Just for the record..

Weekend Movies
SuperHeroes - Some jokes are awesome.
Wall-E - Mahaan, a few touchy moments.
Amhi Satpute (Marathi) - Okiesh type. Did not finish.

Also started reading The Fountainhead. I have met Ayn Rand fans (and fanboys) almost everywhere, but somehow it took me this long to actually pick the book. Right now on Page 37, so it is too early to say anything about it.

Gudquote (just to add randomness to this already random post)
When art critics get together, they talk about Form, Structure and Meaning. When artists get together, they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine. - Pablo Picasso.

TBBT

Lately I have become a huge fan of the television series The Big Bang Theory. It was Vivek who mentioned it to me in a comment, that's how I got to know about it. Now in the normal course of events I would have just forgotten about it in a day or two, but by sheer chance (or was it divine intervention?) I stumbled upon an episode the same day (Just for the record, it was where Sheldon tries to learn to drive). What I had expected was a science show, discovery channel eshtyle, but I was in for a pleasant surprise. The show is amazing !! (but let me also mention that I have watched only four episodes till now). Best geek comedy I have ever seen (In fact the only geek comedy I have ever seen, but it's so good). And some events will feel very familiar, if you have geeky friends. I'm lovin it..

Life Aboard Endeavour..

Some nice pics here. The 13th one reminded me of my final year project days :).
Update: Also take a look at International Space Station (from The Big Picture). I especially liked the 29th one.

About The Perfect Thing..

It's not what you are underneath, but what you do, that defines you. -Batman Begins

Just finished reading Steven Levy's The Perfect Thing (Many thanks to Charuta for lending it to me). The book is about iPod, how it came to be, the extent of its influence and its effects on society. Or maybe I should give you the tagline, which says it better, How the iPod shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness.

To be honest, the beginning bored me somewhat, especially the first chapter, which depicts the obsession of junta with the iPod. Like duels with strangers involving comparison of iPod playlists, and the social humiliation that would result if you happen to have uncool songs on yours. Just confirms what Einstein said of stupidity! But the later chapters more than make up. We get to know how iPod, which was just a part of Apple's Digital Hub project (meant to sweeten the iMac deal) went on to redefine industry. But iPod matters not only because it's a great product, but also because what it did, things like enabling podcasting or creating a market for legal music downloads via iTunes, the overall effect matters. (Hence the quote). [The book will also serve as good marketing material for Apple. After all these years of staying clear of the bandwagon, at some point it made me want one of those :)]. Another thing I liked was the portrayal of Steve Jobs in a more positive light, someone who has only read iCon might very well think that the guy did nothing but steal credit. There is also a chapter investigating cool, uncool, and what makes them so. But the most important lesson (in my humble opinion) comes from the coolest of them all, SJ. When asked by an interviewer, "Did you try to make the iPod cool?", he said, "No, we try to make it great". And that applies not just to products.

[Being a book about Culture, names of composers, singers etc keep coming up all the time. The funny thing is, I have never listened to any of their creations. Not one mentioned in the book. Time to expand my horizons, I guess ;-)]

I have a question..

Why is our brain a monolithic system? I mean, a single misbehaving thought/memory sometimes brings down everything. And that's pretty unfair on everything else. Microkernels, anybody?

Sorry, No Insights (but a lot of blah blah..)

It has been an interesting journey so far. Ohk, Ohk, I guess some context is in order. So did anybody notice that this is my 10201st (in base 3, equals 100 in decimal) post? For obvious reasons I did. Now 100 is just as arbitrary as 317, but certain numbers have got a special status, 100 happens to be one of them, and I am not the one who misses a good opportunity to blabber. I might as well have written tried to write something useful/insightful etc (to mark the occasion, as they say), but that seemed contrary to expectations, including my own. So here we go.

My first post comes to my mind. When I wrote it, I did not have a clue about what I wanted my blog to be. It was just an experiment (with 100 posts now it's an out of control experiment I guess). And that shows. You won't find a theme here. Blogging taught a few things, both about the actual topics and about the people who write about them. It's a wonderful way to stay updated. Even rereading my old posts has been a refreshing experience (for me, it might be a torturous one for you, so think twice before you go ahead), so many things that matter to me now have a permanent existence outside my head.

So I plan to continue. I am sure I irritated and annoyed some. I am sure I have been ill-informed or downright wrong about some things or made a fool of myself in other ways. But if not for the blog, I would not have even known it. So I plan to continue. Sorry guys, you won't find any insights here, but if you wanna know about such important things as what makes Hancock cool (in my humble opinion, I hasten to add), it's all here :-). Happy blogging and May the force be with you and a towel. (Many thanks to Manish for the quote).

Happy reading..

Stumbled upon this interesting article, What I believe but cannot prove, on Cosmic Variance. Thoughts of a Scientist on how and why Science works. [IIRC, RPF says something similar in this]. Uses some specialized words, but the core message is simple and important (or that's what I believe but cannot prove :-). Enjoy!!

On a Sunday Evening..

Don't give me the latest movies.
Don't give me the fresh 'Seasons'.
Don't give me exotic food.
Don't give me new places.

Just give me a room (a katta will do fine), and a few old friends and I will be happy.

Done with first Season..

Heroes Season I. Done. Actually I had a kinda block after first three episodes. But I resumed two days ago and then could not stop. Some plots feel a bit superfluous, like Niki and the associated maa-beta drama, but I think that's only because I watched it at a stretch. I really appreciate the efforts these guys have put in. Plus teaches a few things too. Like Peter tells us to keep collecting the good bits wherever you find them, but Sylar is a warning of what happens if that is taken too far and turned into greed. Hiro's lightheartedness makes a big impression too. But by and far the power that would be most useful to me (and fellow software engineers) is that of the kid, Micah, talking to machines. That way, I can tell machines to not segfault, I can tell the connection to not die, I can tell the database to not corrupt and so on. I can even... Well, the possibilities seem endless :p. But let me stop daydreaming.

