Bangalore suddenly seemed hot and humid
Friday didn't bring in the chorus cheers of TGIF (I vaguely remember someone calling it OGIF - Oh! God, itz Friday)
The couch potato in me was whining about the programs or lack of in the numerous channels.
The mouse potato in me was frowning at the very look of the computer
Friends looked liked strangers and strangers looked like aliens (I didn't want to think how aliens would've looked like!)
The traffic looked like leeches and earthworms climbing on each other
I could've gone further, but the mind had to be controlled lest it would wander astray with more preposterous thoughts.
Waking up on the wrong side of the bed is definitely not a good idea, but doesn't one have to sleep first to wake up?
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
SNAFU
I was scouting the various newspapers at office after having lunch. My eyes caught this word "SNAFU" mentioned in one of the articles. The word looked a bit familiar to me and I remembered coming across this word somewhere and it wasn't a normal word. As the adage goes, curiosity kills the cat, I came back to my cubicle and googled for the word. The moment I saw its expansion, I knew where I heard it, but what surprised me was the etymology of the word. The below two links give interesting and hilarious information about the word.
http://www.snafu.com/Snafu/SnafuStory.html
http://www.pahrahdiseonline.com/SNAFU.htm
Wonder how many would feel SNAFU everyday in their life?
http://www.snafu.com/Snafu/SnafuStory.html
http://www.pahrahdiseonline.com/SNAFU.htm
Wonder how many would feel SNAFU everyday in their life?
Friday, July 22, 2005
Google Earth and Moon
If you thought all those GPS technology that was extensively used in "Enemy of the State" was all smoke and mirror, its time you change that opinion. Check out the latest of the releases from Google's Beta programs, the Google Earth and Google Moon. Seeing is believing. So see'em all!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
On a positive note
The mind is already racing and in its peak while the body is just stirring up to face another day. Commands and controls are fired all over. The list is made and re-made and re-sorted. Priorities are assigned and re-assigned. It all ends up in one big conundrum, but clarity in chaos is still sought. The plan is walked through a million times, before the show begins. But as the show starts, more chaos sets in. Mr. Murphy lurking around the corner, waiting for the perfect opportunity, sees it coming all the time, always his way. Things go haphazard and desperate attempts are made to set things right. The dust appears to settle down, while the sun already starts to set in. The day has just gone by and those precious hours of the day spill well over into the night.
What went wrong? The task was no Herculean one. It was all there, the sequence and the steps. It would've been a walk in the park to blindly follow the steps. Appeared to be a no-brainer, till it actually ate the very brain.
Poor Maawli looked lost. He had it all ready and it was well executed in his mind, but things got out of his hand when the show started. It wasn't like Maawli was just fooling away. He has his reasons; there were unexpected and unprecedented stymies that had to be crossed to accomplish the task. For no fault of his, apart from the fact that he was responsible for the task, he bore the brunt of one and all.
But the brighter side of the gloomy turn of events is always bound to ensue. Maawli did pull off a decent show inspite of the hurdles. And it is this end result that casts a shadow of satisfaction and hope removing the darkness of errors. Today could've been a day that did not go well, but the lessons learnt will save another such day, lest it should go astray.
As Maawli lets his mind slip into the silence of the night, the back of his mind already preps up for the sprint starting again at the dawn of the next day. The mind is convinced that the next day would be a positive day (just like today).
What went wrong? The task was no Herculean one. It was all there, the sequence and the steps. It would've been a walk in the park to blindly follow the steps. Appeared to be a no-brainer, till it actually ate the very brain.
Poor Maawli looked lost. He had it all ready and it was well executed in his mind, but things got out of his hand when the show started. It wasn't like Maawli was just fooling away. He has his reasons; there were unexpected and unprecedented stymies that had to be crossed to accomplish the task. For no fault of his, apart from the fact that he was responsible for the task, he bore the brunt of one and all.
But the brighter side of the gloomy turn of events is always bound to ensue. Maawli did pull off a decent show inspite of the hurdles. And it is this end result that casts a shadow of satisfaction and hope removing the darkness of errors. Today could've been a day that did not go well, but the lessons learnt will save another such day, lest it should go astray.
As Maawli lets his mind slip into the silence of the night, the back of his mind already preps up for the sprint starting again at the dawn of the next day. The mind is convinced that the next day would be a positive day (just like today).
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
While I am waiting...
..I game on yahoo
..I "Stumble Upon" on interesting websites (and sometimes blog about them too)
..I clean my Inbox and organize my mails (sometimes the Thrash too!)
..I stare at the monitor and wonder, "How did calligraphy became more popular? Was it because of really writing rolls of scripts or was it the fonts I see on my monitor? Maybe, Steve Jobs would be able to tell better!
