Thursday, December 21, 2006

Harry Potter and other old comics

Recently I have been reading some fiction. For the last 5 years I had never looked at any fiction book as my sole interest had been technology books and that to only programming and computers. I piled up all types of techie books but never got the time to read, also with these techie books you need to really write programs and practice to get a hang of it which was not possible due to lack of time.
I was an avid reader of fiction during my college days when books were available in libraries only and the computer was a machine to be used in offices and big organisations to improve productivity.
My interests in fiction ranged from Agatha Christie, Perry Mason to Robert Ludlum,Sidney Sheldon etc. I enjoyed Sidney Sheldon the most
Upto the age of 18 I also devoured comic books. Amar Chitra Katha for Indian mythology and Indrajal Comics for other fiction like Phantom and Mandrake. Besides Phantom and Mandrake I devoured TinTin comics most.
Now in the early thirties I have again become interested in witches,wizardy and stories of that kind.
I watched Harry Potters first movie and was interested to find out why Harry Potter has become a phenomenon the world over among young and old alike. I brough the 1st book Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone and started devouring it. Although a little slow read I was overwhelmed by the number of characters presented. To sort out the confusion and avoid looking back and searching about a character I searched for a random charcter for information in Google. I landed at the found hp-lexicon. This site is awesome, detailing the life and times of the author and also detailing to the minutest the whole wizarding world of Harry Potter. Now I have become a true fan of Harry Potter and here I go for the 2nd book.

Google at it once again
Google has always been at the forefront of innovation and has rolled out some great web based tools and software. Be it a spreadsheet,word processor or photo management. Google also has specialized searches for microsoft, linux, bsd, apple and now it has started a patents search for searching US patents. This is just awesome.

Innovative blogging

The internet has become a sort of staple these days without which one(includes myself) cannot function. May be it's just-for-fun surfing without a purpose or surfing with some specific information need. And as you wander around the blogosphere and surf through the labyrinths of the internet you stumble upon some really good links.
Clicking through various links from inside various blogs I found these 2 blogs which I felt is an innovative and even informative way to post to blogs.
Instead of posting your daily happenings or news and links why not post some links or some questions and answers to increase your knowledge and of other readers if any.
My Link List --- posts 2 or 3 links a day but really good links, not the usual news and reviews stuff
Ten Things I Didn't Know Until Last Week----- 10 questions and answers every week, like a General Knowledge quiz. This the blogger says is inspired by BBC's column of the same name but in a different format

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Hockey shocker

After the recent debacle in cricket there is another shocking sports debacle China defeat India 3-2 in hockey at the Asian games.

Rightly reported by The Afternoon despatch and courier as
India plunged to the depths of despair after being made to eat humble pie by an unfancied China
Seriously, I have never followed or tracked hockey as much like cricket or tennis.
Even football arouses my interests during the world cup. This news certainly shocked me and kept me wondering why our national sport is Hockey.
Cricket is a religion in India and in Mumbai atleast, there is no other recognised ground sport.
India is already in the dumps with hockey with other nations Netherlands and Germany and even Australia mastering the game.
The recent debacle in cricket raised a furore in the parliament which even Farmers suicide or bad infrastructure could not raise.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

The daily grind

Back in India after a very good first trip to the USA, I find myself settling down cozily in the daily grind that is life, so much so that a post to this blog requires some stimulation or rather inspiration.

Finally I dragged myself from the run of the mill (which will exist anyway) to just write a post which may seem like unorganized and written at the spur of the moment.

Now what do I write, the much delayed Chicago and Niagara tour posts, current affairs with links pointing to the web, personal happenings -which is the never ending loop--family-office-family and nothing more, or something spontaneous which would be a mixture of everything above.
Yes, it has to be spontaneous. So here goes.

Reading a friend, Sanjeev's blog I came to know of 100words.net which coaxes you to write about something in not more than hundred words everyday. It is difficult to put your thoughts through in just 100 words but it is worth giving a try maybe I can manage a shade above 100 words, maybe I can try to write about my Chicago or Niagara trip in 100 words.

It was my first visit abroad and I found the United States to be really neat and clean with all the conveniences. I just put this at the back of my mind as I found that the Indianness with all its religious and cultural fervour was absent. My colleagues working in the USA have kids born in the USA and although they understand their mother tongue they reply or talk in American English. The real difference was felt when I returned back to India and was towing my baggage while exiting the airport, I felt a trickle on my temple, it was a drop of sweat (which leaks out of your pores just like that without any effort-in India) and I realized that I had landed in India.
I had not sweat for a whole month!!!
After 2 days in India and travelling for daily chores within Mumbai I found my own country to be hot and dirty and it was as if on my first trip abroad I had tasted first blood.

