Gmail, I love you!

Everyone uses Gmail. I've been a loyal user since I got an account in 2004. Back then I probably got it just to show people that I've got one and feel important. To be honest, there was nothing new except perhaps the simple looking ajax interface and the conversations view. And yes, there was this big space available which they later started incrementing indefinitely. That was quite a change in email service that followed. It was only later that other competitors began expanding their users' inboxes. A few other things I liked about gmail was starred conversations, labels as opposed to folders, archiving and chat from within the browser. Remember meebo? Gmail labs came out mid-2008. Again, there was lot of excitement around the launch but I chose to ignore the new "cool" features. However, later I started using some of them.

Recently, I've started using gmail as my mail-client-in-the-cloud (Yay, cloud computing FTW!). That is, I use gmail at work (so I can take some time off and check emails from home). After the initial mapping of outlook folders to labels, I thought a lot more needs to be done to get the 'corporate' effect. Labs came to the rescue. Am going to list the ones I liked best and some more you might want.

Default 'Reply to all'; Google Calendar gadget - portable preview of your calendar; Google Docs gadget - access often used Docs; Multiple Inboxes - this one's amazing. I prefer this over their 'priority inbox', do try it; Navbar drag and drop - move around some of the gadgets above plus chat window; Nested Labels; Quote selected text - very useful when you're replying only parts of a long email; Send & Archive - reply to an email and hide the whole convo from your inbox; Sender Time Zone - doesn't seem to work sometimes. Supposed to show the time of sending in the sender's timezone (against the current time there too!); Title Tweaks - Gets the "Inbox (2)" before "Gmail" in the title so you can know from other windows; Undo Send;

I use most of them given above. Additionally, I use Inbox preview which is great while you wait for gmail to load. Especially if you clear out your inbox and organize them elsewhere.  There are a few more like Superstars, Quick links which I might try but I haven't got around to try it.  This is how my inbox looks like (you can't see all of what I've used, though):

I think Labs is a great idea. It makes sense to not confuse users with too many options and yet make them available optionally. I think users to should take time to try everything Labs has to offer and if possible contribute.

Outside of Labs, users with multiple emails, calendar and/or docs should try and integrate everything inside their gmail inbox. Personally, am excited by what Google has done so far and what they're to create in the coming days.

Bye,
LVS

PS: I do wish they remove the "96 invites left" box from my gmail. Really, who needs it anymore? Read more…

Monster

This piece of news is several months old. Yet worth sharing. I've been driving a Bajaj CT100 since 2004. It was a nice bike, amazing mileage, no big problems and it has served me loyally. I never really had any complains. It did what was expected out of a bike of its class and more. In fact, when new, I was very proud of its specifications and would tell anyone who cared to listen; and several who didn't.

I'd ridden it less for 6 years. Around 30000 Kms. Yet it was enough to give problems. It seemed like I always had a bad back or it was a due bad posture at work and in bed. At one point of time, I'd decided I need to see a physiotherapist about it. 2 days into the week long therapy he declared it was my bike. "Too short for your height", he said. That was true. Not many bikes were good for my height. But I'd never thought about such stuff when I got this. Who would? I was too excited about getting a bike for myself.

Times were different now. The bike was a problem. I tried not using the bike for a week. That coupled with the sessions with the doc worked wonders for my back. I wasn't ready to buy a new bike yet. I sought out some used ones but couldn't find a good deal. This went on for a several weeks. Jobs changed. Office was now closer home. And all the while I had the same old bike. The back pain returned, though cricket during weekends helped a lot. Around a month after I joined the new company, I'd started some research about bikes. Within a week I decided a 150cc is going to be lot more comfortable than what I owned. Atleast a 125.

Soon, I was reading reviews, complaints and whatnot on the internet. Every bike seemed to be good. All 150s were priced roughly the same, except Yamaha of course which was higher. A lot of recommendations for the same bike came in from friends. But I also had this thing about not buying something that's common. I wanted something different from the crowd. Atleast in my social circle. So a lot of bikes from my list were knocked off. Then one fine day while talking to a colleague about it I learnt about a bike which he'd bought 2 years back. I took a test ride and within few metres I'd almost made up my mind. I then looked up reviews about it, consumer complaints what not. Since I didn't personally know any other owners I had to rely a lot on online forums. And since I liked this bike a lot, I tended to read only positive reviews. I even called up competing brands and asked why I should buy their product instead - didn't get very satisfactory answers.

After I saw the new version of it at a showroom, everything seemed to fit about this bike. It was big; right for my height. Great specs. Seemed to be a marketing failure which suited me perfectly well. A very comfortable ride. Similar price tag. Delivery promised within a week. The reputation of Suzuki engines. And to top it all, the colleague who had it resigned all of a sudden which meant I was the only person with a Suzuki GS150R in the whole building! I even tried to ignore the fact that there are only 4 places I could service it in Chennai as of then. Now that I'm a proud and happy owner, I want to share a pic of the monster.

