returning home all tired. Still I was sure that I can do it.
The day came. We had flag hositing in the morning and then the race started All boys from my age group , the wannabes were there. Many who had not even practiced. Race was falgged off, and a lot of people where there to cheer us. I started running. Many ran past me. But I was confident. I paced myself and was sure that many boys were behind me. As in such events in villages, there will be tempo travellers and autos accompanying such events, with blaring music and announcements. All the names of sponsors will be announced constantly. I had ran about 1 km and tiredness was creeping in. I turned a corner and I could nt believe my eyes. Many boys who I thought were behind me were in front of me. I ran fastto catch up with them.
In fact after some time I was with this group. We ran for a little more. The last announcement vehicle was now behind us. We ran a bit more and at last the guys in vehicle were getting impatient. OK now guys stop the race and get in the vehicle. We are pretty behind the seriuos runners. With half a heart I got in the vehicle with all. But we enjoyed ourselves.
But the surprise was when I came to know after many days what the actual plan was . There will be always serious runners for this race. But they will be very less in number. So when the actual event starts, to give it a glorious look, many will be asked to run. And boys behind me had not actually overtook me. They had got in vehicles at the first moment when the race was in secluded area, were dropped off just before next junction. It was all for the sake of the sponsors and public , to show so many were running. No malice as these guys would stop even before the half way as tired racers. Seeing my earnestness, they had never let me into the plan. And had a good laugh at my expense.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Is the Eclipse over?
Sun is a company that has fascinated me always. Partly because I like Java. But primarily because of the innovative ideas that came from Sun and the revolution they brought about. It is an epic in itself when Java took the world by storm. I think it was even featured in Time in 1991 or 1992. May be there is no other company that gave this much to open source community and took away so little as profit.
I came to know, how ignorant I was about Sun, when my assumption that Sun is all about software was proved to be wrong. In fact Sun is all about hardware, with a pinch of innovative software. But that pinch is enough to add flavour to the needs of software community.
Now Oracle may take over Sun. What is in store ? Oracle gets the advantage of a hardware stack, opearting system (Solaris), and a stack of software. With all the pieces of software that Oracle have now, they can aim for the top. IBM only will be able to boast of such an end to end catalogue of products and solutions.
How this merger is going to affect the open source movement is something that I am waiting to see. MySQL which is an integral part of all solutions as of now, may prove to be critical. Will it become more restricted, with a developer and licenced version? Will Oracle allow it to continue ?
J2ME for microsystems, J2EE concepts - how will Oracle use and drive the passion?
It looks a win win situation for Sun and Oracle and may be some real interesting solutions may come through in future. Keeping my fingers crossed about the effects on the open source movement.
May be this is the start of the age of Oracle ....
P.S. I have left technical and company details behind, so that it becomes a general read
I came to know, how ignorant I was about Sun, when my assumption that Sun is all about software was proved to be wrong. In fact Sun is all about hardware, with a pinch of innovative software. But that pinch is enough to add flavour to the needs of software community.
Now Oracle may take over Sun. What is in store ? Oracle gets the advantage of a hardware stack, opearting system (Solaris), and a stack of software. With all the pieces of software that Oracle have now, they can aim for the top. IBM only will be able to boast of such an end to end catalogue of products and solutions.
How this merger is going to affect the open source movement is something that I am waiting to see. MySQL which is an integral part of all solutions as of now, may prove to be critical. Will it become more restricted, with a developer and licenced version? Will Oracle allow it to continue ?
J2ME for microsystems, J2EE concepts - how will Oracle use and drive the passion?
It looks a win win situation for Sun and Oracle and may be some real interesting solutions may come through in future. Keeping my fingers crossed about the effects on the open source movement.
May be this is the start of the age of Oracle ....
P.S. I have left technical and company details behind, so that it becomes a general read
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
The Easter post
Last Sunday celebrated Easter. We remember the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the celebration of Easter. It is on the third day after his death, Jesus arose from the dead and this transformed Jesus is the base of Christian faith. Jesus who lives as a man, is transformed to God as HE gets the power over death.
It is this transformation that is worth a mention.
Christian or not we can find a similar experience in life.
Pockets of time when we lose ourselves. Going through daily life with no apparent goal, when we are 'dead'. But the difference lies whether we are able to resurrect ourselves after this lull; it may be a change of job, taking up a new hobby, absolutely anything that can bring us back into the land of living, without 'just living for the sake of it'.
