George Bernard Shaw's Writing Hut

The idea of working from the garden shed is not a new one and it's not one that is only done by the 'average Joe'. One of the most well-known garden shed offices is the writing hut that George Bernard Shaw used to create his now-famous works of literary art. Not only is this garden shed office simple and functional but it's also created on a rotating platform so that you can actually move the entire shed around to get the best light at different times throughout the day.

Now that's what I call.........!!

Tibet, The Dalai Lama and China

I never heard of Lhasa until in recent past when there was a headline on CNN showing the first train between Beijing & Lhasa. At that time I had no idea about this remote (in fact made remote) capital city of Tibet. But the things happened on March 10 & thereafter motivated me to explore the past of Tibet & His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

One of the first books I read was about the life of a Tibetan author Tubten Khetsun. The author was 18 years old, working for the government as a clerk during the first uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959. He was at Dalai Lama’s summer palace when the Chinese responded by bombarding the residence. The Dalai Lama had already secretly left the country.

As a member of a prominent Lhasa family of government servants, Khetsun was declared a “class enemy” along with the rest of his family & sentenced to five years in jail. All their property was confiscated and the family scattered.

Khetsun was moved from prison to slave-labour camp and back again. When he was finally set free, he could only work where his neighbourhood committee ordained. That meant labouring on government hydro-electric stations or smashing stones on other building sites – underpaid jobs that only requisitioned labour could fill.

There is a deep sense of isolation reflected in this depressing and cruel story of men and women being deprived, crushed, starved and exploited.
There is also some shocking descriptions of Mao-induced famines when starving Tibetan prisoners would search the faeces and vomit of fellow prisoners for any food that had not been digested.

After reading on the life of the Dalai Lama it is easy to understand the Chinese leadership’s fear of him. Half a century after his escape from Chinese occupation, his name inside Tibet is as powerful as ever, perhaps more so given access to the rest of the world and the support he enjoys in the West.

For all Tibetans, in exile or living under Beijing’s rule, he is their homeland, their faith and their sense of self. For this reason the Chinese government seems content to stall talks with him on the assumptions that he will die soon and that will be the end of it.

The Dalai Lama’s suggestion that on his death he could be reborn outside Tibet is likely to distress Chinese rulers, if only briefly. The atheist Communist Party of China insists it is the only authority that can determine whose terrestrial body the soul of a dead monk will move to.

But the Dalai Lama may have outwitted them. His latest “modernist” suggestion is an internationally observed referendum in Tibet and among the Tibetan diaspora to decide how or indeed if he should be reincarnated at all. Tibetan nationalism remains a determined and untiring force.

Go Google

Well as I have started a new blog space I was thinking what will be my first blog. Then I gave a take to Google. Wait a minute….I am not gonna discuss the bla.. bla.. of Google coz we all know about it. Otherwise you won’t be reading this blog here. There will be hardly any webiian who don’t know how this company has revolutionized the way we browse internet today. In fact I don’t remember a single day (coz there is none) since I have started to spend my time on web without googling.

So Google which has again topped the Fortune’s best company to work for has not only some great ethics, it do provides a rocking workspace & an atmosphere you will hardly find anywhere else. Surely I regret of not being a Googler.

I am gonna tell some cool things you chaps didn’t know about Google. So without wasting too much space here lets start…….

9 things you didn't know about Google.

1: Scooters are out... bikes are in

After years of getting around their sprawling Mountain View headquarters on two-wheeled Segways (which kept breaking down) and electric scooters (which employees kept falling off), Googlers now use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation at corporate

2: Movie nights

How do you get more than 6,000 Googlers to see a first-run film? You rent an entire theater for the day. That's exactly what Google's done for movies like "Lord of the Rings," "Transformers" and other blockbusters. As an extra benefit, employees get to bring a guest.

3: Goo-goo Googlers

Your toddler may be too young to work at Google, but that doesn't mean the search engine doesn't care about your precious baby. In fact, a new policy lets Google moms enjoy up to 18 weeks of paid maternity leave; dads get seven weeks. Another perk: free Google baby "onesies."

4: Google's own Facebook

Google's intranet, Moma, provides all the usual corporate info, like benefits, internal newsletters, and a new employee handbook. It's used most often, however, for searching out other Googlers. Why? The directory provides photos of the company's 15,916 employees.

5: Google air

Solar panels, recycled carpets and complimentary public transportation are just some of the "green" practices Google has adopted. On its Mountain View campus, the company has recently installed a special environmentally friendly air-filtering system designed to flush out toxins and particulates. If you're stuck indoors coding all night, you might as well breath clean air.

6: Google's Fools!

Don't believe everything you find on Google - at least not till you check the calendar. It's a company tradition to design elaborate pranks to play on its users and potential employees every April 1st. Past gags include a job listing for engineering positions on the moon and a fictitious product, the brain-boosting energy drink Google Gulp (flavors included "Beta Carroty" and "Glutamate Grape"). But the jokes backfired when, on April 1, 2004, Google launched Gmail and many readers thought it was another April Fool's hoax.

7: Employee clubs

One of the many ways Google recruits and retains talent is through its club offerings. It funds the Black Googler Network, Google Women Engineers and the GLBT - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Googlers.

8: Google's grand entrances

Orkut, Google's homegrown social network, is a big hit in Brazil. Coincidentally, Brazil is the source of the elegant hardwood used to build the Googleplex's enormous staircase. The entrance to the company's New York headquarters is no less impressive - it's got a huge all-Lego logo built by a certified Lego designer along with a 6-foot model of the Empire State Building built by Google engineers.

9: Free food, Google style

First-class dining facilities? Check. Custom-made milkshakes and onsite farmers' market? Definitely. Yes, Googlers are a well-fed bunch: The company even has a rule -- workers can never be more than 100 feet away from food. Hence the elaborate free snack stations and restaurants scattered throughout the Googleplex.

Wish I ........