Arvind T M

Moved to arvindtm.com

2008-07-14T23:51:00.001+05:30

Moved to arvindtm.com

I was on Google’s Blogger platform for more than three years. Out of curiosity, I was checking out Wordpress other day. And then I thought let me create some test blog. You know, just to get a look and feel experience of an alternative blogger. As I discovered more and more of wordpress, deeper I sunk and I am not going cry for Blogger’s help.

If I have to tell a commoner how it feels to be on blogger Vs Wordpress, this is how I will describe.

When you are on blogger, you are given a piece of land (Free Hosting space), but on one condition. When you construct the house, it will go by their design. You can move your hands, but your hands are still roped.

When you are on wordpress, things are slightly different. You will pay for buying the land. Inexpensive though. But YOU stack the bricks, YOU have a say whether the entrance should face south or North, or you need glassed window, etc. and build a very rich house. Truly YOUR dream home.

How do you do ?!

2008-06-28T19:51:00.006+05:30

We friends met at a coffee shop recently. The conversation went on something like this...
All of it. Filled with cholesterol. We ate Dark Chocolate and Apple Pie :)

What makes a read interesting ?

2008-06-23T22:57:00.004+05:30

I had to share this little post from my favorite Scott Adam's Blog. He Wrote and I pasted here...

"The hardest part about writing is capturing your own inner thoughts. For example, if I ask you to tell me something funny or frustrating about your job, you'd give me tales of coworkers eating your food from the break room fridge, or tell me your boss is incompetent. But those aren't thoughts, just observations. We seem to store memories in terms of actions and some broad emotions, but not thoughts. And it is the thoughts you generally don't voice that make writing interesting."

I get into this split whenever I want to post. What makes a read interesting ? An opinion, a thought, an observation, a bare fact....!?

Did you see my mobile ?

2008-06-18T08:24:00.007+05:30

Am quite forgetful these days. Missing birthdays, day of the week, misplacing keys, rushing to meeting at last minutes are quite common. Not that I was doing better earlier, but things have worsened in past few months. I am beginning to think if am contracting Alzheimer. But a sigh of relief after reading the warning signs of Alzheimer's.
I thought I found a good excuse but no, I am still normal, it's just a age-related memory lapse.
Did you say something ??

My Dream car for the Blind

2008-06-17T08:29:00.012+05:30

I met two boys from Tamilnadu. They gave me a ride to MG road in their self-designed car. On the way I kept thinking how they could drive on the road. Because that car did not have a transparent glass pane in the front.

Bizarre ? This is the dream I woke up with this morning. Just sat down to put that car on the paper. I later figured out that such a car could actually be used by blind people. Heights ?

How to be productive on Mondays ?

2008-06-16T11:19:00.007+05:30

Drew on a Monday to deal with mundane Mondays. How do you tackle your Mondays ?
Free-to-print-poster for your cube.

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MB and Mbps confusion

2008-06-09T21:25:00.006+05:30

For those looking for answers to MB and Mbps confusion, I created this graphic. In fact I had another post sometime back.
Do you realise...that my fingers are itching and getting desperate to put my Graphic tablet to some good use. Need fresh ideas for illustrations.

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Manachanabele dam, Savana Durga outing

2008-06-08T19:59:00.005+05:30

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Understanding IPSec/IKE Phase 1

2008-06-07T21:37:00.016+05:30

IPSec/Ike is a difficult-to-grasp security protocol. Because it is one protocol which does many things. Authenticates, encrypts and establishes a secure tunnel.
I have been trying to get a understading of message exchanges between the initiator (eg: mobile) and responder (eg: security gateway) before the tunnel is established. In the most simplified form this is how it looks. Six message exchanges, logically separated.

It's a three two-way exchanges between the initiator and receiver.

First exchange—The algorithms and hashes used are agreed upon in matching IKE SAs in each peer.
Second exchange—This exchange uses a Diffie-Hellman exchange to agree upon a shared key. Diffie-Hellman is not an encryption algorithm but an algorithm for establishing a shared key over an unsecured medium.
Third exchange—This exchange verifies the other side's identity. The identity value is the IPSec peer's IP address in encrypted form.

The main outcome of the whole exchange is matching IKE SAs between peers to provide a protected pipe for subsequent exchanges between the peers.

The IKE SA specifies values for the IKE exchange: the authentication method used, the encryption and hash algorithms, the Diffie-Hellman group used, the lifetime of the IKE SA in seconds, and the shared secret key values for the encryption algorithms.

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Symbol speak

2008-05-30T23:24:00.017+05:30

It's the team I work with at office. Team lunch this afternoon at Jalsa. Tried putting symbols to match the personalities!!

(Click to enlarge)

Hit and Don't Miss

2008-05-29T22:19:00.008+05:30

Many of the hits to my site gets missed because they were looking for aravindtm! ( and not arvindtm )

So I decided to register a new domain www.aravindtm.com
Domain forwarding is enabled, so if you key in aravindtm.com you will still be brought to www.arvindtm.com

By the way, my original name is spelt ARAVINDA T M. But I don't think I have to register yet another domain name with an extra A. That's my graphical skill being put to work.

Related Link : blogspot to arvindtm.com

Nitrogen is in the air

2008-05-25T19:14:00.010+05:30

If you are filling air next time at the petrol bank... just look for this raw looking blue box. Its a nitrogen air filler. If you fill it today, you can forget re-filling for next 6 months!! Amazing alva?. It comes at a price of 30 Rs per wheel for the first fill. Rs 10 for the subsequent.

