Anti Boredom

my wishlist

2011-03-15T23:37:00.000+05:30

I wanna do lots of scuba diving
Wanna learn how to skate
And to ski
And how to play lawn tennis
Wanna learn lots of foreign language-french, german, spanish... Wont mind more :)
Even music language would do
And before all that ofcourse improve my english; hindi is hopeless at this stage
Wanna learn how to play piano; first gotta learn how to do anything worthwhile with my left hand!
Wont mind learning a bit of dancing too
Wanna reduce my waistline
But wanna eat all the good stuff in huge quantities
And wanna learn how to cook them too :)
Wanna live with normal blood pressure for sometime atleast!
Always wanted to learn some martial art too but guess that would be wishful thinking even by my standards now!
Wanna learn how to fly a plane-even a biplane would do
Wanna go on a month long cruise
And spend a weekend on a yacht
and own it too
Wanna see all the "1000 places to see" locations
Wanna travel on palace on wheels
Wanna read all the good books-preferably reading them by a beach or a lake
Wanna learn anything and everything that i wont have to use in my job
Wanna construct and civil structure from ground up
Just a damn wall would do
Most importantly want the patience to learn even one of the above!
Thats all i wish right now. Last thing i want right now is going to office 5/7 days of my life for the next 40 years. But probaly would be doing that only :(
Its like paying 71% of life as tax to enjoy the rest! God is the biggest socialist for sure! Damn i'll miss these college days! Last 2 months to enjoy and do absolutely nothing; too lazy to even start with the list above :p

Would really like to read this list 10 years down the line :P

-written from mobile so bad formatting + spelling mistakes!

i can cook!!!

2011-02-19T20:48:00.000+05:30

aalo ke paranthe

marinated chicken

mehnat se goonda hua aata!

masoor daal

mushroom matar ka pulao

aalo matar

chicken biryani

chola "bhatura"

mushroom matar

aalo curry

chole

egg curry

semi made poori/bhature

and the kisaan talks!!!

2010-11-25T12:35:00.000+05:30

my response to shanky's response!!

Although I have quit playing farmville (after playing madly for a week)....but as I have a lot of free time so here goes farmville 2 in response to http://sr-itbhu.blogspot.com/2010/11/jai-jawan-jai-kisaan.html :

* you cant do anything destructive in the game
- You can be destructive by being non constructive !!
--destroying others not yourself!
* its more of brotherly (or sisterly) love. the more you share the more you win!
- Not necessary . You can go the dhanendra soni way!
--and see where it leads! within a week he would have been with the lowest level!

* the game is as aimless as my life (maybe even more if thats possible!)
-If it wasnt aimless we wouldnt have being playing it :P
--no you play many a game with aim too (_which have a end_). think COD

* you get a lot of ribbons to decorate your farm (and come to think of it thats the aim of the game!)
-Who would miss 10k gold and 1k experience..and sadly we cant decorate those ribbons!
--a1 told me you can decorate with ribbons :(

* wheat is the cheapest
-cheap but low money+xp/per hour
--cheap!

* berries give maximum profit and grow quickly (heard a lot about raspberries)
-to grow berries you should be ready to abandon anything you might be doing when your berries are ready to be harvested!! Eating ,drinking, movies,talking anything!!
--my point still valid

* you need a lot of friends (a good way to add girls you wanna talk to :P)
-Not exactly as a LOT of those "girls" are 30+
--but surely some would be there under 30! and some of 50 million is good enough :P

* you keep sending gifts all the time
-Not necessary as given above
--dhaniya doesnt count!

* you keep refreshing the page to claim the gifts all the time
-If you havent got a good connection dont start playing!!
--you played for a week on bhu connection. if youre mad you can play even on mobile!

* you can have a farm size of max 28x28 (but that too aint the aim of the game!)
-Well the game IS supposed to be aimless ,then why should it strive to have an aim!!
--for a good dignified end (compare smallville to avatar)

* every time you grow something you have to do 400+ clicks thrice! (ofc depends on farm size)
-WEll, we have a LOT of free time so whats the harm :P
-cant argue

* everyone is too poor to use the tractor/harvester/seeder
-As I said LOTS nd LOTS of free time + we should ALWAYS avoid using up petrol when we can walk :P
--will remember that next time we goto spicy or for that matter anywhere else! and never say you dont have enough time!

* you can have animals (nah they also dont harm your farm)
-TO have animals you need to have a good handspeed to steal them before your "friends"
--good net connection to refresh the page every min!

* you can build yourself a house
-you cant build a house ,although you can BUY a pretty expensive mansion!
--then what the heck do the following do : nails planks and all the other stuff you kept fighting about!

* you can dress up your character (thats why girls play this for sure!)
-Who wouldnt want a virtual character with a MASSIVE mustache and a skully tshirt :P
--who wouldnt want a virtual character as a girl (a1)

* the girls goes out of sync so many times!
-time time time we have lots of
--againc ant argue time factor! (after all it cant be worse than writing this post!)

* best way to earn experience is to join a co-op when its almost done!
-AGREED
--11

* you can create multiple profile to help yourself! (more farms more tympass more clicks more gifts and blah blah blah)
-this works but might lead to severe hair loss in some cases
--111111

* last but not the least 50 millon ppl do play this!
* 54 and growing !! -1 me ofcourse!
--will take it as 54 only! pp would have created another profile to compensate for yours!

jai jawan jai kisaan

2010-11-25T02:20:00.000+05:30

I have never played farmville.
I have that app blocked since god knows when

But recently all my friends turned into farmers and here is what I got to learn everytime I was with them:

you cant do anything destructive in the game
its more of brotherly (or sisterly) love. the more you share the more you win!
the game is as aimless as my life (maybe even more if thats possible!)
you get a lot of ribbons to decorate your farm (and come to think of it thats the aim of the game!)
wheat is the cheapest
berries give maximum profit and grow quickly (heard a lot about raspberries)
you need a lot of friends (a good way to add girls you wanna talk to :P)
you keep sending gifts all the time
you keep refreshing the page to claim the gifts all the time
you can have a farm size of max 28x28 (but that too aint the aim of the game!)
every time you grow something you have to do 400+ clicks thrice! (ofc depends on farm size)
everyone is too poor to use the tractor/harvester/seeder
you can have animals (nah they also dont harm your farm)
you can build yourself a house
you can dress up your character (thats why girls play this for sure!)
the girls goes out of sync so many times!
best way to earn experience is to join a co-op when its almost done!
you can create multiple profile to help yourself! (more farms more tympass more clicks more gifts and blah blah blah)
last but not the least 50 millon ppl do play this!

I guess I should get atleast 10-15 levels in farmville for knowing this much :P

teacher teacher

2010-10-22T01:54:00.003+05:30

everyone followed the policy: learn and teach (i was always the student or photographer :P)
thank u guys (for the pics)!!

also see that a1 is taught munim and bansal but studied under shanky! so u can guess who was our guru! :P

3rd pic only to confirm ki dhaniya masoom bhi padha tha!

Then & Now

2010-10-19T19:20:00.000+05:30

4 saal ki kahani! see how shareef guys came from kota/coaching and how they are leaving itbhu!
4 years of hard work and study :D :D

who says collg mein log patle ho jaate hain :P

agar kisi ko (only valid for dhaniya) pic remove karwani ho then tell me. tried for dohte but itne zyada changes hain 5 saal mein ki cant capture it in one picture :D

Aim (read Futility) of Life

2010-04-04T18:35:00.005+05:30

This is one topic everyone everyone must have thought of: What is the meaning/aim of life? I too have spent much time thinking about it and till now have got no other explanation than the fact that life really is futile and is aimless! First let me talk of the various views put forth:
(In the whole post am nowhere being critical or satirical nor am I unhappy with my life in any way. On the contrary have been having a good time these days but am still confused what is life for!)

For religious persons who believe in life/death cycle, attaining moksh is important for which one must live an ideal life and blah blah. Well if you are believer then you can live with this logic but am agnostic so never thought much on this topic.

Life is for helping other. I too lived by this until I thought: Then what is others life for? What do we as well as what do the people we help gain by helping? And what is their aim in life? Even for the researchers who have developed brilliant things how has life in general improved? 100 years ago everyone had problems in life and they still remain. Human Kind obviously will never be content with whatever they have. Maybe unless there is perfect equality with nothing new coming out but then life would be too boring.

There were wars 1000 years ago. There still are. Majority people still crib about their life most of the time. Some dont like their jobs, many dont have jobs and many other factors. So its not like world is going in right direction and sometime later everyone will be happy.

So why live? That the question I have thought about a lot. Best answer I can get is to live for people you care about (or rather for people who care about you). Now the question is how to live? Any gain by living the ideal way or trying to help everyone you encounter? Well I feel that one must live every moment as he feels like. Who wants to live boring life for 100 years anyways! If living ideal life pleases you then so be it. Otherwise there is nothing like absolute right and wrong. I feel that as long as you're not harming another person (or even animals :P ) its not wrong. Defining 'harm' is much more complicated though!
So these are my thoughts.

I know many will feel that this topic is being too immature at this age. Maybe it is. Maybe I too will laugh at this later on. But right now I wanted to write about this somewhere.

My Travel Map

2010-03-22T15:48:00.001+05:30

Have been wanting to write many posts since quite some time, but as I am not a writer so couldnt get enough enthu to ditch DOTA and write blog! But will certainly write about my Andaman trip esp the sea experience and scuba diving as I'd very much want to preserve it somewhere.

I also wanted to make a map of my travels and this is one thing I have finally done.
So here is India map (haven't been out of India yet) with all my travels marked!

Green-Air travel
Blue-Sea Travel
Pink/Purple-Rail Travel (ofc the most)
Brown-Road Travel
Grey- Places I supposedly have been to but was too young to remember much!

I always thought I have traveled quite a lot but seeing this map I guess have traveled a lot of times to same places. Have been to Delhi countless time, 5 times to Mumbai, twice to Goa, Manali and Nanital each and ofc many times to Hyderabad (for entirely different reason!)

So can certainly do with more travel esp the NE which I'd like to visit again (childhood memories hardly count as traveling). South should be covered if and when I get a job which probably would be in Bangalore. And yeah Andaman once more would be nice :D

PS: Big thanks to http://www.ajourneyacrossindia.com/travel/241/high-resolution-india-map/ for a high quality India Political Map.

Glitterati by KashiYatra

2010-01-21T18:07:00.002+05:30

There is a contest Glitterati being organised by KY with details in their own words:

Select the photographs which you think can be on the cover of a fashion magazine and send a soft copy in any format
Send us your three best photographs and grab the opportunity of being a fashion icon of the institute.

Who needs any model when we have our very own dhaniya model in our branch. So I sent three of his classic pics (from recent Goa trip where whenever I ook my camera he was in front of it!). Now guys tell with dhaniya as model am I not the clear winner :P

You decide!

Life in last few weeks!

2010-01-21T17:17:00.003+05:30

Didnt got time+energy+mood together since quite some time to sit and blog. A lot has happened since last semester or my last post.

First was the Goa trip of which am uploading just one pic. Have a huge collection of pics which havent yet uploaded to picasa even (donno whether have enough space there or not).

Well ofcourse most of the pics are classified :P Goa was fun beyond words esp with 4 best friends. IDD rox :D (for neo!)

Then came to coll on 20th Dec after just a week at home (yeah am home sick) and then came New Year. Last new year party was similar to a kitty party. This time we had less of party but was still better than kitty party. Well the kitty guys of our branch were not satisfied so on 1st a trip was planned for Vindhyachal. Now this is what we were told of Vindhyachal (before leaving and on the way): Hill with jharnas (small waterfalls; even water in sight would have satisfied me), temple on top, we can cook our own food on the slope. So considering this we even took football and cricket bat with us. What we found there: Only temples with no place to even walk properly. And all along the play my car-mates were having their kitty party with dumb charades (watever be the spelling). So for me it was listening to ipod in a car and cursing the kitty guys.

A pic of the trip:

Had a small ACM event on 4th Jan. Not so significant. Also got news that I have got first S of my life thanks to KKS. Its another matter am gonna get E on another subject of his. Watever S was new atleast! Went home once again on 13th (told you I was home sick :P) and got a party from shanky at home (will get another one here in bhu too!) Also got one 1.6k wallet as gift. Now I never have so much money in wallet so donno how to use it. Its still kept packed.

And now its 21st, KashiYatra starting from tomorrow. For the first time since my life in BHU am optimistic about KY. Usually it sucks but this year it looks promising. Also Jal coming to rock on final day so thats the main attraction. But then troubles start. There is a conference starting from 27th which is making all my days hectic. Then comes first ct's and finally GATE on 14th Feb (pity on all those guys who are committed..atleast have a gf). There is 1 lakh rs on stake with GATE. So cant afford to mess it up to bad. And during all this time there is CodeFest which is being handled by our branch chulli Shishir Mittal so everybody gotta work hard (forced to work hard?)

So here I am with quite enough work and no mood to do it (nothing unusual). Hopefully will be blogging more often. These days instead of blogging have started keeping a sticky of things I wanna blog about. Even thats missing these days as have shifted to Windows 7 and dont have the sticky gadget yet.

Finally to end this post some random (not so random btw) pics that need to be shared!!

Foggy!

2010-01-21T08:46:00.000+05:30

Came to class in this weather at 8 in the morning!

Not everything can be captured

2009-12-14T07:23:00.002+05:30

Somethings need to be felt as not everything can be captured in a camera. Esp a scene like this: mighty ganga below, a thin layer of fog floating above in the atmosphere, feeling the cold air on the face in a moving train on a bridge above and and orange morning sun in the horizon. Add few birds around and ofcourse trees and green fields around the river. What i felt was a thousand times greater than what came in the picture (which i 'll upload later).
This is more of a long tweet than a blog. Is this what is called micro blogging?

Edit: Here I finally upload the pic or whatever came of it from my mobile camera.

Finally moon!

2009-09-26T12:09:00.005+05:30

I was able to get some moon pics but it happens that getting a good image is difficult. Getting an image of moon requires full zoom plus a very slow shutter speed. And if you want it with the least ISO then even the slowest shutter speed! So getting a pic with a blur in it isnt that difficult to get. Now I know that I dont have very steady hands but I got most of the images blurred even with a tripod! Maybe the wind or maybe my stomping around was enough to give that blur!

Well here are some pics that came good enough to be posted:

On 22nd even the best pic is with some (acceptable?) blur!

And this pic is just for the yellowish tinge on clouds thanks to (once again) the setting sun!

Moon and setting sun existing peacefully. A much better pic would come out of (full) moon and rising sun. But as I said am too lazy to get up so early in the morning.

And here is the video of the white tiger in zoo whoso pics are there on picasa and whose blog post I forgot to write :D

(its 30 mb and taking a hell lot time to upload here on blogger)

HIMYM and Friends

2009-09-24T13:41:00.003+05:30

How I Met Your Mother

Friends

Well have watched part of both of the above series (more of HIMYM percentage wise :) ) but enough of both of them to know whats going on! Friends is from 94 so direction wise and location wise it looks kinda old. While himym look fresh both in terms of characters (much more beautiful) and dressing style.

Both the series revolve around the same concept of presenting the life of group of friends living together. Basically it can be classified as romantic comedy with less of romance and more of comedy.

Well i like himym better as it keeps bringing more characters so provides a little bit of change. Also its more of present times and mostly because its actually a narration. So gives a different kind of presentation than any other series.

And with himym and friends coming back to back on TV from 11 pm to 1 am I get a nice timepass :)

PS: going to watch HIMYM S5E01 just after finishing this post :)

Night pics

2009-09-21T21:55:00.002+05:30

Well only birds dont play truant. Went at night wishing for some moon pics. But yes the moon was absent. Being a day after the Eid, I was expecting a nice slice of moon but I guess due to clouds got nothing! Well anyways here are some pics that I took while trying out the night capabilities of my camera. Landscape mode for night sucks. So had to go manual. As is given all over the net (and which I found out later) z980 is good enough for high ISO settings. And in smart mode it chooses high ISO. So instead of high ISO in manual mode I opted for slower shutter speeds (was written as 6" - wonder what it menas) but took about 3-4 seconds of shutter spped (was trying to hear shutter open and close by keeping my ear close to the camera!). Obviously with such shutter speeds I was using the tripod without which all I would have got is a set of blurry pics!

The view which I have taken many times during the day now taken @ night. Mind you its 9:30 pm pitch dark and no flash (obviously no flash for landscapes).

A little darker pic of my street.

No mood so had to be content with a star :P

The first pic is in manual mode, second one in the night landscape mode provided by Kodak guys! You can be your own judge as to which one is better!

Another set of pics!

2009-09-21T17:00:00.003+05:30

Yeah I know its getting monotonous posting similar kind of pics again and again but currently thats my only timepass at home so I havent got anything else thats interesting enough. Unless ofcourse if I start posting travian stuff :P

So well today I wanted pics of flowers but as they are scarce during this time of the year I had to settle for birds and finally for the sun (thankfully it wasnt a setting sun today!).

Whole set of pics can be seen @ http://picasaweb.google.com/aug21st/CamTest

So today I first clicked around the birds that were sitting in the lawn downstairs instead of going to the rooftop directly.

Thats what I call timing! Was just in time to click before that bird disappeared behind (inside maybe) that tree.

The only flower that I was able to find in my house at this time. And it is the size of my thumb!

Just as I was packing up saw this bird sitting just above my head :)

Again showing off the manual focus with focus on the leaves and building in the background!

The sun was too bright for me to even observe the clouds with my naked eye! Had it not been for the clouds it would have been just an ordinary pic.

