The Lonesome Road

The first camera that I ever used was an analog Nikon camera that had been in the family forever. Of course, at that time I was no big fan of the device.

I’ll be very honest here - I was a (really) bad shot with the nikon. Most of the pictures that I took used to come out overexposed and shaky. To this day, I am a bad shot with analogs. Of course, I haven’t tried photography with SLR’s - but that’s a different post.

My first digital camera was a Sony DSC-P93. This camera came into my hands a couple of years back and made me fall in love with photography. It was a fun and easy to use point-and-shoot. Unfortunately, I had to leave it back home before I came to the US.

Once here, it did not take long before the abundance of things to photograph and the inability to do so had me itching to get my hands on a new camera. Of course, this time I wanted something more than a simple point and shoot. The lessons had been learnt well on the older camera. I was looking for a good (heavy-ish), stable camera which took standard memory cards, and most importantly - had a high zoom. After a lot of research (thanks to Anshul), the choice finally came down to my current camera - the Canon S2IS.

Why all this intro? Well, it’s a small thing really. Even as I took up hosting, I knew that my photoblog updates were going to exceed my blog updates. There’s not much I like to write about - but put a camera in my hand and I will start looking around for something to photograph. This post is basically a small celebration for the 50th photo put up on the photoblog.

For all those who wonder why I don’t update my Flickr photostream too often and/or why the dates on the photos on the phoroblog are from May, here is the explanation: I do three levels of filtering on all my photos.

(1) Basic : No blurs, sharp subjects. This step eliminates only the shaky and out of focus snaps

(2) Flickr worthy: From each set, there will be a set of photos that I like enough to upload on Flickr.

(3) Showcase: Is a subset of (2). The photos that I really like from (2) will be put up on the photoblog (and Flickr).

Once all the photos that I want to showcase from a set are over, the remainder that satisfy criteria (2) are uploaded in a set to Flickr.

Whew! I hope that clears things for the (few) curious people.

Later all!

In my inbox, chain letters are dealt with harshly. They are summarily banished to the junk mail folder and then sent to the big deal mail box in the sky. The chain letter that came in today will have a slightly different fate. While I will not forward it, I’ll put it up here. It expresses the same ideas that Anshul’s post did. I see no point in repeating what has been said so well.

With no further intro - here’s the letter:

A letter from Mumbai

Dear Terrorist,

Even if you are not reading this we don’t care. Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our life - killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars. You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony. But every time you were disgustingly unsuccessful. Do you know how we pass our life in Mumbai? How much it takes for us to earn that single rupee? If you wanted to give us a shock, then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives. Better look elsewhere, not here.

We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengaliies. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, govt. employees or private employees. WE ARE MUMBAIKERS (Bombay-ites, if you like). We will not allow you to disrupt our life like this. On the last few occassions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work next day in full strength. This time we cleared everything within a few hours and were back to normal - the vendors placing their next order, businessmen finalizing the next deals and the office workers rushing to catch the next train. (Yes the same train you targeted)

Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospitals, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn’t require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100%, trains & buses were packed to the brim, and the crowds were back.

The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one - perhaps with greater vigour.

We are Mumbaikers and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us with your crackers. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and can not be harmed.

With Love,
from the people of Mumbai (Bombay)

I love this city!

I’ve been a long time Stephen King fan. At one point in time, I owned around 30 books that he had written (I am counting those he wrote as Richard Bachman as well). Of course, this was before book worms decided that I had to many books and ate quite a few of them. When they finished their food, I had fewer than 10 left.

All that apart, I hated the first King book that I read. Technically, it wasn’t a King book, it was one of the Bachman books - Thinner. I was cribbing about the book to a friend and he dumped a copy of The Dark Tower II - The Drawing of the Three in my hand.

So, I took his recommendation that the book was good, and gave King a go with a clear mind. And boy, was the book great. The characters, the interactions and the plot were amazingly good. Of course, once I finished book 2, how could I not go after book 3 (The Waste Lands)?

