Of crosswords and crossroads

It's 2:40am on a Saturday, and I'm still in office. Well, apparently, I don't have a life. So much for that. As I mentioned earlier, I've been on a crossword making spree, and along the way found this really cool software that allows you to create a complete crossword grid if you pass to it the words that would appear on the crossword. I need to be honest here, and say that the idea to hunt for such a software was not mine, and was suggested by a friend. Now that my conscience is clear, we can move ahead :-)


We found this software called Eclipse Crossword which fit the bill just right. All the crosswords which are mentioned on this link and which we have created have been done so using the above mentioned software. I would like to know the technique used by such applications to fit words in a grid, and then make sure that they are interconnected. Let that be a task for me when I'm bored. You must be wondering who the we in the text above refers to. It's Sandip Shete and myself, who have been primarily involved in the making of the crosswords mentioned herein.


Enough of background information. Here are the links to the actual crosswords we made. The competition is tomorrow, but I think I'll take the chance of posting them before they are released for public consumption. This move may be slightly egoistic in nature as well. The reason being that if someone is willing enough to find out who set the paper(s), and the visit his/her blog(or home page, etc....) and then check for the existence of the paper at 2:40am the day of the festival, then I think they deserve something. I know that the probability of such an occurrence generally tends to zero, but then again limits define what I mean to convey.

1. C++ Crossword


2. UNIX Crossword

Bitch, if you were looking for the answers too, then you may just be asking for a bit too much ;-)

I'm in a mood for ranting

This is my third post for the day. Well, that's me -- sporadic is my middle name.... whoooowwww!!!!
You must be thinking that all I do is write posts in office and very little else. Well, isn't work all about maintaining your blog and such? Oh! so much for what misconceptions you had about work. Let's get right back to what I've been up to today.
Apart from whiling away my time, and thinking up new ways to clock exactly 5hrs at work, I've also been involved in making a C++ crossword for Concepts. Concepts is a tech fest organized by the Pune Institute of/for Computer Technology(PICT). And CalSoft happens to be one of the co-sponsors. There are a lot of projects being showcased there, and companies are generally looking to hire people from there based on their projects and technical acumen. So, the question now is that while these projects are being showcased, we need some sort of presence there. Crosswords, Sudokus, and Treasure Hunt kind of games abound, and we as loyal employees of CalSoft must help our employer in achieving their motive(s). Hence the hard work, and creation of crosswords et al.
Well, we are actually going to create 4 different kinds of crosswords.

1. A general techie. crossword that almost anyone in a technical establishment can attempt to solve.


2. A linux based crossword for wannabe kernel hackers


3. A C++ based crossword for humble fools like *this


4. Ask the organizer what he had in mind for this, cause we have 4 t-shirts to give away ;-)

Well, CalSoft has been kind enough to arrange for a TV set, projector and a cable connection so that it's diligent employees can(after a hard day's work) enjoy the match in the comfort of the company with their peers which they zmibly adore.... I love the kind of harmony that employees at CalSoft exhibit especially in the face of a calamity like say extra pizza ordered, etc.... They make sure that after the issue is resolved, no pizza remains. Err.... The problem doesn't remain.
So much for that.... Let me get back to watching the match which India seems to be on top(at least for now). So, let's make hay till the sun shines.... ;-)

Of blogs and the like

Every time I have a crazy weird thought, I want to write it down somewhere -- anywhere even. However, the brain that works faster than the hand doesn't permit me to do so. Well, not with the conventional forms of logging. The primitive means that they provide are just too slow aka tape drives. I had thought of recording my own voice, and then playing it back when I wanted to write it down on paper or say type it out, but I don't see that happening. Well, I lack the drive and monetary means to be able to afford such a hideous device, and then to put it to effective use.
So, getting back to what I can do.... ummm.... not much given the fact that I am a lazy howrat fucker trying to eat anything that comes within an arm's reach of me. Well, that and the fact that I haven't eaten for well.... the last 3 hours ;-)
Every time I have an idea, or a thought that I wish to blog, it just remains a wish, and just a very small percentage of those thoughts are actually materialized into something that has mass. Well, at least in the virtual world. :-)
This gives rise to a very interesting line of thought. If you say that something has mass in the real world, it means that it has the properties of existing in a way that you can see, touch, and feel. The properties of mass are so very visibly exhibited by that thing(whatever it may be). However, in the virtual world, if something exists, it just exists in the bits and bytes that are stored on the storage medium which houses that thing. Can we say that it really exists? Well, it does, but does it in the same non-destructible way that real things(objects) do?
We can always draw parallels and say that all energy can be converted from one form to the other and the apply the mass-energy equivalence that Mr Einstein so simply put forth and then wet away for us to ponder on. Thus, all matter can be converted from one form to the other. Similarly, all bits can be transformed from set to reset and vice-versa by the application of an external force. According to Dhruv's 1st law of computing, all bits that are either set or reset remain in the existing state unless an external magnetic force is applied to them.
So, there isn't much to choose from between real things and things that exist in the virtual world. Notwithstanding, we shall never be able to replace the daily news-paper with it's counterpart in the virtual world without thinking about dropping some tea on it ;-)

These Days

It's one of those days today
In the month of sweet Jan
When the sun peeks not out
from the God that is the hand.
Some just call it dull.
Some are just imperveous to these changes that are here.
And a certain other some would rather
just stay home and curl up into their bed
with a book in hand,
and dream the day dream rgar they've wanted to for a while
Think about all the birds they've seen chirp,
and all they've heard fly.
And re-live all their wile whims and all the petty moments
thay they have lived with the ones that they meet
and the ones that they cherish the most.

Tell me oh today, are you heralding the end of a beginning
or the beginning of an end that wasn't.
Or do you just like to play
these little tricks on the already confused soul that is me.
Today, the rain teases thee like none other has
makes like the seductress that wants all that I possess.
Refuses to let the sun shine
from the shrine hat holdeth it
like a kangaroo her child
unwavering, undulating even in the harshest of times
but today, have you the power to change all that I see,
and all that I feel?
The sun peeks out for a while
but is calmly pushes back in by the hand that holds
and the hand that hides.
The hand that controls.
The hand that is God....