Sunday, September 30, 2007

Had a lot of work and sleep to do......

Hey... nothing much to write today as I spent the most of the day while sleeping. Watched the Dreamers a bit. Can't say good or bad. Then there were some guests for dinner. And then there was submission as usual....

Nice work by Michael Clarke, hopefully Australia's captain to be, scoring a hundred. Bad rain.... Saved a point for India and lost one for my team...

Gotta sleep now. Have a circuit design competition tomorrow morning at 8:30. Kudos....

Saturday, September 29, 2007

I completely forgot......

To write about how this day went.... As usual, I went to the college and wasted my time in doing stupid practicals on those breadboards. I hate them, the wires keep coming out and that is a real pain in the a** when working on a big circuit, and the part that even sucks more is that we don't have any big circuits to work on... Anyways, then had a couple of off lectures...

After that, we had a meeting about the discussions related to a T-Shirt that we are going to launch. Of our batch of electronics. So, we were chatting and a group 'X' was against my friend (mentioned in the legendary chat) and my choice of design. We had been working on it from our group, say 'Y' for long time. And we were not going to change it just cause 'X' said so.

We showed them a big thumb and said, 'Suggestions come with a responsibility', so if you want to suggest, make sure that the thing actually pays off. And upon hearing this, the 'X' group accepted all that we had suggested, the color, the design, the format... everything.

You might have guessed, but in case not, then this 'X' group was all the girls in our batch and 'Y' was we boys.

Morale of the story :- We are a couple of bigheads who thought that we were doing a good work for the class. But in the end it turned out that brutal refusal and a little frustrated anger was all that we needed.....

A classic chatroom conversation......

I was chatting with this friend of mine. He has asked me not to reveal his name, so I will say me for myself and replace his name by my own, Aditya. So I was having this conversation with Aditya.

As usual, he posted a scrap in my scrapbook in Orkut, asking me to join Ricky Ponting hate club. I love Ricky Ponting. So, I went on a rampage against him..... It was funny, take a look....

me: scrap

12:13 AM HAD
Aditya: :)
me: no wonder most of the members are from India
12:14 AM I don't see any outsiders.
typical.....
:-|
12:15 AM Aditya: how ca n ther be outsiders because they always support thir players,they r loyal and as our population is big ,people like u support outsiders
12:16 AM me: I am not talking only about Aussies
why not any english people?
siuth africans maybe?
12:17 AM ever wondered why there are no new zealanders ?
Aditya: maybe they r neutral
me: yeah
actually SA is supposed to be like Pakistan for Australia
enemies forever
12:18 AM but they don't say that they hate Aussies
Aditya: and ponting lways such crap thngs only about india not about other countries
me: they either support their team.... or they stay Neutral
and your knowledge about Australian cricket team is not good enough
Ponting says these things before every series
and even others
Aditya: i dont care about it
12:19 AM me: remember the substitute filder issue?
in ashes?
remember him fighting against SA?
no
you will not
cause you only know one thing. You like India and you hate Aussies
and that is a typical Indian supporter
12:20 AM and you will never care
cause you know
that you don;t have facts to prove what you say
Aditya: xcuse iam not aussies only ponting
me: facts gathered from search
OK
Ponting
replace Aussies by Ponting
and read all sentences
they are still true
12:21 AM you keep supporting India
Aditya: read what symond said
me: don't say a word against him unless you have proof
again, you said Ponting
not roy
roy is Symonds
Aditya: read wht ponting said
me: I know
he did
so what
it's a mind game
12:22 AM and as I said, Indians are too polite for their own good
Aditya: he shud show his game on grnd
me: and even I am like that
Aditya: it is not
me: he has been shwoing his game
he is No1 batsman
in tests since 2005 DEC
currently at number one in ODI ranking
12:23 AM he still reains the best captain in the world
Aditya: his language might be different if aussies shuld have won wold cup
me: he has earned the right to speak
and he will do that
no
see after 2003 W/C
or, as Aussies say, they prefer ashes over W/C
Aditya: every player has his gud and bad days
me: and, he spoke like this after this years ashes win
12:24 AM he is having good days
Aditya: and ponting is having gud days
me: and he is speaking now
maybe when he wil have bad days
he will not speak
right now
he speaks cause he has earned that
aapan bolato te kon print karat nahi
but he has reached that level
12:25 AM proved himself
Aditya: he has been speeking like this
me: look what they did after Champions Troffy
that is how they arer
aggresive
and I love that
Aditya: is sachin not proved himself
me: and, as I said, I regret that I am not like them
so... no one is stopping Sanchin from speaking
12:26 AM Aditya: hw can all teams be aggresive
me: it's his choice if he wants to or not
who said all teams should be aggresive?
Aditya: no i thnk one shud kno enough wht one shud speak or not
12:27 AM then i like indian attitude
me: and he has not spoken anything bad
Aditya: and u like aussies one
me: I don't see anyone but the indians complaining
yeah that is the point
I like them
Aditya: even they cant praise other team for others victory
me: you like India
so, what I am saying is that
12:28 AM you support your team
I will support mine
don't post I hate them things to me
Aditya: none wl change his side so change the topic


