Thoughts of an invisible guy in the visible world

Essentialism

2011-12-13T22:30:00.001+05:30

All of us are consumers & have their own needs and desires. Some of these needs are a necessity, while other needs are basically for pleasure. The basic necessity applies to all stratas of the socio-economic across the society.

While an individual's pursuit for pleasureful needs never cease at any point of life. The pleasure oriented needs may be driven by technology advancement, professional, peer related or status symbol.

The necessity needs are necessary for survival. However, the pleasureful needs can spread its wings based on a person's economical might to accomplish the object or goal. All of us fail to understand what actually brings the pleasure. The branded object or the way we project that object which inherently drives the pleasure.

Here is an interesting article "How Expectations Can Turn Anything From Worthless To Priceless" by Paul Bloom. Paul is is a psychologist and author of How Pleasure Works.

It all boils down to what 17th Century poet John Milton said - “The mind is its own place, And in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

Simple Gratitude

2011-11-16T21:03:00.003+05:30

Most of us take people or objects for granted. Thats possibly human nature.

I may sound too philosophical through the post. The reason behind this post is due to the following chain of events.

My nephew who happened to be walking towards his home via a playground, got hit by a ball over the left eye. He fell & was shaken for sometime. He didn't inform anyone @ home; luckily one of his school friend's dad noticed him fallen & took him to hospital. My cousin (his Aunt) who is a doctor did the necessary phone calls so that proper treatment is provided. I only got to know about this over the weekend.

For a young kid his age or rather anyone, eyes are very essential and important. Eyes are something which we use to process most of the events around us daily. Even though there has been improvement over the last 4 days, he is still very concerned about what what would happen to his eye or vision. I feel for him & wish he recover soon.

In the morning happened to read today's Speaking Tree section in TOI from OSHO, "...

Hearing someone, if you feel there is truth, you simply disappear in that moment. You are not, truth is. Whenever there is something of the beyond, you are not; you have to make space for it. You are only when there is misery, when there is a lie, when there is something wrong. You are only when the shoe does not fit.

When the shoe fits perfectly, you are not. Then you forget the feet, you forget the shoe. When there is no headache there is no head. If you want to feel your head, you will need a headache; that is the only way.

....

The farther away you go from nature, the farther you are from happiness."

In the evening happened to stumble on this beautiful & meaningful video of TEDx event by Louie Schwartzberg on the subject called "Gratitude"

Feel living in the moments and appreciating simple things give way to a joyful contented life. Live it and be grateful for the life around you every single day :)

~ Rekindling the passion for writing ~

2011-09-01T15:52:00.008+05:30

Just happen to come across an article on Mashable which said Google is bringing lot of 'Design' changes to their good old Blogger platform.

Visited the blogger after a long break, i.e. 2 years and 6 days. Thats surprising myself, quite a long break for a person who loves to express his thoughts. The reasons for staying away from Blogging can be attributed to various aspects on the technology & personal front. Technologically the birth of new social media platforms: twitter, facebook and most recently G+; procrastination towards & lethargy.

Here I 'm, with a new template & enthusiasm am back for good. Too many of incidents, situations, events & thoughts to share.

Lets continue the journey where we left out :)

Update: The countdown on facebook over the last week was related to the exit from Facebook. Am not sure if its forever or temporary. De-Socializing from 'The Social Network' was very much needed ;)

~ Ganesha Habbada Shubhashaya ~

~ Everybody is on Twitter, are You? ~

2009-08-26T23:26:00.005+05:30

Two years ago, when I happened to join Twitter & sent invites to friends who were web-savvy, hardly anyone was interested.

Currently, many of them are on twitter & some are even tweet addicts ;)

Today, while I was checking my tweets came across my friend's Re-Tweet. Which got me here http://twitter.com/anaggh and there on digged into many known faces of India public on twitter.
Didn't know that we had so many celebs, who are so tweet-centric ;)

http://twitter.com/chetan_bhagat
http://twitter.com/priyankachopra
http://twitter.com/DinoMorea9
http://twitter.com/yuvsingh09
http://twitter.com/MallikaLA
http://twitter.com/HrithikRules
http://twitter.com/MahendraDhoni
http://twitter.com/kjohar25
http://twitter.com/RajeevMasand
http://twitter.com/virsanghvi
http://twitter.com/bdutt
http://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor
http://twitter.com/sonamakapoor
http://twitter.com/arrahman
http://twitter.com/sardesairajdeep
http://twitter.com/DuttaLara

Yuvi goes one step ahead, who uses Twitpic too http://twitpic.com/eosi9 + http://twitpic.com/ebwu1 (Lewis Hamilton & Yuvi)

I am not following half of the people nor giving PR to them, just a useless post. Giving Twitter some PR in India :)

~ Figure out ~

2009-06-02T23:07:00.004+05:30

~ Jayanagar 4th Block, Bangalore. ~

~ Just outside Galle Facing Hotel, Colmbo ~

~ Death ~

2009-03-16T04:34:00.001+05:30

Death is beautiful, in its own way, when it is natural. It is one of those states which empties you, where all your emotions reach a state where you have nothing more to express. The state, where you have nothing left to express, the final expression of life! The state of rest.

Death is personal, which you carry for yourself. It teaches you the state of nothingness and completeness. Yes, it teaches both. Nothingness, meaning where there is nothing left inside you to express. Completeness, is something where you have expressed in all possible ways during your life.

Every passing moment each one of us is dying and at the same time living. We live our lives with so much of attachment or possessiveness to the materialistic things which has been created by one self. Death, probably is the best teacher of detachment towards in every aspect & sense. It tells us again that nothing last forever; don't cling on to them, just be a part of it & enjoy what you have. Live every moment to the fullest, thats when you begin to appreciate life and the joy of living.

If you are saving your - emotions, feelings, wishes, desires, money - thinking that the road to happiness lies in tomorrow then you are wrong. Because Death, my friend, never waits for anyone. So does life, it never waits either. Don't postpone your living, learn to celebrate your moment & live it to the max. Only the moment is real, here and now.

I may have not experienced death, but have been witness to it for quite a while. It has thought me much about life, than life itself. That's how close the two worlds, life & death, are. They aren't separate, rather they go hand in hand. Each one giving meaning to the other, without which we would have failed to celebrate the moment.

At this moment, for me, death is the culmination of a journey of oneself after the various phases of life. Celebrate life & honor your death.

This post is dedicated to my grandmother (Mother's mom) who passed away due to a cardiac arrest @ 1:30 am today.

Dear Grandmother,

You have been a great woman, that I have known and come across. Your life has been & will remain an example for the rest of my life. Your warmth and un-conditional love will be missed. You made me a better man. Thank you, I adore you and will miss you forever.

Peace!

~ Changing world ~

2009-02-12T10:37:00.001+05:30

~ Dehumanization ~

2008-11-27T23:54:00.004+05:30

As a country, India has been invaded by many a times and also ruled by many. The land witnessed the armies of the Great Alexander, the Mughals and the Europeans. It has sustained all the invasions & domination for centuries to achieve its freedom. Today, as billion plus people, we are trying to make in roads at various sectors of business across globe and stand tall. Few souls are being misguided by false ideology of fight/sturggle for justice, oppression, freedom, etc; in the name of religion and spreading mindless terror against humanity. Don't think this will last forever.

I feel this song 'Dehumanization' from Arch Enemy, depicts my current state of mind

'This is the age of dehumanization
Perverted creation
Damned, misled children
You never stood a chance
Resurrection a dead messiah
For a paralysed race
Damned, misled children
You never stood a chance

Infected
Neglected
The new breed of a generation to come
Rejected
Illfated
The new breed - a generation to kill

Sowing the seed of suffering
Upon these fertile hearts
Damned, misled children
You never stood a chance
Chosen to be slaughtered
By the masters of manipulation
Damned, misled children
You never stood a chance

Infected
Neglected
The new breed of a generation to come
Rejected
Illfated
The new breed
Parasites
A generation to kill'

~ Gmail supporting voice & video ~

2008-11-13T14:48:00.004+05:30

That's impressive. Will post a review later in the day. Yet another reason to use GMail :)

Update: Garett Rogers already has a post on it. Check it out.

~ Awaiting Nordic Xperience ~

2008-11-07T09:51:00.003+05:30

It is reality to witness Norwegian black metal bands perfoming in various cities across India. Gives me a pleasant feeling, to see Heavy/Death metal having been accepted in a country which has rich history in classical music, be it Hindustani or Carnatic. There has been a steady increase in the number of people listening to the metal-core.

After the high octane gig from Machine Head, who opened the night @ 'Rock in India' concert along with Megadeth. It's now time for 'The Great India Rock Festival' along with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to present Satyricon, SAHG & Freak Kitchen, from Sweden.

Awaiting for my first live experience of the Nordic Metal bands. Sadly, Freak Kitchen is not on the line-up for the Bangalore gig.

Catch u @ palace grounds in the evening.

~ Quote on Happiness ~

2008-10-24T17:50:00.001+05:30

"The state of happiness is directly proportional to the agility factor you have towards the circumstances life throws up @ U"

~ Spokeo: Uncovers your life on the web ~

2008-10-20T18:49:00.009+05:30

It has been a month since I posted something here. Have lots to share, but 24 hrs seems to be too less these days.

Coming back to rationale behind the post, Spokeo, as we need to carry out an integration for an upcoming project. Here is their profile on Crunchbase & they sound an interesting little company.

~ Spokeo.com ~

What do they do?

Spokeo is a friend finder/tracker that automatically brings you friends’ updates across the Web. In technical terms, they are Yet another Social Network Aggregator (YSNA). For more, read this. They do an awesome job of aggregating some of the acclaimed Social Networking sites.

~ Aggregator ~

I happened to sign up with my regular Gmail account and I was surprised @ the number of contacts it aggregated.

~ Spoked myself ~

The downside is that, it exposes a lot of information about yourself to the others. Even though their privacy policy states,"...finds only publicly available information by default. In other words, everything on Spokeo could have been seen by you and others all these times."

I still feel it provides an easy access to your vast social activities on the web. Is a potential gold mine, if they share the information to marketing agencies for a throw away price. The invisible guy has been uncovered by Spokeo.

~ Dark Divas ~

2008-09-07T14:59:00.004+05:30

I have always enjoyed them from my childhood. But back then I loved the milky ones, now I love the dark ones. I used to have them regularly while I was living in UK, now that am back at home don't seem to have the luxury to indulge in them anymore. I am not sure why they aren't available here in India, may be there are few people who like them. The pleasure of having a dark one is completely different from the milky ones. The darker the better the pleasure; very sinful indeed. Indulging in them regularly keeps you in good shape & is also good for your health.

Thanks Manish, for the wonderful Dark Divas which I have been enjoying over two weeks.

~ G1 Vs iPhone? ~

2008-08-29T11:20:00.004+05:30

Its good to have healthy competition, which will eventually benefit the customer. If you aren't a gadget freak & don't know what G1 is, then G1 is the first Google powered phone to debut on the market sometime in Sep/Oct through T-mobile in the US.

Have been following it for quite few weeks and here are the G1 features. Does have an impressive features list, which could compete with iPhone. And there is a first peak into the G1 design.

I also happened to stumble upon the phase I winners of Android Developer Challenge, which are decent set of apps. Innovative ideas for mobile user.

