The Lonesome Road

Wrong: Colibri - a genus of the hummingbird, comprising four species: the Brown Violet-ear, the Green Violet-ear, the Sparkling Violet-ear, and the White-vented Violet-ear.

Right: Colibri - Type ahead. Information at the tips of your wings.

The new version of Colibri (11a) is out! Finally!

I don’t think the changelog has been updated - and I haven’t played with it yet.

So why am I still here? Yeah - I should be off to see what this baby does!

Later all!

I’m not a big TV fan. Seriously. Even in the US, where there are channels aplenty, there are very few shows/serials that I actually feel like watching. In fact, here is the (admittedly) short list of shows that I go out of my way to watch

1) Good Eats - This show is so good, it deserves it’s own post. Stay tuned for it

2) Iron Chef - The original series

3) Star Trek : TOS - I’ve talked enough about this show on previous posts.

4) Scrubs - Enough said

5) Seinfeld - There is just something about it that tickles me.

So, why the intro? People who see this list will see only one sitcom on it. Seinfeld. Why? Well, there is no real explanation for it. I have at one time or the other enjoyed sitcoms like That 70’s Show, Frasier and Becker. I still watch them if I am surfing and have nothing better to do. However, they don’t capture my attention anymore.

In my younger days (well, about 10 years back), when I was but a schoolboy, the STAR network had a channel called Star Plus. It was one of the only channels in India where you would get programming from the US and the UK. And the serials were old. Read old. Of course, that didn’t really bother me too much as I was too busy watching japanese robot cartoons. Ah the heady days of new anime

Of course, Star Plus also had an amazing line up of British comedies. These were seriously comedies. And I followed almost every one of them. Even now, I remember the line-up. Monday was Fawlty Towers, Tuesday was the amazingly funny “Mind Your Language” with Mr. Brown and his mixed bag of students. This was followed by my personal favourite- “‘Allo ‘Allo” on Wednesday with Renee the bartender, his french resistance contact Michelle (Listen very cahefully - I shell say zis only wence) and the “British” policeman (Good mourning. I have a massage for you”). Thursday was the loony “Are you being served” with Mr.Peacock and the garment sales department. It also featured Mrs. Slokum who had her hair (wig?) dyed a different colour for every show (though blue and pink were the most common).

You remember I wrote I remembered the line-up? Well, almost. I don’t remember now what used to come on friday. Oh well.

Later on, I was introduced to Coupling by Anshul and once again, I was simply hooked! It’s a brilliantly witty show. Just think of it as “Friends” - only with better characters, better plot lines, better punch lines and (definitely) better actors. Of course, the best part of the show was Jeff, and when he left after Season 3, the show wasn’t the same. Even so, the first 3 seasons were simply hilarious. And to turn it up a notch, there is another show making the rounds. It’s called “The IT Crowd” and it follows the life of the tech support staff in a company. Watch it - it’s well worth the 1/2 hour.

The reason I am writing about this is simple. My friends were using the comp and I was channel surfing. And then, on screen appeared Captain Peacock (from “Are You Being Served”) and I was thrilled. Then when I scanned onwards, I found that there was a two hour block of the show. I was in heaven - and a little scared. When you haven’t seen a show for nearly 10 years, there is a tendency towards nostalgia. The memories are seen through a rosy mist. I was a little worried that the show would not hold up to my memories of it. Boy, was I wrong. It was as funny - and kooky as ever. I had a great time.

I don’t really know why I prefer the British comedies (notice, I did not call them sitcoms. They are comedies) over American sitcoms. I suppose it’s primarily because the people who do the dialogue for the British shows are infinitely better than their american counterparts. The lines are crisp and make amazing use of the subtleties in the english language to create comedy. Also, the characters are definitely better etched in the British shows - and I think they have better casting teams as well. Whew! Overall, I think that brit comedies cater to both - people who want mindless comedies (you can enjoy these shows even if you switch off your brain) as well as those who like subtle humor (in the vein of Wodehouse). Most ameican shows cater only to the former. Of course, this is only a personal opinion. Feel free to disagree.

