Thoughts of a semi-nerd

I have been thinking for over 10 minutes just for the title of this post and still yet to find the apt one. Just the thought of him gives me a wide smile. I have not met such a genuine person before in my life. I try to be funny without hurting anyone's feelings; but boy, isn't he the best in business. He is funny, well mannered, disciplined, calm and got a great sense of humour. Now, why am I mentioning funny and sense of humour at the same time. Being funny and having good sense of humour are two complete different things - let me tell you how. Anyone can be funny if they have good presence of mind with quick thinking; but good sense of humour is how well one reacts when he/she is made fun of. I am (sometimes) funny, but got not so good sense of humour. My friend on the other hand does not take anything seriously if it is just for fun. He is simply a great guy. Sabaree (right) with me The way he carries himself has earned him respect among his friends and acquaint...

One of my favorite advertisements - the 'Cadbury Dairy Milk' ad that portrays a romantic conversation between a husband and wife. The wife asks her hubby, "when was the last time you said I love you to me" - without saying anything, he gets a dairy milk from the refrigerator and then says "abhi" (now) giving the chocolate to her. At first she doesn't get it and questions him again. As she says "ye tho tum muje roz dhethe.." (this you give me every day), she realises that every time he gives her dairy milk, he tells her "I love you" - he acknowledges with a voluntary blink. WOW !!!!!! Awesome. The ad gives me smile every time I see it. The music in the background is also too good. The advertisement can be seen here. I hope it gives you the same feeling as it did to me.

The site bhookh.com hosted by an Indian NGO, provides free food to hungry children. If you click on a button in their website, the Bhookh Foundation will donate a cup of food to a hungry person in India. The money is fully sponsored by various Organizations who have a tie-up with Bhookh. The site’s sponsors pay for your daily click. The sponsors purchase tiles on the website for a certain amount of time. Bhookh.com then tabulates the number of people who click during that time frame and bill the sponsor for the appropriate amount. Bhookh.com donates this money to the Indian chapter of UN World Food Programme towards food for the chronically hungry. You can help a hungry child by visiting the site bhookh.com. There is no easy way to donate, than with a simple click. Please share about bhookh.com to your friends as well.

I had a bad day today. Earlier when I rode to office, traffic was not too much but I felt everyone was trying to hit me. Somehow, I reached office. I had a feeling that something good was coming up; this was due to a phone call I had yesterday. When I called back the same person later in the day, I came to know that my assumptions were completely wrong - the noisy environment was the culprit in yesterday's call. Damn it! Having expectations is one thing and them breaking into pieces is absolute disaster. I am no saint; I was really upset - what I wished or rather assumed to happen was not going to happen. With this in my mind, I started from office and rode my bike into every pothole in the road which is a remote possibility on a normal day. I was like "what the heck?!!!". Reached home and shouted at my mom for no reason (apologised later though). After whining to my friend on phone, went to gym. While coming back, it started raining. I waited under a shade for ra...

With the advent of technology, we have cameras that can give you pictures with great quality; but this will compromise the size that each file occupies. Let me tell you a simple trick to reduce size of the picture.  1 . Check the file size for your reference. We will validate the size at the end. 2 . Load the file in your computer running Windows XP and above. 3 . Open the picture you want to compress with mspaint - right click the file and open it with mspaint.  4 . The picture will load in mspaint window. Just save the file with 'Ctrl+S' or 'File --> Save'.  5 . Exit mspaint and check the size of the picture now. Voila! Dramatic reduction in file size.  Trust me, there will be no change in the picture quality. I have been using this trick for years. This trick can be very useful especially when you are uploading the pictures over internet - consider the amount of bandwidth that you can save. Also saves lot of space thereby inc...

