Hi folks, well I couldn't keep away from writing, especially so much is going around! :P
This IPL has brought a whole new set of subjects for me to write about(I'm salivating! :)!
Let's talk about the Champion's League, 1st semi final, 2nd leg, between Manchester United and Barcelona. My oh my... Paul Scholes, where on earth were you, till you scored that goal? He has always been a power-shooter, yesterday too he proved that he has not faded away. Playing along-side the holy-trinity of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez, it's not always possible to steal the lime-light. But Scholes, you did it, and that too in such a major clash. Kudos to you!
Note: Only Paul Scholes right-footer powerful shot from outside the D-area in fourteenth minute separated the two sides and pushed ManU to finals.
Now let's talk about the IPL:
8 teams, 59 matches, salivating prospects for press, players, viewers and BCCI of course(nearly forgot BCCI! :) )
Great teams, great matches so far... Let's look at the teams..
Delhi Daredevils : My favorite in IPL. This team boosts of quality bowlers, with likes the of McGrath, Asif, Vettori in their ranks. But they lost to KXP.
Chennai Super Kings: Probably the strongest teams so far, four matches without loss proves that they are the Kings till now, but they'll be short of Hayden and Hussy now. It's worth watching how they'll fill the void.
Kolkata Knight Riders: I had thought they'll be a team to watch, but losing two-in-the-trot has somewhat dented their morals(mine as well). Now Brendon McCullum and Ponting is goin back for their national duties. I think KKR will suffer their absence.
Kings XI Punjab: This is the fourth team I had tipped to reach semis. With likes of Yuvi, Sreesanth, Sangakara and Brett Lee, they have the firepower.
Rajasthan Royals: Though they don't have much foreign-imports, the able shoulders of Shane Warne has taken them to the new heights. With Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan contributing big time, they have become a force to fear for.
Bangalore Royal Challengers: An out and out test side, with Jaffar, Dravid and Kallis filling the upper 3 spots. Don't expect a firecracker whilt their inning is in progress. Though they have Boucher and Misba to provide that option. Good bowling side with, Zaheer, Morkel and Praveen Kumar(and Kumble of course).
Deccan Chargers: Most star-studded line-up for T20. So far, they have failed to impress, barring that last match against Mumbai Indians. With Gilchrist, Gibbs, Afridi and Symonds, they can tear anything coming their way(though Symonds will be bcak now).
Mumbai Indians: Most expensive side, but they money spent is not showing up in their performance. Shaun Pollock is my all time favorite. Sachin is every cricket-lover's god. I'm desperately waiting for Sachin's comeback, for only he, can save the Mumbai Indians' sinking ship. Though they have won their last match against KKR, I'm still not convinced.
Today's match: Bangalore Royal Challengers Vs Delhi Daredevils.
I'm afraid how big will be the winning margin today, coz you all know the winner, Delhi Daredevils(my favorite team :) ). :)
30 April 2008
29 April 2008
The Comeback
No no... I wasn't in prison serving the sentence, nor was I in some self-imposed exile... My reason for being away from the blog was well... there are various reasons: but foremost being the preparation for the switch...(those in IT know what is switch! :) )
I sat for one of the best companies... flunked it.... dint expected subjective types questions in written test.... seriously! for this one, all my assumptions went awry. Anyways, I still have a whole lot of options open, so planning to capitalize on them. Hope I'll come out blazing guns... Wish me luck, and till then, there will be a drought of posts here(Most likely :) )
And oh yes! We have IPL going on now and today's the ManU VS Barca, Semifinal, 2nd leg, from 11.30 IST. Dont miss it.
Signing off for the day
D
I sat for one of the best companies... flunked it.... dint expected subjective types questions in written test.... seriously! for this one, all my assumptions went awry. Anyways, I still have a whole lot of options open, so planning to capitalize on them. Hope I'll come out blazing guns... Wish me luck, and till then, there will be a drought of posts here(Most likely :) )
And oh yes! We have IPL going on now and today's the ManU VS Barca, Semifinal, 2nd leg, from 11.30 IST. Dont miss it.
