tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236093142024-03-06T20:47:29.008-08:00Binary-FusionA fusion between my binary and actual self, this blog is a digital snapshot of my ephemeral thoughts.Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-45105969726652437972008-07-09T17:45:00.000-07:002008-07-09T17:47:50.963-07:00Oh and by the way I have movedTo <a href="http://lukkhacoder.spaces.live.com">LukkhaCoder</a> (http://lukkhacoder.spaces.live.com)Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-78083510623179110182007-02-17T20:54:00.001-08:002007-02-17T20:54:02.753-08:00LA Downtown Blog<p>If you happen to live in Los Angeles or any of the surrounding areas, I highly recommend reading <a href="http://blogdowntown.com/">BlogDownTown</a>, a blog about downtown Los Angeles. The author Eric Richardson is a long time resident of Los Angeles and is really passionate about downtown LA. He updates the blog often with news, commentary and photos of downtown related events. </p> <p>Also check out the <a href="http://flickr.com/groups/blogdowntown/">BlogDownTown Flickr pool</a>.</p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:343d8398-0375-49b5-8d3a-b8bad690b87b" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Los%20Angeles" rel="tag">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/downtown" rel="tag">downtown</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Eric%20Richardson" rel="tag">Eric Richardson</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/blogdowntown" rel="tag">blogdowntown</a></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-44023299409246646822007-01-26T12:21:00.001-08:002007-01-26T12:21:52.065-08:00The profession of Nuclear Diving<p>Commercial diving has been around for quite some time now with offshore diving (diving for maintenance of oil platforms in the ocean) and onshore diving (diving for survey or maintenance of engineering projects such as bridges, etc) being the most well known branches. But with the advent of nuclear power, there is now a new type of diving – nuclear diving. <em><a href="http://lukkhablog.blogspot.com/2007/01/profession-of-nuclear-diving.html">... (more)</a></em></p> <p> </p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="0767317B-992E-4b12-91E0-4F059A8CECA8:30f95378-4811-445e-b028-7da871562586" contenteditable="false" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px">Technorati tags: <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/Nuclear%20diving" rel="tag">Nuclear diving</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/nuclear%20power" rel="tag">nuclear power</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tags/radiation%20exposure" rel="tag">radiation exposure</a></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-62403976341112180492006-10-13T14:04:00.000-07:002006-10-13T14:11:58.208-07:00Anybody home?Why no updates?<br />Because I have moved to <a href="http://arjunj.spaces.live.com">BinaryFusion</a> on <a href="http://spaces.live.com">Live Spaces</a>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1147394706628970812006-05-11T17:24:00.000-07:002006-05-11T17:49:45.393-07:00What young Americans know (or don't know) of the world<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/mapOfTheWorld.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/mapOfTheWorld.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Recently, National Geographic completed a <a href="http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/pdf/RoperPoll2006.pdf">survey</a> of young Americans (between the ages of 18-24), that assess their knowledge of geography and culture. Here are some of the results:<br /><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>63% cannot find Iraq on a map of the Middle East (despite the fact that America is fighting a war there)</li><li>75% cannot find Indonesia on a map. </li><li>75% do not know that a majority of Indonesia's population is Muslim (making it the largest Muslim country in the world)</li><li>74% believe English is the most commonly spoken native language in the world(It is not. The right answer is Mandarin)</li><li>50% cannot identify state of NY on a map (even though it is the third most populous state in the union, after California and Texas).</li><li>75% cannot find Iran or Israel on a map.</li><li>88% cannot find Afghanistan on a map of Asia. (Hard to believe!!)<br /></li><li>70% cannot find North Korea on a map.</li><li style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">48% say Muslims are in the majority in India.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">For Indians like me who have been in the US for some time now, this is not surprising. Americans are notoriously ignorant about the outside world. In fact awareness about India has only recently started increasing, after outsourcing gained main stream coverage by the media.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outgoing links:</span><br /><a href="http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/roper2006/pdf/RoperPoll2006.pdf">PDF: National Geographic Survey</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="tag_list">Tags: <span class="tags"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/young+americans" rel="tag">young americans</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/survey" rel="tag">survey</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/national+geographic" rel="tag">national geographic</a></span></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1146876111635524662006-05-05T17:38:00.000-07:002006-05-05T17:46:08.593-07:00Management Lies<div style="text-align: justify;">A skill that I've acquired working (as a software engineer) in corporate America, is recognizing when I am being lied to, especially by the members of the "management". It is something that I think everyone should have. So I have decided to share my knowledge. Here are the top 5 lies that I've heard over and over again and I am sure you must have heard too!