How absent minded have you been?
Beat this one :)
Project over and after obtaining a release, I was clearly pleased and the excitement was evident on my face. Getting back to the city which I have grown to love, was definitely something to look forward for.
Chatting with my friend over dinner, we set out to the station to catch the 21:30 train to Bangalore. Discussion was on the current Wall Street collapse and effect it will have on us!
Almost at the station, I had a sudden revelation, something which was probably lingering in my sub-conscience, it popped up - poof. Where is my train ticket. Aaaaaugh, I checked my large plastic bag I was carrying that contained some books and large envelopes having my transcripts. Bah! I remembered giving a print out, and had forgotten to collect it, and that's what was hidden within the deep realms of my conscience, which decided to come out only when I am at the station.
Another neural surge and I remembered reading at the irctc website that failure to carry ticket would involve a fine of only Rs. 50/-, if you had your identification. My pal was still saying something about getting a print from a nearby browsing center.
I was still in the process of searching - since I remember having taken another copy earlier and probably hid it somewhere in the middle of tons of sheets which I was carrying, when another surge suggested, to look in my luggage. LUGGAGE?
Where is my god damn luggage. With a sinking feeling I swept the back of the Auto. No bag. It was peacefully resting in the luggage room back at office. I swore. Asked the Auto champ if it is possible to go and come back in time for the train. He looked at me incredulously, sensing that he was dealing with a mad person, and I was pretty sure he would say - 'Yeah sure, not to the Station but to the mental asylum'. When he realized that I had left the luggage at the office, his doubt vanished and he definitely knew he was dealing with a nitwit - 'You left your luggage? Hold on, you mean are you the one who is traveling and you left your luggage, even a fool will know he has to carry something when he is traveling'. I wished I could explain to him, that well the luggage was not with me, but in the luggage room and after dinner, I was so damn deep in discussion with my friend, that we just got out of office, walked up to the Auto Stand and pronto here we were!! But I knew no explanation would edge that disbelief he had on his face.
Well that's what happened, I walked out of our office to get to the station, left my ticket and luggage and very nonchalantly reached the station to catch the train.
Picture it and damn I still get the laughs when I think about it. ROFL.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Tribute to Michael Crichton
It has come to pass, some of the most fascinating works of man.
Michael Crichton, who died some weeks back on Nov 4 '08, the well known author of Jurassic Park and creator of ER, was an imaginative and real genius who came up with some incredible books.
And about the same time he passed away, Japanese scientists were able to take cells from 16 year frozen mice and were able to clone them. Now they are talking of cloning a mammoth from a frozen baby mammoth found in Russia - 20,000 years old. Phew - it would be awesome to see Ice Age come alive.
Think about it, some of these discoveries were fiction years back. But the fact is that man is progressing, fiction that was fiction 20 years back is becoming a reality.
Michael Crichton will be remembered deeply for his contribution to this world, that has paved man to realize some of the awesome works of this year. I have enjoyed each and every book he has written. Even though producing dinosaurs using this method is far fetched - since there is no known frozen sample of a dinosaur; there is a hope that some day Michael Crichton's fiction will become a reality.
Here's to Michael Crichton - Cheers!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Ubuntu 8.10 - Installed
Couldn't sleep well with this problem nagging my head. A few more attempts later I realized there was something else wrong too. The screen I was getting wasn't all blank, if it had a cursor blinking at the left hand corner. Checked the integrity of the CD, and found one file to be bad. No idea how though. Waited patiently for the download to complete again and this time it was the Alternate CD.
Burned again, installed. It went smooth, and finally I was greeted by the much awaited 800X600 poor resolution screen. Installed the nvidia restricted drivers v177.81 and then on reboot, the evident happened, Black screen of Death. I was almost certain this would happen having read the recurring problem in the forums.
Back to troubleshooting.
