Driving by Convention - 4 lane highways.

We will assume that the highway is divided so that there is no worry about oncoming traffic.

The loaded trucks do not like to change lanes as they may topple and cause accidents on the highway. Even empty trucks have a problem changing lanes. A truck may not be able to shift from the slow lane to the fast lane as the fast moving traffic will just not let it.

Hence, the convention. Trucks will move in the fast lane at their speed. You must be prepared to overtake them from the wrong side. Do not expect the truck to move and make way for you. No one will give a signal to change lanes and none is expected. The movement has to be fast and swift. There just isn't an extra millisecond for signalling.

If you are nervous about overtaking on the wrong side, you may horn and make the truck driver's life miserable. In the unlikely event, the truck driver changes lanes, you may actually cause an accident for the cars behind you. They will assume that the truck will not budge and will overtake both you and the truck on the wrong side. The unexpected following of the rules by the truck driver can be an unnerving experience for them.

In case you are wondering what could be slower than the truck - more often than not it will be a tractor, often loaded with hay so that it is broader than a truck. In addition, there are a variety of vehicles which are even hard to describe but often on three wheels.

Driving By Convention - 2 lane highways

Yesterday, I think I discovered that the driving in north India does have a logic. It may not follow 'rules' but that is simply because the rules are inconsistent with the conventions.

We have to realize that the two lane highway will convert to a 3 lane highway - when needed. Hence, you should overtake without worrying too much(see qualification below) about oncoming traffic.

The vehicle on your side and the one coming towards you will shift to the sides - creating an additional lane for you.

Of course, this is contingent upon the vehicle you are overtaking and the one coming towards you are smaller in size than your vehicle. Hence, make sure that neither of them is a truck or a bus.

The other point to bear in mind is that at the same time, a guy from the other side may also decide to overtake a vehicle. At that point, it is a game of chicken. All bets are off.

You also need to watch out for the guy who has not understood the convention. He will drive part way into the next lane in an attempt to overtake the slow vehicle. If he sees oncoming traffic, he will go back into his lane and try again. This is positively hazardous driving. The cars will pile up behind him and, sooner rather than later, someone will become impatient. This is when you may find yourself facing two and a half lanes of oncoming traffic and that can be unnerving.

Importance of Ma and Pa

The extract from Patrick French's book in a way was like the Wikileaks. It seemed to be something we knew - that children of politicians are the ones who get party nominations. The extent of the nepotism did surprise me as I had thought that the media naturally projected the well connected young MP's - who communicated well because of their education.

I  found it disturbing not for what it exposed, which did on shock or even surprise, but that in spite of our many magazines, the so-called free press and a ridiculous number of noisy, hyper-excited 24x7 news channels, the analysis had to be done by a British author.

Another analysis worth doing would be to see the connections of the entrepreneurs. I am pretty sure that role of nepotism in starting even new businesses is likely to be surprisingly high.

May be one day  http://www.theindiasite.com/ may have something!

From a link on that site: the news - Many parties are being floated to launder money, warns EC - was new. I suppose a solution had to be found for all the cash transactions which seem to be prevalent.

Would Google TV be the solution

My television viewing has come down over the years. One of the major reasons is the ads. I checked that in an hour's show, the show time is less than 40 minutes with the ads and announcements making up the over twenty minutes. (I wonder if the channels cut parts of the show or were the original shows as bad.)

I have not been fond of Tivo-like solutions because chances are that I will record and never watch a show - just because it can be done any time. A number of dvd's stare at me - unseen for a year or more.

There is another possibility. I could start recording a show but start watching it half an hour later and skip over the ads. May be one day, I may actually change my subscription.

Or Google may make it irrelevant. I can see the potential of Google TV if the ads inflicted on a viewer are reduced. I estimate that over 90% of the ads on tv today have absolutely no interest or relevance to me. If the ratio holds true for others as well, it would imply that Google (internet) tv could reduce the ads by a factor of 10 and retain the same interest/relevance level for an individual user.

Exiting Social Networks

There was a statement that religion, politics and other emotive posts are a major reason why people 'unfriend'. I found myself getting needlessly irritated by posts on a forum of ex-colleagues. Instead of tech or general topics, a number of ex-colleagues often hi-jack the list for their personal, strongly held beliefs.

I was going to remove myself from the list. Unfortunately, my wife found these discussions at times amusing. So, the messages from the list are filtered and forwarded to her and trashed in my mailbox.

Devaluation of words

I think we need to find a new word for 'friend'. After facebook and similar sites, I wonder what it means any more.

Evolving to impersonal communication

What should we do about mailing lists, especially like the Linux users group which cater to people with a common interest?

So, a discussion about posting on one often enough to keep it alive and kicking, made me feel a little guilty. Sharing on mailing lists is quite focused; but sharing on Google Buzz is much easier. The people on my buzz list and the mailing list partially overlap; hence, sharing on both seems like spamming the people I know. Although I use Buzz and even Facebook, I do not like it.

At least on a mailing list, one would write a line or two about why we were sharing a link. An email was even nicer and more personal. With buzz or facebook, it is an impersonal broadcast.

Yet, we have moved on to sharing over far more impersonal channels of communication. We have to click 'like' or re-share instead of saying thanks for sending it and thinking of me.

I suppose this  Tech-Comics-Meeting-a-Facebook-Friend is indeed a reflection of our times.