I went to Pune the next weekend. Pune has had a soft corner in my mind mainly because it is an IT destination and it has a very good climate. This visit proved to me that the craters on the moon were no different from the roads in Pune. A main thoroughfare like Karve road was like riding a boat (maybe the boat in the rough seas was nuch smoother). I kept wondering how it became an IT destination. The climate and the laid back lifestyle is still a plus factor.

Amidst writing this blog I almost forgot that my other blog remains unupdated for a long time and I need to update it.
Also need to mention that I am the proud owner of a Canon A630 and a Sony Ericsson K750i

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Last 2 days in Dayton

It is 10/28 and 12.00noon here in Dayton. I am going back to India tom
These are the last 2 days of my stay in Dayton. Guess what i just took a kishore kumar cd from a friend, thought I would listen to it as I had a day free as it was weekend and I started to this song from Aap ki kasam
Zindagi ke safar me guzar jate hai jo makam woh phir nahi aate..... woh phir nahi aate"
Is it pure coincidence, that I started to listen to this song at this time when I am leaving back for India?. I do not know but the opening music makes my mind go into a trance and maybe hallucinate, feels weird, eerie but soothing. Only the opening lines have some relevance to my situation here not the full song. I kept on listening to this number again and again thru the night. Any way its Kishore Kumar and its a great number.
Going home, Going home, Really long to meet Mrudula and Anish. Play with Anish and talk to him..................Going home,Going home........................
Reminds me also of the Simon and Garfunkel number "Homeward Bound"

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Freezing cold-Dozing off

I have not updated for the last 15 days. I am still in the USA and it's been very cold here in Dayton. I decide to update my blog and really doze off in few minutes and really dont want to get off the bed.
There is lots to write about My Chicago trip, My Buffalo/Niagara trip and meeting old friends.
Will do it sooner or later I hope.
Till then those of you who really follow this blog( I hope someone does!!!:)) hold on....

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Dayton update-upto Day 8

It is cold here in Dayton and there is a freeze watch for Thursday night going upto Friday morning. Now what is a freeze watch. According to Weather.com
A FREEZE WATCH MEANS TEMPERATURES AT OR BELOW 32 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ARE IMMINENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
This means temperatures could dip below 0 degrees celsius. Fortunately or unfortunately maybe i could see some snow.
What have i been doing all these days in America?
I have been visiting various places of shopping interest during the last few days and climate has been good. I have made it a point not to eat at the same place and try out a different places. Surely there are many more eating joints and restaurants than my number of days stay(27).
I have tried Arby's, McD(thats McDonalds), Chipotle(Mexican), Gyros(Greek/Mediterannean), Bahn Mai(thai), PF Chang(Chinese-Chinese not Indian-Chinese), Tacho bell, Subby's, Donatos pizza, and Amar India(Indian)
I ate subs(sandwiches),french fries,vegeterian pita, Ragin cajun chicken, Spicy chicken burrito,
Dang Dang noodles with chicken,salsa,etc.....................
I am guzzling lots of soft drinks -more that what I drink in a year in India.
It seems Americans have more ice cold drinks as it gets cooler and they dont drink tea and/or coffee. Coffee yes but it is black and bitter with little milk and sugar.

I visited the Dayton Mall which is the reason why Dayton exists at the first place as told to me by few people. This is a huge mall with loads and loads of shops for clothing and womens accessories. There are gaming zones and seperate shops for games stocking games for the regular pc to the Xbox/360,PS2,nintendo,gameboy etc.
I also visited a book store of Barnes and Noble. The area of that store was as big as our office
(Cap Gemini). I wasnt interested in buying any book as all these books are available in India with the local raddi wala(used books and newspaper reseller) for dirt cheap prices and I just wanted to have a look at it. This shop allows you to read any book sitting there and having coffee from Starbucks. It has books on any subject you can think of. Do you think coin collecting seems to be a weird topic to have books on, not at all this shop has more that 30 books on that subject. Books were arranged according to subjects obviously which included literature/fiction,
mystery,science fiction, new age(included spirituality, wicca and witchcraft), cooking,sports,
biographies, gay/lesbian,sexuality, crosswords/puzzles, references and on and on.
As expected in the computer section I found more Microsoft Technology books and many books for the Mac(u will not find them in India).
I was amazed with there periodicals and magazines section again divided into 12 sections (womens interest,mens interest,business,current affairs,sports,arts. etc). There must be around a 1000 magazines.
I watched 4 movies in the last few days Forrest Gump, Castaway, Red eye, The Island.
All were good movies except maybe Castaway which i felt dragged along and I myself felt like a Castaway- not on an island but in the hotel.
I have been fequently visiting sites which I would rarely visit when in India.
dealstobuy amazon, travelocity, Hbo, Google Maps, greyhound

