Hi! all, im just back from the Andhra trip. All the days were fun and personally i made some good friends during this trip. And all those guys have the same mind set as im. I had to leave on 25th morning by Brindavan to Bangalore where we had to meet the Bangalore champs to go that evening to Hyderabad. It was a rejoiceful meet. This time, we had a new person in our team named Nirmal, who had nicknames such as AbNirmal, Psychic etc...
That nice after a very very late dinner at a good place, we left to hyderabad.
[26th Feb 2006]
Reached hyderabad at about 12 pm and had breakfast. We met 3 hyderabad champs who had lunch with us at 4.30 pm ;), after which we left for Microsoft IDC (India Development Center) at HiTech City. The whole city of hyderabad is superb. The roads are excellent. Most of the roads are of 8 lanes or 6 lanes. Imagine the traffic going at an awesome speed of 80kmph. You can never imagine that in chennai and in bangalore if you are able to cross 20kmph, you are God!
We were glad to meet the hyderabad ADE (Academic Developer Evangelist) Prathiba and her champs ;) at the IDC. After a brief meeting about the bandwagon, we chennaites were on a tour of the IDC. There are 2 huge buildings and a sprawling green lawn that will hold your eyes for hours together. Its beautiful :D. The lawn also extends to a cricket ground, basket ball ground and many other outdoor games. The office building we visited is where actual development of Microsoft softwares takes place. Every floor has a pantry, where you get all types of cool and hot drinks (for free !!). There are also libraries (obviously) and places where you can play snooker, table tennis (my favourite), carrom, chess etc. Infact, more than place for work, its a place for enjoyment; in short its a small amusement park :D. Since it was a sunday, the place was deserted and we were able to move around freely :)
This day concluded with the outing at "Eat Street", one of the most popular hangouts at hyderabad. Eat Street is located on the shore of the lake Hussain Sagar. In the middle of the lake is a huge statue of Buddha. The hyderabad guys told us that this was the largest statue in Asia.
[27th Feb 2006]
We reached IDC early today. The Andhra roadtrip began today and it was flagged off by Mr. Srini Koppulu, the big boss of the IDC :). Aarthi was also there with us to flag off the event. The first college we went to was Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU). The sessions were with the MCA people. They were not too good. In many respects, TN students are way better than Andhra.
The second session was also at the JNTU for the CSE dept. This session was good as the crowd was good. As a matter of fact, the first session was good because, we were able to them lots of things they didn't know about. I'm sure the interested guys will go back and check the websites we gave them. This was the main purpose of the Community Bandwagon and the roadtrip. Spread the word of community and technology.
We went for a movie at iMax theatres today :D. The movie was Taxi No. 9211 starring Nana Patekar and John Abraham. The movie was good and lasted for 2 hours. We had dinner at iMax itself.
[28th Feb 2006]
We visited two more colleges. Since the colleges are far apart, we spent a lot of time travelling. In the evening, we went to Birla Mandir. The temple is a architectural marvel and we took lots of photos there. Will upload some to flickr soon..
We went to Fortune hotel for dinner. It was supposed to be THE star hotel in hyderabad. The dinner was ok.
[1st Mar 2006]
I met a geeky genius named Dhaval Bhanushali. He is a very good programmer in C and Core Java. He has extended HigLayout to make it a bug free one. He participated in code4bill and went for the interview. Due to some silly mistakes, he lost it. Nevertheless, he shared his valuable experience with me and gave me lots of websites and tips. He is also a level 7 hacker ;)
A down-to-earth person, there is no hint of pride in him. A Great Soul. Along with him, i met another gem of a person named Mahendar. Both of these guys taught a lot of things i never knew (both tech & non-tech). It was an eye-opening experience today :D
During the whole travel time today, i was reading Linda Goodman's Star Signs book. And within few minutes, i was telling each of them what their name and dob meant to them. Since I'm interested in java, they crowned a title called MCJA (Microsoft Certified Java Astrologer)....ha ha ha! Every minute of the tour was exciting.
[2nd March 2006]
We went to some more colleges. The response at every college we went was excellent. During the dinner today, an exciting thing called Operation Salt happened. The core persons of this being myself, Chitresh and Gautam. After we were seated at the hotel with Prathiba (it was her treat), we were served water. We took the salt container that was meant for soups and emptied half of it into Chaitu's glass. A minute later, all the salt got dissolved in it.
We called Chaitu for Cheers! and the minute he drank the water, his face changed colours. It was so funny that we were laughing for the next 15 minutes. Instead of pouring out the water, the glasses were slowly exchanged with that of Prathiba. Now, all the 15 of us "cheers"ed and Prathiba drank the salt water..ha ha ha! This time, the salt jar was empty ! Imagine her surprise when she drank the water that was as salty as sea water !
We left for Vijayawada tonight to visit colleges there.
[3rd March 2006]
At Vijayawada also, the response was excellent. Today is one day i won't forget in my life. After the exciting day, during the dinner; mine was almost over. I was over a cup of ice-cream when someone shouted, "Hey, anna university results have come". I almost spilled the ice-cream and dashed off to make phone calls. After some frantic tries, i got a reply saying that the results will be out tonight. The night passed sleeplessly, when at 3AM i heard that familiar "keenk- keenk" sound of the mobile. I was sweating despite the A/C in the bus. The mobile almost slipped out of my hand.
Shivering due to both fear and A/C, i opened the "1 Unread Message". This is what it said, "Machan, yay! we cleared da! u got 83%, let us have a blast in Chennai when u r back..yoo! hoo!". Yipee! i saved my job. Thank God! I fell asleep immediately.
We were going to bangalore to attend the Academic Days event at PESIT college.
[4th March 2006]
Like the Coimbatore one, we reached PESIT directly. The only change being, this time we brushed our teeth. The 16 hrs of travel wore us out completely. The sessions by Yashavant Kanetkar on VC++ programming was tooooooooo good. The event ended with Kevin's session on "Intro to .net" with Reza and Sharath doing some cool demos.
Myself and deepak left for chennai tonight. The whole tour came to a nice end. I'm looking forward to more of this :D
Bye!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Tagged Again :)
Yo! guys n gals, i have been tagged again & this time, by Sunil :) This time, its different altogether. The rules first,
Rules of the Game
1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the person.
3. Tag 8 (or as many as possible) victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.
My Target: Female
1. Passionate
2. Should be more of a friend
3. Be a part of every feeling
4. Should know cooking (cos i know ;) )
5. Travelling - I love travelling to exotic places
6. Should be interested in social service activities
7. Ability to withstand shocks (mental toughness)
8. Nice at heart and understanding
Now for the fun part
I'm tagging Rajagopal, Jennifer, Sudar, Moyeen, Ram, Sathya, Krishnaraj, and Ramesh. Yuvi, you are not tagged here 'cos you are already tagged by Sunil :D
Ok, since i know cooking, its time for a recipe. More about it in the next blog ;)
Update: I'm tagging my old school friend Sriram (he has just started blogging) for this and this and Jennifer for this.
Rules of the Game
1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the person.
3. Tag 8 (or as many as possible) victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.
My Target: Female
1. Passionate
2. Should be more of a friend
3. Be a part of every feeling
4. Should know cooking (cos i know ;) )
5. Travelling - I love travelling to exotic places
6. Should be interested in social service activities
7. Ability to withstand shocks (mental toughness)
8. Nice at heart and understanding
Now for the fun part
I'm tagging Rajagopal, Jennifer, Sudar, Moyeen, Ram, Sathya, Krishnaraj, and Ramesh. Yuvi, you are not tagged here 'cos you are already tagged by Sunil :D
Ok, since i know cooking, its time for a recipe. More about it in the next blog ;)
Update: I'm tagging my old school friend Sriram (he has just started blogging) for this and this and Jennifer for this.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Tour De Coimbatore
After the grand event on 13th, 13 Microsoft Student Champs from Chennai and Bangalore, left for Coimbatore from where we had to proceed to Erode and Madurai after visiting some colleges there. As it was already late by the time we left Chennai, we stopped for a mid-night dinner at a nameless roadside dhaba. This is where all the fun started ;)
When the bus stopped, we were all shocked to have dinner at a place like this. Jk pushed all of us, came to the front like a gaint and asked, "Where is the damn menu card?"..We all roared into laughter when he asked that. Tell you, this was the worst place where i had eaten till now. The oothappam they gave started stinking the minute he served it. Donno how i managed to eat it :(. And Vivek gave us a surprise by ordering chicken noodles ha ha ha...and it was like "veratti (dried cow dung, used as fuel) cut in pieces and soaked in kurma"...
We reached Coimbatore next day by 10.30 AM. As it was already late, we had to skip our hotel and proceeded to PSG directly. Imagine all 13 of us, without even brushing and dull from the night's sleep entering a college ! Thankfully, we were given rooms for refreshment, which gave us enough time to brush and get ready for the 1 hr session at this college. We had prepared a separate set of quiz questions. The first question was an easy one; the CEO of Microsoft. Lots of hands came up immediately and a guy confidently told "Bill Gates". When i said the answer was wrong, all the hands came down in a milli-second. Another guy told it was "Allen Paul"...(some of the champs were already giggling). None of the colleges gave this sort of an answer. Well, PSG shocked us beyond the bizzare dreams. The answer is Steve Ballmer.
After this college, we went to GCT. The crowd was pretty ok there...no fumbling with the CEO of Microsoft. They also answered the $1 question. We reached the hotel by 7PM and had our lunch! On a side note, our breakfast was at 1PM :) Dinner consisted of juices and salads !
[15th Feb 2006]
This day was an awesome one! All of us went to Black Thunder water theme park, to chill out the travel pressure. It is very cheap. For Rs.260 per head, all rides are free and is allowed for unlimited number of times. Ofcourse, they don't give free lunch ;). We had a good time pushing everyone in the water after they got on to their floats he he...Reza triggered a mini-tsunami as soon as he landed on the water from the slide...Rajagopal had a tough time getting on his float and as soon as he got on the float, everyone pounced on him and pushed him once again ha ha ha...Even i got pushed twice or thrice...
Of all, the wave pool was the best. It simulated the sea environment by creating waves thro' the water. The whole pool had a depth of only 7 feet, starting from 3. It was awesome enjoyment when you have to jump up as the wave hits, otherwise a huge amount of water will fall on you.
The best part of this day was during the lunch when the hotel waiter was ragged for not getting us extra pappads. You should have seen the waiter's face go red when Deepak asked him whether they were still frying the pappads. He was embarassed by Krishnaa when he asked "whether water was the only unlimited thing here"...
This nice day came to an end after the excellent dinner at Recidency.
[16 Feb 2006]
We went to Kongu Engg. College today. The crowd was good here, they answered the quiz questions. Krishnaa finished off, by doing a demo of Office 12. Reza also did a demo of VS2005. On the way to Kongu, we had a really tough argument of netbeans vs. VS2005 IDEs. Though i wont say which side won ;), the argument was good enough 'cos we were able to able to convince the college staff's that we are more of student technologists :)
The evening passed off by a visit to Tirupur, the t-shirt town of India. We purchased some nice ones and rates were 5 times less than what you have in Chennai.
[17 Feb 2006]
We went to Thiagarajar College today at Madurai. After visiting KLN college and Sethu Institute of technology, we visited the Meenakshi Amman temple. On the way to the temple, the Sethu guys sang some Madurai folk songs for us. They were a really cool bunch.
This day was also the birthday of Siva. We were treated at Taj on Microsoft's expense ;) and he got splashed with chocolate cake all over him. The exciting trip came to an end with this.
It was an awesome experience in planning something this big and making it happen too. The main reason for some colleges not answering simple questions was that, their exposure towards the technology and industry as a whole is very limited/nil (null, for the geeks out there). At the end of this tour, we feel confident that we have sowed interest for technology in them.
This is just the beginning
Towards the end of the month, we are moving to Andhra. In the near future, we are touring Karnataka and Maharashtra too :D
And i wont hesitate to tell again that the new year 2006 is exciting :)
When the bus stopped, we were all shocked to have dinner at a place like this. Jk pushed all of us, came to the front like a gaint and asked, "Where is the damn menu card?"..We all roared into laughter when he asked that. Tell you, this was the worst place where i had eaten till now. The oothappam they gave started stinking the minute he served it. Donno how i managed to eat it :(. And Vivek gave us a surprise by ordering chicken noodles ha ha ha...and it was like "veratti (dried cow dung, used as fuel) cut in pieces and soaked in kurma"...
We reached Coimbatore next day by 10.30 AM. As it was already late, we had to skip our hotel and proceeded to PSG directly. Imagine all 13 of us, without even brushing and dull from the night's sleep entering a college ! Thankfully, we were given rooms for refreshment, which gave us enough time to brush and get ready for the 1 hr session at this college. We had prepared a separate set of quiz questions. The first question was an easy one; the CEO of Microsoft. Lots of hands came up immediately and a guy confidently told "Bill Gates". When i said the answer was wrong, all the hands came down in a milli-second. Another guy told it was "Allen Paul"...(some of the champs were already giggling). None of the colleges gave this sort of an answer. Well, PSG shocked us beyond the bizzare dreams. The answer is Steve Ballmer.
After this college, we went to GCT. The crowd was pretty ok there...no fumbling with the CEO of Microsoft. They also answered the $1 question. We reached the hotel by 7PM and had our lunch! On a side note, our breakfast was at 1PM :) Dinner consisted of juices and salads !
[15th Feb 2006]
This day was an awesome one! All of us went to Black Thunder water theme park, to chill out the travel pressure. It is very cheap. For Rs.260 per head, all rides are free and is allowed for unlimited number of times. Ofcourse, they don't give free lunch ;). We had a good time pushing everyone in the water after they got on to their floats he he...Reza triggered a mini-tsunami as soon as he landed on the water from the slide...Rajagopal had a tough time getting on his float and as soon as he got on the float, everyone pounced on him and pushed him once again ha ha ha...Even i got pushed twice or thrice...
Of all, the wave pool was the best. It simulated the sea environment by creating waves thro' the water. The whole pool had a depth of only 7 feet, starting from 3. It was awesome enjoyment when you have to jump up as the wave hits, otherwise a huge amount of water will fall on you.
The best part of this day was during the lunch when the hotel waiter was ragged for not getting us extra pappads. You should have seen the waiter's face go red when Deepak asked him whether they were still frying the pappads. He was embarassed by Krishnaa when he asked "whether water was the only unlimited thing here"...
This nice day came to an end after the excellent dinner at Recidency.
[16 Feb 2006]
We went to Kongu Engg. College today. The crowd was good here, they answered the quiz questions. Krishnaa finished off, by doing a demo of Office 12. Reza also did a demo of VS2005. On the way to Kongu, we had a really tough argument of netbeans vs. VS2005 IDEs. Though i wont say which side won ;), the argument was good enough 'cos we were able to able to convince the college staff's that we are more of student technologists :)
The evening passed off by a visit to Tirupur, the t-shirt town of India. We purchased some nice ones and rates were 5 times less than what you have in Chennai.
