Addicted To Internet

Yesterday night my Internet Conenction was'nt working. When I asked, I was told someone from the rival company has cut the cables and thy would be able to fix it only in the morning. I was also informed that it would be fixed by today afternoon.

For the last two years (ever snice I have been using cable Internet connection), I have been spending as much as four hours online at nights. Yesterday since Internet Connection was'nt working, I felt a void in my life. I missed things. I can say I am addicted to Internet. As Prateek quoted "I felt as if I have been fired from my job and have nothing else to do".

No, its not that yesterday night was the first time when my connection was'nt working but yesterday was the first time I realized how much dependent and addicted I am on computers and Internet. I could have played one of so many interneting and goo games I have on my computer, could have made a website, could have completed Sudhakar's work and could have wathed Notting Hill or Sholay once agin. But NO. I could'nt stand it and I watched Television and slept at around 12. I can't remember when was the last time when I slept so early.

Talking of the movie Sholay, I think my disk has been scratched real bad. It won't work. I was on Yahoo confrence with people from PagalGuy.com and we were talking about useless stuff and from somewhere the Sholay thing came up. I posted a few trivias from the movie and to check the answrs, I loaded my Sholay disk and it was'nt working :(.

Coming back to Addiction, there are people who are addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, sex, drugs, computers, Internet and a lot of other stuff. But I am curious what exactly causes an addiction. What is the reason and why is it so tough to get out of it? I have seen people who have been really really addicted coming out of it without too much problems and there are people who would'nt budge no matter what you do. Two clear examples here could be my dad and me. My dad used to be a chain smoker till about 8 years back. He would smoke like a furnance and he did it all day long. The n one day all of a sudden, he left it all. He just said, "I won't touch a cigarette again" and he hasn't smoked since. TouchWood. And talking about me, for the last four years, I have tried unsuccessfullly to not spend so much time on computer but I have failed. Failed miserably everytime.

Let me get my Internet Conenction back and I would research about it today and add to this list. Also another thing to find out on the Internt is the scope and feasiblilty of finding overseas Diamond Jewellery traders.

You've Got GMail

GMail.Google.Com, the latest in the EMail technology is here and by the look of it, It is going to stay for a long long time.

Apart from features like 1000 MB mailbox and 10 MB EMail attachments, what it would essentialy do is take business off all the other mail ervice providers as the amount of storage they offer is easily 100 times more than the nearest rival. It would make people used to having huge Mailboxes and taking out other smaller providers out of business.

The user interface is very very convinient to work with and I found it very very good. Althought I try to make sure the thing is good before I recommend it, GMail I think does'nt needs to be checked. It is very very good and must have for everyone.

There were talks about Google reading your personal EMails and ths invasion to privacy but again the talks originated with the people who were unaware of the Google's AdSense technologoy wherein they scan the messages with the help of computers and scan for the frequecny of certain keywords. In a way yes, they do read your EMail but the entirte process is carried out by computers with no logging what so ever.

And as they say nothing is for free. If you want to super so powerful, feature rich technology of GMail, you gotta compromise and I would say it's not even a compromise. There is no danger to anyone's privacy.

Thats all I have to say about GMail as of now. I would add things as and when I get to know them but I would like to take this oppurtunity to thanks Google and Blogger for selecting me as one f the first people to test GMail.

Rain Drop Are Falling On My Head

It’s been more than 48 hours and I haven’t been online. Sucks. I need to be online to gauge my chances at MDI and kill time but alas my ISP has some problems in the RF link. The bad thing is that he is the ISP for all the Internet cafes around my place. So if his Internet is down, you can’t get online at least not in D.G. And this is being typed offline so that I could just copy paste the stuff as and when I go online.

