tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98664532012-02-16T19:06:51.937-07:00A dumping ground for arbitrary musingsAtulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.comBlogger941100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-31113157085607159182007-07-05T17:46:00.000-07:002007-07-06T15:50:46.971-07:00

With the nearing publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the most intriguing question still unanswered, and which is the topic of many theories, is that of Snape's true loyalties. I think people who believe Snape is good outnumber those who believe he is evil. Even so, there is a striking (and possibly deliberate) inconsistency I found in books 5 and 6, that could provide us a proof

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-83698784130131533162007-06-07T22:40:00.000-07:002007-06-07T23:27:06.178-07:00

Following in Ramanand's footsteps of serving Duet and Triple Sundaes and Tuesdaes, here's another likeness I discovered recently. If ever Alan Rickman turned down the role of Severus Snape, we have a replacement handy...

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-48563037108284287672007-05-05T19:14:00.000-07:002007-05-05T19:28:48.412-07:00

All good things have to come to an end at last. Unfortunately the Spiderman movies are no exception. Generally, I don't care much about reviews until I watch the movie, but in this case almost all the early reviews were spot on. Sam Raimi's third edition of Spiderman falls flat given its hype. You have to rack your brain to remember at least one really redeeming feature of the movie among all the

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1219970357253056632007-03-29T20:12:00.000-07:002007-03-29T20:17:34.453-07:00

As if extinction wasn't worrying enough for tigers, some of them now face the prospect of actually bearing an uncanny resemblance with Rakhi Sawant. God save the tiger. Really.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-791078179520904292007-03-02T19:31:00.000-07:002007-03-02T19:53:43.129-07:00

Observed a strange little thing at a career fair today. As always, the Big Two - Microsoft and Google were there, but the thing that stood out was the number of the people waiting in line just to get a chance to drop off their resumes at Microsoft and the relatively deserted booth for Google! People could almost just walk up to the guys from Google and have a chat. To me, it could mean two things

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-60798236468208233362007-02-21T13:09:00.000-07:002007-02-21T22:55:57.436-07:00

It's surprising how addicted you can get to a computer during your studies here in the US - lack of a television, unlimited internet connectivity and the occupational hazard of being a software engineer being the prime culprits in growing and sustaining that addiction, of course. There's hardly a significant time of the day when you can be (or want to be) away from the computer. Of the time that

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-35848635935623224472007-02-13T12:33:00.000-07:002007-02-13T23:04:54.378-07:00

Kartikeya's blog A Cricketing View has been nominated for the Indibloggies in the Best Sports IndiBlog category. If you haven't yet been there, do have a read - and vote if you like it.It is ironic that this blog remains neglected by its author when he was infact of some help (and if he may ever so shamelessly add, a minor inspiration :)) in setting up Cricketing View in the first place! So,

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-10556668805484957742006-10-20T15:27:00.000-07:002006-10-30T19:37:59.349-07:00

The music of Umrao Jaan comes across as a welcome digression from the regular fast-paced pop-beat-insipred music dished out in most of the films these days. It's actually a little hard to believe that the score is composed by Anu Malik - he, of "oonchee hai building" and "tan tana tan tan tan tara" fame, and although an ever so slight influence of common romantic hindi film songs is noticeable in

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-78268546221345339032006-10-01T22:37:00.000-07:002006-10-01T22:40:36.678-07:00

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are visiting Pune and while that is quite common in terms of the hordes of famous Hollywood celebrities that make their way to the city, what is rare is that the producers of the film (in which Jolie is playing slain journalist Daniel Pearl's wife) have found resemblance between Pune and Karachi! This is interesting not only for the fact that all these years I have

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-85636316200768239322006-09-20T21:14:00.000-07:002006-09-20T21:53:47.688-07:00

Pictures like these (ignore the questionable relevance of the title) should add more weight to the recent efforts to educate people to transition from immersing idols towards some sort of recycling. Not only is the sight of idols lying in such a pitiable state quite disappointing, it is actually an environmental hazard.Link via Kartikeya.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1155592289170592392006-08-14T14:38:00.000-07:002006-08-15T20:26:25.516-07:00

I type this as I wait patiently in line to get an ear from my department's graduate advising office, and I have realised the obvious irony of waiting in lines. It goes something like this: The amount of time you will have to wait in line to get something done, is inversely proportional to a combination of the amount of time you need to get your work done and the relative importance of that work

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1155256158406001002006-08-10T17:28:00.000-07:002006-08-10T17:43:46.083-07:00

Is it just me, or is it extremely ironical (and almost blasphemous) that something as unorthodox and commercially driven as a Twenty20 tournament that's been going on in Bangalore has been named after Sir Donald Bradman?