Am not going to talk about the specs here. You can find them on their website. But I can tell you its an great piece of engineering - drive it to experience it! The 6th gear (I know!) deserves special mention; almost as good as cruise control.

PS: I am no longer the sole owner of this model - another colleague bought it on my recommendation, same colour even!
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Mederma

Did you just google that word? Or did you know it already? I hadn't heard the term until recently. Unlike most of you who just learnt the term, I was introduced because people thought I might need it. Once convinced I do, my natural tendency was not to enquire people where I can get it but simply look on the internet. I couldn't find much and besides I was really lazy about it. I've been lethargic for sometime now. No real reason. But the consequences were many and varied. One might be what let me to look for this world famous product. In fact, as a friend noted it was available at the local chemist. 275 bucks for 10 grams. Am a big fan of cricket. I haven't watched a whole match in maybe 5 years. I prefer playing over watching it on tv. Recently, I've been attending practice sessions on weekends and matches sometimes. Am all alert and everything when am playing. Yet it had to happen to me. I was only hovering behind the wickets to return the bowled balls. Medium pace bowler. Pitched short and wide. Unexpected bounce. Wizzzz. Wham. Silence. Hurried voices. Obscured vision. Blood. Dizziness. More voices. Then came the pain.

With a doctor friend around I was assured it wasn't bad except for a deep cut. I was to know much later that I got real lucky with it given the area of injury. With no first aid available, my team mates had to clean the wound with drinking water (the 20 ltr cans you get for a few bucks!). They made me hold a thick towel to the wound while I was taken (on a bike) to a private hospital nearby. I was scared, the driver had a history of accidents. The nurse there cleans my wound while the doctor was busy with another patient. When she finally came over she took one look and demanded all sorts of scans. An X-ray I can understand but a CAT scan was too much to digest. And saying my brain might've been affected was too far fetched! I excused myself telling her I live far off and since I needed stitches I'd prefer a clinic closer home. There wasn't much of a fuss and the doc seemed quite relieved to be rid of me. I talk a lot of crap when am unwell, that must've been why.

Another team mate who lived closest to my place dropped me off at my family doctor's clinic. We rode some 18 Kms and I had to cover the dressed wound from the wind by holding my helmet against it. My general physician made me do simple movements and deemed it was nothing serious. However, he did recommend an x-ray before I got sutures.

The hospital I was referred to for getting stitched had only a 'duty doctor' available at that time. And what a character she was. She said so herself. She said I talk too much when I was only trying to understand what would be done to me. Besides she kept saying she was a person with a different character which I found very irritating though I was amused as I was reminded of actor Sathyaraj (non-Tamil folk please excuse). One of her nurses was patient with me while the others feared to be found chatting me up. While the doctor was getting ready, I finally got to see my wound in proper light - it was deep. And nearly an inch long. After quarter of an hour passed when the stitching was almost done, the local anaesthesia had already worn off. Later when came I home much to the shock of my parents I found the dressing looked clumsy and later when it came off, the stitching worse.

I knew the swelling and blood clot on the left side of my face wound reduce but I was constantly told that the scar wound remain. Before the sutures were undone I used to tell myself, "maybe the scar would look cool or wicked at the least". I wouldn't have minded being called evil looking. But it looked rather silly with no sign of wickedness. After several days of looking like half a panda a visit to an eye doctor left me rather scared. I was told stories of similar accidents and how I could've lost my vision. But am alright now. Am not going to scare any of you. People who don't see me often, say when they do that the wound has healed well but they still like to mention how sad it is to have a silly scar. Thank you, but I don't need your pity. I trust in the 'proven results' of Mederma!
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Pearl

So I tried to write my first poem. Like Archimedes, I got the idea when I was in the shower. Though, I didn't do the 'Eureka' part. The idea was simple and came in an instant. I guess I was inspired by my good friend Srinath who has been on a poem writing spree. After postponing for nearly a week, I was surprised putting it in words didn't seem very difficult. And it didn't take too much time either. So here it is. Do leave your comments.

Alone in the depths of the seas;

No more purpose than to survive.

The oyster awaits, what it knows not.

Along comes the hand of destiny;

Lays within, what is foreign.

The oyster reacts, to what it knows not.

Days pass by, as do months;

Layer upon layer of work.

The oyster creates, what it knows not.

Likewise is man; Awaiting God's voice.

The foreign, his duties.

The man strives, for what he knows not.

LVS
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The Raise and Fall of Thyself

Wow. I cannot believe I've been away for 2 months. It pains to remember I promised myself to blog more often only in my last post.