..I start dreaming about watching a cool movie in the night (thankz to my excellent ability to day dream!)
..I blog (Gosh that shld've been on top of the list)
and if I don't do any of these things, I end up..
WAITING.....
..I "Stumble Upon" on interesting websites (and sometimes blog about them too)
..I clean my Inbox and organize my mails (sometimes the Thrash too!)
..I stare at the monitor and wonder, "How did calligraphy became more popular? Was it because of really writing rolls of scripts or was it the fonts I see on my monitor? Maybe, Steve Jobs would be able to tell better!
..I start dreaming about watching a cool movie in the night (thankz to my excellent ability to day dream!)
..I blog (Gosh that shld've been on top of the list)
and if I don't do any of these things, I end up..
WAITING.....
Monday, June 27, 2005
Hooked (again)
I am back again, but this time will keep my emotions a bit low and surely save the trouble of keying another Oscar speech, with the only hope that I don't come back after a month and say "I am back again..."
The joy of being connected from all my co-ordinates had to be short lived when I saw the computer from my Bangalore apartment gone. I felt handicapped, deprived of an essential element that made many a things easier in my life (both professionally and personally). My morning routine had to skip the task of checking my mails the first thing, sometimes before brushing and sometimes after. I had to keep my fingers crossed to see if there were any surprises, pleasant or otherwise waiting in my inbox, until I got to the office. AOE, Midtown Madness and Quake had to go into a state of dormancy and I had a strong feeling that the Macedonians were really getting impatient because of not taking them on a death troll. Reading documents had to be done during office hours and my blogging rate took a big hit because I couldn't do it like the old times.
I felt a void in my environment when I did not hear the constant low humming of the CPU fan in my apartment. The humming that I was so used to hearing at office, at Chennai (my aunt's place) and my home was missing in the apartment where I stay. I tried to delay the option of equipping myself with a new computer and simultaneously dilly dallying between getting a laptop versus a desktop. My resistance to temptation hit an all time low and I did not want to keep fighting with it. I made up my mind to buy a system and buy it real soon. Laptops were turning out to be quite expensive and the idea of waiting for someone to buy one from U.S did not sound appealing. The waiting period really turned me off. I did it eventually on a Tuesday evening buying a cool assembled PC, the eye-catcher being the 15'inch BenQ TFT monitor.
These days, when I get back home, I happily sit in front of the computer and spend a useful hour or two before I call it a day and joyfully brought back the routine of checking my mails the first thing I get up in the morning.
Now, I am fully connected and completely hooked on to the world wide web, once again...
The joy of being connected from all my co-ordinates had to be short lived when I saw the computer from my Bangalore apartment gone. I felt handicapped, deprived of an essential element that made many a things easier in my life (both professionally and personally). My morning routine had to skip the task of checking my mails the first thing, sometimes before brushing and sometimes after. I had to keep my fingers crossed to see if there were any surprises, pleasant or otherwise waiting in my inbox, until I got to the office. AOE, Midtown Madness and Quake had to go into a state of dormancy and I had a strong feeling that the Macedonians were really getting impatient because of not taking them on a death troll. Reading documents had to be done during office hours and my blogging rate took a big hit because I couldn't do it like the old times.
I felt a void in my environment when I did not hear the constant low humming of the CPU fan in my apartment. The humming that I was so used to hearing at office, at Chennai (my aunt's place) and my home was missing in the apartment where I stay. I tried to delay the option of equipping myself with a new computer and simultaneously dilly dallying between getting a laptop versus a desktop. My resistance to temptation hit an all time low and I did not want to keep fighting with it. I made up my mind to buy a system and buy it real soon. Laptops were turning out to be quite expensive and the idea of waiting for someone to buy one from U.S did not sound appealing. The waiting period really turned me off. I did it eventually on a Tuesday evening buying a cool assembled PC, the eye-catcher being the 15'inch BenQ TFT monitor.
These days, when I get back home, I happily sit in front of the computer and spend a useful hour or two before I call it a day and joyfully brought back the routine of checking my mails the first thing I get up in the morning.
Now, I am fully connected and completely hooked on to the world wide web, once again...
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Green (a) Mile
A common phenomena that all of us notice on our day to day lives is the unbelievable traffic on the roads. And to make matters worse, all the n-wheelers, and the "tour a pied" groups always seem to be on a mad rush, all the time. I keep wondering that maybe I am the only one who is not able to spot the Mackenna's Gold that everyone seems to be after.