Signing off for the day
D
17 April 2008
o'reilly a book???
Have you ever come across a book which doesn't make you feel like you are reading a book? :) I guess I confused you, let me rephrase it, have you read a (text)book(a programming language cookbook) which is humorous and grasping, page-turner(that's what they call good novel, isn't it?) ?
Well I came across one quite unexpectedly. This was a book in C++, Practical C++ Programming, Second Edition, by Steve Oualline. Wow what a book, I'll say a double-wow for the people who are really into novels. Folks I recommend you this one, grab it and you wont regret. You benefit two-fold at the cost of one, you get to learn C++ and that too in a novel(noble?) way.
Ohgosh! What am I doing! Why am I praising this book, shouldn't I be showering my praise to it's author, Steve Oualline? Wow! he's the man, I mean the way he has put C++ in that book, yeah! thumps up!
I bumped into it accidentally. I wanted to brush up my C++ skills so I went to library for C++ Primer by Stanley B. Lippman, Josée Lajoie, Barbara E. Moo, and this book caught my concentration. I must say it attracted me by it's looks at first :) everybody does (attract by looks), everybody is (attracted by looks)! So I checked the contents, read a few topic which I've out an out knowledge about, found it okie to resume things.
The way author has put down his thoughts, various historical facts and habits of programmers, it's nice. That's why I liked this book. A very good book for beginners, as they'll enjoy the reading.
Last point, it's good for beginning and good for brushing up C++, as this book doesn't cover more deeply seated culprits of C++. Nevertheless, it's a good book, go grab it!
Well I came across one quite unexpectedly. This was a book in C++, Practical C++ Programming, Second Edition, by Steve Oualline. Wow what a book, I'll say a double-wow for the people who are really into novels. Folks I recommend you this one, grab it and you wont regret. You benefit two-fold at the cost of one, you get to learn C++ and that too in a novel(noble?) way.
Ohgosh! What am I doing! Why am I praising this book, shouldn't I be showering my praise to it's author, Steve Oualline? Wow! he's the man, I mean the way he has put C++ in that book, yeah! thumps up!
I bumped into it accidentally. I wanted to brush up my C++ skills so I went to library for C++ Primer by Stanley B. Lippman, Josée Lajoie, Barbara E. Moo, and this book caught my concentration. I must say it attracted me by it's looks at first :) everybody does (attract by looks), everybody is (attracted by looks)! So I checked the contents, read a few topic which I've out an out knowledge about, found it okie to resume things.
The way author has put down his thoughts, various historical facts and habits of programmers, it's nice. That's why I liked this book. A very good book for beginners, as they'll enjoy the reading.
Last point, it's good for beginning and good for brushing up C++, as this book doesn't cover more deeply seated culprits of C++. Nevertheless, it's a good book, go grab it!
16 April 2008
Cartwheeling Feelings
Starry night, a lonely by-lane, dimly lit street lights almost about to extinguish, a dog howls at a distance. Several other follow the proceedings, as if they are communicating. I guess they must be telling their tales of the day which now has matured into a cold, dark and silent night. I've to reach the destination, I pull my jacket more closer to my body and start walking in a uniform motion, almost mechanical. I've been walking for long, how long?! I've no track of time, as my automatic watch has stopped functioning, it shows forty-three past six. Yes, exactly the time I had started this long walk. But one thing I know, when I started it was still evening, the sun had just gone past the horizon and night was approaching with its black cloak on. I want to reach the destination, meet my friends who are waiting for me as we've planned a get-together today.
So here I'm, walking alone. A thought crosses my mind, what if I don't make it on time, what if they have already left. I increase my speed, now the feet start moving faster, but the movement is same, machine-like. I don't care! I just have to reach there on time, my long lost crush must be waiting for me, I'm sure she will be. Ah! how can I forget her! Her beautiful face that used to lit me up, her sweet voice that used to soothe my wildest of feelings. How can I forget how her arrival in my life had changed its course. This feeling makes me lighter as fatigues vanishes and I move swifter.