However, I have news. News worth waiting for 2 months? Definitely. Atleast, for me. I've had some tough career decisions to make - learning a few lessons along the way. Not to mention help a good friend make a live-love-career decision. Am not going to talk about that. So, the news? I've changed jobs. Not just jobs, but positions and technologies. Its a big jump from web development into the Cloud. (Sounds geeky? Never mind). Of course, I got the raise too.

The new office is really good - a well equipped cubicle, a great workstation, nice new people, free coffee, basement parking and more. My only complaint - the tiled floors. Back in my ex-company, we had carpets and I could run around, swirl in my chair all with great control and without causing damage to myself or others. Here however, even walking has to be a conscious effort for new comers. Fortunately, indoors is more manageable as I can pretend to be playfully tapping the top of the cubicles while really trying to get something to hold on to at the turns.

Some parts of our new building are still under construction - like near the corridor to the food court. So, this morning when hunger beckoned like never before, I didn't hesitate to go for a quick snack down to the food court all alone. As providence would have it, there was some fresh wood dust over the tiles (and light coloured ones that didn't highlight the layer of dust).

The fall was quick. At first impact, I thought I did good by landing on all fours. Next instant, I was on my nose. I still wonder how I managed that. After resting for sometime on the chair the security guy kindly offered, I set off towards the elevators feeling a growing stinging feeling inside my nose and a swelling on my upper lip. Later examination revealed, one of the incisors had cut the skin inside the upper lip.

It was a bit embarrassing to sit holding ice cubes to my mouth for the next several hours. But believe me, not as bad as a 6-foot framed guy slipping on tiles in front of adults who don't seem to find the tiles a bother at all - and then blog about it in first person. Damn! Read more…

Conscience

Today, has been the second case of chain snatching in my street. The neighbourhood is otherwise not so unlawful. I have memories from days when the street was dangerous only because it was very deserted and days when people liked the peaceful quiet of the place. Recently however, a case of theft, break in or something or the other comes up almost every few weeks. The street still looks perfectly peaceful (and green from above). In fact, these days with lot of people realizing it bridges important areas, it is almost always abuzz with activity. Why, once I found two foreigners representing a Church who tried to convert me in the middle of the road! But to think someone would snatch a chain in broad daylight, in this street, sends quite a shiver. That was months ago. Well planned and a chosen target. 4 bikes, 6 people. I guess they even have a name for this formation. I heard only the story about this one. Today morning was different.

I was still in bed reading the morning paper when I heard screams from the street. I'd usually have run outside to check what was up (the hero that we all are). But the voice sounded like a little girl's so I assumed it was probably a stray dog chasing her or something. Besides there was no other noise of a bike or screech of tyres. But the scream continued for a good ten seconds or so.

By the time I was outside, the girl (probably 15) was sobbing hard and 2 people were consoling her. It still looked like a dog had chased her. As it turns out, it was a chain snatch. A guy on his cycle. Supposedly one of the newspaper delivery boys. Seems like he'd tried snatching her chain first, when she put up a fight, hit her head twice and escaped with his prize. A friend once said conscience is what hurts when every other part feels good. Not always. Mine still hurts that I didn't run outside when I heard the screams. It would've taken all of 3 seconds. If not bash him up like some hero, atleast I'd have scared him off and abandoned his attempts.

To tell the truth I am still shaken by what happened. Imagine, 7 AM in the morning! 'Snatch' makes it sound quite harmless. And only ended up banging my fists on the wall in the shower. What's the point?

If only I hadn't been lazy in the morning. Bloody conscience.
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Status Update!

To be honest, I had nothing else to blog about. I'm [temporarily] tired of posting my life on Facebook and Twitter. Although, this post is bound to go as another update in both places. Ironic? So, what have I been upto? Nothing much really. I've been trying to, what is that..ah juggle too many balls at once. (Watching movies, reading novels inclusive). And if that wasn't enough, I had to add another object to balance - as a favour. Of course, am not going to divulge any of that here.

But there is some news for you. Sad for me. My IndiBlogger rank has come down around 30 points in 4 months. Around November last, it was 76 - my highest till date. Even my academics weren't as good. And now its just fail - 43! What with IndiBlogger Chennai meet coming up this weekend that really worries me. Imagine:
"Hi!"
"Nice to meet you"
"let me take your blog address"
"sure its...what's yours?"
"misplaced-soul.blogspot.com"
"am ranked 86 btw, what about you?"
"er..i gotta go"

Hope IndiBlogger is reading this and temporarily tweak their settings and raise my rank (Just for this weekend, please!). But while I type this, I realized I can really chatter away. I'm come thus far without really having had an idea on what to write. Oh yes, my posts are usually intentional, directed at a particular topic. Do have a look around, won't you? Yes, so..as I was saying..I realized I can start typing all the random stuff that runs in my mind, in order of appearance. Its almost like writing an examination. Only am not worried about the "rank" anymore. Hope I can post something every now and then to up my rank.

