Toiletry Mystery //this is also a reality !! (:

(disclaimer - numbering in the pic is done at random and not roll number wise)

As my college reopened , I noticed a very unusual change. This change was carried out by ‘The Building & Const. Dept.’ of our university during the course of winter vacations. This change is now showing and smelling drastic consequences and many funny repercussions (read further to know more...)

the REASON from THE PAST –

Owing to the increase in seats (thanks to reservations, etc, etc…), one day our college decided to have one more floor (THE ‘third’ floor). That meant, many tones of concrete over our heads (we currently have our lounges type classrooms at second floor). To accomplish this floor, ‘The Building & Const. Dept.’ was called.

the SITUATION from THE PRESENT –

“Don’t think about past, don’t think about future…think only of PRESENT” (this is an ancient saying which sounds interesting sometimes!).

BUT currently, the PRESENT is pathetic. Why? Without further ado, let me narrate you the PRESENT’s picture. In making of THE ‘third’ floor, ‘The Building & Const. Dept.’ has demolished all the toilets of our second floor; leaving only one MALE toilet to cater the whole Electronics Engg. Dept. (except 1st yr), whole Compu. Engg. Dept. (except 1st yr), M.Sc (Electronics) and some high-profile CIVIL labs. In addition to the students of these courses, their exist an additional group of users – the labour party…obviously, guys who are putting the concrete above us all day also need to loo….

Very easy to imagine the consequences…

Firstly, the smelly reason. The toilet ply the nitrogen enriched smell to its potential users FREE OF COST all day. Post-lunch time is a treat for Ayurvedic believers (a fully-on nose block can be completed nursed with its un-aromatic pungent smell).

Next catastrophic consequence can be directly related to the basic principle of Economics…”demand more supply less”. Not to forget about ‘the population factor’, it too makes the matter worse. In case of overcrowding, Queues are formed and only FIFO algorithm is implemented i.e. First In First Out. (for clear understanding, imagine the crowded queues outsides those Mother Diary milk booths). Just in case, an emergency case turns up, option of pre-emption can be availed.

Adding to the misery is the location factor which indirectly causes many more problems. The lone-standing male's toilet lies very far. If you decide for a loo visit after 50% of the ongoing class is completed, be assured of 5-10 min gone while u attend yourself in toilet (missing the on-going class). And then you never know, when your teacher decides to call your roll numbers and walk off. As you reappear in your chaotic classroom, you curse yourself (imagine cursing yourself for PEEing...simply unimaginable). The purpose of college coming remains unserved - the precious attendance is lost. Sab kiye karaye pe paani phear diya (water thrown on your all-most finished project). What a purgatory?

Ahh one more! There used to a wash basin nearby earlier (in this current world, it too has met its fate). It was earlier used for two basic purposes - washing hands and as notice board. Various different societies of our college used to paste there posters for memberships in inch to inch gap positions inside the elite area above the steel tap. Now that elite area is vacant. The nearest wash-basin is located inside the premises of girls toilet (and, we aren't that decent to go n use it). The next closest washing area lies in that lone-standing toilet (which I have been mentioning earlier). Another consequence - the non-functioning tap has forced many mouths to quit chum-chum of somebody else's lunch (thanks to our laziness). (Ask to urself) Who will mess around their fingers, snatching for every byte, getting dirtier hands, going to wash them, who wants to take so many pains? So, no wash basin -> no eating. Na raha baas, na baji been (no bamboo, so no bamboo products).

the HOPE for THE FUTURE - Lets hope, the architects responsible for the 3rd floor design have some toilets on their drawing sheets...

First Anniversary...CHEERS to net

This DAY (13th Feb 2007) marks the first anniversary of my broadband connection. What an year it has been! WOW !!
INTERNET, for me has served me as the most PRACTICAL platform, one can get in this world. As this juncture, I would like to thank (a sincere one) to MTNL combo plan (TRIBAND plan B) for being so generous ISP.

One year has gone, and so is my way of computing. One year before, I used to browse through Windows's IE; now I use Mozilla FIREFOX (which is damn better than that). Even the operating system has changed, from Windows to LINUX (Suse 10.2).

Before my broadband, I used to rely on dial-up (dunno ask the speed). For browsing on a dial-up connection, you ought to give pain to your eyes (reason - a descent speed on dial-up i.e. 33kbps can only be achieved at most undescent times....something around 3 am). And what to say about the download speed (:

Due to the net constraint, I didn't had any yahoo/gmail id...used only rediffmail (which I still admit is fast than both yahoo and gmail). Things have changed now ;)...now rediffmail gets the lowest priority.

In one year of my internet-working, I have seen countless forwards. Initially, I used to see each n every pic that was mailed to me (from New mobilephones to Nigerian bony kids). But now email-perception has changed (most of which can be simply defined as 'crap').