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Boycott Beijing...? Think again

2008-05-21T09:02:00.002+05:30

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Ant ad

2008-05-18T16:35:00.011+05:30

I saw this ad in Vijaya karnataka this morning. Ad by Bangalore Traffic Police.
It's great as an idea to tell 'follow lane' policy on the roads. The choice of ants is just perfect. But what would have been a great ad is reduced to just another. Nice idea, poorer execution.
Ants are cute. Because they are tiny. Because they are disciplined. Elephant sized ants here could be mistaken for an insect. Don't they ? Look at them.
Also, instead of just showing seven ants, I would have chosen few hundreds. After all, it's about Bangalore traffic menace.
Few hundred, tiny little black ants marching in-line, going around the four corners of rectangle pictured in a white background would have done the magic. Be a critic. It's easy.

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Moooooods in lines

2008-05-18T08:02:00.004+05:30

Just few lines & expressions come alive. Tried them on a lazy Sunday morning. First lesson to any budding cartoonist is the understanding of facial expression . eyes eyes eyes...don't have to emphasise more. It's all in the eyes. Place the dots and you instantly see the mood. Isn't this easy ?.... try them in your free time.

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i had ideas...

2008-05-10T23:37:00.005+05:30

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how do you read this ?

2008-05-07T10:48:00.003+05:30

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London Stay

2008-05-03T18:44:00.007+05:30

I was lucky enough to take a break of 10 days at London after three months of slogging at work in US. Half my stay at UK was at Cambridge and the remaining half at London. 4 days can barely do justice to visit London. What I did in these 4 days was just hopping tubes and coaches to get the length and breadth of the town. Was trying to familiarize with as many localities and points of interests as possible, rather than spending time at just one location. But on the final day I took it easy and spent all the time at Greenwich.
While US was work work work, UK stay was fun hop fun.

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mini vrfrenz meet at Camridge

2008-04-27T16:45:00.006+05:30

London still seems to be far. My friend, Praveen who was supposed to be here a day before, came down yesterday from Brighton, to see us.

From left, it's me, Niranjan Hiremath and Praveen Hosangadi. Grad time friends. They happen to stay here in UK for their masters.

We were hanging out in the most happening streets of Cambridge, till 3 in the morning. Oh! it's my birthday today. Wished me ?

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Guide walk tour of Cambridge

2008-04-26T13:29:00.006+05:30

I am still hovering around in Cambridge and yet to visit London. It was a day of Guided walk tour y'day. After spending sometime at Cambridge University Press book shop, I decided to take the guided walk tour to get to know Cambridge from inside. For 10 Pounds, it is still a value for money. What you get to see and hear is a little bit of Cambridge history, Important places, inside view of of one of the colleges and a visit King's college Chapel.

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Cambridge on 4 wheels

2008-04-25T13:06:00.008+05:30

While Day-1 of the cambridge was on 2 wheels Day-2 belonged to 4 wheeler. Since the Weather forecast for London was Heavy rain, I dropped the idea of visiting London.Instead, took the opportunity to visit our office in Cambridge Research Park.

Best way to get around in Cambridge is to buy Day rider Ticket for 3 Pounds. You can have unlimited number of rides. Visit to office was nice and short. Research Park is outside the city Limits and still not fully occupied.

Later in the noon, I took this citi13 bus which was leading to Haverhill via Linton. What a beautiful countryside!

Some confusion in the return journey led me to long long waits in the bus stops. End of the day, am more comfortable now getting around in Cambridge using public transport.

More Snaps here...

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Cambridge on 2 wheels

2008-04-23T23:46:00.007+05:30

This morning I had this confusion. To start with London or Cambridge ? Then I found out on the web that there is a Guided walk tour starting at Visitor information centre. I knew it's going to be difficult to get there in the first hit in an unknown place.
I took bicycle and went roaming in the noon at my own pace. Bicycle is so much part of this town's dwellers. There are dedicated cycle paths throughout the city. Mild cloudy weather was just perfect for a outing. Visited King's college, Trinity College, Whipper and Zoology museums. I sorta understand the topology of the town, the roads and other points of interest of cambridge. There is more to explore. But today's idea was just go out and see. Old educational institutions, museum, nice parks, Punting people, Bicycle rides. That's Cambridge for you.

More here...

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Dilbert Business Anthology

2008-04-21T08:30:00.003+05:30

I consider this a special buy. Other day when we were waiting for our Bosses to show up at the dinner, we spent few minutes in the nearby Borders bookstore. There is always something you can pickup at the bargain section. It was a steal for $9.99. Scott adams', slapped together. Three of his best works in one volume. Dilbert Principle, Dilbert Future and Joy of work, put together in one. Though I had all three of as separate volumes, this is so easy to have it as one. It is titled "The Dilbert Business Anthology".

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Few Closing shots

2008-04-16T07:39:00.006+05:30

Few closing shots before I start packing off from US.

- The length of the hair was still not ready to salon, but wanted to experience American salon. Price 15+2$ .
- Salsa lesson hall at MIT. Made it to almost 6-7 classes in spite of the hectic office.
- The best Boston view from Memorial Drive. Picture some.
- And the Car. Dodge mustang kept me company, more so the Sirius Satelite Radio

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Atonement

2008-04-06T09:02:00.006+05:30

Called it a day off. Did all the office work from home and watched this movie, which was sitting on my laptop for some time now. Atonement is a Masterpiece. One of the nominees for Best motion pictures for Academy awards '08.