That’s all from me. Until next time - look out for the “Giggle loop” (It’s a Coupling reference)

You know, I am a firm believer that the basic education system in India is one of the best (if not the best) in the world. Please note that I primarily speak about the “Delhi boards” i.e the ICSE and CBSE systems. I have no idea about the local boards as I have no personal experience of them. For those who do not know, every state in India has a local education board which sets the syllabus for students’ in the state.

Of course, in most states, the ICSE/CBSE system goes out of the window after the 10th standard (grade). Most students are absorbed into the state board system and only a few schools offer ICSE/CBSE till the 12th standard.

One thing I have seen throughout school is the fact that we were never (ever) allowed calculators. Even during the final grade 10 exams, calculators were not allowed. We were provided log tables in order to complete the problems that required them. The first time I ever used a calculator was in grade 11.

The whole point is that when you are doing a 100 mark math paper in 3 hours without a calcualtor, there are a whole bunch of tricks that you pick up in order to complete questions in time. The simplest example is the rounding off system. For example, if you are adding 76 and 55, simple add the closest multiple of 10 (80 and 60 in this case) and then subtract what’s left. So, 140 - 9 = 131. Of course, this is a very simple example. There are many ways in which lengthy calculations can be avoided using simple mathematics.

However, when everything that is to be done is done by a calculator, a certain amount of the brain just never develops. I know that the US education system delivers calculators to students at a small age. So most students’ use calculators to perform simple addition, subtraction, yada, yada. The problem with this is that the dependency on the calculating machine continues into adulthood.

Consider this small example. A friend of mine is going back home and wanted to purchase a few things to take back home. So we went to a large retail store (no, I am not naming names) and purchased a few of the items we required. Here’s how it went at the checkout.

Ch : (scans items)
Ch : That’s $34.35
Us : Ok. Here’s $50
Ch : (looking at screen) Your change is 15.65
Us : Hang on, we have 35c in change.
Ch : (looking confused) Your change is….
Us : (waiting patiently)
Ch : (looking hassled) Uh..
Ch : (30 sec later) $16!
Us : Thank you.

Give this problem, which is essentially 34.35 - 50 + 0.35, and any kid back home will tell you the answer is 16 (or -16 for purists). Really made my head spin.

Until next time - exercise your brain!

I was trying to open my Rediffmail account a couple of days back and kept getting a “Page cannot be displayed error”. I didn’t bother too much as it’s not a primary mail account. However when I encountered the same problem yesterday, I thought there was something wrong.

When I went to college, I tried opening it from there, only to be greeted by a partly rendered page which showed me the “new look” of Rediffmail. I was pretty bugged - my Dilbert comes to rediffmail, and I had to actually type the url to go read the comic of the day. Anyway, the page finally rendered today and I was underwhlemed.

I mean - it looks like a normal email program - only it’s on the web. It’s got the normal Folder view on the left, and the rest of the screen is horizontally split in half. The upper half has the headers and the lower half shows previews of the mail. Unfortunately, as of now, the interface is not very fast. Fortunately, there is an option to go back to the old rediffmail. The system also allows you to alternate between the new (beta) and old versions.

I wonder why the mail servers are going all gung-ho for all these “new interfaces”. I liked rediffmail as it was fast, efficient and had the basic design elements that I needed. The same reasons I like gmail. AOL, Yahoo (and now Rediff) are trying to bring more desktop elements like drag and drop into the mail system. Not required. Make my mail system as interface optimized and fast as possible and I am a customer for life.

Anyway, that’s all from me. Until next time - check your mail

I’ve been in the US for around 8 months now, and I’m more or less used to the differences between this place and India. But the thing is, each time I go to the city (NYC), it makes me a tourist all over again.

