oldwineinnewpot

Goodbye google reader!!

2011-11-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

This was the thought which flashed through my mind when I saw the new interface:
Bastards!! They killed Kenny.
Dear Google, What have you done to the google reader interface? Leave it aside. Where are the list of friends who shared their feeds with me? I don't want to build it again. There is a difference between giving a new look and removing a major functionality that I had been banking on since the product was launched.
If you want everything the Plus way, then why do you need to offer a google reader service. I don't see a point. Where the hell are the list of my friends who were sharing interesting articles on google reader? (painstakingly built over years) Why cannot we have a +1 in the interface through which I can share in google plus also (if desired) and people can wade through the slugfest of personal rants, status updates and nice articles. It is better to kiss good bye to this service in the present modern shape.

The Great Dicator : Barber's speech

2011-08-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

The Barber's Speech:

I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone, if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness — not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another.
In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world — millions of despairing men, women and little children — victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say — do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed — the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes — men who despise you — enslave you — who regiment your lives — tell you what to do — what to think or what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men — machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate! Only the unloved hate — the unloved and the unnatural!
Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the 17th Chapter of St. Luke it is written: "the kingdom of god within man" — not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power — the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth the future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie! They do not fulfill their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people! Now, let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.
Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!
[Cheers]
Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up, Hannah. The clouds are lifting. The sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world, a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed and brutality. Look up, Hannah. The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow — into the light of hope, into the future, the glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up.

Huh. Despicable Me

2011-05-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

Despicable Me!! Had been listening to this in a loop since yesterday night :)

What a song!! Copied the lyrics from a site filled with ads:

[Chorus - Pharrell Williams]
I'm having a bad bad day
Its about time that I get my way
Steam rolling whatever i see, huh
Despicable me

I’m having a bad bad day
If you take it personal thats ok,
Watch this is so fun to see, huh
Despicable me

[Verse 1]
Why ask why better yet why not
Why are you marking 'X' on that spot
Why use a blow torch isn’t that hot?
Why use a chainsaw is that all you got
Why do you like seeing people in shock
But my question to you is why not
Why go to the back and stand in line
Just use a freeze gun it saves me time

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
Why ask why when this is just art
Why parallel when I can just park?
Why does vector think that he’s smart
And does his dad know I know his part
Why did I have to live with my mom
Why do you think that I should be calm
Why want the moon, the World in my palm

Is it crazy you think I’ve gone?

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Excuse me if you will
You look like you have time to kill
Can you chill
Cause Gru Got the speakers and the trunk to make you
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce
To make you bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce

[Chorus]
Despicable Me (repeated)
[Chorus]

La Grande-Nonet - Ailiers

2011-05-07T00:22:00.000-07:00

One of the members of the nonet had fallen to the great prophecy of Sir Turtle Brother Suun. Not so long ago, Sir Turtle Brother Suun had dedicated a page for proposing his prophecy in the grand discreet collection of his. This can be found in the one of the corners of the famous bits-abyss flowing across the network pipes of the lactose-tolerant galaxy.

A group of Ailiers are heading today to visit the grand celebration of Lord Lorsque Cut's (a member of the nonet) wedding. A life changing event, long predicted by Sir Turtle Brother Suun. (Lord Gecko Komodo quoted that it is indeed long, when measured in nanoseconds)

Note: Sir Turtle Brother Suun is not a great fan of prophecies. Hence, it is popularly believed by the Ailiers that it involved some intricate calculations based on complex statistical models. Also, the absence of the prophecy on three of the illustrious nonet further goes to reinforce the previous statement. The rumour has it that Sir Turtle Brother Suun is currently involved in the studies of Zen philosophy.

Usual Miscellany

2011-03-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

I felt like writing this post for the heck of it. It is filled with random stuff right on top of my mind. You might be better-off using your own RSS-feed aggregator and can choose to jump out of this space right now.
I was quite surprised by the diplomacy policy employed by India. For eg, the Lankan issue cable quoted in The Hindu and the Myanmar policy was a surprise. Things look like more of an endless strategy based game.
And yeah, what ever happened in Japan is extremely scary. I truly believe that Japan will rise ten folds. And the report about "no looting in Japan" even during the troubled times was a testament to the country's steely resolve in many ways. Also, China's reaction to immediately stall building newer nuclear installments and scrutinizing the older ones as #1 priority was indeed swift.

