tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43320624963870692812024-03-13T14:40:55.763-04:00Sticks and StonesWhere the words DO pack a punchAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-24419222358916786732014-07-14T11:30:00.000-04:002014-07-14T11:30:00.476-04:00Of Phones... and the OnePlus One.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ever the gadget connoisseur, I've always had a soft spot for phones. I've mostly been on the Android side of things sticking with stock Android phones - starting from the first Nexus One all the way to the Nexus 4. For some reason I skipped the Nexus 5. The geek in me loves the customization capabilities they offer, the tweaks they let you do all the way from the battery percentage in the status-bar to the CPU frequencies - something that other platforms didn't offer.<br />
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Somewhere in there though, the lack of a strong camera and poor battery performance on the Nexus line from Google turned me off, at which point I guess I decided not to get a Nexus 5. While initially at peace with myself over my apparent contentment with the Nexus 5, over a year that gave way to the typical nerdy need (distinguished from real-world necessity) to have the latest gadgets.<br />
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It was then that I began my.... betrayal, let's say, of Android. The first transgression found me in the Windows Phone camp with the Nokia Lumia 521 (which still serves as my media player on the move with WP 8.1 on it), the next had an iPhone 5S in my hands. For someone who doesn't really love all things Apple, I did love the battery life of the phone plenty and the build quality, though I heard often that the former degraded pretty fast and the lack of customization options irked me. Even though I was platform agnostic, there was never a phone that took the best of everything and served it up on a platter.<br />
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It is in the midst of this phone search that I came across OnePlus, a Chinese start-up partly backed by OPPO Electronics and started by a former vice president of OPPO with the Motto "Never Settle". They aimed to offer well-designed premium hardware sporting excellent software at affordable prices. Selling at near cost and word-of-mouth marketing were what they counted on to make them big. Their first, and presently only, device - the OnePlus One - sports top-of-the-line specifications - Snapdragon 801 CPU, 3GB RAM, 64GB of onboard memory, a 5.5 inch 1080p screen, 3100 mAh battery, 6-lens 13 MP f/2.0 Sony Exmor IMX214 camera, excellent build quality with a magnesium frame underneath and a sandstone-like back, not to mention the <a href="http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/what-is-cyanogenmod-5-things-you-can-do-with-cyanogenmod-11">Cyanogenmod </a>11 OS on it - the next best thing to stock Android.<br />
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The issue here though, is that they are a start-up that made way too many promises with a marketing campaign that was too effective, albeit the latter being annoying once said effect was achieved. Once such gadget-goodness hit the internet, there was little to stop the hype train from gaining momentum and demand from spiraling. While the Chinese version of the phone sold well, they went with a very controversial invite system - a trickle of invites released through contests on their official forums and social media for the most part - went out to folks and only those people with invites could hope to purchase the device. You heard that right, an invitation was needed to secure your right to throw money at this business for their product. Add to that a small number of OnePlus One phones being shipped having an issue with slightly yellow screen tints at the base. It's in the midst of this sorry state of affairs that I found myself with an invite to buy the 64GB version of the device at the mind-boggling (in a good way) price of $350 to replace my aging Nexus 4.<br />
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So it was, that on a fun Friday morning I found myself distracted from work with a package at my desk, a red drawstring on the edge of the cardboard shipping box serving as an easy entry into OnePlus land. While I was impressed by the majority of <a href="http://gizmodo.com/oneplus-one-review-an-unbelievably-fantastic-smartphon-1598476240">overwhelmingly</a> <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/08/oneplus-one-review/">positive</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrgGHAab9D8">reviews</a> of the phone on the internet, here are my impressions on the mythical OnePlus One.<br />
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The very first thing I did was to unlock the bootloader and root the phone right out of the box. I got mine with the OnePlus flip cover in white and the Oneplus clear case. The latter is alright, the former is decent but the flip cover doesn't close as securely as I thought it should. Here, I'm not comparing the OnePlus One to other similarly priced phones (well, maybe the Nexus 4/ Nexus 5) but to flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S5, the LG G3 (which I handled briefly) and the HTC One M8. Perhaps a high bar to set for a $300-350 phone, but perhaps one it can achieve.<br />
