My Fisrt Vote

I Voted. I am one among those guys who voted for the first time, in the 2nd phase of Genereal Elections on April 23rd in Andhra Pradesh. And this is the story of how I voted after initially vowing not to vote for anyone.

To begin with, I wasn't all that excited about voting. All I cared was that I finally got an address proof in the form of EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card). But every one including family, friends, relations, acquaintances and even film Stars wanted me to go out and vote. And almost all of them had a lot of free (and wise) advice regarding who I should  vote for. Most of my friends advised me to vote for Lok Satta Party ('for change', they said; but, I understood it as 'just for a change'). Few of them wanted me to vote for a 'Strong Leader'. But I did not want my vote, that too my first ever vote, to give mandate to the mob to further their 'Reign of Intolerance'. A lot of my aquaintances exhorted me to vote to restore to our 'Community', the glory and greatness it has been denied for too long. Community here means Caste (and Religion, in some cases). And when I pointed to them that people of all communities have been voting on those same lines of Caste and Religion almost since the dawn of Democracy and have been rewarded, all along, with nothing but the wrath of other communities, I was so politely asked to 'STFU' and 'GTFO' and was looked upon as a pariah. (Having said that, I should state the fact that I have always been a Half-Blood.) My relations wanted me to vote for ruling party as our family had traditionally sailed with them. But I wasn't interested in extending the 'Reign of the Dynasty'. And the first family of Tollywood (a.k.a Telugu film industry) wanted me to vote for the one and only true Telugu party to restore the Pride and Esteem of the Telugus, which according to them have been pawned on the roads of our national capital. I couldn't help wondering what they did to help us during the 16 years of their rule or how they would ever implement the most ridiculous poll scheme I have ever heard, Money Transfer. Thankfully, no one asked me to vote for Comrades. I wasn't interested in their antiquated policies or their double standards (embracing capitalism in one state even as they opposed it in others and sympathizing Naxalism in one state and fighting it in others).

Yet others tried to instill some sense into my mind and get me to vote for some one, even if I was interested in voting for no one in particular. But none of those exhortations, requests, appeals, enlightenments convinced me of the power of my 'one in a billion (or thereabouts) vote'. But then it happened. It is totally unrelated to Politics. And more interestingly, it is related to, guess what, MOVIES! Yes, movies. It was an article about Dasavataram. Though I watched it and never even got an inkling of the notion, Mr Kamal Hassan (in the article) said that the film Dasavataram is about 'Chaos Theory'. Googling it lead me to believe that in its simplest form Chaos Theory can be put as 'a Butter-Fly flapping its wings in one part of the world can cause a storm in some other part of the world'. I don't know about you but, I was hooked. I just loved its simplicity and it offered me peace of mind. I, then and there, decided to vote, confident that my 'one in a billion (or thereabouts) vote' can set off the next revolution. I just thought voting in democracy can simply be put as making the best of the worst. But all of this lies on the premise that I was doing nothing wrong by simply voting. And there was the catch. And it was Orkut that released the catch. Yes, Orkut.

It can perhaps be put as the most meaningful Orkut status message. Of course, we all get status updates with silly questions, lurid thoughts and indecipherable codes & symbols and I am no different. After all, my friends are all just of your-friendly-next-cubicle-Orkuter type. But, this message was different. It was - 'Choosing the lesser of evils is still choosing evil'. Wondering what it actually meant and what its origin was, I just googled the message. And I ended up on the Wikipedia page - 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_of_two_evils_principle'. And there it began- the doubt that voting might indeed be evil.

Perhaps, I would still have simply voted. But all the while they were exhorting me to vote for the parties and candidates of their choice, all the people I mentioned above also explained why I shouldn't vote for the others. While they were wide off the true course while extolling the virtues of their choices, they were invariably true while pointing out the evils of the rest of the choices. There is no denying the truth of that part of all of their arguments. So, it dawned upon me that, voting for choices most of us have right now is indeed evil.

After few arguments and a few more reflections, I have come to firmly believe that voting for those who don't deserve it, just because the rest are far worse, is indeed evil. Just consider this, how many of our politicians promote their self interests, putting aside even the promises made in manifestos. And consider the kind of harm that was inflicted by such deeds. And why are polticians getting away doing this? Just because they have the mandate. The popular mandate. The winning majority. Simply put every person who has voted for a winning candidate just because he wasn't as bad as others, is letting them free. So, what can I do about it?