When it comes to the signals, especially the "red light (and not the area), it is always meant for the "other" person on the road, not the "one" who sees it. And this is how the rest of the commuting clan thinks so. The fact has been drilled so deeply in their minds, that all they see is the green linoleum in front of their eyes. Once this attitude is set, moving around is a smooth sail from then on. Nothing stops them; not the signals, not the cops, not the simputers and not the yet to come traffic cameras. After all, those few seconds are so precious that wasting them would mean missing out the formula for the instant cure of AIDS or completing the batch process on the mainframe which would otherwise take a mere 14 hours.
Not to mention the change of mind (and gears) during the last few seconds of a 180 second long wait between signals at the junctions. Some folks are quite fuel conscious and stop their vehicles, but the last few seconds would mean different things. Why bother to waste the 10 seconds meant for pedestrians to cross? They can always wiggle themselves between the bikes and cars and sometimes let those bikes or the buses smooch them to death if not kiss them to a few scars. I am not being prejudiced towards the pedestrians. They are no less daring when it comes to crossing the roads (spare the chickens). The world's fastest runner could clock 6.3 seconds to cover 100 meters (now, spare the stats), but that is a hop skip and jump for those who cross the roads on a daily basis. Whether it is a speeding car or the mammoth buses, it only takes some guts and a few strides to land up on the other side. Well, if you don't make it, you still land up, maybe outside this earth or inside a hospital (if you are lucky).
There are a handful who genuinely try to respect and adhere to the rules and wait till the green says "GO". Such law abiding citizens are simply honked to death by those sticking right behind them. For a second, one is not sure what the signals actually mean. Whatever they are, the idea is to keep moving if you can.
Or maybe, this is the right way to interpret it..
RED and say this to your self... "Go if you are fast and don't get caught
ORANGE and say this to yourself.. "Dude, thatz as good as a go. So keep movin.
GREEN and the phrase to say out loud is.. "Move, Move Move! Move your busted ass outta this place!
It is all in the game!
When it comes to the signals, especially the "red light (and not the area), it is always meant for the "other" person on the road, not the "one" who sees it. And this is how the rest of the commuting clan thinks so. The fact has been drilled so deeply in their minds, that all they see is the green linoleum in front of their eyes. Once this attitude is set, moving around is a smooth sail from then on. Nothing stops them; not the signals, not the cops, not the simputers and not the yet to come traffic cameras. After all, those few seconds are so precious that wasting them would mean missing out the formula for the instant cure of AIDS or completing the batch process on the mainframe which would otherwise take a mere 14 hours.
Not to mention the change of mind (and gears) during the last few seconds of a 180 second long wait between signals at the junctions. Some folks are quite fuel conscious and stop their vehicles, but the last few seconds would mean different things. Why bother to waste the 10 seconds meant for pedestrians to cross? They can always wiggle themselves between the bikes and cars and sometimes let those bikes or the buses smooch them to death if not kiss them to a few scars. I am not being prejudiced towards the pedestrians. They are no less daring when it comes to crossing the roads (spare the chickens). The world's fastest runner could clock 6.3 seconds to cover 100 meters (now, spare the stats), but that is a hop skip and jump for those who cross the roads on a daily basis. Whether it is a speeding car or the mammoth buses, it only takes some guts and a few strides to land up on the other side. Well, if you don't make it, you still land up, maybe outside this earth or inside a hospital (if you are lucky).
There are a handful who genuinely try to respect and adhere to the rules and wait till the green says "GO". Such law abiding citizens are simply honked to death by those sticking right behind them. For a second, one is not sure what the signals actually mean. Whatever they are, the idea is to keep moving if you can.
Or maybe, this is the right way to interpret it..
RED and say this to your self... "Go if you are fast and don't get caught
ORANGE and say this to yourself.. "Dude, thatz as good as a go. So keep movin.
GREEN and the phrase to say out loud is.. "Move, Move Move! Move your busted ass outta this place!
It is all in the game!
Friday, May 20, 2005
Compulsive circumnavigation of the black hole called ****
I'm back! Oh!, I am back! My voice is quivering, my knees are shaking, no, not out of fear or hard pressed by pressure, but because of abundant joy of filling up this white space as I type here (once again). Do I feel like re-born? Not yet! I still have life trickling in me and by the time I finish this post, the graphic equalizers of my varying energy levels will find its peak.
Lot of things have transpired during my dormancy. Plenty in my life, more outside. There could've been much more, but thanks to the centrifugal force throwing me out of reach of the black hole. My entire recounter would take two(more)sleepless nights. But I ain't gonna rattle them all here. A round of scrubbing definitely precedes it. What do I scrub? All the references of my association with the madding crowd. After all, my blog is all about being far from the madding crowd while my life off late has been one BIG madding crowd in itself!