More pics

2009-09-20T20:13:00.002+05:30

First of all the pic of my camera. Taken from my 3 mp camera phone so you can expect some pixelisation. Well the camera model is Kodak Z980 and this pic is taken with full 24x optical zoom:

Now today I was more interested in bird photography. I was interested but can hardly say the same about the birds. Forget about any flying shots or group pics it was so damn difficult to get any close up of any bird. Maybe I was a little past their flying time or they are camera shy..watever here are the results. The whole collection is also uploaded on picasa @ http://picasaweb.google.com/aug21st/CamTest. Putting up some better pics here too:

Now this is one of the rare occasion when the bird was sitting on my rooftop. It was just thirsty and was looking for water overflowing from the tank :)

While sitting on the roof I tumbled backwards getting this pic. Thats only cause of my slow reflexes and the time it takes in manual mode to get focus and proper brightness etc!

Another one on my rooftop. The background was varied collection of clothes hanging in Girls PG ( :P ) so had to brighten it as that multicolor backgroud hardly justified this bird's beauty.

Now here am just testing the shutter speed. Taken at 1/2000 shutter speed which I guess is equivalent to 1/2000 of a second. Whatever I had to set a very high ISO to get any picture at that shutter speed (and I have no idea what ISO is).

Now ofcourse some sunset pics (as they are the only pics that come real good).

In the last pics you 'can' notice that I was using manual focus and focused on the nearby mobile phone and hence the blurred effect of the background :)

Will obviously keep posting more pics as long as this hobby lasts!

2009-09-20T07:29:00.006+05:30

Posting the pics of my photography session yesterday evening. Tried some stuff using manual settings thought apart from exposure I wasnt able to understand anything else :P

First of all the pics showing off the zooming capabilities-

The above building is approximately 200-300 mts from my house as in crow distance. Now am really bad at approximating distances so it can be anything but the distance am putting down in next few pics will be relative to this one :D

Yes I love the sun!

That would be approx 50 mts from my house.

A billboard some 300 mts away from my house. maybe 200..not sure! Using digital zoom here and yes I dont have a steady hand.

No idea about the distance as it was high up in the sky. Used digital zoom too and was somehow able to grab this kite in this frame!

Now some pics where I tampered with manual settings. In this set of 3 pics all taken at the same time I played with shutter speeds. In others test case I played with aperture without fully understanding its significance and got some not so good looking pics.

Now some pics which just came good without any special significance..and yeah most of them related to the setting sun (will have another session today probably during that same time..am too lazy to get up early in the morning for rising sun!)

Theres also a video with nice resolution but thats a tad bigger for my net connection to handle (~125MB) to skipping it for now. And anyone who can give tips for photography is most wlecome!

Women in army-Gender bias?

2009-09-19T02:38:00.004+05:30

This post is just an opinion on the newslink (obviously of TOI):
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5028294.cms

And especially for this particular remark:

"We have doubts on why you should do it for male officers and not for the women. Why are they treated differently?" the court asked.

Well am not a gender biased person or anything but one thing I firmly agree on that on an average men are physically stronger than females. Now you can point out 100 exceptions but I assure you those number of exceptions will be quite finite (maybe even countable). So for any job that is a physical job I will be biased towards men and for most jobs against women too. And especially for army I find no reason why women should be preferred for killing other person and living in tough conditions over men?

As I said am not gender biased so dont apply the above principle to any other kind of jobs thats just skill, intellect or a routine job that doesnt require anything. Its just for jobs that require physical strength. For those who contest this claim also or want to give some examples here is my suggestion: watch finals of any sport that has different section for men and women and compare the record time or anything. Be it athletics, tennis or any other sport (can leave out gymnastics here probably...not sure).

Another thing is that for those women who really want equality should expect no concessions for being a women (like claming mahila seat in bus or expecting etiquettes like opening of door for them or whatever). This is the same principle of reserved categories wanting equality and wanting concessing because they are from that caste at the same time. If you want to be considered in the same level then you should play on the same field. Only till the time being you want to get to this level you should have concessions (for the reason the reservations were implemented to get the scheduled class at the same par).

Just my thoughts no offence here. I certainly like women :)

Austerity-the new buzzword!

2009-09-17T18:13:00.000+05:30

This austerity thing is dominating the headlines be it thanks to politicians living in 5 star hotels or Rahul Gandhi travelling by train and inviting stones at himself or maybe Shashi T tweeting around! Whatever be the reason with congress high command sticking to this new keyword its bound to remain that way.
Firstly I have usually been against this austerity stuff (not that i have much to spend around) but have been against the hue and cry that was raised when Mallya gifted a jet to his son (did he?) or Mittal married off his daughter in some style. I believe they have right to spend as much as they want considering the fact that they have worked hard for it. Of course while not hurting anyone (sentiments dont count please). But in case of politicians there is a whole new aspect involved. Can a person who is living his life comfortably really understand the problems of the poor? I know i can give a hundred arguments against that statement but still its a much better argument than of some private people spending money.
What I want to talk about though is that is the government sure that this austerity drive is saving money instead of incurring more expenditures? Lets take the case of Rahul Gandhi going by train instead of a chopper or plane. Savings because of tickets would be minimal compared to the cost of security involved. Read somewhere that police was involved to provide security along the entire route? (dont ask why still stones were pelted at him if you know how Indian police works) Now compare that to him going in a chopper in which case the security agencies are clueless about his whereabouts till he lands (YSR death informed us about this security system).
Leave the whole security thing lets talk about productivity now. I atleast believe that even the most incompetent minister would have work to do most of the day. Just going through all the papers without doing anything new would keep him busy. Now how can you expect person travelling in sleeper class to go through all the files. Is the savings in ticket worth that much amount of time?
Congress party instead of showing solidarity with all the drought affected people and get down to their level try working harder and get them to your level. Or is it that all hope is lost for the latter condition?
And Shashi T: think before you tweet :P

"About Me"

2009-09-04T17:47:00.002+05:30

Found a very nice about me while browsing through Orkut profiles (birdwatching watever :P ). Agree with most of them!

i like 99 more than 100.
i like it when my hat is just about to blow away with the wind.
i like the feeling of a long-awaited bath.
i like acting sleepy.
i like being able to tell a mosquito just by feeling it on the skin.
i like sitting cross-legged on a chair.
i like it to face the wind with closed eyes and walk towards it.
i like it when I'm sitting in veggies and a leaf falls on my table.
i like the fireflies to fly over water bodies.
i like an empty mind.
i like most of the people I say Hi to on the street.
i like trying to listen to a song playing somewhere far off when I'm trying to sleep.
i like it when my head expands to take in a bright and fresh evening.
i like to barely miss the target of my water balloons in Holi.
i like the perfection of just the slightest imperfection.

TOI - Tabloid of India

2009-07-01T06:48:00.004+05:30

Well TOI has always been fascinated by beautiful girls and it probably pays it photographers double to get that 'hot shot'. It has been the trademark of TOI since quite some time.

These days it was fascinated by Gay Movement. Every news related to gay's is on front page. And has been covering gay parades all over the world. Thats when one of its photographers found this picture:

Now maybe this girl is a guy or vice-versa, but I think this time TOI has gone too far. It should have some respect as a national newspaper.

Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshowpics/4720508.cms

Civil Services Bill, 2009

2009-06-09T05:03:00.002+05:30

Article from TOI

Pros:

Will take out such moves that are currently being seen in UP. CM wont be able to transfer officials at will.
Will involve Opposition in such appointments. I have always believed that appointments of posts such as EC, CBI Chief, Supreme Court Judges (they are still decided by a panel) and of posts like Auditor General should be done with consensus. I know for consensus it may be that there is no appointment if Opposition plays a destructive role but it will also ensure that these bodies remain independent. It could be done with say 75% majority with no party allowing 'whip' in such cases. So that even honest members in destructive parties can help in breaking a deadlock. And I believe that more than 75% of our MP's are good enough. Its another matter that just the bad ones keep showing their faces in public.
Better criteria for appointment for top posts.

Cons:

Directly conflicts with the federal structure of India. Centre having say in administrative tasks of states.
Administration is there to assist the CM in its working. With CM bound by these rules in administrative postings it may not be able to perform to its full potential.

What can be done is:

Newly elected government should have right of transferring any official without any rules.
Central body should not be too much involved in the process. And in any case it should not have the final say. This is to ensure that centre does not take over the state.

Better Times!

2009-06-08T18:20:00.001+05:30

Well going by the present results I just feel that maybe world is heading in a better direction. If not the world then definitely India.

No its not about the sensex gaining 15K or our percapita income rising t0 300$ but its about the way people are using the system.
First and most important the elections. Ok I am happy that Congress won but more than that I am happy that efficient governments were rewarded. Be it JD(U) in Bihar, BJD in Orissa or Congress in Delhi and Andhra. Here they won elections only because of their efficient working. Majority voted for them because of their performance. No comments for Gujrat cause I just can understand them but yeah they voted for BJP for development and transparency (I can write a whole post on that and debate all day long so just leaving it there).
The point is that people even in rural area not just voted for caste and religion but for development. And this directly resulted in less number of criminals being selected.

Another point is freedom of Election Commission, Judiciary, media and acts like RTI in has 10 years or so have given much more confidence in the system.
Also number of steps that are being doled out to strengthen Social security can bring about the biggest development of this country by erasing or reducing poverty. Who will be poor if everyone has assured job no matter if its menial, gets food at low cost even if its not much and has a roof. This may not bring about the desired change but it will give confidence to people to go into new areas. Like if everyone has food and roof then even a poor may start sending his children for education. Even poor will start accessing the health facilities provided by the government. And this can bring the change.

Next is the speech of Obama in Cairo. I always wondered why cant politicians be direct in saying what they feel. Do they themselves lack the convictions in their own beliefs? Do they themselves feel that what they feel is incorrect even according to themselves? But for the first time I had someone saying out what he truly feels. Ok he didnt exactly apologise for Iraq or Israels attack but maybe he doesnt feel like apologising. And who would want to criticize one's own army. But even though he defended Israel he spoke for Palestine. Standing in Egypt he talked of democracy, women's right and other things of which diplomatically he was warned against. He talked of not leaving Afghanistan, of again attacking terrorist hideouts if necessary. But in the same line he talked of Peace and of talking their way out of misunderstandings.

I know that I am being too optimistic maybe cause still the world is suffering may it be attacks in Pakistan or even India. Just read that a Major died today in J&K encounter. So everything is ofcourse not peaceful. But I fell that world is heading in a right direction. Didnt felt the same when both Bush and Modi were re-elected somewhere around 2002.

Role of PM and his Council of Ministers

2009-05-22T02:42:00.004+05:30

Who should be PM and who should all be in his Cabinet? Is the whole council supposed to include the intellectual or is it supposed to represent the people?
From what I can infer from whatever I was taught in Civics in my bachpan its meant to be the latter. So then why are Members of Rajya Sabha allowed in this council? As the Members of Rajya Sabha are supposedly best brains of the country (not just best brains but best citizens in general) then why should they be in Council? They dont have the peoples mandate. They have not been elected by the people.

Now this is in reference to the current council. First of all I'd like to clarify few things:

I know Manmohan Singh is very popular so everybody would like to see him continue as PM.
Also in this election there was a mandate for Manmohan Singh himself. Officially it cant be said as such because he didnt contest from anywhere but we all know that he was projected as PM so people voted for him (unlike 2004 when people voted for Sonia Gandhi).

The main purpose of the council is to run a country in such a way that is beneficial for the people. As the council is supposedly answerable to public so it is expected that they will do best for people (we all know the reality when all big politicians are corrupt so it isnt true for them. but lets just talk what was the intention of the constitution in ideal scenario!). This council will be helped by the best brain of the country which form the bureaucracy (here again we know how much best brain goes and how much 'best' it remains). But what is happening now is not how the Council should behave. There are demands to make Montek as our Finance Minister. Granted he is a good economist and can handle all his files well. But does he really know what India wants. Not just the Indian Industry but also the poor. Will he run this country like a company for maximum profit (GDP, sensex or whatever be the scale) or will he run such that all sections of the society benefit (although even if he just help industries it will 'someday' help the poor too. probably). Same with Manmohan Singh. Give him a free hand and he will start all the disinvestment and all the international business practices. It was because of both Left and Congress Party leadership that he brought out schemes like Guaranteed Employment and others. I concede that by now he will be wiser and will behave more like a politician with Congress party's future at stake.
But I still believe that Council should only for elected representatives. Who are supposed to take care of the public. If technical knowledge was deemed necessary for such posts then constitution would have provided for some entrance test and not elections. It is upto the people to choose wisely. If they cant do that then it is their loss.
As for all the brains of such topics (take any ministry), they should just be adviser's to the Government. Not the Government itself.

Well these are just my views though I fully support Congress Government :)

Role of Lawyers

2009-05-20T15:01:00.002+05:30

Was having this discussion about how the defense lawyer for Kasab was trying to stall his case. For that I got one reply that "Thats the job of Defense lawyer". But is it?
Well I dont know what was the aim of our constitution or what is the legal point of view but here is what I feel:
Lawyers are just means who help the court in reaching the truth. Aim of every lawyer whether prosecution or defense is to find the truth. The only difference is that a prosecution lawyer will hear one side of the story while defence lawyer will hear out accused side of story. This system shall just ensure that judgement is reached without taking both sides of view. Role of defence lawyer is not to defend the client. Its just to help him present his side of the case. Also care should be taken of lawyer-client confidentiality (whatever that might be). It should not be misused to save the client even by performing illegal acts.
As in this case stalling the case by presenting stupid facts is not part of his job.

I dont know what exactly is the law in this regard but this is how I feel.

My experience till now with GSoC and SIP community!

2009-05-19T17:12:00.003+05:30

Well exactly 10 days have passed since I seriously started working on the project. It is difficult to concentrate on it when you are meant to be enjoying two months at home, but still have been able to give it some time and achieve some tasks. Well am not writing this post to list out my achievements but just to share my experience till now.

Firstly, coding is the simplest part. But what to code is difficult. Have till now gone through 2 completely different API's (smack and jml) and am currently trying to get a hang of third one (joscar). For the first one (smack) there was proper documentation and such. But for the rest there is hardly any. Eve the javadocs are not updated. So it is a big problem to find out what you need in such API's. The solution ofcourse is to contact developers who till now have been willing to help me for even the simplest problems. Also Googling (wish I had googling skills of Mittal) helps but not always (for jml Google was more interested in teaching me about Java Modelling Language than the api I needed. And yes I donno what Java Modelling Language is!). Then community mailing list helps (for joscar its my only help :) ).

Secondly being part of the SIP community is just great. You can expect real time help from all the developers. For jml it would not have been possible without such help. Also we are encouraged more to be part of the community than just finish our projects.

Next update: after I integrate something (anything!) into SC.

Is this betting?

2009-05-19T17:08:00.002+05:30

We all know that betting is illegal in our country.

Now consider a scenario:
Just before elections I organise a quiz like "Test your political knowledge". There is entry fees of Rs 100 and all persons who answer with error of +/-10 (or whatever scale you want to keep like satta) will be joint winners.

Now it is very much similar to betting but will it be called as such?
And is betting allowed with no money involved? Is such a thing even called as betting. Would sure like to know laws in this regard.

Summers with GSoC

2009-05-01T20:37:00.002+05:30

Although its a little old news but writing just for the sake of writing. I was selected for Google Summer of Code 2009. This took away the burden of intern away from me (which I was not getting anyways). So well my work would be working for the development of SIP Communicator which is an instant messenger that supports multiple protocols. For this Google would be paying me cool 4500$ (only if I complete the work which shouldn't be too hard). Atleast I will be able to work from the comforts of my home (really missing home right now).

This year a total of 1000 students were selected worldwide out of which 101 are from India and 8 from our college :)
Hope this number steadily keeps increasing (all the numbers may increase). Last year it was 3, last to last just 1. Atleast now its 8.

http://socghop.appspot.com/ Summer of Code Homepage

http://www.sip-communicator.org/ SIP Communicator Homepage

PS: Its not in any way an intern with Google. They wont even know me after giving out the payments.

Timepass: Omegle

2009-05-01T20:06:00.002+05:30

These days www.omegle.com is getting popular in our college. Well its a very nice concept of one to one chatting. When you start you are randomly connected to any other person to chat with. There is no concept of nick names or any kind of registration. The main idea is that you can freely chat with strangers without revealing your identity.

Well its a very good timepass as you can be sure that atleast you will have to bear up with many persons before you find someone interesting enough. And if you do find and chat for hours you may find out that the person was a fake :)
So this site is not for someone who get senti easily. It is strictly for fun. And yeah you need to devise ways to confirm the identity of the person (atleast ensure that the country they claim is correct).

One thing that is troublesome is when you are having an interesting chat and suddenly BHU net comes and form and access denied (depicted in omegle as 'connection imploded')
Another thing, its much better to chat at hours when normal BHU net is down to not find another one from our lobby as the person you are chatting with (and yeah in multiple tabs I have even chatted with myself :)) )

Fixed term of Government

2009-05-01T19:46:00.003+05:30

This is regarding the suggestion made by L K Advani that a government should have a 'fixed tenure' of 5 years and polls should be simultaneously held every 5 years in months of February.

Now the benefits are very obvious:

Huge (I really mean huge) decrease in poll expenditure (both of EC and political parties)
Better voting percentage (February weather along with voting once every 5 years will surely move many more voters out of their homes than now)

Although the benefits may be counted as 2, both of them will have a large scale effect on how government works. First of all model code of conduct days which very much limit governments options will be less. Secondly government will be able to focus more on managing the country instead of campaigning every now and then.

