Miracles of Technology !!

After knowing about the possibility of human cloning, now it does not seem surprising the new development towards creating artificial life! The researcher move one step closer towards this invention. Here is some part of the news:

Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute, a research group that’s trying to create artificial life, moved one step closer to their goal by synthesizing the complete set of genes of a bacterium. The goal is to use artificial genomes to create bacteria designed to take on specific jobs, such as converting underground coal into a more easily extracted gas. The scientists previously inserted the genes of one type of bacteria into the cells of another. If they can use that method to insert the artificial genome into a cell, they’ll have created the first new life form controlled by man-made DNA.

It’s a wonderful breakthrough that could change the way we think about gene therapy,” said David Magnus, co-director of Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics.  “It would allow us potentially to create chromosomes exactly the same as a patient’s chromosome but with genes that have been corrected. This could be a future treatment for diseases.”

Full News: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aMRsRfCRfN5w&refer=us

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Thanks to Philanthropist Anonymous !!!

I am amazed and surprised and very happy seeing the news that some philanthropist anonymous from USA donated $130 million (i.e 910 Crore Take) for SIDR victime in Bangladesh. Authorities mentioned this fund will be used mostly for rehabilitation and reconstruction of primary schools in the affected areas. It is also mentioned in the news that IDB will support rehabilitation and reconstruction projects after final assessment of the damages done by the devastating cyclone.

I felt extremely happy hearing this news and my hearty thanks and best wishes for this respected.. honored .. angel ..person.

Here is the news link:

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=21226

Perception Impacts On Everythign!

Your perspective impacts on everything in your life. The way you think, the way you see things, the way you accept things – affects everything! When we go through tough moments of life we struggle to recover…overcome, deal with weaknesses and strive to deal with it…however the depth of this struggle and the success rate depends a lot on our percept. While struggling to overcome something if we think, doing things are tough, if we see things in a negative way, if we take working on something is hard and cumbersome and out of our capability, the process is going to be more and more difficult. Accepting things simply and then taking baby steps considering each step easier and doable we can grow positive attitude and thus deal things easily. I have a good example to share in this regard.  There is someone I know who always used to think life is difficult, everything is impossible and working hard is impossible for him. He somehow wanted to finish his education and somehow manage a decent job. He could finally graduate with a not so good result and end up getting a job through some connections but now he is performing very bad in his work.On the other hand, there is someone who grew up in a  small village with lots of struggle and constraints. He always used to find life meaningful and used to think nothing is impossible as long as you work hard on it. He used to believe in the inner power of himself and he used to fight every step of his life. He has become very successful man now.Your future, your fate everything is impacted by the way you take things, deal things. Having positive attitude and the willing to work hard can give you a better future. Even small perception changes your attitude, your ability.  So we if we fail to achieve something we want we should find out what can the root cause. We should try to figure out if the way we think, if the way we deal affecting us someway. if so we should try to change our views. We should look at those who can easily handle things and compare the lacking within us.

We should never ever give up. We will fail…many times…but we should never give up.  We should change our perspectives if we are failing repeatedly. Our perception will ease the whole process and make us work out things easily!

  

Painting!!

Looks like being a regular blogger is very close to impossible for me 🙂 I have promised myself that I would write regularly yet I am not very frequent 😦

Well, better late than never!! So here I am !! What should I write about today? How about some personal stuffs?? Sounds interesting!!

These days I am trying to paint/draw. I have never done this before! May be its kinda too late to start this kind of things…but I believe there should not be any time constraint for things you are passionate about and you love to do..unless you have any physical constraints…..so I have started drawing like kids with a lot of excitement….everytime I draw something I look at it and burst into laugh…..even a 5 year kiddo will do better than that…but then again…who cares…its all about my passion…am not planning for any exhibition 😀

I have started with crayons. But mostly I want to do oil painting, I need time to reach that stage. Its too early for that. The painting I have put above is not mine 😛 its Thomas Kinkade‘s Painting.

