A bug-fix.

I was writing a small php script to recursively delete all files and directories in a particular location that are more than a few hours old. I thought it wouldn't take more than 30min to do the whole thing. Additionally, I thought I'd use the Standard PHP Library(SPL) and the RecursiveDirectoryIterator class provided with it to implement directory scanning instead of the normal opendir(), readdir(), closedir() approach.

After writing the script, I tested it by making it spit out stuff saying Deleting file.... instead of actually making it delete any files/directories. The logic te script was used was that it checked the file/directory ctime which is the Inode Change time(not the file creation time as I earlier thought). Everything seemed to be working just fine when I uncommented the unlink() and rmdir() functions to test the real thing. Now, the script started saying different things, and wasn't even considering some directories for deletion. I was very surprised at this behaviour. I initially thought it was something to do with open directory handles or something, so went back to using the opendir(), readdir(), closedir() approach. However, even that approach yielded the same results. It's desperate times like these when you lose reason, and start to tinker with things which you know are not at fault in the hope of fixing the error. I inserted lots of debug output to be able to pin-point the error, but php kept saying that rmdir( was trying to delete a non-empty directory.

I'll give the directory structure below:

.
`-- aaa
    `-- zzz
        `-- hello.txt

2 directories, 1 file

The output indicated that the file hello.txt was being deleted, but the directory zzz wasn't even being considered for deletion. Further, the script was trying to delete the non-empty directory aaa. I couldn't understand why this was happening. It was after some more brainstorming that I realized that the operation unlink() on the file hello.txt was changing the ctime for the directory zzz which meant that the directory zzz was no longer being considered for deletion. However, the ctime for aaa was staying unchanged. This was happening because I was calling filectime() while scanning the directory instead of pre-computing all the ctimes for all the files.

So, I now decided to use the scandir() function to get the directory contents at one go, and get their ctimes before doing any further processing on that directory such as recursive scanning or deletion of files/directories within that directory. This fixed the error, and the script now started exhibiting the expected behaviour. Even though this may look silly, there were many things I learnt from it; the most important being to make sure I know the side-effects of any action that I may perform.

Slave for life

Why do we need to pledge loyalty to some company? Yeah.... the usual answer is cause you want them to be faithful to you in return. But these days, the concept of staying with one company is alien to most. In fact, this attitude has percolated down to objects of daily use such as refrigerators, computers, telephones, and even relationships. People only so much of something. They feel overwhelmed if they get too much of anything. Speaking about jobs though, if you ask someone firms he/she has been in in the last 5 years, and if the answer is anything less than 2, then more often than not, the other person is saying to [him/her]self "what a loser"....

What is happening here people? There used to be a time in yesteryear India when people were happy to get just about any job as long as they took some money home at the end of the month. But things have changed a lot in the last few years. Jobs are much easier to come by because of the free economy, and spread of education. People are more educated; or lets just say they know more these days than they did a few years ago at their age. This argument is true of pretty much every successive generation though. Lets not confuse education with knowledge for some time now. There is a greater demand for knowledgeable people, and jobs for such kind of people in India at least, which is now driving the job market. You see industrial expansion all around these days. IPOs coming out pretty much every month these days is indicative of the industrial revolution happening here.

But the big questions I have is "Why should I be loyal to a company for a very long time, and thus enslave myself?" The answer may not be very simple; in fact, I don't know it myself, but at this point in time, I know that I don't need to be loyal to any company. If you look at people who are loyal, and are looking to grow in the company in which they are are doing it either because of the money, or the work, or the reputation of the company or the position they will attain in the next few years, or for come amount of satisfaction and job security, or because of peer pressure, or a certain combination of all of the above. Of course, there are many more reasons that I haven't mentioned or even thought of. However, may a times, these people are kind of under productive in nature. They seem to have settled into thinking that they can not be displaced from where they are now. If there's anywhere they are going, it's up the promotion ladder. In return, the company does them favours by giving them incentives, promoting them, and sending them on foreign trips, etc.... But, is the company acting in it's own benefit? I mean consider there is this under productive person (A), and a significantly more productive person (B). A is loyal to the company, and everyone knows it, but B is a carefree kind of person who doesn't care too much for anything/anyone. The company decides to send A to the client as their front, knowing well that they could have done better by sending B, but they don't cause they know that there is a greater chance of A staying with the company for longer than B. So, if they send B now, then they might temporarily get a good response from the client, but B will leave in a while, and A will be disgruntled because he/she wasn't sent, and will become even more under productive than before, and might even leave. However, if they send A, then A will probably grow up to the responsibility, and even though he/she might not create a great first impression, he/she will possibly stay back with the company, and will grow with the company providing it with a stable and possibly reliable front. I don't know if I agree with the philosophy. I don't even know if I disagree with it. In an age where employee retainment has become a buzz word, and companies pride themselves on their employee retention rate(which is inversely proportional to their attrition rate) this makes perfect sense. But is that a measure worth looking at with great amount of seriousness? Thinking about it from a rational perspective, it makes sense, since the attrition rates speaks a lot about the company. If people are leaving, it is generally true that their expectations haven't been met one way or the other. But is compromising company reputation for employee retainment justified at any cost?

The one that got left behind

What comes to your mind when you read the title above? Make a quick list of a few things that do. It could be:
1. The ugly duckling
2. Some taste left behind in your mouth after having something utterly distasteful/pleasing
3. Some food speck left behind between your teeth
4. A good/bad memory, though more often than not, it's the latter that stays
5. The tune of some song that you just can't get out of your head
6. Some task on your list that you forgot to do

But, I ain't gonna to be talking about any of the above. What I'm going to focus my attention on today is on that last bit of poop left behind after you flush. No matter how hard your try, how many tumblers of water you put in, however fast, it just won't go down! It's like one of those resilient warriors; kind of reminds me of cockroaches. Every time you try a different angle to put the water in, and look in to see if you've managed to get rid of it, it just bobs up right back in your face. It's like as if it's there to stay. So, you try again, and again, and again, and before you know it, your bucket of water is over, and there's none left for you to wash your hiney!!!! You think "Now is a really bad time for me to run out of water". Reminds me of a few problems I've faced in my little life so far. They've mostly been self-created like this one, but more often than not, they just go away with time, or I find a solution if I think about it with a clear head; but not this one. No matter how much time you give it, it just stays there - probably soaking up more water, or doing whatever it does best. You know that the only way you are going to get rid of it is to flush again, or heave another full bucket of water in it, but you don't have the patience to wait till the flush tank is full again, and at the same time, don't want to waste another bucket of water, now that you've already used up one already. You start thinking and staring at that mass of excreta in a very contemplative way; but to no avail. Exasperated, you move on to let the next person clean up your shit.... Well, that's life....

The geek in you.

After reading the previous post(Of wed-locks and love-handles), a friend of mine pointed out a spelling mistake that I had made. However, when I went back and re-read the title, something very interesting struck me. If you notice carefully, the words locks and handles are technical terms used quite frequently in computer engineering ;-)

Of wed-locks and love-handles.

I've been observing, examining, thinking, and concluding for quite a while now, and I've also discussed this theory with quite a few friends by now. However, many of them don't quite agree with it entirely or in part. I personally don't blame them for it. After all, it's just a theory and I haven't even bothered to take a sample space and conduct a proper examination. But you all must be wondering what it is that I'm theorising. Well, the thing that I've noticed is that people (both guys and gals) generally(not always) get plumper after marriage. So, I was just trying to think of reasons as to why this must be happening. This is true of most of the societies that I've been exposed to, so it made me think that is isn't a localised effect, but is more widespread. So, just before posting this, I did a quick google search for fat after marriage and was surprised with what turned up. Apparently, quite a few people before me had noticed it and also written about their findings. However, I decided to get done with my conclusions before reading theirs to avoid corrupting mine with theirs.
The explanation is actually quite simple, and the prelude might actually be longer than the actually reasons I want to present, but then again, every concise idea is also a very crisp one, and presents very few places it can go wrong in. According to me, people get fat after marriage because they no longer feel the need to attract people of the opposite sex, and hence begin neglecting their bodies, and indirectly their health. They feel that their job is over and they don't need to be at their best any more since their prey has been captivated. I on the other hand have very varied views. I feel that if you think that you don't need to look your best now, then it's because you either don't don't love yourself enough or you don't love your partner enough, because of which you don't want to put in the extra effort, and look your best for yourself and/or for someone who cares for you. This as far as I'm concerned is the primary reason for fatness after marriage. There may be others, which are mentioned in the pages given here(yes, I read them just before writing this line). However, after reading them, it may be the case that these reasons are equally important and it may be unjust to say that they aren't the main reasons.

