TICKLING THE PLASTIC

Dream On

2010-05-22T01:21:00.004+05:30

I hate change. I'm a type of person who likes solitude, peace, knowing whats happening next, a set pattern. I like following the schedule. All because I am a control freak. But I do occasionally enjoy doing something impulsive! But even then its controlled chaos.

Past few months have been like a tornado; unpredictable where I'll head next.

I got into Bournemouth University. I only applied to because I had to apply somewhere. Even when I did I never thought I'd actually get in! Success is something I achieve very few times. I still can't fucking believe it!
Then there's also Tech Mahindra, the safe option. Getting into the drone like pattern of working in a MNC that treats engineers like machines. In my mind I know I won't be satisfied with it. I tolerate a lot but it comes at the cost of depression.

Getting into BU and furthering my career in animation seems like an unsafe or dangerous path to take. I don't where I'll be headed. I'm excited and scared at the same time, but mostly scared. I'll be leaving my friends, family and everything I love. I'm scared of losing it and being out of my comfort zone. But I'm also happy for a chance to live independently in a different country.

I have all these gazillion contradicting thoughts and I just can't be decisive. So I've decided to be patient. I'll just think about it in July. Till then I'm going to enjoy my life to the fullest. :D

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

2010-01-07T18:45:00.004+05:30

Happy New year! I thought now would be a good time to make a comeback. Writing again was on the back of my mind for so many months.

I turned 21 three days back! I had a lovely birthday. Me and my friends made so many crazy but embarrassing videos, I'd rather not go into details.

I think my biggest joy in the past few days was that I was able to play an old video game again. The title should give you a hint.
Back in 7th standard to used to lurk in the CD-ROM section of Crossword trying to find a game which I would enjoy playing more than twice and which was also moderately priced. I came across "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"
I used to play it on my then shiny PC which had Windows 98. And ever since the world switched over to XP, I've faced a series of failed attempts to play it again.
There are various versions of the same game. I'm talking about one where 'The Chief' is an African-American. I also like the pun names like Dinah Might.
So anyway, The game only works on Win95 or 98. Also on Classic Mac. But its not possible to play this on the newer Macs even with Rosetta unless you follow this method. But I found it too tedious just for one game.

So this is the procedure in XP -
1. Start>Run>msconfig. Disable all the startup tasks. Restart the machine. So, you can perform a clean install.
2. Change display settings to 800x600 and 16-bit colour.
3. Load in the cd (or image). In explorer, search for *.exe. You will get around 13 files. Change the compatibility for these individually to the following-

Run in 256 colours
Run in compatibility mode for Windows 95 or 98

4. Uninstall any current version of Quicktime. The newer versions are too advanced for the game to work on it.
5. Install the game and also Quicktime which comes along with the game.
6. Go to Control Panel>Quicktime (or Q32)>Video Settings. Change the setting in Optimization to Bitmap Drawing (BMP).

And voila! The game should work now.

Occasionally, I do have a problem where the game works fine except for some videos. But restarting or clearing all background tasks solves this.

day of the seminar

2009-01-27T14:53:00.000+05:30

hi
good afternoon

Why so serious?

2008-07-21T09:41:00.008+05:30

I seem to be slipping into trends quite early. I've got college today and here I am lazying about at home. I'll start chronologically then.

01. Mahabaleshwar - I thought it would be quite boring. I would have preferred any beach and a cold, windy and rainy condition isn't really vacation material, imo. We left at 6:30 and reched there by 11:30. We then asked around and walked to the hotel. There was fog everywhere and we could barely see a thing. The room was smaller than expected but adequate. The first thing I did was to make sure that the TV was working. I didn't want to miss Spain - Russia that night. ;)
We had lunch and after some rest went to market. Did a lot of shopping and bargaining. After all the personal shopping came the turn to by things for mum's, siblings, cousins etc.
That night I had a pleasant surprise; our college reopening had been postponed by a week. Although, I didn't care much for it at the time, I was quite happy. The next day we roamed around Old Mahabaleshwar and visited Mapro for lunch. Later that night we played snooker, carrom, table tennis until the hotel staff finally told us to go away and sleep. ;p

02. I'm so excited about The Dark Knight!!! I can't wait to see it. Hopefully, everything will fall into place and I might fo today. I have special appreciation for the posters. I love the coloring in it. Yes, I admit it. I've turned into a Photoshop geek.
03. The big debate , the 16-hour debate is today starting at 11am. I'll be watching it. Afterall, it's my excuse for not attending college - a genuine interest in politics and the governance of my nation (for once).

04. GRE - I'm also learning about 20-30 words every 2-3 days. I don't have a daily routine but I do know that I have to do atleast 100 words every week.

05. I might be getting a MacBook this week. *double crosses fingers*

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain

2008-06-25T09:20:00.007+05:30

I've had a lot on my mind for the past few days but when it comes down to writing an actual entry, it all seems to vanish from my mind. This post is brought to you by randomness and numbered bullets. :)

01. So finally, after a lot of discussion, more discussion and speeches in rage, we are going to Mahabaleshwar. The next time my friends and I plan a trip I'm going to look after all the details and blindfold everyone until we reach the hotel. No issues. I hope there are no last minute complexities, as it is always prone to happen to me. Actually, I don't even care, as long as we're all together, we will have a blast.

02. Sarkar Raj IS an amazing movie. You truly realize the rarity of a movie with a good script.

03. I read 3 Mistakes by Chetan Bhagat. And it turned out to be exactly the kind of light reading that I needed. Now I'm onto Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I've always wanted to read it but never made the time. I've read the first few pages and I'm hooked. Her writing style is very imposing and strong. All the characters are so believable and have so much conviction in their acts, even the smallest of them.

04. SPAIN!!!!!! France is out which makes me sad but finally Spain are playing to their full potential!

05. I took the Myers-Briggs personality test and turns out that I am an INTJ. Well, most of it does apply to me. I also found this amusing site. The quote below tells you how to "deal with INTJ's". And it's absolutely true!

Be willing to back up your statements with facts - or at least some pretty sound reasoning.

Don't expect them to respect you or your viewpoints just because you say so. INTJ respect must be earned.

Be willing to concede when you are wrong. The average INTJ respects the truth over being "right". Withdraw your erroneous comment and admit your mistake and they will see you as a very reasonable person. Stick to erroneous comments and they will think you are an irrational idiot and treat everything you say as being questionable.

Try not to be repetitive. It annoys them.

Do not feed them a line of bull.

Expect debate. INTJs like to tear ideas apart and prove their worthiness. They will even argue a point they don't actually support for the sake of argument.

Do not mistake the strength of your conviction with the strength of your argument. INTJs do not need to believe in a position to argue it or argue it well. Therefore, it will take more than fervor to sway them.

Do not be surprised at sarcasm.

Remember that INTJs believe in workable solutions. They are extremely open-minded to possibilities, but they will quickly discard any idea that is unfeasible. INTJ open-mindedness means that they are willing to have a go at an idea by trying to pull it apart. This horrifies people who expect oohs and ahhs and reverence. The ultimate INTJ insult to an idea is to ignore it, because that means it's not even interesting enough to deconstruct.

This also means that they will not just accept any viewpoint that is presented to them. The bottom line is "Does it work?" - end discussion.

Do not expect INTJs to actually care about how you view them. They already know that they are arrogant bastards with a morbid sense of humor. Telling them the obvious accomplishes nothing.

06. I think it's quite sad that everytime I step out of the house, I hope it will rain and I might actually enjoy it but all I get are tiny specks of rain which I wouldn't even call drizzle. I'm not happy. :(

Pfft

2008-06-18T10:33:00.003+05:30

Finally, I can do 'nothing' all day. I have made a list of everything I want to do, places and old friends to visit... so there is quite a lot to do.

I hate how my creative muse disappears the instant I have time on my hands. Damn you!

Movies I have to see -

Donnie Darko (again)
Mouth to Mouth (Ellen Page! Jim Sturges! )
Trainspotting
Sarkar Raj
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (only because it has Kristen Bell and Russell Brand)
The Prestige
The Avengers
The Blair Witch Project (for old times' sake)
Oldboy

I finally put my icons for display on livejournal. The icon community is gprotocol. Yes, that's what it's called because at 1 am you really can't come up with something better.
I made the layout similar to this one, for consistency. And I also have to make layouts for two other blogs.

1st July seems to be approaching too soon.

Math woes

2008-05-28T18:55:00.003+05:30

I've been through this before. It's just tiresome to go through it again.

I study day and night (with a many long breaks) trying to achieve a good score in Maths 3 but when it comes down to the exam, I fail myself. It wasn't bad but not as good as I hoped it would be. Certainly not, considering the effort I've put in.

I have only a couple days left for the next 4 exams. The coming 13 days are going to be absolute hell.

Also, when I wasn't catching up with Laplace or Fourier, I watched Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name. Amazing movies! I can't quite believe that I overlooked the manga. The anime is just as good. It's the first live-action movie I've seen. L is a character not to be meddled with. I thought the ending didn't really do the series any justice. I hope further movies are made of the story arcs with Near and Mello in them.

Moscow? What happened? I don't know what you're talking about...

Seriously, I am trying to forget it. I remember how gutted I was when Chelsea lost to Liverpool in the semi-finals of CL on penalties. The shock of this defeat was nowhere close to that. Oh well, there's next season to look forward too.

Getting back on track

2008-05-17T17:27:00.009+05:30

Inconsistent? Me? You're having a laugh! :)

It's been a while but I had to break my block. And what better time to do than 11 days before my Maths 3 exam?
I spent the day on the Fourier chapter. Now I need a break.

I started icon-ing again. I'm focusing on Skins and Gossip Girl icons. Just a sneak peak below. I'm trying out new colouring themes. The bright red/cyan colouring is so in.

New music -
1. Crystal Castles - Their sound is just so different. Electronica and a distorted female voice. But I like it!
2. Skins soundtrack
3. 1 - The Beatles - I cannot believe I didn' t have this on iTunes!! I had the CD lying around at home and one day I had the urge to listen to Yellow Submarine.
4. Delerium - I can't believe I didn't have their music!

I'm still looking for M.Craft, Gravenhurst and Electrelane.