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1154889771683856112006-08-06T11:31:00.000-07:002006-08-06T11:42:51.696-07:00

इतके दिवस ह्या 'डे' साजरे करण्याच्या वे'डे'पणा पासून अलिप्त राहिलेल्या मराठी वर्तमानपत्रांना देखील हे भूत चढलेले पाहून अपार खिन्नता वाटली. रामानंद म्हणतो त्याप्रमाणे वर्षातील उरलेले ३६४ दिवस Happy "No Friendship Day Today" Day साजरे करण्याची कल्पना उत्तम आहे :)

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1154583481383900172006-08-02T20:30:00.000-07:002006-08-15T20:29:20.790-07:00

August 4, 2005: It's been a year to the day I landed up in the US. Don't worry - I am not going to bore you with how I have been to the Grand Canyon, California and Sedona in the past year (yes, I have also found the time to study once in a while). There's actually quite a bit of nothing to write about the last year in America. I am not even sure what exactly I am about to write in this post

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1151570771326824052006-06-29T01:20:00.000-07:002006-06-29T01:52:56.216-07:00

Its been a while since I came back from Scotland and the one thing I have been missing is the utterly enjoyable pleasure of watching a Scot having a go at an Englishman (and vice versa, although less enjoyably so :) ). So anyway, Andy Murray, the young Scot who happens to be the UK's #1 ranked tennis player, does the honours.Lately he's been receiving some flak for saying he would like"anyone but

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1147715868182819262006-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:002006-05-15T12:26:08.856-07:00

Google has just released a list of its 100 most popular videos, in which I found ranked at #2, a documentary called Loose Change (first released in April 2005 and another edition in November 2005), which questions the veracity of the claim that the September 11 attacks were actually external terrorist attacks. Infact, it alleges in no uncertain terms, that the destruction of the World Trade

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1146843459999289682006-05-05T08:28:00.000-07:002006-05-05T08:37:40.016-07:00

How often have you cursed people you've seen breaking traffic rules? How often have you been even more agitated that the police just let these guys get away with it? And how many times have you been absolutely furious that at times it is the policemen themselves violating the law? Well, here's a gritty man's account of his fight against the system that tolerates this. Its not exactly Rang De

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1141745519984178512006-03-07T08:27:00.000-07:002006-03-07T08:36:48.170-07:00

How many times have you heard the phrase "... was unceremoniously dropped from the team..."I mean, you can't exactly say "Hey, sorry we need to kick you out of the team. Let's party!". How do you ceremoniously drop a player (unless the whole Chappell-Ganguly media hoopla could be construed as a ceremony :P)?

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1140496461259005982006-02-20T21:03:00.000-07:002006-02-21T08:46:04.840-07:00

It's been a month now since the new semester started and it still feels nowhere like a gruelling graduate study is underway. Contrasted with the same time or rather the whole of last semester, the intensity is inexplicably missing. That is not to say that the amount of work put in has gone down. Homeworks are still being submitted on time and papers are being read et al, but somehow I don't feel

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1139510445644666762006-02-09T11:38:00.000-07:002006-02-23T15:54:03.610-07:00

Came across this fine collection of the most popular lines from hindi movies while wasting some precious time on Orkut:* "Mai tumahara aihsaan zindagi bhar nahin bhoolonga"* "Bacchhhhaaaooooooooooo......."* "Tum mere liye mar chuke ho "* "Ghar mein do-do jawaan betiyaan hein"* "Lo! - Muh meertha karo "* "Hato naa! Log kya kahenge "* "Khabardaar jo mujhe haath bhi lagayaa .."* "Aarre! isse to

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1139413425590588362006-02-08T08:36:00.000-07:002006-02-08T22:32:40.340-07:00

A few days ago, Google came up with a new feature extension to their excellent Gmail service: chat in Gmail. Ofcourse this is a useful feature to have and would be a simple addition given Google's ability to search anything on the net, but for me it hardly makes any impact. Google Talk hasn't been as popular as they would have hoped. Apart from the voice chat facility, Google Talk falls woefully

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1138378189091027262006-01-27T08:47:00.000-07:002006-01-27T13:09:41.630-07:00

Just came across this piece by former Pakistan 'keeper Moin Khan in which he presents his profound assessment of the Faisalabad match. Most of it is quite as mundane as the match itself, but it gets interesting before it dulls down. Moin has some laughable opinions about Sachin Tendulkar and his batting at the moment. He claims that Sachin sort of excused himself off the pitch by saying...Then

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1135926556935043322005-12-30T00:09:00.000-07:002005-12-30T00:09:16.936-07:00

Today happens to be this blog's anniversary (a bloggiversary, if I may). I never thought it would survive so far, let alone anybody would follow it with any amount of liking. But it has done so, going through a few changes of name, the author's geographical location, career, mood swings, severe shortage of time & content and this new template, among other things. If my site counters don't deceive