1. http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Women-Gain-Weight-After-Marriage?&id=170650


2. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_3_33/ai_104836629


3. http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts4342202.aspx


4. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070702022119AACDXLR


5. And something on the lighter side. http://www.usaone.net/jokenet/jokes.asp?command=list&r=102

So as you can see my dear friends, I haven't been mistaken in thinking the way I did, and there are others who feel the same too.... An interesting side effect of this exercise is that it will make me use the web search features more often to try and validate my theories, or at least try and figure out if someone out there has already thought of and documented them online.
Ciao, and please keep in shape!!!!

A bumpy bus ride

A friend and I were returning to Mumbai from Pune on the MSRTC Volvo bus, and here is something that I wrote while on the bus.

We were sitting over the malfunctioning suspenders of a bus travelling at a relatively high speed(about 90km/hr) on a road littered with irregularities. The intermittent halt at the toll naka was a very welcome one. My hand writing did improve while we were stationary, but went back to its illegible self once the bus re-commenced its jerky ride back to Mumbai.

An HTTP server with diff capabilities.

These days, there is a surge in the traffic content on the internet. Many sites are serving dynamic content to their users. However, the static content doesn't seem to have lost popularity. Many sites still serve a lot of their pages more or less statically. Furthermore, these static pages don't change very often even though clients are always re-requesting these pages, and asking them to be refreshed. An example would be google's home page. That apart, site administrators always want clients to not cache the page content, because they want clients to see the latest version of any static content that may have changed since the last time they visited. This makes them advertise HTTP headers which forbid the caching of web-pages by browser and proxy caches.

If you notice carefully, even if use wisely, the If-modified-since header involves sending the entire page back in case it was modified. What I'm suggesting here is to use a diff based scheme, wherein the client sends a request to the server indicating a previous page version that it already possesses, along with a flag indicating that it is willing to accept a diff to the current version of the page. The server will now(optionally) send back a patch to the client which it applies to the page that it already possesses. This sending of the patch is optional since the server may not have cached the page to which the client is referring, so that generation of the patch may not be possible at the server end. In this case, the server will send back the whole page as it would in the current scenario.

What this scheme will effectively do is reduce bandwidth consumption dramatically in places where a central proxy is being used to serve many users, and those users seem to be accessing the same static content repeatedly. If the content changes by a bit, or doesn't change at all, this scheme will result in a definite reduction in bandwidth consumption on the internet. However, the trade off here would be CPU time to network bandwidth, since the diff generation and application of the generated patch are both CPU intensive activities as compared to normally sending the whole page.

Bumping up the bandwidth usage.

Have you ever wondered how you can (without too much of effort) use a lot of bandwidth on your local LAN? Well, if you have a central proxy server(gateway machine) through which you connect to the internet or to other computers, then you could do this quite easily.

First of all, configure your browser to use the proxy server installed. Then change the settings so that the browser uses the proxy server even for localhost(your local machine). The browser defaults general bypass the proxy for localhost. On your machine, on port 80, configure a proxy server(squid) to use the proxy server on the gateway machine for making connections.

Now, type your machine's IP address on your browser's address bar, and hit enter, and watch while the packets keep bouncing to and fro the gateway machine and your machine. This happens because your browser will contact the proxy server for the request, which in turn will contact your machine, which will again contact the proxy at the gateway, and so on....

Residents of buildings without elevators live healthier, longer.

According to a recent survey conducted by research scientists at the Montgomery university at Timbaktoo, it has been observed that the average age of people living in buildings without elevators is greater than of those living in buildings with one. Scientists observed a group of people living in the northern part of Timbaktoo city where the buildings are old, do not have elevators and people have a generally lower standard of living as compared to those living in the south, where sky-scrapers abound, and the standard of living is considerably higher. It was expected that the richer would live longer, since they eat healthier food, and can afford costlier medication. The results however were not in accordance with that theory.

As it turns out, the poorer people, with their low standard of living, and simple eating outlive the rich by an average age of 6~7 years. The northers sample space had an average life expectancy of 89 years whereas the southern sample space recorded a mere 82 years. It is believed that this singular occurrence if because of the fact that people living in the poorer parts of the city do not have elevators in their buildings and are forced too use the stairs, which is considered to be a good exercise for the heart and kidneys. Researchers have yet to conclusively nail this as one of the main reasons as to why people in the north live longer.

Ampache

I was thinking about setting up a server for streaming music of their choice to users on the LAN, and also for writing software for such a purpose. However, I happened to chance upon this great software called Ampache that does just that and more. Have a look.... It might interest you. However, I feel that this software lacks certain statistics like showing you relations in songs such as those songs which are liked by people who like songs that you also like, but you haven't yet listened to. Otherwise, I feel this software is really well made, and promises to become much more.

To Mother

You love with unforgiveness
You care with such vengeance

You hit with such love
And fire with determination

You always have a motive
Behind all your aggressive

And when you have a plan
Not even the leader's clan

Can do anything about
When it comes to your little pout

But fever when have I
It's you that night sits by

And happy when am I
It's you that dances by

I never as much notice
Your presence in the office

As when you are not around
And a problem I have found

But homecoming is a joy
To your scrubby little boy

As he is now quite able
To chat until he's stable....

Random stuff; About today.

Hello everyone. I know there aren't too many of you who read this blog, but to the few who do "Hiya!!!!"
Statutory Warning: I may get bored while writing this post, and it may just terminate abruptly; much like a road that ends(if you know what I'm talking about). You may also find paragraphs ending, and a new one starting out of nowhere. This is because my mind was filled with void for the time between.

Today on the way from Pune to Mumbai, I spotted(somewhere ar Lonavala) to the right a hotel called (forgot name), and to left was Lion's Den.

Further, was the new cricket stadium that was being build which, I think is at Khargar. Just beyond that was a Royal Enfield showroom. Well, you don't see to many of those these days. My room mate(KD) is a big fan of those and owns one. In fact, he is contemplating purchasing another one, just for the road while he plans to use the current one only for races. There's a guy with passion.

About 10mins down the road, I could see a traffic jam in the opposite direction which was(to say the least) a couple of kilometers long. I hate traffic jams, because if you are stuck in one, you are effectively getting nowhere. And I do get restless when I am stuck in one.

There was a sign on the divider which mentioned the safe upper bounds for the different vehicle classes such as buses, cars, trucks, etc.... However, you could very clearly that everyone was moving in unison, and that too at some speed greater than the globally maximum allowable for any type of vehicle. That kind of begged the quesion if those signs were just put up for fun or for that day when people wore helmets, and had their license, and their vehical's documents, etc.... and the only resort left for the police was to catch them of the count of over-speeding. This kinda begs the question if that's what American cops have been up to for so long....

I was just thinking about the link about writing style sent to me by [RS](not to be confused with in the class R or S), and a very strange thought crossed my mind. Is it possible for someone to have memorized all of those rules, and created a mental map to be called upon whenever they wrote an article? Well, I hope not. At least not immediately. Which then leads to the obvious question: "When????". Then it struck me like the lightening that was shuddering in the fair distance ahead: "When they are all old and experienced...." Is this all experienced people did? Go through their subordinate's articles checking for incorrect application of the rules mentioned on the document. Well, I hope not. At least not where I want to be working. My ideal job place involves hard core work along with a lot of fun and frolic. Not something that I've found yet, but hey, the search is still on....

I reached Dadar only to find out that my phone could not detect my service provider's network. I thought that it would work over time, but even after repeated trials, it refused to budge. That's when my other(as yet dormant) senses woke up to the realization that others in the bus were facing the same problem and I hadn't been singled out(It's always a relief to know that ;-)).

I got off the bus, and straight away entered the Monginis cake shop. Hehehe(The rest you all know). From there, my stomach beckoned me to stop at the first Arey outlet that my eyes could set their focus upon, and ask(very polietly) for a coffee flavoured energy. AFter that devouring that miracle of mankind, I marched off toward the station, and it began drizzing, so I hurriedly got my body under the station roof.

As luck would have it, I was able to get a CST fast local, which stopped only at Byculla. So that facilitated my more expedited approach home.

Now, I find myself writing this post and sipping on a cup of tea. I'll spare you people the details, and just let you enjoy the rest of the day.... Ciao.... ;-)

How things go wrong.

I've been thinking; and thinking out loud.... "Why do things go wrong?"

Things go wrong almost all the time, and with many things. Work, people, tasks, relationships, food, etc.... they all have their share of problems. They all have their reasons. For example, if we take food, then things can go wrong if you take the wrong proportion of something, or miss something out, or forget you have something on the stove(while you show your guests around), and so on. With relationships, things can go wrong if you are expecting something else that what the other person is, or if you are betrayed, or if you overly trust the other person, and he/she doesn't live up to it, and so on. Actually, the last is a commonly occurring special case of the one before it.

