Reflections

The 26th year of my life on earth began on rather morose note. Being alone in a new city, without any real friends to speak of, no means to go places is a sure formula to get one into mild depression. (Is it just me, or that people having most of the basic stuff in life sorted getting depressed is sort of ironic.) At such junctures in life, I'm glad to have been born in a culture which gives high regard to the family structure and it's accompanying support system. They were able to talk me out of despair, sort out my problems one at a time. New home, new car, and a family vacation put the zest back in my life.

By December of 2013, I'd began to look to fill other gaps in my life. Like the ability to make friends. Especially girls. I don't recall how exactly, but I managed to land up on a dating website, and started talking to people.

I was very, very selective at first, which led to the superlative quality of discussions. The people I dated initially were mostly extremely smart, driven individuals, willing to look for people of the same type in the short term horizon. Being with them made me understand, how not ready I was to settle down.

There is one maxim which my mom had taught me which kinda  rang true even before I could seriously consider any "settling down". "No money, no honey" indicating if I couldn't afford to support another person financially, I shouldn't even think about taking up such responsibility.

However, I feel that the maxim doesn't fully capture the intricacy of the prerequisites needed to consider settling down. The amount of parameters that need to align in order to even consider spending your life with someone seems to make my fretting over selecting a car laughable.

Some people believe that such things happen when the time is right; I don't completely buy that. Yes, there is some aspect of luck involved, but most of my friends I see happily married around me also made some efforts which finally resulted into them getting together for life. I believe as time progresses, the efforts needed to find that right person naturally intensify not only because one feels the need for emotional attachment to someone special, but also because the pool of such people only shrinks with time.

People seem to look down upon fervent efforts for emotional happiness, but applaud hard work which goes towards improving one's career. This seems odd to me. Personal happiness comes from different things, some derive it from work, some from their social life, their family, parents, wife, siblings & children. I don't understand why it's wrong if a person of the latter kind makes fervent endeavors to better his/her social life over his/her professional life.

The 26th year of my life on earth has come to a close today, and after filling a gap in my life I feel that I have mostly experienced what every normal 26yo at my age has. (Apart from the drinking, smoking and other crazier aspects). I have the knowledge I need, the experience, to make decisions. How to make such decisions is going to be interesting, I know I've not reached my professional potential, so prioritizing that and searching for emotional happiness along with progressing my hobbies is going to need some awesome time management. Well, guess that's what I need to learn quickly, managing my time. Because I know, people can do such things in parallel, and if someone else can do it, why not me? :)

Every blog should be bombed by at least one Top ten list at the start of the year.
That is rule. No two ways about it. And the title needs to short & snappy.

So here is mine.

TOP TEN NOT SO FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGIES WHICH I HOPE COME TO CONSUMER DEVICES BEFORE DECEMBER THE 21ST.

[just rolls off your tongue doesn't it]

Also it is very important that the list is in reverse order, so as to supposedly build up the excitement to the No. 1 item, which obviously is on the next page[which obviously will refuse to load leading to click mash and RSI by F5 press]

10. Pressure sensitivity on touchscreens.

This is the most likely to come as even Sony-ericsson has a prototype since 2010. http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/09/sony-prototypes-pressure-sensitive-tactile-touchscreen-hopes-to/

Hopefully, it would convince oldies like me to get on the touchscreen/smartphone bandwagon.

9. Made in China Find-me buttons

What I mean by these is like buttons to turn on the lights and fan, every home will have umpteen buttons each of which activates an audible/visual alarm locating common household items.
My mother has been asking me to make these since millenia, but manufacturing these on an individual basis is economically unsound. Hence, China!

8. Every fridge needs to have an open door alert alarm

Some do this already; all manufacturers need to. It is trivial to put in. {Saves energy, stop global warming blah blah}

7. Traffic "Walk" buttons which are not placebos

Seriously, How hard can it be?

6. Youtube needs to work on stopping giving false hopes.

Audio buffered should not been shown until video has caught up. Simply leads to unnecessary rage.
A better innovation would be Google desktop Video Client(Ad supported[with Ad-block extension in 1 month])

5. Better printer drivers

Who am I kidding, this is what actually causes the events on Dec 21st, when all Hlewet Packtards firmware bug acts up simulaneously to take over the world.

4. Wifi on all public transport

Seriously, would actually encourage many poor facesmash junkies who normally take out their beaten up kia's for a 10 min walk distance.

3. Internet holiday's

School enforced internet bans for schoolchildren, in a hope to save the Generation ZZ from the otherwise imminent judgement day on Planet Zetor(where we all shift to on Solar sail powered space convoys to escape the apocalypse. See 2)

2. Solar sails

Or any promising technology which leads to faster space travel to haul our asses off this planet which is now beyond repair(Sorry climate change activists, unless All of Victoria not so Secret model's pose together we ain't gonna listen).

And finally, *drumroll* *drumroll* *drumroll*

1. Quantum teleportation.[ Spell check autocorrects teleportation as deportation :( :( ]

Star trek , centurions and 1 thousand billion other Sci-fi dramas have been showing us the hallowed future. I believe this technology has the potential to save all of mankind, I mean think about it.

Teleportation eliminates transportation, traffic jams, saves man hours, fossil fuels, thus countries frenzy for the said fuels and thus no wars and thus saving trillions of dollars on defence of which .001 % can be divided equally among health care, jobs & educational scholarships for starving poor grad students like me.

All we have to do now is wait. Cheers!

P.S : Scientists:  Y U NO BEAM ME UP SCOTTY!

Holiday Squashed!

A very happy new year to all followers, non-followers & accidental visitors. Being as this might be the last year civilization may survive(/s), I have decided to try some new things.

Today's new thing is to try and come up with a new dish. A recipe of my own. This has two fold advantages:

1. I get a backup career option.
2. I get to work with chips.

So without further ado here it is:

Recipe: Holiday squashed

Ingredients

2 or more consecutive holidays.

• 2 or more wanna-be social chipmunks.(aka Duckfaces, or those on the way to ADD)
• 1 tag-alonger. and Finally
• Chemical X - The deadly digital or compact camera.

