Say no to Defragmentation!

Before you say, "Is this guy nuts?", listen to me. I know this goes against all that you've ever heard about how to keep your PC fast. The first point is always defragment regularly. I've had my home pc for 4 years, and not once have I defragmented my drive. And it runs as fast as it did the day it came. Of course, I went through the rest of the disciplines like keeping your services under check and regularly scanning for viruses and other evil things. But I've never defragmented my home PC. Okay I'm lying... only twice in two years. But that's still impressive right?

So I'll begin my how-to with giving the reasons for fragmentation. Fragmentation comes in two flavours. External fragmentation, and internal fragmentation. External fragmentation is when files in a folder on the disk are spread across the entire disk instead of being close together so that when they are accessed in quick succession, like photographs, or program files, the hard disk doesn't have to go around hunting for them. Internal fragmentation is when a single file itself is spread across the gigabytes of space available on your hard disk. Now, the internal kind is generally more evil and contributes most to slowing your computer down. One generally does read entire files from the disk, unlike entire contents of a directory. When you defragment, you are collecting these pieces and putting them back together in one place.

So obviously, to never have to defragment means that one doesn't allow files to get fragmented in the first place. The magic word here is partitions. Your hard disk can be configured so that it shows up under "My Computer" as separate partitions. Making partitions is a one time effort. Its the how many and of what size questions which matter.

What I've done is subdivided my storage requirements into the following categories:
1. Operating System
2. Programs/Applications
3. Swap & Temp.
4. Data
5. Music
6. Mail


So yes, my hard disk does have 6 partitions on it. The way to go about this is to format your hard disk. There are ways around this, but generally formatting is the best option. You just have to do this once, and you'll thank me for the performance gain that you see. So when you format, delete all existing partitions, and create a brand new partition for installing Windows. You should normally keep around 5 GB for this. Leave the rest of the disc unpartitioned.

Once Windows is installed, right click "My Computer" go to "Manage" and select "Disk Management" in the tree view. Here is where you create the rest of the partitions. I'm listing possible sizes for 40GB and 80GB hard disks:

40GB:
1. Windows 5GB
2. Programs 10GB
3. Swap and Temp (3 times your RAM + 1GB)
4. Data 5GB
5. Music 10GB
6. Mail Rest of space.

80GB:
1. Windows 5GB
2. Programs 20GB
3. Swap and Temp (3 times your RAM + 2GB)
4. Data 15GB
5. Music 25GB
6. Mail Rest of space

You can adjust for other hard disk sizes. Also note that you can customize this further. I normally keep my installation files on the same partition as my Programs partition. You can create a new partition just for that. Also, the mail partition is necessary if you use IMAP or POP3 mail. You don't need that partiton for webmail.

The next thing to do is to tell your computer where to store your virtual memory file. The default is the same partiton as your windows partition. You should change this to your Swap partition. To do this, go to "My Computer Properties", "Advanced" tab, and click on the "Settings" button in the "Performance" box. In the dialog that pops up go to the "Advanced" tab again, and click on the "Change" button at the bottom. In the list select your windows drive, and set the radio button to "No Paging File". Then select the "Swap and Temp" drive and set the "Custom Settings" radio button and set "Initial Size" to the same amount as your RAM and the Maximum Size to twice your RAM. If you have less than 256MB RAM, set the radio button to "System Managed Size" instead.

Next, you have to tell windows to store your temporary files in the swap partition. In the "Advanced" tab on the "My Computer Properties" dialog box, click on the "Environment Variables" button, and change the TEMP variable's value to a folder called "temp" on your Swap and Temp partition.

Next change the location of your "My Documents" folder to a folder called "Data" on your Data partition.

Next install all your other software in the "Program Files" folder in your Programs partition. Then you are done.

Some things to remember:
1. BACKUP your data before formatting your hard disk.
2. Don't do this if you think you're not proficient enough, or don't have enough experience. Get someone else to do it for you.
3. Always install programs on the Programs partition's "Program Files" not your Windows partition's "Program Files" folder.
4. Directions given are for Windows XP. You'll have to look up ways for other ways of windows yourself.
5. BACKUP your data before formatting your hard disk.

That's it. Your computer will run fast for ages. Run the windows defragmenter once a year on all your partitions. That should be enough.

Comment if I've left any loopholes, or if you face some problems other than lost data. I'll be glad to help out.

Ciao.

Intellectual Property Misappropriations

Sumit sent me an article about The End of Copyright. Kindly read it before proceeding with this entry because a lot I say has to do with sentiments expressed in that article. I agree that the author, Mr. Ernest Adams, is only predicting the downfall of copyright laws, and nowhere does he mention that he actually likes what he's predicting. I am however against his reasoning, and that's what this post is about.

One of the things that really got me in that article was the Mr. Adams' tendency to draw conjecture from incidents in the past. Sometimes very much in the past. For example, he draws a parallel between photocopying and file-sharing. And forgets about the fundamental difference between these two technologies. Note that he doesn't draw a parallel between copying audio tapes and file-sharing. The difference in the technologies would be too glaring and would not be forceful enough to make his point. The difference is that file-sharing is bad because there is no loss in quality everytime you share it. How many sequences of photocopies can you make of an original print? Three? Four? After that it becomes illegible because photocopying adds noise. Same with cassette tapes. MP3s on the other hand can be endlessly copied, and the 1000th copy is the same as the first file. Incorrect parallel? I think so.

The second thing that pokes me in the side is what Mr. Adams thinks about why laws exist. They don't exist to stop crime. They exist to reduce it. A bunch of laws have never stopped murder, corruption, theft, rape... shoplifting for that matter, from occuring. Why would they stop piracy and file-sharing? (Conjecture I agree, but you get the gist.) But you do realize that you don't want to live without these laws in place right? On the other hand the aforementioned murderers, the corrupt, thieves, rapists and shoplifters would just love not having those laws around. Make things much easier for them. So copyright laws are not going to go away just because some people think they'd rather not have them.

The third thing that really hurt me was being compared to a building architect. Okay I don't write books about wizards and witches, or make a 100,000 people go into a frenzy with guitar playing. But I'd still like to think (even though Mr. Author Adams doesn't) that the stuff I write is worth something. His argument is, and I quote, "Architects don’t get paid every time someone steps into one of their buildings. They’re paid to design the building, and that’s that." And the same thing happens when I design software. I'm not paid royalty everytime someone uses software I write for my company. I'm paid a salary to do my job. On the other hand if that Architect put in his time, money and energy to build a roller coaster ride... you get my drift right?

The last point is very close to what I said in my earlier article about Art and Technac. There's a difference between Art and Engineering. Not that I'm against Engineering copyrights. But copyrighting something is a personal preference. The logic that since the cost of the equipment was a few thousand dollars it shouldn't earn some serious money just doesn't gel. Hell, people ultimately want a free ride on that roller coaster. If giving it away makes you all warm and fuzzy inside give it away free. If the pot of money makes you feel the same way, sell it. Your choice. And that choice needs to be respected.

I know atleast three people, who are very close to me, who think that copyright and intellectual property rights shouldn't exist, and that the world should be a place where thoughts and ideas flow free and are open to everybody. What I want to say to them is that there are a lot of talented people who just won't be motivated enough if they didn't earn money for their effort. You can say that "they're just doing it for the money", but that doesn't make their art any worse. After all a Picasso does earn millions. Yeah, I hear you Darshana, but I disagree with the distinction you make between music and painting. Darshana thinks that since an original painting holds the emotional and spiritual orientation of the person at the time he/she painted it, and because a copy wouldn't hold the same thing it has singularity, and therefore is valuable. If that orientation could also be transfered to the copy, then it should be free?

And before you say "Hypocrite!", I say I am. But I want to give up smoking, run 10 kms a day, eat only vegetarian food and contribute to open source software. And by the way, I don't have MSOffice on my laptop (OpenOffice.org), the only games on it are legal (Medal of Honor, Rise of nations), and I've rented 25 legal DVDs in the last 2 months (Aatish shush!).

And some day I'll write some really fundoo piece of code, and earn lots of money. I definitely want that option open.