That's the exact question I asked my self and sought answer for in many places. Then I heard of article 49-O of our constituion. From what I have understood, article 49-O gives any voter who doesn't want to vote, a chance to see that his/her vote isn't abused. Simply, such a concerned person can walk into polling booth and ask the presiding officer (or is it returning officer?!) for form 17 and record his statement in that form that he wishes to abstain from voting. But the Election Commission of India doesn't keep any record of those opinions. Nor do parties care about them because they don't really matter when it comes to majority. Having found about article 49-O and form-17, though a little disappointed that all my efforts would amount to nothing, I still decided to do my part as a dutiful citizen and fulfill the obligation to vote. I have made up my mind to use form-17. But then, I did not know what it is to vote!

Just imagine this situation: The polling booth is packed. Polling agents eagerly verifying every name in the rolls. A few voters having an argument with the polling officer over the discrepancies in names. The polling officer threatening to have them all removed by force. The Police man trying to pacify both the voters and the officer. The same thing playing over again and again every now and then. Amidst all this, people voting one by one. All eyes in the booth riveted on the voter. Air is hot and humid all around. Tempers are a little testy. Just hold on to that frame. Now imagine yourself asking for form-17 in that exact scene. Just imagine the look on faces of all those around you and the polling agents of various parties in the booth. I imagined and didn't exactly fancy that situation. By the time it was my turn in the line to produce ID and check my name, I abondoned the idea of asking for form-17. I was mechanically moving simply following the instructions. We were asked to vote first at the parliament poll  EVM and then move on to the assembly poll EVM. Having all my carefully thought out scenarios busted, I was a little off balance. Indeed, I was so dazed while voting for parliament ballot that I don't have any recollection of whom I voted for. May, seem a little incredible. But really, I only remember recognizing a few names on the EVM and hovering my finger on those names. I am now not sure who I voted for. Later I sobered up as I moved to the assembly ballot. There I found the name of the only candidate I knew personally and just pressed the green button beside it. And that was how I voted. Not once but twice.

Right now, while the 'be-a-dutiful-citizen-and-vote' part of my conscience is satisfied, the 'do-only-the-right-thing' part is totally pissed off. After reflecting on what went wrong I looked on the internet for more information. It was then I came across demand for inclusion of "NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES" option in the ballots. Of course I have once heard of it and have often joked that I will only vote when that option is included in ballots. I also found out that inclusion of that option is more correct than article 49-O as the right to secret ballot of a person is not violated. I now sincerely believe that this option should be included in the ballots. We really need it and all those ballots should actually be counted. We need to do this even if there is no apparent use other than giving all political parties a reality check.

It is high time media raises awareness among the public about this and encourage debate a lively debate. Does the inclusion on 'Right to Vote for No One' solve any problem? I don't know. But I guess we at least give it a try to break the status quo. At least it is more meaningful than 'No Taxes' campaign, started after Mumbai terrorist attack. And it can be even more useful when there is a groundswell against political parties that completely fail in their duties.

Finally here are a couple of articles about the Right to not Vote I found after voting: http://bit.ly/spDMK and http://bit.ly/AX3Vn

Note: 3 states- Orissa, Sikkim and our Andhra Pradesh held elections for their respective constituent assemblies along with General Elections. Hence I got to vote twice.

Kanthapura

Kanthapura - I wasn't quite sure what I was picking when I decided to read this book. I usually read books based on recommendations of a couple of my friends. But neither of them had any idea about this one. Nor have I heard of the author Mr Raja Rao before. [Later, I found out that he is one among the Indian trio of R K Narayan - Mulk Raj Anand - Raja Rao] But the synopsis and the excerpts from the reviews on the blurb, including one from The New York Times, were impressive. Having depended on the staple from Mr Sidney S, Sir Pelham Grenville W and Ms Jonathan Kathleen R, for long, I decided to move on to something more serious and more close to real life.