With work on the other hand, all of the above, plus it's own set of problems have to be dealt with. You have lots of forces at work, namely: food, inter personal relationships, people; including peers, subordinates, bosses, boss' boss, boss' boss' boss, and so on, and so forth. Additionally, you have your tasks(the least important of all????) to complete. I work in the software industry, where we deal with code and the like. Our day typically relies on copy-pasting other people's code and changing the name to our own writing lots of lines of code, and then testing it's correctness. We got to do this day in and day out with twitching, squeaking, or otherwise complaining about the inhumane working conditions such as air-conditions, free tea/coffee(that tastes almost the same), flexible-working hours(which entrust us with how long we want to work), and so on.

Let's consider a typical thing going wrong in a typical piece of code on a typical working day. The task at hand is to write a function that returns the file name given an open file descriptor to that file. Suppose we have written that function, and it's signature is:
int file_name_from_fd(int fd, char *buff, int buff_size);
Let's consider that all buffer-overflow problems in the function fine_name_from_fd have been taken care of.

The following piece of code is now written by the programmer:

int main()
{
  char buff[4096];
  int fd = open("/home/dhruv/data.dat", O_RDONLY);
  file_name_from_fd(fd, buff, 4096);
  printf("The file to FD %d is %s.\n", fd, buff);
  return 0;
}

Now, is this piece of code fine, or is there something missing?

If you think it's fine, think again.... There are so many things that could go wrong. Instead of pointing them all out, I'd like to show you by writing code that handles them all(well, almost all).

int main()
{
  char buff[4096];
  int fd = open("/home/dhruv/data.dat", O_RDONLY);

  /* Check for open() error. */
  if (fd < 0) exit(1);

  /* Pass buffer size 1 less than maximum size, so that
   * you can write out a terminating NULL character in 
   * case of a full buffer.
   */
  int ret = file_name_from_fd(fd, buff, 4095);

  /* Check for error. */
  if (ret < 0) exit(2);

  /* Write out the NULL character. Will come in useful
   * if ret == 4095.
   */
  buff[4095] = '\0';

  printf("The file to FD %d is %s.\n", fd, buff);
  return 0;
}

Now, only if we all were not in such a big hurry, and took time out think things through before doing them, or at least did them well while we were at it, our lives, and those of our fellow programmers would be much less bug-ridden.

Up yours

I'm sick and bored of working on the project I am on presently, and want a change. As affairs stand presently, I don't see it happening, neither does it promise to change in the very near future, so I guess I'll just have to live with it. Well, if this goes on for too long, I'll just work even lesser(I wonder how less that'll be :-p), and eventually become one of those blobs who just sits around and does nothing. Now, that's something I'm really scared about.

I do realize that I need to busy myself in some way or the other. I love programming; nay more so problem solving. This is something that will stay with me forever -- whether I like it or not. Thankfully, I really do like it. I'd like to think of it as something like muscle memory, except the only muscle involved here is the one in my head(or at least I would like to think of it as such).

Staying idle just bores and irritates me, and I get highly irritable, and restless. I don't like it, and if it's in my control, I would do away with idleness in my life unless I want it at any point in time. Yes, when you wish to relax, or just simply chill out, you want to remain idle, and not do anything. I'd go further and say that I wouldn't want to even think about anything.

I'm afraid of time, and what it can do. I'd rather not think about it now. That's been my way of living in defiance of reality, though I like to stay as close to it as possible.

My current employer hasn't been able to quench my thirst for whatever it is that I yearn for from a job/profession. That drives me nuts, and turns me off. I feel really irritable right now, and want to turn off and go to bed. Ok, maybe read some Calvin and Hobbes or Dilbert.... I just want to get away from this boring routing, and take a break. In the words of a friend do somehting new and different for a while -- just to get away from the routine.
[Which reminds me; I'm going to be this weekend. :-)]

Needless to say, the resource allocation policy(btw, humans are referred to as resources in the corporate world) at this place is worse than what a chimpanzee could do in a bee-hive. This happens to be one of the biggest reasons for employee dissatisfaction. And why not. If you have neanderthals controlling the place, you can expect nothing less than a messy cave at best -- if not a complete mess. There doesn't exist a word such as accountability or responsibility which is a major driving force for us homo sapiens. The lack of these renders this a majorly boring thing to be doing for a living. However, if you consider this as a day job(which is meant to be boring), then I guess it's okay.

Another thing that was being discussed was the flexi timings that companies enforce these days. If there is no goal, aim, or direction towards which you wish to work, then you just land up wasting more time in office being highly unproductive all the while. There is talk of young bachelors spending more time at the workplace than at home because they have all the luxuries and requirements that they yearn for at the office itself. This is tending to be true for those who live alone/away from home, and should be avoided at all costs. Especially since work hasn't anything spectacular to offer.

At times, even if you speak to the people concerned about your being uncomfortable about the kind of work you are doing, they turn a blind eye towards it because it would be less profitable for the company. Kiss my a$$ -- less profitable. I ask the question: "If the employee isn't happy, how do you expect him/her to deliver his/her best most of the time?" I think the short answer is "you can't!!!!", and the long answer is "you can't!!!!". How many years of experience, and or post-graduate learning does it take for one to understand this simple aspect of life? Well, apparently, 14 years of professional experience, and a post-graduate degree isn't enough for some. Others may even turn their eyes away from the existence of such a problem, but then it's them just behaving like me, and living in defiance....

Give a man money, and he can buy food. Give a man work, and he'll be able to work up an appetite to eat it.

Looking for a house mate

Yes, you read it correctly. I'm looking for a room house mate. Now don't get any thoughts in that dirty little mind of yours. All I'm saying is that I want someone to share the flat with. So, if any of you out there know of anyone who maybe interested, please let me know, or else I'll have to look for another place to live in.

Stuck in a lift

Today, we(shete, kunal, bharati, anupam, and myself) had gone home for lunch. Yes, occasionally, we try our hands at cooking -- just so that we don't lose that chef's touch. After heaving our stomachful, we decided to head back to office because it offered a cool and air-conditioned environment for us to sleep in we had a some work to complete by the end of the day. Like a diligent and obedient citizen of the state, I made sure all the lights and fans were switched off before we left the house. So, after performing the final round of checks, I entered the lift which was already populated by the other four. As soon as we closed the doors, and the lift started it motion downwards, I was reminded of an article I had read in the Reader's Digest a couple of weeks ago about the downward fall of a lift. There, all the occupants of the ill-fated elevator had managed to survive, but they all had broken bones, are couldn't resume their daily duties immediately. Anyways, all this continued till we reached the ground floow, when the lift stopped. I opened the inner door; but when I tried doing it for the outer one, it just wouldn't open.

Shete and I remembered that we had been stuck in such a situation before, and there was nothing really to worry about since we had been able to go to the first floor, and then come back down when the lift door had openeed the second time round. However, when we tried doing the samr thing again, the lift just refused to move up. Even after repeated attempts, it just wouldn't work!!!! Now, we were really stuck.

After a lot of poking and prodding we were able to find and unfasten a lever that held the outer door in place, and we manually undid it. That's when we were able to get out. The most scared of all the people was kunal, and he expressed it, by not losing a single minute in getting out when the elevator doors finally did open up....

Vohuman's again.

As you may have already read, I was at Vohuman's Cafe on Tuesday, having breakfast. I had:
[1] single egg bhurji
[2] toast butter
[3] bun maska
[4] bournvita

Well, for the longest time, I used to call the waiter with the gay confident gait "Suresh". However, it turns out that his name is "Satish". I shall keep that in mind hence forth. The surprising thing is that he responds to both calls. Why didn't he tell me that the former wasn't his name? If I were him, I would surely have corrected anyone who called me any differently than my pre-assigned handle. Anyways, that isn't the case, and now I know. It's not a very good thing to get people's names mixed up.

Hello sir, Mumbai?

I've woken up at 5:30am to be able to catch the train to Pune on time. It's bloody early, especially considering that I've slept at somewhere around 1:30am the same day. If you do the math, it adds up to something like 4hrs of sleep of which some were spent dreaming.... Anyways, after traveling from Mumbai to Pune for the better part of 3hrs, I get off at the station, and go to Vohuman's Cafe for breakfast. I'm all alone, and not accompanied by anyone -- it feels great to be able to do things on your own for a while. You have just yourself for company, and no one but yourself. Just your thoughts surround you, and your own self fills up the void around you. [interrupted by phone call -- lots of wishful thinking including a rocking chair, gramophone player, a vacation in the middle of nature, a hammock, and a telephone operator accompanied by a really old telephone with just one button -- to call the operator :-)]
I eat my fill at Vohiman's, and get to the other side of the railway tracks. On my way to the bus station, I am greeted by these people who are desperately trying to seek my undivided attention by saying "Hello sir, Mumbai. Only 180 sir". I get so frustrated because I've just come back from there, and these fuckers want to send me back just yet!!!! I can not express my loathe for them. And not just because of this incident, but also because when you really do need them to give you tickets to Mumbai, they ask for exorbitant rates like 250, etc.... which are totally out of bounds. And that's why I prefer the government buses. They have a fixed rate no matter what the day, or the time of day. Plus, these private operators do as they feel and leave you where they feel like at times, whereas the government buses will leave you at the pre-defined bus stops which are very easily accessible by other forms of public transport.