So a plan is afoot

I, Aatish, Amol, Nikhil and Pramtu have planned it now. 1st week of Jan we'll have a marathon movie week. We spent 3 hours chatting about it on a Yahoo! conference, and the list is here. That also means that I'll be able to rent the movies and watch them all beforehand so that there's nothing to miss. Anyways here's the list:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Thirteenth Floor
3. American Pie
4. Identity

Some other probables are (these are my personal favorites, haven't discussed them yet):
Antwone Fisher
Fallen
Amelie of Montmartre
Se7en
2001 - A space odessey
Lord of the Rings - Return of the King

We'll be adding more movies as we go along. This is going to be a good party. Hope for the best guys.

P.S. Tum and Nikhil (Khade) I've already counted in. Subject to your approval of course. Pst... there'll be booze and food as well :D.

Pune is going to the pollution hell

And this screenshot here proves it. I got it from my personlized Google homepage. Smokin'!!

Up up and away

Did you dream of being a superhero when you were younger? Or even now? Dream of having a car that's closer to that batmobile than the sedate sedan you drive? Or having superpowers that'll enable you to deflect rather than avoid the many 'bullets' you face everyday? Do you dream of saving yourself miraculously from those oversized brawn-and-tattoo-featuring-dopes by turning into something akin the Incredible Hulk?

I did. I'm a different superhero everyday. Whenever I go to bed, more often than not (except when I'm so tired from the ordeal), I find a few moments where I go to la-la-land and dream for a few minutes of ways I'd be able to use to get away from it all.

Its a defence mechanism, I guess. If I rate my days from good to bad on a scale of 1 to 10, it's on the 4 to 6 rated days that I'm susceptible. The better days are too comforting and the worse ones are too tiring to stay awake dreaming for long.

My recurrent superhero dreams? That I'm fit again, like I used to be when I was doing my MCS, or when I used to jog everyday. That I can ride a bicycle again for 25 kms a day without flinching, like it's common. That I can play 4 hours of basketball a day, and still spend the night partying into the wee hours. That I'm on my bike again along that sea side road that haunts my dreams.

Those earlier superhero dreams were the ones that I used to have when I was the superhero that I've stopped being now. Now my superhero is what I used to be.

So the superhero is not fictional. He's just what one can be... Am I not an optimist?

Thundercats Ho!

Guess what I just found on blockbuster.com? The entire first season of Thundercats in 6 DVDs. I ordered the entire thing. Now I can't wait to get them.

Thundercats was/is absolutely the best animated superhero cartoon series I've ever seen. I love the Thundercats theme music. I mean, it's absolutely rocking. And the characters. Mum-Ra is the best cartoon villian I've seen till date.

The full set of 130 episodes is available from Amazon, for an insane $100. It's just released, so maybe after an year or so. I've waited 15 years for this another one won't matter ;).

Roarrrr!

Art vs. Technac (and other "non-art" forms")

Cold glass+cold kahlua+cold milk+lots of ice+82% humidity+bathroom break == lots of condensation on outside of glass == glass slips and falls and shatters and a bloody nice kahlua and milk all over the kitchen floor. And its all wet!!!

So what do I do? I take a shower. Kahlua under the effect of gravity has little sense of direction. Or maybe a lot of it: It was directed at my crotch :(. So a shower happened, and clothes in the washing machine happened, and a whole lot of mopping up sticky Kahlua off the floor happened. Now I'm at peace (no pun intended).

So back to today's blog entry: Art and its artifacts. I'm going to talk about this from the bits and pieces I've gathered from my talks with Tum on the subject, and my own understanding of the topic.

What is Art? Now that isn't a question that I'm going to attempt to tackle. I'd rather take up some consequences that are pointed at by the question of what doesn't comprise Art.

I was for example, shocked at the opinion that since Art has to be unique, it should be non-reproducible. So that beautiful Ferrari Enzo that was featured in Overdrive recently doesn't comprise art. It's not art because it is precise, and therefore exactly reproducible by another person with enough competence. So that piece of shit with both eyes on the same side of the head is art, but the Enzo or the Honda Goldwing is not? Seriously the definition is too restrictive. I mean could anyone else have ever thought of putting those pieces of metal together that way? Could anyone else other than the designer have thought of all the curves... exactly the same curves as the original one thought of? But that's where it breaks down right. In the end its engineering. And there are limits to what one can do. For example, no one would design a sportscar that looks like a PMT bus, would they? I mean, even if it had the best engine and the best detailwork, and the snazziest paintjob, it'd still look like a PMT bus. So maybe this definition of art does have something in it. Maybe vehicle design doesn't come into the realm of art, but of some other word... "technac" (it's just a word I'm coining).

So how can technac be made as restrictive as art is? Yes, it needs to be done atleast for the reason that this'll prevent entries in both criteria. So:
1. it has to have engineering (not science) behind it.
2. it has to be exactly reproducible (so things that involve probability (infinite improbability drive?) don't qualify, or maybe that does :) ).
3. it has to serve a function (of at least teaching something, like those action-reaction balls on a string).

There's another aspect of art that defies reason. It should be appreciated/disliked for what it is, not for the emotions that invokes. Because, for me, this'll put a lot of music that I like into the realm of "not art". Ok, not really... but it does mean that when comparing that shrieky opera singer and "Fuel - Metallica" I shouldn't really count the fact that the latter makes me trip about really dangerous speeds. This one is completely bogus. A painting of a horse that makes you feel like flying is not art? Aaarrgghhh!

So, there it is. The debate is still undecided. But if any of you feel like discussing this one with me ( it has a lot of booze potential ), post a comment.

O&O.

Some funny videos

For those brethen (and sisteren ;) (all Indians are my brothers and sisters (except one)?)) who are in India right now, maybe you want be able to see these videos if your ISP routes you thru India. For the rest of you folks:
1. OddTodd - http://www.oddtodd.com/ (you should be able to see these in India).
2. Triumph the dog at a Bon Jovi gig. (Google video - need US proxy)
3. Triumph the dog at the Micheal Jackson trial. (Google video - need US proxy)

OddTodd is really creative and somewhat sinister. Just imagine this was you!!!

Enjoy.

Photos of the things I see walking to and from office.

I did promise you the photos :). I did remember most of the places I listed, but not all the phots came out that well.

The gold teeth place. Notice those posters? Downright ugly. And it is "the best grill" as well :). Was closed, thus the interrupting gate.







The music shop. The drumset was there, but the guitars hadn't been put up yet. Didn't remember to photograph the rest of it on my way back.






The 14 year old girl has been replaced. Maybe other people didn't take newspaper from her either :). Anyways this guy was there and it took me 3 tries to get his shot. He kept turning around just when I clicked.
P.S. I was trying out Picasa. Good stuff.





The green building after taking the right turn. My camera settings were all wrong I think.













Starbuck, french cafe style. Maybe I was running late, because usually there are a couple of more umbrellas.









24 hour gym?









The produce place. All those single storeyed buildings sell fresh fruits and veggies at wholesale rates.








See I told you that cop car was there everyday.









The glass lane. Inset shows broken glass.

I don't want to blog today

Try as I might, I can't think of anything to write. I thought out all the things that happened today, and there was nothing. Nothing happened today. I walked to office. I walked back. Must've passed around a thousand(?) people on the way, and I can't remember a single face. There were the every day sights:

• The gold teeth place. I don't think I'll ever see another shop with posters of men showing off, no blaring, their gold incisors and canines at the general public through the shop front. P.S. they also serve steaks.
• The music shop. The guitars lined up, and a drum set in the window. I want to stop and look at them, but I'm always in a hurry. There's an acoustic for $99.
• The newspaper girl. This 14 year old offers me a newspaper everyday at that particularly big corner, and I never take it. I wonder why.
• The green building. It has the outside made out of green marble. That's where I turn right :).
• Starbucks. There are old people sitting outside the place, French cafe style. Loads of time on their hands. I'm late for office. Sad.
• The 24 hour gym. And apparently its common for people to work out at 3 in the morning.
• The produce shops. They are actually warehouses, but sell fresh fruits and veggies between 9 and 11 in the morning.
• The bar at the corner. I want to go there for like for ever, but alone? Maybe with a good book. I bet they have good food too.
• The BART entrance. It seems I'm always walking right behind a bunch of people (around 20) when I leave office, and suddenly they walk into the ground. Looks like the earth swallowed them.
• China-town. The atmosphere always changes here. People are busier, and everyone seems to be buying veggies :-s.
• The Citibank place. This is always crowded. Three bus stops back to back, and very few white people around, almost like they avoid it.
• The BART police parking place. I see that car on my way back everyday, with no one in it. Parked near a corner too. Very dangerous.
• The glass lane. That's near my office, there's always broken automobile window glass along the footpath, near the parking meters. You'd think that once things were stolen, people would stop parking there.
• Under the freeway. One side is public parking, and the other side is police parking. The Police station is right opposite the other side. Very noisy, even the music doesn't keep the noise out.
• The freeway crossing. Depending on which side of the road you are on, you have 50 secs to cross a 10sec crossing, or 25 secs to cross a 20 sec crossing. Crazy.
• The dark street. That's the street where I live. Where the produce warehouses are. Very dark in the night.