Time for some cryptic messages. The tracers returned. 3 of them did not find a path. Waiting for the rest to respond. At the current boat, i found a way to by pass the rules of a mini-game to win it outright. Could not believe at the number of loop holes provided to the gamers. Think more or less, am done. If you had stayed till here with me, Man, I appreciate your patience.

Edum Edum ...

2011-02-23T04:14:00.000-08:00

Lately, I keep listening to the bgm song in Ravanan during the fight between Veera and Dev's forces. The lines are from the poem Kalingathu Bharani (I read it in my tenth standard Tamil textbook). The versatility of the poem combined with ARR's music enchanted me, indeed. Kalingathu Bharani glorifies the heroics of the warriors and the battling forces in the warfield. Check out the song in this link.
The lyrics are as follows: (It features in Por Paadiyadu Padalam)

போரின் பேரொலி
எடுமெடு மெடுமென வெடுத்ததோர் இகலொலி கடலொலி யிகக்கவே
விடுவிடு விடுபரி கரிக்குழாம் விடும்விடு மெனுமொலி மிகைக்கவே

வெருவர வரிசிலை தெறித்தநாண் விசைபடு திசைமுகம் வெடிக்கவே
செருவிடை யவரவர் தெழித்ததோர் தெழியுல குகள்செவி டெடுக்கவே.

இருபடைகளும் குதிரைகளும்
எறிகட லொடுகடல் கிடைத்தபோல் இருபடை களுமெதிர் கிடைக்கவே
மறிதிரை யொடுதிரை மலைத்தபோல் வருபரி யொடுபரி மலைக்கவே.

யானைப் படையும் குதிரைப் படையும்
கனவரை யொடுவரை முனைத்தபோற் கடகரி யொடுகரி முனைக்கவே
இனமுகின் முகிலொடு மெதிர்த்தபோல் இரதமொ டிரதமு மெதிர்க்கவே.

[Lyrics Credits :: http://bharani.dli.ernet.in/pmadurai/mp123.html]

Gmail SignOut

2011-02-17T03:27:00.000-08:00

Dear Google,
Can you please let me do a single click to Sign Out from the Web Client. Whoever got the UI idea should have left the option for the user to switch back to the old mode!!!
From a regular gmail user.

Calm before the storm

2011-02-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

The boats had set sail long ago. Being in one of the solitary vessels and navigating through them was quite easy till now. Had avoided the tricky parts of the voyage and never ventured out to meet any whirlpool or storm.
A lot of things have unraveled before my eyes as the map shows a different set of options every time. After taking a different path and traveling several nautical miles, i choose to take a recourse to the original plan. Felt like going around the same voyage path in circles. Hope to break the shackles one day.
Had sent a tracer for another path a few months back (yeah, my gadgets had improved over time) and waiting for feedback from the tracer.

RESOURCE!! Daah.

2010-08-02T02:39:00.000-07:00

Whenever they list my name under the resources column in project plan meetings, i feel really frustrated and hate this attitude of the one who invented it and those who follow it senselessly. Why the hell should i be called a resource? Then why call me by my first name? And address me with the words used for higher thinking mammals. People can as well say it is yet to complete the schedule and this resource might spill the release and deadline.
I feel sick when someone requests for "extra resources" in place of "engineers". Are they wired with specific grammar rules in their medium of communication? If the type-id of the resource is "Human", then you have the choice (think choice is the perfect choice here) of addressing them with those privileged words deemed fit for the ones possessing six/five(maybe)-senses. Even if a machine can be programmed with the sixth sense, you can start addressing it with more respect. Is it just height of hypocrisy? Are they trying to stay professional (hell with the one who conceived this) by doing this and convincing themselves? Daah.