[17 Feb 2006]
We went to Thiagarajar College today at Madurai. After visiting KLN college and Sethu Institute of technology, we visited the Meenakshi Amman temple. On the way to the temple, the Sethu guys sang some Madurai folk songs for us. They were a really cool bunch.
This day was also the birthday of Siva. We were treated at Taj on Microsoft's expense ;) and he got splashed with chocolate cake all over him. The exciting trip came to an end with this.
It was an awesome experience in planning something this big and making it happen too. The main reason for some colleges not answering simple questions was that, their exposure towards the technology and industry as a whole is very limited/nil (null, for the geeks out there). At the end of this tour, we feel confident that we have sowed interest for technology in them.
This is just the beginning
Towards the end of the month, we are moving to Andhra. In the near future, we are touring Karnataka and Maharashtra too :D
And i wont hesitate to tell again that the new year 2006 is exciting :)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Bye...
ha ha! Tell you what, this "hi" thing during every chat got very boring for RSA (Ram, Supratik, myself) that we devised something else. Infact Ram came up with this idea and got the majority of votes ;)
The idea was that we start our conversation with "bye" and continue working backwards thro' the chat session. It is exciting to watch people's reaction when we say bye at the beginning of a chat conference, and we 3 burst out laughing. Here is a chat excerpt...
A: Bye humans...
R: Good night aliens ;)
S: bye, ha ha ha
.......
.......
After some time, Supz gets tired and says..
S: ok ppl, im "hi"ing now
A: ok..hi
R: good morning :D
Ok, im feeling sleepy now...bye! (this is the real bye, he he)...
The idea was that we start our conversation with "bye" and continue working backwards thro' the chat session. It is exciting to watch people's reaction when we say bye at the beginning of a chat conference, and we 3 burst out laughing. Here is a chat excerpt...
A: Bye humans...
R: Good night aliens ;)
S: bye, ha ha ha
.......
.......
After some time, Supz gets tired and says..
S: ok ppl, im "hi"ing now
A: ok..hi
R: good morning :D
Ok, im feeling sleepy now...bye! (this is the real bye, he he)...
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Enjoyment Unlimited - Part 1
Hi!! friends, the last 2 weeks has been too good. Let me start with the first one. The first week was filled with 2 things.
1. Sun Tech Days ;-)
2. The Community Bandwagon
Sun Tech Days
This is a technical conference that Sun Microsystems (inventor of the Java programming language) holds annually at different countries. Last year, it was in Bangalore and this year it was in Chennai, at the Chennai Trade Center. The crowd turned out to be more than 4000 and they had a bonus 3rd day. It had 2 tracks called the "Netbeans day" and "Solaris day". This big event ends with the JavaOne conference that is held at San Fransisco, USA.
As usual, the 2 day event was superb with experts showing off the new features of Java language, developing web services using netbeans IDE, sun java studio creator, sun java enterprise studio, AJAX and a lot of other cool stuff. The sessions i liked the most was the ones on mobile devices, web services security, AJAX, Matisse (the new GUI creator for netbeans) and developing web applications using the sun java studio creator.
All the tools mentioned are 100% free. Netbeans 5.0 can be downloaded from here. By becoming a member of SDN, you can download Sun Java Studio Creator 2 and Sun Java Enterprise Studio for free. Even the membership for SDN is free.
A Java jacket is given to 1 person among the audience. 6 people have to volunteer from the audience and they have to showcase their unique talent. Based on the response of the audience, he is given the java jacket. This year it was won by Sivanand working for HCL.
The Community Bandwagon
Myself and many Microsoft Student Champs from Chennai and Bangalore worked on an idea called "The Community Bandwagon". The main purpose of this was to promote technical usergroups and create awareness about the latest technologies, particularly .NET. As part of the plan, we had to visit colleges in and around Chennai and talk to students about technology. We covered about 4 colleges per day and went to more than 12 colleges in Chennai. The Bangalore guys joined us on 7th Feb.
After enjoying a superb dinner with the Bangalore people, we set off to colleges from 8th morning. We took a bus with us to different colleges and told some students of each college to paint a portion of the bus. The painted bus will then move to other colleges. This was absolute fun and every moment was recorded. At the end of the tour, the bus was completely painted and it looked colourful with the creativity of the students.
In every college, we spent about an hour and half by giving out pamphlets on Microsoft Academic Project Program, Imagine Cup. From the 20 of us, some of them were selected to talk at each college on introduction to the user group and its activities etc. We conducted sudoku contests, JAM and a quiz session at the end. Those who got the answers right were given t-shirts, visual studio 2005 express editions, visual studio 2005 trial editions and original windows xp professional. We received very well at every college we went and the event was a huge success.
The Community Bandwagon at Chennai lasted for 4 days covering more than 12 colleges and it culminated with the "Date with .NET" event organised solely by/for the students. The event was held at Kamaraj Memorial hall, Chennai on 13th Feb 2006. Eminent speakers at the event included the Anna University Vice Chancellor Dr. Viswanathan, Former CSE HOD at IIT-M Dr. MuthuKrishnan, Microsoft Academic Lead Mr.Chander Sundaram and Microsoft Academic Developer Evangelist Mr.Ashwani Sharma. More than 1800 students all over the city participated and in one word, the event was "excellent".
After an excellent week of ceaseless excitement, the Bandwagon team moved on to a tour of South India comprising of Coimbatore, Erode and Madurai. More about it in the next blog ;-)
1. Sun Tech Days ;-)
2. The Community Bandwagon
Sun Tech Days
This is a technical conference that Sun Microsystems (inventor of the Java programming language) holds annually at different countries. Last year, it was in Bangalore and this year it was in Chennai, at the Chennai Trade Center. The crowd turned out to be more than 4000 and they had a bonus 3rd day. It had 2 tracks called the "Netbeans day" and "Solaris day". This big event ends with the JavaOne conference that is held at San Fransisco, USA.
As usual, the 2 day event was superb with experts showing off the new features of Java language, developing web services using netbeans IDE, sun java studio creator, sun java enterprise studio, AJAX and a lot of other cool stuff. The sessions i liked the most was the ones on mobile devices, web services security, AJAX, Matisse (the new GUI creator for netbeans) and developing web applications using the sun java studio creator.
All the tools mentioned are 100% free. Netbeans 5.0 can be downloaded from here. By becoming a member of SDN, you can download Sun Java Studio Creator 2 and Sun Java Enterprise Studio for free. Even the membership for SDN is free.
A Java jacket is given to 1 person among the audience. 6 people have to volunteer from the audience and they have to showcase their unique talent. Based on the response of the audience, he is given the java jacket. This year it was won by Sivanand working for HCL.
The Community Bandwagon
Myself and many Microsoft Student Champs from Chennai and Bangalore worked on an idea called "The Community Bandwagon". The main purpose of this was to promote technical usergroups and create awareness about the latest technologies, particularly .NET. As part of the plan, we had to visit colleges in and around Chennai and talk to students about technology. We covered about 4 colleges per day and went to more than 12 colleges in Chennai. The Bangalore guys joined us on 7th Feb.
After enjoying a superb dinner with the Bangalore people, we set off to colleges from 8th morning. We took a bus with us to different colleges and told some students of each college to paint a portion of the bus. The painted bus will then move to other colleges. This was absolute fun and every moment was recorded. At the end of the tour, the bus was completely painted and it looked colourful with the creativity of the students.
In every college, we spent about an hour and half by giving out pamphlets on Microsoft Academic Project Program, Imagine Cup. From the 20 of us, some of them were selected to talk at each college on introduction to the user group and its activities etc. We conducted sudoku contests, JAM and a quiz session at the end. Those who got the answers right were given t-shirts, visual studio 2005 express editions, visual studio 2005 trial editions and original windows xp professional. We received very well at every college we went and the event was a huge success.
The Community Bandwagon at Chennai lasted for 4 days covering more than 12 colleges and it culminated with the "Date with .NET" event organised solely by/for the students. The event was held at Kamaraj Memorial hall, Chennai on 13th Feb 2006. Eminent speakers at the event included the Anna University Vice Chancellor Dr. Viswanathan, Former CSE HOD at IIT-M Dr. MuthuKrishnan, Microsoft Academic Lead Mr.Chander Sundaram and Microsoft Academic Developer Evangelist Mr.Ashwani Sharma. More than 1800 students all over the city participated and in one word, the event was "excellent".
After an excellent week of ceaseless excitement, the Bandwagon team moved on to a tour of South India comprising of Coimbatore, Erode and Madurai. More about it in the next blog ;-)
Sunday, February 12, 2006
First Things First...
Hieee all,
I'm really excited today 'cos a lot of exciting things have happened in the past week and the good news is, ITS GOING TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT WEEK TOO. Before i blog on the exciting last week, an important thing has cropped up. Yuvi has geeky tagged me and here goes the rules and my specification of dream computer.
Rules:
1. The Tagged victim has to come up with the specifications of their dream personal computer.
2. The Specifications have to be feasible : They atleast have to be in the lab. So, you can't ask for the Google Supercomputer :D.
3. The Victim needs to tag atleast two more people. If you are tagged again, you have to start the process again if the dream computer specification has changed.
4. The tagger needs to leave a comment (that he has been tagged) on the victim's blog ;-)
My dream spec.. follows:
11. An unlimited broadband internet connection
10. Microsoft mouse.
9. A nice speaker set from Creative.
8. 21" LCD monitor with integrated high quality web camera ;-).
7. Pentium 4 processor extreme edition with HT.
6. TV tuner card.
5. nVidia GeForce card.
4. DVD Writer.
3. 2 GB DDR2 RAM.
2. 250 GB HDD.
1. Necessary, original Microsoft software ;-)
Apart from this, a digital camera, iPod and 40 GB USB harddisk won't cause any problem :D. Hmm...thinking along the same lines, it would be better to have a Toshiba laptop with the following specification, 80 GB HDD, 2 GB RAM, DVD writer, integrated memory card reader, bluetooth, IR (so that i can program it as my TV remote control ;) ), WiFi and other extra bells and whistles such as webcam, USB mouse etc. :D
Ok...as part of the rules, im geeky tagging Ramesh, Sathya, Moyeen, Krishna, Siva, Sabarish and every single person reading this post. ;-)
Bye !
I'm really excited today 'cos a lot of exciting things have happened in the past week and the good news is, ITS GOING TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT WEEK TOO. Before i blog on the exciting last week, an important thing has cropped up. Yuvi has geeky tagged me and here goes the rules and my specification of dream computer.
Rules:
1. The Tagged victim has to come up with the specifications of their dream personal computer.
2. The Specifications have to be feasible : They atleast have to be in the lab. So, you can't ask for the Google Supercomputer :D.
3. The Victim needs to tag atleast two more people. If you are tagged again, you have to start the process again if the dream computer specification has changed.
4. The tagger needs to leave a comment (that he has been tagged) on the victim's blog ;-)
My dream spec.. follows:
11. An unlimited broadband internet connection
10. Microsoft mouse.
9. A nice speaker set from Creative.
8. 21" LCD monitor with integrated high quality web camera ;-).
7. Pentium 4 processor extreme edition with HT.
6. TV tuner card.
5. nVidia GeForce card.
4. DVD Writer.
3. 2 GB DDR2 RAM.
2. 250 GB HDD.
1. Necessary, original Microsoft software ;-)
Apart from this, a digital camera, iPod and 40 GB USB harddisk won't cause any problem :D. Hmm...thinking along the same lines, it would be better to have a Toshiba laptop with the following specification, 80 GB HDD, 2 GB RAM, DVD writer, integrated memory card reader, bluetooth, IR (so that i can program it as my TV remote control ;) ), WiFi and other extra bells and whistles such as webcam, USB mouse etc. :D
Ok...as part of the rules, im geeky tagging Ramesh, Sathya, Moyeen, Krishna, Siva, Sabarish and every single person reading this post. ;-)
Bye !
Saturday, February 04, 2006
AspSpider.net
Yippppeeeee!!! those who are dying for free asp.net 2.0 hosting with SQL Server....guys, we have a boon ! http://www.aspspider.net/ is offering free asp.net 2.0 hosting along with SQL Server, which means im gonna register there right now!
Registration is limited and hope u get there soon. Thanks to Ramesh for this info.
Registration is limited and hope u get there soon. Thanks to Ramesh for this info.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Touch of an Angel
Ever since the UPS burst, i have been wondering how many things have gone BOOM! by the touch of my hand ;-)...I have a small list here. Lets go through them 1 by 1...
1. Once upon a peaceful time, i had an age old computer. It very badly needed an upgrade. So, my dad brought with him, his friend who used to assemble computers and sell them. I gave him the new configuration that i would need. Soon, i unplugged with my very own hands ;-) and gave it to him.
The next day, i got a call from him saying he met with a small accident :-o...Thank God, nothing happened to the upgraded CPU. He also escaped with some minor bruises he he.
2. We had a philips iron box in my house. After putting it to good use for about 2 years, it fell down and some parts broke away. I repaired it and connected to power and ya...u would have guessed by now...The minute i lifted it, it burst off ha ha...
3. Ofcourse its the UPS burst story...if you haven't already read it, read it here.
Last but not the least, on the day i breathed first on planet Earth, there was a horrible cyclone wrecking havoc, with most telephone lines damaged...no power too...Infact, my mom told me that a huge tree had come off the roots in the very hospital where i was born...fortunately, there wasn't any damage ;-)
Phew!!
1. Once upon a peaceful time, i had an age old computer. It very badly needed an upgrade. So, my dad brought with him, his friend who used to assemble computers and sell them. I gave him the new configuration that i would need. Soon, i unplugged with my very own hands ;-) and gave it to him.
The next day, i got a call from him saying he met with a small accident :-o...Thank God, nothing happened to the upgraded CPU. He also escaped with some minor bruises he he.
2. We had a philips iron box in my house. After putting it to good use for about 2 years, it fell down and some parts broke away. I repaired it and connected to power and ya...u would have guessed by now...The minute i lifted it, it burst off ha ha...
3. Ofcourse its the UPS burst story...if you haven't already read it, read it here.
Last but not the least, on the day i breathed first on planet Earth, there was a horrible cyclone wrecking havoc, with most telephone lines damaged...no power too...Infact, my mom told me that a huge tree had come off the roots in the very hospital where i was born...fortunately, there wasn't any damage ;-)
Phew!!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
Programming the EC way
hi!! all, you please have a look at the title of this post...EC is pronounced as in easy. It is a new programming language that myself and Yuvi have planned to design, which will make the non-programmers start programming and build software. Once you start with this, we can make sure that your transition to a higher level or more modern programming language will be very easy...
