Spread the word .....

One more blog ? Why ?

2012-02-01T11:52:00.002+05:30

One more blog ? Why ? (Click this link, to know more)

19 / 2012 Two more discoveries

2012-01-31T08:49:00.000+05:30

1. A good site for demystifying group theory ::http://rip94550.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/introduction-to-group-theory-and-cyclic-groups/

2, How to add coffe stains on your LaTeX documents, without wasting coffee, or using a mug. You could be nominated for a Nobel prize by LaTeX loving coffee addicts ::http://hanno-rein.de/archives/349

18/2012 ETAOIN SHRDLU

2012-01-30T05:11:00.000+05:30

Do you know what ETAOIN SHRDLU means ?

Take a look at::http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ETAOIN_SHRDLU

Computer professionals have their own ETAOIN SHRDLU. For instance it is very common to name a file, variable, or such things as "foo". My own favourite is "jlt" (means just like that). Mathematicains use "lambda" to denote an unknown thing, or unknown place or unknown person.

17/2012 My website parthas.htm in QRcode

2012-01-30T04:48:00.000+05:30

I have now a QR code for my website. Here it is , in three different sizes, Use it any way you want !

16/2012 Mind your language

2012-01-22T19:05:00.003+05:30

An excellent source for learning about langauges ::http://www.omniglot.com/I learnt a lot about Tamil here ::http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tamil.htm

15/2012 Online event management system +1

2012-01-21T12:12:00.000+05:30

Welcome to OpenConf : Peer Review & Conference Management Made Simple. Take a look at ::

http://www.openconf.com/

14/2012 Online event management

2012-01-21T11:37:00.003+05:30

Allsymposium.com is a Free online event & management portal where Students& Academicians benefit by Creating, Configuring (with themes, backgroundetc) ,Sharing with Social networking sites, Online ticketing & Managinguser registrations via My Dashboard their events like Seminars,Symposiums,Culturals,Workshops,Conference etc. You can have a look athttp://www.allsymposium.com (link)

13/2012 Using LaTeX for maths

2012-01-20T12:07:00.003+05:30

LaTeX is frequently used for typesetting mathematically rich text.How many of us know how to do this nicely ?

Here are some useful tips::

http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~hildebr/tex/tips-mathdisplays.html

partha

12/2012 The Penguin leads the blind

2012-01-19T10:43:00.000+05:30

viSparsh (Haptic belt for visually impaired )

viSparsh is a wearable navigation-device, in the form of a waist belt, which helps visually handicapped persons to move around autonomously. viSparsh is a fusion of two words,"vision"and "sparsh" (touch). Created by young engineers from India, under the Young India Fellowship Program of the University of Pennsylvania USA, and mentored by Prof. Rahul Mangharam, (Director, mLAB, Stephen J. Angello Chair of Electrical & Systems Engg, Dept. of Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania), this device can be of immense help in a country like India which has a large number of blind persons and low level of resources.

Details of viSparsh can be found at : http://www.visparsh.blogspot.com/

You can also watch a video of viSparsh in action::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTmGZ6sElnU

The icing on the cake :: ViSparsh uses Linux (Ubuntu 10.10)!

You can contact the visparsh team at :: visparsh@gmail.com

11/2012 Be ready for disasters

2012-01-18T13:42:00.001+05:30

Backup your data in Linux with Deja Dup
Linux lovers will love this tool ::http://fsmsh.com/3686

10/2012 Discovering astronomy

2012-01-18T13:33:00.004+05:30

A nice place to start ::http://nineplanets.org/

partha

9/2012 It's all in the stars

2012-01-13T09:32:00.000+05:30

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

I was reading the book "Astrology, belive it or not ?" by S. Balachandra Rao (Pub.: Navakarnataka Books, Bangalore, India).People who study formal logic, are aware of the term "Post hoc ergo propter hoc". Post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for "after this, therefore because of this," is a logical fallacy (of the questionable cause variety) that states, "Since that event followed this one, that event must have been caused by this one." A subtle variant of this fallacious wisdom is the fallacy called "cum hoc ergo propter hoc", in which the chronological ordering of a correlation is insignificant, yet the events are given a cause-effect relationship.

It is commonly seen that we often observe two unrelated events and conclude that one caused the other. This class of examples is sometimes called the "Rooster Syndrome": "believing that the rooster’s crowing causes the sun to rise". Another example of such fallacious logic lies in statements like :: "A black cat crossed my path, so I missed the train" or in the conclusion that "Bob was in the same train as Alan, so Bob is Alan's murderer".

The most ridiculous usage of "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" is in astrology. The bunkum extends to correlating the relentless motion of planets, to earthly phenomena. A planet's position, as seen from the earth, against the backdrop of some arbitrarily chosen bunch of stars decides whether your favourite horse will win the jackpot or not. Planets have always been moving in the skies. People have always been betting on horses. Why not link these two phenomena ? You dont need to know Latin, or know formal logic, to see the farce called astrology.

The day of the week, when a child is born, will decide whether or not he will win the Nobel Prize. "Einstein was born on a Wednesday, so he won the Nobel Prize". How about all those who were born like Einstein, but did not get the Nobel ? Or, all those who got the Nobel Prize but were not born on Wednesday ? Never mind the hard work the surgeon puts in, to save a life. The patient died because the stars were not in the right place or in the mood to let him survive. "It's all in the stars", says the all-knowing astrologer, to console the dead man's widow. By interspersing their discourses with astronomic jargon and mumbo jumbo they can confuse even the staunchest of astronomers.

When will people learn to use common sense ?

***

8/2012 When was JC born ? A sequel

2012-01-12T08:12:00.002+05:30

My blog entry 3/2012 pondered "when was Jesus Christ born?". This entry is a sequel to the question posed in 3/2012.

This article is about a simple problem, not related to anyreligion or belief. The problem may be simply stated as ::chronologically speaking, which came first, Jesus Christ's (JC)birth, or the start of the Christian Era (Anni Domini) ? If JCwas born on Christmas Day (25 Dec.), why does the New Year inChristian Era (Anno Domini) start a whole week later ? So,JC's birthday cannot be given in AD. If AD started before JC'sbirthday, JC was not even born when AD started. Soundsperplexing. The answer to this enigma is not easy, or fool proof.

Between the two possibilities, the option where JC was born"before" the AD era (CE), seems to be more plausible. Theoption that the AD era started before JC's birth is clearly acontradiction. But, this is still a conjecture.