On the football front, I'm sad that we lost the league but it was out of our hands the day we drew with Portsmouth and Wigan. I had decided to reserve my judgement on Grant until the end. Here it is, I'm not really sure he's the one with the brain. Is it Clarke or Henk Ten Cate? or both? or all three of them? For most of the important games he seemed to be doing everything wrong (Spurs, Carling Cup final) and all of a sudden since we've beaten Arsenal, he's done everything right. I find it strange. We don't even know if he's going to be there next season. But here's the thing, I guess things aren't really that bad. Perhaps he should be allowed to continue. We've had Drogba moaning, dressing room mutiny etc. Inspite of that, there have been some positives. Joe Cole has been on fire, Ballack is fitting in, Kalou has improved and though I don't like it when he plays Essien at right back, he's brilliant there too. I had hoped to see more of SWP though.
All I want is for us to win the Champions League now. It belongs to us.
I hope Shevchenko, Malouda, Ben-Haim, Pizzaro leave the club. And in case Drogba leaves, we get a striker who is consistent, like David Villa or Benzema.
But if Drogba stays, he should play him alongside Anelka.

My friends and I are planning a trip to Goa after the exam. But the first thing on the agenda is to convince my parents. It's going to be tough. But I hope they'll agree.

My journey in fandom so far

2008-02-03T12:16:00.000+05:30

I haven't read a book in ages. Currently, these are on my mind.

1. Monster Love - Carol Topolski
2. Serious Things - Gregory Norminton
3. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams. I've read only the first book. I've listened to some of the radio series a long time ago and of course the movie. You can't call yourself a sci-fi fan unless you've read this. The same for #4.
4. 2001: Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke. Oh, HAL.

It's been a while since I've reconnected with fandom, namely HP fandom.
Here's a timeline of my affiliation with the sweet but dangerous world of HP fandom.

I started hanging out on Dark mark forums when I was 14. Inspired, I wrote my first fan fiction which upon reading still embarrasses me to bits. It was a Marauder-era James/Lily fic. I got some good reviews, some constructive criticism which lifted me but I soon identified my weakness for running into cliques and gave up on fan fiction. Here's my problem, I can't write a nice concise fic. I like detailing which would take up a lot of time and energy to write and unfortunately, I can't devote that much time. Also, my writing was quite bad compared to most of the other authors. I was fourteen!!
I quite enjoyed my time there, exploring new theories. It opened up a new world for me on the internet. I found interesting blogs. Harry Potter fansites were dominating.
When I was 15 I managed to do content writing for some HP fansites. I regularly contributed to a HP newsletter.
At 16 I started updating my Live Journal regularly. By this time my fascination with DM forums had faded. I had moved on. Sorting Communities were the new thing. Hogwarts Elite (sadly, I'm not a member anymore) was my new fixation along with some others. My graphics making skill improved quite a lot too. For almost 3 years, I was heavily involved in this community.
Now, especially after DH released, I think my relation with HP has come to an end.

But it's been a very fulfilling experience. :)

Right. Enough sentiment; now for all the nasty stuff. I was bored out of my mind today and I stumbled across The Msscribe Story again. I was so used to the internet wars stories round about. I suddenly feel out of loop. My only source now is Fandom_Wank.

It is also quite possible that my 3rd sem result might come out this week.
*bites finger nails*

DEL and EDC. Please. Don't fail me.

I also watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail today.

I'll also include the funniest bit from Monty Python: Life of Brian.

Music Profiling

2008-01-22T20:22:00.000+05:30

When I woke up this morning, I thought 'Here I go again. Another dull day. An MIL practical where hopefully I will be able to crack it. Maybe something from Sinhgad Karandak will amuse me. And maybe, just maybe... it might happen again.'

It turned out to be very different. We all bunked. Pleaded our teachers to leave us and successfully convinced them! They're a good lot! Then we headed to Mocha where they didn't have place. I think they have a vendetta against me. There's either no place or they're too damn lazy to open up the "closed sections". They must be the pickiest management ever! What happened to customer comes first?! (or other such phrase) It's a disgrace!
So instead we went to TC's Lounge and then to Vaishali.
Packed day.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a change. :)

I just saw this astonishingly bad remake of 'Outrageous' by Britney Spears. It's by some Rakhi Sawant look-a-like called Sherlyn Chopra. Are people that daft nowadays?

Over the past few years we've been subjected to bad remixes of classic old songs (which are FAR better than these cheap mixes). We've seen their cheezy videos.
We've bared Himesh R's awful voice. And now this.
Remake of 'awesomely bad' pop songs which are worse!

What is this world coming to...

I think the 'the world is fucked up' label is appropriate for this post. I am slightly hesitant about using the 'music' label.

Jodhaa Akbar: getting dragged in the hype

2008-01-20T12:52:00.000+05:30

I can usually predict a movie well. The story, the acting, whether it's a hit or not etc.

For me, Jodhaa Akbar is all about the costumes and well captured sequences. The acting? Not so much. Yet, I'm shamelessly excited about it. I can't wait till it's released!!
I don't particularly like Aishwarya Rai. (Who does?) Hrithik looks amazing but doesn't quite look Akbar material except for the occasional brood.
The music seems okay. Something that will give a feeling of grandeur while watching the movie but it's not evergreen.

And yet, I'm damn excited about this movie.

Now I have to complete two assignments and buy text books. It's so hard to get back to the usual routine.

Bright shiny/flashy lights

2008-01-20T00:26:00.000+05:30

NEW LAYOUT!! This is the quickest layout I've made yet. Under an hour.

Usually it takes me more time to get an idea for the header. This time I prefer to keep it simple. Sometimes less is more. ;p

And, I also failed to mention this in my last post: I'M NINETEEN.
Yes, 4th of Jan was my birthday. I don't feel nineteen. I wasn't even excited like I usually am. It was a very low-key birthday. I called my closest friends at home in the evening. But most of the day I spent at home lazying about; me and my mom driving each other nuts. :)

Next day I went to see I Am Legend. Frankly, the movie didn't measure up to all the hype around it. It had too much of Resident Evil in it. But Will Smith was superb as always.
Anyway, we went to get tickets at Inox and were asked for proof that we were above 18. Some of us had come without licenses. So we just hanging there, deciding what to do next. I was a bit taken aback by how generous some strangers were, offering to buy us tickets. But we went to separate counters and managed to get tickets anyway. Next task was to avoid getting caught if they checked it before entering the theatre. But we managed to slip by that too. All the confusion and madness was far more memorable than the movie itself. In fact, my friend was so bored with it that despite of being an ardent Will Smith fan she spent most of the movie playing Quadra-Pop on my cellphone. 80 bucks well spent. :)

After that we got lost in the Cantonment area but made it back home safely.

My mother recently had an article published at this site: For Indian Women
I found some of the other stories a good read too.

Don't patronize me, I know the truth

2008-01-19T18:50:00.000+05:30

Two weeks of college and my life seems so monotonous. But it's been different in so many ways.

I'm having a bit of music draught. There's just no good music lately!

MTV Roadies is back for the 5th season. I feel like it's so staged. I have some of my worries with it going international. Other than the drama, the good thing about roadies was that you got to see so much of India; places where you wouldn't normally go and events you normally wouldn't see.
I feel there's a lot more to explore in India. Why go abroad?
But the best part of the show are the auditions. Loving them so far.

I bring you my 25 best TV shows. Here is a list of TV shows which are unique, witty, thrilling and I will probably never get tired of watching them. It's harder to put them in terms of preference so I'd rather go alphabetically.

1. Black Adder
2. Coupling
3. Doctor Who
4. Diff'rent Strokes
5. Everybody Loves Raymond
6. Friends
7. Gilmore Girls
8. Grey's Anatomy
9. Heroes
10. Keeping Up Appearances
11. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit
12. LOST
13. Monty Python
14. Naruto
15. Sienfield
16. South Park
17. Star Trek: The Next Generation
18. Star Trek: The Voyager
19. That 70's Show
20. The Office (UK)
21. The Office (US)
22. The Simpsons
23. Trinity Blood
24. Veronica Mars (season 1 and 2)
25. Vicar of Dibley

I'm bored with this layout. I'll probably cook up something new this weekend.

And concerning football, I'm glad we signed Anelka. I think Chelsea is more than capable of winning the league now. But much of it depends on how Arsenal and Man U perform. I feel the deciding matches will be the ones when they visit the Bridge.

Hello 2008!

2008-01-03T20:51:00.000+05:30

My blogging hasn't been consistent in the past two months. One of my resolutions is to make this blog less personal and more insightful about other issues. This won't be a 'My Resolutions' post. Telling you my resolutions will be like me admitting all my faults and that's not a good way to start a new year post. So there.

In this break, I've completed my '15 movies in 3 days' gig. Unfortunately, not read a single book. I can't make up my mind on which one I want to read, there are just too many of them!

I also took a trip to Bombay. Saw my house probably for the last time before it's brought down. I met all by neighbours and some friends. It was very nostalgic. I do occasionally miss my life in Bombay. That feeling was reinforced in this trip. >_>

31st was way more fun than what I imagined. Met some friends at Kobe for sizzlers and then went to their house. I stayed up till 6! A lot of banter!

I really hope 2008 will bring a lot more joy. 2007 has mixed feelings from me.

Slaven Bilić: 3 reasons why he's cool

2007-12-04T17:08:00.000+05:30

Exhibit A:
He's 39, manages the Croatia national team and wears a earring. I ask you, in this day and age how many national team managers sport bling? Not many.

Exhibit B:
When his not busy masterminding the team tactics or grooming his messy hair or shopping for more bling, he spends time fronting his metal band, Rawbau. You can download the album or listen to it online over here.

Exhibit C:
I'm not undermining Croatia's winning prowess, but honestly, who expected them to be THAT good? They looked like a team and played like one. In the England v. Croatia game, every time they had the ball you just knew that there were going to do something spectacular. Whereas England players looked like a bunch of headless chickens running around the mucky pitch (except Crouch and Beckham). Apart from the players, Bilić definitely deserves credit for his superb managerial skills.

Also, he looks a bit like Frankenstein, doesn't he?