I liked the following,

I'm not sure when we would get to see G1 in India. Just hope that they would be affordable in India, unlike the pricey iPhone.

And do you think G1 can compete against iPhone?

~ 61st Independence Day ~

2008-08-16T15:40:00.002+05:30

Of all the Independence Day's that I have celebrated, 61st Independence Day has been most satisfying & worthy. It started when Venky told me about his friend, Lokapriya's plan of afforestation on Thursday night. The plan was to plant 250 saplings in the region of Savandurga.

15 adults along with 4 children met @ 7:30hrs near Malleshwaram & ventured out to Savandurga via Mysore Road by 8:30hrs. After a brief pit-stop for breakfast in Bidadi for some special 'Tattee Idli' (a variation of Idli), we continued our journey towards Magadi.

We arrived @ Savandurga by 11:00hrs and few folks visited the Narashima Temple. Then entered the forest region of Savandurga, that's where the plot was chosen by Lokapriya for the plantation. We did ask for the school boys who were in the region to join us in our mission, but they didn't seem to be keen. 250 pits were dug couple of days prior to our arrival.

Finally, 13 of us with 3 locals started off our task of planting 250 saplings. The team was divided into groups - movers, uncoverers, planters - for better optimization. 6 movers, including me, who moved the saplings to the designated pits; 3 uncoverers, helped in uncovering the plastic bags which held the saplings; 4 planters, finally performed the last task of the plantation.

After the initial enthusiasm of moving the saplings, my forearms began to ache. The saplings had soaked in the rain from previous night, making it heavier to carry. But, that didn't deter our focus & goal, we finished planting by 15:00hrs.

Had our lunch & bhel-puri enjoying the back drop of the Savandurga. We left Savandurga @ 16:30hrs towards Bangalore en route Manchinbele reservoir (the same place where KRV/Police busted a Rave party on Friday night). The kids had good time playing in the water.

We departed Manchinbele to the city @ 18:25hrs, with another pit-stop for some hot tea & aloo bonda @ the Big Banyan Tree.

On our way home we saw two huge dish antennas near-by to the big banyan tree. Me & Venky were discussing about what project could this part of, in an isolated place off Mysore Road. We finally concluded that this could be a part of ISRO, tracking something. To my surprise in the morning it turned out to be part of ISRO for the upcoming Chandrayaan, which appeared in TOI.

~ Cheers to friends ~

2008-08-13T21:05:00.003+05:30

"You and I can share the silence
Finding comfort together
The way old friends do
And after fights and words of violence
We make up with each other
The way old friends do
Times of joy and times of sorrow
We will always see it through
Oh I don't care what comes tomorrow
We can face it together
The way old friends do"

Nita sent me this today evening with the following message, "Very simple lyrics but I found it to be very powerful. True for any relationship that you want to maintain on a long term. -NEETS"

I admired the beauty of the song/poem. Thanks Nita for sharing & the unknown author.

~ iPhone in Airtel stores by 20th August ~

2008-08-05T14:22:00.008+05:30

Just back from the Airtel outlet located on SanjayNagar, paying my bill for the last month. I happened to inquire about the iPhone, when is it actually hitting the stores. The lady said it will debut on 20th of August.

My next question was bout the service options, she mentioned I could use it with my existing connection. I'm sure there will be some restrictions @ the hardware level, which would restrict you from changing your network providers.

Price, tentative range is 13,000-15,000 INR. I am guessing this would be for the 4GB model.

Update 6 Aug: Finally its official, that iPhone will be available through Airtel in India by 22nd Aug. More here. But, there aren't any significant announcements on Airtel's iPhone website.

Update 21 Aug: Disappointed with insane pricing of iPhone. 31,000/- INR for a 8GB model & 36,000/- for a 16GB model. Why would you pay so much, when none of the current mobile operators in the country still don't have a 3G infrastructure ready.

~ Pretty Soon...~

2008-07-31T00:02:00.003+05:30

There will be a new member to my family. After having spent much time & thoughts about her, I finally happened to share the news about my love with few of nearest & dearest few weeks ago. Although I wanted to surprise my friends & family, I couldn't keep that under wraps. So, I made the decision to speak about the matter to them before going ahead with my plans.

Even though not everyone gave a positive vibe about her, am sure things will go well for both of us in the coming years (considering the fact that the system we are in changes so rapidly every day). At the end of the day, all that matters is me being happy with her.

Keep a eye for more updates on this shortly.

~iPhone: To debut in India ~

2008-06-25T18:03:00.005+05:30

All apple fanatics in India who want to own iPhone, don't have to invest in jailbreak iPhones anymore. As Vodafone and Airtel are bringing in the iPhone sooner/later this year. Even though the official dates of iPhone debut isn't announced, the tentative timeline should be Aug/Sep of this year.

The 3G version of iPhone in the US is slated for release on July 11th at $199 for 8Gb version. Need to see how the pricing would be for the same in India. I would consider their rate plans before switching from W880i to iPhone.

26 June 08 Update: Airtel has their own subscribe page now.

More info: Vodafone.in | Apple & Airtel PR

~ Firefox Download Day: 17 June 2008 ~

2008-06-16T10:17:00.005+05:30

Be a part of it and make a difference. For more information click here.

Update 20 June 2008: 8 million downloads, those r the magical numbers which should help Firefox to enter the record books.

Update 3 July 2008: Here is the official mail received from Firefox team

"We set a Guinness World Record for the most software downloads in 24 hours. With your help we reached 8,002,530 downloads.

You are now part of a World Record and the proud owner of the best version of Firefox yet!"

Here is the certificate for participation in the World Record.

~ Brahma sings Bomb the B@$t@rD$ ~

2008-06-13T17:52:00.004+05:30

These guys are good, check them out. Rags thanx 4 the share.

Official website.

~ Euro 2008 ~

2008-06-07T12:28:00.005+05:30

European Championship is the second biggest football event after the world cup. Austria & Switzerland are hosting the 13th edition of the championship. The origins & the legacy of this famous event can be read here.

~ Euro 2008: Team Lineup ~

Following are the teams for 2008 championship. Looking at the teams Group C has been rightly called the 'Group of Death' where 3 of the 4 are in FIFA top 10 teams. I'm supporting the French this time. The favorites being the Germans and the underdogs being the Russians.

My next 22 days would be treat watching the best in Europe play for their country. Lets see who will win the battle of Europe. I hope Mr Wenger finds some new faces for Gunners for the next season & want to see where will Ronaldo play, EPL or La Liga.

Whom are you supporting & who do you think will win Euro 2008?

~ Help firefox create history ~

2008-05-31T13:40:00.002+05:30

The team behind Firefox3 wants to create history for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. They want to achieve this during the Download Day, although the date is yet to be announced. If you want to be a part of this record and wish to make a difference then all you need to do is take a pledge here.

Looking forward for FF3.

~ Soha is So-hot ~

2008-05-22T20:59:00.003+05:30

Soha Ali Khan the daughter of the Mansoor Ali Khan, the 9th Nawab of Pataudi, definitely looks Sexy & Hot as the cover girl on the May edition of Maxim India.

Why 'm I writing about Soha? I was wondering how come there hasn't been any voice or objection towards her or the publication in general from the orthodox quarters of her community. These people caused so much of hue & cry over Sania, sometime last year when she wore skirt & T while playing Tennis. One group even went to an extent of issuing a fatwa against Sania.

I feel the few news channels are responsible to a certain extent for creating controversies our trivial stuff in the country to keep their TRP ratings high.

Image courtesy: Maxim India

~ Get a Mac ~

2008-05-14T10:18:00.006+05:30

Apple has just released new commercial for Get a Mac titled 'Sad Song'. The commercial takes a dig @ PC's state of affairs after using Vista.

To watch more ads visit here.

Note: Open this blog in Firefox & you need to have Quicktime installed to view the ads.

~ Run Maadi Run ~

2008-05-12T22:26:00.004+05:30

Even though I had a lot of enthusiasm to take part in the current edition of World10K event, was very lazy to go out there and register. That changed yesterday afternoon when Karma, manager & friend, called up and asked if I was interested in taking part. I didn't have to think twice, I just said Yes!

Thanks! Karma for doing the needful.

Am gonna run for Bangalore Cares and above else for myself, to kick in the lazy factor within me. I am taking in the majja run. Hope it will be fun, catch you all @ the event on Sunday.

Links: Official website | Majja Run | Run Maadi Run |

~ Dry Day ~

2008-05-10T00:13:00.004+05:30

~ On a DRY day: Tender berry, Water and Green Tea ~

Normally fridays just pass by, you hardly witness the time. But yesterday was very different form the usual fridays; it seemed as though time was frozen.

After a boring day, decided to unwind with Rags @ Le Rock Cafe, off Brigade Road, Rest House Road. Half-way through my journey I realise today is a Dry Day or rather it has been Dry Day for the past two days, due to elections/polls. It didn't strike me or rags earlier, then we decided to do some shopping.

We decided to have our dinner and Rags was very keen on having Thai food, as he wanted to keep track of his chopstick skills. The nearest restaurant we could find was Bamboo Shoots, on Museum Rd. While we walked from Brigade Rd to Shoots, we noticed most of the drinking holes and restaurants were closed; very unusual for a friday evening in Bangalore.

Here you go with our Dry Day evening experience. Finally, we when reached our destination @ 21:25hrs, there were so many people in the lobby of Museum Inn, as it has 2 restaurants - Bamboo Shoot & Angiti - and the pub Tavern attached to the lodging facility. When we spoke to the manager & reserved a table for 2, he promised us one in 45 mins. Under normal circumstances I would have negated the idea of waiting for 45 mins to have dinner, but today was an exception as Rags wanted to taste some spicy Thai food & keep tab on his chopstick skills.

While I killed my time speaking with friends on phone, listening to Katatonia on my pod, watching expressions of various ppl in the lobby, admiring beauty @ times; Rags was busy sitting and solving Sudoku. It was 22:15hrs, when my patience was running out. I called upon Rags to find out if the Manager is even aware of us waiting. He checks with him once again and tells me that he has promised us a table in another 10 mins. I was like WTF, we have to wait an hour to just a get a table. Yes, it was our fault, we didn't have any plans to be here in the first instance & so we didn't have our reservations.

Rags was trying to pacify me, saying he is keeping himself busy with doing Sudoku. I was like dude, if I wanted to keep myself busy then why would I come to a restaurant and be occupied with something? Then we managed to solve his Sudoku, which he was trying for the past 20 mins :P. Still no sign of tasting our Thai delicacy, then I decided to talk to the manager myself and he assured me a table would be given in 5 mins. We thought it would be wise to place our orders, before we occupy our table as they take time to serve us. At last @ 22:35hrs after an hour & something we managed to get a table. The food was great, enjoyed it. Rags was happy with his chopstick experience, except that he would have preferred wooden chops for plastics :).

Overall the day for me has been boring and very DRY. Thanks to the polls which is 7 hrs from now. I am gonna definitely cast my vote and hope the rest of you do.

~ Trilogy: Arsenal Vs Liverpool ~

2008-04-08T23:15:00.005+05:30

Its not that often that you witness Trilogy in football. It has been one of the rare things that just happen between football clubs. Arsenal face Liverpool @ Anfield in an hour from now. The previous two sequels have ended in draw. Even though Arsenal played their natural attacking game, the Reds never looked dangerous for the Gunners.