But here comes the problem. How do we really implement it?
Advani said that if a party loses majority then a next government should take over immediately. But what if (as is usually the case) no party has majority? It will lead to hell lot of horse trading with too much scope for corruption. Not a good option.
Also its but obvious that a minority government can hardly work.

Also he said that our government system was following that of Britain and India should adapt the system to its needs. Very well said but it would have been much better if he would have specified atleast some adaptations to atleast initiate a debate. Also I dont thing there is anything wrong with the system, Its just that parties are not good enough to get a majority.

One suggestion that I even gave before and that still can be done is:

Completely de-link the role of MP with development of the constituency. MP should only be there to raise issues of national importance. Development should only be linked with the State government.

I know there can be several arguments against it (I can myself think of many) but still I fell this is one way that can help in improving the current scenario. I feel that all the things that affect day to day life of public should be subject of state. Also more tax should be levied by the state government and not by the central government.

I know that this can have many negative effects but it is one direction debate can be initiated in.

Till then am happy with the current system :)

Few Questions!

2009-04-30T19:42:00.003+05:30

There are some questions that I would like to ask major political parties:

Congress:

Regarding the recent statement by our PM than he will revive economy in 100 days; What steps will he take to do so? Also why were they not taken 100 days before the elections?
What will be the position of Rahul Gandhi?
Will Tytler come back in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha?
When will the NSG hubs be active in various parts of the country? What happened to all the equipment that was promised after Mumbai attacks?
Will IIT's and IIM's just become state institutes considering the fact that they are being opened up in each and every state?
What steps are being taken by the government for the black money stored in Swiss banks? According to PC some steps were being taken. When will they give results?

BJP:

How many more Godhras and Babri will happen in 5 years?
When will India attack Pakistan as being said during campaigning? Will it be another cost-intensive exercise as the one that happened after Parliament attack? What were the advantages of that?
Do you really plan to build Ram mandir or is it better for your future electoral prospects that it is not build? If you would like to build it then what steps did you take during 5 years of NDA rule?
Why should a party be given National mandate when it is not even present in major South Indian states?
How do you plan to improve economy? In five years of opposition there were only walkout's. Never was a single concrete step given to the government that could have helped the country. Will walkout really solve India problems?
If NDA loses this time then what will be the fate of L K Advani?

Left:

Will you allow India to do any trade with USA? Or should it be just China?
Whom did you support during 1961 war?
Will Arunachal Pradesh still be with India after 5 years of Left rule?
Will I be able to 'earn' my own money and 'own' lands after 5 years of rule?
What will happen to someone who echoes his own personal views that are not supported by Left? Will he become an outcast like Somnath Chatterjee?
Are you pro-SEZ or anti-SEZ?

SP & BSP:

Will every park be either called Lohia park or Ambedkar park?
Will police force be disbanded to allow your goons to function easily or will it become part of your gang?
Currently it is said 40 paisa of every Rupee spent reaches the poor. In your regime what will that amount be?

For all of them:

When will criminals be in jail?
When will corruption end?
When will the government really work of sarva-hitaye?
When will MP's really debate in parliament? And not just with their bodies but with their minds?
Will ever a opposition play a constructive role? Or is opposition meant for staging walkouts only?

There may be countless more questions but I can only think of these currently.

Times of India advertisment!

2009-04-18T02:30:00.001+05:30

No comments.
After Aamir Khan shouting for Tata sky while reading a news article these are the new ad's on front page of Times of India. Looking more of a tabloid than a national newspaper.

Blogging season @ our lobby

2009-04-17T21:08:00.002+05:30

Well something is in the air cause everyone in our lobby seems to be in mood of blogging. Although everyone is blogging on topics that are poles apart but still it seems to be the flavour of the season.

Current bloggers:

Kinshuk baba: Dont ask me to list his blogs cause they are numerous. He still holds the record for mantaining 12 blogs simultaneously and I suppose he still has 5-6 of them.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/01344610750518430564

Dhanendra dhaniya: Just came to know that he mantains 2 blogs. One is private (cant even guess what would be in it) and one is about technical difficulties that you can face and can find a way how not to resolve it there.
http://www.blogger.com/profile/08323067715680264964

Gaurav Kumar: started his blog for writing about his 'life' and programming but later turned into just programming (you need some activity to write about your life :) ).
http://comeoncodeon.wordpress.com

Himanshu dohte: started a blog. wrote two lines. end of story. it was just to promote his mouse and mousepad.
http://m3th0d-dohtem.blogspot.com/

my roomie shanky: naya josh. naya addiction. as you all know he always has loooots of time. started a blog and wrote 10-12 posts in two days. at this pace he will be running out of topics soon (but considering the number of essays we wrote in school days it will surely last few months). topics include his all time favourite dota, sachin and tigers :)
http://shanky-itbhu.blogspot.com

Ankur chimota: started his blog so that more people can pull his leg. and maybe he can record his daily leg-pulling there (will be the most active blog if he does so). on a more serious note his blog contains his collection of cartoons he sketches while sitting in front of the mirror.
http://swattbhu.blogspot.com
as you can notice he is chimota so is bound to make mistakes; forgot one 'i' in between...it was supposed to be swatitbhu but turned out to be swattbhu (and dont ask me why swat cause even i dont know that).

dota-lobby [continued]

2009-04-17T16:40:00.004+05:30

http://shanky-itbhu.blogspot.com/2009/04/dota-lobby.html

Please read this post before even attempting to understand this one.

shanky wrote about everyone but forgot about the best player in our lobby: himself.

So I will try to find matching hero for him. Waise to while playing he s able to play with any hero (even if you give him pugna he will become GOD-LIKE), but still we need a hero that matches his personality.

I think the hero that matches him most is axe: strength hero, and the best part that if you try to attack him he will swing his arms, legs in any direction and you will get helix back.

Dream Diet to become like chimota

2009-04-17T13:05:00.002+05:30

(chimota)

(dhanendra soni)

Dream Diet of chimota for dhanendra to get fat (personal experience):
Morning 7 am:
3 glass of water
500gm Butter with/without bread as breakfast

8am:
3 plate Idli (6 idlis)
1 glass juice (orange)

10am:
2-4 samosa

12:30 pm:
4 rotis with ghee/butter + rice

4:30 pm:
1 glass juice

6:00 pm:
2 sandwich + cold drink (and no swimming)

8:00 pm:
4 aloo parantha

late night:
3 glass of mango shake

sleep by 11:00 pm

Jai Ho- Hallelujah

2009-04-17T12:53:00.005+05:30

First of all who can say that the lead singer is not Indian? With bindi and Indian dress she sure looks like one.

Just saw the Pussycat version of famous 'Jai Ho'. Still cant understand what was the meaning of lyrics. I suppose they were written just to rhyme with the music. No attention was paid to ensure that they mean something. 'Hallelujah' was added after some lines where it rhymed well. Well as the music was to remain the same it must have been a difficult task for 'pussycat dolls' to understand the meaning of the song. Whatever video is nice (in comedy genre I mean). You see pussycat dolls trying to do some Indian aerobic dance (dance step while saying Jai Ho is just too good). As if shouting slogans in some rally or what.

And sometimes in between A R Rahman shows his face just shouting Jai Ho (yeah I know thats what happens in most of the song).

Just watch the video to hear the song while also seeing fresh (and better) faces :)

L(e)M(o)N: summer flavour

2009-04-14T13:48:00.003+05:30

In summers Lime drinks have always been associated with freshness (although I associate them more with Vitamin C and hence winters :) ) with traditional Nimbu Paani leading the lot. Before this season there was Limca, 7UP, Fanta Lemon (i think it exists could be wrong). But this summer suddenly all companies have decided to come up with new products.

First I saw Nimbooz by 7UP. It is a non fizz lemon drink. Nice idea but my opinion was that it not only lacked fizz but also lemon taste. Sorry but not giving it another try.

Next was LMN by Parle. This is another non fizz drink but tastes much better than Nimbooz. While on the out can easily substitute it for real Nimbu Paani.

At home I saw another Lemon drink from Catch (is it the same company that made spices?) called Spring Lemon (now they claim its made from pure water of Himalyas....huh). Just checked their website they have lauched new flavours also: Cola and Orange. It is corbonated drink. Not fizz free. It tastes good very much like Limca (I never associated 7UP with lemon. donno why but never gave the same feeling). Need to try their Cola and Orange flavours also.

But my favourite drink at home is Rasna (prefarably cola but can manage with Orange flavour). Rasna also has been around since quite some time (donno how many exactly).

If you come across any other Lemon drink then do inform me.

Emergency ATM PIN

2009-04-14T13:14:00.002+05:30

There was this discussion going on among us about the emergency PIN if entered in ATM gives out the cash but also alerts the police. This emergency is meant to be the reverse of your original PIN. This discussion was based on numerous mails that keep coming to our inboxes everyday. During this discussion spawn said that as his PIN is a palindrome what will be his emergency PIN. With that we ended the discussion as it was in all probability just a hoax. But when I checked it on internet then I found that although it has not been implemented anywhere it has been proposed a lot. And for implementing such a step a bill has been passed in the State of Illinois in February 2009.
And yeah if implemented you cant have such palindromic PIN's so spawn you gotta change it whenever it happens in India :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATM_SafetyPIN_software

Testing Broadband Limits

2009-04-13T23:56:00.002+05:30

Was just going through websites of major Broadband providers for Lucknow. Was inspired to do so by new Airtel ad offering 16Mbps.
First of its very good promotional advertising and targets the right audience. Even the website is well made according to that. http://airtel.impatientones.com/

Currently am using BSNL Dataone 750 plan which provides unlimited download at 256kbps for 750 pm. Will be upgrading soon to 1350 one which provides unlimited download at 512kbps for (yes you guessed it right) 1350pm.

While searching for Broadband limits I paid little regard to the 'cost' tag.

For Airtel in Lucknow the maximum I could find was: 2mbps 4GB download (huh) for Rs 777.
There was another one with speed of 1mbps but unlimited usage at Rs 2222 pm.

BSNL Dataone has no unlimited plans for speed great than 512kbs. Thats at 1350 pm. There is another plan with speed of 2mbps and maximum download limit of 20GB (can do with that for 2 weeks I suppose) for 3300 pm (now thats out of my league).

Next I checked was Reliance Broadband (dont trust much of the information provided) but there I found limited plan of speed 4000kbps (yes thats how it is written, they show off the number of 0's) with doanload limit of 7.5 GB at 1499 pm.

At Tata Indicom Broadband, situtation was quite grim. They refuse to provide High Speed net and you just need to be content with 512 kbps which is though unlimited for 1500 pm.

Sources:
http://www.bsnl.co.in/service/dataone_tariff.htm

http://airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/airtel.in/Airtel.In/Home/ForYou/Broadband+Internet/Tariffs/

http://www.reliancecommunications.co.in/Communications/rcom/broadband/broadband_con_postpaid.html

http://www.tataindicombroadband.in/access/postpaid/order/post_wl_512_zero.html

Maggi- my fav junk food!

2009-04-13T21:12:00.004+05:30

Just saw the new Maggi ad on TV which asks to share your Maggi moments (whatever they might be). Well forget the moments (atleast I dont remember any except yeah going out of hostel at 3 am and having Maggi; if it qualifies then yes it is..whatever), the fact is that since childhood one thing that is still here is Maggi. Whatever memeories I have of my childhood (no matter how small I was), Maggi was there. And I guess it would be true for everyone in my generation atleast (they claim on ad that its 25 years but atleast from my time it was popular). Many variants came (top-ramen, wai wai and many varieties of Maggi itself) but still the original taste rocksss.

And no matter what people say about it being junk food and all that stuff, fact is that it is here to stay. Cause it is easy to make and good to taste.

Well writing this post just for the sake of writing (and because dure wanted something other than politics :) ). This post is not meant to mean anything!

AdSense was close but not good enough

2009-04-13T13:48:00.003+05:30

Just tried AdSense in my blog. As my whole blog is filled with word politics it was but natural to expect some ads related to politics. But to my surprise what came out was a full banner of BJP and Advani picture. God! Cant Google see just how anti-BJP I am? Had they shown Congress ads I would have gladly kept them but sadly had to remove the ads the very next minute. Will sign up later after the elections :)

Headlines in my mind

2009-04-11T19:43:00.002+05:30

Have been thinking of writing since many days but could not find time to do so (busy playing dota and trying out many more games). Also so many topics were going on with elections around the corner that i was not able to decide which topic deserves my valuable time. So i came up with just headlines instead of a lengthy post. Now first of all am in a train and writing from mobile so dont know how to change paras. Tried html tags last time but they failed. Will try the newline char that is provided in mobiles this time :-).

Hope it works!

Recently went through Times of India editorial (web edition) and found it quite nice. Although I never liked the ones that got printed, web editorial page is definitely wort going again. One nice link is in my twitter updates.

Varun Gandhi got what he wanted (maybe a little more) with his name and pic being used all over and even getting his 'fan club' on orkut. Not a surprise as even Godse has one with over 10k members.

Another editorial talked about how considerate Maneka Gandhi is on topics related to animals but Homo sapiens are excluded. Dare you talk about killing any street dog without inviting her wrath. But its ok if her son wants to kill anyone but animals.

Forgetting the last post got news of positive action from Obama of closing down all secret prisons by CIA. Keeping good to his promises although its but obvious that Afghanistan will take lot of time to heal. Dont personally agree to his policy regarding Pakistan but I doubt he can do much. But still not joining the Rahul Gandhi for PM bandwagon.

Coming to Pakistan its just a matter of time when the country breaks up. I doubt whether at this stage even military in control could save it. Dont understand whether they even want to save themselves or not? But I have little hope that pumping lots of money will solve the problem.

With elections around the corner and situation in Pakistan deteriorating India indeed has strong threat to counter.

But besides terrorists even situation in Assam and in naxal areas is going out of hand. Its easy to counter terrorism but internal issues can easily be contained by sustained development. Whatever!

Nice shoe attack by the journalist but instead of shoe should have used a bullet and instead of Chidambaram could have targeted Tytler. Still dont understand why does congress seek to protect those two. Can never condone Rajiv Gandhi for this very act and hope to see those two serving some time behind bars (am against death sentence so cant say hanged :-().

Good to see some politicians and officers feeling the heat for Godhra riots. Though am sure Modi himself will never feel the same (brainy fellow) this should act as deterrent the next time.

Very strong and positive statements by our weak-looking prime minister. Very courageous of him to admit that minorities are harassed by the police and a very tact comment while rejecting offer of TV debate by Advani.

Similarly found nice comments of Nitish Kumar. Have forgotten what they were exactly but were related to communal ism. Am sure that Lalu and Paswan will be no match for him at least not on topics related to regional development.

Sri Lanka: LTTE needs to be uprooted no matter what. Have heard of policies followed there of 'white van kidnappings' and other atrocities on people of Tamil origin but the fact is that they still have democracy left. Taking up arms is no solution (and having two air forces is too dangerous). This is similar to that of naxals which is in no way legitimate. If their concerns are genuine and if they command such respect (not fear) in their region (which is growing by the day) then why dont they fight in elections. With the area affected by them they can easily get more than 20-30 seats which can make or break government. In Sri Lanka it is half the country.

North Korea: Tested America to the limit. Good or bad only time will tell. Should not in any way lead to any kind of was due to Americas prior engagement (read Afghanistan).

Now some light stuff!

Opinion poll about how much will online campaign affect polls found online. Did not bother to check the results.

Invasive ads of Tata Sky being used on Times of India website (yes i surf it every hour even from my mobile). You open a page and suddenly Aamir Khan starts shouting. Have been startled by it quite many times.

Why is swimming and other sports facilities closed on holidays? Thats the time we need it the most ;->.

Still havent got my voters card. Its another matter that I wont be able to vote anyhow as exam schedule in BHU usually ignore election schedule of Lucknow. Another time. Anyhow there is no one to vote for. I would anytime prefer Congress but my vote would be waste on them in Lucknow. Would prefer Lalji Tandon sans BJP.

Reaching Lucknow so gotta stop writing. Got a lot off my mind :-). And one more thing no comments on spelling mistakes (I made few of them up). Rest your mind if you have read till the end ;-). I need to rest mine after writing so much.

[UPDATE]: Came to know that in Lucknow poll prospects of Rita (Congress candidate) are good enough. Still exams come first :)

Taste of their own security acts

2009-04-08T10:31:00.001+05:30

Recently Varun Gandhi was charged under NSA for making inflammatory (dont mind the spelling) speeches. We should remember that it was BJP only that wanted strict (read draconian) laws to tackle terrorism. Post Mumbai attacks it was able to force the government to yield and make new laws (as good as POTA). But our politicians are not angels (hardly human). Their only aim is defeating their opposition and would go to any extent to achieve that. This new law is just another weapon in their arsenal.

What Varun said was wrong and he should be punished (such class of politician should be nipped in the bud including those who divide people on any basis) but in no way should he be tried as terrorist. Even if such laws are made care should be taken that they be used only against external threat not internal. This will at least minimize its chance of misuse. Otherwise as always laws would only be used for suppressing their opposition be it using Emergency, POTA or NSA. It will lead to same results.

And yeah one more thing, first you need to catch the terrorists before applying any law on them. Kasab would be hanged even under the simplest laws. Even without any NSA.

Thank you Supreme Court

2009-04-01T11:58:00.001+05:30

I was very relieved to hear the Supreme Court judgment that barred Sanjay Dutt from contesting the coming elections. For those still in dark he was a candidate from Lucknow and wanted a stay on his conviction so that he could contest the elections. He was just part of the tradition in which to escape the law just enter politics. Leave aside his criminal links, what makes him a eligible candidate? I have no doubt that he would have won partly because of lack of strong opponent and because of recent victories of his 'mates' in last election. But I dare them to contest from any village area and then win. From what i have observed lately, people in such area vote for good candidates cause it affects them much more than in cities.
As for the allegations that the current government was reason for such judgment, all I can do is thank them even though I doubt that they have such influence. And yeah hope his wife stands for the election. People may be stupid but not so much that they allow her to win. She wasnt even an actress.