It was over after that and we spoke about usual Submission, the class T-Shirt and other stuff.... Gotta go now, still chatting with him....

Friday, September 28, 2007

Now I am officially a nocturnal animal.....

Bahh.... it has been 3 days and I have not had sleep for more than 5 hours. I have been awake till minimum 3am and then I have college at 9am so I MUST wakeup at 8am.

This submissions stuff is really bad. It is getting on my nerves. I have to write about 200 pages with diagrams and graphs before the start of next week. And I am very slow at writing. It would have been much better if printouts were allowed. My typing speed is greater than my writing speed.

It is not going to be easy. I also have participated in two contests. One is a mobile movie making contest and then a circuit design contest, the subjects of both will be given on the spot. And it is going to take entire weekend. And I am again going to have to stay up long.

Off I go now, must sleep in order to be awake during the lectures....

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Digg digg and keep digging.....

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users. You won’t find editors at Digg — we’re here to provide a place where people can collectively determine the value of content and we’re changing the way people consume information online read more...

This is what the about page on the site of digg says. It is a very good place to increase the popularity and traffic of your website. It is very good place for initial marketing of your blog if you are a new to blogging.

You can also use the buttons of digg on your site or the blog, as I have on each post in the blog, on the left. It shows the number of times this story has been submitted on digg.

There is a very good blog on the use of digg on blogger on a blog. Please follow this link for more information about how you can add the buttons to your blog.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

You have lost that lovein' feelin'.......

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No comments.....

OpenSuSE 10.3 :- Gnome 2.20 Sneak peaks...
















The new release of OpenSuSE... The 10.3 version comes with (will come with) Gnome 2.20. And SuSE developers have added a verity of things to the new release.

1). The World Clock (on the left) that allows you to keep track of the worldwide time.

2). Tomboy comes with a Note Synchronization feature that allows you to synchronize all your notes on the PCs that run Tomboy.




YaST2



YaST2 is now integrated with Gnome and comes with a cool new look and feel.











Desktop Improvements

In the past, extensive usability studies in the SUSE usability lab lead the GNOME team at SUSE to re-design the GNOME menu and panel. The result was SLAB, a new menu for GNOME. After further testing in openSUSE 10.2 and SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, a few additional changes were made to the menu that improve usability, ease-of-use, and of course top it up with a polished and professional look that gives you a better desktop:

Read the full news here...

Aditya Shevade

Yes.... Driving License.....

Finally, I got free time today and I bunked 2 lectures to give my driving tests. You would know if you are from India, or have seen anyone give a test in India, in small cities, then you would know that this so called test is just a formality.

But finally I did give it and as you might have guessed, passed it as well. So I am waiting now for the permanent license to reach my hands. And then... I will start terrorizing people on highways.... (Not actually, my driving is good).

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Convert your media on the fly.....