The abbreviation A.D. is short for "Anni Domini Nostri JesuChristi", i.e., "in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ". SinceMuslims, Jews, etc., may not be entirely comfortable with this,the designation "A.D." is now sometimes replaced by the moreneutral C.E. (for "Common Era"), and instead of B.C. ("BeforeChrist") B.C.E. (for "Before Common Era") is sometimes used. TheGregorian Calendar is the calendar which is currently in use inall European and European-influenced countries, and DionysiusExiguus's system of numbering years A.D. has endured to thepresent time. The system of numbering years A.D. (for "AnniDomini") was instituted in about the year 527 A.D. by the Romanabbot Dionysius Exiguus, who reckoned that the Incarnation ofJesus had occurred on March 25 in the year 754 a.u.c., with hisbirth occurring nine months later. Thus the year 754 a.u.c. wasdesignated by him as the year 1 A.D. It is generally thought thathis estimate of the time of this event was off by a few years(and there is even uncertainty as to whether he identified 1 A.D.with 754 a.u.c. or 753 a.u.c.).

Originally the Romans numbered years ab urbe condita (auc) , thatis, "from the founding of the city" (of Rome, where much of thecharacter of the modern world had its beginnings). Following hisconquest of Egypt in 48 B.C. Julius Caesar consulted theAlexandrian astronomer Sosigenes about calendar reform (since thea.u.c. calendar then used by the Romans was completely inadequateto the needs of the emerging empire, which Caesar was poised tocommand, briefly as it turned out). The calendar which JuliusCaesar adopted in the year 709 a.u.c. (what we now call 46 B.C.)was identical to the Alexandrian Aristarchus' calendar of 239B.C., and consisted of a solar year of twelve months and of 365days with an extra day every fourth year. It is unclear as towhere or how Aristarchus arrived at this calendar, but one mayspeculate that Babylonian science was involved. 1 January was theestablished as the start of the year in Rome at the time of thereign of Julius Caesar. That date had apparently no religioussignificance in ancient Rome. It is said that Julius Caesarwanted to start the year on the vernal equinox or the wintersolstice, but the Senate, which traditionally took office onJanuary 1st, wanted to keep January 1st as the start of the year,and Caesar yielded in a political compromise.

To complicate matters further New Year's Day, the first day ofthe new year, was celebrated in different countries, andsometimes by different groups of people within the same country,on either January 1, March 1, March 25 or December 25. January 1seems to have been the usual date but there was no standardobserved. With the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar inBritain and the colonies New Year's Day was generally observed onJanuary 1.

Thus 1 January has no relationship to the birth of JC. 1 Januaryhas no astronomical significance either. There are indicationsthat many years before Caesar, March used to be the start of theyear, since the months September-December are named after theLatin names for 7-10.

The question has been raised as to whether the first Christianmillennium should be counted from 1 A.D. or from the yearpreceding it. According to Dionysius the Incarnation occurred onMarch 25th of the year preceding 1 A.D. (with the birth of Jesusoccurring nine months later on December 25th), so it isreasonable to regard that year, rather than 1 A.D. as the firstyear of the Christian Era. In that case 1 A.D. is the secondyear, and 999 A.D. is the 1000th year, of the first Christianmillennium, implying that 1999 A.D. is the final year of thesecond Christian millennium and 2000 A.D. the first year of thethird.

We don't know the precise date on which Jesus was born. Celebrating hisbirth on 25 December is an old Christian tradition, but he mightjust as well have been born on any other date. There is a populartheory that Christians chose 25 December because there wasalready a pagan celebration of the winter solstice on or nearthat date, and Christians then simply gave that date a newsignificance. But in Christianity it does have significance.Jesus (like all Jewish boys) was circumcised exactly one weekafter his birth. Since we celebrate his birth on 25 December,his circumcision is celebrated on 1 January. This also meansthat 1 January is the celebration of Jesus' name; according tothe Gospel of Luke, "On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had givenhim before he had been conceived." (Luke 2:21)

The year of birth of Jesus can be estimated using two independentapproaches: one based on the nativity accounts in the gospels ofMatthew and Luke, the other by working backwards from the date ofthe start of his ministry, when according to the Gospel of Lukehe was about thirty years old. Most scholars assume a date ofbirth between 6 and 4 BC. This strengthens the theory that CEstarted much after JC's birthday.

It is true that Christ's birthday would be an appropriate date tocelebrate New Year, and in the Middle Ages that was not uncommon.In countries like Denmark, the new year started on 25 Decemberbefore the 13th century (although there are also historicaldocuments that use other dates). But, of course, calendars areeasier to manage if the new year starts on the first day of amonth rather than the 25th. It is unclear why the Romans choseto move the start of the year to January.

Note : The above article is a collection of statements found indifferent, scattered sources on the w-w-web. There is no way tocertify the authenticity of these statements. There is still aconsiderable amount of debate on the origin of calendars and eras.The above article should not be considered as a definite answerto any of the issues involved.

*********

7/2012 Don. Knuth answers your questions

2012-01-11T19:28:00.000+05:30

An hour long video where Prof. D E Knuth takes questions live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDokMxVtB3k

The video runs for 1h 09 min. and is a 186 MB mp4 file.

partha

6/2012 Don. Knuth unveils the next Tex

2012-01-11T11:31:00.001+05:30

June 2010, Calfornia.

TUG 2010: TeX's 25th anniversary included a talk by Prof Donald Knuth on the design features of the next version of Tex which he is working on. Spiced with his characteristic sparks of humour, this is a must-see video for all TeX/LatEx lovers ::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKaI78K_rgA

The video runs for 33.43 minutes and comes as a 87.7 MB file in mp4 format.

partha

PS I have downloaded the above file and can send it to genuine TeX/LaTeX practitioners (you bear the postage and copying costs)

5/2012 June 2012 will be longer than June 2011

2012-01-06T08:25:00.000+05:30

June 2012 will be longer than June 2011 by one second. This is because of the addition a "leap second" to our clock (UTC). Read more about the "leap second" at ::

http://hpiers.obspm.fr/eop-pc/index.php?index=leapsecond&lang=en

partha

4/ 2012 Cryptography at KU -- Question papers

2012-01-05T19:03:00.001+05:30

I have uploaded the question papers of the cryptography course (COMP560) held in Kathmandu Univ. Take a look at ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/cryptoatkath.htm

You can use these questions as self-assessment tests.

partha

3/2012 When was Jesus Christ born ?