I also found my laptop [Dell Vostro 1510, more than a year old] is quite a work horse. I let it run for a few hours virtualizing two different OSes both running something heavy AND using my system myself at the same time. Good good.

A friend though recently bought a Sony Vaio at a staggering price, but loads more a workhorse than mine - a workaholic workhorse if you will. Ha! I've always wanted to use that phrase in my blog sometime - 'if you will' and I think it fits in quite well here. I digress. (that's another I've been wanting to use since long) But then he's got Windows 7 and flicked a copy of PC Quest from his work to read 'everything you needed to know about Windows 7'. Think about paying for something you didn't want and trying to learn about it. That again sounds like school. Hmmmm.

I don't know why but I really feel like I should fit a PJ in here. My colleague and I have 'discovered' a new tea shop where we like to take our evening breaks. I say tea shop because coffee shop somehow sounds hi-fi. And the tea (or coffee for me) acts like some kind of PJ inducer to us. You should hear us babble after we've had a sip. Of course, they're all time-bound jokes and would make no sense here making you go "poor joke indeed".

Of the movies I'd planned to watch, Die Hard 4.0 was the most recent. I must say I really liked the movie - cool with hackers and stuff and of course, Bruce Willis with all that action! What I find mildly surprising was that I got stuck in an elevator at work the very next day of watching the movie. How're they related? Well, there's a scene in the movie where John McClain's daughter is stuck in one. But she was alone. I, however, was with another girl...and two other guys. It was all dark and no one's cell phone screen was bright enough so I closed my eyes and started day dreaming. You know. Rescuing them and stuff..So while I was dreaming and smirking to myself, another guy called up his friend and got help. Smart. I thought to myself "doodh nahi peyega tho aisa hi hoga". But I swear, I drink atleast 2 glasses of milk - with some chocolate flavoured malt!

And after about 20 minutes of typing, I hit the wall. Nothing more to say. To share. I hope to see more updates from my 'sidebar friends' too. They're almost worse than me!

Ciao!

BTW, in other news, I am becoming an 'uncle' pretty soon...\m/ \o/ And yet, my sis-in-law manages to update her blog SO very often. Check it out. And while you're at it, you can check my cousin's too. Who's kind of competing with her. 'Healthy' competition though..

PS: Please turn off all unwanted lights. That includes your screen too. Read more…

HDFC's Insecure Ways and More...

I was using the HDFC Netbanking service the other day and came across a page which could be a serious security hole. If a person gets hold of a valid HDFC Customer ID, they could use it to get the name and account numbers attached to it from this particular page. The worst part is, they don't even have to be logged to get this information. Getting hold customer ID is pretty easy - I have one and changing one or two digits in it yields someone else's. Thankfully though, its not in a series (eg: 12345678 is a valid ID but 12345679 and 12345680 aren't)

I've checked this with IDs of people I know and asked a few others to check on their own - most of the time it worked except in 2 cases (so far). Am not sure how this information can be used to compromise secure access to one's account but I think such information can make Phishing attacks seem more authentic. Here's the link: https://leads.hdfcbank.com/applications/webforms/apply/RDBooking.asp?custid=XYZ&campid=DecRD Just replace the XYZ (in the link) with your HDFC customer ID (or someone else's) and check if your account information is visible through this page. Mine is. And am a bit worried.

In case you aren't able to work it, here's a screenshot to show you how it is. Note that this is not someone I know - just an ID one digit different from mine.

I've already sent HDFC an email about this. Hope they take action.

This is the second time I'm notifying the bank about how an online service of theirs can be compromised. I'll mention the first here just so you know.

If you've used the bank's Net Banking service, you'd have noticed how you have to enter your customer ID first to get an image and text you had previously agreed with the bank. This is to make sure that you are indeed using the HDFC site who is the only other party who is supposed to know the image-text you'd chosen. Right? Well not exactly.

Have a look at the screen on the left. Initially, only the field for ID is available, which when you submit, gets you this screen.

Now you feel sure that you have indeed logging in to the HDFC site. But imagine this. A phisher sends you an email with a link to page designed exactly like the original one - you enter your customer ID, now the phisher can pass the info you entered to the HDFC site, let HDFC show the text and image, fetch that and show it on the phishing site - to you. And you'd think it is the HDFC site!

Hope the bank is listening this time. Here's a tip for folks who are scared of being phished - it doesn't happen if you are not stupid. Just apply common sense whenever you get a mail that claims to be from the bank. Read notices from your Bank. Discuss with your friends when you are in doubt. Bookmark your bank's website, net banking page etc and always use only that.

OK, that's more than a tip. Bye!

