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Monthly Archives: January 2006

EnTeRiNg tHe MoNKeY WoRLd

28-Jan-06

Finally I did pay a visit to Monkeyworld(read Greasemonkey) after enough speculation.

It didn’t take time for me to write M$Killer after going through a few examples on diveintogreasemonkey.org

Intructions for use:

  1. Get Firefox.
  2. Install Greasemonkey. (Restart Firefox)
  3. Open M$Killer script in the browser.
  4. Choose Tools-> Install this User Script
  5. Tat’s it!

To test the script Search Microsoft on Google

For the uninterested what this script does is simple… replaces the text ‘Microsoft’ with ‘M$’ in the browser window. It is for people having a problem with the name ‘Microsoft’. Surprisingly, I am not one of them!

Jai hiNd

27-Jan-06


Our righteous toil is our guiding light,
If we work hard, we all can prosper.
Nurture great thoughts, rise up in actions,
May righteous methods be our guide;
May the nation prosper ever with Almighty’s grace.

To gO OR NoT To gO ?

23-Jan-06

Questionaire

Q: Are u missing college?
A: Yes ! and No.

Q: Do you have other things to do?
A: Yes! Many…

Q: Do you do them atleast?
A: No !

Q: How long hav you not been to college?
A: Around 3 weeks now.

Q: Is anything substantial covered in college?
A: No (may be..?)

Q: Why do you want to go to colege?
A: I am concerned abt my attendance.

Q: Any other reason you want to go to college?
A: Cant think of any. I guess I dont wat to think of it!

Q: Is it too far?
A: I feel its far.

Q: Why?
A: Just not in the habbit of travelling all the way to college now. BTW I knw can also run all the way to college ;-)…………. hahhaah LoL.

Q: What about next week?
A: May be will attend. Otherwise would be tough convincing profs abt me being in VIIIsem CE.

Results:
[Please leave comments abt what you feel…?]

WrKsHoP in UMIT

21-Jan-06

I will be conducting a workshop in UMIT, Santacruz at 9:30am on Morphing (images) using Adobe Photoshop and it would be probably attended by atleast 100 students considering the enormous response the registration has recieved. Initially the workshop was to be conducted last semester but due to other prior appointments (;-) it didnt materialise.

By the way many more than 100 registrations have been recieved. Also, the other thing to note here is that Saturday being a holiday, if even 100 students (or for that matter 50) do make it for the workshop then it would surely be surprising for everyone including me.

Now, this is my BIG* day… hope I dont screw up.

Things I need to look out for:

  • Be on time… OR atleast try to.
  • Keep my ONE liners to myself and better concentrate on the topic.
  • Don’t go overboard and jst show ppl fireworks and not show them the techniques to create them.
  • I also need to define what I am giong to cover. I hope everyone who attends the workshop feels more confident after attending it.

Things I need to seriously worry about:

  • Control my nerves… now this is going to be tough bcoz I would be the only male among 50-60 girls (per batch) in the lab.
  • Girls…girls and more girls. ( bachaaaaooOOoo)
  • Hope I get to see few familiar faces around… otherwise it is gonna be tough. If you are reading this then do come down and say hi. (acha lagta hai…)

Amen

*BIG- considering its the first time I am conducting a workshop in some other college


Update: Will update this place once I come from the workshop…

Wow I am back !

Just to put in on record I was a little(15 mins) late but then everyone was and so it wasnt embarassing at all. Sejal(UMIT CSI chair) did ask me to meet her at the ITW(Institute of Technology for Women) entrance and there I was standing quietly having no idea who she was. Though I was sure to recognised her as I had seen her during the Robotics competition in our college but wasnt sure which one of the four girls she was as we not formally introduced to eachother then. Finally, there I was gazing at my own creation on the notice board (logo of Colosseum poster) and jst wondering when Sejal would show up and take me to the karmabhoomi. And there she was walking camly towards me and I didnt take time to realize that it was her. We said our Hi’s and she asked me if I would lik to see Barkha and I readily agreed. (BTW was good to meet you Barkha after so long…! and Nikita after so so so long…!!! Was wondering wher she was all this while…? No contact at all.. not even offlines? Didnt meet anyone else…). Later, she took me straight to the CC2 lab, well its the same lab where I had participated in the WebD competitions for the past two years(that means effectively spent 9 hours thinking in the same lab). Met Neha there. We hadn’t met before but knew eachother(LoL). So sweet of her for making sure that I dnt get bored up there.

