Ever seen this ?


Look at this, and tell me when was the last time you saw something even close to this.
For more info on this, visit
All those on bench :-) can visit this too :

Posted by :ubuntu at 11:36:00 PM 3 comments  

Comments on Windows Vista

Yesterday I got a chance to explore Vista OS in Microsoft shop in Infy.
DISCLAIMER : This is not a review of Vista, just my initial impressions.

First impressions - GUI is a real feast for the eyes (who haven't seen Linux distros and MAC-OS) , but still it is intutive and appealing, WIN+TAB feature is amazing,it renders 3-D previews of open windows, but this feature I have seen in an open source 3-D OS released some time back. Anyways it is great to fiddle with GUI. The best thing I liked in Vista are the games, they have included a 3-D chess game in Vista(to my pleasure) and few more games like Mahajong (borrowed from Fedora :-)). I was told the old games like sol and mines have been rewritten for Vista ...but i guess only GUI changed apart from few things like in mines , if u open a mine a chain reaction starts which bursts all the mines on board(time waste :-( to look at the whole series). Start-Pane is intutive and less cluttered.

Cool feature is the granular permission feature (borrowed from linux). When I clicked on installed programs icon, it asks for the permission to open it, similar is the case of installing s/w. Some useful features are when u select a desktop wallpaper it gets reflected immediately,no need to apply it, and also desktop has some useful apps like clock, notebook etc.

The search has really improved, its content sensitive, displays results as you type names. One more good feature is that in task manager they have seperated services and processes, there are diff. tabs for both so you can easily deal with both.
What else.. you get a new screen when you press CTRL+ALT+DEL, which again, sorry to say resembles much like Fedora CTRL+ALT+DEL screen (am I obsessed with linux??)

I cant tell abt networking,stability or performance features. It also had MS Office 2007, which is cool in terms of looks, more features with less clicks, good job there.

Thats all from my side, for more in depth reviews, search the web :-)

I'll end with a question i read in some competition on web - Come up with a new type of file manager for an operating system which does not manages files in a traditional way like folders, come up with a more realistic and intutive approach.
:-( Don't have brains for this one,alas i would hae been in Google.

But the best part is chess game (i'm loving it). Enjoy!!!


[Aye dil-e-nadan tujhe hua kya hai, is marz ki aakhir davaa kya hai]

Posted by :ubuntu at 11:57:00 PM 3 comments  

For all Java lovers out there !!!

I happened to read an awesome blog on Java ...thought will be great to share it ..

Relish every line of it ...

Must read for Java Lovers

btw why don't ppl leave a comment on my blogs :(

Posted by :ubuntu at 4:37:00 AM 0 comments  

Two too good movies

Last weekend I saw DOR and Stealth ... and both movies were gr8 ....
After a long time saw a good action english movie( i missed Stealth when it was released) ..

DOR is a nice movie with a different script (but later my friend told its a true incident and there the widow doesn't pardons the accused).The characters were apt in their roles and to see Gul Panang was a refreshing so was to see Ayesha Takia(she is looking so cute) in a simple role. What I liked particularly were somewhat laconic converstions(obviously from Zeenat's side) with Shreyas Talpade. His role is fine and brings humour. One dialogue which really striked me was what Gul says to Ayesha
"apne faisle khud karo par unke anjaam sehne ki himmat bhi rakho" [make your own decisions but be brave to face the consequences].
How does Nagesh manages to make a movie with so few characters(he should see Barjatyas')

I saw Stealth on HBO ... i liked the action sequences (the one where fuel plane bursts in the air) ...the AI element in it ...
it is a good action movie to watch !!!!!

Posted by :ubuntu at 1:19:00 AM 1 comments  

Travelogue- To Kodaikanal

Had visited to kodai on a three day trip in sept end....was one of the gr8 trips out of very few we have undertaken ...doesn't feel like writing abt it (just being lazy) so have a look at the pics ...









Was thinking something ...how do you define a hobby ...

my hobby is travelling - but i dont travel a lot, but i'm excited whenevr I travel.
my hobby is photography - but I seldom take gr8 snaps, but i'm excited whenevr I have a camera in my hand.
my hobby is reading - and i do read occasionally.

