Macintosh? What’s a Macintosh?: Jul. 14th
Jude is trying to understand where the word "Mac" comes from. I tell him that it is short for Macintosh.
"What is Macintosh sir"?

"It’s a kind of Apple. Apple names all of its products based on a type of Apple".

"Is Macintosh the name of a computer, sir?"

"Yes, Jude."

"Does Microsoft own Macintosh, sir?"

"Not yet, Jude, not yet."
S.S. Oberoi, Secretary of the Department of Electronics: Jul. 19th
Today I met S.S. Oberoi, a Sikh official from the Department of Electronics (DOE). This is a little like meeting the head of the FCC. We seem to have hit it off instantly, and we kept swapping stories with lots of laughter. He kept putting his hand on my shoulder, a very rare Indian gesture, and I realized he views me with the same regard that I view him.
We met at an industry function (NASSCOM) for computer technology. Drinking at these events is part of the game, and starts about eight. SS Oberoi got an early start. Seeing me without a whiskey he asked me "Are you a tea-totaler!" Most Indians regard this as a compliment; it’s like saying you’re "so religious". Coming from this raconteur however, I sense it’s not. I come up with a story about how my wife is pregnant, and I am not drinking out of sympathy. This he loves, he roars, and then another back slap and another story ensue.
Grabbing another scotch from the waiter he tells me the tale of how he administered the first Software Technology Park, in Bangalore, for Texas Instruments. This was in 1989. Getting a 64KB link to TI in Texas was a major issue. The Defense ministry would not allow the DOE to place the line because they were afraid that secrets of state would be transmitted over the line. Consequently they wanted a line printer that would print all data sent over the line, for review by their security. Mr. Oberoi informed them that it would take a 10 story building just to house the paper that would be produced in one year, and that there was no way they could read a printer that produced sixty pages a minute. The negotiations proceeded slowly until TI hit upon the idea of a digital recorder that would keep the last 4 minutes on file. Such a recorder could be purchased from Ampex (they had 2 in existence), and so it came to be that TI was allowed to set up shop in Bangalore.
The first time the Defense ministry came to visit was on the day Rajiv Gandhi lost the elections. An engineer at TI e-mailed a short note to one of his friends in the U.S. that Gandhi had lost. Sure enough, the mail was in the 4-minute buffer, and the ministry regarded this as a state secret. It took much negotiation on Mr. Oberoi’s part to allow TI to keep operating.
He laughs about it now. India is the #2 software exporter in the world today, largely due to his support. When I think of the problems I’m having setting up our small facility, I have to sit back and smile and think of Mr. Oberoi.