A ray of hope

She was happy. There was finally some hope in the end of a long dark tunnel. Her children would eat well from tomorrow. There is a chance that they might even get to go to school, and become someone important. Her spirits were high. Her husband, a bulldozer driver, will get some work from tomorrow. She silently thanked the gods for all the new demolition work on the Cooum bank and the extra people needed to do it. In any case, there would be food in the plate tomorrow.

Down the drain

It was his dream. He had put in a lot of effort to realize it. He had pledged every material possession he had, taken a loan and borrowed some more. It was his own house. It was small, lovely and at the wrong place. He had been sold the land saying that all the documents were in order. And now, the government order to clear encroachments around the Cooum river endangered his house. Cooum in the outlet for sewage in Chennai. There was nothing he could do. His dreams were going down the drain.

Funny poem @ Railway counter

Long time since I made a post. But today, I saw something that I really, really had to post. This thing that I read was funny. First, let me give you people an idea of the situation.

There I was, at the Koramangala BDA complex waiting for cancelling my ticket to Chennai Express on Sunday. I was in a really irritated mood, since I had been standing for nearly 5 hours. First, from 12.30 to 2 I was at the Electronics City reservation counter, where the guy promptly closed at 2 pm (I would love to see if he opens the counter precisely at 8am, and yeah, I know I am whining). Then, I was standing in the BDA complex, again in a long queue. I saw this poem neatly framed on one of the pillars inside the room having the counters. Here goes...

[Read at your own caution. No damages can be claimed if you hurt yourself laughing. Posted as accurately as possible.]

---

The moment Ur in Tension,
U will lose Ur Attention,
Then U r in Total Confusion,
And you will spoil personal Relation,
Ultimately, you won't get Co-operation,
Then u will make things Complication,
Then Ur BP may also rise, Caution,
And you may have to take Medication,
And try to think about Solution,
Instead understand the Situation,
It is only for Ur Prevention,
If u understand my Intention,
You will never come again to Tension... Anonymous

---

God, I couldn't stop laughing for some time. Not many people care to read notices. People write some weird stuff, like this notice that I found th eother day...

"People should not seat the first floor after 6 pm.. By Order xxxx.."

Wow! That is some statement folks.. I am not saying that I am perfect. I know I am not, but people need to read what they are writing before they put it up in public places. Well, I am off for a holiday for a week at Chennai (come tide or high water, which the case in Chennai now =)) )

Common Cold & its cure

Here are the symptoms of the common cold:
* Runny nose
* Nasal Congestion
* Sneezing

This entry starts out like some medical journal. I am telling you all this because I am suffering from all of them, to a certain degree. Actually, I have been suffering from cold for the past few days. There is an adage "Feed the fever, starve the cold". However, I am having bouts of fever too.. so do I hog on food, or do I starve myself? Modifying Shakespeare a bit, "To eat or not to eat, that is the question".

The assignment on Perl is killing me. Every time I come up with a solution, Gurmeet or Sids keep plugging holes into my algorithm. I have already re-coded it twice. But today was wonderful. I have managed to sleep nearly 13 hours in a single day. A normal person needs around 6-8 hours of sleep.. so does this make me doubly normal?? [lol].

I have managed to waste one more day of my life doing nothing. Isn't that amazing? There are so many people who waste time without realizing it. Atleast I realize that I am wasting time. Any way, after dinner, I was playing frisbee with the guys in the grass. Some how, I didn't feel like going back to the room. I have already deviated a lot from the actual topic of the blog.. my common cold.

There is this quote that I found in Erich Segal's Doctors where the dean comments that he hopes that he can turn out some good doctors, cure some diseases and maybe, even find a cure for the common cold.

Gotta watch what I type ! @#!$##

Take a look at this article. If such things really come out, I am going to stop typing. Already, my passwords give pretty good insights into what I think and what I do. If such tech. actually start working with high accuracy, we might as well give take of the traditional security techniques using passwords and dump them in the bottom of the 'C'.

I gotta stop reading ./ , it is making me paranoid :(

Clear as mud! These M$ guys are crazy

This article that I found must be the joke of the year. I don't know who played this joke on the M$ hiring guy... and if these guys had any sense at all, they wouldn't have gone on to offer a job to Eric S Raymond. Clear as mud! These M$ guys are crazy!!

Here is the link to the blog by ESR on the mail and his reply. AFAIK, this is the joke of the year (atleast till now). The joke on Micro$oft HR guys was in real poor spirit. I do feel sorry for them, and I am not a Micro$oft basher. But they must have done some background check before they offer jobs. Hope the lesson is drilled into them the next time around...

Vows and wows

I read this post on making and keeping vows. This story made me say, "Wow, I never thought of this". I had made one vow to myself saying that I would blog as frequently (read everyday) as possible. But then, I did not blog for nearly a month. I find this blog to be a really good emotional outlet and writing an entry always leaves me feeling better.

But I still feel that a blog is not the place to bare your inner most secrets and leave it for the world to read. It could land a person in some serious trouble. I feel good about myself [:)], cos this is my second entry for the day (my day goes on till 3 in the morning). I hope to keep my vows and wow you all.