I guess that's all I can remember. I might take photographs to explain some of those. Will post them tomorrow. Bye.

P.S. To those who don't know, my new camera is in. Maybe I should do a review.
P.P.S. BART==Bay Area Rapid Transport == Local train with cusioned seats.

No, 24 more days!

I need a vacation! The last one I had was around the 2004-'05 transition. And this is coming from a guy who's used to two vacations a year :(. Soon, soon...

Anyways, happy things are happening to me. My time to leave the USA is coming closer. Only 23 more days to go :) (24 to get home). I'd never have thought I'd feel that way, but 11 weeks is simply too long to be away from one's wife and home. Maybe it works for others, but not for me.

Things will start looking up as soon as I get there, I guess. I'll meet Tum. I'll meet the cats. I'll be home. Same old familiar streets. I'll drive, not be driven around. I'll go out and booze (aaaahhh), have friends around. I'll go visit my old colleagues, in their new office :), ride my bike, eat real food (indian chinese, slurp). I'll have rum that tastes like rum, beer that tastes like Kingfisher. Boy, am I going to have a great time.

Pot-holes the size of craters (I'll be wishing them off soon enough, but for now :) ), lunch that's not a bother. I'll go out for a ride, and see scenery without windows. I'll talk to a real person in the night, instead of a keyboard. I'll have real heat around instead of the pathetic excuse for a sun. Blue skies that I'll thank for not raining. Watch movies with intervals, and creative advertising (My apologies, Capital One).

As you can see, I'm getting extremely nostalgic and homesick right now. I'm on the verge of going around talking to myself, asking, are we there yet?

Yay! I made a frog

Cute ain't he? Here's how to draw a frog in 12 easy steps.

Hooray!!!

I managed to put a "Noteworthy Links" sections on the sidebar :). Wasn't all that tough really, but still took me a long time to do it. And its so dirty, the way I've done it, that I'm not going to tell you how. Just that I'll take care to update those regularly should suffice, I'd say. Surf on!

Googled

Ever since I switched from IE to Firefox, I haven't really gone to the Google's home page. So today, I decided to surf Google. And they've done some really cool stuff!

Did you know that you can have your own personalized Google home page? The link is right there at the top right hand corner of the main home page. For the first time in almost 6 years, I have a home page other than about:blank. Says a lot, doesn't it? Take my word for it. Its by far the best portal kind of thing I've seen in a long time. Fast and effortless, it is almost devoid of any graphics, thereby giving the page a very clean and usable look. So just any rss feed to your google personalized home page and you're done.

So do you know who Dennis Hwang is? He's the really cool guy who does Google's festive logos. The link there will take you to the page where all of Google's festive logos since 1999 sit. Really cool. What's really unbelievable is that he's only 23 years old :o. You might also want to visit Logoogle.com. This site also has google logos that fans have done :).

The rest of it you know. If you don't, go to Google's home page and click on the "more" link right on top of the search text box. Briefly there is Google Video(video blogging etc.) , Froogle(shopping), Google book search, Google Directory (Surf the web by topic), Picassa (online photo albums), Google Local (Map service), the newly added Google Code (sourceforge watch out!!), and of course GMail.

Enjoy the Googlexperience ;).

Golden Mountain

Chandrika had recently gone to the everest base camp, and in the online album that she sent us at our savera group, there was a snap that I think is absolutely the best mountain picture I've ever seen. Check it out. Doesn't nature come out with the most amazing things?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

First things first, never enter a US theatre with a drink (I never finished the second one) in your blood stream and a huge glass, cup, tumbler (whatever you call it, it was around 1.5 litres I think) of diet coke. Two reasons: One, you won't finish the soda, and two, your bladder won't hold (there are no breaks... I literally had to run for it, and ask where the rest room was!!!).

Okay, with that piece of advice done with, I will continue with a spoiler warning. Don't read further on if you haven't seen the movie yet.

With my conscience clear, I shall continue with the review. The movie is good. As good as it could be, that is. Considering that they have tried to cram a very expansive and comprehensive plot into a two and a half hour movie. It was obvious from the start that they were going to miss certain parts. I've already read some reviews and the general trend seems that those who haven't read the book won't like it because they won't be able to follow the story. Well, I beg to differ. They would be wrong. There's a lot of story cut off. The continuity is however maintained, and for this I have to congratulate Steven Kloves for the screenplay. Like I said, though a lot has been cut off, it looks more fast paced than stuttered. It will hurt the HP book fans more because they think they know what to expect. But they almost haven't shown anything until after the quidditch match. That's almost one-third the book! And for that I subtract a point.

The acting has improved by miles, and though Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) doesn't cry in this movie, I'm sure he's learnt to do it (remember Sorcerer's Stone? :) ). Rupert Grint, in his role as Ron Weasley, does a great job looking like a hurt friend, and though Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) still does manage to look constipated at times, she's pretty good at looking concerned and worried at others (which is the rest of the movie excluding the Yule Ball). But Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldermort) really makes up for everybody else. He's done his job so well, and the depiction is so good, that some baby started crying in the theatre when they showed his face. The Dark Lord he is. So no points lost for the acting.

The special effects are brilliant. The dragon scene is very fast paced and very well done. I'll have to watch the movie twice in order to watch the dragon more closely, but it looked very believable and menacing though a little smaller than I'd pictured. If you've read the book, you'll remember that the dragon chase takes around minute and a half to get through. Mike Newell (the director) has done a good job with extending the chase, but because of this, the chase isn't what it is in the book (you'll know what I mean when you see it). But it is still well done. The underwater scene is fine, and perfect. The maze is where they take the cake. In the book, the maze is about the size of the quidditch pitch. In the movie it goes on for miles, and you can really see the imagination at work. Though the blast ended skrewts and the sphinx is gone, you don't really miss them, because Lord Voldermort comes in quickly and you don't have time for holding your breath. I personally liked the effects in the "Return of the King" more so special effects lose half a point for the movie.

One thing I sorely missed through out the movie was the spells. They are simply not enough of them to go around. That's really half the magic, isn't it? Personally, I think a lot of time is lost in keeping continuity, so there simply isn't time to show the little bit of side stories that have all the spells in them. From what I can remember, there's Imperio, Crucio, Avada Kedavra, Mors Mordre, Expelliarmus, Accio, Reducto, and the one Harry uses to send out red sparks (I didn't catch what it was, it isn't in the books). They seem a lot, and they probably are the lot that are in the book, but they aren't used often enough. I almost felt cheated. But as I was putting down that list, it seems a lot, and going over the storyline, there's plenty of magic as such. So only half a point lost for making me feel that way initially :).

So over all an 8/10 movie. I'm going to watch it in the dome again tomorrow, and will get a lot more in. But don't worry, no second reviews to bore you people with :). Though I didn't come out with the same feeling as I had when I first read the book (excitement for the next one), I'll have to say that the movie is excellent, and extremely watchable.

Kitty Cat

And those of you who also have some time to kill, check out Google's video of the day. He looks just like our cat Hobbes, except the spots are all wrong, doesn't he Tum? Enjoy.