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Hiking near Alton

2008-03-31T06:18:00.006+05:30

8 of us; 2 Indians, 2 Bulgarians, 1 Canadian, 1 American , 1 Polish, 1 Kazhak (truly cosmo ?) were hiking somewhere Near Alton in New Hampshire. Uphill was daunting and I almost gave up several times. But after that view from the summit, I felt it was worth it. Stayed up for 15 minutes on top and returned. Downhill is so fun. You lose control, skid, getup and fall down again and then get up and then fall again.... hahha..

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Good Luck Tania

2008-03-28T16:41:00.006+05:30

Tania Biswas, is a best friend, than just a colleague of mine. Her last day at office today. We worked together for 2.5 years. My best mentee so far :)

Ever smiling, enthusiastic, full of energy and jumping to learn ...and yes argumentative ( Bengali ?, yes ). Very quick witted and easily outpaced my thinking speeds.
I still remember the way she got into our company. It was a walk-in interview and I was there that saturday for co-ordinating. Out of 100 odd people who appeared for the tests that day, she topped others by great margin. We knew that it was that lefty, tom boy cut girl who is going to join us.

Tania, remember we all started with Minc confign automation...shell scripting...etc. She survived the hard time to go through those amazingly complex 4.0 software upgrades. And more recently DPR test plan. We finished the plan in great style..amdist tricky confusion :). But sad you wont be around for execution.

Well..that snap is from our Annual day in Dec 2006. She was playing Mandira ? and me Greg Chappel, the Coach. It would be hard when I come back and not to see you at your desk.
We miss you Tania. Good luck.

Other Links : Dipu, Revathi

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Packed Sunday

2008-03-27T16:27:00.013+05:30

Visited these historically important places in the history of American Independence. Lexington and Concord.

I still havent learnt reading parking signals in US. After failing to find the parking on the roadside, I got inside the parking space of a church on a Sunday morning. Looking at all those who were flocking inside the church at 11 am I was also drawn inside. They were offering Easter prayers. My first experience inside a church, as an adult, to witness catholics offering prayers.
I took this pic hesitatingly. I was the only 'Black' in Lexington's catholics church. It was odd, but I managed.

Next to church in walking distance is Lexington memorial, in the middle of Lexingto Green ?
Visitor center nearby, helped me understand the importance of the place. Took some pics around the place.

Next destiny was American heritage museum. An old gentleman I met called this museum "a little secret". A nice museum exhibiting on three themes – Freemason, Industrial Design by Raymond and American History. I read about a bit to find out about this secretive society Freemasonry. Am not sure I understood.

Great Meadows national refuge. It has a big lake and I guess birds fly in from far off places. I met this nice chinese family on top of the viewing place.

They directed to me North bridge , World war II memorial.

When I had just come home, my colleague asked me If I can join to attend this Bulgarian meet at spring step in Boston. Was exhausted already, but I did not want to miss out. Highlight of the evening was that post party dance, where every one dances hand-in-hand in circles...

Click Click

2008-03-21T08:09:00.003+05:30

I forgot the data cable of the camera when I was coming to US. I clicked the snaps, but they remained in the camera for this long. Found an alternative way, to finally upload them.
Few of them are here. Complete album is available here.

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One weekend has just two days

2008-03-15T21:10:00.003+05:30

Probably it is the first weekend am staying home. Past few weekends were all care of office.
It happens you run of out ideas when the weekend is there with you.
- Some Yoga in the morning
- Listening to the Top Ten Songs on Kannada Audio
- Did some exploring on the Sirius Satelite radio in the car.
- Stretching my legs on the sofa..and blogging..

Let's see what else will I add by evening...

- A Boring walk in the mall..

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Four Time Zones For One Nation

2008-03-07T18:38:00.005+05:30

Geography of US is spread out so horizontally.... that it needs four different time zones within the nation. Am I right... there's a time difference of 5 hours between the coasts ?

15 deg of latitude difference corresponds to 1 hour. But it's bit political, technically India could have had two time zones but Govt chose to remain with just one.

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Art and Visual Perception by Rudolf Arnheim

2008-03-03T01:02:00.005+05:30

I was browsing the art section at Borders bookstore in Nashua. I picked this green paperback and browsed through few pages. I had an instant liking. It's expensive at 24$, but could not lay it back.

To rationalise my purchase, I searched this book on the web. It turns out to be a pioneering work of Rudolf. It's a nice feeling when you have made a purchase without any recommendation behind and to discover that it's one of the best.

The original edition written in a matter of 15 months is a crisp read. Contains topics on Balance, shape, Form, Growth, space, light among others. This has been my effort to understand the art of appreciating visual arts.

Related Links : What is art ?, Understanding Comics

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Perfection has its price

2008-03-02T11:11:00.006+05:30

I saw this train commercial of Stella Artois on TV.

When I was looking for the youtube video, I saw few of them.

Stella Artois, the Belgium beer offering is known for its distinctive advertising campaign.The thematic music, the visual, the mystery, the comical sequence, the slogan, all reiterating the brand value. Great ads. Perfection has its price.

