Blog

Books to Read
I had read a lot of books since childhood. In this post, I would recommend some of the nice titles that I had found interesting.

Disclaimer: I had read most of the books when I was in the class 6th to 10th. So it may not be interesting to all audiences.

Following are the list of book, in no order of importance
- Sherlock Holmes, Complete 4 novels and 52 short stories
  
  My most adored character in all the books I have ever read. His intelligence, sense, analytical skill all impress me.
- The Black Tulip – Alexander Dumas
  
  One of the good and short books I have read long back. I don’t remember much about the book. But it was an interesting read.
- The Scarlet Pimpernal
  
  A nice book to read. A superb storyline.
- Enid Blyton’s – Mystery Series
  
  Stories for children. The Five Found Outers. This is one of my favourite series of children novels.
- Five Point Someone
  
  A nice and wonderful book to read and have a nice time. It might take you to your college days.
- One night @ a call center
  
  Again from the author of Five point someone. This book made me think.
- Why Men can’t listen and women can’t read maps
  
  A good book.
- Code Name God – Mani Bhaumik
  
  A definite book that will change your outlook on life.
- The Da Vinci Code
  
  Superb, racy, fast and interesting. You can’t put the book down once you have started reading.
- Angels and Demons – Dan Brown
  
  Another interesting title. Wonderful, fast paced. Takes one through a complete journey of Rome. Must read.
- Deception Point – Dan Brown
  
  Not so good as the previous two but okay.
- Tao of Physics – Frijtof Copra
  
  Still reading.
- Phantom
  
  A complete series of Phantom adventures from Rani comics
April 6, 2008
My first cup of Linux

My first PC was a P II @266MHz system, with 8 GB HDD and a whooping 32 MB SDRAM. It was by and large a nice configuration then I could easily accommodate Windows 98 in 1 GB and the remaining space was for me to load songs, NFS, games and all goodies.

I used to read a lot of computer magazines, Digit topping the list. In my 11 th standard, along with Developer IQ magazine they shippped a CD containing Mandrake Linux 8.1 (in association with Deep Root Linux in India). Rather adventurous, I wanted to try this new operating system. I had not seen any other OS than the dominant Win 98 and Win 95 in my school PCs. So trying out a new OS was something thrilling.

If I remember correct, it was my summer holidays. So I had all the day to myself. I put the Mandrake CD into the CD-ROM and waited for it to start installation. I was not familiar with the installation procedures, and I was too lazy to read through the installation instructions in the book. I chose the automatic partitioning, defaulted to all the setup options and in the screen wherein Linux configures hardware, I was stuck up with the monitor not getting detected. I started my first line of defence, the ubiquitous (Ctrl + Alt + Del) combination. It dropped me to the command line and told me that system was going for a restart.

Then on restart, it brought the LILO boot screen and halted. I booted into DOS prompt using a boot CD and
tried to see what had happened to my windows data using FDISK. DOS recognized the partition as NON-DOS partition. I cursed myself for ruining a nicely running machine. So I took the second line of defense, reinstalling Linux (this I tried so that I could recover my windows partitions, since the partition manager in the installer of linux was graphical, it was easier.) I installed Linux again. This time I read through each and every screen, that is when I noticed that we had option to dual boot into Windows, choose the boot loader etc. The install was fine till the monitor setup. I chose the Generic Monitor setup this time and it seemed to work. The system was re-booted, and at last I saw dawn. I had booted into a new OS. Mandrake Linux.

KDE was the desktop environment provided. I came to know about the different options available only much later. I was new and everything needed me to go into Root mode and install or update (RPM was available then. I tried installing Java into the system, that is when I found out, it was easier to use shell in Linux than use the graphical tool. I missed my Windows very much. So I popped in my Win 98 CD and started installing it. After install only did I realize that the boot loader was re-written by Windows and I had lost the option of booting into Linux. I didn’t feel for the loss of Linux, as I had my safer, usable and friendly Windows on hand.

PS: Now I can use Linux more effectively. I learnt it the harder way.

April 6, 2008
To begin, begin.

I have the habit of saying, I am going to do this, I am going to do that! But really I start it very late or never. So the problem with me is beginning. If I start, then I will complete. Also If I have to do something, then I will surely do it.

Well begun is half done

Though it conveys a wonderful meaning, and something I need to keep in mind, it fails to impress me. As I was travelling home yesterday, I noticed a hoarding on Mount Road which read To begin, begin. And that is an inspiring quote.

It directs one to start or begin. I am beginning today.

April 1, 2008
Exploring Illustrator!

I got to work with Adobe Illustrator today. And here is what I created. Illustrator has templates and tools, lots I should say. Getting my hands dirty with all the tools.

Here is a sneak peek into my work.

It is a 1 MB file. Could take some time to load. Please bear.