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5: "Your input is valuable to us"</span><br />No, it no. What is valuable to them is to have you think that!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4: "The future is bright."</span><br />Actually this is not a complete lie. It is partly true. Having worked at a startup, I realized that while it was a dead end job for me, the future was bright from the people in management who had a huge personal stake in the company.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3: "Our people are the best."</span><br />If you give your boss <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_serum">truth serum</a> before this talk you would hear him say "Our people are the best amongst the people desperate enough to work here at the meager salary we were willing to offer"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2: "We'll review your performance in 6 months."</span><br />I personally fell for this one when I was negotiating my salary for my first job. The 6 months never came.<br /><br />And the top lie, ladies and gentlemen (drum-rolls in the background)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />1: "Employees are our most valuable asset."</span><br />They should be, but they are not. The only time they treated that way is on their last week at work, when management needs them to transfer their knowledge to another employee.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">On a side note:</span><br />You know as a software engineer you are a valuable asset to the company when you have..<br /><a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/DevelopmentAbstraction.html">"a quiet private office, a great computer, unlimited beverages, an ambient temperature between 68 and 72 degrees (F), no glare on the screen, a chair that's so comfortable you don't feel it, an administrator that brings them(you) their mail and orders manuals and books, a system administrator who makes the Internet as available as oxygen, a tester to find the bugs they (you) just can't see, a graphic designer to make their (your) screens beautiful.."</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outgoing links:</span><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_serum">Truth Serum: On Wikipedia</a><br /><a href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/DevelopmentAbstraction.html">Development Abstraction Layer</a><br /><br /></div><div class="tag_list">Tags: <span class="tags"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/lies" rel="tag">lies</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/software+engineer" rel="tag">software engineer</a></span></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1146013413900869862006-04-25T17:47:00.000-07:002006-05-05T16:13:55.740-07:00New to LA; Not new to LA<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/LosAngelesTraffic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/200/LosAngelesTraffic.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">New to LA</span>: You expect that on the freeway people will overtake (ok, pass, for all the Americans reading) you only from the left.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not new to LA</span>: You follow the Boy Scout Motto: “Be prepared”.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: Almost all freeways have at-least 3 and many have 5 plus lanes of traffic, and as the <a href="http://dirtscapes.blogspot.com/2006/04/hollywood-and-little-deja-vu.html">Hollywood cliché</a> goes, “There is just one rule and that is there are no rules”.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: You enter a parking lot of a Kmart and are still looking for parking when 5 cars that entered the lot after you have already found parking.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: You are one amongst the 5 people who have already found parking!<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: Spotting an empty parking space is an essential skill that people driving in Los Angeles have to develop for their own good.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: You are looking for parking and see a spot on the street, but drive past it, because just yesterday you caused a traffic jam while trying to parallel park.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not new</span>: Parallel parking, no problem.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: Not comfortable with parallel parking, consider public transport.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: No parking tickets.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: At-least one parking ticket.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: I know of only one person I my office who has not got a parking ticket in Los Angeles, and that is my wife, and that because she does not drive here.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: Proceed cautiously at every freeway interchange, have their rental car map unfolded and do a lot of pointing.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: Why should that fact that you are in a car and do not know the route interrupt the given agenda.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: Everyone is perpetually late here, because of the “traffic”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: You ask more than one person for directions.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: Everybody here has a friend, whose navigation skills they trust, and whenever they need directions, that friend is the only person they call.