(Source: www.flickr.com/photos/gummypiglet/5471150170/)

Directions 

1. Obtain a Mr Tag along, Pappu, who has a long weekend & wishes to combat the rising boredom levels that his slow office net can no longer kill. He decides to use the bank balance which he usually swims in to go on a small getaway with his social chipmunk friend Tina.
2. Tina is thrilled at the idea and asks if she could bring along Nina, social chipmunk no. 2. Pappu tags along not knowing of the horrors that await him.
3. The fateful day arrives and the trio land up at their intended destination.
4. At that moment, Nina removes from her purse an object so shiny it blinds our poor Pappu. It is none other than, Chemical X - The digicam. Tina asks if pappu has any water with him as she didn't have any room to pack in the bag.
5. From that moment onwards, to the rest of the trip Pappu's is the functional equivalent of a tripod stand capable of clicking repetitive "profile pictures" automatically.
6. Pappu's patience wears thin, but suddenly if God took pity on his plight, a glimmer of hope, the 8GB memory card is finally exhausted.
7. Even though both physically and mentally tired Pappu finally feels happy that he can enjoy the rest 47 hrs of this weekend.
8. At that moment, Nina brings out the bulldozer that rams through Pappu's soul like WWE wrestler Yokuzona rams through Anand Bhatia. Pappu faints and is rushed to the hospital.
9. The doctor informs his friends that their friend has suffered a stroke but wonders what could have caused such a thing on a holiday.
10. Nina casually wonders the same replacing the 32GB card she had kept as a backup.

The End.

Democracy derailed...

Banal is what the bored bourgeois would describe the brouhaha of the blarings between the two sides of the "Anti-Corruption" bill. Billowing steam and exchanging rhetoric is what seems to be happening between the two from ages now. A simple chart would show how levels of excitement peaked and are now visibly waning.

I'd like to make two distinct points which can be simply inferred from the above graph:

• Clarity of objectives and a focused approach when protesting are a must.
• Social media campaigns do not correlate with actual public groundswell. It simply reflects what is "cool". "Hey, that girl I like has a FaceBadge against corruption; let me get one as well."

Let me clarify from the outset, my stand on the whole "Anti-Corruption" morcha(Campaign). I am totally against this sort of "Blackmail politics". It is a very valid point that if two public personalities hold two fast on opposing sides, it is impossible to come out without being the bad guy. This was exemplified recently when two public figures related the Telangana statehood and United Andhra(If my memory serves me right) fasted to death until their demands were met.

In short, fasting, though typified Gandhiji's Satyagraha, is not a very useful tool in modern times. The "Anna camp" had an opportunity to rise and strike when the iron is hot(Around April 2011 as it appears from the graph), but then again, this would have set a very bad precedent shaking the very ideal democracy is based on: Government by the people i.e. the government is a reflection or a cross-section of the people. Instead of arm-twisting a lethargic government, a better option is to introduce a bill for MP recall, similar to what US politics allows for, and is currently being pursued in Wisconsin against Gov. Walker. This keeps the politician on their toes and not take their "gaddis" for granted, without needing to resort to blackmail.

Another spectacular failure(or on the way to failure) is the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Again, here too the demands and reasons are genuine, but lack of clear demands, and a strong united voice, allowed the movement to be derailed too easily.

What the organizers/participants need to understand is one simple term: Attention span, which brings me to my 2nd point: Social media campaigns are only as useful  as long as they fall within the attention span of the common public. That means the general urban populace, as the intricacies of the Lokpal bill would be lost on the rural masses(or instead to put it correctly, there are more graver things affecting the rural population). A very interesting research paper by Nicholas Carr, Wired magazine, May 24, 2010 12:00 pm. seems to suggest how neural pathways have been "rewired" with mass bombardment that the Internet yields us. But that's straying away from the main point. Basic funda: If you want to go outside of the constitution, try to finish your business before the movie gets too long. Like how the Egyptians did in removing their monarch swiftly. Too bad they went from jumping out of the frying pan to the fire.

Moral of the story: Make it quick & clean. But bear in mind, the long term repercussions of such unconstitutional fasts can be more harming than the short term illusionary benefit of a Lokpal.

My fair lady...

The other day I was reading an article written by a well-known Indian columnist. It tackled the admittedly dicey issue of the moral depravity of the peddlers of skin care products in India. I however, have a slightly different take on this.

In an age where mother earth is bursting to its seams with populations it cannot support, one needs of new & innovative ways to leave an indelible mark in the pages of history. The not so mentally gifted of Miss R Sawant ilk, tend to do this by being boisterous and noisy in general. Some others, being naturally talented find their lives ruined by unwanted media attention. There is however a vast majority in the middle: The common man.

The common man, is your average Indian, middle class upbringing, a bachelor's degree at max. and then thrust into the mileu of the Indian economic "powerhouse". He/She tends to have a steady job, a mundane life and not many growth prospects the "right" way. On the other hand, he is bombarded via the Idiot box with incessant stories of fame & fortune, the likes of which he can never hope to earn in his lifetime. All of those personalities, seem to have, an X factor one might say, which got them to their current positions. Some have family connections, while other have ravishing looks, while others are filty rich playboys with dozens of arm candy by the side.

Family connections are mighty hard to produce, and a lack of wealth is what drives the common man to seek out other ways to "stand out". So he/she pursues the 3rd option, albeit to a reduced degree. In a population of over a billion, wherein the skin color brown is as common as sand in the Sahara, an easy way to look "different" would be to be born fair. This again not being in one's control, one turns to miracles via  "fairness creams" sold by so-called "exploitative manufacturers". The common man acheives this to a fair degree and is more or less happy with the result. I must point out that the standing out bit does seem to work at least in job interviews and if one tries to gain that advantage then there is nothing wrong with that.

What escapes me however, is the claimed exploitative nature of this process.

The consumer had a need: I need to look different. Most people here are brown. So easiest way to look different is to be white, or fair.
The producer has a product: Take thee this, and thou shalt be fairest of them all!