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1135273145527148372005-12-22T10:09:00.000-07:002005-12-22T10:49:26.940-07:00

A round of applause is due to the Indian cricket team for their splendid performance against Sri Lanka in both the ODI and the test series which has seen them move up from the depths of the ODI rankings to #5 and now become second only to Australia in Tests. Its a nice feeling to be the #2 Test team in the world, but I would prefer to see a more balanced ranking system. ICCs' current system

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1134757538722519622005-12-16T11:12:00.000-07:002006-01-02T18:19:01.376-07:00

काल विमातळावर जाताना झालेला विनोद:प्र: विमानतळावर उतरल्या नंतर एक विमान दुसरया विमानास काय म्हणते?उ: चल टॅक्सी करू:)[Sadly, doesn't carry the same PJishness when translated into English]

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1133675957582281872005-12-03T22:36:00.000-07:002005-12-29T18:47:34.080-07:00

Just found out today that Pune is now very clearly visible on Google Earth. Nice feeling it is to be able to see you home, right down to the fencing! The level of detail and clarity is amazing - I could easily make out the fighter jets lined up at the airport!!! Now although this a bit disconcerting since almost all defence establishments have been snapped in much greater detail, the pictures do

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1133645173227416942005-12-03T14:17:00.000-07:002005-12-03T14:42:47.296-07:00

Graduate studies should be the de facto practical example when it comes to understanding why time is actually relative and that too from a micro to macro level. I came here just a while ago... August was it? and its already the end of the semester! Time didn't just fly by, it took off on a rocket I guess. But, the semester's gonna end by mid December and that's still a huge 10 days or so away...

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1132620541726658272005-11-21T17:40:00.000-07:002005-11-21T17:49:01.750-07:00

Google seems to be taking their Orkut social network quite seriously - they have come up with a version of the Google Toolbar with Orkut features - lets you search for a person's Orkut profile from the comfort of your trusted toolbar. Check it out - go to the "Search" section in Orkut, and you will find a big promo for the toolbar at the bottom of the page (only in Internet Explorer so far, I

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1132462990062836282005-11-19T20:59:00.000-07:002005-11-19T22:03:14.536-07:00

Too much work over the past couple of weeks has meant that I have found precious little time to blog and even precious little stuff has been found interesting enough to write about. That got me thinking... how many times, if at all possible, do people write extempore blogs? This one's an experiment at just that. What that means in other words is that I have no clue as to what is to follow in this

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1130611700244098912005-10-29T11:32:00.000-07:002005-12-30T14:52:20.650-07:00

Had my first visit to a theatre in months, and while it is hardly anything to cheer about, having spent 2-3 weeks in a maze of midterms, homework assignments and course projects, a relatively *free* weekend was cause for some much sought after recreation. So, The Legend of Zorro it was then, as a pre-cursor to the much eagerly waited Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.Now, this post is not a

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1129658916123731762005-10-18T11:03:00.000-07:002005-10-18T11:08:36.130-07:00

Been a bit busy over the week with midterms and course work hogging up time. Yet I managed to sneek a peek at what was going on with the whole IIPM vs Bloggers battle. And while I wanted to write someting about it there was just not enough enough time!. Anyway, here's a nice roundup of the whole issue and how blogs have come of age as information regulators. Link via Amit Varma.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1129095503477452582005-10-11T22:35:00.000-07:002005-12-30T14:47:46.946-07:00

माझ्या ब्लॉग च्या सर्व वाचकांना विजयादशमीच्या हार्दीक शुभेच्छा!!!हा लेख (आता ह्या लिखाणास "लेख" म्हणणे ही जरा अतीशयोक्ती आहे हे मला मान्य आहे, परंतु सध्यातरी मला "post" साठी पर्यायी मराठी शब्द सुचतनाही) मराठी मधून लिहिण्याचे कारण की आज दिवसभरात मला दसऱ्याच्या ज्या शुभेच्छा मिळाल्या, त्यातल्या जवळपास सर्व इंग्रजी मधून. विजयादशमी हा पाश्चात्य सण आहे की काय असे वाटू लागले!. अमेरिकेत आल्यापासून ह्या

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1128662279214549792005-10-06T22:15:00.000-07:002005-10-06T22:17:59.223-07:00

The things people do in the name of God - and I ain't speaking about just those terrorist lot.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1128018361983259962005-09-29T11:23:00.000-07:002005-09-29T11:26:01.990-07:00

Gaurav sums up the influence of the tekdis on life in Pune here. Brilliant.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1127440794647160892005-09-22T18:46:00.000-07:002005-09-22T18:59:54.663-07:00

Amazing thing, imagination. Came across an interesting "history of the future" piece in a Web Mining class today - someone's done a lot of thinking about what Google could do to the Fourth Estate. Don't know why the emphasis on the news, but for me, the GoogleZon idea was the killer :-)

