sillybuffer

breakthro in migration concept
I know Venketesh, but what I mean is that every gene has its own history through the ages.. .thinking of any one particular gene as a marker gene is really not quite right. Read Richard Dawkins "The Selfish Gene" and other books.. It is we…

Comment by sillybuffer April 2008 permalink
breakthro in migration concept
Hi, This just means that that one gene has ancestors in Africa 70000 years back. Other genes in the body might and will have equally exotic "journeys" through evolutionary time. These sort of news items never make much sense to me. I mean…

Comment by sillybuffer April 2008 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear Vijay, hmm am sorry you got the impression that I meant there was no scientific knowhow for tamils. Obviously with the scale of temples built and the large navies maintained, there had to be significant technological innovations. However, to r…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear Siva, Personally, I wouldn't consider jOsiyam a form of science. It could possibly be some sort of a statistical field but I am very skeptical about that field anyway.:) I am sure others might feel differently!

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear VK, Am a little confused by this particular post of yours. How does the fact that we (as in Indian science) was more advanced than Europe have anything to do with my original query. I point to a lack of texts in tamizh on the physical sciences…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear VK, Please see my replies below: You said: did you learn to walk, run and talk the day you were born...can a novice sculpture come up with a magnificiant yakshi just by hemself - obviously there is a long learning process before you master a…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear Sri, Assuming that is true and that in a more caste-based society, learning was in the hands of only a certain caste, that could be an indicator of why there are no tamil texts on science. However, we are always given to understand that during…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Venketesh, I think we are talking about a complete lack of ANY scientific/mathematical texts written in Tamizh. Not to specific examples of scientists hoarding materials without publishing them.

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Hi VJ, Again, I never said that there were no scientific texts written in the southern part of India. My main query was to the utter lack of any scientific text in tamizh. Why? Again, if your contention is that it was the kings who decided, then su…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear Venketesh, I don't agree with your hypothesis. People have a tendency to write about those things that are of importance... My whole point is this.. Why, in ALL the tamil literature that we know, is there no single text (again as far as m…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Tamils and science... a query
Dear All, Ok so the main points in the argument for a tamil scientific temper seems to be that a number of things which are nowadays being carried out in terms of blind faith have some scientific basis behind it. I would rather suggest that they ha…

Comment by sillybuffer June 2007 permalink
Cleaning the bigtemple moat
Dear Sri, Good news. I remember having raised a question about why the moat hadn't been cleaned / mined for more archaeological heritage either here or in Agathiyar a couple of years back.

Comment by sillybuffer April 2007 permalink
Some Photos of Uttiramerur Trip.
Thanks for the photos.

Comment by sillybuffer February 2007 permalink
Pandyans
I think the two pandyas were like today's arasiyalvaathis.. completely corrupt, inept and selfish.. wanting as much as they could grab. As I keep saying, human behavior hasn't changed in 1000s of years.. and even if we want to romanticize …

Comment by sillybuffer January 2007 permalink
Use of gunpowder in South India..
Dear Venketesh, Great work. Where did you get this info from? That's precisely what I mean. Since during the Chola times, there seems to have been the knowhow... and since Kullothunga etc went to China, I am surprised to see that this didn�…

Comment by sillybuffer January 2007 permalink
Use of gunpowder in South India..
Wow Venketesh... thanks for that bit of info. I too had read that Babur had introduced canons to India. But I still find it really funny... If the Cholas had such extensive contacts with the Chinese, how come they never got to use gunpowder? Or even…

Comment by sillybuffer January 2007 permalink
Condolence
Dear SPS, My heartfelt condolences on your loss.

Comment by sillybuffer January 2007 permalink
Vanthiyathevan
I agree.. why should the discussion stop with this?:) the biggest strength of this group is to discuss even fairly controversial things in a very reasonable manner. :) Dear Sri, I jumped into volume two without rereading volume 1. So please wait a…

Comment by sillybuffer January 2007 permalink
Vanthiyathevan
Dear Sri, Ok, I believe you are mixing Vanthiyathevan, Kunthavai's real life husband with Vanthiyathevan, the character. When I called Vanthiyathevan a bumbling idiot, it was the character I was referring to. The character as portrayed by Kalk…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Vanthiyathevan is a lucky bumbling idiot..
Well I am rereading it now.. (PS I mean).. and started the second book.. so Vanthiyathevan goes to Kodikkarai.. meets Poonguzhali... falls into a ditch... is rescued by her.. she tells him about people looking for him.. SHE hides him.. she takes him…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Vanthiyathevan is a lucky bumbling idiot..
Also, I never said he wasn't brave.. just that if I was Karikalan and I had to send someone as my personal envoy.. I would find someone with a LOT more "VivEgam" than just muscles and a willingness to fight.

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Vanthiyathevan is a lucky bumbling idiot..
Venketesh, I didn't say he wasn't heroic. But he wasn't terribly intelligent, the way he was portrayed... Most of what happened to him was due to pure luck.. and it wasn't because of any superior wit/wisdom/intelligence that he …

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Vanthiyathevan is a lucky bumbling idiot..
Hi Siva, There are lots.. if you look at historical novels in english.. well "The count of monte christo" is one.. another would be D'Artagnan from the Three Musketeers".. there are instances were luck plays a part but they als…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Birth Announcement..
Thanks Rahul.. it is actually a Sanskrit word meaning Earth (Sita was known as Avani-thanaya-- Child of Mother Earth). Don't know if the die hard Tamils will accept that as a South Indian name ;). Bharathi has of course used Avani in his Pancha…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Birth Announcement..
Thanks!.. enna vadakaththikkaaraa maathiri "Avni"?;)

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Birth Announcement..
Thanks to all!

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
happy birthday
Rahul, I think great people all have their faults and one would find many "greats" who all let down their own families - Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Bharathiyar, etc etc. I suppose if one were to ask Buddha's wife and son (Rahul incident…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Respect and Admiration
Madan, The point is that there never was any long term security. Even the Chozhas in their time lost wars. THe problem is that if a kingdom is always on the go (war oriented), then the populace has to suffer from more taxes etc. Not really the idea…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Respect and Admiration
Ok i must confess to being the heretic here then. I still believe that our Age is the most peaceful. Wars were a fact of life during those times... We read all these romanticized novels.. and assume people were all healthy, wealthy and wise! Come on…

Comment by sillybuffer December 2006 permalink
Respect and Admiration
hmmmmm I doubt if I would want to live in those times. Wars all around... the kings and chieftains mobilizing all the time... pestilence, famine (inevitable effects of war). I think if we take off our rose tinted glasses, the current day and age is …

Comment by sillybuffer November 2006 permalink

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Username: sillybuffer
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Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

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