Bhaktapur!

Psych your mind with Pulp Society

Kathmandu played host to "Pulp Society" an Indie rock band from India beginning of May this year. The band, here to promote the upcoming movie "404 -Error Not Found", played at 1905, Kantipath. Much thanks to our dear friend Pradhyumna, I along with other friends from work managed to weasel our way into an invitation only event. Continued…

Shivapuri Chisapani and Sanku over two days

I don't hike, period! However, I am at times goaded into following the pack. Throw in a few incentives such as the opportunity to test out my now not-so-new camera pack, I accede myself to the physical abuse of body and soul.

The hike officially began for the nine of us (Abhit, Ashok, Badri, Dadi, Dibbesh, Gyanendra,  Ratna, Sanjay and myself) at the park entrance of the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park in Pani Muhan. A haze overhead showed no sign of clearing at 8:00 AM, as we entered the national park. Rather accustomed to the road up to Nagi Gumba (nun monastery) having been there quite a few times already, I was rather candid during my walk uphill. The steps near the monastery were a different story, as I ran out of breath every few steps. Continued…

Panorama of brick kilns at Godavari

Ruining a perfectly good landscape are about four brick factories in Godavari. This panorama as seen from the restaurant/dining space at the Godavari Village resort, is a composite of eight different images stitched with... 

if only we had Nepalese designers who could spell

One of many hoarding boards that span across the walls of the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium in Tripureswor opposite the UWTC shopping mall. More>>

Behind Lambert Academic Publishing’s marketing gimmick

I was rather taken back by how VDM or Lambert Academic publishing had pieced together bits of my information – Name and email address, the university I studied at, and my dissertation topic. At first I assumed that this would have required a really smart scraper (lines of software code that read information off website) or bot to piece together these bits of info (possibly acquired from multiple sources) for instance – the blog, information indexed on Google and the library at Kathmandu University. continued>>

Knowledge sharing workshop in Asia

7th April marks day 1 of the Knowledge sharing workshop in Asia. The third among three different workshops being organised back to back with foci ranging from capturing stories, writing them and sharing , this one focused on the sharing aspect. Primarily geared at IFAD staff in the Asia Pacific, the workshop also has local participants from Nepal who are at loggerheads with participants and resource persons (read facilitators) from FAO, IFAD, KM4DEV, ICIMOD among others. The group is diverse with various nationalities from Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Having missed the "tagging" ice breaker session altogether, I and a few colleagues just made it to Lucie Lamoureux's presentation on Knowledge sharing, as she came to a close. Surmising from the closing remarks and with further help from my neighbours (at the table) I found out that she touched base on the distinction between data, information and knowledge (not the same as most of us put them to be). She also went further to introduce the concepts of kinds of knowledge –tacit (in our minds), and explicit (that can be codified), and the benefits of sharing knowledge. more>>

International training school on ABC: Day 1

I was at the international training school on Atmospheric brown clouds (ABC) held in Kathmandu yesterday. The international school held every two years, by internationally prominent atmospheric scientists, provide a theoretical background and an overview of current knowledge on various aspects of atmospheric brown clouds and climate change. The fourth of its kind, this school is led by Dr. Mark Lawrence (MPIC-Germany), Dr. Maheswar Rupakheti (AIT-UNEP RRC.AP, Thailand), and Dr. Arnico Panday (U. Virginia, USA).

Continued…

Holi hai!

Holi began with a rather lazy start of a day with breakfast in bed, mildly irritated by the loud music blaring off speakers in the neighbourhood, as I surfed the internet in bed. Yes, I have lights on Saturday and Sunday for a few hours. Thank you NEA!

Post lunch, Dhungel phoned to say that he was on his way to pick me up to "do something this Holi with the home boys". Repulsed at the idea of having to duck my way onto the pickup point with rooftops festering with kids and exuberant adults, who'd be more than happy to tip a bucket of fetid water over or hurl plastic bag projectiles at passersby, I left the sanctity of my bed.  Continued…

learning to click

This is my first post for 2011! This year, the reasons (read excuses)  have been numerous.

1. writer's block
2. limited electricity (16 hours or is it 18? Heck I have given up counting)
3. trouble finding my niche: I dabble with technology, while I have an egging  for the environment and literature.
4. Very close friends of mine got hitched. I had to be part of their merriment. Afterall they were giving up a major portion of their lives into servitude 
5. I have found a new hobby  - photography; and have been reading/researching incessantly on it. Continued…

Lakes a big source of climate-warming gas: study http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70555620110106

Environmental Stories to Watch in 2011 http://www.wri.org/stories/2011/01/environmental-stories-watch-2011

Zynga buys social browser Flock … or maybe just its engineering team http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Venturebeat/~3/ubS2r3O5diY/