Hype around Rahul Gandhi

2009-03-30T09:56:00.001+05:30

Considering the recent hype around him with many sections wanting him to be the next prime minister, I am still confused why is there such a hype. Mostly I hear about such talks from netizens and from tours of Rahul Gandhi in various universities across India. But what has he really done for the country? Take out his youth, his charm, his education and his talks; what has he actually 'done' to be even considered for the post. Are the people now such that they choose prime ministers based on how charming they are? Or is the condition of politics in India so hopeless that any fresh face is welcome? This may be the case for some though I dont personally agree. Similar is the case of Obama. Take out his charm his speeches and what has he really done? Even after becoming the president what significant action has he taken till now? I mean by action something that any normal person (not considering Bush) would not have done. Compared to Rahul I would prefer Advani even though I hate that man. At least he has been involved with country since long (could have been involved in much better way though).
[WRITTEN FROM MOBILE SO DONT EXPECT FORMATTING]

Nice Poem

2009-03-29T17:14:00.001+05:30

Poem from movie "10 Things I Hate about You"
I like it a lot :)

I hate the way you talk to me,

and the way you cut your hair.

I hate the way you drive my car,

I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots

and the way you read my mind.

I hate you so much it makes me sick,

it even makes me rhyme.

I hate the way you're always right,

I hate it when you lie.

I hate it when you make me laugh,

even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you're not around,

and the fact that you didn't call.

But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you,

not even close

not even a little bit

not even at all.

Testing from mobile

2009-03-26T15:15:00.000+05:30

Antitrust Issue of IE in Windows

2009-03-15T11:42:00.002+05:30

First the Issue. Here are a few links to clarify the matter:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10144602-75.html
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200904/2807/Microsoft-and-IE-hit-with-EU-antitrust-attack
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/39237

Now the issue is that by bundling the Internet Explorer along with Windows, Microsoft is forcefully capturing the browser market.
Complaints are filed by Opera (as if its used still), Mozilla and Google)

First of all i would like to define some characteristics of a good OS concerning the way it installs:

It should have as many common programs pre-installed as possible.
It should install with minimum interruptions. That is should not ask the user every now and then. Unless ofcourse advanced installation is selected.
It should install in as less time as possible.

Now for pre-installed programs. Imagine a browser where you dont have any browser, no media player, no notepad and not even mspaint. And you can surely forget about all those classic MS-games. And you want security: then somehow access net and get it. No more Windows Defender. Imagine borrowing a pen-drive for a browser, installing everything from Internet. As of now everyone having a computer is expected to have atleast 1MBPS net connection.

Now for interruption. Imagine this, you start OS Installation and a note pops-out: Do you really need MS-Paint? Wont you prefer Adobe Photoshop? and then again in 3 seconds: Why not choose Chrome over IE? Please try that. And next: Which pen drive will you be using? We will be installing specific drivers. And again: Sure you want to play MS-Hearts and not Zapak-Hearts or any similar stuff.... Am sure you will throw away the OS cd. I will.

Next scenario. Your OS comes in 3 Dual Layered DVD's and just a takes 3 hours to install. But yes is a treat when it finally gets installed: You get IE, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Flock as browsers; MS-Paint, Photoshop, GIMP as paint managers and so on. It does not matter whether you really need the stuff or not. But you get it anyways. Imagine this for a basic user who just wanted a 'simple' computer. And see what he is getting. And consider this that you are paying the cost of those extra DVD's and plus the effort of compiling such software base.

And most important thing: When installing Fedora without net you dont even get Firefox. You just get Konqorer. No one complaining against them. Even with Ubuntu I doubt how much they provide in their single CD.

Options for Microsoft to comply with this ban:

Include Everything and before every installation you need to choose all the softwares you want from a long list. OS is too stupid to decide for you. This all is considering you havent chosen advanced installation.
Stop making all the softwares and just make the OS. God help on the day when Firefox and Opera become paid or redundant and you add cost to Windows.
Just give out a basic version of Windows. No frills service. Am not 'buying' that.

What i think the changes should be:

There be an option of 'Advanced Setup' where you can disable any softwares you dont want. In Basic Setup you get what you're getting now.

And for Chrome and Firefox: Stop whining guys. Those who wanna use your software will. But dont get into such dirty and cheap legal tricks. I use firefox but of my own free will.
And there are still a few sites that require only IE (or say trust only IE) for security purposes. Get your browser compatible for such sites and people will stop using IE. And as for one sentence I read in one of the article: IE offers better features. I suppose it was Netscape which first started this trend by giving out of the box features in both CSS and JS. I think Netscape made JS. Whatever. I dont think you can stop innovation by that. By giving out these extra features you come to know which ones are worth standardizing. Or how else will you get these extra features?

I just cannot 'talk' about sen'sex'

2009-02-11T03:56:00.002+05:30

Our computer center(CC) is just too great. As our net goes through a proxy server of CC we cant escape them. And to ensure that internet is only used for educational purposes they have tried their best to ban sites. But the problem is that the method they use to ban sites is by identifying keywords in site address. And keywords include sex, talk( for banning google talk), games etc.
So what this means for me is that while surfing Times of India (which have link to article as heading of the article), I just cant read any news about sensex (coz its somehow related to sex), neither can i read the news article:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Talk_to_us_directly_India_tells_Pakistan/articleshow/4108221.cms
coz maybe it connects to google talk.

Also we dont have net from 16:30 to 19:00 coz we are supposed to play during that time and from 00:00 to 05:00 cause we gotta sleep!

Ok even I am somewhat of a control freak but this is too much even for me :)
And yeah I wont be able to follow any news of Commonwealth Games cause they are games!!!!

Till then am waiting for the above link to go to archive when its link address will be changed to some number which will allow me to view it.

Who is better?

2009-02-08T21:04:00.002+05:30

Who is better? A corrupt but a dynamic person or an honest incompetent person. This is not only in reference of public servants but in any walk of life?
One answer may be by going into the economics of the situation and calculating the worth of hardworking person and the amount he is bungling.
But that wont be a general answer. From what I think, corruption is the worst thing cause a corrupt person wont stop after having some money. The greed will only grow, and he will be a victim of his past forever. But an incompetent person is also worthless.
So still confused and thinking :)

Watching TV @ home

2009-01-14T20:06:00.002+05:30

During these 3-4 days watched a lot of Animal Planet and Discovery.
First of all someone tell Austin Stevens (snakemaster) that snakes can bite yaar. How the heck can he play with them. He is either mad or does not know the meaning of word called 'fear'. Anyways he gives some nice shows (mean snakes).

Next good thing was Discovery Video. 'I love the world' one. Here is the YouTube link for those still unaware of it.

MP/MLA's for development or for parties?

2009-01-14T19:09:00.002+05:30

Am still confused on this one. On what basis do we select our MP's or MLA's? On the basis of how they ersonally are or on the basis of which party they represent? Should I be voting for my constituency or should I be keeping national interests in mind? What to do with people who fit the title 'Right person in wrong party'. Should they suffer cause of their party or should party win cause of them? I know ideally it can be said that party is formed from them only so a right person will help form a right party. But this is not the case always.
So what exactly was the 'spirit of the constitution' when creating such a post? What i believe, it must have been for selecting the best people from all over India without any concept of parties or concept of abiding by party decision when you personally disagree. But its obvious that in such a system no leader can enjoy stability. But am sure it wasnt the purpose of constitution to elect puppets for the parties who are bound to it. Especially with Anti Defection Law in place you just cant afford to disagree with your party. But if they only wanted puppets then why have them even. Just ask people to vote for parties and they'll select some person for each constituency.
There was another issue I was thinking about and that was about how to ensure that a person can fight election with a limited amount of resources. It was more of ensuring that a person having more resources dont have so much advantage as a normal person. For guys in college it was like a government decision to make JEE paper such that difference between those going to coaching and those not able to access coaching have minimal difference while attempting the paper. Obviously there will always be a difference, coaching will give some advantage but the aim was to make it minimal. Similarly we need a way to ensure that more resources dont translate into much more votes in elections. Will write about this in another post.
For now still thinking what is the purpose of MP's/MLA's or whether I vote for the parties.
Anyone having any ideas??

Nice website

2009-01-14T19:01:00.002+05:30

Was surfing through new sites (mostly of India) when I came across BBC website. It was good to visit a website where you can choose what news you want and everything. It was on the lines of iGoogle where you can choose all the tabs you want. And this too without any login and stuff. Maybe they store it in cookies or donno about it but a good concept :)

Similarly I came to know of Gmail Chat Bot of IBN from my friend in college. It mostly covers Indian news and instantly provides news updates for major topics. You can just add it on gmail/gtalk im@ibnalerts.com

Deadly Roads

2009-01-14T18:53:00.004+05:30

I was just looking at the statistics for deaths due to road accidents. Now it was no surprise that they are high enough in India given the way DL can be obtained and lightings on the road. But yes I was astonished when I saw the death toll in USA with so advanced technologies and where I know for fact that people do fail to get DL.

Car Crash Stats: There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes.

Now this is from 2005 but even in 2005 USA was advanced enough. So we can be certain that cause of road accidents is not lack of technology. Then how can they be tackled. Because 45000 is a large number. If they can spend billions for the killing of few thousand in WTC 2001 then they must surely be doing something for 45,000.
And what does it mean for us? If we anywhere fear death then we must fear it the most on roads. Cause this is the only place where most people die, I guess for most of the countries.

LINK to the page which I found. Seems genuine enough.

Sensationalising 26/11

2008-12-17T02:25:00.002+05:30

Had no plans of writing this post but just found an article on Times of India website so thought of spreading it. Everyone these days is so distressed after Mumbai attacks left so many dead. Many palns were cancelled (including our Goa trip), tourism dipped and what not happened. States were blamed protest marches and other ways of registering the protest. But just look at this:

People killed in Road accidents: 314/day. Calculate 314*365=?
People killed by Lightning (it may look amusing): 2,700/yearly
People killed by terror activities-
Terror activities in North-East: 498
Rest: 235

Now one cant blame the govt or anyone for lightning (i donno how to avoid it), but what about road accidents? When so many marches can be taken out to better equip the police why not take out a single one for traffic police. And I didnt find any records for murders and abductions and rapes. These are much more serious problem our country is facing that 26/11. I agree that steps should be taken to prevent terror attacks also but public should not just stand up cause it had much more drama in it. I am not at all being insensitive here to talk like this. I respect every person who fought or held in any way but people should not stop looking at other problems.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Lightning_kills_more_than_terror/articleshow/3848333.cms

Death of Democracy

2008-12-17T01:10:00.003+05:30

Current Link

NEW DELHI: Rattled by the Mumbai terror attacks, government on Tuesday introduced two bills to set up a National Investigation Agency (NIA) with special powers and to amend the law to provide for more stringent action to deal with terrorism effectively.

The National Investigation Agency Bill 2008 and The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill were moved by home minister P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha, a day after the Union Cabinet gave its nod to such measures.

The NIA Bill provides for setting up of special courts for speedy trial of terror-related offences, with hearings to be held on day-to-day basis. Any case pending in any special court can be transferred to any other special court.

Notwithstanding law and order being the state subject, officers of the NIA above the rank of sub inspector will have special powers to pursue and investigate any offence related to terror across the country.

Officers of the agency would enjoy all powers, duties, privileges and liabilities which the local police officers have in connection with cases related to terror.

The bill to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has stringent provisions including detention period of 180 days instead of 90 days now and denial of bail altogether to a foreigner accused of terrorism in the country.

Even an Indian national accused in a terror-related case cannot be released on bail or on his own bond unless the public prosecutor has been given an opportunity of being heard on the application for such release.

The bill says that the court shall presume, unless the contrary is shown, that the accused has committed an offence for which he has been arrested, including possession of arms or explosives with a belief that these or such substances were used in the commission of a terror act.

It also provides for freezing, seizing and attaching funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism.

A new section has been inserted in the bill which says that those using explosives, firearms, lethal weapons, poisonous chemicals, biological or radiological weapons with the intention of aiding, abetting or committing terror act "shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years".

The bill says that anyone in India or in a foreign country who directly or indirectly raises or collects funds or provides funds for a terrorist act shall be punishable with at least five year imprisonment, which may extend to life.

A similar punishment has been provided in the bill for those organising camps for training in terrorism, and also for those recruiting persons for commission of a terrorist act.

The bill says that every offence punishable under this act shall be deemed to be congnizable offence.

It says that if it is not possible to complete the investigation within 90 days, it may be extended upto 180 days. Besides, no person accused of a terror-related offence, if in custody, would be released on bail or on his own bond.

What is democracy? The freedom enjoyed by all persons to choose their leaders and also the freedom to criticise them or to take their stand on any issue (ofcourse not getting violent). Now imagine the powers government have with this act. Just imagine any person X who has done something to the dislike of the government or any officer of NIA. I am assuming that judiciary is perfect hence no scope of wrong judgement there. Without this act government can atmost keep a person for a day or two in jail before producing him to the magistrate. Now consider the scenario. NIA can keep the person in jail for 6 months. Even in that scenario the person will fight hoping that justice awaits him after 6 months. But no during the 6 months not only that person is tortured but also his family as all his financial accounts, properties have been seized. Now this scenario is bad enough for any family man to do as government says. And there would be no case against government as after 6 months they'll just release him saying 'sorry'! No accountability, no action! This was all assuming that judiciary was perfect.

Now add to the fact that you are presumed guilty unless you prove your innocence. Now how can a person after 6 months in jail without any financial resources prove himself innocent? I doubt anyone other that hardended criminals or terrorists would have the will left to fight against the government.

This law is nothing less than imposing emergency. Power of putting anyone in jail for 6 months with no reason whatsoever.

One more provision was proposed for the bill which said that "Any statement in police custody will be admissible in court". Now we all know that how police works and given 6 months they can prove anything from any person.
You can read this joke for further understanding: http://www.funtoosh.com/dj.php?details=ind~330

What I believe the bill should have been (just putting the important points):

setting up of special courts for speedy trial of terror-related offences, with hearings to be held on day-to-day basis
officers of the NIA above the rank of sub inspector will have special powers to pursue and investigate any offence related to terror across the country
monitoring and stopping transactions if necessary of funds and other financial assets or economic resources held by individuals or entities engaged in or suspected to be engaged in terrorism
detention period of 30 days and after that if investigation is still incomplete then extension by another 30 days after producing before a magistrate and showing some proof linking suspect to crime (not the whole chargesheet). Denial of bail for maximum of 30 days for national of any country.
admissibality of proofs from electronic gadgets like mobiles, satellite phone, gps etc (only those which are tamper proof).

The police have enough powers, but the problem is that there is not enough police force for a country of billion people. Police force must be expanded, borders secured using technology and intelligence improved by winning the trust of the people. Also for the kind of cities we have with everything in chaos, and people thronging every lane if a person is willing to die to kill others then it is hardly possible to stop him.

What Police forces urgently need (including all the central forces like NSG, RAW, IB and newly formed NIA) is more manpower, better equipment, better pay and most importantly some respect. They save us everyday so they do deserve some respect.

A Different Bond

2008-12-07T21:33:00.003+05:30

Just watched Quantum of Solace (henceforth referred to as QS) recently. Now I had heard that QS was in continuation of Casino Royal(again would be referring it as CR), so had watched CR a few weeks back. Still I never imagined that it would be having so much in common. Now I hardly ever remember faces (forget names) from movies so it was a lot of trouble understanding what was really happening. I think I will have to watch both of them together again to make some sense out of it!
But lets leave that as its my problem (or lack of understanding). What I was talking about was the way how image of Bond has been changed from gizmos and gadegts to that of hardcore action man.
During the times of Pierce Brosnan in any action sequence you can expect atleast some technology to be used. But here with Daniel Craig its like "aao kise ladna hai". Its more like Sunny Deol (a little less I agree) action than a Bond flick. James Bond who was always associated with clever thinking has been reduced to just being an action personality. And Mr Q has dissappeared as the new Bond hardly requires anything from him. In the starting action sequence of QS (chase in the car), I kept on hoping that now, maybe now, he'll push some unusual button, but no the only thing he uses is his driving skill and in the end an SMG!
Now I guess watch Bond movies only for its storyline (this story in continuation looks good even though it means trouble for souls like me!). Dont even expect any gadgets or guns to come out hidden from anywhere near Bond. Just simple action movie!
Donno whateher this change is for good or worse but change is definitly there!

Hanging of Afzal Guru

2008-12-06T00:51:00.003+05:30

Initially even I was confused that why is Afzal Guru still alive? He has been convicted by every court including Supreme court. So why is he still alive? Many have this question including the opposition but I believe that given the circumstances any party in power wont be able to hang him.

Everyone will know that there is a similar prisoner Sarabjit Singh who is convicted of bombing in Pakistan and has been sentenced to death by their Highest court. I know many will shout at this point that both cases are different, but thats just point of view here. They wont be feeling the same in Pakistan.

So what happens if Afzal Guru is hanged tomorrow? I know Pakistan does nt acknowledge Afzal as their own, but we can all assume where their heart lies. They'll obviously want to give a reaction (like everytime an Indian missile is tested, withtin a week Pakistan missile is tested). So we can all guess what their reaction will be. I know no gevernment can directly give the reason of why its delaying the hanging but no government can also hang him and allow death of Indian citizen.