Coffeyness

Coffeyness. What does that sound to you like? The first time I heard it, I went "happiness, sadness, niceness, badness, goodness, wellness", and what not. The thing common about all the above is that they all end in the phrase "ness", and are all prefixed by a feeling. It may be a positive one or a negative one, but it's feeling none the less. So the question that now begs answering is what feeling does "coffy" signify? When I first heard the word, I thought of the drink "coffee", but then discarded it thinking it was just something weird that had entered my mind -- just like many other thoughts that do. I looked around. Yes, I was in the train from Mumbai to Pune, and the coffee vendor seemed to be chanting the word much like swamis chant the sacred mantras day in and day out. Except this guy was openly charging for his wares ;-)
So, now that I had established the fact that the word "coffy" stood for "coffee", it remained to be determined what the word "ness" stood for. "ness ness ness".... was it "ness wadia", or should I say "wodia" ;-) Maybe ness meant something that I was totally unaware of. Or did ness stand for "nestle" as in cuddle. Well, it could be a variety of things. I just let it pass because I was already feeling really sleepy.
However, on the return trip too, the vendor decided to shout out "coffyness" in a loop till he was interrupted by some over enthusiastic individual who wished to drink their sleep away in hope of being able to work with light eyelids throughout the day. Then it kinda -- as if by sheer luck dawned upon me what it really meant. Have you tried saying the word "mara mara" in quick succession. If you have, you'll notice that sounds more like "ram ram". Similarly, try saying the word "coffyness" in quick succession, and what do you get? Viola!!!! "ness coffy".... I almost smiled the smile of realization and muttered to myself under my breath "realization comes late, but never the less it does"....

It's the end of a perfect day....

After the end of Sunday, I was almost humming this song:

It's the end of a perfect day for all the surfer boys and girls
The suns dropping down in the bay and falling off the world
There's a diamond in the sky, our evening stone in our Shangri-La

Get that fire burning strong right here and right now
Its here and then its gone, theres no secret anyhow.
We may never love again to the music of guitars in our Shangri-La

Tonight your beauty burns into my memory
The wheel of heaven turns above us endlessly
This is all the heaven we got, right here where we are in our Shangri-La.

Tonight your beauty burns into my memory
The wheel of heaven turns above us endlessly
This is all the heaven we got, right here where we are in our Shangri-La.
In our Shangri-La
In our Shangri-La


I went row-boating on sunday, and it was real fun. Lots of lying involved in all quarters, right up to the time when I was asked if I had rowed before, and I said "yes". I thought "God help me if I drown", but I guess they were just as concerned about it, since it would involve answering a lot of questions, and bringing back a couple of bodies from the middle of the sea. Not something that anyone would be looking to do for a living. Anyways, thankfully, nothing of that sort happened, and everything went by like a couple of ores in a smooth sea....
Who says team-work doesn't pay -- it did yesterday. I would have been shit tired had it not been for the other person helping out with the rowing. The feeling of being in the middle of the sea, away from all is just too beautiful to describe in words. I would be insulting the moment even if I tried doing that(esp. with my oh so limited vocabulary). If there is someone who can attempt, it would probably be the first non-writer reader to this post. ;-)
Being able to do something inspires something in us. Being in nature makes us feel good about it. Being with someone special through it all transcends all other feelings.

Next time -- speed boating(If we get the chance). God please help us with this one. Can't imagine overtaking a couple of boats with 2 people at the directional radar. But I'm sure it's gonna be fun. Alive or not at then end of it all, I just hope we get great pics. for the album ;-)

Scuttling Saturday

This saturday was a really hectic one in the true sense of the word. We slept at about 5:00am saturday morning, and were up by about 8:00am(Thanks to umzz, and his early morning schedule). Hiten and Smit as usual were the last ones to get up, and we had to literally kick them(oww my aching foot)....
Shete, Umzz, Smit, Hiten had stayed back at my place so that we could head off for PICT the next day. We did, but got terribly late at doing that. The reason being -- we wanted to eat this amazing bhurji that Hiten makes. So, after having our stomach full, we headed off.
On reaching there, we found out that we were the only company who didn't have a single representative(yet!!!!), so we got busy looking busy lest someone were to come up and ask us anything ;-) We began doling out the crosswords that we had prepared the previous day. There was a surprisingly good response for them. We found ourselves giving out 3~4 crosswords per minute(maybe more). Soon, we ran out of them, and had to shut shop -- at least as far as giving them out was concerned. There was this point in time when I was the only one at the stall and was busy:

[1] Giving out crosswords.
[2] Accepting them.
[3] Explaining the instructions to each one of the persons I hand them out to.
[4] Answering questions about CalSoft as a company to over-zealous SE students.
[5] Answering calls.

But all in all, it was fun. At the end of that period when I did all of the above, I was totally zapped, and decided to get something to drink. Th only think in the proximity was water, so I had to go with that. [Remember "There is no substitute for water"].
After that, I decided to catch a few projects that I found interesting. I had time just for 2, so I had to choose wisely, if I did indeed want to examine then at some level of detail. I settled for:

[1] Pretext -> A predictive text input system for mobile phones. This group was from VIT(yes, Rao, and Kunal's college), and was guided by Celunite(Sandeep's sponsor). They exceeded the expections I had had fom them after seeing the big names attached to them.
[2] A project on Image classification. This was a group from Singhad College.

Now, it was time to leave, so we(Shete, Umzz, and I) headed off. They dropped me off at the highway where from I could get a bus to Mumbai. As luck would have it, I got this car pool which dropped me off at Sion stn. It took just about 2hrs, so that was fast. I was too tired to do anything after that except for indulge in some persuasion which would ensure an even better day to follow :-)

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....

The Motley Fools

Two motley fools that sit without
know not of a little cloud
that hath wrapped a kingly shroud
some time ago as I do shout

I am but just a little bum
that knows none better than the scum
That lives down that very lane
where I hath seen so many turn insane

Am I just desperado,
or are my problems just so great
that no single word in this blessed state
can justly describe my weird ways

But only God may weigh
as I do say
the truth contained in the pearls within
that fill this leaky vessel to the brim

I seek but not your little gums
as you may think I do come
A little humanity from thee
will make my stay here a fallacy

I do not know for whom this blood
carries veins upon this rough
But I do know that deep within
lies home and purpose so very slim

That I am oh so but prepared
to give all that I have today
and chance upon the one within
the hope that some day I may just win....

Vohuman's cafe

Today's breakfast was had at Vohuman's Cafe, Pune. This is an old Iranian/Zoroastrian joint, so anyone who has been to any such place will be able to get a gist of what kind of place it may be. To start off with, it has an old place charm that mostly these Iranian places have. It's got this unkempt but maintained feel about it. This you shall be able to experience only once you get there. The place itself is located at a diatance of not more than 5min walk from Pune station, and is bang opposite Ruby Hall.
Well, I had gone with Rao, and we had a great time, with great food to go along with it.
This is what we had:
[1] Omlet
[2] Egg fry
[3] Toast
[4] Plain bread -- yes thats Rao for you -- Mr. health freak himself.
[5] Good 'ol Bournvita.... kinda reminds you of the days of yore.... get lost you nostalgic bastard....
So much for the food. Getting back to more interesting things; last time I had gone there, there was this really interesting waiter who took everyone's order. He was kinda managing the whole place almost single handedly. He used to walk a very crazy walk, which can be best described as a combination of confidence sprinkled with a pinch of gayness.... It may sound crazy, but trust me, it's true!!!! That guy didn't write down any of the orders, but remembered each one of them quite precisely, and then made sure that we got our stuff well in time. It's not good to keep a hungry person waiting now, is it ;-) That apart he even corrected us on one count. We thought that we had ordered Bread butter and Jam, whereas it was just Bread butter.... Pretty impressive eh ;-)
After all was said and done, came bill time.... Here's what we got:



Now tell me is this cool or what!!!! I haven't seen a bill like this at any other place!!!! They generally have computerized bills, or some other pre-printed stuff, but nothing like this!!!!

sizeof(char)

He/she who is able tread on the quick-sand with relative confidence which he/she almost sank in a while ago, and come out unscathed is a true individual of character....