Update: Here's another such peek-able link! https://leads.hdfcbank.com/applications/webforms/apply/net_limit.asp?custid=XYZ&campname=Nov-09

This one works for lesser IDs (as far as I've tested) and can set a cap on the limit for online transactions of your credit card.


~LVS

PS: Don't submit this form, you might end up creating an RD account without intending too :P (thanks Barath)
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To do or not to do...

Sometimes I feel I have an ambition deficit. Now that's bad yes. Ambition is probably one of the things that drive a person. I have, often, empty thoughts. Momentary bursts of purpose. This drives me to feel I am going to accomplish something. But for how long?

I am lazy as many have branded me. I've been told I've got "stuff" and I should use it well. There's a kind who don't work hard but work smart. But, I. I must have been just lucky to survive so far. Now I feel an overload of the deficit. I feel am not doing anything special. Something extra.

I have a good paying job (touch wood). There are good prospects ahead. My career seems stable. What else can I ask for, you think. Am not asking for riches. But I desperately need some inspiration. Look at Pranav Mistry. He's about my age. Don't need to look that far - I can look at my friend's circle. Prashanth a friend from college seems to be doing a lot for his age - and he's having a super learning curve I bet. I can name so many more. There are lots of people who've gone great lengths in their early twenties - and continue to grow. That's what I want. That's what I need!

Of course, the initiative has to be mine. Trust me, am trying something these days. But it seems to be an effort not something that makes me jump out of bed as soon as I wake up. If self-motivation were a hormone, I'd like to inject myself some! This post was supposed to be an exploration a search for what I am missing. It hasn't shown itself so far. I often blame our education system for not pushing the students to pursue something. For not inculcating the habit of researching. Why should only IITians (and the like) be the ones to get encouraged and not other 'lower' institutes? Are only such people capable of doing great things? Not always. But the small percentage of people who, are motivated right from the beginning, who are 'destined' to do great things, bring glory to their land have always shown the edge. Right from kindergarten. That sucks for people like me who have had sudden 'illuminations' after they reached college. By the time I took my education seriously, lethargy was well practised. The extra effort didn't bring any excitement or encouragement. And that is like a soft cushion bed to sleep in....so I slept.

I wonder if its part of being a younger sibling where everything is easy, available and ready for you to consume. Back in college, atleast, I thought, "I want to contribute in a big way to open source projects". Open source was something that I romanticized blindly without ever fully realizing its potential or pitfalls. It was almost quixotic. And M$ hatred and the "Send/Don't Send" messages was great fuel.

This post has been long pending in my drafts. And the only things I'd typed were the first 2 lines and the PS!

I think what I need now is focus. I need to understand clearly what I want to do next and vaguely what I aim to do in the future. Focus should help. Now that I say it, I've been trying juggle too many balls at a time and ended up dropping everything.

Ah! Atleast I feel a bit better now. Blogging after so long has helped. Lets out some energy...

So that's it guys. Focus...focus...focus...focus....

PS: This blog is kind of a sequel to A look in the mirror and Gaah
PPS: This is mostly self talk and might seem dry to you. Sorry you weren't warned.
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Misplaced Sole?

How many times has it been that you lost your slippers outside a temple and forced to walk bare footed back home (or the less noble ones, on someone else's shoes)? Did you think it was someone who was lazy to locate his (or her) own slippers that took yours instead? Or was it you indeed who was lazy to look for your own and took someone elses? Ever realized this is a vicious circle? If everyone took someone else's footwear because theirs was missing, who's would the last folks wear? (This is a bit like Agar Roopa ki baniyan pehnoge toh...Roopa kya pehnegi!!)

I've thought much about this and found no answer. However, I woke up to an interesting conversation between my parents. I don't know if its really true but it seems quite probable - what if it weren't humans who (directly) took your slippers?

It seems like its dogs. Dogs which seem stray. What they got to do with slippers you may ask. But do not underestimate the lengths loyalty like a canine's can take you.

These best friends of man are trained - to steal footwear (mostly slippers) that are left unattended. We have a pair of slippers lying in our backyard which we use when we need to go to the garden. We've lost them brand new, twice. I guess its the cobblers who'd benefit most from such acts! So next time you see a stray dog entering your compound, make sure you chase it away before its spots a useful item to grab.

PS: Am not sure if its the dogs at the temple. It could be cats!
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Save Power!

Quick Post! Kunal and myself are trying to run a campaign at Photon to encourage energy saving (at work and elsewhere). Its right now only on Twitter and you can find it here (hey, that rhymes!).

It has just started.. We decided on going to twitter mainly because people can throw ideas from their seats. Do drop by, you might be surprised how a trivial idea can make a lot of difference. You are of course, encouraged to start similar 'movements' at your work place or college or even your home. Please do! We have an anti-patent on this which asks: 'please copy us'!