Bus Ride, iPod

2010-05-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

I left for City Centre yesterday from home. I had to catch a rickety share auto, get to Vadapalani. Then, i caught a bus to Alwarpet and at last, a 12G to the destination. There were a couple of kids sitting behind me in the bus. Their shirts were torn in places, unkempt hair and they were bare-footed. One of them was talking about a ride from Porur to some place near the beach. "Dei, Andha driver-u valchu valchu otnaayaan. Amma, mudhukulaan kanna pinnanu novudu daa." (Translator's note: Refer Madras Bashai in Wiki to get an idea of their dialect).
And their conversation was along the lines of some "pullayaaru sadurthi" festivities. They caught my attention when one of the mentioned about iPod and iPhone. And the kids started talking about "Thottu. Thottu" (the touch feature) phone pesalaam. I was dumb-struck and think Jobs has got it right. He has made the entire market to go after the touch feature.

PS: Wanted to check whether they mention about flash also. Unfortunately, they did not. :( :(

Advertisements.. Fail

2010-04-19T01:25:00.000-07:00

A few ads get on to my nerves. Especially, when they stoop below a level. For example, LG's lets zap ad. Huh, selling someone's stuff becomes a "Wonderful Moment in Life"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTsPpV6no1Y
I will definitely like to meet the creative brain behind this ad.

The other one is the Micromax ad featuring Sehwag and Gambhir. I don't know what will be going through their minds when the ad is screened on the giant screen in the ground. (and if they are present in the ground. Seriously, i can't imagine being in their shoes. I pity them). Hopefully, cricketers will also start becoming choosy about the script of ads to avoid public embarrassment.

The icing on the cake is Dhoni's micromax ad. "Omg, this is my n-th mobile. Stop flicking it. Boo-hoo hoo hoo... booo hoooooooo". Perhaps the ad directors need to check this out.

IPL frenzy

2010-04-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

I came across this nice article/opinion in "The Hindu" about IPL. The article raised several raised questions. As taxpayers, the entity responsible have to provide answers for this. And this is an effort to spread the reach of the article and it is worth posting the link. http://tinyurl.com/y5tef3s

[edit]
When i posted the mail about this article to people, one of my friends reviewed the article. The review was pretty good.

Maybe. But this article is written with cheap-sentimental mindset. How about appealing, every toilet you flush, hundreds of children suffer without water? The argument is probably right, but there's no correlation between where you take and where you give.

For starters: http://www.paulgraham.com/disagree.html

IPL makes the billionaires lot of money. It's easy to quantify that money in terms of number of poor people it can lift above the poverty line. Free market capitalism lets people hold money and use it the way they want. Not some central article writer dictating common good.

A few deeper dislikes about the article is it's vagueness and lack of precision on any point. To quote a few:
Leave aside the narrow money details or the fact that some franchisees are thought to be losing tens of crores each year. Skip the fact that despite those losses, newer franchisees between them put up over Rs.3,000 crore for two teams that don't exist. Only a tiny band of journalists have at all shown the scepticism demanded of their profession. These few have stuck at it gamely only to find themselves isolated, mocked as party-poopers and the recipients of threats and abusive mail.

Leave aside? It was his point. Which journalist received a threat? The whole paragraph is made of unbacked claims.

No questions either on why a public sector company should be billing itself as the “sponsor” of a team owned by the fourth richest man in the planet. No questions asked about issues ranging from super-cheap land leases and stadia rentals and low-cost stadia security. We don't even know what the total bill to the public is: just that it is probably in tens of crores.

Vague and for PR reasons.

Some in-depth analysis on the problems covered might get the author a lot of respect. For example:

The waiving of entertainment tax worth Rs 10 crore -12 crore for the IPL in Maharashtra alone was discussed in the State's Assembly. It was little reported and less discussed in the media

The usual norms are, the government waives off entertainment taxes for things that are consumed by "common" man. The not so rich population, because the tax is added on top of the ticket price. It's routine to waive it off for the BCCI based matches. It's simple to expect therefore, BCCI as a body trying to get the tax waived, govt who has vote bank benefits with the publicity of the IPL to get it's name associated with it's waiver. Also, since it's slightly higher middle class, a partial waiver compromise of 25% has been reached after several parties' (BCCI, Entertainment Beaurau, etc) interests are trying to be settled. My point is, the article avoids any facts that get in its way of making a point, and goes overboard and vague about a thousand things.

-XXXXXXX

A long year...