2012-01-01T18:14:00.001+05:30

The common calendar we all use is the "Common Era" (CE) calendar, known earlier as A.D. (for "Anno Domini") was instituted in about the year 527 A.D. by the Roman abbot Dionysius Exiguus, However, the New Year starts on 1 January, a whole week after the presumed day of birth of Jesus Christ (Christmas, 25 Dec.). So, when exactly was Jesus born (year) ? What date of birth (25 Dec. ????) would his passport show ? A report will follow in my next blog entry. In the meantime, if you have any inputs, please let me know.

Thanks,

partha

2 / 2012 Understanding our Calendar

2012-01-01T07:38:00.000+05:30

A very nice and exhaustive study of calendars ::

http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud.htm (link)

partha

1 / 2012 Happy New Year -- commemorating a historical blunder

2012-01-01T06:31:00.000+05:30

Happy New Year -- commemorating a historical blunder

We have just started a New Year according to our common Gregorian calendar. The earth just completed going around the sun once. We have just seen 366 sunrises, since the last new Year's Day. There goes a story many of us have not heard of, or have forgotten. Early mathematicians who invented the science of "geometry" decided to divide a circle into 360 degrees. The word geometry itself is inspired from geo -- earth, metry-- measurements. They saw the earth going around the sun in some 360 days (according to their crude and primitive measurements).

Although, later this was proved wrong, we continue to stick to the 360 degrees rule of circles (each degree reminds us of one day in earth's annual excursion), a big blunder which the world has accepted since ages. So, every time we celebrate New Year, we must think of this historic blunder which we made several centuries ago.

Subsequent generations of mathematicians, corrected all this, giving rise to a bewildering variety of calendars. A good collection of calendar related information can be found at ::: http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud.htm

The science of geometry grew into the science of astronomy (now we start looking at the stars). We have now come to the stage when we can actually hope to visit these celestial bodies. All this started with a faulty premise of 360 degrees to a circle.

partha

113 / 2011 Commutative diagrams in LaTeX

2011-12-29T09:41:00.003+05:30

Mathematicians have been using diagrams of objects and arrows to explain their work since at least 1945. Conventially, these are called commutative diagrams (even when they don't commute). You have a choice of tools for making commutative diagrams in LaTeX.

Take a look at :: http://www.jmilne.org/not/CDGuide.html

112/2011 Saluting a mathematical genius

2011-12-26T08:30:00.010+05:30

India celebrates 125 years of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920). . It is so gratifying to note the way we are celebrating this gift India gave to mathematics.

THE HINDU, India's most respected newspaper, carries a full supplement of 8 pages dedicated to Ramanujan. It also carries a whole page interview with Robert Kanigel, author of Ramanujan's biography "The man who knew infinity". The year 2012 has been nominated as the year of Mathematics. 22 Dec.(his day of birth) will be declared as the "National Mathematics day". The Prime Minister of India will inaugurate the year-long celebrations. A movie on Ramanujan's life has been planned.

I can't help comparing this expression of celebrating mathematics, with the less than lukewarm attention this same newspaper gave to ICM 2010, a world class conference on mathematics, held in 2010 in Hyderabad.

In my own little way, I have added two books on mathematics/Ramanujan to
the Professor's bookshelf

Let us hope all this will inspire our future mathematicians, and bring us at least one more Ramanujan.

partha

111/2011 Maths on the Internet

2011-12-22T06:27:00.001+05:30

Dont try too hard to learn maths. There is always help on the Internet.

Start here (link)

110/2011 Yet another very enjoyable maths blog

2011-12-22T06:13:00.000+05:30

This is Yet another very enjoyable maths blog (link).

Enjoy learning.

partha

109/ 2011 Evaluating an educational course

2011-12-19T09:34:00.002+05:30

Some gudelines for designing feedback forms for educational courses ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/downloadables.htm#others

108/2011 Kathmandu -- Where sparrows greet you

2011-12-18T06:25:00.004+05:30

The one thing which attracts me to Kathmandu is the chirping and frolic of sparrows everywhere. We have successfully banished them from all our towns and villages in India. In India, our children will see them only on TV, museums and blogs like this ::
http://manipalblog.com/2011/10/where-has-the-chirp-gone/. Or, if you want to see the real birds, come to Kathmandu.

partha

107/2011 Books on history and mystery

2011-12-18T05:51:00.000+05:30

There is a cop in every one of us. This set of books will educate all of us on how cops and criminals think. http://manipalblog.com/2011/04/7-books-to-read-before-you-diefor-history-mystery-lovers/.

I wish my students will read some of these books before attending my course on cryptography.

partha

106/2011 The biggest e-governance project of the world uses FOSS !

2011-12-16T18:12:00.004+05:30

I am proud to be an Indian, and a FOSS devotee

Imagine counting 1.2 Billion sheep before you go to sleep. Imagine having to give unique identification numbers to each sheep. This is exactly what the Adhaar project of India is trying to do. Aadhar (http://uidai.gov.in/) is a project of the Government of India, which involves assigning Unique Identification Numbers to each person living in India. India is the second most populous country of the world with about 1 170 938 000 people (basis Wikipedia http://www.google.co.in/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=sp_pop_totl&idim=country:IND&dl=en&hl=en&q=india+population), which is about 17.5% of the world's population. To add to this huge challenge, the fact that India is not amongst the richest of nations, makes such a project an impossible feat. In addition to counting and identifying every individual, many demographic statistics and biometric indicators are also to be acquired and recorded for each person. India's most prestigious and mammoth e-governance project, makes it unique in the history of Information Technology. And, to assist them in this mammoth and ambitious task, the Government of India (Unique Identification Authority of India UIDAI), chose FOSS tools and technologies. The FOSS tools they chose include :: RabbitMQ, Mule, Hadoop, Pentaho, Apache Tomcat, Mongo DB, Apache Solr, MySQL + + + .

The unique ID is a 12 digit number with some interesting mathematical properties.

What more proof do you want about what FOSS can do for us all ? Why should we still be slaves to vendors who make and sell fliMSy, and cluMSy products ?

Aadhar provides a flood of opportuniies for FOSS developers, to develop related applications.

I am proud to be an Indian, and a FOSS devotee, and I have got my Adhaar number.

partha
(Based on a story which appears in Linux For You, December 2011)

105 / 2011 And now, it is the turn of Bulgaria

2011-12-15T15:50:00.001+05:30

And now, it is the turn of Bulgaria to learn about Partha's Linux efforts. Partha's Linux post-installation HOWTO is in Bulgarian language !

See ::
http://www.fatcow.com/edu/postlnx-algolog-bg/

Partha's Linux documents have already been translated into :: Japanese, Dutch, French, Turkish, Russian, Spanish, German. Details are available at :: http://algolog.tripod.com/linux1.htm

Thank you Mr. Albertio Ward ( albertioward@gmail.com ).