Posted by :ubuntu at 1:13:00 AM 0 comments  

kamaal ka din !!!

Aaj accha din hai, kaam nahin hai(tell me something new) or blogs surf kar raha hoon ...
getting good stuff ...

betaal pachisi mili mujhe ....do read all of them ...
here's the link

Betaal Pachisi

aaj main upar,aasmaan neeche... :-)

I would also like to draw attension of all readers to Blank Noise Project. The Link is to the left side of my blogs under Do Visit section. This is a project on eve teasing. Many people have come here and wrote their experiences.
Good Initiative, India needs things like this.

Posted by :ubuntu at 2:00:00 AM 1 comments  

Nice one

I found this on one of the blogs.. :-)

Kitabon se kabhie guzro to yoon kirdaar milte hain
Gaye waqton ki dyodhi par khade kuch yaar milte hain
Jise hum dil ka veerana samajhkar chod aaye the
Wahin ujde huye shahron ke kuch aasar milte hain

Posted by :ubuntu at 1:40:00 AM 0 comments  

Why this ???



Today I took part in SDN survey, after the survey I was going thru official rules and I found this, snapshot of one of the rules.

Click on the image to see a enlarged image.

Can anyone explain me why is it so ? all you SUN guys - give it a try :-)

Posted by :ubuntu at 3:32:00 AM 0 comments  

Gloria



Oh I am a happy man. This flower was in our backyard few years back,but now the plant has died, it is one of the most beautiful flower I have come across.
I found this picture while surfing the blogs.I wish we still had this this flower.
Can anyone tell me its name(is it Gloria). do leave a comment

:-)

Posted by :ubuntu at 7:08:00 AM 2 comments  

Uncyclopedia

I recently read an article in Hindu aboutt some "Wales" (creator of Wikipedia) and how Wikipedia has grown ...it was a nice article ...one thing I came to know from it was Uncylopedia .

visit www.uncyclopedia.org
this is parody over wikipedia and i'm loving it .... just started exploring it, its amazing ...explore yourself ... read anything you want on it .
Read what uncyclopedia has to say on wikipedia at http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
But one advice: take whatever is written on it as a humour, don't get serious and offended by the articles (please don't sue the organization) .
To begin with read this: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Jat
Please jaat bhaiyyon, don't get offended by this , you may read this as a soother : http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Brahmins

Happy uncyclopeding ( i hope this is correct gerund, in harmony with googling )

:)

Posted by :ubuntu at 5:17:00 AM 0 comments  

RDB to Oscars

Two days back, on NDTV there was a discussion on whether RDB is a good choice for Oscars or not...
The panel had Nagesh Kukunoor and Rakeysh Mehra.
First things first ...why do Indians have to protest against almost every thing that’s happening in the country (probably the disadvantage of big population, difficult to achieve unanimity). Discussion was a short one (10 minutes) in which Nagesh Kukunoor complaint that he didn't even know that entries were invited for Oscars or he would have sent DOR, anyways one valid point he made was that Indian films lacked international scripts, even if movies are made for international audience, they are aimed at Indian Diaspora. Yes I think that’s true...apart from BLACK, I don't think in recent times any exceptional script has been framed.
Rakeysh Mehra pointed out that he was expecting his movie for the selection so had mixed emotions.
The debate is that LRMB should have been send. Well my personal opinion is that LRMB is not an Oscar material, it’s a very good film with simple, lively script and great humour but nothing sparkling (except Vidya Balan, gosh no nominations for best foreign actor).
RDB has a binding script, great performances and appealing message (more appealing than LRMB). But RDB will be a tough bet, I personally believe so, but far, far better than Paheli (we really screwed it last time).

Posted by :ubuntu at 10:45:00 PM 1 comments  

A memorable weekend !!!!