A simple demand-supply pattern forms which drives the fairness creams economy. This is pretty similar to how tanning saloons work in the western hemisphere, where the common color is white. The people there desire to be darker, and tanning saloon meet this need. Nobody bellyaches about the "exploitation" of the masses there. Its the consumer making the choice, and consumers with TV watching such ads are knowledgeable enough to make an educated decision. The not-so-educated ones are pretty much those in non metro areas who tend to be well read in the holy books and know very well of the color of our holy Gods, and that if they choose not to look like their Gods is again completely their decision.

The product was advertised as shrewedly to exploit the demands as is any other product and I fail to see why it should be singled out or banned outright.

What are your thoughts on this?

P.S I am a grad student and am in no way related to any cosmetics company whatsoever. For what its worth, I don't use any cosmetics as a personal choice.

Access Android wirelessly without USB

In this small tutorial, I will show you how to access the contents of your Android phone wirelessly.

What I am using in this tutorial is a rooted Samsung Galaxy 3 running Froyo and a computer with Windows XP. Of course, there is Wi-Fi. If you want to know how to root a phone, you can read about it here.

I then installed an app called SSHDroid. There is a free version as well as a paid version available. The free version is ad supported - so it won't work if you have ad blocker app active. If you do have one, then just disable ad blocker for some time. (Restart the phone after disabling ad blocker to ensure it works. It hadn't worked for me before) Turn on your Wi-Fi.

Once you run SSHDroid, your phone is available to be accessed via Wi-Fi. Now you need to access it from your computer - There are various ways of doing this, including command line. I prefer to use WinSCP - The same tool that you use for iPods and iPhones after Jailbreaking. You can download WinSCP from here.

I download the portable version- you can download the other one too. Then just run WinSCP - Enter the IP address of your phone... If you don't know this, SSHDroid will tell you anyway. Enter the user name as 'root' and password as 'admin'. Connect!!

Your phone and computer are connected wirelessly without USB cable.

*CAREFUL*

You can access not only your memory card but everything - including system files! So be careful

In the path, click on the first slash or navigate upwards till you reach the root. Navigate to the SDcard folder - you can see your entire memory card contents there. You can use WinSCP for copying, moving and other operations...

You might also like...

How to root Android phone

How to connect to Linux from Android

Titbits and Not so general musings.

First post of 2011! A very happy new year to all regular and non regular visitors! :)
Posting after a  long hiatus feels very weird. Instead of a long, well thought out piece, I intend to post several small thoughts to get back into the groove.

• Conformism and related ideas.                                                                                                               

          Many a times I tend to see myself as too much of a conformist, a person who is influenced both by other people and by general trends, a bit too easily perhaps. Most of the times I am able to convince myself that most of these "beliefs/practices" I give into, generally have a good reason/logical foundation. However, there are times I feel like a bit of a wuss, and try to find comfort by trying to find out chinks in the ethos of anarchists, or more specifically, those who live by the credo of being different. Taking this thought further, one can see that such mavericks, who live by only their self beliefs, and not to please others, have arisen out of a general distaste with social pressures/politics. Hence,albeit in a roundabout way, they too have been influenced by the behavior of group, an implicit reaction of which, has been to tread their own path. So we see the non- conformists, in a way are conformists as well! :)

•  Corruption/Red tape saves our monuments.

           The other day in the bus as I saw the mess made by the recent metro project, I was reminded of how much time it had taken for it to go from the drawing board to actual groundwork( some 20 years). In the process, it had caused the closure of several historical places, from shops to gardens. In a way, the slow pace of development of the metro, had allowed us to enjoy those places longer than we could have, had the works proceeded efficiently and without red tape. One of the things which money and progress can’t bring back, is heritage of a place or the memories associated with it. One can now go from one modern city to another without making out much difference between them. Mostly this happens because progress tends to apply the same filter to all places. Ultimately, it makes all places look much the same. So thank our corruption for slowing down actual work, so that we still have enough time to cherish/save such important landmarks. :)


One parting thing I'd like to preach, which I've been practicing off late.

Be honest with yourself about everything. :)

Thats all for now folks!  Feel free to give me your ideas on current and past pieces.
See you soon with more.

• 
  

Chrome OS - Will it result in a paradigm shift?

Swami Nikhilaananda said:
"Pfffttt... all this hype about Web OS makes me wonder"

With the recent release of the Google Chrome OS, a web operating system, the whole world is geared up to see if there will be a paradigm shift in technology, in the way we use our computers and operating systems, and so on.

So, what's a web OS anyway?
If you use a desktop or a laptop, you make some changes in some files on your system. Then, the changes are only on your system. The files are saved on your system. A web OS however, stores your files on some thing known as a cloud, basically a central repository, and therefore becomes device independent - You will be able to access these files from anywhere.

That sounds cool, doesn't it?
It definitely does sound cool, but frankly it is not. Why you ask? Let me give you a simple example. In my company, we work on something known as a VM - A virtual machine basically. The actual system is centrally housed in the United States. I go to office, connect my laptop to the network, use Windows Remote Desktop tool and connect to the system in the US. I complete some work, close the session, shut down my laptop, and come back home. Once I reach home, I turn on my laptop, turn on the VPN, complete the connection and use Windows Remote Desktop connection to resume my work - The desktop of the Denver system again opens exactly in the same state as what it was in... Same as a cloud, don't you think?

We have always been using the cloud growled Larry...
Larry Ellison of Oracle has always said that cloud always existed and doesn't understand what the hype and hubbub is about. Frankly, nor do I. The Chrome OS is not going to be as revolutionary as it is made to sound. Yes, there a large number of great applications to use - But, I can do the same with Windows as well, just like what I told you about previously. Yes, there are some differences with the existing Remote Desktop and this one, in the sense that there will be a break in continuity the moment network goes off, whereas in Chrome OS, you can continue to work and the sync will happen when network resumes.

Hey, what about collaboration and simultaneous working?
Sure! But these things can be done with conventional operating systems using Chrome and its applications, or even with other browsers.

