English Grammar - Incorrect Usage 1

'Graduated' or 'Graduated from':

Correct Usage: 'Graduated from'.

It is a common error to use 'graduated college'. It should be 'graduated from college'. 'To graduate' is a verb. It can be both transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb takes an object and an intransitive verb doesn't. 

Consider the following example.

Raj graduated from University of Cincinnati.

This sentence uses an intransitive form of 'to graduate', because this verb has no object. 'from University of Cincinnati' is not an object. It is a prepositional phrase that tells you more about where Raj graduated from. But consider this sentence.

Raj graduated University of Cincinnati.

'To graduate' is turned to a transitive verb. The act of graduation is something a school does to a student and not something a student does to school. Schools graduate students. For example,

University of Cincinnati graduated 800 students this year. 

However, in the sentence 'Raj graduated University of Cincinnati', 'Raj' is the subject and 'University of Cincinnati' is the object. So, while 'Raj delighted University of Cincinnati' is gramatically correct, 'Raj' cannot graduate 'University of Cincinnati'.

So, 'graduate from' is correct.

Raj graduated from University of Cincinnati. <>

Raj graduated University of Cincinnati. <>

Windows 7: What's cooking?

A beta of Windows 7, the next version of Windows OS from Microsoft, is available for free download from Microsoft's website. This is a good opportunity for all geeks out there to test the waters. I still don't have the patience, and more importantly the motivation, to download and get my hands dirty with Windows 7. Prominent reason being; I use Vista ultimate on both my notebooks and have had significant installation problems with it. I'd rather wait and watch Windows 7 establish itself than experiment with its beta version.

Anyways, out of sheer curiosity I may still download the beta sometime this week or the next (the free download is only till Jan 24th), and may test it out later this year. The beta license will expire on Aug 1, 2009. But at the outset, my instinct tells me Microsoft needs to come up with genuinely innovative ideas and designs and not try to ape Mac OS. That's the key to gain (or in this case, retain) consumer confidence and patronage. If it tries to design Windows 7 on lines of Mac OS, consumers will inadvertently start comparing them and this can be detrimental for Microsoft. Unfortunately for Microsoft, a lot of Windows 7's screenshots suggest the abovementioned similarity. As the saying goes, Originality and Innovation separate winners from the rest.

I can't stop myself from mentioning this analogy. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both wonderfully gifted and naturally talented players. But, had Nadal tried to mimic Federer's strengths and fathomed to shift to a serve and volley style of tennis, would he have succeeded? Most probably, No. Mimic products and mimic efforts generally suck. MSN Virtual Earth is a case in point. Microsoft will be better off if it concentrates on its strengths and come up with innovative products than try and create mimic products.

Coming back to Windows 7, it is encouraging to hear that this version is targetted to overcome many of Vista's compatibility issues and bugs. That is the first step in recognizing that Vista is indeed problematic. All said and done, Vista is visually a treat to watch. And Windows 7 is said to better that. Good for Microsoft. And when functionality is added to visual effects, efficiency creeps in; style with substance. Vista to me is only style. Hopefully Windows 7 will be better. There is no sidebar in Windows 7, but gadgets can be added to desktop. In fact, there seem to be many more cosmetic enhancements in this version like aero, peek features etc. There is the new Action center which overlooks security features. Other enhancements include, new paint , new wordpad, new 'home groups', new media center, quick boot. Another great feature is the absence of the annoying UAC feature present in Vista.

I wouldn't jump to any conclusion on Windows 7 yet. Honestly, I found Vista okay but like Mac OS X better. At the end of the day, it boils down to efficiency, user interface and how user-friendly the OS is. If Windows 7 has all these, good for the user. If not, we already have Mac.

A rocky year ticks by!!!!

Phew! What an year it was! 

An extremely volatile economy with dampened spirits and investor confidence at the deepest trench. An year of extremities. Fuel hitting 147/barrel before plummeting to 30 something. Stocks fluctuating as spikes in an Electrocardiogram. Investment Banks wiped out - Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns collapsed while Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley chose to become bank holding companies; Merrill Lynch was gobbled by Bank of America. This ended the era of Investment Banks in the United States. WAMU was the largest bank failure in US. 25 Banks have closed down in 2008. Here is the 2008 failed banks list. (Source: FDIC)

More than half a dozen airlines have shut business. Automobile companies are fighting for survival and some of them are staring down the barrel. CEOs of these companies are like deer caught-in-headlights. IT sector's outlook is bleak. Start-ups and mid-size companies are in severe cash crunch. And ofcourse, there are housing, real-estate and mortgage issues that plague the economy.