Rafael has already begun playing mind games by saying "by saying the Champions League is the only trophy the Gunners can win this season", more here. I know its gonna be a difficult for Gunners to play against Liverpool @ Anfield, because its an away game & u don't have the numbers of fans behind. But we have proved time and again this season that we can win our away matches as well, except for the recent defeat to Chelsea though ;). If Rafael's team is gonna play defensive game, am sure they are gonna have a tough time in their further matches even if they do manage to win on away goals. I am sure Wenger's team would go for the kill right from the word go. They just need to concentrate on their sloppy defending, which seem to be their weakness in their last few matches giving away goals cheaply.

I don't want to see the match going to penalties. It is such a shame to see a game end in penalties. Go Gunners Go!!!

~ I call it a day ~

2008-04-01T00:38:00.001+05:30

Hi Everyone,

I have decided to call it a day in my life. I am sorry to inform you so late it all happened so fast, I have quit my current job and have decided to move to GOA. I also wish to share you that i found my dream girl while I was in Scotland & we both will be starting our new beginning.

Keep in touch.
Vivek

Update: Those who didn't happen to notice the date of the post, it was Avril de Poisson :)

~ Rock in India ~

2008-03-14T13:13:00.004+05:30

The day has finally arrived where I get to witness the first performance of an international thrash metal band in Bangalore, India. Didn't fancy any of the international bands performing in India or Bangalore in particular, couple of years ago. The stage seems to have changed after Iron Maiden's initial gig in Bangalore last year and as paved way to the entry of Megadeth - 'Big Four of Thrash'. Billed as the first rock festival of its kind in India, 'Rock in India' has a line up of 9 bands featuring Megadeth, Machine Head and more local bands.

I am not sure of how much of a festival atmosphere I can find over there. But I hope Megadeth's performance would be a good, despite Chris Broderick replacing Glen Drover on the guitars two months ago.

We owe a lot to DNA Networks for bringing these bands and holding the performances in namma Bengaluru.

My reviews shall follow.....lets meet @ the fest!

Image: Screen grab from DNA Networks.

~ Guinness in Bangalore ~

2008-02-23T00:02:00.003+05:30

Last friday when I joined rags @ Haze, Kormangala, I was pleasantly surprised to see Rags consuming Guinness. Atleast the last time while I was there, a year ago, I could get only lager. When we managed to settled down, I ordered a can as well. Both of us are big on Ale & Guinness; I got to taste whole family of Ale and Guinness was my favorite beer for the time spent in the UK. We were wishing that one day, Guinness would be served chilled from a tap. Rags wasn't too optimistic about that idea.

After a while, couple of my colleagues from the company happened to drop. One of them said, "You must be crazy enough to be having Guinness here as well". I said am very surprised & excited to see it available here. Then he mentioned the price, my jaws just dropped. Rags hadn't bothered to look at the price before ordering his can, neither did I when I joined him. Guess what would be the price for a 330 ml can of Guinness?................450 Rupees/$11.25/£5.62.......when i mentioned the same to Rags, he couldn't believe it either. We thot it was astronomical price for a 330ml can of Guinness. I could have brought a 5 cans of Guinness in the UK. Rags echoed the same, that he could buy the same quantity in the US. Well after gulping a can each, we weren't crazy to repeat another one.

So next time if you plan to buy Guinness in Bangalore, drink responsibly :)

~ Go Tsonga Go ~

2008-01-27T12:53:00.000+05:30

The first grand slam of the year, the Australian Open, has been interesting so far with the major upsets of top seeds. The young players have shown lot of variety in their games, which untill few years have been just power play.

Even though I didn't follow the initial rounds of the Aussie Open, have been regular watching from the Quarters of Mens, Womens & Doubles. The matches which I enjoyed were the epic battle between Federer fand Tipsarevic in the third round, which lasted for four hours & twenty one minute; Tsonga Vs Nadal; Federer Vs Djokovic; Henin Vs Sherapova; Ana Ivanovic Vs Venus Williams. Am eagerly awaiting for the Men's finals which is to begin @ 14:00 IST. I am supporting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose looks are very much alike the boxing legend Muhammad Ali in his younger days.

The above clips is Tsonga's performance against the World #2, Rafael Nadal in the Semi-finals. The Spaniard just couldn't match Tsonga on that day. I wanted Federer in the finals, to know how he would play against the young gun from France. Unfortunately, Djokovic proved to be too good for the World #1.

Enjoy the next video which has been brilliantly edited by Watts, capturing the emotions of the newly crowned women's champion, Ms Sharapova and the current World #1, Roger Federer & composing them according to the James Blunt classic, You Are Beautiful.

~ Stage6 hack ~

2007-12-18T21:59:00.000+05:30

I have been watching many movies which are hosted on stage6 for the past one year. Most of the movies or videos I watched where referenced from either DivxTube or DivxLive sites.

When I tried to search the Stage6 site for the concert videos for few of my favorite thrash metal bands, I was unsuccesful. I approached the google dorks way, which still didn't make any significance difference to the search results.

Finally, today I found a easy way to search for videos hosted on Stage6. My search approach holds good for those videos that have been tagged by users.

The default search would return a list based on top ratings, which normally wouldn't be the one you are looking for. Instead I construct the URL for stage6, it isn't that complex. Follow the steps,

1) URL Pattern: http://www.stage6.com/videos/tag:[tag_name]
For Ex: http://www.stage6.com/videos/tag:metallica

2) Copy & Paste the URL in the address bar of your browser and hit enter. This would list all the videos belonging to Metallica or click here to do the same.

This resultset isn't much different than that of the default result. As said before the default search would order the videos based on the ratings. You can better this search, by using 'length' as the value on the order key.

1) URL Pattern: http://www.stage6.com/videos/tag:[tag_name]/order:length
For Ex: http://www.stage6.com/videos/tag:metallica/order:length

2) Copy & Paste the URL in the address bar of your browser and hit enter. This would list all the videos belonging to Metallica or click here to do the same.

Now you would definitely see the difference in results displayed. I finally got the video of Metallica & Symphony Orchestra I was looking for so many days.

~ Tuesday Reflection: Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You get what you think ~

2007-12-11T19:31:00.000+05:30

Have been following the blog 'Friday Reflections' from Anand Shah for quite a while now. The posts are reflections on various topics surrounding the human behaviour & they are inspiring. 'Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You Get What You Expect' happened to be the last Friday's post. Although I get what Anand meant, I have a different take on the same.

My perspective goes something like this, "What you think is what you would get & become, eventually. I believe that the thoughts have more power in shaping the future of an individual. Ultimately your thoughts are the pre-cursor to your actions, which in turn adds to your ever-growing Karma. So, for me, the thought is the primitive factor which decides what an individual would get, when & where (Space & Time)."

Time to re-think what you have been thinking off late, because you might get that very soon :)

~ Iron Maiden: Somewhere Back In Time World Tour ~

2007-12-10T17:33:00.000+05:30

Iron Maiden kick start their World Tour 'Somewhere Back In Time' on 01 Feb 2008 from Mumbai, India. Bangalore doesn't seem to be lucky for a second gig. Fair enough, Iron Maiden gave their first performance in India, in Bangalore, early this year.

As of now, I plan to attend the concert. Hope I get my leave sanctioned & the tickets. Anyone interested in joining, let me know.

Image copyright: Iron Maiden.

~ Never miss a performance ~

2007-12-10T01:10:00.000+05:30

Came across this interesting & informative website called 'Bandsintown' via Rands in Repose. The name of the website says it all; once you sign up on this site with your current location, it just lists you all the bands who are gonna perform. Amazing service isn't it, especially for someone who loves music & has moved into a new city. You can follow the music scene in the locality without having friends/connexions.

Wish I had come across this website when I had moved to UK back in Feb. If you haven't noticed, I have update the blog with a widget ;)

~ Whatz in a Name? ~

2007-12-03T21:32:00.000+05:30

Rory Sinclair : just found a guy in TopUp TV HP live
Rory Sinclair : Mr Paul Sourbutts
Rory Sinclair : :-)
Rory Sinclair : great name
Vivek Kondur : LOL
Vivek Kondur : great surname
Vivek Kondur : he wld have had a good time while studying
Rory Sinclair : lol

For the question 'What's in a name?' on BBC lead me to an article which states 'Link to your Past'. I wonder what kind of a history this guy would have had, to arrive at that surname ;)

~ The !nvisible guy turns an year older ~

2007-12-03T05:13:00.000+05:30

Can't really believe that an year has passed by since my last birthday, there are so many moments which still remain fresh in my mind.

The decision to leave my family, friends & bean-town (Bangalore/Bengaluru); to quit the job I enjoyed most; so to take up a job in the UK, was a little sacrifice & at the same time an investment which has reaped me value of a lifetime. There has been an evolution in various shades of myself, when compared to this day last year. It has been a fabulous year which has enriched me many ways, that would definitely make the difference how I deal & handle the rest of my life.

Following are some of the significant principles that I have adopted over this one year:

Enjoying the simple pleasures of life.
Being contented.
Orthogonality with respect to people & emotions.
Drop the Stuff.
Living in the moment.

The toughest one of the above happens to be the last one. Until you adopt the third & fourth principles correctly it is tough to reach the fifth. It takes a lot of effort & practice to get there, but never impossible for the human mind.

'Past is history, Future is unborn and enjoy the Present'

~ Career Snapshot: Then and Now ~

2007-11-27T20:13:00.000+05:30

(Click to view better)

I have been analyzing, over couple of weeks, the way my career has shaped up over the past 10 months i.e. the time I took up the oppurtunity to work in UK as a consultant/contractor. Today happened to channelise my thoughts to come up with this chart, which gave me the snapshot of my career.

~ Embrace of Web 2.0 ~

2007-11-21T16:41:00.000+05:30

~ Axioms from Leaping the Abyss ~

2007-11-20T21:04:00.000+05:30

'If you can't have fun with the problem, you will never solve it'

An axiom cannot be proven to be true: it simply is. The value of an axiom is found only by discovery -- through applying it to real situations.

For more axioms, visit here.

~ Of Holidays & Festivals ~

2007-11-08T20:19:00.000+05:30

During the past nine months I have been in the UK, realised that I have taken just five days off from my professional duty. A very significant drop in the number of leaves I used to take (have) while I used to live in India. It’s not that I don’t want holidays; rather I don’t have the option to take leave while you are into consulting/contracting job. As of today, the leaves, I am entitled to take in the coming months are 2 state holidays, 3 sick leaves and 2 week paid trip back home.

In India, the months of October and November form the festive season; celebrating Dussera and Deepavali. This being the first time outside India during the festivities, I am feeling the difference in the state of mind; i.e. missing the celebration of the sights, sounds & environment of Deepavali. Of-course I am missing my folks & loved ones, that’s implicit ;).

'Wishing everyone a very warm & happy deepavali'

Have fun! Play safe.

Picture from 3rdeye.

~ Leopard has arrived ~

2007-10-25T19:32:00.000+05:30

Visit Apple (before 26th 2007) and then have a close look at the above image. If you happened to spot the difference, then you know what I meant to convey. More on it after the official launch.

~ Nadaka ~

2007-10-15T20:45:00.000+05:30

One of the best Indian Classical I have come across in the recent past. Nadaka, is not the name of a music group/band, rather the person himself.