I was very easily able to relate to the characters and the story of Kanthapura which is about India's struggle for independence. The story is set in a small, sleepy and remote village of Kanthapura on the banks of river Himavathy, some where in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, around 1930s. The story, narrated by an old lady of Kanthapura, is about the change the India's fight for freedom led by Mahatma, brings into the lives of the people of Kanthapura. I remember reading Ms Pearl S Buck point out the rise of leaders from all walks of life and the important role they played in the struggle as one of the unique features of India's freedom struggle. The protagonist of this book is one such leader named Murthy.

The circumstances he faces and the odds he fights to unite and make people shed their indifference and overcome their differences to fight for freedom made me sit back and think. Even today, we think of our freedom struggle as just being a fight against the British alone and largely ignore the efforts put in by the champions of freedom struggle in fighting our own prejudices and the inequalities of our society. It is India's great misfortune that the social evils of casteism and communalism are just as prevalent today as they were back then. True, economic conditions have improved a little but our minds have so stubbornly refused to embrace the idea of equality of all men. We have so comfortably ignored the ideals they stood for people and fooled ourselves believing that the real tribute to all the martyrs is erecting their statues and issuing commemorative coins and stamps in their name.

While the characters of the protagonist Murthy, the rich widow Rangamma, the money lender, the village head, the police man, the teacher who tries to educate the workers of a nearby coffee plantation owned by an English man are all interesting, the character I found to be even more interesting is that of Mahatma himself. No, it's not the persona but the name itself. The way his name inspires and the way he is revered, despite the dissidence he faces from many, is really interesting. Reading the way he is deified as an incarnation of some God, I just couldn't help feeling that his crusade to make people accept and adopt his principles rather than revere and worship him was lost back then itself.

The language used in the book is yet another thing that really surprised me. Being a non-native English speaker and lacking extensive vocabulary and command over grammar, I always felt that I deprived myself the full pleasure of many books I read. But thankfully, that wasn't the case with this book. It was almost like reading a book in my mother tongue. I have never before read anything where the translated vernacular expressions mean the same as what they mean in the native tongue and yet don't sound strange in English.

Overall, this is one book I am going remember for a long time to come. In fact, even though I'm writing this only now, I read this book nearly an year ago. Do share what you felt about the book or this article.

Google Books : KANTHAPURA (Preview)
Wikipedia: Raja Rao

blah...blah....

Struggling to stave it Off.....

Anna Kunukeste.....Mass; Anna nidarothe ....Mass

Thank You, Sir.

Dear Sir,

Thank you, for all that you have done for us.

Perhaps, no words can ever do justice in describing the effort you have put in to mould us and make us realize what engineering, especially electrical engineering, was about.

Sir, I can say that, while we were never wise enough to learn it all, we did learn something - a little from you, a little from what you shared with us and a little from what you taught us. And now, sitting back and reflecting, we are realizing the value of even that little. And we also realized we can never thank you enough.

Yours obediently,
Srikanth Manda,
650651092,
Batch of 2008.

P.S.: The picture is my own work and a small token of our gratitude, Sir.

RIP: Satyam (a.k.a. Demise of an Idol)

  

What the F is going on?????!!!!!!
How could this have happened?????!!!!!!

How could have Satyam become 'aSatyam'.
Mr Rama Linga Raju stealing crores?!

How could he have done that?!
What were the directors of the company board, the Government, the Auditors and the Media doing?!
How have every one let this happen for all this years?!
Rs. 7000 Crores over 10 years?!
How can any thing like this happen, especially after Enron Scandal ?!

How can a company, listed on NYSE, with persons like Vinod Dham and Dean of Indian School of Business  as its board directors, cook its books and get away with it for a decade?!

I wonder what's going to happen to the thousands being employed by Satyam and hundreds more awaiting its call. This definitely has come as shock to many.

With the turn of the year and not hearing of a fall of a company, I have been filled with some irrational hopes of hearing some good news, of late.

But now, this definitely is the last nail in the coffin of all those hopes.

I should have known. Though having been fed a lot of news about recession and a possible depression, I refused to believe in all the morbid predictions of further rounds of blows to the economy.

No, perhaps its not fair to blame the recession this time!!!!!!!!

Well we can't blame it for something done on a person's volition knowing all possible consequences of his action. But I still can't believe that he did all this.

Mr Rama Linga Raju !!!!! ??????????????????????????  A role model to hundreds of youth in this country!

I mean isn't he the guy who, hundreds like me aspired to be?

