Gimp+Digital Pen = Fast sketches

I've bought a new digital pen - a Genius G-pen 4500, to be exact. For the first few days, I was trying to write and draw with it without hurting my wrist. Then, I tried using it with Gimp, and came up with these:



In this one, I tried playing around with the Gaussian Blur feature to give a smudged effect.
This is of one of my friends - doesn't look much like her as I played around with everything from face shape to accessories.

Finally, just to prove to myself that I can sketch men's faces:

The best thing about these is that they took me around 5-10 minutes from start to finish. So, what do you think? Leave a comment, please!

A song in my head

According to the wise lady at the junk drawer,the best way to get rid of a song stuck in your head is to give it to someone else.

This golden oldie has been inside my head for two whole days, and though I like the song (The only part I like in the entire 'classic' movie), it's getting to be too much. So, everyone, help yourself:

www.onlinetamilmp3.com - Engalukkum Kaalam Found at abmp3 search engine

Norman Rockwell's 'School Fight'

I came across this on a Norman Rockwell gallery on the Saturday Evening Post site. (Thanks, StumbleUpon.) Just had to put it up here.


Here's the link to the original page.

Parasites in the Medical Field - I

Most people can't stand doctors. This is a bitter fact, due to the sheer number of their negative experiences with the medical profession. These experiences are not due to the doctors who truly care about their patient's overall health, those who take time to examine the patient and explain why the patient presents the symptoms she feels, or those who go even further by giving the patient advice on her life and career. They are not even due to doctors who seem short tempered and rushed, but are efficient in providing what the patient needs.

The negative experiences are due to the conceited, insecure, judgmental, completely money-minded people who make up at least 75% of the medical profession. These are the ones who come to mind when anyone talks about doctors. These are the parasites, who are ruining the reputations of the wonderful people I wrote about in the first paragraph.

There was an article in the Reader's Digest a couple of years back titled “41 Secrets Your Doctor Would Never Share.” Some of the people interviewed have said what their patients have known for ages – that they are impatient, care only about money, and can't stand it when the patient shows any sign of intelligence. And, there are other comments which show the doctors' compassion and professionalism. Some of them have used the article to share valuable information with their patients, which they would not be able to do in their consulting rooms. The personalities of the people interviewed showed through very clearly in their comments.

In the next few posts, I'm going to post some of the comments and what I felt about them. I'll start off with their genuine advice to patients and their concerns, not the negative stuff.

One of the things that bug me is people who leave their cell phones on. I'm running on a very tight schedule, and I want to spend as much time with patients as I possibly can. Use that time to get the information and the process you need. Please don't answer the cell.
--James Dillard, MD, pain specialist, New York City

An excellent point. Banning cellphones from a doctor's waiting room and office would save a lot of time for the doctor as well as the patients. But I once saw a doctor who talked on her cordless phone for fifteen minutes while I was sitting next to her. She was swinging back in her chair, too. I learnt a lot about her family, their educational qualifications, their professions, the various countries they live in, and the climate in all those countries that day - General Knowledge! And I had my semester exam the next day – please, people, be considerate!

Many patients assume that female physicians are nurses or therapists. I can't tell you how often I've introduced myself as Dr. M. and then been called a nurse, therapist, or aide and asked to fetch coffee or perform other similar tasks. I have great respect for our nurses and other ancillary personnel and the work they do, but this doesn't seem to happen to my male colleagues.
--Physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, Royal Oak, Michigan

My sister is a Civil Assistant Surgeon in the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. You know what most of her patients, their attendants and other official visitors call her? “Sister!” It doesn't matter that she has an M.D in General Medicine, examines 150 patients every day at her morning O.P, and works 24 hour shifts as a duty doctor. She's female, so she's a nurse, whether she's wearing a doctor's coat or an apron and hat. And it seems this attitude is universal. Oh, good! There is also an assumption that all female doctors are “Lady doctors” or gynecologists.