"In Sanskrit, Nada is the origin of sound and Ka is the one who carries it within. Nadaka was born in Quebec, and learned to play the guitar at an early age." For more, read here or click on 'About Nadaka' over here.

You can enjoy few of his performances which are available on youtube. and let me know if you liked it.

Thanks Sudharshan, for introducing me to Nadaka.

~ Quote of the week ~

2007-10-14T17:37:00.000+05:30

'Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.'

Issac Asimov

~ Darfur: Sad But True ~

2007-10-14T05:05:00.000+05:30

I had heard about Darfur conflict before, but didn't proceed any further in knowing what was the conflict actually about. Until last month, when one of my friend, Radhika, sent across this link. After visiting that, it shook me & think about the insane world we live in.

Even though it shocked me, didn't blog it then. I have practically given up following world affairs these days, because the main stream media is totally controlled by the governments for spreading their own hidden propaganda. Moreover, I don't know if writing posts / talking among friends, regarding it would make any difference to the situation in Darfur. But, I happened to stumble upon this video tonight which made me think once again about whether I can make a difference. I believe I could by creating awareness to the current state of affairs in Darfur, at the least, to those who visit my blog.

~ Formula 1:2007 ~

2007-10-04T19:55:00.000+05:30

After being an ardent fan of Michael Schumacher & Ferrari all these years, I thought 2007 season would be one sided with Alonso taking the championship for his new side,The McLarens. Not to write off Ferrari, even though Kimi has the potential & experience, didn't feel he had the machine which would get him the championship. Half way through the season, Massa was performing well & winning the races for prancing horse. I thought Massa would be the Ferrari's hope for 2007 championship. Thats when Kimi Räikkönen, the Iceman, responded with back 2 back wins @ the French & the British grap prixs to close upon his team-mate & be a contender for the championship. Its never easy for any racing team, if the championship points are held evenly by their drivers.

If that was the case with Ferraris, things were only getting worse for McLarens. Alonso, having moved to the McLaren, probably thought (or may be promised) that he would be given the 'Numero Uno' driver status. Guess, McLaren would have honoured Alonso the status, if their rookie driver, Hamilton wasn't winning them races. No one, at least myself, ever expected such a brilliant performance from a rookie. Despite being the youngest double champion, Alonso never got any preferential treatment from his McLarens team; which seem to have upset the Spaniard.

With so much of competition among drivers, the spy gate brought new twist to the season. It became more exciting when Alonso threatened McLaren Boss, Ron Dennis, regarding the usage of the Ferrari’s confidential data to tweak the performances of their cars. The differences between Alonso and the McLaren team was/is no longer confined behind doors.

Just when Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese race, everyone thought the rookie would be creating history in Formula 1 in the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix. But, there comes yet another twist to this season's championship, 'Hamilton faces Japan win inquiry' & 'Ferrari accused in F1 spy twist'.

This season, post-Schumacher era, so far has had everything - best performances from the drivers, good competition, high drama & spy-saga - which in all could be made into an Hollywood movie ;)

One thing which I learned from this season is that there can be only one 'Numero Uno' driver in a team. The team needs to decide that & convey the same to their drivers, which would enable him to win the championship. Now, I understand why Ferrari had always adopted that strategy of honouring Michael Schumacher the 'Numero Uno' status. Otherwise it would be a nightmare for both the team management & the drivers, if there is no clear stance on the 'Numero Uno' position.

Lets see what the next two grand prix & the Japan GP inquiry hold for us, am sure they won’t be disappointing. Let the best driver win this season’s championship. My bet on the championship would be in the following order:

Lewis Hamilton
Kimi Räikkönen
Fernando Alonso

Whom are you betting on?

~ Swarathma ~

2007-10-04T01:51:00.000+05:30

~ Swarathma: Performing @ Opus, Bangalore ~

One of the Indian fusion bands from Bangalore who play some good music. I happened to listen to their Kannada song called Ee Bhoomi & instantly loved the song. It has been ages since I actually listened to any song from my mother tongue. Didn't know that Swarathma had Hindi compositions as well, till I visited their re-vitalized website.

You can listen to their few of their songs here. The credit for introducing this band goes to Naveen, my college buddy, who occasionally strums his guitar & a wannabe musician.

Photo Courtesy: Suresh BJ

~ Quote for the week ~

2007-09-28T14:20:00.000+05:30

"It’s not the knowledge that matters, it’s doing that counts"

- Vevck

~ Quote for the week ~

2007-09-09T15:12:00.000+05:30

'The important thing is not to stop questioning'

- Albert Einstein

Wide Angle 2007

2007-09-03T15:27:00.000+05:30

Hey Everyone,

All those who love photography, there is an exhibition - Wide Angle 2007 - coming up this weekend @ CKP a.k.a ChitraKala Parishad, Bangalore.

If you are passionate about photography & have sometime, then do give it a shot. All for some good cause. I am sure you would have a good time attending this exhibition. The exhibitors are some of the coolest people I have know personally & their passion for photography is captured in their work.

I would miss this event, hope you can make it.

Cheers!
Vivek

~ Quote for the week ~

2007-08-22T18:54:00.000+05:30

'Experience is not what happens to a person; it is what a person does with what has happened to him/her'

Infosys:IT or Realty?

2007-08-10T13:36:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening me and my roomy where having a very casual debate over 'Is this India's best IT campus?' which appeared on Rediff.

The debate was over whether Infosys is right in constructing Multiplex, bowling alleys, etc; in their campus. They have been on buying large chunks of land @ subsidized prices in various parts of the country.

Roomy's view:
They shouldn't be constructing Multiplex, bowling alleys, etc; on the land which was obtained at subsidized prices for IT.

My view:
Every IT company in Karnataka had the same level playing field in getting the land @ subsidized prices. Once they have purchased the land, its upto the respecetive companies to utilize the land according to the vision & goal of the organisation.

Looking forward to know your perspective on this.

~ FC Barcelona Vs Hearts FC ~

2007-08-07T03:07:00.000+05:30

I got to watch my first live football match a fortnight ago, between FC Barcelona and Hearts FC. Even though it was as pre-season match for FCB, it still went into the record books for having the largest attendance for Hearts FC, at 57000. Having been a gunner fan for almost 7 years now, I got to watch my favorite footballer Theirry Henry in flesh and blood. I couldn't have asked for anything more, only disappointment was that he wasn't in Gunners colors, we will surely miss him at the club. But, I am happy to see him play for one of the competitive football clubs in Europe.

The atmosphere in the stadium came alive when the players of the home team made it to the field; it got better when the known faces of FCB - Ronaldinho, Deko, Eto, Zambrotta - made their way onto the field. Henry received a hearty welcome at the MurrayField stadium in his second appearance for Barca in the UK. Messi was one of the players from the barca squad who wasn't in the Scotland visit.

I felt first half of the match had more character to the match, when compare to the second half. Ronaldinho put Barca ahead with his penalty, this however was equalled by Hearts. Ronaldinho scored another goal for Barca before halftime, taking the lead to 2-1. In the second half, both teams made many changes; Deco & Henry were the key changes for Barca. Henry came very close to score a goal, which deflected the goal post. He did put up a good show, before barca managed to net another goal. Barca won the friendly effortlessly, not without filling the coffers of Hearts FC ;).

The joy of watching football live, like any other sport, is very unique. Here are few pics from the match.

~ Fantastic 4 ~

2007-08-06T00:45:00.000+05:30

As of yesterday I completed 4 fantastic years after stepping into the IT profession. After graduating with a degree in Electronics & Communication, I landed a job in the vast software industry. Through these four years, there have been personal highs & lows. I consider myself to be lucky to have started my career with a small company, unlike the general trend of starting with a large MNCs. Had I joined any of those big MNCs, I would have missed out on - working on latest technologies; understanding the nitty- gritty details of operations; above all, some of my (eX)colleagues who have been the best buddies.

Having started my career as a trainee in ReadiMinds, a Web Services Product development company, to being a consultant/contractor for the Professional Services Group wing of Nous Infosystems, the journey has been a good learning process. I have had the chance to witness a lot of transformations in my thinking and approach to way the software is developed.

Spent most of my time working with product development companies - ReadiMinds, SourceN - RainingData collaboration - I am kinda biased over the services companies. The whole goal of developing a piece of software is to make our lives comfortable. You develop them so as to be used by someone. Even though I happened to be in product development working on some of the latest technologies, they never made it to the production stages & failed to reach the end user. So, I decided to take up the onsite oppurtunity, in the form of a consulting job with the Professional Services Group, Nous Infosystems & lead a life of nomad. This time I am working with the product & application development teams at MGt as consultant/contractor through Nous Infosystems, UK. Having been here for 6 months, I got the taste of production & the challenges which come along with it.

Following are few of my observations through the various phases of my career:

Technology never drives the business, its the business which drives it. Technology is just a catalyst, never really get carried away by any particular technology.
Time & Cost determine the life of the product development
Making every member of the company understand the objective/goal of the company in the nascent stages is very crucial for both the individual & the company to accomplish their respective milestones.
People, Patience & Perseverance are key for the growth of an organization.
Be passionate about what you do for a living.
Implementation of policies should be uniform, without any exceptions.
Some of the brilliant ideas often don't get selected, if the management board doesn't gives a nod.
Marketing & Development teams always seem to have differential views of the same thing.
Sometimes businesses seem to adopt complex processes over the simple.
Too much of red tape becomes an overkill.
The success of a software doesn't rest upon the Architects & Architecture alone. Having the right Managers & Art of Managing resources also determine the success.
Developing products around standards defined by the industry would provide an edge in maintenance & integration over home grown standards.
Hiring the right people solves half the problems in a startup.
Holistic approach should be adopted in design stage, which adds agility to your software.
Being honest to your job, definitely adds value to ones credibility.
Never get caught up with your designation, rather try to fit into different shoes, which gives you more growth.
Keeping the work environment similar to that of a home, does reduce attrition levels.
Social activities integrated with the regular work routines, help people de-stress.
Never run a software company like Italian Mafia ;)
Above all, try to follow this quote as a thumb rule 'Love Your Job, But Never Fall In Love With Your Company'. Coming from Narayan Murty, who has been successfull in putting Bangalore, India & IT on the global arena & been an inspiration to me as well.

By the way being a consultant/contractor has its own pros & cons (will save it for another post).

Adiós, amigos! weekend is almost coming to an end :(

~ Happy Friendship Day ~

2007-08-05T16:57:00.000+05:30

'Life is a journey; in this journey friends are the ones who stand by you for everything you are. Without them, circle of life would just be zero'

Interesting Quote

2007-07-26T14:38:00.000+05:30

Terrorism is war by the poor, and war is terrorism by the rich

— Peter Ustinov

Uncoiling with Lacuna Coil

2007-07-22T21:34:00.000+05:30

It has been quite a while since I tried some new music. Last weekend, while syncing my iPod with my new babe (a.k.a MBP) noticed that there were few MP3s copied from Rags sometime last year, which had gone unnoticed by me. There were songs from 3 artistes - Amorphis, Lacuna Coil & The Agony Scene - I decided to start with Lacuna Coil.

Did a digg on my favorite music site, Last.fm on Lacuna Coil to know more about the artist, here is wee info about Lacuna Coil....

"Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band formed in Milan, Italy, in 1996. The name means an "empty spiral". They were formerly known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, counting various musical influences as doom metal and progressive metal."