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: Every person has their own version of how best to get from point A to point B.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: Try to drive during a long weekend. (You poor man)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: It’s a long weekend, you have 70 miles to travel on I-5 and so you rent a room in a motel for the night.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: This is a true story.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: Expect rush hour to start at 4:30 pm<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: What is rush hour?<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: The freeways are pretty much densely populated between 3:30 and 7.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">New</span>: Talk about the weather to make polite conversation.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not New</span>: Talk about the traffic.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comment</span>: Enough said. <br /><br />If you are not already full of me going on and on about traffic in LA, read <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/05/a_kafka_day_at_the_l.html">this post</a> about a person whose wife faces difficulties in paying a simple traffic ticket in Los Angeles.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PS</span>: This article is inspired by the article “<a href="http://dirtscapes.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-know-youre-new-to-mumbai-when.html">You know you are new to Mumbai When..</a>”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outgoing links</span>:<br /><a href="http://dirtscapes.blogspot.com/2006/04/hollywood-and-little-deja-vu.html">Hollywood Cliche's</a><br /><a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2005/01/05/a_kafka_day_at_the_l.html" name="016941"><span class="rss:item"></span>A Kafka day at the Los Angeles traffic ticket office</a><br /><a href="http://dirtscapes.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-know-youre-new-to-mumbai-when.html">You know you are new to Mumbai When..<br /><br /></a><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tags:</span> <span class="tags"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/LA" rel="tag">LA</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Los+Angeles" rel="tag">Los Angeles</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/traffic" rel="tag">traffic</a></span></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1146776571523335012006-05-04T13:37:00.000-07:002006-05-05T16:12:53.226-07:00User choice?<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/IESearchBox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/400/IESearchBox.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx">Internet Explorer 7</a>, set to come out this summer is the first upgrade to the browser in 5 years. Amongst many new features that will be part of the new version, there is a small search box in the upper right corner of the browser. What it does is it allows the user to start a search directly, without having to go to a web site of a search engine. On typing a search query and hitting enter, the user is directly taken to a web page of the search engine containing the results. Unless set otherwise, this search box is set to use Microsoft's MSN search.<br /><br />This move as per Google, benefits Microsoft tremendously. Google says that about 30-50 percent of all the web search originate from that little search box. They also say that it limit user choice as not many people are savvy enough to be able to change the default search engine.<br /><br />In the past few months Google has:<br /></div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>Heavily promoted Google Toolbar, which also has a small search box. The default search engine it uses is Google.</li><li><a href="http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/23155">Heavily promoted Firefox</a>, which also has a small search box. The default search engine it uses is Google.</li><li><a href="http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/02/08/google-shares-slammed-on-billion-dollar-dell-deal/">Paid $ 1 billion to Dell computers</a>, for having them install a Googlized web browser on the computers they ship.</li><li>And let's not forget about Safari, where Google is the default search engine and it's very hard for normal people to change that.</li></ol><div style="text-align: justify;">So is Google really concerned about giving the user a choice?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Outgoing links:</span><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx">Internet Explorer home page</a><br /><a href="http://www.spreadfirefox.com/node/23155">Google Promoting Firefox on its home page</a><br /><a href="http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/02/08/google-shares-slammed-on-billion-dollar-dell-deal/">Google Shares Slammed On Billion-Dollar Dell Deal</a></div><br /><div class="tag_list"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tags:</span> <span class="tags"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/google" rel="tag">google</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/microsoft" rel="tag">microsoft</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/ie7" rel="tag">ie7</a></span></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1145928752947238922006-04-24T18:25:00.000-07:002006-04-24T18:40:57.140-07:00Weekend of 4/22<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/640/IMG_0844.