Ah.. Long time no post

Life was wonderful. That was my previous starting. I end up typing a whole blog entry, and then, do something stupid and screw it up. Now, I have to start all over again :(. Except for the strategy classes, life is still wonderful. My hate-this-phrase now reads as:

1. "So what?"
2. "So what?"
3. "So what?"
4. "So what?"
5. "So what?"

That basically sums it up. This TA thing is also getting pretty weird. But a seperate post about that later. It has been a long time since I posted. Good to be back.

What am I doing??

Today has been a blur, as usual [:))]. I managed to go to sleep at 5 in the morning. The worst thing that can happen is being disturbed when you manage to go to sleep after suffering from "partial insomnia". First, dad called up, then a friend wanted to borrow a book, and finally, my team mates kept messaging me for a team discussion. What a night (nope, a day actually)?

I go to college, slog all morning for a class in the evening with a paper in which I don't understand much. At 3, guys told me that we are going to have a placement meeting. Everyone was having real fun as the class was supposed to be cancelled. We go to class to find that prof is not coming and we have a surprise quiz. What a day? [:((]

The only bright part of the day is that Prof Dinesha called me to tell me that I have been chosen as a teaching assistant for Principles of Programming Languages course. Wow, $$$ and some good work experience.

Now, I am stuck with my management assignment team discussion. I still don't understand. What am I going to do with these courses? The truth is that I will realize that these courses help me in the long run, but they are just a pain in the neck now. My conscience speak!!

Back 2 class

Tis been a long and boring wait!! Classes have finally began. I had my first class on adv Databases today. Class was wonderful. No more boredom. The juniors have also arrived. Let's see how things develop.. will keep posting

Casa Piccola @ Koramangala

Yesterday was wonderful. We went out the whole day and had some major 'phun'. The day started with Sids banging on my door to wake me up.

Sids: Wake up. Monty has gone to buy tickets at PVR
Me : hmmm [read it like a grunt of a guy who hasn't woken up yet]

(Bang, bang, bang. Sids persists)

Me : Wait a minute. I will be out.
I go out and he tells me that we will be leaving in an hour, and I wasn't even fully awake (all this at around 10.30 in the morning).

We reach PVR just in the nick of time. 'War of the worlds' was a good movie. But the problem is, from Spielberg, we don't expect good. I expected a great movie. The movie seems to have borrowed visuals from other movies like Independence day, ET etc. The ending was not as powerful as expected. We knew the aliens were going to be vanquished, but couldn't it have been done a bit better. The movie also sparked a huge debate between Ashish and Karthik, with the others pitching in with their opinions. The movie was ok, just that.

Hungry and ready to hog, we reached Casa Piccola at around 3. We managed to order something, but did not have a clue as to how it was going to be. To cut it short, lunch was a disaster. Either we picked all the wrong dishes in the menu, or the cook is not as good as the one at Casa Piccola, Residency Road. As it was my birthday treat (one long overdue), I walked out with a heavy stomach and a lighter wallet.

The walk back to Forum where the bikes were parked did help with the heavy stomach atleast. There were plenty of birds to watch, an "ornithologist's" paradise. I liked one special bird at the Levi's showroom :)). We were delayed at the Levi's showroom as the pants given for alteration was not ready (thank god). The ride back in the rain was just the added bonus.

Back in the room. I started on the "Born in Fire" book with vengance, and managed to finish it by 2. Not bad at all. Why can't every day be like this?? :(

Got Tagged (a long time ago)

Long long ago, so long ago that the guy who tagged me (Sids) doesn't remember how long ago, I was tagged into this meme about books I read. So here it goes...

Number of books I own:
LOTS! Whenever I go home, I have to clear a place in my room to sit down or take a nap. I heard that my mom managed to clear the mess my books made. I never bothered to count. But I did manage to get a lot of stuff like old volumes of Mahabaratha, Complete works of Shakespeare, O'Henry collection as an inheritance from my grandpa.. and I could never get enough of books. After coming to iiitb, I have to think of other basic needs like sustenance, so I have reduced the number of books that I buy.

Last book I bought:
Five point some one... a really cool book. There was something with those characters that I could actually identify with. We were off to birthday treat of Manas, and happened to go to Crossroads(?) by chance. The book is so great that it is still doing the rounds in the hostel (yeah, people actually read it!).

Last book I read:
I think "Charmed" by Nora Roberts. It is sort of a lovey-dovey book. I can finish one of these books in a hour and a half (an added advantage). It is not serious, no great philosophy or thoughts thrown in. Basically a boy meets girl, they fall in love, are not ready to accept it and finally get married (happily ever after ending). The book is a change from the regular stuff like sci-fi, philosophy and action.

Five books that mean a lot to me:

1. The Godfather by Mario Puzo [my personal bible in life, when in doubt, read the Godfather]

2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho [love that book]

3. Mahabaratha [never read the Sanskrit version, but one of the best political books written]

4. Love Story by Erich Seagal

5. Who moved my Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson [not that I am into self-help books, just that I like this particular one]

That's that folks.