Sounds interesting??? Well, we have started working on it and this is just too interesting for me. Myself being a big fan of compiler subjects, this show is going to rock! I will keep posting the updates in my tech blog, which has gone into a deep slumber.
Bye!!
Sounds interesting??? Well, we have started working on it and this is just too interesting for me. Myself being a big fan of compiler subjects, this show is going to rock! I will keep posting the updates in my tech blog, which has gone into a deep slumber.
Bye!!
Friday, January 27, 2006
A Mid-day Combo
My mom is a great cook. :D :D She cooks so well that, once the aroma begins wafting through the house, you can't help getting hungry. Today was such-a-day. The dishes are pretty simple...Lets go and have a look at what we have...
1. Vatha kuzambu - a typical tasty yummy south Indian dish, made in every home
2. Vendakka poriyal - to be precise, its fried "ladys finger"
3. Fried appalams - Pappads
4. Rasam - hopefully you should be knowing this
5. Vegetable salad - cucumber, carrot, onion, capsicum etc. etc.
6. Thick ice-cold curd (as usual)
As these got ready by 12pm, i just couldn't wait for lunch...i grabbed a plate from the shelf and was making such a din with it that my mom had to serve me those...slurp!! Half way thro' lunch, i felt, "hey!! why the heck we have to eat the same way everyday....sambar rice, rasam, curd"...its actually quite boring...so lets make a change by preparing a combo today ;-).
All the items were piping hot...i took a small vessel, put some kuzambu in that (cos if this didn't work, i don't want to spoil other's lunch he he) and then broke about 2 appalams to get 8 pieces and made appalak-kuzambu he he...nice combination...Next, i put some rice and mixed ice-cold curd to form a thick mass (consistency of chapathi dough..) along with the vegetable salad to form a colourful curd rice...wow!! u shud have tasted this..it was heavenly..
Added to this, the appalak-kuzambu in small amounts blew the top...it was great...wow!! slurp! Curd and vendakka-fry is always a hit combination...u know what to do next...add lots of vendakka fry...The combo can't get yummier than this. I tasted this a bit and devoured it myself. So here goes my thathuvam "A simple lunch can be a great lunch...but a great lunch can never be a simple lunch". Want to taste some???
This simple lunch, combined with a 2 hour siesta is the best combo you can get. There is nothing else to beat this satisfaction ;-)
Btw, i have started cooking too...Next time anyone is going to ask that question, im gonna punish you with my thakkali (tomato) chutney he he...
1. Vatha kuzambu - a typical tasty yummy south Indian dish, made in every home
2. Vendakka poriyal - to be precise, its fried "ladys finger"
3. Fried appalams - Pappads
4. Rasam - hopefully you should be knowing this
5. Vegetable salad - cucumber, carrot, onion, capsicum etc. etc.
6. Thick ice-cold curd (as usual)
As these got ready by 12pm, i just couldn't wait for lunch...i grabbed a plate from the shelf and was making such a din with it that my mom had to serve me those...slurp!! Half way thro' lunch, i felt, "hey!! why the heck we have to eat the same way everyday....sambar rice, rasam, curd"...its actually quite boring...so lets make a change by preparing a combo today ;-).
All the items were piping hot...i took a small vessel, put some kuzambu in that (cos if this didn't work, i don't want to spoil other's lunch he he) and then broke about 2 appalams to get 8 pieces and made appalak-kuzambu he he...nice combination...Next, i put some rice and mixed ice-cold curd to form a thick mass (consistency of chapathi dough..) along with the vegetable salad to form a colourful curd rice...wow!! u shud have tasted this..it was heavenly..
Added to this, the appalak-kuzambu in small amounts blew the top...it was great...wow!! slurp! Curd and vendakka-fry is always a hit combination...u know what to do next...add lots of vendakka fry...The combo can't get yummier than this. I tasted this a bit and devoured it myself. So here goes my thathuvam "A simple lunch can be a great lunch...but a great lunch can never be a simple lunch". Want to taste some???
This simple lunch, combined with a 2 hour siesta is the best combo you can get. There is nothing else to beat this satisfaction ;-)
Btw, i have started cooking too...Next time anyone is going to ask that question, im gonna punish you with my thakkali (tomato) chutney he he...
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Start Button
So...u have wondered why the hell you need a "Start" button...Well, even if you hadn't wondered like that, this is worth knowing...
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/07/22/54559.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/07/22/54559.aspx
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Computer Upgrade
Yippppppppppppeeeeeeee!!! yahhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooo!!! im dancing here. reason?? Its obvious...i upgraded my computer yesterday....and its flying now. Here is the upgraded configuration.
1. Added another 512 MB RAM to make it 768 MB. But my motherboard won't allow that :(. So, it had to be 640 MB. Nevertheless, the speed increase has been quite significant. Able to run both VS2005 and Netbeans 5.0 simultaneously.
2. Upgraded my existing 40 GB HDD to 120 GB....Its cool now...lot more space...enough to have a full family sleeping :-P
3. A brand new APC UPS after the UPS burst. Haven't tested this yet. But atleast now, the computer isn't getting switched off after power cut (Phew!!).
4. An experimental purchase of the new iBall optical mouse. Its good too.
Above all, im having original windows server 2003 ;-) because my college is having MSDNAA. But its human nature that, how much ever we have, we crave for more. Most of the time, the grass on the other side looks greener. So, heres my wishlist.
1. DVD Writer
2. A 1GB USB flash drive.
Oh...ya, i haven't stopped dancing yet. The system is quite fast, and that too with broadband internet connection, i left the computer switched on through the night to download netbeans 5.0. First time, its running for a full 24 hrs. :D :D The new year has been great till now. I'm enjoying every bit of it. Hope you are doing the same !!!
1. Added another 512 MB RAM to make it 768 MB. But my motherboard won't allow that :(. So, it had to be 640 MB. Nevertheless, the speed increase has been quite significant. Able to run both VS2005 and Netbeans 5.0 simultaneously.
2. Upgraded my existing 40 GB HDD to 120 GB....Its cool now...lot more space...enough to have a full family sleeping :-P
3. A brand new APC UPS after the UPS burst. Haven't tested this yet. But atleast now, the computer isn't getting switched off after power cut (Phew!!).
4. An experimental purchase of the new iBall optical mouse. Its good too.
Above all, im having original windows server 2003 ;-) because my college is having MSDNAA. But its human nature that, how much ever we have, we crave for more. Most of the time, the grass on the other side looks greener. So, heres my wishlist.
1. DVD Writer
2. A 1GB USB flash drive.
Oh...ya, i haven't stopped dancing yet. The system is quite fast, and that too with broadband internet connection, i left the computer switched on through the night to download netbeans 5.0. First time, its running for a full 24 hrs. :D :D The new year has been great till now. I'm enjoying every bit of it. Hope you are doing the same !!!
Friday, January 13, 2006
Happy Pongal !!!
Today is Bogi...this day, we burn all the old items so that we can start a good new life. On the whole, the idea is good. I guess celebrating bogi means washing away all the sins we have done, forgive others for their faults and starting a new fruitful life on this holy day. But, all we do is burn all the old household items thereby polluting the very environment in which we live. I sincerely think that burning old items is a waste of precious resources.
Instead of burning them, you can exchange them at some retail showrooms to get new items...ofcourse, you have to pay some extra money. Here the gain is personal, atleast you are not damaging the environment. The second thing you could do is, sell those goods to scrap dealers. The little money you get by this can be used to buy new dress that can be given to deserving people. Ultimately, by doing such small things, we not only get a lot of satisfaction but also making someone else happy.
Wish you a very happy pongal. Let our mistakes or faults we made/make perish and let the phoenix of goodwill rise from the ashes...
Update: Check this post too.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
UPS
hmm...yesterday night, my computer was getting switched off for every minute i switched it on. This continued for the next 30 minutes that i was frustrated (Grrr...). I disconnected the CPU and opened it and checked for any loose connections. Not finding any i plugged it back....and still the problem continued...Well, if you were sitting beside me, i would have strangled you. aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!! (screaming)...
Checking the connections again, i found out the problem. It was the power input to the UPS that was the cause for all this. It was partially hanging. Thinking to be a champion electrician, i patted myself and got ready to mend the loose connection. Without switching off the power, i pushed the plug slightly into position. Suddenly, a siren was ringing from the UPS and all the computer was out again...Grrr....i nudged it again and BOOM!!...the UPS exploded. The whole house was cut off from power now...thanks to the "safe trip", it saved me from getting electrocuted. After disconnecting the UPS, my computer is running on raw current now... :(
ok...enough of this rant...im off to buy a new UPS...bye !!
Checking the connections again, i found out the problem. It was the power input to the UPS that was the cause for all this. It was partially hanging. Thinking to be a champion electrician, i patted myself and got ready to mend the loose connection. Without switching off the power, i pushed the plug slightly into position. Suddenly, a siren was ringing from the UPS and all the computer was out again...Grrr....i nudged it again and BOOM!!...the UPS exploded. The whole house was cut off from power now...thanks to the "safe trip", it saved me from getting electrocuted. After disconnecting the UPS, my computer is running on raw current now... :(
ok...enough of this rant...im off to buy a new UPS...bye !!
Friday, January 06, 2006
Visit to the Temple
I was enjoying the winter morning, snuggling under the bed sheets when a splash of cold water came down on my face (Drat!!!). It was my mom shouting at me, not to waste the beautiful margazhi month. Grumbling, had bath and was off to the nearest temple. Infact, mom was right in the context of beautiful margazhi because, the roads on the way to the temple were decorated with colourful kolams (rangolis), some in the center of which had akals (diyas) and flowers shining brightly. They had taken the trouble to do this the previous night itself, and for all the trouble taken, i made sure i didn't step on any. My mood took a transition from the grumbling one to the sunny one :-).
Soon, i reached the temple. After me, came a small boy and his mom. The boy had not yet started going to school. He was sooooo cute with chubby cheeks smothered with powder, with his blue t-shirt neatly tucked in and his tiny foot making its way to the temple. He also had a 'U' shaped namam on the middle of his forehead, at the center of which was a bright red pottu.
He started singing some rhymes and was hopping around the sanctum, when his mom called him for accepting the theerth (holy water) given to us by the poojaris. He stopped and asked the poojari a superb question, "Why is God black?" by seeing the idol. The poojari was blinking for a second. Everyone around him started smiling. Getting embarrassed, he replied that he didn't know. Then came the next question, "Without knowing even this why are you doing pooja daily?"...Well, this was something i couldn't hold on to. I broke into peels of laughter with everyone following the same ha ha ha...
The poojari was too embarassed to talk anything...his face becoming paler by the minute. The boy's mom was too bewildered to talk anything else. She surely didn't expect such a question from this small guy. The boy had started hopping around again....I still couldn't control my laughter....oh!!! what a superb morning i had...
Soon, i reached the temple. After me, came a small boy and his mom. The boy had not yet started going to school. He was sooooo cute with chubby cheeks smothered with powder, with his blue t-shirt neatly tucked in and his tiny foot making its way to the temple. He also had a 'U' shaped namam on the middle of his forehead, at the center of which was a bright red pottu.
He started singing some rhymes and was hopping around the sanctum, when his mom called him for accepting the theerth (holy water) given to us by the poojaris. He stopped and asked the poojari a superb question, "Why is God black?" by seeing the idol. The poojari was blinking for a second. Everyone around him started smiling. Getting embarrassed, he replied that he didn't know. Then came the next question, "Without knowing even this why are you doing pooja daily?"...Well, this was something i couldn't hold on to. I broke into peels of laughter with everyone following the same ha ha ha...
The poojari was too embarassed to talk anything...his face becoming paler by the minute. The boy's mom was too bewildered to talk anything else. She surely didn't expect such a question from this small guy. The boy had started hopping around again....I still couldn't control my laughter....oh!!! what a superb morning i had...
Sunday, January 01, 2006
A Quote
hi!! came across this superb quote from BrainyQuote...
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing - Walt Disney
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing - Walt Disney
Welcome 2006, Bye 2005
As time and tide waits for none; the year 2005 came to a glorious end at the last milli-second. It was a very special year because each and every festival and get-together i took part taught me a lot of things. It was a year filled with enjoyment, lots of worries, abundance of love and affection, exquisite friendship, fearsome battles and what not. In the end, each event carved me into a better human, which has told me to expect the worst unexpected, be emotionally strong, mentally rock solid, stone deaf to unworthy comments, ignore stupid people, at the sametime take very good care of loved ones. Most importantly, my dreams have told me to be "Really really cool during adverse situations" and has told me to preach this to every human i encounter on the enduring journey of life.
My heart-felt wishes of a wonderful new year to my parents, my grand parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and the best of all, my dear friends whom i have(nt) met in the past, the present friends, the online friends whom i haven't met, my co-blogging buddies and that includes my best online friend also ;-), not to forget my enemies (if any). I can't thank God enough for giving me this life and my friends who have been/are/will be with me during the ecstasic and painful moments. Thanks a lot people, without you im not what im.
Wishing you all a successful year ahead...
-
My heart-felt wishes of a wonderful new year to my parents, my grand parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and the best of all, my dear friends whom i have(nt) met in the past, the present friends, the online friends whom i haven't met, my co-blogging buddies and that includes my best online friend also ;-), not to forget my enemies (if any). I can't thank God enough for giving me this life and my friends who have been/are/will be with me during the ecstasic and painful moments. Thanks a lot people, without you im not what im.
Wishing you all a successful year ahead...
-
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Angel in Disguise
Okay, i was busy playing shuttle today morning 'cos it was a superb sunday and as an exception i was woken up by a friend who thought i shouldn't be sleeping (duh!). Never mind that, we were playing shuttle at 6:30AM. Some 5 minutes later, we felt some strange vibration. It stopped a few seconds later. And we continued to play.... Getting damn tired after 2 and half hours of playing, we started back home .... our clothes completely soiled from the play.
Then came the news, it came as a huge wave, bringing with it all the dirty pictures that washed away every single human heart in the world. The news created ripples of feelings, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, colour etc. It destroyed part of Mother Earth's biggest continent. What followed was a week that we can't forgot. Its not the ills of tsunami that im going to tell you about. Its about how the world helped the affected people to get them on track ASAP. Myself and my friend played a small role with the help of an elder, whom we can never forget. He is our friend philosopher and guide.
[Sunday - 26 Dec 2004]
The tsunami struck. First i thought it was just a hoax. As more news was pouring in, i soon realised something bad had happened. The rest of the day was spent on many Oooo's and Aaaa's, typical of every accident or incident encountered till now.