Have a piece of audio that won't play on your media player? Or a movie clip maybe that will not play on your mobile.... a ringtone perhaps? No need to worry now, visit Media-Convert for all of your conversion needs.

The site has an online tool that lets you convert media files from size NIL upto 150MBs. Video, Audio, Image, Documents, and much more.

The site is great, don't forget to visit, you will need it at least once in your life....

OpenSuSE 10.3 RC2 LIVE CDs released for public download.... RC2 being tested internally....

OpenSuSE has released it's latest version OpenSuSE 10.2 RC2 in the form of LIVE CDs of gnome and KDE. You can find then here.

The RC2 of the entire distribution however is internal and will not be made public to avoid the heavy traffic on mirrors all over the world.

One more news is that OpenSuSE survey revealed the information that around 69% of users give very much importance to the multimedia support. So now amarok will be able to get mp3 support directly off the non-OSS repository via Fluendo.

The release also uses the One-Click-Install technology to get the Fluendo codecs (This will be added in the final release) in case you did not add the non-OSS repositories.

Read the entire post here...

OpenSuSE 10.3 RC1 KDE LIVE CD.... my first experience.... a short review....


I am using the RC1 KDE LIVE CD release of Novell's OpenSuSE 10.3. And I hate to say, impressive though it looks, I am not much satisfied with it.

System Used:

  • HP nx-6110 notebook.
  • 512MB DDR RAM,
  • Pentium M - 1.6GHz.
Maybe it is because of the Live CD or maybe because of KDE (I use gnome otherwise), but this release, which is supposed to be almost the final release, not an RC, is not what I had in my mind.

The things began with the CD unable to configure the X server. It was not able to recognize the screen resolution. Then, I manually gave the resolution and booted into the system.

I was welcomed by a very good looking welcome screen. The looks are killing. But, when the system started and I was trying to view the installer, I was greeted by an error saying that KDE returned with an error regarding 'su'.

I have been using OpenSuSE 10.2 on this very system for about 9 months now, and never experienced anything of this sort. To add to the problems, the OS cannot recognize the scroll zone of the touchpad.

I will give it another try, but if the final release is going to be like this, then SuSE is loosing it's touch. It may well be dipping low. BUT, I will have a go at this LIVE CD again and then will return with more. Till then, let me enjoy (???) this new release...

For more info, visit the announcement regarding this release.


One of the assignments given to us for the coding contest.....

Hey, here is one of the assignments that we were given in the C/C++ coding contests. Check it out and suggest any optimization, suggestions, anything....

Code:

/* This program calculates the value of a mathematical function and gives */
/* the output depending on it. The function is defined as follows :- */
/* f(1) = 1 */
/* f(2n) = n */
/* f(2n+1) = f(n) + f (n+1) */
/* The inputs should be taken till a negative value is inputed. */
/* The maximum number of inputs is considered to be 100. */

#include<iostream>

#define _maxInputs 100

using namespace std;

float Function(int);

main()
{
int* inNumberArray = new int[_maxInputs];
float* outAnswerArray = new float[_maxInputs];
int cnt, counter;

cout << endl;
cout << "Please enter the variable values. Enter negative value to exit";
cout << endl;

for(counter = 0; counter < _maxInputs; counter++)
{
cin >> inNumberArray[counter];

if(inNumberArray[counter] < 0)
break;

outAnswerArray[counter] = Function(inNumberArray[counter]);

}

cnt = counter;

for(counter = 0; counter < cnt; counter++)
{
cout << "F(" << inNumberArray[counter] << ") = "
<< outAnswerArray[counter] << "." << endl;

}

delete[] inNumberArray;
delete[] outAnswerArray;

return 0;

}

float Function (int inNumber)
{
if(inNumber == 1)
return 1.0;

else if(inNumber % 2 == 0)
return (inNumber/2.0);

else if(inNumber % 2 == 1)
return (Function((inNumber-1)/2) + Function((inNumber+1)/2));

}


Output:

EXECUTING:
/home/aditya/Mathematical-Function-1
----------------------------------------------

Please enter the variable values. Enter negative value to exit
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 -1
F(1) = 1.
F(2) = 1.
F(3) = 2.
F(4) = 2.
F(5) = 3.
F(6) = 3.
F(7) = 4.
F(8) = 4.
F(9) = 5.
F(10) = 5.
F(11) = 6.
F(12) = 6.