This is about another close friend of mine to whom I will always remain grateful. Yes you got that right - I said grateful. It was in my college days that I got my first computer; had to put up with lot of issues like SMPS failure, virus, software issues and so on. During the first year I had warranty to cover any damage, software or hardware. I was very poor with computers and at the same time eager to learn. It was after warranty period that the real problem started - system wouldn't connect to internet, will take ages to open a small text file, will not even boot up, blue screen errors (XP users will be used to this). For all these issues , I had one guy - my Godfather with respect to Computers; he'd solve any problem with computers. I used to call, or rather disturb him every now and then - never did he show disinterest nor was rude. One more friend very much unlike me. There were occasions that he'd come all the way, 13 kms, from his home to resolve the issue ...

I have rated the English movies that I have watched so far with the below ratings: Awesome V. Good Good OK Bad where 'Awesome' is the best and 'Bad' is the worst.  Here is the list of the Awesome movies I loved to have laid my eyes on (in no specific order): The Shawshank Redemption Cars Transformers Inception Despicable Me Toy Story Toy Story 2 The Pursuit of Happyness Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows Part 2 300 My Cousin Vinny Chaos Taken Behind the Enemy Lines National Treasure Saving Private Ryan The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button We Were Soldiers The boy in striped pajamas Amistad Good Will Hunting Schindler's List The Fisher King Cinderella Man Forrest Gump The greatest game ever played The above list can also be accessed in imdb . Review of individual movies in the above list is coming soon. The complete list can be accessed here in xls format. Watch o...

My friend Sabareeswaren who is currently onsite wants to sell his Apache RTR 180 CC bike. 2010 model 15000 KM run Rs. 45,000 The bike has been regularly serviced and in good condition. Interested can contact +919445623234. Update: The bike is SOLD.

Last week, one of my friends said that Facebook will be no more by sometime in March 2012. I heard a similar rumor last year. Incidentally, last friday, rumors from close sources to Facebook revealed that their IPO is imminent. This is certainly a big thing if true. Many investors were looking forward to this. Facebook already had other form of investments, like from Goldman Sachs . With IPO, Facebook will become virtually immortal as far as funds are concerned. Earlier, there were many questions raised about the privacy issues, phychological effects on users, the load on their servers which can crash anytime; Facebook has survived amidst all these fears. I have a Facebook account which I mainly use to be in touch with my friends. So, basically I am seeing their lives even if not with them all the time. To me, this is the main reason for the success of Facebook - the undying interest to know what my friends are doing. Rumors are common with anything that is popular, but rumor...

Cleaning the Prefetch Directory Windows XP has a new feature called Prefetch. This keeps a shortcut to recently used programs.However it can fill up with old and obsolete programs. To clean this periodically go to: 1. Start --> Run --> Prefetch  2. Press Ctrl-A to highlight all the files  3. Delete them Rename Photos in Windows XP You have a lots of photos in some folder on your computer, all have numbers-names, and you want to name them like Holliday1.jpg, Holliday2.jpg, ... Don't need to do that one by one. You can do that automatically with this little trick.  1. Open that folder and chose View - Thumbnails  2. Left click on any picture and CTRL + A. That way you will select all files in that folder.  3. Right click on first pic and chose "Rename" from drop-down menu. Windows XP will highlight name of that file and you will be able to name it.  4. After filling the name, click somewhere outsi...

My first dedicated post about a friend of mine. I am excited, wondering what he will say after reading this. To begin with, he is someone loved by all. We love somebody only when we are comfortable being with them. A proper definition of gentleman is someone around whom we are comfortable with. Needless to say, he is a gentleman. I always thought I am a gentleman, but I don't fit in with the just said definition. He is cool unlike the people who claim they are. I have always admired the way he handles pressure - does he feel pressure or he converts pressure into performance! Gotta ask him. He is intelligent as well - I have seen that in his technical abilities at work. I'd say anyone who understands others is intelligent - he is also adept at that. Now, have I spoken about the significance of the title of this topic. There is a beautiful quote by Avvaiyar in Tamil that goes "Katrathu Kai Mann Alavu, Kallathathu Ulagalavu" which means "What you have lear...