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1127417754164732462005-09-22T12:24:00.000-07:002005-09-22T12:53:41.433-07:00

Homesickness has probably been one of the biggest tormentors of hundreds of young students or professionals who come to distant lands for study or work. Quite naturally then, that was something I wasn't ruling out to happen to me too. Surprisingly however, there has hardly been any of that feeling ever since I landed in America over a month ago. Sure, I missed Ganeshotsav and the food and all the

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1126922803746951612005-09-16T19:06:00.000-07:002005-09-16T19:10:38.676-07:00

Google's seach engine has apparently been foxed by some clever pranksters. Try searching for "miserable failure" in Google and see the amusing results. Google ofcourse, has wiped its hands clean!

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1125865554600559632005-09-04T13:22:00.000-07:002005-09-04T13:26:30.383-07:00

A great article by Dave Barry on the rising oil prices. Its a bit old, but still relevant and just as funny.(Pinch of salt: You might have to register with The Miami Herald (free, of course) to get to read it)

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1124898400212130472005-08-24T08:41:00.000-07:002005-08-25T11:25:36.536-07:00

Update:argh.... I have to regretfully take back my words here... this thing is faar too primitive to even deserve a public trial... no emoticons, no file transfer :(. I am back to good ol' Yahoo & MSN.Its finally here. Something I have been wishing and to a certain extent expecting - an instant messenger from Google. Lets see if it can be the killer-app for MSN/Yahoo/Skype put together. That is

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1124732414093121772005-08-22T10:33:00.000-07:002005-08-22T10:40:14.093-07:00

Sourav Ganguly has decided that he needs to make some runs. Good. After all this is Zimbabwe coming up for crying out loud. The ducks are sitting tight, ready to be carved up - but wait... is it too much for us to assume victory over a team ranked just a couple of places below us? Hmm.... something to think about, skipper.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1124731757315347122005-08-22T10:14:00.000-07:002005-08-22T10:31:07.010-07:00

Exactly a month after leaving work, I am back at school. Frenzied shopping, flooded airports, missed connecting flights, a meticulous search for roomies and a relatively easier search for an apartment, plus a surprise trip to the Grand Canyon - this month has been a tad above the ordinary.Classes for Fall 2005 begin in a few hours and I am readying myself for some heavy fundae in Combinatorial

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1122440442756894082005-07-26T21:58:00.000-07:002005-07-26T22:02:01.763-07:00

This is brilliant - my last few days in Pune couldn't have been spent better. I am getting to experience all things that I won't expect to see in Arizona and the US in general - a great food fest day in day out, incessant rains and a blissful 10 hours of uninterrupted power cut 2 days in succession.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1121865302443717222005-07-20T05:23:00.000-07:002005-07-20T06:18:24.040-07:00

Just came to know that Farhan Akhtar is thinking of a remake of the 1970s AB starrer Don. My first reaction was one of mild surprise that comprised the following exact words: "What?" and the next thought provoking one was "Why?" After all, here is a average joe film that has featured such acrobatic antics as a Praan holding a kid in each arm, doing a one-legged tightrope walk that would have made

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1120643828244206392005-07-06T02:54:00.000-07:002005-07-06T02:59:12.133-07:00

Have a blog? Be a part of MIT's Weblog Survey. Link via Ramanand.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1120191043078692732005-06-30T20:54:00.000-07:002005-06-30T21:27:04.623-07:00

So, finally we Punekars have managed to throw another of those annoying traffic rules out of the nearest window. The courts have given their nth verdict on the helmet rule and while not extending the deadline for its imposition, asked the government to basically to do as it deems fit, which when loosely translated into government action, means nothing. Its time to party, yippee.And while we are

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1119256490258029262005-06-20T00:12:00.000-07:002005-06-20T22:33:21.840-07:00

Blogs and forums all around have found a new reason to blast Ferrari for the whole mess that the yesterday's US Grand Prix truned into, but I think Ferrari are being unfairly blamed here. Now, this isn't my bias towards my favourite F1 team, but most people seem to ignore the FIA's role in the whole controversy. While the perception is that Ferrari vetoed the request for adding a chicane on turn

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1118994359806109572005-06-17T00:43:00.000-07:002005-06-17T00:53:25.146-07:00

Since this is a customary post, true to tradition, I will try not to skip the well known facts. I had the visa interview appointment at 8:15 am, reached the consulate at around 7:20 am. This incidentally was my longest drive in Mumbai ever, during what has been my longest stay in Mumbai– a whopping 16 hours. Got in to a typical Indian queue, which thankfully is a special subclass of the

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1118323100388686922005-06-09T06:00:00.000-07:002005-06-09T06:50:48.086-07:00