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<b>Packaging and included accessories</b></h3>
Something has to be said for the unboxing experience - the word premium, as overused as it is, is apt here. Everything feels and looks so damn good - the charger, covers and phone are in their individual boxes. The general theme is red and white, this carries over to not just the box materials but all the accessories as well. The phone box comes inside a cardboard case with a red lining around which is actually a drawstring for you to use to open the package. The boxes' constituents - both the cardboard and plastic bits - all feel like they've been coated with some rubbery material. Truly one of the best packages I've opened. This attention to detail even carried over to the packages for the flip cover and cases.<br />
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Similarly, the charger seems well built, feels really good and non-generic, though I'm sure the internals are just a standard 2A, 5V charger. The USB cable feels really premium, though again you can get similar ones with slightly lower exterior coating quality for anywhere from $3-$10. The microSIM ejection tool with a key-ring that they give you is a nice addition, it helps me a lot since I change between phones sometimes when I travel for work.<br />
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One con with the USB cable though is that it's not very long. Despite all the hype about the amazing cable quality, adding some length would have helped significantly. I had similar cables already bought and ready though, so I just used those instead when necessary.<br />
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<b>Build quality / Design</b></h3>
<b></b>Mine's a Sandstone Black 64GB. It actually does feel like Sandstone on the back., somewhere between the touch of velvet and very fine sandpaper. I just love the the back- way better than any plastic backs, also better than the fake metal backs like the G3 - for me, on par with the iPhone 5S and HTC One M8's backs, though some might like those materials more. I think it's down to personal preference at that point. The con here though, is that it does look like any spills/sticky stuff on the back may end up being difficult to clean for anything other than water.<br />
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The power button is slightly lower on the side, which helps a great deal with the handling for a large phone like this. I have fairly large hands, so the device isn't a big problem for me, but I can imagine it needing two-handed use for smaller hands. Even for me, it needs a bit of shuffling to get to the far corner of the screen. Coming from a Nexus 4 though, I love having a large device like this that still fits in my pocket. The bezels aren't too large, but the LG G3 beats it on that account and crams in the large screen into a smaller body than the OnePlus One. The front has no markings on it, no branding anywhere.<br />
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I sense absolutely no creaking in the body or any feeling that it might come apart. The device seems very solid. If you constantly feel the need to open the back cover for some reason though (no reason here since the battery's non replaceable), you'll have to pop the SIM card slot out each time before you open the back. It's a bit difficult to open - or atleast it feels like it since you're always thinking "Oh my, something is going to break if I do this" though nothing will break as long as you pop the SIM out first. OnePlus intends to eventually release what they call StyleSwap covers - back covers for the One that feature not just textures but real materials like Denim, Kevlar and Wood. The whole build feels amazing and it's a nice phone to hold in your hands as well as to look at. It has the right amount of heft for me personally without being too heavy.<br />
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The physical buttons (an oddity on Nexus devices) are nice though brightness on them could have been slightly higher in sunlight. I prefer the physical buttons since these give me a slight bit more screen real estate. However, coming from a Nexus 4, it took me a bit more time to get used to the back button being in a different location and the menu button doing double duty with the app switcher.<br />
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It's not a waterproof-certified device, a small downside compared to some recent phones like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 if you like taking a shower with your phone or something.<br />
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<b>Display</b></h3>
