April Fool's From Google

Now presenting the latest Google product... Gmail Paper!

"Everyone loves Gmail. But not everyone loves email, or the digital era. What ever happened to stamps, filing cabinets, and the mailman? Well, you asked for it, and it’s here. We’re bringing it back."

"For every Gmail Paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier."

"Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe" - straight out of LOTR when Gandalf says this to Frodo regarding the ring! :)

Haha, not a bad one as far as April Fool's jokes go! The Weasley twins would be proud! Happy Birthday to Fred and George!

-- Arkajit

Top 1000 Books

There was recently compiled list of the top 1000 books in library's worldwide as of 2005.

My Favorite Fun Facts:

* The Lord of the Rings: #8, yes!!!! (what were the AP English test-makers saying about not being of sufficient "literary merit"?)

* Sherlock Holmes: top mystery novel at #192

* If all the Harry Potter books were counted together, they'd be #5 on the list :) But here's the individual break-down:
#220: Philosopher's Stone (a.k.a. Sorcerer's Stone)
#263: Chamber of Secrets
#304: Prisoner of Azkaban
#350: Goblet of Fire
#529: Order of the Phoenix

This was the updated list through 2005, so that probably explains the absence of Half-Blood Prince which came out in the second half of 2005. The 2006 data is not yet available.

* Shakespeare: 37 works in the top 1000, but not counting sonnets, he only wrote about 38 plays! So he's got almost a 100% conversion if it's all plays.

* Austen's Pride and Prejudice is #32 (beat out Tolstoy's Anna Karenina at #67, ha ha :P)

* Gardner's Art Through the Ages made it at #287 - That makes me feel better about having to carry that huge book for Art History :). But it's been great so far (through Baroque Art).


One unfortunate bias is that about 3/4 of all the books were written in English, so many great translated works missed the cut.

List is sorted by tags at del.ic.ious. And more fun facts are also here - go forth and find them.

-- Arkajit

Beginning of a Journey

According to Wikipedia, "the term weblog was coined by Jon Barger on December 17, 1997". The more familiar shortened form of "blog" didn't get coined until around 1999. So why did I decide to start my own blog now after nearly a decade?

I admit, though I'd heard of the concept fairly early, I didn't find it too appealing. I did experiment with running several group blogs, but none for my own personal use. I was fine with reading other people's blogs, but I never really had much of a desire to create my own. Why someone would want to share their entire life's story on the web was unfathomable to me.

That was until now.

After following quite a few blogs for a long time, I began to realize the benefits of publishing my own blog. First, it is strangely liberating to be able to write about whatever you want. Second, it is an easy way to gain perspective and defragment your mind. Finally, it creates a unique digital footprint for posterity's sake.

For most veteran bloggers, that's probably no epiphany. But now, I'm definitely ready to take the plunge and overcome my aversion to blogging. I'm giving it a shot. Web 2.0 is here - I might as well embrace it.

About the blog name: Lord of the Rings fans probably already realize the reference. But, yes it is a reference to the one ring to rule them all. Perhaps it sheds some light on one of my favorite books.

-- Arkajit