I have been inundated with queries asking how I have managed to acquire this new ability to type marathi into things like MSN Messenger so that now I can really chat with a person in my mother tongue - provided of course the other person is electronically equipped to decipher what I send across. So, to save me time and effort of repeating the procedure to everyone, I am scribbling up this basic "

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1117706590537242362005-06-02T02:55:00.000-07:002005-06-02T03:03:10.540-07:00

आपणांस हे शब्द वाचता येत आहेत का?If you can/cannot see (and/or read) the devnagri stuff on the line above, please let me know. Do also let me know what browser you were using and the operating system. I am trying out some unicode stuff on this blog so that I can post in Marathi if and when I feel like it.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1116944840145646192005-05-24T07:17:00.000-07:002005-05-24T07:27:20.156-07:00

Just when you thought that the FIA was done exercising its gray cells over the rules for this season, they have come up with something really uncalled for. The Sunday qualifying is off and there will be single lap qualifying on Saturday. Who knows how much more excitying this will make F1, but what it will certainly do is turn grid positions into a lottery. Not only will the drivers have no

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1116696540342905882005-05-21T10:14:00.000-07:002005-05-21T10:39:26.563-07:00

There's yet another controversy over an upcoming hindi movie, this time over Naina. Some opthalmologists are worried that the astounding success that the movie is going to achieve will discourage people from eye-donation. Hmm.. so in that case the real estate industry should have been on the streets after Bhoot and Vaastushastra. After all, not many people would buy ghost infested dwellings,

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1116398278905728832005-05-17T23:32:00.000-07:002005-05-17T23:44:39.673-07:00

The ICC's Cricket Committee has put forth numerous recommendations to make the format of the ODI game more "interesting". One of those is that of "soccer-style substitutions".The CC also recommended the introduction of soccer-style substitutes for international cricket wherein a player could be replaced at any stage of a match but would then be ruled out for the remainder of the match. Both the

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1116222002376058952005-05-15T22:30:00.000-07:002005-05-15T22:40:02.386-07:00

Saw an interesting juxtaposition of movie ads in the weekend listings - that innocuous and inane movie called Kya Kool Hai Hum is being exalted as the "biggest hit of the summer" after claiming to have survived a "smashing second week". Now, I wonder how much of this promotion is apporoved by the distributors, but if a breezy two weeks is the criteria for a "hit" the film industry should hang

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1115705015871539842005-05-09T22:41:00.000-07:002005-05-10T04:35:23.566-07:00

Well, you don’t have to be an Oracle to foresee Maharashtra’s powerless future. Yesterday’s Sakal carried the state government’s full page ‘message’ intended for the forsaken population of Maharashtra reeling under daily power cuts. It’s more of an attempt of throwing their hands up rather than saying we are sorry for the mess that we, the 6 year old administration along with a couple of them

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1114852294794754882005-04-30T01:48:00.000-07:002005-05-03T02:03:08.576-07:00

Social networking sites like Orkut offer a great chance for doing some random analyses of poeple's opinions about what's going around. A general thing that I have observed -and not just on social n/w sites - is how few people have, or choose to express, a poltical opinion. Most people say they are not political or simply refuse to answer. Within their groups, friends talk about a lot of stuff,

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1114849733129103652005-04-30T01:03:00.000-07:002005-04-30T02:23:38.043-07:00

The verdict is out - DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE - not even if someone pays you to watch it. It is that bad. Worthy of a nomination to the Jade Project. Coming from Karan Johar and his troupe, I had very little expectations of it anyway, but since anything that's slightly different from the regular masala that Bollywood dishes out immediately attracts attention, I went ahead with the idea of Kaal.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1114582827786761642005-04-26T22:50:00.000-07:002005-04-27T07:51:57.450-07:00

In their mouthpiece Saamana, the ShivSena has come out with its take on the recent case of rape of a young girl by a drunk policeman in Mumbai. Now, as right bashing is the flavour of the season, there have been many an opinion expressed about how completely wrong the Sena is and so on. I grant that, true to their nature, the Sena has gone overboard by suggesting that the girl’s dress sense was

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1113711150419379502005-04-16T21:06:00.000-07:002005-04-16T21:15:20.740-07:00

Ravi Shastri scaled new heights of redundant commentary today by popping a question to Inzamam that would have made any captain worth his salt draw on all his life experience to answer it correctly.Ravi: “Inzy, you are 3-2 up in the series, looking to wrap it up with a winhere?”How do you answer that question with a straight face over all the din of laughter going on inside your head? Probably, a

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1113653326336485542005-04-16T04:52:00.000-07:002005-04-16T05:12:57.610-07:00