Timing matters

2007-11-15T19:37:00.000+05:30

Things That Annoy Me #785868:
When I'm bored, I feel creative. When I feel creative I come with something ridiculously insane. But usually it's something fantabulous. (I can't believe I used that word.)
I then take out a paper and pen and start drawing/writing/scribbling. Whatever.
At that very moment either my mum or dad pounces on me and busts me for "not studying".
Geez, sorry. I'm not a freaking robot nor do I have an unlimited attention span. I have my priorities right and after 18 years I know how to manage my studies. I never needed them to tell me that and the same stands now.
Escapism is a strong trait in me and even more strong when exams loom over my head.

Well, I am bored now again. And while my parents think I'm practicing C programs, I making pointless blog entries. They might come through the door any second.

1... 2... 3...

*clicks publish post button*

Radio and Snakes: An unlikely combination for a post

2007-11-14T20:29:00.000+05:30

Allow me to indulge on rants which are completely unrelated.

01. Radio Mirchi. What happened to you? I used to be a radio addict. Every day after school I'd come home and have lunch while listening to that "Kho Kho Patil" show. Then came the era of overly remixed songs which were good for a one time listen. Then came the era of Himesh R songs and bad RJ's. I long for RJ's like Karma and Mandy who were fun and didn't subject the listeners to cheesy rants and remotely creative rhymes.
Now is the era of advertisements and bad jingles. Why so many???? *headdesk*
And why does every song have to start with 'Radio Mirchi...' sung with the tune? It just spoils the whole experience.

You used to be a nice thing, too good to be true. And now your're crap just like everything mainstream.

02. I get usually have dreamless sleep but I used to have a lot of dreams about snakes. Here's how it is:
I'm asleep and I feel something curling around my foot. I wake up and see one slithering on my blanket. I quickly jump up and get out of bed only to find that there are 2-3 snakes along my bed. I somehow get out of my room and run downstairs and find snakes everywhere.
The rest is all blurry. I was watching a show on NatGeo about snakes the other day and this topic came up. My friend told me it's good luck. I don't usually believe in reverse logic of this sort but I thought I'd check out it's interpretations and I found interesting stuff. (taken from some site that I don't want to visit again)

Snakes as Fear Symbols
Given that most people do not have firsthand snake experience snakes appearing in dreams can often symbolize a fear of the unknown. They can point to a deep seated anxiety that something isn't right or a nagging feeling that something is waiting for them, something bad, like a snake in the grass. Is there something going on in your life that you are afraid of doing simply because you've never done it before?

Snakes as Symbols of Wisdom
While the unknown factor of snakes can engender fear, it may also give rise to feelings of intrigue. Some people and cultures see snakes as exotic and possessing hidden wisdom. This is partly due to their mysterious nature and partly due to one of a snake's more prominent features: it's tongue. In Chinese astrology people born under the sign of the snake are considered extremely wise, sensual, and diplomatic--they have an ease of tongue which makes them able to navigate sticky situations. If a snake appears in your dream it may actually be there using its tongue to impart wisdom that may be life altering--which brings us to...

Snakes as Symbols of Transformation
The ouroboros is one of the more famous snake-transformation symbols. In it, a snake can be seen biting it's own tail, revealing to us the cyclical nature of life. See the link below for more information on this fascinating symbol.

Okay... now that's just worrying. Just to prove what a nerd I am, when I was typing 'dreams about snakes' in the search box, I accidently typed 'dreams about snapes'. How I wish I would dream about Snape more often. :)

I've read 300 pages of 'Let Us C' today. I never thought I'd say this but if someone even mentions 'a pointer' I'll go crazy.

The brain is a funny thing

2007-11-13T19:49:00.000+05:30

A badly timed Happy Diwali!!
This diwali I spent more time with my friends than my family. I went to Sarasbaug with my friends at 5:30 in the morning. I was the first one to rise up in the household. *pats back*
Here are some of the pictures.

My situation at home is a bit different to my liking. My mum is at home ALL THE TIME now, leaving me no time alone. I need to spend some time alone otherwise I'm afraid people will drive me insane. I'm not barking at humanity or whining "leave me aloooooone"; I just like to keep some time to myself. There she is, keeping check of everything I'm doing everysingle nano second of the day and I just need to get away from that. My grandpa's here now, so he provides the comic relief on the dining table with his witty stories and experiences. He's a hero, truly. I'm used to coming home tired, watching TV and my parents turn up after 3-4 hours.
And now, everywhere I go she's there.
I don't adjust to change very easily, I'm in a transit mode now.

I need to study my ass off. So far, I haven't done anything substantial. With my practical exams nearing, I'm hoping I'll pull myself to together and hit the books. Please, please, oh God, if you're out there (or not) sent a nice lady for the orals. I'm a nervous kid and those snarky cruel ones make me even more nervous.

Now what I am going to explain, is the most amazing thing I've seen in recent times. I came across this a few months ago and I just forgot to post about it. Take a moment out of your crummy lives and stare at the image below. (Open the image in a new window. Blogger is a bitch and doesn't show animations).

Which way does she rotate?
Clockwise: It means you use more of the right side of your brain.
Counter clockwise: You use more of the left side of your brain.

But for my friend, it's anti-clockwise. If I concentrate enough, I can make it move anti clockwise. It took me hours to get it done. I wasted a good portion of my day on this. Another trick works too. If your move your leg or finger anticlockwise, the girl moves that way too.
I can also make it stop or go slower.
I'm really intrigued how the person came up with this.

This was originally taken from here.

This kept me glued for the day, more than Ian Holloway's crazy ramblings. (That man is such a loveable nutter. ^_^ )

Now my mum's yelling and calling me to dinner.
must-keep-calm.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November!

2007-11-05T09:57:00.000+05:30

I need to watch V for Vendetta. Marvelous movie.

Why have UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights gone to Ten Sports??? They've teamed up with Zee Sports which I do not get. Sadly, they never show the match which I want to see. So I sit with Sopcast or TVants and their crappy streams. Occasionally there's a good 143kbps stream and I can watch the whole thing smoothly.
Ten Sports don't even show repeat of ALL matches; just the 4 that they show live. While Zee Sports shows 8.

Also, my Sex Pistols folder had mysteriously disappeared but I've restored it back. 'God Save the Queen', 'Bodies', 'Anarchy in UK'. Haven't heard that album in a while.

My mom's new laptop arrived yesterday. HP dv24000, Special Edition. Vista startup is so slow. So played around with it first. After a few hours when my mum started it, it booted and hasn't worked since. I'm jinxed.

So I end this post with a video that I never get tired of and makes me giggle every time. I wonder who bribed that kid (other than Dennis Wise). ~_^

It's been long overdue

2007-10-30T19:28:00.001+05:30

There are a lot of thoughts clattered up in my head, I'm just gonna write stuff randomly.

01. I went on a weekend trip to Varkala which is an hour drive from Trivandrum. It's a nice quite place. Beach isn't that big but it's okay. The water is so clear, you can see the seabed below for a long distance. I mostly slept the entire time, watched TV, played Sudoko on my iPod and read Trinity Blood. Mum and I played carrom everyday after dinner. Now that I'm back, I still can't shake off my vacation mood and now being the PL doesn't help either.

02. Chelsea 6 - Manchester City 0
Wow. Possibly one of the best Chelsea action that I've seen. City isn't exactly a very strong team but this season they've been fabulous to watch and hard to beat. Also they beat a team which was above them in the table by a large margin. All credit to the blues and now they're 4th in the table. Lampard was great in midfield and made good assists. Drogba was in his excellent form as usual. It was good to see Kalou, Cole and Sheva score. All those doubting Avram Grant are now rethinking their comments. Now for a little rant on the whole issue of Lampard being booed at Wembley. I'm not his biggest fan but I think booing of any player is just humiliating and reflects badly on the image of the country. Yes, he's been out of form for England but how is booing going to improve that? Fans need to think of another channel to show what they feel about the coach's decision. England's midfield isn't the best as portrayed in the Russia defeat. How about giving Barry and Lampard a chance?

03. Trinity Blood was a far more violent book than I imagined but it was good to read the backstory on the anime. Abel is <3.

04. This is an interesting read about how ISP's block P2P traffic.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20071026/cm_huffpost/069960
It's a wee bit scary for me but it's a lng time since Sify might do that. For some time they had a loophole in it's speed limit checking. My 256mbps connection would provide 2000mbps. It was a glorious time. :)

My broken wings

2007-10-06T19:53:00.000+05:30

I've been keeping away from blogger for some time now. Loads has happened but I just didn't feel inclined to posting it.

To a certain someone,

I'm trying very hard to like you. I really do. But everytime I come close to doing that you go ahead and make me hate you again. Please change. I can't keep dealing with your pettiness. It's annoying and gets on my nerves.

No love,
Me.

This week has exploded with birthdays. Couple of my college friends, my mom and dad.

I also had all submissions this week. I stayed up from 9 to 4:30 yesterday and completed my entire PL file from scratch. Keeping me company was my TV of course. I saw two movies - John Tucker Must Die and Teaching Ms Tingle. Then I saw a Bundesliga match, Dormund won. That was followed by Powerpuff girls, Scooby Doo and Johnny Bravo. Yes, go ahead and laugh. :)

I've been listening to the Trinity Blood soundtrack. I love Dress, Requiem. I <3 J-rock.

I'm finally updating my music library on Record Nerd.
http://www.recordnerd.com/lists/zephyr/

Twenty20: India vs. Pakistan (FINAL)

2007-09-25T22:45:00.000+05:30

OH MY GAWD!!!

WE ACTUALLY WON!!!

*passes out*

I watched the match with my college friends. We enjoyed every second of it. We also went to FC road at night to witness all the frenzy; people dancing on the road and moving on their bikes with flags. It was such a high. :D :D

I've installed ALL expansion packs of Sims 2. It's working perfectly well. XD

It's been a very sporty week

2007-09-23T09:53:00.000+05:30

I say that because this post is going to be filled with sports news and it's all so scattered in my brain.
I am so incredibly happy with India's performance at Twenty20. Who isn't? Initially, I thought we'd be out in the group stages itself but now I think we might actually win this damn tournament.

Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea. My eyes literally popped out when I read this. It's a sad, sad time for Chelsea with the players conflicting and Avram being appointed as the new coach. I'm worried about today's ManU v. Chelsea game. Will they get away from the tension and shine or will it crush them?

College is going on as usual and the term end is nearing (6th Oct).

Twenty20: India vs. Pakistan

2007-09-15T08:52:00.000+05:30

It was an epic EPIC match. Wow.
After the early fall of wickets, I thought winning this game was out of our hands but Uthappa and Dhoni created a great partnership. I think the batting was consistent. Even with the fall of wickets, the players did not break under the pressure but rose above and batted well, if not very well.
With the loss of early wickets I think 141 was a reasonable score. Mohammad Asif bowled really well. There wasn't much our batsmen could do when he bowled.

Then came the time to field. Harbhajan and Sreesanth bowled the first few overs splendidly. Fielding was good too though I wish Agarkar hadn't dropped that hit from Afridi. The last 5 overs were so tense and the game was thrilling. when it came down to 5 runs from 3 balls I was clutching my gut! In end Pakistan had to make 1 run from 1 ball. Dhoni called in the fielders and Misbah was run out. It was superb!!

It was a tie India : 141 - 9 and Pakistan: 141-7. The winner was to be determined by a bowl out which is similar to a penalty shootout. I didn't even know something like this existed. It was one of the highlights of the match. As Sehwag came out first, he had a big smile on his face. ;p

It certainly wasn't the best performance. There's a lot to improve on but it was adequate and I'm proud of the team! :)

In other happenings, it's Ganesh Chatturthi. :)
And my unit tests are over in which I've just managed to pass in most subjects.

And NEW LAYOUT!!! Made this kick ass layout a few days ago. Did lots of tampering with the original code. :D
(I do not lie when I say that I am manipulative)

Minutes slipping by

2007-09-08T16:31:00.000+05:30

I'm watching The Hours. Time and again I've been repeating, I hate that movie. It's depressing. Anyone who's watching it is left with thoughts of how his/her life is meaningless and how to kill oneself or just get away from everything. The music is eerie and doesn't help to lift the mood.
This isn't one of my most well formed opinions but it's one of the strongest.
So why the hell was I watching it?? My mom was and I was just keeping her company. I ended up watching it for an hour (no pun intended). She loves this movie. I have no idea why. She even bought the DVD but watches it on Zee Studio. Note the irony here. Depression is a very touchy topic for me and anything that goes near it just drives me up the wall.

Usually, exams are the time when I am most creative. Escapism, yes, it has it's perks.
I really hope I come up with some good ideas for a thing. I haven't had much luck coming up with a good one yet. Sorry, but I can't mention what this is about.

I had my PL practical exam yesterday. I got an easy program and my oral was mediocre. I'll pass.
Then all of us went to see Harmony, an inter college singing and dance competition. We cheered and howled for our college and boo-ed the others (some of them were just pathetic). We were a noisy bunch. I'm sure the crowd around us was perturbed and apprehensive.

England v. Israel Euro Qualifier match is coming up in a few hours and I'm excited!!! Please, please, please let them win!!!!

If I were to buy a new cell phone, presently, my choice would be k850i.

There is nothing left to prove

2007-09-04T21:19:00.000+05:30

Aditi's birthday was a blast. There was a bit of tension among as we continue our rare meetings with bickerings and all. Even an occasion as a birthday wasn't spared from our sour moods.
Anyway, we hung out at her place in the morning and later ordered food. Then we took third helpings of a very creamy blackforest cake.
Later on we went to LUSH. The name is a bit of an irony I guess. Compared to the other clubs, it isn't so great. But we enjoyed there too. You see, the place doesn't matter, we just need to be together. ;)

After that, we went back to Aditi's house and took a stroll around her house. Had SPDP which was very very spicy.
That was my Sunday. From 9 to 9 I was out. Now that my midsems are approaching my dad is scolding and nagging me at every opportunity he gets. I'm amazed how he never gets tired of it.

We're also keeping a intra-college talent hunt. It'll help us to pick out people for Firodiya and Purshottam.

Now I have 3 write-ups to complete and there's no good movie on. I'll have to find something else to amuse me.

Making things less complicated

2007-08-28T20:49:00.000+05:30

>>>>CLICK THIS<<<<

The sheer brilliance of this comic. It shows that what we all lack is common sense. I agree the things aren't always black and white and usually more complicated to deal with (to be noted that this complication is created by us). But it shows how these intricacies can be made to look simple.

We had a successful mass bunk in college today. We went to see Heyy Babyy at E-square and then had CadB. The movie was exactly what I expected, the creation of a not-so-sober script writer with lots of mindless comedy. This means that I had many chances to pass comments and in turn enjoy the movie. Yes, I particularly enjoy seeing bad movies because it's much more fun to criticize them. :)

I'm addicted to The Office. I'm watching season 1 now.

SPACIOUS

2007-08-27T21:40:00.000+05:30

For once, by computer isn't on the verge of giving me low memory space notifications.
I'm loading all the Gilmore Girls, Heroes, Grey's Anatomy and The Daily Show episodes that uptil now resided on my iPod.
I have an entire 25Gb dedicated just to songs. SQUEEEEE!!!!

College was fun as usual. The seminar on hacking is postponed to Saturday, so I HAD TO attend college the full day. I completed all the DEL write ups though.

Tomorrow, I might go to see Hey Baby.

Red is feminine

2007-08-26T22:31:00.000+05:30

All of a sudden my dad is apprehensive that his brand new N76 is red in color because its a bit "girly". Yes, all this within 24 hours. I am having a jolly good time poking fun at his selection and my mom is secretly trying to convince him to give her the phone (which is far too complicated by her standards and she admits this).

I just watched ManU vs. Tottenham. ManU won 1-0.
Nani's goal was brilliant but Berbatov made excellent moves, all stopped by Ferdinand.

I might attend a seminar on hacking tomorrow. But mostly I'm glad I'll be able to bunk 2 lectures and a practical. ^_^

I'm adding more space to my computer tomorrow. Maybe then I'll install Linux. I just have to see how to dualboot XP and Linux and get the whole partitions thing down right.

I find it hard to accept things as they are sometimes. I usually don't expect much from people. But when I do, rarely do I find the comfort adequate. Why am I built this way?! It fucking hurts.

Crash

2007-08-26T09:21:00.000+05:30

I don't know if I should even mention this. Initially, I was shit scared about what was going to happen for the boy. Then I was worried about us. It's all ended smoothly, or atleast that's what I'm told. How they might've reached that conclusion, I don't know.
I hope that boy gets well soon.

I hate being cryptic but I have to maintain anonymity here.

And another win for Chelsea against Portsmouth! I didn't watch the match though.

I met my jr. college crowd yesterday. They're the only ones who actually "get me". I have to meet them atleast once a week or I really start going crazy.

ETA: We got N76 for my dad. I think it's hideous and bulky but he liked the red color. @_@

Mimicry is a sincere form of flattery...

2007-08-21T20:17:00.000+05:30

... but I'm freaking tired of it. Cut it out. It bothers me and I feel trapped.

Your views disturb me. I pretend like I'm too conceited to notice, but I do.

Life isn't fair, I know this only too well. But I want just this one thing to work in my favor.

***

I saw Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 yesterday. It's a must see for every anime lover. If not, you must see it for the visual effects which are spectacular and the music score is very moving and adds well to the theme.
It's basically set in the futuristic dystopia, a period when robots and humans have merged. Humans have a robotic body (maintaining the natural look) while the only human part in them is their soul (aka ghost). Their memories and spirit are the only things that bind them to the human counterpart.
So when a company kidnaps two girls to create sex dolls, the victim manipulates some dolls to make them kill humans so that the police would notice. And they do.

The story goes deeper than just the mystery. It explores the human and robotic relationship. How humans create robots, making them as humanly as possible and still mistreat them.

Also, Black Jack is starting on Animax today. I have my regular fixation restored. ^_^
I look forward to seeing Pinnoco's 'OHMYGOODNESS!!!!'.

A busy week

2007-08-20T15:40:00.000+05:30

Yesterday's match: Chelsea 1 - Liverpool 1
I'll admit this painfully, but that penalty should not have been awarded. Liverpool deserved to win. They pwned in the first half. Malouda jumped so that Drogba could run with the ball and just collided. Definitely not a penalty.

9 players booked?? Fuck Rob Styles.

The freshers party was amazing!! All went as planned and was a huge success.
But the I'll miss all the frenzy and planning (and waking up at 4am to iron the sashes) that went into it. I enjoyed every minute of it.

I might just upgrade my harddrive to 120 GB.

And we also bought Tata Sky. The cable connection we had was atrocious compared to Sky. The picture quality is amazing. Vh1, Animax, BBC Entertainment!!! I can finally watch 'Dr. Who'. Man, I just saw Powerpuff Girls in english.It was good to hear it in their original voices again. ;)

After traveling through a lot of friends, I finally have possession of my Deathly Hallows copy. I'm re-reading it now.

And yes, the unit tests were fine. I passed all papers. I didn't study much for them anyway, so I didn't expect a lot.

I can't think of a title today. So I'm just going to spam this space to make it look long. There. My longest title yet.

2007-08-04T09:18:00.000+05:30

I'm so incredibly bored today. I thought I'd complete some of my drawings today. But I don't feel like doing that. What I want to do... is nothing.
So I've bunked college today and I can think of nothing better to do, so I'll just spill all that's happened this week.

We're all organising a freshers' party of the century. Since we received a very poorly managed and non entertaining one, we've put all our energy in pampering and spoiling our FE's. Those midgets are lucky to have us!! This is probably on the 18th of August.

On 11th August our class is having a trip to Guhaghar. I've never been there before. Even though I'm showing that I'm optimistic, I'm almost certain that it's going to rain there. But I presume it'll be a lot of fun.

I'm also having my unit tests from Monday. Shouldn't I be studying? Honestly, I think last minute study works best for me. I don't remember things I study 2 weeks before anyway.