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Vantage Point

2008-02-24T08:22:00.005+05:30

Watched this movie today at Showcase Cinemas. Editing is the hero. Storytelling reminds you of Mani Ratnam's Yuva . May be you want to check out what is Rashomon style of movie making.

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Blog makes money ?!!

2008-02-21T08:32:00.008+05:30

Blog makes money ?!! You never believed that. So did I. Hence, had no ads on my site. But that changed recently.
You can see few ads I have posted in the pages below. I was contacted to place ads in some of the most viewed pages of my site. I assume the readership of this blog growing. Thanks to you.

You can check the text ads below.
Earnmydegree ; Intermedia ; Socialstudieshelp ; Solestruck

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It's working. Net-working.

2008-02-17T08:53:00.007+05:30

It was a very very very hectic week at office. I was to implement a network using two Cisco catalyst switches with virtual redundancy routing protocol (VRRP) enabled. This too over bridged MRV switches.

Sounds geeky ?! It isss.....
It took me two full weeks right from working it on the paper, to all the way in the lab to have it working. This is no tough nut to a networking chap, but for me it was a nightmare to start from zero! Praise me.

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Free Salsa Lessons at MIT

2008-02-12T10:02:00.000+05:30

We got to know about these free Salsa lessons from our colleague. These are free Salsa lessons for beginners on Mondays at MIT building 144. Starts at 7 in the evening till 8.30

I don't think I am not that bad. One or two classes more, I should be able to pick up the basics.
Best part is there are lot of girls and makes a much better ratio. If you live in Boston, you should check this page
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U2 3D

2008-02-10T18:50:00.001+05:30

This is my first ever 3D movie. I should say concert movie. U2. I missed watching India's first ever 3D movie, chhota chetan, when I was small. We went to this Imax theatre at Jordan's furniture mall in Redding. Clever thing is you can enter the theatre entrance only after passing through their thousands of eye catching furniture on display. To lure the movie watching crowd. Works I guess.

Performance comes alive in 3D. Though I slept off for a brief while...it was still a nice experience. I must catch a real movie on this 3D screen.

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Superbowl 2008

2008-02-04T11:15:00.000+05:30

The entire nation was gripped by the superbowl mania here. We also watched this three hour showdown on the TV between the favorites, New England Patriots and NewYork Giants.

It was difficult to make any sense of the game in the initially... but as game progressed we had some sketchy clue. Am still not sure all that is there to know to understand the game.

Anyways...Pats were upset by the Giants. For sure there will be few disappointed faces in the office tomorrow.

The question is why do they call it FOOTball...when the entire game is played holding the ball in hands ?

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Dollar saving Look

2008-01-27T09:20:00.000+05:30

This new look was uncalled for. Went to Salon this morning, told him "Swalpa Sannaage" ( Make it short). He went deep down. Shorter than I imagined.

Well...no complaints... I would be away in US for a little longer duration this time. I dont have to pay in dollars for the hair cut.

Like this look ? Fugitive no. 756 ?! :)

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Surprise Visitor

2008-01-24T08:18:00.000+05:30

I had a surprise visitor in my Inbox, this morning. Robin Hall, the cartoonist.
I had bought this book "The cartoonist's workbook" when I went to US last time. I also wrote this piece of blog

He must have found out about this while googling. How nice of him to drop by and send a Thank you line.
Thanks Robin. Let your book reach many many more.

ATM

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robin Hall
Date: 24 Jan 2008 01:35
Subject: The Cartoonist Workbook
To: ArvindTM@gmail.com

Hi Arvind

I was just doing a Google search to see what has been happening with
my book The Cartoonist's Workbook

and I saw it mentioned on your blog

Just wanted to say thanks and hi

I hope the book still proves useful to you

Thanks again and all the best
Robin

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Ninnindale, Sihigaali

2008-01-20T22:24:00.000+05:30

These two songs definitely deserve all the praise. When nice music crosses great visuals and fine lyrics, magical is not the word. Listen to them... am sure you'll come back again.

This one from the movie Milana - Music Manomurthy, sung by Sonu Nigam.
Liked those cute little dance steps going back n forth. And amazing outdoors. Any idea which is this place ?

Movie - Aa Dinagalu, Music Ilayaraja, Singers: Ilayaraja and Nanditha.

Contrastingly this one is not a typical melodious male play back singing. But still got the haunt. Recognise these well known structures in and around Bangalore ? Was not aware that Raja sings too.

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Leaving to Boston 27th

2008-01-18T22:08:00.000+05:30

[Update 1] : 27th date is unlikely as of today. New dates, may be after a week or so.
[Update 2] : Things change fast. 28th is the new date. UK Visa is green :)

Was pretty hectic the last two weeks at office and also busy preparing for UK visa processing.
By the way, am travelling again to Boston on 27th. This time around, on my return journey, I want to stop over at London for a week.

Just crossing my fingers, that my UK visa is cleared without interview appearance.

Have any questions on applying for tourist visa to UK, ask.

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Bele Saaru barutta ?

2008-01-06T16:04:00.000+05:30

I did two things today.
I learnt preparing Bele Saaru.
When it came out well, I drew this proud chef's picture.

Since my kitchen literature in english is not good, here's How to make Bele Saaru in Kannada.

- Modalige ondu cuppu bele tagondu adakke 2.5 rashtu neeru haaki.
Soppu matte bele na cooker nallittu beyisi

- ee naduve, hunise hannu neernalli nensi.