Thanks for all your suggestions! We do hope we are able to change certain habits of people and certain practices in our company; and we ain't complaining if it leaks out.

For a better tomorrow,
~LVS

PS: If you thought I was going to give ideas on how to save power, am sorry but you can always check the Twitter page above.
PPS: Borrowed from Kunal: People who waste electricity deserve to be electrocuted! :P Read more…

A twitter clone?

Sure, there are lots of twitter like websites and services available on the net. But you surely wouldn't have expected this. I came across an email where someone typo-ed gmail.com as gmail.net - I was laughing at it for sometime. But after a while, inspiration stuck and I thought lets try out http://gmail.net and see what happens. I wouldn't have been surprised if I had got some cheap search engine or 'this domain is for sale'. However, I was expecting a redirection to gmail.com (unlike airtel.in used to redirect to vodafone UK). Surprise. What I got was "What are 'you' doing?" in the header. They've even got versions it seems for says in the page 'Live Comments 3.0.4'
You have a field for name, email (both optional) and a comment field where you can type upto 255 characters. Twitter without accounts? Only am not sure how I can follow someone....Try it! Wonder why Gmail didn't buy it though.

~LVS

PS: A bit more exploring reveals that it is some geeks attempt at trying some AJAX...scroll to the end of the page
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Inflation...or is it?

I know I've been out of action here for a long time now. And I can feel that you missed me! So here I am! Source of idea: chance realization of the truth. I've had this habit of keeping an account of all by expenses. Been doing it since a few days before I entered the corporate world. I joined Photon Infotech, on Jun 13, 2007. A few days before that, my folks gave me some cash to keep and do some "shopping". That I counted as my first income and I started keeping accounts ie. income and expenditure. Later of course, the accounting got more organized and I could tell how much am spending monthly on food, travel, gifts etc etc. Anyway, I opened my old accounts "book" to see how much I spent on a shoe I had then bought. I was pleased with myself to see that I had made a single entry for some clothes and the shoe I'd bought and yet I could know the what each item cost. I digress. The thing is, I got a bit nostalgic and decided to scroll down to see what else I'd spent on in the first few weeks of my employment; esp after my first salary.

Time for a bit of history, we were around 90 people then - the bunch of freshers who had joined on the same date. Human nature as it is, we formed groups within ourselves - mostly by geographical proximity - which in itself was by educational history. We celebrated everyone's birthday, India's IPL victory, Independence day - we just needed an excuse. I must thank my company's environment which allowed for this. I digress again. So, I noticed for the Independence day celebration, we cut a cake - everyone contributed for buying it. Rs.10. That was my share. That's what most of us (in our bunch) would've given.

Rupees ten. The habit of cake cutting has continued till date. That's great really. Two years on and we don't think "its getting boring". However, things have changed a lot. The Rs.10 has become Rs.30. The vanilla has become chocolate truffle (thanks to Kunal for this particular observation). The 180 bucks per Kg has thus become 400. And the 18 to 20 have become 7 to 10. (Kunal, chose to call them 'old days' and 'modern days' for some reason). But I think there is a lesson here. Of course, gifts are non-optional social convention (http://twitter.com/lvshankar/statuses/2322419871). Yet, I have a feeling its not just the economic inflation that's causing this difference. Inflated egos perhaps? I don't know. But I still think there's a lesson here. Leave comments...

~LVS
PS: I need to get new shoes, wonder how much that has changed..lets see!
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A Silent Confession

Its been on for nearly two years now. This is the end. I've lost her. She's never going to come back to me. I must confess, I haven't treated her good. In fact, I have used her. Misused her. She gave me everything she could. Devoted herself to me. Never questioned me.

To start from the beginning, it wasn't really a love-at-first-sight kind of thing. I'd seen her before. Though I hadn't noticed, I first saw her on a loose sheet of newspaper. Then when I met her again, got to knew what she was, I became more interested. Then one fine beautiful August evening I knew I had got her. Just like that. (Though I had to run to the ATM just before) and I brought her home that very day. Mom was the usual "Am happy if you are happy" and Dad (when she wasn't around) said "Good choice son. She's very cute. Now you know why I said your previous choice wouldn't be right. Am glad you got this one instead. Anyway, not good to talk about the past..." and so on.

A few months later, the 'previous choice' came into my life again. My brother got her. (It happens people. Hope you understand). Though, it never created a problem, I must say I was like "Damn, I missed my chance". Yet, I never had second thoughts about my choice.

The first few months were great, I was showing her off to a lot of my friends. Many said, "Nice da". Some said "hey...semma cute da!". What else can a guy ask? I loved to look at her. I loved to hold her tight. Am pretty sure she enjoyed the warmth too. She too, did get warm and happy when I talked a lot (which I rarely do). Oh! How I loved fondling her!

