Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Yahoo on Gmail ? (2)

Yet again! Check out the red ellipse that I have marked.
Click here for part 1.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Then and Now

1997 -

A young man riding down the road with his hair fluttering against his forehead and a happy smile. He looks around him and finds these girls everywhere on the side walkways. He takes great pleasure in smiling at them and they smile back, for he is one sweet chap who reflects happiness.

It is yet another day when the young man sets out on his way to the college and is riding down the road on his bike and is continuing his routine of smiling at the girls he sees walking by the side of the road.

He suddenly spots radiance like never before. His eyes stop at one place. His body moves relative to his eye sight and he keeps staring at the most wonderful sight that he has ever witnessed. He enters a trance. He feels the aura and the freshness around the object that has captivated him completely. For once, he actually feels like stopping and heading towards it.

What is it?
I better rephrase it before I get jacked by some irrelevant organizations.

Who is it?
Thats the right question.

She is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. He feels that he should float in the air and then travel his way to her hair and slide down them, while breathing in the fresh scent of her hair. Then swing his way using her hair to her shoulder, stand on her shoulders and admire her flawless skin and the comlexion. He delves deeper into his imagination and her beauty.

Screeeeeeeeeeecccccchhhhh!!!!!!!!
Tyres skidding, and smoke coming out of them leaving trails of burnt rubber on the road.

What happened?
Nothing to worry. He is not dead.

Our lover boy had strayed a bit too much to his left and was nearing the footpath. Mind you he was still on the road. The other person had stepped down from the footpath and was walking on the road along the footpath. Lover boy was extremely upset and frustrated that people do not have the common sense to make use of the utilities according to their defined purpose.

What followed was a conversation between our young man and yet another young man who almost got him killed as he was walking on the road. Our lover boy almost knocked him down and starts questioning him as to why he was walking on the road when there is a footpath meant solely for pedestrians. Why should he walk on the road when there is so much space exclusively for those who want to walk?

The sad part is, he lost all the smiles that girls were giving him that day as they all witnessed the anger and frustration which was evident on his face.

Poor fellow.


2007 -

There is no lover boy story here. This is my own story. Rather, this is something I witnessed myself yesterday. In fact, I have been witnessing this since the time I started my work for the internship. I have to commute 15 kilometres one way every day and get to witness a lot of fun and different antics by people on the move.

I was stuck in a really bad traffic jam at one junction and was almost a kilometre from the signal. I was on my two wheeler right next to the footpath. I was looking at the glowsign boards on the shops that were like 30 feet away from me. The footpath stretched to around 10 feet. I was trying to read the things on the boards through my helmet and was finding it really irritating. I had focussed all my attention on the letters and was oblivious to everything else. There were people walking on the footpath and were proud of the fact because I am sure as hell that they were travelling at a faster rate than the people with their vehicles.

Suddenly, I hear lot of honking, and at the same time I observe lot of unrest among the pedestrians. Before I realize what was happening, I saw people on two wheelers riding down the footpath and the pedestrians had to move out of their way. I mean, it was ridiculous. The footpath is supposed to be exclusively meant for pedestrians. I mean, it does not make sense for people to drive down the footpath. And here I was witnessing this insanity.

I witness this everyday. People trying to save on time by driving down the footpaths and there is absolutely no space for pedestrians to walk. Incessant honking, pollution adding to the pedestrians woes and unrest among the motorists and people shouting at one another and trying to get ahead of one another in this rat race is really frightening.

This time around, it would have been the fictitous lover boy from 1997 who would have been the cause for unrest and the poor fellow who was walking, the victim.

Times change, don't they?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

How big is your yard?

There are insane debates going on about the climate change, whether we are going to survive this century and more of the blah. Me ending the earlier statement on a dismissive note does not mean that these debates are useless and are of no consequence. The issues are of utmost importance and need to be addressed.

Everyone talks about the necessity to reduce the green house gases(GHGs) emission and curb Global Warming, but very few talk about the ways to do it. For a layman especially, it would be difficult to understand the jargon that goes around in the scientific community. So a mode of communication and education that tells people 'What to do' is of much greater value than the one that says 'What is happening'. Of course, awareness too, is a must. But the results are seen only with the actions, and in this case, the actions are responses to 'What to do' and not 'What is happening'.