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/IMG_0844.jpg" border="0" /></a> <p align="justify">This weekend was very very tiring, but we got a lot of stuff done. After a marathon 7 straight days, unpacking is finally over! Not that I had so much stuff, but after 10 hours of work everyday, the motivation level for unpacking is very low.<br /><br />Then instead of relaxing my wife and I started the long overdue applicance hunting. My wife had been reviewing microwaves all week long. So we finally got a <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6991099&type=product&productCategoryId=cat05019&id=1099390238934">Sharp</a> from BestBuy. Along with that we got a <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7007428&type=product&id=1099394137344">Oster</a> toaster as well. </p><p align="justify">As if that was not enough, we decided to go for the trifecta. We had really liked a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudeboy/tags/diningtable/">9 piece dining </a>table and so we got that too!<br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/640/IMG_0848.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/IMG_0848.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/640/IMG_0833.jpg"><img style="CLEAR: all; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/IMG_0833.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></p><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"></a>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1145385601198897862006-04-18T11:34:00.000-07:002006-04-18T11:43:47.946-07:00ICC 2007 Cricket World Cup calendar<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/cricketworldcalendarscreenshot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/200/cricketworldcalendarscreenshot.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yesterday I was playing around with Google Calendar, and I wanted to check out the Shared calendar feature. On the other hand I was looking for the ICC 2007 Cricket World Cup calendar, which I could not find anywhere. So I ended up creating one on Google Calendar. As far as I know, this is the only ICC 2007 Cricket World Cup calendar.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I have shared it here </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/5pl3pmlpl8s99e200rk4iggk3o@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic">(XML)</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/5pl3pmlpl8s99e200rk4iggk3o@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic">(ICAL)</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>so that you too can import it into your calendar program. (To add them to your Google Calendar copy the URL of the calendar feed into the "search public calendar" textbox at the bottom of the Calendars sidebar and press Enter.).<br /><br />The ICC 2007 Cricket World Cup calendar contains all the matches from the opening ceremony to the finals. Each match contains venue, stage and group information.<br /><br />If there is anyway in which I can make the calendar better or if you find any errors please let me know.<br /><br />On a side note: I already have the FIFA 2006 World Cup calendar as one of the shared calendars. You can find it <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/70efdtlnl13ers2oep55luddtg@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic?gsessionid=NxkA3glUwu4">here.</a> </div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1145041513778545752006-04-14T11:53:00.000-07:002006-04-14T12:07:37.523-07:00Google Calendar - Live<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://calendar.google.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/Googlecalendarlogo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://calendar.google.com/">Google Calendar</a> <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/sets/72057594105839238/">(screen shots)</a> was released yesterday. After Windows Live Mail, Google Calendar was second on my list of most awaited online applications. The entire blogging community has gone crazy. Suddenly people who did not need calendars, now feel the need to use them.<br /><br />I have not had time to review it in detail, but here are my initial thoughts:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things that I liked:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Natural language recognition</span>: In the few tests that I did, it really worked. Google Calendar automatically understands ÂDinner with LA Lukhas at 9 pm on SaturdayÂ.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Integrated with GMail</span>: When I receive an email in GMail that contains event information, GMail automaticallrecognizeses it and allows me to add it to Google Calendar with a couple of clicks. HOWEVER, a GMail account is NOT required to use Google Calendar.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Integrated with Google maps</span>: For events that have a valid US address as their location, Google calendar automatically picks it up and adds a Google Maps link next to it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Calendar Searching</span>: ItÂs Google, so ofcourse itÂs going to search the hell out of the calendar. I can search for events by subject, attendees or location.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AJAX based</span>: So you know what that means, a slick user interface. And itÂs fast, really really fast.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Open platform</span>: It uses the open iCal and hence data exporting/importing should be really easy. Google has got help sections which describe on how to import data from Outlook and Yahoo Calendar.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Invitation management</span>: Sending of Outlook style meeting requests and attendee management is possible. And since itÂs integrated with GMail, it automatically recognizes the names that are part of my GMail contact list. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things that I did not like</span>:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Year view</span>: There is daily, weekly and a montly view, but no yearly view.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mini calendar</span>: The previous and next month links do not automatically open the calendar for the month.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time Zones</span>: There is no support for time zones.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Categories</span>: There are no categories as yet. So If I want to see a list of birthdays, I cannot do that. Yes, I can search for them, but then I need to add the name of the category to the event title.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Things that I have not tried yet</span>:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">API</span>: I donÂt know how good/bad the API is.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">SMS notification</span>: There is an option for SMS notification of event reminders. I have not tried that. There seems to be a list of US cell phone providers, donÂt know if there are any for other countries.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Calendar sharing</span>: This is the biggest feature that I am waiting to use. </div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1144773286091945952006-04-11T09:28:00.000-07:002006-04-11T17:41:26.303-07:00Google Calendar - screen shots<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/CL2event.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/CL2event.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This morning I read about Google Calendar on <a href="http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/04/10/exclusive-screenshots-of-google-calendar-cl2/">this article</a>. I really need a good online calendar and what I read makes me happy :). They also have a few other screen shots there.<br /><a href="http://google.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/04/10/exclusive-screenshots-of-google-calendar-cl2/">Check them out</a>.<br /><br /></div>(Click to enlarge)Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1144171165501553812006-04-04T10:07:00.000-07:002006-04-06T14:38:29.816-07:00Photos<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/View%20blog.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 152px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 107px" height="138" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/200/View%20blog.jpg" width="190" border="0" /></a> Sorry for the infrequent posts. I have been very busy lately. On the weekend my wife and I drove to San Francisco to meet a few Syracuse friends.<br /><br />Then yesterday after office, we moved a few of the boxes to the new apartment we will be moving into in a few days. Finally got a chance to click a few snaps. You can see them <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudeboy/tags/parklabrea/">here</a>, or if you prefer a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudeboy/tags/parklabrea/show/">slide show</a>.<br /><br />Update: For San Francisco snaps <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudeboy/tags/sanfranciscotrip/">click here</a>, or for a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudeboy/tags/sanfranciscotrip/show/">slide show click here</a>.Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1144359198525895732006-04-06T14:31:00.000-07:002006-04-06T14:34:25.283-07:004th ODI, commentary and cricket<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/crickethuddle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 163px; height: 128px;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/200/crickethuddle.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>So, yesterday night as I was getting ready to dose off, my brother called me and gave me a link to the 4th ODI between India and England. As soon as I started the web stream, a flood of emotions came rushing back. It brought back so many memories of watching hours and hours of cricket and even more time spent on discussions with friends. Leaving out the last world cup, I’ve hardly watched any cricket in the past 6 year. But inspite of that the sport just feels so intimate, so familiar.<br /><begin>---Being rant<br />Even after all these years, the commentary left much to desire. It’s still the same old, formulaic and full of cliché’s. "The ball is coming on to the bat", "Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties", wonder where I have heard that?<br />When will the commentators stop insulting the intelligence of the people that are perhaps the most knowledgeable listeners of any sport; by saying "the best way to stop the runs flowing is to take wickets"? We know that since a long time.<br /><end>---End rant<br /><br />Other than the unimaginative commentary, it was nice to see the familiar faces of Dravid, Bhaaji, Vuraj, Kaif, Agarkar etc. And also to finally put faces to the now familiar names of Pathan, Dhoni, etc. Saw a couple of run-outs being decided by the third-umpire and a questionable lbw decision (that of Batty). I tried to stay awake for the Indian innings, but could not. Ahh, how I miss watching cricket, discussing cricket, analyzing every shot, commenting on every ball being bowled, reading about cricket, thinking cricket, playing cricket, breathing cricket, living cricket.<br /></end></begin></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1143841531139705102006-03-31T13:44:00.000-08:002006-03-31T13:51:47.296-08:00I want the hair cut short, but I don’t want it to spike!