Killing Time

Everyone knows this one. The speed of time is inversely proportional to to its desired rate of passage. Right now I've to kill one hour before my movie comes up. I have a ticket to the 8:30 show of GOF, and I decided that instead of whiling away 90 minutes at the theatre, I'd as well come back home, relax, have a drink and a smoke, and change into something warmer (I also needed to take a crap). I've done all those things. And I still have 45 minutes to wait. So I've made myself a second drink, lit up a second smoke, blah blah blah (no, no second crap).

So here I am, killing time, blogging away. I'll make another entry when I come back, the GOF review. But right now I want to talk about passing time. I remember a nice book by Asimov, called "The End of Eternity". It features a group of people who call themselves Eternals. They are the guardians of human civilization across time, and they live in "Eternity". Nice novel, it talks about how Eternals continuously alter the route that the human civilization takes through time, and one guy falls for a woman in normal time. And how he has to make a change in the time-thread that would cause her not to exist. And how in order to save her, both of them bring about the end of Eternity. And don't worry I haven't told you anything. Check out the book and read it yourself.

So if you like science fiction, you cannot really escape time travel. But you can be reasonably sure that time travel hasn't existed in your particular universe yet. Why? Because your particular universe didn't know 7 years in advance that Dumbledore is going to die in the 6th book. Because in your particular universe no one made a killing in the stock market. Though this Yahoo! story does make you think twice.

Okay, though my time isn't up yet, I think I've bored you people enough. I'll be posting another entry in 3 hours about how great the 4th movie is. Until then, Adios!!!

The King of the Road

That's me :). Thought I'd put up this particular photo of mine. Nikhil took this one while riding pillion behind Pungi. Very nice.

GOF means Goblet of Fire

That title is for those few uninitiated and unimaginitive people who don't know what the acronym means. Like Sameer, with whom I was chatting a couple of hours back. I mentioned that I was going to watch GOF in an IMAX Dome on Saturday. He said that this was the third time that someone mentioned GOF, and he still didn't know what it meant.

Anyways, I've waited for this movie for like 6 months. Okay maybe not 6 months, because right about then I was probably waiting for the HBP. But the amount of time I've spent at Mugglenet and J. K. Rowling's official site is to be observed to believed. I've seen all the trailers, and all the "leaks" that are now blatantly available on msn video. Cast interviews, scans of interviews and reports from magazines, and scores of reports by people who've been fortunate enough to witness sneak previews of the movies.

But I didn't intend to write this post about Harry and his chums. Really I didn't. I wanted to talk about Magic.

The quote by Arthur C. Clarke seems appropriate here, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And seriously, think about it. It was around ten years back that Philips (I think) introduced the first shock protected portable CD players that depended on caching rather than damping. How long ago do you think the first mp3 players were introduced. Now imagine that you took your mp3 player 15 years back in time. Awe. 50 years back in time, you might run the risk of being burnt at a stake.

I have been lucky enough to be associated with technology at its forefront (more so than other people, at least). But my trade isn't as dependent on hardware as lets say Sumit's is. Or Sam's is. These people can see it in much more relief than even I can. In the US I'm in awe of cheap broadband (just coming to major cities in India) that make online gaming possible (and things like MMORG, or some such acronym). I marvel at the fact that almost every shop I visit accepts cards. The corner store (bania) at my place back in India started doing so recently, and I swear that that's the first one that I know of.

I marvel at having 1GB of memory in my camera and 40 GB in my portable music player. My 4 year old PC at home has 512 MB of RAM ( though I paid through my nose for its 80 GB hard disk).

I can keep the proofs coming on and on. Gaming HCI at the cost of what a mouse used to be 5 years back. Display cards on home PCs that can do now what was only possible on SGI systems 5 years back. The list is endless.

What I mean to say is that we are wizards to the past and muggles to the future. And if you dream about personal flying cars, conveyer belt public transport, holographic TV and Matrix like VR games, just put these thoughts down so that you know when they come, how badly you inadvertently underestimated technology.

Cleaning around the house

So I'd spent the weekend away from home. Coming back on Monday morning I realized what a mess I'd left back. Thus my plans for Monday evening were decided. Clean the apartment!

But coming back in the evening, the letterbox carried some bad news. 2 DVDs from blockbuster.com were waiting for me. So there I was standing in my drawing room, pondering. On one hand I had the littered house. On the other hand, there was the thought of passing 3 hours in relative bliss of moviedom.

Unfortunately, better sense did not prevail. So I watched the movies, and went to bed. So that job had to be done today evening. Besides I'd to prepare something to eat anyways (there were no clean dishes). So the clothes were duly sorted by color and material, and dumped in the washing machine. In went the detergent, and round went the knob. And in my haste, the temperature was not adjusted back (that also explains the blue socks in my earlier post).

The vaccuming went fine, but cleaning out the bathroom was another matter altogether. Twice my incredibly stupid self mopped the floor, and twice I walked across it before it was completely dry, leaving a trail of footprints behind :o. The mop was probably as disgusted as I was, because it was then to be found lurking just outside the door, ready to trip me over as I passed (It probably didn't want to be dunked in a bucket of water a third time). The bathroom was thus duly and appropriately abandoned.

Next came the dishes. There's something about washing dishes that's always a pain in the back. Literally. Add to that the odd one that thinks it has wings and tries to fly out of your hand while you're busy lathering it, and you have one seriously shattered piece of china. All over the floor. In tiny pieces. All over the damn floor!!! Some more floor cleaning. And some more dish washing later, everything was done and I was ready to relax.

And relax I did. Started watching another movie (Heat). And put a bowl of canned beans in the microwave oven. Mine was really clean. The one in office is brown with filth. And I know how that happend. Someone heated a bowl of canned beans in it. By the time I'd paid some attention to the tiny detail on the can that instructed me to cover the bowl lightly, it was too late. More cleaning, wiping and sponging ensued.

But take it from me. The end result is fantastic. The apartment is like new. The bed is made and inviting. And I'm sleepy after my hard day's labour. Goodnight friends. And good luck cleaning yours.

Of cheating, relaxing, walking and Pastafarianism

So there's an offbeat topic. That earlier entry of mine was so that I won't forget my second best weekend in the US (the best will be the next one... GOF!!!).

CHEATING :
Of cheating :). I'll start this topic with saying that I have no guts for cheating. I mean cheating for exams types of cheating. I'm not saying that I have guts for other types of cheating, but this is the one I'm going to concentrate on. There are 4 kinds of people wrt cheating:
1. Those who cannot cheat (these are also the ones who can't lie convincingly).
2. Those who will not cheat.
3. Those who will not cheat and won't tolerate cheating.
and, 4. Those who can cheat.

Now, before the flame starts, I'm not advocating cheating in exams. To all of you who think that the education that you're getting in Indian universities are helping you, or will help you, best of luck, and lots of good wishes (not being sarcastic, instead overflowing in admiration). I'm like the majority of people, I guess. I can't cheat in an exam. I'm not boasting, but I've found that when I write down the stuff in tiny handwriting, on a small piece of paper, by the time I'm done, I already have it memorized. So it is both stupid and futile for me to cheat. There are others like my friend Santosh, who were academic enough to think that people who cheat at exams are actually eating a pie that they don't deserve.

I have my own views. I, like a lot of people, think that the entire system of setting examinations where you have to display your knowledge by writing(!) down and reproducing information in the textbooks is farcical. And believe me, its not that I cannot score exams. I've perfected the art to such an extent that I could study just enough to get within 5 marks (either ways)of what I needed (not desired, needed).

I have seen a master as well. I shall not name names, it will suffice to say that I know him very closely, and that I admire his trade. He was smooth. That was his biggest accolade. Where others would spend nights studying, trying to cram just enough to pass exams, he'd be designing his weapons (I like the word designing here). And the delivery was smooth. And he'd share them when he was done with them (reduction photocopies). Its fun to watch. That's where I got the idea that it takes guts to cheat. His very smoothness. Hats off. Here's a link on wikipedia for more about cheating in exams.

