Sexting, a 21st century problem
Connectivity, accessible and mobile technology and a couple of key strokes by adolescents either for the sake of fun or peer pressure and poof… reality hits and hits hard. Life changes in an instant for the worse and with little oppurtunity for recourse. They now have to share the same status as that of a pedophile or a rapist.
Sexting, a unique and a growing problem that needs attention from parents, kids and law makers alike.
Whether parents are tech savvy or not they need to wake up and become aware of this. Schools and organizations working for the betterment of children need to address this and come up with educational programs and devise tools for both children and parents to better combat this. Policy makers and law makers need to recognize this as a separate problem rather than put it under the umbrella of child pornography. New laws need to happen to deal with this new and growing problem.
Here are some questions raised by Mike Galanos, CNN.
The challenges our children face are so very different than what we faced growing up. There is so much of SH*T that can happen by the time one reaches the age of 18 or 20 yrs that our children’s futures could be taken away from them even before they begin.
Even with increased awareness and vigilance by parents, I wonder if its possible to keep up with technology and truly protect our children and our children’s future. Parents need help.
I wonder how India is going to deal with problems of ’sexting‘. I don’t think India has a Sex Offender Registry and considering the lack of a proper National Identification System I am assuming it has a long long way to go.
Drew Berry | Biomedical Animation
I have always loved medical animations, especially at the cellular/sub cellular level. So much of my approach to any topic is visually oriented. I struggle to remember things or understand concepts if I can’t visualize it in some form. It is hard at times studying medicine with only static schematics representing the material I was trying to understand and worse when there weren’t any.
I would try to create my own in my head but sucked at it. Whenever I saw an artist representation of a cellular or sub cellular event I was awestruck and spent hours pondering on it and using it to aid my studies.
With all the technological advances especially in media and graphics I see a wonderful future for medical information becoming more dynamic, brought to life visually and in great detail.
The detail on this animation certainly blows my mind away.
It would be amazing to have medical information use multi-touch, animation and google like search engines extensively to become dynamic and interactive. I hope to see it soon.
Snow snow snow
Snow snow snow… hehe… only for a half hour though 
I step out with my little daughter and surprise surprise, its snowing. Itty bitty wonderous snow flakes riding the air… so beautiful. The look of wonder on my daughter’s face as she stared up at the sky is a sight I will never forget. Her eyes lit up like a star with every snow flake that streamed onto her chubby little cheeks.
Heart melting moments like these especially when I am not expecting it, bring joy in ways that I have no words to describe… I close my eyes, smile as I take a deep breath and savor it.
I love Google Chrome but…
I love Google Chrome’s interface very much but I wish they added more features soon. I have done my bit by going onto their website and voting for the features that I want Chrome to have… the wait is getting to be a little tiresome.
Simple features like having the option of deleting browsing history and cookies when I close the browser or remembering what I enter in forms are all I am looking at. I am happy that they finally fixed the bug for facebook and youtube. But I am very annoyed about the bug in yahoo mail when composing an email and the glitch with the copy & paste.
I seriously think that Chrome went out of Beta too early and for some very obvious reasons.
My Kenneth Cole Watch rocks
I received this Kenneth Cole watch as a gift from my wife. Its the only watch I have that I can wear in a formal setting or for important occasions.
My wife is well aware that I am a little rough and careless when it comes to taking care of such items. She still went ahead and bought me a Kenneth Cole watch… go figure. She did ask me to promise her that I would take good care of it and I did.
The watch I previously had was a cheap Timex Sports Watch. I had made a promise to myself that I would wear it until it lasted which turned out to be many many years. I finally had the excuse to retire it when it ran out of battery.
It has my immense gratitude and respect for its service. From being in water when I was canoeing at Honnemaradu to getting smashed into snow a gazillion times in the Himalayas during my brief time at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM). It took a lot of beating and kept ticking. Hey, I wore it so much that there were times when I forgot to take it off while having a bath.
When I visited my in-laws this Christmas I took along my Kenneth Cole watch as I knew there would be plenty of occasions for me to use it. Remembering the promise I made to my wife I packed the watch between folds of clothes in the suitcase. All went well during Christmas and the watch finally got some wearing time.
Upon my return home as I unpacked I completely forgot about the watch and it made the laundry in the folds of my pants. Couple of days pass and my wife gets tired of looking at my laundry pile up and decided to do me a favor and take care of it for me.