[Monday - 27 Dec 2004]
[9:00 AM]
My friend gets a message on his mobile. It told us to donate for tsunami relief and gave an address for doing so. The address was a place in north Chennai called Kolathur. Soon, we got into action. We collected clothes from our friends and got them assembled at my place. So much we got that it can't be taken by public transport. We were wondering what to do with those, when we got a call from a person. We told him we have collected some clothes ... and more than half of my house's living room was full of them. He told us to keep it in our house itself and told something that he had planned for the evening.
[12:00 PM]
We assembled a small team of 8 year olds in my apartment. We also assigned them a team leader ;-) and told them to collect as much proper kitchen ware as possible. The one with the most vessels got 2 kitkat family packs. That was enough to set them on fire. About 2 hrs later, we had collected quite a lot of vessels too. Some more of my friends came and we were now 6 altogether with around 8 of those 8 year olds. This was exciting. We took some rest and the real adventure started after 6PM.
[6:00 PM]
A local team had been formed in the playground near my house...a bullock cart was arranged along with an auto-rickshaw that had a portable microphone attached to it. Two collection centers were also temporarily arranged. The auto went from street to street in the locality announcing that a bullock cart was on its way to collect relief items. With more than 40 of us now, lots and lots of items had been collected. The whole of the area was buzzing with activity. A lot of ladies from nearby houses came to those collection centers. They seggregated the clothes into shirts, pants, sarees etc. and made individual packs. A lot of work was going on at tremendous pace and everything was happening simultaneously. The more we brought in, they more they enjoyed of seggregating them. Hats off to those ladies and the 8 year olds !!! :D
[10:00 PM]
The collected items were taken to a place called Vivekananda Kendra. The night was cold today. So, lots of bed sheets were taken now in a van for distribution at Fore Shore Estate. The sight that engulfed us was worse than what i mentioned here. When the van stopped and when the window was opened, people swarmed to get whatever they could. It was like throwing a stone at a beehive. Myself and my friend covered all the 20km in my bajaj sunny ;-) 'cos the van was full. We returned home by 1:30 AM.
[Tuesday - 28 Dec 2004]
A meeting was organised to distribute the relief in an effective way. Those who swarmed yesterday aren't beggers, they are people like us...many having a decent living but lost everything to the tsunami. So, something had to be done that will prevent them from swarming and also the relief will reach properly. A plan was devised. A survey was planned to assess the damage and requirements. Just collecting something and throwing it at them will never work and it is a waste of time too.
[Wednesday - 29 Dec 2004]
We assembled at Vivekananda Kendra at 10AM today. Myself, my close friend, the elder i mentioned and 10 others were packed in a Tata sumo to visit 3 villages along the East Coast Road. Similarly, other teams were also formed to visit the nearby areas. Some fellows had the opportunity to visit Nagapattinam (the worst affected place, where there was atleast a death in almost all houses), particularly a young doctor who spent the next month doing free service and helping them rehabilitate. Good work dude !!!
The first village was Chinnandi Kuppam near Neelangarai (Blue Lagoon). We heard almost all of the painful tales that they were telling. At places where there were huts, only stones remained. A huge chunk of a road was missing and it was found about half a km inland. Boats were thrown atop houses that managed to survive. Well, those sights are still fresh in my mind. We took a detailed survey of each and every house. They said, "Everybody is giving us packets of raw rice sir...with no oil or vessels to cook them, how do we use it? We are more than 200 families here". This hit a point and made a note. One more remarkable thing happened. A team of Muslim doctors were doing a health checkup in a temple at this place symbolizing "Unity In Diversity".
The other 2 villages that our team visited was Injambakkam & Panaiyurkuppam. We returned home by 8:30PM.
[Thursday - 30 Dec 2004]
We went back to Kendra and did lots of work there. Many people of my age were present and we made good friends with them. Some of them are still in contact. We seggregated clothes for half the day today. This was one of the toughtest parts because more than anything else clothes were abundant. Two guys from Pune had come down to Chennai for this purpose. As the segregation was being done, they were arranged into family packs. It contained 1 shirt, 1 pant, 1 saree, blouse material, a set for kids, 1 towel or bedsheet. They were packed and sealed.
[Friday - 31 Dec 2004]
Today, we took a hand with the vessels. Many people from big companies visited today. One of them notably asked us how much family packs we had assembled. We told, "about 150 yesterday". He immediately called up Saravana stores and ordered 150 kerosene cookers. Wow!!. We also learnt how to stitch sacks after packing the vessels. First time in my life, i realised studying and earning a good life isn't the only thing. There are lots more to life. It was a very exciting day. I just loved this moment.
[Saturday - 1 Jan 2005]
A new year began today. I realised a lot in the past week. With all the family packs, we were scheduled to go a place called Devaneri to distribute them. They contained a dress pack, kerosene cooker, 2 vessles, 2 tumblers, 5 kgs of rice, 2 soap bars, bread, biscuits, a small lamp, oil, a bed sheet, straw mat, pillow and a photo of Lord Ganesh and Jesus. We reached Devanari by around 11 AM. The experience on monday had taught us not to throw things. So, the older people who came with us, met the village heads and asked them to call all the families to an open ground where they would be delivered a hour's lecture. When the lecture was going on, all the family packs were moved from the van to a counter. The whole process was done very fast with more than 25 of us in a chain.
The lecture was over by this time. One lady from each family was asked to get the relief materials. They all came in a quiet queue and the relief were distributed without even a wee bit of trouble. :D
Thus came to an end a week that i can't forget in my life. Furthermore, as part of the rehabilitation programme we assembled before pongal festival to get a survey of the number of people doing 10th and 12th in each of those villages. Myself and my friend went to Injambakkam to get the details. We also determined a place where a tuition can be housed. Exactly a week later, teachers were appointed and free tuitions were started. On the day of pongal, 15th Jan 2005 we went to Srinivasapuram to celebrate a united pongal, gave them mental strength to overcome this.
What more would i want?? The tsunami was an angel in disguise and it had taught me so much. If you wonder what you can do, try to be a part of a good NGO. Also try to donate a small sum of your salary every month for this purpose. Islam says, "For every Rs.100 you earn, donate Re.1". My heart-felt thanks to the guys who made this possible and made me realise the other side of life...
Update: Check this post at World Wide Help blog. Also, check Echo Club !
Then came the news, it came as a huge wave, bringing with it all the dirty pictures that washed away every single human heart in the world. The news created ripples of feelings, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, colour etc. It destroyed part of Mother Earth's biggest continent. What followed was a week that we can't forgot. Its not the ills of tsunami that im going to tell you about. Its about how the world helped the affected people to get them on track ASAP. Myself and my friend played a small role with the help of an elder, whom we can never forget. He is our friend philosopher and guide.
[Sunday - 26 Dec 2004]
The tsunami struck. First i thought it was just a hoax. As more news was pouring in, i soon realised something bad had happened. The rest of the day was spent on many Oooo's and Aaaa's, typical of every accident or incident encountered till now.
[Monday - 27 Dec 2004]
[9:00 AM]
My friend gets a message on his mobile. It told us to donate for tsunami relief and gave an address for doing so. The address was a place in north Chennai called Kolathur. Soon, we got into action. We collected clothes from our friends and got them assembled at my place. So much we got that it can't be taken by public transport. We were wondering what to do with those, when we got a call from a person. We told him we have collected some clothes ... and more than half of my house's living room was full of them. He told us to keep it in our house itself and told something that he had planned for the evening.
[12:00 PM]
We assembled a small team of 8 year olds in my apartment. We also assigned them a team leader ;-) and told them to collect as much proper kitchen ware as possible. The one with the most vessels got 2 kitkat family packs. That was enough to set them on fire. About 2 hrs later, we had collected quite a lot of vessels too. Some more of my friends came and we were now 6 altogether with around 8 of those 8 year olds. This was exciting. We took some rest and the real adventure started after 6PM.
[6:00 PM]
A local team had been formed in the playground near my house...a bullock cart was arranged along with an auto-rickshaw that had a portable microphone attached to it. Two collection centers were also temporarily arranged. The auto went from street to street in the locality announcing that a bullock cart was on its way to collect relief items. With more than 40 of us now, lots and lots of items had been collected. The whole of the area was buzzing with activity. A lot of ladies from nearby houses came to those collection centers. They seggregated the clothes into shirts, pants, sarees etc. and made individual packs. A lot of work was going on at tremendous pace and everything was happening simultaneously. The more we brought in, they more they enjoyed of seggregating them. Hats off to those ladies and the 8 year olds !!! :D
[10:00 PM]
The collected items were taken to a place called Vivekananda Kendra. The night was cold today. So, lots of bed sheets were taken now in a van for distribution at Fore Shore Estate. The sight that engulfed us was worse than what i mentioned here. When the van stopped and when the window was opened, people swarmed to get whatever they could. It was like throwing a stone at a beehive. Myself and my friend covered all the 20km in my bajaj sunny ;-) 'cos the van was full. We returned home by 1:30 AM.
[Tuesday - 28 Dec 2004]
A meeting was organised to distribute the relief in an effective way. Those who swarmed yesterday aren't beggers, they are people like us...many having a decent living but lost everything to the tsunami. So, something had to be done that will prevent them from swarming and also the relief will reach properly. A plan was devised. A survey was planned to assess the damage and requirements. Just collecting something and throwing it at them will never work and it is a waste of time too.
[Wednesday - 29 Dec 2004]
We assembled at Vivekananda Kendra at 10AM today. Myself, my close friend, the elder i mentioned and 10 others were packed in a Tata sumo to visit 3 villages along the East Coast Road. Similarly, other teams were also formed to visit the nearby areas. Some fellows had the opportunity to visit Nagapattinam (the worst affected place, where there was atleast a death in almost all houses), particularly a young doctor who spent the next month doing free service and helping them rehabilitate. Good work dude !!!
The first village was Chinnandi Kuppam near Neelangarai (Blue Lagoon). We heard almost all of the painful tales that they were telling. At places where there were huts, only stones remained. A huge chunk of a road was missing and it was found about half a km inland. Boats were thrown atop houses that managed to survive. Well, those sights are still fresh in my mind. We took a detailed survey of each and every house. They said, "Everybody is giving us packets of raw rice sir...with no oil or vessels to cook them, how do we use it? We are more than 200 families here". This hit a point and made a note. One more remarkable thing happened. A team of Muslim doctors were doing a health checkup in a temple at this place symbolizing "Unity In Diversity".
The other 2 villages that our team visited was Injambakkam & Panaiyurkuppam. We returned home by 8:30PM.
[Thursday - 30 Dec 2004]
We went back to Kendra and did lots of work there. Many people of my age were present and we made good friends with them. Some of them are still in contact. We seggregated clothes for half the day today. This was one of the toughtest parts because more than anything else clothes were abundant. Two guys from Pune had come down to Chennai for this purpose. As the segregation was being done, they were arranged into family packs. It contained 1 shirt, 1 pant, 1 saree, blouse material, a set for kids, 1 towel or bedsheet. They were packed and sealed.
[Friday - 31 Dec 2004]
Today, we took a hand with the vessels. Many people from big companies visited today. One of them notably asked us how much family packs we had assembled. We told, "about 150 yesterday". He immediately called up Saravana stores and ordered 150 kerosene cookers. Wow!!. We also learnt how to stitch sacks after packing the vessels. First time in my life, i realised studying and earning a good life isn't the only thing. There are lots more to life. It was a very exciting day. I just loved this moment.
[Saturday - 1 Jan 2005]
A new year began today. I realised a lot in the past week. With all the family packs, we were scheduled to go a place called Devaneri to distribute them. They contained a dress pack, kerosene cooker, 2 vessles, 2 tumblers, 5 kgs of rice, 2 soap bars, bread, biscuits, a small lamp, oil, a bed sheet, straw mat, pillow and a photo of Lord Ganesh and Jesus. We reached Devanari by around 11 AM. The experience on monday had taught us not to throw things. So, the older people who came with us, met the village heads and asked them to call all the families to an open ground where they would be delivered a hour's lecture. When the lecture was going on, all the family packs were moved from the van to a counter. The whole process was done very fast with more than 25 of us in a chain.
The lecture was over by this time. One lady from each family was asked to get the relief materials. They all came in a quiet queue and the relief were distributed without even a wee bit of trouble. :D
Thus came to an end a week that i can't forget in my life. Furthermore, as part of the rehabilitation programme we assembled before pongal festival to get a survey of the number of people doing 10th and 12th in each of those villages. Myself and my friend went to Injambakkam to get the details. We also determined a place where a tuition can be housed. Exactly a week later, teachers were appointed and free tuitions were started. On the day of pongal, 15th Jan 2005 we went to Srinivasapuram to celebrate a united pongal, gave them mental strength to overcome this.
What more would i want?? The tsunami was an angel in disguise and it had taught me so much. If you wonder what you can do, try to be a part of a good NGO. Also try to donate a small sum of your salary every month for this purpose. Islam says, "For every Rs.100 you earn, donate Re.1". My heart-felt thanks to the guys who made this possible and made me realise the other side of life...
Update: Check this post at World Wide Help blog. Also, check Echo Club !
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Happy Moment
As i was going to a store nearby, i met an old lady from my apartment and this conversation happened.
Myself: Hello granny, how are you?
Granny (smiles :D): I'm fine son. How are you?
Myself: I'm very fine (considering the exams tomorrow, im not that much fine)
Granny: When do you have to go for work?
Myself: May be next june or july
Granny: Very happy to hear that. Is it going to be Bangalore?
Myself: Ya, may be
Granny: Good, i know you are a very smart boy (:D). You will do well in your career. All the Best.
Saying so, she left. I was very happy to hear such encouraging words and got nailed to that place for about a minute, staring into infinity....she came back again and tapped my hand and asked "What??". Getting back to senses, i smiled and said "Nothing granny" and left.
Something that made the day so special was the words she used. She didn't say "do well"; she said "you will do well". There is a significant difference in the meanings of both of them :-).
Thank you granny, for making this day so special !!! >:D<
Thanks a lot ...
Myself: Hello granny, how are you?
Granny (smiles :D): I'm fine son. How are you?
Myself: I'm very fine (considering the exams tomorrow, im not that much fine)
Granny: When do you have to go for work?
Myself: May be next june or july
Granny: Very happy to hear that. Is it going to be Bangalore?
Myself: Ya, may be
Granny: Good, i know you are a very smart boy (:D). You will do well in your career. All the Best.
Saying so, she left. I was very happy to hear such encouraging words and got nailed to that place for about a minute, staring into infinity....she came back again and tapped my hand and asked "What??". Getting back to senses, i smiled and said "Nothing granny" and left.
Something that made the day so special was the words she used. She didn't say "do well"; she said "you will do well". There is a significant difference in the meanings of both of them :-).
Thank you granny, for making this day so special !!! >:D<
Thanks a lot ...
