"The quality and the experience of a chat vendor is primarily decided by his expertise in preparing pani puri. This, I say with over 13-14 years of experience. Having tasted in a large variety of places..starting in B'lore, then largely in Hyd and once in Varanasi, I seem to have gained an art to judge them. The right mixture of am-chur, namkeen meeta, etc.. just pleades to be rated. Currently I am adicted to a place in DVG Road (in front of Krishna sweets), but my unquenchable thirst to taste the supreme one is yet unsatisfied."
Its been about one and a half years now that I haven't used Linux as my development platform. I don't know if its the age + lethargy or just change of priorities that I did not have that push of that 18-22 old phase. And having a customer who used to write code on Windows didn't help either. But all that changed after I moved out of Aztecsoft (now Mindtree) and have been working in a startup for the last 8 months.
My current activity called for a Linux environment and had to setup my laptop for a dual boot. I will list down a few ways in which you can partition a "factory-installed-Vista-on-a-single-partition Lenovo Thinkpad T61" and install Ubuntu-8.04 (64 bit) on it.
Possible ways to partition
Before you try any of the option below, defragmenting your HDD will help.
Lenovo comes with RnR installed on your laptop and hence you do not get a separate CD/DVD with your laptop order. In my 100 GB HDD, the first 6GB is preinstalled with OS + s/w which is required to being back my laptop to factory defaults (The blue ThinkVantage button takes you thru this process).
You can write this 6 GB partition onto 5 CDs >> wipe out your entire system >> partition the way you want to >> and do a clean set up of everything. But I personally think this is very risky.
2. Use a 3rd party software like Partition Magic or Linux fdisk
I did not want to spend $70 on a partition magic license and neither did I have lots of hope on this process.
3. Use Windows shrink volume (This is what I did)
It is best to partition your HDD right after you buy the laptop. After some usage, no amount of defragmentation gives you a large chunk of contiguous memory. In my case, after nearly 5 months of usage, I could only get 24.6 GB of free memory as the last chunk.
Of all the options available, this is the most risk free and easiest. Go to Windows Control-panel >> search for partition (or go to Disk Management) >> right click >> shrink volume >> followed by format it as NTFS or FAT. This filesystem format does not matter as you would anyway use fdisk (Or GPart) to format this partition as ext3.
Once you have a partition, setting up Ubuntu is a breezy. I truly believe that Linux installation has come of age. But a few gotchas here.
One of the major, "Oh no, I did not think of this before" issuse with setting up a dual boot is writing GRUB into MBR thereby loosing the option to boot into Lenovo RnR. Hence I would suggest creating a /boot as a primary partition and installing your boot loader there. And even during installation, the "Install GRUB on /boot" is hidden behind an "Advanced" button which appears just before you start the installation process (after creating partitions etc). Lookout for this, else you might repent later.
The reasons for this are as follows. The Windows boot loader (NTLDR) has pointers to both Lenovo RnR and Vista installed on MBR. I did not want to overwrite this as I wanted to retain RnR on HDD and did not want to write it on a whole stack of CDs. There have been complains that these CDs do not work later on and that during the process of dumping, it deletes the partition on HDD (something to do with Windows licensing). So if I wanted to retain RnR on HDD, I also had to retain the pointers to boot into it. Hence created a /boot to put GRUB.
But the surprise is that GRUB locates even the RnR (hidden partition type) and gives you an option to boot into it. But again, booting into RnR thru GRUB only takes you to the initial screen of RnR after which it throws up "Could not login" err message and restarts. Hence the only way you can boot into RnR is thru the ThinkVantage button (pressing it just when the laptop boots). Hence don't get misled by seeing RnR as one of the boot options in GRUB.
And after all the installation is done change the active partition from C drive to /boot.
If you keep these in mind there should be no hassels.
And as a checklist, on my Ubuntu, Wi-Fi, Display, keyboard, trackpad, vertical scroll on the trackpad and most of the Lenovo function keys work out of the box.
If you are an ardent fan of Linux, you may want to consider this.
Key Notes:
1. Do a shrink volume as early as possible to get a large chunk of contiguous partition 2. Do not forget to create a /boot and store GRUB here instead of MBR 3. Swap the active flag from C drive to /boot
This month, BBC is covering large parts of China's political and social issues in a program called Inside China. Though you cannot expect commercial media to come up with all truth and the true face of most issues, atleast the journalist asks the right questions.
"It was the first time that the post had not been the gift of the teacher and it was the children's first taste of democracy. It turned out to be a cut-throat competition."
Apart from the program itself being shot nicely, you would also be baffled by the shrewdness of 6 yrs tots and the infrastructure of, just another school, the mono-rails in the city and many more.
In Hardtalk today, Stephen Sackur posed some obvious questions of Chinese involvement in Dafur, the growing issue currency mis-appropriation etc to the ex-Chinese ambassador to the UN.
In the last 8 months I have clearly seen more value in following in CNBC TV-18 and BBC compared to IBNLive and NDTV.