Conclusion
Chrome OS will definitely not result in a paradigm shift - Linux has a far far greater chance of dethroning Microsoft because it has a greater deal of power and is on the same lines as that of Windows. A web OS is for people, exactly as Google claims, who spend time on the web, sending emails, chatting, updating messages on facebook and blogging. And this will not replace everyone's systems - Sure, it will result in an add-on to the existing operating system, but nothing as revolutionary as claimed.

Debates - Logic and Emotions...

Swami Gulagulaananda observed:

"An argument without emotions clouding is a right argument"

An argument arises when there is a topic of discussion, and there are two sides to it - Each side will want to prove that they are right. Arguments are some times conclusive - In which case, something can be concluded. For example, murder mysteries, court cases, etc. Others are where there is nothing to be concluded - An example would be where opinions are concerned - I might find something nice, you may not. Here, there is no right or wrong, but there are still two sides.

However, there is one thing that is important - An argument is not flawed as long as emotions don't play roles in it. A debate is perfectly executed as long as people are logical in their approach. However, very often, emotions start creeping in - After this, personalities start getting attacked. A simple example would be where one person targets the other person's weakness... "Yeah, but when you went begging back to her, where was all your dignity huh?" That is an uncalled for statement in correct arguments. The purpose of an argument is to judge correctness - Not to win.

Often, people attack the opponent by making insinuations and tangential statements - Hinting something obliquely. And emotions creeping in is not just by making statements. It also plays a very important role in your way of speaking. Just yesterday I was talking to some friend of mine, who was talking about the irritating way in which a friend of his responds to a case where the other guy is wrong - You can say "Hey, that's not right because..." OR you can make a really disgusted face, make a mocking voice, indicating that the mistake is not a commonplace one thereby hinting that the other person is a fool, and saying "Haa what the heck is this? This isn't the right answer" With the former, the one who has made a mistake will analyse why it could be wrong, and thinks about the possibilities. In the latter, the ego of the person gets hit - Thereafter, he doesn't really care much about the correct answer - Instead, he will try to prove his point - Either by saying he is right, or by attacking personalities and using swear words. This is a poor way to proceed.

Unfortunately, another thing that we see is talking without facts - We end up making blatant statements, which are often unsubstantiated. We have no idea if it is true, but in the heat of an argument, loose comments are made. Another fallacy would be one where the location of arguments is not fully studied. Arguments in public is one that should be avoided (unless you are invited by Times Now :P) because, again, you end up trying to safeguard your ego because a lot of people are watching you...

An appropriate way in which a debate should flow is one where points are made, points are disproved, opposing points are made, and so on... An argument in which emotions start playing roles, raising voices, using swear words, hitting below the belt is a failed argument. Unnecessary rise in temperatures is involved. Another mistake is - Assumption. Certain meanings are taken although they might not even have been remotely intended.

Then there is the second type - Opinions. Every person is entitled to opinions. Now, unless the opinion is based on a false premise, such as anything misconstrued, one can never disprove that, and arguing against this is baseless and incorrect. A simple example is - A person says that doing MS is pointless because of very high costs involved. This is his opinion. Then another person tells him that getting funding is possible that will enable him to do it smoothly. Then, his opinion changes. An opinion of this kind can be changed, because he didn't know certain facts earlier. However, if a person says that he doesn't like a certain song, it is an opinion that cannot be altered. You cannot convince him because there is nothing there to convince. If YOU on the other hand like a song, then good for you - However, trying to say that the song is good would be pointless, because the first person clearly disagrees. An argument of this kind should be avoided as it results in nought.

My Experiments with the PC ...... BIOS flash going awry

Well this dates back to the time I was perhaps in my 2nd year of engineering.
My 6 year old monitor had gone bad. So I went out and got myself a cool 19 inch widescreen Samsung flat screen. I had initially planned to get only a 17 inch screen but decided to go for the widescreen one after checking the price difference between them.


So, I come in and plug the beauty to my CPU. The screen glows up and it looks awesome.
But there is something amiss. The screen looks all distended. "Hmm ... Got to do with the widescreen resolution I thought". I went and checked out all the resolutions available. None of them looked fine. On digging further, I found out non of the resolutions available were wide screen(16:10). My immediate thought was.."Driver update".

Upgraded to the latest driver available on the Asus website (my mobo maker). It would not work. Tried different versions..Nothing would work. It did not take me long to realize that nothing would do. Every piece of hardware comes with the firmware that makes it possible for it to talk to other hardware and upper layers of software. Dirver only enables you to speak to this firmware.
In my case, I was running a mobo with on-board graphics and the BIOS did not support widescreen resolutions. And no software upgrade on my OS would fix it.

This meant I had to look for a BIOS upgrade. Asus had stopped releasing updates for my motherboard long back . Even the last BIOS released did not support widescreen resolutions. As you would expect, there was this guy in Finland who had patched the BIOS to support widescreen resolutions. I downloaded it right away.

Now came the difficult part.
I had never done a BIOS upgrade. Back in those days, a BIOS upgrade was considered a thing you would never do.
But I thought, what the hell. This is one part I have never tried on my PC. Come what may, I want to enjoy my new monitor. I am gonna upgrade to the new BIOS.

I was too eager to give a deeper thought.
Off I was to the Asus website, to download the flashing utility.
There were 2 options : Windows flashing utility
A DOS based flashing utility.
I chose the Windows utility. Took a backup of the current BIOS.
I chose the patched BIOS and selected "FLASH".

Next on the screen :


1. Erasing current version a.b.c.d .... Complete
2. Flashing new image version w.x.y.z .. Complete.
3. Verifying image .... Verification failed!.

"Oops..Maybe something went wrong. Let me try it again", I thought.
I did the sequence n number of times. And it would say the same thing everytime.
I knew I was in deep trouble. Atleast I was running Windows and my BIOS would not be rquired till the next reboot. So I started googling for solutions. After 3 hrs of surfing, I realized there was no other go apart from flashing from an external programmer.