Cotton 56 Polyester 84

Well, I have just gotten back home. It's 12:30am, and I've got to get up at 5:30am!!!! What the f*** am I doing writing this???? Digressing a bit, why was I out so late???? God alone knows!!!! Was I roaming the steets of the city in search of something.... Well maybe.... Maybe is such a 50-50 word, isn't it. It's as good as saying nothing at all. So, now that we've established that the last few lines meant absolutely nothing, lets get back to business. Well, I've made a promise to a classmate to write an essay(????), and I shall try to fulfil it. Let me say that I generally take on anything only if I know I shall be able to give it more than my 100%. However, considering that it' soooo late, please don't come and strangle me if I haven't met expectations, or as a wise(and very great) friend has told me "lower your expectations".... ;-) So, here goes nothing:

Topic(I think): Humorous day for an elderly individual at the ATM.

Well assume for a while that I am an elderly individual -- well knock that grin off that pretty face of yours ;-).... Anyways, getting back.... I (randomly????) decided one day that I needed to withdraw money from the ATM to:
[1] Pay the house rent.
[2] Grand-Children's school fees.
[3] Youngest son's girlfriend's movie tickets.
[4] Eldest son's knee operation.
[5] Vasectomy for myself -- I'm already feeling sorry for you dames out there ;-) Plus, I'm finding it impossible to manage so many people!!!! A necessary evil for a weak-willed male :P
[6] Saree for my wife -- wait; isn't it too late for that???? nay.... it's never too late for love :-)

On reaching the ATM, realized that I may not have enough money for the tasks at hand. So, I thought that I would do a balance check before I withdrew any money. But wait!!!! there's someone already trying to do something in the ATM room(is that what it's called????). I decided to wait patiently outside, waiting for him to be done, after which I would do my stuff. I couldn't help notice that he was wearing a topi, and was looking thoroughly confused. Well, maybe he didn't know how to use an ATM???? that bugger was taking like forever to withdraw cash.... Yes, and i was beginning to lose it by the second. but wait a minute.... buzurg logon ko gussa shobha nahin deta naa.... naaaah.... that's old school. Hum toh aaj ke buddhay hain ;-)
Well, so I decided to give that guy a piece of my mind[I know it's a rarity these days, but what the heck!!!!].... &#*$%@&@*#. He simply ran out of there carrying 3 notes of Rs. 100/- each, and 3 transaction reciepts.... I was left wondering what he would have done if he wanted Rs 1000/-. Damn, but forget about that. Yes, i now had full possession of that money spitting machine. With the Visa power that I now possessed I decided to proceed with Phase-II of the plan -- Phase-I being getting into the ATM booth. i remember having heard the phrase "With great power comes great responsibility....". i decided to just shove aside these philosophical thoughts aside for the while that i was rubbing my hands in glee for the moment that the moneeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy would come out.
I inserted the card -- wrongly for the first 3 times -- and now that it was in, I decided to crack my fingernails(????), and crank those rusty joints and buttons on the ATM machine. Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick. Yes, that's the noise you get when you indert your pin no. Incorrect PIN!!!! came the pat reply.... i was like "howz that possible????" I tried two more times, and the same reply was forthcoming. Forth time, and tha machine said that "my card has now been disabled".... I went "what theeeeee......". this can't be happening to me!!!! Subah subah kis kalmoohe kii shakal dekh lee.... Zaroor woh saala chootiya hoga, jisko ATM istamaal karne ko nahin aata thaa....
I was just cursing myself, when I woke up to the shuddering realization that my card had also been gobbled up by the machine.... So, not only would i have to get a new pin, but a new card altogether. Just when i thought things couldn't go any worse, I get a call from my cell phone company saying that i haven't payed the bill for my phone for the last three months, and if i don't immediately, then services will be discontinued.
i feel a pinch, but relief at the same time, knowing that I still have my credit card, with which I can make payments. The cell phone company's payment booth is just next door. So, I stroll out of the booth, and into the phone company's payment counter. When it comes time to pay the bill, I thrust out my -- wait DEBIT CARD!!!! -- Damn!!!! I was trying the debit card pin with the credit card, and now I have like nothing in my debit account.... I am so f****** screwed!!!! Hehehe: i remember having the same feeling 9 months before munnu was born, but that was in a totally different context. man.... what am i to do now????
i'm dazed and confused.... with no more thoughts left in me. I feel that I was more in control of myself like two months ago when things were going along just fine before I met this gorgeous woman. Not only is she dazzling, but pretty damn smart too.... take my word for it. i was supposed to tell her something.... but did I???? did it register???? God alone knows.... Maybe -- the maybe!!!! -- she is thinking about me???? I'll never know. If you thought that this were the end of my problems, then you are sadly mistaken, because I am supposed to go on a date with her, and I have zilch in my pocket in terms of money. Trust me, you don't want to find yourself in my situation....

Well, as you can see, not only am I so screwed, but my life is a total mess, not to mention my second wife.... So, all you people who think that you life sux, read this, and well.... "get a life!!!!"

So long for now.... looking forward to meeting you again next week ;-)

ps. please pardon any spelling/grammatical/factual/emotional errors that may have crept into the above.... All errors except for one are intentional, and should not be severely dealt with. Well, if you can find the ONE inconsistency in the above piece, my respect for you shall be elevated further.... :-)

have fun!!!! and keep smiling :-)

On Diwali eve.

I have realized that posts on this blog are arranged in no particular order. Neither chronologcically, nor thought wise. I have been told before that my thoughts are all over the place. I agree that I have a lot of half baked thoughts in this lame excuse for a brain, but I think talking has helped channelize, and aggregate them into another even bigger mass of confusion. But then again, who the fuck cares.... So, here goes another rant that you may not particularly be interested in, but are reading it because you:
[a] Have nothing better to do.
[b] Want to get away from it all.
[c] Love me[ooooh!!!!].
[d] Have nothing worse to do. :D

I was returning home from Pune from Dadar stn. at about 11:00pm, when we had to buy tickets. Since I am the only one who lives on the central line, we needed 1 ticket on that line, and about 4 tickets on the western line. So, I decided to take on the daunting task of standing in the line. After waiting for about 10min, and with just 3 people ahead of me, the ticket issuer decided that it was time for him to leave, and just shut shop and vanished.... grrrrrr.... I decided to keep my cool, and just move on ahead and repeat the whole procedure of standing in the line all over again. This time though, my turn did come, only to find out that this ticket window would issue tickets only for the central line. I bought a ticket for myself, but went back with a small face to tell the others the bad news. By now, I was not only very tired, but was feeling frustrated, angry, and guilty for the fact that the others didn't yet have tickets. Even though it really wasn't my fault, I felt that I would be leaving them out in the cold if I just left them at that point in time. Hence, with a heavy heart, and a clear conscience I went along with them on the Dadar bridge to see if we had any better luck at purchasing tickets.
We reached the ticket window on the bridge only to find out that it was shut. So much for trying to be honest and buying tickets before travelling. We now began the long walk down the bridge[with me knowing that I would have to climb back up and down again] so that we could ping the ticket window below.
On reaching the ticket window below, we found out that that one too was shut.... Now it was a case of when even God wanted them to travel ticketless. Would then succumb to the situation? Would they travel ticketless? Would they fail to purchase tickets, and compensate the railways for their losses? Would they be victorious in their fight against honesty? Well, I found out when I saw two of them climbing yet another bridge in an attempt to find a ticket window and attending staff that would be willing to oblige them. After a while, they returned with guess what!!!! Tickets in their hands, and smiles on their faces. It was as if seeing a pair of mountaineers coming back after conquering a himalayan peak.
Thus, they went their way, and I started my long climb back up the bridge to the train that was supposed to take me back home.
Once in the train, I was speaking to a friend who asked me if everyone was pleased because the following day was Diwali!!!! I was so engrossed in trying to get back home, and the struggle for the tickets that I had absolutely lost track of the people around me, and had failed to notice any such thing even it it did exist. Not that anyone had been explicitly nice to me, but gererally if people around you are in a good mood, then it kinda rubs off on you too. I took a quick glance around me, just to find out that everyone else -- just like me was engrossed in their own little world. I'm sure they too were just eager and relieved that they were finally going home to their near and dear ones.
Anyways, I finally reached my station, and began the short(but what felt like a long) walk back home. It's pretty funny because I used to use the same road for four years in a row when I was in college, but now the roads seemed a bit different now. They seemed to call out to me, and I could notice things about them that I hadn't before. Just as I left the station, a guy walked up to me and seeing the haversack on my back must have thought that I was from out of the city. Probably one of those hitchhikers looking for a cheap place to stay and eat at. [Yes, I do have that cheapo look about me, but let's save that for later]. So, we went on to tell me that he knows a lodge/inn where I can get accomodation for as low as Rs 250/- per day. Since I wasn't looking for any in the first place, I just ignored him, and continued walking. However, he persisted, and went to 200/- and then 150/- and finally 100/-!!!! I was a bit bemused at how fast one can get to less than half the originally quoted rate. When such things happen, you wonder that if you were to strike a deal at that rate, would the other party still be making a wholesome profit? However, I think in such cases I think it's best to have the worth of the material you want to buy pre-decided(at least it's worth or importance to you at that point in time) and the if the other person's quotation is in agreement with what you have thought, give it a go, since you were prepared to compensate the other person that much in the first place. Getting back to the incident, he just kept walking quietly behind me since I was showing no particular interest in any of his supposedly miraculous offerings. Just as I thought that that had died a natural death, he sneaks up to me, and in a very low vice asks me if I am interested in [deleted] (certain mood altering substances). I was quite amused at this since I'm not a doper by any yard stick that one may use. Looking back however, I think that the beard did me in ;-)

It's all good after all.