One of my evergreen favourites. Will Smith all the way. His son Jaden Smith , wow, is a natural performer. Many memorable scenes like the one that has Will Smith and his son in railway station' restroom; it had me in tears. The way the screenplay has been handled is good; real story alright, but you have to convey it to the audience proper. Another scene I loved is the interview. Will Smith reaches late but tells them "Can I say something? Um, I'm the type of person that if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer, I'm gonna tell you that I don't know. But I bet you what, I know how to find the answer and I will find the answer" - I can relate myself to this dialogue. Talking about inspirational dialogue, can anyone beat this "Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want someth...

Privacy policy is important for your site as it is a way to keep your users informed, like what and how much user information is collected. If you post ads in your site you need to mention about them as well, like the usage of cookies. In my view, we are doing business if we have ads in our site. In any business, customer is the king - your site' Privacy Policy reiterates that. Make sure you cover all the necessary points while framing your Privacy policy. You can check my  Privacy Policy for your reference.   Step by step instruction on how to add privacy policy in your blogspot site: 1. Create a new Post and before you publish, modify the submit date to many days back. In my case, I modified the date to a date before I had started my blog. This is to ensure that the privacy policy does not end up in the first page of your site. 2. Once published, the privacy policy will be in your site and it will have a link. In my case, it is http://vigindian.blogspot.com...

I had not played Half-Life 2 when I thought Call of Duty had the best gameplay. Having said that, I am not taking anything away from Call of Duty; not even comparing as both are of different genres. Just that I liked this game almost as much as Call of Duty. Half-life 2 has very well designed graphics and awesome gameplay. I must say that one has to be too intelligent to finish the game without any help. There were many occasions where I needed help, but somehow got myself out of the conundrum. For instance there is a place where I have to open a big door in the middle of the road so that I can take my bike through. There was a room that had one battery on the table - there were 2 more slots. I confirmed that this was connected to the door and figured out that I must find 2 more batteries and lay it on the empty slots to open the door. One battery was found outside, but nowhere could I find another one. There was a damaged car in a distance and guess what - found the battery i...

Customize Internet Explorer's Title Bar 1. Open Registry Editor by going to Start --> Run --> regedit. 2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main 3. In right hand panel look for string "Window Title" and change its value to whatever custom text you want to see. Disabling MSN Messenger at Startup 1. Open Registry Editor by going to Start --> Run --> regedit. 2. Navigate to the following Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft  3. Create a new key by selecting Edit from the main menu bar. Select New then Key. Name this new Key: Messenger. 4. Select the newly created Messenger Key and create another new Key. Only this time we are going to name it: Client.  5. Next we have to create a DWORD value. So Right Click the new Client Key and select New then DWORD. Name the DWORD PreventRun. Now we need to give it a Data Value of 1. 6. Restart Windows XP and you have successful...

Google is everywhere and if they can't find something, they will tell you where to find it. In the same context, adding it in your blog will certainly help. Let us see how do we do it. Add the below code in your webpage main html to enable Google search from your site . This is a successfully tested and working code (see right pane of this page): ---------------------------------------------------------------- <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/search"> <div style="border:1px;padding:4px;width:20em;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td> <input type="text"   name="q" size="25"  maxlength="255" value="" /> <br /> <input type="submit" value="Google Search" /></td></tr> <tr><td align="center" style="font-size:75%"> </td...

It was one fine morning in March 2011 when I was asked to do redhat certification. For starters, RHCE is RedHat Certified Engineer which is a genuine and worthy recognition of our knowledge in Linux. This was a big leap for me considering that I had not considered Linux as my career option. I was into another application till then. Redhat certifications are weighed more because of the complexity of the exam; not that the questions are unsolvable, just that the exam is practical oriented unlike the usual 'choose the best' type. Certainly challenging. I joined for redhat Linux course along with 6 others, in one of the reputed coaching centers in Chennai. I do not want to disclose the name of the institution; read on to know the reason. I had to pay for class, books and exam which aggregated to Rs. 30,000 which was more than my 1 month salary back then. Not only I had my reputation in office at stake but also at the risk of wasting such a huge amount. My company will reimbur...