I've just crossed a four-way crossing, a pack of dogs come towards me, I stop fearing they would attack me. They look vicious, and I'm sure they are vicious after the day's humiliation they go through from so called the humans, us. One of them, leading the pack, halts just in front of me, looks at me as if I was the one they were searching for. I'm afraid and want to run away, but something tells me not to, so I stand defensively and I look into its eyes. We are almost about to clash, a fight imminent. But suddenly these strays run away growling and howling, I sense a fear in their howls. I'm surprised how? My mind questions, and I've no answer. But the moment I raise my eyes, I find the answer. A man, mid-forties, is coming from the opposite side. I feel a shy of relief as I was dying to talk to someone after so much of silent walking. So I ask him: "Excuse me, what's the time?" He retorts "ten-thirty" without bothering to look at me, he passes by, a strong synthesized alcoholic smell makes me uncomfortable. But then I have to reach my destination, so I start my synchronized walk again.
After walking for another half-an-hour, I'm able to see my destination. Hell! this is on secluded place. Why did my friends choose this place for get-together? I curse them, couldn't they have chosen a bit accessible place! The road has street-lamps, standing silently, just for the sake of it. A few people standing here and there. I feel strange, they didn't notice me when I passed by them. But I'm in too much of hurry to stop and think over it. My long lost crush is waiting for me, I have to reach there, and on time. I reach the place, the door is unbolted, I slowly push the door, peek inside. Deadly silence! In one corner of the room, all of my friends are gathered around, in a huddle and are staring at something, lying between them. To see it for myself, I move closer to the huddle, I'm about to peek in, I hear a shrill sound of police siren. I becomes louder as the vehicle approaches nearer. I could see it through the open door through which I'd just sneaked in. Now this sound is so, loud, as if it would tear open my ear-drums. I press my hands against my ears, close my eyes and fall down, unable to withstand the sound.
And there was brightness, as white as it could be and everything was gone, I was flat on my back, my alarm clock ringing like an enraged animal. I switched it off and went to loo, to start another of those boring routine days.
So here I'm, walking alone. A thought crosses my mind, what if I don't make it on time, what if they have already left. I increase my speed, now the feet start moving faster, but the movement is same, machine-like. I don't care! I just have to reach there on time, my long lost crush must be waiting for me, I'm sure she will be. Ah! how can I forget her! Her beautiful face that used to lit me up, her sweet voice that used to soothe my wildest of feelings. How can I forget how her arrival in my life had changed its course. This feeling makes me lighter as fatigues vanishes and I move swifter.
I've just crossed a four-way crossing, a pack of dogs come towards me, I stop fearing they would attack me. They look vicious, and I'm sure they are vicious after the day's humiliation they go through from so called the humans, us. One of them, leading the pack, halts just in front of me, looks at me as if I was the one they were searching for. I'm afraid and want to run away, but something tells me not to, so I stand defensively and I look into its eyes. We are almost about to clash, a fight imminent. But suddenly these strays run away growling and howling, I sense a fear in their howls. I'm surprised how? My mind questions, and I've no answer. But the moment I raise my eyes, I find the answer. A man, mid-forties, is coming from the opposite side. I feel a shy of relief as I was dying to talk to someone after so much of silent walking. So I ask him: "Excuse me, what's the time?" He retorts "ten-thirty" without bothering to look at me, he passes by, a strong synthesized alcoholic smell makes me uncomfortable. But then I have to reach my destination, so I start my synchronized walk again.
After walking for another half-an-hour, I'm able to see my destination. Hell! this is on secluded place. Why did my friends choose this place for get-together? I curse them, couldn't they have chosen a bit accessible place! The road has street-lamps, standing silently, just for the sake of it. A few people standing here and there. I feel strange, they didn't notice me when I passed by them. But I'm in too much of hurry to stop and think over it. My long lost crush is waiting for me, I have to reach there, and on time. I reach the place, the door is unbolted, I slowly push the door, peek inside. Deadly silence! In one corner of the room, all of my friends are gathered around, in a huddle and are staring at something, lying between them. To see it for myself, I move closer to the huddle, I'm about to peek in, I hear a shrill sound of police siren. I becomes louder as the vehicle approaches nearer. I could see it through the open door through which I'd just sneaked in. Now this sound is so, loud, as if it would tear open my ear-drums. I press my hands against my ears, close my eyes and fall down, unable to withstand the sound.