- Bele benda mele....
Swalpa enne haaki, bisi aad mele jeerige, saasive, karbevu haaki
hunise hannina neeru hindi

- bele, soppu eradannu suriri

- idakke.. harishina pudi, khara pudi, masala pudi haaki
kudiyoke bidi

- Bele Saaru Ready. Easy Alva ?

Similar links: Mavinkayi Chitranna

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How to refute Creationist

2008-01-06T00:44:00.000+05:30

I frequently get into this sort of argument over lunch table. Best illustrated in the pic here.

Source

Similar links: That's what is Science, Why am I no-believer ?

If you liked the cartoon, watch this :

Quality surfing with Stumbleupon

2007-12-31T22:42:00.000+05:30

It's nearly 10 years I started using the internet. But for few years in between I was going no where, you have the this access to the web, but browse what ?! You need some pointer to start somewhere.
Search few keywords and visit those pages.....mmm ?! Cliche..

I discovered this only today.
Stumbleupon.com
My browsers never had any third party toolbars. Not even Yahoo! or Google Bars. I liked it that way. But I could not say no to this toolbar!

Stumbleupon is a web browser plugin that allows its users to discover and rate webpages!

What a fantastic tool ! Once you install and start stumbling you'll start discovering the richness of the web. Finest resources of the web are hidden somewhere out there and out of our sight. But not anymore, it brings the most recommended and rated sites from category of your interest.

Taking stock of Year 2007

2007-12-28T21:47:00.000+05:30

It's time to look back and take stock of the year 2007!

- Yoga, tops the list. With consistent practice, now my fingers can touch the floor.
- Trip to Boston in May. My first ever travel overseas was a nice experience.
- Cartooning. This was always an interest in the back burner. Now trying to run it in the foreground.
- Laptop. What a possession. Pick of the year.
- At work, project shift from DO to UAG has been mixed.
- The search for the Ms. Partner is finally sorta kicked off.

- Taste of success with Quiz,Table Tennis and movie making was sweet.
- Trip to Goa was another breezer.
- Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy and Dilbert Season one episodes. Visual treat of the year.
- Stock market with some intelligent investing did show some returns.
- Travel and reading, two things took a backseat this year.

Related Link: Year 2006, 2005

Difference Between Wife and Girl Friend

2007-12-27T22:35:00.000+05:30

Past few days I have been sketching these cartoons. What's the source of the humour ? Those daily SMS jokes I have subscribed.

If you have any, send them over, I will try them here.

Want powder for ants ?

2007-12-24T18:21:00.001+05:30

Cut a potato in two

2007-12-19T22:55:00.000+05:30

Four Girls walking on Beach

2007-12-18T22:19:00.000+05:30

Memento Chase!

2007-12-17T22:52:00.001+05:30

This one is inspired by that funny chase in the movie Memento. Villain chasing the forgetful Hero.

Filmi day

2007-12-17T00:33:00.000+05:30

I had checked out the previous day screening of 1 minute movies. Was in 50-50 mood to attend the workshop the following day. But then I decided...let's give it a try.

This is a 1 minute movie workshop organised by this crew of www.filmcamp.tv
Location : Seshadri Library in Cubbon Park
Time : 8.30 AM to 8 PM

Teams are split in a group of 4-5. The team has to work on the idea and the treatment, the script, dialogues, the location and storyboard before calling it "Lights" "camera" "action".
They provide you the camera and the tripod. Once the ground work is done, you start shooting. Editing is done by the their apple powered movie editors on their laptop. And Movie is ready !

It's a highly taxing job to do all this in a single day, though 1 minute movie sounds miniscule.

You get to go through all the phases of a movie making and you start beginning to understand the complexities involved in the co-ordination of the entire thing. Watching that small piece of wor,k end of the day, is worth it.
I will post that video here soon.

How are you feeling after inhale and exhale ?

2007-12-12T20:43:00.000+05:30

What is self confidence ?

2007-12-11T22:20:00.000+05:30

Our Annual Day Video

2007-12-10T16:47:00.000+05:30

Wear the headphones and give few mins to load the video.

Annual day in cartoons

2007-12-09T22:16:00.000+05:30

I did not take any pictures at the function, though I had the camera. But took some time out and sat down today to capture the annual day with a pen.

This was the best. Kids had to open their arms when the instruction was "small fish" and had to close when it's "Big fish". There were lots of "middle fish" hands. Cute.

Rewards were given away to the performers. Our video was screened up-right after a bit of tense moment. Lengthier-than-required skit created some laughter.

Couple called on to the stage had no clue what is in store.

We'll figure out if we're really in-sync when the video of the dance is going to be available.

Annual day at Royal Orchid

2007-12-08T11:22:00.000+05:30

Annual day of our office today at Royal Orchid, Airport Road. Playing my part a bit by participating in dance, video screening and song dedication. Expect some snaps and videos here tomorrow.

what am I reading ?

2007-12-04T22:16:00.000+05:30

Seven day weekend by Ricardo Semler

This one is off my Manager's shelf!. On borrow.
I am not sure if he has read it completely. But I hope the content influences him more than me. I stay out of office all the time and he inside :)

Semler runs Semco, where employees choose their own salaries, set their own work hours, and have no job titles.

Quizzing at office

2007-11-26T20:58:00.000+05:30

I hosted Quiz at office today. These were the questions for the prelims.

