Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !


Back to the time of the year when we reflect on what happened in the last 300 odd days and what to do next year. Am glad that its a different feeling every year!

This year was neither good nor bad for me, there were no significant achievements or pitfalls. I had to part with some of my good friends and colleagues, I also met some wonderful people with various talents. I happened to encounter some narrow-minded chauvinists as well...

This was also a year of learning, though it wasn't as exciting as 2003/04. I also discovered some of the things that excite me the most, things i hate the most and i also learnt to remain patient while facing such things(where an unnecessary conflict could be avoided).

This was also a year in which i wrote less in my blog but started reading more blogs ( i currently have close to 60+ feeds in my blog reader, some of which are technical blogs).

My reading habit went for a toss during the second half of this year, though i have recovered some lost ground right now, hope i dont face any Reader's block next year.

Movies! Well, this was a bad year for the city theatres as i couldn't watch many movies, mainly because of lack of company! Some of my friends don't like English movies(except of course Spiderman,Batman types), some of them are busy with their studies and some of them prefer staying indoors during weekends!

Life: Life is Beautiful, as always!

Work: It was a good year i guess, i took up a specific task in the beginning of this year and i am glad that i have accomplished more than what was expected out of me!

I am in the process of planning my next year, what i should be doing and what i shouldn't be doing, will be glad if some of my friends let me know what i should try and practice in 2007.

Hakuna matata!

Slide Share

Really cool site, might become something like Flickr or Youtube soon, Google, watch out for this one!!

http://www.slideshare.net/

Chaos speaks on Customer service

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, as i was doing my usual channel surfing, i stopped at VH1, where Eric "God" Clapton was giving an interview, promoting his new album with JJ Cale. I had never heard of that album or of JJ Cale, i was in no mood to get the finer details of the album until i heard Clapton saying some nice words about Cale:

...All through my life, i have produced various albums but none of them sounded like a 'JJ Cale' album and the best way to fulfill my desire is to co-produce an album with JJ cale, before i go under the ground. So i called up JJ Cale and asked him whether he is interested in producing an album
with me....

That evening, i decided to visit "Calypso", a Music store nearby my place to check it out. As i walked into the store, a guy wearing a bright "Calypso" t-shirt, walked up to me and greeted me(Lets call him DJ, the store sales man). I knew it was coming and promptly told DJ that i had nothing specific in my mind and i might not buy anything at all. He persisted and was showing me some good deals on some compilations. The moment i saw a Joe Satriani Definitive collection, the devil in me woke up and swallowed the part of my brain that said "Nay!". As i picked up that album and moved towards the billing section, DJ stopped me and said there are couple of other guitar artistes that i might like to try out. Then i remembered about this interview that i watched that afternoon and asked him for "that Cole album".

Then i had the shock of the day! DJ asked me whether i was talking about the "The Road to Escondido" by Eric Clapton and JJ Cale. I replied "Yes, but who is this Cale guy?". Then he gave me a 5 minute sermon on JJ Cale, his reclusive lifestyle and the kind of music that he plays. He even told me that Clapton's "Cocaine" is a cover of Cale! Well, never in my life had i received such useful information from a music store fella! I listened to all this with awe and promptly picked up the CD.He even suggested me a couple of other artistes which he thought i might like(like Neil Young, Knopfler etc, which might be partially true) but as my bank balance figure crossed my mind, i teleported myself to the billing counter.

This was a shoping experience i really cherished. Having a person in the store, who really knows what he is selling definetely helps. Now i know where to go for some good Music purchase!

Now playing: "War" by Joe Satriani

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fun !

What you wont get to see in Men's tennis from Sep 3,2006:

• A tennis player asking the ball-girl to wipe the dirt off his back
• A tennis player appealing to the audience that his shot was indeed 'in'
• A flamboyant champ who lets off his emotions on and off the court
• In short, you wont get to see another Andre Agassi in your lifetime!

Well, the master tactician will no longer play in the center courts and perform his traditional "kiss-and-bow". Tennis will no longer provide "wholesome entertainment". You will of course get to see Federer's flair and Nadal's power, but when it comes to perseverence and drama, none of the contemporary stars match Agassi! On a tennis court,his stamina rises exponentially with time.
I belong to a generation that grew up watching Agassi in action, right from the day when the hippy,ear-ring sporting American bit the dust in French clay,aggressive but tactical service returns against the big serving Ivanisevic to lift the Wimbledon trophy, battled against a not so charged up Sampras to win Aussie Open, powered his way into US Open final at an age when most tennis players have established their careers as coaches or commentators.....Only Agassi can do it!!

We miss you!!

At the moment...

....I want to start a Steven Seagal Haters club !