One such effort that my friend's father asked me to go through is the publication by TIME magazine on 51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment. And one thing that was quite amazing among the observations that the report makes is the fact that Bamboo can prove to be one of the biggest guzzlers of Carbon Dioxide, and hence people who address the issue of Global Warming should not go around shouting 'Plant Trees, plant More Trees' like amateurs. Instead they should get a bit smarter and specific and do things that actually help the cause and direct people towards planting more Bamboo trees.

As the article on Bamboos in TIME magazine rightly concludes:
''How big is your yard?''

Monday, May 21, 2007

Penelope Cruz

After a very long time I got my hands back on my sketch book. My sister had found a very catchy image of Penelope Cruz as a part of a LOREAL advertisement in some magazine and hence the result.


The scan is not the best version of my efforts, as the cheeks and the contours joining the cheeks and the nose, and the shadows showcasing the chin are not highlighted well in the scan.

Felt good drawing something after a long time.

P.S.: This post is dedicated to MGM for he is the one who implored me to draw something time and again.

Yahoo on Gmail (?)

I had just finished checking mails and was about to close the tab and get back to work when I saw this:


Yahoo news on Gmail?
I couldn't help but feel weird. I don't know what it feels like. It is just weird.

This is just too trippy to be true. Please pay attention to the ellipse that I have drawn in the screen shot. Open it in a new tab or window to see it closely.

Its been a wonderful day at work too. I am having a great time laughing.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Ink it

This morning, when I was leaving for my intern work at TERI, my father gives me a lecture that lasted almost an hour. He kept telling me how poor I was in documentation and how I need to improve on that. His claim was that until and unless I write down what I am doing and what are the steps to be taken further in the work, I will not head anywhere.

I was getting bored. But then he knew how to finish it all. I am sure he also heard it somewhere, but heck! it sounds kinda cool.

''The faintest ink is far better than the brightest memory''

I guess its high time I start documenting my work.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Mosquito Zapper

There is this amazing instrument that helps us eradicate the mosquitoes in our vicinity. I have seen several people experiment with it, including my friends and family.

All you need to do is press a red button and wave it like you are playing tennis with the mosquito being the ball. Poor mosquito is roasted due to electrocution, the moment the face of the mesh on the instrument comes in contact with it.

Couple of days ago I had gone to this restaurant for a snack and there was this guy who was trying to sell these instruments outside the restaurant. There were a considerable number of people at the restaurant and hence the seller was probably thinking that he has a big base of people to whom he can try selling his product. To any vendor, a large gathering of people is a boon. He/she (My good friend who always points out how sexist we are, please note that I realized it this time around) obviously stands a better chance of finding a customer from a larger base of people, of course, all other factors kept constant.

To sell the instrument, the vendor needs to demonstrate what it does. I wouldnt believe the impact of the instrument unless I see it myself. Simply put, he has to kill a mosquito everytime he demonstrates this instrument. Naturally, the mosquitoes are smart. In a short span, they realize that things are not really friendly around here and make a move. Now there arent any mosquitoes left to be killed, and hence no more customers can be lured into buying this particular instrument.

On the contrary, there always is a huge number of insects including mosquitoes near the drainages, marsh lands and dump lands. Hence, there will never be a dearth of subjects for demonstration of the instruments for the vendor at such sites. But then, unfortunately you will never find human beings who will be around to witness the spectacle of the mosquito getting killed while the vendor acts like he is playing tennis with this instrument. In this case, we find that the customer base has vanished.

So how on earth can there be effective mass marketing for this product?

Mosquito, poor mosquito!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Déjà vu - SUVs or Auto Rickshaws??

This post is best understood by those who have played NFS Most Wanted and have suffered the worst set backs and the horror of two massive heavy SUVs bumping you head on.

Today, for the first time in real life, I felt what I generally feel when I play NFS Most Wanted.
It was total madness. The situation was precisely scaled and hence, equally dangerous.

In the game, I am driving a car which acts as the subject and there are SUVs which are the objects. Here I was, driving my two wheeler which became the subject and there were two Auto Rickshaws which turned out to be the objects. Considering the laws of scaling, the situations were not quite different.

