Raising a toast at Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest, the world renowned Bavarian national festival held annually in Germany, can only be described in superlatives. It is the biggest and liveliest festival which celebrates beer. Though travelling to Munich may not be possible this year, you could still be part of Oktoberfest festlichkeiten (German for festivities) at Pune. Only the venue might be a compromise, the festival is as authentic as it gets with genuine German beer, food and real German music.

The Oktoberfest will be held at the Pune Race Course during the Derby Weekend, starting October 12. The three-days of the festival will witness traditional tapping of the beer keg and performance by German bands besides a host of activities. Horse races, which were part of the original Oktoberfest in Munich, would help recreate the feel and flavour of the festival.

To help the uninitiated, Oktoberfest began as festivities to mark the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-
Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810. Munichers were invited to attend the festivities and the later on it became a calendar event. The festival has been held continuously except during the Great Wars and during calamities. About six million people visit the fair ground during the 16-days of the festival in Germany.

Over the years, the response to Oktoberfest has grown immensely in India. Pune would be the venue for the fourth time. The cosmopolitan culture and easy pace of life in Pune forms the perfect backdrop for the celebrations. The fact that Pune is home for German companies like Mercedes and Volkswagen, has also played a crucial role in pitching of the festival tents for the fourth time in the city.

Like the festival held in Munich, Pune event would be inaugurated with the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest Beer. Revellers can
drink as much beer as they can and bite into mouthwatering German food while they nurse their drinks. Bratwurst, traditional German sausages flown in from Germany, and other German food would be available to lend that authentic Oktoberfest feel. Punjabi, Maharashtrian and North Indian dishes would also be served.

Though known as the beer festival, wine would also be available. A variety of wines mostly from the wine region of Rheinland Pfalz would be served. German wines may not be the first thing that comes to mind, the Silvaner Selection white wine and Dornfelder red wine are held in high regard by connoisseurs.

German band die Vagabunden will play traditional Oktoberfest songs in order to create the typical Munich Oktoberfest atmosphere.

The fizz of beer, men and women dancing to the beat of Ein prosit (traditional Oktoberfest folk song) and the smell of turf, you would not be way off the mark if you scream Ich bin ein Municher.

This post was first published in www.travel.india.com

Idling

The single most wasteful thing in the world is Idling, be it your car or for that matter a person like yourself. Idling is sometimes justified in a car for comfort i.e. mostly to keep the Air Con running or while waiting for someone. For those who don't know what idling is, it's simply something that you turn on and do nothing with it while even for not doing anything and keeping it on, you waste resources albeit very marginal in quantity like a car at a signal.

In a car, if you are aware of the environmental damage caused by a car you should switch off your engine to save fuel and stop emissions but only if you know for sure that you won't have to turn it on again within 30 seconds or you end up using more fuel to re start the car than by keeping it on, so it's a calculated decision. The calculations have failed a few times with me but even one single successful calculation and you save fuel and in a way, the Planet! But what about your brain?

Brain Idling on the other hand may not save or harm the planet but can certainly harm your growth as a progressive species on the planet. Simply put, absence of work should be met with an adequate task that is enjoyable for the person while it allows the time passing away to be better consumed than idling it away.

A person is then very similar to a car that ignites at birth and is never switched off, so any unused time is idling. This theory does have it's flaws as you might have expected, sleep is a waste of time but a necessary waste of time to keep you going, 8 hours of sleep gets you going for 16 hours roughly so it's not very bad. The persons engine is always running i.e it's heart which is an involuntary muscle so you can't switch off the person like a car but every moment of idling can be avoided by moving the person, not always physically but towards achieving new aspects in life.

As I am running out of ideas to keep you reading, I will stop instead of writing things of lesser value to make this a quantitative blog. Just remember, you can't avoid idling like a car by switching off your engine so why not move on to building character and something tangible rather than just warming your seat.

How safe is the 'Net'?

