The Square Circle

Bliss and beyond

2010-04-14T22:35:00.001+02:00

This post was originally written on the 20th of February, weeks after I got married. Somehow, due to a combination of limited internet access and sheer laziness, it got delayed thus far.

“
Dear Diary,

It is currently my third week into my new life where all things seem great and wonderful – and it continues to amaze me.

I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I’m now married!!! And the past weeks have been the most beautiful days of my life.
These past weeks, me and Thayyuba have spent almost every moment of our waking hours together, talking, laughing, and whispering sweet nothings.
Actually the one thing that I keep wondering all the time now is how I lived without her in my life so far.

On a more lighter side to this whole episode (which almost everyone I know turns into a serious romantic issue), I realize there’s a whole new, different world that I haven’t known so far, and continue to learn by experience with each passing day:

1.
Marriage isn’t just about two people. Its about two families. And getting to know a whole new family right from scratch doesn’t really work the same way your weekly meet ups do.

2.
There are at least 4 types of combs and 5 different hair&face products, at least 3 of which are essential at all times.

3.
Apparently clothes are supposed to be neatly folded or ironed and stacked in rows in the wardrobe – something that my jeans and tees aren’t used to just yet.

4.
“I was just talking to this girl” is not a bright answer when asked what you were doing.
Ever.

5.
Flowers are pretty. Really.

6.
Apparently certain shoes go only with certain clothes. Again, something my pair of Adidas never realized so far.
”

Looking back at the above, I realize I haven’t really mentioned some of the more factual aspects of my adventure that happened even before my wedding.
To make a long story short, my flight blew an engine shortly before takeoff(!), got cancelled, the rebooked flight got delayed, some looney left an unattended bag leading to a bomb scare at Frankfurt Airport and I finally got to travel Business Class (and use the exclusive Dubai Business Lounge for the first time).

And yes, all of this happened within 24hrs of each other.

…And we’re back!

2010-04-11T21:23:00.001+02:00

Yes, this blog is still alive.
And yes, I did get married. In fact, three days ago on 7th, it’s actually been TWO whole months since I tied the proverbial knot and started to share my otherwise bland life, with that one special person who adds joy and color to everything I do.
And it continues to amaze me with every passing day…

Firstly, I would like to thank you, the reader, every single person who kept coming back to The Square Circle months after it was, so to speak, down. And I’m sorry I didn’t keep up my promise of getting “back in the first week of March” (yes I did realize that thank you very much!) or even acknowledge comments. The thing is, I wanted to eagerly write a post just weeks into my marriage.
And then the next one.
And another.

I don’t want to do the typical I-am-married-therefore-I-have-no-time thing every other guy I know does and blame my lack of blogability on my marriage or anything. I’ll admit it: I goofed up. I have no excuses.

Truth is, I have at least 6 unfinished drafts in my Open folder. I’ll get to them (and backlink them when I’m done) as soon as possible. In no particular order, they are approximately about:

~Wedding and on being married.
~My home town of Cuddalore.
~Why we love hot weather.
~Facebook.
~How to spot Indians in Frankfurt.
~Behind a bad video game.

…and other random topics of no particular interest.

I’ll get to them as soon as I can. I know its all been a long time in coming; but all I can do now is assure you:

The Square Circle is back in the game.
Play on.

Wedding Diaries :)

2010-01-26T23:19:00.001+01:00

(Yes I know this post is a bit late in coming...pretty much like everything else I'm doing lately; but anyway here it is...)

In less than 2 weeks from now; I find myself in that special place where all things look wonderful, a dreamy time that really should come once in everyone's lives, when the greatest joy of all is that of sharing your life with a very special person.

And for me, that special time comes on the 7th of Febuary 2010, when Thayyuba and I take each other hand-in-hand, and mark the beginning of a new life together, in the most beautiful relationship life has to offer.

Yes, I am getting married :)

I'll be leaving from Frankfurt in about three days, and hope to reach Chennai in good spirits (I also upgraded to business class to take better advantage of my 8hr transit in Dubai – those miles have finally paid off!) and all I can say is:
I'm excited.
Really excited.

So excited in fact, that I really haven’t been able to concentrate on work for a while. Or anything else for that matter either, except the occasional song and humming that seems to find its way for no reason at all.
Those of you already married or in love probably know exactly what I’m talking about…but in case you’re one of those lonely souls who has not – I can only say that this is something no one can truly do justice to in words.

You just have to live it!

p.s.
I guess its fair game to state that The Square Circle will not be active for a while…at least not until I get back to work in the first week of March; so I just wanna thank you for being a part of my life, for relishing my blog and for commenting on it.

Please do join in our celebrations, and pray for us, for the day when two lives become one.
www.AbdulRahman-Thayyuba.com

Achievements ‘09

2010-01-09T23:43:00.001+01:00

Yes I know this post quite late, at least a week overdue; and that I also have a load of catching up to do – comments to respond to; blogs to read; facebook to…well, look at; RSS feeds to read and so on – but I just thought I’d do this today since I’m snowed in this weekend (over 10cm of snow here and more storm warnings on the way)

I’d like to think of each year as a milestone gone by, to think back and look at all the things – right and wrong – done over the past year with a view to do things better in the future. So let’s get started:

First of, come 19th of Jan and it would be exactly a year since The Square Circle first got online (Click here for the pilot post). Before this, we were called “Random Thoughts” and looking back I think it really has come quite a way since that old blogger template.

Late winter and toward the start of spring, I saw a couple of new countries when I caught a trip to Rome, Italy and Brussels, Belgium (which I wrote about here and here).

This was also the time I became an uncle for the first time in my life when my cute little niece Nahla came into the world. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t exactly an ‘achievement’ on my part but then I realized how much more there is to life.

Spring was exceptionally good in purely physical terms as well, and that’s when I also started going out for runs and workouts (believe it or not, there’s actually a parallel bar in the middle of the woods near my place!)

Towards the start of summer, I timed-out for a two week trip to India – caught up with old friends, went to a wedding, realized divorces DO happen in real life, and came back to Frankfurt much wiser to the ways of a mature world.

In July, I landed myself my shiny new laptop, a whole bunch of games, new software (windows7 pre-ordered!) and other geek stuff that make me go wild.

August was when I finally realized how much time I was wasting on online forums after this incident, decided to quit and do something useful.
And I guess it did pay off, its surprising how much of Qur’an you can memorize in a short period of time.

Autumn was beautiful, and it was Ramadan, and it was a wonderful time – the only thing I missed was friends and family on Eid at the end of it; but then we can’t have everything every time can we?

And then coming to the start of this winter, the past couple of months have been quite busy – both at work (where we’ve had some major chaos) but more importantly, because of an interesting development in my personal life that has completely changed the way I look at the word ‘relationship’.
This is the kind of stuff that makes you want to hum and sing and smile for no reason at all and is actually the main reason for my lack of blog-ability the past couple of months!

Yes, I know what you’re thinking and it is true, and I promise a detailed post on this as soon as I can; and I still can’t stop smiling :)

All in all, I would like to look back and say 2009 was quite a successful year, and I’m only looking forward to more excitement in the coming months and for the rest of the year.

The power of “n”

2009-12-20T14:27:00.001+01:00

Quick question:
What is the most obscure, unimaginative and down-right outrageous name for a video game you’ve ever heard of?

As it turns out, it is allowed to name a game after just one letter from the alphabet – and this is what it is:
“n”
(and no, the quotes aren’t included!)

This physics-based platformer – which is more completely known as “The way of the Ninja” – comes with heavy emphasis on skill and hardly any on graphics (our main character is actually just a stick figure), but don’t let that fool you.
As webcomic xkcd once remarked, the greatest, most powerful gaming systems in the world still cannot match the same addictiveness of tiny flash-based games, and “n” is proof of it.

The objective of this incredibly addictive game is to guide our hero the ninja across a series of diabolical mazes (over a hundred of them in all!) and run, jump, slide through it collecting gold, while avoiding mines, laser beams, homing missiles and other death traps liberally spread throughout the mazes and get to the all elusive exit.
You have an unlimited number of lives to play each level; however as the game remarks: your patience may not be!

It falls in the same category as those embedded-flash browser games we used to sneak into our computer labs back in college, and isn’t any short on the fun part.

It also comes with a comprehensive level editor you can use to make your own mazes and upload them for everyone else to use, but from what I’ve seen, most of the user-created levels are way too difficult and aren’t really all that cool.
Nevertheless, there are some really challenging mazes out there, and even if you don’t want to play the online content there’s plenty to do in the original game.

And here’s the best part:
The full version of this game is completely free for the PC/mac.
(You can download it from here or here)

And in case you’re really interested – there is also a paid version called “n+” on the PSP.

Now, why am I doing this?
Because I just spent the last 4hours hammering the arrow keys on my laptop trying to beat my own record (and cramping my fingers in the process), and so I want to spread the joy!

Regardless of whether you’re a hardcore gamer or just someone looking to kill time on a slow day at work (or college), this is one game you simply have got to play.
Even if you’re not that much into games.

Plane fear

2009-11-30T22:26:00.001+01:00

Okay, I'll admit it: flying totally freaks me out.

Now given the fact that I do work for an airline company, hating planes isn't exactly helping my career. But while I'm not nervous about messing around with other peoples' flights, for some reason every time I'm at the airport I get butterflies in my stomach, my pulse starts to race, and I start to get anxious.

Airports are taunting, cold, mean places where no one can be trusted (would you rather watch over that loose bundle while that guy in the shabby jeans goes to the washroom?) and anyone can be a suspect.
The way airport security checks, rechecks and triple-checks everyone’s baggage, its as if anyone could be a possible attacker planning to blow up the next plane.
And that’s not a comforting thought when you’re waiting in line.

And then there is more:
Since this whole Swine-fluenza started, anyone who so much as sneezes or coughs becomes the target of everyone’s attention and discreet avoidance.
In case you’re wondering – yes, it IS still a big deal, at least at airports. Back in April (when the whole thing started) I was on my way to Munich when I see a guy at the boarding terminal wearing a surgical facemask and holding a passport that boldly declared “Mexico”.
Understandably, there wasn’t a soul within 10meters of him in every direction.

It doesn’t end there. While I’m inside the plane, every time the flight attendant passes the meal tray over my head to the next passenger, I have this morbid fear of the tray slipping off her hand and falling on me.
And with good reason: it has happened to me.
Twice.

Somehow, economy class food-trays are so designed that they hold stuff in exactly one arrangement: the way it is when you first get it. Any other arrangement and you know the fork’s gonna fall over the salad bowl which then tips over that piece of rehydrated chicken that lands on your lap and all of hell breaks loose as you try to retrieve the fork, causing the little cup of juice to spill over the passenger next to you!

Ah, the joys of air travel…
:)

The Door and Devil May Cry 3

2009-11-25T21:55:00.001+01:00

For those of you joining in late, the Devil May Cry series is a best-selling franchise developed by Capcom Ltd., Japan marketed here by Capcom Entertainment Inc, Central Europe.

The series primarily revolve around demons and other dark forces, which Dante – the series protagonist – must overcome. Gameplay is quick with plenty of adrenaline pumping slashing and gore…
…until you get to a scene in the 3rd game (available for PS2 and PC) where Dante's brother enters the Demon's domain through a rather familiar-looking door. Here is what it looks like:

If you can’t make the connection, here’s a hint:

Above shows a picture of the Door of the Ka’bah, the single most sacred religious location on earth for over a billion people of the Islamic faith.

That this so-called “devil’s door” borrows its design from such an incredibly holy relic causes deep hurt and offence..and is completely unacceptable no matter which side of neutrality you look at it.

Understandably, a lot of people are upset and I personally know people who’ve been shouting their voices (or at any rate, their keyboards) hoarse about “boycotting Capcom” and “banning their products”.
But what I can’t really understand (or accept) is why we as a people – Asians, Muslims and Indians in particular – are so paranoid about banning and boycotting stuff all the time…
…as if its gonna do anyone any good. I mean, assuming boycotts did work, who’s going to tell the statistics guy scratching his head at Capcom that the REAL reason the sales of one particular game dipped by 3% was due to religious indifference?

I’m one guy who doesn’t believe in Online Petitions or boycotts, so I wrote to Capcom at their London headquarters address telling them exactly what I felt about the whole thing.
To be honest I didn’t really expect a reply (who answers back to criticism anyway?) but they did. And here is what they had to say (translated from German):

“Dear Mr. Noor,

Thank you for your message regarding religious artifacts in Devil May Cry 3 We regret that this injury has been caused to religious feelings. The title was developed in a production department of our Japanese parent company, which we will refer to this as soon irreverence.

We will do our best to remedy this artifact representation. Unfortunately, this would be in the form of a patch and would be available only in the PC version because for the PS2 console version it is not possible to produce any program code changes, and also not is not allowed on our part.

With kind regards from Hamburg,

<name withheld>
PR Manager
(Capcom Entertainment) Central Europe”

I know we still have no confirmed dates for the rollout of this patch, but at least they acknowledged that the problem exists…and promised to do something about it.
Of course they are saying there’s nothing they could do about the PS2 version but that is understandable – after all the ten-year-old console isn't exactly cutting edge on upgradability.
But still, I guess I'll be okay even if it is just the PC version getting the patch to remove the offending door.

Personally, for me it means there is still hope in the world and that people are willing to listen, and reaffirms my faith in the power of the Written Word.

And that “boycotts” and “bans” aren’t necessarily the best way to deal with a problem.

7 unique gifts for a geek

2009-11-18T23:15:00.001+01:00

Question:
Have you ever been in that place where you need to get a gift for a certain someone, and you were fresh out of ideas?
Well I have, and I was so tired of people guessing socially acceptable gifts that I ended up making a wish-list of stuff that I’d appreciate if people got me. (Original post here)

That got me thinking…normal people get normal gifts – and they’re happy about it. But what about that poor geek who gets stuck with a bunch of boutique gift-vouchers and no clue what to do with them?
So for the benefit of all potential gifters and giftees, we present, seven geeky ideas that you can actually buy (online of course!):

1. USB spy-camcorder pen:

Okay, so maybe no one really needs a video camera built into a pen (with 4gigs of storage, I might add), but the idea is neat.

But somehow, this pen seems kinda creepy: Would you rather trust that guy from the next cubicle who leaves a stout pen on top of his computer screen that somehow seems pointed directly at you?

Hmm, not sure if all great ideas should really make it to manufacturing. But this one did, and this is proof.

2. Wi-fi detecting T-shirt:

This tee apparently comes with a built-in circuit chip that detects the presence of any wireless network and then lights up the graphics on the front accordingly.

The best thing I like about t-shirts like this (oh yes, there’s plenty more where that came from) is that it says “geek” in a very subtle way:
You probably don’t even notice anything different unless it lights up; but when it does is a head-turner!

Of course, I wouldn’t wanna wear this on a plane trip – the last thing you need is to explain to Airport Security why your tee shirt has a circuit chip inside it :)

3. Binary watch:

Actually this was something I found on the net (or on one of those endless forwarded emails) a long time ago, but I never knew they really existed – or that people actually buy them.

To cut a long story short, the upper row indicates hours and the lower row minutes – and to tell the time all you have to do is think in binary…and if you’re wondering how to do that, then this is probably not for you :)

The perfect gift for a computer programmer I’d think.

4. TV turn-off remote keychain:

This is one of those things that’s funnier than it looks, but then that goes by what’s your definition of “funny”.

This handy little keychain has over 400 frequencies of “off” codes pre-programmed to turn off virtually any TV, DVD and electronic device that has an infra-red port in it.
I’m not sure how well it works but the makers say it works on “99% of all TVs”.

Hmm, I wonder what people would do when they catch the guy who keeps turning off the TV right in the crucial stages of a match – at the game-bar.

5. Solar powered messenger-bag:

If it weren’t for the fact that it looks kinda lame (and costs over a 100 bucks!) I’d like to buy this messenger bag.

Not only does it scream Environmentally Friendly, but I guess this is one of those things that’s actually more useful than it is cool.

I’ve been stuck a few times with a dead phone and no charger (or, for that matter, a power outlet) for hours, and it seems to happen especially when you’re expecting a call.
Time to put sunshine to good use.

6. Water-powered clock

If you’re looking to show how green you are without lugging a weird-looking bag around – here’s an easier way to do it:
An alarm clock that’s powered by water.

I didn’t really understand how this thing is supposed to work; but apparently it’s based on some electrochemical reactions between the electrodes and the water – and produces just enough electricity for it to tell time, temperature and even wake you up!

Quite impressed by that I must say!

7. Electronic Rubik’s cube:

To be quite honest, I was never much of a puzzle freak and to this day I could never solve a rubik’s cube.
But I think part of the problem was that the traditional cube doesn’t really help once you’re stuck…that’s where this idea comes in handy:

A touch-sensitive Rubik’s Cube with colors that light up when you slide your fingers across it, allowing you to actually ‘solve’ it.
Best thing is, when you’re stuck or something, apparently it even offers hints for solving the current combination!

But I wonder if it could actually substitute for the real thing?

p.s. In case you were wondering, yes, these really are things you can actually buy – not that you’d want to buy them – but I just happened to stumble upon them one bored afternoon and realized there’s so many weird things out there…and this list is by no means even an remotely complete.

Lemme know what you think!
:)

Windows 7 reviewed

2009-11-03T21:04:00.001+01:00

Okay, here it is – The full review of Windows 7: Home Premium, 64bit edition brought to you by yours truly :)
It has been nearly two weeks since I first installed it, and so far its been good.
p.s. if you don’t like computers or couldn’t care less for new operating systems, please bear with me on this one. Thanks.

First reaction: I love it.
To be honest here, I guess this is starting out almost the same way as the Bush vs. Obama analogy: Windows 7 is amazing, simply because it is not Vista. It does right a lot of things that Vista messed up.
For instance, the power button doesn't directly put your computer to sleep (which was a major annoyance – how many people actually use “Sleep mode”?!); now you can choose which action you want to do...and the default is "Shutdown" which is quite the way it should be.

Actually customizability is the key here:
Almost every aspect of Vista that drove everyone up the wall can be customized to make it more bearable and even useful.
Like taskbar notifications, Windows defender (yes, its still here), UAC, instant one-click wallpaper changes (‘themes’ is a whole new feature in Windows7), Aero Peek options…it goes on!
But to make this more organized, here’s a list of stuff that makes this a winner:

The taskbar is revamped, quite nice and takes a while getting used to, but I appreciate the fact that you can now "pin" programs to it just like you would on a dock. And the best thing is, a right-click gives you contextual options.
Like for instance right-clicking Chrome shows new window, new incognito window and even some of your recently visited pages, while a right click on say, a media player shows recently played and so on.
I'm happy it DOES NOT come with Windows Mail, Windows Calendar or Windows Gallery. Actually in Vista I was quite confused why they were there because the EXACT same thing is also available on WindowsLive! (as Live Calendar, Live Mail and Live Gallery.
So now you don't have twice as many preinstalled software...only one set of them and I have to admit that Live Writer is pretty good.
When installing say a program or something, the installation progress actually shows on the taskbar icon when minimized. Nifty!
‘Libraries’ is a cool new feature that allows you to collate different folders from all over your computer onto a single location to easily look through it.
Like say you have your downloads from each of your browsers in different locations. You can now add all these locations to your ‘Downloads Library’ so that you can find all your downloads in one place – even as the folder content changes.
Windows Media Player 12 does not automatically steal file extensions from your existing (already default) video players. Instead, it asks you politely if you do want it to take them. And of course, you only have yourself to blame if you click on 'yes'.
Those gadgets are now on their own on the desktop, without that horrible sidebar. Unfortunately the changes here are only skin deep and it still runs as a single process called (what else?) "sidebar.exe".
The drag-to-resize-windows is a simple yet ingenious new feature in Windows7:
Drag to the top of the screen to maximize, or drag to either side to snap to it taking up exactly half the screen on any side (previously the only way to do this was to select "Show windows side by side" from the taskbar context menu.
The best part is that when you drag it away, it automatically shrinks back to the original size when you drag it away. And because most people these days use widescreens, it really makes comparing two windows a ton easier.
A tip of the hat to whoever at Microsoft though of this!

