Sampras vs. Federer Wimbledon 2001 Highlights

The year is 2001, and the quarter finals of Wimbledon has just ended. Roger Federer has dethroned the reigning champion Pete Sampras 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. Sampras had won seven out of the previous eight Wimbledons.



The morning headlines read, "Swiss teen Federer ends Sampras' Wimbledon run". Sampras was deprived of an eighth title, and his attempt at a fifth consequitive Wimbledons.

I found a beautifully compiled video of the highlights of the game on YouTube. While by no means can this game be extrapolated to compare the great players since Sampras was nearing the end of his career, and Federer was just starting off, this is a video clip to watch just for the sheet beauty of their games. Some of the points are so unbelievable, I had to rewind and watch it a few times.

Sampras vs. Federer Wimbledon 2001 Highlights



The DVD is for sale for $14.95 on Tenniswarehouse.com, and I hope to get a copy sometime (*hint, hint*)

So, who is the greatest ever?

One laptop per child - $100 each

Nicholas Negroponte's dream of 'One Laptop per child ' is inching closer towards reality.


2B1, the children's laptop from One Laptop per Child—a potent learning tool created expressly for the world's poorest children living in its most remote environments.

Here are some extracts from an interesting article from CNN :

"Nicholas, it looks like a science project," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said to Nicholas Negroponte, as he demonstrated one of its first versions. Skeptics abounded when, in early 2005, Negroponte left MIT's Media Lab, which he founded and ran for 20 years, aiming to build a supercheap portable computer for the world's poor children. But today Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative is preparing to launch its dream machine.

Negroponte has also seduced the leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Nigeria and - until the recent coup - Thailand with his vision. Each says he wants at least a million for his country's children. And serious talks are underway with Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico, Vietnam and others.

Now called XO, the device has evolved into something both practical and sleek. Gone is the second prototype's hand-cranked generator, meant to free students from the need for an electric plug. (One broke off in Kofi Annan's hands when he demonstrated it at a UN tech conference last year.) Instead, the XO comes with a separate fist-sized generator. You pull a cord to make juice, like starting an old lawn mower.

The XO comes with tiny stereo speakers and three USB slots. It can be used as a conventional laptop or - with the screen twisted around - as a booklike tablet. The screen itself is a feat of energy-conserving innovation. As necessary, it can be read like paper with entirely reflected light or be illuminated completely from within. The user experience is also coolly state-of-the-art. A few bars by U2 play as the machine starts up. The Wikimedia Foundation, among others, is working on content.

If current plans hold, One Laptop Per Child will start building millions of XOs next summer and will ship at least 50 million a year by the end of 2008. That is more than all the laptops sold worldwide last year. The initial price will be closer to $150 but is projected to drop to $100 by the end of 2008.

Bush, Manmohan, Aishwarya rai and Sonia are traveling in a train...

(I'm posting a joke a friend forwarded me - source unknown)

Bush, Manmohan, Aishwarya rai and Sonia are traveling in a train. The train goes through a tunnel and it gets completely dark. Suddenly there is a kissing sound and then a slap! The train comes out of the tunnel. The women and Manmohan are sitting there looking perplexed. Bush is
bent over holding his face, which is red from an apparent slap. All of them remain diplomatic and nobody says anything.

Sonia is thinking:
These Americans are all crazy after Aishwarya. Bush must have tried to kiss her in the tunnel. Very proper that she slapped him.

Aishwarya is thinking:
Bush must have tried to kiss me but kissed Sonia instead and got slapped.

Bush is thinking:
Damn it. Manmohan must have tried to kiss Aishwarya. She might have thought it was me and slapped me.

Manmohan is thinking:
If this train goes through another tunnel I will make another kissing sound and then i'll again slap bush...

Gone in 60 minutes

The box of assorted fireworks we bought for Diwali - Sparklers, Flower Pots, Pencils, Hydrogen Bombs, Rockets, Hitler and Peacock crackers, Goa and Sparrow bombs, Serpents, color changing butterflys and the tug of wars.



Gone in 60 minutes.

All that was left were dust, torn bits of paper, ash, a ringing sound in our ears, and broad happy smiles on our faces.

Avast! On board the Black Pearl!

My company hosts an annual 'Aisle decoration' contest sometime around Diwali, and its always a very competitive and high energy event at work. This year, the theme was opened out (versus being just Diwali related), with an overall motif - 'entertainment'. Each aisle in the office is asked to form a team, and is given two hours to put up their decoration.

One the teams started a week early, investing up to Rs. 10,000/- on cardboards, paint, woodwork, etc, and launching a massive plan of attack. Somehow, as always, our team was way underwater with project work and simply didnt have time to even think about it until the day before the event.



But just when all hope seemed lost, we had a quick team meeting and came up with an interesting theme - 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. It sure seemed like a far fetched idea at first - to take our aisle, and convert it into a large pirate ship, with the mast, deck, starboard, wheel, flags, and tubes. But sure enough, the creative juices flowed, tasks were broken up cleanly, everyone did their bit, execution was crisp, and the results were outstanding.



The Black Pearl. An elegant single-deck galleon with two masts carrying white sails. Two cannons on the side. Cloaked in dark black cloth. The wheel cut out of thermocol in the middle. The noose and the plank at one end. The sandy beach with a mock treasure chest, coins and bottles of rum at the other. And merry pirates on board dancing to the Beedi song. Ok, we did play the pirates theme for a while.



Our neighbouring aisle's theme was Diwali in the past, present and the future, with a special guided tour by Vasim dressed as Hanuman (sporting a hammer for mace) in full Mumbaiyya. The play acting of Hanuman was their trump. The HR aisle had representation from various regions of India - Kerala, Karnataka, etc and was well decorated. Sadly, the team that had started a week early and worked extremely hard didnt have too much of an impact. While their 'M.G. Road' theme was good, and the decorations were excellent, it lacked the important 'wow factor'. The previous year's winner, the TID/QA aisle had a Diwali through the ages theme which was a bit dull compared to their showing the previous year. However, their creative idea of making a 'Ravana' out of the aisle members heads was easily one of the best of everything on display.



The judges declared the Hanuman aisle the winner. Our aisle came second, and the pirates were absolutely elated. In all honesty, it was just so much fun being a part of it all, who won was almost insignificant.

My Birthday

I had a lovely birthday, spending my day trying to do as many of my favorite things as I could. I had a list of ten, and made it through almost all. Breakfast at India Coffee House. A game of tennis (with Hashimi). Coffee at Kalmane. Scrabble. Shopped for running shoes. Crab at Kudla.

Thank you so much everyone for your wishes - I had a deluge of greetings over email, on the phone and on orkut. And thanks for the many lovely gifts.

One present that stood out was a creative and thoughtful one from some of my team mates. Most of you are well tuned in to my obsession for Federer. Well, they morphed my face on top of his rival Nadal's and here you have it - the clash of the titans ;-) (The picture of mine they chose is from a face painting contest at work - the blue butterfly was painted by one of my colleagues)



Isnt it lovely? Well who knows, I might still meet Federer someday. Perhaps as a spectator at Wimbledon. ;-)