Second, finally, the “Etisalat” connected my home with a DSL connection, after few trips and couple of applications. Who would have thought that, they would still have your old data and automatically pick up your old address and try to give a connection there…

Now that I am connected, I hope to reply to all the pending emails and make some calls… But please give me some time, for I am sure, I will get to it..

In simple words, I am back in United Arab Emirates for work… I’m taking a small break from life.. I arrived in the land of construction and chaos, few days back…

I am here for a short time, so that I can go back and live the dream…

Wish me luck, to cross this phase of life…

Hoping to continue blogging…

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Mercury is rising all the time here, with days becoming worse than the previous day. Just wishing it rains here. It has been a mixed week at work. Most of them are on vacation and sometimes it’s really very boring to look at the same faces who are stuck up like me without a vacation. It’s so boring that we miss even the “office joker” who mostly is  a pain in the wrong place. We hope he comes back fast because his place might be taken up by another.

I have been spending some real time on “bit Feed“. One of the major updates was designing the logo. It’s a standard Web 2.0 logo designed in Inkscape. Lots of experimentation went on different plugins for WordPress and CSS layout. Also updated the WordPress to the latest 2.6 “Tyner” version. I might be doing the same to this blog too. Also put up some test Google Ads in the sidebar of bit Feed. Please do “support” me by clicking some ads if you think the ads are related to something you were thinking of.

I have been also doing some contribution work at “Freebase“. This is one place where I think, I will be a regular contributor. Even though it’s in Alpha stage, it looks very promising. Please watch out for a more detailed posting in “bit Feed” in few days.

Another great tool that I have been trying this week is “RescueTime“. It’s a time management tool to track where exactly you spend time more and try to calculate efficiency and productivity. Mostly would do a posting on it shortly.

I am on my 3rd week of 50 (25) Book Challenge and my initial speed has slowed down. I am only on my third book. In movies, it has been a dull week, where I watched few good old action flicks. It was “Die Hard” and “Lethal Weapon 2“. Expecting to watch some new flicks this weekend. In music section, the albums of the week are “The Essenstial Anan Vissi” by Anna Vissi, “Reload” by Metallica and “Vazthukal” by Yuvan Shankar Raja. Out of these, Anna Vissi is recommended for everybody who wants to get a taste of Laïka. Reload is a must for any heavy metal fan and Vazthukal contains just one track(Enthan Vaanamum Neethan…) that is worth spending time.

At the personal front, I have lost 2 kgs with no changes in the waistline. I guess the reason must be all the butterscotch. The room is in the worst shape ever. I will not be able to locate my wallet if I dropped it there. So there ends my Week 29 update.

ps: Looks like Project ZIEL may be postponed.

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Till now this novel idea has been successful with people queuing up to use the urinal. It’s so strange to see that you need to pay the people to cultivate the civic sense and concern for community health.

It seems all that extra urine is collected by the nearby agricultural university to explore the possibility of its usage a crop fertiliser.

Is this another political stunt before elections ?  or a Real change ?

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I happened to come across the “50 Book Challenge” in the blogosphere last month. It’s a kind of resolution where you hope to finish 50 books in a year. That is nearly one book a week. But since I found this in the last week of June, I kind of decided to go for half the challenge. I hope to finish 25 books by the end of 2008. I have been lazy for quite sometime and my literary intake is nearly zero. So I guess it’s time to change all that. So from July 1, I have finished two books. I am managing to read them during my  travel to office, just before hitting the bed. The first one to finish was John Grisham‘s “The Appeal” which was not all that appealing to me. The second one which was tough to put down was Jeffrey Archer‘s “False Impression“. It was quite a good read. Hoping to write a review sometime soon here.

2 down and 23 more to go…

But somehow computers and technology keep calling and I decided to do something in return. I have created a separate blog called “bit Feed” which would be solely about technology, computers and internet. Here I plan to discuss about my experiences with different software, hardware, internet services, tips and tricks, science and technology.  In case any of you who is interested in becoming a contributor or author for this blog, please do contact me.