So it would be much better to understand this than make an embarrasing position for any party in power by questioning again and again.

Breaking apart the system

2008-12-06T00:23:00.002+05:30

Open any television channel these days and what you hear is anger of the people. The anger is justified. The politicians are corrupt. Otherwise with the kind of money India has, our security forces can be so well equipped that nobody dare attack us. But at the same time I start hearing views like-
* Stop paying taxes
* Stop voting
*"I want to hear from Mr Singh tomorrow morning that we are going to destroy all camps in POK and Pakistan"- heard on NDTV
*Comparison with America on how they had no more terror strikes.

Now this is what I feel. People (from here on including me) dont want any responsibility but just know how to shout and show their anger. Who are those politicians? They are from among us. We voted for them. I know we can have better politicians but where are those better persons? Why aren't people like Murthy or Shreedharan fighting elections. I'll support them and I know many else will too. And for those who are shouting to stop paying taxes here is my question to you: Why dont you join politics? Why dont you even go for IAS, IPS where you can really change the system (am on purpose not mentioning the defence academy because in armed forces you can serve the country but you cant change the country). And I dont know personally any of those shouting but I can tell from their remarks that 99% of them will be even worse politicians than we have today. They may be energetic, may even not be corrupt (not for sure how any human will react when 10000000 Rs is placed in front of him but I assume positively) but do they really have the knowledge to run this country? Is India just in Mumbai, Delhi and other big cities. Have any of us even visited any village to understand its problems? Its very easy to sit and shout but nobody is willing to take the responsibility.

Now for war on Pakistan. They talk as if its a big joke! My question is for that man who said on NDTV: "Will you yourself go and fight along with your sons if any?" Do they have any idea what the loss of lives would be if there is a war. I agree it would not be intheir city Mumbai then but still a human life would be lost. But yeah that man will feel safe. I dont think thousands of men should go and fight to keep that man safe. Especially when it wont achieve anything as it will just destroy the government and maybe army but not terrorism.
And another thing, India is not USA and Pakistan is not Afghanistan. Any Indian fighet jet that goes into Pakistan has no surety of coming back. Probability is that it wont. Also in America the public is more organised (it may be good for security but I still prefer the carefree attitude). They dont mind the security checks or waiting in line. And most importantly they are very less in number. 1/5 th of India's population. Its just not possible to achieve same levels of security in India with the kind of density we have. That too when many are in poverty.

Its not that I dont mourn the dead or am trying to be pro-government. Its just that breaking aprat the system is the worst thing we can do. Instead of shouting outside it would be much more fruitful to look what we did or didnt do. These acts are such that whether it be BJP or Congress, they will still happen. Both the parties are corrupt. Both have Z-plus security and hence their leaders are safe. Although in the current scenario I'd support Congress anyday but its just like "andho mein kana raja". Its not that they have the best leaders or anything. But for BJP i'll just say that no matter how tough they are on terrorists (read muslims) every Babri, every Godhra creates a 1000 more terrorists inside our own country which is the worst thing we can ahve as far as security is concerned. Its much better to stop those 1000 from getting misled.

So guys, stop blaming and start acting. Our system is good enough, its just that no one is managing it efficiently.

Private Security- Time for India to have one?

2008-12-05T23:50:00.002+05:30

After the Mumbai terror attacks there have been lot of talks of private firms having security for themselves. But the kind of security that is needed (seeing the sophistication of terrorists) involves arming private security guards with AK-47's and even heavy firepower like machine guns and not to talk about the defensive requirements like shields etc. But there are number of problems associated with this:

1) What if the weaponry for security is used for non-security purposes like personal score and flaunting (we all know how people love to flaunt their status). We see lot of that happening with just guns that are distributed among people.

2) What if these weapons fall into wrong hands. When police cant protect itself from naxalites how to ensure that these weapons go to their hands.

3) If a private security guard is armed with AK-47 then its but obvious (to me atleast) that the police if not better atleast be equally armed. Otherwise what is gonna happen if any incident happens.

So not only do we have to ensure security for the client but also secure the security (pun intended)
I dont think any method can be foolproof but here is a structure within which it may work:

1) Give only few agencies right to provide security, preferably government corporation (will talk about this later)
2) Security is to be provided only to establishment. No security for any person or any moving vehicle.
3) The security must have minimum standards. Like minimum of 20 guards, control room, securing all entry points etc. This is again more for protection of guns than for the establishment.
4) Mandatory trainging and checking of credentials of all agents working in the agency. Army personals would have been preferable but it would be below their dignity to guard a private property.
5) All corporations or agencies to remain under Defence department. A senior defence personal to have a say in their functioning. And a team of senior officers to regularly conduct surprise checks of any establishment.
6) Revoking of licence of the agency if in any way security of guns is compromised. Now in continuation of this I will explain why a government corporation would be a better option.
I agree that in no government agency can be as efficient as a private one. But any private agency is more prone to compromise standards for more money (there is a counter example also- private agency will fear revocation of licence more than a government one so less prone to corruption). But if there is an option between less security or free distribution of AK-47's, I'd prefer the former.

My aim while formulating the above was first ensuring security of guns and then allowing security for private frims.

I'd surely like to listen to more ideas of implementing private security.

New Set of Rules I am gonna follow!

2008-11-14T23:59:00.001+05:30

SOURCE

How to Write Unmaintainable Code

In the interests of creating employment opportunities in the programming field, I am passing on these tips from the masters on how to write code that is so difficult to maintain that the people who come after you will take years to make even the simplest changes. Further, if you follow all these rules religiously, you will guarantee yourself a lifetime of employment, since no one but you can hope to maintain the code.

Lie in the comments. You don't have to actively lie, just fail to keep comments up to date with the code.
Pepper the code with comments like /* add 1 to i */; however, never document woolly stuff like the overall purpose of the package or method.
Make sure that every method does a little bit more (or less) than its name suggests. As a simple example, a method named isValid(x) should, as a side effect, convert x to binary and store the result in a database.
Use acronyms to keep the code terse. Real men never define acronyms; they understand them genetically.
In the interests of efficiency, avoid encapsulation. Callers of a method need all of the external clues they can get to remind them of how the method works inside.
If, for example, you were writing an airline reservation system, make sure that there are at least 25 places in the code that need to be modified if you add another airline. Never document where they are. People who come after you have no business modifying your code without thoroughly understanding every line of it.
In the name of efficiency, use cut/paste/clone. This works much faster than using many small reusable modules.
Never, never put a comment on a variable. Facts about how the variable is used, its bounds, its legal values, its implied/displayed number of decimal points, its units of measure, its display format, its data entry rules (e.g., total fill, must enter), when its value can be trusted etc. should be gleaned from the code. If your boss forces you to write comments, lard method bodies with them, but never comment a variable, not even a temporary!
Try to pack as much as possible into a single line. This saves the overhead of temporary variables and makes source files shorter by eliminating new line characters and white space. Tip: Remove all white space around operators. Good programmers can often hit the 255-character line length limit imposed by some editors. The bonus of long lines is that programmers who cannot read 6 point type must scroll to view them.
Cd wrttn wtht vwls s mch trsr. When using abbreviations inside variable or method names, break the boredom with several variants for the same word and even spell it out longhand once in a while. This helps defeat those lazy bums who use text search to understand only some aspect of your program. Consider variant spellings as a variant on the ploy; e.g., mixing international colour, with American color and dude-speak kulerz.
Never use an automated source code tidier to keep your code aligned. Lobby to have them banned from your company on the grounds that they create false deltas in PVCS (version control tracking). You are now free to accidentally misalign the code to give the optical illusion bodies of loops and ifs are longer or shorter than they really are.
Rigidly follow the guidelines about no goto, no early returns and no labeled breaks especially when you can increase the if/else nesting depth by at least five levels.
Use very long variable names that differ from each other by only one character, or only in upper/lower case. Wherever scope rules permit, reuse existing unrelated variable names. An ideal variable name pair is swimmer and swimner. Exploit the failure of most fonts to clearly discriminate between ilI1| or oO08 with identifier pairs like parselnt and parseInt or D0Calc and DOCalc.
Never use i for the innermost loop variable. Use anything but. Use i liberally for any other purpose, especially for non-int variables.
Never use local variables. Whenever you feel the temptation to use one, make it into an instance or static variable instead to unselfishly share it with all the other methods of the class. This will save you work later when other methods need similar declarations. C++ programmers can go a step further by making all variables global.
Never document gotchas in the code. If you suspect there may be a bug in a class, keep it to yourself. If you have ideas about how the code should be reorganized or rewritten, for heaven's sake, do not write them down. Remember the words of Thumper: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." What if the programmer who wrote that code saw your comments? What if the owner of the company saw them? What if a customer did? You could get yourself fired.
To break the boredom, use a thesaurus to look up as much alternate vocabulary as possible to refer to the same action; e.g. display, show, present. Vaguely hint that there is some subtle difference where none exists. However, if there are two similar functions that have a crucial difference, always use the same word in describing both functions (e.g. print to mean write to a file, and to print on a laser and to display on the screen). Under no circumstances should you succumb to demands to write a glossary with the special purpose project vocabulary unambiguously defined. Doing so would be an unprofessional breach of the structured design principle of information hiding.
In naming functions, make heavy use of abstract words like it, everything, data, handle, stuff, do, routine, perform and the digits; e.g., routineX48, PerformDataFunction, DoIt, HandleStuff and do_args_method.
Never document the units of measure of any variable, input, output or parameter; e.g., feet, meters, cartons. This is not so important in bean counting, but it is very important in engineering work. As a corollary, never document the units of measure of any conversion constants or how the values were derived. It is mild cheating, but very effective, to salt the code with some incorrect units of measure in the comments.
In engineering work there are two ways to code. One is to convert all inputs to S.I. (metric) units of measure, then do your calculations and then convert back to various civil units of measure for output. The other is to maintain the various mixed measure systems throughout. Always choose the second. It's the American way!
I am going to let you in on a little-known coding secret. Exceptions are a pain. Properly-written code never fails, so exceptions are actually unnecessary. Don't waste time on them. Subclassing exceptions is for incompetents who know their code will fail. You can greatly simplify your program by having only a single try/catch in the e n t i re application (in main) that calls System.exit(). Just stick a perfectly standard set of throws on every method header whether they could throw any exceptions or not.
C compilers transform myArray[i] into *(myArray+i), which is equivalent to *(i+myArray), which is equivalent to i[myArray}. Experts know how to put this to good use. Unfortunately, this technique can only be used in native classes.
If you have an array with 100 elements in it, hard code the literal 100 in as many places in the program as possible. Never use a static final named constant for the 100 or refer to it as myArray.length. To make changing this constant even more difficult, use the literal 50 instead of 100/2. These time-honored techniques are especially effective in a program with two unrelated arrays that accidentally happen to both have 100 elements.
Eschew any form of table-driven logic. It starts out innocently enough, but soon leads to end users proof reading and then, shudder, even modifying the tables for themselves.
Join a computer book of the month club. Select authors who appear to be too busy writing books to have had any time to actually write any code themselves. Browse the local bookstore for titles with lots of cloud diagrams in them and no coding examples. Skim these books to learn obscure pedantic words you can use to intimidate the whippersnappers that come after you. Your code should impress. If people can't understand your vocabulary, they must assume that you are very intelligent and that your algorithms are very deep. Avoid any sort of homely analogies in your algorithm explanations.
I have saved the best for last. From a psychological warfare point of view, this is the most effective weapon for rattling maintenance programmers. On a method called makeSnafucated, insert only the comment /* make snafucated */. Never define what snafucated means anywhere. Only a fool does not already know, with complete certainty, what snafucated means.

More Quotes

2008-11-13T00:20:00.002+05:30

All thanks to a good friend of mine :)

I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief-Gerry Spence
I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong- Bertrand Russel
Success is the result of good judgement, good judgement is a result of experience, experience is often the result of bad judgement- Tony Robbins
If the only tool you have is hammer, you approach every problem as if it were a nail- Bobby Knight
Half of our mistakes in life arise from thinking when we ought to feel and feeling when we ought to think-Robert Frost
Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else- Ivern Ball
You were born an original.Don't die a copy-John Mason
It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer-Albert Einstein
Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds-Albert Einstein
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place-HL Mencken
Don't expect a great day, make one- On a billboard in Manhattan
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right- Isaac Asimov
I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it- Jonathon Winters
Even if you are on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there- Anonymous
Nobody says "it's just a game" when their team is winning- Anonymous
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men- Plato
I'm looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done- Henry Ford
Most of what matters in your life takes place in your absence- S
Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think- La Bruyere
The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any- Fred Astaine
The problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts - Bertrand Russell
By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work 12 hours a day - Robert Frost

Cleansing of the Parliament

2008-11-12T23:22:00.002+05:30

Currently the situation of Indian Parliament is such that every one in four MP has a criminal background or a criminal case registered against him. Well as is expected in any other other 'free' country, India too has in laws that all men are to be considered as not guilty unless convicted. But the problem is that the judiciary here is too overloaded and too slow for any conviction to happen. Partly because of three courts of appeal and partly cause of police inefficiency (includes corruption etc). Whatever be the cause the truth is that hardly ever any sitting MP has been convicted for any crime. But here are some steps that may help in criminals reconsidering their entry in politics atleast directly:

First whenever any person is elected as MP, MLA or any other Elected Representative all cases pending against him are transferred to a special fast-track court with a special CBI type authority investigating them.
Make appointment for CBI Chief, Chief Election Officer and Chief Justice as election of President is held. There is still scope for favoritism but its better that government directly appointing them.

I think the above steps can really help in preventing criminals from getting elected.
Few more thing that can be done to really improve the situation are:

Option of 'None of the Above' in voting list (has also been suggested by EC). It was also suggested that if the above option wins the majority then the candidates cannot appear in re-poll.
Next, American style we can have properly organised debates between party leaders which are telecasted by all the channels. What we have right now is that top leaders of parties come in different channels and its more a show of who has a louder voice than of issues. The debates should be conducted by any known neutral authority and direct questions must be asked pertaining to present issues. With a growing of young and educated class of voters it will help them more in deciding whom to vote for.

!(Jai Marathi); Let Humanity Survive

2008-11-02T17:38:00.004+05:30

Am sure all of us (even those who live in dream world or whatever) must have heard of Raj Thackeray these days. Well it seems that hes just keeping up with the traditions of his family. But the sorry fact is that instead of opposing him politicians from ALL parties are siding up with him.

Here is the most recent endorsement:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NCP_backs_Raj_campaign_against_migrants/articleshow/3665048.cms
and thats from the opposition party and from a cabinet minister!

what he is opposing against is influx of north indian (up and bihar) migrants in mumbai. atleast thats the issue he wants to bring out. Okay its true to some extent that in comparison labuor is cheaper from north india. Also about the RRB exam. It may be somewhat wrong to allow candidates from same state to participate in different exams held by different divisions. but is violence the solution?
and where will the division stop?
what is the solution?
seal borders of all states?
allow only those who will benefit the state to enter it?
and will the leaders be satisfied in state division?

what if the now asking to seal bombay so that nagpur people dont come in. surely labour would be cheaper out of mumbai that in mumbai. why cant people see that as raj thackeray is interested in winning polls from only maharashtra that why he's just a maharashtrian. when a new person comes whos satisfied with being just mumbaikar then he'll ask for a seperate mumbai. when will people stop falling for division on lines of states, religion, language or anything new these corrupt politicians come up with. why dont they protest against many foreigners based in the city who have raised the cost of living of mumbai. surely thats affecting the common man.

Also about Marathi signboards. Why does people force common sense out of their mind? In a metropolitian city like Mumbai how can a shop choose a marathi signboard over an english one. If they can put two then its alright but choosing marathi one over english is as good as cosing down the shop.

Its similar to the kind of argument i heard few years back for making Hindi as the national language and to make it compulsary for learning. Now using raj thackerays sense of marathi only we can assume that everyone will learn the language of the state. thats valid for all of south states. Now no one challenge English as the worldwide language. So anyone who studies gotta learn english too. Now how in sane mind can you expect a normal person to learn 3 languages in his childhood? Why can people see that for any reason English is much more suitable for being a unifying language of india instead of Hindi. Am not saying that let any culture die. For that even Sanskrit is important. But make it optional. Culture does not survive by force but survives only when people are really interested. Even I was forced to learn (excluding any understanding) Sanskrit but that forceful act did not result in me preserving the language. I threw it out of my mind as quickly as i gave my exam.

And lastly when will people realise that violence for any reason is not justified!!. Am not a preacher of Gandhi but I bealive unless someone physically hurts you violence should be avoided.

Why do people need some label to bind them! Is not human heart and mind strong enough for that? I just hope that someday people rise above divisions and think with an individual mind!

Any Indian still left out there??? or better anyone whos satisfied just being a HUMAN?????????

2008-10-20T23:49:00.000+05:30

Found a nice poem...
Source: http://abhilasha-purwar.blogspot.com/2008/09/blank-were-faces-i-saw-in-village-huts.html

Blank were the faces I saw
In the village huts and farms
Cold were the eyes I looked into
of men, women and children
Speechless were the throats
silenced by poverty , illiteracy and ignorance
Dull was the routine
with no ambition, passion or hope
Shocked was me
to see such state of life
But Deaf was me
to ignore the shriek cries

What is the concept of tip?