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/scissors.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 105px;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/scissors.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is a post from one of my earlier blogs. Till this day I hate getting a haircut and I try to avoid it as far as possible!<br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">I want the hair cut short, but I don’t want it to spike!</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">May 21, 2005</span><br /><br />So everybody procrastinates. Its human nature right? There is something inherent in the human psyche that makes them avoid doing something they hate for as long as they can. I believe that everybody has at least one thing that they always procrastinate. And with me, that thing is going for a haircut.<br /><br />Right now I am looking like a Gujju film hero, who has thick side locks. I am a couple of days away from looking like Bobby Deol in Barsaat. It used to take me about 30 seconds to comb my hair every morning. Now it takes just about 30 seconds less than the time my wife takes to comb her hair. Every morning I get the “go-get-a-haircut” look from my boss. But still I don’t go. Why? Because I hate going for a haircut.<br /><br />Back home in India, a haircut meant short trip to the local hair cutting salon. I enter the place, the barbers see me and then I sit around, waiting for my turn, reading old editions of FilmFare or CineBlitz. Within 10 minutes, my favorite barber after finishing whatever he was doing came and seated me on his chair, I asked him his haal-chal and he starts snipping. If you were one of those people who are really fastidious about their hair, you gave a brief 30 second explanation to the barber about how you wanted it to be. In any case 15 minutes later you are done. And every single time it was exactly the way I wanted it to be. It’s that simple. Outline of haircut in India:<br /><br />* Walk into salon<br />* Read old filmy magazines for few minutes.<br />* Have a 10 minute haircut.<br />* Leave with cool haircut.<br /><br />But now, when I walk into a hair salon here, I have this silly sign-up sheet greeting me. Why the hell do I have to sign-up for a haircut? Other than the one woman who was already waiting when I entered, I am the only person there. Is it so difficult to remember “American woman first, Indian good-looking man second”? Then as I uncomfortably wait (I hate unisex salons) for my turn, I wonder “why the hell do they have a place with 20 barber’s chair (the one in which you sit on) when at any time there are only 3 barbers”.<br />When my turn finally comes I explain<br />Me: “I want the hair cut short, but I don’t want it to spike. And please use scissors.”<br />Barber: “Ok. So a short spike?”<br />Me: “No Short hair but noooo (with head going from side to side) spike. I don’t want the hair to stand.”<br />(I cannot remember the number of times this has happened. Earlier I used to use the number system. But you know how bad they are with numbers. So I abandoned that strategy very quickly.)<br /><br />Then the barber (invariably a women) picks up the hair trimmer and is about to start, when I say,<br />Me: “I want you to use scissors”<br />Barber: “Oh.. sorry I though you said don’t use scissors”<br />(You see after my first couple of haircuts in the US, I learnt that a hair trimmer is a weapon of mass destruction with which a barber can ruin your hair before you can even realize what that whirring sound near your ears is.)<br />As the scissors start snipping, she says,<br />B: “The weather’s so wonderful today, and it’s so pleasant outside”.<br />Why, why the weather. I fail to understand this incessant need the people of this country have about discussing the weather. And it always starts with the weather and ends up with a discussion about arranged marriage. So I’ve learnt not to encourage this conversation further. So all I say is, “Yeah”<br /><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">Then after 20 minutes of intense hair cutting in which the barber uses scissors of many different shapes and sizes, she announces that she is done. The haircut is a disaster. At some places the hair is spiking up. And at some places the hair is too long. Basically I will be the subject of a lot of jokes and comments over the next few days. Earlier I used to panic but I am used to it by now. All I do is remind her that she’s yet to trim my side burns. Invariably no-one ever knows how to trim side locks using scissors and so out come the hair trimmers. What I write about next also happens without fails, always. First she’ll trim my left burn. Then the right one. Then she’ll check to see whether they are level. They are never at the same level. So the next 10 minutes are spent trying to level two side burns. Interesting that 9000 miles away, the same activity barely takes 60 seconds. But after the side burn fiasco, my happiness level is at a new high. I’m done with a haircut. I don’t even have to think about another one for the next 40 days or so. I pay the same amount of money with which I could buy one week’s groceries, then pay some more as tip and leave. </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br />So here’s the outline of a haircut in the US:<br />* Sign up for a hair-cut<br />* Nothing to read while waiting.<br />* Explain and re-explain to the barber about the type of haircut I want.<br />* Explain it once again.<br />* Discuss for the nth time today, the weather.<br />* Excruciatingly slow 20 minute haircut.<br />* Even slower side burn trimming<br />* End result: Disastrous expensive hair cut.