As seen above the Feb 2008 was a dull period for my search activities since I was on vacation and away from the computers for most of the time. The period of Apr-May saw a peak because of the aftermath of my Hannover visit. The latter half of previous year was filled with work that I didn’t much time in front of the system and October visit to India was a cause of the drop. I was surprised to find my Friday activity to be quite higher than my expectations since I spent most of the day in the bed. Looks like Tuesday is the day when I am totally jobless. Lately for the past one year I have been trying to hit the bed early which is very much evident, and also evident are my lunch breaks at 2pm and last few hours at office after 5pm and consecutive climb at 8pm back at home and post dinner climb after 10pm and just before hitting the bed at 12 am.

For a one year period ending on 17th May 2008, my average searches per day was 12. Top sites visited were Wikipedia, Answers.com, Google, Experts-exchange, Support@micro$oft, Amazon, IMDB. The top three queries were test, whois and wikipedia. 

Gulf News Published: May 16, 2008, 23:39

It is good to be cautious. And it is caution the UAE is demonstrating as it goes about developing its nascent nuclear energy programme. Nuclear energy is seen as being a significant supplier to the UAE for domestic purposes in the future. So it is only right that the nation is approaching the installation, technology and training of nuclear power with great care. The UAE has already signed agreements with the US and France, two leading suppliers of nuclear energy, to advise it on the installations. Now an agreement has been signed with the UK, also a major supplier of nuclear energy for many years.

With the US, France and the UK supplying technical know-how, the UAE can be sure it is getting some of the best advice available. Furthermore, by disclosing who they are co-operating with, the UAE is showing full transparency of the project, as it said it would.

The above article was the editorial of Gulf News today. If I show this article to somebody without telling that this was the editorial of the day, I bet their first guess would be that this was the Government publication. I fail to see the reasoning of Gulf News about supporting a nuclear program and the worst case is talking about the merits in an editorial. I assume US & UK will be helping in “training of nuclear power” to UAE (whatever it is supposed to be). I am no Oxford pundit but still that term look way off to be used in an editorial.

Source : Gulf News

Finally it’s a time for rejoicing for all the Chennaiites living in Abu Dhabi. A direct flight from Abu Dhabi to Chennai was a dream for thousands people living here who had to contend themselves from taking a transit via Doha, Bahrain, Muscat, Bombay and Colombo (I guess not everybody taking a transit via Colombo were sad).

According to the government gazette (I mean the newspapers), the new Chennai service will operate as flight EY266 on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing Abu Dhabi at 8.50am, arriving in Chennai at 2.30pm. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the service will operate as flight EY268, departing Abu Dhabi at 1.45pm and arrive in Chennai at 7.25pm. Return flight EY267 will depart Chennai on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 3.15pm, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 5.45pm the same day. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the service will operate as flight EY269, departing Chennai at 8.20pm and arrive in the UAE capital at 10.50pm.

Now if somebody asks whether I will change my preferred transit (thro Colombo), it is something I need to think it over…

Source : Gulf News , Economic Times, PK News Bureau

I got a new Spice mill this weekend and thanks to it I have been making great salads and omelets (a very relative notion). But cannot stop wondering how the spice over the egg has changed the world history. These spices have established empires, destroyed civilizations, revealed new continents and changed the power equations of the great empires. It was one of the reasons that men set sail into the unknown with promise of the riches out of the spice trade resulting in discovery of new routes, lands, people and also in wiping out ancient empires and resulting in imperialisation that has led to the world as we know today.

Spices that garnish my salads at one time were more valuable than gold and any known worldly possession. They were the cause why Vasco Da Gama landed in India and later, British taking over India to guarantee the supplies of spices so that the monarch can have a more flavorful dinner. Out of the trade that resulted with these spices wealth was concentrated in certain places of the world and which resulted in more development and ultimately the Industrial Revolution and rest is modern history.

All in the name of tasty food…

I guess I need to agree to views of my friend who says that “Dung Beetles hardly know the difference between Chicken poop and Apple Pie”

Update [25th June 2008]: The ban has been removed for now[Link] and I have placed a widget in this blog too…

1. adol77dai51
2. alina77vere9uk
3. ralyjones25

Now wait a minute, I don’t remember these id’s nor they look familiar. Gleefully I was hoping that they were my secret admirers, but curiosity killed the cat. One Google search for these ids and you realise that these are spam bots.