And I eventually pressed the shut down button. And as expected, my system would not come back from the next boot.
I called up the supposedly best Computer Service guy and explained what happened.
He asked me to get the system over. I clearly told him that I just needed an external programmer to re-flash it.
But after 3 days of waiting, this guy tells me. Sir, the Display Chip is damaged and that is why the system is not booting up.
I argued enough to explain what the problem was.
I was cursing myself for taking the system to him.
I got back the system immediately.

I then called up Asus support . Atleast the engineer there clearly understood the problem. But due to my misfortune, my mobo was very old and they did not have any programmers or my mobo model.

If they had one, I could have something called hot swapping.
So, what exactly is hot swapping.
Well it is basically taking the bios from a non-booting system where the bios flash went bad or was the wrong version and reflashing it on a working system that has a compatible chip.

I even went to the extent of calling up the vendor who had supplied my PC to check if anyone else had got the same system around that time so that I could flash my BIOS chip on his system. I reached a dead end again.

Eventually, I had to contact a person who was involved in Chip level service to get it flashed.
The fix was a matter of 5 minutes. All I needed was the external programmer.
And I had to shell out 500Rs for it .

Later I came to know that most of the old motherboards shipped with faulty programmers.

So the next time around you want to flash the BIOS of your old system, ask yourself ..
"Do I really need this BIOS upgrade??"

Well, if you are running a reasonably new machine, there is no reason for worry.
Asus motheroards now ship with something called Crash Free BIOS and Gigabyte mobos have dual BIOS chips so that you can boot from the other when 1 crashes. And every motherboard vendor now has one or the other thing to handle Bios flashes going awry.
In fact, I have flashed my new Asus P6T Deluxe several times and never ever faced an issue.

I have to mention that I have left out many specifics in this article to keep it concise....

A Dependency Is A Major Weakness

Swami Gulagulaananda said:
"There is no greater weakness than dependency"

I'm sure most of you are aware of this by experience. A dependency is something that will always pull you down. It is something that makes outcomes of certain events uncertain, and makes certain otherwise strong individuals weak.

This post discusses about dependencies in general, and also why auto rickshaws in Bangalore continue to be a problem.

So, what's a dependency?
I am sure that such incidents would have happened with you or you would have been around or heard about incidents such as the following. A group of children are playing cricket, and one of the children brings his brand new bat. This is the only bat for the group of children to play. When the kid who brought the bat gets stumped and becomes out, he refuses, and says he wants to still bat. The rest of the children disagree, and tell him that it's the next person's chance to play. At his, the kid says that he is going to go home, and take his bat along with him.

Now it's the turn of the other children to be stumped. If they ask him to get lost, they end up with no bat, and cannot play. If they allow him to play, he is obviously taking undue advantage by using the bat as a leverage.

Dependencies exist everywhere
Just look around. A man tells his wife to do something. The wife refuses. The man says that he is not going to give her any money, because he is the earning member of his family, and she is just a housewife. She has no other source of income, and finally has to yield to his whims, whether or not she likes it. He uses money as a leverage, while she succumbs to dependency.

Many software applications don't run properly, because certain dependencies (files) are missing. You then have to start hunting for ocx and dll files, register them, etc. If there were no dependencies, life would have been smoother.

Coalition Governments are perhaps a perfect example. For the government to sustain itself, a lot of people need to be kept happy. If they are not happy, they will walk away, and the government collapses. As you can see, as long as the government is dependent on them, there exists a weakness.

A group of people, A, B, C and D decide to work on a project. A, B and D might be very efficient, while C is not good. The work is divided among themselves, and the sequential stages of work is completed by them, in that order. Now, the project will never get completed, as long as they are waiting for C to complete the work.

Autorickshaws in Bangalore are rude, overcharge, don't come to places you ask them to, use rigged meters, etc. And yet, when it is raining, or when you are running late for a meeting, you pay more and hire an autorickshaw. This is because you don't have another option. And so on... There are countless examples for this.

How do you battle dependencies?
The only ways to fight dependencies, is either to be independent or to create alternate solutions - not as simple as it sounds.

You first need to develop a mindset against it. A strong will to not succumb to dependency. And I am saying this, only in places where it is not impossible. For example, when I have to cover a distance of four kilometres, and there are no buses in sight, I walk. And I am talking about times when I don't have meetings, or any time limit. You might ask "What's the big deal in doing that?" The answer is simple - A person such as an autodriver develops an attitude to refuse to go to a place where you ask him to, or develops an attitude of overconfidence or arrogance or complacency only when his stomach is filled. He has the idea that - "If not you, someone else". Every time you walk manageable distances, you are denying him of some money, while it is not a major hit to you. Imaging what will happen if this gets multiplied by a lot of people - Auto drivers will start feeling the pinch. They cannot afford to refuse getting hired.

Have a look at BMTC buses - There are two types, the normal ones and Volvos. The bus conductors and drivers of normal buses are inherently rude. They talk roughly all the time, and the reasons are that they see a lot of people and the buses are overcrowded all the time. They are able to meet the targets set by BMTC - this is because the fares are lower, and so, many people board the buses, and targets are met. So, they even have the audacity to skip bus stops leaving eagerly awaiting commuters high and dry. Volvo buses on the other hand can't afford to do that - Their fares are higher, and so, very few people board them. If they create a negative attitude, existing commuters may find alternate ways. If that happens, they cannot meet targets set. And this is the reason why they stop even when someone stops them.

Apparently auto drivers in Mumbai are very polite. This is obvious - People there go by local trains largely. They also have buses, autos and taxis as other means of transport. If they are not being competitive, they lose out. In Bangalore, if not for BMTC buses, there are no alternate means of transport for Bangaloreans that take them to the interiors. So, auto rickshaws continue to show attitude problems.

KFC(C) Fou(w)l Play

Swami Gulagulaananda said:

"When you see a dog in the manger, throw a stone at it"

The Kannada film industry has put a limit on the number of theatres showing non-Kannada movies. The reason? People are watching more non-Kannada movies than Kannada movies. So, basically, if the plants in your garden look like they are dying, then go and wreck your neighbours' garden - Why? Hell, I don't know. Somehow, the KFCC is managing to make their idea not sadistic at all...

