My Perspective

This article is regarding the concept of Adhikamasa and Kshayamasa (intercalary months) used in some luni-solar calendars in India. Luni-solar calendars are in vogue since lunar months determine the high and low tides while the solar year determines the seasons. But the use of  luni-solar calendars create a unique problem. Since the lunar year (12 lunar months) lags behind the solar year (~365.25 days), this creates a need to keep the lunar year and the solar year in synchrony. Hence the need to use Adhika masa (extra month) and Kshaya masa (removed month)!  The reason for their asynchrony is explained next.

Bangalore MLC Graduates voter registration starts from Oct 1 – Nov 5, 2011 (Last Date). Election and actual voting will happen in the 2012. Who is eligible to vote? If you are resident of Bangalore AND you are a graduate from any Indian university (passed out before Nov 1st, 2008), you can register as a voter and cast a vote to send a graduate to the Legislative Council. You will need a copy of your graduation certificate, self-attested if you are submitting it in person, or attested by a Gazetted officer if you are posting it. You will also need an address proof (Any one of : Passport, Driving License, Ration Card). How to Register?

All those who were felt it right for Anna Hazare's anti graft campaign, this is the time to act! Here are some details about the last MLC Elections, Graduates Constituency (Bangalore) in 2006 Estimated Citizens eligible to register:  7,00,000  (then now 15L) Actual Voters Registered: 60,000 (approx) Actual Votes polled: 21,270 (Abysmal low 3% turnout) MLC elected: Ramachandre Gowda (total votes : 11,423) BJP's Ramachandra Gowda is the current MLC. He was the Medical Education Minister in Yedyurappa cabinet, but was forced to resign after he was accused of corruption in recruitments to medical colleges. This happened because we failed to vote and elect the right candidate! 

Ken Robinson on "schools killing creativity"... This is the most famous and most watched TED video. It does raise many pertinent questions on the current education system and how it is modeled. This video is a great watch for all.. Do not miss it..! Now, my question to you is..

It is long known that popular singer's vocals are pitch corrected through software. I mean off-key notes are adjusted. Yes technology can do wonders! Computer Software is changing the way musicians create, record, and manipulate music. Software called Music Objects Recognition (MOR) can dynamically adjust music elements like harmony, tempo, melody, etc. and can even emulate human performance on the piano..! Dr. Andy Hildebrand, Inventor of Autotune Andy Hildebrand, inventor of pitch correction software Auto-Tune, developed it by applying the data processing knowledge he gained from his work in geophysics, where acoustical waves are used to search for oil. Amazing isn't it..! He estimates that 90% of popular music vocals go through Auto-Tune. Also hardware versions are used to pitch correct live performances on the fly. Recently released “Throat and Harmony Engine” is capable of analyzing a person’s voice recording and recreating it. Visit this link for the complete article: htt...

Ten minutes after you start listening to your favourite music album, you feel that something isn't right. Even though you love this album, you can't listen to it anymore. You shut it off, tired, puzzled, and confused. This always seems to happen when you switch from a classic album to a modern one. What you've just experienced is something called over-compression of the dynamic range. Welcome to the loudness war. The “loudness war” (an assault on music and ears - an open secret of the recording industry for nearly the past two decades), refers to the competition among record companies to make louder and louder albums. But the loudness war could be doing more than just that... like halting technological advances in sound quality for years to come. Find out how..? Flash Version http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5480 Text version http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5429 Find out, how can Replay Gain algorithm help in this cause?

I recently came across this interesting article. And I wish to share it with you all. Here's a story about George Dantzig - the famed mathematician who's contributions to Operations Research and systems engineering have made him immortal. As a college student, George studied very hard and often late into the night. So late, that he overslept one morning, arriving 20 minutes late for Prof. Neyman's class. He quickly copied the two maths problems on the board, assuming they were the homework assignment. It took him several days to work through the two problems, but finally he had a breakthrough and dropped the homework on Neyman's desk the next day. Six weeks later, on a Sunday morning, George was awakened at 6 a.m. by his excited professor. Since George was late for class, he hadn't heard the professor announce that the two unsolvable equations on the board were mathematical mind-teasers that even Einstein hadn't been able to answer. But George Dantzig, working w...