And I’m sure there’s a lot more to come – just as I am sure there’s gonna be bugs as well, but for now things look good.
Oh and btw, in case you are looking to buy, here’s a link:

Window(s) on the horizon

2009-10-22T18:49:00.001+02:00

Yes, today is October 22nd.
Today, the much awaited version of Microsoft’s popular operating system – Windows 7 – officially launches worldwide. And being the crazy electronics freak that I am, the box is already on my desk.

And here’s what it looks like, straight out of the box (along with my laptop and other stuff):

~~Yeah I know, I haven’t even opened the box yet~~ [23oct, Edit:] Okay, so I’ve just opened the box this morning and can confirm, yes it comes with both the 32bit and 64bit DVDs which is a good thing because I’m looking forward to “going 64”.
And I really hope its worth the hype because I’ve completely lost hope in Vista (recently my Gtalk, Skype and other VOIP software stopped working all of a sudden).

I can’t wait to install this.
:)

When wolves become shepherds…

2009-10-09T23:35:00.001+02:00

A shepherd was out with his sheep one day, when a wolf came along and attacked one of them. The man chased after the wolf and took his sheep back. The wolf then turned, and spoke to the shepherd:
”If today you are protecting the sheep, but who will protect the sheep on the Day of Savagery, when there will be no shepherd to protect the sheep, except me.
The day, when wolves become shepherds…”

And today, when US president Barack Hussain Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize in Peace “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”…
…my initial reaction was:
”Say WHAT??”

Now don’t get me wrong…its not like I don’t like Obama (his monkey-faced predecessor yes, but not him, really) but I’d like to know two things:
1) What exactly did Obama do to deserve a “peace” award and
2) was there really no one else in the world who made a bigger contribution to peace this year???

Yes, I really would appreciate it if any of those guys from the Nobel Committee cared to explain exactly WHY the hell would they want to give a “peace” award for someone who hasn’t really done anything so far.
I mean okay, so he’s “strengthening diplomacy” but is that what a peace prize is for? Almost seems like an insult to what Mother Teresa did.

Which brings us to my next question:
This whole “strengthening diplomacy” thing – is that honestly the best anyone has done for peace this year; out of 6 billion people? Seriously?
Wow, it that’s really true, the future of humanity doesn’t look very promising.

But then maybe I’m just over-reacting. I guess at some level this is good news; because now the Nobel Prize – the Epitome of all that is Great and High – all of a sudden seems within reach of almost anyone.
I mean come on, if Obama can bag a peace prize after calling for renewed attacks on a country America invaded… its almost surprising why anyone else can’t have one.

Hmm, I wonder if Britney Spears would like a Nobel Prize in Chemistry next year…
Think I’ll start a campaign or something.
Who’s with me?

Why Germans must learn English

2009-09-20T21:01:00.001+02:00

This is just a random video I found on YouTube on the most unlikeliest of days, and I found it so hilarious that I had to share it with everyone.

p.s. We’d like to wish everyone on the blessed occasion of Eid Al-Fitr, more commonly known as “Ramzan”. Today was Eid here, as it was in most parts of the world except the Indian Subcontinent. Wherever you are, may this Eid bring you happiness and prosperity.

p.p.s. I know I’m also long overdue for a post, not to mention a load of catching up on other peoples’ blogs. Hopefully will get to that soon.

Ramadan reflections

2009-09-06T23:05:00.001+02:00

Today, depending on the part of the world you're currently in, it’s either the 17th or 18th of Ramadan, the blessed month of Fasting.
And today is also the day I realized its been about a month I've been away from (mine and other people's) blogs, and the social internet in general.

Now coming to Ramadan, I’m guessing almost everyone knows at least someone muslim, but I find it alarming that in spite of this, a lot of people have quite a few misconceptions; so here we present, The Square Circle's Guide to Understanding Ramadan... for the people who didn't know it already
:)

1.
Firstly, "Ramadan" (or "Ramzan", depending on how you pronounce it) is NOT the festival. It is the blessed month when we fast and it lasts 29 to 30 days depending on the lunar calendar.
The festival is called "Eid", and that comes at the end of the month.

2.
There’s more to fasting than just staying away from food and water. The fasting person also exercises mental discipline – and that includes staying clear of fights, arguments and abusive language as well.

3.
We don't particularly appreciate it when people ask us if we’re hungry, and then wonder out loud that its incredible how you can go a whole day without eating anything.
Its not like we’re setting up a new world record by being without food and drink for 15hrs – people have been doing this for at least 1,400 years.

4.
Actually, people have been fasting for even longer than that – and every major religion on earth has and requires of its members to undergo fasts.

5.
We don’t fast to lose excess flab, cut down on calories or save on lunch money. Quite surprising even some (educated) people from work think that.
We fast because the Creator of the heavens and the earth asks us to, and we do it to seek His bounty, who has bestowed upon us all we have and don't think twice about.
(including that snickers bar in your hand right now!)

6.
If you’re a smoker, no it is not ridiculous that you have to go through the day without a smoke.
Personally, I think it is smokers who are ridiculous.

7.
Yes, women fast too.

8.
Not everyone gets to eat haleem everyday (or for that matter, knows how to make it). Yes, I do miss it, but there’s only so much a guy can cook for himself.

9.
Iftar (after sun down) is not an excuse to stuff yourself with everything in the fridge and make up for the lost food.
Unfortunately, even most muslims seem to have no clue about this.

Above all, Ramadan is a time to reflect – upon all things that we have been blessed with, of all things we aren’t thankful for, and think about all those people, who involuntarily fast every single day…

…whose fasting doesn’t necessarily end at sunset with a big table of food.

May Peace be upon you all.

The “Khan” effect

2009-08-16T14:37:00.005+02:00

Judging by what happened yesterday, I would say US Airport Officials want us to believe that regardless of background or qualifications, anyone with the last name of “Khan” could possibly be a potential terrorist wanting to blow up all of America.

While news channels in different countries portrayed the event – the detention of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan – as either “humiliating” (as per the Indian media) or “a dramatic over-reaction” (as per the pro-American news channels), what this really shows is how fundamentally flawed the American so-called counter-terrorism intelligence really is.

I mean firstly, not only did they manage to attack and invade a sovereign country under the pretext of non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction (does anyone even remember that anymore?) and defend that claim for over a year, but when the truth finally did come out in 2004 – that, in fact, there really was no WMD and that the intelligence was seriously flawed – they conceded that damage was already done. And that they now had stay in order to “stabilize” a country they originally invaded on stupid intelligence.

And coming back to the present, now because Mr. Khan is a global celebrity with good political connections, he was just ‘taken aside’ for questioning and released with the full support of the Indian Embassy 2hours later.
But I shudder to think what would have become of the more common Khan – one who is not so well connected to people in high places.
Would he have been held for days, maybe weeks for the “secondary questioning”?
Or maybe even sent to Guantanamo Bay, just like the countless other innocents languishing for years there, held without any charge?

Regardless of whatever “its-all-for-security” reasons anyone gives, if a computer turns up someone’s name just because of their cultural or religious affiliation without any other basis, it shows how pathetic the whole system really is. I mean seriously, do they program those things to turn red and sound alarm bells just because someone’s NAME sounds funny?

For that, they might as well put up a sign that says,
”People named Khan, Muhammed, or Abdullah not allowed without additional verification”.

And if that’s how they are going to keep their citizens safe anymore, they really shouldn’t call themselves “The Land of The Free” anymore.

Update, 24Aug:
After extensive reading, I find out that there *is* such a thing as a "No-Fly List" in the United States and Canada, detailing names - and nothing more - of passengers who are, quite simply, not allowed to fly. Over time, this list is rumored to have grown to over a million names (although this claim is officially denied) and poses significant hinderance to the common person who unfortunately happens to shares their name with someone on the list.
In such cases, the person is expected to prove that "I am not him/her" using a variety of identification methods, and apparently almost always leads to delays/missed flights for such people.

How the internet can ruin your day

2009-08-13T19:05:00.001+02:00

It just occurred to me that there’s a flip side to having practically unlimited high-speed internet access both at home and in the workplace.
And today, it just ruined my day.

It started out quite normal – a regular day doing what I normally do, and since it wasn’t very hectic this Thursday morning, I logged on to an online forum where I sometimes participate.
There were a few discussion threads and one of them seemed interesting enough to get into, and a few points exchanged back and forth. Good, constructive criticism. And then all of a sudden, a guy jumps in, accuses me of lying and everything, and before I know it, its a full-fledged war out there.

I had a few heated exchanges with him and finally decided to call it quits…when I realized how badly this really shook me up.
I didn’t enjoy my lunch today, and I really couldn’t concentrate on my work either. He completely ruined my day, and pretty much most of my evening as well.

I came back from work still thinking about this, and it took me a couple of cake rusks and a load of funny pictures from Oddee to calm me down.
And as I still thought of new ways to get back at him, I realized:
Why am I even doing this?

For some faceless guy on the internet I don’t even know (he goes by the name of Dovey_Descends by the way) and of whom the only image I have is his profile pic?
Why should I care what he thinks?
Why did I let him ruin an otherwise perfect day?

I guess the answer lies in how much we love our online personas. And I for once learnt my lesson: nothing online is important enough to ruin your real life.
Dovey, if you’re reading this, you’re just a pathetic loser who gains from online wackamola. Go get a life!

And now if you’ll excuse me, soup’s on!
:)

The Germanic Language

2009-08-09T17:45:00.001+02:00

There’s a famous joke that says that at the time of the American independence, there was much debate over which of the two – German or English – should be the official language. And that even though it was English that finally won, German did manage to make itself quite well established regardless.

I don’t doubt that for a moment. Here’s a list of normal English words I’ve come across that seem to have been directed infused from German:

kindergarten:
I guess everyone knows that the children’s playschool is actually a German word. ‘Kinder’ is German for children (singular: Kind) and ‘Garten’ is, well, a garden.

Coleslaw:
Thinly sliced cabbage in cold cream is not an American invention either. I’m thinking this was derived from ‘Kohl’ (pronounced almost exactly like ‘cole’) which is German for Cabbage.

Rucksack:
No, those backpacks aren’t American either. This comes from the German ‘Rückpack’ (with a “ü”) where ‘Rück’ means back.

Apothecary table:
This medieval table having the many compartments for storing medicinal items was made popular in Friends, but I’m not too sure how many people noticed the language it came from.
’Apotheke’ is German for a pharmacy.

And I’m sure there’s lots more where that came from, and I just wanna let you know, I’m still not done with German yet.
:)

The Arab connection

2009-08-01T15:12:00.001+02:00

I guess I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve been asked if I’m Arab.
Notwithstanding that time on the plane, and that other kid who mistook me for an “arabic person”, the past couple of months I’ve also been asked if I speak Arabic, more times than I’ve been asked if I speak German.

That, and the fact that at the barber saloon I go to, the guy speaks no English, no German and little Arabic, I think it would be more useful than fun to answer “Yes”, the next time someone asks.

With this view in mind, I’d like to announce that effective immediately I now start to learn, a self-taught course on Arabic.
Of course, this is not a new language for me, but having spent most of my school years dreading language classes, I guess it is still going to be a while before I can look someone in the eye and say,
”Na’am, atakallam al-Arabi”

Now, why am I saying all this here?
Because I know that two weeks down the line when I decide to give up because it is getting too way hard to learn TWO languages simultaneously (yes, my German course is still on!) I want to look back at this entry and tell myself that I’m not gonna wimp away from something I promised in Public.

And hope that’s motivation enough.
I wish me luck.
:)

Intelligence India

2009-07-19T15:05:00.001+02:00

Despite everything we say about our country being backwardly progressive, apparently a lot of people in the western world think that India in general – and Indians especially – are quite bright sparks.

Here’s quite a few amusing incidents I’ve experienced/found to this effect:

Last June, I happened to sit next to an old German guy on the plane back to Frankfurt from Dubai and we got talking.
He first asked me if I was Arab (I don’t know why, a lot of people have asked me that; starting to wonder if I don’t look Indian enough) and when I said I wasn’t; and that I was from India, he only had one thing on the top of his mind:
”Ah India, you must be a computer programmer then?”

* * *

I was out at dinner with some people from work last month to bid farewell to some colleagues from Argentina. Of course, as the lot involved several colorful nationalities (we had Indian, German, Argentinean, and Spanish speaking people with us that night) the conversation undoubtedly turned towards languages and culture.
That’s when one guy asked me if Indians were supposedly good with programming because;
”Your native languages follow a grammatical structure similar to a programming syntax”

After I nearly rolled over with laughter, I began to wonder if it really could be my bad Tamil grammar that’s causing all the bugs in my programs.

* * *

The character from the comic-strip Dilbert once remarked on the intellectual ability of Indians and their suitability for outsourcing projects. As he presents his report, the first option on his list was,
“highly educated Indians who speak perfect English”

…who were of course finally not chosen because they were also quite “pricey”. :D

* * *

In the recent (2009) animated movie Monsters vs. Aliens, in the scene where the top of the US armed forces meet and realize how bad the situation really is, the US President shouts at an underling,
“We need our top scientific minds on this. Get me India on the phone!”

* * *

Apparently there’s a lot more to India then people imagine.
And if the above is any indication to go by, then I’m only too happy to be part of it.
:)

Windows 7: I update, therefore I am

2009-07-15T21:17:00.001+02:00

In case you’ve missed it, the biggest thing going around the geekosphere today is Windows7, which opened for exclusive pre-release orders in Europe at midnight.

If you’re wondering what’s going on, Microsoft is offering Windows7 (which officially launches worldwide on Oct 22) for advance pre-orders in three zones – North America, Europe and Japan – at a ridiculously special price of 49.99 EUR.

Normally, I don’t make a big deal of stuff like this but what was remarkable about this one is, the demand was apparently so high that online stores’ servers started going down all over Europe this morning!
In fact Amazon Germany was sold out in just over an hour!
Amazon UK is still struggling to keep up with demands – and other stores are having a field day as well.

Now as a person who just missed a free upgrade by getting my new laptop a week too early (Dell is offering this to all laptops bought just a week after mine), I wasn’t going to lose out on this. And so, I now stand, the proud recipient of the greatest Windows to come out in a long time.

I’ve always said I hated Windows Vista – and come October 22, I can finally smile and say,
“I told you so”
…as I get rid of my Vista DVD.

I can hardly wait.
:)

Update:
16Jul09. Its finally official: This link from the BBC quotes Amazon as saying that “sales of Windows 7 in the first eight hours it was available outstripped those of Windows Vista's entire 17 week pre-order period”!

Man, talk about sellout! I guess Microsoft grossly underestimated how much people hated Vista to get to the next upgrade as soon as they could!

Going the ‘Open’ Office way

2009-07-10T22:51:00.002+02:00

After much deliberation, I finally got rid of my 60-day trial version of MS Office2007 and switched to open source software, namely, OpenOffice.org (yeah I know, the .org is part of its official name as well).

On a side note, I also got rid of Microsoft Works9 that came preinstalled on my laptop straight away and buried the installation CD deep.
In my opinion, Works is the most ridiculous office suite anyone could have thought of, and I guess the only reason people even use it is because it comes preinstalled on every computer you buy Windows with (along with a trial version of the current MS Office suite).

Now why am I moving to open source?
First and foremost: because its FREE!
I can’t imagine shelling out a good 75 EUR for the home (and “student”) edition of MS Office – whatever the hell that means; it ships with exactly the same version of Word and Excel as every other edition – the only differences being the other extras.

Secondly, because I’m not exactly an excel power-user – in fact the only reason I use a spreadsheet is for keeping track of my spending and managing passwords.
I really couldn’t care less for Macros or a Visual Basic editor outside work.

Even so, the incredible power of OpenOffice.org has completely blown me away; in fact there’s a whole bunch of things it does so much better than MS Office that I’m wondering why I didn’t use it all along. And why more people don’t use it.

If you’re one of those people who’re lugging around a pirated version of MS Office because you can’t afford the real thing and secretly wishing no one calls your foul, I’m talking to you.
I know your excuse: you think you’ve no other options – and you couldn’t be more wrong. And with extensive online support and instant (not to mention FREE!) updates, there couldn’t be a better time to switch to Open Source Software.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go install VLC player (everybody’s favorite open player), GIMP (an open source image editor that’s supposed to rival Photoshop) and 7-zip (open source archive extractor).

The Comeback

2009-07-07T23:38:00.002+02:00

Yes, I am back from vacation.
Back from two weeks of fun, good food and family. And back to my regular life.

The past few weeks were good, and the vacation was even better because it helped sort out the few things messing around in my head that I mentioned in the last post and made me see life in the true sense it is meant to be seen.

I realized that you don’t always need a plan, and that things won’t always go according to the one you make.
And that its not even a bad thing.

I realized I should be thankful for everything I have, which includes my family, my friends, the job I have, the food I eat, my new laptop, iPod, PSP and high-speed wireless internet :)

I realized there is no such thing as a dead-end career, and that all jobs will eventually kill your potential unless you keep the edge. And keep moving forward.

I realized knowledge is just about the only thing you can truly own, and that it doesn’t always need to come in a standard package as an MBA or some other degree.
And that to seek knowledge is a quest upon us all till the day we die.

I realized there is more to life that having a job, making money, spending some of it and putting away everything else.
And that money is merely a tool that should help with a greater cause in life.

I realized that time is the most important thing people waste, and many don’t even realize what a crime it really is.
And that it is for that same reason that too much sleep is the refuge of cowards.

I realized... that I realized much today.
I’m really glad I had that vacation; I feel fresh with a ton of ideas, and there’s loads of stuff I wanna write about!

The Square Circle is back in business.

I need a time-out

2009-06-06T21:34:00.001+02:00

In case you haven’t noticed already, I haven’t been very actively blogging of late. Actually I haven’t been quite active doing anything creative lately.

I guess part of the reason for that has to do with stuff that’s been going around in my head for a while that kind of needs my attention. Some of this involves what a management guy would probably call “reorientation of short-term goals” and includes (though not limited to) a possible change of career, or geographical relocation, rethinking on continuing school, maybe taking up paid-writing more seriously, getting married, going bungee-jumping and so on, although not necessarily in that order.

And the other thing being the fact that I leave on a 2week vacation shortly and – in the true style of all my vacations – stay as far away from computers as I can while on vacation.

So I’m guessing this is probably the last post in a while, and thus effective right now, I take a break from blogging in pursuit of some, if not of all, of the above.

p.s.
In case you’re wondering, no I am NOT quitting my blog, and The Square Circle will continue to be online. Like I said, I’m on a break – not on retirement.

Chromatic thoughts...

2009-05-24T23:13:00.001+02:00

“Looking at the world though rosy glasses is usually just a pigment of your imagination”

Base Bloggers

2009-05-17T00:40:00.003+02:00

Without saying their names I’d like to mention that as of this morning, five people who I’ve known, personally or otherwise, decided to quit off the blogosphere and delete their blogs.

And I’m not sure if any of those people might be reading this post, but just in case you are, I’ve got just one thing to say to you guys:

You’ve let us down.

“Us” is every single person who ever visited your blog, read your posts and was considerate enough to leave a comment on it.
We did all that because we thought it mattered. We thought it was fascinating to glimpse into your lives and look at that special place where all things suddenly become equal – where you write all those interesting happenings in your life, your poems and creative proses, your dreams and those mad little thoughts, everything that you wanted to share with the world.

Until you decided to shut that door upon us forever.
And I say again: I am disappointed.

To all those ex-bloggers who’ve decided to quit and move on; I wish you all the best for your future pursuits, and I do hope that your life takes on a deeper meaning than it has now.

And on behalf of the community, I’d just like to say that while we will not grieve for you, we will surely miss you!

Peace.

The Square Circle’s guide to the perfect notebook

2009-05-12T07:19:00.003+02:00

Background:
I’ve been researching on this topic for over 3yrs now…and although “research” is probably not the right word for it, it always intrigues me when people ask on choosing their perfect notebook.

I’ve tried to write this in plain English and leave out the geek-talk as much as possible but kindly excuse if there’s terminology in here that’s over the moon.

This list is by no means complete, but here’s a few simple things to keep in mind buying your next notebook.

a) First things first: Go do your homework

This is about as basic as it gets, and ultimately boils down to just answering two questions:

What am I going to use it for?
And where am I going to use it?

Half the laptops in the world are bought by people who don’t know what they want. Don’t end up paying good money for great features that you don’t really need.

For instance, if you’re just looking to play games and surf the net, yes you need a good graphics card and a large screen…but do you really need that biometric fingerprint reader, backlit keyboard and advanced hard-drive shock protection?