I am happy to be done with the first season, which my friends tell me is the best. But I do not intend to stop here. Generations, I'm comin..

Fundoo image..

Panoramic view of Mars (click on image to expand).

Ek unaad divas..(Updated)

Well, there is nice Marathi movie by the same name (Ashok Saraf in the lead role). But more to the point, I have a free day on my hand and no specific plans. I intend to keep scribbling here over the day.

11:07AM
I was a huge fan of Johny Quest as a kid. Many thanks to Abhishek for hunting down a few episodes. Watching 'Darkest Fathom' right now. [Are there any good SF cartoon shows on TV? As far as I can tell the world seems to be taken over by anime :p].


1:42PM
Had not checked 'The big picture' since ages. Check out Antarctica and World Animal Day.

4:25PM
The lights just came back. Ye ab rojaka ho gaya..

8:01PM
Game ke andar game ke andar game ke andar game.. That's how I can best describe Checkmate. But it also successfully brings forth some aspects of the fallible human nature. Quite an enjoyable movie. The plot is very complicated. But I needed something like that after a very straightforward and sometimes enjoyable EMI.

Ads (circa 1893)

Came across this while browsing wikipedia. You probably already know the story.

YABPAMWK

[Yet Another Boring Post About My Weekend Activities (or lack thereof)]

Read:
Finished reading Destination Moon. A wonderful book. Full of interesting info about the Moon, earlier missions and Chandrayaan-I, with the most interesting tidbit being the plans for a Mars orbiter by 2015 and a Man on the Moon by 2025. I just wish they publish translations in regional languages like Marathi and Hindi. The topic is clearly important and it would be better served that way.

Bought:
This month's quota was already over (yes, I have a monthly budget for books [which I rarely follow, but that is another story]). Hence I was resolved to buy nothing. But the sight of a few good books meant I couldn't resist. Bought Six easy pieces, Where wizards stay up late and Science at the edge. But I must say I was rather disappointed with the almost half-empty science bookshelf at Crosswords, SB Road. I am OK with them putting it in an obscure corner, but they should at least try to fill it. Plus half were compilations useful only for adorning library shelves. It's a pity Landmark is so far from my place (or that I am such a lazy XXX).

Watched:
Happened to watch Men in Black on TV. Now I am one of those perpetually whining about quality of TV shows, but this is one area where TV still shines, the element of surprise. MIB is a favorite and accidentally discovering it was as delightful as bumping into an old friend.

Quantum of Solace

I wrote a totally unrelated post with the same name a while ago. That says something about the eagerness with which I was waiting for the movie. It was released today, and somehow, as has been the case most of the time, without any preplanning, I chanced upon watching it. A comparison to Casino Royale is inevitable. This one is good, but CR was better (a sentiment echoed by some of my friends too). For one thing, the title track is nowhere near You know my name. And maybe the novelty of a new bond has subsided, now it's just another Bond movie. On the brighter side, the action sequences are superb, well thought out and very well directed. Same for the performances. I had some trouble following the storyline, I'll just blame it on the lack of subtitles. And the pace keeps you hooked to your seats. Overall a paisa vasool movie.

Useful stuff from /.

In bash

!! runs last command.
!vi runs last command that began with 'vi'.
!?vi runs last command that had 'vi' somewhere in it.
!!* expands to all arguments of last command.

And here is the unix alarm clock (for an 8hr nap)
sleep 8h; cat /dev/urandom > /dev/dsp

Enjoy!!
(additions are welcome).

About the GrandMaster

"He believed it to be his duty and purpose in life to defeat ignorance whenever he saw it and with whatever weapons lay at his disposal".

That's how Michael White puts it in his biography of Isaac Asimov. And contrary to what some of the Amazon reviews are saying, the book is quite good. I am OK with a few factual (and minor, in my humble opinion) errors. I haven't read much of Asimov. Plus I knew almost nothing about Asimov the person. The book provides a good overview of his life alongwith a useful overview of his work (with chapters alternating between his life and work) and with a few interesting anecdotes put in for good measure. So we get to know that the original 'Foundation Trilogy' was written as a collection of stories and that the last paragraph of 'Nightfall' is not actually Asimov's work. And Asimov the person is just as fascinating as his stories, but that doesn't mean he was all perfect and the book sheds some light on his shortcomings too. His name has become a synonym for science fiction, but his non-fiction work is just as prolific. So he wrote about religion, literature, popular science, and even a few joke books, with total going over two hundred, not even counting articles etc. Even reading those many books will be a feat ;-). And you might as well find something in his life you can relate to (I did).

The Second System Effect

According to Wikipedia, Second System Effect

refers to the tendency, when following on from a relatively small, elegant and successful system, to design the successor as an elephantine, feature-laden monstrosity.

So for example take CTSS and Multics. Or Golmaal and Golmaal Returns. OK, GR is not that bad, but it's not that good either. I really enjoyed a few jokes, but having too many not too well defined leads means you have to craft scenes to prove a character's worth, you have to craft scenes to introduce them to the audience and to each other and in the end nobody gets the time that they deserve/need. Bad Idea.

But let's not forget the third system effect (for example take Unix). And I hear that Golmaal 3 is in the making. So let's wait.

To write or not (or To write here or there)

You should write blogs.
We saw that one earlier. Now, for reasons of symmetry I present this..
You shouldn't.
But I must say I remain unimpressed. You are not gonna find me on Twitter anytime soon.