----------------------------------------------
Program exited successfully with errcode (0)
Press the Enter key to close this terminal ...

Monday, September 24, 2007

Start page of OpenSuSE wiki website changed....

The homepage of OpenSuSE wiki website at en.opensuse.org has been changed. The new and improved interface is much better than the old one.

This interface was already in use for the Software and Build section of the website.

OpenSuSE 10.3 Gnome meeting on Thursday 1600GMT.....

This particular meeting will be centered around 10.3 cleanup, 11.0 planning and the process/planning improvements for the team.

The meeting will be held on the #opensuse-gnome IRC chanel.

For more information about the meeting, please visit this link.

God help my college..... and unuversity.....

I never thought that I would come to hate the people at our college this much. The reason, they are still living in the 90's.

I just found out that each and every PC in our college, running Windows has Turbo C/C++ 3.0. Build 1990.

The compiler it has, does not know 'iostream' it does not know 'namespace's concept. And this sucks. Even many of the PCs running Linux use Red Hat 9. They don't know other Linux flavors. And there is not a single mac in the lab.

Disgusting.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Due to one reason or another.....

As usual, you would have guessed that I have not written any journal yet. I am falling back... I have a headache. For reason, consult the last post.

Right now, I am feeling a bit ( a lot) bored. So I am just writing stuff here.... Aaahh.... it's no use...

My debbugging skills were tested by a system with bugs........

Today, I had to wake up at 7am for the programming contests. And doing that after a short sleep of 5 hours is not enough. But I finally woke up. Then in the college, me and my partner reported at the reception. Then we were given an MCQ paper each for debugging C code and general coding competition. The first impression that paper left on me was.... BAD. scaling 2/10 on the scale of quality. It was based on Borland compiler and Turbo C/C++. Which violate the ISO standards of C. Like 'void main()' which is not allowed. And use of 'getch()' and 'clrscr()' which are not a part of standard library functions.

I am not against those functions, but the contest was a C contest. Not Borland C contest. If I ever use 3rd party libraries, I use documentation. I cannot mug everything up. And so, the papers were poor. I even wrote Turbo C sucks on the question paper, which was submitted later. :-)

We ( me and my partner) were selected. He did most of the work related to Borland.... And I was providing a few logical answers.

After that we had to go through a series consisting of 5 levels. It was very good. Nothing related to Borland. All based on ISO C. There were folders locked containing problem statements. And we were given passwords once we finished the preceding level. (They were also checking the code so no point in cheating there...).

We were doing great until the last stage. Where we took about 25-30 minutes in debugging. And finished in about 1:15hours. We were the third to finish. Then there was judging. We were asked some questions based on the changes made in the code. We did very well scoring 09, 10, 10, 07, 10 in the 5 levels. Scoring 46/50. Our hopes were high. We went to the second event in that heat.

We had to code 2 programs there. Both were mathematical functions. We finished the first one quite well. And even finished the second one, but with problems in multiple inputs. In short, we did not finish the second one properly as asked. But the first one, we did. And then while judging, the judge asked, why we had not allocated the memory. Frankly speaking, I have no idea about thing thing in C. Called 'malloc()'. I only know 'new' and 'delete'. So, I let my partner speak. But he (judge) was not convinced. And he left saying that program will crash for sure. But it did not. Anyways...

So, back to prize distribution. We had our hopes high. But we were not chosen. Only 2 prizes were given and we were third. OK, they wanted to give prizes to only 2 teams. Fine. But at least write that we were third on the certificate that you (they) are giving me. But no. They gave us a certificate of participation. :-| ...