As always, began experimenting with their music. After listening to most of the tracks from their albums - Karma Code, Comalies, In a Reverie, Unleashed Memories - happened to like the following:

Purify
To live is to hide
Our truth
Enjoy the silence (personal fav)
Closer
Within me
Fragile
To myself i turned
Heaven's a lie
Unspoken

If you haven't hit their home page yet, Lacuna Coil like few other metal bands [Arch Enemy, Evanescence] has a female lead vocalist, Cristina Scabbia. It's a pleasure listening to her voice & her looks would be enviable to any women. If you wanna try them, then you should be heading here to watch some high quality videos.

As for Amorphis and The Agony Scene, I haven't given them a try yet. Would give my 2cents once I listen to them. So, till then uncoil yourself to some good music from Lacuna Coil.

Image courtesy: Last.fm

Switched!

2007-07-09T14:06:00.000+05:30

The wait is finally over, my macbookpro arrived few minutes back. I haven't yet opened the parcel yet. Waiting for lunch hour to unpack and see it. 2 hours to go.

I have switched for the best!

Goodbye Microsoft.

Apple blunder?

2007-07-06T17:54:00.000+05:30

I have been anxiously waiting for my MBP (MacBookPro) from 21st June. Today when I hit Apple bridge-point for tracking my order status, here is what I didn't expect from Apple....just check the snapshot.

Did u spot the blunder?
If you haven't then go back and check the Date mentioned against 'Estimated Delivery Date', it says '04 Jul 2007 (Subject to change)'. Wonder if anyone can go back in time? I am not the lonly soul who has experienced this, check out Bri Guest's second comment on the apecode forum.

Hope there won't be such blunders with their 'Time Machine'

I'm Switching...

2007-06-22T15:15:00.000+05:30

After being indecisive for two weeks on which laptop to buy, yesterday I placed an order for the new Macbookpro from Apple. The decision wasn't easy though, because of the following factors

Money - As with most Apple products, their notebooks too come for a premium price.
OSX - Have been used to Microsoft's OS for the past 13 years. I knew if I choose a mac, it would be worth unlearning for the best.
Softwares - Wasn't sure if I could get same or similar softwares for a mac.
Support - Apple still doesn't have its footprint in India, but this gave some glimmer of hope.

If I made my mind on the M factor (which would also resolve the Support factor), the air wasn't clear on remaining two factors - OSX & Softwares.

Rory, my colleague and mac fanboy, cleared all my concerns regarding OSX and the softwares available. I thank him for sharing the time & info, which made my decision a lot more smoother. He hasn't looked back @ PC since he switched & guess its the same from me.

Here goes the config

MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR2 SDRAM @ 800Mhz
120GB Serial ATA drive (5400rpm)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with 128MB RAM
8x Dual Layer DVD burner

For more details, check the tech specs here.

But the sad reality is.....I need to wait 20 days to lay my hands :(

Pragmatic software development

2007-06-19T16:20:00.000+05:30

The urge to write this post arises from two articles which i read recently. First one being Basil's 'To Be or Not To Be Agile' article, followed by Joel's 'A game of inches'. Have always desired to work for a company whose prinicples & processes are oriented on Agile Maifesto. I am in a similar situation to what Basil describes 'I am an agile software developer doing non-agile software development'.

The other article is from Joel, whom I have been following for 2 years now. His thoughts have had a tremendous impact on my approach & thinking towards software development. This article 'A game of inches' in particular massaged my ego, How...?

All those who have worked with me over the past two years could easily relate to it. They know how critical I can be during the design & development phases of the product. I always wanted to ( & continue to) give the best to make the product better.

My constant critique on design of certain modules of the product, didn't go well with my peers in Silicon Valley (California) & in Silicon Valley of East (a.k.a Bangalore). They felt that me being critical on small things weren't that necessary. They missed the whole point, of why I was being so cirtical & true that I failed to convey the message. The failure on my part can be attributed to the manner in which I used to express my cirticisms. I realized during my farewell at SourceN*, that many of my colleagues weren't against criticisms, rather the manner in which I used to conveyed them. Another good reason why a team needs to adapt Agile principles, where feedbacks are a part of regular development life-cycle rather during farewells.

In Joel's words, 'It takes a mindset of constant criticism to find them. You have to reshape your mind until you're finding fault with everything. Your significant others go nuts. Your family wants to kill you.'

'There are thousands and tens of thousands of these tiny things. And as you fix more and more of these little details, as you polish and shape and shine and craft the little corners of your product, something magical happens.'

I have always believed, 'A person should have the passion in what he does. When the passion dies, just quit! '.

*SourceN, which provided me the fertile ground in honing my techincal skills, work with latest technology, presented me the ideal oppurtunity of co-authoring articles on Javaworld & the ability to manage was an ideal place to work..

Quotes for the day

2007-06-14T14:44:00.000+05:30

'Nothing is more dangerous than an idea if it's the only one you have' - The Pragmatic Programmer

Expressions on email names

2007-06-11T14:49:00.000+05:30

Recently, i recieved a fwd from one of my friends; And I wanted to fwd the same to few other common friends, did a look up to skip if anyone was already on the intial mailing list. What caught my eyes were the custom messages against email names. Many of us use custom messages to show current state or feeling to buddies on IM list. Offlate, people seem to be customising their email names to express their thoughts, don't know if its a new trend. Now I wonder, why don't they use email signatures to convey the same?

Check this video

2007-05-15T23:56:00.000+05:30

English kid singing a hindi song for his friend. Good one!

Foods I have been missin

2007-04-27T01:52:00.000+05:30

...... in the past 2 months, because there isn't one decent Indian restaurant or they simply don't seem to exist in Kirkcaldy. Let me classify the food I have been missin for breakfast, lunch/dinner & snacks.

Breakfast
1) Idli & Vada along with sambhar & coconut chutney @ home / Adiga's / any dharshini.
2) Masala Dosa @ home / Adiga's / any dharshini
3) Avalakki / Poha @ home
4) Kharabath / Upma /Uppittu @ home / restaurant
5) Poori @ home
6) Onion Uttappa @ any dharshini

Lunch / Dinner
1) Raagi Roti which mom prepares or @ Hallimane Restaurant, Malleshwaram
2) Bisi-bele-bath @ home
3) South Indian lunch @ home
4) Andhra styled lunch @ Nandhini or any other andhra style restaurant in Bangalore.
5) Curd rice with onions, cashews & pomegranate with pickle.
6) Wide variety of Indian curries along with Roti
7) Stuffed paranthas - onions/radish/cauliflower - with yogurt @ Paratha Plaza.

Snacks
1) Indian Chats - bhel puri, dhai puri, masala puri - @ Adiga's; pani puri - any corner guy; congress masala, tomato spread @ 13th Cross Malleshwaram.
2) Mysore bondaa, Masala vada with hot coffee @ Hallimane.
3) Paneer Sandwich with fresh fruit juice @ Vijaya Bakery, Bhashyam Circle, Sadhashiv Nagar.
4) Sandwiches with fresh fruit juice @ Casapicola, Cunningham Rd.
5) Different chais with bruschettas @ Infintea, Cunningham Rd.
6) Bread toasts, pastries & veg puffs @ Pooja / Vijaya / Iyengar Bakery.
7) Cafe Mocha @ St. Marks Rd Barista / 100 Ft Rd Indira Nagar Cafe Coffee Day

These are some of the dishes which I could think of & post it....may be more names would follow. This post is in response to the post 'Foods I Cannot Have' by Firang Squirrel. I can correlate to Squirrel's gastronomical state very easily.

Even though the food here is very appealing, but, they are very bland for your taste-buds. I like my food to be hot'n'spicy, which is missing in most of the dishes you get here. Even the Indian dishes aren't spicy :(

Catch Bahrain F1 GP live for free

2007-04-15T17:07:00.000+05:30

Another change in the eco-system: India to UK

2007-03-29T21:17:00.000+05:30

As of today, it has been a month over in UK. I feel I have enough to blog about my observations, views & experiences about the change in ecosystem. I hope to rejuvinate my blog & keep entertaining all the invisible souls who visit my blog regularly ;).

Hope all of you are doing good, it has been quite a while since I have kept in touch with my friends. Firstly, I am very sorry to all those whom I couldn't meet or call them personally before I left Bangalore. Secondly, after moving to UK, I haven't been able to keep in touch with many you. Its not like I didn't want to, just that I needed sometime to settle down & feel comfortable with the new ecosystem. At the same time, needed to get over the initial hurldles - finding a new house, getting the landline & the broadband, above everything else opening a bank account.

Now that we - myself & my housemates - have crossed few of those inital hurldles partially, I get to spend sometime re-collecting my thoughts & blogging about my experiences which has transpired over the inital month.

Here I go with my experiences...

The inital week was quite tough on myself, emotionally, missing my parents, cousins, friends, bangalore, food, etc. If you are wondering why, let me share a fact - well, I have never lived away from my home in Bangalore for anything more than 15 days at a stretch; quite paradoxical ain't it? for a guy who loves travelling.

Now, here I am staying in a different nation & sharing the house with my colleagues. However, the silverlining is that I happened to be working & living with one of my colleague from the previous job. I believe that there are six-degrees of separation between people, thats b'coz one of my colleague currently happens to be a good friend of my ex-colleague.

The place did have an effect on me, the weather was windy and cold. The air is fresh and clean, hardly find the air polluted here. Smoking in publicly enclosed places is prohibited, which has been here in place for over a year now. Had heard from few folks back home that public places in western nations are litter free. Am not contending their facts/figures, but I have come across littering at quite a number of places. Coming to people, they are generally kind & helpful, there are few exceptions with few of them. One thing I observed in the inital days were the stares I used to get from the passers by in Glenrothes. It's not like they haven't seen Asians or Indians before, there is a significant number of Indians living in Kirkcaldy & Glenrothes region. Don't really understand those stares.

Regarding work, I am part of software engineering group of MGt plc, involved in product development. It took two weeks to get accustomed to the nature of the job, people, place & work culture. Another observation @ work place, is that few co-workers go the extra mile in helping you understand the technical nitty gritties of the job. Approaching the tasks with an open mind and enjoying it. IT isn't that big here in Scotland, when compared to US or India, but definitely growing.

Apart from work, most of my time is spent on shopping for groceries & cooking. I haven't done so much of cooking nor have done shopping for groceries while I was back in Bangalore. Quite a number of retail stores - ASDA, Tesco, Morrison, Sainsbury's - around. Get most of the stuff here, for some Indian spices though we need to head towards Edinburgh every fortnightly.

Haven't travelled much in the past month, just visited Deep Sea World & Edinburgh Castle [album coming soon] over two weekends. I wish to cover as many places around Scotland & across Europe during my stay here.

Graduate in MBA-IT

2007-03-23T05:02:00.000+05:30

I am very happy to share this news with all of you, got to see the results of final semester of my MBA today. Scored an A & now hold a degree in Master of Business Administration specialized in Information Technology from ManipalU.

While doing this correspondence course was fun, it has given a lot of input & brought a new dimension into my thought process. Especially, in my profession, which gave me the insight into the dynamics of an organisation structure, behavior, economics, operations, etc. Even though I didn't learn anything new on the technology front, over the two year term, it was quite refreshing reading ERP & CRM in the final semester. Financial Accounting and Financial Management were the only subjects which were boring & tough, otherwise rest of the subjects were manageable.