Once upon a time on Friday, The 8th
…. my friend’s name featured in a lucky draw on confident group’s website. He got a free ticket to Jagjit Singh’s concert. As I had only put his name in the draw, I was eligible for the ticket (the show was on Saturday).
This was the first time I was going for a Jagjit Singh’s concert and was really excited being his ardent fan. The show began as per scheduled without much delay (surprising to me as I was expecting at least half an hour delay s it happens in big shows) and …
what a show it was … he is truly the ghazal maestro.
He began with the ghazal “pyaar ka pehla khat likhne mein…” he has such a powerful voice and what a perfectionist he is ... bass of tabla, his own voice, master tuning, (God knows whats that), fine tuning, it was a true out of the world experience, such a romantic evening and one side of me was a guy and other side was an Aunty. His fellow musicians were also adept in their fields, I have never heard more beautiful synchronization between a violin and a tabla, that guy could play the whole ghazal on his violin. The show went on for three hours and everyone sat mesmerized during the show. I really felt lucky to attend the concert.

I have promised my friends to take them to the next Jagjit Singh's concert.

On Sunday I went to view “Lage Raho Munnabhai” with my friends and again …what a movie. Vidya Balan is what they call simply beautiful and beautifully simple.
Arshad Warsi and Sanjay Dutt’s duo has again charmed the audience. A must watch.
Afterwards I told my friend that Chopra’s should release a sequel of the movie every year, no hi-fi script required just common plain India (reminds me of Hrishikesh Mukherji’s movies).
So here ends my memorable weekend, after a long time did I spend my weekend on something memorable.


BTW I have passed my SCJP exam and there ended three months old mental trauma, the paper was easy, not worth preparing for three months.


Next week we are going for a trip to Kodaikonal…look the space for more :)

Posted by :ubuntu at 6:14:00 AM 0 comments  

So true ...

Guys,

read this ...

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody

This is the story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. Consequently, it wound up that Nobody told Anybody, so Everybody blamed Somebody.

Posted by :ubuntu at 6:01:00 AM 1 comments  

Degradation of education system

Today on ndtv.com, I read the news about selling of school seats by a famous private school of Delhi.

A middleman along with the school principal sold a seat for class 11th science stream to a student (this girl was with NDTV staff) for 2.5 lakh rupees even though admissions had closed two weeks back. The student was admitted even when she performed dismally in her interviews with the teachers. “So the whole thing is that ki bhaiya sabse bada rupiya”. Read the
full article

So now, schools also join the who-is-more-corrupt-of-all race, as if colleges were not giving them tough competition in this area.
Two weeks back when I was at home I heard a news on TV that new books for Hindi syllabus of class 6th, 8th and 9th by NCERT are having literature containing raunchy language. It also contained stories by a person “Avatar Singh Sindhu” (he is a secular poet). His stories contain references to certain SC/ST communities. He explicitly uses words denoting these communities whereas Supreme Court has banned the use of such words. More surprising was how the union minister Arjun Singh responded when asked about this in a press conference. He directly pointed the question to Director of NCERT who replied, “There is no censure board in our education system hence, this type of literature is printed”. Many have an opinion that there is a political angle in it.

This is the second time NCERT is in bad limelight (earlier for printing wrong facts in history books), but this is a more serious matter when class 6th students will read literature till now limited to only pocket Hindi novels.
At home, I was reading a book by famous Hindi satirist Sharad Joshi “Yatra Tatra Sarvatra”, it is such a nice book, so comically written and perfectly highlighting the social evils of the society, I was wondering why aren’t such books introduced in CBSE and ISC syllabuses. We have such a rich collection of Hindi literature, why aren’t novels by Premchand introduced in the syllabus, later a came to know ISC board has already introduced a novel by Premchand in senior secondary classes, and I really appreciate this move of ISC board.
After this quota issue, this is where India is heading, lets see where all this ends up.

Before closing, let me quote what UNESCO recommends about the education system of a country

“Education system of a country must be such that it reflects the social and heritage culture of country”.

So sit back and see how the education system evolves in India.

(I am not a regular listener of news, I have written what I recall from my memory, and some facts may not be up to date, sorry about that)

Posted by :ubuntu at 1:41:00 AM 1 comments  

Lovely poem by Robert Frost

Hi guys,

I just came across a poem by Robert Frost. It is so meaningful.

Have a look at it.