It's the people that make a place what it is, and not the place itself. I have found great company at my new home, but I keep getting driven back to Mumbai. I need some more time to get used to the people here. I don't know when, or even if I shall at all in the first place. I'm not giving up hope though. I don't even know if they want to get used to me. I sure hope they do, because hope is a wonderful thing. I have found a few really interesting and passionate individuals here who really know what they stand for, cause that's what matters at the end. They like everyone else have their vices and their demons, but they are aware of them. I'm pissed but persisting. And as they say "It's all good after all".... ;-)

What you should and shouldn't do....

Be sure that you know what you are talking about.
Shut up if you don't.
Never lie. It always hurts in the long run.
And this time, there won't be any chance to change the road you're on.
If you don't know anything, say you don't.
If you are sure of something, make sure you say it confidently.
You shall be sure of something only when you have studied it inside-out.
You shall study only those things that interest you.
You shall be interested only in those things that intrigue you.
You shall be intrigued only in those things that appeal to you.
If you are open minded, new things will appeal to you.
If you are speculating on something, say that you are.
Be passionate.
Trust me, it's never hurt anyone.
Be prepared to lose all in that passionate quest,
keeping in mind that if you do win, then it will be worth the risk.
Follow your dreams.
They are yours after all.
Learn from your failures.
Write about them if you please.
Let them be known to the world at large.
Don't be ashamed of failing.
You shall fail if you try out new things.
Hence, you need to be open minded to fail in the first place.
Be true to yourself.
Make sure you have someone to talk to.
Human company is irreplaceable.
Learn to wait.
The best things in life have been a result of waiting.
Remember that your mother waited 9 months.
Waiting never hurt anyone.
Don't be afraid of doing something against the norm.
You will learn only if you experiment.
Don't be afraid to experiment.
Experimentation never hurt anyone.
You are never short of time for experimenting.
It's never too late to experiment.
Don't forget your friends.
But do forgive and forget.
Never give up on yourself.
Remember, it's never too late for anything.
Never lie. You'll break my heart if you still do.

A Tale of two cities

Rationale for the existence of this post:

"It's like my mother always told me - [snip] If you ain't got nothin' nice to say then don't say nothin...." However, the other day, I was having a conversation with a friend, and the topic of whether to be or not to be diplomatic sprang up. The specific example was something to the tune of whether it would be fine to say[recount] something bad[not nice] about another person who you've had a bad experience with. There were 2 separate lines of thinking from there on in. One of them said that the revelation would portray the person under question in bad light[possibly unnecessarily], and would prejudice the listener[in this case] against the other person. So, it would be better if the person were to form a 1st hand opinion of the person under question. The second one said that if you have had a bad experience with someone, and the person who you are currently in conversation with is someone who you possibly know, then it is right that you warn him/her by narrating the incident to him/her. This would possibly make the other person more aware of the former, so that when confronted with him/her, he/she is prepared to have his analytical cap on, and pass everything that is said through that, just so that he/she does not fall into the same trap as the other person did.

Whatever path you choose is entirely your personal decision, and possibly open to further discussion[maybe not]....
"Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
Theres still time to change the road you're on."
Notwithstanding, I have chosen to take the latter, and hence this post has come into existence.... Oh! the justification.... It's getting to me!!!! So, here goes nothing....

I've been living at Pune for the better part of 3 months now. I know that 3 months isn't a significant amount of time to be passing a judgement on anything non-trivial such as a whole city, but for now at least I would like to stick to this analysis of mine. How many times have you stayed at a place for while and thought that you are done with it????

Pune is where I work, and earn the cash I don't deserve ;-) Mumbai is where I come to, and on bended knees spend it all.... So, in that sense, Pune is the producer, and Mumbai is the consumer. For starters, Pune isn't as big a place as Mumbai. There are not as many things to do and places to see. Of course, if you consider Pune as a city in itself, then it's a really great place, especially if you take into account the fact that it is the 2nd largest city in Maharashtra; 2nd only to Pune. However, as it so always does turn out, the difference between the 1st & 2nd in a rat-race is so significant that the winner takes all, and the rest are left scrapping the remains. The situation is probably not as bad as this, but I guess you get the gist of it.

I generally tend to avoid comparing entities, such as cities, etc.... because each one of them is different in it's own little way, and has a charm of it's own, but since I've lived in both and found life quite dreary at Pune, I feel the urge to get it out of the system.

I believe that it's not the place, but the people that make up the city, and more so the spirit of the people therein. It would not be fare to say that it's the people of Pune that have made it boring or any such thing because all seas have their share of sharks.... It's just that living there(note the usage of this word!!!!) has been such a pain, and the things that I took for granted here in Mumbai like the bus conductors, and the taxi/rickshaw-wallas, etc.... are coming back to haunt me. People atr Pune are just looking to take advantage of you for any reason what so ever. More like the devil has taken it upon him to do the needful. The other day, I was on the station buying a packet of biscuits(GoodDay Cashew.... yummy!!!!) which adorned the printed price of Rs. 12.00/- However, the vendor felt otherwise, and decided to demand 13.00/-. I thought for a while and handed him over the extra 1.00/-. However, almost immediately, I asked him what the extra rupee was for. He mumbled something which I'm pretty sure even he didn't understand. Anyways, after a while of arguing, and constant pestering from my end as to who was charging this extra money, and who it would go to, he took the rupee, and handed it over back to me; almost as if asking me to shut-up and leave the place. This attitude is seen even in the rickshaw-wallas, who cheat you using the following means:

1. charge extra outright - demand for more money almost at random.


2. possess a refurbished copy of the fare/tarrif card.


3. tell you(and then expect you to believe) that the fares have
   signifiantly gone up overnight - without there being an outcry among
   the people....

Now, the reasoning given to me by the station vendor was that it was okay to ask for a rupee more since it probably didn't matter enough to me to be bothering about it, but it meant quite a bit for them. Firstly, the value of a rupee is the same no matter who is holding it. It's just the value to the person that is holding it that's changing from person to person. Secondly, if I were from outside of the country, then I probably wouldn't even know that I've been cheated, and once I did find out, it would leave a bitter taste in mouth, and these things do count in the larger picture....

I'm sorry to say that if a city needs to come up from the dirt, then the people of the city need to take action, make and be made aware of these happenings, and then do something about it. I don't see this happening because they are too stuck up in their own infinite life loops and people around them that they have become indifferent to the happenings around them. This is true about Mumbai too(and about any big city), but there exists a small difference as does between a smile and a grin. There is just so little that separaets them, but yet they differ by so much.... Another telling difference between the 2 cities is the public transport system. All the while that I was here at Mumbai, I kind of didn't realize that it was so great and well managed. It always so happens that you need to get to the interiors to appreciate the beach[literally even!!!!]. In Pune on the other hand, everyone has their own little carts which they thrust around, and get from place to place. It's just the non-locals that have to manage with the public transport which is not that great as compared to Mumbai.

All said and done, maybe it's just a case of me not being in the right place at the right time. Just maybe -- Pune is not for me right now, or I'm not for it. Maybe I'm not seeing it from the right viewport. It so happens that people would rather be at a certain place at certain times in their lives.... Again, I'm not ruling out the possibility that the problem is with me, and it's me who is the one who is stuck up, and is suffering from inertia of the older city.... And thus, another bitchuing session bites the dust ;-)

In any case, I can hear Pune singing out to me....
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/staind/righthere.html

Probability anyone?

I was checking out blogs today, and starting from my friend's blog, I started clicing the "next blog" link, and you won't believe, but 2 out of 3 pages I got weren't in English!!!!
Does anyone out there have any numbers as to what is the probability of getting a Blog in English when you click "next blog"????

My visit to Bangalore.