Its really soothing doing the things you always wanted to do, you are always passionate about but never got a chance. We all have something we are passionate about but never got the chance either because of other priorities or some familial constraints. And when we have time and flexibility we think its too late to start over. I think we should always give ourself some time, we should look into ourselves when we have some relax moments in between our responsibilities and formalities. We should find some time for ourselves and do the things that we really enjoy doing. Be it spending and hour listening to your favorite music closing your eyes, or joining yoga class which you never could manage to do.

I always feel, this is one life I am living and I should try my best to live it. Like Bon Jovi sang

” It’s my life
It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to live while I’m alive”.

We all should some how manage some time just for ourselves and do something we like. That way we can stay more refreshing and will be able to manage this life more properly.

So believing in these I have become a kiddo now and drawing abstract things 🙂 – this is something new happening in my life 🙂

Human Cloning Possible??

Sometimes I wonder which way we are going to? What the future holds for us?? How will it look like? Are all different kind of science fiction stories and movies tells the truth?? How different the society will be? What would be the thought process and cultural activities of mankind?? May be, in this lifetime I will not be able to see much…but may be I will see a lot….

Certain inventions changed the whole society…the way people think….the way people interact and act….such as aeroplane, mobile technology, internet and so many more.

What if cloning turns possible and legal? Where will our society stand? What would happen after that? Has the process alerady started for cloning? I think I should answer: “YES” .

Here is the news (Published on: Jan 18th, 2008) quoted from online resource:

“Scientists at a California company reported yesterday that they had created the first mature cloned human embryos from single skin cells taken from adults, a significant advance toward the goal of growing personalized stem cells for patients suffering from various diseases.

Five of the new embryos grew in laboratory dishes to the stage that fertility doctors consider ready for transfer to a woman’s womb: a degree of development that clones of adult humans have never achieved before.  No one knows whether those embryos were healthy enough to grow into babies. But the study leader, who is also the medical director of a fertility clinic, said they looked robust, even as he emphasized that he has no interest in cloning people.

“This study seems to confirm that human cloning . . . is technically possible,” said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It does not show that a viable or normal embryonic stem cell line can be derived this way, or that any such cell has ‘therapeutic’ value. It does not answer the ethical or social questions about the mass-production of developing human lives in order to destroy them. . . . It only tells us that these questions are more urgent than ever.”

Some Links to the news:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/17/AR2008011700324.html?hpid=moreheadlines

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/us/18embryos.html?ref=us

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3209541.ece

Randy Pausch: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

I would like to share a speach given by Randy Pausch , a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon. In Sept. of 2006, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and it is the most deadly of cancers, with only a 4% 5-year survival rate.

As of December, 2007, as Randy Pausch mentioned, the chemo therapy is working, and the doctors’ best estimate is that it will continue to work for another 2-4 months. Which means he is alive just next few months. Before he leaves this planet he gave a wonderful lecture called “Last Lecture”, it is one-of-a-kind university lecture that moved an overflow crowd at Carnegie Mellon – and is now moving audiences around the globe.

I am so amzaed and inspired seeing this lecture given by this wonderful brilliant man with a lot of sense of humor and creativity!! If you watch the video you would see: how a person can be so much lively and full of spirit while standing in the edge of death. Its one of the most inspiring and lively speech I have ever heard.

Here is the youtube video link of the speech: 

Behind The Scenes – My Job…My Dream!!

The place where I work in – Goldman Sachs – is the place where I always dreamed of working – the responsibilities, the work environment, the views around – everything feels so  awesome. Just in front of my office is the awesome Manhattan views and on the right is the Statue of Liberty!! On the top picture you can see the tall building is my office and in the bottom pic the Manhattan view 🙂

Today I will tell you the story of how I got this job and how I started my journey here…

I started doing my MS at SUNY Binghamton in September 2005 and in August 2006 when I saw all students around me had internship/job experiences, I found no reason for myself not try to get a decent  job. Everybody was happy with their internship experiences and all my friends around were talking about their already accepted full time offer a year ahead:( I found myself completely lost and frustrated… An intersting thing I have always noticed about myself is when I have no or the least hope I suddenly get a  lot of energy and start over 🙂 So, what I did was that I made a nice resume (as poslished as possible :P) with all my skills and eperiences described nicely:P  (be it even in one class of Matlab). Once resume was done, I started applying through all channels possible.