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Blogging from Dayton, Ohio USA

I am writing this from a hotel room in Dayton,Ohio in USA on a Ibm T41 on a fast wireless connection. To be precise i am staying at the Hampton Inn on Old Yankee street in Centerville, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Landed here on Oct 3 2006 @8.oopm.
First impressions-Very neat and clean, everything automated and online, Americans live life to the fullest with all the conveniences.
Dayton is very small and does not have a public transport system and you need to have a car to go anywhere and everywhere. That is a disadvantage for me and have to depend on someone always.
The hotel room is spacious unlike what u find in India. All toilets have hot and cold water with one system of taps (faucet as they call it in USA) everywhere. It is fully equipped big bed which can easily accomodate 3, 29 inch TV sets a iron and iron table a coffee maker with some coffee filters, fridge and microwave. Every floor has a softdrink dispenser and ice vending machine.
It is cold here as compared to Mumbai and for an indian specie like me coming out of a tropical climate it is sort of bad. The temperatures have been 20-22 deg celsius max to 4-8 deg celsius min.
This is my first international trip and as usual when u travel anywhere u forget something.
Yes I forgot to pack some books which i intended to read here and have to rely on my laptop and a cd which I burned with my online book collection.
Lets see if i can buy some here.
Now I have some time here so will try to hone my skills further.
I have been eating variety food for the last few days
Pizzas,McChicken,Veg Sub(sub is a sandwich), Dang Dang noodles, Chicken fried rice(not the Indian one), Vegeterian Pita, Gyros(Greek), Spicy chicken Burrito(Mexican).
I flew to the USA ---Mumbai-Milan-Atlanta-Dayton
In Milan I could see a confluence of various European ethnicities. Italian, Greek,Spanish,Czech Romanian etc. There are flights to everywhere in Europe, USA and Africa.
All in all agood experience lets say.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Milk vs Cola

The Cola banning wars continue as each day some state in India gets ready to ban sale of cola.
The CSE report states that colas contain pesticide content. Why are we worried more with the cola's containing pesticide issue. Does everyone India really get potable water?. Cola does not even quench your thirst. Nimbu paani tastes even much better is really a refresher during summer.
This article in the TOI brought another point to the fore. Milk and other food vegetables contain more pesticides than in cola.
Swaminathan Iyer argues that milk and other food products which are recommended by nutritionists contain more pesticide than in cola and the as recommended are given to children who are in danger of contracting diabetes, anaemia in the future. He also points out that
" Humans are the only species to drink milk after being weaned from the breast. How do they achieve this feat? By drinking the milk of other creatures, something no other species does. Not surprisingly, drinking alien milk produces allergies and a host of other health problems."
I agree to this but India has an ancient connection with milk. Mothers have always coaxed children to drink milk due to its nutritional content.
Can milk be banned and can we resort to drink cola instead of milk?
Can the god drink cola instead of milk?
This will not happen atleast in the near future. Till then I will have my cola mixed with my favorite drink and hot milk with horlicks or drinking chocolate tastes yummy.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Seven point something(7.)

Recently finished "Five point someone" by Chetan Bhagat. I would rate it at 7.1/2/3 hence the title of this post. I found the book a good read and as it is by an Indian author and I could easily relate to the story although I am no IITian. Also it is the first book I have read by an Indian Author as far as I can remember.
The next book on the block is "The Search" about Google. The are many books though (7 to be exact) -non techie i.e fiction and biographical lying in my house to be devoured when I get time.
I found these Amazon reviews for 5.someone where the book is ranked 1,007,629 in sales as of today.
Mediocre, like a hindi potboiler,abysmal
Interesting,Fun to read (agree with these).
The writing is surely school story book style but that is why it is readable and yes there is no backtracking(going back several pages while reading a book and tracing a character or event who has been sidetracked in the plot/story-I might have coined the term myself). Backtracking has some other connotations also.
I havent read any other Indian authors and surely need to try some others like Vikram Seth/Chandra,R.K.Narayan....etc
I found this link through the kitabkhana blog which mentions a book reading and signing event by Dr. Manjiri Prabhu who has written 2 books named
The Cosmic Clues and The Astral Alibi. The books are unique in the sense that "Scientific Indian Vedic Astrology" is coupled with investigative techniques in the stories.
Should be a good read I believe