Followed some instructions on editing a file called - xorg.conf at /etc/X11. This file contains the parameters to load the display drivers and the monitor - Samsung SyncMaster 226BW. No success. Damn. Tried tons of configurations but to no avail. And just when I am neck deep, grumbling - power goes 'poof'. Sheesh, I cursed loudly and the next two hours were slow, tried reading for the exam a bit. Power was back in couple of hours [no idea why it went in the first place, and if I notice it always does when I am doing something serious].
Browsed a bit more and got the right monitor parameters for the setup. Still no luck.
Opened the Xorg.0.log file and finally figured something was wrong, have a look at this -
(--) NVIDIA(0): Connected display device(s) on GeForce 7900 GS at PCI:1:0:0:The card Nvidia GeForce 7900GS has a dual display out, and evidently my monitor was configured as CRT-1. Obviously using the UseDisplayOption with DFP was not right, since there is no display like DFP. The system was by default assigning CRT-0 as the assigned display device, which did not exist.
(--) NVIDIA(0): CRT-0
(--) NVIDIA(0): Samsung SyncMaster (CRT-1)
(--) NVIDIA(0): CRT-0: 400.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(--) NVIDIA(0): Samsung SyncMaster (CRT-1): 400.0 MHz maximum pixel clock
(WW) NVIDIA(0): Option "UseDisplayDevice" requested "DFP", but no unused DFPs
(WW) NVIDIA(0): are available.
(II) NVIDIA(0): Option "UseDisplayDevice" "DFP" converted to "".
(WW) NVIDIA(0): Unable to find any of the requested display device "" in the
(WW) NVIDIA(0): list of available display devices "CRT-0, CRT-1".
(II) NVIDIA(0): Assigned Display Device: CRT-0
(II) NVIDIA(0): Assigned Display Device: CRT-0I edited my xorg.conf and changed the option line of UseDisplayDevice as
Option "UseDisplayDevice" "CRT-1"
Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "SyncMaster"
DisplaySize 474 296
HorizSync 30.0 - 81.0
VertRefresh 60.0
ModeLine "1680x1050" 119.0 1680 1728 1760 1840 1050 1053 1059 1080
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Configured Video Device"
Monitor "SyncMaster"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "UseDisplayDevice" "CRT-1"
Option "NoLogo" "True"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Satiated!!
Apart from the above glitch, to experience this OS is a bliss. I remember 5-6 years back when I had installed RedHat and had the most horrifying experience, finding the most elusive drivers, installing and configuring them, connecting to a network, mounting my Windows NTFS disks etc. Linux has definitely evolved, I did not have do a thing - it was as simple as installing Windows, in fact I was most impressed during the installation boot up screen, when my Wireless USB keyboard and mouse worked flawlessly. Though installation took quite some time roughly about 40 mins, [wonder why it took so long on a Athlon 3000+ powered processor] I was blown away when the screen finally loaded.
I can see Linux evolving to a much higher level, and can picture the desktops around the world booting to THE fabulous system. Windows 7 has to pull off a miracle!
Friday, November 7, 2008
US - Jobs - Recovery not likely until 2010
An excerpt from an article courtesy CNN -
Another economist suggested that the positive effects from a stimulus package would not be felt until spring or early summer 2009 at the earliest and that there would be no significant job gains until 2010.This is not good news, especially when I am planning on taking a gamble to study in the US. I am stumped, these signs are not very encouraging!"Classically, employment is a lagging indicator that will decline well into the recovery period," Brian Bethune chief U.S. financial economist for research firm Global Insight. "Assuming the recession lasts until middle of 2009, it may be another six to eight beyond that before employment stabilizes."
Read the full post here!
Ubuntu - 8.10 - Disappointed
Well, here I am really bored. Waited patiently for the Ubuntu new version 8.10 of Linux to be downloaded, it just released last week. Never used Ubuntu, have heard its pretty sleek.
I had just finished downloading the entire pack of Fedora as well, however chanced upon the new release of Ubuntu and decided to wait.
Download over, hope against hope I opened the rack of CDs to find a last burnable CD left. It is just a 690 MB install, pretty cool huh, Fedora was 3.8GB, but of course I am not certain if it boasts of all the applications Fedora comes packaged together with, though.