Personally, I feel we have moved over the worst part of this recession. I hope the proposed bailout works soon and get the economy back on track. Whatever the measures are, to restore investors' confidence and eventually the economy, results will not be achieved overnight. It will be a slow but steady way upwards hopefully from mid-2009.

Here is me wishing everyone a prosperous, refreshing and a very Happy New Year.

Rebranded Logos - Post Recession

Here are very catchy logos proposed for some brands post recession. 

Source: Anonymous

Top 10 free iPhone Apps - My list

Following are 10 iPhone Apps that I am really impressed with ----

Bloomberg: One of finest apps I have ever come across, this app gives you comprehensive financial information. Gives one the ability to track stock prices instantly, maintain his own portfolio and obtain finance news. The interface is also very lively.

Google Maps: This is the app with max utility to me. In addition to maps, iPhone's embedded GPS makes this app indispensible. I have almost never had any problems with iPhone trying to pick up my current location. 

AroundMe: With this app, you can find electronics stores, retailers, gas stations, banks, grocery stores and what not, that are within your vicinity. I find this app very handy, especially when I have to shop unwittingly. By the way, it is not uncommon to find yourself shop unwittingly if you are married. In midst of shopping for some groceries, you may be required to find another store or mall which has a better version of this product in question and that is when AroundMe comes to your rescue. Personally, this app was of immense help to me during Thanksgiving weekend when I had to arbitarily choose some stores in a mall.

Word Wrap: This app is poor man's Scrabble. Remember the good old 'Text Twist'. This is a condensed version of scrabble which is a good way to pass time when you are stuck in traffic or when you have to take an extended break in the rest room :). I am mostly hooked to this game in my free time.

Midomi (or Shazam): How useful is an application which gets you the song when you hum 10 seconds of the tune? Immense, I would say. Thanks to Midomi, I was able to get hold of masterpieces like 'Ehsan tere' and 'Naam gum jayega' - two songs whose lyrics I had lost over time. It is great for hindi songs; I haven't had any problems trying to retreive hindi songs, no matter how old the album was. 

Google Earth: More than its utility, this app can be worth downloading for the sheer amazement and views it generates. Of course, the speed and display doesn't match with the PC version but nevertheless, it is useful and beautiful.

The Weather Channel: Inspite of having a default 'Weather' app in iPhone which displays weather stats for a week, it misses the level of detail that 'The Weather Channel' has. The weather news bulletins are very useful and it is great to know accurate weather forecasts.

Jott: I love this 'voice to text' app in the sense, I can just read my 'To Do' list to the iPhone. It records my voice and though it takes some time to output it in text format, I will have my notes ready when I need them. It takes around a minute to convert some 3-4 sentences. It is particularly handy when I am driving and need to note down something I feel is important. I haven't yet tried posting to my blog through 'Jott'.

GraphCalc: For someone like me, who is Math freak, GraphCalc is really cool. You get to plot some complex equations. And the best part is, you can take a screen shot of the graph and email the graph to yourself. 

Vocabulistic: A cool application that explains words with examples and usage. I normally use this application in conjunction with Spell Check (which is $0.99). A good pair of vocabulary apps, which can be of great help when you are kicking yourself to remember a word.

Kudos to all app developers.

SMSes after Mumbai Attacks.

There are many SMSes going around after the latest Mumbai terror episode. Here are some of them. My favorite is:

True enemies are not the ones who came in boats, but those who came through votes.

Here are the rest.

·Where is Raj Thakre and his 'brave' Sena'? Tell him that 200 NSG Commandos from Delhi (NO Marathi manoos, ALL South & North Indians!) have been sent to fight the terrorists so he can sleep peacefully. Pls fwd this so that it finally reaches the coward bully!

