A Prayer....

 There are wars in progress, people are vanishing from their homes, murders and potential assassination attempts are occurring according to news reports. To some people this might be business as usual, but is it ? In the lonely dark nights of winter it seems like evil has descended upon the planet if you add to this mix your own personal problems, but the warm sunlight of approaching summer makes this depressing state almost tolerable!

Therefore, it seems appropriate to repeat an ancient Hindu prayer:

Aum bhur bhuvah swaha….

May we meditate on the effulgent light of one who is worshipful and has given birth to all the worlds, may he guide the rays of our intelligence towards the path of good !

Circles & Squares: A new approach!

By,

Ravindra Loomba 

In high school, we learnt that the area of a circle is Pi (π) times square of its radius(r). I had no clue as to the origin of this formula (π• r squared). All of us learnt it by rote. It was a fundamental formula someone discovered, we rationalized.Just as the formula for the area of a square whose each side equals r is (r times r).

However, recently  I spent some time thinking upon this formula and the mystery unfolded. The formula doesn't seem that mysterious now. If you draw a square with each side equaling 2r, which contains four equal squares with each side r , then the area of the circle with radius r inscribed within will be slightly bigger than the area of three of these squares. Actually, the area of this circle will be 3.1416 times the area of a single square of side r! That is the original formula we mentioned in first para, where the number 3.1416 is represented by the special character π.

With this information we can deduce the areas of squares and circles much easily. If we know the area of square then the area of the circle inscribed within is 78.54 % of the area of that square.

Moved!

 The three movie reviews 'Twelve Angry Men', 'Andhadhun' and 'Chalo Dilli' have been moved to Movies Review blog accessible from the Menu option at the bottom of this blog.

The story 'Mr. Tan's Bicycle ' is now in the science fiction blog accessible from the main menu below.

About Social Security.....

by,

Ravindra Loomba

Social Security is a term interpreted differently in some parts of the world as compared to its implied definition within US. In plain English, the phrase simply means that people are secure in their 'social' environment!

Therefore, it is not surprising that when I mention to a relative outside USA that we have social security, his response is 'all of us are secure here as well' !. He is interpreting the phrase according to its meaning in plain English.

Within USA, Social Security is a government agency that provides financial security to retired, poor and disabled people by making funds available to them provided they meet certain criteria. The current working population pays taxes called FICA which is a flat tax of about 6.2% deducted from their salaries which funds all different programs of Social Security mentioned above.

A worker making USD 50,000  a year will pay about $3,100 as FICA in that year.

A worker making USD 100,000 a year will pay about $6,200 as FICA in that year.

I have paid fair share of  FICA during my working years as a software professional.....

                               MEDICARE 

[Note: FICA and MEDICARE taxes are in addition to the Federal and State Income taxes].

In addition to FICA (see previous post), there is an additional flat tax of 1.45%  for Medicare that each employee pays and is directly deducted from their salaries each pay period. The Medicare tax funds the health insurance benefits provided to retired and people with disabilities ! 

A person making USD 100,000 a year will pay $1450.00 in Medicare taxes in that year !

The total of FICA and Medicare taxes is 7.65 % .

M E N U

Messages From The Author - Please Read (updated May 25 , 2022)

Money, Credit Cards And Savings(October 19,2018)

My Views On Software And Computers

The Cosmos In My Own Words (Updated July 25, 2018)

Science Whys And Hows !

Hollywood And Bollywood Reviews (Updated Feb. 28,2023)

In The Hopper - Review Of Favorite Books, TV shows... (Updated June 13, 2021))

My Essays On Life(Updated Nov 22,2017)

My Poems(Updated Aug 22, 2019)

Humor And Cartoons

My Digital Art

My Digital Movies

Fables - Some Ancient Some New (Upuudated

My Science Fiction(updated November 16, 2018)

Tales From Splitsville! (updated  June 17,2018, 2018)

Notes On Immigrating To USA

The Original Blog