Adventures of an High Elf Sorcerer

I'm fed up with blogger! I have moved to LiveJournal. http://www.livejournal.com/users/adityag

The reason why I have written to this blog in some time is that the mailed blogs are not getting formatted correctly.<br> Lets see whether this one goes through!<br> Otherwise, I might as well switch to <B>LJ</B>. Coz the Blogger site is patheticly slow.

Weekends start with Friday evening. A chat with Himanshu inspired me to write down some things related to science and DSP that I had in my mind. I've started writing them. I'll post them here one by one as and when I'm through with them. I'm kind of stuck with some fundas of electromagnetic waves. Saturday and Sunday were spent at Mahabaleshwar with my family. Man, it was warm in the afternoons. I mean, its not supposed to be warm up there. Not even in the afternoons. Basically, walked around quite a bit, ate, slept and drove. I would have liked to walk a bit more actually. Everything else went like a typical Mahabalshwar trip with the expected dose of langurs, some animals you try hard to identify, red shoes and socks, etc. The trip back was not so memorable though, getting stuck in a traffic jam for 2 hours in the Katraj Ghat.

The google toolbar for firefox is quite amazing. The best part is that it has a gmail inbox notification and a single click takes you to the gmail inbox. Other google services are also at a clicks distance. Try it out, maybe its what you are looking for.

Something very interesting has happened. There is no petrol left in Pune :) It going to be fun to observe what happens for the next two days. -- A man may sometimes be forgiven the kiss to which he is not entitled, but never the kiss he has not the initiative to claim.

Xfce desktop 2 , originally uploaded by urwithaditya . Its the gdesklets that get you the nice eye candy actually. Xfce4 is a much improved version. Its almost revamped. I guess I'm going to be using it for quite some time to come.

Does the photo come above the text or below? And well ... I couldn't find any other image offhand.

I guess I have written about him already out here. But no amount of writing can do justice to the respect I have for this man. He is simply phenomenal. A PHD in Physical Chemistry, a great lover of hindi film music and english films, an experienced trekker (he knows the wester Ghats by heart I think), has a lot of knowledge of medicine, astronomy, astrophysics, astrology, philosophy (well, he is a PHD), electrical systems, electronics (I've learnt a thing or two about capacitors from him after getting my BE degree) and still going strong. And to top it all, a magnificent teacher. More than anything else, he taught me how to learn. Everytime I go to him, there is some surprise waiting for me. This time, it was set of astronomical diagrams showing the path of the sun across the sky at various places and at various times. Believe me, it once took me at least 24 hours to independently imagine and visualise the paths (I sat one whole day with a globe in my hand, looking at it from all p...

I was wandering around on Lakshmi road on Saturday on the hot afternoon sun looking for a particular set of headphones. The amount of specialisation you find there is amazing. In one lane you have shops selling electric cables and nothing but electric cables. Then there is another lane in which you get audio equipment, but only electronic equipment. Heaphones are not part of that. So I had to venture into another lane. This one had only electronic components transistors, capacitors and the like). After roaming around for what seemed to be eternity, I stumbled upon a group of shops that had speakers and only speakers. And here, I finally found my headphones. Its really amazing the way all the similar shops are clustered together. Also, if fortune pops up a nice cookie when I post these entries, I have decided to keep them intact from now on. -- When the bosses talk about improving productivity, they are never talking about themselves.

I saw the Fireox extension to work with Live Journal today. I'm seriously thinking of migrating to LJ now. Though one great advantage with blogger is that you can mail your posts.

I have started listening to the h2g2 radio series all over again. After listening to two episodes immediately one after the other, my head had started swimming now. Feels like I've had a pan-galactic gargle blaster. I need rehab. Time to go back to listening.

Wow! It was one the more beautiful sights I've seen in a long time. Rain pouring down so hard that you would get completely drenched in no more than two seconds. if you had the guts to go out there and brave the huge hailstones, that is. And this, bang in the middle of April! Its a wonderful world :)

I'm pondering on a question I've had for over 10 years now. The question is: does what we see, appear the same to everyone, with respect to colours. I'm thinking whether there is a way to test this out. Do all of us 'see' the colours the same way. I mean it's possible that the stimulus x gets on seeing green is what y gets on seeing blue. I mean, what appears to x as green, appears to y as what appears to x to be blue. Get it? Its a weird and scary concept. But the concept is not much of an issue (after all these years). Whats bothering me is that there doesn't seem to be any way of testing this out. This has directly got to do with the interpretation of signal from the eye by the brain. What do you mean by 'appear'? After all, the whole visual world is nothing but an abstract model that the brain has made for itself using electrical signals given by the eye in order to consistently and quickly interpret the future signals that the eye would give. T...

