Adithya's BlogThe awesomeness that is ME!

I came across this image while trolling forums. I don’t know where it is from but I would like to read that book.

Edit: I’m an idiot. Uploaded the correct image now.

It’s been a while since I made an update here. It’s mostly down to the fact that I am too lazy. Marc had to keep reminding me that I had a blog. I have been mostly watching movies even though I have loads of books to read. I went out and brought three more as well yesterday. I did finish one today.

1) 11 books from the Warcraft series. I bought all these books in January 2009 and I have only gotten around to reading two of them. Somewhere in the middle of the third War of Ancients archive. At least I can sell them to Marc once I am done or maybe not.

2) The pig that wants to be eaten and the duck that won lottery by Julian Baggini. I have read a little bit of both. Interesting read.

3) The greatest show on earth: The evidence for evolution by Richard Dawkins.

4) The  God delusion by Richard Dawkins. I read half of it when I got the book from the University library. Bought it as a part of Blackwells 3 for 2 offer.

5) Heresies against progress and other illusions by John Gray. I have read a few chapters but wasn’t that great so it will go to the bottom of the reading list.

6) Finally two more books that I bought yesterday as a part of the 3 for 2 offer. Antimatter by Frank Close & Quantum Theory cannot hurt you by Marcus Chown.

I just finished reading the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. The book wasn’t great but it’s good to have started reading again. So much better than wasting time on the internet.I will get around to reading ‘Quantum Theory cannot hurt you’ now.

I am waiting for summer to arrive in Oxford so that I can go outside and enjoy the weather while reading. It’s still cold.

Oh yea, I also got my UK visa extended for 2 more years. Suffer in that third world country, Marc. Haha!

I also want to learn Latin. Anyone up for teaching me?

I came across the political spectrum quiz on Marc’s blog. Considering I hardly work in the lab, I decided to take up the quiz. The results of the quiz are shown below.

Results for three graphs and how to interpret them.

1) Compass: You are a left social libertarian.

2) Foreign Policy: On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world.

3) Culture: Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side?

It has some interesting questions and I’m discussing some of my answers. Take the quiz and post your results on the comments section.

1. The state should restrict abortion in all or most cases.

I strongly disagree on this one. This issue matters a lot too. If the government is going to direct people on how to live their life then we don’t need such a government.

6. Access to healthcare is a right.

Absolutely. It is one of the most essential things and everyone deserves quality healthcare. In my opinion, the government should provide free healthcare.

8. School science classes should teach intelligent design.

I don’t see intelligent design as a science.

9. Marriage must be heralded for the important role it plays in society.

I disagree on this one although this issue doesn’t really matter much. I only see marriage as a social norm.

10. Sometimes war is necessary, even if it means you strike first.

I’m not a big fan of war (unless it’s in computer games) but I have to agree with this.

11. Patriotism is an overrated quality.

I strongly agree with this one. I’m hardly patriotic and patriotism just divides us further.

12. Radio stations should be required to present balanced news coverage.

As much as I would like them to present balanced news coverage, people are entitled to their opinions. Also, who is going to determine that the coverage is balanced?

13. Government should do something about the increasing violence in video games.

Government can fuck off.

14. If our leader meets with our enemies, it makes us appear weak.

Not really. Least they can do is try to solve the issues without fighting.

17. It makes no sense to say ‘I’m spiritual but not religious.’

I don’t think it makes any sense but I don’t really care what religious views people have as long as they don’t force it on others.

18. It is not government’s responsibility to regulate pollution.

Yes it is.

19. Gay marriage should be forbidden.

No it shouldn’t. It’s their choice. How does it affect you?

20. It should be against the law to use hateful language toward another racial group.

I may make racist jokes but I mean no harm. I agree with this one.

21. Government should ensure that all citizens meet a certain minimum standard of living.

Yes. Why else are they there?

22. It is wrong to enforce moral behavior through the law because this infringes upon an individual’s freedom.

I agree with this one. I do think they should enforce some laws but they really shouldn’t over do it. As long as what you do doesn’t harm another person I don’t think it is wrong.

25. Whatever maximizes economic growth is good for the people.

Disagree. Does the growth benefit everyone?

26. Racial issues will never be resolved. It is human nature to prefer one’s own race.

I disagree with this one. It will but very slowly. (Indians and Chinese will soon take over )

28. Marijuana should be legal.

Yes.

29. The state should fine television stations for broadcasting offensive language.

No. If you don’t like what you see or hear, then change the fucking channel.

31. The lower the taxes, the better off we all are.

I disagree with one as long as the government makes use of the money properly (which it almost never does).

43. Economic competition results in inumerable innovations that improve all of our lives.

Yes it does.

45. When one group is slaughtering another group somewhere in the world, we have a responsibility to intervene.

Agree.

46. We’d be better off if we could just lock up some of the people expressing radical political views, and keep them away from society.

No we’re not.

47. Unrestrained capitalism cannot last, as wealth and power will concentrate to a small elite.

Strongly agree.

48. It is a problem when youth people display a lack of respect for authority.

I slightly disagree. It’s situational.

49. When corporate interests become too powerful, the state should take action to ensure the public interest is served.

Yes.

50. A person’s morality is between that person and God only. Government should not get involved.

I agree. Only if this persons beliefs cause direct harm to another person should the government get involved.

51. The state should not set a minimum wage.

Yes it should. Minimum wages are essential for acceptable standard of living.

53. Offensive or blasphemous art should be suppressed.

No. Like I said, people have their opinions. If you don’t like it then ignore them.

One fine evening as I was lazing around with nothing better to do other than study for exams, I decided that I will resume blogging the awesomeness that is ME. So, I mailed Marc and asked him to set me up a subdomain on ampli5. He suggested that I buy my own domain name and my current domain was available and it wasn’t very expensive. Having bought the domain name I was too lazy to set everything up. Finally after a week I stopped being lazy and put everything together. Setting up a wordpress blog is an easy task albeit boring one. I was surprised that at how simple it now is. All I needed to do now was click on install wordpress. Wordpress has also become a lot easier to use that it was before. I also replaced the default theme with a plain one.

The more astute among you would have noticed that I said “resume blogging”. This is my third venture into the blogosphere. The first was a sub domain in ampli5 which was later given up due to boredom and opportunities that led me to start the second one. The second blog was for one purpose and it served that purpose well. The aim was to make some cash so that I can play World of Warcraft. I made sufficient amount of money. In a couple of months, the opportunities reduced considerably that I gave up the second one as well. After a long hiatus, here I am with a third one.

This time around I’m just going to blog when I’m bored. I don’t even plan on writing that often but we will see how it goes. That is it for now. I still haven’t set everything up. I need to setup the main page and then add some useful tools. Will update you when I make a post. You can also check my friend’s blogs from the links on the side. For now leave a comment below