Coming to the real topic, Rain Drops Are Falling On My Head… Yesterday it rained and it rained like anything. I was in the park, playing cricket when it started pouring. It was amazing fun to be in he rain and playing cricket. It made me forget all my worries and I enjoyed it a lot. Ever since I grew up (physically), I haven’t been playing that much. I guess there is a sort of barrier as you are all grown up and no one expects you to play like kids in the rain. Talking of cricket in the rains, yesterday I invented a new form of cricket in which diving and sliding was mandatory. Just imagine the wet slippery grass, keechad (dunno wats this in English) and other junk sticking onto when you dive on the roads. It is REAL FUN. I know this sounds very pathetic and cheap but whoever thinks this is not that good, should do it once.

Another thing about the rains, you get to see all kinds of looks on people’s faces. Some are trying to run for the shelter, some are trying to get as wet as possible, trying to figure out the most open place on the ground. Some would try to stand under some kinda shed and take their arms out and have the feel of it. And then there would be those who would take their clothes off and would run on the road and speed their mobikes on the slippery roads.

And what about the breeze and mausam after the rains? The best time for a romantic date, a stroll on the road, some wishful thinking. The mind is so clear and clean that you could give competition to any mastermind including Bill Gates.

As the night falls, after such a plesant time, its almost the perfect time for the Guitar. Although I have forgot EVERYthing I learnt on a guitar but still even Sa Ni Dha was amazing. That was the time when you feel as if the guitar is the last thing to do on the Earth.

Lara 400*

When Bryan Charles Lara was about 5 years old, someone saked him, "Son, what do you wanna be in life?". He replied "I want to be the world's greatest batsman".

Lara scored 400 not out against England in the drawn fourth and the last test match of the series (which England had already claimed 3-0) and reclaimed the status of the batsman getting the maximum runs in an innings. He has yet again started the word-war about the best batsmen in the world cricket today. It took him just 185 days after Matthew Hayden scored his 380 against Zimbabwe.

It took Lara 582 deliveries, 43 fours and 4 sixes, although he was dropped on 359 when a nick down the leg side was dropped by debutant wicket-keeper Geraint Jones. He equaled the Matty Hayden's record by hitting a giant six off Garrett Batty right in the lap on Sir Vivian Richards sitting in the Vivian Richard stand over the head of the bowler. And the very next bowl, he sweaped a four down the leg side to overtake Hayden.

Lara has seen a lot of ups and downs in his career but he sure is back and back with a bang. Here are few important events. Needless to say Copy Pasted from some website...

1969 Born Santa Cruz, Trinidad, May 2; youngest of seven brothers.
1984 First represents West Indies at under-19 level.
1988 Makes debut for Trinidad.
1989 Captains West Indies B team to Zimbabwe.
1990 Test debut, third test v Pakistan, Lahore, makes 44 and 6.
1993 First test century, 277 v Australia, Sydney
1994 World test record 375 in fifth test v England, St John's, Antigua.
1994 World first-class record 501 not out for Warwickshire v Durham at Edgbaston.
1994 Scores six hundreds in his first seven first-class innings for Warwickshire: 147, 106, 120 not out, 136, 26, 140, 501 not out.
1995 Walks out of West Indies' tour of England after dressing room row at end of the fourth test but is persuaded to rejoin party four days later.
1995 Pulls out of tour of Australia two days before squad leave the Caribbean following fine by West Indies Board disciplinary committee for breach of contract on England tour.
1996 Reprimanded by West Indies Board for derogatory remarks attributed to him following a World Cup defeat by Kenya and for an altercation with team physio Denis Waight on flight from Bombay to London following World Cup.
1998 Named as West Indies captain against England in the Caribbean, leading his side to 3-1 test series victory.
1998 Sacked as West Indies captain when players' revolt over pay delays start to tour of South Africa but is reinstated after four days of talks end impasse.
1999 Returns from dreadful tour of South Africa where West Indies suffer 5-0 drubbing in test series and lose one-day series 6-1.
1999 Re-appointed West Indies captain for test series against Australia in the Caribbean. Scores 213 in Kingston -- his first three-figure innings for a year -- to lead West Indies to series-levelling win in second test against Australia. Hits unbeaten 153 as West Indies score 311-9 in fourth innings to win third test. Series against Australia ends 2-2.
1999 Leads West Indies as they lose both tests and all five one-dayers on tour of New Zealand.
2000 Resigns as West Indies captain on February 24. Takes break from cricket for four months.
2001 Returns to West Indies side for Sri Lanka tour making 221 and 130 to become first player for almost three decades to make a century and double century in the same test but still lose. Averaged 114.66 for series, then dislocates left elbow in one-dayer, an injury which troubles him for most of 2002. Scores century in Champions Trophy match v Kenya, then collapses with mystery illness.
2003 Scores match-winning century against South Africa in the first game of the World Cup.
2003 Re-appointed West Indies captain for series against Australia, lost 3-1. Leads West Indies to 1-0 win over Sri Lanka, scoring 209 in the first test. Scores runs at 531 runs at 66.37 in four-test series in South Africa. West Indies lose series 3-0.
2004 Makes ducks in both the first and second tests as England take 3-0 lead in four-match series in the Caribbean. Passes Matthew Hayden's world record of 380, set in Perth in October 2003, in the fourth test with a six and a four off spinner Gareth Batty.

