tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89072347359180344002024-02-19T09:52:03.641+05:30Rohan'sAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-90011484028314631412015-07-12T18:52:00.001+05:302015-12-21T11:18:27.037+05:30Driving Licence Test in Greenslopes, Brisbane.<blockquote></blockquote>Last weekend, Saturday, I got my manual licence on the first go at the notoriously difficult Greenslopes Driving centre in Brisbane. (The pass rate at Greenslopes is 50%). Phew! I am happy and relieved. <br> <br>
I am writing this post to narrate experience and in the process also hoping that it might help some folks out there preparing for the Driving Test in Brisbane or Australia for that matter. <br> <br>
I have been driving a manual transmission for over 9 years in India. My mates say that I am a safe driver and I see myself as a disciplined and a decent city traffic driver. Also, when I say city traffic, it is an 'Indian' city traffic that I have done most of my driving in. I come from the lovely western Indian city of Pune best known for its abundance of quality educational institutions, gazillion software companies, smart people and lovely climate but deplorable traffic conditions and insane drivers who seem to be running away from an imminent apocalypse (read - no observance of traffic rules)! <br> <br>
Add to the fact that the traffic is bumper to bumper (sometimes bumper kisses bumper) at the peak hour. So, in one word - CHAOS. If you drive in such conditions day after day in all seasons and the worst of all, night time during monsoons, I would say you have achieved mastery in car control. Small wonder then, that almost all me Indian mates are very good car drivers. A little insane sometimes, but thoroughly accomplished car drivers. <br> <br>
So when I decided to go for the Australian driving licence in Brisbane, I thought the test would be a formality. I couldn't have been more wrong. The test requires meticulous preparation which includes not just knowing the rules but getting good practical driving experience (by that I mean good feedback from a qualified instructor) and working on your weak areas. In a sentence - You gotta take your test preparation seriously!
Overseas drivers might easily take for granted that it is easy get an Australian driving licence in Brisbane in the neat, orderly and sparse traffic. Not so. At least in Queensland. <br> <br>
Brisbane is a rather difficult place in Australia to get a licence it seems. This, because, from what I have gathered over the past 6 months, my Victorian and New South Welsh mates have got the Licences in the first go and all my Brissy friends failed! - Failed for slightest of transgressions. And all these guys that I know are excellent and safe drivers back in India. I ain't blaming the system either. It is just that they got extremely strict examiners and yes there might have been a lack of preparation too. <br> <br>
All this got me very worried about my driving licence test. So I decided to take up a driving lesson with an accredited driving instructor - I should pat myself on the back for that decision. For after the first lesson, I was asked to correct many driving habits. Bad habits picked up over the years. For eg In Indian traffic conditions, you are required to do 'The clutch - Brake - Accelerate' routine every minute during the peak hours. But if you apply this to the traffic here, you would be inclined to hover your leg over the clutch pedal if you are a new driver and the examiners might mark you down for clutch coasting. After the first lesson and some contemplation, I decided to take additional lessons with the instructor and to unlearn my bad habits. It helped. <br> <br>
I also looked up online for driving videos and tips for Brisbane. To my dismay, every You Tube video was about driving test in Victoria or New South Wales. I could find exactly one article about driving test tips in Greenslopes, Brisbane. (link below) from a driving school. It was a tremendous help and I decided to post my experience after the test.<br> <br>
So here's what helped me prepare before and on the test day - <br> <br>
- Take driving lessons from a qualified test instructor - I cannot stress this more. There will be your well meaning mates and people dissuading you from going for driving lessons if you can drive. But bear in mind this is not about just about driving the car. It is about driving the car correctly and safely. Your mates are not the experts in pointing out your bad habits as they themselves may not be aware of what constitutes a bad/unsafe driving habit. Also your mates are not inclined to discipline you. A qualified instructor will give you good feedback about your bad habits and will help you unlearn the bad habits. The instructor will also show you correct way to do various driving manouveus (U-Turns, Reverse Parking, etc). Additionally the driving instructor is also aware of the latest rules and what is actually tested on the driving tests. This helps immensely. What's more, you also ingrain the good driving habits and that makes you a even safer driver in the long run. This is an investment that is well worth the money. <br> <br>
- Secondly, finding a good driving school instructor is as important as taking driving lessons. There are some people out there who just want to make money and they don't really care if you get a licence or not. Read reviews online before going with a particular driving school. Of course you can change the driving school if you are not happy but it is always makes a good economic sense to find a good instructor and use the same car for the lessons and the test day. Many people believe they just need more lessons and hours just to get the hang of driving on Australian roads and hence they look for the cheapest option. There are many of those on Gumtree. Not that they are not good. However like I said, not all of them genuinely care about you correcting your driving habits and getting a licence. It helps a lot to spend 10 bucks more on a good instructor. So read reviews - Positive and negative reviews both...Pro-Tip Read the negative reviews or less than 5 star reviews. If there are no such reviews. That is your first red flag. It will help you choose wisely. Also some driving schools have a lot of instructors so if you get a good instructor stick with him/her. That way the instructor is aware of your driving and your weaknesses and helps you correct your driving habits effectively. <br> <br>
- Practise in the Test Area. This is logical. You will get used to the streets, intersections and tricky turns. Ask your instructor to specifically start from the parking area where the test begins. This will get you accustomed to the test day start. <br> At Greenslopes Driving Centre - The test starts from a shopping complex parking. The reserved driving test parking spots are very near the exit and so there are a lot of pedestrians walking and cars entering and exiting all the time in the parking. The entrance and exit to the parking is quite steep too. By doing a couple of starts from the parking you will be aware of the exits, the speed limits in the parking and the pedestrian crossings. It always helps to have a mental image of the area you will be driving on the test day. <br> <br>
- Be aware of the speed limits. In Queensland the practical driving test is called the Q-Safe driving test and the current rules of the enhanced practical driving test (changed as of 29 June 2015) will have zero tolerance for speeding. That means exceeding the speed limit by even 1 kmph is a FAIL! So keep your eyes out on the road signs and your speedometer. Better to be under by 2-4 kmph than just to be exactly at the right speed. Watch out when driving downhill - you don't realise your car
speeding up! Be very aware of that in Greenslopes which is a hilly area with a lot of such roads. Not to mention school zones speed limits. <br> <br>
- Read the official guide to taking the Q-Safe Practical Driving Test on the Department of Transport and Motoring, Queensland. (<a href="https://publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/q-safe-practical-driving-test-guides/resource/d084364f-c22b-49dd-b22b-2f5c96129efd">link</a>). You will get an idea of the critical and non critical errors and the marking system. Also keep checking the department of transport websites to be aware of any test changes and other important information. <a href="http://www.qld.gov.au/transport/licensing/getting/tests/
">Link</a>. <br> <br>
- Go through the road rules. (For Queensland - go through the latest Keys to driving in Queensland handbook). This may sound silly to do after you have passed your written road rules test but if you have considerable driving experience overseas it is quite normal to forget some rules after your written road rules test and go back to your natural way of driving. Even if you drive regularly in Australia, it is highly possible that you may have picked up incorrect ways to do certain manoeuvres and errors like not signalling left when exiting roundabouts. (Yes, it is a non-critical error and it is very common to see many people doing that on roads!) So as you read and revise the rules again, there will be moments where you will identify such things you are doing incorrectly and this in turn will help you prepare better for the test. <br> <br>
- Adding to the point above, the online practice test on The Department of Transport, Queensland website is a very good resource. The various traffic scenarios it presents will clarify some rules further and get you in the proper driving mindset. Pay special attention to Give Way, Multilane Roundabouts and Merge scenarios.<br> <br>
- Be extremely aware of the critical driving errors. If you commit one critical error you will be failed (at least in Queensland). Some common critical errors to note - Car not stopping at the Stop Sign. Stopping means Stopping. So at the Stop Sign, all the four wheels of the car must come to a stop. Another common critical error - Speeding by 1 kmph over the speedlimit during the test is not allowed. <br> <br>
- Google Street View - If you do not have a car to practise, use Google Street View to go through the various roads close to your centre. The biggest advantage of Street View is that you see the road with the road markings and road signs. It is as if you are driving in a car but at your own pace. Another advantage is that, you can look for various hard to spot road signs such as a No Right Turn or a U Turn permitted sign which you might not notice when you are driving at 60 kmph. This is where you can peacefully wander about on that tricky intersection or the road to get a clear mental image of which lane to be in when you are on that road. Even if you do have a car, try it out - It helps to be in the comforts of your living room and getting familiar with the roads around the test area as you sip your favorite hot beverage.<br> <br>
- For Greenslopes Driving Centre Test Takers, check <a href="https://www.mydrivingschool.com.au/blog/greenslopes-driving-test-centre-1">this</a> and <a href="https://www.mydrivingschool.com.au/blog/greenslopes-driving-test-centre-2">this</a> post from a local Greenslopes Driving school. It gives information about tricky turns and road signage encountered in that area. It really helped me! Check these roads and intersections on Google View. <br> <br>
- You Tube videos - There are hundreds of awesome You Tube videos of the driving exam tips and various manoeuvres such as Reverse Parking, Three Point turn, etc. Sadly not many are from Australia (at least as of now). However there are very good New Zealand videos and some UK videos. They do offer good tips. In any case, do check them. It is another good way to get your head around various manoeuvres.<br> <br>
- The overrated Reverse Parking - When it comes to the Driving Test, a majority of people start getting goose bumps about doing a reverse park. For some, the Driving test is all about Reverse Parking. Hence they go nuts worrying about Reverse parking and overdo it. Get this right - Yes, Reverse parking is an important manoeuvre but doing it perfectly does not mean you PASS the Test. Driving is not just reverse parking! So worry about High Speed Merges, U-Turns, Give Ways at Roundabouts, Right Turns at intersections and keeping under speed limits. Practise all the manoeuvres equally rather than just getting hung up over Reverse Parking. There are many people who failed to do a reverse parking correctly and passed the test. <br> <br>
- The High Speed Merge - Some people do not even consider this as a skill. However, this is one of the most crucial of driving skills requiring observation and decisiveness and it is just as important as the fabled Reverse Parking. In fact, the newly enhanced Q-Safe Test will test people on High Speed Merging situations. Some people are slow on the ramp (I am guilty of that) and this can cause unsafe scenarios when you merge with the high speed traffic on the motorway. This is one skill that every new driver should practise. You gotta match the highway traffic speed and you should be able to do that as you enter the ramp. As always Practise makes perfect. <br> <br>
- On The Test Day - The timeless advice reserved for people on the Test Day is to be calm and confident. Easier said than done. How do we do that? Here are some things that should help. <br>
Get a good night's sleep. Really, I mean, this is easy. Just hit the sack early and get at least 8-9 hours of sleep. Goes without saying avoid partying the night before Get your identification documents, forms and a good pen in an nice handy case the day before the test. Not on the test day. <br>
Do not schedule other important activities on the test day. That means, if you are taking the test on the weekday, take a day off from work if possible. You will be unnecessarily worrying about arriving to work or that stupid meeting to attend (All meetings are silly and a waste of time. But I digress). My test was on the weekend and so I did not have to worry about trains to catch and schedules to keep (and no school zone timings to worry too:)). <br>
Before the test begins go over the car controls i.e. the pre-drive checks (indicators, hazard lights, sound the horn, wipers front and rear, high beam and low beam, etc)...and when the test begins just remember it is just an exam. If you do go wrong anywhere or miss a turn do not panic and try to correct it. Just behave like a normal driver - say, "Sorry I missed that. What do you want me to do next?” After all wouldn't you do that when you are driving your mate back home? You don't panic when you miss a turn! <br> <br>
My Errors and Feedback - I was marked for some non-critical errors and most of them were during one wrong manoeuvre while changing lanes around cyclists. The test was at 8am on a weekend and so there were a lot of cyclists on the road. It was a multi lane road and I saw a couple of cyclists in my lane. I looked in the rear and the side mirror and did a shoulder check and saw that the next lane was all empty. All correct up to this point. Then my instincts took over and I decided to do a lane change after getting closer to the cyclists! I did that correctly but I did not do a shoulder check and no indicator signal because I was aware there was no one in the next lane! Incorrect! But since I had a good driving examiner, at the end of the test, he said you should have changed lanes after seeing the cyclists but you waited and did a lane change as you neared them. Why do that when you know there is a hazard in front of you? (Hazard Perception error).<br> <br>
Another one, at one set of lights when the lights turned green, I saw a pedestrian walking so I slowly went ahead and stopped the car. The examiner told me since your car was moving the pedestrian was unsure and only when you stopped the car the pedestrian crossed. This is one of the classic bad driving habits picked up by most people who drive every day. They slowly crawl ahead in the traffic to the pedestrian crossing lane. It is not incorrect but on a test this is can be a minor error. Ideally you should stop and let the pedestrian cross completely. I was told that my drive was good except for lane change situation which had the potential to be a critical error. <br> <br>
And folks, that's my driving licence experience in Greenslopes, Brisbane. Hope it helps someone out there. Good Luck and Happy Driving!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com4Brisbane QLD, Australia-27.4710107 153.02344889999995-29.275130700000002 150.44166189999996 -25.6668907 155.60523589999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-12042242025528126252013-12-02T13:55:00.002+05:302013-12-02T13:57:44.551+05:30Amazon Prime Air - A radical new way of shipping orders. Mind. Blown.<html>
Amazon revolutionized the book industry with its business model forcing other publishers to reduce book prices and change the way books are delivered to the customers .Then it came up with an awesome eBook reader, Kindle and with it, the amazing wireless delivery system called Whispernet (free in 100 countries!).... Many ebook readers followed but they still could not compete with Amazon Kindle. Then came Kindle Fire HD with its own version of Android OS ( a clever move to distance itself from other tablets).<br> <br>
And now Amazon is experimenting with a radical new delivery system - 'Amazon Prime Air'. With Prime Air, Amazon will deliver orders in 30 mins using Autonomous drones! Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon calls these electric drones, 'octocopters'. These octocopters will be able to carry items (weighing up to 5 pounds/2.3 kgs) and deliver them in 30 mins.Now that is out of the world! <br> <br>
Imagine you are home one evening and decide to order a Dominos pizza and just as you are surfing, you come across an interesting book (or a gadget or some other paraphernalia) on Amazon.com. You buy it and select the Amazon Prime delivery option and 30 mins later the doorbell rings and just as the Dominos guy delivers pizza a mysterious looking unmanned flying object (the octocopter) drops your package on your patio and flies away. The Dominos guy is puzzled... Anyways, you happily collect the pizza and the package dropped by Amazon and think about why people go out shopping in brick and mortar stores!....Well this seems sci-fi and futuristic right? No it's not, Amazon is testing this incredible delivery system using drones, now.....And if I wanted to wager who would pull this off, I would bet on Jeff Bezos', Amazon.com.<br>
Amazon is a game changer. Period. <br> <br>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98BIu9dpwHU">Amazon Prime in action</a>
</html>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-24392568598549061162013-11-29T21:55:00.000+05:302013-12-01T11:59:24.100+05:30Book Review - Fermat's Last Theorem<html>
<a href="http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B009UKUGXC/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=B009UKUGXC&linkCode=as2&tag=rohablog-21">Fermat's Last Theorem</a><img src="http://ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=rohablog-21&l=as2&o=31&a=B009UKUGXC" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> <br><br>
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This book takes you on a riveting journey of solving Mathematics' most famous and extremely difficult of riddles, Fermat's Last Theorem. The riddle, Fermat's Last Theorem, itself is very simple to understand but equally extremely difficult to prove that it took over 3 centuries (358 years to be precise) to be proved in 1993 by Sir Andrew Wiles. <br><br>
Everybody...and I am sure everybody, who has been to high school knows or has heard of Pythagoras theorem or equation which states – <br><br>
X (raised to the power of 2) + Y (raised to the power of 2) = Z (The Hypotenuse) (raised to the power of 2)<br><br>
Fermat's Last Theorem is a sister equation of Pythagoras' equation. It states -<br><br>
X (raised to the power of n) + Y (raised to the power of n) = Z(raised to the power of n) has no whole number solutions for n > 2<br><br>
The 17th Century French mathematical genius by the name of Pierre de Fermat created this equation while studying the book Arithmetica. Fermat was also notorious for stating a problem and then intentionally not stating the solution! He would also go ahead and challenge his fellow mathematicians to find the proof. Not surprisingly, this used to frustrate his fellow mathematicians who loved to collaborate and build up on one another's methods...This habit of Fermat of hiding the proof of his theorems not only tortured his contemporaries but generations of future mathematicians.<br><br>
So when Fermat scribbled his above theorem in margin of Arithmetica, he did not explain his proof of the equation. As expected, this mischievous mathematical genius also made a tantalizing note which infuriated and haunted current and future mathematicians. Fermat simply scribbled - “I have a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.”<br><br>
...and with that was born a legendary mathematical monster - Fermat’s Last Theorem (‘Last’ because it was ‘The Last’ remaining theorem of Fermat’s that remained unproved) and the race to prove it, which took the next 358 years and 19th and 20th century mathematical techniques to prove it.<br><br>
This book is not just about how the talented Andrew Wiles solved the world's most fabled mathematical problem but also a very absorbing journey of Mathematics' famous and infamous legends and their intriguing stories - some tragic, some pure genius and some shockingly astonishing. For example, Calculus was not developed by Issac Newton independently but by someone named Pierre de Fermat!<br><br>
If you are a Maths, Science or a Engineering student or professional you will find this book absolutely delightful to read as the topics will naturally appeal to your technical self.