It's hardly the highest <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_density">PPI</a> screen on the market, but the large 5.5 inch 1080p display performs very well. I got fortunate in that I didn't get one of the screens with a yellow tint or any other defects. The screen is sharp, colors are vivid and natural but not over-saturated like the S5 (I guess some people like over-saturation better). Cyanogenmod lets you calibrate the screen, so have at it if you wish. The display itself is slightly raised above the phone's body - what OnePlus touts as 'Touch on Lens' technology to enhance touch sensitivity - and I don't believe all that much in the protective qualities of Gorilla Glass 3 (that the Oneplus does have) so I have a generic plastic protector on it already. I'll replace it with a tempered glass one as soon as it arrives from China. The viewing angles are great, that's the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPS_panel">IPS</a> at work.<br />
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<a href="http://i.imgur.com/8iDuad2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/8iDuad2.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a>Sunlight visibility is very good too, and it doesn't limit the brightness if it heats up. Frankly, I haven't felt the phone heat up despite gaming on it a decent amount. Overall, the display is a treat to look at.<br />
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<br /><b>Software and Performance</b></h3>
The OnePlus One comes with Cyanogenmod 11S on it - a highly customized, open source version of Android. You can also get the monthly Cyanogenmod M releases if you like, it's officially supported. It took an update right out of the box. The sheer amount of customization options (from performance tweaks to the theme engine) here is exciting. It might overwhelm some, but to me it's a godsend. I also added the <a href="http://repo.xposed.info/module/de.robv.android.xposed.installer">Xposed framework </a>to this and installed some modules and I think I'm now all set even if Android L from Cyanogenmod is delayed. I'm much happier than with stock android, yet with none of the over-the-top garish modification that some manufacturers do (Touchwiz I'm looking at you). The V gesture to switch the flashlight on is a bit finicky so I think I'll be turning it off since it doesn't always work.<br />
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I've already replaced Cyanogenmod's default Trebuchet launcher with Nova Launcher Prime, it serves me better.<br />
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I have been using the OnePlus One with the 'balanced' performance profile for the most part. There's also a performance option and another one that is meant to conserve battery. In the default profile, it's very snappy, with absolutely no lag in opening apps or the keyboard coming up or moving to the homescreen. Gaming was good with no stuttering or framerate drops on games ranging from Dead Trigger to Stick Cricket. The battery does drop a bit faster with frequent gaming though. I've not tried tweaking the advanced settings for the CPU and GPU under Cyanogenmod 11 yet, so maybe there's more performance to be gained, even if it isn't necessary. As you know, the internals are right up there with the best flagships. Having 64GB of storage space is a boon despite after suffering with 16GB for eternity on the Nexus 4. Multitasking is a breeze, tons of apps, 15 chrome tabs open at once, 75 apps queued up to install from the Play Store... and it still was smooth.<br />
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I've not had any issues with GPS, 4G/LTE, NFC etc. Everything works as expected. The GPS seems to lock pretty quickly and the same can be said about the NFC capability.<br />
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Calls / Reception </h3>
Call quality is decent, much better than the Nexus 4 I was using so far and on par with other flagships. The earpiece speaker delivers good sound at a good volume. No crackling or clicking noises (my N4 was one of the first batch which had a slight issue with the latter). People I've spoken to have had no problem hearing me. Reception has been much better (T-Mobile 4G LTE here) than with my Nexus 4, on par with my 5S and better than my Lumia 521.<br />
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<h3>
Battery Life and charging</h3>
With moderate use, it lasted me a day and a half. This is a new experience for me coming from an N4 :P When I checked the phone at 15% battery, it was around 6h 50min of screen on time. I have a bunch of email accounts, Facebook, Twitter etc. running on the phone, frequent FB status updates, Youtube videos, a couple Spotify tracks streamed, lots of Bing searches and I play a bit of Stick Cricket now and then. A few pictures clicked as well. I left it at 85% one night and came back (with all the apps running in the background) next morning, perhaps 10 hours later, to find it still at 85%, which was frankly amazing.<br />