We checked with the judges and found that the first team had scored 47. The second had scored 45. And we had 46. But, as the second team finished earlier (about 25-30 mins) before us, they were declared runner ups.

No complaint there. We were slow and we had to pay the prise. BUT, even Olympics have 3 medals. At least they could have given a certificate for 3rd number......

I have to tell this to someone....

I am writing this post because of the last post which I had to erase due to some reasons. I cannot hold it off anymore. Read for yourself....

This is it. Today I have decided it.... I am
confused. Why do people behave like that with me? Anyways.

The
trouble I am having is because of the fact that Aussies lost. To tell the truth,
I don't care. But it's the people who always tease me. And I hate that. And it
gives me trouble, and so this thing happens (I get mad).

If only
people would stop teasing me, they would know that I really don't care who wins
and who loses. Cause I just support them. It does not mean that I will kill
someone if they lost. But just to get rid of the teasing thing I do a lot of
stupid things. And it gets me in trouble.

I have decided, no more
'fanboy'ism in these kind of things. I am better off with SuSE Vs Ubuntu or Linux
Vs Windows. (and mac :-D).

Huh... it feels good once I have got it
all out.

... I hate....

I hate *********************************.....
Content censored. For reasons contact me....

Saturday, September 22, 2007

The paradox of our time....

Is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers
Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints
We spend more, but we have less.
We have bigger houses, but smaller families
More conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees, but less sense
More knowledge, but less judgement
More experts, but more problems
More medicines, but less wellness.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often
We have learnt how to make a living, but not a life.
We have added years to life, but not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back
But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.
We have conquered outer space, but not inner space.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul.
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
We've higher incomes, but lower morals.
We've become long on quantity but short on quality.
These are the times of tall men, and short character;
Steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare,
More leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorces;
Of fancier houses, but broken homes.

I found this on blog of Goobimama a fellow member of mine on the Digit forum. His blog is quite good... read more...

I hate Yuvraj Sing..... and Aussies play.....

Yeah yeah... don't flame me. I am watching the semi final. And Yuvraj is hitting the ball like a madman. A maniac. (And they dropped another catch, 96/2). I hate him being a supporter of Autralia.

Now, just waiting for Aussies to fire again. I hate Yuvraj. I really do. He should get out. Rather, someone should nail him down and then he should throw (another catch dropped).

Worst bowling performance I have ever seen.... BAD

Of goods and bads....

Finally I have reinstalled gnome and am back on my laptop. As mentioned in the last post I had some problems with the installation of OpenSuSE 10.2. I had tried to update gnome. But the version that I updated to did not have any other common package contents in the repository. So the things went bad. And I ended up with a system with the front-end of gnome 2.18 and the common packages of 2.16.

So, when I booted back into SuSE, I was greeted by a new look that did not have any menu items, it did not recognize any other gnome components. So, the system was in a state where I was not able to do anything in gnome. I mean.. not even the gnome terminal was accessible.

I tried using FFWM, TWM and even CLI, but was not able to restore the system to the initial stage, before the upgrade. So, I used the final option and restored the entire gnome system right off the installation DVD.

Now I have to spend hours again on system upgrade. But I have a better option. Wait for the stable release of OpenSuSE 10.3. That is scheduled to release on the 4th of October this year. And I think that would be better. So, no updates, just wait for some 15 days + the time required to D/L the DVD on this so called crap broadband connection.... Time off....

The battle.....

Finally.... moments away from the big game. Australia Vs India. T20 semifinal. Do you know that saying from the lord of the rings? "Fighting in a battle is bad but waiting on the edge of one you cannot escape is even worse" (Not exact sentence... )

So.. Aussies will bat second. Good for them. They have lost both their matches when they batted first. So.... good.

I am on my old PC currently. Will catch up later with both the stories.

Till then....

last.fm.....

Hey.... I found a website today. last.fm. It's an internet radio station. I am embedding the widget here on the sidebar. Enjoy.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Waiting for the big game..... And to get flamed.....