Using internet is like an integral part of our everyday life but did you know that your personal information can be sold!!! When I first heard this I was like, why would anybody want to buy information anyways? Until my Facebook account got hacked on my 20th Birthday!, though I got it back with the help of FB's team 8 months later. All I kept asking myself was why would anybody want to hack my profile or anybody's profile for that matter? I guess there's no common answer for that. It would be like asking why do people create computer viruses when they can use the time to make a software for making things easier? My favorite answer is so that Anti Virus Software companies are still in business but that's just my opinion. Thinking like that doesn't help even if, God forbid it's true because then you start questioning everybody's intentions like, what do Doctors pray for? and the answer would the illness of people otherwise they would have no work or a crime reporter praying for some crime to report or his editor will use excellent words to praise him but thinking like that just makes life difficult for you.


I went off the topic there a little bit there but coming back to Internet security, which has been a menace for decades but grown exponentially in recent years. Internet identity theft differs from the common form in a variety of ways.  In the physical, someone may be victimized by having a wallet stolen that contains a driver license, credit and medical cards.  From there, the thief can use the stolen items to make fraudulent purchases or file insurance claims.  While the results are severe,internet identity theft has the potential to be much worse.  This is because most victims are completely blind to the crime, unaware that their sensitive information has been stolen.  By the time they find out, it is often too late. 

A novice internet user may not be aware of this, but a computer collects and stores tons of personal information right on the hard drive.  This information may be stored in your browser cache, search history, or temporary internet files.  Though the purpose is to make for a better experience on the web, these files also contain information such as usernames, passwords, addresses, and credit card numbers. 

The information stored on a user's computer can be stolen in two ways: first, a thief can gain access by intercepting the data as it is being transmitted over an unsecured client, or they can install a malicious program that is designed to collect the information and deliver it back to them.  A perfect example would be a computer infection such as spyware.

To avoid Internet ID Theft you can cautious for starters, disable the automatic cookie function in your web browser, personal details such as login and credit card information will not be stored on your hard drive.  If you happen to create cookie files, be sure to delete them frequently. Operating systems, such as newer versions of Mac OS, come equipped with Firewall applications.  Unfortunately, these default programs are not always strong enough to fend off intruders.  Quality Firewall applications are available through reputable companies ,such as McAfee and Norton. The last tip is very simple - if you are not using the internet, there is no need to be connected.  Without an internet connection, a hacker will not be able to gain remote access or control to your computer so don't leave the modem on or the net still connected just because you have an unlimited plan. Enjoy the internet but not at the cost of your 'LIFE'.

A Lost Concept known as Punctuality

When you are late for your appointments, you show a lack of respect for other people’s time as well as your own. Punctuality is a problem for many people.

 

How can you ensure that you keep appointments?  That seemed to be a tough question to answer when asked to random people and I was shocked at the indifference people showed to being on time. The most common justification I got was that other people are late too so if I go on time I end up looking like an idiot. Now......... thats a problem for me because I am in the getting-there-on-time-and-looking-like-an-idiot person category. Whereas it should be the opposite (all rudeness justified to those who don't respect time). Here are some of the things I do to reach a place on time.

I make up my mind that I will be punctual. In many cases lateness is caused by a lack of commitment to arrive on time. Have the right mindset.

 

Record the commitment in your planner (have reminders buzzing on my phone all the time because my memory is comparable to a goldfish) and also record the time you must leave the house in order to arrive on time. Plan to arrive 5 to 10 minutes early (5 minutes early is better as you can go relaxed to your destination rather than rushing when 5 minutes or more late and requiring more time to catch your breath).

 

Don’t be trapped by the one last thing syndrome. If you’re ready to leave and it's still early, leave anyway. Utilize the time at the other end rather than trying to finish one more task before you leave.

 

5. If you are not a morning person (like me), but have early morning commitments (like me), set the alarm a little earlier. Some of us may need to go to bed a little earlier to make this work (again like me but I manage even though I usually go late to bed).

 

 When it comes right down to it, punctuality is a habit that can be developed. It takes great effort at first, but eventually simply happens. Habits are formed by repetition. If you want to acquire the habit of punctuality, you must repeat this behavior again and again.