2008-09-20T03:07:00.003+05:30

I have always wondered why does the system of tip exist and what exactly does it mean?
The present practice is to leave around 10% of the bill in restaurants and about 50-100 rupees to waiters or doorman in hotels. But what exactly is the need for paying?
What is the need for tip? We already pay for the service a waiter or anyone does in the bill. No restaurant or hotel is cheap these days. So why do we need to pay when the guy is doing only the regular job for which he is already getting paid?
For myself, I only give tips when service is not ok but really good. Otherwise I dont feel necessary at all to leave even a single penny.
And I am not writing this post or even do this to save money. But I dont like seeing how the practice of tips is being misused. Especially here in hostel when everyone even after bakwaas service people come for baksheesh.

Some more Quotes

2008-08-31T15:30:00.000+05:30

These are more of pointless...mostly T Shirt quotes

"Don't argue with idiots, they beat you with experience."

"Out of all the things I lost, I miss my mind the most."

"I dont suffer from insanity... I enjoy every minute of it."

"I said no to drugs...but they just wouldn't listen."

"Body under construction."

"Copy from one, it's plagiarism; copy from many, it's research."

"The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist."

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity."

"Always remember you're unique... Just like everyone else"

"Where there's a will... I want to be in it."

"There is too much blood in my caffeine system."

"Complete disorder is impossible."

"Sky is the limit.....the upper one"

"In most part of the world, they drive on the LEFT of the road. In Bangalore, they drive on, what is LEFT of the road."

"Upon the Advice of My Attorney, My Shirt Bears No Message at This Time"

"My learning curve is a circle it keeps coming back 2 where it started."

"Attack life; it will kill you anyway."

Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end & a fool on the other.

Etc.: A sign to make others believe,you know more than you actually do.

Love affairs: Something like cricket where one-day internationals are more popular than a five day test.

Marriage: It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor's degree and a woman gains her master's.

Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.

Diplomat: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.

Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Ecstasy: A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt before.

Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens & everybody disagrees later on.

Dictionary: A place where divorce comes before marriage ..

Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water-power .

Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece

Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Opportunists: One who starts having a bath when he/she accidently falls in a river.

Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.

College: A place where some pursue learning and others learn pursuing.

Pessimist: A person who says that O is the last letter in ZERO, instead of the first letter in word OPPORTUNITY

Miser: A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

Optimist: A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says in midway "See I am not injured yet"

Smile: A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Divorce: Future tense of marriage.

Too many Quotes

2008-08-31T15:26:00.002+05:30

Here is list of list of Quotes in my collection..some are pointless...some are too good...bu I like most of them so just posting it so that I have them somewhere safe :)

*"Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length."- Robert Frost

*"Courage isn't having the strength to go on- it is going on when you don't have the strength."- Napoleon Bonaparte

*"There are some times when silence has the loudest voice."

*"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain- and most fools do."

*"A fool in love makes no sense to me. I only think you are a fool if you do not love."

*"The best way to realise your dream: Wake Up!"

*"Dont let your tongue cut your throat."

*"God gave us our faces. We gave ourselves our expressions."

*"If you cannot win, make the fellow ahead of you exert himself to the utmost!"

*"Bad times are good times to prepare for better times."

*"When you do common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."

*"There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there."

"Two things are infinite: universe and human stupidity. I have my doubts about the universe."- Albert Einstein

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."- Mark Twain

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."-Winston Churchill

"People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news."

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

"Education: something you pay for, but hope you don't get it"

"The only thing experience teaches us is that experience teaches us nothing."

"No problem is so formidable that you can't walk away from it."

"We are torn between the craving to know and the despair of having known."

"The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth."

"Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading."

"People want economy and they will pay any price to get it."

"My interest in the future is because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."

"An honest politician is one who when he's bought, stays bought."

"The longer I live, the more I see that I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time." -- George Bernard Shaw

"If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before."

"I love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you."

"After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box."

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world- not even our troubles."

"If you don't have courage, have strong legs."

"Avoid long speeches. The less a man knows, the longer he takes to tell it."

"Try loving your enemies. If nothing else, you'll confuse them."

"Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." Issac Asimov

"He is a dogmatic; because his dogmas are different from mine."

"All animals except man know that the ultimate of life is to enjoy it."- Samuel Butler

"When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane"

"If u fail the first time, remove all evidence that u tried..........."

"War doesn't determine who is right, it determines who is left."

"Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity."

"Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway."

"Tell me what you need and I'll tell you how to get along without it."

"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."

"In a World without boundaries Gates and Windows are Useless."

"Two lefts don't make a right... But two Wrights do make a plane..."

"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."

"UNIX is basically a simple operating system, but you have to be a genius to understand that simplicity."

"The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do?"

"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level."

"Experience is what enables people to commit new errors instead of old ones."

"From the perspective of a lazy lion every leopard is hyperactive."

"The chief obstacle to the progress of human race is the human race."

"There are three kind of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain
the success of those we don't like?"

"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

"It is not exactly cheating, I prefer to consider it creative problem solving."

"Alcohol doesn't solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk."

"Don't worry that the world ends today, it's already tomorrow in Australia!"

"Low expectations and short term goals can do wonders in improving your confidence."

"Never explain- Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe it anyway."

"The young man who has not wept is a savage and the old man who will not laugh is a fool."

"A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears."

"The wise speak because they have something to say. The fools speak because they have to say something."

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."- Winston Churchill

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."

"Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."- Albert Einstein

"God I want patience, and I want it now!"

"Age dosen't always come with wisdom. Age sometimes come alone."

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." -Stephen Roberts

"Where is there room in all this for God?" Napoleon asked LaPlace to which he replied "I have no need for that hypothesis."

"We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another." -Jonathan Swift

India in Flames

2008-08-28T05:03:00.003+05:30

These days India is going through real bad phase. Not exactly in flames everywhere cause some part is drowned in water. But anyway 3 states of India are going through really bad phase.

J&K: It all started with the approval of decision which was pending since quite some time. Congress Govt approved more land for Amarnath Yatra. So far so good. There wasnt really any harm in alloting any land cause it was really need for more convinient Yatra. Trouble started when coalition partner PDP threatened to pull out if land allotment was not cancelled. I dont understand what harm was land allotment causing to anyone? Anyways, Congress as weak as it is cancelled the allotment under pressure. Then BJP came in picture as opportunistic as it is especially in any issuse where cummunal card can be played. It started rallies bandhs and what not in Jammu region which is Hindu stronghold. But the Muslim parties (donno who was leading the agitation) not to be left behind in J&K politics started rallies for no reason whatsoever. They tried crossing LOC and what not. And the most confused between all this mess were the police and security forces already working in such sensitive region. They already have hard time trying to catch up with terrorists, but to stop a crowd of thousands of people from crossing the border is even tougher. The situation is still tense but much better after days of curfew.

Orissa: Trouble started when a Hindutva leader was killed by Maoists. Now maoists are human and they too have a religion (its another matter that they dont follow any of the teachings of any religion). So its possible that the group comprised of persons of adjoining community who are mostly ST turned Christian. Its just a possibility but there is no real proof and any effect whatsoever cause maoists do not fight on religious grounds. Whatever, BJP (VHP RSS whatever) again saw an opportunity for its communal card and with it being the coaliition partner, saw another Gujrat in Orissa! Till now Hindus are hunting down people of christian community. Places destroyed till now (all catholic sposered): The only dispensary in the region, many schools and hostels. Here also the whole region has been clamped under a curfew which may help the situation. Caught in middle is a good man CM Patnaik (donno the correct spelling). Not exactly in enviable position right now.

Bihar: While other two states are burning in flames Bihar has a little excess of water right now. Now one cant really blame anyone for floods but whats pathetic is the amount of help provided. There is scarcity of food and drinking water in the region. Even after so many calamities (natural or mankind whatever) there is still no system in India in place to deal with them efficiently. It is still the resposibility of state government to drop food packets or whatever help is required. Why cant we have a central agency for this very purpose with its own fleet of Helicopters and its own mechanism for getting food ready etc. Instead of Central government "providing" assistance to state government, state govenrment can provide assistance to this central agency. Thankfully till now no blame game has started between centre and state government but am sure it will follow as soon as the situation improves.

Hindi Song in Hollywood Flick

2008-08-10T19:39:00.004+05:30

Recently I saw the movie Inside Man (2006). The first thing you see (hear to be more specific) is music from "Dil Se" song "Chaiyya chaiyya". Initially I was confused and thought whether it was some special Indian Edition or what..or thought maybe its just starting music..but no they play the entire song---and not only in starting but also during the end. They have also acknowledged it in the credits. I wasnt able to find any Indian name as producer or any senior member of production but there were 2-3 scenes of a Sikh personal.
Nice movie btw...more so cause of the Indian touch :)

Two Faced Policy on Compensation

2008-08-05T03:58:00.003+05:30

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/04/stories/2008080453130700.htm

The above link is quite an interesting article. Indian Government is demeaning 16 crores for 15 dead labourers. Their death was due to negligent attitude of a private firm.

But from what I remember after reading so many newspapers till date, many deaths occur in India both cause of negligence of Government and private firms but nowhere the compensation provided is more then 5-6 lakhs. Never has the compensation package been anywhere near 1 crore.

I am not saying that India should demand less but I think that compensation policy for deaths due to Government negligence should also be more. I don't know the amount cause life cant be valued but it should not be as lowly as 5 lakhs.

Oil Crisis

2008-08-03T21:33:00.002+05:30

The oil crisis has been going on for sometime now and there is no chance of prices coming down anytime soon.
But instead of government trying to protect the poor and the growth of country, its taking steps which cant continue for long.
First question I would like to raise is that why when Diesel and LPG are subsidised, are personal cars allowed to run on it.
Secondly why is the licence same for tempos trucks and sedan taxis?

Here are some steps which I think can handle the problem in such a way that the poor and growth of country is protected.

First of all, only petrol vehicles must be granted Private licence of vehicle.
Next licence of trucks should be separate which should have no annual fees.
For vehicles of mass transport (buses, tempos, autos), fuel should be diesel or CNG (depending upon the area they operate in) and their licence too should have no annual fees.
For commercial taxis, all fuel options should be allowed and they should have licence with annual fees.

After this for pricing of fuels the following steps should be taken:

Price of Diesel, LPG and kerosene must be fixed at reasonable values.
Price of Petrol can fluctuate with International prices and can be such that they provide the government with whatever revenue they need.

I know this will be debated by the middle class (myself included), but this is the best option available. To insulate the industry and poor from price hikes.

I am always amazed why personal vehicles with diesel as fuels are allowed when diesel is subsidised by government for industrial growth?

Google==Systematix

2008-08-03T17:43:00.002+05:30

http://jrharshath.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/google-is-really-freaky/

Athe above post tells about how all your info what you search, what languages you use, which locations you search most often....Google has everything about you. Do read it!

Continued from thread above---

The most important thing that is missing in above post is Google Earth. If you add GPS device to Google Earth then Google also knows where you travel. You mark your home and you have given away your home address.
Next Google Street Views: Right now the views are static..means pics are taken just once...but it wont be too far when there would be live cmas everywhere. And couple it with Face Recog Software and then Google knows where you are at each moment. It knows what car you drive by just figuring out the car parken in your driveway by Google Earth Pics.

If you read the book The Prometheus Deception (Robert Ludlum) then you will know that it talks about a very similar company named Systematix which also stores a database of everything.
Imagine Google buys out some major banks and hospital records companies and then it know when you fell sick, who you paid and how much. Right now we havent got a single report of Information abuse (atleast I dont know any) but when it happens I am confident it will be a major scandal.

The linux shift

2008-08-03T15:54:00.002+05:30

These days around me I am seeing a lot of linux converts (I myself was one a few months back but these days am now back to Windows). They are not full converts cause most of them are just installing linux and hardly ever using it, buts its a step forward (backward maybe :) ).
All of them are switching to fedora which sucks according to me (even though I am a windows fan but in linux i prefer fedora..maybe coz i am only familiar with fedora..watever).
Even guys like dohte and my roomie have installed or trying to (godspeed) install it (though I know that after installing they wont use it for more than 10 hours total).
Obivously installing linux takes it toll (like crashed hard disks, missing drives..for more details ask dohte) but they are still putting up a brave front (that would continue as long as CS works).
Well lets see whether its just a passing phase (herd mentality) or guys are really getting serious about work (not possible).

Solar Eclipse

2008-08-03T15:31:00.004+05:30

Here is the pic I took of partial solar eclipse that was visible in Varanasi on 30th July(as far as I remember..maybe +-2 days).
Took the pic and saw it myself by keeping the x-ray sheet in front of the lens(of both eyes and camera..and yeah that x-ray sheet was available thanks to my recent accident :) )

I know that much better pics are available on net (the one of complete eclipse is awesome...but this pic has some personal feelings...I TOOK IT MYSELF!!!)

here is the original unedited pic
link that is:
Original Pic

Lucky or Unlucky?

2008-08-03T15:26:00.002+05:30

Sometime back I had a major accident but came out of it with minor injuries(cant say that for my vehicle :) ). As I dont quite belive in God neither pray in any form so I always think that if God really exists then its doomsday for me otherwise its fine. So for every action I think whether I was unlucky or wat and blah blah...
So in this case also I was just thinking whether I was unlucky enough to have met an
accident (waise fault was mine) or lucky enough to have got out without any injuries (just a swollen wrist)..
Still thinking :)

"New" Roads in Pune

2008-07-09T10:06:00.002+05:30

The pics were taken about a fortnight after a new road was constructed near my office.
But such was the quality that it leaves a hole after you put a scotty on main stand.

First Pic
Second Pic
Third Pic

Mahabaleshwar in rain or sun?

2008-06-09T14:09:00.002+05:30

Whenever you ask anyone about when to visit Mahabaleshwar , then you will get the answer that its better to visit it after few rains. But if you want to go there to enjoy the scenery and not the weather then better not go during the rains.
Coz when it rains then you don't get time to go out and roam around. I learnt i the hard way when I was stranded in car for 3-4 hours as it kept raining. Thankfully it stopped and we were able to roam around for sometime.
So al of you people who want to roam around Mahabaleshwar without getting wet then go before the rains!!!

Spam in Blogspot??

2008-06-06T14:36:00.002+05:30

I just wrote a post and got a comment within 4 mins...but the sad part was that the comment looks very much like spam (its in another language so it may very well be a genuine comment but i doubt that very much).

The link to the comment is: http://sr-itbhu.blogspot.com/2008/06/airtel-goofup.html

Blogger Guys pls chk it!!!!

Expensive Pune

2008-06-06T14:19:00.002+05:30

Right now I am in Pune for my intern (aka working for free). I have never ever lived in a city expensive than this.
We have been here for hardly two weeks but have parted away with huge amount of money. First of all finding a place to stay was a difficult task. No one was willing to provide flat or PG for 40 days stay. They require at least 6 months. Finally we got one out of city for 5000 each.
Even the laundry here is damn expensive a 10/cloth!!!!! And being without any kind of refrigerator we had to buy a pot for 100rs. For that amount in UP we would have got atleast 5 pots.
Aur ab to petrol bhi badh gaya hai so donno what will happen next. Just hoping we get some stipend to break even...

Airtel Goofup

2008-06-06T14:13:00.004+05:30

Looks like Airtel people have got a few extra mobile circles to cater. And this addition can be found in the list in each page.
God help them. At least they could have removed what look like test entries.

PS: They now have it rectified :(....will miss the fun

IIM A gone nuts

2008-04-03T13:55:00.003+05:30

IIM-A board chairman Vijaypat Singhania ruled out a review, but added that enough scholarships would be available to support meritorious but poor students. Against Rs 40 lakh earmarked for scholarship, the amount now would be Rs 8.5 crore, covering 62% of students.

IIM-A's board had increased the fee of its coveted two-year PG programme from a total of Rs 4.50 lakh (for both years) to Rs 11.50 lakh (Rs 5.50 lakh in the first year and Rs 6 lakh in the second year) from June this year.

First of all some Mathematics (which I hate but still):
calculating from 8.5cr gives 62.5% scholarship and having a general idea give that IIM-A has around 120 students (dont kill me if 62.5% not getting full scholarship; cause my calculations are based on that)
So before hike:
Total revenue: 120*4.5lakh=540 lakhs
Scholarships: 40 lakhs
So net profit was: 500 lakhs or 5 cr

New Revenue:
Total Revenue: 120*11.5lakhs= 1380 lakhs
Scholarships: 8.5 cr
So net Profit: 530 lakhs= 5.3 cr!!!!!!!!!

Now next statement

"The hike was necessary because freeships are now weakening the institute by putting a burden on its corpus fund," Singhania told reporters after the meeting which lasted over an hour.

The whole institute was being weakened by lack of 30 lakhs!!!! Am sure government could have easily supported that...or hey there was a easier way of just increasing fees of 120 students by .25 lakh each. I would have been much easier and much more appreciated. Or in worst case could have easily asked the alumni that much amount..30 lakhs is sponsorship money for many fest that take place in IIT's and IIM's.

Now I know that the above calculation is not exactly correct. I mean not all 62.5% students get full scholarship (thats another question why not) and there may be some internal costs or technicalities that are not told (thats another question).

But what I am trying to say is that instead of increasing scholarship amount from 40 lakhs to 8.5 cr they could have given some breather on the fees.

Some more quotes of the wiseman:

"Students will be able to repay the loan before leaving the institute because employers are ready to meet the cost of their education. Most of the employers are repaying the loan taken by the students," he added.

"What is important is that there should be loans. Any student who can get into IIMs should be able to finance his education through a loan," Ahluwalia said. The IIMA's 186th board meeting resolved that "no deserving student would be deprived of an opportunity to study at IIM-A on account of lack of financial resources".

Now point is loans are alright upto a limit. Even for the previous fee structure of 4.5 lakhs many would be taking loan only.
But 11.5 lakhs is too much risk. Even I would be thinking a hundred times before taking such a loan.