I applied through monster.com and Yahoo jobs (not  a good idea at all, consultancy firms keep calling and irritating :() Then I searched 100 best companies through web and tried to apply to as many companies  I could. The story just began….I found many professional Bangladeshis in US through different groups or google search snd contacted them about it if they  can help some way. As I expected many of them responded and some took my resume to refer to their companies …some helped me update my resume to make it look  more professional 🙂

After doingall those, the last thing I did was apply through our Career Center in our school. Generally what happen is, each year many companies come to  visit our school and take on campus interviews. If they are satisfied they will call those students for on-site interview in their office. So, once  thats done, I got a call from Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg and Microsoft for the on campus interview. I was scared to death at this moment as I don’t have full  time technical experience of any kind so I saw no chances 😦

But then again, my life’s first interview ever in USA….so there is nothing to lose but to give my best try….So I had three of those interviews…all went  ok…and then I got a call from Goldman Sachs next week for the on-site interview, it was a whole day interview with 6 people independently. It went quite great. I can’t help explaining that particular day. I took the flight from Binghamton and reached New York around 9.30. I was all dressed up and was a  lil nervous – that was my life’s first on site intervirew ever in USA (I know I sound funny by saying life’s first over and over again…but that’s how it was  🙂 Then I reached the office around 11 and was immidiately asked to take the ferry to go to the other side of the river to our other office building. I was really scared at that time, completely new in the place…not sure if I will take the right ferry or not…and if I’ll make it on time….but then I realize thats a part of interview itself…how well managed and smart you are handling unexpected situations…well…I think I managed it well..When I reached the other building in new Jersey I was so amazed seeing our building…it was awesome with the exceptional nice view of Manhattan ….I reached on time …had my interviews till lunch then again took the ferry back to New York on the first building for the rest 3 interviews…it went very very well… but then again… with life’s first on site interview in USA….all i could think is “God ….just give me the chance” and He did!

And here I am now! I joined on July 19, 2007 and enjoying every little bit of it….trying to work hard as much as I could…I am sure and very hopeful that things will improve more and I will get chance to improve myself more…

The moral of the story that I would like to mention: “Whatever condition you are in, never ever give up!!! You always have chance no matter what….just believe and go ahead and work on it… Dreams always come true, you just need to keep working on them!”

I thank all the people who were there beside me in the process of this journey!!!

Visiting National Air and Space Museum!

This weekend I visited The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. I have always wanted to go there since I read the description of moon rock in Humayun Ahmed and Zafar Iqbal’s  books. It was a great fun and good experience. the museum is full of amazing things about air and space. However, the moon rock was really dissapoingting 😦 It was so small I could barely figure out what it is and I was not at all excited)

The things that attracted me most were:
1. Simulation of an aircraft flight… starting from the take off to landing..there was simulation, very exciting…you can see which buttong are pushed, how the gear is changed… the navigation and the positiong of the aircraft and so on…its really cool and worthy of learning.

2. I was amzaed to see how the Wright brothers came up with the idea of FLYING!! how could someone even imagine that in 1903?? The aeroplanes..mobile technology, GPS….nothign would have been possible without that impossible dream!!! Oh Gosh, I wish I could be somewhat creative and intelligent like these people 😛

3. Amazing amazing other cool stuff like contruction of planet, the begining of universe….all the scientific wonder of light …and so on..

There were so many kids around and I just missed all the Bangladeshi kids who grow up without all these exciting events and places where they could see all these scietific and educational stuff with fun. In Bangladesh even if kids read about these they mostly go through the books which most of the time is boring, if they could visit meusiums like this it would have been much better for their knowledge and their educational growth.

The Moon Rock and Wright Brother Plane:

 

Some Good Time Together!!