Burned it, rebooted system. Cool menu and even has an option to check out the OS without actually installing. Clicked on the Install option and after a short splash cool screen, nothing - blank screen with the cursor dangling at the left corner. I said to myself OK, just a minor glitch. Tried it again and left the system for an hour, but to no avail. Just a blank screen. Browsed the forum and discovered I am not the only one having this conundrum - I am just one of the victims of the Black Screen of Death
Most likely a problem with the kernel unable to find the right resolution for the monitor. Do not want to try with the Alternate CD [the one with the text installer], simply because I suspect after installation, the problem will again reappear, as it has to some of the folks.
Fedora it is, will give Ubuntu another 2 days time....
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunset
Browsing through my old collection of hand written documents, written much before the explosion of computer and internet epoch, I found an old poem. A classic piece which astounds me now. I faintly remember being a literary genius, back when I was younger. In 6th Standard, I had attempted my first write up, Ramayana. I had read the unabridged version of the book and wrote the story in the form of an essay. I remember it to have come out very impressive.
Inspired by my father, I had begun writing. Short stories and poems mostly. I also remember winning the Short Story Competition at Champak. Hah! found that antique piece hidden in my collection as well. I signed, those were the days !
Here goes -
Yeah its crude and can be shaped better, but pretty good for a kid - huh?
Signing off !!
Inspired by my father, I had begun writing. Short stories and poems mostly. I also remember winning the Short Story Competition at Champak. Hah! found that antique piece hidden in my collection as well. I signed, those were the days !
Here goes -
Sunset
Dreams of intoxicating love
Pure as honey, sweet as wine
Smooth as a white dove
But devastating as a mine.
Naked, he was standing alone
His whole life flashing by
His lips mouthing a silent moan
The fiery falcon he could hear, fly.
Wonderful dreams descended upon him
When he thought of the maiden
The happy times, an unbroken film
Pleasurable thoughts, his mind was laden.
The fair lady, slim and elegant
Deep desire of a wife
Scattering charms with her scent
Enchanted his entire life.
Black beautiful hair, rolling waterfalls
The fairy beauty, river of milk
Her melodious voice, a nightingale calls
Her irresistible figure, an embodiment of silk.
He lay still on his bed
Love lost, beyond repose
The flower, nipped in the bud
No longer for his joys.
Dreams of intoxicating love
Pure as honey, sweet as wine
Smooth as a white dove
But devastating as a mine.
Naked, he was standing alone
His whole life flashing by
His lips mouthing a silent moan
The fiery falcon he could hear, fly.
Wonderful dreams descended upon him
When he thought of the maiden
The happy times, an unbroken film
Pleasurable thoughts, his mind was laden.
The fair lady, slim and elegant
Deep desire of a wife
Scattering charms with her scent
Enchanted his entire life.
Black beautiful hair, rolling waterfalls
The fairy beauty, river of milk
Her melodious voice, a nightingale calls
Her irresistible figure, an embodiment of silk.
He lay still on his bed
Love lost, beyond repose
The flower, nipped in the bud
No longer for his joys.
Yeah its crude and can be shaped better, but pretty good for a kid - huh?
Signing off !!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Life of a Software Idiot - Rude Awakening
Being employed in one the largest Indian IT firms is probably the worst thing that could have happened to my career, or in fact to any aspiring 'real' engineer. I enjoyed an amazing first two years of work life. Awards, recognitions, growth. Java being my passion from the past 6 years, made me a Java geek. And the burning desire to do something big drove me to work like a mad bull. The feeling was ecstatic, a ride that would never seem to stop, until one day I plummeted from the seventh heaven onto the hard ground reality.
It was a fine day, an holiday in fact. However, I had seen few holidays during my workaholic life. 16hrs was an average, during those days. It was during one of those, so called fine days, that the reality hit me. It came as a rush and and in the form of a most ghastly accident, while riding home back from office - floating on one of nine clouds. I was in the process of setting up a client presentation. A badly broken arm and the melancholic picture of it hanging precariously from the arm socket left a lasting impression on my mind. Those two months while I recovered, changed me forever; and hopefully the course of my career.