And if it’s just going to be sitting on your desk all the time, who cares about 5hour battery backup.
Here’s another tip: If it really is only going to sit on your desk all day…does it really need to come in pretty colors on the back of the lid where no one will ever see it?

Of course, if you’re planning on running around with it all over, and use it on trains, airplanes and maybe even in your bathroom, it does help to keep it light while eyeing for maxing out the battery.

A couple of years ago when a colleague of mine asked me to look out for a ‘good’ notebook for her, I put together the best configuration I could think of…only to be told later that all she was looking for was “something light-weight with a nice screen and pink colored”.

Lesson to learn: Do your own homework, not someone else’s.

b) You really don’t need a huge hard-disk

Yes, and I may be the only person on earth actually saying it, but it really is true.

Why?
One, it helps keeps the clutter down:
When you know you don’t have infinite storage, you’ll start cutting down on the junk you have on it – those lame forwarded emails and the stupid bundles of trial and freeware that you’d never need. There’s nothing worse than a high performance notebook bloated up with trialware.

Two, and more importantly, it encourages you to store more important (and permanent) data on an external drive so that when you laptop crashes (which will happen one day) you don’t lose everything.
I should know…I’ve been a victim of this. Twice.

And here’s an added bonus: When you have a copy of your important data elsewhere, makes it easier to carry it around to say, another computer or even another country.

c) There’s no such thing as a Future-Proof laptop

Let me get this to you straight: No matter what you buy, regardless of whether it has the greatest configuration on earth right now, it WILL get outdated…and sooner than you think.

It’s simply not worth spending that much on a laptop.

So don’t waste your money on specs that you think you ‘might’ need down the line.
I found this out the hard way when I bought my first notebook and spent extras on the highest RAM available at the time, so that it could run memory-intensive applications and OSes like Vista and stuff later on.

Less than three years later, my 1GB of RAM seems almost laughable; and most certainly cannot do most of what I have hoped for.

Moral of the story: If you’re a guy who hardly ever watches movies, you definitely do not need a Blu-Ray drive even if it’s the hottest thing there is right now. Who knows, a year down the line they might become as commonplace as camera-phones are now.

Get the specifications you do need, not what you might need.

d) It helps to have inside information

I know a friend who works for a major computer manufacturer, and because his job is selling computers, I dare say he knows a thing or two about laptops and how they are priced.

And he’s also told me inside stuff on their brand that I’d never have otherwise known. Obviously, I can’t write what he said or who he works for…but I’ll just say this: don’t believe everything you read on computer websites.
I leave the rest to your imagination.

e) Stick to the basics

Unless you’re getting a Mac or clever enough to work with Linux, I guess it is safe to say the rest of us are stuck with Windows Vista for the time being.
And since you will probably end up paying for it, might as well make the most of it.

I, for one, prefer Vista Home Basic because it offers a cleaner, more simpler and leaner interface than say, Aero.
Also, the only extras Home Premium provides (apart from 3D flip and all the glitter) are the Media Center and connectivity/maintenance tools I know most people never use.

So unless you’re a sucker for eye-candy, you’re better off without all this trash hogging your resources.
But no matter which version you eventually get, do the logical thing first and get rid off all those stupid extras and trialware you’ll never need.

f) Warranties do matter

If you’re one of those people who looked at the “Extended 3year Complete Cover” and decided it was for children, think again.

Accidents do happen: it could fall off your desk, the motherboard might decide to die, or you just might spill coffee on the keyboard.
It can happen to anyone.

And the worst thing about notebooks is, for the most part there’s nothing inside that you can fix yourself (as opposed to desktops), so you’re left at the mercy of those service centers and their prohibitively expensive costs.
Here’s where warranties, especially extended warranties, help because most problems start approximately a year after you get it.

Yes, it is a bit of an initial investment, but in the long run it pays for itself.

Ultimately, its what you get done "on" your notebook that counts...and not what you need to get done "for" it.
And a few wise decisions, go a long way in achieving that.
:)

Happiness is...

2009-05-05T09:38:00.004+02:00

...coming home from the airport after a tiring trip and sinking into a comfortable chair with a steaming cup in hand, catching up on the Emails from over the weekend.

The things I do…Offline

2009-04-28T23:19:00.007+02:00

Looking back at this month, I realized I wrote just two posts the whole of this April …which is way below my average!
In fact, now that I think about it, I barely logged into my Facebook account twice all this month; I still have unanswered Email in my inbox and I haven’t even read up on all the blogs I regularly read (I know that’s lame, I’m really sorry you guys!).

So what did I do all of this month while I was away from blogs and social networking sites?

Well, even though there wasn’t a shortage of stuff to write in my life, turns out there’s a lot more to be accomplished offline, than sitting in front of a computer.
Here’s a list of some of what happened.

a)
A good friend of mine (who recently decided to pursue his masters in management) decided to trust me with correcting, rewriting, proof-reading and otherwise ‘fixing’ his essays for his business school.
I love to write, but when someone trusts me with stuff like this, yes I feel honored, but also nervous. In the end though, it was a good experience…and made me re-think about continuing school again.

b)
I’ve also been invited to write for my company blog; and that feels good too, because it is mostly authored only by people who are almost as twice as old as I am!
Company policy however, dictates that I cannot mention it here, nor can I link up my blog URL to my post; but then I guess it is all the much better keeping my personal life separate from business.

c)
I’ve been travelling. A lot.
Of course (from my previous post) you probably already know about my little trip to Brussels.
The week after that, me and some guys from work – a colorful mix of Indian, Finnish and Argentinean colleagues – decided to take off on multiple mid-week road trips to Rudesheim, Wiesbaden and Heidelberg.
It was quite a awesome experience visiting all these places, and doing it in the middle of the work week only added to the fun!
Remind me to write a detailed post on this later.

d)
I’ve been working out.
Yes, don’t give me that look. Now that spring’s finally here, I’ve started this little routine of going out for a run everyday.
According to one guy I know though (who’s a fitness fanatic), it’s not enough to run unless you do it everyday for at least 45min at a stretch!
And even though I’m not at that level yet, I am working my way up.

e)
I’ve finally started my course on learning German.
And about time too! My “Bitte sprachen Sie Englisch?” was getting me nowhere.

f)
I finally managed to clear away all the junk from my balcony flower pots; and eyeing the lawn downstairs. I’m not sure if I mentioned this earlier, but I do have a bit of a green thumb. In case you’re wondering, gardening is not just for housewives or senior citizens…its really quite fun getting your hands in the dirt.

g)
I spent an afternoon at my neighbor’s place trying to fix their computer. Note, I said trying to fix it.
I don’t know how they got the weird idea that “those IT guys” should know everything about computers, silly people.

And to all the guys reading this whose blogs I haven’t read, I’m sorry…but there was a load of stuff that kept me away. But I will get to it soon.
And Jaffer if you’re reading this, there is life beyond twitter; hence proved :D (don’t hate me!)

Love you guys!

Sidenotes on Brussels

2009-04-13T21:01:00.003+02:00

Yup, I am back from another one of my elaborate weekend getaways; this time me and my roomie decided to take off to Brussels – the capital of Belgium – for the easter holidays.

And like any true-blooded blogger, I kept small notes of things that kept intriguing me; and thus I present…

Side-notes on the city:

a) At a height of over a hundred meters and weighing over 2,000 tons, the Atomium was incredibly impressive. But even though you’ve probably seen great many pictures of it… I guess the reason this is not a very “popular” landmark (like the Eiffel Tower for instance) is because apparently every single image of the Atomium – regardless of whether they are holiday pictures you took – is protected by copyright and it is illegal to publish images of it.
Ridiculous law I know, but it is true.

b) Belgian chocolates ARE a big deal. They are amazing.
Ditto for Belgian waffles.

c) A lot of people in Brussels have no clue about their city.
At the hotel we stayed, the manager didn’t know that the Jardin Botanique, which he claimed was supposedly 10minutes away, had actually been shifted to outside the city.
…No one had any idea what the Autoworld was or where it was located. And it IS in Brussels.
…The waiter at a restaurant we went to had never heard of a museum that was on his street!

d) Brussels has a surprisingly sizable arab/muslim population. In fact, leaving aside the tourist traps in the city center, within suburbia you can pretty much get by with just Arabic…even though French and Dutch are the two official languages.

e) Dutch is remarkably similar to German; which makes little difference to me because I don’t speak German either – but trust me; it does have a lot of similar words.

f) The Mini-Europe near the Atomium has beautifully crafted and extremely accurate 1:25 scale models of most famous buildings and landmarks in Europe.
However, one of the most famous landmarks in Europe (not to mention, one of the seven wonders of the world) – the Colosseum – was missing.
What’s up with that?

g) Apparently the most famous public landmark in Brussels is the bronze statue of a little boy…er…answering the call of nature called the Manneken-Pis. You’ve probably seen pictures of this too; and if you’re wondering if it was just a marketing ploy, you’re absolutely right.
Hidden in the corner of a narrow alley and at just 61cm tall, this was perhaps the most over-hyped and ridiculous-looking famous thing I’ve EVER seen. And I’ve seen quite a few.

What makes it so silly is the fact that there really isn’t any verifiable, historic significance behind this…just a bunch of legends that took this statue to where it is today.

But all said and done, this was quite an enjoyable trip, and Brussels is really a nice little city with a good mix of ancient landmark buildings and glass and steel high-rises that can easily compete with the Manhattan skyline. Do pay it a visit if you get the chance…Brussels will not disappoint you!

Google Fools Day!

2009-04-01T15:23:00.008+02:00

It comes as no surprise that Google – as one of the world’s leading internet companies – is also the one with the biggest sense of humor when it comes to practical jokes.

Last year on the 1^st of April, Google blew the world away when they announced a print service that allowed Gmail users to print out their emails and have them delivered to a physical home address, complete with a Gmail-stickered cardboard box!
Needless to say, the next day everyone realized the joke was on them when Google pointed it out.

And thus history repeats itself again; and I almost instinctively knew Google is up to no good again this year.

So I go to the Google homepage and guess what I find:

Google Chrome in 3D

Yup, you read that right; apparently this time Google wants us to believe there is actually a version of their popular browser that let us see stuff in 3D!
The page actually features a special version of Chrome with 3D along with steps to follow to get the perfect 3D view.

And get this; the site comes complete with a PDF document with a picture of 3D glasses you should print, cut out and wear!!!

I doubt if the site (or at least the link) will stay for long, so here’s a couple of screenshots from the site and the 3D glasses:

Given the amount of following Google has, I'm sure there's lots of downloads of this already; but I really wonder how many people are gonna fall for it this time!!

Putting Vista behind...

2009-03-28T23:48:00.005+01:00

I guess it is safe to declare that even after two years after its initial release, Windows Vista is still the worst thing to happen to software in recorded history!

I mean seriously, what were they thinking when they rolled out an Operating System that was slower than the previous one; refused to work with almost all existing devices at the time and hogged entire system resources?

I’m not getting into all the details here; I already wrote another post a long time ago on Why I hate Vista and incredibly, most of it still holds true even today more than a year after I originally wrote it.
And I’m not the only one saying it – ask any guy with a (new) computer and he will agree that Vista should be sent to Computer Hell and put behind us as a bad dream as soon as possible.

In fact, I guess even Microsoft knows this, and this kind of explains why the beta for Windows 7 (which by the way, was already released a couple of months ago) was out in just under 2 years from their this-is-gonna-be-so-great Vista launch, which came nearly 7 years after Windows XP.

All said and done, now why am I still getting so worked up about this?

Because it puts anyone looking to buy a new computer or notebook in a tight spot. Desktop computers are one thing, but laptops normally come with an operating system pre-installed on it by default, and in most cases you need to buy the whole package (as opposed to getting a blank system or one with a free Linux distribution).

And here’s the messed up part – laptops don’t come with Windows XP anymore so like it or not, you are forced to throw away good money on Vista, just because the computer manufacturers had a deal with Microsoft.
How bad is that?

What makes this problem even bigger is the fact that most happy-go-lucky home users don’t really care much; and hence most manufacturers don’t bother to give you too many options selecting your own OS; getting one with Linux or without anything at all! There are far too few notebooks that allow you this freedom.

In fact, I know at least 4 people who bought computers with the ‘mandatory’ Vista pre-installed on it - despite them hating it - just because it was the only easy way out. I just can’t see myself doing that.

And because the only other viable option is the gorgeous-looking and terribly expensive Apple Macbook , I guess the only thing left for me to do is hang on to the ancient monster I have and wait for Windows 7 to hit the streets.

And hope they actually get it right this time!

Simple Life

2009-03-17T20:06:00.006+01:00

A lot of people I know may not agree with me on this one; but in a weird way I guess we’re part of history in the making.
I mean, even though I'm not exactly at that age when most people would write a “back-when-I-was-young” post, when I look back at my days as a kid, I guess life was much less complicated than all the stuff what we have now.

A collection of memories of days gone by that were much, much simpler.

1.
Back home in Jeddah, our TV managed to get two channels – one of them from eight in the morning and the other from four in the afternoon; both of which ended their broadcasts at midnight. And because one channel was in Arabic (which I just pretend to understand!) there was only one channel I really watched. But you always had something good to watch – and didn’t have to channel-surf over a hundred channels before you realize there’s nothing good on.

2.
We had a VCR.
And we rented out video cassettes of good movies. Piracy wasn’t such a big deal because apart from the pros, only people with terribly expensive double cassette VCRs could make a copy for themselves – which wasn’t too many people.
Besides, you never had to worry about compatible disk formats, or downloading different codecs or new versions of your video players.

3.
There was one phone in the house.
It was simply called ‘the telephone’. And there were rules for how long you could speak on it and what were appropriate times for calling other people up.
And I could still reach all my friends when I needed to.

4.
The computer was a huge thing with a tower CPU and a 14” CRT screen that preposterously occupied most of the table real estate while cranking out a miserly 300Mhz of computing. Yet it was fast enough to get all your work done; and even play a few games on it.

5.
1.44 MB was all the storage you ever needed to carry around.
In the rare case that your documents didn’t fit on one disk, you could zip them onto two or three disks; but that was usually not a problem because in any case, you never had more than 5MB of data to be made portable.

6.
Music was an audio cassette you bought from real stores.
Maybe borrowed from a friend. Or in any case, could always listen to it on the radio. And you rarely, if ever, really needed to know the album, composer, genre, year and all other “mandatory” the other things that make up IDE tags.

7.
Cars did not have GPS satellite navigators.
But people actually knew how to get where they wanted to go. And still managed to get there in time inspite of having no ‘real-time’ data on the traffic feed and weather conditions.

8.
Written communication was a letter that you manually wrote out with a pen, on paper.
You then put it in an envelope, stuck a stamp on it, put it in the mailbox and waited for the other guy to receive it, read and then reply.
And it actually worked…I used to collect postage stamps at one time.

9.
When the average guy first got it, all the internet was good for was Email, web-chat and search.
You did NOT have twitter, facebook, myspace and the dozens of other channels that feed you internet chatter day after day – to your mobile, desktop, gaming console and virtually every wired thing you own!
But somehow you still knew what your friends were up to.

And when you sum it up all together, it was kind of nice not knowing who was calling when the phone rang, or opening the mailbox and finding a letter from an old friend. I really wonder how things changed so quickly and made things so different...within maybe 10years.

Ah yes; life really was much simpler, and much, much happier back then!

Rich guy, Poor guy

2009-03-15T18:04:00.002+01:00

I don’t do this a lot, and I’m guessing its maybe because of the financial crisis thingy, but lately I’ve been thinking a lot about money. And the way I see it, you have at least three kinds of rich people in India; though this is probably true all over the world.

1. The illegally rich
As in filthy rich. And I don’t mean that metaphorically. We all know who they are; dirty politicians, the shady guys up in government, the underworld, the over-paid who don’t do their taxes, all the guys who in fact have our money and we don’t do anything about because in a way, we almost expect politicans to be corrupt.

2. The legally rich
These guys are real rich too – except that they get their dough through legal means (which unfortunately includes movie stars, but then that is legal), pay their taxes and sometimes even set up institutes of social welfare. This is a minority; but hey, as long as they have money and know what to do with it, I don’t really mind.

3. The pseudo-rich
This is the part that bothers me. And this is also where most okay-to-do families in our traditional society fit in, because these people don’t have the money for their extravagant quests but they pretend as if they do.
If you’re still wondering, these are the idiots who spend around a million rupees on a wedding; pathetic losers who spend over 4 million on a stupid 2 bedroom apartment on a marshy swampland at an hour’s drive from the city; and throw away unspeakable amounts into medical school admissions.

Now, this maybe fine if you have the money; but I call these guys idiots because they don’t – and do all this just so they “fit in” with society.

I recently met someone whose family had to come up with a 100 sovereign of gold jewelry for a wedding. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term; a sovereign is 8grams, so this works out to nearly a KILO OF GOLD!).
I mean come on, who does she think she is; Paris Hilton?

And why does this happen? Because people believe in the equally brainless justification of it:
“That’s how marriages are arranged, you need that much gold”

I simply believe they are idiots.
After all, when you think about it - you can’t really have a need to spend money you don’t have.

Its time to start rethinking all this.
And the current financial crisis is the perfect place to start.

The coolest thing in another country

2009-03-09T22:14:00.008+01:00

This is a meme I picked up from ManiaRavings, my old buddy Jaffer’s blog quite a while ago. Now I don’t usually do memes because most of them kinda seem too clichéd…talking about a single color or animal or whatever; but unlike most other blog memes I’ve seen lately, this is something which asks you to write on (yup, you guessed it!) the coolest thing you’ve seen in another country.

(By the way if you’re wondering, a meme is a kind of a tag thing that goes around the blogosphere – people write on certain topics, and then someone else picks it up and puts their side of the story on it and so on.)

I’m not too sure if this qualifies to fit the description of the ‘coolest’ thing (I don’t believe in coolness); but I’d like to put forth my contribution – this picture – and explain the most awesome thing I’ve seen recently.

The picture above was taken me from an escalator that leads down to “line B” of the city metro in Prague, in the Czech Republic.

The photo in itself may not explain much or look too impressive, but at a steady drop of nearly four floors, this is the most deepest…and not to mention scariest escalator I’ve ever set foot on.

The official depth of the deepest station, Náměstí míru, is 52 meters (that’s over 170 feet for you North Americans!) and for some reason, whoever designed the metro decided that it takes you from ground level to the sub terrarium metro station in one single flight of steps.

This monster escalator runs at nearly twice the speed of a regular one, and still takes over 30seconds to reach the bottom, so you can appreciate how dizzying this is.
Again, I don’t know why but all the escalators in the Prague Metro seem a lot faster than usual.
In fact, they were so fast that just after one weekend, the ones back in Frankfurt almost seemed slow!

And here’s the weird thing:
For some reason, the posters on the sides are tilted to the angle of the descent (instead of being straight up like you’d expect them to be), what this means is that you’d have to tilt your head in order to properly look at them; adding to the already dizzying experience of being hurtled down nearly four floors at twice the regular speed in a claustrophobic tube.

All said and done, it was quite an experience because Prague in itself is a quiet little city with all the charms of an old European town – cobblestone roads, beautiful arch bridges and medieval castles.
It really is worth it to pay a visit if you can.

But in case you do go there…don’t forget to get on the metro!

(p.s. Do feel free to take up the meme and write your experiences. The topic: The coolest/weirdest thing you've ever seen in another country. If you've never been to another country, write on the most fascinating thing you've seen in your country. Looking forward to reading what you have to say on the subject!)

The recession and me

2009-03-05T19:53:00.004+01:00

I hate to admit it, but the effects of the world-wide economic disaster are slowly starting to show up in our everyday lives…in places we least expect to find.

To start with, I’ve never bothered much about this whole financial fiasco because,
a) I don’t own any stocks, shares or other ridiculous make-lots-of-money-by-simply-waiting products, and
b) because let’s face it… It’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything; I mean statistically speaking, so far more people have died in car accidents last year than because of this ‘crisis’. Heck, I think global warming is a bigger deal than this, and you don’t hear a lot of noise about that!

Now don’t get me wrong. Almost every person I know, knows at least someone who’s either lost their job or on forced-sabbatical. And just for the record, I work for less pay than I did last year too, so there.