Hello everyone. I had visited B'lore on the 24th~27th of Feb, 2006 in relation to the Code4Bill interview for the internship @ M$. This post is with regard to that. You must be wondering why the post comes so later.... well, at best, it's a culmination of reasons including me being busy with college and project work.... So, here it goes:

I left from Mumbai on the 24th morning by Udyan Express from Mumbai CST. It's a 25hr journey to B'lore by train. It would generally suit me well, except I got bored during the day and slept for half the day. So much for catching up on my sleep. However, I did meet a few interesting people. 2 of them happened to be 2 girls from Germany who had come to B'lore for a year for Social Service to help out the street children better their lives. A truly noble cause.

I reached B'lore stn.[Cantonment] at 9:00am on the 25th, and was told to come at CMH Hospital from where I would be picked up by one of my hosts at B'lore, Chirag Patni. I was going to stay at Saurabh Ji's place & Chirag had arranged the stay. A heart thanks to both of them!!!! They made my trip really worth it. The first day, I was taken by Saurabh Ji to the Jain Mandir. It was a very quiet and peaceful place. Somewhere people would generally come to find solace. The next came Kamp Fort, and behind that was a HUGE, no MASSIVE Shiv ki murti. It was really great, and made me feel quite small actually!!!! And there was also this 12 shivling ka emulation(replicas) which were made to explain the significance of each one of them. It was really gr8, and the effects were quite life-like. After that we headed home, and Chirag was already there watching Tv. We all decided it was time to bujhao the aag in out pets(stomach), so we headed to this place (????) where we got really nice parathas and (????) I had onion & methi parathas, and they were quite filling. After that, back home, and off to bed. Dinner was on Chirag and that evening he took me out to show me the signts & sounds of B'lore. Areas of interest were Chinnaswami Cricket Stadium, VIdhan sabha(which looked quite majestic from far down the road), and Briget road. A lot of malls have cropped up at B'lore off late, and we visited a few of them. Then, it was dinner time and we had a light meal since neither of us were too hungry, and then headed off to Leelas, where we sat by the poolside and had a long chat. It was really peaceful place. We spoke a lot and really got to know each other. After that, it was time to have some coffee.... Coffee was great as usual, and then we headed back home. Saurabh Ji was watching the FilmFare awards, and we joined in. After some time, Saurabh Ji and myself felt quite sleepy but Chirag was still at it, so we left him to flip some channels, and retired for the day.

The next day I woke up at 6:00am(quite early by my standards) since I had to reach the M$ office at 8:00am. Chirag was woken up(in a very hasty manner) and he was sweet enough to have dropped me off on time, and he also told me how to get back. After the interview, I again found my way to CMH Hospital where I was picked up by Saurabh Ji this time.

Come evening, and Saurabh Ji dropped me off at the B'lore Cantonment Stn. were I caught Udayan Express back to Mumbai CST. I reached home at 9:30pm.... A very nice trip all in all. I would like to thank Saurabh Ji & Chirag once again for taking such good care of me.

And as is said: All's well that ends well ;-)

What I don't like about Microsoft.

Well, I think this has been long pending. I need to set some records straight and speak out why I don't really like M$. I personally have no problem with their OS(partly because I hardly ever use it. Mainly it's used when I'm forced to at college, but that's a different story). And I feel that M$ Office is one of the best products I have ever used.... However, there are a few areas where I particularly don't like the firm.

[1] Licensing being one of them. They have this massive EULA which probably has lots of undesirable clauses. Something that I would rather stay away from.

[2] Pricing. I got to pay for the software I use, even if it is for educational purposes!!!! I mean come on.... have a heart.... I use Linux at home, and am loving it. I switched about 3 years back, and have learnt more about computers, and programming that I ever did while I used windows for a much longer period of time. So in that sense too, M$ seems to be lacking. Lots of things are hidden, and not revealed, and that really hurts someone like me who wants to explore the internals of a system. GNU/Linux lets you do that to almost any level of detail that you please, and that too in quite an organized fashion.

[3] Number of APIs. Whow!!!! M$ has like zillions of ActiveX controls, and APIs for managing stuff.... and to top it, you can do the same thing in many diferent ways. This is one place where choice really hurts. I mean it's really overwhelming.... And the number of versions of a DLL and stuff like that just drives me crazy. Something simple like updating a DLL file might break something in some obscure place, and the whole thing comes down like a pack of cards. This is one area where IMHO Linux should try not to get out of hand. I agree it(Linux) is growing in complexity, but it has a beautiful POSIX interface, which is relatively small, and quite well documented. And it lets you do almost anything you would ever need to with the computer.

[4] On the 26th of February, 2006, I had been invited to Bangalore at the M$ office for an interview in reference to the Code4Bill contest I had participated in. It was a gr8 eperience all in all, though I didn't get thru ;-) I must say M$ takes a lot of care of their employees(or at least it seems so) and there are lots of recreational facilities available. That's all very good, but in the initial phase when we arrived, we were addressed by an employee who has been working for M$ for the past 16 years, and he was trying to sell M$ to us. Nothing wrong till the point when he started bad mouthing Free Software. He said somehing along the lines of: There is nothing like Free Software. They make you pay in one for or another. If not the software, you will have to pay for service & support. And he also mentioned that Open Software was just a flavour of the month, and it wasn't something that was here to last. I seriously wasn't expecting such comments from someone in a company like M$. I mean they have immense credibility, and such comments could only have been to deter the youth of the country from joining in Open Software, and contributing to it's growth because they see it as a potentially serious threat. With regard to the conments he made regarding Free software, I think he is blatantly wrong, because all the major distros of Gnu/Linux can be downloaded off the Internet for absolutely no cost, and there are loads of help pages, manuals, and How Tos to help you find your way around.... not to mention the numerous forums and usenet groups for newbies.... All in all, it was a very naive and uninformed statement made by an employee of the richest firm on the pace of this blessed planet.

The making of a computer cabinet....

Hello everyone. Today, I completed making a computer cabinet for myself! yep.... a home-grown chasis... only for myself. I needed more space for the 2 new SATA disks that I had just added to my existsing system which comprised of:

1. 2 ATA disks


2. CDROM drive


3. CD-writer


4. Floppy DIsk Drive

So, I needed power extensions, and more SPACE in the chasis. So, instead of purchasing one, which would cost me quite a bit with space for these extra disks that I had(and also taking into consideration the cooling reqired thereof).

I'll try to get hold of some camera, take snaps of the cabinet and upload them here. Along with it will be a detailed description of how I went about making the chasis.

Yeay!!!! I have a few snaps to share now.

Click here for the set of photos of my custom cabinet.

The making of a Tea/coffee cup holder.

Hello people... I've always wanted to have a tea/coffee cup holder to go along with my stool which I use to keep my mouse on. However, due to lack of funds(and otherwise), I never bought one of those things. Now that I have all the time in the world, I decided to make one for myself. This was triggered by the sudden discovery of a Meccano Set in my house, which originally belonged to my dad! I was like wow! This is probably just what the doctor ordered!!!!

So, I started designing, and like a typical hacker, that went out of the window once the implementation begun. The final product is totally different from the one designed, but it looks sexy, and can hold the weight of a full tea/coffee cup.

Once I get a camera from somewhere, I'll upload the pics. too. Till then, keep imagining what it must look like ;-)

Martrix RAID.... Just what the doctor ordered!

From wikipedia: "Matrix RAID utilizes two physical disks. Part of each disk is assigned to a level 0 array, the other part to a level 1 array. This product provides a safe area (the level 1 section) for documents and other items that one wishes to store redundantly, and a faster area for operating system, applications, etc."

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks#Matrix_RAID

The only problem is that "Currently, most (all?) of the other cheap RAID BIOS products only allow one disk to participate in a single array." Which means that this is not possible in Hardware, though "Matrix RAID is a feature that first appeared in the Intel ICH6R RAID BIOS." Which means that it has initially been implemented in hardware. Now, only if this were available on my Hardware RAID controller, or even Software RAID on Linux.

Of DMA and southbridges....

After getting a new motherboard, Linux seemed to be running fine except that I kept getting this message on boot up:
VP_IDE: Unknown VIA SouthBridge, contact Vojtech Pavlik < vojtech@ucw.cz >

Later on, I realized that my CPU was being used every time I read/wrote anything to Disk. This CPU usage was very evident when I decided to burn a CD. It took up nearly 60% of my CPU time! Considering that this used to be about 5% on my older CPU,it is a 15 times increase over the previous value. This led me to believe that somehow the kernel has disabled the DMA, and all the reads/writes are being routed through the CPU.

I was wondering whether DMA is controlled by the north or south bridge of the computer, and I tried asking a few of my friends, but they were as clueless as me. I immediately opened my crappy text-book to see if they had any clues, but there were none :-( However, I did notice that the ATA/SATA connections go into the Southbridge(SB), and the SB is not directly connected to the CPU, but is to the NB. Wow! This made me believe that DMA is controlled by the SB. To confirm, a quick search on google revealed the following:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southbridge_(computing)


Which proved that I was right!