Aah.... This is it. The moment of truth. India Vs My (Favorite) Team. I mean Australia. The last time these 2 teams clashed in a World Cup, Indians were thrashed by the bat of Ponting and then the Bowl of McGrath by removing Tendulkar.

But this is not a 50 over match. Ponting is not there, so is McGrath. So the task is a little difficult for the Aussies. And, Indian team has got the ideal people for T20. Many are there with almost NIL test and ODI experience. So it's gonna be a big match. I wish that Aussies will again repeat the history and thrash India.

Now back to the flaming part. I am again behind on my submissions. I wasted the whole week sleeping and stumbling. StumbleUpon is the best and the worst thing to have happened with my internet life (If you know what I mean ;-)).

So, I have to write about a 100 pages with diagrams and thats not cool. Thats bad. And I hate when something like this happens. But again, as usual I am here writing a blog post. And as I already mentioned, I am not even sure that even 10 people read it in a month. (And you have blogs with more that 1000 hits a day). That is not the point however. I know I am not a very good writer and maybe most people hate my writing and the way I write. But the point is that even though I have to write all this, I am here writing blog.

This has to change (Don't worry, I am not going to stop writing). I must find a way....

Getting used to the basic idea now....

Finally, after reading some tuts and watching the visual tuts provided by Joomla on their site, I have begun to get used to this idea of a CMS managing a site.

The tuts are very well written (sometimes annoying for people like me, because many too basic things like editing a file using notepad in windows (I hate windows) have also been added. But that is required for people who are new to this world of computers. Anyways....

So, I am sitting tight, listening to songs and reading the tuts. First I was thinking that I hate this CMS thing, but managing a site is easier there. So what to do? Now, I am starting to like it (Looking forward to the day when I will start liking the subjects I have to study for my engineering... which seems highly unlikely). Change is good.

I think choise has been made....

I was just browsing through the website of Joomla. And found some very good tutorials. And extensive 183 paged user manual and visual tutorials on their help site. And, it's forum is very popular with more than a million posts. And it is looking very good.

I also compared the CMSs on CMSMatrix website and found that Joomla was best suited for my purpose. So... I think there are 99% chances that I will be using Joomla.

There might be this kind of tuts and a very big support for other CMSs also, but I am unaware of that fact right now.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Pulp Fiction...

Before a few days, I was just browsing through the site IMDb. And I came across their top 250 list. And saw that there is a movie named Pulp Fiction on the 5th number. I read the synopsis and felt that the movie might be good. (Of course... being 5th on that list means a lot). So I decided to watch it.

I watched it today. And I cannot say if I loved it or not, but I liked it. Worth watching more than once for sure. It's weird in it's own perspective. And that was what I liked in that movie.

I was searching for a movie similar to Frank Miller's 'Sin City'. And this was one which went close to it. But Sin City is a classic and that is another story. As far as Pulp Fiction is concerned, it's a crude movie in somewhat comical way.

The theme of the film is related to lives of 4 people. A gangster, his wife, two people working for him and a boxer who kills his opponent in a match.

The movie has been given 'A' rating for a reason. There are more than 250 uses of the word, Fuck and other variations. There are a lot of things related to Drugs. Then there is violence. But nothing has been exaggerated in the movie. Everything gels in perfectly.

My recommendation is, you must watch the movie at least once. And I am sure you will like it. My rating, 'A-'

Which way to turn now?

As mentioned in one of the last posts of mine, I am finding it very difficult to manage the website using nothing but a web browser and a text editor. And updating content using this way will be a lot of pain in the a**.

I tried to make a way out of it by adopting the virtual pagination concept. But that too will get out of hand once the size increases. So, it seems as if there in no way out for me from learning CMS.

I have shortlisted 3 candidates.

  • Joomla
  • Mambo
  • Drupal
Right now, from all that I have read, I am a little bent towards Joomla. Please suggest. For blog, I have chosen wordpress.

If I adopt a CMS (which I will have to), then I will have to make a CMS theme out of my CSS theme. For that I will have to learn PHP. And I also have to learn the CMS that I will finally choose.