Even if you are not inclined towards mathematics, at worse, you will find this book to be an enjoyable read! Simon Singh does a brilliant job of explaining the most arcane of mathematical concepts so much so that you will consider taking up mathematics! Go buy a copy. You won't regret it! <br><br>
<a href="http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B009UKUGXC/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=B009UKUGXC&linkCode=as2&tag=rohablog-21">Fermat's Last Theorem</a><img src="http://ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=rohablog-21&l=as2&o=31&a=B009UKUGXC" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
</html>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-80853223048894326322013-11-29T21:12:00.002+05:302013-12-01T12:02:05.879+05:30Book Review - The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss <html>
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Interestingly, I got to know about The Four-Hour Work Week (4HWW) from So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love book (which is a great read in itself) and which preaches exactly opposite to what Tim Ferriss does in 4 HWW. So, I was ultra convinced that 4 HWW is similar to those get rich quick schemes kinda books which are as silly as they sound. Hence, I scrapped reading it...However, when I skimmed this book after a chance sighting of it in my office library, I was instantly hooked.<br><br>
I am not gonna talk about what Tim Ferriss teaches and advocates in this book in detail, as already all the reviewers have done that...instead, I am just gonna say that you do not have to actually do what Tim has done. You do not even have to leave your job. What I got from 4HWW is that even if you employ some of Tim's techniques (Parkinson's law, 80/20 principles and the art of avoiding emails and conference calls like plaque), at your current job, it will shoot your productivity through the roof....The lifestyle redesign part comes later when you get plenty of time as result of employing these techniques at your work place. Tim pushes you go beyond your boundaries and take mini-retirements now instead of later. However, it is entirely up to you, what you do with those new found free hours!...4HWW is also a treasure trove of information and other clever hacks which will prove useful to you at some point in life.<br><br>
For the last 2 weeks, I have been using some of the techniques mentioned in this book (Parkinson's law and avoiding email/con calls) and they have given me a sense of calm at my insanely busy day job as a software engineer...This book will save you a lot of time! I suggest reading <a href="http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00FOVTOMA/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=B00FOVTOMA&linkCode=as2&tag=rohablog-21">So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love</a><img src="http://ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=rohablog-21&l=as2&o=31&a=B00FOVTOMA" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
first and then <a href="http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/0091929113/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=0091929113&linkCode=as2&tag=rohablog-21">The 4-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich</a><img src="http://ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=rohablog-21&l=as2&o=31&a=0091929113" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />
which will give a unique and well balanced perspective to look at your 9-5 or 9-8 job like myself. <br><br>
Rating 5/5. This is a must read!
</html>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-53784016565305809792013-11-29T20:16:00.001+05:302013-12-01T12:02:22.503+05:30Book Review - Blink: The Power of Thinking without thinking <html>
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<b> <a href="http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/0141014598/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3626&creative=24790&creativeASIN=0141014598&linkCode=as2&tag=rohablog-21">Blink: The Power of Thinking without thinking</a><img src="http://ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=rohablog-21&l=as2&o=31&a=0141014598" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> </b> <br> <br>
Fascinating psychological stories/studies told the Malcolm Gladwell style and hence an interesting read.
The power of information processing is all about thin-slicing (extraneous information to be discarded) an event and how our adaptive unconscious utilizes it brilliantly to provide us with valuable insights in real life situations. The author talks how great decision makers hone and trust their instincts to serve them in times of need and also when this impressive ability clearly fails both the experts and laymen. Particularly, how our biases influence this ability. <br> <br>
However, after a few chapters you do get a gist of the book and then it is just stories with the same message all over. The stories and the case studies cited are engaging and enthralling but somehow they do not appear to flow correctly. I got a the feeling that the author is going off tangent on many occasions for e.g the Coke vs Pepsi case, Silvan Tomkins and Paul Ekman story and Paul Ekman's FACS. These stories are very intriguing in itself but I felt the author could have talked a little less about it. Having said that this book is engaging and will keep you entertained.<br> <br>
Rating 3/5.<br>
</html>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-63451264538576382762013-11-06T14:25:00.001+05:302013-12-01T12:14:37.708+05:30Diwali - Pollution, Hypocrisy and Ignorance<html>
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People refraining from bursting crackers during Diwali and urging others to do so and cribbing about air pollution during Diwali, I have this to ask you - <br><br>
-Do you drive a car or a motorbike and have considered pooling or using Public Transport during the rest of the year? <br>
- Have you stopped using six-seaters that pollute like they are running a factory inside? <br>
- How about your own car? Is it really 'PUC' checked?<br>
- Have you considered not flying and taking the train instead sometime?<br>
- Have you thought of not honking when driving in India?<br>
- Have you considered not buying an AC in a city like Pune when the weather is pleasant except for 2 hot months?<br><br>
If the answer is No and you are complaining about smoke and noise during Diwali- you are plainly ignorant about air pollution issues or are a hypocrite or both. <br><br>
If you really care about pollution, voice your opinions about the driving and flying habits of the rich countries first. They are the ones having wrong kind of Diwali all year round. Then question your own habits!<br>
Do not crib about how environmentally unfriendly Diwali is as if it is the sole root cause for climate change round the world!<br>
#ughsomepplinIndia #Diwali #Airpollution
</html>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-35673443568536478232010-03-21T21:12:00.003+05:302010-03-21T21:41:37.340+05:30IPL 3 – Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals.An out of the blue 30 min Sametime chat in office amongst us, the cricket fans, and in no more than 4 hours, 10 IPL tickets were booked for Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals game. Please, pause and gauge the enormity of accomplishing such a task - getting 10 people to agree to watch an IPL match (without prior notice) not in Pune but Mumbai (which means travelling to a different city) and when 4 of the 10 are girls who wouldn’t watch a full 4 hour innings on telly leave alone travelling to the stadium for that purpose (No offense here ladies, it is just that you know a very few girls are that enthusiastic about any sport as the boys ), then I consider it really lucky to be in such sporting company!<br /><br />Well once the ticket bookings were done – the office and in-transit chats begun in full swing with everyone dreaming of the big day. Everyday was new topic - what to wear, ways to travel, etc etc. In a couple of days, it was mutually agreed to travel to Mumbai in a train and everything was all set! <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The day before</span><br /><br />It got big as the match weekend approached. Friends and colleagues, who knew I was going to the IPLs came to my cube all day long with a big smile and constantly reminded me – Awesome dude, we are envious and you’re gonna have one great weekend and stuff. Statements like these got me all the more pumped up about next day’s MI vs RR clash. I mean, C’mon, who wouldn’t be – just the legendary names – Tendulkar, Warne, Jayasuriya, Malinga, Graeme Smith would be enough to get any cricket fan dizzied.<br />No wonder, the night before, I couldn’t sleep with the adrenaline rush of seeing Sachin and Warnie live at Brabourne, Mumbai.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Match day – 13th March, 2010.</span><br /><br />Yogesh, Neha, Hemant, Asawari and I were the first to touch Pune Railway station at 715 am in the morning. Our Pragati express AC chair car was at the Platform within a couple of mins of us reaching there. The AC coach was a bit of a disappointment – we had expected a cleaner and beautiful AC Chair car compartment. Well – it didn’t worry us more than the fact that rest of our group was still en route to the station. Finally everyone turned up just before the scheduled departure time much to our relief. The train journey was over in a jiffy, courtesy – Yogesh and his fantastic PJs (note this is a Hyperbole).<br />The hot and humid weather of Mumbai welcomed us at CST. A short cab ride to Churchgate, a quick but good lunch at the famous Satkar restaurant and we were ready for the couple mins walk to Brabourne Stadium.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4k4CyNqJzGwVeS473zTjlGvo5x3NO6Cn1Ds-NrfCPkPp57ExS_al1MhQreUYeUwrTs8YYIYW6XHb1a860_Wy8Cc7Mao6TWR26brC1GoHKzH9T6zDp0yBylCg0w6mfjxR1jWQ_t0PI6A_/s1600-h/13032010113.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4k4CyNqJzGwVeS473zTjlGvo5x3NO6Cn1Ds-NrfCPkPp57ExS_al1MhQreUYeUwrTs8YYIYW6XHb1a860_Wy8Cc7Mao6TWR26brC1GoHKzH9T6zDp0yBylCg0w6mfjxR1jWQ_t0PI6A_/s320/13032010113.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="GATE 12 Brabourne Entrance" /></a><br /><br /><br />As we walked by the stadium to Gate 12, we could see crazy fans like us lining up at the North Stand entrance. Security was huge and I mean really ‘huge’. Had to be…Police, Army, Private security, you name it. Gate 12, our entrance into the stadium had 100 odd fans waiting to get in. There was a fault in one of the metal detectors or something and hence we were kept waiting in the hot sun. The frustrated crowd got impatient and rightly so. Finally after 20 mins or so we were asked to go in. I couldn’t think of anything but running even when I had a ticket with a seat number in my hand. The excitement to go inside was such that I nearly ran through the metal detector where a burly security guy asked me to slow down! And, as it always happens, when you are in a hurry – there are things that try to slow you down. In my case, the bar code reader was not working! After a couple of attempts, the bar code reader beeped to life and I was a free man! Free man to enter the crazy live world of IPL. Again, Prashant and I ran like hell to West Lower Block entrance. The other 8 were behind us but the excitement got the better of us and we were inside the beautiful Brabourne in just under 120 secs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjebsMc4wp6BAXNC-UbVCCs4WUBaNIJiPCF1419anooB_Fpl-X6mURhJezoP0uCadbW47UpvnYgWp65V68C67hB3L4USMNC360at-HhUBARkYRF7QHnHexpn7sb1f9lKjPZqq84r5wxkYw4/s1600-h/13032010114.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjebsMc4wp6BAXNC-UbVCCs4WUBaNIJiPCF1419anooB_Fpl-X6mURhJezoP0uCadbW47UpvnYgWp65V68C67hB3L4USMNC360at-HhUBARkYRF7QHnHexpn7sb1f9lKjPZqq84r5wxkYw4/s320/13032010114.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="Beautiful Braourne Outfield" /></a><br /><br />Then, I noticed an amazing thing - there were people in the stadium, guiding everyone to their seats like stewards at the cinemas! I had never seen such a thing in a cricket stadium in India before. Instantly, I got a feeling that this was gonna be a well managed event.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUvaMP1HCmFXryfG1moeD4SuYpESXMQUD9v4FKqE3hnBwe6UhkR5hhTxGdEPp-srTakDjM43v54h3pFYf0nFraiQvEZm9CWm4qqEL6G6oD2TW1AwsGpVufGohMo5_Tyxl0bQRpqAT2Om4/s1600-h/13032010117.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgUvaMP1HCmFXryfG1moeD4SuYpESXMQUD9v4FKqE3hnBwe6UhkR5hhTxGdEPp-srTakDjM43v54h3pFYf0nFraiQvEZm9CWm4qqEL6G6oD2TW1AwsGpVufGohMo5_Tyxl0bQRpqAT2Om4/s320/13032010117.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="All of us" /></a><br /><br />Our seats were at a perfect height and along the middle aisle of the West stand. However the best part was that we were in shade and the scorching sun had already crossed our part of the stand. The cheerleaders’ stand was to our left below (couldn’t help grin seeing that) and huge speakers were neatly decked up everywhere around the stadium. The outfield looked great and the Mumbai Indians’ logo was all over the stadium being their home ground.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYxcT9x0RwTzLIhm4tVTvFEln3mCzIRt0R7avICCfp9zXuIiNI21U_X8pSFkejbWBTbD60svaLQBghqRJOVnfhIc-ZrsR57GVYeZ9McLpbqeyI9JTOm1_TADqaRCpEiFwNPWXoJ1hAXCG/s1600-h/13032010115.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYxcT9x0RwTzLIhm4tVTvFEln3mCzIRt0R7avICCfp9zXuIiNI21U_X8pSFkejbWBTbD60svaLQBghqRJOVnfhIc-ZrsR57GVYeZ9McLpbqeyI9JTOm1_TADqaRCpEiFwNPWXoJ1hAXCG/s320/13032010115.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="Views from our stand" /></a><br /><br />It was about 1 pm. Two hours for the match to start. I was wondering how to spend the couple of hours in the stadium when my thoughts were broken by an awesomely familiar Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing and Chics for Free” riff! The DJ had started belting out the song and a feeling of excitement suddenly surged through me. Music and cricket…sorry, great music, superb music system and live cricket! What more can I ask for? Oh yes – babes and beer would seal the deal!....Well the babes/girls/ladies soon started streaming in as the minutes passed…. Beer – I could live without it for some hours. You don’t get everything you ask for. Innit? But beer would have been awesome! Okay Okay! Coming back to the topic…<br />About 2pm, we got a nearly full stand with 800-900 odd Tendulkar T-shirts. No surprises seeing it! The blue inflatable Mumbai Indians plastic balloons, the horns and the whistles were creating just enough noise …Umm, I would classify this as melodious/harmonious noise typical in a buzzing cricket stadium in India and enough to get any cricket fan excited. The DJ was playing some cool Bollywood and English stuff which got nearly everyone dancing. The shy ones were seen tapping their legs to the music. I couldn’t resist dancing and banging the inflatable balloons to add to the noise. <br /><br />Amongst 1000 cricket fans in our stand, there was glamour worth ogling at :D. The lovely females were dancing to the music and enjoying the attention from behind their glares. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFO0aDZ6paLsxjlrmSa4KFonBWJrbCE9mfdIUF74wKkXVu0vMEbi8NEqjrnUrZQcz9ejP4UGcgVdqOEYi9fkyb0tIKNh3bARnWXaozxIysePpVi52Glgy7oScFOImGEdVlEuoAIMS8whz/s1600-h/13032010118.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJFO0aDZ6paLsxjlrmSa4KFonBWJrbCE9mfdIUF74wKkXVu0vMEbi8NEqjrnUrZQcz9ejP4UGcgVdqOEYi9fkyb0tIKNh3bARnWXaozxIysePpVi52Glgy7oScFOImGEdVlEuoAIMS8whz/s320/13032010118.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="Rajasthan Royals' Team practicing" /></a><br /><br />Players from both teams were practicing and stretching all over the ground. The RR team was near our stand and girls were eyeing Graeme Smith just as the guys were eyeing the girls. However, when a certain 200-dulkar walked across, there was a slight buzz in the ground and every eye in the stadium was on him.<br /><br /><br />I looked at the watch. It was 230 pm. WOW! Time sure does fly at an IPL match. The atmosphere in the stadium just before the match was enough for me to give full marks to Lalit Modi for such an amazing tournament.<br />Our stand was now choc-a-bloc. Not one seat was empty. I could see 10,000 MI fans everywhere and 2 RR ones in the crowd.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZ9c2I_v7HqmFAwtVobpoptBl9LEsXJivztOoDKCfUDVVH-6pchv5ul9PnYt4zg-JmY7PuwQbui8im0STXQlOx6dtlrkLyHcGrxA_om3lvOYBZAtn7QeldDvowaxi7N07dLeKtFM5KomO/s1600-h/13032010119.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZ9c2I_v7HqmFAwtVobpoptBl9LEsXJivztOoDKCfUDVVH-6pchv5ul9PnYt4zg-JmY7PuwQbui8im0STXQlOx6dtlrkLyHcGrxA_om3lvOYBZAtn7QeldDvowaxi7N07dLeKtFM5KomO/s320/13032010119.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="West Stand" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Toss </span><br /><br />When Ian Bishop walked into the middle with the match referee and the 2 captains – Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne, the sense of excitement could grew as every spectator stood up. As the gold coin was tossed up it was seen by everyone in the ground as it shined in the afternoon sun. When Ian Bishop went to Sachin first with a mike, there was such a deafening roar from the crowd that even Sachin couldn’t hear what Ian was saying! It was as if Mumbai Indians had already won the match!<br />Not a word of what Sachin said was heard clearly by anyone in the noise! Prashant and I thought, MI elected to bowl and so did a few of the MI fans around us. Then the PA system cleared our doubts – MI had won the toss and elected to bat. Once again there was a huge roar across the stands.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mumbai Indians - The First Innings</span><br /><br />First ball - Jayasuriya started with a four to deep cover! The crowd went berserk with their horns and whistles. The second four by Jayasuriya in the same over and the crowd went mad. By now, everyone was standing. Even those who chose to sit couldn’t help coz their views were being blocked by all the mad crazy cricket fans of India. The third four by Jayasuriya and my throat was starting to hurt. <br />Second over - Crowd insane and the loudest even before a ball was bowled. Reason - Tendulkar on strike! The whole of Brabourne was chanting SACHIN SACHIN. The first ball was a four to square leg! I almost fell on the cute girl in front of me (Not on purpose…but then again, why didn’t I tumble on her?!)<br />Second ball to Sachin and it was a four again! This was a dream start! I stood up on my chair. People were already dancing in the aisles. My mobile was ringing. Friends knew I was at the ground and so were calling in to check out the atmosphere. I couldn’t hear a word. I just held out the mobile for them to have a listen to the crowd. <br /><br />After a while, Sachin got out and the only sound on the ground was of the RR players celebrating! Soon Jayasuriya followed him and there were two new players at the crease – Tiwary and Rayadu. But this pair batted brilliantly and we were dancing, clapping, whistling and blowing our horns all the while. MI scored 212 from the 20. We couldn’t have asked for more!<br /><br />The humid Mumbai weather and all the shouting and dancing had started taking its toll and we were hungry, thirsty and tired. The refreshment stalls outside were packed but well managed! Again, I was impressed to see that.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rajasthan Royals - Second Innings</span><br /><br />I thought we were we would be switching to “Sit down and watch” mode as the RR innings started. However a direct hit in the first over and the crowd were up like a jack in the boxes at the same instant! <br />At 40/3 ….RR looked nearly out of the game and MI heading for a comprehensive victory. But then, there was Pathan. And he isn’t called Butcher for nothing. For that day, I would call him an “Angry Butcher” coz what he did to the MI bowlers was merciless. 