A tip to use your generic MP3 player with iTunes:

I have an el-cheapo flash based mp3 player. I catalogue my music using iTunes. I have been trying to figure out using this generic player with iTunes. Apple guys sure make it difficult. I think I figured a round about way to do this. Just follow this step by step procedure.

1. Form a smart play list
2. Goto that playlist
3. Select all
4. Open your flash player as a directory
5. Drag the selected list of songs into this directory
6. Done!

No need for all those fancy drivers or anything.

Stampede in India!

Have you all heard about the Stampede in Maharastra? 300,000 people were crammed into a small temple and a there was rumor of fire, everyone tried to rush out at once, people got trapped in small passageway, that's it, people got crushed down and died.
I have been to Temples where there are literally thousands of people packed into the these holding pens with no exit at all. In Tirupathi, a famous south Indian Temple, as soon as one enters into the queue s/he gets shoved into this holding area for God only know how long. Twelve hours in a stretch is not a exception at all.
I am not really sure , if they have any emergency exits and procedures at all. That's a catastrophe waiting to happen. Hopefully there are smart people managing the queues there in Tirupathi, rather than in Mahrastra.


An Ariel view of crowds in Tirumala during the Brhmostavams, a major festival.

The most who suffer in these queues are the little kids. It is so inhuman to take small children into these dungeons. They don't have enough room, there is no fresh air, they become so hot and then there is no good food and water available.
What can I say? We Indians will never learn. We flock these temples in droves get killed like mosquitoes and justify this by saying that it is in our destiny to die in a temple. We will never grow out of this misery. We will never learn.

Strange people are we!