Hm... it seems like the god himself has decided that he will not let me rest until I learn PHP, CMS (and also will not let me publish my site till then).

Aussies are the best.....

Australians again showed today why they are the best cricketing team out there. They simply blasted Shrilankan team away. I loved the encounter.

Highlights were that Stuart Clark (The same man I was very offended to see in the first T20 W/C match), took 4 wickets for 20 runs in his 4 overs. And one of those wickets were actually picked up by Michael Clarke. The catch that he took was splendid. The batsman (I think Maharoof) was stunned. The way Clarke dived to his right, right along the ground and took the catch.... Simply brilliant.

And then there were Gilly and Haydos. Both blasted the Lankan bowling for 102 off 10.2 Overs. But it was not all well for the Aussies today. After their skipper, Ponting suffered the first ever hamstring injury he ever had, Shane Watson was out of the match due to his some 'x'th injury. And it was his hamstring as well.

But still... Aussies won. Meaning that they will now be playing the Semifinal. Most probably against South Africa at Durban. I am hoping for another great win by the Aussies.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Website Design Progress Report.....

Hey.... The design of the new website is not going as per my plans. The reasons were many and the most of them were unavoidable. But I guess it happens. Life would be much more easier if I had the source code. But, the only source code I have got at my hand is of that site of mine. And I have not been able to put up with my schedule. I had planned it to be over within this month. But that seems highly difficult, if not impossible.

I have designed only 7 pages so far. No sitemap. No articles written. No photographs sorted and selected. And, to add to my worries, I have been having a trouble deciding whether or not to go for a CMS (Content Management System) for my website.

The benefits are many. The most important one being the ability to update the content dynamically. So, I gave a try to some CMSs. But, there were many problems. The major one being that I do not know PHP yet, and knowledge of PHP is a must to use CMS effectively and to create custom themes. Also, getting full knowledge of a CMS is not as easy as it looks, especially when it is an Open Source one. You have to digg and digg to get the info.

So, due to lack to time, I decided not to go for a CMS in early stages. Just create a base site. Upload it and run a test site on some subdomain and get familiar with the CMS and then start using it. Till then the only CMS I will be using it wordpress. That too because I found the theme I was looking for.

Until further news....

Monday, September 17, 2007

La Isla Bonita

Found a great video today. 'La Isla Bonita' from 'Alizee', a French singer.

The video rocks. The facial expressions, the just about sufficient amount of dancing around and very good cinematography makes this video one of my favorites.

To watch it, please follow this link.

Friday, September 14, 2007

At last.... Aussies show some respect towards the T20 format of the game.....

At last... Aussies have begun to take things seriously. (It seems like that....)

They won the match against the English team by 8 wickets. And it was a very good display. Their attitude towards the game had certainly changed and it looked good.

I just wish that they continue this splendid display of skill, throughout the tournament.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

For the first time in my life... I am happy that Aussies lost.....

I am happy, for the first time, that they lost. Cause they did not show any of the trademark spirit of theirs. No fire, nothing.... I hated that. And so, I am happy, for the first and maybe last time, that they lost.

Stuart Clark was stupid in the field. So was symo on some occasions. Hodge had taken up the job of Michael Clarke to trow the ball every time he got the hold of it. But he never made sure of hitting the stumps.

Clark Was ugly....I mean, that drop catch, that miss fielding... What the hell was that. Again, Symo, the way he fell when he got out.... It all sucked. And then that run out chance from Mitchell Johanson. Why the hell did he not appeal? That was out. You can always appeal. But what was going on?

The part that troubled me the most however was that Ponting had a bad luck with that edge flying to third man, but after that, he never showed any sign of tension... The whole team lacked their usual attitude. He even seemed to be relaxed at the presentation. That is bad.

I think what people have been saying, that Aussies do not take T20 seriously, is in fact true. Cause, they were just a bunch of crazy people out on the field, who seemed as if they had gathered there for fun.

I say it again... I am happy that they lost, cause they did not deserve to win. One of the worst performances ever.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

My Style of Learning ..... Visual / Non Verbal.....