This Eid I spent wonderful time with Tanu, my friend here at work. She has a huge family who were all invited at her place and it was so charming spending the time with them. After a long long time I felt like being at home. Like the way we used to spend Eids back home with many relatives around, making fun. Childrens playing in one place, seniors gossiping religion and death stuff. Youngs are talking about study, carrer, romance 😉

It was great fun and I deeply enojyed that day!!!!

You can see the pics up 🙂

United Bangladesh Appeal

There are many organizations by Bangladeshi expatriates which helps in the development of Bnagladesh and works closely ti improve any disasters incidents. Alsoindividual Banglsadeshis expatriate try to help through those organization by donating whatever they can.

One such organization is recently formed which is mostly consists of a number of existing expatriate Bangladeshi organizations who came together in the aftermath of Hurricane Sidr in order to unify the expatriate Bangladeshi community towards a common goal.

A little more about the organization from http://www.unitedbangladeshappeal.org/:

“The United Bangladesh Appeal (UBA) is a newly formed umbrella organization seeking to leverage the power of the global expatriate networks to help Bangladesh. UBA was formed spontaneously on November 20, 2007 by young Bangladeshi professionals from around the globe who realized that while the various different Bangladeshi expatriate organizations may have varied and divergent interests, there are times of national crisis when a coordinated and unified response can have the greatest impact.”

Tahmina Anam mentioned about this organization that: “At the heart of this campaigning is a strong sense of responsibility for our fragile homeland. Soon after winning the Nobel Peace prize last year, Mohammad Yunus published an article called A Vision for Bangladesh, in which he pointed out a startling fact: expatriate Bangladeshis send more money home per capita than their Chinese and Indian counterparts.”

So it is indeed a great attempt by expatriate Bangladeshis, a common platform that we all Bangladeshi expatriate should use to help and donate our people, our country. It will be greatly helpful and easily handled platform.

United Bangladesh Appeal

There are many organizations by Bangladeshi expatriates which helps in the development of Bnagladesh and works closely ti improve any disasters incidents. Alsoindividual Banglsadeshis expatriate try to help through those organization by donating whatever they can.

One such organization is recently formed which is mostly consists of a number of existing expatriate Bangladeshi organizations who came together in the aftermath of Hurricane Sidr in order to unify the expatriate Bangladeshi community towards a common goal.

A little more about the organization from http://www.unitedbangladeshappeal.org/:

“The United Bangladesh Appeal (UBA) is a newly formed umbrella organization seeking to leverage the power of the global expatriate networks to help Bangladesh. UBA was formed spontaneously on November 20, 2007 by young Bangladeshi professionals from around the globe who realized that while the various different Bangladeshi expatriate organizations may have varied and divergent interests, there are times of national crisis when a coordinated and unified response can have the greatest impact.”

Tahmina Anam mentioned about this organization that: “At the heart of this campaigning is a strong sense of responsibility for our fragile homeland. Soon after winning the Nobel Peace prize last year, Mohammad Yunus published an article called A Vision for Bangladesh, in which he pointed out a startling fact: expatriate Bangladeshis send more money home per capita than their Chinese and Indian counterparts.”

So it is indeed a great attempt by expatriate Bangladeshis, a common platform that we all Bangladeshi expatriate should use to help and donate our people, our country. It will be greatly helpful and easily handled platform.

Global Essay Contest for Bangladesh!

There is a wonderful opportunity open by Anwarul Quadir Foundation to come up with innovative great ideas to help in improving the low- and middle- income people of Bangladesh. This is a global contest open to all individuals. The contest is to propose an innovative and practical way of improving the lives of low- and middle-income people in Bangladesh. This proposals will be judged by four Harvard University faculty members, in consultation with scholars familiar with Bangladesh. The author of the winning essay will be awarded the Anwarul Quadir Prize, USD $25,000.  The essays will be rated giving equal weights to:

a) innovative nature of the idea

b) clarity and cogency of argument and writing

c) ease and practicality of implementation and

d) the size of impact.

Deadline: June 30, 2008

For more information please visit: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/quadir_prize/

I strongly encourage people with potential ideas to participate. 