Sometimes I wish Google was not that efficient….

One of my most watched Tamil movies is “Anbe Sivam“. It is not just the excellent performance of Kamal Hassan and Madhavan that makes me watch this but the whole theme of the movie. The movie is about a chance meeting of two people who are from different backgrounds and worlds, Kamal portraying as a man with communist ideals and Madhavan as a youngster from the modern India who doesn’t know the situation of the real India. The movie is about the travels that make to get back to home and memoirs of Kamal’s past life and the ultimate revelation that love and kindness to others is more important than love to god. The entire theme of the movie can be deciphered from the main song, “Yaar yaar sivam?“. This song never turns sour for me even if I listen to it for a zillion times. Such a powerful lyrics combined with the deep voice of Kamal is mesmerizing.

The lyrics is tamil are as follows

Yaar yaar sivam? nee naan sivam
vaazhvae thavam, anbae sivam

aathigam pesum adiyaarkellaam sivamae anbaagum
nathigam pesum nallavarukkoe anbae sivamaagum

anbae sivam anbae sivam yendrum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yengum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yendrum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yengum

yaar yaar sivam? nee naan sivam
vaazhvae thavam, anbae sivam

yaar yaar sivam? nee naan sivam
vaazhvae thavam, anbae sivam

idhayam yenbadhu sadhaidhaan yendraal yerithalal thindruvidum
anbin karuvi idhayam yendraal saavai vendruvidum

anbae sivam anbae sivam yendrum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yengum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yendrum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yengum

yaar yaar sivam? nee naan sivam

anbin paathai serndhavanukku mudivae illaiyadaa
manadhin neelam yedhuvoe adhuvae vaazhvin neelamada

anbae sivam anbae sivam yendrum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yengum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yendrum
anbae sivam anbae sivam yengum

Below is the layman translation of the song in English, even though it does not do justice to the meaning.

Who here is god? You and me…
Life is a penance… Love is god…

For the theists, God is love…
For the good among atheists, Love is the only god…

Love is god… Love is god always…
Love is god… Love is god everywhere…
Love is god… Love is god always…
Love is god… Love is god everywhere…

Who here is god? You and me…
Life is a penance… Love is god…

If the heart is made only of muscles, then it will be consumed by fire…
If the heart is the object/made of love, then it conquers death…

Love is god… Love is god always…
Love is god… Love is god everywhere…
Love is god… Love is god always…
Love is god… Love is god everywhere…

Who here is god? You and me…

There is no death/end for the one who follows the path of love….
Length of your life/legend will last on how broad your mind is….

Love is god… Love is god always…
Love is god… Love is god everywhere…
Love is god… Love is god always…
Love is god… Love is god everywhere…

I fondly remember my trips to British Council during my school days where I used to hunt the Sci-Fi sections. I still remember my first Clarke, it was a hard bound edition of “The hammer of God”. The style of writing and Indian names like Singh, Kali were to leave such a strong impression that I was hanging out a long time to pick up Clarke’s books as and when they were returned to the shelfs. In a way his writings have really influenced me a lot and the way I have now turned out to be. A thing we shared in common was his fascination towards his adopted country, Sri Lanka.

May he rest in peace.

[Image courtesy & Copyright : The Joy of Tech]

Will update…

I just remember playing at my school grounds with nothing to care about and the voices of my friends at the college canteen table is still ringing in my ears with the sweet aroma of coffee still lingering around… But the reality and my office colleagues tell otherwise. Time does seem to have rushed past me. I should be thankful in saying that my life for past 26 years have been good but when I look at the past one year and the near future I do see a change coming in. The winds of change are blowing and I do not know whether it is for the good.

My waist size is not the only stuff I worry about these days. Temper and stress levels at work is going above the mercury level, my love for music, books, treks, photography has taken a bad hit. My social life is next to zero whereas my junk food intake is at all time high.

Maybe this is what is called “Growing up” and if you ask me, I certainly don’t like it. Embracing the change is going to be really tough than I had actually anticipated earlier.

I just hope that the other half is as fun as the half I enjoyed all these years…