So much for that ;-)
Now it only remains to get a new kernel:d

Xmms bug-fix.

I had been wanting to fix this xmms bug for quite some time now... Was feeling really lazy. Got down to doing it today though.

What's the bug? If you enqueue many songs, and then clear the playlist, and the load a new playlist, then the "queued list" isn't cleared, and contains pointer to the old(now non-existant list). This causes xmms to crash when the currently playing song gets over. It tries to play a non-existant entry! Made it clear the queued-list as well, when the playlist itself is cleared. owever, I'm not entirely sure this is a 100% corrective patch, because it may still be possible to make xmms crash by removing that song which has been queued. I haven't checked if xmms removes queued songs rom the queued-list when they are removed individually from the playlist.

If you want a patch, mail me. It's only 2 lines worth though ;-)

The use[full/less]ness of Software Quality Assurance.

Today, I picked up my SE(Software Enginnering) text book, and decided to read the chapter on Software Quality Assurance[SQA]. Ok, let me put this straight; SE is a subject I don't agree with, and certainly do dislike. No, wait.... I hate it!

I was surprised to see the stuff about SQA written in that book. I just realized that the need for SQA arises only because people lie, and say something and do something else... which is basically lying explained a bit differently ;-) Also, current trends wherein work on software projects is outsourced needs to be checked for quality because of the above mentioned reasons. Hence, this model may not be ideal or even close to that for many not so big companies and software development centres. IMHO, even corporates have something to gain by looking at the other side of the picture....

Auto-Save in Blogger????

I was wondering if auto-save would be as useful in Blogger as it is in Gmail... Any ideas? I'm of the opinion that Blogger should include it sooner or later[better sooner than later though]. The Recover Post option is prosent, but doesn't really cut it, like Gmail's Auto-Save feature. Now, only if the guys at Blogger were to read this! ;-)

Even more hypocrisy.....

This time, it's Sony... A brand that is SO very much trusted around the globe. They have used LGPL code in their copy protection software(yes, the so very controversial rootkit), and have more mentioned it(as they are required to do so with any LGPL code).

The irony is that the copy-protection software(rootkit) is itself violating a copyright! Hilarious but true. I wonder if music protected this way is illegal to listen to! This just get more and more twisted....


http://dewinter.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215

To RAID or not to RAID....

Comments required.....
Thanx in advance!

I'm sick of this whole artificial thing around me....

Last few days have not been very good for me, and have forced me to do some real thinking.... Life has not exactly been sweet to me, but hey it's not always fine and dandy.... You do have your ups and downs, and you should take them in your stride... I was speaking about this to my friend Aniket a few days ago, and I happened to mention "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." To which he gave me a really broad grin, and said "When the going gets tough, Gup-Chup baith jaane ka. which means Sit down quietly and try to maintain a really low profile.

This came across to me as a really practical piece of advice.

It's just that things have been so fucking screwey around here... I was going to write a lot, but Sandy called, and I had a nice chat with him... Calmed me down a bit... I was just soooo.. pissed with the sickness filled in people around me, and the hypocricy therein that I was so fucking pissed just to think of it... Like right from SOPs(Statement of Purpose) to shopkeepers, you have hypocricy and corruption, and we as common people just crib about it and fail to do anything about it. In fact, we even give fuel to it most of the time, knowing that we are doing the wrong thing. That just so pisses me off.

People should be more God fearing. Why do people visit temples? To ask forgiveness for any sins they may have unknowingly committed. However, in recent times, people think that visiting temples is like applying white paint over a tainted wall.. which is so fucking wrong. They will commit sins on purpose, and hurt people, and then visit temples, thinking that God is going to tear out the previous chapters of their lives. They are just fucking lying to themselves.

I say... Why not sin in the first place, so that you don't need to visit the temple. Don't do wrong, and you won't have to ask forgiveness. Only if more people could understand what I'm saying, the world would be a much better place to live in. I think we have over-complicated things... far too much for our liking, and it is hitting us hard now. I'll try to stick to the basics, and keep it simple... as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Should I be happy now?

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was beating down my roof's top, and I could hear it distinctly as it it was trying to say something... Something very important; something that would change my life forver...

I was sitting a front my computer's screen, and writing as usual, some lines of code in C++, thinking about what to do next, and how to irradicate the errors from the program when... suddenly, out of nowhere, I hear the sound of bells ringing.. and it is a loud sound mind you. Numbed by the monitor screen, and contant exposure to harmless rays emiting from the monoitor, I fail to comprehend where it is coming from, when.... almost as sudden as thunder, it struck me that it was the phone. I swiftly swooped down my wings, and made a clean sweep. With the receiver in my hands, I had the liberty to speak into it... yes. The freedom of speech. I simply love it. I thrust the receiver into my stinking mouth and uttered the holy word: "hello". The person on the other side as if expecting the reply said "Namaste".

For a few seconds, I could not believe my ears. This word could only be uttered by members of one of Vasai's biggest gangs. It would not be wise to name them now. I was by then scared to death, but somehow mustered the courage to inhale a bit of air, and modulate my voice to say "yes". This is probably the only thing one can say to these people. They will generally not take "no" for an answer. He spoke as if in a very point-to-point and direct manner and said "stop coding"... For a few seconds I wondered whereby he knew of my ongoing activities, but then realized that these people had spies working for them in every nook and corner of the city. Before any more words could be exchanged, the phone clicked... He had put down the receiver. I had no option but to obey. Otherwise, I ran the risk of being executed.

After a few seconds, I pressed the dreaded keys, Ctrl-X + Xtrl+C. Emacs had been put to sleep... Rather a deep and unforgiving slumber. I could hear it telling me to have mercy, and re-spawn the process, but my life is quite dear to me.

Two days passed and still there was no call from anyone regarding when I could resume coding. I was getting restless. It's almost as if I had been kept hungry for a couple of days. That's when I went to the kitchen, eat the largest meal I've ever had, and decided; "I shall not eat of drink till I have resumed coding".

My resolve to confront these group of people who want to disrupt other people's lives was growing just as the bacteria multiply. It was growing in stature by the second; just a my hunger was gaining some serious momentum. That was when I decided... Enough is enough; someone had to stand up and sort out thing with them. I took the bold step to adorn my stupendous jeans and Google t-shirt, and put on my trusted footwear[a pair of floaters], and steped out of my house with only Rs 28/- in my pocket. Enough to purchase a return ticket to Vasai.

On reaching Vasai, I had no clue as to where I should begin looking for them. I tried asking some people for directions but I didn't know what place I was looking for myself. So, that plan failed miserably. Then a sudden flash of brilliance; as if magically enterd my bird-brain. I proudly walked up to the next person that I saw, and said "Namaste". I could see this plan also back-fire, when his face turned the palest of while, and he fainted on the spot. I was now convinced that I was dealing with a gang that had instilled death-like fear into the minds of the people living there. "This brutallity must be stopped", I said to myself.

Treading on fearlessly into the dark, I reached a solitary cottage, away from all known civilization. I figured this was the place, since there was no soul in sight. Standing a good 3 metres out the porch, I shouted out as loud as I could, gathering all my energy "Show yourself up, you fear-instiller". And out from the roof came a caped creature, with his frock blazing away with the wind. His outline was distinctly visible in the beautiful setting sun, which had just about a few minutes left to dissapear and appear on the other side of the earth, and shed light on their sorrows. He spoke in a very commanding tone and said "So, you have finally arrived, you greedy bandwidth seeking creature". I was taken aback at the way in which he spoke and the confidence he exuded. After all, he was wearing his underwear atop his pants. Pulling out his shimmering sword which shone brightly in the setting sun, almost blindig me, he uttered the following words which I shall never forget for all long as I live: "I am the ruler of the Dial-upers, and off later broad-band seekers have been infiltrating into our territory. I shall not allow this adultration to happen, and shall take ncessary steps to erradicate all high-bandwidth spots on this planet. You shall find yourself in dial-up hell after some time, miscreaeant". With that, and and one fell swoop of his weapon, I fell to the ground; unconscious, motionless.

When I awoke, I found these really sexy chicks around me dancing all around to the sound of holy rhythmis tunes being chanted in the background. I said to myself "yeah!". Then, I logged on to a computer which had my name on it. 4 CPU, AMD 64-bit, 64GB RAM, RAID-1, 3TB disk space, and loaded with all the possible songs I would have dreamt of. I fired up firefox, logged into gmail, and am writing this mail now. Btw, I now realized what that demi-god ment when he said "You shall find yourself in dial-up hell after some time, miscreaeant". I am in dial-up hell because we have 10mbps leased lines per user here! I am in broad-band heaven!