104/2011 Managing bibliography lists

2011-12-15T06:50:00.000+05:30

Take note, ye LaTeX lovers: BibTex is pass\'{e}. Try :: # biblatex, natbib, Biber

Start here ::http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/25701/bibtex-vs-biber-and-biblatex-vs-natbib

103/2011 Direct manipulation interface

2011-12-15T06:27:00.002+05:30

A new way to look at GUI -- Direct manipulation interface.

For my friends who have not understood the meaning of GUI, here is something more to learn ::
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:VisualEditorSandbox

partha

102/2011 How good a teacher was I ?

2011-12-15T06:17:00.000+05:30

This is what my latest batch of students say. This feedback was obtained at the end of my course on crytography, at Kathmandu, Nepal. Take a look :

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/feedbak2ku.pdf

101/2011 Reason to rejoice !

2011-12-15T05:58:00.007+05:30

I made it !

I just posted my 100th entry for 2011 in my "Professor's blog", located at http://partha-the-prof.blogspot.com/2011/12/designing-feedback-forms-for.html.
This is in addition to 24 posts in my "personal blog", and innumerable tweets on Twitter. Of course, I must add the countless additions I made to my web sites. All of this has generated a fan following, and friends, for me worldwide.

The greatest beneficiaries have been my students and my colleagues. Let me quote an email I received just now : QUOTE Prof. Partha: It is very interesting your Web page. I am enjoying it and learning. Thank you again, it is very kind of you. With all my respects to you, from Venezuela, Hugo Rincon.UNQUOTE

For 13 long years, a bunch of incompetent and mentally retarded clowns mocked at me at the place where I worked. In fact, they finally managed to sink the very organisation which they were pretending to manage. Their company is now extinct and fossilised. It is true that, to destroy an empire all you need is a bunch of irresponsible and incompetent mininsters (or, shall we say, Managers ?). By contrast, I am now noticed, respected and recognised, by scholars and students all around the world. It is now my turn to mock, and laugh at those imbeciles.

partha

NOTICE THE NEW STYLE OF GIVING NUMBERED TITLES TO MY BLOG ENTRIES. IT MAKES CROSS REFERENCING EASIER, FOR ALL OF US.

Designing feedback forms for educational courses

2011-12-15T05:53:00.002+05:30

Obtaining and analysing participant feedback is an important part of any educational course. Whereas the instructor and his superiors are keen to get honest and frank feedback, often the participants themselves do not have enough motivation to spend time and effort in this exercise. Feedback should be made a painless exercise, both for the teacher and the taught. This article summarises some design considerations for feedback sessions. As usual, feedback on this article itself is welcome. Please send your opinions and suggestions to the author.

This paper will soon be aceessible at :: http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/downloadables.htm

You can also request a copy from drpartha.

NOTE: THIS IS MY 100TH POST FOR 2011. LET US CELEBRATE !

How technology helps learning

2011-12-14T11:43:00.003+05:30

Personal Learning Networks

http://www.onlinecollege.org/2011/10/26/50-great-ways-to-grow-your-personal-learning-network/

Create your own PLN today !

partha

The best reward for teaching at KU

2011-12-14T08:30:00.007+05:30

The monastery at Namo Buddha (link) can be reached from Dhulikhel (or KU) by road. It is about 15 kilometres away. The sinuous and bumpy road takes you uphill, through some spectacular scenery. At the summit you find a beautiful monastery, the kind you see in your dreams. This is the site, they say, where a young Prince sacrificed his own body, to save a starving tigress which had just given birth to five cubs. The Prince was reincarnated, and later became Buddha.

Namo Buddha, is a place worth visiting. My visit was made possible, because of my stay at Kathmandu University for teaching cryptography.

Be ready for some adventure (ride on the bus rooftop), if you plan to go to Namo Buddha by bus !

partha

Teaching in Nepal

2011-12-14T07:36:00.002+05:30

I wish I had seen this earlier ::

http://www.gonomad.com/alternatives/0010/davis_teaching.html

About the great rewards, I agree fully. In fact, I can list out some other rewards too (e.g. Nepalese gifts like "Dhaka topi" , "khada", and lovely objets d'art). And, the experience itself is a great reward.

Thank you Nepal.

partha

PS:: What did I tecah in Nepal ? See here ::
http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/cryptoatkath.htm

Is a bicycle "user friendly" ?

2011-12-13T23:02:00.002+05:30

I am amazed by the naivity of many of my colleagues, most of whom are MS worshippers, who claim that a software is "user friendly" if it has a GUI. This is like saying that a bicycle is no good because it does not have a mouse and GUI. There is lot more to user friendliness than usage of a mouse.

Just because a product has a GUI, it does not become superior to anything. In fact the colours and the frills become just a camouflage to cover its flaws. Reminds me of a saying attributed to Albert Einstein ::: "Two things are infinite : the Universe, and human stupidity. I am not sure about the Universe"

Watch this space for more discussions on this subject.

partha

Comparing apples and oranges, statistically speaking.

2011-12-13T19:41:00.000+05:30

R vs SPSS

Some time ago I gave a lecture in Nepal Engg. College Kathmandu (Changunarayan), on the use of FOSS in teaching. One of the examples I chose was about R (a FOSS package for statistics). One teacher took the standard and stale stand about "user friendliness" of SPSS with respect to R. The argument, predictably went around in circles. I now have a more profound anser to that person's remarks. Since I do not know his name, I hope he will be reading this blog, and will realise the fallacy of his arguments.

Please take a look at ::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_statistical_packages

partha

Most Interesting Websites

2011-12-13T08:51:00.002+05:30

Web site designers can learn a thing or two from ::

http://www.mostinterestingfacts.com/technology/internet-technology/most-interesting-websites.html

And, they say, India is a poor country....

2011-12-13T08:24:00.000+05:30

Is India really a poor country ?
http://www.mostinterestingfacts.com/building/antilla-the-most-expensive-house-in-the-world-from-india.html

partha

And, how about some innovative toilets ?

2011-12-13T08:18:00.001+05:30

Take a look and feel jealous ::

http://www.mostinterestingfacts.com/building/top-5-most-unique-public-toilets-in-the-world.html

partha

PS I made this blog entry, just to remind our educational institutions about the need to provide clean and aesthetic toilets in Universities and colleges. All you need is a little thoughtfulness and imagination.