Until I come back in a more aggressive fashion, I would like to make a note in my blog about two things that I have started to believe more strongly than ever..
1) ..in God
2) ..in seeing the light at the end of every dark tunnel
Lot of things have transpired during my dormancy. Plenty in my life, more outside. There could've been much more, but thanks to the centrifugal force throwing me out of reach of the black hole. My entire recounter would take two(more)sleepless nights. But I ain't gonna rattle them all here. A round of scrubbing definitely precedes it. What do I scrub? All the references of my association with the madding crowd. After all, my blog is all about being far from the madding crowd while my life off late has been one BIG madding crowd in itself!
Until I come back in a more aggressive fashion, I would like to make a note in my blog about two things that I have started to believe more strongly than ever..
1) ..in God
2) ..in seeing the light at the end of every dark tunnel
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Of bugs, music and ping pong
It had been almost 6 months since I spent a whole Saturday in the office. I am surely not fretting and fuming about it, just musing on it. One of my friends pinged me and said, "Oh! looks like your honeymoon period in the new company is over and now you have started working on a weekend". Well, it is over for a sure fact and if I don't get my acts together and start delivering, I can surely see my a** on the line of fire soon.
The scary thoughts of bearing the brunt of work pressure still did not impact my schedule for the day(in a big way). Before, I left home in the morning this was my plan:
Complete the bug fixing by 11.00 am
Work on some other enhancements till 1.00 pm
Have lunch
Read docs and familiarize myself with the products - a solid 2 hours in the afternoon.
Write my first draft on a functional spec - finish by 5.00 pm
Go home at 6.00 pm and enjoy the evening.
And this is what I did:
Reached office at 11.00 am and start working on the bug.
Went for lunch at 12 noon
On the bug.. 1.00 pm
Played TT (played after almost an year and it was so much fun) - 1.20 pm
Came back to work on the bug...1.45 pm
Played TT - till 4.00 pm
Relaxed with some music and light reading
Played TT
Finally fixed bug by 8.00 pm
Played TT
Blog at 9.15 pm
Pretty much matched with my initial schedule.:) Glad atleast I was able to fix the bug! So much for a work filled Saturday, I am looking towards having a fun filled Sunday.
Happy rest of the weekend ! :)
The scary thoughts of bearing the brunt of work pressure still did not impact my schedule for the day(in a big way). Before, I left home in the morning this was my plan:
Complete the bug fixing by 11.00 am
Work on some other enhancements till 1.00 pm
Have lunch
Read docs and familiarize myself with the products - a solid 2 hours in the afternoon.
Write my first draft on a functional spec - finish by 5.00 pm
Go home at 6.00 pm and enjoy the evening.
And this is what I did:
Reached office at 11.00 am and start working on the bug.
Went for lunch at 12 noon
On the bug.. 1.00 pm
Played TT (played after almost an year and it was so much fun) - 1.20 pm
Came back to work on the bug...1.45 pm
Played TT - till 4.00 pm
Relaxed with some music and light reading
Played TT
Finally fixed bug by 8.00 pm
Played TT
Blog at 9.15 pm
Pretty much matched with my initial schedule.:) Glad atleast I was able to fix the bug! So much for a work filled Saturday, I am looking towards having a fun filled Sunday.
Happy rest of the weekend ! :)
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Brain (less) fallacy
It has been a while since I stumbled upon something interesting. So I decided to put my "Stumble Upon" tool to use. Since I had around 20 minutes to wait for my build to get over (successfully), I thought it will be good to surf the net.
I found just the "interesting" site on my third hit. The page runs into a decent length expatiating on the myth or lack of it about the percentage of brain usage on an average human being. It is quite interesting to read about the facts and to realize that I wasn't even aware of the fact that such a myth(or fact) exists about the average percentage of brain usage (my ignorance is probably attributed to the fact that I was using my brain even less than 10%-sigh!).
I am still not sure if I have to believe what the site claims, but nevertheless it is real cool to read it. Get a brain dump of it here. While reading about brains, take a sip of Google Gulp. If anyone needs a Gulp cap, lemme know ;)
I found just the "interesting" site on my third hit. The page runs into a decent length expatiating on the myth or lack of it about the percentage of brain usage on an average human being. It is quite interesting to read about the facts and to realize that I wasn't even aware of the fact that such a myth(or fact) exists about the average percentage of brain usage (my ignorance is probably attributed to the fact that I was using my brain even less than 10%-sigh!).
I am still not sure if I have to believe what the site claims, but nevertheless it is real cool to read it. Get a brain dump of it here. While reading about brains, take a sip of Google Gulp. If anyone needs a Gulp cap, lemme know ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