We had a blast on Ashwini's birthday. We planned to go to Khadakwasla but after lunch we were all drowsy. So instead we watched MP3 and Premonition.
MP3 - OMG. Are you telling me that Indian airport security is so mismanaged that even an annoying stud an get through with a fake passport? This was mental torture. I was literally pulling my hair out. Have these idiots never heard of mobile phones? Telephones? Email? Messenger? I'd rate it in negative out of 5.

Premonition - A very confusing movie. We all got it in the end until the scene came where she's pregnant. Is her husband dead or not? Surely, I've missed something.

Deathly Hallows - Review

2007-08-01T20:16:00.000+05:30

This goes without saying but SPOILER ALERT!!!
DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNLESS YOU'D WANT THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK INFLICTED ON YOUR PRECIOUS EARS!!!

+ Snape!!! OMG!!! You poor, poor self sacrificing person. I stood by my man and he's good and that's all I basically wanted in this book. I bet all Snape fans like me are happy that he's finally in the clear. Not just that but he's damn brilliant, being so efficient in occlumency.
+Harry/Ginny. Bleh. I still ship Harry/Luna.
+ 19 years later chapter was really cheezy. And how unoriginal can they be with names. Albus? Lily? James? WTF?!
+ I have a new favourite name - Xenophilius. If I ever manage to get a pet, I'm naming him/her that.
+ I kind of feel sorry for the Malfoy family now. Especially Narcissa.
+Best line in the book "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!". Molly rocks even though often I don't always agree with her over protective tactics.
+Lupin dies. That really sucked.
+ Teddy Lupin?? You've got to be kidding me. But nothing sucked more than Lupin trying to escape from this marriage, very soap opera-ish. It looks like he married Tonks just to keep her happy. How retarded is that?
+ Mourning for Dobby. He died heroically.
+Killing just Fred was cruel. Either kill them both or let them BOTH live.
+Dumbledore being a power hungry wizard is something hard to believe... but I guess that was a part of what made this book so good. All the unexpected things inspite of all the theories that people had accumulated and predicted.

I really loved this book. Other than the prologue, I felt the war, the power, the people, it all did justice to the momentum created.

Yes, I am depressed that there is no other book to look forward to.

I've been a fan since I was 12 and Harry Potter has been a big part of me for the last 6 years. To see it all end now is disheartening. I know I sound like a crazy person but I'm sure every Potter obsessed fan is feeling the same.

Pre- Deathly Hallow Post

2007-07-20T20:14:00.000+05:30

Frankly, I am upset that Deathly Hallows got leaked. I can completely understand the curiosity of some people who got spoiled accidently. But, even more so, I'm surprised that I haven't done anything about it. A few years back being spoiled would not have mattered so much, but since it's the last book, the nostalgia has kicked in and I'm refraining from downloading or seeing the spoiler comments.

I'll be present at Crossword at 6am for the book release and I'm not attending college tomorrow. You heard me. I'm taking a Potter leave. :-)

9 more hours... almost there.

OMGYAY!!!

Scary and Damaged

2007-07-19T20:07:00.000+05:30

I've finished watching Grey's Anatomy Season 3 and Gilmore Girls Season 7. I'm watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, the entire fucking series!!! Right from season one, back when the visual effects were obsolete compared to today's standards. Picard looks a bit peeky but Riker is awesome as always.
OOTP Review: *SPOILER ALERT*
I actually enjoyed this movie. I think I'm past the point where I compare it endlessly to the book and find faults. I've learned to accept the movies as a bonus visual aid. I think they did a brilliant job of showing how Umbridge rises and conquers. Umbridge was excellent; annoying to her last pink tea cup. Luna was just amazing, loony to every last detail. I was looking forward to seeing Mrs. Black's portrait and her insults. I wish they had included that. The grand Fred and George exit was really good to see. Missed McGonagall's reaction's though.
As usual, I don't think people who haven't read the book have any clue what is going on in the film. Bellatrix is perfect but looked more like a heavily drugged hooker.
The duelling scenes were amazing. I mean, I could hardly make out what was going on, but that's the point, right? Dumbledore vs. Voldemort: The most stunning piece of visual effects in the entire movie. Loved it.
Voldemort in a suit???? WTF? I can think of all the icons I can make with that screencap and quotes like "Suit Up" or "Ready to Mingle" or "Ready to Muggle" or "Dark Lord needs a date" or "Taking YOU to the Ball" or "Your fashion nightmare". Yes, I'm on crack.
Ron was gorgeous, wished he had more lines.
********************************************************

2 days more to go!!! I'm uber excited!! I hope Crossword opens at 6 am like they did for the Half Blood Prince release.

I had to make a presentation for my Soft Skills lab. I did it on "Indian Rock Scene". And I also discovered Split Magazine Radio. Damn, how did I not notice this before?! I think mine went okay. I didn't really have much material to present. Well, I made the presentation from 8 to 12 on Sunday night and it was due on Monday. That hardly gave me time to even "reherse" for it.

OMGCAPSLOCK EXCITEMENT!!!!!

2007-07-13T18:23:00.000+05:30

I'M GOING, I'M GOING.... TO SEE OOTP!!!!

TONIGHT!!!!

I haven't been this excited about something since... *inserts something important*.
And the fact that I've had a really nice day so far may also have something to do with my rare super happy mood. I spent time with some of my friends who I miss dearly.
I also did a lot of lukkhagiri during practicals because I really had nothing to do. :)

I booked the tickets yesterday and also pre-ordered Deathly Hallows. I know, I taint on my reputation to pre-order it a week before it's release.

I'm also seeing it tomorrow and day after tomorrow. Yes, three times. Technically I should watch it 5 times but I don't have that much money to spend.

You should expect a big Ootp review.

This is where I predict the next one year

2007-07-08T12:16:00.000+05:30

I don't even know if I should be writing this. I am BEYOND happy. Something that I've been hoping for, for a very long time has finally happened (just as I predicted). Yay!
On the other hand, I'm very uncomfortable about how things are going to move forward and if I will ever be able to let go of my prejudice and impressions about the matter.
There. I will remain cryptic.

College started again this week with practicals and all. It was okay. The class was very boring but I assume that's about to change very soon.

I was watching the Live Earth concert for the last 24 hours, minus sleep time. Notible performances were of Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, KT Tunstall, The Police, Pink Floyd, LP etc. Loved watching it.

I am currently wallowing in the fact that I'll be losing contact with some of the friends I've made overtime. I need more normalcy in my life. Seriously.

ETA: I'm writing a personal essay for my Soft Skills lab. And I admit, writing about yourself has got to be one of the most unsatisfying things on the planet. But I'd be better at writing a hate letter to myself. Oh, my cynicism, it never ceases to shock me.

Back to College Blues

2007-07-01T12:09:00.000+05:30

I came back from Nagpur on 28th. It's cloudy and the perfect welcoming weather that I hoped for. I also had a chat with Ashwini that day and we decided to watch exorcist, so I rushed to her house. We drew the curtains, tried to make the setting a bit spooky although we didn't try to over do it because we do get scared easily (that's what we thought).

The Exorcist - Not as scary as we thought it could be. The print was good but the sound kept fluctuating. I didn have nightmares that ight and was spooked for a while. The scene which I found particularly disturbing was when Reagen is in the initial stages of possession and she's being thrown back and forth on the bed. That's just nasty. I guess the special effects wore off on me. But her possessed voice was positively scary. I can only the imagine the terror this movie inflicted on minds at the time it was released. Yikes. @_@

The Pursuit of Happiness - I loved this movie. I may not watch it again but it's of of those movies which one has to see atleast once and learn something from it. It had a happy ending and a well deserved one too. There was no sex, abuse, drugs etc involved which is what normally comes to my mind for those situations. Will Smith acted superbly and so did that little boy.

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - It's a nice light chick flick. Jui had just read the book and I still had this on my computer. Bridget rocked. That girl can scare the hell out of any boy and we totally enjoyed the movie because of her. All the commenting and laughs we had during the movie really reminded us of the old times. This whole sisterhood thing sounds like so much fun. I've had many attempts at this kind of thing in my school life. Didn't always last for more than a few months. What I mean is, I love scrapbooks.

I did manage to do a bit of reading in Nagpur. Most of the time I was engrossed in the 1001 Sudoko book but I did read.

Princess by Jean Sasson - This is a really depressing book. I don't mean to say that it's bad. It's an eye opener to the situation that woman face in Saudi Arabia. The incidents descibed, I find so tragic and horrifying. It's a very gripping book. You just can't put it down.

I'm also reading Good Omens right now. And more on my list is Ayn Rand and more of Anne Rice.

I installed Safari Beta. That extreme font smoothening is going to take time to get used. It keeps crashing on long use. Also, Firefox for some reason has been possessed by a demon and won't work!!! It keeps crashing too. I've started using IE again. Perhaps the Internet Gods are angry with me or maybe Karma is biting me back for something.

I downloaded the latest 69 Eyes album. Immersing myself in Gothic Metal!!!

To end all the happy and fun thoughts, college starts tomorrow. We'll be seniors (sort off). Is it suposed to give you this feeling of invincibility and pwnge? Because I think that's only for people with egos and low self esteem. I looking forward to meet new people. Not trying to push away the friends I've already made but maybe in the deep recesses of my mind I am.

ETA: I am a walking contradiction. And I hate that.

I love the internet

2007-06-22T16:19:00.001+05:30

It's raining! It's the proper onset-of-the-monsoon type of rains! I'm going shopping after some time. I'm also heading to Nagpur tomorrow and will be back on 28th. So, to my *few and non-existent* readers, you shall be spared from my wrath for the next few days.

24hr news channels suck. Most of them do anyway. They've turned journalism into a game of "Who's got the stupidest news?" They do not need to endorse Rakhi Sawant or Janvi's newest stunt or something about a drunk sadhu "performing" his "rituals" in a temple. What happened to the point blank direct news told in the drone-ish voice? I prefer that. I do not need emotional music or the side effects mimicked from K serials. We're degrading like the mainstream news in USA.

Zee News, Star News, Aaj Tak, India TV - I hope you rot in journalistic hell.