This is certainly going to be my favourite topic. Yes, my bike; boy I love it. I have had 2 bikes till date and I have loved them equally. My first bike was Suzuki Max 100 in which I had learnt how to ride (a bike), gone to tuition in school days and then to college apart from roaming. If I have to define endurance and reliance, it definitely has to be my first bike. He would never let me down. Technically, my first bike was my dad's but still I felt he was my own. When my dad sold the bike, I couldn't do anything - well he (bike) was pretty old by then. The bike had done his best in his lifetime with us. Before selling, my dad had rode the bike all the way to and from his native place Nagalapuram , a village in Andhra south-east of Tirupati. Now why am I calling my bike as 'he' - according to some theory, all vehicles are she (feminine) right ?!! Well, according to my theory any vehicle made for a man (male) is also a man, say splendor, yamaha r15 and only t...

Well, where do I begin. It took some days for me to come out of the effect that this movie had given me. I've never seen a war movie where you find both sides shown as good. Movie stands to its title - it is about the soldiers and nothing else. The Vietnamese General in the movie rightly puts it that the result will be the same no matter how many ever soldiers die - I liked it. Mel Gibson and the military journalist did a very good job with their commendable acting. Many scenes are worth watching again but do I have the heart for it, well, time will tell. To be frank, I still wonder why this movie hovers around an imdb rating of just 7 on 10 in imdb - it certainly deserves more. I would vote multiple times if possible. :) I am game on for more war movies - keep it coming. Over and out.

Wow wow wow - "purely awesome". I have to thank my friend for suggesting this. This is one heck of a war movie. The first 27 minutes, well, it deserves all the praise it gets and more. I just cannot imagine or believe how the scene was shot; as if they have laid cameras in real war zone. Movie filled with so many good scenes - another rarity. One disturbing scene that is still lingering in my mind is the killing of 'Adam Goldberg'; it had me in shock, fear and tears. Steven Spielberg - you can surely count me in as your fan.

Awesome movie. Very well thought out and well directed classic. I wonder how the story-writer got such an idea; it really amazes me. In certain places, I had to literally pause the movie, think & figure out what is happening and resume it - this movie will be loved by anyone who understands it completely. Even the subtlest things like the totem is good. This guy DiCaprio is too good at what he does. I think this is the second movie I am watching of Chris after 'Memento' - will surely watch rest of his movies after this. About the Climax, well what can I say - magnificent. I might as well have had many goosebumps here and there during the movie - tends to happen with a very few movies. I loved it. To me, this is 'The Best' movie of 2010.

Awesomeness in the form of a game. This is certainly the best game I have ever played. I am not a hardcore gamer, but I have played every (1 to 7) Call of Duty game at least twice; with the exception of the 3rd instalment as it was released only for consoles. Excellent graphics, great gameplay, priceless experience and more. Playing the game gives utter happiness, over and over again. Well, is it safe to say that I am a game addict; lets see. After getting a feel of COD, I feel other games to be less interesting. I was in fact Googling for "games like COD" after finishing the 6th instalment, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 . Many things I loved in the gameplay; an instance in the 4th, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare where me and my partner are in stealth mode-we come across a room with 4 hostiles and my partner tells me "don't even think about it". Absolutely awesome - can there be a better way to ask me not to throw a grenade inside?! Intelligence drives me c...

Yes. At last, I (too) have started a blog!! Better late than never :D. Only the other day a close friend of mine asked me to write articles - I said with a smile  that "I have that in mind" for which he replied "it won't help. I've been havin it in mind for several years". This being the new driving force, here I am with my first blog. Very happy and excited for a first-timer. A pen-a beautiful diary-write-no ways-I'd rather blog; though writing is safer in more than one way. Well, what's the worst that can happen. I write, others see my work, appreciate my language, admire my intelligence and get inspired to start their own blog (really?!!!). What a heavy-headed start to my blog! What matters the most is I have started blogging. You can find me blogging about anything and everything. Even this moment, lot of things running in my mind-should I be interactive, funny, sarcastic or what not. I will put an end to my thoughts (on this) by en...

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