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Exams
hi!! its been a week since i blogged. Guessed why?? Exams have started again....and God!!! how i hate it. They are really a huge pain. No wonder, it was a very happy occasion on the evening it got postponed...Now its even sadder to note that they have got postponed to the 2nd of Jan and all the new year fun is ruined boooohooooo !!!
Still 3 more to go.... :((
Still 3 more to go.... :((
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Powerful Words
I was taking notes very sincerely (occasional hobby he he)...every 20 or 30 seconds looking up to get what he was telling. The lecture was on how to speak well in group discussions during campus interviews. Some guys at the last were giggling at every word he spoke...it made me to smile ofcourse....classroom fun is too good...He completed what he was saying and then clapped his hands twice to the get attention of the class.
The giggling stopped...everyone looked up. He said, "Put the pens down. I'm going to tell you something important". That said, even the last benchers looked up. The sound of all the books closing filled the room for sometime and then there was pin-drop silence. He cleared his throat....
"Do you know???" he began, "Do you know, im HIV positive"....What??? What the hell?? I was shell shocked. My eyes popped out. He continued, "im having leukemia too". What the hell of a class was this...I was bombed. This was worse than the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. A HIV+ guy doing a class for us?? Not even in the wildest dreams i was imagining so...almost paralysed with that information. sniff...sniff...some girls on the far right had started weeping and they began to wipe their noses...the news too big for them to bear.
Seeing them, he began to laugh. I couldn't just understand what he was doing. He tells he is HIV+ and starts laughing. Congrats!! for his positive approach but it was still beyond comprehension. He started again, "Didn't I get you all by surprise?". "Yes" was the unanymous reply. He said, "Words whether they are empty or full, they leave a huge impact. I know you wont forget this in your lifetime. So choose your words carefully in your Group Disscussion. If you dont then your job is out of your hands".
How true that is with our life also. With hasty decisions and words thrown out carelessly, we not only create a crack between our friendship, we also leave a scar in our friend's heart. So, let us choose words carefully before we speak. This brings back to my mind the famous Thirukkural "Theeyinal sutta pun ullaarum aaraathe naavinaal sutta vadu". It means, "Even the deepest burns caused by fire will heal one day, but the burns caused by words wont heal".
Brr...I'm shivering now!! The exam fever caught up sometime back...Its showing the symptoms of leaving now because of the rains...and the exams got postponed again.
--
The giggling stopped...everyone looked up. He said, "Put the pens down. I'm going to tell you something important". That said, even the last benchers looked up. The sound of all the books closing filled the room for sometime and then there was pin-drop silence. He cleared his throat....
"Do you know???" he began, "Do you know, im HIV positive"....What??? What the hell?? I was shell shocked. My eyes popped out. He continued, "im having leukemia too". What the hell of a class was this...I was bombed. This was worse than the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. A HIV+ guy doing a class for us?? Not even in the wildest dreams i was imagining so...almost paralysed with that information. sniff...sniff...some girls on the far right had started weeping and they began to wipe their noses...the news too big for them to bear.
Seeing them, he began to laugh. I couldn't just understand what he was doing. He tells he is HIV+ and starts laughing. Congrats!! for his positive approach but it was still beyond comprehension. He started again, "Didn't I get you all by surprise?". "Yes" was the unanymous reply. He said, "Words whether they are empty or full, they leave a huge impact. I know you wont forget this in your lifetime. So choose your words carefully in your Group Disscussion. If you dont then your job is out of your hands".
How true that is with our life also. With hasty decisions and words thrown out carelessly, we not only create a crack between our friendship, we also leave a scar in our friend's heart. So, let us choose words carefully before we speak. This brings back to my mind the famous Thirukkural "Theeyinal sutta pun ullaarum aaraathe naavinaal sutta vadu". It means, "Even the deepest burns caused by fire will heal one day, but the burns caused by words wont heal".
Brr...I'm shivering now!! The exam fever caught up sometime back...Its showing the symptoms of leaving now because of the rains...and the exams got postponed again.
--
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Kannadasan
hi!! just remembered these very famous Kaviarasu Kannadasan's poems....enjoy them....
1
kalangalil aval vasantham
kalaigalile aval oviyam
mathangalil aval margazhi
malargalile aval malligai
2
veedu varai uravu
veedhi varai manaivi
kaadu varai pillai
kadaisi varai yaro
These poems are really superb!!!
1
kalangalil aval vasantham
kalaigalile aval oviyam
mathangalil aval margazhi
malargalile aval malligai
2
veedu varai uravu
veedhi varai manaivi
kaadu varai pillai
kadaisi varai yaro
These poems are really superb!!!
Monday, December 12, 2005
Trip to Bangalore
hi!! I went to Bangalore for the past 2 days...1st day to attend the launch event...2nd day to roam around the place.
Day 1
Reached bangalore at 6AM and had a lunch-like-breakfast with 4 aloo parathas, 2 club sandwiches and a pineapple juice. Phew!! getting quite heavy with that, went to the nearest lodge & flopped for the next 4 hrs, almost shivering due to the cold weather.
Finding it was already 10:30AM, had a good bath & after another small breakfast ;-) headed to Palace Grounds, where the launch event was about to take place. Btw, if you are wondering what the launch event was, Bill Gates was visiting Bangalore to launch the latest version of the platform for developing and deploying software....Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006.
Event started at about 2:30PM; Bill Gates giving his keynote address for about an hour and after other blah blah blah, the event was over at 6PM. Parikrama was good with their Super Hero song, but other than that i could find they were only screaming with their voices and guitars :)) .
The event as a whole was great. The audience, around 6000 IT pros in and around B'lore and we Microsoft Student Champs from chennai, coimbatore, b'lore and mumbai. It was great learning experience, in that we got to know how Bill thinks. He is thinking at about 20 to 30 years ahead of today (duh! ofcourse he does) & with his proper timing of events, no doubt he is the richest man personally and built a company that is building 300 odd products. He was sharing his vision of the tablet pc as the next revolution, his next investment of $1.7 billion in India over the next 4 years etc. He also mentioned that India is 1 of the primary development centers outside USA. Getting a seat barely 100 metres away from the man, i was no doubt very attentive to his keynote. Thanks a lot to the ADEs for arranging that. Moreover, we had a great time meeting the other champs.
As with any big event, there are some negatives too. The food was as bad as it could be. They served 2 very small bananas (each 1 about an inch in size), 1 cake, 1 veg puff, frooti cool drink, 1 small sandwich, 2 cookies. Anyone with the right brains couldn't have thought of such a wonderfully stupid lunch. That apart, the event was a success.
Day 2
Night dawns early at B'lore and it gets dark very soon. So, waking up at 10AM the next day, i got ready in half hour and went to Lalbagh Gardens. It was a half hour journey from the place called J.P.Nagar. The garden is so huge and its right there in the center of the city. It also has a mini lake inside and the whole atmosphere was cool and great. If you would want some peace amidst the noice of bangalore, then this is the place to go (i would recommend Thekkady lake in Kerala as the first destination).
Now for some positives about Bangalore...
1. Its a good place with a cool-cooler type of weather in contrast to Chennai's hot-hotter weather.
2. A city with lots of opportunites for IT pros because this is the home for some of the biggest software companies.
3. Helpful people and uncheating autorickshaws.
4. Its the place for bird hunting ;-)
As for some negatives,
1. Very crowded. If there is anything else that would determine the time required to reach a place its the worst traffic.
2. Cost of living is high. You need to earn a decent amount to sustain yourself in bangalore.
Personally, i love Bangalore and i would love to work/live there, but it would only come next to Chennai bcos its my darling hometown. How much i had missed this place for the past 2 days??? Phew!!!
hey! did you ever wonder why Bill had to visit this time for the launch???
--
Day 1
Reached bangalore at 6AM and had a lunch-like-breakfast with 4 aloo parathas, 2 club sandwiches and a pineapple juice. Phew!! getting quite heavy with that, went to the nearest lodge & flopped for the next 4 hrs, almost shivering due to the cold weather.
Finding it was already 10:30AM, had a good bath & after another small breakfast ;-) headed to Palace Grounds, where the launch event was about to take place. Btw, if you are wondering what the launch event was, Bill Gates was visiting Bangalore to launch the latest version of the platform for developing and deploying software....Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006.
Event started at about 2:30PM; Bill Gates giving his keynote address for about an hour and after other blah blah blah, the event was over at 6PM. Parikrama was good with their Super Hero song, but other than that i could find they were only screaming with their voices and guitars :)) .
The event as a whole was great. The audience, around 6000 IT pros in and around B'lore and we Microsoft Student Champs from chennai, coimbatore, b'lore and mumbai. It was great learning experience, in that we got to know how Bill thinks. He is thinking at about 20 to 30 years ahead of today (duh! ofcourse he does) & with his proper timing of events, no doubt he is the richest man personally and built a company that is building 300 odd products. He was sharing his vision of the tablet pc as the next revolution, his next investment of $1.7 billion in India over the next 4 years etc. He also mentioned that India is 1 of the primary development centers outside USA. Getting a seat barely 100 metres away from the man, i was no doubt very attentive to his keynote. Thanks a lot to the ADEs for arranging that. Moreover, we had a great time meeting the other champs.
As with any big event, there are some negatives too. The food was as bad as it could be. They served 2 very small bananas (each 1 about an inch in size), 1 cake, 1 veg puff, frooti cool drink, 1 small sandwich, 2 cookies. Anyone with the right brains couldn't have thought of such a wonderfully stupid lunch. That apart, the event was a success.
Day 2
Night dawns early at B'lore and it gets dark very soon. So, waking up at 10AM the next day, i got ready in half hour and went to Lalbagh Gardens. It was a half hour journey from the place called J.P.Nagar. The garden is so huge and its right there in the center of the city. It also has a mini lake inside and the whole atmosphere was cool and great. If you would want some peace amidst the noice of bangalore, then this is the place to go (i would recommend Thekkady lake in Kerala as the first destination).
Now for some positives about Bangalore...
1. Its a good place with a cool-cooler type of weather in contrast to Chennai's hot-hotter weather.
2. A city with lots of opportunites for IT pros because this is the home for some of the biggest software companies.
3. Helpful people and uncheating autorickshaws.
4. Its the place for bird hunting ;-)
As for some negatives,
1. Very crowded. If there is anything else that would determine the time required to reach a place its the worst traffic.
2. Cost of living is high. You need to earn a decent amount to sustain yourself in bangalore.
Personally, i love Bangalore and i would love to work/live there, but it would only come next to Chennai bcos its my darling hometown. How much i had missed this place for the past 2 days??? Phew!!!
hey! did you ever wonder why Bill had to visit this time for the launch???
--
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Fun Poems
hi!! read these 2 poems....
Poem1:
saptiya bun
beachla mun
shoot panrathuku gun
kalayla udhikum sun
unga appavuku nee oru son
Poem2:
pepsi romba gup
nee kooda romba gabbu
vekka poraen appu
sariya mappu
beer kudicha erum mabbu
velaiku pona kidaikum dabbu
un mela enakku veruppu
en endral nee romba sharpu
nan than idhai writingu adhai nee nambu!!
Ha ha ha....these 2 are really comic...no meaning in them though. Ofcourse, they weren't written by me.
Poem1:
saptiya bun
beachla mun
shoot panrathuku gun
kalayla udhikum sun
unga appavuku nee oru son
Poem2:
pepsi romba gup
nee kooda romba gabbu
vekka poraen appu
sariya mappu
beer kudicha erum mabbu
velaiku pona kidaikum dabbu
un mela enakku veruppu
en endral nee romba sharpu
nan than idhai writingu adhai nee nambu!!
Ha ha ha....these 2 are really comic...no meaning in them though. Ofcourse, they weren't written by me.
Monday, December 05, 2005
The rains...
It was a cool night....very cool...infact it was a perfect kinda night everyone would be looking for. No rains, no wind, just a gentle breeze wafting through the air, carrying with it the fragrance of fresh winter flowers, the billion stars in the sky....showering their ray of light on every particle of earth...so much so that i actually drifted into sleep...unknown to me.....dreams enveloping my web of thoughts. Then slowly & unknowingly, i went off into a deep sleep.....merging with my soul....
Then suddenly i woke up....so wide awake that every ounce of sleep that assembled, shattered to pieces. I was starting to sweat. Didn't have any clue...why was i sweating?? Just as I was thinking, a thunder crashed through, tearing the skies apart with a lightning. Then slowly it started to drizzle...slowly at first...a bit louder then and it continued. After about 20 seconds, the light drizzle became very heavy, falling heavily on my windows. Already puddles of water had formed here and there.
Completely awake now, i got up & went to the balcony to watch the rain. It hit me now, I started to feel the pinch, then the pain...it tore through my heart...it was excruciating now...I was almost in tears. Yes, I knew it. I discovered where it originated. It was also running deep in my subconscious mind.
I was snuggling in my warm blankets sometime ago & woke up sweating...only to think that...they were littered on the roads. Like small children litter broken toys all around the house, the flood-devasted people were everywhere....on the road, on the pavement...every place you could think of. My heart ached seeing them. I was crumbling sensing that I couldn't do anything more than give away a few shirts and pants. My sub-conscious said, "Every human is born with a purpose, do it now. Its your turn. Do it whole heartedly" as I listened to them patiently.
Things became clear now. Sweating ceased. The crumbling blocks started to rebuild themselves...Its a new life...a great life...a life of giving !!!
Then suddenly i woke up....so wide awake that every ounce of sleep that assembled, shattered to pieces. I was starting to sweat. Didn't have any clue...why was i sweating?? Just as I was thinking, a thunder crashed through, tearing the skies apart with a lightning. Then slowly it started to drizzle...slowly at first...a bit louder then and it continued. After about 20 seconds, the light drizzle became very heavy, falling heavily on my windows. Already puddles of water had formed here and there.
Completely awake now, i got up & went to the balcony to watch the rain. It hit me now, I started to feel the pinch, then the pain...it tore through my heart...it was excruciating now...I was almost in tears. Yes, I knew it. I discovered where it originated. It was also running deep in my subconscious mind.
I was snuggling in my warm blankets sometime ago & woke up sweating...only to think that...they were littered on the roads. Like small children litter broken toys all around the house, the flood-devasted people were everywhere....on the road, on the pavement...every place you could think of. My heart ached seeing them. I was crumbling sensing that I couldn't do anything more than give away a few shirts and pants. My sub-conscious said, "Every human is born with a purpose, do it now. Its your turn. Do it whole heartedly" as I listened to them patiently.
Things became clear now. Sweating ceased. The crumbling blocks started to rebuild themselves...Its a new life...a great life...a life of giving !!!
Friday, December 02, 2005
I'm John F Kennedy....ha ha ha...
hi!! i laughed my head out when i saw the words on the image after taking the test at http://www.similarminds.com
Here is the photo...
ha ha ha ha !!!
Here is the photo...
ha ha ha ha !!!