The things I just mentioned are under ideal circumstances (which change person to person). You may be comfortable with some of the suggestions while others may not even be applicable to you. So it's all about finding the right balance of your thoughts and mainly its all in the head i.e. your Will decides the probability of your actions.

So strive for punctuality and it's chances improve exponentially.

Top Gear - Bugatti Veyron top speed test - BBC

Popular Car review Show 'TOP GEAR' is probably the most viewed Television program under BBC's tag in the last decade. Here one of the show's presenter James May is seen to take Bugatti Veyron, the worlds fastest road legal car to it's top speed of 407 kmph which is ironic as James May is also known as Captain Slow as he is a very responsible and safe driver. Enjoy the video and watch more videos of Top Gear online for a witty and entertaining take on car reviews by Jeremy Clarkson aka Jezza , Richard Hammond aka Hamster and James May aka Captain Slow.

Apocalyptic Weather

You all might have guessed what I am getting at by reading the title itself. Climate is more complicated than the way we refer to it. Disappearance of a few bird species which visit the island city of Mumbai at preset times in the year may not cause a media frenzy but points to impending danger overlooked by many. I won't boast of end of the world statistics but November Rain is a cause of concern (actual rain and NOT the song by Guns and Roses).

Temperature as you probably already know has risen considerably in the last century, almost 1.7 degrees which may not sound like much but by planetary standards its like the blink of an eye. To put things in perspective I'll try to explain it how I read it in an encyclopedia, if the entire life of Earth is assumed to be a day i.e 24 hours then humans spawned at 11.55pm, so technically the Earth is on it's death bed already when the most deadly virus infected it (Human beings).

Such an acute rate of temperature rise will give rise to vector borne diseases due to increased humidity. By 2050 lung ailments and Asthama will become common, according to a IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) that is of course if we survive 2012. Flash floods are a big concern as no matter how many lessons it learns, BMC still can't get the drains cleared before monsoons and untimely downpours will only add to their troubles.

It all comes down to sacrificing your ego for sustenance of the planet. Its very impersonal and biblically wrong on the part of developed countries like the US to order developing countries like India to cut down on its consumption where as the population to pollution ratio is way higher in the US as compared to India. Development for me is to live lavishly but also optimum usage of resources otherwise why develop technology at all.

You can mess with anybody but not with Mother Nature and get away with it. Hurricane Katrina, sudden droughts and floods are all some or the other way connected to our disrespect of our natural surroundings. According to a piece of info I have, there should be 1 fully grown tree for every 5 adults to maintain a proper balance in our eco system be it oxygen regeneration or control on carbon dioxide. Next time you go out of your house just scan your surroundings, how many fully grown trees do you see. Some smart ass must be thinking "there are enough trees in my complex" but think, had there been enough trees, would we be facing the peril that is known as Global Warming?

DSLR Frenzy

In the life of an amateur photographer going from mobile camera to digital camera is like an audition to reaching new heights of glory. For most of us aspiring photographers a digital camera or even a Prosumer is the end of the line but for the few who do manage to acquire a Digital SLR camera, you attain a mini Nirvana as technology wise you are pretty much in the top category. Then comes a stage of where all your beliefs are shred to pieces as you start learning the various features and settings to best capture a moment in history.

You may have improvised and learnt to operate your DigiCam on your own but thats not the case with a DSLR. You have to revert to your manual for some answers as to how you make get the desired results unless you start shooting in Auto mode (which is stupid and dare I say is the case with a few brats I know).

Optics are undoubtedly the most important part of your camera. A good lens is like a set of tyres on a car (car being the camera body), you can have the best car in the world but without a good set of tyres, you can't really reach optimum performance. That's where you come into the picture, managing to shoot crisp images even with an entry level DSLR.

Photography like any other art is open to interpretation by all. Breaking prejudices is what will get you new and interesting results. Playing with Aperture, Shutter Speed, Exposure and ISO can give the same image varied results. Processing an image should be kept to a minimum on Photoshop or other image editing softwares as you gain experience.

As a photographer you should be able to click portraits as well as landscapes, being versatile is more satisfying and lets you know which form of photography is your strength and which is your weakness so you can work upon improving your skills.