The idea of movies, people and popularity is simple - Make a good movie, give proper publicity and people will watch it. Why will they not want to watch a good movie? Instead, pathetic movies are made, that get pathetic reviews - Whichever star you pick (As you know, Sandalwood has every actor named like "[Put star Title Here] Star" which could be golden, silver, bronze, crazy, wacky, rebel, mutineer, or whatever... the movie never seemed to get more than one star in ratings, no matter how many super stars you put.

And don't even get me started on the songs - The only good thing about Kannada songs, is that the music is really good these days. But the lyrics makes me puke... every single day. And the radio stations in Bangalore don't know when enough is enough. With their crappy clichéd catch phrases (sakkath hot maga,whatte fun, aithalakadi morning, etc.) they play songs with hopeless lyrics day in and day out. When I started going in Volvo buses, I used to see many people listening to songs from their phones and iPods, and I used to find it strange - Hey, the radio is on, and it's playing refreshing songs with their refreshing RJs. After a really short time, I got it. Most RJs are really annoying, boring and overzealous, jumping to conclusions all the time, and the songs are worse.

The point I am making is this - Yeah, I do agree that you need to have a variety of songs. But the stuff that is being churned out by the industry doesn't qualify to be called as songs. And for all the ruckus that they raise about being true to Kannada, most of these songs have non-Kannada words in them very often. And the Kannada they speak is sub-standard, with no difference existing between alpapraanas andmahapraanas. If you disagree with me, here are some lyrics -

• Swalpa soundu jaasthi maadu, thumba oLLe songidu, ondu roundu hodedu nodu, bhoomi thumba saNNadu
• Yaakoooo, thumbaaaa, bore uuu, erade eradu steppu kuNidu bidoNa...
• ardha litre petrol iththu gaadinali...
• thale baachkolo powder haakolo...
• haLe paathre haLe kabbiNa haLe paper...

This list will be made longer... (You can contribute) And they have the audacity to arrange for best song awards among these... Reminds me of the IgNobel prize.

The point is not that - The point is, instead of making better movies, they are blocking other movies from screening. This is highly unfair. It is very similar to Auto Drivers who drive away private vehicles and other means of public transport after some time at night, so that all the business comes only to them - So that they can charge one and a half, or double! Dogs in the manger you say? Don't succumb to them - Do what I do... I boycott autos completely. You should never allow mediocrity to prosper. So next time you see a rabid dog in the manger, throw stones...

Life is a short mystery...

Swami Gulagulaananda said:

"I continue to wonder what exactly is life... It's the strangest thing that I don't quite seem to comprehend. And then there's death"

We all live lives - We have dreams, ambitions, wishes, desires, friends, work, parents, relatives, loved ones, enemies... We laugh, cry, shout, shove, fight, beat, run, fly, eat, sleep... And then we die.

Frankly, till date, I have never understood what life is all about - We all took birth, we live a life filled with some or all of the above, and then there is death, which will hit everyone.

Some people say life was an accident - that due to some random events, life just appeared. Possible. Some say that God created life. Possible. Whatever may be the reason for life, one thing continues to haunt me - What is the purpose of life? If you say that life was an accident, get over it, then I disagree because if it was, then there should not have been such an instinctive drive in all of us to survive and plough through. In the end, death will hit all of us, then why should the strong desire for survival exist in each of us?

Just imagine you're writing an exam, and the teacher says that all of you are going to fail the test, no matter what you write (Reminds you of VTU?). Will you have the motivation to study hard? When the end result is known, you will definitely lack the desire to work hard - The mindset would be that - "I'm going to fail anyway, why should I work?" And similarly, if you know that you are going to die, why do we all struggle so hard to live? Are we hardwired to do something, that we seem to be missing?

I'm not being a cynic who says - "Hell, we are all going to die anyway. So, let's not work hard to achieve something in life. What's the point?" No, I am not saying that. I am asking you to think and ponder over it. It is interesting, as an intellectual problem - Perhaps, the strangest mystery that keeps me thinking so often. What is death? The absence of life. So, what's life? What is missing between a person who's alive and who's dead? Why should a person die?

We often take certain things extremely seriously, and often forget to respect and enjoy the smaller things in life. Every minute of your life is precious - Believe me, you will not get to do this again. Live every moment, cherish every moment - You never know when it's your number next...

I continue to believe in - Study and work like you are going to live forever. Don't develop an attitude that you are going to die, and it's pointless. Just stick around. Some day, you never know, Swami Gulagulaananda might answer your questions :-)

Life with the Connors.

My name is Billy. I turned 6 last month. We had organized quite a party and I was the centre of attraction. It felt so great. But yesterday, my world crashed around me. I accidentally found out I was adopted. I felt so confused. My parents tried consoling me, saying they I was with them since I was very small. Hell, I'd been with them even before we had Jamie.

Enter Jamie, I still remember, the first time I saw him when mom got him from the hospital. We'd hit it off from the very beginning. We'd go to school together, play together, even sleep together. Those days were fun. And then came the flu. It spread so fast, that we were caught unawares. It took away Jamie from us. Dad and mom were heartbroken. Some friends and relatives blamed my constant presence around Jamie as a possible cause. But Dad rebuffed all such claims.

Once Jamie was gone, however, life wasn't the same anymore. There was no one to play with. Sure I was pampered. But the odd night, I could hear mom quietly crying herself to sleep. I tried a lot to amuse her with my antics, but they were of no use. Molly, my mom, was broken from the inside. I couldn't really understand why she was so sad, after all, she did have me.

When I came to know however, that I was adopted, did things become a bit clear. Jamie was their biological child. I wasn't the same. I still felt the same amount of love towards my parents, but I wasn't sure they felt the same anymore. I felt like running away from here, my mind a confused mess of sadness, and bitterness. I finally decided that everything would turn out fine with time and that all these emotions were to complicated for me to understand right away. After all, I'm only a cat.

"Pirates of the Silicon Valley" ... The Afterthoughts

Happened to watch the movie "Pirates of the Silicon Valley" a few days ago.
I must admit that the director has done a decent job narrating the history of the present day PC.
My intial impression was that it would be closer to a documentary than a movie.
But that was not to be.