This one is *very* different from other Michael Crichton books. But this one is as good as any other. He has dealt with a sensitive subject and I think he has refrained from writing his heart out in order to stick to the topic. A lot of research goes behind each of his books and it shows. This time though, it shows litterally :) Read the book to find out what I mean. The book deals with the topic of global warming as its main theme, but is packed with adventure and is very informative (like all his books). The book brings out one point, that science and technology is being governed by politics and the people in the universities don't realise this. Knowingly or unknowingly, they play into the hands of the rich and powerful and serve the purpose of making them more powerful. I guess each one of us out there creating knowledge (in universities or out of them) needs to be be true to himself/herself and more importantly, to science. We have been taught all to well to manipulate the trut...

This is why I simply love debian! I changed the package source from my 15 CD Sarge set to the DVD. All I had to do to keep my system in sync and in great shape was "apt-get update". As simple as that. No need for reinstallation, nothing. As I have said over a hundred times before, "Debian ... works". Btw, I decided to switch back to KMail. Thunderbird was good, but it just didn't feel right. I will miss the RSS feeds in the inbox, but I still prefer this.

Should have posted this long ago actually. I had been to the Indian Ocean concert here. And they didn't dissapoint. If you are an Indian Ocean fan, this was not something you could afford to miss. No words can do justice to the experience of listening to Indian Ocean live. The music makes you smile, laugh and dance.

Frankly speaking, after I read this, I wish I had listened to what my grandma told me when I was small. That book is full of advise that parents and grandparents give you in the name of Hindu religion and culture.

After almost 2 years I hiked up there. After a long time I listened to the wind, felt really good. The thing that I enjoyed the most, however, was silence. No sound of the TV, of "music" playing in my ears, no clickety-click of the keyboards, not annoying hum of machines that compute and most important, no sound of humans continuously chattering and driving you mad Missed a days football, but I guess it was worth it.

I read this poem in a mail that was actually a hoax. But its a good poem nonetheless. Slow dance - Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight Or gazed at the sun into the fading night? You better slow down Don't dance so fast Time is short The music won't last Do you run through each day on the fly When you ask "How are you?" do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed With the next hundred chores running through your head? You'd better slow down Don't dance so fast Time is short The music won't last Ever told your child, We'll do it tomorrow And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die 'Cause you never had time to call and say "Hi"? You'd better slow down Don't dance so fast Time is short The music won't last When you run so fast to get somewhere You miss half the fun ...

A cough and cold and general weakness had forced me to stay at home. I was half asleep and half trying to make sense of the number 42 when the fluid in my ears started swaying. It took some time to realise that other things around me were also swaying. This was the first time I had seen the walls of the house move and tilt and to be very frank, it scared the hell out of me. All that came later though. The first thing that I did on instinct was to get out of the bed and head towards the door of the house. There was this tremendous urge to just run and a lot of adrenaline was pumped out. The Floyd song "Take it back" comes to mind.

My goal scoring streak in the inter IT tournament has put me in a predicamennt. Basically because it hass ended. The balls that once sailed in are now hitting the post, the passes that came right to my feet are going a yard askew and the smoothly rolling ball that I once dispatched accurately now hits a bad spot on the ground just when I'm about to hit it. Not to mention that many balls that I ferociously hit head straight for the keeper. I've been wondering what has changed. The ground has changed. I must say that the ground on which the tournament was played was a much better one. The people with whom I play have changed. The position in which I play has changed. In the tournaments I played attacking centre midfield, by necessity. Now, I've gone back to the right wing. The ironic part is, myy team (whichever one it is) does much better with me on the wings. I guess the structure of the teams that I play for and against is very different to the one we had adopted during ...

Of late, I've got tired of answering the question "Where are your specs". Now I hope to just point to this URL. For the impatient, I broke it. In an accident. On my bike. For those who care more about me than my specs, I am perfectly fine and got away with a few scratches on the ankle. I was saved by the helmet when my head hit the road though. It's not my fault. It was raining (and now is certainly not the time for the rains) and the bike skidded when I braked. I let go of the bike and it ended a good 20 feet in front of me when everything came to a standstill. The bike suffered more damage than I did. The right mirror and the left fron indicator are broken (I know, wierd combination). But I'm alive and kicking (not the bucket). Hope to do some kicking over the weekend. Hope junta turns up at Univ United.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perenn...

MURPHY'S AVALANCHE Here is an addition - When something can go wrong, it will. And then along with it, everything else will. This is Murphy's avalanche law. Sigh. I hate such days.