Two Auto Rickshaws came onto me exactly the same way the SUVs come onto me in the game. I mean, I cant even press (R) for the reset option and hence come back into one piece onto the road, or press Alt+F4 and quit the situation. All I could try doing was, somehow survive the next fraction of the second and pass through safely.

I somehow did it. I survived.

I stopped my vehicle, looked back, looked up, kissed my hand, returned home and played NFSMW.

Phew!

P.S.: I dedicate this post to Munnu with whom I have enjoyed the best sessions in NFSMW.
I wish you were riding pillion with me today. It would have been good fun. :D

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Spiderman 3 - Coincidence exemplified

Sorry for the laziness for so long. I am home and I have every right to be so.
The review for spiderman 3 goes something like this:

Person A (Spider man himself):

  1. Have you ever asked yourself what is the probability of you getting bitten by a mutant spider and hence you becoming spiderman?
  2. Now what is the probability that you are making out with your girl friend on a cobweb as giant as a basketball court and co-incidentally a meterorite from god forsaken sky falls within twenty metres of your make out zone?
Please understand the magnitude of the surface area of the earth and that of the meteorite in calculating the probability.

If you have been successful in deciphering the above two answers, I would like to bring to your notice that the probability of both happening to one person would be the multiple of the two factors obtained. I leave the math to you.

If that was not enough read the following:


Person B (Sand Man):

  1. What is the probability that you are being chased by cops and while evading them you co-incidentally jump a barbed fence which reads 'KEEP OUT. PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS ZONE' or some whacky thing like that.
  2. Also, what is the probability that you end up falling into a pit that is meant for some particle physics experiment and incidentally the experiment is timed to begin the moment you fall into the pit? Mind it, your body degenerates into sand particles after the experiment and you become the Sand Man. Now that you have successfully figured out the probability of the above events happening together, let me add a certain twist to the whole picture.
  3. What do you think is the probability of B being the killer of A's grandfather?

Add two more characters to the story of co-incidences and stretch the story a little bit.


Person C (Harry Osborne):

C: You killed my father.
A: No I did not.
C: Yes you did.
A: No I did not.
C: I am going to kill you.
A: No. Wait.

The fight begins. C suffers a head injury and forgets everything only to remember everything later.

C: I am your girlfriend's new boyfriend
A: Oh!
C: I will kill you
A: Lets not fight
C: Lets fight

C suffers yet again... This time it is 3rd degree face burns.


Person D (A vague free lancer photographer who wants to take Peter Parker's place):

Coming back to the probability method:

  1. What is the probability that you are at a place taking snaps of A unless you are A himself?
  2. What is the probability that A is trying to shed the foreign substance that has taken over him in church, and you are present in the same church.
  3. And then you enter the stairway and stand right below the bell, and the substance now captures you as its host?

Now comes the most important character,
Person E (Mary Jane):

''I love you A.
You dont have time for me.
I have saggy stuff.
I have a screechy voice, hence they threw me out of the troupe.
C, I think I want to spend some time with you. Lets kiss.''

I scream ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!''

more ''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!''

''I am stuck in a giant black web. Please save me.''

some more ''AAAAAA!!!''

''Lets kiss.''


More blah and the final verdict:

Multiply all probabilities that you found in the above cases, add characters C and E, add a few more glamorous models and unnecessary guys, and dedicate a multi million dollar budget to the graphics and there you are... Spiderman 3.

The movie just had to be there. Coincidence exemplified.

My final verdict: Why would anyone make a movie that actually dilutes... wait a minute... destroys the legacy that the first two editions left behind?

Friday, May 11, 2007

Vome sweet vome

What is more precious than the sleep in the bed that you have been sleeping for 18 years of your life?

  1. Your dog welcoming you
  2. Mother's smile
  3. Father's generosity (pocketo moneyo)
  4. Brilliant weather
  5. A dozen mangoes a day?
Na!
None of them.
They come close enough though.

After a gap of four months, I will be enjoying the pleasure of the brilliant nap.

I love my home.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

IITian

This is not a brag post. It is just a reflection of a good friend's definition of an IITian. I am tripping over it. Brilliant fun. Here it goes:

"An IITian is one who does not fit any definition"

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

SP3 - The experience... Blah!