6,6,6,6,4 and so on. He seemed to be hitting sixes and fours at will. The crowd was stunned to say the least. Pathan kept hitting ball after ball to the boundary. If Pathan missed a ball, the crowd would celebrate but only too soon …coz we would see the outstretched arms of the umpire meaning a WIDE.<br />The big screen displayed Yusuf Pathan 65 off 24 balls and everybody gave each other shocked glances. Pathan continued his assault ball after ball and I literally mean ball after ball. The crowd that was silent was now confused coz what we were seeing was unbelievable. Pathan reached 100 in just 37 balls and the sporting crowd now gave him a standing ovation .<br /><br />The only way Pathan could get Out was…. Well… as every cricket fan would know – Run Out. Pathan was on the non striker’s end when Dogra hit the ball and the bowler’s hand touched the ball on its way to the non striker’s stumps. The crowd got something to celebrate. The decision was referred to the Third Umpire. Every one in the ground stood up and focused on the big screen displaying the replay. People watched with bated breath as the replay slowed down to each frame of Pathan’s bat being slid into the crease. As the decisive frame was about to be shown, an advertisement popped onto the screen! A million profanities were hurled at the technical staff! Immediately the technical glitch was corrected and the important frame was back in action. As the replay stopped to the moment where Pathan’s bat was on the line and the bails were off the stumps, the crowd erupted in every sense of the word. Even the cops lining the aisles couldn’t help smiling. <br /><br />MI surely would win from here was what everyone thought. But how wrong was everyone! Dogra hit a couple of sixes and a boundary and everyone was reminded that the match is not over until the last ball is bowled!<br />RR needed19 off the last 12 balls and Zaheer Khan bowled a fantastic over conceding just 7 runs. The atmosphere in the crowd was one of excitement and anxiety mixed together. Some worried MI fans (me included) were standing quietly, oblivious to animated fans and the noise. I remember saying to the guy next to me – A wicket on the first delivery would turn the things in MI’s favor. <br />Malinga was gonna bowl the final over. I was standing on my chair just like the people in front of me ignoring the cops who told us to sit down. The crowd started chanting M-A-L-I-N-G-A, M-A-L-I-N-G-A. Malinga produced a superb run out off his own bowling and we went up in unison. The whole of Brabourne went crazy. <br /><br />Malinga came steaming in for the second delivery and Uniyal’s stumps went for walk. Every MI fan celebrated wildly. I hi-fived with unknown people and saw similar scenes around me. This is a beauty of watching cricket live in a stadium…Strangers suddenly become friends. Nothing compares with it and nothing would ever. <br /><br />Soon the match headed for an amazing finish, a finish that everyone hopes for when they enter a cricket stadium. 6 needed of the last ball! What a thriller this was!!…Once again Malinga was impeccably accurate with his blockhole and RR could manage just a single. MI won by 4 runs! Crowd was now dancing everywhere they could find a space! Prashant, Hemant, Manish, Amit and me couldn’t speak was everyone had nearly lost their voice. We just danced and hugged each other. <br /><br />Happily we exited the stadium not just because MI won the match but the way the game went down to the wire. 1500 bucks for such a thriller was a bargain.<br />Just across the stadium, the Marine drive was lined with the tired cricket fans enjoying the gentle breeze thinking about the day and chatting about the awesome turning points in the match. <br /><br />I thought about how amazing a concept IPL was. Action packed cricket lasting just 4 hours and with the music, awesome management, IPL surely has completely transformed watching cricket live in the stadium. It is complete entertainment and good fun day out for everyone. As Ayaz Memon put it, IPL is more gender friendly. More females can be seen at the stadium which was not the case a few years ago. IPL is not only a day of interesting cricket, it is a party - a celebration where even if your team turns up on the losing side, it is at least certain you had pretty good time at the stadium with all the music and power cricket. My friend, Amit Majhi made a wonderful point when he said that our corporate team outings should include going to the IPL matches instead of the boring one day trips to Essel World or some places on the outskirts of Pune. In fact arranging such event is very easier coz all you have to do is to book tickets and the transportation and that’s it. IPL will take care of the entertainment part. (Note to self – Suggest this idea at the next BU meeting).<br /><br />That night when we sat in the Volvo, I thought about the day. “Perfect” was the only word that came to mind! I mean everything was clockwork perfect right from the start of the day at 530 am in the morning till the time we were back home at 2 am!<br /><br />For those of you who haven’t yet watched the IPLs, I would suggest at least one match live and you will know what I mean!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-73356547471389497122009-10-15T23:29:00.009+05:302013-12-01T12:13:51.935+05:30Windows 7 - A Review<p>
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Microsoft is launching its new Operating System (OS) – Windows 7 world wide on Oct 22, 2009 and MS fans all over the world have been excited about it ever since the release date was announced. Here’s a rundown on Windows 7.<br><br>Before diving into the uber-cool features of Win 7, a little about how I managed to get a copy of Win 7 Ultimate Signature Edition much before the World Wide release! It goes like this. Sept 2009 - Microsoft announced that they would be giving away free copies of Windows 7 to a lucky few people called as party hosts on one condition that these party hosts, host a “House Party” by calling their friends and families over to their place to have a first hand look at the features of Windows 7. It would be like a demo of Windows 7, the informal way. Not that the House Party concept is new, but this was surely an amazingly smart move by Microsoft. So when I read about it, I signed up. And here I am - the proud owner of Windows 7 Ultimate Signature Edition! :D<br><br></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PNVn7GiVrEagaucfShX3WKh3GLsm1LC8FN8p50YQYGbPNtZQjJFBm4KZM5_FaCWSC_VKB-J5g_14-waO6Z3z4cRzQzlpA2UdE6eRopDTWLtVnqLTcPz83ehyX1s0il4GfxI_aU_4VfbA/s1600-h/WIn+7+Ultimate+Signature+edition+Snapshot.JPG"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 264px; display: block; height: 320px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890852165437810" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Signature Edition Case" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PNVn7GiVrEagaucfShX3WKh3GLsm1LC8FN8p50YQYGbPNtZQjJFBm4KZM5_FaCWSC_VKB-J5g_14-waO6Z3z4cRzQzlpA2UdE6eRopDTWLtVnqLTcPz83ehyX1s0il4GfxI_aU_4VfbA/s320/WIn+7+Ultimate+Signature+edition+Snapshot.JPG"></a><br><br>Ok, time now for me to stop bragging and get to the much important review of Windows 7.<br><br>Windows 7 is available in three versions – Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. This is a review of the Ultimate version.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Set-up:</span> Windows 7 Set up is a breeze unlike previous versions. The set up process requires minimal human intervention and it was so simple that I felt I was installing a video game off a CD!<br>My upgrade from Vista Home Premium took just about 3 hours. Mind you, my machine was loaded with a “lot” of software and so 3 hours is very much acceptable. Normally a clean Windows 7 install would be around 25-30 min.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Libraries:</span> An excellent new addition to Windows 7. With libraries it is easier to locate all kinds of files on your machine. Libraries don’t actually store files but the ‘locations’ of files on your machines as well as on external hard drives!<br>So for instance, if you want to play that latest favorite song but don’t remember the folder where you had saved it…No worries. Just click Music Libraries and all the music on your computer will be shown with the location!<br><br>There are 4 libraries by default – Music, Pictures, Documents and Videos. The only thing that you have to do is the next time you save a file of any of the above types is to just include that location to the respective library and it is done.<br>With libraries, you no longer have to have to keep moving songs and pictures folders all the time in separate locations.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Windows 7 Libraries</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4o5z7-1oDIRz4-WYuuV7GAm-yo8zCpSsTM_7PdY35pmAulVaTK7IV-UiaH93oslPGgINLk10nhRHRglmtcO8pxYFGP0hCjZ_E3zimREa9p_ZzGDnB5ksSyo2tzhnd8ScsuHMY3CSzgbPA/s1600-h/Libraries.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392889347982548978" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Libraries" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4o5z7-1oDIRz4-WYuuV7GAm-yo8zCpSsTM_7PdY35pmAulVaTK7IV-UiaH93oslPGgINLk10nhRHRglmtcO8pxYFGP0hCjZ_E3zimREa9p_ZzGDnB5ksSyo2tzhnd8ScsuHMY3CSzgbPA/s320/Libraries.jpg"></a><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Win7 Search Capabilities:</span> If I had to say one word…no, a couple of words for the search capabilities, it would be – Monstrous and Awesome! You can pretty much search “any and everything” on your machine with Win7 search. And your search results are neatly grouped into categories too!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Win 7 Search</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZVgXBreEBTP915i5qQdw00heryIN4t0t9P4324e4fLArvehcjr07i25VGPKeVYvwyRz092pg5QGYGxrVOCZexxkTEiOfF3cENosfBcfoLFo82QOkgDRAcOcKFSahj1yhzZ7d1Xs7U02r/s1600-h/Win+7+Search.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890356032073042" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Search" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZVgXBreEBTP915i5qQdw00heryIN4t0t9P4324e4fLArvehcjr07i25VGPKeVYvwyRz092pg5QGYGxrVOCZexxkTEiOfF3cENosfBcfoLFo82QOkgDRAcOcKFSahj1yhzZ7d1Xs7U02r/s320/Win+7+Search.jpg"></a><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kOvNQiUmw8WkSiLPTF6URWm5VnP-WsPPO_BCxOrMNBJyV1jio0x_2lulmVaos46YgyUzYE7tYrfaQSXIN14xLN6PStbdXBLRMT5pc73xLKR4ocAERYi9u_KG7wRCy8n9T0uaxVUa09oe/s1600-h/Win+7+Search1.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 190px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890359807986530" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Search" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kOvNQiUmw8WkSiLPTF6URWm5VnP-WsPPO_BCxOrMNBJyV1jio0x_2lulmVaos46YgyUzYE7tYrfaQSXIN14xLN6PStbdXBLRMT5pc73xLKR4ocAERYi9u_KG7wRCy8n9T0uaxVUa09oe/s320/Win+7+Search1.jpg"></a><br><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold"><br>Win7 Desktop:</span> Gone are the days of messy and cluttered desktop. Win 7 gives you the ability to hide all your desktop icons and gadgets with a couple of clicks! You’ll always have a clean desktop now. Nice. innit?<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Windows 7 Desktop</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaVmMaqcPip-Bq0GUYlpWqNDXGQYJHt08tvH-bNCDT8X1SBU5KKbQka6lZ3-JlVtz-cQc-v0Wc2DcCN3HIhOI-7UB0DiRYvf3HhGU0Q_hyYW-na-n3owMpAJAHF3Y9FIcRJ9-g-r-NYT4/s1600-h/Win+7.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890377133746610" border="0" alt="Windows 7" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaVmMaqcPip-Bq0GUYlpWqNDXGQYJHt08tvH-bNCDT8X1SBU5KKbQka6lZ3-JlVtz-cQc-v0Wc2DcCN3HIhOI-7UB0DiRYvf3HhGU0Q_hyYW-na-n3owMpAJAHF3Y9FIcRJ9-g-r-NYT4/s320/Win+7.jpg"></a><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByE4QHVncOb4SFMHi28Ee-CISJCzWqQUQwQqzr0x7fTfEqjjm8gwKocUbhIPA3qQAMnNvkrJz-73XiVzqyTRHAq3BALAgPfTXDNloEjHYUAOyz2gp6m1CY97DGPYjMUROoY63aIDko8nz/s1600-h/Windows+7+Desktop11.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890380210485874" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Desktop" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByE4QHVncOb4SFMHi28Ee-CISJCzWqQUQwQqzr0x7fTfEqjjm8gwKocUbhIPA3qQAMnNvkrJz-73XiVzqyTRHAq3BALAgPfTXDNloEjHYUAOyz2gp6m1CY97DGPYjMUROoY63aIDko8nz/s320/Windows+7+Desktop11.jpg"></a><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold"><br>Taskbar:</span> You can ‘pin’ (that is add in Win7 terminology) any of your fave programs to your taskbar. And when you hover your mouse over the taskbar icons, thumbnail previews of the open programs are shown. Take your mouse over any of the previews and a full screen preview will open up. Programs can also be closed from Thumbnail previews.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Win 7 Taskbar and Thumbnail Previews.</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1wr5vU94gIFewnA8Rey66AK8_2rWXo8HWUL_QqaeP0vLzU5TRzqTwE6TWb0L4rBd-ovb79F-ft1fQn7P5kic_NoOi-JEv285mcj82S-kwaftY6WI6FFW4xMcY-pHH2-SmdODiu-_IH8q/s1600-h/Win+7+Taskbar+Preview.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392905115943425458" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Taskbar Preview" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM1wr5vU94gIFewnA8Rey66AK8_2rWXo8HWUL_QqaeP0vLzU5TRzqTwE6TWb0L4rBd-ovb79F-ft1fQn7P5kic_NoOi-JEv285mcj82S-kwaftY6WI6FFW4xMcY-pHH2-SmdODiu-_IH8q/s320/Win+7+Taskbar+Preview.jpg"></a><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Review of Microsoft’s Windows 7</span><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold"><br>Jump lists:</span> These lists basically contain all your commonly used documents, pictures, and websites. To access them, right click any program on the task bar.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Jump Lists</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgPOcsAfSs5H-U6XZ5t3RDY4DR6kpHNQTCSx65ogKToWJMS39Q9HQLTvLyLDNz4Ji4yC0Rd_ArgHAnct_zrrFAy6h1-tCLgOf0Pm-ewAvXHlb-qU8tp5UCjLoQjq4XlI6EI8iQ4mo9vJL/s1600-h/Jumplists.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 268px; display: block; height: 320px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392889859924732338" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Jump lists" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgPOcsAfSs5H-U6XZ5t3RDY4DR6kpHNQTCSx65ogKToWJMS39Q9HQLTvLyLDNz4Ji4yC0Rd_ArgHAnct_zrrFAy6h1-tCLgOf0Pm-ewAvXHlb-qU8tp5UCjLoQjq4XlI6EI8iQ4mo9vJL/s320/Jumplists.jpg"></a><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Snap:</span> Another amazing new addition and in fact this is my favorite one. Snap lets you work on any two documents simultaneously. The documents remain open your desktop side by side allowing you to compare and edit them without having to Alt+Tab. Handy…very Handy!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Windows 7 Snap</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqqxLwPQepdeRotH0F4WajudR48mlJmhi2PUkvNvT18G9uPT1jgbvu6yqPgs1f79-zL6yEmQ1jqQLpcYpbWx9nGacbRx4Jh2GxV58ZpHerwkw1pd_8Et0DzWeOnJUXKbQ8ZqsZm_lIMf9/s1600-h/Win+7+Snap.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890368408116210" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Snap" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqqxLwPQepdeRotH0F4WajudR48mlJmhi2PUkvNvT18G9uPT1jgbvu6yqPgs1f79-zL6yEmQ1jqQLpcYpbWx9nGacbRx4Jh2GxV58ZpHerwkw1pd_8Et0DzWeOnJUXKbQ8ZqsZm_lIMf9/s320/Win+7+Snap.jpg"></a><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Snipping Tool: </span>Love this one too. It lets you capture any part of your screen and save it as a picture. This is like a screen capture available in IBM Sametime.<br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3XjUp8dHv0s-kUe8Pa_C4Cl5tD7XtJ7Ihrsv4_80mkv6aBxKyYnVH22vCKPRzgttMTpJ0y-21JA5_-WFdrOM0ZMlwYDR3xnzQ10wFJHsUqUtBVniIvFYGKAybXBf5CLj3Gb89YM0c9lE/s1600-h/Windows+7+Snipping+Tool.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890850880983986" border="0" alt="Snipping Tool in Windows 7" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3XjUp8dHv0s-kUe8Pa_C4Cl5tD7XtJ7Ihrsv4_80mkv6aBxKyYnVH22vCKPRzgttMTpJ0y-21JA5_-WFdrOM0ZMlwYDR3xnzQ10wFJHsUqUtBVniIvFYGKAybXBf5CLj3Gb89YM0c9lE/s320/Windows+7+Snipping+Tool.jpg"></a><br><span style="font-weight: bold"><br>Aero Peek and Aero Shake:</span> These are cool new additions. Aero Peek allows you to ‘peek’ at the desktop by making all the open windows transparent. The effect looks cool and is time saver too!<br>Aero Shake – Click the title bar of any open window and shake it - all the other windows magically disappear and you are left with only one window to work on. Shake again and the desktop returns to previous state and you don’t need to say Abra-ca-Dabra at all!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Aero Peek in Win7</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRkzDS_ZTctP58Rv7xuT13HknVnFvZDCK5mm03m1-2TIiv_Iwo8o-DkMltUlB-td5aFBbungcNYOArVC3u-yMa-uwdr8wyJCAsUFz7Xhw0C6lrj8S4B9ReMvZxEJBFy8xeOhVUjiwQ4Wd/s1600-h/Win+7+Aero+Peek.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392889869918064274" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Aero Peek" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRkzDS_ZTctP58Rv7xuT13HknVnFvZDCK5mm03m1-2TIiv_Iwo8o-DkMltUlB-td5aFBbungcNYOArVC3u-yMa-uwdr8wyJCAsUFz7Xhw0C6lrj8S4B9ReMvZxEJBFy8xeOhVUjiwQ4Wd/s320/Win+7+Aero+Peek.jpg"></a><br><span style="font-weight: bold">MS Paint, WordPad and Calculator:</span> These apps are nearly as old as Windows itself. However in Win7, all these classic apps have a brand new UI called Ribbon UI which makes these applications even more user-friendly. Good on ya Win7!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">New look MS Paint</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWmCGZOXXtOAwbQEz8kY4NKZbzo2F-OZwVuImdF6BiIdDMdQJ3Afp0e4UQIzhQ8vt9nTkIFnARXxPq-u32-tj-4lh0PyEmW8H6w_d2e0kPqQXw1CAUmp-FXXTN9T7X28hAOveJeFWsTTP/s1600-h/Win+7+Paint.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392889892813878738" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Paint" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWmCGZOXXtOAwbQEz8kY4NKZbzo2F-OZwVuImdF6BiIdDMdQJ3Afp0e4UQIzhQ8vt9nTkIFnARXxPq-u32-tj-4lh0PyEmW8H6w_d2e0kPqQXw1CAUmp-FXXTN9T7X28hAOveJeFWsTTP/s320/Win+7+Paint.jpg"></a><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Win7 Calculator:</span> The calculator has got a total revamp in Win7.<br>You now have two new modes - Statistician and Programmer apart from Standard and Scientific. Ability to do Unit Conversions, Date Calculations and Templates for calculating Mortgages, Lease, Fuel economy, etc are awesome additions!<br>Another important feature added is ‘History’. Calculation History can be viewed, edited and copied. Very useful I’d say for long calculations.<br>All these enhancements make this calc a truly rad app!<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Win 7 Calculator</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylUflsvBj3vTvdDfom0MAL4oS0REO5cNETILSA3vkzDa5OMU1KcSH2C5PncyltStcEzRe69LqR_EA3SNQ4PDVTm1xl62u5MDLR4sr-rJP_wofLhxK-s4iu0IYab2IiQ7Ig8GPxTMAQJen/s1600-h/Win+7+Calc.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 226px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392889874188123602" border="0" alt="Windows 7 Calculator" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylUflsvBj3vTvdDfom0MAL4oS0REO5cNETILSA3vkzDa5OMU1KcSH2C5PncyltStcEzRe69LqR_EA3SNQ4PDVTm1xl62u5MDLR4sr-rJP_wofLhxK-s4iu0IYab2IiQ7Ig8GPxTMAQJen/s320/Win+7+Calc.jpg"></a><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Homegroups:</span> Sharing files and printers over your network becomes super easy with this new feature. And creating Homegroups is even easier! No more looking up tech manuals for this one. Click Create Homegroup, follow instructions and you are done. Takes whooping 30 long secs to create a Homegroup.