In case I haven't told you yet, I quit MingleBox in Jan to join hands with a few folks I knew, to work on a new idea. A part of this idea was similar to what I wanted to cook up some time ago, right after my wedding. We haven't named the company yet and work out of a colleague's apartment block. Things are looking good as of now. Lets see how life shapes up going down the lane.
Courageous, some time innovative decisions and actions comes by easily when your mind is free of socio-economic stability issues.
1. Got married! 2. Went out on my first international vacation 3. Started having breakfast regularly 4. Quit Aztecsoft 5. Joined a startup which addresses the growing demand for social networking in India
I visited Hotel Dwaraka yesterday which prompted me to write this post.
What is my typical Sunday?
1. Get up late at around 8:30 (My definition of late is 12 noon but hotels and many other entertainment centers are full by then) 2. Have a tall glass of coffee with news paper and Raga Ranjini 3. A lethargic oil bath 4. Finish the grand Poja
5. Head to Hotel Dwaraka for a grand breakfast - Rava Vada - Khali Dosae (Set dosa) - Strong coffee I love the environment and people here. - Grumpy faces, sad because the govt. is not doing enough for garbage maintainance - Happy faces - Still sleepy faces - Heavily dressed up aunties with thick Kanchevarum saree with a kg of gold, heading to some function hall, sweating in those clothes and still sipping hot coffee. Pulling and yelling at their kids who, innocently dwell in their own world with a plastic auto and trying to make them fly. These aunties just want to grab a bite before heading towards the marriage hall where they know that their gossip will take long hours. But the funny part is that they blame it on the mismanaged arrangement for their late lunch - Strictly religious waiters and dosa makers with their thick kumkum, neatly oiled hair, half-folded panche and a hint of moderness with an apron - The cashier/manager shouting for orders. I think this gave raise to the baker's algorithm - The parcel guys who show high level of dexterity to twist and pack tens of hot dosas in seconds The whole environment is so active, it just give me a kick
6. Sunday special - Either watch a DVD at home - A Silent Sunday - Go to a shopping mall with movie tickets - Peppy Sunday - Go to Jakkur air field for para sailing - Adventure Sunday - Go to Aunty's house - Obedient Sunday - Clean house - Responsible Sunday - And many such combinations
7. Then the grand Sunday lunch - 3 or 4 types of rice, 3 types of appalam. Feel like a glutton 8. Siesta 9. Then some loafing 10. Pani Puri 11. Head back home. Watch a movie or a game 12. Light dinner 13. Dose off to glory 14. Wow!
For about 6 weeks now, every weekend I have close to a minimum of 8 activities to do. Mostly shopping. Sometimes traveling. At times functions. For eg. yesterday, I played cricket in the morning, then gave my vehicle for servicing, then went for some electronic good window shopping/research, then went to Commercial Street for shopping, then ran to railway station to pick up my bro...hmmm. This was only on Sunday. My Saturday was more busier. This is how my many past few weekends been.
Getting used to the higher degrees of stress is fun.
Blogspot has a got a whole bunch of revamps. I visited it after an yrs time and was pleasantly surprised over the amount of the effort they have put it. The blog customization experience has been made extremely easy. A whole bunch of Javascript drag-drop and other js cool things.
How many of you stopped watching or change channels when you you come across shows like Indian Idol or Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, not being able to bear the scenes like the cheap fight among judges or them yelling at the participant?
What have these judges achieved? Most of them who yell are not the Yannis or the Rahmans. What credentials do they have to treat a young aspirant like this?
If they says that the whole reality thing adds value to entertainment, who has done this stupid survey. Crap! Its bothering.
We had been on a team outing to Royal Orchid. Had a heavy lunch followed by my colleagues ordering for Sweet Lime juice. The order arrived and it looked pale yellow. It tasted like Mosambi juice. And when we asked, they said, "You said sweet lime sir and this *is* sweet lime". Interesting interpretation :).
1. Is it allowed for a 2-wheelers to listen to radio while driving? 2. If not, why? How do 4-wheelers get the permission? Is it because a 4-wheeler driver is safe and he can only kill others due to distraction caused by him listening to radio (or loud dic-chik music)? 3. I think talking over hands-free is allowed for 2-wheeler drivers? Is this true? If yes, how and why? 4. Or is this idea already implemented?
If you know the answer to any of the above, do send in an sms to blah-blah-blah-blah and win exciting prices. Offer closes on 20th-June. Mutual investments are subject to market risks. Please read the offer document carefully before investing.....Oops, sorry. Got carried away with popular closing line in ads.
If you know of any thing related, let me know. I seriously want to talk to helmet makers about this?
For about an year now, I have been having cheek bites. My dentist friend briefly examined and said it could be mostly due to misaligned wisdom teeth and this problem is common in my age group.
Yesterday, I had a surgery appointment with a dentist whom my mom consults regularly. We have agreed upon removing all 4 wisdom teeth as all of them were misaligned. It was my right side's turn today. The experience was awesome. A month later I will have to go thru the same for my left.