Another point about the same comment - aren't good medical technicians and nurses worth their weight in gold? Why should anyone ask a nurse or therapist to perform a menial task? While most good doctors and paramedics are ready to do anything in an emergency, being told to do a task seems too much.

…. TBC

Open Book, Read a few lines, take a deep breath...

When I write clues for my cryptic crosswords, I use my Dictionary extensively. I give it quite a workout, and I remember to breathe deeply while I'm doing it. You know why? Because this little girl and I have something in common.

Of course, I'm not the only one who does this. Some people are trying to cash in on this, too. A company has introduced a product - "New book smell in a can" to make ebooks seem more real. I love ebooks, and something that can actually make them better seems like a good idea. (Of course, there is no ordering information available – hoax alert #1!)

But why do books smell good? It's definitely not the freshness of the paper. In fact, old book smell is due to several organic gases that are released as the paper and glue in the book decay. And new book smell? Probably due to the printing ink. So that's what we like! Problem solved - or maybe not...

Some time back, I was looking at a pop-up book with my niece. I took a good sniff, of course, and the smell was very familiar. I didn't have to think too long, for memories came up rapidly – A large book with a laminated cover - A huge white moon with a smiling face on the first page - A deep blue sky with stars, Russian style – Heavy, textured paper – Windows and doors and pop-outs in the pages – The cool table top under my arm - sunlight through the open window in front... The children's section in the Devaneya Paavanar Library.

I also remembered going to get the book issued, and the librarian pointing to the REFERENCE sign, saying “You cannot take out the books in that shelf. Books like dictionaries are kept there because everyone will need them, also books that are very expensive. Because not everyone knows how to handle books - other children may tear it.”

I owe that librarian a great deal. She was perfect for a children's library – sweet, encouraging, and never putting a finger to her lips. She made the library a nice place to spent time in, not just to come in when I needed a book. And I hadn't thought of her in a few years.

Printing ink and organic gases? Synaptic memory in the olfactory lobe? No,there's a simpler explanation which also explains the joy of reading – IT'S MAGIC!

Lest We Forget...

Perfectly normal crimes against women

It's been raining in Chennai for almost three weeks. There's one thing I love about the rains – I get to wear my raincoat! It's brown, thick, long and big enough to cover me with my handbag, and has a nice visor which keeps the rain off my glasses. I look like a witch in it – not a cute witch from Harry Potter but like a proper hag from Macbeth.

Obviously, when I wear my raincoat, I don't get wet. But you know what I do get? Totally non-creepy offers for lifts by men on two wheelers (which I can't accept), lower fares in autos, and a nice walk in the rain without any stares or catcalls. Why? It's a men's raincoat that I bought it to test out the 'men's clothes are comfortable while women's clothes just look good' theory, and only part of my face is visible when I wear it. It makes me look more like an adolescent boy than a woman. And that's the difference.

Till these things happened to me, I didn't realize why I saw only women stranded at the bus stops when the city goes underwater. And, I'd always ignored all the catcalls I got when I walked with an umbrella. Sometimes I blamed myself for getting my clothes wet and looking 'indecent'. Just like all women in Chennai. It's one thing to know that women are oppressed, but realizing that I was actually accepting some of society's perversions as normal...too much!

Fascinating new facts on mosquitoes (or) Sani peyarchi nonsense

There are some intriguing things about mosquitoes that most people don't know. Of course, all of us know that mosquitoes range from the totally harmless ones which don't even bite humans, to the dangerous ones which spread Dengue and Malaria.

The difference between them? When a mosquito is born, it is influenced by the positions of Mt. Everest, Mt Ranier, Mt. Kilimanjaro and K2. These positions decide several things in the mosquito's life, like whether it is going to live long enough to bite someone, whether it will carry a disease, whether it will infect a person with a disease, and whether the infection will be lethal.

Mosquitoes' brains are well attuned to the positions of these four mountains. By analyzing them, a mosquito can decide whether the human it is planning on biting is susceptible to infection or capable of killing it. It can also send a telepathic signal to the mountain responsible, and protect itself from being swatted.

What? I'm crazy? Why? It's a perfectly logical argument!