P.S. I decided not to mention my obsession with Star Wars, space and time travel and Space Odysseys series, 'cos it is considered unhealty [;)]. People just don't realize that what is impossible is just something that we can't imagine. Possiblities are as far as we can stretch our mind.

Free for lunch

Dilbert's creators have been kind enough to give him his wish... but what about me? Hey, I am free for lunch too...

Wa(l)king dreams

Sunday! The day that we all look forward to. I personally don't like Sundays, 'cos Mondays are just around the corner. But this Sunday was special. No classes on Monday, less assignment pressure than usual and the fact that I just managed to get hold of 4 movies. Life can not get better.

I managed to sleep at 5.30 today morning after watching 2 (or was it 3) movies continuously. I personally never get tired of all this sentimental and action crap that the moviewalas continuously feed us. The best ones are the "love stories". I am one of those people whose entire love life that can fit on one side of a very small grain of knife. It is nice to find that there are other people around the world who find love, and live happily ever after (I wonder why the divorce rates are so high!?!)

I decided to hit the sack when I couldn't keep my eyelids from coming into close contact. Suddenly, Sids is banging at my door, 'cos it is 1.30 pm and high time that we go for lunch. Lunch at Pavitra was great. After the 25 paise episode (I think Sids has an account of it in his blog), the service was great. Back to the room, watch another movie, grab a shower, and then off to the volleyball court.

Now, here I am, banging my poor keyboard to smithreens, thinking of what to blog today, and writing a really long post. The day passed like a dream, and a nice one at that. Life doesn't get better than this.

Nerd level

I never knew I was such a "gone" case. Wow, am I a god or what?? :))

A ride back home

I must have written this post yesterday. Guess I was so tired that I put it off till today. I am back in Chennai. Good ol' Chennai, the land of 3 climates: hot, hotter, hottest [not an original quote, heard from many people describing Chennai :)) ].After the end of finance exam, it felt great to get out of college. There is nothing better than being at home, having so much time to do nothing, and being constantly pampered. But this whole post is not about Chennai at all. It is about the ride back home.

Vasanth, Badri and I left iiit-b at around 7.15. After escaping from a few death traps (those private bus operators between Bangalore and Hosur), we managed to get a nice and comfy ride. Meenakshi Bhavan at Hosur had some nice masala dosas and chola pooris for us to polish off. We reached the bus stand at around 9 and lo! and behold there was a decent looking bus from Hosur to Chennai. The seats looked comfortable and we thought we might just survive the ride back.

A warning to all those of you who want to grow tall. Consider the fact that you will be taller than the average Indian, and have your head bumping constantly in the roof of every bus, or auto that you ride. Consider the fact that even seats are not made to fit you in. And consider the fact that you might some be forced to go in a bus and fit your long legs in a very small place. I hope I have managed to scare atleast some of you from growing tall. Life is difficult (though the guys in the volleyball court think otherwise ;) ).

The seats were pretty comfortable, atleast to the other two guys. I really have to thank Vasanth, 'cos he took care of my laptop and gave me some space to stretch my legs. The bus ride can be summed up in two words - "bone rattling". I never knew that I had so many bones in my body that could rattle like that. I felt like people riding a bicycle [or whatever it was called] before an inflated wheel was invented. We were tired, and the rattling did help you to go to sleep, once you were beyond the brink of exhaustion.

The bus managed to come into Chennai at unholy hours [4.30 in the morning is a time that most folks wouldn't mind commuting]. Thanks to late night service of the ever-dependable MTC, I am back home. And in one piece! The post is pretty long. I guess I should stop now, and hold my peace.

Bang, crash and a creamy cake!

I may be a little late in writing this, but it is not every day that a person gets lifted by a bunch of people (!!!) and kicked till he starts howling, and then let down to be wished "Happy Birthday". For the uninitiated, welcome to the world of colleges and birthday bums.

Yesterday wasn't my birthday. It was a long time ago (end of may). But my buddies just decided that they wanted to kick me. So, one of them goes and gets a cake. Another suckers me to walk all the way to college telling that we are having "bums" for one of my seniors who just landed a job in Google. And guess what, I drag that poor guy all the way to the college, only to find that I am the "Bakra for the Day". It just aint fair. I lost count of the number of kicks after the first dozen.

The "best part of the night" was the cake. I am not sure how it tasted. I managed to get a small piece into my mouth before the guys tore it to pieces and stuffed all the cream on my face. I got more cake on me than inside me. Then came the "worst part of the night", I had to take a bath at around 1 in the night. Lucky me, the college has hot water running 24 hours. I go back to the room and find that my t-shirt (the orange one with iiit-b logo and let's log out on it) covered with cream. And then, I find that I had forgotten to go to the shop to buy some soap. Lightning struck at the same place twice. It was one thirty by the time I finished cleaning myself and my t-shirt. A wonderful night. The problem was that I was on the receiving end of the cake.

Is it right to hit back?

I just came across this post at whurleyvision about networks that can not just monitor threats posed to them, but actively respond with countermeasures. Sounds like a very interesting idea. There is a project called OpenSIMS that is currently working on it. But is it right to hit back at a network threatening you? What are its future implications in Information Warfare? A pity that I could not read the whole article on newscientist written by William Hurley...