"Die Gedanken Sind Frei" ... ... is an old song of protest that goes back to the German peasant wars of the 16th century "Die Gedanken Sind Frei" means "Our thoughts are free". Our Thoughts Are Free Die Gedanken sind frei My thoughts freely flower, Die Gedanken sind frei My thoughts give me power. No scholar can map them, No hunter can trap them, No man can deny: Die Gedanken sind frei! I think as I please And this gives me pleasure, My conscience decrees, This right I must treasure; My thoughts will not cater To duke or dictator, No man can deny-- Die Gedanken sind frei! And if tyrants take me And throw me in prison My thoughts will burst free, Like blossoms in season. Foundations will crumble, The structure will tumble, And free men will cry: Die Gedanken sind frei! Neither trouble or pain Will ever touch me again. No good comes of fretting, My hope's in forgetting. Within mysel...

Safin or Hewitt?? Well, I'm writing this watching the Australian Open final. Safin started very much off-colour and Hewitt outplayed him completely winning 6-1. The number of unforced errors that Safin has been committing is phenomenal. Safin came back in the second set very well and thought Hewitt made him work really hard, he managed to get the second one 6-3. The match has so far been a very emotional affair; both players have received warnings from the umpire. Right now, in the third set, Hewitt is on serve, leading 4-2. Safin continues to make unforced errors. Looking the way things are going now, looks like Hewitt would win this one. But every now and then Safin is coming up with flashes of sheer brilliance that could take him through. Something inside tells me that it's going to be Safin. But one can never tell. But it has been a while since I have seen such a good match.

Another typical Asimov novel - full of surprises and a great stimulant for the brain. It keeps you hooked on throughout and is full of twists and turns. This novel introduces R. Daneel Olivaw and Elijah Bailey who have become part of Asimov folklore now. Aah ... a nice read after a looong time :)

The Life of a Hacker Atul (The Shaolin) posted a poem on his blog titled - 'The Life of a Programmer'. You can read it here - http://the-shaolin.blogspot.com/2005/01/life-of-programmer.html Here is my version - 'The Life of a Hacker'. I wrote this one to bring forth the two contrasting attitudes of people in the software industry. I start my day by sitting on a chair, Giving my console a nice warm stare. By evening I'm done with some more hacking, Oh! This life is getting so exciting. Like many, I entered this world of hackerdom, Opportunities are many and there is plenty of freedom. Dreams of joining the likes of Stallman and Wall, And to be hailed as hacker by one and by all. Thus, I entered the world of bytes And realised the reality of copyrights. And that the world of patents isn't all that nice, Behind the trademarks, lie deceit and lies. Seeing beyond the monitor, Bringing...

Here is a cool program. 3ddesk is a 3D desktop switching tool. Most window managers support multiple virtual desktops. Normally you switch the virtual desktop using the pager. 3ddesk gives you a 3D pager. It zooms out into 3D and shows all your virtual desktops. You then use the arrow keys to chose the one you want and then press Enter to zoom into the one that you want to use. Nice eye-candy! Screenshots - http://aditya.adotout.net/image/switcher1.png http://aditya.adotout.net/image/switcher2.png

I've put up the colinux screenshots at - http://aditya.adotout.net/image/colinux.png http://aditya.adotout.net/image/colinux1.png http://aditya.adotout.net/image/colinux2.png

Phew. Finally managed to complete the book. I had started iit a month ago. It is a pretty good book. Delves deep into some philosophical topics. But for the first hundred pages, it doeesn't make any sense at all. Worth reading if you have read any books on philosophy before. A must read if you have never read philosophy. All in all, a thumbs up!

Over the weekend I had the chance to get hold of Ubuntu as well as the 15 CD set of Debian Sarge. Ubuntu is basically a Debian based distribution which concentrates on the desktop. An 'apt' description of Ubuntu would be Mandrake:RedHat::Ubuntu:Debian. Those who still need to be told more, read on. I have been running Mdk 10 on my Dell Inspiron 1150. I chose Mandrake because that was the one that I expected to give the least trouble. In the default Mandrake install, X did not work. This was a known issue with all Linux distributions on this particular model, so I had prepared myself by searching for a workaround that fools the BIOS. However, with kernel 2.6 on Mandrake, ACPI did not work, the mouse (touchpad) did not work correctly (I could not tap on it to click) and I had to revert back to kernel 2.4 (whose sources are not present in the Mdk 10 four CD set). So I was a bit apprehensive when I decided to wipe out Mdk 10 completely and install Ubuntu, which I had never seen bef...

Happy New Year to everybody. Had a great new year party. Thanks a lot to Dexter for playing the kind host once again. The bonfire was simply amazing (once again). There is certainly something fishy with Zoyd. During the bonfire, wherever he went, the smoke followed. And he changed his position four times. I remember that this had happened last year as well. I guess he just can't stop getting flamed :) There, I've done it. I've started the year with a PJ.