Mr Rama Linga Raju! how could you have done this to US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all your good work through Byrraju Foundation and EMRI  (108 emergency service), I now can't even blame you.

But then again, F you, Sir......................................

P.S: I wonder if the government and the media wakes up at least now. For a change, I would like to see the government bringing to book the real culprits. Even more, I would like to see the Media, which recently applauded its own effort in stalling the ill advised move by Satyam but was so full of praise at Corporate India's success during the great bull run of Sensex, actually blow the whistle before some one else does.

got the domain http://srikanthmanda.com

turning 23 today, i decided to gift myself a domain. so moving to srikanthmanda.com.....blogspot address still works....thnx....and thnk you every one who have sent me scrap wishes...

LOOK WHO'S BLOGGING!

OK! What better way to begin than with a question!

Q: Say, what's common between Me, BigB, Aamir Khan & Ram Gopal Varma?
Dunno? OK. Another one,

Q: What's one thing I did first and was later done by these guys?
Again a blank?! OK, one last chance to you.

Q: What's that we, i.e., all of us whom I mentioned above, own exclusively?

Well, you could have at least guessed the answer from the title of this post.
Anyways, the answers, respectively, are:
Blogging;
Blogging;
Our blogs.

I don't know what has come upon our Bollywood guys? Until recently, I used think that only we, who have the luxury of having lots of free time and no work to do, blog. Of course we all say a lot about expressing ourselves and all that stuff but basically, I still think Blogging is just a past-time for most of us. Right?!

Anyway, I can understand Salman Khan blogging to promote his Dus Ka Dum. But I can't understand how Mr Big B is finding time to blog. I mean, isn't he always doing some movie or commercial or attending some function or globetrotting with his parivar? And he seems to be updating his blog in a mission mode.

At last, after those minute length bites in television and once in a while news articles on some controversy surrounding him, we can get enough of Aamir. His blog is cool. Simple and straight forward. I particularly liked the lay out. Come on Aamir, we need more of you. Keep blogging.

And now comes the best. RGV's blog. This is real fun. I really liked his answers to queries and reactions to reactions. And his blog theme seems to reflect his taste...all black and pretty simple. Check out his Photos. He has quite a few interesting ones.

Go, read the blogs and enjoy.

P.S: OK Jagan, this time I'm not asking you to watch this space for more. As I told above, blogging is only a past-time and I'll try to post when ever I feel like. And a million thanks for actually watching this space regularly. Bye

Hello World! Here comes Srikanth Manda, B.E.

This post is to mark the arrival of Srikanth Manda, B. E.

At last, finally after four years of fun and a few hours of regular struggle (only before exams), I finally completed my Bachelor of Engineering Degree. Yesterday evening, we successfully managed to scrape through our project work viva voce examination and now, here I am as Srikanth Manda B. E.

God, what a struggle it was, the last 15 days! I never, not even for once, doubted my chances of completing B. E. as I did in the last 15 days. True, I've only managed to scrape through many exams with a Stamp (Pass marks - in our Engineering jargon). But I've never doubted clearing BE in 4 yrs. But, what with all that I had to undergo in our Control Systems lab exam, every thing changed.

Anyways, here I am, feeling so emancipated from all that drudgery of going through the mindless rituals of examinations.

WTF, I know this doesn't change a thing in this world. But it sure does change a lot of things in my world.

I have lots of experiences to share. Interested?! Watch this space for more.

Cidade de Deus (City of God)

A great Brazilian film based on a true story of rivalry between two gangs in Rio de Janeiro’s slums around 70’s. The story is about the turbulence of those times and about the lives of members of the warring gangs and those caught in the vicious cycle of violence, as narrated by an aspiring photo journalist living in the same slum who always finds himself in the thick of action.

Being a true story, there is nothing much to tell about it except that it is amazing. The story tracks the genesis, rise and nemesis of a criminal gang and repetition of this cycle. And as is with any story narrated by a not-so-great raconteur, the wannabe journalist in this case, the story line digresses from the main plot many times. These digressions always recount some interesting story, related to some important character, which finally ends where the main plot was left at. Perhaps this, I felt, was the most brilliant aspect of the film apart from some remarkable performances like those of the characters Li’l Dice and Benny, the coolest gangster in town.