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Wikimapia

Just marked my building on wikimapia a tool like google earth but was a wee bit faster.
It has some limited tools for magnification etc

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Bad month July

Well July it seems is a bad month for Mumbai. Last year it was the havoc caused by 5-6 hrs of rains and this year also it rained for 5 continuous days evoking the memories of 26/7/05-cloudburst.
Then came the desecration of a politico's wife statue and a bandh call for some hours. Luckily it was a Sunday.
Then the deadly 8 bomb blasts in the local trains on the Western Railway routes.
Local trains are the lifeline of Mumbai and are also an easy target.
I completed 1 year at my current job.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Waiting for rains and a new job

Rains have not yet started. Rains came early this year i.e. on 30/5/06 and there was rain in the evening for 2 days and then its a dry spell. It is hot and humid. I have to search for a new job where i can get maximum exposure to oracle apps

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Happenings-first 3 months of 2006

Updating my blog after a long time. Did not find time (an excuse) or rather did not have anything to write about that would interest anyone.
On 14/2/06 finally I received my passport. This is the major event upto today. My brother is getting married on 26/3/06 and hence major part of these 3 months have been spent in preparations and gearing up for the same. Attending functions,purchasing etc,etc...........
I have bought lot of books recently especially fiction and have started reading it. The progress is a bit slow but atleast the interest has developed in fiction.
I also decide not to buy any further books till the time I complete reading atleast 2 books bought earlier whether techinical or fiction, but this seems impossible. Whenever I see a book which is a recommended read I buy it outright never thinking of my earlier resolution.
The next few days starting from 23/3/06 to 28/3/06 I may not have access to a computer.
The current job does not have anymore implementations which I want to do and as such I have to rethink and decide for a change.
The stock markets are booming and little bit patience in holding to stocks would have reaped huge profits. But as usual when there is considerable rise and I have some notional profit I lose my patience to hold and sell the stock and thereafter the stock rises even more. Now I am stocked up with stocks whose prices have reduced and my loss would be upto Rs.5000/-.
Need to do some fundamental analysis and invest in stocks with good potential for appreciation within 6 months.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Reflections -2005

This is the first post for 2006. Happy New Year!!!
It is just a synopsis of the year gone by and to do things for 2006
2005-A synopsis(personally)
All in all a good year.
  • A job and also career change is the major event. Its almost 6 months that I am working as a Oracle Apps Functional Consultant and of course am enjoying it.
  • Applied for a passport (after many days of just thinking to do it) a direct result of the change in job, although havent received it yet and hopefully will receive it in 2006.
  • Travelled more than in 2004 officially as well as personally (Bglore,Nagpur,Raipur,Ganpatipule)
  • Oracle, Oracle and only Oracle that is what I am doing for the last 5 months.
  • Started reading and developing interest for fiction/non-fiction and sci-fi which was something different form the usual computer books that I have been accumulating and partly reading for the last 6 years.
  • Spent Rs.4000/-approx on computer books only during the year mostly new. Havent read a single book fully.
  • Blogged reasonably frequently. Did not let my blog die.
  • Opened a gmail account and also a del.icio.us account and now cannot even work without del.icio.us.
2006-To do
  • Renovate house
  • Open a bank account and make investments in my sons name
  • Complete lot of personal work (filing returns,personal investments,etc)
  • Concentrate on one programming language and learn it for the whole year.
  • Do some worthy course (OCA/OCP/ISA/CISA)
  • Read as many non-techie books as possible
  • Buy a new house(at least start the process)
  • Buy and digital camera,new mobile,DVD player)
  • Try to make full use of both the pcs (old pc is lying idle accumulating dust)
  • Reduce my tummy and become fit, maybe join the Gym, do yoga etc
  • learn to Meditate
  • Keep accumulating and learning Oracle Applications.
  • apply passports for spouse and son.
Well these are some of the to do's which I can remember now.
Cheers and starting the new year with a happy note.
-:)