I realised, it's no easy task to come up with a set of 20 questions. This is inspite of the fact that there's a plethora of information and ready-to-serve quizzes out there on the net. You have to find a fine balance of easy but tough, teasing yet entertaining, and "ohhh...shit" types.

A week long, sincere effort paid off finally...and I think people liked it. I enjoyed more than any one else. Thx to Levin again, he helped me source some questions.
Wanna a give a try ?

______________________________________________

1. Identify them and tell what’s common to both ?

2. What connects these film stars of different eras?

3. 300, 320, 330, 340, 350. The next one in the series has been just launched. What is it?

4. Identify?

5. It is said that recipe of Kentucky Fried Chicken is the second most secret one. Milkmaid of Nestle comes at number 3. Which is regarded as the first most closely guarded recipe?

6. Identify?

7. Identify the Company?

8. What is common to these people ?

9.Which Indian IT company derives its name from a phrase by French
philosopher Rene Descrates?

10.When Sachin Tendulkar went for his first Test series to Pakistan, he did not sign the contract with BCCI. Someone else signed it on his behalf. Who signed it and why?

11. What were these two code named as ?

12. The bodyguard of the President of India consists of men from three communities only. Which ones?

13. HAL + 1 = IBM : What am I talking about ?

14. Which is this movie ?

15. What is the connection ?

16. What in Bangalore was earlier called South Parade?

17. Who is he ?

18. What connects them?

19. Which country’s flag is this ?

(Clue: flag symbol = map )

Understanding Comics

2007-11-24T18:56:00.000+05:30

This book took 15 days to reach me.Much longer than the advertised 3-7 days of delivery. I assume they had to procure from outside after the order was placed. I bought this online with http://landmark.sify.com

How do I quantitatively show you how much I like this book ?

THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS MUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHH

It's a comic book about comics by Scott McCloud
A very unique way of telling the History and theory of comics. A must read are the pages which tells why we generally like comics ?

Artist in a child

2007-11-24T18:17:00.000+05:30

When I went to Shimoga, my brother handed over this drawing book he found in an obscure dusty corner. I felt am really old when I browsed through those pages. It has my pencil sketches drawn 15 years ago !!! You can see pages those have turned yellow now. Thx to my new scanner, to do some rescue act.

That's the portrait of my Mom and Dad in the top. And that is me on the horse, inspired by Gandhada Gudi Film Poster. Few others here.

Arti to Ujwal

2007-11-21T23:04:00.001+05:30

I stayed with him at his New york apartment overseeing the beautiful Manhattan. This is when I visited NYC over the weekend 4 months back.

My engineering class mate Ujjwal Kumar. Very smart chap,less talkative and one who keeps to himself. All through the weekend, he looked a lot worried man. After a lot of teasing, he told he is disturbed because of his marriage plans not working out and not finding a suitable match. But never ever imagined that this was in store.

Do you connect these two pictures ? Read the rest at rediff. She is Arthi Agarwal. We're all yet to come out of the shock.

Shimoga Trip over the weekend

2007-11-20T23:36:00.000+05:30

I was on a three day visit to Shimoga, my home town, to attend a family function. Shot few pictures, when I went around the town and our farm. You can also find a mini clip of a ride on a bridge built over Tunga River. It is more than 100 years old now.

Scanning my soul !

2007-11-14T22:11:00.000+05:30

My first peripheral purchase.

I have placed an order for HP ScanJet 2400. Delivery is expected tomorrow.

These days All-in-one (Printer/Scanner/Copier) devices cost as good as a standalone. But I still bought a standalone, as I don't want to burn any cash on the never ending expenses of toner/cartridge. Print is not what I am looking for.

What's my business with the Scanner ?
Scan.

I been into sketching off late on the paper. I guess you'll see more of them on the web in coming days.

TT Champs

2007-11-14T18:21:00.001+05:30

Yups ! we won the match. TT Doubles. And the event comes to an end.
Say congrats now !

Charity at Home

2007-11-11T10:20:00.000+05:30

Have some free time at hand ?
Want to do some charity ?
but do not want to get up and go out of the comfort of your chair ?

This is what you can do.

Challenge your vocab with freerice.com
Visit the site to know how playing the vocabulary game can be a work of charity ?

Brilliant idea for a good cause.

TT Tournament's Big Day : The Final

2007-11-06T09:29:00.000+05:30

The Knack - Dilbert Season one episode

2007-11-04T09:31:00.000+05:30

Dilbert's Knack. I was watching this season one episode over the weekend. First let me tell you the story in the unpopular dilbert bulleted style.

The engineer Dilbert drinks coffee, accidentally from his pointy manager's mug.
That makes him lose the knack for technology.
The planned outer space advertising campaign is misfired and disturbs the orbit of satellites.
In a chain of events, it collapses the modern technological society. There's no power and communication.
People go back to ancient times but they are happy with the olden lifestyle.
Dilbert is upset and regains his knack.
Restores the orbit of the satellites and brings back the modern life.

If I chop the story even more, this is how it would have been briefed to the animators.

Wrong Cofee mug --> Misfired Advertising campaign --> satellites going out of orbit -> Downfall of civilisation -> Single handed restoring of the society.
This is the first minute animation of that video. You'll find the entire length on youtube.