And does destiny plays a role? Try to figure out a few facts...
1.
- Lara's previous best was 375 on St. John's, Antigua on 18th Aril 1994 against England and Lara's current best is 400* on St. John's, Antigua on 12th April 2004 against England yet again.
2.
- D.B. Hair was the umpire in both the matches. In the Match played in 1994, he and S. Bucknor were officiateing and in the 2004 match it was Hair and some Pakistani Umpire.

Coincidences Probably Yes? Probably not? I would leave this question to be pondered upon.

Linkx:
1. http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/ is the official website of the ICC to get your facts straight. I got almost everything mentioned herein from this website only.
2. http://www.magiccricket.com/stats/Testrecords.asp is a nice place to get all your records straight. One can find almost all the records. Please note that this website is not edited on a regular basis so there might be a few older records.

Finally I am Back

Its been about 10 days since the last post and SO MUCH has happened.

Lara getting to 400, Dewang Mehta's Day, Elections, Results, etc. lots of things are supposed to be posted but I did'nt get enough time on the computer to all that.

I would be surely posting everything in a day or two.

Also I have planned something major for the BLOG. This BLOG majorly has been a personal BLOG. Everything I felt about me, my friends, things that concern me have been posted. But I think I would move up the ladder and would try to post a lot more. Although I would be moving my personal BLOG to somewhere else but this would be purely informational and truely analytical one. I would be talking without taking any stance in advance. I would analyze things and reach a conclusion. And this applies to all the entries I would be making.

I have also tried to give the BLOG a look of a traditional website. Searching for a specific page or information is so easy on a traditional website than a BLOG. On a BLOG until you post links somewere, the older entires tend to get away and no one reaches them.

Keep looking for a NEW BLOG and few surprises.

Some Lost n Some Found

B.S., the guitarist, called me up on Tuesday. It felt so good to talk to him after so many days. He said that he was talking to A.B. and while talking, my name creeped up. Chalo he at least talked to me and I remembered about all the good times we spent together playing CS in the office and falling for Rai University ki girls.

I guess this would be an appropriate place and time to talk about B.S. He is also a BITian like me but he is one year senior to me and he passed out of PGDAV. I first met him when he joined the office. My first views about him were like wow yet another chinki and a new kid to play with, to torture, to crack jokes on etc. But again I realized that he was pretty cool and in fact had a very good sense of humor and was more than a friend. He is very good at playing guitar, sutta maaro and taking udhaar from people.

As I am writing this, I have to mention that he was the only one among the group of 20 people (who said they were my friends) who thought about talking tome. I had to leave my job because of my folly and my blind faith on people.

Apart from Bhaskar, I had a fight with Joie and we still aren't talking the way I want to. I think she still is kinda skeptic about all the stuff I say. I just wish someone could teach me how to control myself when talking. But again things are looking good and we should be back on the track soon.