Soon this might takeover the existing "good" channels too. At least that seems to be the trend. And this is where come back to my subject, I LOVE THE INTERNET. It seems to be the only reliable source excluding all the nonsense and riff raff. And if a certain article is not upto mark, all the fanboys out there will comment in a dignified harsh language or simply by excessive use of expletives and let the public know that it is a piece of crap. :)
One of the few occasions when anonymity has it's perks.

Paradise beyond FE: Part 1

2007-06-21T09:44:00.000+05:30

It still hasn't fully registered in my head that I'm done with the first year. The big tsunami before the open ocean has been dealt with. This is the last time -

I will have to deal with top view, front view, penetration of solids and all that crap which was also a big source for dirty jokes. ;p
Chemistry. I've always hated you.
Electrical Engg and Electronics. It's interesting, yes but it's just not my cup of tea.

The past few days have been tiring. Ever been tired of fun? Been there, done that. :D

19th -
We saw Cheeni Kum. Wonderful movie. loved it to the core. Sexy gave the best performance amongst all. Then we proceeded to Abhishek for lunch. Had malai kofta there after a long time.
We hung out for a while and went to MIT for a nice walk. It was cloudy and windy, really nice atmosphere. Then we headed over for a sleepover. We were so tired, still I stayed up and watched Sunshine on a really bad CD. It kept getting stuck and basically, I could make no sense of the movie. We didn't watch the whole thing. We got really put off by the bad print. We went straight to bed and slept like babies. :)

20th - Had idli for breakfast and a really nice time and chatted a lot. Then we all met up again in the afternoon and went to Pyramid, Crossword and did quite a lot of window shopping. On our walk back to teh parking it was drizzling... so we got wet too! Aah... it felt so nice. Then we also had butta and then headed back to my house and had CadB.

I've survived the First Year

2007-06-18T21:34:00.000+05:30

As of now, I'm a azad panchi... as I like to call it.
My
Exams are OVER and I shan't be thinking about studies for till the next one!! Right now, all on my mind is how I'm going to enjoy the next few days to the fullest.
I met Vaidehi and Juili at McD this evening. We chatted together after such a long time!

We've carved out a very ambitious plan: Fifteen movies in two days.
You read it right. Here's the list I've compiled so far

Pirates of the Carribean: AWE
Cheeni Kum
Metro
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (even though I know it's no good)
Shrek 3
Spiderman 3
Ocean's 13
Sunshine

Well, that's all I can think of now. I also installed Photoshop CS2. So now I'm immersing myself in selective coloring goodness.

Oh man, basking in the goodness of unlimited free time and luxury... I feel so rejuvinated!!
And today I feel the need to use exclamations excessively !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything good in life is overrated.

2007-06-15T19:48:00.002+05:30

Yes, it's true.
I feel incredibly uninspired today and hence I bring you a angsty, self-centered post.
I have is incorrigible habit of screwing things up when they seem to be going fine. I won't go into details but this really drives me over the edge.

I'm almost done with my semester exams. Just one more paper to go (graphics).

Engg Maths - I'm a math loving kid. I don't always ace in maths but in general I prefer it to any other subject. But this semester, I shunned maths and it went well into my "Things I despise" list. Curve tracing, double integration. Ugh. I'm not expecting above 60. It will suffice to say that it was bad.

Applied Science - This was supposed to be the saviour. The balancer, equilizer. The peacemaker, if you prefer bad movie puns. The paper I studied the most for and utilised two full days digging deeper into my tattered text book. I had sleepless nights. What a HUGE let down it was. I blanked on so many questions. My incomplete and absurd answers will make any teacher cringe. I'm not even sure if I'll pass this one. I'm on the borderline fence for this paper. *hides in shame*

Mechanics - Wow, truly, surprises come when you least expect them. Statics was a breeze. I just hope I've calculated everything right. Dynamics was so-so. I could solve the things I had prepared well for. I think I might just pass in this one.

Electronics - The best paper yet. I didn't blank out as I thought I would. But I kept getting distracted during the paper. I was just so bored to write! I can safely expect above 50 in this one. I know how disastrous that sounds, but really, I have stooped that low.

Rumour has it that the Graphics paper is going to be difficult this year. Yeh Gods! Help me!

I'm not a person who particularly enjoys celebrity gossip. I despise it sometimes. But this whole Paris going to jail thing is just way too much fun to be had. Indulging in bad celebrity gossip is my guilty pleasure I guess. And I present to you, the picture of 2007. You almost feel bad for her but then you realize how much more fun it is to watch her suffer. I'm human. :)

Warriors of Innocence vs Six Apart vs LJ users

2007-05-31T21:41:00.000+05:30

I need a break from amplifiers and current gain and all that crap I'm trying to feed into my brain.
It's raining!!! Yes, I know how childish that sounds but it's the only constant thing that always uplifts my mood. And possibly every other post during the monsoons will contain it so please bear with me. :-) And might I add, how wonderful I feel when it rains and how refreshing it is. Boy, do I love the smell of mud and watching the sky.
I don't really consider myself as a extreme nature lover so these are the few times when I do actually express my joy for it.

It's been a day(s) of wank like never before at LiveJournal. Wow, this melting pot just keeps getting hotter.

How does it all start?
Warriors of Innocent is an organization that has pledged to fight against child abuse, pedophiles etc. Sue over at WFI send letters to LJ about the advertisments and

communities that were being run by pedophiles on the great green land of LJ. Some had accounts of people describing how they committed child rape and other offences.

While some expressed their desire in form of writing in these communities. Whether they were true crimes being told or just fictional writings, I can't really tell. Sue pressurized LJ to take some action and close down these communities. LJ crew over-reacted and started picking out journals and communities which had the interests child rape, pedophilia, incest etc and started deleting them without warning.

So where does the problem arise?
They deleted a community which discussed the book Lolita. Did it ever occur that despite the objectionable subject, the book is a literary marvel and that people with interests in the writing were a part of the community and that that is solely what it exsisted for? Similarly in various fandoms incest, pedophilia are widely a subject of pairings. However, this is just FICTION. Just because someone writes weasleycest or a Hermoine/Snape fanfic, it doesn't mean that they are pedophiles or a reason for concern. The characters are fictional. LJ however, deleted even these innocent journals. This caused a rage among all fellow LJers. Another side of the whole ordeal was support groups. Rape and abuse victims had all listed their interests in a similar fashion. Some of the support communities were also deleted.
The problem here isn't that they were trying to drive away the real culprits but that a large percentage of those driven were innocent and that it was all carried out carelessly and in an impatient manner. This was also seen as a deprivement on freedom of speech by many. But mostly it was "I want to read my pr0n".

What they should have done:
1. READ the content of the community or journal before blasting it into the oblivion.
2. They should have given prior warnings to the users who had objectionable content and a period for them to justify it. They would have solved the problem of RPG groups and fanfic communities being dissolved.
3. Go back to 1.

Now after two full days of misery and whining, LJ/Six Apart CEO surfaced and posted a reasonable apology where they admitted that they did screw up.
Way to go LJ! Don't make such a mistake again!
And now they are reinstating the journals that are legitimate.

And so it ends ~~for now~~!

A lazy sunday

2007-05-27T18:16:00.000+05:30

This is a pointless post brought to you by a overburdened, antagonized and glum me.

The Daily Show is the BEST SHOW on earth (after my other regular fixations). I crack myself up everytime. And also because the opinion is generally agreeable. I love Jon Stewart. He's the only one who can manage to pull off presenting serious topics with sensible humour.
Gilmore Girls is over. Season 7 was a bit dull compared to the rest but I still heart the show.
I'm undecided on whether I should download LOST season 3. Unfortunately, the finale is already spoiled. :( But it's a show that's more fun to watch on TV. I think I'll just skip this one.
And finally, I need to catalog my muzik collection. Cd-Tracker? Recordnerd? Listal? I can't decide.

Stuff I have to watch after my exams:

The Tudors
Planet Earth
An Inconvenient truth
Dirt. I just want to see Courtney Cox in action. :)
I had once taken Jeeves and Wooster DVD from BCL. I want to try to find more such movies.
Doctor Who

And that's it for now. Next time I might post a list of books I want to read. The last one I read (Anne Rice) was in March.

Crazy times lie ahead of me

2007-05-24T16:11:00.000+05:30

I'm lagging behind in my studies. Everyday I promise myself to do better and I end up reading Iraqi blogs or watching La Liga matches.
The last time I studied with full concentration was in college with my friend in a 3 hour span doing dynamics. I can take on any problem on 'impact' now but the rest of the paper is as new to me as it was six months ago.

I cannot wait for this semester to get over!!! I just want to fast forward to the next one. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic about my future years. What if it's not as good as I'm hoping it will be?
And this is the time when I tell myself to stop anticipating the future and worrying about everyone else's problems when clearly I have quite a few of my own to deal with.

I miss hanging out with my friends. The last time we all met was at McD's and that was many days ago.

I had freak out moment with my ipod yesterday. I connected my iPod and iTunes wouldn't come up. It also didn't detect the drive. So obviously the "Do not disconnect" message didn't go away after I pulled out the USB cord and I freaked out. I went to the iPod FAQ and had to reset it. Everything went back to normal and no harm done (yet).
It's the feeling you get when your new computer hangs for the first time and you realize that it's not "new" anymore.

File Transfer Websites: Comparison Chart

2007-05-22T09:16:00.000+05:30

This applies to only free service not paid accounts.

Site	Max File Size per file	Period of Hosting
Up-File	1 Gb	Unlimited
Giga Size	1.5 Gb	90 Days
Mega Upload	500 Mb	90 days
Send Space	300 Mb	7 days
MediaFire	100 Mb	unlimited
YouSendIt	100Mb	7 Days
Rapidshare	100 Mb	90 days
Spread-It	500 Mb	14 Days
FileSend	120Mb	45 Days
Uploading	300 Mb	30 Days
Gigeshare	2 Gb	90 Days
File Factory	300 Mb	7 Days
Divshare	200 Mb	unlimited

FA Cup 2007 - CHELSEA WON!!!!

2007-05-19T22:19:00.000+05:30

HELL YES!!!

Chelsea-1, Man U-0
What an amazing match! The first half was a drag and literally put me to sleep. A few shots from Lampard and Drogba but nothing exciting happened there. The second half is when the game really took pace. ManU had more attacks in place but Cech skillfully dodged them. I really thought the match would turn to penalties; glad that didn't happen though.
Drogba's goal was magnificent and so was Lampard's initial kick.