As you would have it the watch splish-sploshed away in the washing machine for 15 while min. Foaming lather and the swirling water… my my quite an adventure. My wife notices the watch as she puts the clothes in the dryer. Thankfully I was not home to hear the screams or experience the murderous rage that would have immediately followed.
When I did get home, she had cooled down a bit but was still angry at me… the huge consolation was that the watch survived the washing machine and was still ticking. Not a drop of water had made it through the air tight seal and the washing machine was not able to even scratch the fella.
Woohoo!! My Kenneth Cole Watch rocks. It is truly a kick ass watch and has earned my respect 
.
Noodle this | I miss Maggi noodles
I miss Maggi noodles. It is one of those things that you could quickly make and munch on, especially on rainy days. Its been a couple of weeks since I went to Patel Bro’s and stocked up my kitchen with Maggi Noodles. Its cold and raining here and all I can think of is Maggi Noodles.
So many memories are tied with Maggi… from their soups to the fairly new ‘daal sambhar atta noodle’ variety.
But I have to say, their ‘rice noodle mania’ definitely did not work for me. I am happy with their originial flavor and fell in love with the ‘daal sambhar’ and still can’t get enough.
Let me try and list a couple of fond associations I have with Maggi noodles… maybe reminiscing over them just might console my heart.
- cooking my own maggi noodles as a kid for an evening snack
- trading tiffin boxes in primary/high school so I could eat the maggi noodles they got from home as lunch
- cooking and eating maggi noodles late at night among friends in the hostel in during exams ( Med school)
- cooking maggi noodles over burning wood on so many treks in the Western Ghats
- eating maggi noodles at my cousin’s place… she made it reaaally well
- eating maggi noodles early in the morning at the restaurant on top of Nandi Hills
- watching a canteen chef on the show MTV Campus reply ‘maggi noodles’ to Cyrus Brocha when asked ‘what his best dish was?’
- introducing my wife to maggi noodles and cooking it a gazillion times as a quick lunch/dinner option during our stay in India
I think I can go at this all day. Sigh!
More on Melamine
Its not just more on Melamine but also less.
Looks like now Melamine is found in leading US infant formula as well but in much much lesser quanitity unlike the ones in China. Apparently it happened unintentionally somwehere during processing.
Here is where the problem begins and knowledge is lacking. We know that large quantities of Melamine can cause kidney/bladder stones and even renal failure but we don’t know what can happen when exposed to Melamine in trace quantities over a long period of time. We know even less about its chemical relative Cyanuric acid. This is a BIG problem as the FDA cannot deem it safe with absolute surety as they don’t know. And a ban on infant formula containing any melamine will take out mostly all infant formula off the market which is not desirable or practical.
How do we tackle this issue??
I think companies producing the formula should start taking some serious steps and make changes in their processing techniques to ensure that no Melamine or Cyanuric acid is present in the formula.
As for the FDA, I second what Dr. Jerome Paulson had to say on The Washington Post.
Dr. Jerome Paulson, an associate professor of pediatrics at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said he didn’t think the FDA’s decision was unreasonable. He added, however, that the agency should research the impacts of long-term, low-dose exposure, “and not just assume it’s safe, and then 15 years from now find out that it’s not.”
And Moms who can breast feed but choose formula instead, should definitely rethink the option.
What is wrong with people???
Its so annoying when you see people who are not disabled/challenged, park in a space meant for the disabled. It boils my blood even more when someone does this despite there being plenty of other parking spaces.
To top it off they happen to be Indian and women with what appeared to be a 9-10 year old kid who decides to run up and down the sidewalk as soon as she gets out of the car.
I had to control myself from getting in their face and spewing all forms of curses at them. Maybe getting towed and paying $100-$500 fine would teach them to be a little more sensible and aware.
PS: They went in to the same restaurant ‘Saravana Palace‘ we were going in for lunch.
Laughter is the best medicine
It is said that laughter is the best medicine that works wonders for both the mind and body. Then all you need is a dose of laughter with your cup of coffee every morning, before you go about your day.
Here is my dose of laughter for today – Bengalooru Banter by Bikerdude.
His posts are a joy to read and makes me laugh in such a way that I use muscles I did not even know I had.
Anyone who understands the nuances of South Indian launguages and its marraige with English in day to day conversation needs to visit his blog, lay back and simply enjoy.