RELAXING:
So its decided. This time, when I get back home, in Jan, there'll be no Goa. I and Tum are planning for Ooty. For a long time, I've had this mindset that a beach is necessary for relaxing. Now I think, maybe not. There's a lot to be said about a good place high in the sky. The rolling hills and mountains replace the sandy beaches, and the valleys offer the same kind of what we call 'sukoon' in Hindi (peace) as the continuously crashing, hypnotic, waves of the sea. Maybe some snow... snuggling up later after a few (or a lot, you never know) drinks in the balcony overlooking the valley. I'm already at peace, halfway there anyways.

WALKING:
One of my buys at Great Mall, was a pedometer. I've wanted one for a year, and as soon as I saw one at a sports shop, I had to have one. Result, I know that today, in one day, I did 13325 steps (for a step size of 80cm, that's 10.66kms). That felt good. In their little fitness booklet, they were recommending a target of 10000 steps per day for a beginner level (3-5 weeks to reach). My count is at an intermediate level. Next target 17500 steps. I used to jog at one time. I can't really jog until I reduce some weight. But I suspect I've lost 3kgs already, since I've come to the US. At least the belt feels that way, and for me, the belt is the ultimate health reporting tool :).

PASTAFARIANISM:
For as long as I can remember (read: as long as I have thought), I've been anti-religion. I have a lot of respect for Buddhism, which I regard as a predecessor for the Three Laws of Robotics, but other than that, I am of the opinion that all religion has outlived its (collective) usefulness. This is basically because of a trait in almost all religions to undergo a metamorphosis into a territory.

I can't say I was particularly concerned about the decision by the State of Kansas to teach intelligent design as a part of the curriculum, but that's mainly because of my Indian background and of the predominantly Hindu society that I lived in.

My first revelation was when my teenage Muslim neighbour in Srilanka told me that that they had two relighons that they followed (Islam and Christianity, odd no?). I've probably been anti-religion ever since, because that was when I first started thinking on my own.

So my religion of choice? Pastafarianism, or more commonly called 'Flying Spaghetti Monsterism'. Its fun, and it makes fun. Read about it if you are so inclined at Pastafarianism.

Or maybe: May the horse be with you ;).

Stupidity is a state of mind (Or, I had a good time this weekend)

You ever have the feeling that the cosmos is conspiring against you? But that's a question for later. Right now I want to talk about my amazing weekend.

Just so you know that I'm not bickering about nothing, I'd like you to know that as of now, I've been in Oakland for 42 days, and for 41 days I've done nothing but work and booze. Oh I went out a few times with Ashwin and his wife, but I'm not going to count that (it was 2 hours at a time, didn't really satisfy my appetite;) ). Every day was the same. That's why I'm blogging so much. In fact, if you look at my blog history, the days that I haven't blogged have been the days that I had some fun. Like the last 2 days :)

Subho came down from India, and I'd already set up some party time. I finally went down to Mountain View, met him on Friday. We went out to this brewery in Fremont I think. I blogged that earlier, but was slightly disoriented by Subho's snores and the asshole who was crank calling my wife. But now that I'm under neither of those influences, let me get on with the story. I met Manish and his wife, Priyanka, and all of us headed out to this aforementioned brewery. We had a great time. The beer was nice and chilled, and tasted different. We had something called Pirhana Pale Ale. It tasted mildly of herbs (or something like that). I enjoyed it. It was refreshing. Since neither Subho nor Manish liked it much (infact Manish had only the pint the whole night), I ended up finishing the pitcher. We followed with a couple of cocktails and a pizza for dinner.

Next morning, we'd planned to head out to Monterey Bay Aquarium, had a wonderful time yet again. Spent around 4 hours driving forth and back and around 4 hours in the aquarium. Subho had an interesting time. He'd call it harrowing, but at least... well it happened like this. We were at the aquarium for around 3 hours when we decided to break for lunch. We headed out to the cafeteria, and ordered our stuff. Since I was carrying all the food (a trayful of sandwiches, and a beer for me :) ), Subho decided to pay. While counting out the change he left the wallet on the counter.

Only when he sat down on the bench did he realize that his wallet was missing from his back pocket (State of mind ;) ). All hell broke loose, while I calmly continued chewing my sandwich. I was pretty sure that the wallet was still on him somewhere and he wasn't looking carefully enough. I told him as much and by the time it was confirmed that the wallet was nowhere in his immediate vicinity, or for that matter a larger vicinity (three trips had already been made to the counter and back), Manish had finished his food and he and Subho went to talk to the manager (or someone) in the place. He suggested they report it to the cops and at the information desk. They did so, and when they'd returned, I vaguely heard an announcement on the PA, paging Mr. Shubdip Di. We finally caught it when it was repeated the second time. Long story short, Subho lost around $200, but kept his cards. Lucky for him, and us. We could continue enjoying our tour. After a couple of more hours of penguins being fed (damn cute), varying varieties of jellyfish (beautiful), blue fin tuna (they are as big as me and twice as much across, satisfying), and sharks (alarming!), we finally ended our tour. I'll post snaps later. On our way out of town, we shared a sundae at Ghirardelli's.

Then was the bowling. We played one round, and I won!!! My first time (I scored 75 I think). And with zeroes on my first 2 turns (or whatever you call them). I had 2 strikes :D.

Overall a very well spent Saturday (except for Subho's $200). Time for Sunday. Shopping time!!! We spent 6 hours in Great Mall. Walked around it 6 times methinks. I spent $360 and some change. Subho pretty much put stuff on his credit card. Only 3 pairs of shoes this time (for those who don't know, last time I bought 7). Also a jacket, a shirt, a sweater and a jacket for Tum, and a top for Tum. And some knick-knacks and silly stuff. There were Hummers all over the mall. I think I counted 5. Some shoppers were sitting in them and getting their snaps taken. I didn't want to look any more desi ;). Now if that were a Harley :D, completely different story :D.

So, that's the story. Oh abt the stupidity part... I just washed my whites with a pair of jeans. All my socks are a slight tinge of blue now. State of mind, bliss :).

Terror Indeed

Okay, so its a bad word... but you should really hear Subho's snores!!! Bad words don't really have a meaning anymore. So here it is...

In India, do you really have to be gunda?!!! I did say in a blog ago, that if I don't succeed at my quest, Nikhil will. And Lo it has happened. And Nikhil blames it on my politeness. Do I want to be any other way???

Hell yes!!!

The words of a flower are so divine,
that they can only stand,
In turmoil and in sand
and in angst, I will abhor

Does hatred have enough power? I can think of several ways that I can track the perpetrators and punish them.

That they are deterred for now is enough.

They shall meet my maker soon enough,that is...He is after all, my Maker ;)...

Beer can taste different.

So, I'm just about to start my best weekend in the USA. Its been good ever since I arrived in Mountain View. First of all, I had my first third beer in somebody else's company, in like one and a half months. Then Manish arrived and took us to this excellent brewery in Fremont, and seriously the beer was nice. We ordered a pitcher of Pirhana. Subho was more conservative in his taste, and consequently didn't really like it. So I had most of the beer to myself.

Now the night begins. We have plenty of bitching and backbiting to do ;) (yes we men do it too, esp when concerned with our work life :) ).

Will update later... Btw, I still have to update abt the stalker... coming soon.

P.S. The night is still young. I shall continue later.

Real life drama

Life just took a turn for the unsavoury. My wife, back in India, told me 2 hours back that some idiot has been stalking her on the phone.

It makes you feel kind of weary to have to deal with such things. Testosterone and adrenalin flowed and I started shaking. The fellow made the ghastly mistake of making the call from a mobile phone. I was livid, to say the least... but atleast I had his number.

Nikhil told me a couple of days back that his uncle had become a high ranking official in the crime division of the Pune Police. My dad himself is a retired Assitant Commissioner of the Police. This was going to be good. Its good to have teeth when you want to bite.

I called the fellow. It must've helped that the call was being made from the US. I informed him very politely that his phone was being used to harass my wife, and given that I had the teeth to do so (told him of my connections), I told him that he'll be in a lot of trouble if it continued. The fellow was admittedly confused (and hopefully scared) and professed ignorance about the issue. Kind of said that maybe his brother was doing it. I told him that it wasn't my problem who was doing it. The person owning the phone will be in a lot of trouble for it.