Chelsea needed this. Especially after they lost the Premiership to ManU which was painful to watch.

How human are we?

2007-05-18T19:46:00.000+05:30

This rant is triggered by my last post, mainly this and the last few months that I've spent on digg. Comments on every single fucking article there always includes the following:
1. Atheists bashing non-atheists (and vice-versa)
2. Racism
3. Muslim hate
4. Blaming US for it's role in degrading Iraq

Coming back to my point, is believing or not believing in God that important to decide the measure of the crime? Terrorists, these bastards who killed Du'a are all extremists. I don't think extremism pertains to just a religion, caste etc. Every sect has it's set of senseless bastards who commit heinous crimes in name of their so called "religion" or "belief". Be it a socialist group or a weak political party, they are extremists.
So can we please just separate out these people. They are individuals. Charge them for what they did. There's no need to lash blame on an entire community. The Koran doesn't dictate mass murder nor does the Bible.
Hitler, Bin Laden, Mao, Du'a's killers, all they've done is in their own twisted ideology of what they believe in.

I hate it when an entire country, community is generalized and judged for one person's wrong doing. This is common sense and yet so uncommon

Low on productivity, high on idling

2007-05-18T16:34:00.000+05:30

I've had a very uneventful day so far. Studies are going on but at a very slow pace. Oh wait, it rained... HARD!!! Only for 10-15 minutes but I enjoyed every minute. It's very cool now and the surrounding looks very nice and fresh (except for nosy neighbors poking into my window).

I just came across this on digg. A Yezidi girl was stoned to death for falling in love with a Sunni boy.
This is just barbaric and vile. I can't believe those people just stood there cheering the whole "honour killing". How can people be so blind in the name of religion? Morality is lost these days.

More Speculation

2007-05-06T15:43:00.000+05:30

Indeed I'm fed up of reading more and more articles of how everyone enters the blame game of the VT shootings. Oh, the absurd things people write:
"Was he possesed by the devil?"
"Atheists don't know how to mourn"
And to top it off "Blame the liberals"
Can't we all just agree that Cho had a mental condition which garnered his state? Just leave it at that and move on.

And why is Big B entering SO many movies?! The whole older-guy-dating-a-younger-woman story is getting stale. Are we done with all age groups now? It's almost as if they want to make the most amount of movies with him before he dies. Geez, let the guy retire.

Just finished giving a set of torturing exams and I've just realized how little I've really learned this semester. I just want to fast forward to next year (leaving out the exam result too). Just one month till the Finals and I feel like I haven't touched anything. I have my preparation leave now which just makes it harder for me to focus. I study better under pressure.

I'm going to meet my old college friends today. All of us haven't met in a really long time. Looking forward to that. And I have to clean up my room. It's currently in the "Exam Aftermath" state which means clothes are all over the floor; so are pens, papers and books.

I'm listening to Year Zero (by Nine Inch Nails) now and it's by far the best stuff produced in a while. I feel guilty for not buying the CD especially after seeing the deal with Exterminal and the alternate reality game. I still haven't explored the site completely though.

The Virginia Tech Massacre

2007-04-18T14:43:00.000+05:30

I was watching this in absolute horror yesterday as the story unfolded.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/virginia-tech-shooting/20070416102509990001

I also just read Cho Seung's plays.
They are so disturbing and really unimaginable plots. There's no one I can really blame for this. Could this episode have been averted?
The campus being so big, even some students thought that it was an impossible task to get everyone informed. And it seems that Cho's peers and faculty were aware of his situation.
I can only pray that something on this scale never happens again.

Escapism is one of my worst habits. Must get back to studies. Pouring more thoughts on this won't do me any good.

Nonsensical Rambling

2007-04-09T20:44:00.000+05:30

It's been a while since my last post. Once again I have an urge to change my layout. However, preset ones won't do this time. I'll invest a little time and code one on my own.

1. How bizarre is this . An iPod??? Dodging a bullet???? Seriously, maybe you can embed pepper spray in an iPod and then it will be a complete defense unit for little 'ol civilians. And you can do it while listening to your favourite music. :) Even so, it's so funny and ridiculous. The guy has to give credit to a piece of plastic and circuitry. I hope his warranty is still valid though...
And this would be the perfect pun.

Maybe the next armour or bullet-proof jacket will come with an iPod. I still find this VERY amusing.
2. Nokia N95 is here!!!!! I say that my loyalties lie with Sony Ericsson because the mobiles phones have more features and the prices are reasonable but the heck with loyalties. This new cell phone on the block is LOADED. The best parts:
5 megapixel camera. Gosh, that's more than my current digital camera.
Maps of about 100 different countries with GPS. Not of much use unless I'm rich and a frequent traveller.
Dedicated music controls
The design is brilliant. Two-way sliding. What didn't anyone think of that before?
More pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnkgrl/sets/72157600047780205...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnkgrl/sets/72157600048630570...

But after reading the 12 page review from Mobile Burn I realize... some of Murphy's Laws are into effect. *sigh* It's not perfect. The battery life is depleting at a rate faster than cell regeneration on Claire Bennet and it barely lasts for a day on moderate usage. I just get the feel that it looks a bit like the T-Mobile Sidekick series.

3. And speaking of inventions, I had the weirdest dream last night where I invented a hovering mirror, for people who are obsessed with their looks and need to indulge in a bit of admiration-in-front-of-the-mirror every now and then. It hovers... how exactly? I haven't figured that out yet. But as I vaguely remember, it involves inserting a capsule in your forehead and wireless binding technology which I don't think has been invented yet; also breaking through Newton's equations. Anyway, it hovers in front of you while you walk or sit. It also has motion sensors which magically turn the mirror transparent so that you don't bump into anyone. Ingenious, right?

Yes, I'm very rambly today. Life is going fine. Not good or great or exciting, just fine. Now before I go into a self pity mode and turn this into a long emo post I will end it.
I have a Applied Mechanics exam tomorrow in which I might gracefully flunk. I need to go study now.

Misery meets no end

2007-01-18T20:19:00.000+05:30

I'm so pissed off. @!!!##@!!!
I can melt anything with a single stare. That's how mad I am.
*fumes*

And it looks like this might continue till 15th March.

The new semester has started at college and I hate my life already.
Will this never end?

And on a light note, I enjoy chases. ;)

The one with the Nithari killings

2007-01-16T11:36:00.000+05:30

I won't go into details of the whole story. I'll leave a link.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/nithari-40-bags-of-human-remains-found/top/31238-3.html

I've been following the whole story every since it first emerged. Yes, it was during the exams. I shamelessly watched NDTV for hours. This the first time something so huge and barbaric has happened in "my time". It's like a milestone, full of gor.

I just want to assess how ignorant we are. The police and government in this case were ignorant. At the same time, they did do something about it. They had set up a team for a fortnight two years ago and arrested Mohinder once. I'm not defending them but their side has to be considered too. I could be making blatant assumptions but Uttar Pradesh I believe, is a lot less secure than other states. Crime is probably more prevailing there with hundreds of missing children and kidnapping cases. It must be hard for the police force with they're meager resources to crack every case.
We've seen that public pressure usually helps in these things. People need to be more aware of their surroundings. We're so ignorant. I blame myself too. I see something bad on the road and I just forget about it. If the police cannot prioritize well the we have to do that for them. We may have to work hard for it but that doesn't change the fact that justice has to be delivered.
I remember once on my way to college I saw this man violently beating up his wife and kid. There were about 5-6 other men just watching the entire incident. They did nothing. But is it right for me to blame them when I didn't do anything either? I know, I was in a vehicle; I couldn't just jump on the road or possibly get involved in the ordeal. But the fact remains that I was ignorant too.

This probably isn't the first serial killer. Others just haven't been caught yet. I hate it when people lap things up by saying that "things aren't as bad as they are in the US". No, in fact, things are much worse here. We don't have any less number of rape cases; more than half of them aren't even reported. So many children are missing. God knows how many of them are being abused, dismembered and trapped in child trafficking.

It's pure ignorance that's driving us backwards.

Bad start for a new year

2007-01-16T10:51:00.000+05:30

It's obligatory to post mundane stuff, especially after going through killer exams. They were horrible. Much more difficult than I thought they would be. I am truly an idiot for underestimating things to such an extent. I think I'll pass in all. No wait, I HOPE I'll pass. The hell with first year Engineering.

How was my new year? Terrible. I was up working on complex numbers and watching Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in between. Ha.
And how was my birthday (on 4th Jan)? Equally depressing. There's not much to say when you have to spend the day doing chemistry and 3 hours trying to attempt a very harrowing paper. You come back home and there's no one to keep you company except friends who call (which I appreciate to the core. I love my friends!). Your birthday cake arrives at 10pm when there's no enthusiasm left. Yes, it was a fabulous day. A prefect 18th birthday.
I know I'm probably a bitch to even consider these petty things, but I can't help it.

I think I've changed over these 2-3 years in so many ways. I (sort of) know who I am and I love it. I think I was insecure and unsure of myself. I always needed approval of what I was doing just to have a clean conscious.
I'm much more independent now. I don't feel the need to rely or stick to people or even take sides. I just do what I feel is right.
My pessimism hasn't changed though. For every possible situation I only think of countless possible ways in which it can go wrong and fall apart. This has helped me in preventing some very disastrous things but I'm afraid that it might become my permanent mindset to think negative all the time. That's not healthy, is it?
I think I have a lot more trouble containing rage now. I don't turn the house upside down but I think it shows on my face when I'm angry or upset or I just start swearing more easily.
In certain ways I've taken a step backwards. I don't talk too openly now. I'm much more reserved now. It takes time for me to get used to people. I'm cautious about the friends I make. But it's made me more aware and self reliant. Is that good or bad? Maybe I should just stop contemplating and just let it be.
I think I've stopped expecting too much from people because it hurts so much when they don't reach that expectation. I never really blamed anyone else for this. I now it's entirely about the way I choose to see things. I've become more forgiving. I don't really hold grudges anymore. I just don't have the will to put up with that kind of hatred.