And then, I started treating her real bad. From the days where I used to put something soft where she sat, I had come to not caring where she was lying. I started venting my anger on her. Pushed her to the floor a lot. But she took it all without a protest. Never once did she complain. A few more months passed and she started showing physical signs of my behaviour. Scratches and bruises on her face and body and more.

I didn't bother. Once I was so hard on her she cracked her head. Then a few nights later, not being able to take anymore of it, decided to leave me. Suicide. She didn't even leave a bedside note. One morning I woke up and found her lying on the floor beside my bed, in two parts. She had died peacefully in my sleep. I should've taken extra care of her in those last days, but I didn't.

And now she's gone forever. She's not much worth even in an exchange. She's left me in a confused state; I don't know what phone to buy next. Damn it! Read more…

Predicting Death

Death - comes to all. Nobody is spared. What if, you know the day you will die? What if you knew how? Would you take efforts to avoid it? Chances are high that you'd end up doing more harm. OK, am not talking about the movie 'Final Destination' or something. But knowing our future has always been interesting. Many of those who say astrology (Indian or Greek) is a waste of time, can't wait to read the weekly predictions for their zodiac in the local paper. Its because we are all cowards. We want to know in advance what the future holds for us. We aren't ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.



Wait, I didn't mean this post to be philosophical. Just wanted to share with you an online death predictor.

Try it. Its fun!
Here are some of the results myself and my friends got:

"Vidhya Shankar: At age 35 you will become lost during a road trip and wind up living out the movie 'Wrong Turn'. Sorry for ya."

Kalyan*: At age 40 you will die fighting the Interplanetary War on Terrorism on Camp Harmony, Venus.

Ambika*: At age 47 a group of children will text message you continuously for three years, eventually distracting you while driving and causing a fatal wreck; your fatal wreck. (SMS a mixed blessing?!)

Kunal*: At age 72 you will fall into a vat of neutral shoe polish, and your body will never be recovered

Aparna*: At age 69 you will have a heart attack while eating a deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, Elvis style.

Vishal*: At age 70 you will participate in the newest reality game show. Contestants battle each other in an arena with swords and spears. You will have a good run (12+ victories) but eventually be killed, much to the audience's dismay. Go Maximus!

* Names changed to protect privacy

Give it a try and tell me what you got.

PS: If you want a more serious prediction try this

Special thanks to Kunal and Ambika
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The Lost Cosmonaut

Yuri Gagarin. The first man in space. Or was he?
During the 1950s and 60s, following the Cold war, there was a battle between the West (US) and the East (USSR) to establish leadership in space exploration. With the launch of Sputnik I in 1957, the USSR gave a blow to US. Pretty soon, in 1961, when they put the "first man in space" they surged even ahead of US. But there has been some speculation that Yuri wasn't really the first person to be out there. Who was it then? If its true, why hasn't the first person shown himself up? Why would USSR pose someone else as the first when s/he wasn't? After all, space tourism wasn't famous until Dennis Tito.

It turns out that, between 1957 and 1961, USSR had not been quite as they might have seemed. In 1960, two Italian brothers Achille and Giovanni Battista Judica-Cordiglia and their team using a home made satellite dish were 'listening' to signals from passing satellites etc and they recorded some astonishing messages. On November 28th, to be precise, they got a signal which read in Morse code "SOS to the entire world". They got this signal thrice. A few days later, the Russians only admitted that there was failed launch but said nothing about the SOS from space. In early February, there were sounds of a "wildly beating human heart" and "laboured breathing"! And then a few more days later, a female voice saying "Conditions growing worse; why don't you answer? . . . we are going slower . . . the world will never know about us.", Russian. There is even a recording of these available online at http://www.lostcosmonauts.com/ but its in Italian. Russia back then denied all such reports. They even went to the extent of removing any evidence of people who were 'lost' in space. The Italian brothers also suggested that the signals appeared to move away from the Earth; that is the spacecraft was deliberately made to escape gravity!

The Straight Dope, states that there's a lot more that Russia has wrapped up regarding their space programs. Although, most of the deaths relating to cosmonauts were proven not unusual the Russian space people did take some enormous risks with their lifes.

I wonder why the US didn't hype this up and put it all over the Internet. Especially, while there was so much FUD about their Apollo 11 moon mission!

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Linux and the Tasmanian Devil

[This ain't a geeky post!] Everyone heard of Linux? Good. You know its mascot? Its a penguin, right. Know what its called? Tux, it is. Tux has always been the mascot for Linux and nobody even thought of replacing it. The penguin was Linus' (the creator) choice and now he has again decided to change it, temporarily. With the latest [kernel] version of Linux, Tuz the Tasmanian Devil was announced as the mascot for Linux. Though temporarily. Its for a cause. This switcheroo is to support the 'Save the Tasmanian Devil' campaign which aims to protect species from extinction.