Libraries of the world

2011-12-13T08:11:00.002+05:30

Visit all amazing libraries. Take a look at ::

http://www.mostinterestingfacts.com/building/10-biggest-libraries-in-the-world.html

I hope can visit the most famous library of the world :: Alexandrina some day before I die.

partha

Call Center, Bug Tracking and Project Management Tools for Linux

2011-12-12T18:04:00.001+05:30

Life suddenly became a "breezy moonlit night by the beach" when I found this list of tools:
http://linas.org/linux/pm.html

partha

One more cryptography overview (very good)

2011-12-11T18:42:00.001+05:30

I found a very good overview of cryptography at ::

http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/GLOSSARY.HTM

Please take a look.

partha

The penguin in the court

2011-12-10T08:13:00.002+05:30

QUOTE The Supreme Court of India has directed all courts across the nation to switch over to Ubuntu 11.04 as their pimary operating system. A free SMS channel has also been created to increase awareness about the features and functionality of Ubuntu Linux OS among judicial officers, technical personnel, and other members of the court's staff. UNQUOTE

(Linux for You, November 2011)

partha

PS: This is in addition to the amazing list posted in my earlier blog entry.

Amazing list of Linux users.

2011-12-10T07:15:00.001+05:30

Here is an
amazing list of Linux users worldwide.

How much more of dilly dallying do you want to do ?

At least, take a look at this list, and see for yoursel what you have been missing.

partha

PS: I felt proud to notice that India is listed twice --Tamilnadu state (my birth place), and Kerala state )I taught there).

Interesting property of Fibonacci series

2011-12-08T10:04:00.003+05:30

When we take a look at Fibonacci series, through modulo arithmetic, we get some interesting observations :

http://www.math.temple.edu/~renault/fibonacci/fib.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisano_period

Maths is interesting, because there is so much beauty to discover.

partha

PS: This was a question in my exam for Kathmandu Uiniversity students.

How good is your password ?

2011-12-07T20:52:00.003+05:30

To all my students who attended my recent course on cryptography and e-security, at Kathmandu University ::

Remember my long discourses on using strong passwords ? I found a cute tool which helps you visualise how good/strong your password is. IT gives you individual scores on various parameters which decide the strength of a password, and also an overall score for your password.

Great tool. Try it. Use it every time you choose a password.

The tool is here ::http://www.passwordmeter.com/

Never take chances with security.

partha

Cryptography and e-security questions

2011-12-06T19:06:00.002+05:30

I just finished delivering a course on cryptography and e-security, at Kathmandu University. The end-term question paper is here.

The suggested solutions will also be posted on the web, soon.

Watch this space !

partha

It's hard to say goodbye

2011-12-02T05:28:00.001+05:30

It is hard to say goodbye,
to a land where nature is in full bloom,
where the hills are so inviting,
where people know how to smile,
where Buddha was born,
where Siva reigns as Pashupatinath,
where the snow is warm and the sun is cool,
where my students live, and learn,
where my daughter has her nest,
so, let me just say:
THANK YOU , NEPAL.

There is hope for Nepal

2011-11-18T08:18:00.003+05:30

As long as there are colleges like NEC and teachers like Daya Ram Budhathoki, there is hope for Nepal. Wish them good luck and success.

QUOTE

Dear Dr. Partha,
Thank you very much for your wonderful and expert presentation in Foss for educational institution at Nepal Engineering College. I think your lecture definitely gave some rays of hope on migrating to Linux from pirated version of Windows and other proprietary software.

I hope, NEC in coming days,will be using:
1. GCC compiler instead of Turbo C for C and C++ lab.
2. KOHA for Library Management System
3. Scilab for Matlab
4. OpenOffice.org instead of Micorsoft word.
5. Mysql or Postgresql instead of Oracle
6. Moodle for For Course Management System
7. iTALC for intelligent Teaching and Learning with Computers.
8. Latex for Documentation, Thesis and Report writing.
9.Linux System instead of Microsoft
I would like to appeal all the faculty members, students, management committee and non teaching staff to promote open source movement in Nepal Engineering College. Really, there is no doubt you will feel the liberty in Linux that you will never experience in Microsoft Windows.

Thank you.

--
Lecturer. Daya Ram Budhathoki
Nepal Engineering College
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Changunarayan, Bhaktapur
Nepal
Contact:
Mob. no:977-1-9741213794
+977-1-5090721(O)
Email: dayaramb@nec.edu.np

UNQUOTE

Indian impact

2011-11-18T08:13:00.004+05:30

Spent a day today (2011/11/17) at Nepal Engg. College, (NEC) Bhaktapur, Nepal. Showed them why colleges like NEC should adopt FOSS more vigorously. I think I created a good impact. Let us wait and watch.

partha

India does it again !

2011-11-14T09:26:00.005+05:30

Today's (14 Nov. 2011) Google doodle is from India !

I understand that this Children's Day (14 Nov.) Google Doodle is Drawn by 7 Year-old Girl "Varsha Gupta" from Greater Noida, Congrats Varsha Gupta.

The Professor and the hills

2011-10-20T14:52:00.090+05:30

CHRONICLE OF VISIT TO KATHMANDU

Crptography Course (KU2011-COMP560) website ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/cryptoatkath.htm