March 21, 2008
Sherlock Holmes

Among all the detective stories read worldwide, there is one character that remains on top. Sherlock Holmes. A tall, lean man, with a smoking pipe and used to cocaine and playing solo on violin from Baker Street in London that is how Sherlock Holmes is described by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle’s tells the adventures of Holmes in the voice of his roommate Dr. Watson.

I started reading from the novel ‘The Study in the Scarlet’, where Watson, Holmes are all introduced to the readers. I liked ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ the most among all other stories. The style in which Doyle narrates the stories make the reader believe that there was a man Holmes who lived and solved the mysteries.

The approach is analytical and logical. Holmes was such a character that when Doyle decides to put an end to the character, he was forced by his readers to bring the character back to life. The address No.7, Baker Street in London where Holmes was told to reside has become a landmark.

Holmes still lives in the minds of his readers.

March 12, 2008

I am now a proud owner of HTC Touch!

On Feb 28th, I got a new mobile. A HTC Touch smart phone. It is a Windows based mobile. I gave my one week old mobile K770i for a best price to my friend and got this.

It looks nice to touch, use Touch. More about my usage of my new mobile in future blogs. Down below I have listed the specifications of my mobile.

Specification

Processor	TI’s OMAP™ 850, 201 MHz
Operating System	Windows Mobile® 6 Professional
Memory	ROM: 128 MB SDRAM: 64 MB DDR
Dimension	99.9mm (L) X 58mm X 13.9mm (T)
Weight	112g with battery
Display	2.8″ LCD touch screen with backlight 240 X 320 dots resolution with 65,536 colors
Network	GSM/GPRS/EDGE Tri-band: 900, 1800, 1900 (The device will operate on frequencies available from the cellular network.)
Device Control	HTC TouchFLO™ 5-Way navigation control
Connectivity	Bluetooth® 2.0 Wi-Fi® IEEE 802.11 b/g HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB and audio jack in one)
Camera	2.0 megapixel CMOS color camera
Audio	Built-in microphone and 3-in-1 speaker Windows Media Player supported formats: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, WMA, WAV, QCELP, MPEG4, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
Battery	Rechargeable Li-lon battery Capacity: 1100 mAh Standby time: Up to 200 hours Talk time: Up to 5 hours
Expansion Slot	microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter	Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60Hz DC output: 5V and 1A

March 1, 2008

Indian Premiere League

India – though not the land where Cricket was born; has unofficially become the capital of Cricket. This is the land where cricket is closely debated to religion. Cricket is one thing that brings all the people in India together. People here criticize, celebrate, worship cricket and cricketers. We have a lot of cricketing icons in India. I feel proud when my team wins; and I get upset when Team India loses. This is one feeling common to many people here in India, though we have some few people who love the game over the team.

A cricketer in India earns more money than any other in the world. ‘If Cricket is religion, then Sachin is God’, ‘Dada is the best’ are some slogans that keep reverberating in every nook and corner of India. Such is the status of a cricketer. They also suffer a lot in the hands of the public when they fail to deliver. Why not! when there is such a huge following, it is the duty of the leaders to deliver. And if the game is against India, then it is not a game; IT IS WAR.

Each cricketer endorses a brand and earn a lot. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is one of the largest money making boards in the World. To add to this craze, Indian Premiere League has been started. A move to have large corporations to run business with cricket.

It is more like the English county, but a lot bigger in terms of money. I like the idea of having county like cricket in India, and corporations involved in promoting the game further, but should it mean the players need to be auctioned? A price for the head and skill, won’t that spoil the spirit of the game? What would Gilchirst think about his talent? Is he not a better player than Dhoni or Symonds. Is it not creating inequality between members of the same team.

Why not pay everyone the same amount of money within the teams. Why not distinguish with the prize money for the winning teams? Won’t that be a better solution to create better cricketers? Just a thought!

February 28, 2008
Our haunted house!

It was on Dec 15 of 2006, when we moved to a new house near the beach in Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai. The house was a two bedroom flat, just enough for a comfortable stay of 5 persons. We were five and the rent was just Rs. 3800/-. It was cheap in that area. But we didn’t have any doubt as it was affordable for us.

Everything was fine about the house. We got settled there. The beach was just two minutes walk from our house. We used to spend our free time, lazing, talking and playing there. We used to leave the house door open all night as most of my room mates working in IT companies reach home late at night. Even we used to walk out alone at nights. It was fine until one of our friends ‘Soms’ joined us. He came into the house on Jan 4 of 2007. Just before coming to the house, in the shifting, he experienced a bike accident.