And another part of these drastic measures every business, financial organization, and academic institutes use is the introduction of ‘cost-cutting’ measures. In plain English, it means they try to find places where money is wasted and try to minimize it….such as free-coffee-after-seven schemes, or that free bus ride from your office to the nearest public transport, and even those complimentary vouchers you’re entitled to.

And here, in the picture below, is the lousiest example of cost-cutting I’ve seen so far:

Shown above are billing invoices from a popular online store (I’ve deliberately blurred it and masked the name for obvious reasons; if you can still read it – good for you – but please don’t tell them. The last thing I need right now is legal trouble)

The one on the left is the regular A4 sized invoice everyone knows and what we used to get until a few months ago.
The little scrap on the right, at less than half the regular size (even the width has been trimmed) and written in such tiny fonts that your eyes hurt, is the new invoice I got with my stuff this evening.

Now I’m not too sure if there’s another logical explanation behind this, but given the current scenario I’m willing to bet that some genius at the billing department there decided they’re wasting too much paper on the invoices – so what if customers get tiny, hard-to-read invoices – all that matters is that there’s now 60% less paper they need to send customers. Besides, customers probably just throw them away anyway.

Which gets interesting when you think about it. When Greenpeace shouted their voice hoarse over deforestation and saving paper; I don’t know how many people thought about it. And yet when the cash register starts ringing trouble, every means possible become perfectly acceptable.

Hmm, wonder how much did they save on the rest of my invoice?

"This only is our English!"

2009-03-01T15:13:00.011+01:00

Let’s face it…we as Indians, live all over the world, with vast majorities in the United States, UK, the Middle East and Australia, and in smaller minorities in the rest of Europe and Asia.
We belong to multiple religions and share diverse cultures. We indulge in diverse cuisines and speak different languages; but one thing unites us all, and that is, how we speak our beloved English language.

A collection of the most common sentences we hear from our comrades living all over the world…and the sheer confusion it causes.

“Back home, I had a two-wheeler”
(Exactly what kind of wheelie is that?)

“I think it is over costly”
(Firstly, what’s expensive isn’t ‘costly’…and two, what’s over it?)

“Is it veg or non-veg?”
(I’ve never failed to have fun with this typical yes-I-am-from-India dialog)

“It was on that street, na?”
(Na…I don’t think so)

“Who and all went there, I don’t know”
(The “and all” adds a desi touch to any statement don’t you think?)

“So only you told him, but he will not listen, isn’t it?”
(If you understood this, congratulations!)

“No, not vacation; I’m going to my native.”
(Another classic that leaves heads spinning)

“I used to go to office by auto, sometimes share-auto”
(To be honest, I’m not sure if anyone outside India will ever understand this one)

“I’m sure he can able to do this one”
(No comments on this, please)

“Tastes very good; especially with brinjal fry”
(I don’t know why, but most Asian vegetables aren’t known in the western world. And our “brinjal” has at least two other names.)

“Sorry, but she is out of station”
(She's out of where?)

“So, where are you put up?”
(Bad enough that I have to put up with this statement, he means to ask where you live)

“Binesh sir is not here – can you call later?”
(Okay, so he’s respected, but surely this guy Binesh is not knighted?)

"Right now I'm taking food"
(...and where are you taking it?)

"What is your good name?"
(Er...you mean like I also have a bad one?)

"Since extra work came up, my evening plans went for a toss"
(Cricket-inspired jargon. Another reason I hate that game)

…and there’s probably a ton more - I just can't think of any more for the fear my head might explode. And to all you non-Indians reading this and smirking at us…yes, English is our language too.

And we will speak it like this only.
:-)

“I was just about to mail you right now…”

2009-02-15T22:02:00.004+01:00

…is such a pathetic excuse we (or at least, I) get from co-workers, subordinates and even the management sometimes that we completely ignore the real significance of this remarkable coincidence.
Mostly I just think, “Yeah right, so what else is new” before moving on to the actual topic of the call or email which is usually just as mundane as everything else at work.

This evening however was when I really found out the reality of this phrase in a rather delightful way. While I was having lunch this afternoon I thought I’d mail an old friend of mine who I hadn’t heard from in quite some time.

Now the trouble is, getting back in contact with people you’ve been out of touch with for a while, kinda feels awkward at times because you don’t really know what to say or how much to write.

It was with these confused thoughts that I logged into my Gmail this evening – and found to my delightful surprise, that I had an email from her just an hour ago, making it the first of all items in my inbox.

It wasn’t too long or complicated; just a “hi-its-been-a-long-time-so-just-getting-back-in-touch” mail that is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face; especially when you were just about to mail them at that time.

I quickly read through it, and then started off my reply with,
“Hi, I was just about to mail you right now…”

And then I paused.

There's really no way anyone can understand what that statement actually means, is there?

5 reasons why I quit Twitter

2009-02-10T11:46:00.002+01:00

(I know that at least two people reading this swear by this online service and won’t take too kindly to my bashing it…but if you’re reading – sorry you guys; I just had to write this one)

I’m willing to bet everyone reading this uses or at least has heard about Twitter, so I won’t get into the specifics of what exactly it is or what’s it for.

If you’re still wondering what I’m talking about, you might wanna watch Twitter in Plain English. It’s a wonderfully made video from the guys at CommonCraft and actually the reason I got hooked onto this what-to-do-online-when-you’re-bored thing.

Though I must say, and one must give it credit, twitter in itself is based on a brilliant idea:
Even though we have SMS, Email and instant communication, real life happens between blogposts and email; and you wouldn’t send an email telling your friends you’re having coffee right now. This is where twitter comes in, linking up your real life to your profile online and paint a picture of you to your friends in a rather unique way.

For me however, it simply did not work. And here is why.

1. 140 characters too long:
Technically, a twitter post cannot get longer than 140 characters. The idea is that you only make short posts – ideally just a sentence or two on what you’re doing – so that people don’t have to read too much.
Unfortunately, too many people get around this by posting links – which is heightened by services like tinyurl that compress large links – and ultimately leads to the information overload that twitter tried to prevent in the first place…and what we’re all too familiar with.

2. Similar alternatives present.
Though this might have been a recent development, social networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut also have a kind of ‘status message’ where you can tell the world what you’re doing. If you’re someone who already uses one of these services (like me), why bother with an additional online account to do the same thing? Its just one more thing to keep track of all the time.

3. Real life is not online.
This is the single biggest reason I quit. I don’t know how it works for other people but for me, “real life” happens OFFLINE…when I’m away from blogs, computers, and yes, even mobile phones.

For instance, the other day when I was out ice-skating with the guys would’ve been the ideal what-am-I-doing post that twitter looks for. But obviously, when you’re out on the blades, you don’t take out your phone to tweet “Just fell hard on the ice” when your priorities at the moment are elsewhere.

There’s a thin line between what can be online and what can’t, and some things just aren’t meant to be online.

And when I am online, what I do includes blogging, reading/commenting on other people’s blogs, getting banking done, socializing on networking sites and the like. None of which really carry a worth-while mention as long as I’m doing it.

4. Lack of “happening” events
This maybe a purely social thing…or it’s probably just me, but when you log in and read all your buddies’ posts on how the weather’s so beautiful at their place or that they’re off to have a great time somewhere; and then look back at your posts and see the only thing you’ve accomplished in the last two weeks is having 4coffees a day and playing a ton video games – it kinda starts getting depressing.

That, fuelled by a lack of interesting events in your life start to drive you crazy after a while. I mean come on, how many times can you tweet, “Alright, I’m off to work…again” and still hope to have a following?

The key is variety…and for a person with a routine lifestyle, it doesn’t really make much sense.

5. Lack of resources when you need them
Perhaps the best times when stuff happen to me is when I’m footloose – like when I’m off vacationing in another country. And most of the time, I’ve never had my phone or could access the internet when I could really use a tweet.

I mean, “The Eiffel Tower looks awesome” and “On my way to the Taj Mahal” would make really wonderful tweets and stuff I really wanna share with the people in my life…but let’s get real; you probably didn’t have internet access in your hotel room in Paris or on the train to Agra.

It’s almost as if there’s some sort of you-can’t-have-the-best-of-both-worlds curse; when something interesting does happen – I’ve no access to stuff online.

And I could probably list more, but these five are reason enough for me to stay off this teen-trend – and hope that the fans don’t take it too hard on me.

Bad Hair Day

2009-02-07T22:37:00.004+01:00

Lesson to learn:
If there’s an empty hair-salon right across the street from two more that are fully packed – there’s probably a reason why it’s empty.
And its reason enough not to go there.

Unfortunately for me, I found that out the hard way.

To start with a bit of history; I’ve always had wild hair for as long as I can remember. And because I’ve never bothered much about it, now that I look back at my high school photographs; I really had a bad mess of spikes sticking up from my head most of the time.

Actually it mostly wasn’t really my fault – at almost every place I’ve been to, I’ve been told that my hair is the type that likes to stand on end.
Back when I was living in Chennai, I once discovered this promising-looking place and walked in:

“Good evening sir, what kind of haircut would you like?” asked a rather professional-looking guy.

“Um, I don’t know…any way you can change my hair style?”

“Sure sir, would you like spikes?”

(Dude, this was something I was born with…why on earth would I want spikes again?)
“Er…no, I have a day job you see”

“Well then, how about leaving it long at the ends?”

(Say what? To cut it short was the reason I was here in the first place!)
“No. Anything else?”

“Sorry sir, your hair is kinda – “

“Yeah, I know. Just give me a regular haircut, okay?”

Anyway, that was two years ago, and I’ve learnt to live with my unique hair-ability and not to mess too much with it since then. And getting to the present, at the regular place where I now go to, I opt for the ‘normal’ cut (because for some strange reason, a “short” translates to getting your head shaved!) and hope that the guy understands a couple of words in English so I can tell him when to stop.

The place I went to today however, had a rather severe-looking guy; ran the machine though my head like a lawn-mower, taking too much off the sides, and then gives me this weird look that says,
“Gee it looks fine on this side, but somehow kind of different on the other.”

And as I sit in my room typing all this, my hair currently looks like a fuzz ball that’s just been through a blow dryer in a car wash.

And despite my efforts with tubes of gel; this is probably something that only time will heal.
:)

When in Rome - roam.

2009-02-02T21:49:00.011+01:00

Within the hacking circles there’s a saying that goes, “All good things take time – Rome wasn’t burnt in a day”.

And I don’t normally write about my travels but in this case I’ll make an exception. Because although I’m not quite sure how long Rome burned, it sure did leave a lasting impression on me.

Actually the main reason I write this is because, before leaving for the trip we checked out a whole load of websites on what to see and expect; but most of them kinda fell short on one aspect or another. If you’ve ever wandered to a site looking for info, you immediately find there’s usually more advertisements than useful data on them.

So for the benefit of all wannabe Rome-travelers I’d like to present, my take on the city in a completely unconventional way:

Rome wasn’t built in a day: And there’s no way you can see it in one. If you’re not gonna be in the city for more than a day; the only thing you can do is head over to the Colosseum (which incidentally ranks among the most recognized landmarks in the world) for a few pix before getting out. Everything else needs more time. For instance, I've never really seen a view of the Colosseum this way:
All monuments are so huge that you can’t really pose in front of one and still hope to get a good picture of both you and the monument. I’d suggest you take a camera that’s got some sort of panorama modes and take multiple pictures that you can later stitch up together.

Your only other option is to take a really expensive pro-camera with a super wide-angle lens, which is more than what a lot of budget-travelers care to take. However, our experience showed that the panorama mode is quite sufficient for the everyday tourist, like this pic of the Fountain of Trevi below:
Within the main stations and airport, all arrows pointing to anything, ANYWHERE, are ridiculous; and do more harm than good.
For instance, a sign board with “Tickets => ” probably means there’s a ticket counter somewhere 2floors up and on the side, the first step of which starts in the direction indicated.
We found this out the hard way while trying to locate a toilet based on an arrow that said “Restrooms =>” …and eventually found it in a narrow corridor 300m away in the 2^nd level basement.
The Vatican Museum is a waste of time. If you must see it, the best way is if you go there on the last Sunday of the month when the entrance fee of €14 is waived. Even so, we figured the only people who’d appreciate or even understand it are historians – specifically Christian historians for that matter.
We, for the life of it, couldn’t tell the statues of the Popes from Popeye.
ALL Asian-looking people, Indians and people from the sub-continent look suspicious. Don’t ask me why.
Now I’m not a racist and don’t mean to say it like that, but seriously, every single non-white guy on the street we saw looked like they were gonna run away with your wallet any moment.
If there’s any Asian, Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi living in Rome reading this – please, please, please write to me and explain what’s up with you guys. I really want to know.
The view from the top of the main dome at St. Peter’s Basilica is simply breathtaking. But it comes at a price. In this case, in the form of 560steps snaking your way up through a narrow one-way-only corridor in the side of the interior of the dome, up to the 140m high observation platform!
And even though there’s an elevator that takes you up half way, the rest of the 320steps can get claustrophobic. But its worth it.
Everything you would've read about on tourist sites about Rome being a not-so-safe destination is true.
Yes, we are sorry to state this, and I really hope the Italian Government takes note. Of all the countries I’ve seen, this was the only place where a member of our group was actually mugged. Luckily, the only thing he lost was a pack of cigarettes when the guy bumped into him on an escalator and grabbed his jacket for support. But the point is, it could have been anything. And we’re just glad it wasn’t his wallet or camera or worse; passport.
Italian Pizza really is good. Very good. In fact, the best pizzas I’ve ever had. Pizza Hut and Domino's should be ashamed of themselves…and is probably the reason why we never saw any American pizza outlet branches in Rome.
It figures, doesn’t it?
Ditto for Italian ice cream. Nowhere else did I relish 3 exotic flavors on a single cone for just €2!

Anyway I really hope people don’t take it the wrong way; but this is just something that I felt I really HAD to share.

Enjoy!

Indian girls are LOUD!

2009-01-30T23:01:00.004+01:00

Er…no offense to any of the ladies but I’m sorry, this is something that gets me annoyed every single time I get on the bus for groceries on my way home from work.

I guess its fair game to state that we as Indians are known for our ‘social’ nature; we chat with perfect strangers on trains and busses, play games and sing songs during fun college trips, even play games that involve singing songs and the like; but I think its only right that living in a foreign land means showing a bit of respect for the local culture.

In this case; the fact that the only things Germans are fond of on public transport are reading or staring out at the window with the earphones plugged in.

Anyway, every time I take the bus – the 72 towards Russelsheim – I almost feel like I’m back in India the moment I step in.
This bus is half full of girls (alright, women!) chatting away non-stop in Hindi, usually with a Bollywood song playing in the background from someone’s I-wanna-flaunt-it mobile phone. More often than not, there’s one member of the party stuck in the middle of the bus, but not that this stops these girls (women, okay!) from shouting out to them halfway across the bus, as if the rest of us were stone deaf or something.

And I’m no expert, but I'm guessing people think they can be loud just because apparently no one else understand a word of Hindi.
Well I’ve got news for them:
People know exactly what they mean because, though I didn’t wanna say it this way, the Hindi (or Tamil) we speak, is so far out from the original and has so many English words that anyone can get a fairly good idea of what’s going on.

I mean come on, when you point to someone and say,
“Dhek, uski eye color blue hai”,
…it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure what you’re talking about!

The height of this fiasco is reached when the bus gets to the stop of their hotel and some of them realize they’re already there only when the first half of the party is already outside, and then jumps back in to shout out to the rest to get off. Seriously, I’ve seen circus clowns less hilarious than this!

I think that just because we’re a social lot doesn’t give us the right to abuse upon those of others – and create a thoroughly negative impact on our culture in the process.

I’d also like to think of this as social service, so in case you know someone who’s loud, I please suggest that you print this out, and leave it on their desk or someplace they’d see it.

Particularly if they happen to work in the Avionics Training Center in Kelsterbach and take the RMV 72 to Mercure Wings Hotel, Raunheim at 5:42PM everyday.

I’d really appreciate if they could read this.J

A phone through the spin cycle

2009-01-27T22:10:00.002+01:00

In case you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like for a mobile phone to go around in a washing machine…
…I can tell you: they DO NOT like it.

And I found that out the hard way this evening after I stuffed my laundry into the washer, turned it on, and then three cycles later discovered that I forgot the phone in my jeans.

And needless to say; it died a sad, wet death under layers of suds and fabric softener; and I’m still mourning over the loss of my poor Nokia 6230i.
May she rest in peace.

Now moving on and getting to the realities of the situation; I still have another phone – a clammy old one from work; and I’m not missing a lot of phone numbers because the only people who call me are either from work or concerning work; and I already have their numbers on Outlook.

The biggest loss for me though, was all my data that it took along with it. I had a list of all passwords I use for pretty much everything online; I’ve marked important dates on the calendar; scribbled in a bunch of notes; even put in a little to-do list for the week.
All of which I don’t have anymore.

In a way it kinda freaks me out because it draws us to realize how so very much we are dependent on these little electronics which you can lose at any time.
I mean, when my laptop died last year (yeah, this evening wasn’t the first time I lost data to gadget hell) I was absolutely lost because that is where I had almost every aspect of my online life; from Email to documents, pictures, contacts, videos…pretty much everything.

And in a way it teaches you too; it was only after that mishap that I realized you should never stash data all in one place; and that it’s important to take regular backups. And that you should always keep written copies of passwords.

But I guess no matter how prepared you are, nothing prepares you for that one sudden moment when it all turns black; and you realize its all over.

Just like our own lives.

A New Beginning

2009-01-19T04:12:00.000+01:00

Yes, we are finally back.
New blog, new template, on a fresh new domain. And boy am I excited.
So let’s get started right away.

Firstly, you’ll notice that this isn’t Random Thoughts anymore. To be honest, coming up with a new name and domain is the part that took the longest time because I was so comfortable with Random Thoughts.

But then I realized it wasn’t very original – there must be like a hundred sites out there with the exact same name; just try the words “random thoughts” (with the quotes) on Google, you’ll see what I mean. In fact, it took me over a week, after the design template was completed to finalize on the name to use.

Now why “The Square Circle”?
For the same reason Steve Jobs ended up with “Apple” – one week of domain hunting later I was so frustrated (did you know ALL the good domains are taken; most of which are just stupidly parked) that I started looking for something random, pretty much anything I could find and so, here we are.

Getting down to the technical side of things; my old blog (http://rahmannoor.blogspot.com/) still redirects to here. And I’m yet to import all my previous posts and setup my widgets, but I promise I’ll do this soon.

Coming to credits, this design is an adaptation of Blogy-illacrimo for BlogandWeb from DesignDisease, and I truly thank them for the wonderful template.
I say ‘adaptation’ because the original template had three columns which I didn’t like, so I changed it to just two and rewamped some of the original artwork.
There was also a whole mess of broken image links in the original template file which I had to find and upload to my own image-server; not to mention invalid xml and missing script references which I had to fix.

Btw, I’d prefer to think of this as “still in beta” (now don’t give me that look) because I tested this on a few browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome and good old IE but I guess there are still a few glitches to it.

Oh, and in case this is the first time you’ve landed on this blog, here’s a snapshot of how my original blog looked like.
(I know, lame wasn’t it?)

Do let me know what you think, and how I can take this further. After all, in the end, it’s only the readers that count!
:D

Better Blogging. Now.

2008-12-28T17:08:00.002+01:00

I have been blogging for quite a while now, and although today is not any specific day like “exactly-two-years-ago” or anything, it struck me how far it has come, and how much further I’d like to go.

Now, a long time ago I stumbled upon sites like BlogBloke with expert advises on blogging and the like, but somehow never really paid much attention to it.

When I logged in this afternoon however, it suddenly stuck me how lame the whole thing really looks.
I mean come on, a terrible looking design template, less-than-creative URL (that’s my name there), minimalist stats tracking and comment control, and no RSS…it really doesn’t get much dumber than this.

With this in mind, I’d like to take a deep breath, and announce that effective immediately I’m putting all my current blogging activities on hold and working full time over this holiday season on getting my blog back on track and in better shape.

I’m thinking maybe I’ll switch platforms, to something with better control (and a much nicer custom template!) or maybe even go pro on an owned domain; with my very own CMS and all the fireworks.

Whatever I do, I just wanted to let you guys know that I haven’t quit, so just in case you come back a month later and still find this post on top, you know I’m still working on it!

Very Punny

2008-12-25T14:48:00.003+01:00

"What should I write" I was thinking all night, when suddenly, it dawned on me!