Almost every visit to the city is unique. There is so much to see and do that every trip becomes a fresh-of-the-boat experience. Of course, it really helps if the person taking you around knows the city inside out - and really likes living in it. I am very fortunate that my NYC guide has these qualitites in spades.

Yesterday’s first snaps were at Columbis circle. Lots of people - and their dogs were loinging over there. Here is where the advantage of the wide angle lens came in. Took a lot of building photos and a couple of horizon wide screen shots there.

I wanted to see the new Apple store for quite some time. Yesterday, the fates were kind and I did manage to go see it. To be very honest, when they said all glass, I somehow thought it would be all above ground. Nope. Much of the store resides below the ground level. I also took some pics of the store and I’ll put them up on flickr later. The main problem with the store (for me) is that I wanted to buy everything that I saw. Oh man, when will I be able to buy a Macbook Pro. Apparently, the masses had the same idea as the checkout counter was full of people buying Apple hardware.

Next, we went to Central Park (it’s right next door to the Apple store). It’s like an oasis in the middle of the city. It’s green, clean and amazingly beautiful. I didn’t see too much of it, but the little I saw dictates that another trip is to be made to see more of the place in the near future. One of the best areas to go walk around in is the Rambing area (the name is close to my heart, for obvious reasons).Of course, I took snaps there as well. The place is so huge that it’s easy to get lost - but that’s not a bad thing. Keep walking around, sooner or later you will hit a main road.

What’s amazing to see in Central Park is the amount of wildlife. Well, I wouldn’t say they’re wild..but, oh forget it. There are songbirds, ducks, wading birds, robins, wrens, turtles and fish. Whew! Never realized that so many animal snaps could be taken in the middle of a bustling city. One more thing to notice is that the birds in the park are fat. No kidding. They are really fat. I guess free food an no exercise does affect wild animals as well.

All in all, yesterday was a fun day with lots of roaming and good food (Whole Foods) to finish it all.

Until next time - see more green!

It’s been a while since I updated this blog. Might as well do it now, when the nag level is still low. You know, this blog is read by very few people - and a lot of spam bots. My comment moderations have been overflowing with links for viagra and whatnot. It seems that Bill Gates (or someone who stole his name) seems to think I need mp3 players and other assorted electronics. He even kindly provided links. Seems that I have more high profile bot readers than real readers.

Here’s an example :

Name: BillGates | E-mail: bgates@check.com | URI: http://phentermine.pharma-search.us | IP: 206.54.70.243 | Date: June 9, 2006

I don’t know what he’s selling - and I’m not planning to buy it anyway

See, this is the problem with having a photoblog. As I have said before, it’s easier to take a photo and write a few lines about it as compared to thinking, framing and completing a post on this blog. And as a person who tends towards laziness, I find it a lot easier to maintain the photoblog. It somehow gives me a greater sense of satisfaction to capture a good photo than to write an article.

Speaking of photography, I am having fun these days roaming with the camera. The good thing about photography is that it tends to make one more aware of the surroundings. Personally, I am not good company with a camera in my hand. I keep looking here and there to catch a good shot. I was having a discussion with Anshul the other day. I do believe that there is an element of luck in photography. Anshul feels the more you click, the luckier you get. I prefer my theory. There are some snaps that i took by sheer chance. My good friend feels that is simply due to more situational awareness. Whatever it is, I am not complaining.

Of course, there is a downside to all this newfound awareness. There is so much to see - a flash of color, a trailing wisp of cloud, the trill of birdsong that calls attention to the singer - that focus is concentrated on the subject. Unfortunately, while all this focussing takes place, no one tells the legs to stop moving. This can result in pretty spectacular near-falls. Hey - but that’s the risk you take in the name of what you do.
And while we are on the subject of snaps, major updates on the photostream today. Some photos that I took in college have been uploaded.

In other news, I have been enjoying my summer vacation. Catching up on some reading, taking photos and teaching myself spanish. My cup runneth over!

Until next time - enjoy your summer!