And the next question.. how many of us would somehow arrange 11.5 lakhs just hoping that later we would get a scholarship or company would repay back. How many of us can take that risk. I am in college and I know that it doesn't take long for fortunes to change tide. Even a good student may get disillusioned from studies or some other problem may arise. I know its students fault and not Institutes problem but with 11.5 lakhs at stake it becomes a big problem.

And another thing. How many banks would finance for a poor student whose family is landless labor? Have no guarantee. So should his fate be decided by banks?

the missing 'I'

2008-03-28T17:31:00.003+05:30

no long post...just wanna say one thing..
someone give me that missing 'I'
our college deserves it!!!!!!!!!!
will write all the details answering to why it deserves later..
source

Out of HotSpot

2008-03-26T13:13:00.004+05:30

Finally writing a post after a long time......been on a trip to Pilani and Srinagar recently so got a lot to write about. Not writing about the whole trips(too much mehnat) but just about some incidents..
This post is about how I was technologically disconnected from the rest of the world. Now I have only two means of communication..one is my mobile and other GTalk GMail whatever.
But none of those worked there. Now I am a loyal customer of Tata Indicom...but as I later found out it doesn't not yet have a license to operate in J&K. First I kept waiting for signal at Jammu airport but to no avail. I thought that it will come in Srinagar but no...there was no Tata Indicom nor any other CDMA provider(I mean Reliance) to which I could have switched over.
My backup plan was the Airtel data card that i was having...now I knew for sure that Airtel was there (had checked that on Internet earlier) but what I found out was that there was no GPRS service available. :( ). So I was there in J&K with no connectivity and that too when there was Holi.

PS: Got Net facility from hotel at 180/hour!!!!! That too with a keyboard in which space bar did not work and a mouse in which middle wheel was not working..so much for 180/hr :(

And for those of you who may be visiting J&K anytime in near future please be sure to go with a GSM providor if you wanna stay connected. Aircel, Airtel and good ol BSNL operate there. Am sure every GSM provider must have some sort of understanding with these three to provide roaming services.

Sour Grapes

2008-03-06T21:31:00.004+05:30

http://helloji.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/iit-insufferable-indian-tribe/

This post is in response to the above post.

Though I am not technically in an IIT but I did cleared JEE and am proud of it. And am also very proud to be in IT-BHU which has been admitting students since long from IIT-JEE. So I would sure like to give out the true meaning of IIT.
First of all clearing JEE is a difficult and I and all the others are proud of it. To get selected in top 5000-6000 students out of over 2 lakh students is no mean task. So its not surprising for a freshman to point this out to everyone he meets. It may seem arrogance to others but thats simply excitement of that guy. And from what I have observed this behavior hardly continues after 1st year.
Secondly every college (and I mean it every college) has its college T-shirt. Now the frequency with which one wears it depends upon how proud you are of your college. Just like you see many employees wearing Google T-shirt but hardly anyone of some local company (even if they have their own shirt). I don't think thats arrogance.
Next, ragging. Now thats a question that is troubling every society. Yes I know its bad habit but its everywhere in form of bullying etc. So its not just trademark of IIT. Every college suffers from it.
Next the tribal names you are calling is actually lobby names. These names are based on some habit or peculiarity of a person and I doubt if anyone minds being called by his lobby name. You see even at homes everyone has a second name. Now thats not being tribal. As for using those names outside IIT, thats perfectly normal. Relatives at any family function outside your home call you by ones home name. Now thats not tribal behavior. And if two school friends meet afterwards in life then they do talk about school only. Cause people talk about common interests. Two Indians in any foreign country will talk about India. Thats human behavior. You cant help it.
Next AIR. That too is only observed in 1st year where a person is filled with excitement and sense of achievement of clearing JEE (and he should be). So to call a person whose excited as arrogant is being too harsh on him.
Now about gals. Now this is a topic anyone who has been in IIT would like to speak in detail. Yes girls are a rarity in IIT. Am not gender biased or anything but its the truth. And stammering and etc it happens to everyone who has not been in co-ed school since beginning. Even I was a bit shy when i shifted from boys school to co-ed school. So for guys who have always been in boys school and they find no change of scenario in college (that is hardly any girl in your class) its normal for them to be shy in front of outside girls. Cause usually in other colleges people "get used to gals" within 1st year itself. But thats not so in IIT.
Next thing you are talking about banner. First and foremost the most probable cause of error is because of painter. But lets assume thats not so and an IIT'ian did that. Then I must tell you that English is no prerequisite for getting into IIT. There are many students from Hindi medium in our college. So that mistake may have been made by a person there who has just started learning English language. Thats acceptable I suppose.
Next Pooja and dumping of garbage. These too topics are influenced by our society and not by how much maths you know. Pooja is too embedded in Hindu culture to be taken out by any reasoning. Are all people in West atheist? I am an atheist but don't mind anyone else offering prayers. As for throwing garbage in dump, knowing science doesn't imply a person has civic sense.
Next about brain-drain. Yes I accept its significant but I think its only because of the condition of "high-tech industry" here in India. First of all, all the "high-tech jobs" here in India are filled up so you cant say that people are going outside while jobs are vacant in India. Secondly, for those interested in research, in India there are no options. We all know the state of fundings in all Indian Universities including IIT's. No high-tech research is possible. And lastly again I would say that knowing science does not ensure that a person is patriotic. And why not be global in attitude. Why should we stop at our nations boundaries? And its not that IIT'ians are more eager to go out. Its just that they have more opportunities. Given a chance students from any college would like to go out. And I would like to point out a fact for you. Working hours in a good company are much less than in small companies. So no "life long mind numbing work" need to be done. Life is much easier after getting through college.
And the last thing I want to talk about is is being perfect groom. I agree with you on this topic but cause of different reason. I don't doubt the intelligence of people in IIT but certainly feel that intelligence in science does not ensure common sense, civic sense or for that matter anything else about the personality. I find people here very different from my views. So am sure one of us is wrong (not fighting for who it is). But we are both in IIT. IIT'ians are in demand for arranged marriage only because it means they have a much higher chances of having and retaining stable chance. And how does it affect you when both the person who is demanding IIT'ians and person who is in demand are not having any problem.
Your post does not provide any sort of humor but only shows someones frustration.

I am proud to be in my college and would proudly wear its T-Shirt no matter what anyone thinks about it.

Hot Processor

2008-03-05T00:55:00.004+05:30

Today i had a new experience of cleaning computers. More accurately another way a computer can crash
Since last two weeks my comp had been restarting abruptly. Whenever I had noticed it restarted when DC was running on my comp. So initially i thought that there was some problem in some sector of my HD. So I stopped using DC. But still the problem persisted. So my next target became my Graphics card. I have already had my share of problems with graphics card earlier. So this time too i blamed it. But removing it too didn't solve the problem. So i just thought that Linux sux and maybe its not cabale of handling too much processing and started handling my comp with care putting as little pressure on it as I could.
I had also cleaned up my RAM and other prone parts but with no results.
Recently one of my batch mates (A1 to be precise) told me of his comp restarting due to overheating (exactly due to low limit set in max temp in BIOS).
So I decided to check my BIOS temperature. I went in BIOS and was shocked to see current temp at 90 degree centigrades. Now thats a lot too much for my little personal comp. Not believing it I started finding ways to check CPU temp on Linux. So I installed lm_sensors, ksensors and what not only to confirm that the temperature is really that much.
So my initial aim was to somehow force the fan to run at max speed forever (who cares about the noise). But that didnt worked out cause of some missing package :(. So next I just decided to clean up my cabinet once again. This time I touched the CPU fan (just above the processor) and found that it was a little too hot that too with plastic body. So I looked at it carefully and found that just below the fan and above the processor there was a thick layer of dust. Shocked I started trying ways to get that dust out. Finally I had to remove the fan and than clean up the whole area.
After that my comp is running with a nice temp of 55-60. Will be putting my graphics card back too soon (hell with installation of drivers :( ).
So what I learned was that given the cleanliness of my room I should regularly clean up my processor :).

this song suits me like hell

2008-02-02T09:16:00.000+05:30

donno but vid is not loading here...if it loads on anyone then do tell me...
here is the link to the video http://youtube.com/watch?v=wVyggTKDcOE

Is Plastic Cash really secure?

2008-01-30T23:48:00.003+05:30

I recently got to know about the features of ICICI add-on credit card that make it more tempting for getting stolen than cash. Now the number of loopholes in its security are endless.
First the bank doesn't require the signature of add-on card holder. Its just mailed to your house. So if I take the mail before it reaches you and use it then no one can even have doubts. The only signature is on the back of the card. Now we all know how intensely a shopkeeper scrutinizes the signature on the back with that on the slip. I know they are supposed to but its a fact that they don't. I have even heard of cases when a photo credit card was misused by someone else without getting any suspicion of the shopkeeper. So the signature on the back is useless. So if your credit card gets stolen then you cant prove to bank that it was misused. Bank have no records of your signature and shopkeeper doesn't check it.
Second what does any transaction on Internet require with a credit card? Your card number, expiry date, name(sometimes) and the number on the back. Now its nowhere written in the instruction letter that its advisable to scratch out the number on the back to prevent misuse. Because misusing it is a child's task. We all give our cards away in any restaurant or any such place. The guy there can easily write down all the information and transfer as much money as he requires to his pay pal account after which you just cant trace him. How will one ever be able to prove this crime? Nor prove it to bank. I asked the ICICI call center people about this and then they said that please scratch out the number on the back for security. Why cant they tell it earlier? Better why cant the just make us have a password for Internet transactions?

Another incident which I personally experienced was Bank of Baroda Internet account. Now it has so many safety precautions that it is the most unsafe account. First both the Login password and Transaction password must be some 8 characters long including a number and a special character. Now its no easy task to remember such passwords nor hack them. But that was the easy part. The next condition was that both the passwords needs to be changed every 3 months and last 5 passwords cannot be used. So how do i generate and remember such complicated passwords is a mystery. Thus they force me to write down the password which I know is foolish but I don't have an option. I have for now given up on my account. Three months have passed have not accessed it so not changes the password. From what I remember I have to go to the branch to re-activate my account. Hell with it.

I thinks lets just stick to debit cards which are safe and secure.

Stumble It!

Why Linux?

2008-01-23T01:38:00.003+05:30

Now I am no fan of open source movement and would gladly switch to Windows as soon as possible but circumstances forced me otherwise. In our hostel with approx 350 comps and some IP thieves its difficult to keep static IP. But I need it to run my hub (for all IT'ians Join InfInIty @ 10.9.11.193:4112 !!!!) so I was forced to shift to Linux to keep my IP. Now Linux it seems is the big brother of windows in terms of network cause in any IP conflict with windows Linux emerges as the winner. So I shifted to only because of this reason. But I had to pay heavy price for that. I had to spent an entire days to only get my songs to play; running the hub was much more difficult task. I spent my entire day editing dunno how many files to make Linux connect via a proxy. After that it got little easier as I was able to install mane things via 'yum'. But when i started to install db hub I got nice surprise as many dependency files were missing. This led to re-installation of latest Fedora 8 (it was much easier than installing every dependency). Now after again setting up Linux for proxy (this time it was much easier) I finally installed db hub and changed its setting in its config file (when will GUI of db hub come?). But it took another 2 days to figure out that it pays to switch off firewall when running a hub. In the meantime I also successfully installed 'linuxdcpp'. So after 3 days I was finally able to 'use' Linux. Using means to see the hub running and listening to songs.
Because Linux means no games and games are our lifeline (using wine sucks as it lags a lot). But its a blessing as I am now getting out of my addiction of games (CS only). But its more of a trouble as I was a very up to date windows user and saved every office file in 2007 format which is as yet unsupported by open office. Also the sound quality is not as good and playing video takes lots of processor (these maybe because of improper configuration but I tried my best and in windows such configs were much easier).
Also I still cant understand the advantage of using Linux in personal computers as as my roomie says all the development in linux are only meant to make it more like windows; so why not use windows instead. Am sure no Indian will talk about the price of using windows :).
But anyways am now getting used to the boring GUI of Linux and if anyone wants to get his Linux working can ask me.

Stumble It!

Right'ing the Wrong

2008-01-13T13:37:00.000+05:30

All the countries, religions and traditions have witness many wrongdoing in the past. Indians or more specifically Hindus have been no exception. Hinduism has never been until now been a religion of war. There has been no army that fought for Hinduism. It has always been a very flexible religion; with many gods and no restrictions. It has evolved on faith and not on teachings of some man. Because of no one fighting for Hindus it has not been able to spread itself like other religions. Also because of that and because of division in between people of different regions, India was not able to stand up against any sort of invasion be it of Muslims or of the British. Muslim rulers on the other hand were fighting for their religion and they conquered territories to create more land for Muslims. They forced people to convert or killed them. They looted temples and destroyed all religious places. Akbar and few others were a exception but most employed ruthless means against non Muslims. Therefore much wrong has been done against Hindus in the past.
But the question is can two wrongs make right? Since Independence we have lived in democracy which aims to provide a secular set of laws for peaceful living. It ensure or tries to ensure that no further wrong is done against any community. But there is no law which provides or can provide course of action to heal the wrongs the past without hurting the sentiments of the other community in the present. It was in the past where this cycle was followed: Hindus came and attacked mosques, Muslims came and attacked temples. The latter part was more prominent in India because of their stronger might. But the point is how to end this cycle. Somewhere we have to start living like civilized people forgetting other for their past. This was expected to start from Independence where we supposedly entered an era where laws were written down rationally and to ensure end of such violence. Because if laws don't end such a cycle then we can hope for no peace in long run. The attack on Babri Maszid kept this cycle alive.
Second was the Godhra riots. Its conceded the some elements of Muslim community initiated the act by killing the sadhus travelling in the train. But do you punish the entire community for an act committed by some members of their community of which they most probably weren't even aware of and which most didnt support. Many murders are committed throughout India in which mostly the criminals are Hindus ( not because they are bad but because they are more in number). So should entire Hindu community be punished for their crime. If i kill some Muslim or of any other religion should you and other Hindus get punished for this? Just because you too are a Hindu. We cant correct what happened earlier (unless of course the criminal is caught) but we can ensure that no further wrong is done.
And my next question is that many people supported Babri demolition saying that Muslims did many wrongdoings in the past, but most out of them if given a chance would gladly settle in England not even thinking for a moment that India was most wronged by British. Should India declare war on UK just because there previous governments committed lots and lots of crime?
The answer is obvious.

Atleast someone has similar views as mine :)

2008-01-03T12:53:00.000+05:30

This is in continuation of my article 'Is Majority always right'. Here I found an article written in Economic Times:

But does development derive solely from and absolve the Modi brand of politics?
The 1930s supply a dramatic answer, when three countries were ‘developing’ at a
furious pace under the aegis of three different leaders and political
ideologies. The US was recovering from the Great Depression and basking in the
glow of Roosevelt’s New Deal. Germany, under Hitler, was rebuilding its
war-ravaged economy and acquiring the muscle required to wreak revenge on the
world. The Soviet Union, under Stalin, was tempering the steel it knew would be
required to withstand an inevitable assault by western powers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two things were common to all three leaders: passionate commitment to economic growth and reciprocally passionate support from their followers. For the rest, they stood for diverse political ideologies and led their countries to drastically different political denouements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modi’s politics is similar to Hitler’s in several ways. Vilification of a
minority community and its transformation into a hate object for the majority,
contempt for democracy and its constitutive organisations such as trade unions
and institutional processes such as the rule of law, dependence on the personal
charisma of a demagogic leader, glorification of the nation and the strong
leader who alone can provide prosperity and security — these are common
traits.

As expected the letters to Editor are full of criticism of the article but
one should notice that majority of the letters are from NRI's. I have always
noticed in magazines or even newspapers NRI's are always defending Modi.Maybe because they dont live here and are only concerned with development and
money. Anyways the link to the article is here.

New Yr celebs spanned ovr 3 days

2008-01-02T22:43:00.000+05:30

As thr trdition of our grt college BHU, the second session every year has to start just 4-5 days before New Yr to ensure that no one is able to fully enjoy it :). Well so as usual this yr session started from 26th. Additionally this yr we had been thrown out of our rooms for hols so had to somehow adjust everything back which took 2 days to fully complete. So aftr all this hectic work and to enjoy the weekend and 31st night we were more or less roaming around for 3 days.