(p.s. This was my quickest post ever; usually I spend hours, sometimes days thinking on a post. This one happened in less than 3minutes...hurray for anti-boredom!)

Getting "Bushed"

2008-12-16T12:04:00.005+01:00

I guess it’s been all over the news more times than necessary that the outgoing US President George Bush was thrown a pair of shoes at during a press conference in Iraq. In case you missed the news, here’s a link.

Now, putting the serious and insulting nature of the issue aside, I’d like to take this as an opportunity to introduce a new phrase into English; and I really hope this catches on.

I mean after all, not so long ago, when J.K. Rowling introduced us to the world of Magic and Muggles, hey the Oxford English dictionary brought that out and officially introduced the word in 2003!

So here’s my contribution to the world of words in our beloved language:

Bushed [bůshΔ] (verb):
The act of throwing footwear at a person, either individually or in a group, with the intention of insulting or otherwise humiliating the person; see also Getting-[v]: being a victim of such an act; [v]-ing: throwing footwear, esp. as a form of occur disrespect and the highest level of insult towards the subject.

Here’s a few examples:

When the burglar broke into the barn, he took off after the boys bushed him with leather boots.
The local judge ordered the shoplifter to be tarred, feathered and bushed.
“If you do that again, I’ll bush you in front of the entire village” threatened the town Elder.

Although I must say, something like “The president was bushed” does sound a tad bit too insulting. But I guess that’s the way a language grows :D

The Blame Game

2008-12-07T13:03:00.002+01:00

(Technically, this post should’ve actually been on Broken Fishtank which is the usual place I write stuff like this, but I just did a post there yesterday and I don’t want it to sink to second place already.

This is going to be a long post; and a serious one. If you’re busy now, please come back and read it later. But I do implore you to not skip paragraphs)

I’m probably the last guy on the planet to write on the recent Mumbai attacks, nearly two weeks after the whole thing was over; but in a way it got me thinking about a lot of stuff we seem to take for granted…including who we routinely blame for it.

First off, the politicians who are a bunch of idiots and we all know this. In fact, we know better because we’re the ones who put them up there in the first place, so in a way, we’re to blame for it.

And who can forget the “Deccan Mujahideen” who supposedly claimed responsibility for the attack…and then the media went into overdrive with home-grown terror.
Until someone was intelligent enough to expose this as a bad joke by some prankster, every news channel in India (and even CNN, but I don’t count that) was sure it was the Deccan Mujahideen based on one pathetic Email anyone could have sent.

…why?
Because Muslims were the bad guys. Muslims were the terrorists. Muslims were the people who like to blow up stuff.

Quickly, give me a no-hard-feelings answer: what’s the first image to pop into your head when you hear the word “terrorist”?

If you get an Osama-bin-Laden-look-alike with a turban, a long beard, wearing a robe, you’ve hit home base – along with a million others.

Now here’s where it starts getting confusing, because if you look at the one picture of the terrorist we’ve seen far too times on TV, there was no turban, the guy was wearing a black tee, cargo jeans and (gasp!) no beard. And then you have this other report that the terrorists apparently had stashed up 3days worth of food; chicken and liquor!

The chicken part, I buy, but alcohol?
I’m no expert but I’m guessing you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure who the only terrorists who don’t drink by principle – as opposed to not drink before an attack – are!

Now I’m not denying or alleging anything, but for all we know, they could have been college-dropouts or unemployed graduates taking out their frustration to the world…and the fact remains that no one still knows who the attackers were or where they came from or what they wanted (despite what you see on TV) but what makes me mad is that we’re quick to again blame the Muslims for it.

And again, why?
Because hey, if it’s not them, who else could it be?

In fact, a while ago during another bombing, an Indian news-magazine ran a story with the racist headline: “All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim”.
Note here how the LTTE, The Naxalites, the IRA of Ireland and the FARC of South America all suddenly cease to become terrorist organizations just because apparently in someone’s mind; only Muslims do all the dirty work; with the dislodging clause that, “well, maybe not all of them though”

And thus, effectively alienate part of society by calling them the bad guys, throwing the blame on them and view them with suspicion at every turn in society.

No, it does NOT feel nice to be looked at as part of the problem and a potential terrorist when you have nothing to do with it.

In short: terrorists are our common enemies…and you can’t fight them by blaming a community or a country or a religion for it and alienating them.
Regardless of whether they are “jihadists” – that’s the usual term; or RSS extremists – we’ve seen this in the Melagon attacks; or by the United States – which pokes into Iraq, Afghanistan and pretty much the rest of the world; call a terrorist a terrorist.

And unite to fight them.

“Dude, you on a diet or something?”

2008-11-27T21:53:00.001+01:00

…my roomie asked eyeing me, as I skipped the section with the full-cream yogurt and reached out to the one marked “0.1% fat”.

I scowled back at him. I don’t know why but most people I know have only two kinds of food habits.
a) eat like there’s no tomorrow (“dude, this is the age to eat”)
b) go on a diet and cut out on pretty much all the good stuff. (“I’m dieting”)

My biggest problem is convincing people that you don’t have to be ‘on a diet’ to make sensible choices when it comes to food.
Sensible choices, for me includes choosing whole wheat over white bread, light cheese, trimming the fat on the chicken, using the oven instead of the deep fryer and yes, picking 0.1% fat over full-cream yougurt.
And no I am not on a diet.

In fact I’m nowhere close to a diet – I live on chicken 2 to 3 days a week, ice-creams (inspite of the snow outside!), munch on Pringles and have a Twix every once in a while.

Which is exactly why I’d want to eat more sensibly.
Because the kind of activities I do on a day-to-day basis hardly justifies my food-ability. And I’m guessing most people reading this aren’t exactly Rambo look-alikes either so it’s not just me who has to worry about going through the day on a chair getting up only in case of necessities.

In a way I’m angry at people who don’t care about their food habits unless something happens. For these people a ‘food habit’ pretty much means whatever they can find and are allowed to eat where they live. I know a lot of my friends who have deep-fried delicacies almost everyday because “this is what you get here dude”.

No its, not! And and no points for guessing the side effects. True, when you’re living alone, (and on a tight budget) healthy eating’s not always an option but hey, we can try, right?

Remember; a ‘diet’ is what you routinely eat, not what you go on for a month – and having the right attitude makes a good diet; One of these days I really got to talk to these guys, after all…

“Hey, I’m still talking to you”
I blinked as I snapped back to reality. I was still reaching out for that yogurt and there were other people starting to stare at us.

I just looked back at him and smiled. There isn’t much you can say sometimes.

NFS: Undercover

2008-11-23T22:41:00.003+01:00

(I know a lot of people reading this probably aren’t gaming fans, but NFS is one of my weak spots, and when EA Games came out with the latest installation of the series last Thursday, I knew I had to do a post on it)

Need for Speed: Undercover hit the streets last week on the 18th of November and it got me excited.

Historically, the Need for Speed series has always been the hallmark of EA Games ever since the first installation came out way back in 1995…and one of my favorite games of all times.
Back in my school days, I remember trying to tweak my ancient Pentium II machine to get it to run NFS: High Stakes on it.
While I was at college, we’d huddle around at best buddies’ places for one-on-one, all night long tournaments of NFS: Hot Pursuit2 and sneak into computer labs for illegal versions of NFS:SE.
When I finally (saved enough and) got my own laptop a couple of years ago, one of the first things I did was get Underground2.

But after all this, I’m upset that EA disappoints us this time with a game that’s both boring and technically flawed. I haven’t tried it out myself, but every single review I’ve read unanimously agrees that Undercover has serious flaws that let the frame rates get out of whack and cause graphics to jump at you.
Also, the AI is supposed to be so dumb you can win each game the first time round. And after ultra-realistic modeling and physics in Carbon and Pro-street, this game apparently has laughably poor detail and animation.
The game also contains a video-based storyline that features a half-naked woman smoking a cigarette and telling you what to do…which is simply not my idea of a good game play.
All in all, in one sentence the reviews simply read: “Whatever you do, please don’t buy this game”

Hope the guys at EA are listening – and come up with a better and more stable Undercover2 fast. Because at the it’s-not-worth-it-now price of over €60, this is one game I’m not gonna buy in a hurry.

Troubles on a Thursday

2008-11-20T21:09:00.002+01:00

Today was one of those days when everything seems to go wrong:

For starters, those new shoes I bought the other day – I just realized they’re one size too small…while I was half way to work. That means I had to sit through the entire day with sore toes before walking (ouch!) home. And having skipped the weather forecast, I didn’t take my umbrella so I had to walk (ouch!) in the rain. Apparently new shoes don’t like rain either.

At work, I nearly lost my head over a dumb argument with a stupid manager who had no idea what I was talking about. Took me over 2hours and ton of Email to get him to see the light.

And at the end of the day, I forgot to leave my backpack in my locker at work, so I had to come straight home carrying a 5pound laptop instead of heading over to the zeil for dinner like I had originally planned to.

Oh and there’s at least another 4 items in my inbox that demand my “immediate action” (whatever the hell that means) as soon as I get in tomorrow morning.

It is exactly at times like these when I think about all those people out there who don’t have a place to come home to; shoes to wear; managers to cuss or a job to crib about.

…and realize life, just can’t get any better than this!

Wedded flabs

2008-11-18T22:10:00.004+01:00

Actually I don’t think I’m the first person to write on this; quite a while back ela wrote this post on how people tend to put on the pounds after they get married, but I only got to find out how true this is when I was in Chennai a couple of weeks ago for my best friend’s wedding.

Almost every one of my friends who got married have put on like a ton or something…and the worst part was that no one had the slightest remorse about looking like a hot air balloon!

A friend of mine (who, incidentally, is also a dad now congratulations!) shrugged it off with a, “Dude, I’m married, this stuff is normal after you get married…you’ll see”.

No I do not see.
And I honestly don’t think there is anything ‘normal’ about inflating yourself just because you’re walking the path of bliss, and don’t have to worry about looks anymore.

Although I guess, the “look-good-feel-good” theory probably doesn’t apply here. Most newly-weds are happy with the…you know, and also the good food that comes along; with loving care too, I might add.
But I’m thinking it’s not just the food that’s causing all this. Because in spite of their high-fat, high-meat-content food, most Europeans seem to live healthier lifestyles because they do something about it. I mean, my boss is over 40 and she goes rock climbing. Most of our guys on the other hand, prefer to come home to coffee and hot samosas instead.

All fun things said and done, here’s a serious fact:
Asians (and Africans too, but I’m guessing not too many people from the Dark Continent are reading this) are more susceptible to diabetes than say, the white folks…because for something to do with genetics and stuff.
And I’m not messing you; this is a medical fact for real.

Also, I don’t know about the numbers but more and more people are starting to suffer from heart disease and diabetes than just one generation ago; and this has nothing to do with genetics. Its all to do with what we eat; how much we eat; and what we do about it.

Married or not. :)

Pulling the plug...

2008-11-07T18:44:00.006+01:00

...on Chennai's most popular Mall, Spencer Plaza!

Even though the city is now coming up with more hip places to 'hang out', my personal favorite will always be Spencer Plaza; for the shear variety you find...from the ultra high-end speciality audio studios and fashion outlets to the tiny side stores in the aisles where you pick tees for a hundred rupees (not to mention Samosas and chai) and everything in between!

That's why I make it a point to go there every time I'm in Chennai. Other places like CitiCenter and all look really aloof with their extravagant architecture and terribly expensive fashion outlets with prices that rival their European counterparts...and I really wonder who actually shops there.

Which is why I was more than a little annoyed to find out that the government is stupidly cutting power supply to the mall everyday between 6 and 9pm everyday in order to meet demands. EVERYDAY!

Actually something like this has been apparently going on for quite a while now; ever since this summer when record power shortages forced offices to send employees home early, industries to cut back on production and households to forgo electricity for upto 8hrs a day. Of course, such "load shedding" is common in India during the peak summer months, but is usually limited to an hour's supply of domestic power with little or no impact on commercial establishments.

But when you have this trend falling through all the way into winter and having to force major retail chains to close their outlets at malls during the busiest hours on a weekend...you know there is something seriously wrong with the city.

I mean, stopping commercial establishments from doing business at the best time of the day is honestly the stupidest thing I can think of...with or without any power shortage.

A friend of mine recently wrote this post on India being a developing country; but the way things are now, whatever is the reverse of development is what is going on right now.

I sincerely hope the guys sitting up there in Parliament haven't traded their brains for baloney sandwiches yet; but in case they have, I have news for them:

The rest of us down here are ashamed of you!

Government under-sight may have caused it, but cutting down on progress is not a solution or even a workaround.

It is plain stupidity.

A wishlist

2008-11-07T10:48:00.006+01:00

Here’s a quick question:
What do you get your best friend on his wedding day when you know he already owns a lot of the stuff you can think of and is not interested in most of everything else?

Turns out it’s a lot more difficult to get people gifts…especially for good friends when you want to get them something special and not the same as that dumb watch you got for Bob from finance.
After we realized that three days of international e-brainstorming (on IM from across 3 countries) didn’t help, we had to settle for a gift voucher from a retail outlet.

That’s when I decided to put together this list to make things easier for people (if any) who are willing to get something for me anytime soon. So without further ado, here’s my wishlist:

A PSP:
Yup, I’ve been eyeing one for nearly a year now, and almost bought one on my last trip to Dubai. But somehow this has been evading me since, and I don’t see shore anytime soon.
A cat:
Or maybe a kitten. With a bell and a little blue ribbon on top. Most people don’t know this, but I absolutely love cats. Wonder if there’s a gift-a-cat store nearby?
LEGO Mindstorms:
Yes, the big daddy of the LEGO – complete with sensors and programmable controllers. I’m a gadget freak and can spend years with this thing…and I’ll be honest here: I can’t afford it, so I hope someone else can.
The New Macbook:
(This may be an overkill, but I sure hope it works :D)
I wrote that I’m in love with it here, and gosh does love hurt. My poor wallet too.
Tissot Touch.
I really don’t mean to advertise, but it is an awesome watch. A study showed that most men love watches that do more than tell time; and with something that gives you a barometer, altimeter, chonograph and thermometer at a touch, I’m no exception.
A pair of Nike AirMax.
At over $200, this is one shoe I’m not planning on buying anytime soon. But doesn’t mean anyone else shouldn’t either so just for the record, I wear a size 8.Now that’s really money under your feet.
A Large FatBoy:
Not only are bean bags a barrel of fun, but they also seem to be the best things to curl on with a book and a steaming cup. Even without a book or coffee, I’d love to snuggle up against one. Too bad they’re too bulky to transport.
Harman/Kardon iPod dock:
Yeah I know its probably gonna look terrible against my tiny 8GB Nano, but doesn’t cost to dream does it?

So there you have it, a list of stuff which I am sure
a) I’m not gonna buy and
b) no one else is gonna get me either
So in all respects, this is the world’s most-impractical-list-of-things-to-buy.

But I guess once in a while we are all entitled to a healthy dose of madness, aren’t we?

Lonely

2008-10-26T23:00:00.000+01:00

I recently came to realize that we have another tenant living at our place – a lonely old man who lives in a one-room apartment down in the basement.

Now, being one of only 3people who live here (this is not an apartment, its just one huge house where the owners stay in one portion and sub-let the other two to us and another couple) I was genuinely astounded to find that out – because the guy must at least a good seventy five and lives alone with a bicycle.

Yes, with a bicycle.
And one of the reasons I’ve never seen him before is because he doesn’t get out much and no one comes to see him.

It makes me re-think on all the times I’ve felt alone like when my roomie goes on vacation and stuff and realize, “God, its good to have people – friends and family – who love and care about you!”.

I guess it’s another one of those small things we all take for granted.
There is a lot in life we should be thankful for.

The New Macbook...

2008-10-17T23:25:00.004+02:00

...and I'm so in love with it!

A few days back on the 14^th of October, Apple unveiled their latest new product to hit the market – the ‘new’ Macbook.

I’m not sure why I’m paranoid enough to do a post on every single product they come up with, but I guess it has to do with the fact that Apple just keeps doing things in a completely different way…and the macbook is one thing that’s caught my attention for a real long time.

In case you’re wondering what this is all about, I strongly suggest you see the video on it.

It still uses the same (old?) Mac OS-X leopard and runs on Intel Core2Duo, but I guess the most beautiful changes you on it are in the looks and what it’s made of; literally!

The first thing that’s completely different about it from everything else is that it moves away from Apple’s signature white (or black) polycarbonate body to precision machine-cut aluminum.

What really blew my mind is the fact that they decided to manufacture the whole body as a single piece – as opposed to virtually every other notebook on the planet (that I figure uses at least a couple of dozen parts for the main body); and the only way they could do that was to machine the whole thing from a solid block of aluminum!

Yes, every new Macbook out there comes from a separate, single, solid block of aluminum. Wonder what they do with all the little pieces?

The next thing big thing is the all-glass-and-LED screen that extends all the way to the edges. I guess glass and LED are the best things that go with shiny metal, and the new macbook beautifully eliminates the frame around the screen; lending a seamless appearance to the screen.

The new trackpad (also made of glass) eliminates the click-button…and instead the whole thing is clickable anywhere you want – you can even configure a “right-click-zone” anyplace on it in case you need one (remember, macs don’t require a right-click by default).

The trackpad also features the famous multi-touch as used on the iPhones and earlier generation Macbook-Pros.

Other interesting features noteworthy are the tiny row of green LEDs on the side that indicate battery status and the invisible sleep indicator light (that’s made by shaving off the side of the aluminum from the inside and perforating microscopic holes into the surface, so you only see the light when its on)

All said and done at the end of the day however and jumping back to reality, this thing is priced at over €1,500…and that’s WAY off my budget for a long time!

Guess the only place I’m gonna see it is at the nearest Apple store.

Overload!

2008-10-09T22:54:00.003+02:00

I originally intended this to be sort of a sequel to my last post on Online living because I later realized there was so much I didn’t do it much justice – and as some people pointed out; maybe there is more to life than the internet.

But brings us to another point: overload of the stuff we love and hold on to everyday.

Apart from my work Email and office phone (which keep me busy nearly the entire day five days a week) I also have 3 other personal Email accounts which demand checking a few times a day. And then there is orkut – the single biggest service I use on the internet next only to google search.
To complicate things, I recently discovered a whole lot of my high-school buddies on facebook and joined in. And then there is Linked-In to keep in touch with old colleagues from work who neither fit in orkut or facebook.

And this does not even take into account the free sign-up offers I turn down everyday from places named Hi5, friendster, WAYN, Shelfari, RupeeMail, Yaari… and this list gets long.

Add to this is the sweet chaos of blogging and checking out the regular blogs I read, joining in the discussion forum I comment on regularly (which I will not mention here) and a crazy service called My Blog Log – which I have no idea why the devil I signed up for.

Picasa and Flickr where I stash my pix online.

And then there is twitter; which I don’t use all that much either and just signed up because it felt like a good idea at the time (and because the guys from CommonCraft did a great marketing job with Twitter in Plain English!)

It suddenly dawned on me that I have way too many things to keep track of online. Maybe it is time to switch all things off for a while and stay disconnected from all things electronic.

And when that day comes; I’ll do another post on it ;-)

Online Living

2008-09-28T22:21:00.002+02:00

A friend of mine recently lamented on how she nearly quit blogging because she thought she “ran out of stuff to say to the world” and I disagree.

I, for one, feel lost without access to the online stuff I love and cherish; which for the most part include Email, chat, blogging, socializing on orkut (and Facebook too, now that I’ve discovered it!), participating on discussion forums, scribbling nonsense on twitter and writing comments on YouTube videos – all of which are stuff you want to say to the people who care to listen.

And in doing so, I guess we sometimes tend to forget how much of our lives is really out there in the unknown, at the whim of anyone who chooses to use it.

Friendly comments and tags aside, I’ve had my share of abuse too. I’ve had spammers trash my blog, received rude comments on everything from blog comments to news articles and video reviews; I even had unknown people question my faith.
And in having all this; we sometimes tend to get emotional over the content we sometimes need to deal with. I once blew my top over a nut who argued over the existence of God and it took me a couple of cups of tea to calm down.

YouTube’s “report abuse” section has some helpful advice though. They say you need to realize there’s life beyond the internet, and move on. And if that doesn’t help, to try staying away from the computer for a while.

