The Reading Woman

The gracious simper!

Is it what she is reading? 

How I wish I knew?

This bronze statue of Roman Goddess Minerva is located at the entrance of Minneapolis Public Library, Downtown, Minneapolis. The sculpture of this ancient Goddess of Wisdom, made by Jacob Fjelde, was installed in 1889. Since then, the reading woman with a pleasant smile on her face has been an inspiration to many book readers.

Do you read books? If so, how do you define an ideal reading experience? That feeling of gentle rapture, that moment of euphoria? The feeling you get when you are deeply absorbed in your favorite book, the intense pleasure that soothes your life's little troubles in that moment?

The Sicilian

This evening I had the opportunity to visit the library, after much procrastination, and grab some books to read. This reminded me of the books I read recently, and now I cannot help sharing about one with you. Most of you might have already read Mario Puzo's famous novel The Godfather. It is amazing how much he knows about Mafia. Strangely, Mario Puzo is neither of Italian or Sicilian origin nor does he have any relations with the Mafioso. I still wonder how this creator of Don Vito Corleone knows so much about the gangsters behavior. 

The real "Sicilian" Salvatore Giuliano (Source: Wiki)

"The Sicilian" by Mario Puzo also revolves around Mafia and bandits. This book - a story about friendship, honour, courage, trust and treason - is based on real life adventures of a handsome young bandit Salvatore Giuliano. Its about how this young book loving peasant turned into a bandit, and became a force in Sicily. Its about how he became an epitome of Robin Hood by robbing the rich and feeding the poor. Its about how he got entwined in a web of bloody vendetta by opposing corruption and Bosses of bosses (the dons of Mafia) in Sicily. 

Puzo dramatized Turi Giuliano's exploits into a crime thriller in his book, and conveniently weaved characters of The Godfather like Micheal Corleone into this true story. Turi and Aspanu, although  different in their thoughts and behavior are cousins and friends since childhood. By a twist of fate, they get involved in a crime and become outlaws. With Aspanu's support, Turi nurtures his ideals and becomes a bandit. Michael Corleone, who is in exile after avening murder attempt on his father, tries to save Guiliano by bringing him to USA. And this is a story of a good guy who loses.

This book is yet another masterpiece from Mario Puzo, the author through his narration provides an  insight of the Sicilian history and the oppression they had faced for many years. The book also beautifully captures many elements like how Sicilians take pride in their honour, love their country and never forget to avenge the deceitful, "So die all who betray Guiliano!" 

A must read if you have read The Godfather and liked it. A must read even if you haven't read it. 

Project Gutenberg and the Indian Connection

If you have not heard of Project Gutenberg, it is oldest digital library, in making since 1971, encouraging distribution of free e-books. Since then, it has not just made 30,000 e-books in various languages free to access but also many useful audio books and videos. For more information, we have Wikipedia. Now, you have one minute to free your mind and set it on thinking to guess what the Indian connection is. Think wild, set your imaginations free. Free your mind! For those of you bright minds who have guessed it right, hi-fi. And, never mind if you have not figured it out yet.

It is none other than our very own second century collection of Sanskrit writings by Vatsayana on Kama Sutra. This book is the most popular e-book on Project Gutenberg, scoring the most number of downloads. Apparently, Apple rejected an app on Project Gutenberg for iPhones because people could search and download this book on love through the app. Strange and funny, but true!

As always we have tough competition as to what India is famous for at international level, and this case does not help solving the issue. What do you think is India famous for - (a) head wobbling, (b) mystic and spiritual yoga gurus, (c) the curry smells, or (d) as Land of Love?

P.S. There are some excellent books in this website. If you are a Kindle person, then this is your gold mine because this resource lets you download versions of e-books for Kindle Explore it, leisurely! 

Google acquires Motorola, in a bid to reach the top spot

Image Source: paidcontent.org

The entire world knows how Apple grabbed the smart phone market segment with its cool smart phones. Google with its Android platform has been trying really hard to grab the market, but only with partial success. With duopoly dominant in every sector in the USA, I think it is the case that Microsoft and Apple wanted to be the two big players of smart phone business. They joined hands together and attacked Google with patents. Microsoft and Apple together bought old patents of Nortel and Novell, and the technology outcome of these patents were used in most smart phones, and demanded Google to pay $15 per Android phone for using these patents. This would significantly increase the cost of Android phones, which would lead to loss of its market share. 

In their latest move, Google today made their announcement to buy Motorola Mobility for 12.5 billion USD. I guess the excitement is high in Mountain View as Larry Page himself announced the news through their blog. Now Google will have strong patent portfolio, could manufacture its own handsets and could beat the shit out of its competitors. Lets wish Google the best, and hope this competition will lead to better technology from all the biggies.