Just heard somewhere that (former?) Miss India Tanushree Dutta, as expected, is getting into Bollywood films. The pageant is turning out to be the fastest way of getting into Bollywood (if you want to avoid those couches, that is). Something like a campus job. Film makers - be on the lookout for each year's freshers batch! And now that the pageant is turning into an actress college, the

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1113283177652156942005-04-11T22:18:00.000-07:002005-04-12T03:09:24.336-07:00

As I type this, India, or should I say the team batting first has got off to a clichéd flying start. As this completely boring and monotonous series rambles on, there was just about a chance of the game getting interesting today, what with some moisture in the pitch. Surprise, surprise!! That would have meant, the captains would actually have to use some gray matter at the toss and the batsmen

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1112451882946547792005-04-02T07:10:00.000-07:002005-04-02T07:40:17.640-07:00

That term stands to be redefined for me today, coz the day I have had has been irritating enough to add some of its happenings to Murphy's Laws. Some of them being:1. When you need a bank ATM the most, it won't be anywhere near.2. When you do find your or another bank's ATM, it will be out of order.3. If you do find a working ATM, it won't accept your card4. While you roam around the city looking

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1112336725598477112005-03-31T22:45:00.000-07:002005-04-01T01:20:56.193-07:00

A 15th anniversary of your company is indeed time for celebration, but when the number of guests hovers around a few thousand, you can only imagine the scene at dinner. Having to stand in a line for over 10 minutes just to get to the plate counter is a good time for all sorts of exercises for your brain… cursing, introspection, and any other mind games you can think of. But when that long wait

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1112269660441139142005-03-31T04:46:00.000-07:002005-03-31T04:47:40.443-07:00

Read more about it here.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1112116833031672132005-03-29T10:15:00.000-07:002005-03-29T10:33:10.500-07:00

A Software Developer’s Life Cycle in pseudo code.while(projectNearingRelease) {/*if(today instanceof WEEKEND) {party();}else {*/gym();work();eat();work();eat();if(pendingWork == null){sleep();}//}}Sad. No wait, Horrible.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1111641583021086752005-03-23T22:10:00.000-07:002005-03-24T05:05:20.126-07:00

Those who have been watching over breakfast, Doordarshan’s hopeless attempt at stitching together a cricket talk-show will have realized (or expected) that the stuff is as useless as the actual Fourth Umpire himself. On the ground, he at least carries replacement balls. These guys carry an air of boredom and redundancy. That the show is sponsored by an all out feminine product should be a proof

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1111058332885704132005-03-17T04:16:00.000-07:002005-03-17T04:20:44.150-07:00

It’s been a while (is 6 days “a while” in the blogosphere? I dunno.) since I blogged (not that I do it an awful lot anyway), the reason being a lack of few things – mood, time, and blog-worthy material, in that order. Normally, a daily visit to the Tabloid of India’s website should throw something good enough to rant about, but even they have nothing interesting these days (apart from Shakti

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1110552173184683852005-03-11T07:31:00.000-07:002005-03-12T02:40:36.803-07:00

A pretty disappointing day for India on the field in Mohali was topped by this shockingly erronous report from the BBC. The report, referring to Danish Kaneria's performance, quite unabashedly claims thatIt was the best analysis by a leg-spinner in a Test against IndiaandKaneria became the first leggie to take five wickets against Indiaboth statements refuted by Shane Warne's haul of 6/125

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1110385111505784002005-03-09T09:13:00.000-07:002005-03-11T00:18:52.293-07:00

It would seem like a never ending déjā vu to someone who has the patience to watch DD Sports’ telecast of the current India-Pakistan series, if he happens to tune his TV to the national sports channel in the evenings. I just cannot understand the logic of showing the entire day’s play ball-by-ball again, given that you have already showed it once, live, the very same day. The seemingly simple

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1110285517245507352005-03-08T05:35:00.000-07:002005-03-08T05:38:37.246-07:00

This is a good example of exactly that. The JMM is accusing the NDA of "hijacking democratic norms" (!) in Jharkhand. If this is Congress' idea of damage-control by outsourcing the task to the JMM, it comes a wee bit too late, doesn't it?

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1110130376421236182005-03-06T10:23:00.000-07:002005-03-07T06:06:56.786-07:00

TV audiences in the country have been gripped by a new kind of idol-worship. Abhijeet Sawant from Mumbai was yesterday voted India’s new Idol. Ehh? Have we come to such a state that we now have to search for idols from competitions? Reportedly, people sent 31,077,330 SMSes for the voting. Whoa! That’s lot of text messages floating around the network. (Hmm, so no matter who loses, the telephone

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1110106509628122552005-03-06T03:52:00.000-07:002005-03-06T04:06:56.043-07:00