And there was brightness, as white as it could be and everything was gone, I was flat on my back, my alarm clock ringing like an enraged animal. I switched it off and went to loo, to start another of those boring routine days.
10 April 2008
A spectator's desire
Watched the second leg of the Champions' League Quarter Final between ManU and AS Roma, staying awake till 0230 Hrs. I must say I'm a li'l disappointed as a spectator, for both the teams missed quite a few opportunities, and biggest heartache came when I couldn't see Cristiano Ronaldo even after watching the entire match. I had seen the first leg of this quarter-final till half-time, where ManU had come victorious, kudos to Rooney and Ronaldo, latter scoring a goal out of nowhere! The form Ronaldo is in this season, I don't have to think about who will the recipient of the golden ball this year be, I bet it's his. And yesterday, it's was the same cupidity of watching him in action that stretched my awake-hours. While the match was in progress and was well paced in second half, I thought Sir Alex Ferguson must have plotted against all Ronaldo fans to increase TRP of the CL(Champions' League) :) .
Both the teams were equally inadequate in terms of scoring and defending, the defenders let slip a few of the attacks and those attacks were spoiled by the strikers or the keeper. AS Roma even got a penalty(which I feel wasn't, as far as my football knowledge is concerned!) in the first half, but Daniele De Rossi shot it powerfully over the horizontal bar. Phew! That very time I knew this would be a near-to-boring affair, but still watched thinking that Ronaldo will come and change the course of the match. But that was not to happen.
Tevez scores in 70 something minute
And all of a sudden Carlos Tevez unsettled the parity with a low header to a Owen Hargreaves' cross. Another nail in the coffin of the hopes of Roma going to semis, after ManU had won the first leg with a 2-0 margin. I must say AS Roma missed their striker and captain Francesco Totti in a huge way, for they lacked the poaching instincts up front.
Finally it's ManU going to CL semis to face Barca by virtue of a 3-0 aggregate win. Barca who were superior to Schalke in both the games has reached to semis with an aggregate of 2-0.
Now let's cross out hands, wait and watch, who will lift the cup. This year my favorite is ManU, for their players are fluid, plays in any position and unsettles the opposotion defence quite easily. And yes, J.S. Park is an asset to ManU, and yesterday too he proved why has he been in ManU for so long!
Parting notes: I'm angry with Sir Alex for not letting me see the ever selfish, ever arrogant but the best player around this year, Christiano Ronaldo. With that form and those skills he can afford to be selfish and arrogant. But I am still angry at Sir Alex.
Both the teams were equally inadequate in terms of scoring and defending, the defenders let slip a few of the attacks and those attacks were spoiled by the strikers or the keeper. AS Roma even got a penalty(which I feel wasn't, as far as my football knowledge is concerned!) in the first half, but Daniele De Rossi shot it powerfully over the horizontal bar. Phew! That very time I knew this would be a near-to-boring affair, but still watched thinking that Ronaldo will come and change the course of the match. But that was not to happen.
And all of a sudden Carlos Tevez unsettled the parity with a low header to a Owen Hargreaves' cross. Another nail in the coffin of the hopes of Roma going to semis, after ManU had won the first leg with a 2-0 margin. I must say AS Roma missed their striker and captain Francesco Totti in a huge way, for they lacked the poaching instincts up front.
Finally it's ManU going to CL semis to face Barca by virtue of a 3-0 aggregate win. Barca who were superior to Schalke in both the games has reached to semis with an aggregate of 2-0.
Now let's cross out hands, wait and watch, who will lift the cup. This year my favorite is ManU, for their players are fluid, plays in any position and unsettles the opposotion defence quite easily. And yes, J.S. Park is an asset to ManU, and yesterday too he proved why has he been in ManU for so long!