Also, I recall my first chat on yahoo mesg. With no soul in my buddy list, I entered the yahoo's chat rooms. As an obvious fact, my first chat was with a girl. And the second question she asked was, "WHATs ur ASL ?"...me directly went to google, made an honest search, explored some topics like "A.____ Sign Language", "A____ Symbolic Language", etc...and even managed to explore some scientific topics like Asynchronous Switch Logic (a part of my course one year back). Sorry, but I can't narate you my embarrassing chat more...;)

Lastly, internet has given some ULTIMATE information, which won't fade away from my memory (forever, I guess). Esp. this (SPEAKing PICtures) blog...which you are reading :D

Traffic Signal....jump it

Rating - a permanent RED light.
After page3 and chandni bar, more non-commercial stuff from Madhu Bhandarkar. But this time, I am sure it won't be acclaimed that much.

THE PLOT :-
Traffic Signal is a story of guys whom you meet everyday on roads either in the form of handicaps or pirated-book sellers. Must say! ...READ FURTHER

Microsoft@Linux Asia, 2007

After last year's 'GRAND' Linux Asia at Delhi, this year it again revisited the auditoriums of IHC (Indian Habitat Centre). The three day conference stretched from 31^st Jan to 2^nd Feb. But frankly speaking, the show was quite disappointing this time around. The theme of this year's Linux Asia seems to be titled towards business and not on innovation. Many open source promoters like Red Hat and Mandrake remained absent this time around from the sponsor's list. Also, no major open source idol was present except Klaus Knopper (creator of Knoppix). But the most astonishing thing was the presence of Microsoft. Microsoft made its presence felt as the interoperatability sponsor in this year's Linux Asia.

And took the best opportunity for advertising its new operating system, VISTA. What an idea to hype their product in front of open source distributors!! Not suprisingly Microsoft had the biggest stall amidst all other sponsors...through which...they were publicizing MS's new os - VISTA. Some more products were also there, but me will be concentrating on VISTA only.

Ques) Is it worth-it?
Ans) A big NO (if you use Linux), otherwise just NO (if you use XP).

Ques) Ok! I am still on XP, then should I switch over to VISTA?
Ans) READ - FURTHER

I got a 40 min chance to play on that machine and sadly, I wasn't impressed at all. The basic theme of VISTA is to provide a good visual experience to the user. BUT in order to achieve the BEST output, the kind of inputs which VISTA demands is appalling. Note: for best outputs, you need to have 2GB RAM (costs Rs. 5000), in addition to that, a good processor (P4 or Dual). Also, the opearating system itself takes 7GB of Hard Disk, plus the 'Aero' desktop demands 46 MB of RAM at any given time.

Ques) What's new in it?
Ans) Front end functionalities: VISTA's USP - Highly Updated 'graphical user interface' (GUI) with 'Aero' interface that opens in translucent panes, a good looking sidebar, media centre enabled, groove configuration (personal desktop speciality), IE 7 with better security, improved search cum navigation mechanism. Back-end functionalities: add-ons in back-up and restore facilities, improved security, speech recognition.
(reminder - please check your PC's capablity)

Also, these are new things if you are an XP user (subject to your hardware config.). For Linux users - no such special findings (but you will find the GUI really adorable).

Comparison b/t Linux & Vista :-

1) At present too, Linux distros (like FC 6, SUSE 10.2 and many more) provide you with a great GUI - 3D desktop sidespining around a cube, shaky windows, etc.
2) Also, security wise, Linux is unmatched. An interesting incident - on being asked "Difference b/t Linux & VISTA on the basis of security", the MS's technical guy replied "What great has open source delieved...just firefox"...shear frust shown, I guess!!
3) My next point - inclusion of IE 7 but then you have mozilla firefox from long time back.
4) The non-3D featues of Vista can be achieved by an XP user very easily. Many innovative and good looking downloadable themes are available on the net for free.
5) The big reason - U Have To PAY for Vista (cost of buying depends - pirated / original) BUT Linux comes FREE!!

(Just go to any distro site n download for free....burn on CD/DVD...install...play)

MY Answer for Ques No. 2 i.e. switching from XP to Vista
my word on that - WAIT. I can't write NO because if your neighbour installs Vista, he will surely hype and mock at others...then you too will switch......

BUT...then, you always have the option of Linux....go for that and join the open source community( in which, Nobody (& Everybody) owns the community) ;)

Some pics of my SUSE desktop...a treat to eyes ;)

Desktop's Rotations :

TRANSLUCENT panes @ SUSE's DESKTOP

(click at pics for full view)

oh!! 1 min guys....before leaving see some more features of VISTA (click) (;

(Disclaimer - I may be missing some pivotal advantages and noteworthy disadvantages of Vista and some more issues esp. various technicalities such as cache memory usuage, type of allocation system used, etc etc......please mention down in comments)

(c) Ankit Gupta, 2007