Now it was around 10:15 and everyone started assembling in the lab. I was so skeptical of ppl turing up on a Saturday for a workshop but then they did and soon the lab was on the brink of being overflown. It was hard for me to be inside waiting for them to get settled. So, there I was peeking at notice boards and calming myself down. Just to point the fact that final year student projects there were much more interesting then ones in our college.

Now it was time for me to start the workshop. Sejal gave a brief introduction about me stressing on the following keywords… frm DBIT, won webD competitions, now placed in Patni (this was a shocker). The workshop I would say was very typically ME… saying so bcoz I lik it if there is no script to stick to and everything jst bulids up as it needs to.

The first batch ended up at 12 and it was tiring. Was served a paneer frankie at the end of it which was much needed bt then made me feel a bit lazier. The first batch kept me on my toes all the time bcoz it was full and everyone I felt was entusiastic while the second batch was soft, coOL and laid back.

Did read the feedback sheet which was passed after the wrkshop and it was satisfying to say the least. Overall I must say it was a fulfilling experience for me and keep looking for more such opportunities in other colleges too.

Finally, my sincere thanks to Neha and Sejal for inviting me. It surely is a memorable experience… thnx so so much.

SCMM2006

21-Jan-06

FrAmEd 4 LiFe…

16-Jan-06

FrAmEd 4 LiFe…

15-Jan-06

DaY 22 - 28 (LaSt wEeK)

14-Jan-06

I finally had my task cut-out for the last week. I just need to get 100% fit and so I decided to give running a break and concentrated on recuperating completly from my alleged calf injury. Now for this I decided to rely on the age old practices of Yoga and Pranayam (recently comming into picture bcoz of the Ramdevji controversy). Now these techniques are not at all new to me since my mom’s into Yoga for years now is just introduced to Pranayam for a year now(thnks to Ramdevji and Aastha TV). So, it was a week full of holistic healing. By the end of the week the pain in the calf had considerably subsided and it was back to normal. It was so normal by Friday that I even decided to participate in my class football match. Initiall I was a little sckeptical of this decision of mine but then it was always in my wishlist to play football for my class which I did and throughly enjoyed. It also made me feel very good.

A day before the marathon I just thought of becomming a little nostalgic and straight headed to Prabodhan Kridabhavan (Goregaon) the ground at which I practiced all these days and whcih I proudly refer to as my home-ground as it was here I played my cricket. No points for guessing that I even kiss the ground as I enter and leave it.

i DiD iT

14-Jan-06

Oh…yaah I must say its been a very good start to the new year. Saying this because finally I did play for my class football team as a goalkeeper. I played with the likes of Adolph (our captain, stopper and a brusque at heart), Melvin (ace defender), Bosco (defender and a show-off purist…;-), Biju (strong kicker), Steve (ace shooter) Darryl (stinger) and Ravi (our striker with a Golden leg… atleast i feel so but the records say a different story altogether).

I did hav to mak a statement in the game… I am far better than Revin and Ryan previous year goal-keepers but nothing was more important than winnning the game for my team. All I wanted to do was not to let the ball anywere closer to the goal.

The game began with the goal in first 2 seconds… yup guys 2 secs or may be lesser. Biju kicked the ball from the center starting position right into the goal of the opponent team. Just imagine the faces of the opponents and the people watching the game… esp the goal-keeper.

The rest of the game was full of excitement as the opponents continuously trying to equalize. I did make quite a few daring saves and one super-save which everyone appreciated even the audience. Finally, the opponents equalized with two minutes for the whistle from a continuous second attempt at the goal and me making a full dive to my left but to no avail. We lost in the penalty shoot-outs later.

I m sure the marks of the dive would remain with me for a couple of weeks now and these memories forever…

CoLLeGe pUkAaR RaHa hAi

10-Jan-06

My college re-opend on 2nd January but I m stil not convinced about this. I need someone to convince me it did and I better attend college. Also it’s not that I m not making any efforts to rejoin college after my vacations. I did make two short appearances in college but both just made me realize the fact that I am going to waste my time attending college. I don’t find it worth travelling all the way to college. To top it all we have got half-days for the first two weeks. I would for sure love to do some creative work here at home but even that is far from what I land up doing. Decided to attend college tommorrow but it would be more for the website of the upcomming college fest Collosseum ‘06 rather than the lectures. My first appearance in college(after the lectures got over) did work out well as I designed the logo for Colosseum ‘06 (will show it to you all too… soon). Everyone seemed to love it. Principal and Father Marion appreciated it too with a speacial mention of the concept I managed to portray. Hpe tommorrow is a good day too. Amen.

aNoThEr wEeK In pErSpEcTiVe…

07-Jan-06

3rd Week

Time: 57 mins
Distance: 10 km

Anyone would have been surprised and shocked by the progress of the third week considering the performances in the first two weeks. Even I was! Frankly, its not the time or the distance I covered during the week but the fear of an injury to my right calf during the 11km run which troubled me and shook me. The problem I was facing was that I was unsure of the severity of the pain and no mediacal attention or a trainer just made matters worse with constant fears of a serious injury doing rounds in my mind.