<br><span style="font-weight: bold"><br>Windows Media Center:</span> WMC was awesome. Guess what?! It got even better in Win7. Lots of audio video formats (Divx, Xvid, 3GP, MOV, etc) added.<br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpniFI4L82v7EpvskburcDRuvw5XI55pK8sjBrlSZbTZuOxT1cB15nM8SUaA9JaBjcTmKwntYfxSgYMjYh-mWYzVOujqjLwwOo1NVT4oR5QdRBa07PpRRlUqgg-Bgp5CoBYa3oyzlzTcO/s1600-h/Windows+Media+Player+Videos.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 187px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890828594761874" border="0" alt="Windows Media Center Videos" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpniFI4L82v7EpvskburcDRuvw5XI55pK8sjBrlSZbTZuOxT1cB15nM8SUaA9JaBjcTmKwntYfxSgYMjYh-mWYzVOujqjLwwOo1NVT4oR5QdRBa07PpRRlUqgg-Bgp5CoBYa3oyzlzTcO/s320/Windows+Media+Player+Videos.jpg"></a><br><br>With new slideshow maker you can create slideshows of your pics as well as add background music. Nice! However, I would have loved a Search function when adding music files.<br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSvhsZMqU6YfncVzOq29zfQy_ZULUV5KqGUfp7N-6nDAPVJaLdG6db2vLyiV8Gd1NoCGZVKlLZs4YXGQKjiaftCsw29Kc3Q8G93tq6EqmQ6anopuAsF2RSXxJmINZJJ3U8-WCKeGLKQA9/s1600-h/Windows+7+SlideShow+Maker.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 187px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392906981991425906" border="0" alt="Windows Media Center SlideShow Maker" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSvhsZMqU6YfncVzOq29zfQy_ZULUV5KqGUfp7N-6nDAPVJaLdG6db2vLyiV8Gd1NoCGZVKlLZs4YXGQKjiaftCsw29Kc3Q8G93tq6EqmQ6anopuAsF2RSXxJmINZJJ3U8-WCKeGLKQA9/s320/Windows+7+SlideShow+Maker.jpg"></a><br><br>The Audio Library is more colorful too.<br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHGZW-24T391zJeNkoOuKFMAJRjq4jh8D7VOWwZnEr29h_HlX-_RUu5m7X7ohvWXbVHZSuVm_qK67nW9F3828-_FnYj5-4_7vKO6xdElQOjgrv6foN0_THVxSTlaSJacVbfr7H1dH1F1X/s1600-h/WMC+Music+Library.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 187px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890836979966034" border="0" alt="Windows Media Center Library" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHGZW-24T391zJeNkoOuKFMAJRjq4jh8D7VOWwZnEr29h_HlX-_RUu5m7X7ohvWXbVHZSuVm_qK67nW9F3828-_FnYj5-4_7vKO6xdElQOjgrv6foN0_THVxSTlaSJacVbfr7H1dH1F1X/s320/WMC+Music+Library.jpg"></a><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46lJS4_pGbrYdKQ8Ri7TvxnM-A8xBsR-VeO-eY0Vb8jVTEtnAoTjod58vSV8dSHABs9WHcUAC_XDY9jqWDZiKjcxr_xbOpLdzRCBD6qZSfPgZbrP1Ppff7OrZvKkt4dHzl_yd8ikJ_VH5/s1600-h/WMC+Song.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 187px; cursor: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392890838693556226" border="0" alt="WMC Song Playing" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi46lJS4_pGbrYdKQ8Ri7TvxnM-A8xBsR-VeO-eY0Vb8jVTEtnAoTjod58vSV8dSHABs9WHcUAC_XDY9jqWDZiKjcxr_xbOpLdzRCBD6qZSfPgZbrP1Ppff7OrZvKkt4dHzl_yd8ikJ_VH5/s320/WMC+Song.jpg"></a><br><br>Best of ‘em all is Turbo Scroll feature. As you hold down your remote button, the song names are blurred and slide by in the background showing only the alphabets of the currently scrolling songs. This is very handy as it makes the search quicker. It works for TV Channel Listings too.<br><br><span style="font-style: italic">Windows Media Center Turbo Scroll in action.</span><br><br><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisej_dng_3RcyXVoKo_ylHtpyhtVd5VCFRJ0ng-xhjLN7EINcgTYyGEZ0jEhIq7sHdgSMLU97DEJl3pThwv10Ki_cU79dqj6y-2AZIhdSrIw8BpqXXdExYz7veyvY5OFPtORGgxwPIFwC9/s1600-h/WMC+Turbo+Scroll.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 200px; cursor: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392910944589413410" border="0" alt="Window Media Center Turbo Scroll" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisej_dng_3RcyXVoKo_ylHtpyhtVd5VCFRJ0ng-xhjLN7EINcgTYyGEZ0jEhIq7sHdgSMLU97DEJl3pThwv10Ki_cU79dqj6y-2AZIhdSrIw8BpqXXdExYz7veyvY5OFPtORGgxwPIFwC9/s320/WMC+Turbo+Scroll.jpg"></a><br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Virtualization and XP Mode:</span> Virtualization Technology allows you to run some features of another Operating System on the current OS without installing that OS.<br><br>But for you to take advantage of Virtualization in Win7, your machine’s processor should support Virtualization.<br>Win7 has a XP Mode. This allows you to run software in Win 7 as if it was running on XP with the help of Virtualization Technology.<br>I would have loved to write much about Virtualization but unfortunately my notebook processor does not support Virtualization and hence could not explore this feature.</p> <p>*** Update – Check out XP Mode on Windows 7 on Dave Thorp’s blog <a href="http://www.dave-thorp.me.uk/2009/10/16/windows-7-out-in-one-week-but-is-it-any-good/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Security in Win7:</span> With improved Windows Defender, Firewall and the awesome Bit Locker you’d be best protected against viruses/spyware/malware. That does not mean you shouldn’t use any Anti Virus Products. It simply implies that Win7 offers you the best protection of all the OSes out there.<br><br>Other noticeable improvements were Boot up and Shutdown times, which were a lot lesser than in Vista.<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold">Conclusion:</span> Windows 7 is all kinds of awesomeness! It delivers on all fronts – Performance, Functionality and Security. Win 7 is robust, more user-friendly, much more secure and a lot less power hungry than Vista. If nothing, it will make your life easier with a lot of user friendly features.<br>So may I suggest that all the Apple fan boys and Linux Penguins go fly a kite….or better still dump the Mac and get back to the real thing – PC.<br><br>Windows 7 is a must have!! Go for it folks and if you wanna see the cosmic features first hand, you are welcome to my Win 7 Launch Houseparty.<br><br>© Rohan Sawant</p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-4708336734972108562009-09-12T20:01:00.009+05:302009-09-13T01:23:32.942+05:30Arrogant Pune Real Estate agents - Bhansali Mutha AssociatesThis is just a simple example of how arrogant the Pune Real Estate Customer Service/Sales Agents can be.A short account of what happened -<br /><br />Saturday Morning - Ajay, Hemant and I drive to a place behind Katraj Kondhwa Road to check a few Projects/sites. We start with this one -<br /><br />Project - Sri Shannti Nagar (http://www.bhansaliassociates.com/ongoing.html)<br />Location - Behind Katraj - Kondhwa Road<br />Builder - Bhansali Mutha Associates<br /><br />The project was nearing completion as we could see and so we decide to enquire a few things about it. We walk into the Sales office. Outside, there is this tall guy talking on phone. We stand there waiting - What does he do? Continue talking on phone! Well we decide to step into the office and wait for him.<br />When he finally finishes talking on the phone, he walks in and asks our names and what we were looking for.<br />We tell him our names and ask about 1 and 2 BHK flats...Then, as if, he didn't want any 1BHK buyers in his office, he says arrogantly that this project does not have 1BHK flats.The tone of his voice is enough to convey the arrogant bastard that he is. He does not even care to show us any layout plans.<br /><br />We ask him if we could look at a sample flat and the idiot says that there is no sample flat!....Are you freaking kidding me?! The whole project is nearly ready and there's not even a single sample flat! All of us are furious at this point. Hemant questions how come there is not even a single sample flat? The agent goes - Yeah there is one on the 10th floor but there is no elevator now!! We have had it - Hemant blasts him directly in his typical style by asking- So do you freaking expect people to climb 10 floors themselves when they come looking for flats??! I couldn't control laughing.The agent is speechless...then he mumbles something stupid like that the elevators will be ready in a few days. We storm out of the office.<br /><br />Chapter closed. Lesson Learnt - Don't buy a flat in 'Sri Shannti Nagar', Pune.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-54884521526340780572007-11-03T20:09:00.000+05:302013-12-01T12:14:24.672+05:30...and we finally appeared for the ISTQB!
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After months of …oops I mean after 7 days of preparation, we were ready (At least we thought we were) to appear for the ISTQB! The “We” comprised of Salil, Pranav, Hrishikesh, Om and Yours truly – Me! We were not only good friends but project mates too…. and now let me rewind some 10 days back when it all started.<br /><br />It was a late Wednesday morning. I was sitting in my cubicle trying to read some functional specification. There was a murmur on our level consisting of people blabbering away software jargons, discussing timesheets, WSRs, etc etc. Suddenly in all this murmur, I heard a calm clear voice asking me – Mate, are you gonna appear for the ISTQB this month? I turned around to see the face of the voice. It was Hrishikesh. I replied ‘Yep’ and asked him the last date of enrollment. Again, very calmly he said – The last date is …Tomorrow!!…. I thought if we missed this time, the next exam was in Dec and then we would miss that too coz we all are very good at procrastinating. And hence I wasted no time in enrolling both of us online. As I was about to pump my fist in the air for taking the first step, a gentle tap on my shoulder made me turn back. It was Salil looking at both of us. He said he’d been listening to our discussion and he too wanted to have a go at the ISTQB. Well, me, the ‘form-filling expert’ did the needful. And then there was a smile on our faces – a smile that indicated we had done something extraordinary. Yes! We had at last, finally, after so many months, managed to enroll for this exam. This was a proud moment. We all stood up in our cubicles praising each other. Then suddenly a thought crept across our mind - We needed to shell out 4000 bucks each – Exam fees! The smile vanished quickly.<br /><br />Post lunch, Salil, Pranav and me went to the bank for making the drafts. The pretty lady at the counter handed the drafts in the name of the Indian Testing Board. We felt successful already. Pranav, who had submitted his exam fees was THE guy for “dropping the draft” at the SQTL. Hrishi was gonna submit his exam fees later in the day.<br /><br />Next day, we learnt that our excitement was so contagious that a fifty guy in our project team, Om, had succumbed...I mean applied for the exam too. Om is reputed for waiting to the last minute of everything and he again stood true to his reputation by submitting his exam fees on the last day. He too had entrusted the draft submission duties with Pranav who did his job brilliantly.<br /><br />There was no turning back now. We had to study and pass or flunk and lose 4000. If we pass, our benign company would reimburse the exam fees. Akash told us that the Foundation level exam is child’s play. It relaxed us a lot but only for a while coz soon Salil scared the hell out of us…He opened the Pandora’s box. It was a Word document containing a mock ISTQB question paper. He asked me five questions. I got them all wrong. I was perspiring profusely. Salil calmed me by saying no one could answer any of the questions. Immediately an emergency meeting was called. We discussed various options – nah not of studying but of ways to withdraw from the exam.<br /><br />Akash, the guy, who had told us that Foundation Level exam is easy peasy lemon squeezy, again came to appease our jangled nerves. He said – Don’t worry; the exam has 100 % pass record. We were silent for a minute. Then he added a very important part – “ Guys, you know that you have to mark your answers in pencils. Right?”. He continued to explain his infallible out of the world logic of why they ask us to use pencils only? He said that in order that the results are 100 %, the examiners rub off the wrong answers to pass the candidates! All 7 of us in the cubicle burst out in laughter so big that the whole floor was looking at us. I guess we had woken the floor up out of a deep slumber on a drowsy afternoon!<br /><br />The next week was spent in studying and reading whenever possible - In the bus, at home (rarely), during work. Everyone was asking random questions to each other at any possible time - lunchtime, coffee breaks and would you believe – washrooms too!! There was exam like atmosphere in our project. Even SameTime – online chat messenger was not spared…Questions were bombarded on it too. Oh how can I forget Orkut…. I was scrapping questions to all (written with a wide grin on my face).<br /><br />I also learnt that one of me mates, Geeta, was appearing for the exam on the same date! That meant six of us now! Hrishikesh called the exam center 2 days before the exam for our time slots. As luck would have it…all five of us were scheduled for the same time slot at 1:30 pm.<br /><br />Fast-forward – Sunday Exam Day: When Salil and I reach the venue at 12 pm, the 11:45 pm batch is writing their exam. So we settle comfortably in a room at the venue. Soon Pranav, Om and Hrishi join us. We study for a while but couldn’t concentrate as everyone is asking questions and no one seems to recall anything. Typical exam time blues! Geeta calls me after her exam. We all head down to meet her. She says that the exam was for 90 minutes! That means an increase of 30 minutes but the 40 questions only. She says the exam is very confusing.<br /><br />As I stand in the line to get in to our exam room, I am reading some chapter and I ask a question to the people standing the line. Me mates stop me saying – “Enough now, no one remembers a thing. We don’t know why we are here!”. Everyone is laughing. Well atleast, I did my part to lighten the atmosphere.<br /><br />We enter the basement room and manage to find seats such that all five of us are next to each other. The exam begins and I soon realize why Geeta meant the exam was confusing. There were 4 options and we had to tick one. Out of those four, two options seemed so correct that I had to reach for my wallet to toss the coin for deciding the answers! I finish the exam in 45 mins and decide not to hand in my answer sheet so early. So I sit there in my chair observing other people. I see many candidates scratching their heads and looking perplexed. I believe they were thinking of tossing the coin too! After that I start watching the revolving fan in the room. After all, what could I do? I couldn’t look sideways all the time at other people. Someone behind me hands the answer sheet. That gives me courage. I get up and hand mine too. Hrishikesh and Salil look at me as if I am committing a crime. I feel guilty. But heck, I can’t sit there for 30 more minutes. I come out. Salil and Pranav follow me after a while. We discuss answers. Some of them same and some way apart. Hrishikesh and Om come at the end. We congratulate each other for nothing. Still laughing about the exam we make our way to a nearby restaurant. We think of the day when we had filled the exam forms and now! Then we realize that overall it had been a very good experience – a memorable one at least!<br /><br />Next day, Salil, sends us a message “ The exam fee for reappearing is 2500 bucks”. We decide to bash him. The exam results will be declared after a fortnight by emails. We decide, we won’t tell anyone of the exam until we pass!.....The waiting game is still going on...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-9973790072570767132007-10-21T23:34:00.000+05:302013-12-01T12:03:31.385+05:30Dive Agar - A weekend getaway from Pune.<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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7 guys + 2 cars + 1 weekend = A totally outrageous weekend getaway. I am talking about last weekend, when some blokes (Salil, Hemant and me) decided that it was time to head to the beach. In no time, we found four more blokes thinking alike. The destination was Dive Agar – 150 kms south west of Pune.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Hemant, Abhijit and me reached Salil’s place on a cold Saturday morning. Time - about 6:30 am. Pranav, Salil, Amit and Abhishek joined us. Of them, Abhishek and Pranav- two crazy ppl were in my car along with ‘Truck Driver’ Salil. ‘Truck Driver’ is an honorary title, ‘encomium’ would be a better word, for Salil and Hemant, in appreciation of their superior driving skills. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We decided to take the usual and most popular path to Dive Agar – Chandni Chowk -> Mulshi Lake-> Tamhini Ghat-> Mangaon->Mhasle->Dive Agar. Weather was …well perfect for driving. It didn’t turn one bit inclement any time. We stopped just before Tamhinis for quick breakfast and soon continued our way through the long enchanting Tamhini Ghat. Whilst on the way, I was getting invaluable driving tips from, 'Truck Driver' Salil. Mind you, they were helpful! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Break Point, Tamhinis – Dunno what this spot/point is called, but all of ‘em stop here. It’s like you automatically press the brake pedal once you get here. The view is one of a kind. The mighty mountains are folded to form deep gorges in between them. The last time I was here was in Summer of 2006. Now it was just past the monsoons and I could clearly make out the difference. See pics below…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpZC3IrafMVs66R3dn9FAm22VgKuWtslkROL-Kgan1T6xHz50eDFVhZuOnW_B9lfMS-2dVVDO5VmL-6UJjKrn0yfXu1alZtIlyyRJQ86YHve4bvKPhhyphenhyphenWD-7G6PiJ1rVTZRJuQ-YxjHix/s1600-h/DSCN06790001Rohan.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123859835875895234" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 233px; cursor: pointer; height: 175px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpZC3IrafMVs66R3dn9FAm22VgKuWtslkROL-Kgan1T6xHz50eDFVhZuOnW_B9lfMS-2dVVDO5VmL-6UJjKrn0yfXu1alZtIlyyRJQ86YHve4bvKPhhyphenhyphenWD-7G6PiJ1rVTZRJuQ-YxjHix/s320/DSCN06790001Rohan.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Summer of 2006</span><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpZC3IrafMVs66R3dn9FAm22VgKuWtslkROL-Kgan1T6xHz50eDFVhZuOnW_B9lfMS-2dVVDO5VmL-6UJjKrn0yfXu1alZtIlyyRJQ86YHve4bvKPhhyphenhyphenWD-7G6PiJ1rVTZRJuQ-YxjHix/s1600-h/DSCN06790001Rohan.JPG"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFqaQxTJ9zS5fvRZYVYdhAOFg0Zz48nZBaocKwPgTCP0jXORbKWdbUKRPqc2wn3RF3-vEkwDnn1huc7julh53KYGheg777iNEf8o3-lQq3emHMwL8Y7Q3_Gp8pgoWux65QZiH1kvUNJiS/s1600-h/DSCN10540001Rohan.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5123859848760797138" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 231px; cursor: pointer; height: 173px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFqaQxTJ9zS5fvRZYVYdhAOFg0Zz48nZBaocKwPgTCP0jXORbKWdbUKRPqc2wn3RF3-vEkwDnn1huc7julh53KYGheg777iNEf8o3-lQq3emHMwL8Y7Q3_Gp8pgoWux65QZiH1kvUNJiS/s320/DSCN10540001Rohan.JPG" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Oct 2007 - After monsoon</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After a few clicks, we were on our way. I expected the drive to be bumpy. But surprisingly enough, most of the Tamhini Ghat was good to drive except for a few rough patches in between. We were averaging 60 kmph all the way. After 5 hours including some stops in between, we saw the familiar arched Dive Agar entrance welcoming every visitor to the beach town of Dive Agar. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Salil had booked a cottage with the Joshi’s. It was a clean room lined up with neat beds. No TV. No Fridge. No Phone. Why would anyone need it when you’ve come to enjoy the beach? And I would recommend everyone visiting Dive Agar to stay in such cottages offered by local people, as they are cheap, clean and comfortable.