Have just started thinking after watching the movie.
They say history repeats.
Is Apple iPhone v/s Android a repeat of Mac v/s PC.
Is Google doing what Microsoft did to Apple during the 80s ?
Is Google 'stealing' from iPhone ?
Will Android take over iPhone.
These are some questions that popped into my mind immediately after watching the movie.

There is no doubt that the mobile platform (netbooks, tablets, iPad, mobile phones etc) today is creating a revolution that is no lesser than the personal computer revolution of the 1980s.
Many companies that did not ride the wave during the PC revolution are today history or a faint shadow of their yesteryears.
So the giants today are more wary abot neglecting the mobile platform today.
I see that Intel is concentrating on its mobile platform more than ever. The space has been dominated by ARM for a long time.

That reminds me of the age old battle "PC v.s Mac".
I have heard people go gaga over the Macs features, boot up/shutdown time etc and complain about Windows' instability.
But what we tend to forget is the way that a Mac is designed is completely different from the way Windows is.
A Mac has its hardware and software tightly integrated. Each hardware that goes into a Mac is thouroghly tested.
On the other hand, Windows is written in a more generic way allowing compatibily for scores of devices.
Windows as such, I feel is not so unstable. What makes it unstable is the drivers that are written for the Operating System and the various different combinations that exist which certainly cannot be tested.
So, the way Windows works makes it possible to have a whole lot of devices to work considerably easily on Windows. But this is also the factor that introduces instability.
On the other hand, since Mac software is written with the hardware specifically in mind, it is very stable.
Each device that is Mac certified is tested thourougly.
This was the reason Microsoft introduced driver signing. This has improved things to a large extent but still cannot solve the problem entirely.

So, it is basically a trade off between device compatibilty and system stability.

The same applies for phones today.
On one hand, you have the Apple iOS with Apple strongly controlling the software that you can install on the iPhone.
All apps go through a serious approval process before being listed on the Apple Store.
A major reason for this, apart from a few others, I think is to ensure system stability.

On the other hand, you have the open Source Android being customized by each vendor for his platform.
Every vendor has his own UI running over vanilla Android.
While this introduces variety, you will still have stability issues.
And maybe, sofwares running on Android customized by one vendor may not even work on another's.

Over the past few days, Android has bee winning significant market share and has overtaken Apple iPhone.
As I sign this off, I am still wondering ,

Does history repeat ?
Is Apple iPhone v/s Android a repeat of Mac v/s PC.
Is Google doing what Microsoft did to Apple during the 80s ?
Is Google 'stealing' from iPhone ?
Will Android take over iPhone ?
Will the entry of Windows Phone7 change things in the mobile space.
Will there ever be a single platform leader for mobile devices like Windows for Pcs



We have to wait and watch ...
Would be nice to have you opinions/comments on this.



-Abhishek

Computer Tricks & Tips

During our everyday usage of computers, we stumble upon many issues. Each of us knows a trick or two in these situations which can help in resolving/debugging the problem. We thought it would be a nice idea to share such tricks through this medium so that we could make a collection of such tips that all of us could use.

Let me start with one :

DNS Server issues.

Many a time, when I connected to the internet, I faced problems of being unable to browse sites with my browser. But my antivirus program would go ahead and update virus definitions.
On digging into the problem, I realized that the issue is usually to do with the Domain Name System(DNS) Server which translates the URL like www.google.com to an IP address like 209.85.231.104.
Usually the DNS server maintained by the ISPs are not online 24/7. Due to this, we will be unable to browse even though network connectivity is established. I have faced this issue a lot of times with my ISP (BSNL) and hence switched over to Open DNS.

Using Open DNS not only assures 100% DNS server uptime but also provides security.
Here is a link that explains in detail, the steps needed to switch your DNS server to OpenDNS.

I guess most of us know about this but it would be good to document it here.

Request others to contribute tips/tricks they generally use in their everyday usage of computers.

Media - Not liars, but selective truth tellers

Swami Gulagulaananda said:
"A half truth is often more dangerous than a whole lie"

The Indian media is becoming more and more aggressive with each passing day. In the Kargil war, it was said that the Indian media was largely responsible for boosting the morale of the Indian soldiers, which was a key factor towards Indian war - Something that was apparently missing in Pakistan (Source: Wikipedia - Kargil War)

The media went on to fight for justice in the Jessica Lall case. However, by then, the media started going off course. While the media was doing a good thing in fighting for a cause - where many cases normally get buried due to the influence of the rich and powerful, many journalists including Karan Thapar and Sagarika Ghose started showing signs of prejudice (and stupidity, with all due respect) which can be clearly seen in these videos - Karan Thapar and Sagarika Ghose

As you can see from the videos above, the media starts with the assumption that one person is wrong and starts attacking them. Now, this person could be wrong, as was probably true in the Jessica Lall case. However, in the Aarushi murder case, the media was completely off mark. They made humiliating accusations and insinuations on her parents and others - Whether or not these originated from the media, they should have been thoroughly verified before broadcasting to the whole nation! In the end, it turned out that the parents were completely innocent... But imagine what kind of a blot comes on the miserable parents who not only lost their child but were also inflicted with unbearable pain from the media due the allegations levelled.

If the media were barking up the wrong tree without any repercussions, that would have been alright. But they have the ability to sway the whole nation. And they do it. The media seems to have developed a tendency towards taking sides and giving too many unsolicited opinions. Take for example the Commonwealth Games - While several photos of how the games have let Indians down have been posted, including beds with paw-prints, and dirty toilets, not one photo of the fantastic developments done there posted. It's only now that an email is doing rounds to bring up the spirits of all Indians who have, by now, developed a mind-set that the organisers were utterly corrupt, and the games are a complete flop.

Now, part of that IS true - But that's where the main problem lies... The media shows us only one part, and that prevents us from getting a complete image. We start seeing it with jaundiced eyes, where only negative things are shown to us. Artistick attempts to explain the disastrous effects of this kind of attitude, with a slight humour

[Click on the image to enlarge]

Therefore, it is up to all of us to start thinking independently of the facts that the media provides to us, because we are now aware that the facts provided, though true, are not necessarily the complete or actual picture. Don't jump to conclusions based on this.