2010-01-21T00:39:00.000-08:00

[24th Jan 2010]
I realized yesterday that it was a year since there was the storm. To just escape out of the reality, i ran home and got in terms with things that transcended the same day, a year ago. After spending so much time in absolute disbelief and disappointment on the first day, i realized to look ahead rather than think about what had happened. Then, there was a wait. A huge wait. Maybe, one can call it a drought after a devastating storm. The month of February, the shortest in the calendar year, seemed to be really long than actually it was. Quiet ironical. Many of them tried easing me out of it during the period. I spent most of my time pondering about what had gone wrong. Where did i go wrong? Did i screw up anything big time? Rescue efforts came in from all quarters. Finally, the drought ended with welcome showers. Enduring such a period toughened me mentally. Although i was never given straight answers for my questions.
A lot has changed now. I exist and the storm-causing entity is no more. Journeyed on a ship before jumping to a smaller boat, as the ship was erased from the face of the earth by those who were given the sacred powers, exactly six months after the welcome showers in the month of March. Efforts to switch to a bigger vessel aligned with my interests got dented by somebody else's mistake. Life rolls on. When there is a crest there will always be a trough. It is up to the individual to build the ark, maybe multiple ones, before it rains. Remember to build them, before it rains, before it rains.

Mission Cup-o-noodles

2009-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Our train was delayed by more than one and half hours. Platform number 1 was extremely crowded and the speaker system was blaring out regret messages for all the trains that got delayed in a loop sequence.
Some other train arrived at the platform with the traditional "tadak-tadak" sound. Yup, this is when our cup-in-a noodles tale unravels.
A kid along with his father (who had already boarded the train) rushed to a nearby stall to get Cup-o-noodles. They were in real hurry as the speaker system announced the departure of this train. The train started moving and the kid-father duo started running towards their coach. The kid was helped by a lady onto the train & at the same time someone inside the train had panicked and pulled the chain making the train to stop suddenly. The jolt pushed the kid (who just got in) towards the earlier direction of his motion and the cup-o(h oh)-noodles slipped from his hands :( :( :(. The rest of the sequence after this was totally inconsequential for the kid as he continued observing his "dinner on the tracks" and started introspecting about what really went wrong. Maybe, some personal lessons from Mr.Hunt can help him.

PS: Another title idea for the post: Cup-in-a Noodles (Courtesy: PK).

A particular ARR's song

2009-12-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

:: This is not a review about his music and stuff. It is just a blog admiring a particular song for which he had composed the music. The effect of the song might last on me for a day. Thought, will roll out my current state of mind as a post before the euphoria subsides. ::

I had been playing the "Iktara" song (one can even go to the extent of saying that i just listened to this song alone) from "Wake up Sid" for several days (right from the time i had watched the movie). And today my roomie asked me to listen to a song called "Thee Kuruvi" from Kangalal Kaidu Sei (Tamil movie). I had listened to this particular song before this day. But, i never gave much attention to the lyrics nor to the small interludes of different musical instruments which ARR had used while composing the song.

I found the lyrics of this particular song amazing. The music is top class, amazing and awesome. Particularly, the small interludes in between the singing(although it is a trademark of ARR's compositions, this one looks special) make it even more beautiful. And the relative ease with which Harini sings(/zaps through) the "theekuruviyaay theenkaniyinai" couplet adds "the extraordinary tag" to the song. That particular couplet was an absolute tongue twister and she had sung it magnificently. Right now, as you can guess, this particular song has become the next Iktara of my list.

Some prime number puzzle

2009-12-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

One of my friends asked me to solve a basic puzzle. The results I found after solving the same made me to write a blog. Yeah, first the puzzle.

Prove that p^2 - 1 is always divisible by 24 for p being prime and p>=5

The solution is fairly simple. The factors of LHS is p-1, p+1. One of them is divisible by 2 and the other by 4 (Since, p is odd and out of two consecutive even primes one of them will be divisible by 4). Out of every three consecutive natural numbers, one of them should be divisible by 3. Since p is prime, either of the factors is divisible by 3. And hence the proposition is true.
After this, another colleague told me that prime numbers, greater than 3, can be expressed as 6K+1 or 6k-1. (It is not a sufficient condition, in the sense, all numbers of the given forms needs to be prime). After spending some time, i found out that all the numbers modulo 6 can be expressed as 6q+r and r can range from 0 to 5. Given this, one can arrive at the conclusion that two sets of natural number forms 6q+1, 6q-1 (same as 6q +5) cannot be directly expressed as product of two direct factors. And hence, the prime numbers can fall into the class either of the number forms. So, the hypothesis is valid. I was just hunting for other numbers which will be forming such number forms (classes) that can be used for primality testing. I have to devise some sort of strategy to find some other number, which will generate two classes. (Quiet obviously, 2 3 and 4 are already considered). If someone can point me to a good read on the same, it will be awesome.
Later, i moved on to read about Sexy Primes and Twin primes in wiki. The articles were awesome and i loved it :). Also, if possible try reading about Surreal Numbers (just google for it and download a nicely written pdf on the same. this is purely for pleasure reading).

