Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Oil drives the world!

Claim: Oil drives the world. Not just in the literal sense, but everything in the world is around oil. People who got oil have the highest say in the world.
Reasons:

  1. Self-sustaining economies dont depend on oil or have their own oil production.
  2. Saudi and oil giants are talking about revaluation of currencies since they got the oil and gives them the power to do so.
  3. USA goes after countries that have oil and are not friendly with them.
  4. USA literally licks asses of countries that have maximum oil.
  5. When oil prices go high, everything in the market goes high.
  6. Any country that wants to be independent should either find a substitute for oil for its energy or have very good relations with countries that have oil.
  7. 70 % of India's oil consumption is imported. Unless India starts projects to replace oil dependency, it would become hard for India. A friend of mine mentioned that nuclear power would be great to use. Especially for industries we can use nuclear energy and its derivatives. But the problem is India doesnt have much of uranium. Thorium is abundant. India should invest in developing a technique to use thorium for nuclear energy generation. If we can do that, we would be a great self-dependent energy supplier and can boast our economy.
Qn: How % of oil is used in Indian industries? I remember that most of them generate the power through coal deposits in India. Atleast the coal is plenty is India. But it is projected that in 200-300 years the coal reserves in India will also deplete.
There is an imminent need to find alternate energy sources to keep the rising oil prices in check. Brazil invested massively in sugar based ethanol industry so much that 1/3rd of their vehicles now run on domestic grown fuel. India should also do that.
Sometimes I wish I would be in politics to get such reforms. I dont know, may be I would join politics sometimes later in life.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Why is the front seat of car called shot gun seat?

Qn: Why is sitting in the front seat of car called a shot gun?

I have no clue why it is called so. Anyone has any thoughts on this? Please write in the comments section. I will incorporate in the main blog with your name by the side.
After some research on the web I found very interesting stuff.
Here is the answer from yahoo answers!
"It stems from the days of the stagecoaches when the wrangler would drive the coach and handle the horses and another would sit beside him with a shotgun for protection from robbers, Indians, etc. while the passengers sat behind inside the coach."

The article on wikipedia gives more details on when the first usage of the term was and dwelves into history and where it is first used.

Further reading revealed a game called shotgun. Courtesy http://www.shotgunguide.com/
General Rules
1) The first person to yell "SHOTGUN" gets to ride in the front seat.
2) The remaining back seats may be divvied up in the same manner by being the first to call "back right seat", etc..
3) The word "shotgun" must be loud enough to be heard by at least one witness. If no witness is to be found, or in case of a tie, the driver has the final word. After all, it is most likely his car. (note: if it isn't his car, and the owner is present, the owner's decision is final. Owner must be sober, however, or he will defer his judgment to the driver.)
4) Early calls are strictly prohibited. All occupants of the vehicle (including the driver) must be outside of the building and directly on the way to the vehicle before shotgun may be called. Under no circumstances may a person call shotgun inside a building. For sake of simplicity, a garage is considered to be outside. Parking structures and detached garages are always considered as being outdoors, even if they are underground.
5) A person may only call shotgun for one way of a trip. Shotgun can never be called while inside a vehicle or still technically on the way to the first location. For example, one can not get out of a vehicle and call Shotgun for the return journey.
6) Being as how everyone is created equal, men have the same right as women to the front seat of the car. i.e. women don't own the front seat.
7) One is allowed to ride shotgun as many times as he can call it, but for himself only. No one can call shotgun for their slower friend, unless the friend has a speech or mental handicap that prevents them from calling it for themselves.
8) The driver has final say in all ties and disputes. The driver has the right to suspend or remove all shotgun privileges from one or more persons.

For further rules, please see http://www.shotgunguide.com/