Constant reinvention - that may be the key to a full life. When we become something more than what we were in the 'dead' phase. May be it also tells us about the cyclic nature of life.
So what are we waiting for, just start a new hobby, play a new game , jump job (I hold no reponsibility for you in this financial climate :)
It is this transformation that is worth a mention.
Christian or not we can find a similar experience in life.
Pockets of time when we lose ourselves. Going through daily life with no apparent goal, when we are 'dead'. But the difference lies whether we are able to resurrect ourselves after this lull; it may be a change of job, taking up a new hobby, absolutely anything that can bring us back into the land of living, without 'just living for the sake of it'.
Constant reinvention - that may be the key to a full life. When we become something more than what we were in the 'dead' phase. May be it also tells us about the cyclic nature of life.
So what are we waiting for, just start a new hobby, play a new game , jump job (I hold no reponsibility for you in this financial climate :)
Saturday, 4 April 2009
V for victory
V for victory. This was a notion that was in my mind from a long time.
But you learn new things all the time, and life had a new surprise for me. It was lucky that I did not learn the lesson in a hard way. I learnt it at the expense of others.
Enough intro - to the story. It all starts with Scotland's worldcup qualifiers. Two of their major players were caught boozing after a crucial match and were left out of the next game. They were on the bench for the game against the Iceland. Scotland won the game, but the two players were banned from ever playing for Scotland. Even they lost face in the local club they were playing. One player lost his captaincy in the local club. (For those who do not follow football - Football players will be playing for clubs and selected players from different clubs play for the country ).
Now what was the reason for this further punishment? Booze was the reason for the first punishemnt. What caused the eternal ban? They were caught making V signs during the WIN. I heard this and saw that in news. I was confused. I was expecting a more sinister story, like Scotland lost the match; as Iceland won and the players showed V sign, they were banned. Showing V signs when opponents won. So I looked up the news in net again. Who won ? Was it Iceland or Scotland ? As both the names end with 'Land', I may have heard wrong. No, I had not heard wrong, Scotland won ; suspended Scottish players showed V sign; they got life ban. Now really I was confused. So I went to the wiki; did a lookup on V sign. I was in for a husge surprise.
V sign is one of the most complex signs you can have. V sign - made with index and middle finger with all other fingers down. It can have two different meanings depending on the direction in which the palm faces.
When you make the sign, if the plam faces others , you are giving Victory sign, in a context of competition or war.
If the palm faces you, when you give the sign; you are in big trouble. You can be interpreted as giving the finger(up ur a--). You can be the devil or devil worshipper as the V now will stand for the horns of the devil. Or it can make you a pervert as the V can stand for female privates.
Ha ha, next time you try a gesture in a foreign land, understand the cultural significance and try it.
But you learn new things all the time, and life had a new surprise for me. It was lucky that I did not learn the lesson in a hard way. I learnt it at the expense of others.
Enough intro - to the story. It all starts with Scotland's worldcup qualifiers. Two of their major players were caught boozing after a crucial match and were left out of the next game. They were on the bench for the game against the Iceland. Scotland won the game, but the two players were banned from ever playing for Scotland. Even they lost face in the local club they were playing. One player lost his captaincy in the local club. (For those who do not follow football - Football players will be playing for clubs and selected players from different clubs play for the country ).
Now what was the reason for this further punishment? Booze was the reason for the first punishemnt. What caused the eternal ban? They were caught making V signs during the WIN. I heard this and saw that in news. I was confused. I was expecting a more sinister story, like Scotland lost the match; as Iceland won and the players showed V sign, they were banned. Showing V signs when opponents won. So I looked up the news in net again. Who won ? Was it Iceland or Scotland ? As both the names end with 'Land', I may have heard wrong. No, I had not heard wrong, Scotland won ; suspended Scottish players showed V sign; they got life ban. Now really I was confused. So I went to the wiki; did a lookup on V sign. I was in for a husge surprise.
V sign is one of the most complex signs you can have. V sign - made with index and middle finger with all other fingers down. It can have two different meanings depending on the direction in which the palm faces.
When you make the sign, if the plam faces others , you are giving Victory sign, in a context of competition or war.
If the palm faces you, when you give the sign; you are in big trouble. You can be interpreted as giving the finger(up ur a--). You can be the devil or devil worshipper as the V now will stand for the horns of the devil. Or it can make you a pervert as the V can stand for female privates.
Ha ha, next time you try a gesture in a foreign land, understand the cultural significance and try it.
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