Randomness

2009-11-28T22:36:00.000-08:00

If u had accidentally visited this link then pl do click here.

Its been a long time, since i had posted something in this blog roll. I just have a huge list of questions unanswered. Like, how to pass time on weekends? (except those when i go to IISc or home). What do ppl imply when they preach "have a life" ? Is not "having a life" a matter of perspective? I was always wondering about this when people pass such a comment.
I am now maintaining a wonderful cubicle-shifting rate at the office space. The one am sitting now is number "5"th in one and half years. Aaha.. one and half. I just remember that funny reader post i came across [Click here]. (Make sure to click on the aforementioned link, before u continue :P) What ever might change in the world, i dont think these ppl are going to change their policy on "Operation Fleece S/W engineers". (This operation is not carried out by a small clique of Autowallahs at Ben-kuluru). I am not going to compare these (relative) gentlemen to the thugs at Chennai. They are fleecers/(any other abusive adjective will suit to describe them) of the highest degree. I expected the govt concerned to make an attempt to standardize these things. (quiet obviously their polic(e)-ies are screwed up).
And yeah, my friends start up is kicking off really well. When you get time, try visiting interviewstreet.com or the discussion page. Hope they go a long way :) .
Edit: Forgot to add abt coming across a pub named "Just another Pub". Got reminded of a funny little friend who prefixes every handle of his with the string "Just Another" :P

Bus Day ???

2009-03-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Never heard of this concept. If you accidentally bump into this blog then try visiting this link. (Actually, i bumped into this link accidentally). Think this article went unnoticed because of the clash between more grown-up men (Between our well-educated lawyers(??) and the police force at Chennai) taking the headlines(/limelight).

Some sense at last...

2008-12-19T20:22:00.000-08:00

I was just stunned by the incredible stupidity of our broadcast media while showing the coverage of the mumbai attacks. Moreover, a few news channels were stating in between reports that, we are the first ones to bring out this and blah blah. Keeping ppl well informed of the situation is different from playing with the sensitiveness of the issue (never thought that, freedom of speech can be stretched to such an extent). At last, some sense prevailed over these broadcast media. Saw this piece of news article floating on the net : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/14181780.htm . At last, they are back to their senses.

PS: This news merited to be published as an article, just because, this entailed the incident. Had the regulations been brought about earlier, i dont know how many would have cared to publish the same. It is just the way, Mr.Taleb had explained in his book, The Black Swan.

Bose Headphones . . . . My Precioussss

2008-09-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my god!!! Today i got the pleasure of listening to "Azeemo-..." in Bose Headphones. I am already running out of words to explain it..... One should experience it.
My roomie, Mr. B was describing me about these headphones, one day. He was so excited about it and started explaining about the noise cancellation and stuff. Being, not that much a avid music lover, i was quiet nonchalant about it, at that point of time. And this guy, started going to the Bose outlet everyday.... Thought, he went off his rockers. And suddenly, he bought one for a whopping 19000/- . I thought "OMG!!!!, this much for 19K" .
I understood the value of the money he parted for the headphones, only when i put them on. The noise cancellation stuff was awesome. It was like in another world.... My preciousss.....

Enna Koduma Sir, idhu!!

2008-05-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Translator's Note:: Title -> Huh

I was just getting acquainted with people in our new apartment (yeah, i just moved in, yet again!!!). I was talking to a lady, residing in the house just above ours. As usual, i was introducing myself "am doing my final year, compsci in NI..... blah". She suddenly interrupted me.
"did u try for iit ?" . I replied "Yeah, I did".
And that lady replied with pride brimming in her tone, "Even my son is attending AIMS classes".
Me: "Oh nice. Is he in XI or XII???"
She hastily replied, "No!!! No!! No!! He is in VIII". With great difficulty, i managed a smile and left the place.