After 2 years, 4 semesters and appearing for 24 exams, have obtained a degree in MBA. I would like to congratulate my buddy Rags for achieving the same.

The Legends of Rock set to rock Bangalore

2007-03-16T19:28:00.000+05:30

During one of our (self & Rags) discussions on the music bands performing in India or Bangalore in particular; we were listing out some of the rock & metal bands and wishing they perform in India. Iron Maiden too figured in that list and rags said,"I am damn sure none of these bands would ever perform in India". Dude, you were wrong, tommorrow they are gonna perform in the city for the first & hopefully not the last time. I know you & malhar would be going to the concert....Enjoy maadi!!!

Am sure all the Maiden fans in India wld be there in Bangalore. No doubt that they are gonna rock the audience 2mrw.

I am gonna miss this once in a lifetime oppurtunity to witness them perform in my city, will never get another chance.

Feeling very low now.

Leaving on jet plane

2007-02-24T00:08:00.000+05:30

Leaving Bangalore today evening @ 18:15 hrs.

Note: I will not be reachable on my existing mobile number after 15:00hrs.

Moving to UK

2007-02-22T12:54:00.000+05:30

I would like to share this news with you, that I have quit SourceN India and have joined Nous Infosystems India 15 days ago. I would be joining Nous Infosystems UK next week & shall be flying this Saturday.

My Political Profile

2007-02-20T13:07:00.001+05:30

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 30% Conservative, 70% Liberal

Social Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

Change in Ecosystem:Pond to Lake

2007-02-20T12:37:00.000+05:30

In my three and half years tenure in the IT industry, have had the opportunity to work for two product companies. ReadiMinds, a Singapore headquartered, which was one of the earliest innovative companies in SOA platform and SourceN Inc, a US based startup, specialised in product development. There were many similarities in the organisational setup and the work-culture in my previous organisations. Since, both of them were typically small sized when compared to my current employer.

It has been a week and a day since I have joined Nous Infosystems; though my official presence in the company has been for 4 working days. I feel like a fish which made its way from a Pond to Lake, which requires sometime to get used to the new ecosystem. In such a short span of time I have noticed a lot differences in the organisational setup & the work-culture. The size of work-force @ Nous is 10 times that of SourceN, so its obvious their would be processes for every functional area of the company, to manage the organisation function effectively.To get used to processes, so many people around, organisational hierarchy, formal attire, guess it would take some time to get used to this ecosystem.

In the coming weeks the fish needs to brace itself to face yet another ecosystem, which would be completely alien.

Happy Valentines Day

2007-02-14T11:58:00.000+05:30

Wishing all the people in love a very happy valentines day.

As the proverb goes,"Love is a sweet tyranny, because the lover endureth his torments willingly". The article from WSJ titled 'Is It Love or Mental Illness? They're Closer Than You Think' provides scientific perspective to the proverb.

Have fun!

Reality check

2007-02-05T23:39:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, my cable guy while collecting the monthly rental had dropped a complimentary desktop calendar. Today, I happened to have a closer look at it, to notice a sunset pic & the message in the foreground, which goes like....

"We need 0.84 Kgs of Oxygen [O2] and atleast 1.9 lts of Water [H2O] a day. An average human needs 18144 Kgs of O2 & 39278 lts of H2O in a life time.

What are we giving back to earth? Save Trees! Tree Saves!"

I googled to find out whether the above stats of Avg. human needs of O2 & H2O were true; they [check against Human Needs] indeed turn out to be true. The groundwater levels in the urban areas happens to be falling every year & during summer, people face acute shortage. Hope we effectively utilize the natural resources especially potable water which is becoming scarce in India & go for rain-water harvesting.

Earlier in the day, Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal gave the verdict on the never ending Cavery Water Dispute.

Iron Maiden all set to ROCK India this year

2007-01-22T12:33:00.000+05:30

Naveen was talking about the Campus Rock Idols 2007 & mentioned that the Iron Maiden is coming down to India this year. I couldn't believe it, so checked the Official Home of Iron Maiden for the tour 2007 dates, couldn't find dates for India tour anywhere.

09/03/2007	Dubai Desert Rock Festival
11/03/2007	GREECE - Athens, Faliro Pavilion Indoor Arena
14/03/2007	SERBIA - Belgrade, Fair Indoor Arena

After googling, it turns out that the Gods of Rock are indeed set to Rock India (Bangalore may be the venue, as per the information available on the web).

So, lets hope Iron Maiden performs in Bangalore!!!

Updates:
1) In other MAIDEN-related news, DNAIndia.com reports that Bruce Dickinson and company will play at least one show (Bangalore) in India later this year. A "battle of the bands" has been launched to give one local act an opportunity to open the concert, which is being organized by Venkat Vardhan of DNA Networks [via]
2) Roger Waters performing in Mumbai on 18thFeb07 [via]

Updates II [5th Feb' 07]
Iron Maiden @ Palace Grounds, Bangalore on 17th Mar 07 [via]

via Gigpad --> MaidenNorway --> DNAIndia.

Hail the Gunners

2007-01-22T11:18:00.000+05:30

You can never predict the result of any game in soccer, yesterday's fixture betweem Gunners & Lions was one of them.

I caught the live action only when Rooney had scored a goal against the Gunners . I knew Gunners would strike back and it came from 2 late goals of Robin van Persie - the current leading goal scorer in this EPL, who substiuted Alexander Hleb & Thierry Henry - the captain himself.
It feels so good to win a match against your arch rivals & even better when you have beaten them twice (home & away) this season.

May be we won't win the EPL this season, but a win against ManU is worth more than the championship.

More news @ Arsenal.com | Arsenal wins thriller

Taken for a ride!!!

2007-01-10T23:25:00.000+05:30

As I take you for ride, hold on to your seats & enjoy the ride; trust me it won't be disappointing, it would rather be a noteworthy one ;-)

Here it goes..................

It was a bright sunny day & I stepped out of my office for my regular noon stroll. Gave a call to my father, to get an update on whether the private water supply people had come home (guess we will have some serious water problem this summer in Bangalore, so better embrace yourself). While I was on the phone, I noticed a lady walk by and speak to a lad who was sitting on his bike. The next thing I see her walking towards me, while I was still having the conversation with my dad. The call snapped, when she approached me and asked me if I had change for Rs500 on me. I check my wallet & told her I didn't have; guess she noticed that I had couple of 500's myself.

Since the call had snapped, I re-dialled my dad's number. In the meantime, she approaches our company's security guard & talks to him. I saw him speaking to someone within the company & give a negative response. I presumed that he had asked someone within the company for the same - about the change for Rs500. I ended the conversation with my dad and she re-approaches me & here is how the rest of the events unfolds

Action #1
(Note: I am standing atleast 10 feet from the security cabin, while this conversation takes place)

PerfectStranger: Can you please lend me 500 bucks?
Vevck: What??? I was surprised by what she had asked me. I am thinking how do I deal with this women, don't know her....& now she is asking me 500 bucks.....by the time I plan to speak up, she starts narrating me her story.
PerfectStranger: I just happened to get off the bus & walk to the medical stores to purchase medicine & realizes that someone has pick-pocketed. Now, I urgently need some money to buy the medicines, trust me sir I need your help.
Vevck: I am still unsure about how to deal with the situation & thinking whether to trust this women or not. While she continued her story......
PerfectStranger: I know its tough to trust a stranger (YEAH! right, thanks for educating me; I didn't know that). Actually, my husband works for Infosys, he gave me money in the morning for the medicines & now I am robbed. (Infosys or Wipro or any damn company how does it help me trust U). I actually live near by near SanjayNagar police station, next to RadhaKrishna Temple. (Guess this point made me believe her to a certain extent)
Vevck: OK! May be what you are saying might be genuine, for me you are still a stranger. So, I still can't lend u money.
PerfectStranger: Sir, I shall return your money by 13:30 (an hour and 15 mins to go) to the security person. Please trust me (Another point which made me take the bait)
Vevck: I thought about it for few seconds, may be this women has been robbed & needed the money for her medicines. So, pull one 500 note & hand it over.
PerfectStranger: Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much, I shall return it by 13:30.
Vevck: Hello, can you please drop your contact number.
PerfectStranger: Sure, you can have it. While she spontaneously spelled her number, I keyed it on my mobile. She says,"Don't call that mobile number right now, its @ home". Then asks me, "Can I have your number too?"
Vevck: Gave her my number. Then I asked her for the address of residence, only to make sure whether she was spontaneous in writing that too. The security guard gave her a piece of paper to write down & she wrote down, giving me directions.

While she was giving me her address & taking down my number, the security guard just remains a spectator. This woman leaves the scene to the Subhikshna store which is bang opposite to our office. Thought I will update the guard about this women returning back @ 13:30hrs.

Action #2

Vevck: What did that woman ask you?
SecurityGuard: She asked if there were any job openings @ our company?
Vevck: (WTF???) I WAS SHOCKED...I repeated the question again, only to get the same response.
SecurityGuard: I spoke with the HR & responded that currently there are no openings.
Vevck: Didn't she ask you for some change on 500 note. Weren't you asking about the same with someone within the company.
SecurityGuard: No, sir. what happened?
Vevck: Told him what had transpired.
SecurityGuard: He was shocked too, he said, "This women got off an autorickshaw, few minutes ago. She never came by bus".
Vevck: Now I was sure that,"I was TAKEN for a RIDE!!!".
SecurityGuard: Sir, how could you trust a stranger & give her Rs500. (Dude, don't make me feel worse. I have already had enough). Sir, how do you know whether the credentials - phone number & the address -she gave you were true?
Vevck: Correct, lets find out whether the number she gave me exists or not. I dial the number.....its ringing on the other end.....(some hope that atleast the number is acitve)

Action#3

Vevck: Hello! Can I speak to Priya? (YEAH! thats the name she gave)
Unknown: Hello! Priya??? there is no one by that name?
Vevck: Doesn't this number belong to the person named Priya?
Unknown: Nope!
Vevck: OK. Sir, do you work for Infosys?
Unknown: No, who are you?
Vevck: Well....I am Vevck....just wanted to know if Priya is on this number. May I know who I am speaking to?
Unknown: Balachander.
Vevck: Sir, may I know where you live? (I didn't expect him to say SanjayNagar)
Balachander: Bannerghatta Road.
Vevck: Thank you.

I told the security guard that I have been taken for a ride & the number belongs to someone else. He says the address too won't be correct one. I told let me walk to Subhikshna & see if she is somewhere around. I walked into the store and started looking for this woman, couldn't spot her any where. Moreover, I knew Subhikshna never sold medicines. I asked the guard of that store whether he had seen any woman who was tall & fat, walk out in the past 10 mins. He said, he had she seen her walk out 5 mins ago. He asked me to speak to the store manager, as she had spoken with him too. So, I walk up to him & ask the same. Store manager said she had left towards the ATM, which is right next to the store.

I walked out of the store, to see if she is anywhere around. But, couldn't find her there either. Just as I stepping down from the complex, I was analyzing everything that had happened. How could I believe a perfect stranger & lend her 500 bucks? How on earth could I buy her story? Before I turned right to my office, just glanced once again. Guess whom I see, the women I was looking for; she was walking towards me. As she approached, I asked her," Why haven't you purchased your medicines?". I could sense the fear on her face, she replied,"Actually, I called my cousin, she is on her way now. Will do so when she comes by". By saying 'Thanks!' she handed me over the 500 note. I took the note & I wanted to confront her with the story, phone number........but then, I didn't confront her, just walked back to office & updated the security guard.