In the first place, I wonder how he would have thought of such a story. Secondly, how he would have convinced the creators that it's going to receive a good laugh. A highly irrational piece of imagination spun together with a logically sequenced events. That's why Scott Adams is my God of imagination.

Best Time Passers

2007-11-02T23:26:00.000+05:30

If you ask me to name two of my best time passers, I would name this :
- BBC World Service on worldspace.
- http://www.wikipedia.org/

BBC, with its rich and in-depth content and great presentations brings the stories from around the world. Tuck a pillow and turn on the radio over an afternoon. Great treat.
Wiki, I have no words. Just pick few keywords of your areas of interest and keep hopping. Your understanding of the world changes for sure.

I have been surfing around these topics : Seven Wonders, Greeks, Pyramids, Christianity, Dharmic religion, Freethinkers, abstract art

The Final Four

2007-10-30T22:34:00.000+05:30

TT Tournament has reached it's final stage. Here are the last four battling for the title in semis. My bet will be on right most top cornered guy, Girish. He defeated me last year. My chances are slim. Let's see.

Update : I lost against Ravi and that brings my winning spree to the end and am out of the tournament. It'll be Ravi and Girsh, both on right who have reached finals.

The Lives of Others

2007-10-27T21:26:00.000+05:30

My favourite genre of the movie: Drama. And you don't need a better eg than this : The Lives of Others (2006). A German movie with English subtitles. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign film.

Banner. In or out ?

2007-10-27T11:51:00.000+05:30

I just created a banner for this blog. This one is a long pending one. I don't quite have a graphical aesthetics. The rule was to keep it simple and something which goes with the overall page layout. In or out ?!

Winners win a crown

2007-10-26T07:53:00.000+05:30

We play some 5 TT matches a day. Results of the matches are published the following day in a visual. Winners look like this. Isnt this a nice idea to to superimpose the winners with a crown ? Giving them a bit of high and yet make them look funny.

Tennis on the Table

2007-10-24T08:06:00.000+05:30

Table Tennis tournament is starting today at office. It's part of our fast-approaching Annual day celebration. Past few days, all of us are warming up to this big tourney. Table Tennis is a big draw here. Table being the only source of recreation, there are plenty of decent players. I am participating in both singles and doubles category.

WHY ME ?

2007-10-21T21:37:00.001+05:30

This is what I saw in Spam folder of my gmail inbox. Why was it sent to MEEE ??? Unknown sender. No Subject. Is it not easy to come up with an abstract name and generate a random subject line, like others have done in the top and bottom ?
( click to enlarge)

Bangalore Book Festival 2007

2007-10-21T08:42:00.000+05:30

Unlike previous years' festival, I collected no pamphlets, promotional materials or subscription forms or even bagful of books. As it has been in since last few months, my first instinct was not to buy any books. This visit was just to check if this year's edition is different in any ways from the past. I made it a point to spend as little time as possible browsing through popular sections of Management, Tech, Self help and novel sorts.

(Photo courtesy : My Brother)

But I still couldn't help myself to make one purchase. Just One. Of all the crores together books.

Two things which made my day.
- The book which I picked up. I tell you later. It deserves a separate post.
- Evening live concert of C Ashwath

It was raining when the program started and there were very few in the audience. But as Ashwath's voice touched skies, audience gathered in good numbers.

Kannada Bhavageethe concerts are a treat to ears. Their lines being adapted from poetry collections and composed by gifted musicians makes a perfect blend. I don't think I have ever attended any. It is sweeter, full of melody and lyrical. With no chairs left, standing for nearly hour and a half was still a breeze.

Two female singers and a male accomplice to Ashwath, rendered few of the finest songs.
Deepavu ninnade gaaliyu ninnade, Kurigalu saar kurigalu
Ondiralu Kanasinali, nee hinga noda beda nanna
naavu bharatiyaru , kodagan koli nungitta

I could not have come home without picking up the C Ashwath's collection. Maadhurya.
It is always like this. You go to book festival but get entertained by music.

Bangalore in Pictures : It's Real ( 7 of 10 )

2007-10-19T09:27:00.001+05:30

Goa Trip Pictures

2007-10-17T07:40:00.000+05:30

Some Pictures here and few there

Trip to Goa

2007-10-13T23:54:00.000+05:30

This is my fiiiiiirst ever trip to Goa ! For no reason I never had any chance to visit here. This is also NeeliGang's longest ever trip away from Bangalore.

I am posting this from a hotel near Calangute beach at Goa ! Beach in the evening followed by a dinner at St. Anthony's restaurant near Baga beach was lovely.

Goa is youngy and carefree. And invites every one with open arms.

I guess one more day to go....Planning to visit some more beaches tomorrow. Will post some pictures here soon.

:Posted from Adarsh's laptop with Reliance 1xRTT Data card.

Update : The complete story is here now

Bangalore in Pictures : Bangalore Currency ( 6 of 10 )

2007-10-11T08:53:00.001+05:30

Bangalore in Pictures : It's sleep time! ( 5 of 10 )

2007-10-09T08:22:00.000+05:30

Bangalore in Pictures : Favourite Liquid ( 4 of 10 )

2007-10-07T10:17:00.000+05:30

Bangalore in Pictures : City of Engineers (3 of 10)

2007-10-05T08:18:00.000+05:30

Bangalore in Pictures : Family Portrait ( 2 of 10 )

2007-10-03T05:44:00.000+05:30

Bangalore in Picures : The Great Bangalore Weather ( 1 of 10 )

2007-10-01T21:17:00.000+05:30

New Buy : The Complete Polysyllabic Spree

2007-09-30T23:34:00.000+05:30

The Diary of an Occasionally Exasperated but Ever Hopeful Reader

- Nick Hornby.