Of course, a few things did not make sense in book 2 as I had not read book 1. Long story short, bought books 1 - 3 and re-read them in order. Book 3 ended in a cliff hanger - and I hated King for that. Of course, all this reading also introduced me to the other books that he wrote. If you are reading the Dark Tower series, it makes a lot of sense to read his other books - trust me on this.

After a long wait, Book 4 (Wizard and Glass) finally came out. The problem(?) with this book was that it dealt a lot with Roland’s past. It does a good job of providing the back story and the motivation of Roland’s quest, but at that time I was a lot more interested in knowing when Roland was going to get to the damn tower of his. Now that I have finished the series, I think I will give it another go.

The gap between books 4 and 5 (Wolves of the Calla) was longer than I anticipated. Also, by that time, I had moved on to other authors and different genres. When I finally got my hands on the book, I was disappointed. To be honest, of all the books in the series, this is (according to me) the weakest one. Why? Simple - it does not move the story forward. Well, not too much in any case. It felt like the entire novel was just to set up the ending. I did not enjoy slogging (yes, it wasn’t that good) through the book just to have the last 10 pages move the story forward.

Once that book was done, I gave up on the series. Well, gave up is a little strong - I just stopped bothering about it. For around 2 years. The other day, when I went to the local library, I saw the last two books in the series (The Song of Susannah and (duh) The Dark Tower) next to each other. After a lot of internal debate, I took them home - and fell in love with the series all over again.

The Song of Susannah had all the made the series great in the first place. Characters, plot lines, interactions - the works. And the story was moving forward - hurtling forward in fact. And the book was small - well, small compared to the other books in the series. It was so good that I finished it in a day.

That left only one book to go. The one where Roland achieves his goal (or does he?). Was it going to be the culmination of King’s work - or was it going to make me hate him forever? Let’s just say he ended it the only way he could. As he says, the ending just wrote itself - and I am not disappointed/upset by it. In the light of the end, quite a few things that happen in the book make sense.

Yes, there is nothing about the story, the characters or the plot in the post above. It’s simple. If anyone is inspired to read the series because they had the patience to read this article, I don’t them to have any preconceived ideas. Approach it with a fresh mind. Those who have read other King books will enjoy the series a little more. Here are some of the books you should try while/before reading the series : The Stand, Salem’s Lot, Insomnia, Hearts in Atlantis, and It.

In many ways, this series is King’s Magnum Opus. It almost feels like all the other books that he wrote were simply window dressing for this epic. This is his Grand Unified theory, bringing all his works under one umbrella. As an avid fan, I will not be disappointed if he bows out now and never writes another work. Book 7 - The Dark Tower is gift enough.
Khef, Ka and Ka-Tet.

Say thankya.

As I have written earlier [loneroad.info], I am a big fan of reading the information that is written on cans and other packing devices.

Now, the thing is, for the most part, the labels are normal. They simply provide information about the product and some nutritional statistics. But every once in a while, there comes a label which provides enough amusement to make up for the effort.

Now we take a tanget.

It’s nearing the end of the mango season in India. Unfortunately, in the US mangoes are really expensive. But, summer will not be summer unless mangoes are eaten. The solution - mango pulp. Yes, I know there are artificial flavours and preservatives, and added sugar. Who cares - it tastes like mango. So shoo. Also it costs $1.49 for a large can making it very affordable

Anyway, the purpose of that long winded introduction was to set up the warning label that I read on the can. It says :

“Factory: Product made in a nut free area, but nuts elsewhere”

What in the name of God does that mean? Of course, the rational (and correct) answer is that there are no traces of nuts in the factory where the pulp is produced, but there may be nuts in the area where the product is stored/stocked or during transportation.

I leave you, constant reader to draw your own conclusion from what you read.

Until next time - may your area be nut free

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!

You know, I actually wanted to think of a witty title for this post, but I could not work up the required levels of annoyance and sarcasm to do so. To celebrate the teams return to form, I am reusing the title of an old post. Old colours deserve an old title.

