Events

Only day 3? Yikes. Of note today were the 6 hours of classes, the guest speaker, and the six power failures that seemed only to affect the lights and not any of the other electrical gear. In the next five hours or so I have about four hours of class prep to do, plus reviewing the team project due tomorrow. Somewhere in there I hope to eat and breathe. There may be a beer or two as well. More photos from Saturday's trip to the Red Fort. First, Chandni Chowk: After a short distance past that, we...

Hypotheticals in class can lead to cognitive dissonance if you think too hard on them. Today, for example, Ian invented the cell phone and admitted taking bribes, Ryan paid a high price for his seat in class, Elena punched Bob for trying to steal hers, and Nathan's wife spoke through him. All this after Bob and Kacie counted M&Ms for us. Best not to dwell. Instead, here are two more photos from yesterday's trip to the Red Fort: Inside: Much Stats homework tonight; more photos tomorrow.

They loaded us up on buses and drove us to the Red Fort and Old Delhi this afternoon. First stop, the Red Fort: Within the Red Fort grounds are a number of buildings, including the Diwan-i-Am, or audience chamber: Also the Khas Mahal: We then snagged about three dozen of the now-happiest rickshaw drivers in the city, and went to the Jama Masijd mosque. (I mostly took short videos on this trip, which I hope to upload to YouTube when I return to the U.S.) Then there was the bus ride back to the hotel...

After waking up at 4:30 for two mornings in a row, I really would like my body to figure out what time zone it's in. Maybe the problem is the Indian half-hour (it's 11½ hours ahead of Chicago, not 11, not 12), or possibly it was the two overnight flights in a row? Maybe I should just be glad I've had a relatively easy time getting to a point where I go to sleep at night (last night around 9:30pm) and wake up in the morning, instead of the reverse. Meanwhile, back in Raleigh, it looks like they have some...

Armed with two cameras and a Garmin Edge 305, I set off towards Connaught Place around 1pm and, eventually, found it. (There was this roundabout, see...and I didn't count correctly.) Total trip, 6.1 km, 1 hour 22 minutes, 15 auto-rickshaw drivers asking me where I wanted to go, 4 random people asking about the camera, no injuries. (Google Earth file) Oh, and about half a million stray dogs, like this one who I didn't see until I almost stepped on her: Living in New York and Chicago my entire life turned...

I'm still digesting Delhi, and in just a few minutes I'm about to walk to Connaught Place, to give me more to digest. Quickly, though, some notes from the cab ride from the airport to the hotel yesterday: Kudos to Lonely Planet, directing me to (a) the money-changing booth at the airport and (b) the pre-paid taxi booth. The Thomas Cook just outside baggage claim charged no commission on the exchange--except they kept a few rupees as a "fee". (The calculation was pretty straightforward: I bought Rs...

Apparently it gets foggy in Delhi. My four-hour connection at Heathrow unexpectedly turned into a 13-hour connection, so I took my sleep-deprived self out of the airport for a while. Yep, definitely not Delhi: And when in London, why not have a traditional breakfast? It was as good as it looked. Only one problem: my coat was in my checked bag, somewhere in the bowels of the airport. No problem: I now own a passably warm Reebok starter jacket, bought on sale for £22. It's 3pm now, and my flight is...

I'm once again at O'Hare, with about 90 minutes to kill before boarding. I think this counts as Day -3, but it could be Day -2 as it's already 3am Wednesday morning in Delhi, and classes start Saturday morning. If both airlines perform as expected, I should be in Delhi on Thursday morning—about 19 hours from now. Someday after that I might even adjust to the Indian time zone, 11½ hours ahead of Chicago. I also have figured out how to pack, having gotten my bags down to 6 kg and 17 kg. In part I...

The United States will shortly lift its 21-year ban on Scotland's national fruit, the haggis: The "great chieftan o' the puddin-race" was one of earliest casualties of the BSE crisis of the 1980s-90s, banned on health grounds by the US authorities in 1989 because they feared its main ingredient ‑ minced sheep offal ‑ could prove lethal. Some refined foodies might insist it always has been and always will be: in the words of Robert Burns, in his Ode to a Haggis, looking "down wi' sneering, scornfu' view...

After American Airlines raised fares last week, all the other majors followed—for about three days. Delta bolted first, and yesterday United and American caved: The increase, which was from $6 to $16 round-trip, was initiated last week by AMR Corp's American Airlines and later matched by rivals, including Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines, said Farecompare Chief Executive Rick Seaney. The airline industry has been groping for pricing power after demand for business travel sagged during the...