Why did I like this ?

It's a book 'written' by a voracious 'reader' of books.

Random Pick at Oxford Book store at Leela Palace. I quote here from the introduction :

Reading for enjoyment is what we all should be doing. If you don’t read classics, or the novel that won this year’s Booker Prize, then nothing bad will happen to you; more importantly, nothing good will happen to you if you do. I simply mean that turning pages should not be like walking through thick mud. The whole purpose of books is that we read them, and if you find you can’t, it might not be your inadequacy that’s to blame. ‘Good’ books can be pretty awful sometimes.

Virtual Lan

2007-09-29T09:13:00.000+05:30

Been very busy at office. Playing around with the network. Something which bothered me over the week was, virtual lan configuration. You can read loads of pages on the web. But before you start, take a look at this picture. You may not have to spend as much time as I did.

Arth Designs launch

2007-09-20T18:51:00.000+05:30

My Sister Nanditha (sitting), along with her friend Surekha have finally come closer to achieving their dream. Their designer wear boutique launch. Arth Designs.

They studied together at the Vogue Institute in Bangalore. Nearly after an year after the school they have launched their ethnic designer wear collection. It has taken a lot of courage and effort to see where they are today. I am so proud.

Check their web to see the exclusive collection. The website is still sketchy as I am still working on it.

RJ Cindu at OOB

2007-09-19T11:16:00.000+05:30

I met RJ Cindu or Sindhu at OOB conference last Saturday. Levine, a good friend of Cindu, introduced me to her. I just said hi, shook hand and was turning back.
Then Levine told me that it’s RJJJJ Cindu!!!!. WOWWW! It took me few seconds to realize that it’s sheee…. Having listened to her always on radio...it was a great feeling.
Cindu, is all bubbly and cheerful sort. An RJ material.

We chatted for half an hour, as they were waiting for a car or something… Other guy is the founder of YellowMonkey, a gaming company.

Thanks to Levine again for two minutes of micro-celebrity status.

What is the phenomenon called ?

2007-09-14T22:38:00.000+05:30

There are thousands of jokes inside the classroom involving a clever student and a stupid teacher. And this is just another. Or 1001th.

OOO for OOB

2007-09-14T21:28:00.000+05:30

I sent an email this morning to my folks at office. Just one-liner.
"I will be OOO for OOB"

OOB ?

I am going to be there tomorrow as well for the whole day at JN Tata Auditorium, IISc Campus, Bangalore

High Speed Economical Bridge

2007-09-13T20:56:00.001+05:30

You need a subject to draw. Well, what sparked this cartoon is Ram Setu controversy. But has no connection whatsoever into the issue.

The banner was earlier reading "Low Speed Limit 200 kph". But stare a bit. You will know that the car would never make it, if the speeds are ever going to change. Up or Low. Hence it should stay constant.

Who is He ?

2007-09-12T21:27:00.000+05:30

Who is he ?
Take a quick guess. He is not P C Sorcar. No he is not Sherlock Holmes or Pavarotti. Can't wait to know ? Play below. The Magician of our times.

PLAY

Ten Best shots of Mr. Roger Federer. Which one was the best of all ?

Indians are privately smart and Publicly dumb

2007-09-11T14:47:00.000+05:30

Got across this article, written after a book "Games Indians Play" by V Raghunathan.

Essence of the article is "Indians are privately smart and Publicly dumb". Keeping the debate aside, how are you going to put a picture to this phrase ?

It's tricky to translate this statement. It has both +ve and -ve connotation. When I crossed this person wearing kerchief around his nose in the morning, it flashed. Don't know how far does it convey the idea.

Great Indian Idol

2007-09-10T11:29:00.000+05:30

I have been religiously following all the Indian idol season 3 episodes on my broadband connection. Incidently the finale is coinciding with the Great Indian Idol fest. So I sat down to connect these two events.

I use my reynolds pen to draw, but this one is drawn with a pencil. It's first time that am coloring it in photoshop. See the difference with the raw version.

Kitne admi the ?

2007-09-05T11:01:00.000+05:30

I don't usually forward forwards. But this one..I could not resist.

How do they color the pic ?

2007-09-03T17:07:00.001+05:30

Half my sunday went in thinking about this. How do they color the pic ? Do they use oil paints ?
or do they work on the line art first and then use the brush to paint ? or they scan the work and use the paint brush ?

Aaalll my questions were answered. This is the place to go if you want to learn how to color the pic. A step-by-step by guide. Digital Coloring Tutorial Part I/II/III

The cartoon guide to Physics

2007-09-01T18:54:00.000+05:30

An entire book written only with cartoons to make you understand the fundamentals of Physics. A fine example of how an art form can be put to make learning interesting and entertaining.

Picked it up from Landmark Book Store. Authored by Art Huffman and Illustrated by Larry Gonick. Larry has got an array of books in the same series.

Looking to expand your company’s hosting abilities ?

2007-08-31T23:59:00.000+05:30

Many modern businesses require email hosting and server web hosting of some sort. If you are looking to expand your company’s hosting abilities to include private label exchange hosting , make sure to visit this site today!

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