In short, realize that your life online is pretty much the same as in real life – from the friends to foes, there’s plenty of people; thoughts and opinions. And yours doesn’t always go with everyone. But that doesn’t mean you have to be mum about it.
Because there really is so much to say.

Trust me.

Lost

2008-09-23T23:22:00.001+02:00

This morning a colleague of mine took a wrong short cut thru the woods on his way to work and ended up hopelessly lost on the Autobahn; finally requiring a couple of police officers to pick him up and drop him off at the office with a friendly warning.

While we were joking about it a few hours later, it reminded me of the first time I got lost: in second grade on the busy streets of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
And now that I think about it, kinda strikes me weird because there really were a million things that could have gone wrong that night and it was nothing short of a miracle that I made it home.

I was just your regular second grade, smart alec, know-it-all kid who one day decided to walk home from school because my dad was held up at a meeting and couldn’t make it on time to pick me up from school like he did everyday.
Needless to say, within no time I was lost, and I knew it.
Now this was way before mobile phones (we didn’t even have a phone at home!) and all I knew was to keep walking.
I guess it was purely in the Plan of The Creator that I accidentally stumbled upon a garage where at that exact time, the guy who ran the restaurant across the street from my house, chose to come to fix his car.

He recognized me as ‘that kid from our street’ and borrowed another car to drive me two blocks to my home; and offered me dinner while we waited for mom and dad (who were of course, freaking out from searching all over town and finally came back home hopeless, to call the police!)
Needless to say, that night I didn’t feel a thing; and so, went to sleep and went back to school the next day.

17 years later, the memories of that night, haunt me to this day.
There is a lot in life we take for granted.

5 reasons why I don’t do Linux

2008-09-20T23:15:00.004+02:00

…or FreeBSD or MacX Leopard or Solaris, and stick to plain old windows.

1. Too much effort
True, Windows is not the most straightforward operating system in the world, but at least it’s the most familiar one in the world. Click a file to select. Double click to open. Right-click to modify. How much simpler can it get?
Compare this with everything else. You need to mount drives before you can use them (and dismount them afterwards), manually install applications, change settings for pretty much everything and in short, have an idea of how the whole thing actually works before you can do something on it.

2. Too much geek talk
Normally, you don’t hear too many people talking about modifying binary keys on the Windows Registry…and that’s about as geeky as it gets.
For Linux users, the day routinely involves tweaking the Kernel, swapping drives, compiling programs, or simply doing itsy-bitsy things to make your machine a tad bit leaner and faster.

3. Too many versions
For 7yrs, Windows xp was just one thing. And now you have Vista. And even though they do come in lots of flavors, the basic package is pretty much the same thing; give or take a few additional features. Nothing more, nothing less.

Linux, on the other hand, comes in so many distributions, its easy to get lost in there. You have popular commercial versions such as SUSE and Red Hat, you have ‘community’ versions like Ubuntu and Fedora; and then you have those little versions someone decided to make for themselves…like Arch Linux. To top things, with a little know-how, you can make your own distro…sometimes small enough to fit on a USB stick. Why would anyone wanna do that is beyond me. I prefer to take my entire notebook along, not just the operating system.

4. Apply the Applications
I’m sorry to say this, but when you take the list of applications in the world available for windows, and compare it with everything else; things just don’t add up. Now you can scream all you want on how popular software is always available for Mac and Linux, but its usually more difficult to find unless its in your job to do so.
The rest of us happy-go-lucky computer users prefer to walk into a store and walk out with the DVD, without having to ask too many questions on compatibility and whatever.

5. Getting the job done.
For people like me, at the end of the day it’s all about how much I get done “on” my computer and not “for” my computer.

Tweaking system settings for the hell of it is fun when that’s all you have to do. But when you’re at work and running multiple server-side production environments, an interface monitor and an Email client, the last thing you'd care about is how much processing your workstation is using and how you can tweak the whatever to speed it up. Nor do you care to compile and manually install that tiny little file-zip application.

You need something that’s easy, and doesn’t demand learning the operating core to get your job done. And that’s what windows gives me.

After all, it’s the applications that run on it that I’m interested in.

p.s.
Boy, I know I made some enemies up there…to all the penguin fans reading this; sorry you guys. But I couldn’t help myself :)

New Delhi and the bombs

2008-09-13T22:20:00.003+02:00

Shortly after 6:30pm IST, a series of 5 bombs rocked the Indian capital of New Delhi, killing around 2 dozen people and wounding around a hundred others.

On behalf of everyone here, we extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones…for no fault of theirs. And at the same time, curse the wrecked freaks who caused this; killing innocent people in their mindless wake.

And it makes me angry thinking about it. This is not the first time this has happened, and probably is not the last. So in between when it happened for the first time and now; what has changed and what hasn’t?

As ever, the President, Prime Minister, Other Ministers, and all the guys up in Parliament, issued their standard statement expressing their “deepest concerns” and “appeal for calm and peace”.

On the face of it, it sounds like a good idea. Keep calm. And let the authorities do their job.

But as history bears witness, this does not really happen. What does happen is a series of routine tasks:

1) The police ‘investigates’ and makes random arrests around the city of ‘suspects’…as if terrorists just hang around waiting for the police to grab them.

2) Security gets ‘beefed up’ (whatever the hell that means) around airports, train stations and other ‘strategic locations’…as if terrorists are stupid enough to attack the most obvious places just hours after a major attack.

3) Barricades are put up, and a major part of the public that had nothing to do with this is agonized by not being able to visit their loved ones in hospital or move away from hot spots.

4) News channels, magazines and news sites go into overdrive on how to deal with the menace.

5) The government reiterates its commitment to fighting violent attacks and acts of terror.

6) The opposition party organizes rallies on how the current administration is doing such a sloppy job.

7) Two weeks later, everyone forgets the whole thing. And life goes on as usual.

As usual of course, except for those who lost their loved ones in the attack. And then those ‘suspects’ who were rounded up just to make the police look good, and languish in dungeons with no charges laid against them.

Conveniently forget; is sadly what our country seems to do best.

Chrome comes to Google!

2008-09-06T14:47:00.003+02:00

Yup, it’s finally here! The long awaited browser from the most popular name on the internet – Google, with the launch of its fabled ‘Chrome’ web browser.

And like most internet junkies, I scrambled to be among the first to download and use it – and I have one thing to say about it:

It’s brilliant!
Not beautiful – there’s no eye-catching colors, fancy design or anything, but it’s just brilliant.

And although people who are used to Safari’s fluid interface may not be too thrilled with the bare-minimalist design, most of the common folks who’ve been stuck with Microsoft IE might choose to move, thanks to automatic import of bookmarks, favorites and all your settings right from your old browser into Chrome.

And that’s not all; there are several features that are leap years ahead of anything on Mozilla Firefox, Safari and (is it even worth mentioning?) IE. For instance, the tabs automatically open with your most recently visited pages, and you can just click on where you want to go. Searches are direct from the address bar, and Chrome automatically gives spelling suggestions for misspelt words – pretty much like Google itself.

There are also nifty well-thought features like the status bar that automatically disappears after loading, downloads that are tied to the page itself without launching a separate pop-up and so on.

You can also do a lot of extras – like dragging out tabs to make them into a separate window or joining multiple windows into one single window, right-click a phrase and search for it and so on.

Of course, it’s only beta, and there’s bound to be improvements; as well as bugs in the current version. Right now, I’m just trying this out and am really excited…and now that I read back what I’ve written, it almost sounds like a promotion campaign for Chrome.

But I really think this is one download that’s worth trying out. And let me know what’s your take on it.

The CEO’s Ticket

2008-08-23T15:12:00.002+02:00

If Corporate Politics and Mismanagement were an Olympic sport, I guess this incident would probably take the Gold this year.

Some CEO’s stupid e-ticket inadvertently got voided when it was not supposed to and needed to be re-issued manually. Now, things like this happen all the time due to system glitches (this is the part where the guy at the check-in counter gives you a blank look and tells you have to wait for a while because of some ‘computer error’), but anyway, stuff like this happen all the time in a normal working day, to normal folks worldwide.

Unfortunately for us, this time, it had to be a CEO.
As usual, the half the management jumped us and drove us crazy to resolve the issue, but then I wonder:

Do CEOs stand in line at those obnoxious check-in queues and get told, “Sorry mac, but your ticket’s no good” like the rest of us?
What do they do then; call up the office and ask to waitlisted on the next available plane…and then sit at a waiting lounge for their name to be called?
Do they then call up their other CEO buddies and play online Monopoly or something?

Its all good for the imagination, but I’m willing to bet none of the above happened and Mr. CEO probably didn’t even have an idea that something was wrong with his ticket. If anything, he was probably just informed of a ‘small mishap on the system’.

Which means my entire week-long data analysis of what exactly happened to his ticket and the technical reasons for the untimely void, is worth nothing.

The max that can happen is that it ends up as a report on his desk, waiting to be tossed in the trash along with yesterday’s newspaper when Mr. CEO comes back from his trip!

TouchType

2008-08-09T22:14:00.001+02:00

This may not be a topic that’s discussed all that often but, even though almost everyone I know spends a good part of their day looking at a computer; not many people I know can touch-type.

Doing a random you-don’t-know-I’m-doing-this-survey at work the other day, I found most of my colleagues – all of them skilled programmers – hopelessly poking at the keyboard with their forefingers while concentrating on what they are writing. Some of the more experienced people used up to two fingers per hand but that was it.
In fact, the only people I really did see touch-type (at a remarkable speed too, I must add) were the secretaries.

I don’t know why this really bothers me enough to do a post on it, but it kind of reflects on the skill-set we take pride in not having. I mean, even though we no longer concerned about handwriting (I mean, the only times I seem to hold a pen anymore are only to sign something), in a world where the only difference between someone crossing their “f”s and dotting their “i”s depends on the font used, the least we can do is take a little more concern in how we run our fingers on the one surface that’s become the standard means of getting the message across…from Email to fax, printed letters, IMs, social networking and of course, blogging!

Chennai Chronicles

2008-07-25T22:45:00.003+02:00

Yup, I’m back!
And boy, are vacations good; we really should have more of these in a year.

Coming to terms with the updates, I’m back at work again, from a long (and thoroughly deserved) vacation in Dubai/Chennai/Cuddalore. And having lived away from home for a while it almost felt weird, because there was a lot about Chennai I really couldn’t place. So, I present my take, on my city.

Chennai on…EVERYTHING.

…eating out:
Bad. Because most ‘normal’ restaurants (the ones that are usually named with a something Bhavan) are so crowded you get the service of a refugee camp, so you end up at the more up-town places throwing away good money on the dumb extras like plush seating and the flower pots.

…the little things that matter:
Like eating hot bajjis at a roadside tea-shop under a tree while sheltering from the rain. Some things just can’t get any better than this, even in Europe!

…internet connectivity:
Totally sucks.
I complain that my PCI here isn’t fast enough… at 2Mbps, what I have on wireless here is faster than most cable broadband setups in Chennai. And we call ourselves the IT hub of the planet.

…people:
I think the nicest thing about Chennai.
Everyone’s ready to help a lost guy, give directions, buy train tickets for the ladies, and is willing to share, even with perfect strangers. I once met a guy at a bus-stop who spontaneously starting speaking about how he got late because he had to pay the electricity bill and missed his bus! Its really amazing how much people talk to someone they don’t even know!

…hassle-free shopping:
Or rather the lack of it.
I can’t remember the last time I walked into a store and was by myself. Even the most hip outlets in Chennai hire people who nag you crazy about your size, color, material of choice before you come to a conclusion. And when you tell them you’re “just looking” it translates into a sorry-I’m-not-here-to-buy statement and you don’t get any service anyway.

…the weather:
Whoever thinks Chennai is too hot obviously never lived in the Middle-East. Just a day in Dubai was enough to nearly give me a heat stroke and I think Chennai is okay. Maybe a bit warm but okay. If you think Chennai is bad, please take a trip to somewhere really hot.

…electricity:
Shocking. Every single day had a power outage lasting an hour exactly. So it wasn’t much of an outage as it was a serious shortage of electricity. Wonder where all our tax-payers’ money went?

…flyovers:
Every major area has at least one under construction now; places like T-Nagar have two, heck even the airport has one right over it!
Now that’s what I call progress. Not long before we have a city that’s zipping way overhead!

…change:
As in small change. I hate 500 rupee bills. Everyone in Chennai gives you a dirty look if you ask change for a 500…unless you make a purchase of over 350. Sometimes I wonder why can’t they come up with a 200 rupee bill instead?

May not totally sum up the city, but if you’ve been away from it for a while, kinda sums up what you feel about it; or at least, what I did.

We'll be right back....in three weeks

2008-07-01T14:21:00.003+02:00

I'm sorry if you've been coming here for the past while, expecting something new and went back disappointed; I'm on vacation now and trying to stay as far away from computers as I can.
I must say, for a guy who works, loves and lives online this is quite a change, but I'm getting to enjoy my-found freedom now.

I am currently working on different ideas in my head, I'll be back online in the third week of July and promise something worthwhile then.

“Smokers are brainless idiots!”

2008-06-15T00:22:00.003+02:00

I’m sorry if you’re smoker and just read this, but I’m not taking it back. This is exactly how I feel about every single person who lights up a cigarette during the course of his day.
Brainless idiots.
So there!

Now, I don’t want to go into all the already-well-published details on the why’s and how’s of smoking being bad and all that – I guess anyone with the intelligence of a humming bird knows that smoking kills. But that’s not my problem.

My problem is, people’s attitude towards smoking and smokers.
Despite it being the most universal of ‘undesirable’ habits (of course in my book, alcoholism, drug abuse and indiscriminate sexual behavior also top the lists but I guess different cultures have different levels of tolerances towards these), I count around 65% of young people here in Hessen with a cigarette in hand and not a care in the world.

And, no one’s saying much either. Last October, Germany passed a law making it a crime to smoke in public buildings – such as restaurants, hotel lobbies and offices. But while anti-smoking advocates were high-fiving each other, the lobbyists made sure that what made the final bill was the word “public buildings” and not “public” – which meant that you could smoke anywhere as long as you weren’t inside anyplace.

And that makes me mad because what this shows is tolerance towards this despicable habit. I don’t know about most other people but I have zero-tolerance towards anyone who smokes.
I yank cigarettes out of my friends’ hands and crush them underfoot.
I make rude remarks at smokers at restaurants.
When in a group, I refuse to pay for anyone’s cigarettes.

And I guess everyone needs to do their part.
Maybe by hanging a board at the door that says, “Smokers and dogs not welcome here”, you’re not helping the guy quit; but at least by letting them know we don’t like it, and maybe, just maybe it might make a difference.

And for all the smokers reading this; I’ve just two words to say to you:
Go quit.

Because the rest of us think you’re brainless idiots!

Generation 'Why'

2008-06-01T17:09:00.003+02:00

Note: This is going to be a controversial issue, so if you don’t like controversies, you’re probably not going to like this. Just a disclaimer before we start.

I don’t watch MTV all that often (heck I don’t even watch much TV anymore but that’s a different story) but being one of only 3 English channels my run-down satellite receiver picks – the rest being in Deutsch, Italiano, Francias and Espanol – I am forced to watch it, especially after a hard day’s work when you don’t feel like touching a computer again.

And apparently MTV wants us to believe that there are only three things worth living for:
Sex.
The opposite sex.
And more sex.

I don’t mean to advertise, but here’s a list of some popular programs you find…and an explanation of what they’re all about:

1. Next
Five guys competing for one girl (or the other way around) trying to win their hearts (or in any case money – a dollar for every minute you last on the date) before their prospective date ditches them and calls for “next”.

2. Date my Mom
Simply put, this is the most disgusting show I’ve ever seen. Guy wants girl, so he tries to ‘size her up’ by dating her mom to get a feel for what the girl would be like. If he’s lucky, he strikes two.

3. Parental Control
The guy’s folks don’t like his girlfriend (or the other way around with girl’s folks hating her boyfriend) so they decide to ‘find’ someone better and set them up on a date. Two dates later, the guy chooses if he wants to a) switch girls or b) keep his girl or c) ditch them all.

4. A shot at love
This show takes gross to a whole new sick height. Without going into the details, I’d just like to mention that in this show, the term “couple” does not necessarily mean people of the opposite gender…or just ‘two’ people. I leave the rest to your imagination.

5. Flavor of Love
Flavor of sensuality is more like it. This is another sick show where girls attend a ‘school’ where they ‘learn’ the tricks of the trade. You get it, right?

I’ll stop it now.
Reading back at the stuff I’ve written above; it almost sounds like porn. And I really wonder because all this isn’t stuff you get off dirty DVDs; they show this on prime time television all hours of the day (of course after eleven it gets worse…I don’t even wanna write about it)

Which brings me to an important question. Why is all of this happening?
The answer I got was simple: Why not?

Because when you remove the limitations set by God or by society or even by yourself; you don’t even have to answer that question anymore…you don’t have to ask, ‘why’? You just do it.
This is the future:
Generation ‘Why Not’

And it doesn’t look pretty.

The things you hear...

2008-05-29T23:05:00.005+02:00

Overhead at my office recently:

"Oh, no I don't need to know any of that. You see, I'm a manager."

Of men and women

2008-05-24T23:50:00.002+02:00

In today’s world of miniaturization and micro-everything, men are the real experts:
While women still lug around 5 pound hand bags containing “stuff they need”, men manage to fit everything they’ll ever need into a wallet some 30 times smaller.

Women on the other hand, are the masters of multitasking. Our guy still has trouble reading the newspaper while watching the ball game. The secretary at my office however, can reply to Email when on the phone, holding the person in person in front of her while handing me the forms and still managing to smile at the boss who just entered – all at the same time!

A walk in the woods

2008-05-08T22:00:00.000+02:00

Even though I currently live in a quiet suburb at the edge of a large woods, I never really bothered to walk through it; either because its been too cold or I’ve been too lazy for a long while now.
Anyway, late this afternoon, I was on my way home from the mosque and decided to take the uncharted route (literally!) home, by cutting straight through the woods.

I did not regret my decision.
Slowly strolling through a peaceful forest, with a soft breeze gently rustling your hair amid dense green vegetation, watching squirrels run up the trees – and watch you from behind the branches; and seeing the rays of the afternoon sunshine from a beautiful spring day filter through the tall trees above, the fresh scent of pine, the feel of crisp leaves and twigs snapping underfoot while listening to the birds chirping above…

It has to be one of the most beautiful experiences in the world.

Manage-mental Issues

2008-04-25T22:41:00.002+02:00

I don’t usually talk about my work life, but the past couple of days were a roller coaster ride that so rocked the management – something that went live the day before brought half the system down and we for the life of it couldn’t figure out what the heck was going wrong.

The entire corporation met to discuss this in endless meetings and I had the privilege of being in one such meeting with the top of the top management. The following are excerpts from that meeting.

(The statements in quotes were made by one of the ~~morons~~ managers. The italics are my thoughts at the time.)

“We need to fix this as soon as possible”
Tell me something I don’t know!

“I’m starting to lose my patience here with this problem”
You moron, I lost sleep last night, had to skip lunch and breaking my skull over this, you think I’m having fun here?

“The way I see it, there are two things that could have gone wrong”
The way you see it? Dude, when was the last time you looked at code. There’s a zillion things that can go wrong.

“You guys go ahead with your work, we’ll take care of the management issues”
So why the heck’d you bring me to this meeting? This isn’t exactly a technical discussion.

To another person on a call:
“Don’t worry; we have our people working on this as we speak”
No you’re not! I’m right here - listening to this stupid call.

“Do you require our assistance here any longer”
Any longer? Since when did you help us with to begin with? And what are you gonna do, compile a couple of programs for us? Maybe load a library?

“If we have to work over the weekend, then we will work over the weekend”
We? You mean “I” am going to work over the weekend. You’re probably gonna be sitting home watching TV asking me for a status every half hour.

Now, everybody has told me top managers are a waste of time, but after that call, I was convinced! How do these guys run the business without a clue of what’s going on!

Snoopy

2008-04-21T21:47:00.002+02:00

In his own inimitable way, Charlie Brown once said to Snoopy:
“When a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it still make a sound”

Now unlike Snoopy, I’m guessing most of us never really give it much thought, but when I equated this with problems in our own lives, I found myself in a bit of a sticky situation:

Is it still a bug in my program when no one knows there’s a bug in my program?