My take on media antics today

2006-12-26T10:07:00.000+05:30

Before I go into my full on bashing mode let me just say that the media does do some good work. these just some things that bother me or things that are worth praise.

1. First of all, we should be happy that we have been gifted the Freedom of Speech. I know it's a basic right but still... Thank God that it exists in our country.

2. What I hate about channels like NDTV is that they're also serving roles of MTV and V by showing trailers. When I turn on a news channel I expect to see news and good coverage on that. Not the latest trailer or song. Not an infinite amount of ad's. That's what Zoom and Mtv are for. I think they might as well create a channel for Ad's and keep the rest minimal.

3. What is the first thing you learn about report writing in school? You the tell the news AS IT IS. YOU DO NOT EXPRESS YOUR OPINION. This is exactly what channels like Aaj tak and Zee News aren't doing. They make everything so negative. It's as if the channel itself has a point of view "The country is fucked". I'm sorry, that's for the viewer's to decide, NOT YOU. Compare a news story on NDTV and Aaj Tak. I think NDTV does a great job of delivering it professionally. Aaj Tak on the other hand, exaggerates it's with it's dramatising (and somewhat undertrained) reporters and overly critical statements. It's not story telling.

4. I appreciate the Media following up on Jessica Lal, Nitish Kataria and other such cases. It is commendable and heart warming to know that justice has been given but I agree more with the judiciary view that they don't need to pressurize the case. When they report cases of rape, abuse where the victim has stood up for herself., that's good journalism. On some level it provides insight, comfort and maybe even courage for those who are going through the same thing. They don't need to bark and howl at the judges, lawyers. You should do your job and let others do theirs.

What the TV industry really needs is it's own Oprah Winfrey show which will tell those stories of courage. It will create awareness on sex education, Aids, verbal and mental abuse etc. And there will be people who will definitely relate to it and maybe even come out of their misery. I think when people hear real experiences it's hits that part of the brain where they become more aware and cautious of their surrounding. Today, it's no use pretending to be blind and just not paying attention to these issues. The world has changed and so should we.

Christmas/Birthday wishlist

2006-12-24T19:07:00.000+05:30

Did I ever mention that I LOVE to dream? Now, I don't see myself possessing any of the items below in near future, no, for a reeeeaaaallllly long time. But there's no harm in jotting it down, right?

1. 80Gb Video iPod. Who wouldn't want this? Black iPods are the sexiest things.
2. Mac Book. A nice white one with 1Gb RAM and 160 Gb hard drive memory.
3. Drawing Tablet. I seriously need one. My scanner has been taken by my Dad because it's of more use in his office. But I haven't been able to paint any of my drawings using Photoshop. I think a tablet would be really cool. I can just draw whenever I feel like it!
4. F.R.I.E.N.D.S dvd set for all 10 seasons. I love re-runs. :)
5. A watch. Sounds pathetic, I know. But I really need a shiny new watch.

My imperfections astound me

2006-12-09T16:56:00.000+05:30

I not good at accepting situations the way they are. I'm also not good at handling failure. I go down that dark path and it just gets deeper and deeper. It's like injuring yourself. I cut myself with the blame and guilt until there's nothing left to feel about it. I've dealt with this a lot in the past year and I've realized it's very painful for me. My whole attitude and nature changes. I'm whiny, more demanding, a real pain in the ass. I can never seem to move forward. The more I dwell on it, the more it hurts.
I've experienced the consequences of this too. It's like an endless cycle. I've tried very hard to break away from it.
I've almost been successful. I don't want to go there again. I just don't. I want a change.

I've turned over to the dark side: Converting XP theme to Vista

2006-12-01T18:31:00.000+05:30

After browsing through millions of screenshots, I couldn't resist. I customized my XP to mimic the Vista theme. And it looks glassy, gorgeous and a hell lot better than the luna theme.

I wanted to use kol's theme (from deviantart) but apparently, his theme was so popular, microsoft asked from to remove it. WTF Bill? That's like banning fanfiction or fan art. Imagine that!

So how did I achieve this task?

1. Before you experiment with anything of this magnitude, you better setup a restore point.
Go to Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and just follow the wizard and set up a point. This will ensure that if there's any crisis situation, you can revert back to the point and undo the damage. It's basically a key which will erase most actions carried out after you've set up the point.
2. You need to download a Vista theme first. These are unofficial themes made by generous Photoshopers. (what would I do without you guys!) You can go around Deviant Art, Win Customize and similar sites to download one of your choice. I got mine here and it's pretty awesome! Follow the instructions from Tech recipes and I'm sure it'll work just fine.
3. The .theme files should go in C:/WINDOWS/Resources/Themes.
4. When changing system files, you get a pop up about file protection. As per download instructions, ignore and close the window.

Most themes do cause some delay in the computer's performance. I haven't encountered anything like that yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The Bengal Tiger is back!

2006-12-01T12:10:00.000+05:30

Ganguly is going to be back on the team for the test series! That is such great news. The circumstances under which he was dropped from the team were so puzzling and the whole incident had more drama than a top rated soap. But now he's gonna be back!
Call me lame, but I actually felt bad for him in his 'Ooh aah India' commercial. And we didn't have much to ohh-aah about either. The Indian team was on the top of it's game when Ganguly was the captain. We went upto the World cup finals for heaven's sake! For better or for worse, it will be good to see some change. I'm tried of the newbies' who play well in one game but are completely unreliable in the next.

I've lost hope for the team. There's not much that might be achieved in the WC 2007. I'll always hope for the best but I think the chances are slim.

Ga-ga over Vista

2006-11-30T22:19:00.000+05:30

Well, Windows Vista was launched today so I headed over to Wiki to take a look at the features . And boy, am I excited!!! Windows Aero makes the desktop look so much better. I love the translucent menus! Eye candy for sure!
But Windows Vista Basic looks good too; though it doesn't have same looks as the Standard version. They're giving Media Player 11 with it. I had downloaded 11 beta before I reformatted my computer and it was nifty! Graphics and clarity was amazing. And I liked the' search as you type' option too. I'm lazy and my playlists are overfull and though I have bands alphabetically organized. Search is my best friend. :)

I hope someone comes up with similar theme for XP users. Just to get the feeling. ^_^

Alienware themes have similar quality. Their Media Player skin was really amazing.

Now I'm that person, who goes after looks of a computer and wants to customize it like crazy!!!

Dhoooooom 2 - Review

2006-11-30T17:17:00.000+05:30

****** SPOLIER ALERT!!*********

I saw this movie twice! This is quite a novelty since my exams are approaching.
I saw it on Tuesday with Aruna and Richa and on Wednesday with my parents. I didn't like it much. I appreciated the action and stunt bits. It was all fantastic and dhoomtastic. I particularly liked the part where he camouflages with the statue. He looked scary too. But would a tiny predator and a projected diamond really go unnoticed? Come on, are Mumbai Policemen that dumb?
Drainage water never looked cleaner as Hrithik swims through it. The main point, HRITHIK!!! He ruled and overshadowed all the other actors, stealing Abhishek's glory. Hrithik played every minute of his part beautifully while Abhishek was left with nothing but his brood and few strong dialogues.
One wonders what exactly was Bipasha's importance in the movie, except the insane twin sister part.
Comedy in the movie was good. From Ali's day dreams to Baywatch spoofs to Sweetie's murderous instincts. All gold. Uday is usually unbearable in movies, but he's great when working his way around comedies. ^_^
Aishwarya acted well. It was good to see her in a movie which didn't involve some historic importance. And she looked good too! But if I have to hear the word "funny guy" one more time, I may lose my cool. Indeed, she had a very irritating personality.

I think Romance didn't need to be such a big factor (especially for the ending). But I have to admit, Hrithik + Aishwarya = Smokin' Hot!

I was upset with the ending. I love it when the villain wins! It would have been great if the two managed to steal something right under his nose again and THEN settled in Fiji.

Quotes I liked -
mere ko topi mat pina.. - Ali. I might just adapt this in my daily conversations. :)

pehle socha, kya aadmi hai,
kya pyar hai,
fir laga, kya bakwas hai! - nice haiku by Abhishek

I hate news channels (for now)

2006-11-30T11:50:00.000+05:30

Why is it, that when you want to see a particular news segment, it's almost never shown! Instead there's endless discussion on India's pitiful performance in cricket or senseless gossip about a celebrity.
My grandparents and my Dad were about to go to Mumbai today and there's news about stone-pelting and bus burning incidences in our area. I switch on Sahara Samay and it shows nothing but Sanjay Dutt's case.

WHY? WHY?!! I need to know if my area is safe!!

ETA: Report from CNN-IBN
Report from NDTV
Whoa, the situation seems to be getting really bad. According to NDTV there was violence in Kalanagar. Pimpri is on curfew and there are also reports that there's violence on Bund Garden road.
My grandparents are heading tomorrow. I hope all this gets under control soon. Dad might leave for Mumbai later today. He's got an exhibition to attend.

As for me, I bunked college today and studied Electrical Engineering. I'm still perfecting the DC Networks chapter. I hate those sums. I always manage to screw up something...

There's a first time for everything

2006-11-30T10:03:00.000+05:30

I think writing the first entry is always the hardest. As newbie bloggers progress in the blogworld, the first entry always reminds them of their s illiness (if any). I certainly feel so when I read the first entry of my LJ. I sometimes feel the need to change it to make it sound more like what I am today. But I want to preserve who I was, even if it sounds immature.

As noticed, I tend to ramble with no reason. I'm 17 now and a fresher at SKNCOE wherein I'm undertaking Computer Engineering. I'm proud of what I'm studying. Forgive the clique, but I love what I'm learning. I never really liked school or studies. It wasn't interesting enough. Now, I have something that I actually enjoy learning. It's a completely new experience for me. I want to do well so badly. I want to succeed.

I'm an introvert. I love friends and all the time I spend with them. But I like spending time alone as much. I people think of me as being selfish for this. I'm also quite sentimental but I feel like I have very different and conflicting personalities within me.
I'm your lost and confused teenager with an identity crisis. Who am I? I can think of a billion things to answer this. But I still can't find who I am. I'm also very paitent. With time I think I will pick up all this too.