I do wish such things didn't happen in life. Especially when one isn't around to take care of it :(. The latest news is that he's called twice more but cut the line when my wife picked up the phone. I've told Nikhil to take care of it if Tum calls him up. He can talk with a lot more menace in his voice than I can (I don't sound very good over the phone). Boy the fellow picked the wrong destination to make a crank call to.

I'll update as things happen, but it's taken care of for now, I hope. More later.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

All those thinkers out there, and any other buffs who want to read the book, good news. The book is available online here:

Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Enjoy your Chautauqua.

Down the road

I was wondering just now about what the perfect ride would be. I was having a smoke and the tv was mute, playing some oddball commercial or the other, and I got ponderous. I was thinking about the vacation I want to take when I get back home, and where I want to ride to when I'm get to it. Goa ofcourse came to my mind instantly, but then I thought of Ooty. I don't know anything about the way there, how to get there, even how far it is from Pune and whether a one day journey is feasible. But the thought stuck, and the dream went deeper. The images started flowing, of beautiful and empty country sides, barren roads, with me (with an open face helmet) and on my trusted bullet.

For a second, something something seemed wrong at that time, and suddenly it was right again, because I zoomed out. The thumping became softer and there sitting behind me was Tum :).

It was leaning towards the picture painted on the back cover of "Zen and the art of Motorcycle maintenance":

"You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, it's right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness." - Robert M. Pirsig

It's a beautiful vision. I don't want to spoil it. But I can feel it coming. The grownupness... the details... the what ifs... ticking off the inventory in my mind as I'm riding... It is difficult to explain, but dreaming requires a "lesser mind, or rather a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection" :). And the dream starts drying up before my eyes. Its like watching time delayed photography of autumn. How the leaves fall off and everything becomes barren... How long does the reddishness last? That's exactly how I feel.

For some time.

I don't know when I'll have this dream again, but I hope it lasts longer. I remember the time, very long ago (before I graduated), my one ambition was to tour India on a Bullet. I'd figured I'd be able to do it by the time I'm 26. I'm almost 29 now. What I have is just as good, maybe better, but that splinter stays in my side... a constant reminder of the promise I made to myself, and my need to achieve it.

I will achieve it.

Amazing photos

I kind of pride myself for being a wallpaper photographer... I like to click photographs that'll make good wallpapers... This guy is simply amazing... Looks like he's made a career out of it. Too bad there aren't any hires ones on his site, but man what photographs. Check out http://www.freefoto.com/

Dream PC

There was a time, far back in the past, when Nikhil and I used to dream about the kind of PCs we'd like to have if we had unlimited resources. Our idea was to get rich, and then go shopping for parts and assemble the most fundoo PC we could then think of. This was in 1998 (I think). The PC in my house in Oakland beats everything other than the HDTV we wanted instead of a monitor :).

Time has come to dream up of a new dream PC. Check out Rahul Sood's blog and VooDoo PC's official website. Drool :).

Nikhil are you listening?

Another great ride

Check out Thundersubh's writeup on his ride from Pune to Hyderabad.

Top 10 working out bloopers

Vrigo had the bright idea yesterday that I should do something more constructive with my blog... like write about something I know instead of meandering in the deep ravines of philosophy. This was one of the topics he suggested. He wanted me to write about 'gymming'. So here I am.

Even though I haven't worked out a lot (all of 1 year... almost), I used to be a vey active person. I've done loads of running, cycling, basketball, swimming and I have worked out at the gym. The sad things I've seen people say or do in each of these arenas are different and widespread. I'll go over the top 10 mistakes/myths about working out. I should point out beforehand that these are just guidelines. Please take the advice of your trainer in times where you have any questions or doubts.

1. Working out makes you all bulging. This is undoubtedly the reason why so many women don't visit gyms, or confine themselves to the cardiovascular section. This is also the the reason why many a man I've met has joined a gym and expected instant results. Weight training is for muscle development. Another phrase for weight training is resistance training. It means that you are going to work your muscles against resistance (usually offered by gravity, but also by spring, friction etc.). So in my opinion, all excercises, even free hand ones, are resistance training. How they are configured determines the results they'll have on your body. Muscle consists of muscle strands. The rule of thumb is that the more weight your muscles will become stronger by adding more strands, i.e. becoming bigger. If you maintain higher repetitions of each exercise, your individual strands become stronger. The result is the same in both cases. Your muscles become stronger.

2. If it pains, that means its working. This is the biggest single cause of sports injuries. All pains are the way your body uses to warn you that something's wrong. A good guideline is, the sharper or more pulsing the pain is, the worse it is. Even the pain in the first few days should not occur. Your workout should be designed for no pain. "No pain no gain" is for the action movies only. Distinguish between fatigue and pain. Fatigue means when you can't lift that dumbell one last time. There is no pain. There is just lack of strength. Cramps mean enough. That crick you felt while lifting the dumbell off the rack is serious. Pay heed to pain. That is the only way to avoid serious injury.
On a side line, I also advocate the use of restraints and belts where needed. Your warm up every day should include lower back exercises. As your lower back gets stronger, start doing it weights, dead lifts are very good for this when done properly. All upper body exercises strain the lower back. It should be your strongest upper body muscle.

3. There are two kinds of muscle: pushing and pulling. This myth leads to a lot of the wrong technique. This also leads to why a lot of people are not able to invent safe exercises. There is only one kind of muscle... pulling. All muscle works by contracting. There are no 'extending' muscles. You have to get this into your head. The triceps work by pulling your forearm away from your upper arm. Therefore there is no bicep development when you do shoulder exercises. There is however some tricep development. Understand this. There are only pulling muscles. The exercises however are both pushing and pulling. The pushing exercises are for the chest, triceps, shoulders, upper thighs, and calfs. The pulling exercises are for the biceps, upper back, wings, forearms, hamstrings, lower back and abs. Muscles are also different in their length. There are long and short muscles. Legs and upper arms have long muscles. The chest, shoulders, back, abdomen and forearms have short muscles. Pulling and pushing exercises can be planned the same day. Short and long muscles can be planned on the same day. This is why a likely 3 day cycle is chest-back, shoulders-biceps, and triceps-legs. Abs and forearms are too small to be fit in such a routine. They have to be worked out every day.

4. The more I work out, the better the results are. The body can take only so much punishment. Unless you're training competetively, your workout should not last longer than one hour, one hour ten minutes if you have a 20 min warm up and 5 min cool down. Similarly, it doesn't pay to exercise every day of the week. Mass gain exercises should be done only 6 days a week (maximum). Anything more than 3 days a week is god. Also if you intend to put on muscle weight, you should design your workout properly. Consider any muscle group. Biceps lets say. Initially (first 2-3 weeks) you can exercise them every day, let say 8 reps a set, 3 sets an exercise, 1-2 exercises a group. As you near the end of this period, you'll find that your strength is not increasing. You cannot lift more weight every day. When this happens you need to change your work out to exercise every muscle group 3 times a week instead of 6 times. You can increase the number of exercises that you do each session, instead of 1-2, 3-4. Continue the same until you reach your next stagnation ( around 3-4 months later). Then shift to twice a week (for around another 6 months). After that for continued in muscle mass, you have to shift to a 4 day training cycle involving arms, chest, shoulders, legs-and-back, one on each day.
You have to set a limit as well. At the time when you become comfortable with the way you look, stop increasing the weights you lift, and instead start doing more reps. Every time you hit around 25 reps a set, add 2.5 kilos.

5. If I'm very thin and want to put on muscle, I should eat more fat. Wrong. The body needs some basic level of fat for its upkeep. That is all you should have. 4 lightly buttered slices of toast a day give more than enough fat for your needs. Muscle is all protien and water. It contains no fat. Infact, to increase muscle weight, your diet should consist mainly of protiens (for the content of muscle), carbohydrates (for the energy needed in a workout) and fibre (to have a healthy digestive system). Fat is not what makes muscle, protien does.

6. Cardiovascular is for sissies. Cardiovascular exercises like jogging, running, swimming, cycling and aerobics are very good for muscle definition and endurance. Without these, you will quickly lose steam halfway through your workout. Plan for at least 15 minutes of cycling in your daily workout.