Amra Shopne Bachi…

 I really liked the song “Amra shopne Bachi” by Yaatri. The lyrics is very impressive. Specially the phrases.., “Amra shopne bachi shopno gori….Shopno buke dhore debo pari ..Bohudurr….”

The most motivating character that most of us has is: Dream. We mostly live on dreams and hopes and these are the background force that drive our life and future.

The point I am trying to bring here is: Bangladesh is going through a changing phase now, situations are improving, people are improving and I believe that very soon we will be doing very good. The improvement of economy will definitely take some time. But its more important that our people are improved, more educated and technology oriented, which I can see they are on their way. Every time I see different groups and blogs created by thousands young people of Bangladesh who are trying to put their thoughts and trying to make a difference in the society, I feel so proud and good. I know all these are coming with the cost of drugs and some wrong activities. Because the society is becoming more open there will be definitely some bad impact which we have to prevent, but we should not be frustrated. I personally see a very good future for Bangladesh. I can see its changing…changing rapidly…our people are changing and I am so hopeful about the whole thing.

The creativity has increased a lot. More and more people are involved in media, more and more people are now giving education priority than money and status, more and more people are getting involved in many different social activities both inside Bangladesh and from abroad…. So, I am sure we are on the right…..

We have dreams for a better Bangladesh and I am sure we are on our way makinig our dream come true. And I want to sing like Yatri now: “Amra shopne bachi shopno gori….Shopno buke dhore debo pari ..Bohudurr….”

Under a Different Sky!

This morning I was chatting with my parents and siblings and also watching them in the web cam. Thousands miles away from them and missing them like anything. It is so difficult standing under a different sky in different weather when you are away from your loved ones and your own country 😦

I miss Bangladesh so very much….to compensate that I try to watch Bangladeshi drama and ads regularly, I read prothom-alo and read Bangadeshi blogs 🙂 Just seeing those Bangla words in the newspaper or blog I feel so nice….Reading those newspaper and watching those drama make me feel I am there inside Bangladesh….this feelings for home(country) is so different. When I watch any drama, sometimes I am more interested in seeing the road behind, the ricksha pullers, the shopping mall on the bcak ground than the real actor/actress 🙂 Just try to get a feeling that I am standing there and seeing it myself….walking on the road…the dust all around….:)

This feeling for home….for the country is so different! Unless you are really away you can’t think of it. I do agree there are many things I don’t feel compfortable there but just the feeling that you are in your own country with your own people around is so different. When you are inside that you will never realize, once you are out, you would know and feel.

Here in USA, I get so many facilities, things are so smooth and nice…yet I feel all the time, I am living in somone else place…this does not belong to me…..

Like Zafar Sir (M Zafar Iqbal) says: “Your mom may not be beautiful and sweet, but do you start calling other beautiful women mom? Thats how your country is…however it is…you just love unconditionally..”

I miss you Bangladesh…..I do miss you all the time……

Cell Phones Cause Traffic Jams, And Other Problems

So if you talk on the cell phone obviously and most likely you will drive slowly, and there will be definetely impact on your driving from your conversations. If you are arguing with someone ont the phone mostly you will  drive in daring mood…these are all common sense reasoning I guess 🙂 But scientist has to research on it and poublish out…..sometimes I find certain things so funny….specially when people make deals out of common things 😛

Here is the news:

Cell phone usage is being blamed for several problems this week as a University of Utah study found that cell phone usage on highways causes traffic jams.

David Strayer, a psychology professor at the University of Utah, said new research not only showed that the cars of drivers talking on cell phones tended to move slower, but also that the conversational activity tends to cause traffic to show down.

“At the end of the day, the average person’s commute is longer because of that person who is on the cell phone right in front of them,” Strayer said in a statement. “That SOB on the cell phone is slowing you down and making you late.”

The study adds to previous research conducted by Strayer’s team, which demonstrated that the reaction of young adults talking on cell phones is as slow as the reaction times of senior citizens. The Utah research group also established that conversation — and not the use of hands-free phone devices — is the main distraction while driving and talking on cell phones.

How Funny :))