Quite often one gets a feeling of being driven, and the entire life seems to rush by and when you look at the past it is a gloomy or a fantastic dream. And you wonder, what am I doing to chalk out my own destiny?
The IT industry is now running on numbers, which seemed impossible a few years back. India became one of the largest outsourcing countries in the world with a multi-million dollar industry requiring to churn out thousands of 'IT professional' every year. Under-graduates with any degree - computer and IT was not a must, diploma holders and in some places students with a simple computer certification were given opportunities to work in the magnificent cities of modern India. It was much later when they realized that the metropolis's looked far from magnificent and resembled pure chaos.
The 'engineers' soon thronged the IT capital. One after the other, a building was constructed to cater to the hungry IT giants. No one wanted to be left behind in this mad race. Price shot up, land became expensive and renting a two bedroom apartment seemed close to impossible for the bourgeoisie. And in the middle of all this rose the upper middle class. The needs of these unsatisfactory dollar driven folks were never ending.
The AC factories as I called it, filled up, and that was when the gloomy story unfolded.
Pressure to bring in more folks, to train more 'engineers' grew as the demand for IT services grew. As the companies became giants, and new fresh companies started, the criteria to get into the companies started to diminish. 50% in higher education and the likes. Quality became a myth to be written in bright power point presentations given to white folks around the globe.
I looked around me one fine day and said - 'Where are my peers, the intelligent guys, the intellects, the ones from whom I learned and became what I am today?'. The company that taught me leadership, communication and skills that would take years to built otherwise. Where is the environment which I enjoyed being in. Never a topper and ready to learn from folks called real 'genius' was a satisfactory feeling.
When you sit and look around, you are able to spot a few handful people you can discuss any topic of the day with, that feeling drives me to madness, a feeling that made be so repulsive, that I could puke any day thinking about it. IT industry had transformed into an industry of fools. Skills plummeted, growth was aplenty for farts who could speak a few English words.
Software is not that simple. It requires real engineering and skills to build a good software. Any project I come across, is a real mess. With no thought involved, it was just thousands of lines of code that performed some task. There was no music in the lines, no cohesion. Code written beautifully creates excitement, and the more you indulge in it, the more you love it. The pathetic projects driven by hunger for growth and for money left no quality in its wake.
It is not always been such a grim picture. I have grown a lot more touchy in the new project that I have joined. My earlier project had few excellent mates and made the office life interesting, something that I looked forward too. However the feeling that I was being taken for a big ride did linger at that time as well.
For some reason, I felt I needed to do something extra ordinary, I am not sure what this feeling is, maybe everyone does feel like this, but few go that extra step to actually make it happen. I have thus decided to pursue my Masters in hope of finding something that would entice that extra interest in me. I do hope that the biggest gamble of my life pays off.
And I hope I find that special step soon!!
It was a fine day, an holiday in fact. However, I had seen few holidays during my workaholic life. 16hrs was an average, during those days. It was during one of those, so called fine days, that the reality hit me. It came as a rush and and in the form of a most ghastly accident, while riding home back from office - floating on one of nine clouds. I was in the process of setting up a client presentation. A badly broken arm and the melancholic picture of it hanging precariously from the arm socket left a lasting impression on my mind. Those two months while I recovered, changed me forever; and hopefully the course of my career.
Quite often one gets a feeling of being driven, and the entire life seems to rush by and when you look at the past it is a gloomy or a fantastic dream. And you wonder, what am I doing to chalk out my own destiny?
The IT industry is now running on numbers, which seemed impossible a few years back. India became one of the largest outsourcing countries in the world with a multi-million dollar industry requiring to churn out thousands of 'IT professional' every year. Under-graduates with any degree - computer and IT was not a must, diploma holders and in some places students with a simple computer certification were given opportunities to work in the magnificent cities of modern India. It was much later when they realized that the metropolis's looked far from magnificent and resembled pure chaos.