Now, I know, I am hitting the team when it’s down. But it’s only because I care. We lost to the Windies, and that too 4-1. Why win that first match. Let them make it a white (brown?) wash. The problem with out team is that they give us hope. That most precious emotion is then cruelly destroyed when the team reverts to form and manages to lose spectacularly.

Take our record over the last few matches for instance. We’ve broken the shackles of being dependent on one man and play together as a unit. We even found people to pinch-hit, act as all rounders and bowlers who could actually bowl fast. We even managed to break the mind-set of choking when we chase a large total. People thought that we actually had a team could go and conquer the world cup.

Sadly, that dream seems to have evaporated. Yes, I am being premature as these were only the ODIs. I agree that the results of the test matches will tell us if our team has the guts and temperament required to bounce back from a series loss. I guess they should keep in mind that cricket is a fickle game - success today does not equate to success tomorrow. Also, our team should realize that when they play well, the teams facing them are going to plan better. Consider how the Windies got Dhoni out. Let me quote from Rediff :

Those two factors – shutting down the straight field, and getting the keeper up – combined to cause Dhoni’s downfall. Unable to hit straight or to change the length by going down the track, the keeper-batsman was forced to stay well inside his crease and try to muscle the ball square; an attempt to do so off a fuller length Hinds delivery that stayed a touch low and jagged a touch in off the seam ended in an inner edge onto the stump

Another factor is that our batsmen are not firing the way they used to. Dravid seems to be out of form, and most of the others are getting set and then getting out. We need a lot more work if we are going to take this team to the World Cup and have a decent chance of winning.

In any case, I will stop talking about cricket now. Yes, you may breate a sigh of relief.

In other (better) news, I have been experimenting with panorama shots. Am using a feature in my S2IS that allows me to take multiple photos that can later be merged to form a single, composite picture. You can see the photoblog for more on that.

That’s all from me for now. Later!

I’m a big believer that books do not translate well into movies. Of course, you are free to reject this notion as it’s based only on my opinion.

However, here is my reasoning: One of the major advantages in a book is that there is no time limit for the author. This allows him/her to develop characters, explain motivations and generally move the plot along. Film makers however, do not have this luxury. They have to tell the story in the span of two hours. Combine this with the fact that the average attention span of a viewer is 0.75 seconds (feel free to debunk this figure), the movie makers are forced to move things along pretty quickly.

Secondly, an author is free to take time to explain the thought process that a character follows. This gives the reader a little more insight into the players in the story. This is really hard to do in a movie. I mean, come on - won’t it be odd if an off-screen voice tells us what a character is thinking as (s)he stares into space?

Anyway, coming back to the DVC, I picked it up from the library as a friend recommended it. I read through it and thought it was a bad book. I won’t say it stinks, but it’s not exactly the masterpiece it was recommended as. I though Robert Langdon was a weakly developed character, the monk (who was into pain) was plain boring and the plot “twist” totally predictable. Now, the only things that were half-decent in the book were the puzzles. The initial ones were easy enough, but after a while, I was so out of the book that the puzzles no longer interested me.

Now, I usually give an author two books to prove themselves. You know, just in case the first book was a stinker. For example, my first Stephen King book was Thinner. It was crappy. Then I read The Dark Tower and I was hooked. Anyway, all that aside, I read Angels and Demons. If anything, this book was even worse than the DVC. Dull, uninspired and wordy are the words that come into mind when I recall my reading. Oh and Mr.Langdon falls of a plane (or helicopter - don’t really remember - was on autopilot) and lands safely without a parachute. Talk about divine intervention.

When I heard they were making a movie on the book, I was aghast. As I said, a bad book translates into a really bad movie. And it seems that the critics agree. Almost all of them have panned the movie. The best review that I have read is from The New Yorker - you can read it here.

For those who do not want to read the whole thing, here are some snippets:

A dead Frenchman is found laid out on the floor of the Louvre. His final act was to carve a number of bloody markings into his own flesh, indicating, to the expert eye, that he was preparing to roll in fresh herbs and sear himself in olive oil for three minutes on each side.

