Good Question

Wahaj: I mean check out the stud in this pic with the phone.
Me: Oh God Wahaj!
How did you guys put up with me?!
Wahaj: good question
but a better question is how are we still keeping up with you?!

T9

Just yesterday I was texting while traveling in a qinqi (It's a three-wheeler sort Richshaw) and I remembered that one time when I was texting in train, and I had made a friend. He saw me texting and asked me how did I use the predictive text to type so fast, and then the rest of some time was spend me explaining him, showing him, and also showing him how some desi words could also be entered into the list of supported words. So, back to the qinqi. I was thinking, what if that day, that guy had asked me the name of that functionality, and what if I had said, it's called T9. And he would have asked, why is it called T9? Then I wouldn't have any answer. And though I am very comfortable with having no answers, and saying I don't know. But I got curios for my own sake, and decided to look at up. So if you don't know what T9 means, here it is for you: Text on 9 keys. Haha... so predictive. 

Some Useful Words

Just today I was writing an email, in that I had to inform the recipient that I had done what he had asked me to do the Friday before the last, that is November 30 (today is December 09, so last Friday was December 7...) So immediately one word that I had heard some time ago came to my mind. The word was... preantepenultimate. Now I know what you are thinking... where in the world could have I heard this? Well, let's just not talk about that, okay? Okay... So from that word another word came to mind. Penultimate. And guess what does that mean? Second from the last, i.e. second-last. Exactly the word I am looking for, for that email. And I type 'penultimate' in the email, and I look at what I have typed. And I think, man this guy would think I am a freak! He would think I went out of my to find a word that means exactly this thing, to show off. Now, yes, I did go out of my way to confirm and recall the word, but it was Not for showing off. It was, for the sheer respect for the creator of the word ;) Anyway, so I didn't use that word. There. Instead I decided I will make this growing list of such words, which are so so so useful, but which no body seems to use, we always use their alternatives, since they're so commonly used. I am not limiting the list to English words, Urdu words are as much welcome, but I guess mostly will be English.

penultimate - second last
soorat e haal - condition, situation
bandy - to pass back and forth, or to pass around freely (gossip)

Well, these are the ones I can think up right now, if you know any words that you think we're better off using more of, let us know in the comments below.

Doesn't Matter

And you said it will stop mattering. That I could just shrug it off, and it will be gone. That it's all in my head.

UPDATE: You were right.

Quora

These are some of my most favorite Quora questions. I am posting them here to have a record of them, because Quora doesn't let you bookmark a question. It lets you follow it, but that way you get a ridiculous number of notifications. We don't want that. So here it is.

You might also like that. If you want to know which of the answers I liked best, look for my votes (is it possible to look for my votes? meh...)

They're from different themes and genres, but I am dumping them all here. Will organize them if they grow too many. Sharing on facebook is an option, but having them in one place is a better one!

Note: This posts will mutate over time.

http://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-be-incredibly-funny
The first answer here, I exactly feel the same. And I am not even considered funny by many. But I feel that way.

http://www.quora.com/Programming-Languages/In-laymans-terms-what-are-the-major-programming-languages-and-what-are-they-used-for
The one with the most votes!

http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-stories-about-people-randomly-meeting-Steve-Jobs
All answers are nice. That's how I felt with Ariz Zaman all the time :)

http://www.quora.com/PhD-Careers/If-a-PhD-doesnt-go-into-research-or-industry-in-his-or-her-chosen-field-or-specialty-what-is-he-or-she-actually-more-qualified-than-college-graduates-to-do

100$ to Invest

Ben Nesvig ‏@BenNesvig: If you had $100 to invest in self-education every month, where would you allocate the money?

Answer:

You don’t really need more than $100 a month to self-educate. Here is what I would do:

- read biographies and books about any topics that interest you. Most books are fairly cheap on Kindle or you can sit in bookstore cafes and read them.

- draw and/or paint. This gets the neurons firing in areas that have been lying dormant for awhile.

- by cheap pads (waiter pads, for instance), and just free form write down ideas, observations, thoughts of things you want to try.

- go to a museum and try to find at least ten things you didn’t know before that excite you.

- go to at least one networking event. Or dance class. Or something you never would’ve thought of trying. Just one. Don’t pressure yourself into suddenly doing kickboxing ten times a week.

- study yoga. And not just the physical exercises but the reasons behind each one. The reason a move twists a certain way, breathes a certainway, the history of that move throughout thehistory of yoga, the reasons for doing the physical exercises.

Who's good, who's evil?

Humans are a mixture of good and evil. Pure good are Angels. Pure evil are Devils. But every human has a combination of both. By that understanding, one can say that no matter how wretched a person one considers, one can always find something glorious about that person. Similarly, no matter how respectable a person one considers, one can find something censurable about that person (save the Prophets, whom the God have protected from folly).

How then can any person be evil, or moral?

That is not the point. The point is, whether that person good to you. Are you better in the company of the said person than you are without it, if you are, then the person is good, good for You. And if you are worse in the company of this person than you are without it. Then this person is corroding for you.