Formula 1 is back and it is as good as it gets!! It was just the start I was looking for to the new season in Melbourne. There was a lot of criticism last year against the complete dominance of Ferrari over the driver’s and constructor’s championship, but that doesn’t look to be the case this time around, until Ferrari unleash their new 2005 car, that is :) It’s been a long while since Michael

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1109911655334527482005-03-03T21:37:00.000-07:002005-03-03T21:47:35.336-07:00

Yesterday was one the rarest and probably the first day in office when I did not even login to either of the messengers and neither did I put on my headphones for listening to music!! Just far too much work leaving no space for gossip or entertainment…bah. That I did manage to get an awful lot of work done, does say something about the percentage increase in efficiency with the shutdown of

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1109839273278280842005-03-03T01:32:00.000-07:002005-03-03T01:41:13.280-07:00

I am neck deep in work, probably even beyond, with some atrociously steep deadlines on the horizon, and yet I find time to have a peek at what our wise leaders have been up to lately. That too for the sheer dramatic value of the political events that have taken place, vis-à-vis elections in Bihar & Jharkhand. The Congress, which had propelled itself to a lofty perch as a savior, protector and

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1109232654163470572005-02-24T01:10:00.000-07:002005-02-24T01:12:51.163-07:00

Finally, the cloud has lifted. The Chennai high court has given its decision on the whole messy TV rights issue - ESPN-Star and Zee are both going to cry foul while the BCCI and PrasarBharti are going to laugh their way to the banks with the telecast rights in their kitty.Such is the shambolic administration of cricket in this country, that the nation’s favorite sport ran the risk of losing the

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1109132445816340622005-02-22T21:19:00.000-07:002005-02-22T22:05:56.670-07:00

It’s nice to be nice to other people – who would argue with that? I would. Well at least some times in any case, particularly so when you are in the middle of making some personal deal, monetary or otherwise. If you are one of those types who have a compulsive need to have people like you, who can’t rest in peace knowing that there is someone you know out there who you have pissed off, turned

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1108965717127246142005-02-20T22:56:00.000-07:002005-02-22T00:20:36.610-07:00

Last sunday marked the end of GATE and a lot of other activities that had been keeping me busy. With no other good enough way to while away time, I got back to the most popular hobby - reading. Within a week, I have gulped down two books: The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons - something I would not advise people do, especially one after the other (the order is immaterial). A & D seems more like

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1108626773594932582005-02-17T00:45:00.000-07:002005-02-17T00:52:53.596-07:00

Knocked off the first book in my books-to-read pipeline. Sadly, it hasn't lived up to its hype. Of course, given its storyline, it could not have possibly ended on the same note that it started, else there would have been the same uproar in the Vatican that it mentions itself. The end is an anti-climax of sorts more because it leaves the interpretation of the end to the user. Nevertheless, it is

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1108479630822256612005-02-15T07:17:00.000-07:002005-02-15T08:01:16.993-07:00

This post was going to be about Valentine's Day and why I would like to have nothing to do with it, but someone already wrote pretty much what I wanted to say.And its not just about V-Day either. Its about the whole package.. Friendship day, Rose day, this day, that day.. the list just goes on and on. I guess everytime the fancy-gift-industry sees red in their annual reports, they pick something

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1108146622463238982005-02-11T11:13:00.000-07:002005-02-11T11:45:25.096-07:00

Finally, after months of enduring some woeful service from BSNL, I have now switched over to Airtel. I still wonder why I was so loyal to them in the first place. I mean yeah, on paper they turn out be cheaper, but their basic idea seems to be to make it so damn hard to hear anything you or the other person says, that you get fed up and hang up. Gone are the days when I would grab the phone and

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1107543932918707312005-02-04T13:01:00.000-07:002005-02-07T02:19:31.366-07:00

Update: Feb 07, 2005 Got it back! The news of the grand robbery had spread by word of mouth. All sorts of people who roam large areas by day, viz. milkmen, newspaper boys and of course Dileep, (the fellow who looks after the mini garden in our building) were requested to be on the lookout for my bike. As luck would have it, on his way back home on Sunday noon, he came across a dust-laden red bike

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1107526633791241922005-02-04T07:10:00.000-07:002005-02-04T07:17:13.790-07:00

Just like Aditya, I too, have have 50 Gmail invitations left. (Yes, that's right - 50!) and I have no idea who I am giving them out to. So if you are looking out for a Gmail account, lemme know.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1107450292833705362005-02-03T10:01:00.000-07:002005-02-03T10:10:25.453-07:00

Page 3 doesn't come across as an intense, thought provoking movie. But somehow, maybe just for a few moments as you leave the movie hall, it does make you wonder about something. It's a stinging diatribe against the lifestyles of the rich & the famous and since my experience with people in that bracket is next to nothing, for me the picture raises bigger and conflicting questions. Is what is

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1107279302964861952005-02-01T10:27:00.000-07:002005-02-01T10:35:02.963-07:00

He's finally got it... Narain Karthikeyan is about to make history by becoming the first Indian driver to take part in a Formula 1 race. Lets hope technicalities like sponsorships don't come in the way as they did with Minardi last time around, and we can see Narain sharing the starting grid at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne!!

