Magic wand…

I liked this quote

 “Finally, it almost goes without saying that parameter estimation methods are not a magic wand that can be waved at the data. They must be interpreted in the light of experience and knowledge of the conditions in the market at the time.” [1]

[1]. Les Clewlow, Chris Strickland and Vince Kaminski A method of modelling and estimating jumps in energy prices.

Vella, jobless, Hindi

I learned a new word sometime last week. The word is supposed to be spelt as “Vella,” and is supposed to mean, “jobless.” What is more important is that it is supposed to be a word in the Hindi language and is supposedly commonly spoken in Mumbai!

Unfortunately, I have never been aware of this term and it does not seem to be a coincidence that :

  1. the Tamil word, “Velai” means job, and
  2. it is mostly my Tamil friends who claimed that the word Vella means jobless… 

Another group who has used the term is from IIT Delhi (or Delhi in general), which would make it more of a local IITD lingo than anything else (e.g., the term Daya has a special meaning in IITB).

Someone needs to throw some light on this matter, especially, how/why people think it is a legitimate word from the Hindi language.. and if it is, then I need to find the source…

<—– Edit  —–>

From Manoj Rajgopalan (and I verified this to be correct)

“vella is a punjabi word :-) It is used a lot by the Punjabis in delhi and by delhi people in general” I checked that it means “in between jobs”

Orkut testimonials

I have always thought that Orkut testimonials are extremely exaggerated. The more I think about orkut, the more I realize, it is merely a networking tool to find people based on information posted by one’s own self. One of its tools that I have failed to understand is called “testimonials.”

Assume that you (A) like someone’s (X’s) testimonial written by another person (B). What does it mean? Relationships are mostly binary. That B likes X does not mean that A will also like X, even if the testimonials look attractive! Furthermore, all testimonials use exaggerations and look the same.  So, then should every one be connected to everyone else, directly?

Another case is that of great testimonials, great scraps, great information, and people saying that they are at orkut to make friends, and then adding – “don’t contact me if I don’t know you!”  Such people also have great testimonials (and scraps), clearly, only for the public to read!

So, what are testimonials really for?

Michigan football…

As I watch the game between USC and UCLA, I have no doubts that USC does not deserve to be number 2. If this USC team plays OSU, then an OSU defeat, according to me is, an upset.

I have not seen much of Florida, etc. But, from what I understand, Michigan is the only team capable of beating the Buckeyes..

Go Bruins! Go Blue!