I was just taking a test on DVC Learning Styles to checkout my learning style. This is what I found.

The results of Aditya Shevade's learning inventory are:

Visual/Nonverbal 40 Visual/Verbal 32 Auditory 18 Kinesthetic 32

Your primary learning style is:

The Visual/ Nonverbal Learning Style


You learn best when information is presented visually and in a picture or design format. In a classroom setting, you benefit from instructors who use visual aids such as film, video, maps and charts. You benefit from information obtained from the pictures and diagrams in textbooks. You tend to like to work in a quiet room and may not like to work in study groups. When trying to remember something, you can often visualize a picture of it in your mind. You may have an artistic side that enjoys activities having to do with visual art and design.

Learning Strategies for the Visual/ Nonverbal Learner:

Make flashcards of key information that needs to be memorized. Draw symbols and pictures on the cards to facilitate recall. Use highlighter pens to highlight key words and pictures on the flashcards. Limit the amount of information per card, so your mind can take a mental "picture' of the information.

Mark up the margins of your textbook with key words, symbols, and diagrams that help you remember the text. Use highlighter pens of contrasting colors to "color code" the information.

When learning mathematical or technical information, make charts to organize the information. When a mathematical problem involves a sequence of steps, draw a series of boxes, each containing the appropriate bit of information in sequence.

Use large square graph paper to assist in creating charts and diagrams that illustrate key concepts.

Use the computer to assist in organizing material that needs to be memorized. Using word processing, create tables and charts with graphics that help you to understand and retain course material. Use spreadsheet and database software to further organize material that needs to be learned.

As much as possible, translate words and ideas into symbols, pictures, and diagrams.

Comments :-

Completely Agreed. I cannot say much here. But if you meet me in private, then.....


I am sorry... but there was nothing I could do.....

Hey.... I am sorry for the post where I have shouted against ICC.

But, as explained in the last post, I was checking cricinfo. They also have updated their article now. So, you will not find the same quote there. But, it was there a few hours back.

Sorry again, but as I said, I had no option.

Some good News..... And Confusion.....

RICKY PONTING RETAINS THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD

And Ricky Ponting was named, Captain of the Year 2007. No surprises there also.

Matthew Hayden was named the ODI player of the Year 2007. No surprises there.
Mohammad Yousuf won the Test Player of the Year 2007 award. It was a tough competition between him and Ponting. But, the hard work of Yousuf played off.

Now the confusion part. There is some problem with the cable network. So I am getting all the NEWS from cricinfo. And they have reported that Ponting is not in the Test Team for the year. But, some time later, they have written that Ponting is in that team.

They Report :-

Michael Vaughan capped a great return from an injury that nearly ended his career by making it to the Test Team of the Year. In the period under consideration - August 9, 2006 to August 8, 2007 - Vaughan scored 493 runs in five Tests at an average of 61.62, with two glorious centuries against West Indies and India. The side was dominated by the Australians again, which wasn't surprising considering the way they have demolished all opposition. Adam Gilchrist missed out, though, with Kumar Sangakkara taking the wicketkeeper's slot. Team Matthew Hayden, Michael Vaughan, Mohammad Yousuf, Kevin Pietersen, Michael Hussey, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Stuart Clark, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini, Mohammad Asif. 12th man: Zaheer Khan.
And then :-

In a year of spectacular success for Australia it was only fitting that Ricky Ponting won the Player of the Year and the Captain of the Year awards and was named in both the ODI and the Test teams of the year. His efforts with the bat were outstanding - 576 runs in five Tests at an average of 82.28, an ODI average of 51.52 during the period August 9, 2006 to August 8, 2007 - while as captain he won the three huge series over the last year: the Ashes, the Champions trophy and the World Cup. Ponting couldn't have asked for much more.


If Ponting is really in the Test Team for 2007, then I take back all the foul words I used against ICC in the last Post, and apologize for my actions. It was inevitable in my situation.

For the entire article, visit CricInfo.