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1107278793702782572005-02-01T10:23:00.000-07:002005-02-03T10:15:39.583-07:00

A long overdue break from work (albeit for studies) is bringing back some great memories from the good ol' college days... particularly the PLs. All the slogging, mugging, freaking out at the amount of stuff still left to go through, taking far too many frequent breaks, then realising that those breaks are getting rather too long as well, trying desperately to avoid a mid-day nap, checking emails

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1106896320843166092005-01-28T01:10:00.000-07:002005-01-28T01:47:36.506-07:00

Silence is golden they say...a nice phrase to use once in a while, but even nicer when you actually get a real life feel of it. The other day I called up my bank for resolving some queries regarding my credit card. Banks (or their call centres, whatever) are flooded with calls, I know, but is it really necessary to hammer every waiting customer with the inanely stupid "Your call is important to

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1106808888642747762005-01-27T00:52:00.000-07:002005-01-27T00:25:20.180-07:00

Few things in sport go according to plan and hardly any in tennis. Although this uncertainty adds its own special flavour to the game, the top four men's seeds making it to the semifinals at the Australian Open 2005 is a welcome anomaly. It makes for a great sporting weekend along with the ladies' singles finals, in this season otherwise dearth of any interesting sporting activity (sans an

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1106663202210583642005-01-25T07:25:00.000-07:002005-01-27T02:07:15.753-07:00

About a third of last month's devastating Tsunami were children. The PMT seems to have taken upon itself the unenviable task of doing something similar to Pune's population. The shambolic bus fleet is claiming lives by the week, many of them teenagers, as another unfortunate girl fell prey to the monster last night :(. Our corporators could do better than launching stupid signature campaigns

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1106289919464795532005-01-21T00:39:00.000-07:002005-01-20T23:52:44.800-07:00

There seems to have developed, in recent times, a certain LOTResque aura around two books in particular - The Fountainhead and Da Vinci Code. It's as if the world is divided into two types of people - the ones who have read them and those who are about to. Hmmm... perhaps I should cross the divide myself. The surprising thing is, The Fountainhead has been around for decades, but I wonder if it

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1106213616283166632005-01-20T02:33:00.000-07:002005-01-20T03:11:54.060-07:00

I am trying out Haloscan for commenting and trackback...can't get it to put existing comments in itself though. I know lots of people are using it...anybody has a suggestion? And for once, I am not going to take the efforts of Googling for the solution - its OK to be lazy sometimes :)

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1106204187324682252005-01-20T00:47:00.000-07:002005-01-19T23:57:55.046-07:00

Thank you all, who wished me a Happy Birthday yesterday (through all possible communication media, including BSNL , if it is actually that anymore), my 8,401st day in this world.

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1105712441087317072005-01-14T07:08:00.000-07:002005-01-14T11:41:50.320-07:00

Hey, the Premier Hockey League kicked off yesterday, and I have to say that this is the first time I have really taken an interest in the game. It seems to be a good initiative (finally!) from the IHF and let's hope it pays off like the Twenty20 Cup did for cricket in Britain. Cricket gets blamed for hogging all the limelight and the crowds, but then hockey hasn't had much to offer for a long

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1105077414389621572005-01-06T22:49:00.000-07:002005-01-07T00:34:56.956-07:00

Its about 7:30 in the evening, a majority of the ever increasing horde of vehicles in the city descends upon the roads in an effort to reach wherever they wish to go, hoping for, but not necessarily expecting an enjoyable ride along the way. Everything is going fine until that blasted traffic signal decides its time to Give you Red (is A.Bachchan getting on other people's nerves as well? He is

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1104754253824435082005-01-03T05:05:00.000-07:002005-01-07T12:49:32.856-07:00

Being the huge F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan that I am, I have even been following Hello Friends on Smile TV. I can't find words that can effectively convey my utter disappointment after watching the stuff being aired. The producers and script writers (do they exist?) of the show seem to have taken the easier way out by making a to-the-scene copy of the original show. Not only have they made a mess of it,

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9866453.post-1104473807544958022004-12-30T23:15:00.000-07:002005-01-01T01:14:47.756-07:00

Ok, so I thought I should have a blog. That's easier said than done though. I mean, what do I write here? (Actually, that's the name I decided the blog would have, but was quite piqued when I realized that someone had already beaten me to it!!. There is some solace in the fact that there is someone out there who is enterprising enough to have a blog without anything to write in it :) After much

Atulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866282202607784726noreply@blogger.com2