On the brighter side there were quite a few motivating thoughts…

  • Once I start running even though my legs would pain for the initial period it would be fine after sometime. The important thing here is not keep questioning oneself throughout the run and not keep querying about the condition of your muscles. Now this isn’t easy but not difficlut at all. Try and keep your mind busy in something like for example try revising multiplication tables. I bet this wrks and really wrks well. I tried this during the second week and so the amazing performance that you see.
  • Alread done 11 km…!
  • After all its a mind game.. now I do keep repeating this again and again but its just for the simple reason that your muscle power would get you there but not without the right signals being sent out from your mind.
  • Finally I knew if I was going to be 100% fit on the day of the half marathon then I would surely make it!!!

DaY 21

07-Jan-06

Rest Day… compulsive because of the aversion shown by me towards recovering from the jogs and going all out.

DaY 20

06-Jan-06

Time: 30 mins
Distance: 5.xx km

DaY 19

05-Jan-06

Time: 17 mins
Distance: 3.xx km

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman! Yes, it’s Superman

04-Jan-06

Facts in Chronological order:

Was never into reading comics but did watch Superman series on VCR multiple times. He was my only SuperHero.

Mom gifted me Superman IV - (featuring Sun Man) on one of my birthdays. (it was long time back)

Frnds in my college call me Superman:
Ravi is the ONE who started it. This is what he had to say abt it later whn he posted on our yahoogroups:

well …. i felt this fella looked like superman and so i started
calling him superman. since then this guy has been called
SOOOOOOOPERRRRRRMANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then on, I sign the mails on our yahoogroups as “SoOoPerMaN” ;-)

Mom once out of the blue told me that I lookd lik Christopher Reeves. (whn he expired and his pics were all over the papers)

The wallpaper on my cell is that of Superman >>> ‘S’

Now this Survey:
You are Superman

Superman
85%
Iron Man
70%
Green Lantern
70%
Hulk
60%
Spider-Man
55%
Robin
52%
Wonder Woman
50%
Supergirl
50%
Catwoman
50%
The Flash
50%
Batman
30%
You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

What do you have to say???
What does your Superhero Personality Quiz have to say about u???

DaY 18

04-Jan-06

Time: 10 mins
Distance: 2.xx km

[Comming from 60min to a struggling 10min is really disheartenning]

DaY 17

03-Jan-06

Rest Day… again

[Still trying to recover from the 11km run… getting a little tense abt the condition of muscles and possibility of an unwelcome injury]

DaY 16

02-Jan-06

Rest Day

rEaLiTy cHeCk

01-Jan-06

1st Week
Time: 95 mins
Distance: 26km

Ran as much as I could and then walking for sometime and then again running for as long as I could. Started the week with around 10 min jogs which were followed by 5 to 7 min ones. I realised I wasted a lot of time jst walking and taking a break frm joggin which I felt I need to change.

2nd Week
Time: 190 mins
Distance: 37 km

Considerably doubled my timming but not the distance as I slowed down my pace. Also, I decided to run continuouldy rather than take breaks in between. I (and even the pros) now feel that I over-worked myslef. Should have rested my body a little more and given it time to adjust. Realized a few cool things though like ‘finally its a mind game’ and ‘pain is just a sensation… LoL’ which one can easily happen to ignore after sometime. This is what I trianed my mind to believe and this week being one of the highlights of the training schedule.

DaY 15

01-Jan-06

Time: 10 mins
Distance: 1.xx km

Couldn’t run much… i guess the 11km run had a big toll on me. But still just went for a jog. Chandpreet was here after celebrating his new year in Goa and being on a world tour for around 2 months. Interestingly just happened to discuss about the half marathon with him and was pleasantly surprised after hearing of his experiences of the London Marathon 2005. He did undrgo the well-known 12 week training schedule and I also happend to learn that I just over-worked my body and I need to rest it enough to give my 100% on the race day.

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