Over lunch I shared this with few of my colleagues & they were shocked too.

Moral of the ride: Never trust strangers & don't ever help them by lending cash.

I guess there are many of them out there who take people for a ride, so just be careful when someone approaches you the next time. Have you been taken for a ride anytime?

'Ash might be too dominating for the Bachchans'

2007-01-08T14:26:00.000+05:30

I DON'T CARE if 'Ash might be too dominating for the Bachchans' or not. What I fail to understand is the fact that how could this make it to headlines on Rediff?

All those familiar with Indian Media, would agree with the fact that most of them just survive by running such stories. Media alone can't be blamed for this, guess we as citizens of this country are equally responsible for this. I was surpised by the number of responses this article has recieved, running into more than 19 pages.

We have so many ppl in this country with so much of time to debate over such things. I wonder if our Prez dream of 'transforming India into a developed nation by 2020' will be realized by then.

Goodbye! 2006, Hello! 2007

2007-01-01T22:10:00.000+05:30

'Wishing everyone a very warm, prosperous and successful year ahead. Hope all your dreams & aspirations come true in 2007'

2006 Reflections, 2007 Resoultions

2006-12-30T23:59:00.000+05:30

With one night & one sunrise left for this year, here are my reflections of 2006 & resolutions for 2007.

'Reflections' of 2006

Health - 2006 has been kind on me. Have been hale & hearty throught the year, except for some common cold & cough occasionally. Had a minor accident early this year, fortunately nothing happened to me. Been careful since then riding/driving a 2/4 wheeler. Food habits haven't changed much, plan to go complete Veg sometime next year......don't know when that would happen. No, I don't eat red meat, i just love sea food.

Finance - Sound year, but as they say 'Make MONEY (HAY) while the IT industry (SUN) shines'. Yearning to make MORE money next year.

Career - Had the opportunity to contribute to couple of articles & hone my writing skills. Privileged to working with different teams & products in the first 2 quarters. Have been having fun in the last 2 quarters working on POCs & Demos with wide set of clients from various domains. It has been challenging situation where one needs to accept CHANGE from your clients at last moments & implement them @ 11th hour. Initally, I used to loose my mind over it, but, as time passed got used to it & developed patience at the end of the day. Had the pleasure of personnel management, to coach 2 batches of freshmen. Last quarter has been hell of a roller-coaster, dealing with attrition - one of the major problems of IT industry in Bangalore. Hoping for things to improve, as we step into the brand new year. I would be completing my MBA in IT next month from Manipal University.

Personal - As with everyone, I have had my share of HIGHS & LOWS throughout the year. I have been seeing someone for the past 6 months, things don't seem to be going good between us for over a 20 odd days or so. When I look back at the fights we have had, they seem to be over something which we could have easily passed off. In any relationship, it all depends on what each one is looking from the other. Apart from that, for any relationship to succeed I would prioritize the following things - Being honest to oneself, Communication, Trust & Respect. I don't have any regret over anything that has happened; have learned to accept the reality & live by it. At the end of the day, they all sum upto what you call EXPERIENCE - 'Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes' - a quote by Oscar Wilde. For those who don't know her, let it remain that way, it won't make any difference ;)

Travel - Has been a wonderful year traveling to various places.
Started off the year with a night trek to Tadiandamol, Coorg with Malhar, Raksha, Nita & Nitin.
In March, been on a trek to Kalathagiri then to Kemmangundi, Chickmangalur with Rags & his folks from Thoughtwork.
In April, been on a trek to Bear Mountain, Masinagudi, Ooty with Rags, Shivu & Nilesh.
In May, been on a trek to Mulliangiri and then hiking from Bababudangiri to Kemmangundi, Chickmangalur with Rags, Nilesh and Deepak Reddy.
In August, road trip to Tiruvannamallai, Gingee, Pondicherry & Mahabalipuram with Rags & Nilesh.
In October, another road trip with my old college buddies to Goa.
Finally, over Christmas weekend, been on a trek to Brahmagiri, near Nagarhole with Rags.

Photography - After spending 8 months shooting with FZ-30, have learnt some stuff & got to explore more functions/features of FZ-30. Learnt few stuff in processing the pictures from the web & my colleague Vijay.

Reading - Reading has been quite good too - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, The Quilt & Other Stories by Ismat Chughtai, Unio Mystica I by Osho, Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck, The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master by Andrew Hunt,David Thomas.

Music - I don't play any instruments, but follow things in the music world & try to make it to most of the music festivals/concerts that happens in Bangalore. Had been to Fireflies, June Rock Out & Deep Purple, missed out on IIMB Fest, Strawberry Fest & Sunday jams.

Sports - Soccer - Watched most of the games in this year's FIFA World Cup, was disappointed with the performance of ENG & GER. Atleast France made it to the finals & couldn't pull it off. Whatever happened in the final between France & Italy, still support Zidane. UEFA Champions League & EPL is going great, except the fact that Gunners have played badly and just hope they finish among the top 4 in this season's EPL; so that they qualify for next season's Champions League. I wish Chelsea win EPL & either Arsenal / Liverpool win this edition's Champions League.

F1 - Followed most of the F1 races & had interesting competition between Schumi & Alonso for the Championship. I thought Schumi would change his mind and continue another year with Ferrari, unfortunately he won't be around for next season. Looking forward to the Kimi's performance with the Ferrari in the next season, hope he beats Alonso.

Tennis - Watched all the grandslams & loved the way Roger Federer has performed through out the season. I wish he wins the French Open title next year, the only title which eludes him. Even though Leander & Mahesh won during the Doha games, I hope they don't make so much fuss when they can't get along well personally. Tennis too saw one of the greatest player retire this seaosn, none other than Andre Agassi.

Cricket - I don't really watch this sport much, atleast when India is playing - damn such a waste of time,we end up loosing most of the times. Watched last 2 matches of Ashes, man England performed very poorly & Aussies, as always dominated and won. I am hoping for a 5-0 whitewash. Hats off to Warnie, who happened to take 700 wickets in test cricket & has announced his retirement along with his teammate McGrath.

Movies- Not a movie buff, but I am surprised at the number of movies I have watched this year. Guess they sum up to around 50+ movies in theatres, DVDs, HBO, Star, AXN & downloads.

Blogging - Haven't blogged that often after August this year, hope to be regular next year.

Gadgets - Panasonic FZ-30, Apple iPod, Sony Ericsson K608i

'Resolutions' for 2007

Go for morning jogs everyday & do some yoga.
Cut down on binge drinking.
Convince parents, its not the time for marriage.
Achieve perfection @ work & photography.
Keep the learning curve growing.
Blog more frequently.
Attend more music festivals.
Travel to distant place.
Buy more gadgets.

Yesterday evening I sent an SMS to few friends and requested a response. Here is the SMS, "Hi! Only 2 days left 4 new year. So....Wat do u like 2 see change in me? Or wat shouldn't change 4 next yr. Reply frankly in as much as u know me...To be a better person".

Following are the responses I have recieved till today:

Change u'r attitude towards SN management N don't chnage u'r frankfull thoughts to any....
Live life on u'r terms not on public demand
U r gud d way u r but spend quality time wit u'r family
I cannot xpect any bdy to change fr me....I my self hav tonnes to imprve. N change fr urself nt fr others
Get married soon :) ;)
Hey...wel i think u r the best as u r....very open n polite...quite informative also at times...i love d way u counter attack N argue wit frends...nevs on me mind it :) der wise no changes for u to make, ya one, don use kannada wen ua talk t me N V bad at tat.

Now, I am requesting those of you who know me to give me an honest response too.

~ ThunderBird ~

2006-12-27T18:01:00.000+05:30

Awesome bike, ride to believe it. No, I don't own this bike, I envy my friend who has it. You can visit here to view the pixs.

'The Invisible Guy' turns a year older

2006-12-03T18:58:00.000+05:30

Yesterday 'The Invisible Guy' turned an year older. Just looking back at the past year, realised that life has been good to me.

my hairline has receded even more:)
lost many friends to an anchor called 'marriage'
financially OK!...but still yearning for MORE
shot many people @ different places through my FZ-30
tryin to be mature in the current relationship
become more wiser
developed loads of patience
professionally honed my skills
added more gadgets - Panasonic FZ-30, iPod, SE K608i

Thank you everyone for the wishes.

World AIDS Day

2006-12-01T23:41:00.000+05:30

After reading headlines of some of the major news networks, India has the 2nd most cases of AIDS in the world; I felt I could atleast bring some kind of awareness to this subject & spread it with few pictures. Click here for more info on World AIDS Day.

Sources: Rediff | Adsoftheworld | Creativebits

Update on myself!

2006-11-18T21:42:00.000+05:30

It has been quite a while since I posted anything on my personal blog. Occasionally, I have posted couple of posts reviews on couple of Web2.0 sites on my work-space blog & have been posting few pictures bi-weekly on my foto blog.

Personally - Have been doing quite a bit of travelling over last 4 months. Had two good road trips to Pondicherry & Goa, during the long weekends. Travelled to different parts of Karnataka to witness my buddies from school & engineering get settled in life. Over the last 2 months have attended 6 weddings, with one of my cousin's wedding slated @ the end of this month. I am not sure if all of them have made the right decisions to marry early in their lives, hope they have thought enough before making them. I wish them all the very best for their future. I found this quote quite introspecting, from a man who led our nation's struggle for independence.

'I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage' - M. K. Gandhi

Apart from that, have been spending my time capturing moments from all my travels and places I visit. Have been trying my hand on the post-processing of the pictures, the results are quite satisfying; but still a long way to go before I get comfortable with Photoshop CS2 - one of the best softwares around.

Socialising - I would say,it has been decent. Meet my close chums - Rags & Malhar - almost every week; couple of weeks back had a re-union party with quite a decent number of ppl from my batch of engineering; also happened to have a small get-together during the last week of Oct'er with my ReadiMinders. The only people I haven't been able to keep in touch are those from the photography & bloggers. It has been almost 5 months since I met them, have been in touch with few of them over mails, IM or phone calls. Firang Squirrel, was virtual up in arms, because I had not met her nor shown myself @ her home, from the day she got married and settled in Bengaluru. It was great to catch up with her over lunch & get an update on how she has been living & adjusting to the way of life in 'Namma Bengaluru'. My network has swelled to quite a number on Orkut in the recent past. This has increased my interactions with friends who are living in different parts of the world.

Professionally - Things have been quite hectic & challenging, working on demos & use-cases for our client. Getting insights into various domains and also dealing with the constant changes in the requirements which shape the demos & use-cases. Been part of couple of GeekNights which are held @ Thoughtworks, Bangalore. It has been a good experience so far, with AOP - Aspect Orieneted Programming and the other being Sahi - Web Automation and Test Tool & Google GWT - Google's AJAX API.

Gadgets - Got myself an iPod, a gadget which I had been waiting to accquire for quite sometime. Upgraded my mo-fone to Sony Ericsson's K610i, one of the best 3G handset around.