The portrayal of almost every character is good. Most of the characters in the mob are refreshingly different from those in Hollywood movies. Here, apart from the usual shooting, looting, raping and killing stuff, the mobsters dance, party, love and rock too.

But the narration, though not mindlessly gory, is quite disturbing at times. A few scenes like the one where Li’l Dice quenches his blood thirst, the one where a kid kills another kid and the one where a little boy takes to the gun and joins the gang war to avenge his father’s death are shocking. The cinematography, the sets and everything else just reflect just what any slum looks like.

The pace is such that the film never slackens for once throughout its entire length. And to add up everything else, here is a film with many good elements. A must watch if you love good cinema. But I’m afraid same is not the case if you can’t stand violence and killing stuff and wish to enjoy your movies with popcorn.

Movies, Movies & more Movies......

The past one week I've been too busy watching movies while the rest of my class mates are busy preparing for GATE exam. Having recently found out the magic of P2P network, we have been busy downloading many movies. (Now, I know it's illegal but, we don't get those titles here even if we want to rent or buy them. No sir, not even pirated editions.) So it has been like a-movie-a-day for the past few days. And in these past few days I discovered some good movies, courtesy IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.

Starting with next post, I'm going to review the few good movies I saw.  One thing, I don't exactly have what one might call a discerning taste though you may call it eclectic.

So no guarantees that these movies are good enough for you.

Salaam 'Salaam Bombay'

To gear ourselves with enough stuff to endure the then imminent threat of Mid Sem Exams, we recently went on a DVD hunt. (Pirated, that is. But then, we don't get the originals even if we want them. Do we?) We managed to get a good many. Thanks Pete, we are through that exam stuff. And we enjoyed the movies too. Some were just bland while others OK and a few really entertaining. But one was just great.

And the great one is Salaam Bombay. Just great. It was just too good. Totally engrossing and entertaining too. Unlike most other parallel cinema we get to see here in India, this film isn't all depressing.

The film is about a kid who is thrown out of his home and reaches Bombay. And it is about how he faces the life in the big city along with his brothers and sisters in arms, the other urchins. Don't worry I'm not gonna give out any spoilers. But it isn't just the plot or some other thing that makes this film worthwhile. It's just the whole thing.

Salaam Bombay has good script and great direction along with power packed performances. Every character just lights up the screen. The characters, their bodylanguage, the backdrop, which we get to see in many towns and cities, and the background sounds just give you feel of experiencing some thing real instead of watching a cinema. But hey, that doesn't mean this film is like documentary. Ms. Nair made sure that this film isn't a documentary. She gave it a life and little dramatic touch.

One thing that deserves a special mention is the cast. Shafiq Syed as Krishna, the protagonist is great. Nana Patekar is superb as Baba. Real surprise is the character 'Sweet Sixteen' who never even utters a single word through out the film. Other characters too just grab your attention with their subtle and in some cases, sublime performances.

The film is very thought provoking. But what's more interesting and a bit disconcerting is the fact that though made in the later half of the 80s, the film's backdrop and characters can still been seen in every nook and corner of our country. That might leave us wondering whether India has ever cared for its nameless and faceless millions.

While a few scenes are gloomy & sad and a few others are entertaining, every scene is riveting. The fight the characters put up in life leaves us with a great hope.

This film is a must see for every who wishes to see something worthwhile.

P.S.: Hey, I was just too mesmerized with film to actually notice any pitfalls and shortcomings. So don't blame me if you find any.

Back Again!

Back again. Cleared all exams once again. Well, almost!

Except the last one, I'm certain to clear almost all of the rest.

I can't help wondering why we are made to endure this arcane ritual of examinations every semester. I call it arcane because I'm still in dark as to what purpose they serve. We any how don't bother about acads till the exams are on us. During the xms we set every thing aside and try to mug up as much stuff as we can. We just spit it out there on the paper. If we fail to clear them, we can still work out by shelling out a few thousand bucks. So why write in the first place?

I wish someone cuts out this crap.

Here is the reason why I haven't posted for a while.....

 I got this image link at Stumble Upon...click on the photo to go to photo url.)

Update: The cartoon is from The New Yorker Magazine. Photo URL link deleted. Link: http://www.cartoonbank.com/item/121304

Yo Twenty20!!

What a match it was....Yo Twenty20, its the way to go!
If you are wondering what match I'm talking about...well its the India Vs Pakistan match.