Day #	Date	Events
x	y	z
47	2011/12/03	Leave Kathmandu. Reach Hyderabad.
44	2011/11/30	KU Lockout. Evaluation of answer sheets. Tabulation of results. Results handed over to Mr. Manoj Shakya.
43	2011/11/29	KU Lockout. Class shifted to KUIC. Concluding session. Wrapup. Debriefing. Final exam.
42	2011/11/28	No class. KU Lockout.
41	2011/11/27	No class. KU Lockout. Sunday.
40	2011/11/26	No class. KU Lockout
39	2011/11/25	No class. KU Lockout. Workshop on "FOSS tools for maths" camcelled. Printout question paper and prepare exam arrangements.
38	2011/11/24	No class. KU Lockout. LaTeX Workshop cancelled.
37	2011/11/23	No class. KU Lockout
36	2011/11/22	No class. KU Lockout
35	2011/11/21	Briefing for lab sessions. Lab. session #1, #2. GPG/KGPG. Creation of keys. Import/export keys.
34	2011/11/20	No class. Sunday
33	2011/11/19	Weekend. Saturday
32	2011/11/18	No class.
31	2011/11/17	No class.
30d	2011/11/16	Spill over 30c. Review of topics.
30c	2011/11/16	Video Overview of TCP/IP. Video Overview of SSL. IPV4 vs IPV6. IPSEC. ESP. AH. PEM. MIME. SMIME. SET. SSL/TLS. SSH/Open SSH. Proxies. Firewalls.
30b	2011/11/16	Spill over 30a
30a	2011/11/16	Stream cipher vs block cipher. Overview of cryptographic standards : DES, 3DES, IDEA, BLOWFISH, RSA, DH, Elg
29b	2011/11/15	Video TCP/IP. Video DDOS. Power failure, class aborted.
29a	2011/11/15	Spillover of 28b. RSA example. DH video. Key exchange video.
28b	2011/11/14	Stream cipher vs block cipher. Overview of cryptographic standards : DES, 3DES, IDEA, BLOWFISH, RSA, DH, Elg
28a	2011/11/14	Overview of number theory and cryptology. Factoring problem. Discrete logarithm problem. Divisibility. Prime numbers.
27	2011/11/12	No class. Sunday
26	2011/11/12	Weekend Saturday
25	2011/11/11	No class.
24	2011/11/10	No class.
23c	2011/11/09	Informal session. Review of GPG operations.
23b	2011/11/09	GPG
23a	2011/11/09	GPG. Review of email exercise #1.
22	2011/11/08	No class. Lockout at KU
21	2011/11/07	Holiday -- Bhakr Ied
20	2011/11/06	Day off - No class
19	2011/11/05	Weekend - Saturday
18	2011/11/04	Day off - No class
17	2011/11/03	Day off - No class. Announced Exercise #1 by email :: Import of public key, and verification of key properties.
16b	2011/11/02	Session 7a : GPG/PGP overview
16a	2011/11/02	Session 7 : GPG/PGP overview. Video : How to rob a bank ? Video: Phil Zimmermann "PGP"
15b	2011/11/01	Session 6 : Keys management. Video: Terrence Spies "Brute force attacks on keys". Class aborted due to power failure
15a	2011/11/01	Session 5 : Cryptography principles. Concept of encryption/decryption. Stream vs. block ciphers. Symm. vs asymm. key cryptography. What is a digital signature ? Video: Smart cards. Video : Ron Rivest on cryptography. Video : Bruice Schneier. Who are Alice and Bob ?
14a	2011/10/31	Spillover of Session 3. Session 4 : Information security Basics, issues and threats.
13	2011/10/30	KU. No class. Preparations.
12	2011/10/29	Weekend - Saturday
11	2011/10/28	Tihar Holiday
10	2011/10/27	Tihar Holiday
9	2011/10/26	Tihar Holiday
8b	2011/10/25	Session 3 : How Linux does it. Permissions. Security tools. Log tools. Access Control Lists. Passwords management.
8a	2011/10/25	Session 2 : Internet fraud. Threats, remedies
7	2011/10/24	Start of cryptography course at Kath. Univ. Dr. Bhola Thapa.(KU).
7a	2011/10/24	Session 1a: Course overview.
7b	2011/10/24	Session 1b : Takeoff lecture. Motivation. Introduction. Principles of esecurity. Security questionnaire
6	2011/10/23	Kath. Univ. (KU). Prepare lectures.
5	2011/10/22	Day off -- Saturday
4	2011/10/21	Kath. Univ. (KU). Prepare lectures. Dr. K Jha, Dr. M. Pokharel, Mr. P Kharel, Mr. J M Kim.
3	2011/10/20	Visit Kathmandu Univ. Setup office. Prepare lectures. Mr. Manoj Sakhya.
2	2011/10/19	Visit Tribhuvan Univ. Dr. Tanka Dhamala. Dr. M P Gajurel. Dr. S R Joshi.
1	2011/10/18	Reach Kathmandu. Take rest.

Dennis Ritchie RIP

2011-10-15T13:28:00.001+05:30

After a long illness, Dennis Ritchie (1941-2011), father of Unix and an esteemed computer scientist, died last weekend at the age of 70.

Ritchie, also known as “dmr”, is best known for creating the C programming language as well as being instrumental in the development of UNIX along with Ken Thompson.

All of us Linux/Unix lovers owe a lot to this genius who gave us so much.

His death follows that of another prominent figure :: Steve Jobs of Apple computers fame. Perhaps the best tribute to Dennis and Steve is the one which says :: Dennis Ritchie: The shoulders Steve Jobs stood on.

May their souls rest in peace and guide us.

partha

A lovely quote

2011-10-10T13:19:00.002+05:30

A lovely quote I found on the maths blog I mentined a few minutes ago ::

QUOTE

Dream on. I wished that I could travel back in time. To the year 1914 for example. I would go to Cambridge, England. I would take Number Theory lectures from G.H. Hardy and would make friends with Srinivasa Ramanujan. On the way back to 2011 I would stop the clock somewhere in the midst of World War II, to meet Alan Turing to watch him cracking the Enigma code.

UNQUOTE

Another matho clock

2011-10-10T13:13:00.001+05:30

Thank GOD, they don't make clocks like this.

Maths lovers will love this clock

2011-10-10T13:05:00.002+05:30

I found this clock on the web, while I was looking for material for my course on cryptography. How many of the numbers on the clock can you recognise and explain ? Have fun.

The clock was found in a graetly interesting maths blog ::

http://mathematics-diary.blogspot.com/2011/02/mathematical-clock.html

Cryptography with vi

2011-10-05T13:39:00.002+05:30

A small discovery I made today::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/crypto-vi.htm

Could be useful for many of you.

partha

Cryptography at Kathmnadu

2011-09-21T20:09:00.001+05:30

Prof. Partha's course at Kathmandu. Take a look :

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/cryptoatkath.htm

partha

Ultimate list to download free e-Books

2011-09-14T18:23:00.003+05:30

Who does not need books ? Who does not like free books ?

This is where you must start if you are not in the above list of "who"::

http://rrut.com/ulitmate-list-to-download-free-e-books/

Enjoy !

partha

Learn how to use and enjoy Linux

2011-08-28T13:30:00.002+05:30

One more neat site, to learn how to use and enjoy Linux ::

http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/

Cabling...good,bad,ugly

2011-08-24T12:36:00.000+05:30

Take a look, and learn ::

http://systembash.com/content/server-room-cabling-the-best-and-the-worst/

partha

Carrying Linux to the Himalayas

2011-08-11T07:53:00.003+05:30

It is now almost certain, Inshallah, Partha will conduct a course on cryptography using GPG/Linux/FOSS tools in Kathmandu, Nepal. There will also be some encounters with the FOSS community in Nepal. Watch this space.

partha

Ignore this sane advice

2011-08-03T18:55:00.004+05:30

If you have not done till now, do it today. Visit the FSF site, and learn about the perils of getting kidnapped by propreitary software vendors (read Microsoft) ::
http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/opendocument/reject
Ignore this sane advice if you are a suicide seeking sado-masochist.

partha

Flattering news for Microsoft IE users ....