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Okay, so after a rest/refresh time of about 15 mins, we went to have lunch at the Bapat’s. Again, this was organized by Salil. He knows his stuff well, this guy Salil. Coz we had one awesome Vegetarian lunch. No one talked a lot during lunch. It was a sign that everyone was hungry! We hogged so much that some of us were unable to get up from the chairs after the lunch! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It was scorching hot in Dive Agar. So we decided to rest for a while and then go to the beach in the evening. With all of us full after a good feed, it was time for some PJ’s and pulling of legs (literally and figuratively). But soon the tiredness and sumptuous lunch had its effect. Slowly everyone drifted off to sleep only to be awakened twice by a power outage. The fans stopped spinning then and it got humid which evoked a few cries of desperation. But the stoppages were only 5-10 mins, which didn’t disturb the sleep pattern of many. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Evening, refreshed by a cup of tea, we headed to the beach. Parked our cars by the beach and then as we saw the clean beach of Dive Agar, everyone was ecstatic. I had come here about year and half back, but to notice that it hadn’t changed a bit – it was still so clean as it was last time, was so satisfying. Alrite now we were 7 of us and there was a bat and a ball. That would mean only one thing - Beach Cricket!! No teams- we were all playing numbers – a cricket game in which all the players bat and bowl in sequence. Three varying length sticks made for three stumps. Bowlers bowled, fielders fielded on imaginary boundaries and batters enjoyed hitting it to all parts of the beach. It was a unique game of cricket where fielders were sledging bowlers and likewise. It was fun. Everyone was laughing all along the way. Beamers and long hops were the order of the day. The third game was played under bad light, but no one was willing to stop. Eventually after the last batsmen got out in the third game, it was so dark, that we would have to turn bats to be able play cricket in those conditions! </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We had planned for beach dinner. It meant we had to organize stuff and so we decided to implement ‘divided we do better’ strategy. Hemant, Abhijit and I bought dinner and other things mandatory while Salil, Pranav, Abhishek and Amit gathered paraphernalia necessary for beach dinner.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We drove to the beach. The time was about 9:45 pm and it was pitch black. I could just see the white foam of waves hitting the shores. Our lantern was the only source of light for miles, I guess. And the only sound was of the waves. It was pleasant and calm out there. We arranged the dinner and the 'mandatory things'. The lantern was kept by the side. The ambience coupled with balmy breeze and cold sand multiplied the relaxing effect on our tired nerves. Soon after an hour, everyone opened up (figuratively) and started revealing their dear secrets. This was the time for venting out suppressed emotions. And one by one all the frustrations in everyone’s life were out in open. Amit, Abhijit and I took countless midnight strolls on beach. The cold seawater was soothing. Others slept on the beach gazing at the stars and may be contemplating life – lives of software engineers!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We finished our dinner by 1 am. Headed back to our parked cars. Somebody thought of playing some music. It turned out to be a good idea. All of us sat down on the unpaved road by the cars and listened to music in the light of the lantern. Nice setting that one. When we reached our rooms, it was 1:45 am. Dead tired, we slept like logs.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Day 2 and we were up by 830 am. A good home made breakfast at Joshi’s and we walked to the beach. It was 930 am and very sunny. This time, we played Frisbee for about 40 odd minutes. After that everyone jumped into the waters. With all the time in the world, everyone just enjoyed being in the cold salty water. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We were back to the rooms by 11 am and then after a visit to the famous Suvarna Ganpati Temple, we started our journey back to Pune. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">By the time, I reached my place, it was 8 pm. Needless to say that I slept as soon as I hit the bed. It was a trip unforgettable. Some pics from the trip at this <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rohan107au/sets/72157602453662483/">link</a>…</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-66056755830548807952007-09-25T16:12:00.000+05:302008-12-10T08:21:28.192+05:30India - Twenty 20 World Champions!<div style="text-align: justify;">I don’t know where to start. The feeling is yet to sink in…. Yesterday, 24th September 2007 - Monday was one of THE best days of my life. My beautiful India was up against the traditional rivals Pakistan in the Twenty 20 World Cup finals!What could better than this? I think nothing...This was easily the best that any cricket lover could get in the year 2007. Not even the World Cup 2007 finals were close to this. This was being watched/followed by at least a billion people all over the world. Hell it had to be some game and it was some game…<br />I will make a modest attempt at describing the scenes in my Pune. All the events that began yesterday morning promised a day unforgettable for years to come. Let me start of from the time I walked into the office yesterday morning…<br /><br /><strong>Monday Morning:</strong> I plod into my office thinking about leaving early today. And as luck would have it, there was not much work for the offshore team (that is us) to be done today. I meet my friend in a corridor and when I ask him about the time he’s gonna leave today, he answers firmly, very confidently – “5’ o clock bud. No chances at all!” I smile at the thoughts that I am not the only person going home early today. As our project team gets together for a breakfast in the cafeteria everyone is discussing nothing but – of course cricket. There is buzz everywhere – everyone wants to talk, everyone wants to share his/her excitement about today. One this for sure – it is gonna be absolute chaos if India pull off a win today!<br /><br /><strong>Monday Afternoon:</strong> – No change in the atmosphere…Everyone is still talking about cricket - In the elevators, on the steps, during lunch, in the washrooms, on phones! ….It is cricket everywhere. Just then, I receive a mail. It’s from Dad…. His company has asked the its employees to ‘officially’ to leave an hour early just for the match!!!…. A note for outsiders – This is how serious cricket is in India. For Indians – This is expected. Cricket comes above everything else… I forward that mail to everyone in our team. Just then I get a mail – rather everyone in our office gets a mail. It’s about today evening. They (our company) are gonna show the cricket on big screens in two buildings! Me mate, Hemant sitting in a building a mile away from mine, pings me saying we would watch the match on the big screen rather than going home. After a bit of hesitancy, I say Yes! After all, it’s best to watch with a group of people and what could get better than watching it in the big comfy auditorium of ours!<br /><br /><strong>Monday Evening:</strong> – I glance at the bottom right corner of my computer. Time now is 5pm. Only 30 minutes left for a hell of a cricket match. I call my friend - Rama, in the other building and tell him to check out the auditorium and hold a couple of places. I call him again after 10 mins and hez gone crazy. In a while I would too, after hearing what he said. He says – India has won the toss and India’s gonna bat first! I can't wait a minute now in my cubicle. Tushar and me literally run out like schoolboys after the end of the schoolday. The Englishman in my adjacent cubicle is not at all surprised. He knows it's all about Indians and cricket.<br /><br /><strong>Rush to the Auditorium:</strong> Tushar and me are still huffing and puffing as we reach the elevator lobby on the ground floor of GLT 2.0. A lift comes down. About 20 odd people get in. The auditorium is on the 6th floor. Only one button is lit up on the inside. No prizes for guessing where everyone is heading. The lift stops on the third floor. There is boo in the lift. No one wants the lift to stop until it reaches the 6th floor!! And as the lift doors open on the 6th floor, Tushar and me start running – it’s a sprint I guess, to the Auditorium on the left. We thought we are the only ones running. Looking back we see a bunch of others following us – running of course! As we enter the dark auditorium, we realize, its full! The big screen is a beaming live pictures straight from Wanderers, Jo’burg, RSA! I am so excited that I trip over something in the dark. I realize it’s a chair. Just then Rama shouts from the very back of the auditorium. Hez got some spaces for us! I thank him profusely.<br /><br /><strong>Indian Innings:</strong> The auditorium is full. But still people are coming in. Now, they start sitting on the steps in the aisles. The match starts. Everyone is clapping and the first ball arouses a scare in everyone. Yousuf Pathan is nearly run out. The decision is referred to the third umpire. As the replay is being shown here on the screen everyone realizes that Yousuf Pathan is safe. There is very big roar... so big that people outside come in running. It’s like as if we have won the match! Well, I think, I made the right decision of watching the finals here with everyone on the big screen. Yousuf Pathan hits a big six and there are screams everywhere. People are still streaming into the auditorium. The steps on the aisles are full. They now start sitting on the space in front of the big screen before the first row of chairs. That space is filled in a minute. The auditorium is jam packed – would be an understatement coz if some more people would have come in, they would have to use the walls and ceilings! There is absolutely no space. The atmosphere is wonderful. Soon a wicket goes down and everyone is quiet…. Every four and six is cheered like a victory. As the sixes and fours dry up, everyone cheers the twos and threes!! In between the Indian innings, everyone is excited about Yuvraj and Dhoni. But they fail to perform. No frigging issues with that. There was Gautam Gambhir at the other end who batted brilliantly. What an effort that was….75 off 54 balls! This southpaw is a star! …In the end, Rohit Sharma’s clever stroke play helps India post a respectable 157 on board. I am thinking – Will India be able to pull of another win? My thoughts go into a negative territory for some reason. The lights are switched on in the auditorium. The mood now is bit down. Everyone fears that this total might not be enough. I hurriedly make my way to the coffee machine. There is queue there. People are pondering on the match waiting in the line. Some are busily analyzing the match over cappuccino and lattes. I am just thinking how hard we have to bowl. Tushar is on phone. Rama thinks we are going to lose.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114092143941920658" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCarolZAH6ZnTAhf73rZn3FA1KNQ6j0hLNro7lsi-xTKFWIUCa5XikTJ4GxzSdUTlvP5TwB0HFQbJClL9R5Cbhaml8wiwDrEyp-aByyCeLMXH9fsx5xlDx08gDk88c4e-8lOmUsrmjgyD/s320/24092007169.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Pakistan Innings:</strong> I head back in the lit auditorium, again amazed to see the number of people. I hadn’t seen so many people in this auditorium for any seminar or presentation. I sit back calmly waiting for the innings to start. It does…. First over – Fifth ball, the auditorium goes up screaming as Mohammad Hafeez tries to steer the ball to third man, but straight into the hands of Robin Uthappa! Now, my thoughts go back into a positive mode. The next over is mess from Sreesanth. Imran Nazir butchers him. It’s 21 from that second over. Third over – RP Singh sends Kamran Akmal’s off stump cartwheeling. Pakistan 26/2! India’s gotta chance. With every wicket, the crowd is going berserk. We are shouting, chanting – Ganapati Bappa Moraya every time a wicket falls! The previous time, I had experienced such an explosive atmosphere was in Crown Casino, Melbourne watching World Cup 2003 (India vs. Pakistan, March 1, 2003).<br />I thanked myself again for staying back and watching the cricket in the auditorium. The biggest celebration was for Shahid Afridi's wicket. Shahid Afridi spooned the ball in the air and was comfortably caught by Sreesanth running from Long off… or was that mid off. Whatever, I can’t remember. It was a good catch. With Pakistan 77/6 and Shahid Afridi gone for a duck, everyone knew that it was India in the driver’s seat (as the commentators love calling it). But then there was this guy – Misbah-Ul-Haq. He proved why he is dangerous. With some brilliant batting helped by Sohail Tanvir, he brought the target down to 13 off last 6 balls. I couldn’t take it anymore. I thought of crawling and sitting down between the chairs. Misbah hit a big six and there was a silence in the whole auditorium. How could India give the cup away like this I thought? Joginder Sharma comes in running and Misbah tries to scoop it behind the wicket. The ball goes up. I think it is running off to the boundary. But Sreesanth takes a comfortable catch! There is an eruption in the Auditorium. Pakistan all down. India has won the match! India has won the Twenty 20 World Cup! Yes, We are World Champions! I couldn’t believe it. I was absolutely ecstatic. I hugged someone– dunno his name. It didn’t matter. Everyone was celebrating. Screaming. I almost fell on the floor! All of them were celebrating - The security guards too!! It was the best moment. Everyone congratulating each other and Team India!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114092139646953346" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGUgukpSAvcwVaaZtvDeSCnNicNHyq_hyb32mBjQaoIeDrXF4_DhaCaNPWQ_iMu3VhMb_ovC5_NsLAJmMv6X502TNDs3WZ6W0E_IXrGfPvUiaHg8eub7vhqHrTJ1T3TmkUoeTwUxuO2ef/s320/24092007171.jpg" border="0" /><br /><strong>Victory Lap on the roads:</strong> Hemant, Kshitija and I were heading home from office. We took the North Main road. Suddenly we saw flags everywhere. People were celebrating the victory. I yelled out loudly – “Go India”. The guy in the car across the road responded back! There it started. I started shouting and screaming at every group of revellers on the roads. They were doing the same. There were bikes everywhere with boys and girls shouting and chanting “Chak de India, Cheers India, Go India”. Some were carrying Indian flags. It was a beautiful sight. Seemed like the match was in Pune and the crowd was just coming out of the stadium!! We decided to take MG Road today, as it would be crowded! And it was! There was a group of people celebrating. We parked our car and then went there. What scenes! There were Indian flags and the familiar Dhol Tasha music. Soon it began to get crowded and everyone was enjoying. Others who didn’t want to dance lined up on the sides of the roads and watched the fun. The revelers stopped all the vehicles and soon MG road was jam-packed!!! A car driver got so excited that he stopped the car in the middle of the road, turned off the engine, opened the boot of his car and turned up the music. The crowd went wild. All of ‘em started dancing and screaming like madmen. A two-wheeler stopped in the middle too. The guy stood up on the vehicle and started waving the Indian flag. It was absolutely amazing. Soon there were more flags and more people. I could see the young and the old, the rich and the poor celebrating together. How wonderful it was to be in India at time like this. Cricket, or for that matter any sport, UNITES! And there is no better example than today!!! I cannot describe how energetic and amazing the scenes were. In the end – I was tired and bruised and my body started to ache. But then, who cares. Days like these don’t come every day. Congratulations Team India!! You beauty!!!<br /><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-86614654977169747732007-08-15T13:23:00.000+05:302007-08-15T21:51:56.876+05:30How to increase office productivity and efficiently use office space – Shift to GLT 1.0Last Monday we shifted to GLT 1.0. I knew I would be allocated a place in some passageway lined up with workstations given the crunch for space in this building. But to my pleasant surprise, not only was my place not in a passageway but my cubicle was one of the most spacious! Others in my team didn’t share the same good fortune as me. They were being put in a cubicle meant for 4. Nothing wrong with it until you add three more people to it. That makes 7 in cubicle meant for 4! How would they sit? I will tell you how. Put one person each in between two people and you get one of the most elegant looking combinations of people in one cubicle. There is a very small problem though – If someone has to get out, he/she will have to push the chair of the person on either side to get out. However, given the super advantages of such modern design, we can comfortably ignore this problem.<br /><br /><strong>Super Advantage No 1:</strong> Looking from outside of the cubicle, it seems that the employees are sitting on the top of one another. That is just an illusion created by this fantastic arrangement of people. In reality, every person in these cubicles has his/her own computer and everyone has got a chair to sit! Isn’t that an efficient utilization of office space?<br /><br /><strong>Super Advantage No 2:</strong> The arrangement of people is so very ergonomically brilliant. Employees can lean and place their elbows on their colleague’s chair, which is at a distance of about 2-3 inches or sometimes touching their chair. And employees are really loving this.<br /><br /><strong>Super Advantage No 3:</strong> Two people share one phone. That means one person can’t keep talking for hours on the phone! How well thought of!!<br /><br /><strong>Super Advantage No 4:</strong> This one is really good.These cubicles should be called Green Cubicles. Why? Coz they save energy and in turn reduce greenhouse emissions. Let me explain…. You see, the three squeezed… err…efficiently arranged people in between the normally comfortable four have got wonder monitors. Their monitors immediately turn OFF whenever there is a power outage. The monitors turn ON when the generator kicks in. Normally the time period is 3-4 secs. But as you know monitor consumes almost 80% of the energy. Multiply that with some 100 odd monitors like this in this building and imagine the energy saving! I think this ingenious idea should be incorporated in offices worldwide! This would really take care of Global Warming.<br /><br /><strong>Super Advantage No 5:</strong> Apart from saving energy, the guys on the green machines can enjoy a break for 3-4 seconds. This way the guys can quickly take break from work and relax. I call it a quick refresh method. Much better than having a smoko/coffee break. No wonder the guys in these cubicles don’t get out much! Hmm that adds one more advantage – Productivity!!<br /><br /><strong>Super Advantage No 6:</strong> Teams in such cubicles don’t face a problem of communication and their interpersonal skills are automatically improved. Employees are so close to each other that it naturally harbingers a feeling of unity and warmth (pun intended). Brilliant innit?<br /><br />I never thought that so many advantages were hidden in these cubicles. Someday next week we will be shifted again to a different level in this building and I will be a part of such cubicles. Or I might be sitting in some passageway where I can meet lots of people on their way to the rest room or pantry. How exciting! I am feeling wonderful now at this opportunity of social networking!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-50221968824574571522007-08-11T23:33:00.000+05:302013-12-01T12:18:08.606+05:30Sinhgad – A trek on the weekend.