Chronicles of Fruitania: Episodes 1 & 2

2008-05-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

The digests of 'fruitania' are being published like Star Wars (in out of order). These were posted by Srikanth (Shreik) on our lan forum during the final days of our college (Late April and Early May 2008, to be precise) . Am just pasting them directly from the forum:

Note: KKS had publised a paper in an international conference recognized by IEEE.
Episode 1:

Me, Adi, PK, Damal and KKS go to a restaurant...

Server: Orders Please...

Me: 2 Idlis
Adi: 1 Pongal
PK: 2 aabayils (half-boils)
Damal: 1 Muttai Poriyal

KKS: 1 roast... 'Paper' roast...

Thus was born KKS' hunger for papers which has brought him here...

Episode 3:

A TYPICAL DAY IN FRUITANIA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scene 1: Moral issues involving mess and gate

Location: Room 58, Garnet 'A'
Adi browsing forum, Venkat reading pdf, Shreik tagging meesic...

18:59:00

(Enter *)

*: Mess? Mess? Mess?
Venkat: *, athukulla yenna avasaram?
*: (with a hinged wrist) Thalaiva, anyayama pasikkudhu...ok naa sappida poren... hum chale chalo...(Adi pukes)

(Exit *)

19:00:00

(Enter Damal, with a half inserted T-shirt)

Damal: Mess guys?
Shreik: Adanguda CID... (to others)time paathala? 7 pm... (To Damal) you machine...
Damal: (With an indifferent attitude look) Yennada olarreenga?
Venkat: innaikku GATE thane?

(Day is one day before cycle test)

Damal: Actually, Innaikku enakku avlo pasi illa...na mess poren.

(Enter KKS)

KKS: Mess?
Damal, Shreik, Venkat (in unison): Thalaiva...
Damal: Enna Thalaiva...preparation over-a?
KKS: Wehehehell...Avara kelu (Pointing to Venkat)...'n'th revisionla irukkaru...'n' tending to infinity.
Venkat: Thalaiva... En uyire oosal adittu irukku.
Damal: (holding Venkat's Collar) Nee pesariya da? Un internals classla 4th highest...
Venkat: Aana nallaikku ethavathu aiduchuna? Heads-ku badhila tails vizhundhuduchuna? (Whole crowd goes "shabaaa..." )
KKS: He's the Padips...

(Enter Kutty)

Kutty: Dei Vengattu, Annen Compre-la gunna irukken, intha book-a innaikku night fulla padikkallamnu irukken, eduthkavva?
Venkat: Unakku edhukku Kutty, neethan anga kannadiya thookikittu (Imitates Kutty)funda pottuduviye...
Kutty: Dei Vengattu, yennada kolaveri unakku yemmela?
Shreik: Power Electronics Pavan Kumar!
Kutty: Dei, naan kelambarein da...

(Kutty exits with an advanced power electronics book and goes to bed within 5 minutes)

(After learning the mess menu from * and Swami, the gang decides to go to Gate)

PK: (Shouting from upstairs with a bucket in hand): 5 Minutes wait pannunga... I'll be back.

(45 min later)

PK: Let's go...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scene 2: Those long walks to Sam Fox

Location: Road
Adi, Pk, KKS, Shreik, Venkat and Damal walking

PK: (To Venkat) Thalaiva...Innaikku naan driving class-la highway-la ottinen. Anyayama irundhadhu.
Venkat: Oh...scene!
PK: Anga oru U-turn pottu, appdiye 3rd gear-la...(oral sounds resembling car acceleration)
Algo Adi: Jei, Hardy Heron-oda KDE 4.0 applets pathen...Its cool...
PK: Repos downloadeda?

(PK's SMS tone)

Venkat: PK, Gate-a Date-a?
PK: tsk, Please...