<br /></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1143750627609897122006-03-30T12:28:00.000-08:002006-03-30T17:57:35.940-08:00Mastermind<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/rait2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 157px;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/rait2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s the spring of 1998 and second semester as <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.jammag.com/campus/unofficialpros/ramrao.htm">Ramrao Adik Institue of Technology (RAIT).</a> </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">The male variety of the seniors has found an unsullied canvas amongst the bunch of unsuspecting little FE girls. Each senior has his own plan of attack; the wheels of which have been in motion since the beginning of the first semester. </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The first meeting between the senior and the girl went off smoothly. It was just by chance that they met. The girl was being ragged (inappropriately, I must add) and it was the senior who was her knight in shining armor, who got her out of the canteen and dropped her into the (then) welcoming and safe arms of lecture room. Or maybe the girl was traveling back in second class and the senior was in the same train because he had not got his first class pass yet and wanted to avoid the rush hour. He was sympathetic to the problems she was facing in this new world of engineering and was well equipped with funny anecdotes to make her forget her problems, even though it is just for that one ride. Or maybe the girl wanted to buy some second hand engineering books for cheap (considering that she could not get 299 PCM and now her “baapu” had to pay 32k year for a “paid” seat), and our bookworm had just the right book for her, and the cost was in single digits.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So what if the guy had to take “panga” with the wrong kind of guys when he rescued the grateful girl. Sold an expensive book for pennies? Never mind a few days of “tangi” now, the end-of-semester crash course embezzlement always returned good yields. But hunting season came just once a year and nothing was left to chance. Each meeting had been well though out. Unknown to the gullible girls, they are the protagonists in a plot so complex; it would put <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ludlum">Ludlum </a>to shame.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;">(To be continued..)</span><br /></div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1143233435783590092006-03-24T12:45:00.000-08:002006-03-24T12:51:52.576-08:00So, how is LA?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/DowntownLA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/320/DowntownLA.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>So people have been asking me how is LA. In one word: <span style="font-weight: bold;">different</span>. In two words <span style="font-weight: bold;">different but great</span> (3 words actually).<br /><p class="MsoNormal"> In the 5 years I have been in the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>, I've stayed at a lot of places all over the east coast. First I was at <st1:city st="on">Syracuse</st1:city> in upstate NY, then <st1:city st="on">Daytona Beach</st1:city> in <st1:state st="on">Florida</st1:state>, then <st1:city st="on">Charleston</st1:city> in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">South Carolina</st1:place></st1:state>. Although each place had its individual flavor, at the very least you still felt you were in the same country. All of them had a very relaxed atmosphere, easy going life and the biggest ethic group was caucasian white. The roads were perfect, there were no traffic hassles, they were sparsely populated and things were distinctly American. I never though twice about my personal safety of the safety of my belonging.<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:city> is very different. It’s crowded, dirty and disorganized. People are running all the time. It is the home to the maximum number of Mexicans, Koreans, Chinese and Vietnamese outside of their countries, so you see a large number of ethnic people (yes, even more than you see in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">New York city</st1:place></st1:city>). Here the roads can compete with the roads of <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bombay</st1:place></st1:city> in terms of the sheer number, traffic is a major problem (Mumbaites: You think Saki Naka is bad? Try I-405 during peak hours) and so is parking and people drive like crazy all the time. Things cannot be taken for granted, you cannot expect the bus driver to stop for you, you cannot expect the cashiers to greet you, and you cannot expect people to always overtake your car from the left lane (what the hell, you cant even expect them to not overtake your car from the exit lane). And yes, you have to be safety conscious here. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Notice however, that I said things are different here. That does not mean I am not enjoying every minute of it. The bad roads and the traffic conditions remind me of my beloved <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bombay</st1:place></st1:city>. More ethic people mean more ethnic places to eat or more ethnic co-workers. There are twice the number of Indian restaurants and grocery stores in a 5 mile radius from my apartment, then all the restaurants and grocery stores of <st1:city st="on">Syracuse</st1:city>, Daytona and <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Charleston</st1:place></st1:city> put together. And plus I have a lot more Indian friends here than I have remaining in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bombay</st1:place></st1:city>. Maybe things will change but I am not complaining right now. <span style=""> </span></p>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1143141644841945492006-03-23T11:20:00.000-08:002006-03-23T11:20:44.843-08:00Defies common sense?I just realized something this morning and it's been in my head ever since. Why do they have braille on the digits of drive up ATM'S? It makes no sense at all. I tried looking this up online, feeling sure that this was in compliance with some law, but found nothing. Just another of those things that defy common sense?Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1142384756517618262006-03-14T17:00:00.000-08:002006-03-14T17:05:56.530-08:00Great week for cricketFrom <a href="http://binary-fusion-sports.blogspot.com/">Binary-Fusion: Sports</a>:<br /><br />"Does anyone else remember a week more glorious for cricket than this past one? Recent times have not been good for cricket... " <a href="http://binary-fusion-sports.blogspot.com/2006/03/great-week-for-cricket.html">(more)</a>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1142011845594704972006-03-10T09:16:00.000-08:002006-03-10T09:33:09.386-08:00Missing my TV<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/1600/SUBasketball.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1636/692/200/SUBasketball.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday, <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/basketball/ncaa/wires/03/09/syracuse.uconn/index.html">Syracuse beat number 1, University of Connecticut</a>, in the Big East basket ball tournament, and that too in overtime (86-84). McNamara hit a 3-point shot with 5.5 in the game, to sent it to overtime. I did not watch the game because I dont have a TV. I sold my Sony Wega when I moved from Charleston. I am really missing it now. But moving a TV when you change apartments (or cities, in my case) is a big headache and with our lease running out at the end of this month, it really doesn't make sense to buy one right now. So no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Madness">March Madness</a> for me :(<br /><br />BTW, I think that now there is little doubt that Syracuse will make it to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_tournament">NCAA tournament</a> now as an at large bid.Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1141935728979682772006-03-09T12:18:00.000-08:002006-03-09T12:22:08.993-08:00Google CalendarFrom <a href="http://binary-fusion-technology.blogspot.com/">Binary-Fusion: Technology</a>:<br /><br />"I rely heavily on my Hotmail calendar right now. I use it to remind me of birthdays, anniversaries, travel dates, memorable events and what not. It's got a lot better recently. It allows me to add categories to an event and share appointments with other people. But it still.... "<a href="http://binary-fusion-technology.blogspot.com/2006/03/google-calendar.html">(more)</a>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23609314.post-1141766280115897992006-03-07T13:08:00.001-08:002006-03-07T13:30:55.046-08:00Hello World ver 3.0<div style="text-align: justify;">The last few weeks have been eventful for me. I've moved to Los Angeles to start a new job. Everything is new for me here, new coast, new city, new job everything. So why not a new blog?<br /><br />Actually the reason I have a new blog is that I got tired of hosting my blog on my own machine. Besides the obvious, that my blog went down whenever my machine did, I did not like the hole security hole. Not that DotNetNuke has security problems, just that I was not sure I was doing the necessary house keeping.<br /><br />So here it is, my third "Hello World" post. Pasted below is my first "Hello World" post.<br /><br />----<br />12/05/2004<br /><br />I have been hearing about blogs since quite some time now. But when I heard that "Blog" was the most popular search on Dictionary.com, I knew I had to jump onto the bandwagon NOW. And so here I am writing on a strange website, not knowing if anybody is ever going to read what I write. But this will give me a chance to write and sometimes I really enjoy writing. So I hope I get a few hits and people enjoy reading my blogs.<br /><br />Today is the 5th of December. Another day I wasted not studying for MCAD. My original plan was to give a test before I leave for India (22nd December), but my motivation levels to study over the weekend after a tiring work-week are downright non-existent.<br /><br />Today I watched the Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 47-17. Donovan McNabb had 5 TD's passes. Was fun watching a guy from my university (Syracuse) on TV :)<br /><br />Today was also the first day that I had to turn on the heater. Although it was for a brief while, it reminded me of the days at Syracuse and how much better the weather is here at Daytona.<br /><br /><br />I spend most of the day trying to setup my new desktop computer. After installing the operating system (XP professional), the first thing I did was to install the must haves like Winamp, VideoLan, FireFox etc. Tomorrow I will install a FTP server and IIS. I am planning to use this machine to host my website, which I will develop in ASP.NET. I was waiting since a long time for this. All the commercial hosts for hosting ASP.NET web pages are too expensive. So this way I'll save some cash. Whether I will actually get around to making the website is questionable though. LOL.<br /><br />Anyways.. this is the end of my first post. I have already edited it 3 times. Here's to many successful, entertaining and popular blogs. Cheers.<br /><br />-----<br /></div><div> </div>Arjun Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01209031051858122966noreply@blogger.com2