7. To lose weight you just need to hit the treadmill. Wrong again. An important part of losing weight is gaining strength. Just hitting the treadmill will do good and absolutely no harm, but combining cardiovascular exercises like the treadmill or the stepper with weight training will allow you to increase your strength so that you can run faster on the treadmill, and thus start burning more calories earlier.

8. You shouldn't eat after/during a workout. Again this depends on what you intend to achieve from your workout. If what you want is to gain muscle weight, then there's nothing better than a high protien milkshake or soya drink right after your cool down. Also, on your way home from the gym, grab that chicken sandwich. It'll do you more good than harm. The reason is that immediately after your workout, your muscles start healing. While they are doing this, they need extra protien. Giving it to them will give you faster results. And don't worry about your stomach. As long as you're not going on a binge, your stomach will do just fine. That favorite energy bar halfway through the workout does wonders in reducing fatigue.
On the other hand, if you're trying to lose weight, replenishing salt and water is important, so you should be drinking a few sips of water every 5 mins. Also, after your workout, try to catch a glass of fresh fruit juice. It doesn't contain enough calories to prevent weight loss, and on the other hand, it will help in preventing that drained out feeling.

9. If you quit the gym you'll grow fat. Okay, I should say yes to this so that you guys stay in gym, but I can't. A lot of people I know berate weight training saying that you'll grow fat when you leave it. This is simply not true. Remember, fat and protiens cannot be converted into each other. So fat doesn't convert to muscle when you work out, and conversely, muscle doesn't convert to fat when you stop going to the gym. What really happens is that working out gives a person a very healthy appetite. This is a good thing while working out. But once you stop working out, you have to cut down on the food. All those excess calories make you fat (that includes the beer). If you cut the diet, you'll keep your sexy shape for at least 3-4 months.

10. Supplements are bad. Yes most of them are. But some protien supplements like Spirulina (R) are very good. They are an excellent alternative to you veggies out there. Soya and spirulina are your two best friends. Mix 30% soya flour in your atta for making chapatis. You cannot get all your protiens from milk and pulses. A couple of capsules of spirulina, one in the morning and one after the workout, can do wonders (even for the non veggies). But, know that excessive protien can cause kidney damage. So don't overdo it. Make protien a part of your daily diet. Creatine is also not bad if taken properly. All excess is excreted anyways so you're wasting your money if you take more than a tablespoon a day. Steroids are a big nono. They cause excessive hormonal problems, and are known to cause cancer in extreme cases.


So there. I'm done. Thanks Vrigo, I enjoyed writing this. Hope you people enjoy reading it.

G'night.

Did hemlock make Socrates famous?

Okay, before I start receiving death threats, seeing lynching mobs round the corner of my street, and generaly start feeling like an endangered species, let me make one thing clear. I'm not trying to take away any of the glory that Socrates already has. He very well deserves it. I really admire him for being the first thinker in the western civilization. What I'm going to discuss here is why he had to drink hemlock.

Let me first start by noting Socrates' contributions to philosophy

One of Socrates' greatest gift to mankind was the lesson that one has to question beliefs. He became famous for his questioning of the, then current, ideas about virtue and the belief of the people that virtue is defined by the gods. He also attacked the notion of piety and what being pious means. This one is really very intersting:
Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?

It is particularly pointed when thought of in this way:
Does the College forbid this activity because it is wrong, or is it wrong because the College forbids it?

His other repetetive demand was that people try to understand, 'get', themselves, probably a precursor to the "know thyself" in the Matrix (even though that one is in latin not greek). Know the reason why you're doing what you're doing. Analyse, criticise, think!!!

But having said all that, why did he have to drink hemlock? No, I'm not going to give the reasons he gave and the reasons that his associates gave him while they were trying to persuade him to run away. It's done very well and briefly here. Instead I'm going to try and analyse whether Socrates would have been more famous than, say, Plato or Aristotle, or even at par with these comics, if he hadn't made that critical, ethical decision.

That one thing that he did, did really make him immortal. It showed that this fellow really did practice what he preached. He was the real thing... what he did was so very absurd, and unprogrammed, in the psyche of all (except that miniscule exception that we call fundamentalists), that he made his beliefs a legend. Ask anyone who Socrates was and for all the people who answer "That dude who drank poison to prove that he was right", or some similar misappropriation, ask who Plato or Aristotle was.

Get my point? Though is teachings were great, and laudable, they didn't make him famous... they just made him more famous. What really takes the cake is that if he'd run away and continued preaching somewhere else, he'd probably have been as famous as Aristotle or Plato. Or worse, these two wouldn't have been famous at all, because their teacher (hierarchically) wasn't famous.

So, did hemlock make Socrates famous? Yes.

Did Socrates make hemlock famous? Yes!

Philosophy or something like it

It pays to have a wife who did a philosophy major. One get a wonderful insight into problems that trouble almost everyone. It pays to have somewhat empirical knowledge about difficult to grasp things like ethics, fidelity, God, mind, matter, self and aesthetics (there are more, and I can't remember them right now :) ). These are some of the favorite subjects that we've talked over all through nights, boozing away like a couple of fish reared on firewhisky.

Those doubting thomases out there, take my word for it. There is absolutely no way one can actually ever think these topics out. There'll always something more to be said about them, and when you're all thunk out on Friday night, well there's more left over for Saturday. And many many weekends to follow.

Here I'll be analysing some insights that I've got into some of these topics.

Tonight... Ethics:
I and Tum always bicker about this one topic. I admit, no assert, that I'm not a guy driven by ethics. I basically do what's right because it's the easiest thing to do. I've had many a lengthy discussions about this. In the beginning there were the basics: good, bad, evil, right, wrong, intentions, consequence, the whole works. She's very good at this. She wanted me to read some books as well, but I don't argue very well with books :).

I'm going to be mixing some of these things here, so kindly adjust ;). There was Socrates who said: "He who knows right cannot do wrong." I'm baffled at this, but apparently the keyword here is knows. It takes the question of what is right and wrong out of the hands of the person(s) concerned and puts it into society. But then, how do you decide that society is right (it just as often isn't, look at our government)? Or maybe into the realm of the 10 commandments (those are pretty straightforward). But then some other religions aren't so "right", are they? How do you know yours is?

I'm going to differ. I've always tread this path: There's the law and there's the Law. The law can be bent. Its preferable not to do so, since there's that idiot called consequence around the corner, and you have to run from it... but there it is. The Law cannot be bent, or broken. You cannot commit murder... there's no bending that Law... But maybe I'm being too stratospheric in my thoughts. Ethics apply to everyday thing:
Do I throw the cigarette on the ground? Only when I'm in India.
Do I follow traffic rules? Most of the time (unless very inconvenient).
Do I do a good job in the work I do? Always (I believe so).
Do I steal? I've done some hacking in my earlier days, cracked ISP accounts, and this was before cyberlaws prevented it in India. It was the idiot who owned the account ;) who didn't change passwords long enough, didn't have decent AV protection :-s

I'm just trying to prove that I don't think ethics carry much weight (and I'm very likely wrong here). I know some people who are highly ethical in some things in life and very unethical in others. The law and the Law. I don't know a single completely ethical person. I don't think such a thing exists.

My explanation is simple. Pure ethics is self-contradictory, or at the very least impractical. It can offer two opposing paths to the same problem, which can't both be ethical.

The intention of this discourse is this: When you can't decide which way to go, ethics is a good compass, but it doesn't always point N. You have to know inside yourself what you want to do. You should know.

Tomorrow... Did hemlock make Socrates famous?

Crap!

I was once taught a very valuable lesson in the first year of my BCS. My very good friend Sumit, finally told me something that everyone else probably wanted to tell me... all the time. I guess it was my one very annoying personality trait. It was this:

If I severly disliked something, I called it crap.... ok not crap, CRAP!

Though Sumit and others (Nikhil notably) thought that I proferred this title on everything I didn't like, my feelings were more precise. I reserved this post only for stuff that I severly disliked. Mostly in the realm of music (though I would also associate it with certain foods, and still do).