May 7th

Two of my friends and I decide to watch some movie, late night show. We end up deciding on watching Spiderman 3. Efforts went in contacting as many friends as possible and figuring out ways to get tickets for the movie. We finally decide to buy the tickets in black if need be and end up taking auto rickshaw till the theater.

Once we reach there, we wait for almost an hour to realize that we aren't getting any black tickets, and hence we need to book tickets for the next day. We end up buying tickets for the noon show for the next day.

Time for grub. It was 10 pm already and the nearest restaurant was Saravana Bhavan. We shuttle between the buffet and serving sections twice to decided upon the amount of money we are going to spend. Eventually we end up at the serving section and order the grub, which appeared to us exorbitantly priced, but then poor souls thought that the grub would be sufficient for our hungry stomachs.

Now comes the interesting part. The food arrives in vessels and containers that I remember having had my food in when I was a little kid. I meant, a little kid by age. I know I am still a kid though. Anyway, coming back to where I was. The food was not sufficient for one of us, let alone three of us. That was the second part of the dismal happenings.

We head back to the institute and get ripped off by the auto rickshaw dude this time around. I will come to the specifics later.

May 8th

We head to the movie in yet another auto and almost got ripped off again. We manage to enter the theater just in time and sit through the painfully coincidental movie, but filled with action that has become so cliched over the three editions.

As we had managed to wake up just in time to catch an auto for the movie, very evidently we had not had any food for breakfast or lunch. So it was time we had something to keep our growling tummies quiet. So 'Juthe' decided to buy sandwiches and cool drinks and get ripped off again.

Movie finally got over and we had to listen to the ugly rants(which, mind you, are not justified in the city of Chennai) of the auto drivers about the cost of fuel sky rocketing, their earnings and more and trying to coax us into paying them a fortune for the ride back to the institute. All this, at 3 pm under in scorching heat, while coughing incessantly and the fear of catching the fever that you had the previous night yet again.

The whole exercise cost me a brilliant Rs 400/-. All this for a movie that I did not even enjoy. What a waste! I know I am cribbing like a cry baby. It is justified. It definitely is.

And the review is coming up.

P.S.: Never think of eating American Chopsuey at a South Indian Restaurant. NEVER.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

What tha ! ! !

It's not a original post. But then, what tha ! ! ! !

Friday, May 04, 2007

Something - Nothing

I was just wondering if god exists. Or rather, whatever was the train of thought that followed can be related to a very simple question 'Does god exist?'. I mean it is one of the questions which can have the train of thought that I had to find a solution. There can be many, but I haven't thought of others.

There are two things that one would say when asked a question 'Does god exist?

  1. Yes he does
  2. No he does not
Let us consider the first case which is kind of trivial. The triviality can be addressed by people who are reading this post themselves. If I see so many things on this planet and there exists certain relation between these 'many' things. Effectively we see things here. As said before, there is some relation between these things, which I am not able to define satisfactorily. But then, as there exists a relation between things, and by our understanding of time and other dimensions alone, there must have been things before these which lead to the things that exist now. Hence, there have been things before the ones that we are seeing now.

Now for those things to exist, there must have been things before them, so on and so forth. This is an infinite loop, and when we want to see the limit. There must have been 'something' that sprang up everything. That something itself is god.

There by the first case stands true.

Now coming to second case, we say 'God does not exist'. In which case, there must be 'nothing'. So if there exists nothing we can say god does not exist. But for that 'nothing' to exist, there must be 'something' that defines that 'nothing'.

Again we have two train of thoughts:

  • I mean, for there to be nothing inside you, you need to be there. Similarly 'nothing' to exist beyond you, your existence is essential. Hence you are that something which exists.
  • Similarly, for 'nothing' to exist, there has to be 'something' previous in line with it which was 'nothing'. This again ends up as an infinite loop.
Here the first case we considered an individual and proved that something always exists, and in the second case we considered the infinite loop. Hence we proved that 'something' has to always exist. But the result of the thought process is a contradiction with respect to the assumption. Hence, the assumption is wrong. In which case, god does not 'not exist'. Hence we come to a conclusion that god exists even in the second train of thought.

Hence god does exist.

P.S.: There can be flaws in the theory proposed above. I do not say that it is flawless. I hope that with better realization of things around me, I will some day be able to tell whether god exists or not, and if I am able to do that it would clearly mean that god does exist. Hence, god exists.