Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Re: Bring out the Langdon in you !! - Answers

Answers to Last week's Quiz



1 – G - Swastika
The motif seems to have first been used in Neolithic India. The symbol has an ancient history in Europe, appearing on artifacts from pre-Christian European cultures. In antiquity, the swastika was used extensively by the Indo-Aryans, Hittites, Celts and Greeks, among others. In particular, the swastika is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism


And on a personal note, My great Grandpa was a seafaring merchant turned entrepreneur and his last venture being selling teas and Matchbox under brand name Swastik in Colombo ( now Srilanka). He died mysteriously at a young age during World War I (not II) and as the family was here in India, nobody knows about the whereabouts of the company. what we all have is some pictures. The one I remember well are 1. Him along with three other men in suit(could be business partners) standing before a T-Model Ford. 2.) A Jute bag packed with Tea and a Match box with a Swastika and word Swastik written on them , Marketing Materials?


2 - K - Ankh





The ankh (symbol ☥) was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "life". Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest. It is also known as the Egyptian Cross, the key of life, the key of the Nile, or as crux ansata, Latin for "cross with a handle".



3 - D - Star of David








The Magen David (shield of David, or as it is more commonly known, the Star of David) is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaism today, but it is actually a relatively new Jewish symbol. It is supposed to represent the shape of King David's shield.The Magen David gained popularity as a symbol of Judaism when it was adopted as the emblem of the Zionist movement in 1897, but the symbol continued to be controversial for many years afterward. When the modern state of Israel was founded, there was much debate over whether this symbol should be used on the flag
4 - A - Sun Cross



The sun cross proper most commonly represents the sun, and the four quadrants the four seasonal cycles of the year. In astronomy, a similar astronomical symbol is used to represent the Earth while the symbol for the Sun is a circle with a central dot
5 - B - Tomoe











This symbol is ubiquitous on Buddhist and Shinto temples all over Japan. Its name is tomoe, meaning turning or circular, referring to the motion of the earth

6 - H - Swastika














Jainism gives even more prominence to the swastika than does Hinduism. You could find the above form of Swastik in all Jain temples & Holy books


7 - E - Seal of Solomon













8 - L - Celtic Cross












Commonly found in Celtic regions of Ireland & Britan.
In Ireland, it is a popular myth that the Celtic cross was introduced to the island by Saint Patrick during his time converting the pagan Irish. It is believed that he combined the symbol of Christianity, a cross, with the symbol of the sun, to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross by linking it with the idea of the life-giving properties of the sun
9 - J -Eye of Ra or Eye of Horus








10 - F



The Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials is the vision of the International Raëlian Movement to estabilsh an embassy, at a base cost of $20 million, with a landing pad that would serve as spaceport for extraterrestrial spaceships
11 - C -Triskelion




A triskelion is the symbol of Brittany, as well as the Isle of Man and Sicily (where it is called Trisceli).A triskelion or triskele (both from the Greek, τρισκέλιον or τρισκελής, for "three-legged") is a symbol consisting of three interlocked spirals, or three bent human legs, or any similar symbol with three protrusions and a threefold rotational symmetry.

12 - I - Black Sun

Can you see three Swastiks inscribed inside the Circle?
Source : Wikipedia
P.S: In Future will restrict Quiz if any, to six questions. Composing answers for 12 is a real pain in the butt... ufff.
Signing off,
Subbu

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Bring out the Langdon in you !!

Was looking in to wikipedia for the orgin of swastik and ended up reading about a whole lot of symbols. Certainly seen these before but was not aware of their meanings & Names.

So here is a small Quiz that I composed.

Source & Images: Wikipedia.

When started, Copying & tiling images in a 4 X 3 matrix looked like a simple thing to do, but oh boy!! to homogenous all those backgrounds & copying from PNGs & resizing..uuufff. Could nt have done with out GIMP. Thanks GIMP2.2!!


Match images below ( A to L) with hints (1 to 12) & answer the Questions
(Click on the picture, to get a higher resolution)





Hints & Question:

1. Let's start with an easy one, An Ancient symbol used in many religions & perceived to bring good luck but became a taboo after World War II, some experts attribute its usage across culture in prehostoric times to 'collective unconsiousness' rather than cultural diffusion. Shown here is as used in Hinduism. What is it?

2. An Egytpian symbol for life

3. Named after a king of ancient Israel, symbolizes Judaism signifying the number 7.

4. A Popular Neopagan Solar symbol but used in modern astronomy to denote planet Earth.

5. A Japanese abstarct symbol meaning turning or circular referring to the motion of the earth, you could have seen them on Taiko(Japanese) Drums.

6. Among the Holiest symbol of Jainism, symbol of the seventh Tirthankar 'Tirthankara Suparsva'

7. A magical signet ring said to be possed by King Solomon which gave him the power to speak with animals. shown here is a simple form. What is it called?

8. A popular Irish Myth stating that this was introduced by St.Patrcik during his time converting Pagan Irish to Christianity.

9. an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection and royal power from deities, worn as an amulet to ensure good health and ward off sickness. Some speculate that this could be the orgin for the prescription symbol Rx.( An Accepted theory is that Rx is an abbrevation of Latin word 'recipe' )

10. Raelian, a UFO religion, adopted this symbol for The Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials. Identify it.

11. an ancient Celtic symbol related to the sun, afterlife and reincarnation. A common element of Celtic art and found in Flag of Isle of Man and Flag of Sicily.

12. An Occult Symbol found on the floor of a room at Wewelsburg , notably for its usage in Nazi Mysticism. Banned in Germany based on usage. ( Legal disclaimar, used here for purpose of education & information, OMG!)


There are two ways to answer this quiz, the fun way is to guess, the easy way it to ask Lord Googleshwar!!

Signing off for now,

Subbu

Announcements - To blog evey Saturday

Signing in after a long time, was not able to blog often, infact did nt blog at all after the first post (if I can count that as a post). It is not in particular that I am busy or lazy, it s just that I look for a better topic & never post anything at all. Now I strongly feel blogging has to inbibed as an habit.

And atleast one particular reader is annoyed when I did n't post about the DC Marathon as promised. :(

I've deceided to post every saturday, even if it is going to be more like a journal entry.



When forced creativity worked in 3M why not here?





---

Subbu

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Blog-O-World, Here I come.

After Numerous Blog creation and Password Forget saga, Here comes 'Script and Act' & this one is gonna stay.

The Thought of posting regularly without flooding the blog with Techinal / fwded / Stock related posts kept me away so far. Even though I can't rule out these kinda posts now, what I got to say is 'a right mix will be maintained'. But the real driving force behind this (mis)venture is that I know a handful of friends all ready blogging out there and could survive with some quid-pro-quo comments... mmm... wht say?... ashamed? me?...NEVER. .. Is it not called clarity of mind, when u know what you want and know how to get it... lol..


Now coming to 'Behind the Name'. It goes something like this 'When all the world is a stage, Don't we want to script our own roles? '....mmm... Let me not start the crap in the first post, saving this for another day. Btw, I see some friends in green in GTalk, lemme go and bug them for comments

And On a totally unrealated note, There are 100 Million+ Blogs created world wide so far. But How Many point percent of them are legitimate & active?

Signing off ,
for Now.

Subbu