2011-08-03T09:19:00.001+05:30

We knew it all along. It is now official.

Read :: "It’s official: Internet Explorer users are dumb"

http://www.firstpost.com/tech/its-official-internet-explorer-users-are-dumb-51221.html

Recognising symbols in LaTeX

2011-08-02T09:21:00.002+05:30

You found a queer symbol in a LaTeX text. Want to know how to make it in your own document too ?
Just draw it by hand and let this applet classify it with standard LaTeX symbols. Works like magic.

http://detexify.kirelabs.org/classify.html

partha

Looking for great blogs ??

2011-08-02T09:05:00.001+05:30

Looking for great blogs written by teachers like you and me ? Looking for some inspiration ?

Start here :: http://edublogawards.com/2009/best-teacher-edublog-2009/

partha

YARMB

2011-08-02T08:59:00.001+05:30

Yet another remarkable mathematics blog YARMB

Take a look ::
http://divisbyzero.com/

partha

Fact of life .......be prepared

2011-07-28T17:43:00.002+05:30

There was a farmer who collected horses; he only needed one more breed to complete his collection. One day, he found out that his neighbor had the particular horse breed he needed. So, he constantly botheredhis neighbor until he sold it to him. A month later, the horse became ill and he called the veterinarian, who said: Well, your horse has a virus. He must take this medicine for three days. I’ll come back on the 3rd day and if he’s not better, we’re going to have to put him down.

Nearby, the pig listened closely to their conversation.The next day, they gave him the medicine and left.The pig approached the horse and said: Be strong, my friend. Get up or else they’re going to put you to sleep!

On the second day, they gave him the medicine and left.The pig came back and said: Come on buddy, get up or else you’re going to die! Come on, I’ll help you get up. Let’s go! One, two, three…

On the third day, they came to give him the medicine and the vet said:Unfortunately, we’re going to have to put him down tomorrow. Otherwise, the virus might spread and infect the other horses. After they left, the pig approached the horse and said: Listen pal, it’s now or never! Get up, come on! Have courage! Come on! Get up! Getup! That’s it, slowly! Great! Come on, one, two, three… Good, good.

Now faster, come on…. Fantastic! Run, run more! Yes! Yay! Yes!
You did it, you’re a champion!!! All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the field and began shouting: It’s a miracle!

My horse is cured. This deserves a party. Let’s kill the pig!

Point for reflection: This often happens in the workplace. Nobody truly knows which employee actually deserves the merit of success, or who’s actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen.

A teacher's charter

2011-07-27T08:15:00.002+05:30

For all teachers, academicians and administrators to see and respect :::

QUOTE

1. Teaching is not a science, it is an art, and should be treated as such.
2. Students are not customers (“persons who buy”) – they are clients (“persons who seek the advice of a professional man or woman”).
3. “Good learning experience” means mastering something new and advanced. To help his/her students, a university teacher has to be able to transform and restructure highly complex material from his/her subject area into a form suitable and accessible to the learners.
4. This cannot be achieved without teachers being experts in their disciplines.
5. Successful and inspirational teaching is a highly individual skill. The choice of teaching methods should reflect not only specifics of the target audience, but also the experience, teaching philosophy and individual psychophysiological characteristics of the teacher.
6. Structuring of the learning environment, choice of teaching and assessment methods have to be subject specific.
7. Values, standards, criteria of assessment in learning and teaching have to originate in, and be set by, the professional academic communities of their particular subject areas.
8. The role of managers is to create an environment which helps professional standards to be maintained; however, managers should not interfere in setting the standards.

UNQUOTE

partha

http://micromath.wordpress.com/my-teaching-manifesto

A grateful student

2011-07-27T08:03:00.002+05:30

It feels nice to notice that there are still some grateful students in this world.

QUOTE

Dear Dr.Partha,

I want to thank you sooo much for your great effort done with me and also for your golden advices that really helped me a lot , and I do appreciate the time you give me just to help me , and I finally want to say that you changed my opinion about a lot of professors who never help someone without something in return.

THANKS

Best Regards,
Israa
UNQUOTE

Israa Abd El-Ghaffar Salem Mohamed*
Zagazig University-Egypt

YAGMB

2011-07-24T19:09:00.002+05:30

Yet another great maths blog

http://micromath.wordpress.com/

Make sure you follow all the links.

partha

Rupee symbol -- LaTeX

2011-07-22T12:19:00.001+05:30

Get detailed help and information ::

http://drona.csa.iisc.ernet.in/~uday/rupee-latex.html

partha

No nonsense intro to group theory

2011-07-12T09:41:00.001+05:30

The intriguing concept of group theory is a nightmare for many learners (and teachers) of mathematics. Here is a no-nonsense way to approach this subject ::

http://dogschool.tripod.com/

Discover and enjoy !

partha

8 Amazing Lessons from Albert Einstein

2011-07-11T17:46:00.001+05:30

Simply amazing, and true.

Take a look at ::

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/8-amazing-blogging-lessons-from-albert-einstein/

partha

Tamil + Latex + lots of effort

2011-06-28T20:59:00.005+05:30

After almost 6 months of painfully long experimentation, I have managed to resolve a fairly tricky problem. Thanks to the help from my knowldgeable friends I have learnt how to create multilingual documnts using LaTeX. A final report is available at :

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/kuralengtam3.pdf

Writing a Ph D proposal ?

2011-06-26T09:31:00.001+05:30

Writing a Ph D proposal ? Here is some help .....

http://researchproposalguide.com/

partha

Endless fun and dicovery .....

2011-06-09T18:03:00.002+05:30

To learn some fascinating aspects of maths ::

http://plus.maths.org/content/

partha

Are you struggling with your maths?

2011-06-09T17:47:00.002+05:30

Maybe you are suffering from from dyscalculia, the mathematical equivalent of dyslexia. But unlike many dyslexia sufferers, you probably haven't received the help you need to cope with your condition. Get more details here ::http://plus.maths.org/content/struggling-your-maths

Tamil+LaTeX+Linux ... end of the tunnel

2011-06-09T17:43:00.002+05:30

After almost 2 years of effort and struggle, I am reaching the end of the tunnel. I will soon be explaining how I managed to get Tamil+LaTeX+Linux work togther, to typeset a Tamil + English document.

Watch this space for details.

partha

A mysterious number .....