Shreik: (To KKS) Thalaiva... adutha paper eppo?
KKS: Nice try.
Shreik: Oh, sorry. Nalaikku morning illa?
KKS: Enna Thalaiva solreenga...
Venkat: Thalaiva, intha paper matter unga aalukku theriyuma?
KKS: Anita-ku theriyadhu thalaiva.
Venkat: Thalaiva, Anitakku theriyadhu but unga aalu Gayathri-ku theriyuma.
KKS: Gayathri akka Thalaiva...
Shreik: Gayathri akkavukku theriyuma?
KKS: Wehehehelll...
Venkat: At least unga cartoon partner-kavadhu theriyuma?
KKS: Yaara Thalaivaaa solreenga?
Venkat: Tweety kudutha Sweety
KKS: very wehellllllllll...

(A few barely visible faces pass by)

KKS: Hey fruits...
Damal: Adha nee solraya? Unnoda biggest fruit irukkave mudiyadhu da.
KKS: I am a bad man...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scene 3: Coffee for a good night's sleep

Location: Room 58, After dinner, Shreik, Venkat and Damal reading

21:45:00

(Enter *)

*: Coffee shop?
Venkat: Star, 15 minutes wait pannu, appram polaam.
*: OK. Anyayama thookam varudhu thalaiva...
Shreik: Star, unakku yetho vyadhi irukkunu nenaikkiren.
*: Illa thalaiva, computer munnadi...CRT-la...U understand right?
Damal: Appadiye poi yengayavadhu vizhundhu sethuru star.
*: Para, nee moodu , nee yeppavume appadithaan (Laughs, looks at others for support, in vain)

(Enter KKS)

KKS: Coffee?
*: hey, kozhand...
KKS: It's a strike...
Shreik: Paper Karthik!
KKS: well.
*: Ha, ha, ha, Paper Karthik

(Enter PK and Adi)

Adi: We're gonna start a new bakr about Wally's adventures in Kodai lake.
Pk: And it's gonna be completely edited in Gimp and will be put under GPL .
Adi: So people, suggest some good topics...
Shreik: Manoj Night Shyamalan's "Daddy in the water"!
KKS: (Low decibel laughter) Daddy in the water...

(Enter Wally)

Venkat: Strict Daddy!
Wally: Going to coffee shop?
Shreik: Yes
KKS: Daddy in the water
Wally: What daddy in the water?
Shreik: Yes, coming to coffee shop?
Wally: Wait, wait, wait! (to KKS) enna da daddy in the water?
Shreik: Forget that, what do you want from Nescafe?
Wally: Lays 1 packet, green or orange and 1 Jim-Jam
Shreik: OK
KKS: Daddy in the water
Wally: (Looking at Shreik opening Winamp and pausing it using mouse) Why are you doing that? Go to DC++, download a tool called Winampctrl, its in my softwares/windows/music. Install it, and go to winamp and open preferences. Double click the accesibility tab and scroll down to global shortcuts. Open it and set the shortcut for pause as, say Ctrl+Alt+P. Click on OK and then apply the settings. Now you need not open winamp at all for pausing. You can work in your word document or watch a movie in PowerDVD and control winamp parallely. Seriously, it is THE best winamp shorcut manager.
Shreik: OK
KKS: Daddy in the water
Wally: (Adjusting his hair) And ya, it only works for winamp versions 4.1 and above.
KKS: Daddy in the water

(Wally exits, confused)

Damal: (Without having a slightest scent of the things going on in the room)Idhukku mela padikka mudiyadhu...mokkaya irukku
Everyone: Adangu da CID...

Number lock

2007-07-14T02:00:00.000-07:00

Coder msged me a week back ..."can you get me a number lock"..But now i regret my reply. "Consider it done". I couldn't get a proper number lock in this part of Chennai and ob it broke my myth that everything in the world is available in this station road stretch .This part of the world looks like a page from traditional books describing a busy market, right from the roadside hawkers to pucca shops. Had to walk all along because of the ill-planned underground drainage pits dug by the so called corporation. To hell with them and their efficiency... I dont know for how many days they are going to stretch this damned thing. After yesterday's rain turned the entire place into marshlands and yeah i was still walking along the stretch, wading across various potholes to get the number lock. And unfortunately many of the shops near my house didn't have number locks. And whenever i found a shop the locks were either too small or one cant reset the code (then y call it a "number lock"). And at last i reached the last shop in the stretch and obviously i wasn't hopeful.......
This shop housed a variety of products from the traditional "thattu-muttu" stuff to nice gadgets. But still i wasn't hopeful.To my surprise, i found a model which was proper, :).