I usually bear pain but the act of teeth removal was unexpectedly brutal. I assumed that its going to be a traditional surgery where they gently make it fall by cutting it open. But it was a brute force mechanism to hit it loose and pull it out. However I was teated with local anesthesia - 6 injections at various angles on my gum. Hence felt no pain. But the worst is here.
We started with lower right. 3 injections first. Then some light hammering to loosen up the teeth. The problem was more because of partially grown wisdom teeth due to lack of space and it was hitting my cheek thus causing infection. And now comes the funny part. We realized that the left root of this wisdom teeth was bent like a hook into the gum and hence was increasingly stubborn. The doctor applied more force and it broke. I think I had a minor jaw dislocation. So he had to set this right as well. A pool of blood, but we thought its better to remove the piece as it might cause complications later. The doc couldn't sight the small piece in the pool of blood and used blower and cotton to clean it. But we eventually gave up and dressed it with 4 silk cloth stitches. Its mostly ok as this piece will soon be absorbed by the body.
Then came the upper one. The injection here is more painful as the skin on the upper template is soft and more sensitive. My hand shivered a little due to scare more than pain. But this one came out in a flash. 4 more stitches here. Then a powerful dose of painkiller injection on my shoulder which I think is still working.
The doctor had very good treating skills. He was entertaining and explaining all along. The hospital was playing RadioCity and I was humming to distract myself. The doc was asking me if they were my favorite songs and talking all along to easen the process.
The post operation instructions are standard. Here are few.
But the funny part is that this process has left a small dent kinda thing on my lower cheek thus making it look like I have a good higher cheek boon like the one actress Kareena Kapoor has. Funny. I was looking chubby all these days due to a misaligned wisdom teeth. Really Funny!
What the hell? Who says so? I read these kinda articles and think.
1. When did they come into fashion at first? 2. When did they go out of fashion? 3. How many times have they come and gone? 4. Why did they come? 5. Why did they go? 6. Which community/organization holds the right to say its gone and its back? 7. And most of all.....do people follow these suggestions?
I am bloody pissed with false and negative promotions. But hey wait, does the media do anything truthfully at all?
Its been 12 days now and I am starting to enjoy it. I have always liked strain - as in putting body through extremes (except for my acidity problem - well my dear friends pramodbiligiri, vinaygmurthy and kandarp know better :), but its been really joyous working out at my gym.
I start with free hand exercises for a minute and I head for treadmill where I really sweat like those cricketers when they adjust their helmet and sweat pours out. The warm-up section (treadmill, cross-trainer, cycling etc) is on the top floor and the early morning view at 8:30 am is awesome :) (I know for me that is early morning) with a few pigeons walking with their neck jetting out, the vegetable vendor shouting, people getting ready to live :) and the fresh breeze against my sweaty face is a wonderful experience.
For those who want to know how to measure your treadmill workout, here it (all rough figures)
Brisk walk (at atleast 6 kmph) or jog (I jog at 8.5 kmph) and build your HR to for your choice. So I keep it at 142-148 beats. It takes about 15 minutes for me to reach this. Then the next 5 minutes I try to keep my HR at this.
My nutrition consultant told me that for the first 15 min roughly, all carbohydrates are broken down and anything you do further is when you fat starts to breakdown. She has also prescribed my diet which mostly matches my existing South Indian Vegetarian diet.
After this, I head for Strength Training where each part of my body is stressed. For the first month my health card is categorized into triceps, biceps, thighs. back, chest and shoulders, one per day. And I tag along hips, abs and sides along with these.
My measurements will be taken again after the first month and my health card re-written accordingly.
I had measurements taken today. Oh hey, btw, I joined a gym a couple of days ago. This is my 4th gym. Its called The Platinum Bodies. Its right opp. to Ramakrishna hospital. Jayanagar. And this is what the score is like.
I am 5' 9"+ close to 5' 10". I weigh 73.4 kgs.
I am 3 kgs over-weight. I couldn't believe this. My mom keep shouting that I am lean. But yes, I have been on lot of fatty food for about 3 months now.
I have 1.5% excess body fat, which is OK I believe. For men of my age b/n 20-35 yrs, it needs to be in the range of 10-20% and mine was 21.5%.
I am quite flexible...I believe. I had to do some stretching exercises to measure this.
They also measured my waist, the fat above my waist, my biceps, forearm, thighs, chest, neck (circumference, I mean :). And tomorrow I will be given my fitness routine - the types of exercises I need to do for Strength Training. I was advised to opt for Strength training as I already had a better abs. I didn't understand this.
I have been asked to fill in my dietary intake for 3 days. And a nutrition expert will analyze this and suggest changes if necessary.
I have to pay 1590 per month (inclusive of all taxes). For now I am satisfied with what happening. Lets see how it progresses.
They seem to be coming with new ideas so rapidly, challenging themselves to keep pushing that one day they probably will realize that its hard to live upto it.
But then Google will promptly say, "We don't deserve to exist as we have grown old and deprecated. Let the society get something better than us". :) Or they will have enough money to buy over someone (or everyone) who is innovating. :)
Though most things have been small incremental and visual, there are many wonderful tools which I cannot live without.
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