Parting notes: I'm angry with Sir Alex for not letting me see the ever selfish, ever arrogant but the best player around this year, Christiano Ronaldo. With that form and those skills he can afford to be selfish and arrogant. But I am still angry at Sir Alex.
04 April 2008
Race : a review
Have you been happy lately? living a life in absence of anger? Well then, I recommend you Race. Watch it if you really wish to heat every neuron in your brain. Really, at least I came through those series of fluctuating level of anger during its entire run.The movie starts okie. Good, like a hollywood movie, goes past one month back and the story starts. Till it reaches the same point(the accident), everything's fine, superb acting by all the biggies! Then comes the myriad twists and turns, which wont make you excited, but surely make you bored. "Too many cooks, spoil the broth", anywhere that idiom fits is here. My god how many twists and turns, even the director must have been confused while visualizing the script during the preparation.
While watching the movie, I friend aptly said, the director(s) must have seen a lot of hollywood movies. :) Seriously, they have tried to put everything in one movie and in turn the movie has nothing to offer, cheap thrills, sleazy act between Saif and Bipasha, that's it. That's Race for you. And I don't blame the duo of Abbas-Mustan, for it's been long and hard wait for them to celebrate a hit. I sympathize.
Do you know what I thought about this movie afterwards??? If Ram Gopal Verma had laid hands in this script, he would have come up with at least five movies. Such is his versatility :), no wonder he keeps on producing flop after flop.
Race, go for it, if you are living a happy life, haven't been annoyed with anybody for long, and of course, watch Saif Ali's good sense of choiced clothing and of course his acting, Katrina's "Touch me! Touch me!" act, Akshay's curt brilliance and old war-horse Anil Kapoor tickling his funny bone. At last I rate Race a two out of five.
An unconventional source of entertainment
As promised in one my previous posts, I'm here with few gossips that relates me to our very own news channels. To start things off, I present you a trivia about myself, I used to hate news channels, dint like them at all, but after I started watching AajTak and Headlines Today, now a days, the first thing I do after I reach home is tune in to one of these news channels. For all those who watch the soaps and serials, I would recommend these two channels, for they provide you equal amount of emotions and drama, in addition to the usual news. So don't you think it's an advantage, one channel providing you your daily dose of emotions and news at a go? Here's how;
I don't have to explain that they provide you the daily dose of news, they are the news channels.
Now about the best part, the emotions overflow, ooze out while watching this channels, there are usual suspense, drama, action, everything that your favorite series provides. I'll present here the live examples which has brought best of the emotions in me.
Think about this headline: "Amitabh Bachchan ko thand lagi!"(Amitabh caught cold!), now, what the f***ing news is that? And visualize this line at the lower end of screen, flashing continuously!! Seriously man, people are f***ing dying on the border, thousands of people are suffering from much more acute diseases, and what they are covering is whether Amitabh caught cold or not! My a**;
And there's this one, the coverage on "The Great Khali". I myself being an avid follower of WWE for many years, I know it's all planned, synchronized, scripted way of fighting. For God's sake, that's why they call it World Wrestling Entertainment, damn it! Do I need to tell them what WWE's E stands for? Khali lost the match to this, lost another match to that. I wonder, a giant of 7'3", losing a match to an opponent much more weaker(physically) than him. And that too, they dedicate a huge slot for this so called giant's news and cover absolutely everything about what he does, what he eats. If given a chance they'll prepare a report on how Khali's shit looks like!
And there's The Grand Stand, which talks about the bollywood, I dont know whether it offers the news outside bollywood. This lady who anchors this show, my god, can't she act normal??? Even if she's like that in her real life, can't she act like human just for the span of that show??? She could be a great asset to the doctors who study or are researching on human facial muscles. Looking at her, I feel like... puking in her face. Wait, there's more to it, her voice modulates with the expression in her face, shit! wonder where they get these people!
They don't show the news, they first do an autopsy on the news, put as much spice as they can, and present them... I wonder what's wrong in showing the news as it is. They try to reach to the base of the news, it's cause... especially if it's related to cricket, then forget about the depth they'll dive in to get those facts and cause. Well well well guys(news channel guys :) ), that's not for you to investigate, we have CID, CBI and other federal agencies to do that! Somebody please tell them so.