Ranting in Rap.

Yo..
Listen up ppl, listen up nice,
Open ur ears, cuz i ain't sayin it twice.
Insultin ma country, bruising ma pride,
seems to be in..seems to be fine,
U curse all day, create a din,
and then u casually say that u r just kiddin' ?
U think u r brainy, u think u r funny?
but that's just crap, oh wise bunny!
U wanna be cool, u wanna be smart?
den y dont u clean up the shit n make a start?
Yakking all day, surfing in da night,
doesn't do squat, gives u no right.
Summin up da rant, ain't gonna be easy,
but has 2 be done, even if it makes u queasy,
Stop Talking, Start Acting.
Peace.








       

Creating a time capsule.

The concept of time travel has always captured my imagination ever since I was a small kid. Not only was the science involved quirky in itself, but the ramifications of such a journey, were it ever made were mind-boggling to say the least. Of late this interest of mine was further heightened after I watched for the very first time the Back to the Future series. By sheer coincidence, the book Timeline, that I had picked out of my local library that week, happened to dwell on the very same subject of time travel (Both these two are fantastic pieces of work. Do enjoy them if you get a chance).

The flood of time travel based stories in my daily routine set up my own train of thought. I wondered how it would be do go back in time and relieve those old incidents which i so fondly remember(Also, i don't know why, but at a personal level i prefer travelling to the past rather than the future. The latter would kill all the surprise i think. :P). 

Anyhow, I decided even though a real time machine hasn't been invented yet, I would set of on my own journey into the past, wherein my mind would be the metaphorical Train, navigating through the crisscross tapestry of my memories which would serve as the tracks. 

This sort of journey has a dual purpose. For one, it serves as a nice reality check, to see what really are the Days that stand out, as I celebrate 23 years of existence on this planet(I celebrated my b'day recently). Secondly, it helps me sorta achieve my dream of time travel. In this post, I intend to create an archive of memories. I call this archive, a Time Capsule. As we very well know, nothing on this internet is every forgotten. Hence, if ever in the future, I felt the need to travel back into time, I could use my Time Capsule and relive forgotten memories.

So here goes(Roughly in chronological order):

My earliest memory from my holiday in Singapore, I was clinging on to elephant pleading to my dad for one more go..but dad wouldn't budge..I really wanted to go on it again. :( Associated memory, my mom got called onto the stage and was hugged by a chimp :D

During the time of the first gulf war, there was this impending fear the Iraq would invade UAE, and Saddam Hussien was quite a figure then. So, whenever I used to stand in our house balcony, my mom used to scare me saying.."Saddam Hussien achi tokhe khadi wendo" (Saddam hussein will come and take you away). This trick worked without fail to scare me out of my wits.

Going to the hospital to see my mom( my mom was about to give birth to my sister! ) and I in my usual temperamental moods cried I didn't want a baby sister!!!( thank god mom didnt listen :P) and banged the eating table against the wall just missing my mom's head !( dont remember my exact thoughts then..i think i was mostly pissed because mom had been away from home so long...don't think there was any fear of division of love..)

Shifting from My oldest home..called "Lika waaro ghar"(house with scribbles of my artwork on the wall :P) to the flat opposite to us.

Going to the dentist with my dad to Rashid Hospital...At one point when the dirty dentist drilled like crazy and I couldn't take the pain any more..I said enough and kicked the Dentist in the face/chest and ran out of the hospital! my dad must have been red-faced then.. :)

My mom sending me down to watch some queen Diana who was passing by our road on her visit to UAE. I caught a lady waving out of her posh car..i do remember i saw someone( but the face is fuzzy now) but little did i know how big this Princess was to become. She was killed in a car  crash around 5 or so years later.

The endless days of cricket and 7 stones and hide n seek which i used to play with my local gang, nishant, tarun, hardik among others..adil, kasim, punit...I remember the hiding place in the godown which was sometimes opened...and when the owner discovered that he would threaten to lock us in...the innumerable times we hit ghatia aunty's window and ran away when she came out to scream! :) .. Hitting the ball into opposite balcony and jumping into them to fetch it..

My sister's first gestures...her kutukutu kutu kutu with arm waving gesture..(baby language for " I want bread Jam! " )..my sis falling on her face and breaking all her milk teeth in one shot!

My dad's first office phone no...his taking us to the first office among others..

Me running away from the bus stop when the bus was about to come..to the utter horror of my mom...i still remember that hiding place..!

Mom sending me(now a big kid) to buy sauce from (i dont remember the grocery name) and I discovered on the way that i had broken the sauce bottle and hence was feeling so guilty...i called up mom in almost a crying state from metlaa grocery...(funny how we remember such insignificant details vividly).

Me poking my classmates eye with my pencil...caused him to get stitches..

The same friend going and standing behind the girl Aarti in KG1 in the middle of the prayer when we were supposed to have our eyes closed...

Me quietly writing my arabic exam when the guy in front of me decides to look back and remarks "noooo, this is wrong..see mine that is right..." I copied his answer and that was the only answer i got wrong. My final score was 99.97% and one mark short of a perfect score. Also, i was tied with one other person. That was the guy in front of me. I learnt my lesson in copying that day. (class 1)

Me stealing gum from my friends bag's side pocket..only to be repramainded thorougly by mom and quietly slipped it in the next day.. :P ..

Me sitting in the first bench and turning back to get a rubber when i got Thwacked on the face by Miss Sonu...how i was filled with rage that day on getting slapped for not getting a rubber...

Also remember hiding our steel scales in Arabic period, lest our teacher see them and use them to hit us!

This has turned out to be longer than expected...

will cover the rest in subsequent posts..

GoodBye for now! :)

Growing up.

A year older, a little wiser, more independent, and more true to myself. Hope to keep heading in the right direction :) 

P.S : Publicly commiting to publish time capsule tomorrow!