30th December: It was Sunday and I was able to somehow convince people to go biking(scooty'ng in my case) to Ramnagar Fort which is around 12-13 kms if we take the Allahabad Highway. But luckily pontoon bridge was operational at that time and it reduced the distance to mere 3-4 kms (out of which more than half km was on pontoon). So we reached the fort well in time even after the initial disaster of theft of wallet and mobile of one of my peers from the hostel room (but he anyhow went even with sullen face realising that his 8000 worth mobile is gone). Also we were short of one vehicle which was later arranged by a guys bro who is our senior. So aftr all the hiccups we finally reached the fort. Now it aint any big fort nor is its museum any that good but with 10 ppl around it was fun. And with the collection of real vintage(but not working) cars and weapons we as sincere CS students(pun intended) observed and compared them with their mordern counterparts(awp,cv,galil,m4a1 etc).
Next we reached a small temple on the top which overlooks river Ganga(this was my third visit to the fort and I still love this place). The view presented is beautiful (as can be seen from the pics in another post).
Next we went for boating who took 150 rs but we rode for only 20-25 mins :(. With 10 ppl on board(ppl like me also) the boat was quite unstable esp as two of the guys were afraid of the river and were quite impatient. But the ride also presented some spectacular pics(yeah yeah i am interested in pics only) which also are posted in another post.
Aftr boating we decided to return via highway to enjoy the ride....it started wonderfully (with traffic police asking for papers). Now no one was carrying the papers...few didnt even had license with them...anyway we produced the required no of license and showed them our identity cards aftr which he let us off without asking for anything(strange na). So we went towards the highway for which we travelled this long road (it was on my insistence) which was made not of coal and tar but of bricks!!!! So we had a real roller coaster ride(esp me on my little Dio) and aftr all this trouble we reached highway only to realise that we were on it only for 2 kms :( again we took a road which was full of potholes but finally reached our hostel. by 6:30 pm.
We though we had had enough for one day(it was tiring) but 2 hours later our most confused batchmate came asking for Pizza Hut. We were so tired that initially even I(am a pizza addict) refused...but pizza is pizza and esp for pizza hut how many times can I refuse? So finally 4 of us went to there at new mall JHV which is 15 kms from our hostel!!! Add it with Varanasi traffic of evening. We finally reached it to find that we are on waiting list for half an hour :( So aftr some snacks from McD we got a table. I ordered my usual pizza(double cheeze with extra toppings of sweet corn, paneer and onion) while the other three guys went for pork(one of the guy used to be vegetarian 2 months back; he still claims he is from heart :))
pizza was good(atleast mine) but bill wasnt....taxes amounted to 200rs!!!!!!!!! hell. As if pizzas werent expensive enough.
this ended our day with no meney left and tired like hell esp with class the next day.

31st December: It was Monday and we had 2 theory classes and one lab. Now the theory classes were real bore(RS & SKS). But due to electricity failure we were let off lab(which in any case isnt a bore). So we were free by 2 pm.
Now bcoz of our good proctor the New Yr fest Euphoria which was scheduled for 31st evening was postponed to 1st evening????? Now where is New Yr celebrated on 1st evening...maybe he was trying to conincide our celebrations with that of west coast of america. Whatever so we were left with no place to really celebrate New Yr. In varanasi there are no clubs or anything. There are parties in Hotels which are either too expensive or only couple entry is allowed(not possible in IT BHU). So I was able to convince some good souls to go to mall which would be atleast better than staying in the hostel. Now I had expected the whole mall burtsting with activity but the scene was different...There was public but nothing except the eating joints were open...which gave it a deserted look. Still atleast we had a good meal (me again pizza). 10 of us had come but 2 of them opted to go out early..and therefore celebrated their new yr in hostel only. For rest of us it was a real bad luck story. There was a DJ in mall premises(a local DJ) and there was a sort of small disc. So around at 11:50 as we completed our food and got the guts to dance they stopped DJ. We had just stepped on the dance floor and exactly at that moment the DJ stopped. Maybe they decided that its better to shut disc before these guys start 'dancing' and scare away the crowds(we are all inexperienced in dancing). Whatever aftr greeting each other we finally went to our hostel where we were let in without any jotting down of names as late-comers etc.

1st Jan: Am online aftr a long time so will be describing abt the 1st Jan trip only through pics...And yes I long to be in pics so most of the pics will have me somewhere.
We went to two falls...donno exact names of anyone of them :)

New Pics

2008-01-02T22:15:00.002+05:30

We ppl went to Ramnagar fort on 30th Dec last yr(described in detail in another post)....The time around is 4-4:30 pm and as the sun was low and setting down it gave a brilliant reflection on the mighty river Ganga...

The first pic has been taken from the top of the fort while the second pic has been taken from moving boat

The ripples in the pic below were caused from the oars of our boat:

Stumble It!

PickPocketing Anniversary

2007-12-25T16:59:00.000+05:30

This post is also one day late(as is usual with lazy me) as I was first pickpocketed on Christmas Eve last year. And the best part is where I was targeted.....in The House of God...yes Church itself!! Now I am not a religious man and usually dont go to such places but went there as my better half wanted to go. She insisted and so had to come(had no choice). Now inside the church it was damn crowded. And as a fool my wallet was in my back pocket. As I was busy in making way for myself and her in the crowd I was pickpocketed. I didnt knew at what instant it was stolen but knew it soon enough as I was anticipating this(I am damn suspicious by nature). But still I hadnt got time to shift my wallet to front pocket cause I also had a false belief in myself(its youth you see) that I cant be so subconcious that someone takes my wallet and I dont know it. I underestimated their efficiency.
But the good part was that out of laziness I had kept whatever maney was given to me from home in my front pocket...There were only 10 Rs in my purse!!!! So I am sure whoever took it must have cursed me to fullest. But I also suffered quite dilema cause its not easy to get another ATM card, college ICard(am in government college so you can understand). I had to run around 2 people donno how many times to deposit 15Rs for ICard(I would have gladly given 50 to get away from that running :( ....)
Whatever I lost some of my personal special belongings too...but whatever after that I have realinsed that anyone can get pickpocketed anywhere..I am never gonna underestimate them again..
And whats more she gave me a new wallet as a gift which I treasure till now :)

Windows XP surprises

2007-12-24T23:45:00.000+05:30

These tricks I have copied from someone's profile of orkut....hadnt heard these earlier so am posting here...

An Indian discovered that nobody can create a FOLDER anywhere on the Computer which can be named as "CON". This is something pretty Cool...and Unbelievable. ... At Microsoft the whole Team, couldn't answer why this happened ! TRY IT NOW ,IT WILL NOT CREATE " CON " FOLDER

1.) Open an empty notepad file
2.) Type "Bush hid the facts" (without the quotes)
3.) Save it as whatever you want.
4.) Close it, and re-open it.

the next one is quite common:

Open Microsoft Word and type
=rand (200, 99)
And then press ENTER Then see the magic...

but i am still puzzled by first two...why the hell this happens donno..

and now a way to get windows XP SP3 for all those who still havent got it....as it is in its beta phase therefore its not available to everyone(you can chk this from microsoft update site)...but hackers all around the world cant allow this unjust behaviour and so they have released a registry entry to get the same..... :)

copy the text below and save it in notepad file and save it as anything.cmd

@echo offreg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\XPSP3 /f 2> NUL
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\XPSP3 /v RCPreview /t
REG_SZ /d 1c667073-b87f-4f52-a479-98c85711d869 /f
echo XPSP3 registry key has been set. Please check for updates in Windows Update - Kudos to SR
pause

run this cmd file as administrator and then goto microsoft update site....also make sure that you have the options for testing beta products on in settings of microsoft site... enjoy

Unexpectedly Good Pics

2007-12-24T21:29:00.003+05:30

Below I am posting some pics taken by me which turned out beautifully...they were never intented to be that scenic...but not minding that they turned out well :)

this pic was taken near car park of Rohtang Pass...and it was taken from inside a car!!!

This pic was taken in coal mines of NCL in singrauli...the smoke behind is from the blasting that takes place to mine coal:

this pic was taken on my way to hyderabad

this two are from my latest trip to manali which i have so exquisitely described:

Stumble It!

Some of my fav Poems

2007-12-24T18:49:00.000+05:30

The poem I like the most is IF by Rudyard Kipling.....cant point out exact things I like cause neither my Vocabulary is that strong nor my knowledge of different aspects of poetry.

[IF]

If you can keep your head when
all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming
it on you,
If you can trust yourself when
all men doubt you
But make allowance for their
doubting too,
If you can wait and not be
tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal
in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way
to hating,
And yet don't look too good,
nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your
master,

If you can think--and not make
thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph
and Disaster
And treat those two impostors
just the same;
If you can bear to hear the
truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a
trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave
your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with
worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all
your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of
pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at
your beginnings
And never breath a word about
your loss;
If you can force your heart and
nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after
they are gone,
And so hold on when there is
nothing in you
Except the Will which says to
them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds
and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose
the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving
friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but
none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving
minute
With sixty seconds' worth of
distance run,
Yours is the Earth and
everything that's in it,
And--which is
more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard
Kipling

The next poem I like is about the poor who has been so cursed by the ruling class that he does not resemble humans anymore. The poem was written by Edwin Markhim who wrote it after getting inspired by a french painting

The Man with a Hoe

Bowed by the weight of centuries he
leansUpon his hoe and gazes on the
ground,The emptiness of ages in his
face,And on his back, the burden of the
world.Who made him dead to rapture and
despair,A thing that grieves not and that never
hopes,Stolid and stunned, a brother to the
ox?Who loosened and let down this brutal
jaw?Whose was the hand that slanted back
this brow?Whose breath blew out the light within
this brain?
Is this the Thing the Lord God made
and gaveTo have dominion over sea and
land;To trace the stars and search the
heavens for power;To feel the passion of
Eternity?Is this the dream He dreamed who shaped
the sunsAnd marked their ways upon the ancient
deep?Down all the caverns of Hell to their
last gulfThere is no shape more terrible than
this--More tongued with cries against the
world's blind greed--More filled with signs and portents for
the soul--More packed with danger to the
universe.
What gulfs between him and the
seraphim!Slave of the wheel of labor, what to
himAre Plato and the swing of the
Pleiades?What the long reaches of the peaks of
song,The rift of dawn, the reddening of the
rose?Through this dread shape the suffering
ages look;Time's tragedy is in that aching
stoop;Through this dread shape humanity
betrayed,Plundered, profaned and
disinherited,Cries protest to the Powers that made
the world,A protest that is also
prophecy.
O masters, lords and rulers in all
lands,Is this the handiwork you give to
God,This monstrous thing distorted and
soul-quenched?How will you ever straighten up this
shape;Touch it again with
immortality;Give back the upward looking and the
light;Rebuild in it the music and the
dream;Make right the immemorial
infamies,Perfidious wrongs, immedicable
woes?
O masters, lords and rulers in all
lands,How will the future reckon with this
Man?How answer his brute question in that
hourWhen whirlwinds of rebellion shake all
shores?How will it be with kingdoms and with
kings--With those who shaped him to the thing
he is--When this dumb Terror shall rise to
judge the world,After the silence of the centuries?

The next is the famous poem by Robert Frost

"Stopping by the Woods on a snowy Evening"

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there's some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep, A

nd miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

The next poem is Strange Meeting dont remember by who....But what I do remember it was a difficult poem when it was in my syllabus and at that time I left it even for the exams. Though liked it a lot later.

Strange Meeting

It seemed that out of battle I escaped

Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped

Through granites which titanic wars had groined.

Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,

Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.

Then, as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared

With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,

Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.

And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall,-

By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

With a thousand pains that vision's face was grained;

Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground,

And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.

'Strange friend,' I said, 'here is no cause to mourn.'

'None,' said that other, 'save the undone years,

The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,

Was my life also; I went hunting wild

After the wildest beauty in the world,

Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair,

But mocks the steady running of the hour,

And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.

For by my glee might many men have laughed,

And of my weeping something had been left,

Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,

The pity of war, the pity war distilled.

Now men will go content with what we spoiled,

Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.

They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress.

None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.

Courage was mine, and I had mystery,

Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery:

To miss the march of this retreating world

Into vain citadels that are not walled.

Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels,

I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,

Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.

I would have poured my spirit without stint

But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.

Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.

'I am the enemy you killed, my friend.

I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned

Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.

I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.

Let us sleep now....'

There are some more but I was not able to find them so will post them when I do find out.

Lead India

2007-12-24T16:56:00.000+05:30

I dont really know much about the campaign of Times of India as I was not able to keep track of any of the round. I was also not that interested cause I have lost faith in voting by sms method(which I assume its using..I have no idea). Whatever but I do know what this campaign is all about. Am writing this post I just saw its ad on youtube and was really inspired.

The truth is that everyone of us complains about every aspect of administration even though if given a chance we would do nothing to help it(we includes myself also cause I am all the time complaining and havent yet done a bit to serve my country). Even when it comes to paying taxes we dont, when we can get off a fine by paying 50 Rs everyone of us do pay bribe. We may not be as bad as persons who take out crores of public money off the development schemes but we do contribute every bit to keep up that nature. Instead of stopping corruption we encourage it by paying bribes, saving taxes, travelling without tickets in trains and buses, throwing garbage anywhere etc. But the same set of persons always throw garbage in malls, never try to get away from parking ticket and also pay the entry fees as is applicable in some malls on holidays. We can and do blame the system by saying that there are no bins, there are long queues, no one checks the ticket and blah blah but the fact is we are as much of a culprit as government is.

Many of us dont pay taxes claiming that half of it goes to the corrupt administration. Agreed. My question is why cant we do anything against that corrupt administration? If you are too weak then pay the tax thinking that atleast half of it would be used for the development of the country. And the day you have courage to fight for the other half stand against the administration.

I am also guilty on every count except for taxes where I dont have any income. I pay 50 Rs to get off the hook for small counts, throw anything anywhere etc.

But time has come to change this or else there will be no hope left. A country is said to be politically stabalised on the basis of its middle class. But if the middle class doesnt awaken and remains dormant then the reigns of administration will always remain in the wrong hands. So its time for all of us to awaken and do our bit for the development of this country. And with independant judiciary and RTI available that should be no problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4kaHeu2CKQ

Trip to Manali wid Frnds

2007-12-24T03:49:00.000+05:30

This post should have been posted earlier but since i satrted using this account few days back only I am posting it now.
Trip itinerary:
2nd Dec 07: Boarding of Kalka Mail from Mughal Sarai
3rd : Reached Kalka. Off to Manali.
4th: Rohtang Pass and Solang Valley
5th: Water Rafting and Manikaran

6th: Pattebaazi and few Temples
7th: Off to Chandigarh and caught train at night for New Delhi.

This was my first trip out of state with coll frndz. We were bunch of 6 guyz who managed to experience a lot of new things in this trip(for some paragliding but most important getting involved with police for all of us). Our journey started smoothly with train only 4 hours late and our seats scattered along 3 different coaches :). Anyways it was all somehow managed and by night we all got seats in the same cabin. The trouble started when I paying no heed to my parents advice decided to get down at Kalka and not at Chandigarh as they were recommending. Out of my defiant nature I decided to take my own path(which turned out to be the less travelled one). So we got down at Kalka and found the only places for where buses departed frm there were for Shimla and good ol Chandigarh. Still after putting a brave front we decided to hire a taxi(Quallis) for whole 5 days(The whole taxi incident produced a very new story and experience for us).

So we embarked on a 10 hour ride listening to those Punjabi songs(most of which were unbearable) and stopping at every scenic location we found(which included a dam on river Beas, Temples and dhabas ofcourse).

Finally we were able to reach Manali before the markets closed or else we would have slept empty stomach. With no scenic beauty of ANY kind visible at that hour we went to sleep early.

Next morn out of our enthu we were awake early and went for a morning walk around river Beas. 3 of us also unsuccessfully tried to cross the river but finally gave up after feeling the temperature of the water. From what we had found out last night, Rohtang had been closed for the season and vehicles were only allowed to go upto Gulaba which is 25kms before Rohtang. We solaced in the fact that atleast we will get to watch snow. So we reach Gualaba and our grt driver(Kirpal Singh was his name) parks the car as soon as he sees the first car parked. So we walk 2 kms just to get where everybody else were getting down frm their cars(huh). Whatever we climb those peaks(must have hardly climbed 20 mts in height) and have fun aiming snowballs at each other. Next we go to Solang Valley where we experience paragliding. But before that experience we have to haggle like hell with those guys and then walk what seemed like miles before we pay them to get down frm whr we climbed. While waiting we saw many ppl(gals esp) running such that they never were able to lift the glider. Some even when carried by those guys created such a fuss that they brought down the glider with them. We were all enjoying these scenes and hoping that such embarresment dosent occur with any of us(of which I was the most likely candidate cause of my weight!!). But all went well and all of us got down in one chance. Next we went some Shiv temple which was 2kms from solang and had to be traversed by horse. Horse Ride was fun in itself as all of us tried to control the horses but horses who were pretty smart knew that they had fools on their back and hence did what they were trained to do-follwed the fixed path no matter how hard we tried to get a shortcut.

So as the day got over and we were planning abt next day with water rafting and Manikaran on our way back our grt driver scolded us for not taking his permission before making plans of tomorrow. Surprised and angry we talked to his master and when he also didnt yeild to take us to manikaran tomorrow we decided to chuck the taxi and told such to his master. So we got ourselves a new taxi for next day and went to water rafting. The guide was a young person who was really into gals. He told us meaing of name of one of us(Momo) in their local language which made his face go red with donno emabarresment or anger! Also the guide ensured that none of us got out dry for which he invented terms like 'Highside' nad other stuff. Wet and such we went to manikaran where we found water at 100 degrees to bath in(and some ppl were bathing donno how). we saw gurudwara and temple(boring) we finally came back late again by hill standards.

Next day we had ntohing to do so just went to few local temples and played cards all day. Learned quite a few new games.

Next day we got a taxi and departed to Chandigarh(not Kalka this time) and arrived at platform much before arrival time(which turned out to be our discomfort). As it turned out grt driver Kirpal Singh had come for a visit with 4-5 more Punjabi drives and a GRP sipahi by his side. This created a scene which cntinued for 1.5 long hours. As we had no experience in dealing with policemen earlier and didnt knew to what limits they could go to get money we had to shell out 1000 rs aftr much negotiations. I dont know who was right or wrong. Driver had crossed us by not listening to what we were saying and not accepting his plans so we crossed him by ditching his taxi due to which he had to return back to Kalka without any profit. Finally both were at loss maybe less or more as he also wasnt able to profit as much he had expected earlier if he had stayed for whole 5 days and we also had to shell out extra bucks to wrap up that incident and catch that train.

So overall this trip was fun full of smoke for some for other full of good and cheap apple wine available there.....Hoping ppl agree for next trip also aftr this semester(if i pass the previous one that is)