The 'engineers' soon thronged the IT capital. One after the other, a building was constructed to cater to the hungry IT giants. No one wanted to be left behind in this mad race. Price shot up, land became expensive and renting a two bedroom apartment seemed close to impossible for the bourgeoisie. And in the middle of all this rose the upper middle class. The needs of these unsatisfactory dollar driven folks were never ending.
The AC factories as I called it, filled up, and that was when the gloomy story unfolded.
Pressure to bring in more folks, to train more 'engineers' grew as the demand for IT services grew. As the companies became giants, and new fresh companies started, the criteria to get into the companies started to diminish. 50% in higher education and the likes. Quality became a myth to be written in bright power point presentations given to white folks around the globe.
I looked around me one fine day and said - 'Where are my peers, the intelligent guys, the intellects, the ones from whom I learned and became what I am today?'. The company that taught me leadership, communication and skills that would take years to built otherwise. Where is the environment which I enjoyed being in. Never a topper and ready to learn from folks called real 'genius' was a satisfactory feeling.
When you sit and look around, you are able to spot a few handful people you can discuss any topic of the day with, that feeling drives me to madness, a feeling that made be so repulsive, that I could puke any day thinking about it. IT industry had transformed into an industry of fools. Skills plummeted, growth was aplenty for farts who could speak a few English words.
Software is not that simple. It requires real engineering and skills to build a good software. Any project I come across, is a real mess. With no thought involved, it was just thousands of lines of code that performed some task. There was no music in the lines, no cohesion. Code written beautifully creates excitement, and the more you indulge in it, the more you love it. The pathetic projects driven by hunger for growth and for money left no quality in its wake.
It is not always been such a grim picture. I have grown a lot more touchy in the new project that I have joined. My earlier project had few excellent mates and made the office life interesting, something that I looked forward too. However the feeling that I was being taken for a big ride did linger at that time as well.
For some reason, I felt I needed to do something extra ordinary, I am not sure what this feeling is, maybe everyone does feel like this, but few go that extra step to actually make it happen. I have thus decided to pursue my Masters in hope of finding something that would entice that extra interest in me. I do hope that the biggest gamble of my life pays off.
And I hope I find that special step soon!!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Nightmare
Quite an interesting piece of work that I came across recently. It made me laugh for quite a while. And I enjoy it every time I read it. Enjoy reading...
When you're lying awake with a dismal headache, and repose is taboo'd by anxiety,
I conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in without impropriety;
For your brain is on fire - the bedclothes conspire of usual slumber to plunder you:
First your counterpane goes and uncovers your toes, and your sheet slips demurely from under you;
Then the blanketing tickles - you feel like mixed pickles, so terribly sharp is the pricking,
And you're hot, and you're cross, and you tumble and toss till there's nothing 'twixt you and the ticking.
Then the bedclothes all creep to the ground in a heap, and you pick 'em all up in a tangle;
Next your pillow resigns and politely declines to remain at its usual angle!
Well, you get some repose in the form of a doze, with hot eyeballs and head ever aching,
But your slumbering teems with such horrible dreams that you'd very much better be waking;
For you dream you are crossing the Channel, and tossing about in a steamer from Harwich,
Which is something between a large bathing-machine and a very small second-class carriage;
And you're giving a treat (penny ice and cold meat) to a party of friends and relations -
They're a ravenous horde - and they all came on board at Sloane Square and South Kensington Stations.
And bound on that journey you find your attorney (who started that morning from Devon);
He's a bit undersized, and you don't feel surprised when he tells you he's only eleven.