Everything was fine till one night, as usual I was late from office. I reached home in cab at about 2:30 am. Everyone was asleep. There were some workers doing road repairing work outside our apartments. I came and settled near Sri in our bed room. I feel asleep soon. It should have been about 3-4 am in the morning. I heard a deep voice coming from near our room. I woke up startled and found Sri too listening to the sound. I or Sri didnt have the courage to open the door to the hall. The sound was terrifying. The sound of someone in deep pain, sounding as if someone is shouting in the fear of death. I was trembling inside. Then someone switched on the light of the reception hall.

I and Sri went to see what was making the sound. The sound had ceased by then. There were Darani, Soms and our roommates brother (He had just come that night to stay). It was Soms who had made that sound. Still he was not in his senses. He was just shouting ‘Paambu… Pammbu (Snake… Snake…)’. We searched the entire room and found no snakes. After we gave him a glass of water, he told that he got a dream in which a snake was crawling over his neck and and so he started running around shouting. Our roommate told that he saw Soms running the entire length and breadth of the room shouting in the dark. He had toppled the shoe rack and was running in rounds around the room when we woke up.

I didn’t get a wink of sleep the remaining part of the night. All our neighbours had heard him screaming and they had imagined that we were trying to kill a person. They even gave some weird suggestions for Soms. After this incident, we were extra bit careful about the house. Everyone though we knew it was just a dream could not come out of the shock.

After about a week, Siva was lying in the same place. He could see a white form in the dark. He also added that he tried to getup and he could not. This was our clue. I and Soms decided that we should not be in the house and we shifted to our new house in Kellys. From then on, when someone says something about ghost, I feel a sense of chill run down my veins.

February 27, 2008
My tryst with Digit!
This post is dedicated to the magazine Digit, without which I would surely not developed interests in computers.

Way back in the year 2000, when the magazine was called CHIP, I got to have a look at the magazine in my friend Naseen’s house. He wanted me to read the book. That is where it all started. Love at first sight!

Then I didn’t understand ROM, RAM, sound card, PCI slots, ISA and all these technical jargons. It was CHIP that enlightened me on all these. It increased my interest in computers. It was due to this interests that I started to learn computer hardware and troubleshooting. The articles in the magazine was so nice and easy to understand by a newbie. Also they gave away 2 CD’s (remember then DVD media was not available for computer users and DVD-Writers were a royalty. Even CD Writers burnt at a mere 8x max. The CD’s were titled ‘Mindware’ and ‘Playware’. One dedicated to software and other to entertainment.

I got a second hand P-II (266Mhz) Slot based processor system, running on 256 MB of SDRAM, 8 GB of HDD space, a creative sound blaster card (ISA) and no graphics card in 2001. Then I used to try out all softwares and games (that didn’t require a graphics card) provided in the CD’s in my machine. I was not a subscriber to then. I used to get the magazine out of newspaper stand and my mom used to provide the money. It was Rs.100/- for an issue and special isssues would be sold at Rs.125/-. Now the cost of an issue is Rs.125/-. But a hundred for a month in itself is huge money to spend for a 11th grade guy. My mom gave me the liberty to afford to CHIP and sometimes to DeveloperIQ, PCQuest.

The best part of CHIP was that it was interesting to read. They had reviews on the latest product on market. In the reviews they also explained how things work. Say a review on Sound card will have a box saying how they worked. These things surely boosted my understanding of the various hardware devices. With internet and bandwidth a nightmare and an hour’s browsing at a net cafe costing Rs.50/-, it was easier to read about all these updates in CHIP. Marco D Souza, Karan etc. are some names I still remember from the CHIP Team.

In June 2001, after their third anniversary, CHIP was renamed as Digit. The reason they provided was to break free out of the collaboration with Chip and to cater to a varied technology readers. From then on, the journey of Digit has been smooth. I still enjoy reading the magazine. I subscribed to Digit in 2007, when I joined Cognizant, since I didn’t want to miss out an issue amidst all the work I do.

The changes that I notice between CHIP and Digit are
- The pages have reduced. From 200 to 150.
- A lot of content on how things work have stopped
They still have Agent 001, Diary, DroolMaal and stuff. The Fast Track series is excellent. A good book to start out your journey into the world of computers…. Digit! Atleast it was for me.
February 27, 2008
The Scarlet Pimpernel

I got to read this book as it was prescribed as an English supplementary reader in my secondary school. This is one book I will never forget. The plot is simple. Scarlet Pimpernel resembles Robin Hood.

The title character is the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel, Sir Percy Blackeney’s alter ego. (I see a lot of movies… so this term.). The story is told as a narrative in the voice of Lady Blackeney with the French revolution as the time.

Sir Percy Blackeney is described to be a comical character with little intelligence and bravery. On the other hand, Scarlet Pimpernel is daring rescuer of the masses. The story has Chauvlein as the enemy of Scarlet Pimpernel. He drops a drawing of the red flower scarlet pimpernel whenever he rescues someone.

It is an interesting adventurous read.

February 20, 2008