Also another thing to ponder over here would be why people make fun of chinkis? I think people try to make fun of everything and anything that is not conforming to the preconceived notions and believes. Lets take for example a man with red hair. Most people on the streets would laugh at him, as we in INDIA aren't used to watching people with red hair. Again in the case of chinkis, the problem I think is their outlook. I have seen chinkis not interacting with other people and just keeping to themselves. It's all very very complicated. Hope I could understand.

I lost a few chnages that I made to my template beacuse of my crappy internet connection. The ISP would cache the pages once they are requested and would not update them for the next time. When I request that page again, the ISP would serve the page from cache rather than taking from internet. So after updating the template, I hit the save button and I realized that changes made havent been saved.

The Richest Man On Earth

So William H. Gates is NO longer the world's richest man. SAD. :((. As far as I can remember this has happened for the second time in the history and that too because the dollor is doing no so good on as compared with other currencies.

My role model is second richest at 40 billion dolllors. I would be making sure that hen I become the richest person on Earth, I would never be displaced off the top spot till the time I live.

Dollor taking a dip against almost all currencies. What could be the reason and where all it has plummeled? Take example of apna own desi Rupee and its already hitting the 4 year highest as compared to the dollor. This brings me to yet another question... What implications would it have on us if rupee keeps on strenthening against the US dollor. All my call center friends would be fired :((.

Links in the post:
1. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2003/02/26/billionaireland.html
2. http://in.rediff.com/money/2004/apr/05richest.htm

Lost :(

Yesterday, I lost a very good friend. We are not talking anymore.

I just wish that I could make myself clear before we stopped talking.

Just as I was typing this I gotta know that we still ARE talking but I think we are'nt friends anymore, atleast we are'nt as good friends as we used to be before I opened my big mouth and talked nonsense.

I think we should be able to sort things out but I am just hoping and being very optimistic here.

Need some BIG time help :((

Ben_Mario_Piano.mpg

Mario... YES that game from yesteryears wherin you were Super Mario and you were supposed to rescue the princess from the dragon. She was hidden in the castle and you were supposed to go through them and find her.

Today I got a HDD from A.T. and it had a lot of Linkin Park videos and what not. Among other things there was this file called ben_mario_piano.mpg. Since it as in the Games folder and was called Mario, outta curiosity I played it. And it was simply AMAZING. This chap, I guess his name is Ben (since the file is called Ben_Mario_Piano), played the music from the game Mario. WOW. Never seen something so good and nerdy.

If someone is interested in Mario, this file is very highly recommended. The size is about 8 MBs but its worth all of those 8 MBs. The file is loacted at http://homepage.mac.com/mrspleen/.Movies/ben_mario_piano.mpeg.

I should call Mr. Johnson and ask him about Piano. Sounds better than Guitar at times.

Ok this brings back the memories from the game Mario. There were so many secret powerups, and an amazing way to make huge number of lives. It was with the duck. You kill it on the edge of the staircase and jump of its back again n again to gain points and eventually lives. I am still not sure if it was intended by the develpoer (Shigeru Miyamoto) and was a design feature or was it a bug...

I first played Mario when I was in fifth or may be sixth standard on a Nintendo Console. Found it VERY VERY difficult to start with but as time passed by, I got better and better and eventualy one fine day I was able to complete the game and rescue the princess without losing a life. That was some achievenment.

On that very console there were few other games like Contra, Jungle, Excite Bike, Battle City etc. It was fun playing with a controller. Now a days I play with my TVSE Gold and have almost forgotten the feel of a controller. Wish I get that console again to play on...

Links in the post:
1. http://homepage.mac.com/mrspleen/.Movies/ben_mario_piano.mpeg
2. Shigeru Miyamoto

Bugs while typing this peice out were: "n satill amyn secret levels"

UPDATE: Ben Mario Piano on Youtube

The Nidhi Kapoor Story

Did you like this post? May be you want to read my first book - The Nidhi Kapoor Story.

Check it out on Amazon or Flipkart?