Sand in the Hand :)

I think my english is deteriorating day by day. For example the title of this post ... "Sand in the Hand". I know the reason. My thought process is in Hindi and my vocabulary is very limited. When I get down to translating my thoughts in English, something really funny comes out. I think I need a course in English Hons ;)

And why Sand in the Hand? Some time back, there was a movie titled Dil Chahta Hai. It was an amazing movie about lives of three friends. In the move, there is a side character (lets call her Amy) who was deeply in love with one of the main characters (lets call him Jack). But as usual for Jack, Amy doesnt even exit. Amy tries everything in the world to woo Jack and impress him. But Jack, being the hero hardly gives a sweat about her.

Anyways this is not about Jack or Amy but this about all those people who care about someone and the other person ignores them like anything. I certainly am one of those. And I know there are people for whom I am the world and for me they are like any of the 1 billion people in the world.

But Why?
Becuase, for Amy, Jack is like a handful of sand. She can see Jack within her reach all the time. She can extend her hand and get hold of Jack anytime she wants. But for a moment. And since Jack is like sand, the moment Amy opens her hand, Jack will slip away. Drift apart. Amy can see a lot of Jack but she cannot contain him. She cannot have him for life.

So what can Amy do? I serisouly have no clue. I dont really know. I think I would ever know...

Running low on social fuel ...

Hi Blog (trying to imitate the way people use Hi Diary)

Today I realized that I am running low on fuel. Not the $70 a barrel one, but social fuel. Ever since I have left MDI, I have had minimal contact with the outside world. I have forgotten what did it felt like having a coffee with a friend.

I have been largely constrained in my home, reading books ranging from Three Musketeers to India Unbound to Byomkesh Bakshi to Grisham. When I am not reading my books, I am working on my website. My website is working on the good old funda where work expandes to fill time.

Talking of the social fuel, I have been sitting in front of my computer trying to use all the social networking websites (read Orkut) to find out long lost friends and trying to fix meetings (without any success). I have been talking to few people who are gracious enough not to reprimand me, boring them to death. I am sure I am standing with all of my 85+ KGs on their nerves and I will be booted out of Yahoo anyday.

To increase my levels of social fuel, I registered on a few forums ProjectW, GMAT club, PagalGuy etc. to meet new people and recharge my batteries. I could not think of any other method to do it ...

I am in serious need of some contact with the real world of people made with bones and skins...

Close Eyes, Click, Open Eyes, Guess

There is no end to what people can do. There are so many people with gifts of thought and expression. Everyone remembers the Red Paper Clip guy and the Million $$$$ Home Page. This one is up there along with those two.

So the concept is, you load the page, close your eyes, move the mouse around, open your eyes, and guess which one of the million little mouse images is yours. I tried a few times and I was unable to locate my pointer even once. May be you will get lucky?

Close Eyes, Click, Open Eyes, Guess

And for all those lazy ones, who do not want to visit the page, here is a sample ...

Ofcourse it wont work if your pointer is customized and you are using something other than the default mouse pointer (which I did when I was unable to guess my pointer after a few shots).

An Experiment - for the Wisdom of the Crowds

I sent out this email to about 200 people...

Hi,

You are recieving this email because you have added me as a friend.

I am conducting an experiment. I request a simple favour from all you guys.

If you were told to guess the number of characters in my password (am giving a hint that my password for all webservices is same), what would it be? Please send in your answers to septemberthe22nd@gmail.com because it would be difficult to compile data in here. It would also be helpful if you could give a reasoning for the same.

For example a sample reply could be 8 and why 8? becuase all the websites ask for atleast 8 characters in the password)

Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Saurabh Garg

Once I recieve the replies, I would give out more details on the nature of the experiment, result and the further details about it.