Well, you're driving like mad with this singular lad (by the bye the ship's now a four-wheeler),
And you're playing round games, and he calls you bad names when you tell him that "ties pay the dealer";
But this you can't stand, so you throw up your hand, and you find you're as cold as an icicle,
In your shirt and your socks (the black silk with gold clocks),crossing Salisbury Plain on a bicycle:
And he and the crew are on bicycles too - which they've somehow or other invested in -
And he's telling the tars all the particuLARS of a company he's interested in -
It's a scheme of devices, to get at low prices, all goods from cough mixtures to cables
(Which tickled the sailors) by treating retailers, as though they were all vegeTAbles -
You get a good spadesman to plant a small tradesman (first take off his boots with a boot-tree),
And his legs will take root, and his fingers will shoot, and they'll blossom and bud like a fruit-tree -
From the greengrocer tree you get grapes and green pea, cauliflower, pineapple, and cranberries,
While the pastry-cook plant cherry-brandy will grant - apple puffs, and three-corners, and banberries -
The shares are a penny, and ever so many are taken by ROTHSCHILD and BARING* ,
And just as a few are allotted to you, you awake with a shudder despairing -
You're a regular wreck, with a crick in your neck, and no wonder you snore, for your head's on the floor, and you've needles and pins from your soles to your shins, and your flesh is a-creep, for your left leg's asleep, and you've cramp in your toes, and a fly on
your nose, and some fluff in your lung, and a feverish tongue, and a thirst that's intense, and a general sense that you haven't been sleeping in clover;
But the darkness has passed, and it's daylight at last, and the night has been long - ditto, ditto my song - and thank goodness they're both of them over!
WS Gilbert
* These are two very old banks of that era
I conceive you may use any language you choose to indulge in without impropriety;
For your brain is on fire - the bedclothes conspire of usual slumber to plunder you:
First your counterpane goes and uncovers your toes, and your sheet slips demurely from under you;
Then the blanketing tickles - you feel like mixed pickles, so terribly sharp is the pricking,
And you're hot, and you're cross, and you tumble and toss till there's nothing 'twixt you and the ticking.
Then the bedclothes all creep to the ground in a heap, and you pick 'em all up in a tangle;
Next your pillow resigns and politely declines to remain at its usual angle!
Well, you get some repose in the form of a doze, with hot eyeballs and head ever aching,
But your slumbering teems with such horrible dreams that you'd very much better be waking;
For you dream you are crossing the Channel, and tossing about in a steamer from Harwich,
Which is something between a large bathing-machine and a very small second-class carriage;
And you're giving a treat (penny ice and cold meat) to a party of friends and relations -
They're a ravenous horde - and they all came on board at Sloane Square and South Kensington Stations.
And bound on that journey you find your attorney (who started that morning from Devon);
He's a bit undersized, and you don't feel surprised when he tells you he's only eleven.
Well, you're driving like mad with this singular lad (by the bye the ship's now a four-wheeler),
And you're playing round games, and he calls you bad names when you tell him that "ties pay the dealer";
But this you can't stand, so you throw up your hand, and you find you're as cold as an icicle,
In your shirt and your socks (the black silk with gold clocks),crossing Salisbury Plain on a bicycle:
And he and the crew are on bicycles too - which they've somehow or other invested in -
And he's telling the tars all the particuLARS of a company he's interested in -
It's a scheme of devices, to get at low prices, all goods from cough mixtures to cables
(Which tickled the sailors) by treating retailers, as though they were all vegeTAbles -
You get a good spadesman to plant a small tradesman (first take off his boots with a boot-tree),
And his legs will take root, and his fingers will shoot, and they'll blossom and bud like a fruit-tree -
From the greengrocer tree you get grapes and green pea, cauliflower, pineapple, and cranberries,
While the pastry-cook plant cherry-brandy will grant - apple puffs, and three-corners, and banberries -
The shares are a penny, and ever so many are taken by ROTHSCHILD and BARING* ,
And just as a few are allotted to you, you awake with a shudder despairing -
You're a regular wreck, with a crick in your neck, and no wonder you snore, for your head's on the floor, and you've needles and pins from your soles to your shins, and your flesh is a-creep, for your left leg's asleep, and you've cramp in your toes, and a fly on
your nose, and some fluff in your lung, and a feverish tongue, and a thirst that's intense, and a general sense that you haven't been sleeping in clover;
But the darkness has passed, and it's daylight at last, and the night has been long - ditto, ditto my song - and thank goodness they're both of them over!
WS Gilbert
* These are two very old banks of that era
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