Monday, November 28, 2005
Email Time Capsule
hi!!
Forbes.com has an innovative idea called the Time Capsule. Its aim is to collect emails now and then send it to you in the next 1/3/5/10/20 years which ever you prefer. Fancy reading a message 20 years later when many things around us will change drastically. It will be great to remember our friends again that we tend to forget over time.
It surely is exciting. So, check out the Email Capsule. Yahoo! is one of the companies handling this project along with an entrepreneur. Read more about the project at this url.
Be sure to do it....Last day is 30th November 2005. Off to send myself an email :-) .....bye!!~~
PS: Here is another interesting url http://futureme.org/.
Forbes.com has an innovative idea called the Time Capsule. Its aim is to collect emails now and then send it to you in the next 1/3/5/10/20 years which ever you prefer. Fancy reading a message 20 years later when many things around us will change drastically. It will be great to remember our friends again that we tend to forget over time.
It surely is exciting. So, check out the Email Capsule. Yahoo! is one of the companies handling this project along with an entrepreneur. Read more about the project at this url.
Be sure to do it....Last day is 30th November 2005. Off to send myself an email :-) .....bye!!~~
PS: Here is another interesting url http://futureme.org/.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Start downloading 2 to 8 :-) - Part 2
hi!! this is the part 2 of "Start Downloading 2 to 8". Before you continue, you may want to read the first part of the post. It deals with scheduling downloads.
Coming back, this method was tested on Huawei SmartAX 880 modem and this solution works for those who have that "Always On". A similar kind of interface was found with Huawei SmartAX 800 modem.
Warning: Before you try this, make sure you save your existing connection settings.
1. Start-->Run. Type "cmd" or "command" and press Enter.
2. Type "ipconfig" in the DOS prompt and press Enter. Note down the IP address. Most of the time it will be 192.168.1.1
3. Open Internet Explorer and type http://192.168.1.1
4. Expand the "Home" node and click on "WAN Setting".
5. Change the "WAN Type" to "RFC2684Bridged".
6. Click Apply, restart the modem and enjoy!!!
Now, you have to create a dialer to connect to the server. Follow these steps to create the dialer.
1. Start-->Control Panel (or) Start-->Settings-->Control Panel. Go to Network Connections.
2. Create a new connection. From now on, follow the wizard to create your broadband dialup account. You need to have your username and password for creating the same.
The reason why you may want to change to dial-up broadband connection is to schedule downloads. It is said that the modem must be restarted at 2AM to start a new session. Creating a new session by restarting the modem automatically is not possible. After you followed the above 6 steps, you have to follow another set of 6 steps found at http://broadbandforum.in/index.php?showtopic=2431&hl=tutorial , so that you can actually use that full 2 to 8 for downloads without overdoing your 1GB limit.
Most of the time, the Dataone Account Administration link at www.dataone.in redirects to the wrong site. Use this instead http://10.240.43.216/, to monitor you broadband usage.
To restore back to "Always On", follow the first 4 steps and then change the "WAN Type" to "PPP". Give your username, password and select enabled for Use eDNS field. Click apply and restart the modem......
Coming back, this method was tested on Huawei SmartAX 880 modem and this solution works for those who have that "Always On". A similar kind of interface was found with Huawei SmartAX 800 modem.
Warning: Before you try this, make sure you save your existing connection settings.
1. Start-->Run. Type "cmd" or "command" and press Enter.
2. Type "ipconfig" in the DOS prompt and press Enter. Note down the IP address. Most of the time it will be 192.168.1.1
3. Open Internet Explorer and type http://192.168.1.1
4. Expand the "Home" node and click on "WAN Setting".
5. Change the "WAN Type" to "RFC2684Bridged".
6. Click Apply, restart the modem and enjoy!!!
Now, you have to create a dialer to connect to the server. Follow these steps to create the dialer.
1. Start-->Control Panel (or) Start-->Settings-->Control Panel. Go to Network Connections.
2. Create a new connection. From now on, follow the wizard to create your broadband dialup account. You need to have your username and password for creating the same.
The reason why you may want to change to dial-up broadband connection is to schedule downloads. It is said that the modem must be restarted at 2AM to start a new session. Creating a new session by restarting the modem automatically is not possible. After you followed the above 6 steps, you have to follow another set of 6 steps found at http://broadbandforum.in/index.php?showtopic=2431&hl=tutorial , so that you can actually use that full 2 to 8 for downloads without overdoing your 1GB limit.
Most of the time, the Dataone Account Administration link at www.dataone.in redirects to the wrong site. Use this instead http://10.240.43.216/, to monitor you broadband usage.
To restore back to "Always On", follow the first 4 steps and then change the "WAN Type" to "PPP". Give your username, password and select enabled for Use eDNS field. Click apply and restart the modem......
Monday, November 07, 2005
India - A Secular Country ???
hi!!
This is an account of a small incident of my friend......read on..
Well, the least i can say is, this is really sad......
This is an account of a small incident of my friend......read on..
This is such an unfair question by itself (Is India a secular country?). The festival of lights, festival of joy invites shops, services, stores to increase sales during this period of diwali. But is diwali meant only for those who celebrate it? Isn't a festival common to all? Common to mankind in general whether you reside in Europe or USA? Leave alone Europe ; it happened in Chennai.
Listening to grandma's rants about diwali discounts, I entered a well reputed beauty parlour in the city which offered good discounts for all kinds of stuff done till Diwali in their parlour. The lady who was being attended to just before my turn was told that her payment would be Rs.6 for threading. But she was charged Rs.8-the real cost of threading without taking into account the diwali offer. When she inquired into the issue she was told that it was a diwali discount and since she was a Christian she couldn't avail it!!!horror of horrors! In a secular, democratic, socialistic, republic (whatever they taught us in civics!)Country like India and among the well educated ladies of Chennai this discrimination based on religion still exists! What if she had worn a "bindhi" and walked into the parlour? She becomes a Hindu and gets the discount? The issue here was a matter of trivial two rupees which she could have easily parted with; but can India part with its secular policies because of shameful incidents like this?
In this age even when lowly thieving does not discriminate religions and caste, people earning a decent living do fail to notice this. Is this what our 57 years of independence as a free body taught us?Obviously enraged by this, the lady voiced out "What? You discriminate based on religion in a secular country like India? Be ashamed of yourselves to have spoken those words" and so on and also added " I'm going to write about this to the newspapers and to the police. You will be in jail; remember that". Although I'm not aware if one could be jailed for this because it was forgotten by the lady herself when she added, "I'm silenced now; be sure it does not happen to anyone else". This incident is giving me nightmares because being new to this kind of aghast experience I never believed that religious discrimination ever existed in the world, should I remain oblivious to the incident and walk away like that lady?
Well, the least i can say is, this is really sad......
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Happpppyyy Deepavaliiiiiii !!!
hi!! dudes n duddetes,
I'm very happy today. the reason?? deepavali was excellent and this special deepavali will be in the archives for many many years to come.
During this deepavali, i met some of my school friends who were with me during the good as well as the bad times, extending their warmth when i needed the most. I visited most of their houses & believe me.....i didnt have lunch yesterday, because to all the houses we went, we were served with delicious delicacies that include gulab jamun, ribbon bakkoda, om podi etc. Ofcourse we gulped everything ;-) & what made them special was that every piece was home-made.
Back in the evening, we all met again at my place. This time, all of the things we did in the evening was shot in my friend's handycam. We then burst a little crackers, ate a lot of sweets again & shot some more.....
On the whole, this deepavali was just great, not because of crackers or the new dress or anything else. It was just about friendship. By the end of the day, i wished no end to this day.....but all things must come to an end.
I know very well that this writing may not express so much i feel, but the feeling of the bond was excellent. If u are reading this blog & if you had experienced something similar in your life, kindly share it.......
Awaiting next deepavali.......bye!!~~
I'm very happy today. the reason?? deepavali was excellent and this special deepavali will be in the archives for many many years to come.
During this deepavali, i met some of my school friends who were with me during the good as well as the bad times, extending their warmth when i needed the most. I visited most of their houses & believe me.....i didnt have lunch yesterday, because to all the houses we went, we were served with delicious delicacies that include gulab jamun, ribbon bakkoda, om podi etc. Ofcourse we gulped everything ;-) & what made them special was that every piece was home-made.
Back in the evening, we all met again at my place. This time, all of the things we did in the evening was shot in my friend's handycam. We then burst a little crackers, ate a lot of sweets again & shot some more.....
On the whole, this deepavali was just great, not because of crackers or the new dress or anything else. It was just about friendship. By the end of the day, i wished no end to this day.....but all things must come to an end.
I know very well that this writing may not express so much i feel, but the feeling of the bond was excellent. If u are reading this blog & if you had experienced something similar in your life, kindly share it.......
Awaiting next deepavali.......bye!!~~
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Shopping in rain
hi!!
Shopping in rain is a great experience, especially when all routes from ashok nagar to tnagar is flooded. Just on the spur of the moment myself and 1 of my friends decided to go shopping for deepavali because of 2 reasons.
1. TNagar wouldn't be crowded today.
2. We can go splash..splash.. in rain water all the way to tnagar.
Nothing to stop us, we made our way to the shopping hub of chennai. As expected, there was nothing in sight expect some 2 or 3 autorichshaws & some die-hard shoppers who were in the same mind set as me ;-). In most places, we waded & literally swam across in knee deep water. The rain had started coming down heavily, thankfully i was covered....
Going thro' the waters, the fastest mode of transport was the newspaperwalla tricycle and walking. After enjoying for more than an hours walk, we reached a place called duraisamy subway, the main link between Tnagar and the western side of the city. The subway was 95% submerged in H2O.....
Gosh!!! what a site it was to see a diesel auto half submerged in the subway. Water had already started to seep in thro' the door & the driver was struggling. But anyway, we had to move. So we took a snap of that in my friend's mobile & left for Tnagar. It was 5 minutes away & we were beginning to sense victory because the Pothys logo was visible. After another 15 mins of wading, we managed to reach Mount Everest (Tnagar)...
After shopping in Pothys, RmKV & Saravana Stores, we started heading back. Having tea & some hot bajjis, we saw yet another incident at the same subway. This time it was a van. Despite all the warnings of not to enter the subway, he entered the subway in full speed. He also reached the middle of it & the van stopped all of a sudden & didnt start. Watching all that, we smiled to ourselves thinking how much of a chennaite he was, "Born to break rules" even though it meant good to him.
The water that was knee deep had another grown another 10cm in the 3 hrs we shopped & started wetting my pants through the rain coat. We bundled all our clothes in 2 huge bags that we got from the shop & started floating the bags. What was the need to carry it when we were finding it difficult even to walk comfortably?? Splashing ofcourse was fun. :-)
Another hour later, we reached home & received a sound thrashing.....yea, both of us :)). With a cup of piping hot chocolate, we narrated all our shopping experience. The 5th grade guy i told about here burst out laughing when i told him how a wave of water splashed on us when a jeep was trying to make it across the road.
On the whole, the shopping we did was something that i cant forget. This is the first time ever in my lifetime, i had shopped sooooo comfortably, dat too in Tnagar. Just for the sake, we went to Tnagar again today & my gracious God!! look at the crowd outside Saravana Stores. You would go mad just at the site of it.
Signing off now!! bye!!~~
Shopping in rain is a great experience, especially when all routes from ashok nagar to tnagar is flooded. Just on the spur of the moment myself and 1 of my friends decided to go shopping for deepavali because of 2 reasons.
1. TNagar wouldn't be crowded today.
2. We can go splash..splash.. in rain water all the way to tnagar.
Nothing to stop us, we made our way to the shopping hub of chennai. As expected, there was nothing in sight expect some 2 or 3 autorichshaws & some die-hard shoppers who were in the same mind set as me ;-). In most places, we waded & literally swam across in knee deep water. The rain had started coming down heavily, thankfully i was covered....
Going thro' the waters, the fastest mode of transport was the newspaperwalla tricycle and walking. After enjoying for more than an hours walk, we reached a place called duraisamy subway, the main link between Tnagar and the western side of the city. The subway was 95% submerged in H2O.....
Gosh!!! what a site it was to see a diesel auto half submerged in the subway. Water had already started to seep in thro' the door & the driver was struggling. But anyway, we had to move. So we took a snap of that in my friend's mobile & left for Tnagar. It was 5 minutes away & we were beginning to sense victory because the Pothys logo was visible. After another 15 mins of wading, we managed to reach Mount Everest (Tnagar)...
After shopping in Pothys, RmKV & Saravana Stores, we started heading back. Having tea & some hot bajjis, we saw yet another incident at the same subway. This time it was a van. Despite all the warnings of not to enter the subway, he entered the subway in full speed. He also reached the middle of it & the van stopped all of a sudden & didnt start. Watching all that, we smiled to ourselves thinking how much of a chennaite he was, "Born to break rules" even though it meant good to him.
The water that was knee deep had another grown another 10cm in the 3 hrs we shopped & started wetting my pants through the rain coat. We bundled all our clothes in 2 huge bags that we got from the shop & started floating the bags. What was the need to carry it when we were finding it difficult even to walk comfortably?? Splashing ofcourse was fun. :-)
Another hour later, we reached home & received a sound thrashing.....yea, both of us :)). With a cup of piping hot chocolate, we narrated all our shopping experience. The 5th grade guy i told about here burst out laughing when i told him how a wave of water splashed on us when a jeep was trying to make it across the road.
On the whole, the shopping we did was something that i cant forget. This is the first time ever in my lifetime, i had shopped sooooo comfortably, dat too in Tnagar. Just for the sake, we went to Tnagar again today & my gracious God!! look at the crowd outside Saravana Stores. You would go mad just at the site of it.
Signing off now!! bye!!~~
Friday, October 28, 2005
DOS Games ...
hi!! this is a continuation of the previous blog...myself & one of my friends Ram had a chat about our memories & ofcourse most of it was filled with how we played DOS games. You can read that post here. That post is a bit long.
Here are some links where you can find your favourite DOS games.
1. DOS Games Archive
2. DOS Games Online
Some games are not supported on 32-bit platforms. To run them, you can download dosbox from sourceforge.net.
bye!!~~
Here are some links where you can find your favourite DOS games.
1. DOS Games Archive
2. DOS Games Online
Some games are not supported on 32-bit platforms. To run them, you can download dosbox from sourceforge.net.
bye!!~~
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Some Good Old Memories
hi!!
This blog is about some good old memories that had been and will be with me.....
First off, my darling sunny. How many of you have used bajaj sunny. Well, we were one of the first buyers here & its been with us for the past 10 years & ya..... its still running. Some 3 days ago, i was compelled to take that vehicle out for a nearby store. & what a surprise it gave me when it started after 2 kicks. Great!!! bike oops! moped or scooter whatever...