·Least paid, but bravest, they make biggest sacrifice, our jawans and officers. Selfless saviors. If only v cud paradrop our politicians on nariman hs or only if Dec 13 parliament attack had succeeded, our country wud hv been a safer place.

·He will screw terrorism the way he screwed the economy…introduce service tax on terrorism and fringe benefit tax on NSG (on P. Chidambaram replacing Shivraj Patil as Union Minister for Home).

·Let us hope Chidambaram will be successful in bringing down terrorism the way he brought down share prices.

·I dnt want 2 light a candle 2 bury my remembrance 4 those who hv died. My heart's full of anger, resentment, pain n revenge. I see no victory. I see no reasn 2 clebrte. I see no reasn 2 hoist my national flag outside Taj hotel. 10 terrorists had d power 2 make d entire nation go crazy for 60 hrs.V must fight back. If d governmnt wont save us, let d army rule this country. The subtle speeches of Manmohan Singh & Ptatibha Patil fail 2 extinguish my anger. For d 1st time in my life I dnt feel proud 2 b an Indian, a country which is unsafe, volatile n corrupt. We want Reaction. India needs Leaders. Its Time 2 Wakeup. For Gods sake, don't delete this msg. Pls fwd this msg 2 yr entire contact list in yr mobile. Don't u want a better India 4 yr children? Pls fwd.

· Don't worry about those who came thru boats Our forces can defeat them WORRY about those who come thru votes Those our are REAL ENEMIES Send 2 every true Indian.

.Change of guard in India's security agencies and MHA…Narayanan to be replaced by arnab goswami ass nsa, barkha dutt in place of madhukar gupta, praveen s…

.Forgiving the Terrorists is GOD's responsibility. But fixing their appointment with God is entirely OUR responsibility.

. The biggest ever hostage situation is still underway. Over a billion people are hostage to 545 terrorists who call them selves MPs. Hostages are paying their salaries too. Please pass this on to all other fellow hostages.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Terror in Mumbai. Inefficiencies in our System.

It has happened again. I strongly feel that we have no sense of accountability in our system. Consider the following facts -

- NSG is stationed only in New Delhi. In case of an emergency, like this attack in Mumbai, NSG commandos have to be flown in all the way from the capital. Isn't it common sense to have an emergency and counter-terrorist reponse teams in major cities in the country? Should states contact New Delhi and wait for help be dispatched?

- Even more pathetic is the fact that these NSG commandos on their arrival in Mumbai had to be taken in local city busses - BEST, to the attack sites. Localized reponse teams will lead to precise action.

- When authorities in Mumbai requested 200 NSG commandos at around 11 pm on the night of attack, NSG headquarters realized that the only plane that can take 200 men, the IL 76, is in Chandigarh. And plane was summoned and reached Delhi at 2 am. Hadn't it been wise if they sent two or three planes to accomodate 200 commandos immediately after the request rather than wait for the jumbo flight to take all 200 at once? Or, they could have asked IAF to airlift?

- There were reports that some deaths caused to mumbai police were cases where bullets actually pierced through cops 'bullet-proof' vests. It would have been lot better if money allotted for infrastructure upgrades were used to upgrade combat devices and uniforms rather than get new cars and guest houses for senior officials.

Both quality of response and time taken to respond will obviously play a crucial role in countering these attacks. Experts say that unless a response is mounted within 30 minutes of an attack, the enemy can assume key defensive positions. And NSG reached Mumbai nearly 9 hours after the attack. More than the abilities of our commandos, the efficiency of our system needs to be addressed to. Good that we were able to keep the death toll to around 170 but the damage could haveen reduced drastically further with good response.

Nevertheless, I am very proud of NSG commandos. It is also a good sign that India, for once, did not give in to any submission. There should not be any negotiations with terrorists, lest it will only make them ask for more. Mumbai has bounced back many a time and I am confident it will cripple to normalcy. But what affected citizens more is the apathy of administrators. I was shocked to hear the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, RR Patil, refer this incident as 'small'. It is 'small' to politicians as long as it doesn't happen to them. It is upto the citizens to refrain from getting drawn into useless issues on caste and regional hatred and first stand up as Indians. Once we overcome hurdles among ourselves, we can vote worthy politicians and help India become an organized country.