At the beginning of the tournament, I was sceptical about the Twenty20 game, but now I like the game very much. The credit should go to the curator of the pitch.It was a game pitch that really gave some scope to the bowlers in the game. I was actually afraid that all the bowlers would be butchered. But thank God(for the weather conditions) and thanks to the pitch, they were really the stars of the match.

True, Twenty 20 is really a made for TV format. But since most of us see cricket sitting in our drawing rooms rather than the stadium, it's OK.
I find nothing wrong.
Maybe this is the way to go ahead. Of course its really too soon to say anything about scraping the ODI format as some of my friends suggested. But still I think that this format is really good for average viewers of the game. The highlights are the crowds, the short time of 3hrs it takes to complete the match and of course the full throttled action. As for the really connoisseurs of the game there always is the Test format.

But we need to take care that the matches don't really turn into a gladiatorial shows for the bowlers. We need to see that lively pitches are made, that help the bowlers to turn the ball a bit. Of course one may wonder what a batsman can do in such conditions. But a bowler pushed to the limit can never hope to cause as much damage a batsman pushed to such limit is capable of. Even the most ardent lovers of slogging don't like a cake walk for batsman. And then there are always so many rules that really restrict bowlers.

Anyway I'm going to enjoy this tournament very much. And hope you do the same.

I am happy to say that all four of our friends who were wounded in Monday's accident are now out of danger.

Let's keep praying that they find enough strength & courage to overcome both the physical and mental hardships and let's stand with them in the face of the challenges ahead of them.
Let's also pray that the families of Preethi and Pravallika too find the same strength & courage to overcome their grief.

Let's Pray.

A really sad day for all of us, students of SRKR Engineering College.

Early in the morning a group of eight of our friends who set out from here, Bhimavaram to a birthday party in Rajuamundry met with an accident en route. One of them, Preethi died instantly on spot while Pravallika died while being taken to the hospital. Four of them, Vindhya Vimala, Chandra Lekha, Rajasekhar and Eswar received major injuries. All four of them are now in hospital receiving treatment. Details of their conditions are yet to come out. The other two, Balaji and Das Kiran were lucky in that they did not receive any major injuries. All of them except Vimala, who is from final year EEE, are from final year Mechanical engg.

Whenever I read the maxim 'Speed thrills but Kills', I used to make light of it. But now the impact of the truth in that maxim has come down as too big a shock upon all our friends and college mates, to bear. Most of us all still too shocked to even think of what happened. Most are yet to digest the truth of what has happened to our friends, some of whom we met as recently as yesterday night. The college is still reeling under the deadly impact.

The whole college is saddened by this and the worst part is that this incident has brought back all the bad and shocking experiences to mind. All of us are still so gloomy and some are so depressed.

I don't even know what prompted me to post this. I've had some nightmarish experiences as shocking as these earlier. But still the pall of gloom that has descended upon us has knocked the hope even out of me. I'm feeling really helpless. As some friend pointed out a few moments back, Gods must be crazy to play this little game of life and death with us. I'm no atheist; nor am I so religious. I don't know if they are crazy. But I only pray to all of them to get those still in the hospital out of that living hell and help us overcome this grief and let live with a little happiness and hope.

And I request every soul on this earth to pray for whoever Gods they trust for the same.

Right now I'm a bit disoriented and am not exactly aware of what am I writing here. I just spit out whatever came to my mind to find catharsis.

Lets Pray.

Project Gutenberg

Hello world!

Here is a link to one of the best sites on the Internet. The site is www.gutenberg.org. It is a repository of free e-books. None of these books are illegal as most of them are out of copyright. And this collection is put together by volunteers all over the world. Most books are available in html format and other formats. Any book can be downloaded. Perhaps this one of those good endeavours on the web.

And the coolest thing about this site is that you can find almost all the classics you have ever heard about.Go check it out and help build it up.

Right to Information

Thinking of Right to Information recently, I decided to google for it. Here are the few links I came across:

http://righttoinformation.gov.in/

http://www.ndtv.com/rti/default.asp

http://www.righttoinformation.info/

But I haven't gone thoroughly through any of those websites. But still I thought that some one might find these links useful. Check thse out and write in comments any thing you found interesting on those sites. Also add any of the links you know about RTI.