Even today, its giving a mileage of 30kmpl & it travels at a speed of 50kmph after some struggle with the accelerator. My dad wanted to sell it last month. But i stopped saying that after another 10 years, it will become an antique & bike lovers will come after it... ;-)
Second, comes my age old computer....not this 1 ofcourse!! I got my first computer during 9th grade summer holidays & what a superb configuration it had.
1. 1GB of HDD.
2. 8MB RAM.
3. A 31/2 floppy drive
4. A 51/4 floppy drive .... yes i got one with my old comp!!!
5. No cdrom drive or multimedia.
Floppy drive was considered to be the most modern thing ever at that time & we used to buy DOS games in at a rate of Rs.100. Games such Dangerous Dave & Prince of Persia 1 were the most popular with us at that time. Later, after around 6 months, we upgraded our system to 32MB RAM, got a 32X cdrom drive with a multimedia set. The first cdrom game that i played was RoadRash, followed by Motoracer 2, NFS 2 and Claw. They still remain the favourites primarily because they dont use much of system resource & they are simply great!!!
Still later, that same old system ran Windows 98 & we used to be very content with playing all the games mentioned above, all in 1GB & 32 MB RAM.
Third, its the magazine Tinkle. I cant just forget the days when myself & my brother used to wait for the newspaper boy who used to deliver it. Then as usual every fortnight morning, begins the fight as to who should read it first. Thanks to Uncle Anant Pai (Tinkle Editor) who made such a superb magazine.
Its very difficult to write for kids & i realised it when i read tinkle sometime back. There was a recipe to make ice-cream & there were instructions such as, "Take help from an adult for this" and "Be careful with knife" etc...
There are ofcourse lots of memories but i will reserve them for another post.
Till then, bye n take care......
This blog is about some good old memories that had been and will be with me.....
First off, my darling sunny. How many of you have used bajaj sunny. Well, we were one of the first buyers here & its been with us for the past 10 years & ya..... its still running. Some 3 days ago, i was compelled to take that vehicle out for a nearby store. & what a surprise it gave me when it started after 2 kicks. Great!!! bike oops! moped or scooter whatever...
Even today, its giving a mileage of 30kmpl & it travels at a speed of 50kmph after some struggle with the accelerator. My dad wanted to sell it last month. But i stopped saying that after another 10 years, it will become an antique & bike lovers will come after it... ;-)
Second, comes my age old computer....not this 1 ofcourse!! I got my first computer during 9th grade summer holidays & what a superb configuration it had.
1. 1GB of HDD.
2. 8MB RAM.
3. A 31/2 floppy drive
4. A 51/4 floppy drive .... yes i got one with my old comp!!!
5. No cdrom drive or multimedia.
Floppy drive was considered to be the most modern thing ever at that time & we used to buy DOS games in at a rate of Rs.100. Games such Dangerous Dave & Prince of Persia 1 were the most popular with us at that time. Later, after around 6 months, we upgraded our system to 32MB RAM, got a 32X cdrom drive with a multimedia set. The first cdrom game that i played was RoadRash, followed by Motoracer 2, NFS 2 and Claw. They still remain the favourites primarily because they dont use much of system resource & they are simply great!!!
Still later, that same old system ran Windows 98 & we used to be very content with playing all the games mentioned above, all in 1GB & 32 MB RAM.
Third, its the magazine Tinkle. I cant just forget the days when myself & my brother used to wait for the newspaper boy who used to deliver it. Then as usual every fortnight morning, begins the fight as to who should read it first. Thanks to Uncle Anant Pai (Tinkle Editor) who made such a superb magazine.
Its very difficult to write for kids & i realised it when i read tinkle sometime back. There was a recipe to make ice-cream & there were instructions such as, "Take help from an adult for this" and "Be careful with knife" etc...
There are ofcourse lots of memories but i will reserve them for another post.
Till then, bye n take care......
Friday, October 21, 2005
Back with a bang...
hi!!
The broadband is finally working & it excites to see a page load at the blinking of an eye. So gud is the excitement & feeling dat, it makes u download the whole world. As of now, there are these listings waiting to be downloaded tonight.
1. Photoshop CS2
2. Flash 8
3. Dreamweaver 8
4. Adobe Reader 7.0.1 for linux, windows
Lots & lots more coming up....
bye!!~~
The broadband is finally working & it excites to see a page load at the blinking of an eye. So gud is the excitement & feeling dat, it makes u download the whole world. As of now, there are these listings waiting to be downloaded tonight.
1. Photoshop CS2
2. Flash 8
3. Dreamweaver 8
4. Adobe Reader 7.0.1 for linux, windows
Lots & lots more coming up....
bye!!~~
Updating my blog.....
hi!!
With my dataone broadband connection wrecking havoc all around, i found it too difficult to cope up with dialup :-(. But something is better than nothing ;), so i was sticking around with it & thought of some things that i had not done for the past 1 week or so.
After broadband, checking mail was part of my routine - morning once, evening once & night once, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now checking mail using dialup even once is becoming a nightmare. Second one was updating my blog. I was horrified by the thought that i hadnt updated it since the last 2 weeks. Third one is even worse, didnt read more than 3 dozen of offline messages that i receive. boooohoooo!!
Its sickening in dialup to see a google search webpage load at the "speed of light" for 2 minutes at 563 bytes/second. The speed also varies from 563 bytes to a blinding speed of 1.5 kbps. As far as downloads, 1 mb downloading for 5 mins 30 secs tears my nerves apart.
So, all i do is put a webpage for loading in the browser and go for a cup of coffee or choclate & come back to see to my heart-felt satisfaction, the webpage has half-loaded........as i press ESC in frustration.
And as expected, this page too is still loading, as the rest of the posts contemplate whether to appear or not...
bye!!~~ anyone reading this post, plz wish me good luck. Thanks in advance.
With my dataone broadband connection wrecking havoc all around, i found it too difficult to cope up with dialup :-(. But something is better than nothing ;), so i was sticking around with it & thought of some things that i had not done for the past 1 week or so.
After broadband, checking mail was part of my routine - morning once, evening once & night once, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now checking mail using dialup even once is becoming a nightmare. Second one was updating my blog. I was horrified by the thought that i hadnt updated it since the last 2 weeks. Third one is even worse, didnt read more than 3 dozen of offline messages that i receive. boooohoooo!!
Its sickening in dialup to see a google search webpage load at the "speed of light" for 2 minutes at 563 bytes/second. The speed also varies from 563 bytes to a blinding speed of 1.5 kbps. As far as downloads, 1 mb downloading for 5 mins 30 secs tears my nerves apart.
So, all i do is put a webpage for loading in the browser and go for a cup of coffee or choclate & come back to see to my heart-felt satisfaction, the webpage has half-loaded........as i press ESC in frustration.
And as expected, this page too is still loading, as the rest of the posts contemplate whether to appear or not...
bye!!~~ anyone reading this post, plz wish me good luck. Thanks in advance.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Microsoft e-Learning - Free !!!!
hi!! Microsoft has given some very cool online courses for free[1]. Check them out and make sure you make use maximum use of them. Most of these free courses are available for download also. To view them after download, u need the Offline Player.
1. ASP.NET - http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/learn/asptraining/
2. Visual Studio 2005 (Whidbey) - https://www.microsoftelearning.com/visualstudio2005/
3. SQL Server 2005 (Yukon) - https://www.microsoftelearning.com/sqlserver2005/
Note:
1. The courses are free only for a limited period.
2. For optimum performance use IE6.0 SP1 with 1024*768 resolution.
bye!!~~
1. ASP.NET - http://msdn.microsoft.com/asp.net/learn/asptraining/
2. Visual Studio 2005 (Whidbey) - https://www.microsoftelearning.com/visualstudio2005/
3. SQL Server 2005 (Yukon) - https://www.microsoftelearning.com/sqlserver2005/
Note:
1. The courses are free only for a limited period.
2. For optimum performance use IE6.0 SP1 with 1024*768 resolution.
bye!!~~
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Lots n Lotsa free eBooks
hi!! chk out this link http://ftp.anyhost.ru/books/www.krf.bsu.by/
This page contains a lot of freely downloadable e-Books such PHP, Ruby, Win XP for Power Users, Flash Actionscript etc. and a lot more.....Donno when the site will expire, so download all that you need immediately.
Using FDM, i have already scheduled for some downloads tonight. Dont miss this & chk it out ;-)
This page contains a lot of freely downloadable e-Books such PHP, Ruby, Win XP for Power Users, Flash Actionscript etc. and a lot more.....Donno when the site will expire, so download all that you need immediately.
Using FDM, i have already scheduled for some downloads tonight. Dont miss this & chk it out ;-)
"Google" has started blogging
hey!! guyz, Google has started blogging. Its been around for quite sometime & its right here on blogger. This is the link http://googleblog.blogspot.com
Check it out.
Check it out.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Superb Imagination !!! ha ha ha
hi!! couldnt control laughter when i saw this link http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=1322360
superb imagination about the search capablilities of google :)) =)). Jes go 2 the above link m chk dat out.
bye!!~~
superb imagination about the search capablilities of google :)) =)). Jes go 2 the above link m chk dat out.
bye!!~~
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
The Joy of Teaching Kids...
hi!!
Right next door to my house, there is a small guy doing his 5th grade. Since, we know him right when he was born, he used to be very free with our family. When i came from college yesterday, he immediately came running to my house, sat by my side & told me a very BIG secret !!!!!
Guess what it was??? His parents had bought him a brand new computer (pretty decent configuration) & he was excited about it because he could play "car race" (still NFS 2) & "bike race" (Roadrash). Other than this, what excited me was that he told me how to open "MS Paint" from the start menu & before that switching on the UPS, then pressing the blue button (boot button) near the small opening...... (floppy drive). All my tiredness completely vanished when i heard those words from a kid who had learnt all these just by watching the system assembler work at his home the previous day (quite amazing right?? atleast i think so).
So, without even changing, i went with him next door & asked him to show me a demo of creating a drawing because i didnt know how to do that. By seeing the interest he showed towards this, i thought i should teach him some more in MS Paint. Then i told him how to use brush, change some colours, save his work & reopen his work etc.
But, what really amazed him was, when the desktop background was changed & kept on asking me, to know how it was done. Since his dad had hidden the games from the start menu, he told me that the game was hidden somewhere in the computer & was pestering me to find it for him. As they had also listened to some songs the previous day, he asked how to do the same (he liked the Vijay starrer Ghilli very much). And do u know how he found it!!!!! He clicked on start, programs & instead on clicking on NFS2, he clicked Windows Media Player (a little unsteady with mouse). You should have seen the brighter than the sun smile on his face.....a sense of achievement began to envelope him & shouted Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! with so much ecstacy that bought his mom running from the kitchen :)).
Coming back home, i feel his quest to know more touched me deeply & rang a bell in my mind, that told me to be a MASTER of 1 trade & jack of others.
Right now, he is sitting besides me, tugging at my left hand, to show him how to open the white screen (notepad) so that he could type something & i keep smiling as i have a tough time finishing this blog.....
Right next door to my house, there is a small guy doing his 5th grade. Since, we know him right when he was born, he used to be very free with our family. When i came from college yesterday, he immediately came running to my house, sat by my side & told me a very BIG secret !!!!!
Guess what it was??? His parents had bought him a brand new computer (pretty decent configuration) & he was excited about it because he could play "car race" (still NFS 2) & "bike race" (Roadrash). Other than this, what excited me was that he told me how to open "MS Paint" from the start menu & before that switching on the UPS, then pressing the blue button (boot button) near the small opening...... (floppy drive). All my tiredness completely vanished when i heard those words from a kid who had learnt all these just by watching the system assembler work at his home the previous day (quite amazing right?? atleast i think so).
So, without even changing, i went with him next door & asked him to show me a demo of creating a drawing because i didnt know how to do that. By seeing the interest he showed towards this, i thought i should teach him some more in MS Paint. Then i told him how to use brush, change some colours, save his work & reopen his work etc.
But, what really amazed him was, when the desktop background was changed & kept on asking me, to know how it was done. Since his dad had hidden the games from the start menu, he told me that the game was hidden somewhere in the computer & was pestering me to find it for him. As they had also listened to some songs the previous day, he asked how to do the same (he liked the Vijay starrer Ghilli very much). And do u know how he found it!!!!! He clicked on start, programs & instead on clicking on NFS2, he clicked Windows Media Player (a little unsteady with mouse). You should have seen the brighter than the sun smile on his face.....a sense of achievement began to envelope him & shouted Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! with so much ecstacy that bought his mom running from the kitchen :)).
Coming back home, i feel his quest to know more touched me deeply & rang a bell in my mind, that told me to be a MASTER of 1 trade & jack of others.
Right now, he is sitting besides me, tugging at my left hand, to show him how to open the white screen (notepad) so that he could type something & i keep smiling as i have a tough time finishing this blog.....
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Fun...Fun...Fun...
hey!! guyz, i took this "stupidity" test. click on the image below for more. all i can tell u now that its funny. ha ha ha!!!
dont forget, there are more funny tests on dat site. neway heres my score...
dont forget, there are more funny tests on dat site. neway heres my score...
Monday, September 19, 2005
Security threat in Internet Explorer
hi!! here is a major security threat in IE. Using jes a line of javascript or vbscript, u can retrieve text from clipboard. And using technology such as AJAX, it is possible to send it to the server without page refresh i.e. user willnt know that some communication has happened between his sys & the server. 1 e.g. where AJAX is used is wen u sign up for a new mail account at gmail or yahoo. It gives u a button to check whether the user id u selected is available or not & the result is almost instantaneous without the whole page refreshing.
Btw, i read abt this somewhere around 2 weeks ago, but i understood the threat & its severeness when i was reading Sudar's blog yesterday. Thanks 2 u sudar!!
Click on the links to get more information, a demo and a possible(not fool-proof) way to get rid of this problem.
1 more thing, this problem occurs only in internet explorer and i feel its mainly because of the extensive support of activeX controls. if u have some thoughts 2 share, dont hesitate to post a comment.
Btw, i read abt this somewhere around 2 weeks ago, but i understood the threat & its severeness when i was reading Sudar's blog yesterday. Thanks 2 u sudar!!
Click on the links to get more information, a demo and a possible(not fool-proof) way to get rid of this problem.
1 more thing, this problem occurs only in internet explorer and i feel its mainly because of the extensive support of activeX controls. if u have some thoughts 2 share, dont hesitate to post a comment.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Start downloading 2 to 8 :-)
hey!! ne1 out there using dataone like me???
well, v hava reason 2 b unhappy 'cos they r giving only 1GB download/upload per month. But there is 1 small reason to be a "lil" happy. 2 AM to 8 AM is free for unlimited usage. To take advantage of this, i created a scheduled task to start downloading using Download Acclerator Plus (DAP) at 2:10 AM & shutdown the system after download completes or at 7:55 AM, whichever occurs first. Ok, heres the procedure to do that. I did this WinXP home and DAP version 7.2.
1. Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Scheduled Tasks.
2. Click next & select a program from the list or click "Browse" button to select ur own. I selected DAP frm the list.
3. Type a name & choose an option from the 1ce given. I chose daily.
4. Give a start time. As for this, give it as "2:10 AM" & select a start date.
5. Enter ur user name & password.
6. If u wan something else 2 b configured tick off the chk box & say "Finish".
Now, u gotta config DAP to start downloading at 2:10 AM. Other download managers vil surely a similar feature.
1. Fire DAP frm Start->Programs->Download Accelerator Plus->Download Accelerator
2. Goto Options->Preferences.
3. Select "Scheduler" from the left side menu & select the chk box
4. Tick the chk box dat says "Start scheduler at..." & select "Daily" & give the time of starting. If u want give the time at which the scheduler has to stop.
5. Select the options from "After scheduled downloads stopped/finished".
6. Click "Apply" & say "Close".
Dats!! it u can now close DAP, leave ur comp on & happily go 2 sleep......Today i have scheduled for 2 downloads from channel9. The 1st 1 is here & the 2nd is here, if u want to c them. They both promise 2 b gud. bye!! n have a gud day.... ;-)
Update: Read through Part 2 also.
well, v hava reason 2 b unhappy 'cos they r giving only 1GB download/upload per month. But there is 1 small reason to be a "lil" happy. 2 AM to 8 AM is free for unlimited usage. To take advantage of this, i created a scheduled task to start downloading using Download Acclerator Plus (DAP) at 2:10 AM & shutdown the system after download completes or at 7:55 AM, whichever occurs first. Ok, heres the procedure to do that. I did this WinXP home and DAP version 7.2.
1. Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Scheduled Tasks.
2. Click next & select a program from the list or click "Browse" button to select ur own. I selected DAP frm the list.
3. Type a name & choose an option from the 1ce given. I chose daily.
4. Give a start time. As for this, give it as "2:10 AM" & select a start date.
5. Enter ur user name & password.
6. If u wan something else 2 b configured tick off the chk box & say "Finish".
Now, u gotta config DAP to start downloading at 2:10 AM. Other download managers vil surely a similar feature.
1. Fire DAP frm Start->Programs->Download Accelerator Plus->Download Accelerator
2. Goto Options->Preferences.
3. Select "Scheduler" from the left side menu & select the chk box
4. Tick the chk box dat says "Start scheduler at..." & select "Daily" & give the time of starting. If u want give the time at which the scheduler has to stop.
5. Select the options from "After scheduled downloads stopped/finished".
6. Click "Apply" & say "Close".
Dats!! it u can now close DAP, leave ur comp on & happily go 2 sleep......Today i have scheduled for 2 downloads from channel9. The 1st 1 is here & the 2nd is here, if u want to c them. They both promise 2 b gud. bye!! n have a gud day.... ;-)
Update: Read through Part 2 also.
BEA User Group Meeting
hi!! i attended the BEA user group meeting at Taj Connemara & this is the first session BEA is having in chennai. Its having plans of starting the same in other metros (its started in mumbai i think, not sure) & pune too.
The topic that was covered in that session was on their "Diablo" (WebLogic Server 9.0) & BEA AquaLogic. Aqualogic is 1 platform for integrating systems of diff. architectures & enabling communication between them. It is more architecture oriented. & b4 going into that there was an hr session on SOA (Service Oriented Architecture). If you dont know what SOA is, it is the next wave of the future & to ride on it, read the June 2005 magz of Developer IQ. There r very good articles on SOA, more importantly Web Services.
In brief, SOA talks about exposing ur application or ur code as a service. This means that, the methods you write for ur app can be called from any OS, any language & also it is available anywhere, anytime. Therefore, you first need to publish your code or class (enabling the service) & make it available to the world (discover) by registering at any of the registries available E.g. UDDI (Universal Description Discovery Integration).
And obviously we were given a DVD containing the WebLogic Platform 8.1, Weblogic Server 9.0 beta, Apache Beehive, Spring framework 1.2 etc.
Gotta try it now. bye!!~~
The topic that was covered in that session was on their "Diablo" (WebLogic Server 9.0) & BEA AquaLogic. Aqualogic is 1 platform for integrating systems of diff. architectures & enabling communication between them. It is more architecture oriented. & b4 going into that there was an hr session on SOA (Service Oriented Architecture). If you dont know what SOA is, it is the next wave of the future & to ride on it, read the June 2005 magz of Developer IQ. There r very good articles on SOA, more importantly Web Services.
In brief, SOA talks about exposing ur application or ur code as a service. This means that, the methods you write for ur app can be called from any OS, any language & also it is available anywhere, anytime. Therefore, you first need to publish your code or class (enabling the service) & make it available to the world (discover) by registering at any of the registries available E.g. UDDI (Universal Description Discovery Integration).
And obviously we were given a DVD containing the WebLogic Platform 8.1, Weblogic Server 9.0 beta, Apache Beehive, Spring framework 1.2 etc.
Gotta try it now. bye!!~~
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Pharming Attacks.....Beware!!!
Pharming is a very popular type of network attack among hackers. Lemme explain the process in brief.
Prevention is better than cure
- The hacker looks for a web page from where he wants to get details. Typically it will be a bank’s website.
- By viewing the design source code of the web page (View > Source) from internet explorer, he recreates a similar web page.
- Then, he looks at the DNS (Domain Name System) table of the ISP (Internet Service Provider). He gets the list of IP addresses for the different websites & searches for the website he wants to spoof.
- Now in the DNS table, he changes the IP address of the website to represent his server’s IP address. Eg: If he wants to spoof yahoo.com, he changes yahoo’s IP to his own IP.
- Whenever a user accesses the site by giving yahoo.com, the DNS now redirects him to the hacker’s system. Since he has recreated a similar page, the end user believes that he has come to the correct page. Now, he gives his user id and pwd to login to the site & wat happens now?? The website shows an error & by this time, the user has lost his user id & pwd to the world.
Prevention is better than cure
- Banks & other institutions which take data such as user id & pwd often put up a notice on their saying that they never ask for other details.
- For the users, plzz b careful. Have a look at the url each time u see the site. If it differs, cross check by sending a mail or calling them up. Most probably, the mail wont b replied bcos, the hacker’s IP wont be having a mail server.
- Check whether the website’s certificate is from an authorized agent. Most hackers don’t have a proper certificate. For this, c whether u have a small eye icon on the status bar of the internet browser (internet fxplorer, firefox, opera etc.).
- Double click on it to c the certificate.Or better still, don’t use internet :-). That way, u can remain safe forever.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Caritor Orientation Programme Cont....
hi!! im back with the update on Caritor orientation programme....
It happened on 10th and 11th of Sep at my college and was really excellent. Ok, heres a short desc of wat exactly happened. These sessions have proved wat a gr8 company caritor is.
Day 1
After the inaugral function with our chairman, we were left with Mr.Kaushik & Ms.Nidhi from Caritor. They started the sessions by introducing themselves & i should specifically mention here that both of them were real cool. The first session was on "success" and how success is different from happiness (this was eye opening). The second session today was on introducing ourselves. This was not the normal kinda intro v r used to. V were paired up in groups of 2 (1 guy & 1 gal) & told to know abt each other.
After talking with ur partner for sometime, each group went on stage to introduce the other. This was a lot fun, especially "unique experience" section.
Heres my expr. As for me, i went to Tirunelveli with my dad once. He went to office dat morning & told me to visit a temple dat was abt an hr from the city. So, i had breakfast & headed to the bus stop. Since i didnt know the city or its suburbs much, i asked the bus conductor to tell me wen the stop came. He was very cool & didnt tell me abt it. Soon, something at the back of my mind told that i may have missed the stop & i asked the conductor abt it. He told im 45 mins behind that temple..... :) I got really mad & asked him how do i get back. He told me to take a bus dat goes to tirunelveli & once i got onto the bus, i was looking at each board of the stop until i was sure i got down at the right place. phew!! i had travelled for more than 4 hrs dat day alone & once i got to the room, i slept until the next morning. :))
Day 2
Today, the first session was on corporate ettiquette. Then v had some more sessions on how to achieve success. 3 main ingredients for achieving success are
1. desire - the burning desire to do something
2. knowledge - that helps u move towards the desire
3. skill - helps u perform the task more efficiently to achieve ur goal
The 2nd session was on listening skills & there were some tests on listening comprehensions. Importance was on managing with other english accents & it can be improved by listening to news channels, movies etc.
Dats it for this post guyz, have anything to ask, plz post a comment. bye!!
It happened on 10th and 11th of Sep at my college and was really excellent. Ok, heres a short desc of wat exactly happened. These sessions have proved wat a gr8 company caritor is.
Day 1
After the inaugral function with our chairman, we were left with Mr.Kaushik & Ms.Nidhi from Caritor. They started the sessions by introducing themselves & i should specifically mention here that both of them were real cool. The first session was on "success" and how success is different from happiness (this was eye opening). The second session today was on introducing ourselves. This was not the normal kinda intro v r used to. V were paired up in groups of 2 (1 guy & 1 gal) & told to know abt each other.
After talking with ur partner for sometime, each group went on stage to introduce the other. This was a lot fun, especially "unique experience" section.
Heres my expr. As for me, i went to Tirunelveli with my dad once. He went to office dat morning & told me to visit a temple dat was abt an hr from the city. So, i had breakfast & headed to the bus stop. Since i didnt know the city or its suburbs much, i asked the bus conductor to tell me wen the stop came. He was very cool & didnt tell me abt it. Soon, something at the back of my mind told that i may have missed the stop & i asked the conductor abt it. He told im 45 mins behind that temple..... :) I got really mad & asked him how do i get back. He told me to take a bus dat goes to tirunelveli & once i got onto the bus, i was looking at each board of the stop until i was sure i got down at the right place. phew!! i had travelled for more than 4 hrs dat day alone & once i got to the room, i slept until the next morning. :))
Day 2
Today, the first session was on corporate ettiquette. Then v had some more sessions on how to achieve success. 3 main ingredients for achieving success are
1. desire - the burning desire to do something
2. knowledge - that helps u move towards the desire
3. skill - helps u perform the task more efficiently to achieve ur goal
The 2nd session was on listening skills & there were some tests on listening comprehensions. Importance was on managing with other english accents & it can be improved by listening to news channels, movies etc.
Dats it for this post guyz, have anything to ask, plz post a comment. bye!!
Friday, September 09, 2005
Ilaiyaraja's Thiruvasagam
hi!! friends, heard Thiruvasagam? For those of u who dont know wat it is, it is a set of hyms or poems written on Lord Shiva by Thiruvasagar.
For the mortals, the great work by the poet is remade in such a way so that, it reaches the common man. There was a program on sun tv abt this where Ilaiyaraja was giving interview. The question was, "Sir, you very well know that the meaning of the words in the work are difficult to understand. How do u expect it to reach the common man?" The answer was, "The feeling u get wen u listen is what that is more important then understanding the words, which induces change in u (+ve change)".
As an example, he recited the words in the poem (which had no effect ofcourse) & then he sang it in a particular way, which had some effect on me (couldnt really explain dat, u have 2 feel it). Whether u r Ilaiyaraja's fan or not, u must listen to the 1st song. It starts like this
"Poovar senni mannan empuyangap peruman siriyomai ..........."
It was done with Budapest Symphony Orchestra (120 singers), conducted by Laszlo Kovacs & sung by Ilaiyaraja, Bhavatharini etc. A must listen for music lovers around the world. Without doubt, its 1 of the greatest creations!!!
For the mortals, the great work by the poet is remade in such a way so that, it reaches the common man. There was a program on sun tv abt this where Ilaiyaraja was giving interview. The question was, "Sir, you very well know that the meaning of the words in the work are difficult to understand. How do u expect it to reach the common man?" The answer was, "The feeling u get wen u listen is what that is more important then understanding the words, which induces change in u (+ve change)".
As an example, he recited the words in the poem (which had no effect ofcourse) & then he sang it in a particular way, which had some effect on me (couldnt really explain dat, u have 2 feel it). Whether u r Ilaiyaraja's fan or not, u must listen to the 1st song. It starts like this
"Poovar senni mannan empuyangap peruman siriyomai ..........."
It was done with Budapest Symphony Orchestra (120 singers), conducted by Laszlo Kovacs & sung by Ilaiyaraja, Bhavatharini etc. A must listen for music lovers around the world. Without doubt, its 1 of the greatest creations!!!
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Caritor Orientation Programme
hi!! some of my future colleagues (Caritor) had some orientation programme that was conducted by Caritor itself in their colleges. They had a lot of fun in the 2 days of the program. And v r having it in my college along with the guyz n gals frm Jerusalem & SRM Easweri.
Looking forward to it. seems to b very exciting, i vil surely keep u posted...bye!!
Looking forward to it. seems to b very exciting, i vil surely keep u posted...bye!!
Friday, September 02, 2005
No mouse click??? chk this out
hi!! i found a site called http://www.dontclick.it from this blog. Its a site where u neednt click to navigate.
Chk it out, its really kewl!!.
Chk it out, its really kewl!!.
Oh dear, Its a saturday again....
Its dat time of the week again ..... when all your friends r njoying a good morning sleep & u have to get up early and go to college. And what happens here???
Friends!! its 1 of those sat's again for me & My mom will be asking me to get up, from 5:30AM until its 6:15 AM. After dat, a splash of water goes off on my face & i get up wincing to c dat its a saturday. Rest assured, i lazily brush up & get ready for college ...... oh!! God its 6:45, my buz leaves in another 5 mins & im still dressing up :-O
I scrammble for my socks, stuff them in 1 of my pockets to wear it in the bus (I dont disturb my bag because it isnt opened on normal days) & bolt to the bus stop. Phew!! jes in time to catch the bus, its already leaving. What do i notice now??? I have taken 1 black & 1 white sock in a hurry. oh!! wat a saturday morning itz been. Lets c wat happens 2mrw.
Till then, bye & good night ;)
Friends!! its 1 of those sat's again for me & My mom will be asking me to get up, from 5:30AM until its 6:15 AM. After dat, a splash of water goes off on my face & i get up wincing to c dat its a saturday. Rest assured, i lazily brush up & get ready for college ...... oh!! God its 6:45, my buz leaves in another 5 mins & im still dressing up :-O
I scrammble for my socks, stuff them in 1 of my pockets to wear it in the bus (I dont disturb my bag because it isnt opened on normal days) & bolt to the bus stop. Phew!! jes in time to catch the bus, its already leaving. What do i notice now??? I have taken 1 black & 1 white sock in a hurry. oh!! wat a saturday morning itz been. Lets c wat happens 2mrw.
Till then, bye & good night ;)
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