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I hear the rain outside. It must be around 5 – 5:30ish in the morning. I start drifting off to sweeeet sleep when my mobile ring wakes me up. It is Kshitija calling. As decided the previous day, we were gonna depend on this foolproof method of waking each other up. That way we wouldn’t fall prey to the Snooze key and end up getting late or not going at all!!… I look at the mobile and it is nearly 6am. I wake up rather sleepy eyed thinking about how would I have loved to laze around in my bed for some 4- 5 hours more. That thought really holds on for a while and I start cursing myself for saying ‘Yes’ to Sinhgad trek this week. But just after a cup of hot tea I think I am ready to go. After a quick shower, I get down to the parking. Me mate, Hemant comes down and just as we sit in my car, it starts raining heavily. We proceed to pick up Rahul who is sheltering himself from the rain under a shop. After that we stop by a bar/café in front the majestic gate of good ol’ Bharti Vidyapeeth where I did my Electrical Engineering some 5 years back.<br />The girls come and we decide to go in one car. We reach the base of Sinhgad in about 35 mins.<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097513509155520162" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2IFgnvzGbAKcX6Nzv6zSofomkSEgDM5tdc0gqn9GNBK_CBGRQsQLBnagutopKwlDqMekzX-f850ZCgq2-5Fxycrd-SKJ4VyWWzNZjPo09SQaEeOAKM0whDHyBt2ZKlKcu4iqtrhAk4Td2/s320/DSC00737.JPG" border="0" /> We start our uphill climb. I notice that the weather is perfect - drizzle and gentle breeze. We walk through a dense canopy of trees – lush green. The view is refreshing. We click a half a dozen snaps on our mobile handsets. Just then we realize that we had taken a wrong turn! We head back and see the familiar stony path leading up the way to historic fort.<br /><br />As we climb to a higher point, we stop for a breather and look around. What a view! The mountains are all green. At a distance, we can see the Khadakwasla Lake. It is still drizzling. The fort is hardly visible with the clouds covering it. We resume and suddenly, Rahul and Kshitija notice a short but steep climb. They decide to go that way. Others, including me proceed by the normal way. After about 10 mins, we get to a point where we think, Rahul and Kshitija would emerge. We wait for 5 mins but no sign of them. We continue our climb. The only sounds we hear are of rain, waterfalls and the wind. On Sunday, this would have been impossible with hoards of people going up. Glad, we are trekking today.<br /><br />On the next turn, I look up and see Rahul waving at us from the top. They had reached their some 10 mins earlier. There is makeshift shop selling snacks. We stop by under it. Kshitija meanwhile is busy in taking pictures on her mobile for the ‘Pattern’ theme photography contest. I am again amazed at the view…. it seems that view gets better the higher we get. I had never enjoyed Sinhgad trek so much!<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097507603575488050" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJs3mjiPnlk7HhLTpF-DSTLr3Om73h-7BvSIlM3rIaKtoNrhFcfHeIJz9n2bXvaGwlHO4-iVvpSQQavC5SFGh3Z-a9k8_Peso5Q_12KInbov8uMqWTMA4aUtWVBXFnSXnynehdGvVy3HO/s320/DSC00743.JPG" border="0" /><br />There are rocky climbs all along the way now and though I would say the difficulty level is low on any other day, today it was a medium coz of the rain factor, which had made it more slippery. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097511451866185346" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0R9ngmYNu9X25Oea2JTMVK7MIgK-3Z89lCg1u-m1spF020A-NJdn-kmefSlfk0oBf_bDSBgBTG-m6jKRbw62cCs3Kb_xrryOaWlPQ5BkzhVCya5bgZpDwea3cELE6sszhjm6YwAAWJvN/s320/DSC00771.JPG" border="0" /><br />As we near the top, I am thirsty, but others advise me against drinking water until we reach the top. We begin the last phase of the climb. Sinhgad is visible from here. This last part is steepest and there is another way to go past it…but we decide to take this one just for the fun of it. The path is so narrow and slippery that even if one of them slips, he/she would cascade the effect downstream. Not that we would end up in a gorge or something, but nevertheless, we would be hurt badly. Arite so we proceed to the top. Rahul then Hemant and then me followed by Kirti, Kshitija and Neha…As we climb through the narrow path surrounded with vegetation, I realize, it is time to close the umbrella and climb with two hands otherwise it would near impossible to get through it.<br /><br /><br />We stop once on the way to negotiate a slippery climb and that’s it, we reach the top! It is foggy up there but the view is so beautiful. It is almost mystical. There is another group at the top…about the same age as us. They are clicking pictures of a snail. Others get busy clicking it too. The snail is famous now. Some others are enjoying “Butta” which is baked corn.<br />We see a fort map by the side. It shows all the major points on the forts. As we enter the fort through the old and dilapidated remains of Kalyan gate, it gets even foggier. The visibility reduces to almost 5 feet. It is awesome.<br />There is sudden rush of people heading down. Some are regular trekkers and some are like us.<br /><br />We get to first point and decide to go over the edge. It starts raining and gets windier…We get to the edge and see only clouds! The rain gets heavier and we disappear inside a small shack cum eating point. We are freezing cold now and decide for a cuppa hot tea and what else but hot Bhajis! Coming to Sinhgad and not eating Bhajis is a sin! It is so windy that we are worried that the roof of the shack might get blown off! But it doesn’t. As the steaming hot tea arrives with a plate of Bhajis, everyone digs in! Ummmm…delicious! You hafta come here to taste em! …We give our lunch orders Zunka Bhakar (Jowar Bread) and Pithala (thick paste of gram flour).<br /><br />As the food is getting ready, we explore the fort and come to one point where we couldn’t help stopping. It is not specific point. But today, there was something about this particular place that we all decide to stop and enjoy. The wind is so strong that we can literally lean against the wind and not fall!!All of us become kids and jump around trying to click that one perfect snap where all of us would be in air. We managed to capture one after a dozen attempts but one of them is still on the ground.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097513509155520146" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi01WddySK67zQB9E0Dh-wnfBIy32KnB9KKMCAf5viVzek72jRx0gyNt2H77AstcXSFez8hJI9MGxMEEQhThmL0UZcf-p4suBZxctcYUxjbl-kV_V2u8Us7rcFhQtySgYbVQKTqv8yakXaN/s320/DSCN1070.JPG" border="0" /> As we proceed further, a small path would lead us to wind point. This path is foggy but beautiful all along the way. We come to the wind Point. There, apart from the wind, the view to be enjoyed is that of the deep valley. But today, we can see only clouds!<br />We come back to the shack cum restaurant and have a delicious Zunka Bhakar meal.<br />It is almost 1:30pm and we decide to head down. We take a decision to go down via jeep The downhill ride by the jeep is dangerous due to bad roads and our driver made it even more dangerous. All the way, he drove like he was playing a video game. As we reached the base, we had to walk back almost 3 kms to reach our car!!<br /><br />Finally, all in the car and we reach Pune by 315pm. Never before had I thought that Sinhgad would be so beautiful. I had always imagined it being a sweaty climb sans fun. But today was just perfect thanks to the weather!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-30089656301829875542007-08-05T23:43:00.000+05:302007-08-06T00:22:14.439+05:30Review - MyN73 Music Edition!<strong>Rewind:</strong> A month and half ago after countless taunts from my chums on my Nokia 6230, I finally decided that it’s time to go for a new phone. And yes, I had reasons to dispose my faithful Nokia 6230. Trying to switch Bluetooth ON would switch my phone OFF or it would just go into Freeze mode! The other one was very fricken irritating. I just couldn’t charge the phone! It was a matter of luck and not time to see the charger finally fit my phone right and start charging.<br />I love gadgets and so I wanted a mobile which could do more than just make and receive calls. Of course smart phone would be my choice. So when I started looking, it got confusing even though I am pro-Nokia. There were some super phones in Nokia <a href="http://www.nseries.com/index.html">N-series </a>and E-series. <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/">Apple iPhone </a>and <a href="http://www.clubimate.com/t-devicedetails.aspx">iMate</a> were appealing too…Specially iPhone was really tempting with its looks and features. But $ 565 USD was a bit too much now…Hence after a lot of thought, I finally zeroed in on Nokia N73 Music Edition. And after reading innumerable N73 reviews for 2 weeks, I decided to buy it…And I am so in love with it…Here is my review<br /><br /><strong>Cost:</strong> 16450 INR<br />I will start off with the most impressive feature of N73.<br />The camera of course…3.2 Mega pixel Camera with Carl Zeiss Optics, Tessar lens!! Do I have to say anything about the picture quality now? Photos come out just superb. With 20 x Digital zoom for pics and 4x for Videos, the zoom does work well. Videos are good too at 15fps.There is Review button at the side of mobile. Quite handy that one. It gives a quick access to the images and videos in the Gallery.<br /><br />N73 has to be the best camera smartphone of the N Series at least as of now.<br />Plus you have got options like -Adjusting the White Balance, Exposure Compensation, Color Tone, Light Sensitivity and the Scene modes like what you get in your digicam.<br /><br />Although there is no difference in hardware in N73 and N73 Music edition, the latter comes with enhanced features for music. It ships in with 2GB Mini SD Card filled with some 100 songs out of which 95 are crap. Try deleting them on your phone and it won’t work! The way out is to connect the phone to the computer and simply CUT the 90+ rubbish songs and paste them on you computer. It frees up a lot memory on the card. N73 does support a lot of music formats (mp3, WMA, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+). I haven’t tried listening to all the formats on the phone but MP3, WMA and AAC sound very good indeed. The phone has got Integrated Stereo speakers and the Stereo does sound very well. The Music Edition comes in all black looks and it does look very sinister.<br /><br />Smart phone that it is, it comes in loaded with all the applications like Office stuff – Word, Power Point, Spreadsheets, Viewing PDF files, Visual Radio, 3-D Tones, Movie Director, Real Player, Life Blog et al.<br />The 3-D Tones is nifty little utility to enhance your tones by adding effects like Circular, Fly By, Zig Zag, Meander, Doppler Effect etc.<br /><br />Next thing to like about N73 is the large 2.4-inch QVGA screen of N73. It makes pictures and videos look clearer on them than other smart phones. The screen resolution as given by Nokia is 352X416 pixels makes the pics look excellent on the screen.<br /><br />I have heard some people saying the saying the keypad is smaller and it makes texting harder. Yes, the keypad is smaller but for a person like me who texts a lot I got used to the keypad after just couple of days and I don’t find it a problem at all.<br />There is a dedicated music key on the right side of N73 ME for quick access to all the music on your phone. Music is neatly organized by Song Name, Playlists, Artists, Albums, Genres, Composers just like your iPod.<br /><br />The light sensor at the top of the phone near the secondary camera adjusts the brightness of the screen with respect to the ambient lighting. And this light sensor also blinks (flashing blue light) when the Phone is in ‘Sleep’ mode. This flashing blue light is irritating at times and can be turned Off by going to Settings->Phone->Display->Sleep Mode-> On/Off. Mind you, switching this Off will eat into your phone battery.<br /><br />Let’s now come to the GPRS part of it. Holding down the 0 key will get you connected to the World Wide Web. When I activated my GPRS connection from my service provider, I was unable to connect to the net for the first few days. I thought it was a problem with N73. But then after repeated calls to my service provider, I realized that that they had goofed up. They reset my connection and now GPRS works fine on N73. There is nothing to be done other than just saving the Configuration Settings sent by your service provider.<br /><br /><strong>Net Applications:</strong> I have downloaded <a href="http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html">Google Maps </a>and <a href="http://opensource.nokia.com/projects/s60internetradio/index.html">S60 Internet Radio</a>. They work like charm. Especially Google Maps with its powerful Satellite imagery looks very good on the large screen of N73. Internet Radio is bit slow at times. But that is all dependent on data transmission rates. With a faster EDGE connection, it should work good.<br />There is an option to upload Images directly from your phone to the Web Album of your choice.<br /><br /><strong>Games:</strong> My N73 came pre-installed with Sudoku and Snakes. The Snakes on my N73 is in 3D. I was amazed to see it. Nokia has come a long way from the Snakes that it had on one of the older phones. This 3D Snakes is not only good to watch but surely will help you kill time.<br /><br /><strong>Battery:</strong> The battery is pretty powerful. With normal use (10-15 mins of calls a day, 15-20 mins of surfing, taking pictures and videos for 5-10 mins and playing music for 10 mins a day on the phone speakers) will make the phone go on for 2.5 to 3 days. But with heavy use of the screen (like seeing the images and videos on and on again) will suck your battery. My battery was out of charge in just 1.5 days when all I was doing for those 1.5 days was keeping the camera on and shooting pics and videos and playing them over and over again.<br /><br />The only two things missing in this phone are – WiFi and GPS. I would have really really liked to have them on my phone. But I had to buy a phone within a certain budget and hence had to settle without these features. Although GPS was really tempting, I had to think my way out of it by asking myself – Do I really need GPS? The answer was ‘No’ coz I do not hike every other day and neither do I get lost everyday coz I know my way around the city.<br />For the Wi-Fi part, I had to be content with my GPRS connection. I know GPRS isn’t the solution to Wi-Fi but then again there are some compromises to be made when your budget is tight. So for me the only thing to be disappointed was no WiFi in this Phone.<br /><br />Now comes the most important part – The bugs!<br />Ofcourse with a smartphone like this, there ought to be bugs and I had expected it. The question is how many bugs and do they really impact the way you use your phone. I do not think so. Here’s why<br /><em>Bug 1:</em> When a song is playing and I click ‘Next’ in the Track Menu, it doesn’t start playing the Next song. Instead the current song is stopped. I have to go back to the Song List and click the new song again. Maybe this is just with my handset. Does it bother me? Not at all…<br /><br /><em>Bug 2:</em> Sometimes, when I open the Gallery to see the pic or a video or start a game, I get a message – Memory Full. Try closing some applications.<br />This is irritating. I have to either go back to the phone menu or switch the phone Off and start again. But this has just happened twice until now in 3 weeks. Hence, not much of a problem.<br /><br /><em>Bug 3:</em> Sliding the backcover of the phone starts the phone camera. Once, I got a message – Hardware failed. Please restart the camera. I came back to the Phone menu and the phone just froze up. I couldn’t switch the phone off. I had to remove the battery and put it back again to restart the phone. Fortunately this has happened only once.<br /><br />These are the only bugs I have come across until now in my Nokia N73 ME. Chances are these are specific to my handset only. But in no way do they lessen my pride and joy of owning N73 ME!<br /><br />All in all, I am happy with my choice.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-82413422133180741292007-07-16T00:48:00.000+05:302007-07-16T01:40:37.712+05:30Thoughts on the wonderful last weekI loved last week. It was interesting and relaxing.<br />Relaxing - For a change, we were not as busy as we were since past 5 months. Reason: There was a processing delay as some data validations failed. It meant less work for us and a much needed breather. Yes, there was some Test Execution and rather boring statistical stuff to be done. But I welcomed it with a big smile. After all it was a refreshing change than those last few months, which were spent busily worrying in front of the black and green <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/zseries/zos/">Z/OS </a>world. There were no stressing deadlines and few -infact only one strenuously long to compose observation/query email. So it was “Leave office at normal time” nearly everyday! I had almost forgotten that we work 9 – 6. How good it was to leave office when it was not dark outside. Nope! I am not afraid of dark! But it reminded me of those wonderful times of last year when we were new in the project minus much responsibility. A lot has changed since then. Anyways, lets not delve into that now.<br /><br />Now towards the interesting part -There was a buzz sometime back that they were gonna reshuffle the people around various office building of ours to get so called best business combination. Dunno what that means exactly and I am also not curious on finding the reason behind it. Maybe, their idea is to align Development and Testing teams together so that Testers and Developers could argue or if they want, fight with each other physically on the floor rather than in <a href="http://www.mercury.com/us/products/quality-center/">Quality Center</a>...I am kidding....Aight…so last Monday it was confirmed in the Weekly Team Meeting that we were moving to GLT 1.0 next week i.e. Tomorrow. That really upset me. I had started liking GLT 4.0. The campus is neat and the cubicles are spacious (heard that the cubicles in 1.0 suck big time). More than the campus and cubicles, I was gonna miss my crush @ GLT 4.0. Yeah that beautiful eyed girl on some level. Hence the news of the shift was really upsetting until Friday when I learnt that their team’s moving too! That really got me excited and anxious. Oh those hypnotizing eyes of hers are killing to say the least… And, we are not moving tomorrow. The shift is delayed by 2 weeks! YAY!<br />Also, after much research I bought <a href="http://www.nokia.co.in/nokia/0,,99602,00.html">Nokia N73 Music Edition</a>. This sexy black smart phone rocks. More on that later…<br /><br />Sometimes, a thought sweeps across my mind. What if the last week was a lull before the storm? What if all hell breaks lose this week? What if tomorrow’s again a Manic Monday? Manic or Merry Monday – all the questions will be answered this week.<br />Plus that beautiful eyed damsel on my mind is not helping me relax as I hit the sack now. Good Night World.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-11562177131023881782007-06-24T19:28:00.000+05:302007-06-25T00:51:35.539+05:30…And now cometh 'The Monsoon’<strong>Friday, 22nd June 2007:</strong> Thunderstorms and heavy rains were the order of the day, at least for the latter half of the day on Friday. It was raining so heavily that when I looked out of my office window, I couldn’t see anything but rain! The IBM building in our campus was barely visible. The raindrops were crashing horizontally, vertically, diagonally and in every possible direction on our office facade! Inside, it sounded like some thousand drums were being beaten about at the same time. It was an awesome feeling to be in the cozy comforts of the office and watching the heavy rains outside. The view outside was so spectacular that most of my colleagues were soon lined up near the window and with all the blinds pulled up, they enjoyed the sight of rain, a welcome change from the scorching hot sun. Some just stayed in their seats and admired the view from their cubicles. It rained like this for 30 odd minutes. Then it stopped. The view outside was fantastic. Everything was spick and span. The buildings were shining, the trees looked much greener and brighter and the cars parked outside were shining clean in the evening sun.