Anyways, they serve dual purpose for me at least, news and entertainment! Wow! that's great considering a news channel. Thank you guys for helping me focus on news again!
I don't have to explain that they provide you the daily dose of news, they are the news channels.
Now about the best part, the emotions overflow, ooze out while watching this channels, there are usual suspense, drama, action, everything that your favorite series provides. I'll present here the live examples which has brought best of the emotions in me.
Think about this headline: "Amitabh Bachchan ko thand lagi!"(Amitabh caught cold!), now, what the f***ing news is that? And visualize this line at the lower end of screen, flashing continuously!! Seriously man, people are f***ing dying on the border, thousands of people are suffering from much more acute diseases, and what they are covering is whether Amitabh caught cold or not! My a**;
And there's this one, the coverage on "The Great Khali". I myself being an avid follower of WWE for many years, I know it's all planned, synchronized, scripted way of fighting. For God's sake, that's why they call it World Wrestling Entertainment, damn it! Do I need to tell them what WWE's E stands for? Khali lost the match to this, lost another match to that. I wonder, a giant of 7'3", losing a match to an opponent much more weaker(physically) than him. And that too, they dedicate a huge slot for this so called giant's news and cover absolutely everything about what he does, what he eats. If given a chance they'll prepare a report on how Khali's shit looks like!
And there's The Grand Stand, which talks about the bollywood, I dont know whether it offers the news outside bollywood. This lady who anchors this show, my god, can't she act normal??? Even if she's like that in her real life, can't she act like human just for the span of that show??? She could be a great asset to the doctors who study or are researching on human facial muscles. Looking at her, I feel like... puking in her face. Wait, there's more to it, her voice modulates with the expression in her face, shit! wonder where they get these people!
They don't show the news, they first do an autopsy on the news, put as much spice as they can, and present them... I wonder what's wrong in showing the news as it is. They try to reach to the base of the news, it's cause... especially if it's related to cricket, then forget about the depth they'll dive in to get those facts and cause. Well well well guys(news channel guys :) ), that's not for you to investigate, we have CID, CBI and other federal agencies to do that! Somebody please tell them so.
Anyways, they serve dual purpose for me at least, news and entertainment! Wow! that's great considering a news channel. Thank you guys for helping me focus on news again!
01 April 2008
Send a Mail to Past: Gmail Introduces Custom Time
Probably Robert Zemeckis 'Back to future' is not yet the future. But Yup sending a mail back to Past is indeed. Introducing Gmail's Custom time (You'll find a hotlink to this in Bold Red font on top of your Gmail Window) where you are able to send a mail to past, and the mail delivers to the intended receiver as though it's been delivered in Past to the time you set it to. Isn't it cool, No more Belated Happy B'day or Delayed submission of Assignments :D :D Welcome to future, Welcome to Google ;) ;)
Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (A classic situation is the Grandfather paradox - “suppose a man traveled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveller's grandmother. As a result, one of the traveller's parents (and by extension, the traveller himself) would never have been conceived. This would imply that he could not have traveled back in time after all, which in turn implies the grandfather would still be alive, and the traveler would have been conceived, allowing him to travel back in time and kill his grandfather. Thus each possibility seems to imply its own negation, a type of logical paradox”)
Want to know how? Check it out Gmail Custom Time
Way to Go Google !!!!
P.S. Please go through the program policies to be abided, before you try it - Program Policies
Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality (A classic situation is the Grandfather paradox - “suppose a man traveled back in time and killed his biological grandfather before the latter met the traveller's grandmother. As a result, one of the traveller's parents (and by extension, the traveller himself) would never have been conceived. This would imply that he could not have traveled back in time after all, which in turn implies the grandfather would still be alive, and the traveler would have been conceived, allowing him to travel back in time and kill his grandfather. Thus each possibility seems to imply its own negation, a type of logical paradox”)
Want to know how? Check it out Gmail Custom Time
Way to Go Google !!!!
P.S. Please go through the program policies to be abided, before you try it - Program Policies
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