Silk Route - Boondein

Artist: Silk Route
Track: Boondein

Koi Ho, Yaadon Mein,
Palko Pe Boondein Liye,
Aaeina Bani, Yeh Aankhen Teri

Dheemi Se, Khusbu Hai,
Haawao Ke Jhokon Ne Jo,
Chuke Tujhe, Churaaayeee

Saanson Ki, Raahon Mein,
Kya Mile Sakenge Kabhi,
Dhoonde Tujhe, Nigahe Meri,

Saathi They, Janmo Se,
Rahon Mein Kyu Kho Gaye,
Manzil Humne, Bulane Lagi,

Nagma Ho, Bhiga Sa,
Ya Tum Ho Koi Gazal,
Har Pal Jise, Gungunata Rahu,

Hoton Se, Hole Se,
Sargam Jo Bahne Lagi,
Aane Lagi, Chahe Meri

Yet another meaningful song with absolutely great lyrics and music. Performed by Silk Route with soothing voice of Mohit Chauhan.

Google Pack, A Message from GMail and some Attitude

I really love people behind GMail. Here is a screenshot of a message from them. Amazingly cool attitude !

And I just got the link for Google Pack!. It has everything from a web browser to an antivirus to an image management tool to an instant messenger client to a popup blocker to anything else. Basically you install Google Pack on a newly formatted PC and you can do all the work in the world ! Infact the line on their homepage says "Free! Download the essentials to make your PC just work: Google Pack"

I am waiting for an application like Open Office to be included in the pack. My other favorite company is going to have a very tough time in the future. I guess all they need is an operating system and an office suite to lock horns with the Big M. Lets Us C !!!!

Dear Spam Sender ...

Got this in email. Found it funny and here it is.

Bug with GMail

I am very proud to announce that I have found a bug with Gmail. Yes ... a bug.

When two different people send an email to only you and the subject line is exactly the same, GMail treats it as same conversation and clubs them together.
This document on GMail Help says that "Gmail groups all replies with their original message, creating a conversation."

I think a conversatin is only identifiable with the recepiants and the subject line. The subject line can have standard modifications (such as Re:, FW: etc.) which are ignored by GMail when creating conversations. So if two entirely different people send in their mails to same group of recepiants with the same subject line, GMail would treat it as same conversation and club the two. The email contents could be different. In effect the entire point behind having a conversation is lost. We are not clubbing related information but clubbing unrelated information !

Time for some fixes... !

Jonathan Ive - My Hero !

After quite some time now I have had an oppurtunity to call someone My Hero! Jonathan Ive is the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple. Yes the company that can boast of names such as Steve Wozniak, Guy Kawasaki and Steve Jobs. I am sure there are more names to the list but I have heard of only these three people.

So what's so great about this Ive guy? To start with he is credited with the mind behind the designs like G4, G5, iPod, iMac. I mean wow. I always thought that these were cool looking boys toys and the company has put in a lot of money and mind and time to design these. I never thought that all the designs could have come from the team led by one person, one mind, Jonathan Ive.

So what do I know about Jonathan now? He is Sr.VP at Apple. He is said to be one of the key people in the entire history of Apple. His design on iMac in 1998 saved the company from ruts.

Most importanly, I firmly believe that design is as powerful medium of expression as is speech/words. Simplicity makes a lot of sense ...

what are words that mean love that start with the letter "O"?

I think when I type. I have'nt typed for quite some time now and I have'nt thought for quite some time now. There is no reason for not thinking/typing but here I am.

So I was idling on the internet and I was looking at the search engine queries that people use to find my blog and I came across this wonderful query. Someone actually typed a query "what are words that mean love that start with the letter "O"? including the quotes and the trailing question mark.

Coming to psychoanalysis, the guy/gal must have been a techie. I have reasons to believe this. One he used quotes et al and Second s/he used Dogpile.com. Considering the fact that only 0.8% of people use Dogpile to search the web, I can safely quote him/her as techie.

This link refers to the original query and results. My blog is listed at number 13.

Hats Off !!!!