The lesson that Sumit taught me was that when I take something that someone else possibly likes and call it crap, I'm making that person feel hurt. I actually expounded upon this (almost immediately) and came up with:
When I take something that someone else likes and call it crap, I'm:
1. Causing hurt,
2. Causing anguish to the person because I've already guarded my opinion with rearguard action that renders it impeachable, while the person tries to find ways to get through (I am highly intelligent), and
3. Wasting my time, because I'm not changing any minds.

Okay let me explain this properly. I love rock. All forms of it, to various degrees (from passable pop rock to the guitar gods like Satriani, Vai, Hendrix, Slash and others). I admire complexity. For me, the term "its got a nice tune" is a term more suitable for ad-jingles than to something classified as music. I consequently viewed all other kinds of music (esp. pop, boy bands, girlie groups, rap, r&b, techno (esp techno) and trance etc.) as being substandard... attaining the title of "music" without really deserving it. With much disdain, I hated such stuff, and consequently called it crap.

And before the hulabaloo about complexity starts, let me make clear that I regarded (and still regard) blues, jazz, hindustani classical, western classical, vocals (when done by one person, well not opera... it hurts my ears) and some bands like Enigma as music as well. On the other hand I don't really like very heavy or death metal. That's just noise.

When Sumit explained this particular problem to me, it caused me a certain anguish. I pride myself in being a know-it-all. I generally don't lie. I am highly independent. I don't take crap! But this was different. I decided to go along with it. But it took me a very looooong time to actually start believing it. That maybe I'm singular in my taste, but my taste need not reflect on others.

I think what clinched it was, "I'm not here to teach the world, let me enjoy myself. If the rest of them want to listen to crap, that's their problem'. I still don't like most of the stuff that I didn't like earlier, with the exception of some rap artists (like Eminem and Coolio, they can seriously sing). I can enjoy some hardcore trance occasionally (though I still think any ass can churn that shit out ;) pun not intended).

So now, when I want to say that the song that someone else is praising is crap, I say, "In my opinion, the song is crap". That way people can continue thinking that the song is good and my opinion is crap :).

And I actually think that it is just my opinion.

But the best part is what I don't feel the need to tell them... That their opinion is...

The HP Pavilion ZV6000 review

So okay. I'm going to do it anyways... and if anyone so much as dares to say I told you so...

The HP Pavilion ZV6000. The piece that I'm going to evaluate has the following configuration:

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
1. Processor: An AMD Athlon64 2.0GHz processor
2. RAM: 1GB DDR SDRAM
3. Hard disk: 80GB HDD (professed, only 72GB, 1GB by me = 1024*1024*1024 bytes, not 1000000000 bytes).
4. Graphics: 128MB ATI Radeon XPRESS with 128MB VRAM
5. DVD burner.
6. Ports and communication: 6-1 media slot, 4 USB ports, PCI slot, firewire port, monitor out, svideo out
7. A 15.4" TFT screen.
8. An 8 cell battery

LOOK & FEEL:
Okay, it will be a misnomer to call this brute a laptop. Its more like a portable desktop. It's big, and heavy and by the standards of my last laptop, this is a hulk.
It is pretty well designed. it has nice curves, and the two tone color finish is good. The bright blue LEDs all over the place are not eye shattering. The screen is bright enough for reading, even with the power off. The keyboard is large and I don't go around pressing the wrong keys all the time, like I did in my Dell Latitude. The overall interface design is thoughtful. The lights for the lock-keys (caps and scroll) are right next to the keys themselves. The touchpad has a nifty button that can turn it off, so that you don't accidentally click all around the place while typing (very useful, believe me). There are visible icons around the keyboard to indicate where each slot is. In fact the only place that I can fault the interface design is in the location of the volume control. That is right in the front, so that it is difficult to reach at best. Other than that this is a thoughtful design for a user interface. But then so are the well placed, large speakers. You _can_ listen to music on it ;).
On the downside, this laptop is heavy. Definitely not a 'lap'top for the gentle. I'm a big guy and I could only hold it on my laps for around half an hour without getting seriously uncomfortable.
4.5STARS.

POWERTRAIN:
Like I said before, this is a portable desktop. That statement is not necessarily derisive. There is a wholesome amount of power in this brute. Think of it as a laptop on steroids. It's processor incorporates some kind of speedstep technology so that it can adjust its processor speed according to requirement, thereby using less power. I have yet to see its declared processor speed rise above 1GHz (with Outlook checking mails, a download on the browser, a JAVA IDE running, a directory copy taking place and a number of applications in the system tray). A lot might be said about the 1GB RAM though. That might be helping.
The hard disk fitted in the brute is a 80GB 5400 rpm. Quite fast at loading applications. My usual suite of Eclipse, MS Office applications, browser windows, Windows Media Player and a 3D FPS game all opened quickly and without fretting. Lots of quickly accessible space is what every person needs.
The graphics performance is great. The game I tried playing on this were rather slightly old. I however did notice good performance on Medal of Honor Spearhead and Breakthrough, NFSU2, and Rise of nations (:p).
I am however going to cut half a point for the CDROM performance. It is a tad slow (probably comes from it being a DVD writer).
Rating: 4.5stars.

SOFTWARE:
The machine I bought came with XPpro. It does, however, come with XPhome as well. The Office suite is more of an advertisement. You can't use it unless you buy the software separately (it asks for the key you don't have). A nice internet dial-up bundle, and a DVD movie player brings on the rear. There is a decent collection of software that one _can_ buy, at an extra cost. I'm going to give this point a 3.5.
Rating: 3.5stars

So that about sums up my purchase. I like the laptop. I was kind of horrified when I first saw it... "What a hulk!!!"... but it grows on you ;).

So over-all a 4star laptop.

That's it from my humble side. Next review will be for the Creative MuVo. Goodbye and Goodnight.

Strangers

Happy Diwali Everyone!!!

Let the light of a thousand suns shine bright on your house and make you all wealthy... Or maybe leave out the thousand suns :) (maybe I'm not too good at blessings... comes from being a sci-fi enthusiast).

Todays theme... do strangers ever get together? How long does it normally take someone to become a part of a group? I'm not talking of colleges where you go and make friends... that's your only real purpose out there... I'm talking about the places where you meet the same person everyday... for a month for 5 minute intervals... every hour or so... 5 days a week... would you become friends? At least get to know each other... each other's names? Not me...

And this is my point of intrigue today... Why the shyness? Why can't I go and say to that fellow standing by the ashtray, "Hi, we seem to be bumping into each other on and off for the last month or so... So which one of these buildings do you work in?"?

I'm not too comfortable with strangers... I make stupid jokes, or become excessively knowledgeable... "Oh so you're having a problem with your car steering..." and there I'd go... I'm not saying it won't work... I'm saying I feel self concious before the fact. The fact that I don't see anyone talking to anyone else either points to the fact that no one else is comfortable either... So we all smoke in silence... Which is good... If I have company, I smoke more...

So my crooked wisdom of the day... Staying strangers keeps you from getting lung cancer :).

Google AdSense

I've seen enough get rich quick ads on tv now that if I'd subscribed to 5 of them for around $100, I'd be sitting in a pile of money... apparently... special marketing techniques, second selling, smart selling on ebay, the list is endless...

The thing that tempted me most was Google AdSense. Just register my blog on their site, and I'd get payments for the number of clicks on the textual ads displayed on my blog. I was so tempted. Nothing much to do, Google will do all the work, and I get money for making entries in my blog. Whoa! so cool. There has to be a catch somewhere.

I did some research. I found out that one of the first things that I'd have to do is write content that would attract people to my blog. That means that I'll have to write stuff that doesn't really fit in with what I originally wanted to write my blog for. Oh I can go on and on about REM bullets, or start placing reviews about every single thing I buy. But for now the effort doesn't seem worth it... Maybe some day I'll feel otherwise, and find interesting stuff for filling my blog with... I can review the laptop that I've bought, the camera that I'm going to buy, or that mp3 player... I can put up stuff about my car, or the nice places to eat in Oakland... come to think of it I can write stuff like that, which will be genuinely useful to other people...

Come to think of it the idea does sound interesting... and I might start doing just that, but right now I don't want to earn money from it... maybe I don't want to raise my expectations and be disappointed with the results later... I might start doing it once I see how many people visit my blog... I wish I had some way of doing that.

For now at least Google AdSense is a nono...