The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


Robert Frost (1874–1963)

Posted by :ubuntu at 7:28:00 AM 1 comments  

Khaali baithein kya kare, karna hai kuch kaam

First things first.
Happy B’day to me !!!!

This is my first ever blog, I'm sitting almost idle since past three months and sitting completely idle since past two weeks (no, I’m not on bench), so I thought better to write a blog during this time (inspired by Abhishek). This involves a time frame from post march till date.
Let me first tell you few trivia- my blog URL 21bakerstreet is, as most of you would have guessed, address of Sherlock Holmes, during this period I read few e-stories of Holmes and I’m totally mesmerized by his deducing powers ( ok, credit goes to ACD). So I’m acknowledging the fact by making a URL like this.
Secondly my display name ubuntu, is an African word meaning “humanity to all” or “I am what I am because of who we all are”. It is a good thing to respect the society and be grateful to humanity, as JRD Tata said to Sudha Murthy when she was an employee under him “always pay back something to the society, you owe it something’s”, ubuntu is also a popular open source Linux OS (I’m a great fan of both, open source and Linux), hence the name.
Third thing, the word paronomasia in my blog title, while creating this blog I was searching for funky words, so I went to Webster’s and looked in word of the day section (July 6, 2006) and found this word meaning: a play on words, pun and found it apt to be used here (so I was lucky not to search a lot).
So what was this post all about, I forgot, oh yes it’s all about staying focused and getting distracted by other not-so-important things (got the joke).
It was march last week when we got the official news that are current project has got on hold and we all have come on bench, it was a sad news for us, as this was a very good project. Now we use to sit idle whole day, thanks to the account policies, internet use to work whole day and without any restriction, first week was exciting, I installed what not on the comp., played every game on miniclips.com, it was fun.
Another week passed like this, I saw almost every video under Google Video’s favorite category, and these are my best three:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=515642196227308929
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6176491654107670145
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=36099539665548298

I was quite happy with my life and then I started losing focus (ISLF). Now what to do, we got a mail from my PM, do some internal courses to hone your skills (we never thought of it before), so I registered myself in five six courses but I wasn’t able to clear one of them (it was a certification course), you know why , because ISLF, the exam was a bit late and didn’t feel like studying a lot for it , I took it lightly and I was googled by very first question of the test, I’m trying it this quarter also, lets hope for the best. By the way how boring is banking and finance domain, had to read a lot of domain related docs and it was painful.
I also read a wonderful article on toddler’s memory in SCIAM magazine which I thought of publishing a synopsis of, but Isfl.
In the meanwhile, I got hold of many e-books on the net and started building up a mini library of our own).
After this episode I thought of giving CAT this year as I was on bench, I surfed the net for the material, tips to prepare, read blogs and even bought a CAT stuff from a friend and asked a friend to deliver a book from Delhi, I started with math section, so far so good, but soon ISLF.
Then I was shifted to another project, I was glad for now was the time to show my PM what I learnt in past few weeks, but the day after I was allotted a project, I got a call that I’m being permanently transferred to Chennai along with several of my ex-project mates, it was a heart breaking news, my whole paradigm changed, I quickly recovered from the shock and talked to senior management about letting me show my worth here in Bangalore. Luckily transfer was stopped (amazingly none got transferred), so now I was here in a new project, first week was a matter of adaptability, here we were segregated from our main company network and no mailing and chatting sites not allowed, not even gaming sites. It was some what like a cultural shock; anyway, I recovered and was taken through three weeks of KT. Now I’m here and there is not much to do, I passed time by calculating the value of pi to 5000 decimal places using BBP formula and then generating a random series out of that, and comparing the goodness of series with a random series generated by a java PRNG, well I couldn’t conclude the results, but what I found was that in the value of pi, frequency distribution of digits is almost same (if this is helpful). But I soon gained focus, first time in this post, realized that CAT is too near to give (it was June) and instead decided to give SCJP, luckily I got e-books on the network.
Well till now, I haven’t slf and let’s hope all goes well.

So this may look like an essay to you but please bear with me, I’ll improve with time.

“Abhi abhi hua yakeen, ki aag hai muhjme kahin …”

Posted by :ubuntu at 2:00:00 AM 3 comments