Mountains don't move? Well, a mosquito is the center of its personal universe, so if it moves, the mountains also move, relatively speaking. Then? Mountains cannot control mosquitoes' lives? Why not? Oh, because mountains are made of rocks, and are not sentient?

Well then, why all this fuss about Sani Peyarchi?

With all the media coverage, the crowd in temples and the crores of money people are spending on pujas to Saneeswaran, one might think the apocalypse is taking place. If it was an everyday event, people would rather use the money to eradicate poverty, right?

The fact is, it is an everyday event. Astronomically speaking, Saturn (Sani) has done nothing but travel in its orbit, as regularly as it has done for millenia. For us, watching from our fixed vantage point o Earth, the constellation behind it has changed. The constellation Leo was in the same direction as Saturn before, now that Saturn has moved, Virgo is in the same direction.

The planets in our solar system are never part of the constellations of stars. Saturn lies a mere 1.2 billion km from us, while the constellations are light years away. There is really nothing linking the stars in a constellation together – the individual stars are separated by light years of vacuum and radiation. For example, the constellation Leo has stars ranging from a distance of 7.7 light years to 336 light years from earth.

Can a gas giant's path through space affect human beings, who are even less significant than mosquitoes on Earth on the astronomical scale?

I have a great respect for ancient Indian astronomy, and for people who really believe in God. But in this Sani peyarchi nonsense, there is no regard for astronomy, or faith. It's just superstition! And for superstition, there's just one word that fits: வெங்காயம்!

Why I like Ubuntu

I switched to Ubuntu Linux sometime back. And after that, anyone I see gets a “Switch to Ubuntu” speech.

Why do I love Ubuntu? Simple, because Ubuntu is free. Free as in...

Free: The simplest meaning of the word – no price tag.

Free disk space: The Ubuntu OS needs a surprisingly small amount of hard disk space and RAM. And all the applications written for Ubuntu are small, or rather, tiny. The files created by Ubuntu applications are smaller too. This means plenty of free disk space, and better performance.

Freedom from proprietary software: A Windows machine needs proprietary software to do anything more than type unformatted text or create very simple bitmap files. Using the system for anything else means spending a small fortune each year to keep the system up to date, or the other alternative.


Ubuntu has open source alternatives for most Windows applications. For example, the document reader can handle .djvu, .cbr and .pdf files, each of which require a special software to read in Windows. And for graphics, there's Gimp, which I prefer to Photoshop – much more intuitive. (I'm an amateur, not a CG professional. I know people prefer Photoshop and Mac for really high-end graphics). There's also Blender, a 3D modelling software that's free and open-source.

And of course, Ubuntu does not need the most tyrannical type of software – you know, the one which slows down your system, requires updates every week, and once your annual license expires is absolutely useless, not just outdated? And after all that trouble, not 100% effective?
Well, Ubuntu does not need Antivirus Software, because its...

Free from viruses. Actually, there have been viruses in Linux systems. Now, for comparison, check here.

Free, efficient tech support: An Ubuntu user is a part of a community, not a customer who has to depend on the vendor for support. In Ubuntu, all it takes is a single Internet search to get the answer. The Ubuntu forums are terrific, with people explaining the 'how and why' of a problem before giving clear instructions on how to solve your problem. This is the best part of using Ubuntu IMHO.

And best of all, I never have to see this nasty thing which had the audacity to turn up at the end of one of my nightmares. Take that BsoD!

Just a note: The stuff mentioned here holds good for all Linux distributions, not just Ubuntu. This page gives a comparative analysis of most of the distributions.
Here's the link to download Ubuntu, and some tips on switching to Linux from Windows.

Thanks to boygeniusreport.com for the image

First Post!

செப்டம்பர் 15 - பேரறிஞர் அண்ணா பிறந்த நாள்.
என் வலைப்பதிவைத் துவக்க இதை விட நன்னாள் எது?

I will be writing in both தமிழ் and English.
What should my first post be about? Please suggest!

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Crosswords
• Feminism
• Bus
• Books