<br /><br />It again started at 19:30. Rains were much heavier this time. And it was very dark outside. Some were waiting to get back home. But the phone calls from home were stopping them. Every phone call was the same.... <em>"Don’t come now – It’s flooded here and the power supply’s gone!"</em><br />I had work to do and I smiled at the thought that at least today it worked out right. It was always better to work in office that night than be outside in the rain.<br />We left around 2200 hrs and boy, were the roads flooded. As much as it was good to watch the rain from inside, it was worse outside. It is a typical sight in monsoon, in nearly every city in India -The streets are flooded and the footpaths are muddy, sometimes even under water.Walking is a pain and driving becomes a nightmare especially if it’s a two wheeler. Most of the city is powerless....On our way back home, I watched all of it…As I neared home, a part of road was under water and the traffic was diverted to the other lane.<br />Monsoons are the toughest times to be in India specially places where it rains the heaviest.<br /><br />No surprise, the next day’s front-page news was about the rains. It rained a whopping 40 mm on Friday! There were losses of lives and property too. Very sad to read about it.<br />And the weekend was ...well... washed away in rains. That heralds the start of rainy weekends for some four months now…..And just as I say this, I hear the rains again! Monsoon has surely begun in India.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-53735961786243115262007-06-03T01:30:00.000+05:302007-06-03T13:23:44.122+05:30Indian Reality TV - Song shows....Absolutely disgusting!Televised reality singing shows have become as ubiquitous in India as the Personal Computer! Nearly every soap channel in India have their own song shows/contests.<br />Some bring their participants from the streets and some are classically trained. However esoteric the source may be, the shows are no less of any well-directed drama these days. Take for example the stupid Idol series, which had its roots in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_Idol">Pop Idol </a>of UK. It soon inspired <a href="http://www.americanidol.com/">American Idol</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Idol">Australian Idol</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Idol">New Zealand Idol</a>, our very own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Idol">Indian Idol </a>and many more. I have watched a few episodes of the Idol series….some out of compulsion some out of curiosity.<br />Talking about Indian shows apart from Indian Idol, there are nearly half a dozen shows telecasted on almost all popular TV Channels. …<br /><a href="http://www.zee-tv.com/Default.aspx?zsid=1">Zee TV </a>'s got their insane <a href="http://www.zee-tv.com/Zee_Serial.aspx?zsid=80">Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge </a>series going for sometime now. The Sa Re Ga Ma Pa series got so famous that Zee has introduced it on its regional language channels too for e.g. on <a href="http://www.zeemarathi.com/">Zee Marathi</a>. What’s more they even had Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Kids Challenge!<br /><br />Sa Re Ga Ma brings singers/mentors in the form of some big names from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollywood">Bollywood </a>or Indian music industry. Each mentor has his own participant on the show and the participants battle it out in the middle. Sometimes instead of the participants, the mentors battle it out and criticize/argue each other like school kids. In addition to the singing skills of the participants we also get to witness some brilliant altercating skills of the judges. It adds spice but it gets hell boring after a while.<br />One of the prime reasons, I hate Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is irritating Mr<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himesh_Reshammiya"> Himesh Reshammiya</a>. He is one of the judges on the show. Boy,this guy sucks big time. He makes my skin crawl.I just love to hate him and his songs. He sings through his nose most of the time and his songs are a torture. I guess they should be used in prison cells or courts. The accused may instead prefer to live in solitary confinement rather than listening to such annoying crappy stuff. His so called songs have got a very few lines and he sings them over and over again in a song which is very irritating.<br /><br />The other reason I hate Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is that 99.99% of the songs being sung are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_pop">Indipop </a>or Bollywoodish. And Indipop = mediocre. Same goes for modern Bollywood songs. No one even attempts to sing different.<br /><br />Coming back to Indian Idol…The only good part about this show is that the first coupla rounds are at least interesting in the sense that there are some crazy candidates coming in and demonstrating something more than singing skills. They dance, act, cry, beg, dress wierdly and do all things possible! Well, at least that makes me laugh.<br /><br />There was this guy on some Indian Idol show….He starts to sing…Ahem!! ….I mean he was making an attempt to sing but was miles away from melody. Anu Malik stops him in between and says,.” Dude, this is Indian Idol. You can’t sing. There is no way you can even participate in any competition.” The guy goes “ Who’s here to win or participate? I just wanted to see and meet you”. LOL! That was funny.<br /><br />One more...A guy in Indian Idol 2007 walks in with a disheveled look. He starts singing and Alisha Chinai asks him to stop. The guy doesn’t. He keeps on singing. Alisha goes nuts….And to add to the humor…Anu Malik and Alisha Chinai tell the other judges that they would go for a short walk until this guy keeps singing. They literally walk out and come after a while and the guy is still singing!!…Anu Malik goes “अरे तुम अभी तक यहीं हो ?” (Oh, Are you still here?). Then they pass their verdict that he can’t go to the second round. This guy walks in to shake hands with all the judges and just as he finishes shaking hands with the judges, he grabs the Indian Idol Ticket for the next round and runs out of the room! The security stops him. Anu Malik comes out running and snatches the ticket from this guy and says “ Indian Idol कोई मजाक नही है” (Indian Idol is not a joke)!!<br />Incidents like these make it more interesting. But after the first few rounds, when most of the participants are short listed, Indian Idol gets monotonous like the other song shows. They all sing the same stuff - Indipop songs and some ridiculous tunes from Bollywood.<br /><br />I hate Australian Idol and American Idol for the same reason. They all sing pop songs! Come on ppl. Where is Rock? Nope, we won't get to see that in India atleast. All the telecasters/producers want is TRP ratings. And audiences in India want popish tunes all the time. That means there are going to be more useless disgusting shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Indian Idol. Hell with that...I will stick to <a href="http://www.vh1.com/">VH1.</a> A true music channel playing all kinds music ranging from Rock, Metal to Hip Hop, RnB and Trance… except of course shitty Indipop. Thanks VH1. You Rock.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-17828118603725471492007-05-20T20:12:00.000+05:302007-05-20T23:32:44.889+05:30An alrite weekend<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday night:</span> Like a normal person, I love Friday nights. This Friday night was at ZKs- A popular restaurant/lounge/sports bar owned by the cricketer <a href="http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30102.html">Zaheer Khan</a>. Retro music after a long time made it a fantastic night out.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday Morning: </span>It started with its usual shock value when my alarm went off at 7 am on Saturday!! I am going for <a href="http://java.sun.com/">Java</a> Classes since the last month and half on Saturday. That spoils my binge on sleep. Can’t help it. There’s no other time suitable on the weekend for my teacher and weekdays are very unpredictable for me. Being in Software industry where almost everyone loves working late hours, I don’t know my ‘back home by’ time. It varies everyday and most of these days it is consistently beyond 8:30 pm. Thanks to <a href="http://www.software-risk.co.uk/cont438.htm">Test Execution</a> phase. So had to settle for 8-12 slot on Sat morning.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday’s lessons were on the <a href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/api/java/lang/String.html">String class</a>. It was as usual…we (Ashish and me) asked fewer questions than expected. That incited our teacher and we got a kind of a dressing down you can say. And incomplete assignments, rather untouched assignments had already annoyed her. You see, every week we have these assignments to do. We write them down with great pleasure on Saturday. But when it comes to doing the assignments at home, we don’t even manage to open the book to read the assignment. We normally open our books the next Saturday at 8am! We call that “A weekly review of Java” :D.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">There is one more guy, Shripad who comes in at 10 am for <a href="http://my.execpc.com/%7Egopalan/java/java_tutorial.html">Advanced Java</a>.<br />We have sort of a break when he comes. Yesterday was no different. We discussed the current hot question in the software industry…Which is better? Java or <a href="http://www.asp.net/">ASP.net</a>? Now this kind of a question is very similar to the “Manual Transmission vs. Automatic Transmission” in Automobile industry. You know that it’s a never-ending debate and it was same here. Although I am not an expert in either of the technologies, I can safely say…both are equally excellent. But hard-core Java supporters will always find more than one thing in ASP.net that can be done in a better way in Java. …Pro ASP.net guys aren’t behind. They manage to strike back with equal force. Anyways, I am not going into the technical details of each language. If you want more details on these, check them out <a href="http://blogs.thinktecture.com/ingo/archive/2003/01/28/413869.aspx">here</a>…or <a href="http://www.developers.net/external/564">here</a> ...<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Here’s a distinct advantage of being a Software Tester. Who cares about the technology? It might be coded in Java, <a href="http://www.cobolportal.com/index.asp?bhcp=1">COBOL</a>, ASP.net,<a href="http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/">C++</a> or any other language. We just love to see the application crash. Creative destruction is the right way to put it. I so love the term <a href="http://www.cse.fau.edu/%7Emaria/COURSES/CEN4010-SE/C13/black.html">Black Box.</a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Siesta:</span> I absolutely love this part. I try to make for my lack of sleep accrued over the last 6 days in part one of this Siesta. Part two is on Sunday. Oh yesterday was sweet…Slept for 3 hours straight.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday night:</span> Saturday nights are sin if we don’t go out. Hemant, Abhi and I went for quiet dinner to a nearby popular restaurant. There I came across one of the weirdest species of Maitre d’ restaurant. We ordered the appetizers and waited for 20 mins. This guy, <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_1976_tip-maitre-d.html">Maitre d</a>’ hands us the menu for main course. After 5 mins he asks us “ So what about the order?”. We, almost unanimously ask him “ What about the appetizers? It’s been ages since we ordered and there’s no sign of it.” What does he do? He walks away with an unconcerned look without even bothering to offer a simple apology. We decided right then – No tip for this idiot. He was one of the weirdest human beings I have ever seen. Not once, did I see him smiling to any of the people there in the restaurant. Maybe he was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot">robot</a>. But robots do have some basic etiquette. And this guy was miles away from etiquette.. So that rules out the possibility of a robot. Maybe he was just like that. Anyways…the dinner wasn’t so bad. We discussed love life and how unlucky it is to fall in love in India. Some stupid things you might say.<br />Coming home we decided to sleep on terrace coz it gets bloody hot at night in the flat. When I came up on terrace, Hemant and Abhijit were busy watching “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265208/">The Girl Next Door</a>” on Hemant’s laptop. Nah, it’s not the movie that we were interested in. We just wanted to watch the lovely <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0193846/">Elisha Cuthbert</a>. Anyways we fell asleep midway thru the movie and that was mostly due to the soothing cool breeze at night.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday morning: </span>Started with Sunday Times and classic music on <a href="http://www.vh1.com/">VH1</a>…Me, directly opting to read Sports news and my favorite Bacchi Karkaria and <a href="http://www.swaminomics.org/">Swaminomics</a> column. After being online for a few hours, I realized it was time for lunch. Oh yeah, I managed to download <a href="http://java.sun.com/reference/docs/">J</a><a href="http://java.sun.com/reference/docs/">ava Docs</a><a href="http://java.sun.com/reference/docs/"> </a>on the third attempt. The previous two somehow managed to fail brilliantly at 60 %. Blame my ISP for that.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And then came Part two of the Siesta. Wish I could do the same on weekdays. Listened to heavy metal on Sunday evening while blogging this one...and went out with for dinner...alone! None of me mates were free and there was no one at home. So had no other option but to eat out alone. I would say, I enjoyed it. More on this later.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That completes my this weekend. Not a sensational one but satisfactory nonetheless. The thought of Monday morning is giving me jitters now.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-64905716653156259782007-05-17T22:28:00.000+05:302007-05-19T14:08:10.513+05:30I gotta get myself organizized<p>I have to write my pending diary for two whole weeks. I have to reply mails. I have to practise <a href="http://java.sun.com/">Java</a>. I have to buy toiletries… and I was gonna join the ‘elusive’ gym. And all this has been accruing for sometime now thanks to my lazy self. Last 5 months have been a whirlwind of activity, mostly office activity. I work for almost 10 hours a day and adding the traveling time makes it 12 hours. That’s half a day lost in work! That makes it 60 hours a week…I was thinking for the past 5 months that I am the only soul in the world whoz got no time to go to the gym or study Java after working like this.<br /><br />Today I realized that I am the only one to blame. The ‘whinging’ me should do some lessons in Time Management… Oh yeah, I was also gonna appear for <a href="http://www.istqb.org/">ISTQB</a> this March, but you see…me and my procrastinating self made it impossible for me to even for apply for the exam.<br /><br />And so the title of the blog…'getting myself organizized' which was borrowed from young <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000134/">Robert De Niro</a> in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/">Taxi Driver </a>when he said - <em>One of these days I gotta get myself organizized.</em><br /><br />And I announce with big pleasure that today is that day:D<br />I have studied Management during my Engineering and hence I know that the first step in starting any activity is ‘to plan’.<br /><br />So, I have devised a very simple (cough cough) foolproof plan to get myself in some bloody action. It’s a five-point plan and here it goes…</p><p>1) I need to stay off the computer - I come home after work and the first thing, I do is go online for reading articles and writing stuff…mostly personal blogs like this one. I need to stay away from it and do pending stuff. (Something inside me is saying...You are gonna have a real hard time giving this one up)<br /><br />2) If I must be on the computer, then it will be only for coding/studying or updating me iPod. Or lets put it other way - I will code one program each day. It sounds hard. But I will give it a try. </p><p>3) I am gonna get up half an hour early and exercise. (Oh my sweet sleep)…Nah, I shouldn’t complain…. Oh yeah, I should sleep half an hour earlier for that... There I go, I solved this one right here right now.</p><p>4) I am gonna plan the whole week ahead on Sunday every week. (What did I just say...Plan the whole week!!!...HAHA...I am gonna have real tough time this Sunday)<br /></p><p>5) Lastly and more importantly, I am gonna follow this plan strictly. (I can't stop myself smiling as I typed the last one)<br /></p><p>Lets see, how it goes….At least, I made a plan. So that deserves pat on the back and I will do that myself for time being.</p><p></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-18587239813558699832007-05-16T09:33:00.000+05:302007-05-16T10:45:33.310+05:30…Power Saving, Again!I love this topic. (Refer my earlier post on <a href="http://rohansaw.blogspot.com/2007/04/power-cuts-i-know-what-i-will-do-this.html">Power Cuts</a>)… And the reason for this post is an <a href="http://www.zerofootprint.net/initiatives/694">excellent article </a>that I read on web on power saving that can be achieved by simple shut down of the ubiquitous computer… Think that shutting down computers won’t contribute much to the grid…think again! You’ll be shocked at the amount of electricity wasted just for doing nothing…. Have a read. Worth your time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-63244714652395579882007-05-13T10:17:00.000+05:302007-05-13T19:32:54.993+05:30Ah, those buggers - Telemarketers - डोक्यात जातात रे हे लोक<p class="MsoNormal">It’s about 3ish on a Friday <a href="http://www.australianexplorer.com/slang/phrases.htm">arvo</a> and I think of getting a Latte, as work’s busy like anything since morning and I need a break…. Just as I was about to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control-Alt-Delete">CTRL+ALT+DEL</a> and make a quick dash to the coffee machine, my mobile starts playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_the_Tiger">Eye of the Tiger – Survior</a> song (That’s my ring tone). It’s an unknown number… I was expecting a call from my friend, so thinking that it was him, I answer the call with a very excited ‘Hello!’. My excitement turns to utter disgust when the voice at the end says “Good Afternoon Sir, We have a new special Credit Card for you”. Without letting her completing her sentence, I say politely, “M’am, I do not need any new special, ordinary or extraordinary card. Thanks”. I also remember telling her to take me off their list for the 101th time. They (<strong>X</strong> bank) had called me about 100 times before and I had told them to take me off my list. But nothing’s happened for the last 100 attempts. So I had given up…. Anyways, I get back to my workstation with a Latte. The phone rings again. This time there is no one talking. I hear unintelligible noises in the background. Then a lady says, “ Sorry for the wait, Sir, Actually we have a very special Credit Card scheme from <strong>X</strong> Bank”. Furious at the second call in just 5 mins, I cut her midway before she starts throwing crap and this time, I decide to be a little rude. I go “What the hell is going on? This is the second call in 5 mins…Call your manager”. The lady says ‘Sorry’ and hangs up.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>My colleague, Rahul, gives me a bemused look and asks, “ What’s wrong?”. When I tell him about these bugging calls from a call center.…he gives me a big smile. He knows that everyone working in our software company have been a victim of such calls.