Xplore Google Reader

2006-10-07T16:36:00.000+05:30

Check out the feature rich Google Reade r. Based on my usage of the Reader, here are my 2 cents.

Gunners gun down the Lions

2006-09-18T14:56:00.000+05:30

If you are an EPL fan, then you would know what I mean by 'Gunners gun down the Lions'. Premiership Sunday had four great teams playing each other for glory, the first fixture @ Stamford Bridge, between Chelsea and Liverpool & the second fixture @ Old Trafford, between arch rivals Arsenal and Manchester United.

As always, any match between the arch rivals would draw a lot of crowd and this fixture wasn't much different. It was a great match which I enjoyed watching till the end. Right from the start, the Gunners were attacking the Lions and I feel they outplayed them in every division. Arsenal had really good chances of taking the lead within 5 minutes of the game, if only the stand-in captain Gilberto Silva had converted the pentaly won by Emmanuel Adebayor. Ronaldo did have a go @ Arsenal just before the first half, Jens made an amazing save by putting himself infront and taking a mighty blow to his face.

Second half had more action coming from Arsene Wenger's boys with 5-4-1 formation with Emmanuel Adebayor upfront. Tomas Rosicky too had one shot @ the goal, but it was wide shot @ goal. Alex, finally substitued his lead striker Ronney with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Scholes with Michael Carrick, hoping things would get better. Thats when the Gunners turned things around, with an amazing interception from Cesc Fabregas, who architected the goal, by passing it on to Emmanuel Adebayor, who gracefully converted it. It was a wonderful moment for all the Gunner fans to see 1-0 score card @ Old Trafford, without their lead striker Henry.

~ Emmanuel Adebayor's Goal ~

~ Jens Brilliant Save ~

ManU could have equalled, if only Solskjaer's shot could have passed Jens. The save was brilliant & that gave the Gunners their first win in EPL for this season. By winning against ManU @ Old Trafford, I feel the Gunners have proved their critics wrong and they r back in the race for this seasons title. Even with some major changes in the current Arsenal's squad with many old guards - Ashley Cole's moving to Chelsea; Robert Pirès moving to Villareal; Sol Campbell moving to Portsmouth; Jose Antonio Reyes on loan to Real Madrid; - moving away and the retirement of Dennis Bergkamp, the team still has a formidable lineup, which can upset any team.

The first fixture was won by 10 men Chelsea, with an amazing solitary goal by the Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba. Tiger Woods these days seems to be accompanying his friends in different sports at different parts of the world. He was supporting Roger Federer during last week's US Open finals against Andy Roddick, yesterday he was witnessing his friend Andriy Shevchenko play @ Stamford Bridge against Liverpool.

5 minutes to fame

2006-09-14T14:12:00.000+05:30

~Canon - Funtwo~

5 minutes and 20 seconds is what it took for this South Korean student Lim Jeong-hyun to enter the hall of fame of You-Tube. This video made him popular across the world & in his country. I saw this yesterday evening on CNN, about the guitarist who has performed the rock version of Pachelbel's 'Canon'.

For more on this: Web video turns South Korean into global guitar star | YouTube guitarist revealed CNN Video

Source: YouTube | Yahoo | CNN | Wiki

Tribute to Steve Irwin

2006-09-04T13:12:00.000+05:30

~Steve Irwin~
1962-2006

Steve Irwin a.k.a 'Croc Hunter', as most of us have known him, is no more with us. Nat, broke to this news to me an hour and half ago. I was shocked to hear it in the first place and couldn't believe it, asked her twice before I could digest the news.

'The 44-year-old was killed by a stingray barb which pierced his chest while he was shooting a documentary on the Great Barrier Reef'. For more, read this,from 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.

I have watched many of Steve's shows on Animal Planet and enjoyed all of them. He has always amazed me with his documentaries, especially the one in which he swam with Crocs, am not really sure if there is anyone else who has done that. He is fun to watch, no matter which animal he speaks about, he always tells you so much about the subject that you never get bored watching his show. His style of narration was very unique & Aussie and loved them. I feel no one can ever substitute him in what he used to do, he was the best @ his job.

I feel very sad about how death came upon him, who had lived all his life so closely with nature, trying to understand them and was killed by one of them. He did many things which most of us would have dare to do it in our wildest dreams.

I know he will be missed by millions of people across the world, hope his family can handle this incident emotionally.

Image Source: Amazon.com | News: The Sydney Morning Herald

Back on Airtel Network

2006-08-31T10:19:00.000+05:30

HeyA!

I have moved back to Airtel, I hope you have updated your phonebook, if you haven't then mail me & will respond back.

Cheers!
Vevck

Is it really necessary to spend so much???

2006-08-30T17:45:00.000+05:30

Let me know your thoughts on the same. All those who can't understand Rupees, it is worth 1,076, 426.26 USD

What's Your Blogging Personality?

2006-08-09T23:40:00.000+05:30

Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate

You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great.
One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog...
And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes.
Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with.

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Abstract Art

2006-08-09T16:13:00.000+05:30

~ Atomic Life ~

~ Abstract Lines ~

~ Absolute Abstract ~

So, what do u think of my Abstract Art? How much are you willing to pay me for the above art work?

It took me just 10 minutes to create all the 3 masterpieces ;). I am not kidding, just 10 mins; even you could be an abstract artist. If you are wondering how could that be possible? Then visit Jacksonpollock.org, a website by Miltos Manteas. Really interesting piece of flash animation based on "Splatter". For more you can read Action Painting from wiki.

Happy Friendship Day

2006-08-06T15:05:00.000+05:30

' Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation ' - George Washington

Post-mortem report on 'The censorship of blogging in India'

2006-07-31T12:26:00.000+05:30

Here is my Post-mortem report on 'The censorship of blogging in India', If you are unable to relate to what I am saying then you should continue reading this post.

What do u understand the term 'Censorship'? According to my favorite knowledge source, Wiki, here is the definition of the term.

'Censorship is the systematic use of group power to broadly control freedom of speech and expression, largely in regard to secretive matters. Sanitization (cleaning or decontamination) and whitewashing (from whitewash) are almost interchangeable terms that refer to particular acts or campaigns of censorship or omission which seek to "clean up" the portrayal of particular issues and facts which are already known, but which may conflict with a presented point of view.'

Currently, I live in India, the largest Democratic (gives me a sense of FALSE PRIDE) Nation in the world. I presume to have/had the freedom to express myself meaningfully on any subject, until Government of India (GoI) on 13th July issued a notice to ban certain sites - Blogger - Blogpsot - Typepad - Geocities. This ban when enforced by the ISPs spread across the country, made an impact on the bloggers especially those on Blogger/Typepad only the following week i.e. 17-19th July. Even though this so called 'Censorship' lasted only for 3 days, this post mortem 'The censorship of blogging in India' shows the lack of knowledge in interpretation & implementation of the GoI's Notice by our Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Why did the GoI issue a notice to ban these sites/domains?

They say that terrorists/certain groups/individuals have been using blogs as a medium for communication, spreading hatred & inciting people for varied interests.

But, did the GoI actually issue a blanket ban on these domains or was it the implementation failure of our ISPs in blocking only certain URLs issued by the GoI?

~ GoI - Department of Telecom's notice ~
Via: Neha Viswanathan

After looking @ above scanned version of the Actual Document of the notice, the GoI never really issued a notice for blanket ban, rather the SICK ISPs need to blamed for creating the un-necessary confusion among the bloggers and the GoI.

The Post-mortem report:

The ISPs should be blamed for creating the confusion & depriving the freedom of expression & making the GoI look as the 'Culprit'. I feel the ISPs should find a better methodology/process/steps in carrying out Government's notices & regulations.
Blogger.com, few bloggers & blogging as a concept, got a wide range of coverage from the National & International media.
Bloggers across the world were united in lending voice to this episode & I believe this led to the birth of a Google Group called BloggersCollective. If you wanna know more about them, then here are few useful links BloggersCollective and their website Bloggers Against Censorship.
Going further, if the GoI does plan to do something silly like issuing a notice for implementing a blanket ban on the entire blogging domains, I feel this episode should be studied carefully. The Government should address such an issue in a sensible manner by weighing lot of options before making a final call. There are millions of people who use 'Blogging' for various different purposes, U just can't make decisions based on few individual groups/individuals who abuse technology. Even if the GoI does issue such a blanket ban notice, there numerous ways to 'Circumvent' the censorship.

Even though I wanted to write a post on this subject last week, I wasn't able to do so.....Reason?....From last week I am unable to access Blogger & Blogspot from my workplace. The official reason .....Testing new things on how to utilize the available bandwidth in a proper manner.

I am very impressed with Neha Viswanathan, who has given her voice & time on the subject starting from day one. Click here to view her post which covers the entire episode with regular updates.

Long live INDIA

2006-07-25T01:43:00.000+05:30

Israel

POPULATION: 7 million (less than half of Mumbai)
SIZE: Less than that of Kerala
ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST IT: 2 soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah, 1 by Hamas
RETALIATORY ACTION: War on Lebanon

India

POPULATION: 1 billion+
SIZE: 6th largest in the world
ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST IT: 200+ dead in Mumbai blast, 8 in Kashmir
RETALIATORY ACTION: A speech by Prime Minister

Source: Through Email.

Update of myself!

2006-07-23T20:30:00.000+05:30

The first 3 weeks of this month was very hectic, with a challenging task of completing a Use-Case for one of the leading market analysis & research firm. Everything came along fine and use-case was successfully executed on 14th.

I knew the following week would be another stressful one to pass through; that's because my 3rd Semester MBA xams was scheduled from 20-23. I am grateful to my managers, who gave me a week off for the same. Efforts/Preparations for this semester's xams wasn't anywhere close to the previous two semesters; eventually started preparing for it from 16th till 19th. Finally, today had my last paper & it went well; Now when I lookup on all the 4 papers, seems like I have done pretty good, lets wait for the results to be announced in the coming months to know the reality;). One thing I observed this time around was that my concentration levels had dropped very much, they never lasted more than 40 mins. In case any of you have observed yours, could you let me know how good is your concentration?

Due to my xams I happen to miss out on couple of things, first one being the movie marathon @ the blogger couple Jessica-Kishore's residence on Saturday & followed by dinner @ my college mate's place.

Now that I am done with my xams, I hope to spend some good time socializing:)

Food for thought

2006-07-14T16:14:00.000+05:30

"If someone with a nostril ring takes it out, then blows their nose, do they have to cover that hole as well as their nostril holes so that snot does'nt blow out everywere?"

Courtesy for this thought is my friend Pawan Reddy.

Insane world

2006-07-06T10:22:00.000+05:30

I am all geared up for watching the France Vs Portugal, the 2nd Semi-final of FIFA world cup 2006, which is gonna kick-off in another 15 minutes . But, I am sure that I will be alive after watching the watch, irrespective of who is gonna win this game; even though I am supporting France. I guess you are trying hard to make sense of what I have written in the previous two sentences, thinking howz football and life correlated???

Then let me point you to this headlines on Yahoo. I am very horrified after reading that piece of news, and many Qs started sprouting in my mind - how can someone be killed for watching football? I really don't know whatz happening to people, what on Earth are these people gonna achieve by killing innocent people for watching sports? Every passing day the world is turning out to be an 'Insane' place to live, all in the name of religion.

Whatz your reaction after reading that, I would like to know your thots on the same.