Tux has now given way for Tuz. Note, that it is Tuz and not Taz as in the looney toons. Here's an image to help you understand the difference!




For me its sad that Tux won't be around for sometime. Besides, Tuz looks horrible! ech! I do hope things are back to normal soon.

Sigh-ing off,
LVS


PS: Will the 'Save the Tasmanian Devil' campaign use Tux for sometime? Because Linux is pretty endangered too :P

Image sources: Wikimedia, The Register, Toons Town
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Undo sending an email

No. This can't be true. Its too good to be true. But it is now possible! Thanks to gmail I can now not resend an email for forgetting an attachment - not slap my forehead for missing an important line in the mail - not regret sending the mail to the wrong person - and so on and so forth. How many time was it that you've felt any of the above? (yes yes. nod nod. many a times) Trust Google to come up with useful features. They've done it again. Now you can actually 'Undo' sending an email that wasn't supposed to be sent the way it was. Don't believe me? Read Gmail offical blog : Undo Send.

How does google accomplish this? Once an email is sent, you can't do much to it. There's no post(wo)man to bribe. Well its simple. Actually that's the limitation to this feature, but its a very fair trade off. When you hit Send, Gmail actually doesn't send it for 5 seconds. Meanwhile, it shows you the following message:


You don't click it in five seconds or you aren't able to because your net connection suddenly went poof, Gmail will send the mail. Neat. But then here's the catch. You have to be bright enough to realize you've goofed up something - within 5 seconds! :P

This can be a problem actually. Say when you have to send a really really ultra urgent email to someone, you're effectively losing 5 seconds! :D So if you need to do that often, you might as well turn it off. Or you can spend 30* seconds going to Settings and turning off the feature! You get to pick it! Perhaps The Gmail Team can add a 'Send now' button. Easy.


Cool,
LVS

PS: Am going to try sending some hate mail and then hit Undo. Gives some temporary satisfaction doesn't it?


*Dependent on your Internet connection speed and your agility with the mouse.

Update: I tried sending a mail to myself and hit undo. However, just before that the new mail actually reflected in my inbox!! :-o
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For the love of surveys

The other day I was filling up a survey for employee satisfaction in IT companies. Its really nice to know someone out there cares what IT professionals feel about their working environment and how its influences their lives. Though for unaltruistic reasons, am sure people would love a(nother) channel where they can express what they really feel about their bosses and/or subordinates. Agreed, the survey ain't going to change their lives overnight. But it gives the satisfaction of being true to oneself, once in a while. Don't we all love reading stuff on magazines and newspapers (they aren't just news anymore, anyway) which talk about the sad state of IT employees? Especially statements which go "a recent survey suggested that IT employees are...blah blah..". It is something even non-IT people can relate to, because its what everyone talks about!

Personally, am glad that the survey was anonymous. Not that I had complained too much, am pretty happy with my job, so there. Anyway, what makes me glad is that several of my answers are just random. I couldn't help it. The questions seemed so redundant to me but thinking it ought to have a different meaning than the previous but being unable to comprehend it I settle for a random answer. Take a look at some of the questions and you'll know what I mean. (all of the below are yes/no questions)

• my life has a clear sense of purpose
• I have discovered a satisfying life purpose
• I have a good sense of what makes my life purposeful

Another set,

• I feel I can chose the way I live my life
  
• I have the freedom to chose my lifestyle
• I feel I is my right to pick my lifestyle

You get the idea? I didn't. That's why I was scared to answer them. What if the questions were there to check my sincerity in taking the survey? Not that I care. Randomness helps. Just be wary next time you take a survey!

Bored,
~LVS

PS: Still not made a decision on the move.
PPS: Kunal will never buy a PC in 2009. He's just putting vetti scene! :P
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Blogger to Wordpress - Changing loyalty

If you took a look at my previous post and the comments there, you'd know I have been considering to shift from Blogger to Wordpress.Chill guys, I have not yet made the decision to move. But I might. The purpose of the this very post is to warn you in advance. One fine day you might find a page from blogger asking your permission to redirect to my WP page. You have been warned. (Or you might have seen that already, in that case apologies). So, why now. Why not before?
Now, because they say WP is a lot better (Blogger, so sorry to say this on _your_ pages, but as you say, its _my_ site) It seems I've been having a WP page since more than a year ago, might as well use it. Why not before? I didn't know and I was afraid of losing my page rank, my posts and mainly the user comments. But then I figured, my page rank ain't so great. And WP provides for importing all my posts _and_ my comments. Wow, big deal?! Nah..RSS. Old technology. So anyway, so be it. Thathasthu! See you on WP soon. Might. We just might meet there.

~LVS

PS: Many thanks for Ambika for the idea. And many more thanks to Kunal for helping me change my password :P
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