</p><p class="MsoNormal">I recall<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>a funny incident a long time back when I had just joined the company. We were in some meeting room in <a href="http://www.virtualpune.com/html/localguide/cityfacts/html/kalyani_nagar.shtml">Viman nagar </a>Office. My Project manager and my TL along with my team are discussing the weekly updates and the meeting room phone rings. No guesses here. It’s the same bloody old call center calling again to sell some Credit Cards! My Project Manager calmly responds back saying that we are in a meeting. There’s a smirk on his face and we all are smiling. The call relieved the heavy duty project related atmosphere in the room. But that was then when it was the first call I had experienced. Now, it’s quite different. These days, I get a little more than irritated when I get the calls. Can’t help it….There has to be some law to be able to stop these bloody call centers calling again and again offering the same old foolish stuff on phones-Credit Cards and<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Personal Loans…</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>I am also impressed with the new innovative ways (Pure lies) of selling employed by some call centers….Thursday morning, I get a call from a liar…err a telemarketer…She goes ‘ Good Morning Sir, Thank you for applying for a <strong>Y</strong> Bank’s Credit Card”! I was stunned….I mean, I can’t remember to the faintest of my memory if I had ever called <strong>Y</strong> Bank or visited their website, leave alone applying for a credit card.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I go, “ I never applied for a Credit Card!” and she replies plainly “ Sorry Sir” and hangs up!!….A preposterous reply, which makes it very clear that she lied ... </p><p class="MsoNormal">I never used to hate telemarketers/cold callers so much as I have started hating them off late. In fact I worked for a call center in the spring of 2003 in <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=23&pg=966">Melbourne</a>, Australia and let me be honest here; I had my worst stint there selling phone cards. I was there for a brief period of 2 weeks. From day one, I realized, that’s selling’s not my cuppa tea .<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I am cognizant about the fact telemarketing isn’t easy at all. Harsh targets and the flak that these guys get from the customers make telemarketing and cold calling a mentally stressful job. But that doesn't mean using‘lies’ to get your way. I never lied when I was making calls for those two weeks. Neither did any of me mates. Anyways, I am not going into the ethics of telemarketing. </p><p class="MsoNormal">…But it’s about time I come up with some brilliant ways of tackling these pesky callers. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Maybe I should try that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seinfeld">Jerry Seinfeld</a> line next time I get a telemarketing call</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>I can't talk now, but why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you tonight</i>". When the telemarketer hesitates, he continues "<i>Oh, do you not like getting calls at your home from strangers? Well now you know how I feel</i>" before hanging up. "</p><p class="MsoNormal">I guess, humor should work!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:0;"></span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-89268597337616226842007-05-06T10:54:00.000+05:302007-05-06T13:59:49.800+05:30Driving in India – Indian Driving 101<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">I was in my car, SWIFT, this afternoon waiting at the lights. There was a Ute in front of me and a SUV behind me. The lights were red. The traffic was standing impatiently and honking the horns for no reasons as they always do in India.<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>I was enjoying some good ol Metallica in me car. And was not worried about looking at the lights, coz I was gonna move when the guy in front of me starts moving. After a minute or so, the traffic starts to move. Nothing wrong. I shift to first and start moving too. But wait, I notice that the lights are still red! What the hell was wrong with the guy in the front I thought, or should I say, guys, who started zooming past me ignoring the lights totally. …. Well I did stop when I saw red lights…. but with the impatient idiot behind me honking his horn, I had no other option but to break the rules and go along with the traffic…As I started slowly, the truck driver on the opposite end was signaling to me that I should move!! I gestured back asking him to look at the lights! …. He ignored me as if nothing was wrong….</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">…if you think that is one off incident, you are completely wrong, coz when it comes to driving in India…It is your worst nightmare come true.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">I take a deep breath every time someone mentions driving in any Indian city during peak hours…for driving is no longer a pleasure on Indian roads; it’s become a nightmare.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">There’s one Holy rule of driving on Indian roads that is assiduously followed by almost all the drivers and it is – There are no rules and if there are, break the rules.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-size:0;"></span>Keep this in mind - you can break the rules anywhere and get away with it almost all the times. No one seems to care about it. Not even the cops.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Here are a few important guidelines/warnings for tourists planning on visiting India and planning to drive! Yeah, these things would also help even if you are not going to drive coz you are going to walk, right?:) So it’s better to be prepared…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">1)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>You can see all kinds of vehicles on Indian roads and also don’t be surprised to see cows, buffalos, elephants, camels, dogs, cats, sheep, donkeys, pigs, etc in the middle of the roads … Thank God Dinosaurs are extinct! I am waiting for that day when a UFO lands on the the road and aliens come out of it and start walking on roads too. Coz there is a high probability of this happening on Indian roads than somewhere in remote wilderness. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">2)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Cricket is a national passion and any outsider would know this just by driving in India…Playing cricket on roads, low flying kites and hoards of pedestrians walking on the roads are normal sights. So don’t panic….</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">3)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Do not wait at a T- junction. If you expect that someone would slow down and allow you in or you hope to see the traffic subside, you will be completely wrong. The key here is not to wait at all. When you come to any junction, just drive as if no one is coming from left or right. If there is someone coming from anywhere, you both will figure out who goes first when you meet in the middle of the square…The trick is to have loud horn or great manual transmission driving skills.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">4)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Honk, Honk and Honk…Honking is a characteristic of Indian traffic. It doesn’t mean that you are insulting anyone. Honking is letting other person in front of you know that you are coming at breakneck speeds and that he/she/it has to give way to you immediately. How immediately the other person has to get out of the way depends on the loudness of the horn. Horns are quite creative too. A baby crying or an “ I love you” will still be heard in traffic although it is banned now.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">5)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Pedestrians don’t have the right to cross roads. So don’t wait for them.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">6)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>In India, footpaths are meant for Hawkers and two wheelers. Pedestrians walk on the roads mostly on left lanes…sometimes in the right lane too. So don’t worry if you see a pedestrian walking non-chalantly in the fast lane with his back facing the traffic. Quite normal in India, these things. Drivers have to make sure they avoid them.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">7)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Zebra crossings and lane markings are just some beautifully drawn designs on Indian roads. There is no functional use of zebra crossing or lane markings. No one travels in a lane and the zebra crossing means that your car or two-wheeler should ‘cross’ the zebra crossing mark or totally cover it. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">8)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>There are speed limits boards set on various expressways and freeways. Unlike other countries, you have to be consistently over the speed limit by about 20-30 kmph. Whenever you see a speed-limit board, take that as challenge and prove to the Road Transport Authority that you can break it.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">9)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>If you are driving a two-wheeler and there is a traffic jam, do not worry, you can use the footpath and find your way through. Just make sure you honk to get some pedestrians off the footpath.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">10)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>In India, no one will notice you if you break the rules, but if you do not, everyone will and you will be severely rebuked by others for following the rules. So flow along with the traffic. If one of them breaks the rules, you should too.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">11)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Auto Rickshaws (Small taxis) are at the forefront when it comes to breaking the rules. You will see an Auto Rickshaw making a U-Turn suddenly in the middle of the road or stopping in the middle of the road. Indian drivers are the most alert drivers because of such things. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">12) Two-wheelers like motorcycle and scooter riders are very scientific. They drive like sine waves i.e. driving in a curve like fashion. For an illustration of sinewave check out this <a href="http://www.m-w.com/mw/art/sinecurv.htm">Merriam-Webster link</a>. You will rarely see them driving straight. They also try to fill up spaces between two cars or trucks. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">13) Overtaking means that you have to somehow get in the front of the other vehicle. Officially you have to overtake from right. But if you find other vehicle overtaking on the right you can overtake from the left at the same time. You can also drive on the wrong side just for your convenience and you can overtake in wrong lanes too. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">14)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Trucks are efficiently used in India than other developed countries. They are loaded more than mathematically maximum possible limits. Hence, I say they are efficient. Yeah, there are cases of trucks overturning, but who cares.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">15)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Public Transport Buses are crowded these days. There are 6-7 people hanging out of the buses. When I used to travel in buses, there were only 2-3 people clinging to the exit doors.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">16)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>There are all kinds of fuels used in vehicles. Apart from petrol, diesel and LPG, there is kerosene mixed with petrol or diesel or just kerosene. Did you say pollution? What is that?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">17)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>Parking is no headache in India. You can park almost anywhere where there is free space and what’s more parking is free of cost!! Isn’t that wonderful? You don’t have to worry about handicapped space or an entrance. Just park if you find an empty space.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in; TEXT-ALIGN: justify">18)<span style="font-size:0;"> </span>And the last and the most important one…Remember when you drive in India, drive as if you own the roads. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">So make sure you get your manual transmission skills sharpened up. And All the Best.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify">Indian drivers, please let me know if I have missed anything.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-54712254009370430372007-04-30T02:12:00.000+05:302008-12-10T08:21:30.493+05:30Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! OI! OI! OI!<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08O_XdGKMg_e7KvmtxhUbw3V6iSJGWnebRj3xsBfVpLcskLD4OLC9SBpzpIkls2jKfpgbJSWimzC6n2RkV7D_g3r04iPVQpsSo2-YDesU1EO6g1ADhwQbKmXkcI5sEyZKbf8G4syRzk-n/s1600-h/Australia.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5058956077348893378" style="" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj08O_XdGKMg_e7KvmtxhUbw3V6iSJGWnebRj3xsBfVpLcskLD4OLC9SBpzpIkls2jKfpgbJSWimzC6n2RkV7D_g3r04iPVQpsSo2-YDesU1EO6g1ADhwQbKmXkcI5sEyZKbf8G4syRzk-n/s320/Australia.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></span><div align="left" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div face="trebuchet ms" style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;">Australia! You bloody Bewdy! You did it again!<br /><br />Winning the World Cup is THE ultimate dream for any team. Winning three times in a row, is just unbelievable. But when the team is Australia, everything becomes believable.<br /><br />Gilly’s batting yesterday was nothing short of a demolition. Nah, It was demolition for sure. What else would you call that innings!! 13 fours, 8 sixes in 104 ball, 149!… For me, SL had lost the cup even before they came in to bat…Throughout the world cup, Aussies have been doing what they do best…i.e. being aggressive from the word go. Most opposition teams lose the game even before it starts. Case in point: Semi Final 2 Australia vs South Africa….SA tried to be aggressive...foolishly aggressive, from the start but failed miserably. They should have realized that when Plan A doesn’t work out, it’s time to throw Plan A outside the window. Instead they continued on their ‘being aggressive’ plan and were soon 27/5. Rest is history. I thought at least SA would give a tough fight to the Ozzies, but thanks to a dull, boring display from SA, it means that SA isn’t any better than other teams when it comes to facing Australia.<br /><br />The way the Australians played their games in World Cup shows what exactly why they are a great team. Their powerful batting lineup, which is powerful not only on paper but powerful on grass too, annihilates any bowling attack in any bowling conditions around the world. Such is the depth of the batting, that even when the top order fails, the tail enders bat like batsmen, unlike some subcontinent teams, where tail enders do justice to their title very beautifully. Let’s put it this way, there are no tail enders in Australian team. Everyone bats!!<br /><br />In the bowling category, names like Glen McGrath ( Ho Ha Glen McGrath ..say Ho Ha Glen Mcgrath) are enough. His immaculate line and length needs no description. Add to that, the superb swing from one Mr.Blond Bracken and the sheer pace of Shaun Tait and it makes a very good bowling attack. Hogg continues to impress and Symmonds and Clarke bowl some perfectly decent overs. Sad to see Pigeon retire from International Cricket but having said that Shaun Tait has been a revelation. Though this bowling attack is not as great as the batting, they are supported by some very brilliant fielding from…err… almost everyone in the team!! McGrath at the age of 37 still dives to stop the ball - Compare that with 23-year-old Munaf Patel who runs…Sorry, jogs across the ball lazily and throws underhand!! That’s not shameful…that’s embarrassing! …Oops, I get carried away in comparisons…Sorry to say , but Australia can’t be compared to any other team. Theirs is just a class of their own...where players play for their team….They are proud to represent their country not their endorsements. ( There I go…I can’t stop comparing…This is just out of frustration).<br /><br />Many of my mates, were barracking for all other teams, but Australia They said it had become boring to watch Australia win all the time. But was there or is there a team who could beat the mighty Aussies?!!…Nope, I think, after all the one sided affairs. Not even a single match was interesting.<br /><br />Luv them or hate them, Aussies deserved to win the Cup and they did!!…and I am not surprised, if they do that again in 2011.</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8907234735918034400.post-5762696706213340192007-04-20T00:00:00.000+05:302007-05-01T15:01:28.294+05:30Amazon.com...A real let down!<a href="http://www.amazon.com/">Amazon.com</a>, they say is the one of the best online shopping portals. I thought so too until a couple of incidents, rather the only two incidents, that I have tried to shop on Amazon.com<br /><br /><strong>Incident One:</strong> Winter of 2004 – Melbourne, Australia:<br />I placed an order on Amazon for a book – “A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport" by Ramachandra Guha.<br /><br />Estimated time of delivery to Melbourne – A maximum of 2 months.<br />I waited for three months! Still no sign of the book or an email from Amazon.<br />I mailed them, and got an immediate reply saying:<br /><br /><em>Our quality assurance process has indicated that although our system shows your item has shipped, when in fact is hasn't. We immediately contacted our sources in an effort to locate a replacement copy, but were unable to do so. As a result we are unable to fulfill your order. We have initiated a refund and you should receive confirmation via email within the next 1-3 business days.<br /></em><br />Though frustrated, I didn’t bother, coz they had apologized sincerely in the mail.<br /><br />Anyways, I got the refund after a week or so, when they had promised 1-3 days! Needless to say that I lost a few dollars in transaction fees. I dismissed it as a case of bad luck.<br /><br /><strong>Incident Two:</strong> Summer of 2007 - India.<br />I asked my friend Hemant, in Buffalo,USA to get me a DVD- "Metal – A Headbanger’s Journey" from the US. Yeah, he ordered it online from Amazon.<br /><br />Estimated time of Delivery to Buffalo : 3- 5 business days.<br /><br />It so happened that me mate was returning to India in 10 days and the DVD was not shipped to him by that time. Which he said was strange coz all the stuff that he had bought on Amazon was delivered to him within a maximum of 5 days....Okay, didn’t matter, coz one of his friend was flying back the next week. Well after a few days, his friend, informed us that the Amazon guys had come but since he was not home, they didn’t deliver the DVD and instead kept a note saying they were at his place that day.<br />What was more annoying was the fact that they normally keep all the missed deliveries at the Community Center. This one, for some reason, was not kept at the Community Center and there was no communication from Amazon.com till date.<br />Yesterday, I told Hemant, to cancel the order.....<br /><br />I wouldn’t recommend people not to buy from Amazon.com just because of these two incidents. Although, I would advise them to be cautious when shopping with Amazon.<br />And I know that these might just be cases of pure bad luck…But as they say-“ First impression counts” or “ The first impression is the last impression”....For me, the first two were bad! So I wouldn't even waste time thinking for the third one....(Jeffrey, Are you listening?!) ... I know what I am gonna do next… stick to my favorite and familiar online shopping portal-<a href="http://www.ebay.com/">Ebay</a>!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02197661736964905413noreply@blogger.com2