Our hero, needing somebody to trust, does the same dumb thing that every fleeing innocent has done since Robert Donat in “The Thirty-nine Steps.” He and Sophie visit a cheery old duffer in the countryside and spill every possible bean.

There is also Silas (Paul Bettany), a cowled albino monk whose hobbies include self-flagellation, multiple homicide, and irregular Latin verbs. He works for Opus Dei, the Catholic organization so intensely secretive that its American headquarters are tucked away in a seventeen-story building on Lexington Avenue.

As a rule, you should beware of any movie in which characters utter lines of dialogue whose proper place is on the advertising poster. (Just imagine Sigourney Weaver, halfway through “Alien,” turning to John Hurt and explaining, “In space, no one can hear you scream.”)

From now on, such penance will be simple—no lashings, no spiked cuff around the thigh. Just the price of a movie ticket, and two and a half hours of pain.

Anyway, you get the drift. I will stop here. Of course, this has not stopped the general public from flocking to the theatres and spending a whole load of money on the movie. Enough money to allow the studios to claim that the DVC is the “most popular movie - Worldwide”. I leave you, constant reader figure out how true their claims are.

In other news, Omen is being remade. I’m a big fan of good horror movies. I really liked the Omen as there is no blood and gore in the movie and there is a gradual escalation of terror throughout the movie. Awesome it was. Well, let us see what they do with the remake. I am scared..very scared

That’s all from me for now. Later all!

It’s been a while since I actually wrote something in a blog. It almost feels like wearing an old pair of jeans - you know that it fits, but it still feels a little awkward (see - I can’t even get my analogies correct!). So, please bear with me till I get my writing skills sharpened again.

As can be seen, I actually spent some time personalizing the look of the blog. Something must be wrong with me - I am actually working!

Anyway, jokes aside, a lot of work was done last night. Thanks to some very persistent inspiration from Anshul, the feed for this site was added to feedburner and the new feed was added to the header. Also, for those who follow the old blog, the older feed was updated to point to the new feed. Whew - all this work for 5 readers.

Another first for me was photo editing. The header photo is a snap of a path that runs through my college (I’ll put it up on the photoblog one of these days). It took some work with GIMP to get it to the size and transparency effect that I wanted.

What else..oh yeah. I am advertising my photoblog on my website. Hey - don’t mock me. If I don’t promote my photos, who will? Also, a little clean up was done in the sidebar and I added horizontal lines to differentiate between sections. As proof of my love for pain, I also added the feedburner chicklet to display the number of readers on my site (which as of now is at a huge 0).

As always, it’s up to you constant reader to provide feedback and let me know if you love/like/hate the look. One more thing, do let me know if I should put a picture of myself on the front page (we don’t want to scare of the new people, do we?).

In other news, all those who have been waiting for the new release of Colibri have to wait a little longer. It was supposed to be released earlier this month, but the site has been down for almost 2 weeks. I finally mailed Michael and it turns out that the leetspeak servers are down and Michael’s HDD has crashed. Until leetspeak comes back up, there will be no Colibri.

What else…another semester done. I can’t believe how fast this semester went by. Time flies when you are having fun, I suppose.

Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time - bookmark the feed!

So, here we are - a new page and a new blog. I don’t know how many readers I have, but for those who do follow what I write, my thanks.

I will be moving the RSS feed on feedburner soon enough (proabably tonight) to point to this page. Also, now that I have a separate photoblog (http://sightings.loneroad.info), there will be (mostly) no more picture posts on this site.

Just hang on a little longer for the first major post here. Have a small poll though - what do you think of the site template. Do let me know.

Later all!

After a lot of thinking and reflecting, I have decided that this blog needs to move.

While I am not unhappy with the service that Blogger provides, I want the independence of having my own site and configuring it to my liking.

Of course, the moving process has just begun, and as usual, run into some technical snags. The posts will be moved soon, but until then, keep an eye on the new photoblog.

For the link happy people, here are the new sites:

http://ramblings.loneroad.info for the blog and

http://sightings.loneroad.info for the photoblog.

Until next time….