Ninja Hacker in Datacenter

Here is a story that i enjoyed reading, this featured in "The Daily WTF". There are definetely lot of good stories(rather experiences) revolving around the Datacenter, i guess the one in DailyWTF narrates it with a cool Ninja spin! Datacenter administration is one of the toughest jobs on earth, the more the number of 9's, the less the hours of sleep. But there is a workaround, if the administrator is smart, he/she can automate a hell lot of stuff and make sure that they receive notifications, that are triggered when any event happens. This site gives you some hints...

Update: Another similar story(500 mile mail) here, thanks Prash!

To (Spell) Bee or not to (Spell) Bee ?

As i was doing my routine channel surfing last night, i happened to come across this National Spell Bee contest in ESPN. I have heard a lot about these contests in newspapers.The first thing that struck me was why was this being broadcast in ESPN??Well, i wont categorize this under sports,what is there in contest of "Dictation words" (reminds me of those golden days in Primary school, when we had Dictation tests), it is more suited for Star World perhaps.As i watched the entire show, i realized that it had enough drama and action to come under the ESPN banner.There were pre-match interviews, where the contestants spoke about their special talents,preparation strategy and their seedings(?) this year.There were many immigrant contestants, especially from India and China.It was hard to believe that some of them had a personal coach to train them on spelling! The kids were amazing, they spelt all kinds of weird words(sample: 'Syringadenous','heiligenschein','maieutic').To be very honest, i had no clue about any of the words that were spelt during the contest.At times, this contest resembled more like the MTV Super Singer(the one hosted by Adnan Sami, some months back) as the parents got emotional when their kids struggled, the parents were more tensed than the kids!

Here is an interesting dialogue from this show:

Pronouncer: Here is your word @##$@$#$@# [well,not a swear word, i believe]
Kid: Okaaaaaaaay, Is this of 'Italian to French' origin?
Pronouncer: Well,may be, it is not listed here
Kid: Huh!

Interesting quote!

Here is an interesting quote by Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief mentor, Infosys, during a SPIN Talk:

Once a month I go and check the toilets in all the security gates. I get a report from the head of security about the cleanliness of the toilets once a week. It is the entry point of all visitors. First impression is made there. If you find it to be not good then if we make a big presentation, you will smile, listen to us, but you will not believe us.

Psenti Post -Part Un

Change. The very word scares me to some extent. What would life be after that? Will it be for good? Will I miss all the fun? There is this feeling of insecurity that comes naturally with any change, atleast for few days before and after the change.

Well, I am writing all this because Love Elephant will be leaving Bangalore for good next weekend. That means the last of the "Dinghian" company for me in the house is gone!

I met LE in Pilani, some 7 years ago, in the Hostel Mess. I first mistook him to be a parent of some student, considering the fact that he really looked like one and was wearing a Lungi. I still remember those days quite vividly; the day he blew condoms after a Beg-Borrow-steal event, the way he used to hunt for Pondy material in hostel rooms, the day we wrestled for taking possession of an empty ice-cream cup, the typical style in which he used to Ghot or ogled at the fairer sex...I still remember the day when he was shit scared about getting caught by warden, in an incident involving the "Little Pondy TT star" and a "white female". He did extremely well in academics, cracking courses at will and eventually becoming the topper in our discipline.

LE is famous for his wit and thought provoking statements, especially when he is "high". He is not a "non-stop-talk" kind of guy (unlike Woodworm of 'yesteryears'. Woodworm has become a lot more silent these days.), but he is famous for making some interesting punch remarks. His adventures during Goa trip and in Bangalore, after getting high are well known in "dinghy" circles! A good swimming partner, he was the chief motivation for me to join swimming ("What the hell?").I would miss those days when his Guitar gently wept...

There are a zillion of incidents involving LE which would evoke laughter.It would be another couple of years before we meet again. I am sure by then, LE would have scaled the Gates of Glory in his usual style. Good Luck Big Poppa, will miss you...

Now Playing : "Sacred Love" - Sting

Cargo Cult Science

Read this article by Feynman, very interesting! This reminds me of a story that i read somewhere long back. A scientist was doing some research on the behaviour of Frogs under various circumstances. He placed the Frog on a table, kept a match stick in front of it and said "Jump!". The frog jumped over the match stick and the scientist was happy. He then amputated one leg of the frog and said "Jump". The poor frog managed to jump. He then cut another leg and said "Jump". The frog still managed to jump with 2 legs. The scientist was delighted, he then cut one more leg and said "Jump". The frog pulled all its energy and jumped over the match stick, with just one leg. Finally, the scientist amputated the last remaining leg and said "Jump". The frog did not move. He kept shouting "Jump" but the frog never moved! So concluded his thesis with the following result: "A frog turns deaf when you amputate its legs".

Now playing: 'Miss Sarajevo" - U2