Do I still owe Bob the €15 if he doesn’t remember I owe him money?

Do I still have to be in office at 9 o clock when no one will see there at 9 o clock?
.
.
The list goes on.

And unfortunately, I’m not too sure we answer ‘yes’ all the time. I don’t wanna go into deeper philosophical or moral consequences of the answers, but I’d just like to say that sometimes, there’s more to it.

After all, that tree did make a crash, whether you heard it or not!

Apple TV

2008-04-13T13:21:00.002+02:00

Yup, I’m back again with another round of Apple-bashing…and this time, it’s the not-so-hyped-up AppleTV.

I 'm not sure why this caught my attention, but I guess there were two main reasons:
a) I’ve heard about it but wasn’t sure what it was and
b) because of the recent price slash Apple made

For the uninitiated, AppleTV is a device that allows you to seamlessly connect your existing tv to the internet and take advantage of Apple’s Online store to purchase or rent movies, tv shows, podcasts, even music, and play them out on your very own big screen. Watch what you want to from the comfort of your couch: the wide world of online content was no longer tied to your PC or the 3” screen of your iPod.

At least, that was the idea.

I think the biggest flaw developers failed to overlook is the fact that apart from bringing online content onto a TV screen (which is quite readily available on your PC without all this); it doesn’t do much else….at least, not enough to justify its €229 (slashed from € 299) price tag.

To top things off, you are paying for the broadband separately. Remember, the AppleTV is just hardware – to get it to work, you’d also have to subscribe to high-speed broadband.
Of course, this may not be a huge problem for most people, but the idea of needing something additional just to get something else to work is annoying me.
I mean, I have wireless broadband that gives me 5gigs a month…which is okay for most of my needs but why would I wanna get something that eats up my bandwidth AND needs my credit card to work too? Which brings me to my other point:

Apart from the videos on YouTube, there isn’t much you could see for free. And even though movie rentals are priced quite sensibly, no one really wants to swipe their credit cards every time they wanna watch TV.

And judging by the way the sales figures are looking, I’m not wrong. So while this might have been a good idea in theory, bringing online content on TV is an idea that just doesn’t seem to ‘click’ with the customers.

Boot me up, faster

2008-04-08T22:25:00.002+02:00

I don’t hear many people complaining about this, but to this day, computers take up way too much time to boot up and become ready for working on.

I remember how things were over 10 years ago when my dad got us our first computer back in 1997, with probably the first Pentium processor ever made and less memory than my phone has today.
And I remember timing it: it took 2min and 32sec to boot up Windows98 at the time.

Over a decade later, my Core2Duo powered workstation supposedly clocks at over 2Ghz, has 2gigs of memory and all the fireworks. But still takes it over a minute to boot into the OS, setup everything and in short, become useful.

Leaving aside all the facts and jargon about all the advancements in computing technology, memory management and the boot sequence; for the average guy on the street who doesn’t give a hoot about all this, it’s still a long shot.

Once when I was showing off my new laptop, my brother (who’s not too much into technology) remarked,
”Yeah I’m sure its got the fastest processor on the market, but can’t this stupid thing turn itself on any faster than that? When are they gonna make ‘em like a TV so you can just pop it on and get to it right away?”

And coming to think about it, I don’t think that was ever on any manufacturer’s mind. True, you have blazing graphics, real surround sound and enormous number-crunching capabilities. But a computer that just boots instantly?
We are still waiting...

World Autism Day

2008-04-02T18:26:00.001+02:00

Today on the second of April, just a day after fooling the wits out of everyone, the world unites together to create awareness on Autism.

News channels here have been going into overdrive, bringing stories upon success stories from families who are coping with children with this condition.

Even though I personally do not know anyone with this condition, I would like to take a moment to pause, and spread this concern.
Autism has no known medical cause, can affect children in one of several bizarre ways, and so far, does not have a proven medical or therapeutic cure. But recent advances in therapy can assist in rehabilitating the person, and help them lead a better, if not complete life.

But one thing still bothers me…most of those ‘success’ stories on TV were from the United States. And as long as everyone knows the kid is autistic and is getting help, things are okay.

But what about the millions of others with this condition, who need help just as bad; but have no access to proper facilities? Have no money? Are stuck in a war zone?
CNN does not cover that.
Guess it’s up to each one of us to take this up and give a hand to those who we might know with this condition.

God save us all!

Calling all "bimbos"

2008-03-25T21:36:00.001+01:00

Yes, you heard right…and don’t be offended by the choice of words here. That is exactly what a new website is calling for – to compete for the world’s hottest ‘bimbo’.

For those of you who came in late, I’m talking about the latest addictions to spring up on the net, this time with a sizable amount of protest against it: the Miss Bimbo contest.

Created by two London-based entrepreneurs, the game encourages young girls to select an avatar, accessorize them with sexy outfits and crash diets to compete against other real people to be crowned the world’s hottest bimbo.
And if you thought that was crazy; check out some of the details: you not only select outfits and stuff (most of which by the way are some forms of lingerie), you also get to give your avatar breast implants and face-lifts; even hook up with a billionaire.

And why is everyone complaining? Because apparently the site attracts a lot of nine-year olds. And it’s only okay to think this is alright if you’re over 18.

Which makes me wonder on where their moral standards are headed…
Is this game okay for ‘above 18s’
…to think appearances, sexuality and money are the only things in life that matter?
…to worship celebrities and their less-than-pathetic lifestyles just because they’re famous?
…for craving to be famous and loved to be more important than anything else?

Its funny you know…when religion said the same thing about modesty, the world called us backward.
When TV soaps and magazines are full of glamour and sex; that’s liberation.
Yet when some poor weirdo on the internet tries to cash in on this, all of a sudden it becomes offensive.

I don’t blame them; I blame the culture that feeds this trash… and sets a double standard later.

Airframe

2008-03-19T15:37:00.004+01:00

I guess everyone with a finger on the tech side of things would have heard of Apple’s newest toy in the lineup of lean, mean workplace machines – the MacBook Air.
(In case you haven’t, check out the video ad here)

At less than quarter of an inch high at its thinnest and weighing just under 3lbs, this is by far the lightest and thinnest notebook on the planet!

But while the folks at Apple boast at how their marvelous creation still manages to have a 13.3 inch screen, a full-sized, backlit(!), qwerty keyboard, gesture based track-pad (like the one found on the iPhone), built-in video camera and the works, I for one, still find some of the basics missing.

For starters, this only comes with an 1.8”, 80GB hard drive, same as the one found on an iPod. And by any standard, 80gigs won’t get you too far these days. And if you thought that was bad, get a load of the biggest blow to computing: no optical drive!
For the life of it, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to buy a notebook you can’t put a DVD in.
Of course, you do have the option of buying a separately sold wireless disk drive and transfer files to the notebook via wireless or Bluetooth, but not something everyone’s gonna be happy about.

Made me wonder on what kind of audiences exactly are they hoping to cash in on anyway. You can rule out average users – at $1,800, I guess it’s not something a college student is looking for.
No drive means no video games, no movies and not much else. There goes the second huge chunk of the market.
And with a sluggish 4,500rpm 80GB drive clocking at a miserable 1.8Ghz, performance users can look the other way.
Which leaves us with only one thing left: business users. You know, those serious-looking, time-zone hopping executives whose only excuse for even touching a computer are presentations, spreadsheets and nothing much else other than looking important and carrying the fancied gizmo around.
These bad boys can have a field day with this. The rest of us can go spend our money on something useful!

Scum of the cyberworld

2008-03-03T22:13:00.000+01:00

I don’t usually get all personal and paranoid over some moron who’s lost his way in the world; but earlier this evening I (my blog to be exact) was attacked by a worthless, low-life scum who chose my blog to voice his pathetic opinion of the world.

Later when I was cleaning up the mess he left; it suddenly dawned on me as so how easy it is for anyone to get away with anything online!
You don’t need an identity, an address or even a name – just as long as you have a wee bit of skill and some creativity, the world is your canvas. Whether you want to create a masterpiece or mess up someone else’s using your graffiti is just a matter of choice.

And that’s a scary thought. But we’re not gonna take this lying down. Scum, you’ve just been tagged-out!

The Apple of my eye

2008-03-02T22:41:00.004+01:00

Okay, I will shamelessly admit it:

Less than a year after writing about why I absolutely hate the iPod and everything around it (read the original post here), I became a proud owner of the shiny little player from Apple last week.

Don’t hate me just yet; I guess we are all infallible to human error.

Yes it sings, it swings, and burns a hole through your wallet. But what caught my attention is the sheer marketing brilliance the iPod really is. Actually I learned a lot about marketing from having an iPod than what I thought I knew.

For starters, I guess everyone who’s ever heard of it also knows about the iTunes bundle that the pod can’t do without. Not only is iTunes able to seamlessly connect to the online store for purchase of legal music (which, by the way, is a marketing brilliance on its own) it also allows you to subscribe to Podcasts, TV shows, Audiobooks and even Games right from the store.

Now here’s the real catch:
No matter who owns it, the podcast can only sync through your iTunes account. Games only get into the ‘Games’ folder if purchased off iTunes Store.
And even ID3 Tags can be automatically updated, but only via the store.

Of course, there’s always a way to work around it; for instance 3rd party games can be shoved into your pod via the notes folder using a hack, but then most people wouldn’t wanna do that.
And you can always update ID3 manually, but that kinda takes away the convenience of automatic update.

I take back everything I said against it.
With the product running into the 6th generation and beating Microsoft’s Zune hands down, love it or leave it, this is one pod that’s here to stay.

ThankGod!

2008-01-20T11:14:00.000+01:00

This is again something a lot of us don’t usually think about a lot, so I decided to put it down in black and white.

Last night, after simply wandering all over downtown Constablerwache just for a heck of it and having an amazing dinner, I curled up in my easy chair with a steaming cup warming my hands watching reruns of Die Hard. And I realized, God, I have a good life!

Actually just yesterday, I was watching a special on CNN on how Congo’s “Tin soldiers” slave through the nation’s mines, barely clothed, digging with their bare hands and carrying sacks of the ore through a dense forest…just for food.
Yup, you read right, these guys don’t even get paid – they literally work in return for food. The only other option is to go hungry.

And when you connect the two sides together, it doesn’t even seem to make sense anymore. I mean, on one hand you have us guys cribbin about how work’s so lousy, the boss so mean, and not getting paid enough when we have enough money to…well not needing to care about going hungry for even one meal!!
On the other hand you have people like the ones you see on tv, working maybe ten times as hard as you or me and still having to wonder where lunch is gonna come from.

Unfortunately a lot of us don’t realize it but we are a very fortunate lot. And being so, means social obligations to people around us. Help for a needy, food for the poor, clothing for the less fortunate.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

T is for Torture

2008-01-13T20:03:00.000+01:00

Let’s suspend the fun stuff for a bit and talk something serious.
I guess most of us don’t think about stuff like this quite often and I’ll have to admit, what really got me going was while I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and got to the part where Hermione gets crucioed by Bellatrix. That kind of spooked the daylights out of me, so I started to wonder on the real-life implications and applications of torture and brutal interrogation techniques.

I didn’t have to look too far.
All you have to do is spell it out on Google, YouTube or any major portal and there you have it: hundreds of thousands of first-person accounts, pictures and videos of people – in many cases innocent civilians – being tortured on the pretext of accusations; and in many cases confessing to a crime they did not commit.
And if you think I’m stretching this issue, check it out for yourself. A UN report once openly claimed that almost as many as 2 % of the entire population on earth has at one point been a victim of torture.

What really hits me hard is that several governments accept this as a form of maintaining security. The now famous Taser (which was in the news recently) is one such device United States law enforcement would swear by, maintaining that they wouldn’t have been able to capture a lot of crooks without it.

And you don’t even have to imagine what goes on inside war-zones.
While Israel approved of using ‘mild pressure’ on detainees, more infamous places like Guantanamo Bay have CIA approved ‘techniques’ to interrogate POW – many of whom have been detained without specific reason. Without going into the specifics of the horrors recounted by them and others like the fortunate ones to make out of Abu Ghraib, I’d just like to mention: this isn’t just about them.

This is about every single one of us. Every one of us rational, free thinking, citizen needs to stand up and shout it out loud…coz it might not be long before we wake up one morning and find a guy pointing a wand at you and say “Cruicio”.

Happy New Year?

2008-01-01T18:30:00.001+01:00

A few years back, former first lady of the United States , Hillary Rodham Clinton signed off her greetings with a “Happy New Year?” and for once, I’d like to agree with her.
Yes, it is a whole year that has gone by and all that, but formalities aside, what’s so happy about the new year anyway?

People in Iraq don’t have much to celebrate; just more bombs and killings to follow..
Come to think of it, people in Lebanon , Palestine , Somalia , Kashmir and lots of other places don’t have much to celebrate either.
So why celebrate a new year anyway?

Astronomically it doesn’t make much sense; its just the earth making a revolution of the sun (from where, there are no markers in space!)…
Job-wise it makes little sense; we’ll still be stuck with the same problems at office in spite of the greetings you get…
Theologically it makes no sense; most major religions of the world happen to have their own calendars and festivals (none of which fall on Jan 1st)…
Academically it makes no sense; the new ‘Academic’ year starts somewhere in April…
Financially it makes no sense; the new ‘Financial’ year starts on 1st May…

So who’s New Year is this anyway?
The only people for whom this makes sense is the marketers who promote their products with a New Year tag, discounts and gifts – and with good reason too. New Year purchases increase revenue by over 200% in the 2-3 weeks that precede it. That’s some sale!

For the rest of us, New Year is just an excuse to go empty our pockets.

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

2007-11-26T23:07:00.001+01:00

I dunno if you guys’ve been watching the stuff they show on CNN lately. No, I’m not talking about the US Presidential Elections or the War on Terror. Something fiendishly paler:Fairness creams.
Yup, you heard right. Apparently some of the stuff on the shelves that’s supposed to make you the ‘fairest of them all’ do just a little more than that…and can get you killed. The report also featured several serious-looking doctors lamenting on how Sodium-whatever-oxide can get inside your body, poison your liver and stop your kidneys.

That really got me thinking; apparently fairness creams are big business…and why is that? Simple.

Everyone wants to look a little bit better than they really are. If you think that’s lame, look closely the next time you see one of those fairness cream commercials (yes they’re on TV even in Europe, for whatever reason).
The fair girl gets the hunk or the job or the promotion.
It’s always the same story on the other side too; prince charming always falls for the fairest maiden.
I don’t know what they were thinking when they made those commercials, but I know what they want us to think: success is nothing more than looking good. Good-looking people are more successful. In other words, if you’re ugly, you ain’t going nowhere.
That is so pathetic.

But again, I’m surprised by the sheer number of people who fall for this gag. Because if they didn’t, well it wouldn’t have made the headlines. It’s about time someone put a cork on it.
And lightened things up!

Ground Zero

2007-11-15T20:04:00.000+01:00

Call me naïve, gullible or just plain childish.
But I guess it’s a special moment, in its own crazy way, when you see the thermometer hit home base at zero degrees just outside your house. Of course people who’ve lived in cold places before, can laugh out about this, but for the rest of us hot-heads who’re used to around 40 degrees (yes we are talking Celsius) in the tropics of Southern India or the Middle East; we don’t exactly find this…er…cool.

And, I am told, this is just the beginning. Hell, we haven’t even seen snowfall yet. And I’m not exactly looking forward to it. But from the looks of it, we have a long way to go…

A "loner" strikes again!

2007-11-08T21:52:00.000+01:00

I don’t mean to be insensitive, but all I can say is – Yup, there it is again.
For those of you wondering what’s this all about, here’s an insight. Yesterday, on the 7th of November an 18 year old ‘gunman’ walked in and opened fire in an otherwise quiet town in Finland, killing 8 people before turning the gun on himself.
And that’s not all. Further investigation revealed that at the time of his death, the guy still had over 320 bullets and lots of inflammable liquids in possession; and I bet my baloney sandwich he probably planned on using them!
Which brings to mind an important question: how does a teenager end up with around 400 bullets (by the way, each of his victims took at least two bullets) anyway?

Somehow, it feels just like just yesterday when the same thing happened at Virginia Tech University in the United States.
And once again, it’s the same story all over again; the kid was a ‘loner’, hated people, was bullied at school, and somehow figured out a way to end it all.
And just like the last time, people light candles, flags fly at half-mast, news channels go into overdrive, and in two weeks everything will be forgotten and back to normal.

And once again; NO ONE called him a terrorist!

Almost makes me wonder who the hell a terrorist is exactly. Does it really take a middle-eastern-looking guy wearing a turban and waving an AK-47 to be called a terrorist? Or would you have kill people on a plane or train rather than a school to qualify as one?

I believe terrorism has no religion. And I also believe pre-planned, calculated, cold-blooded mass murder of innocent school-children amounts to terror.

It’s about time we did away with the stereotypes, and called a terrorist a terrorist; loner or not!

Fear off, death!

2007-10-21T22:03:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, having nothing better to do on a Saturday night (well, that’s been the case ever since I’ve landed up here in Raunheim but that’s a different story!), me and the guys decided to have some fun and check out some neat horror flicks. One thing led to another and we ended up watching a couple of Omen and Final Destination titles back to back. Now, they maybe just movies but watching them at 2 o clock in the morning does sometimes get, well, spooky.

So I lay in bed and started wondering on the common theme that unites horror: the fear of dying. Maybe alone, maybe in a graveyard, roller coaster or airplane, but then all the same; going kaput!

And that got me going. Every single day we go through our lives minding our (own?) business, doing stuff, taking care of tomorrow, except that we may not make it there. I don’t wanna sound paranoid but the basic reality of life is this: you can work all your life to have that one special something and then when everything is ready, all can go blank ~snap~ just like that.

What comes afterwards is not for me to answer; I turn to religion to give me an answer to that and if I were you; I’d do the same thing.

Call me paranoid or even plain crazy but I guess there is no denying the fact that we are all gonna go one day. Before that happens, you better be ready for a few basic questions on what happens then and if you aren’t, then you better start searching for some really good answers today.

Because it’s a one way trip, and it ain’t going to be on your calendar of upcoming events.

Makes no cents!

2007-10-10T23:02:00.000+02:00

When I was still in Chennai last month, I used to lament no end at the seemingly worthlessness of the 25paise and 50paise coins. In fact, there was once a time when I even argued that we ban the entire paise episode and started dealing in whole rupees instead. And with good reason too; I mean after all, apart from bus tickets and the occasional kick-knack at your roadside store, there really is nothing you can do with coins less than 1 rupee; even beggars scoff at you for tossing them something so pitiful!

Now some 3 weeks later, here in Germany, things are no better; only this time, it’s in cents. I don’t know if it’s just me but almost everything I seem to buy has an annoying 2 or 3 cents attached to it. A stupid bar of soap would cost me 98cents. So I give the guy a 1 Euro coin for which he politely and dutifully returns me two 1cent coins.

Now the question is, what do I do with this anyway? My wallet is full of at least a dozen such 1, 2 and 5 cent coins and I have to admit, it does look like of ridiculous fumbling for 98cents at the cash counter.

And I for the life of it seriously can’t understand why they price everything with a 69 cents or 36 cents attached to it. I mean does it really take the fun out of selling if those guys stuck to round numbers, say 70 cents, instead?
Call it culture shock, adaptation or whatever, but the way things are, guess I would be walking around with a pocket full of change for quite a long time..

It's a free world...

2007-10-06T21:25:00.000+02:00

Firstly, I must say, it has been quite a while now; I know I’ve been a bit silent these days and I really must say: Thank you. For all your thoughts, comments and the sheer nag that’s keeping me going.

Coming to terms with my current update, I’ve now relocated from the warm, sunny sands of Chennai to Raunheim, a quiet village near Frankfurt in Germany. After the initial ‘wow, this place looks awesome’ thing died down; reality strikes as the beautiful but intimidating place this is.

One of the first things I’ve noticed is that nothing; absolutely nothing here is free. Those of us who’ve lived in Chennai or the Middle East will swear by the huge amount of freebies you get with your goodies. Okay skip that; who needs freebies anyway, but at least you get used to getting at least a bit more than you bargain for. Who doesn’t like the little cute helicopter you get with your pasta?

But that’s a different story all together. I walk into a supermarket here to buy stuff and that’s when I realized you not only pay for your stuff, but also for each of the plastic carry-bags you take. Of course, probably that’s why a lot of the folks here carry their own bags to the stores. And oh yes, bottles are extra too.