2011-06-09T17:36:00.002+05:30

What is so special about this number ? Read::
http://plus.maths.org/content/os/issue38/features/nishiyama/index

partha

Thus spake Jesus Christ.....

2011-06-01T16:00:00.000+05:30

My experience with this college in Chemperi, Kerala, reminds me
of Jesus Christ.

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing" (Luke 23:34)

Amen

(Watch this space. More to come)

Graph colouring...a word of caution

2011-06-01T15:57:00.001+05:30

Added some more of my ideas about graph colouring. Take a look at ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/coloralert.pdf

partha

Honey, I lost that file ...

2011-05-25T12:02:00.001+05:30

Honey, I lost that file ... is now accessible at ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/downloadables.htm#linux

A mathematician's apology

2011-05-23T10:11:00.003+05:30

A Mathematician's Apology is a 1940 essay by British mathematician G. H. Hardy. It concerns the aesthetics of mathematics with some personal content, and gives the layman an insight into the mind of a working mathematician. Hardy uses the word "apology" in the sense of a formal justification or defense (as in Plato's Apology of Socrates), not in the sense of a plea for forgiveness. (quoted from Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Mathematician%27s_Apology ).

You can download this famous document from ::

http://www.math.ualberta.ca/~mss/misc/A%20Mathematician%27s%20Apology.pdf

This is a "must read" for all my students, and colleagues.

And those want to know about Hardy, must see ::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._H._Hardy

Hardy was the guru and mentor of Srinivasa Ramanujan. In an interview by Paul Erdős, when Hardy was asked what his greatest contribution to mathematics was, Hardy unhesitatingly replied that it was the discovery of Ramanujan. He called their collaboration "the one romantic incident in my life.

partha

Well said...Prof. Einstein

2011-05-23T10:09:00.003+05:30

(About mathematics) :: Why does this magnificent applied science, which saves work
and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness? The simple
answer runs: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible
use of it.
Albert Einstein

Exercises on graph colouring

2011-05-22T23:19:00.003+05:30

This is a sequel to my earlier posting "A tutorial about graph colouring"
I have included two exercise problems (with solution), at ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/color-exer.pdf

Take a look, and send me the box of chocolates you owe me.

partha

BREAKING NEWS: Microsoft Buys Linus Torvalds and Linux!

2011-05-22T10:55:00.001+05:30

The nightmare ::::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxKmDbnPs4

Thank GOD ! This is not true.

partha

Honey, I lost that file ........sorry

2011-05-21T21:45:00.005+05:30

Coming soon ... a short lesson on how to prevent accidental deletion or overwriting of your precious files. Now you can be sure you wont cause a disaster by doing an unintended rm, mv or cp. The lesson will be put up on the web soon, at my "downloadables" page.

You will never have to put up a long, sad face and say "Honey, I lost that file ....sorry".

Enjoy Linux,

partha

A tutorial about graph colouring

2011-05-20T09:44:00.001+05:30

I have added a new tutorial ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/publications/color-app.pdf

Take a look, and send me your comments (and the box of chocolates).

partha

Graph theory and LaTeX

2011-05-20T08:06:00.002+05:30

Found two blogs, on topics very close to my heart :: graph theory, LaTeX. People like me will enjoy these two sites ::

http://graphtheoryinlatex.blogspot.com/

The above blog has moved to wordpress (from blogspot) ::::::

http://graphtheoryinlatex.wordpress.com/

Many thanks to my invisible guru Prof. Christopher Mawata for directing me to this site. I have to learn a lot from you Sir,

partha

Hyderabad Professor honoured again.

2011-05-14T08:58:00.008+05:30

Prof C R Rao, eminent statistician and mathematician, is currently emeritus Professor at Hyderabad Ubiversity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calyampudi_Radhakrishna_Rao.
In addition to many awards and honours he has earned, he was recently honoured with he Royal Statistical Society’s Guy Gold medal.

Prof. C.R. Rao, is the first Asian to receive the Royal Statistical Society’s (TRSS) Guy Gold medal, the highest honour in statistics in the United Kingdom. TRRS ::

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Statistical_Society

Prof. Rao is the prime mover for CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science (aka AIMSCS), located at the University of Hyderabad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CR_Rao_Advanced_Institute_of_
Mathematics,_Statistics_and_Computer_Science

Congrats to you Sir. We are blessed to have you with us.

partha

Why you should not be a maths Professor

2011-05-14T04:18:00.001+05:30

Why you should not be a maths Professor ::

http://www.freewebs.com/profpartha/mathprof.htm

partha

Typesetting Tamil text in Latex -- an experiment

2011-05-12T18:23:00.000+05:30

I have uploaded just now, a preview version of a report on typesetting bilingual documents (Tamil and English). Take a look at :
http://profpartha.webs.com/kuralengtam.pdf
and send me your comments and suggestions.

Thank you.

partha

Graph colouring (coloring)

2011-05-11T04:48:00.005+05:30

Graph colouring is an interesting and computationally hard problem in graph theory. It has applications in a wide variety of areas. Although the problem is very simple to state, the underlying principles are often very hard to understand. Solving the graph colouring problem is a challenging exercise.
The only general solution to finding an optimal graph
coloring is exhaustive search. This strategy can become prohibitively expensive, as the graph size increases.
It is alo very difficult to get good material which one can read, and approach graph colouring problems.

I found a good starting point for the exploration of graph colouring. This overview of graph colouring, created by two Professors of the Danish institute IMADA (belonging to the University of Southern Denmark )

http://www.sdu.dk/Om_SDU/Institutter_centre/Imada_matematik_og_datalogi?sc_lang=en, gives an exhaustiv overview of graph colouring.

You can find the overview at ::

http://www.imada.sdu.dk/~btoft/Graphcol/overview.html

partha

Dirty games, nasty players

2011-05-11T03:20:00.006+05:30

How Nintendo gaming makes you lame :

http://www.defectivebydesign.org/nintendo3ds

Take your own precautions.

Read also ::

kindle swindle : http://www.defectivebydesign.org/amazon-kindle-swindle

ipad is bad : http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ipad

partha

Microsoft in talks to buy Skype, report says

2011-05-10T12:41:00.001+05:30

Bad news again. The big greedy fish is on its way to eat another big fish.
Read the story at ::

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13343600

partha

Important notice for free software supporters using Gmail

2011-05-10T11:46:00.003+05:30

Read about this scandal ::

http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/jstrap/gmail?14527

It is easy to break the shackles of propreitary Javscripts ::

http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:NoJavaScript/Gmail?14527

I have taken these precautions already. Now it is your turn to embrace freedom.

partha