In line with this doctrine, restaurants here don’t serve water either, leaving you to decide if you really want to drink water at all. (Of course on the up side, you do get to choose between Regular, Sparkling or Classic water, whatever the hell they all are, so there’s no lack of choice here)
And with bottled water being priced only 20cents below a regular coke, no winners for guessing what most of us drink here.

But then, I guess that’s what the choice is really about. After all, it’s a free country isn’t it?

A new product "Surface"s

2007-08-01T15:48:00.000+02:00

After Apple blew the world away with the multi-touch interface in the much-touted iPhone, everyone was now talking about the next greatest thing in computing – the multi-touch interface.

Not wanting to be left out, Microsoft embarked on its own touchy endeavor (pun intended) to bring out the next big thing to woo the prosumer market – the Microsoft Surface.
You probably heard all about Surface; it’s been all over the news and splashed on computer magazines, even on TV. So much so that you’d run the risk of being such a dinosaur for not having even known it. Hailed as one of the biggest things to happen to computers, the Surface promises (like all good things) to make your interaction more fluid than ever by using hand gestures and touch to display, organize and view photos and other graphic media, giving you the impression of actually touching your data.
According to the demo shown, the system is so neat it automatically recognizes a camera placed on top of it, and downloads the pictures to its ‘surface’, after which you can probably view them by waving your hand at it or dragging it to the center. Impressive, huh?

Now here’s where the fun ends: okay so you’ve got your pictures and stuff, now what? Unfortunately we can’t answer that one because frankly no one seems to know. Beneath the swanky touch-sensitive screen and multitude of mini-cameras that make up the gesture processing unit, there doesn’t seem to be much save a very ordinary computer. I’m hoping someone will prove I’m wrong here because if it really is just this much, this doesn’t seem to be much more than an interface.

And let’s face it; touching or typing it, interfaces are only part of the system – they don’t make up the complete thing. But that remains to be seen. For now, at the rate Surface is gaining momentum, it probably wont be long before you shake your pc screen to wake it and ‘Touch here to continue’

Civilian Deaths

2007-07-07T14:08:00.002+02:00

Apparently not enough civilians are getting killed in Iraq these days.

The Economic Times reported last Monday that ‘only’ 1,700 odd civilians got ‘killed violently’ in Iraq last month, which happens to be the lowest in the past 5 months with a 36% drop. Now this tells us two things;
One, for the past 3 years or so (when did the pre-emptive strikes begin?), more than 2,400 civilians have been dying every month. Now remember, we’re not talking about terrorists, militants or soldiers, we’re talking about people living in their homes, children going to school, people going to work, who don’t know if they will wake up the next morning.

I really don’t know if you can appreciate the gravity of the situation but working out the math, that means some poor innocent guy in Iraq, minding his own business, gets killed EVERY 20 MINUTES!

Secondly, there’s something else. Why isn’t anybody doing anything about this? We hear about social welfare, women’s welfare, child welfare and even animal welfare all the time, but what about welfare for innocent people who get killed for no reason at all?

Maybe we don’t know

Or we don’t care.

But closing our eyes to this isn’t making anything better; so at least when we go to sleep tonight, let us say a little prayer for those who won’t wake up tomorrow morning.

Give us Thou a new Vista!

2007-06-27T18:23:00.000+02:00

I don’t like Windows Vista.
Wait, I’m not going to launch into a debate about why Linux or Mac or whatever is better, but here are some facts:
1. Its expensive (in countries like India, make that VERY expensive)
2. Its hungry. In fact, I estimate over 75% of PCs in existence right now don’t have enough juice to run it.
3. Inspite of all this, it doesn’t give you much.

Lets take a look.
If your PC is over a year old, don’t even imagine installing vista on it. And even on much acclaimed ‘Vista Ready’ PCs that came a while ago it feels like running Need For Speed Carbon on a 486! It's simply not fast enough.

Okay so probably all good things come at a price. And the price for Vista is having a ultra-high config PC that will eventually slow down. So what are the good things?

Well, even though Microsoft is riding high on the claim of Vista being ‘secure’ and ‘immune to attacks’ (heck, they even feature Bit-Locker™ for encrypting entire hard drives and secure online storage of passwords) we’ll have to admit that most of the apparent changes are in the looks. True, the API has been re-built from scratch, FAT is history and “Save My Search” abilities bring new methods of data retrieval. But boot it up and the first things everyone will notice are the color schemes, the new start menu and a bunch of nonsense on the desktop called a ‘side bar’.

Clearly, Vista is a newbie heaven, but it seems to insult more advanced users. The ‘live search’ all over the place seems to imply the user doesn’t even know what he’s looking for anymore. I mean, we love to search – especially with data flowing into terabytes – but do we really need to search for everything everywhere?
And what kind of an idiot would leave a tiny slideshow of pictures running in a corner of your desktop all the time?

Almost makes me wonder if the whole thing was designed to eat away your resources while simply sitting there and looking pretty. I mean good-looks aside, does anyone really need the 3D flip while Alt-Tabbing multiple windows?

Don’t get me wrong: I love advancements. And when Vista (codenamed ‘Longhorn’ back then) was still in the labs, it was a dream beyond its years. Longhorn was originally designed to ship with a brand new SQL-based file system called Win FS that promised to send FAT and NTFS back to the stone-age! Unfortunately none of that happened (it still runs on NTFS) and the only new things are the bells and whistles!

A meter Matter

2007-06-21T16:03:00.000+02:00

I don’t know how many people realize this (or even care to bother), but come 26th and it would be exactly 5 months to the day when autorickshaw meters were made “mandatory and non-negotiable” on the streets of Chennai.
5 months and several pot holes later, things are no different.

For those of you who don’t live in Chennai (or wondering what the hell an autorickshaw meter is), here’s some update:I guess it is safe to declare auto drivers as the most despicable, hated, and rude people in all of Chennai (since how much you pay depends on various factors like what language you speak, what you wear, and how lost you look) and anyway, someone decided to bring back order by revising tariff and making meters on autorickshaws mandatory. Of course, passing a law is only one side of the story. The other side, is implementing it.
Surprisingly, that went on pretty well too. Every auto rickshaw (can we just call them ‘autos’?; I’m getting tired of typing ‘autorickshaw’ all the time) fitted with a mechanical meter was given a revised fare-sheet and a deadline to go digital. Any auto already fitted with a digital meter had to get recalibrated and re-certified.

Then, they figured, things would 'auto'matically (pun intended!) fall into place with auto drivers charging you by the meter - not a rupee more, not a rupee less. They would benefit from the transparent system and we would go home happy knowing we didn't pay 30bucks more than the other guy for the same distance. Too good to be true?

Yeah, right. For the rest of us its a different story. Ask any auto driver to charge you by the meter, and you get laughed in your face. Or maybe insulted. In fact one guy went as far as to explain why they couldn’t use digi-meters: Apparently the IC goes haywire after a few potholes and ends up running crazy. Now that’s an answer worth an electronics engineer!

Anyway jokes apart, the law is still in place, meters still run but we still pay by their own rules.

And unless something concrete is done soon, the Meter is still a mile away!

Hel (met) of a Law!

2007-06-02T13:11:00.000+02:00

This just in:
The latest crime spree doing the streets of Chennai is not flicking wallets or cell phones; it’s something much ridiculous – helmets. Yup you heard right, the latest fashion accessory sporting everyone’s head ever since the helmet law came in two days ago was reported to be the most frequently stolen item. And that’s just in two days!

For the uninitiated, Chennai’s just taken the plunge to make roads much er…safer by re-introducing the compulsory helmet-for-everyone law since June 1. That means, every single person – rider or passenger – on a bike will have to either wear one or risk getting caught red handed (not to mention bare-headed! :-0) .

Now on the face of it, this sounds like a pretty good idea. But when you get down to it, Chennai’s not exactly known for its one-person-per-bike phenomenon. That means either the bike owner buys a couple of spare helmets for the occasional backseat rider or everyone in town buys (and carries) one since you never know when you might need a lift and if the other guy has a helmet or not.

And oh yes, we’re forgetting something else. What about whole families that sometimes travel together? Yup, the wife, kids and sometimes the mother-in-law, all on the same bike (trust me, this really happens in Chennai) with helmets on them…kind of crams up the headroom.

Don’t get me wrong: Helmets are a great invention. Yes, helmets save lives; more than people think. A cousin of mine owes his life to a helmet that saved him in a bike accident a couple of years ago.
But with any invention, forcing a law onto people is not gonna make things safer. It has to come from within.

iSmell Trouble!

2007-05-22T06:13:00.000+02:00

Not exactly the most recent of developments, but in line with the happenings on the net; quite a while ago in 1999, a company called DigiScent Inc. invented the iSmell, a smell synthesizer that would be used to involve more of our senses on the net.

Hey and since we’re already in the frontiers of virtual reality and augmented reality, why not get our noses too involved in this battle of the senses? Or so they thought. But here’s where things start to smell fishy (pun intended!)

The main problem is, unlike light and sound, smell is not something that can be instantly or precisely controlled. For instance you can accurately control brightness and volume, and the best part is they both cease to exist once the source is switched off – in our case pull the plug and you can plunge the room into silent darkness. But with smell, being organic molecules, they tend to waft around long after the source is removed.

The other problem is direction: With sound you can precisely direct it – whether it is to a 71. Surround system or a tiny pair of headphones to the individual. What about iSmell? Turn it on and the whole house starts to smell. Of course, our human senses are partly to blame for this as well – unlike hearing, we humans can’t accurately judge the direction a smell is coming from. (By the way, bumble bees can!)

And the other thing is something called ‘olfactory fatigue’ which means that after a while, our noses get used to a certain smell and don’t recognize it anymore.

iSmell might’ve been a good idea; but with the issues at hand I guess we’ll have to agree that this is one concept that in reality, just stinks!

Playstaion 3? No way!

2007-04-27T17:51:00.000+02:00

Yes it’s finally here; after much speculation, Sony’s much awaited and talked about Playstation 3 has just been launched in India today!

And boy did it come with a bang! Not to mention an unforgivable price tag of Rs 39,000! That’s enough to get a decent laptop! Or even a PC with greatest graphics card on the market.

But they’re not selling just a ‘gaming console’ anymore. The PS3 offers to play games, music, DVDs, pix and even store stuff on a 60GB hard drive. But that’s not what’s sky-rocketing the price tag. After all, any dumb computer can do this. The big deal is in HD graphics (and support for Sony’s exclusive Blu-Ray™ DVD) for real hi-res pictures. Again, this is what Microsoft brought with its Xbox360™ earlier this year, minus the HD-DVD support.

Now here’s the real problem; you can’t do anything with HD graphics unless you have a High Definition TV to see them on. That means, unless you already have one, you need to throw away another 80,000 bucks on an LCD HDTV.

Oh yeah and one more thing, the console isn’t enough – you need games to play. And every gaming title is sold separately for Rs 2,799.

So lets see now if I wanna play the PS3 with around 3 games, (just 3 games okay, let’s be modest) I’ll have to shell out around

39,000 + (2,799 x 3) + 80,000

Rs.148,000!

I don’t know if you realize this, but THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY!

PS3 means serious business for serious gamers.

Guess the rest of us will just have to stick to Tetris for now.

Video my format!

2007-04-24T07:33:00.000+02:00

I don’t know why its like this but there doesn’t seem to be a standard format for video files…

If you haven’t noticed, we have basically two formats for audio/music files: .mp3 and .wma – both of which play almost anywhere; well anywhere as long as you have windows that is, but being the universal OS that it is, I guess it is safe to say anywhere.

Of course, you do have the stupid .ra/.raw formats which only play on a Real Player and Apple’s ridiculous .au format which plays on God-knows-what; but the point is, if you’re looking for music, you’ll most probably end up with an mp3.

Now compare this with video:

Take any random computer and chances are you’ll find a healthy mixture of

.wmv

.mpg/.mpeg

.avi

.mp4

.mov

.dat

.3gp

…each of which seem prefer its own sweet player.

The trouble is not the format, it’s the creation of that format. Any digital imaging device captures still photographs only as a JPEG, but when it comes to video… a digital camera gives you a .mov (Apple’s QuickTime™ Movie) while a phone camera makes a .3gp (which so far, seems to play only on weird players you download off the net) and a Muvee™ autoproducer which makes a .wmv

So all in all, if you wanna play all your videos, you have 2 choices:

1. Get a good collection of Windows Media Player, QuickTime, Real, Nokia Multimedia Player, and other players or

2. Download a weird player off the net that claims to play everything and risk an attack on your system.

Its your call, and the videos are waiting…

The Real Terrorist

2007-04-19T07:04:00.000+02:00

For those of you who came in late, three days ago on the 16^th of April, a masked gunman stormed into a classroom at Virginia Tech University and opened fire, killing 32 of his fellow students and a professor.

Worldwide condemnations of this shoot-out occurred instantly and while every news-channel and publication worth its name ran headlines of the “horrific” incident and the “worst violence since the Columbine High School massacre” and all that jazz, in case you haven’t noticed, NO ONE called him a terrorist.

And he wasn’t. He was just a South Korean student, your everyday boy-next-door who was a “loner” and “disturbed by the rich kids” so he decided to take them out.

You know, when I heard the news, the first thing that came into my mind was, please don’t let him be Arab.
Hypothetically, assuming that he had been somebody else, say some guy named Muhammed-Al-Something or Ahmed-bin-Something-Else, the news would have been dramatically different.

Everyone would have been talking about the ‘latest terror attack against America’…

President Bush would have made statements to continue the War on Terror…

The news channels and papers would have published long and scary articles on the spread of religious terror and why it wasn’t safe for anyone anymore…

Yup, things would’ve been so different. But they aren’t. Why? Because the guy involved was a South Korean instead of an Arab, so we can go to sleep tonight thinking this is just an isolated incident about a ‘disturbed’ kid instead of a worldwide plot to spread fundamentalist terror.

Double standards for terror? I don’t know.

But guess that kind of makes the terrorist feel like a “loner” too…

Pirates of the Software Industry

2007-04-10T14:05:00.000+02:00

Yes, I will shamelessly admit it: I use mostly pirated and counterfeit software. If not for anything else, for two very simple facts:

1. Everyone needs software

2. Not everyone can afford original software

In fact, the only reason I have a Genuine Microsoft Windows, genuine AntiVirus from Symantec and other genuine junk I never use is because they kind of came along with my laptop. I figured, now that I have some original software to begin with, let’s kick the piracy bucket and turn over a new leaf. So I went to purchase my obsession: Need for Speed: Underground2.

The man behind the counter gave me a confused look, almost like something we’d give a pitiable mad man, as he pulled out the package with the price tag of Rs1,700.

For 2 CDs, a booklet containing some cheats and a cardboard box. 1,700 bucks.

Needless to say, I simply walked out into Richie Street and got the same thing (minus the cardboard box) for around 50 bucks.

And if you thought that was bad, check out a few more:

Microsoft Window Vista Home Premium is priced at Rs.22,500

Microsoft Office 2007 Standard Edition is priced at Rs.14,500

Now, I agree that it must’ve taken those folks a lot of time and money to develop all this, but then what’s the point in putting a price tag that most people will just laugh at.

And the other thing I don’t see why software manufacturers don’t understand is, what advantage do they provide to people who buy and use original software over those who don’t? I mean, if you use a counterfeit hardware product, you get cheap quality; but with software it’s virtually the same!

And NO, I DO NOT agree with Microsoft’s scary claim that “counterfeit software can have critical bits of code missing which can compromise the security of your infrastructure”

Boy, that’s a good one! Apparently some “bits of code” get left out when you copy a CD! We believe it!

But one thing I’d appreciate Microsoft for is the Genuine Software Advantage which gives you special upgrades like Internet Explorer 7 and Media Player 11 (both of which install only on Genuine Windows), not to mention Windows Live Updates and Security Center for original software.

And unless other manufacturers do something like this too, pirated software will thrive. And I for one, will continue to swear by it!

I, Professional

2007-03-27T08:44:00.000+02:00

We all pride ourselves on being professionals.

And, we claim, we’ve rights to. After all, we wear crisply pressed formals and polished shoes to work everyday; a suit and tie on occasions; speak flawlessly accented languages; not to mention extensive etiquettes at the dinner table and rules on handling the fork.

Then we step out on to the streets of Chennai, and it’s another world altogether. From cursing the auto-rickshaw driver who just overtook you to jumping red lights because ‘there was no one there’ and traveling on the wrong side of the road to cut a turn, we the ‘professionals’ do it all. And it doesn’t end in the streets. We jump queues (provided there is one, to begin with), rush into moving buses or trains, arrive 15-20 minutes late for just about anything And it doesn’t end with us.

We do it because everyone around us does it, and besides, you can’t expect to survive in the big city unless you join in and yell with rest of the crowd.

And crowd is right. How many of us have actually seen a polite traffic policeman?

Or how about courteous bus conductors?

Maybe a smiling face behind a counter?

And don’t even think about auto rickshaw drivers; I think it can be safe to declare auto drivers as the most despicable, loathsome and hated people in all of Chennai.

But skip all that. That’s on the street. Even on the job when was the last time a professional, any professional for that matter, acted such?

The other day I saw a hospital receptionist yak endlessly on the phone about some new sari she bought, blissfully unaware of the people waiting…

A banker behind the counter not sure of how to boot his computer or check the customer’s request…

Customer Care executives who don’t know what facilities their bank/telephone company/credit card company offers…

Software people engaged in a 3 hr call with their spouse/fiancé/boyfriend in spite of the pending work to be done…

Sales people in showrooms who don’t know about the discount coupon the customer is holding…

Sounds familiar? It should; after all, we are that face in the crowd. And from the looks of it, not a very professional face. Time we cleaned up our act and professionalize our professions.

Iron Maiden - Live in Concert!

2007-03-16T05:07:00.000+01:00

Calling all Heavy Metal Fans! Iron Maiden is performing live in Bangalore.

Palace Grounds, - 17^th March 2007. Where will you be?

iPod madness

2007-03-14T16:53:00.000+01:00

To begin with, lemme say I’m not against the cute white devil from Apple. Nor am I a fan of Microsoft Zune or Creative Vision:M or anything else for that matter. But what I really can’t understand is why the apple iPod, though remarkable an invention it may be, is such a flare all over the world.

To fully understand this madness, we must first understand the underlying technologies and market base which led to this. The market is fairly simple to understand, people wanted something to carry around and play their music. Okay, so people wanted something to carry and play ALL their music. And then photos. And videos.
Apple seized this opportunity to make the all in one device that everyone loved.But wait, wasn’t Sony already doing this? As was Creative, Panasonic, Samsung and virtually every other electronics giant worth its salt? And after Sony failed flat on its face with its Network Walkman® (which, incidentally, was the first portable music player which held tracks in a Sony proprietary ATARC format) you’d think no one else would try.

Here’s where the technology part came in: Apple made not just proprietary formats for storage, it also made the equally famous iTunes software to go with it, and the online store to purchase legal music…and it was a huge hit. So the customers were happy, record companies were happy, anti-piracy guys were happy and the anti-peer-to-peer-sharing guys from the state department were happy. But that’s were the happiness ends.

I personally hate it not because of its shortcomings; there are lots of them starting with the fact that they don’t even provide a charger – leaving you to charge with your pc USB. And the fact that I can’t transfer my music from one pc to another or need purchase music online (come on, how many of us in India would do that?)

I hate it because of its over-hyped-up status.
Something like a class act, where many advertisements featuring a cool dude wears an iPod.

Levi jeans for launching the “iPod Jeans” to carry an iPod with all its accessories.

All those stupid car audio systems like Pioneer which boast to be “iPod Ready”.

Data comparisons which used to claim that something was so large that it would fit on a such and such stack of books, it now said to fit on so many iPods!

Even NASDAQ launched a nonsensical new index called the “iPod Index” which, like the Big-Mac® index, compares the growth rate of a currency based on the price of the player there.

Even an I-have-too-much-money builder in Dubai who’s constructing an iPod shaped apartment building called The iPad.

My point is, isn’t there any other music player in the world? Or is the Pod the only thing people see?

It’s not about a great music player. It’s about something bigger called mass marketing.
And one thing’s for sure: iPod will rule as long as it is hyped up. Remember, sheep only follow the herd.