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The included charger charges pretty fast, 1-1.5 hours for a full charge. If you use a different one, it will obviously be slower (unless said one also puts out ~2A). As an experiment, I stuck a microUSB compatible wireless charging film on the back of the phone and tried it with my Tylt Vu wireless charger. Much much slower than over the cable - I think my wireless chargers will be seeing much less action now.<br />
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<h3>
Camera</h3>
To me, the camera with a Sony 13MP sensor was above average, on par with or better than the 5S for most things except video. During video recording, the sound was worse than the 5S and I think a bit worse than the Nexus 5. It doesn't currently do audio recording on slow motion videos. All the modes on the CM camera app help with picture taking, but I also have the Google Camera app installed as a backup. I'm not much of a phone-photo connoisseur, I use my DSLR when I want really good pictures, so you might like the camera on this device more than me or less than me. The colors seem more natural than some other flagships, but still a bit more saturated (especially with HDR) than the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. I'm sure it's not the best phone camera out there though, and the LG G3 will probably best it with OIS and laser autofocus. The camera here isn't going to blow your mind, but it'll do just fine.<br />
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I'm still split between using the default app and the CM app at this point. I'll make up my mind later.<br />
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<h3>
<b>Speakers</b> </h3>
Nothing to write home about as far as the external speakers go. They're loud, but at the highest volume, the audio quality is not exactly great for anything other than voice calls. There are dual speakers at the bottom, but not quite stereo. The HTC One M8's speakers are definitely much better for people who use their speakers all the time. The OnePlus' speakers definitely suffice for calls and they're adequate for me for the occasional song played over the speakers.<br />
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Some things to be noted:</h4>
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<ul>
<li>The lack of wireless charging irks me. It's one of those little convenient things I love on new phones. Not a deal breaker.</li>
<li>This might be a con to you, there's no SD card slot. With 64GB of storage though, I don't see the need for one personally.</li>
<li>If you really wish to nitpick, the screen isn't a 2K resolution - the LG G3 is the only phone that has that - not really much of a con considering you can't tell the difference from a 1080p screen at this size.</li>
<li>You tend to forget the price and compare it to $700 flaghships once you've seen and used it.</li>
<li>The invite system is just plain messed up, no other way to put it. The amount of BS you have to suffer to get this phone is substantial unless you get lucky like I did. Availability is certainly the #1 issue here.</li>
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They are a brand new/start-up company, so there are some issues with customer support reported (they're not going to be as awesome as Google), some people have gotten a yellow-tint on the bottom of the screen etc. If you do have those problems and customer service doesn't respond quickly, take it to Paypal and they'll screw 1+ over for you as a last resort.<br />
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To conclude briefly, I'd say this is bloody amazing phone, even more so at this price. A few things like non-stereo external speakers (the HTC One M8) and wireless charging (Nexus 5) may be lacking. Otherwise, the OnePlus One redefines smartphone value in a very well designed package!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-62456886804216700282012-12-05T02:56:00.004-05:002012-12-05T02:56:59.091-05:00Christmas Lights and New Beginnings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmKkDUV5qFpdW8A7FTjoL5bZuuVtYVCx5GL0X0WEVMbiHal-A0ub7Dq73rVls9YcdIuu-4U3xuBMzIaAXl_UdrfOPlU_wX3cG8L5DCTDkI9wyVL0Qk1scUI9ZHuY2AAdIWZmnOEH4Iq_K/s1600/DSC_0253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmKkDUV5qFpdW8A7FTjoL5bZuuVtYVCx5GL0X0WEVMbiHal-A0ub7Dq73rVls9YcdIuu-4U3xuBMzIaAXl_UdrfOPlU_wX3cG8L5DCTDkI9wyVL0Qk1scUI9ZHuY2AAdIWZmnOEH4Iq_K/s640/DSC_0253.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5IhqWZwIE4XiSLvfZj6-6PGB1XW6Z3xM8D1oDDHy-Ot_ANxyZH18NV3poddrVq3mA1xY3u_F-6xbXurHozSBwK3YnJ0ppYy2l2fg4EhiM1CQO8zgj_NoyHuNECzD4A193OcwqwdLuEyX/s1600/DSC_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5IhqWZwIE4XiSLvfZj6-6PGB1XW6Z3xM8D1oDDHy-Ot_ANxyZH18NV3poddrVq3mA1xY3u_F-6xbXurHozSBwK3YnJ0ppYy2l2fg4EhiM1CQO8zgj_NoyHuNECzD4A193OcwqwdLuEyX/s400/DSC_0252.JPG" width="265" /></a>It's December. The Holidays. Not as cheerful as one might imagine what with all these exams, assignments and projects to lose sleep over. However, with a great guy for a roommate who is set upon celebrating the Christmas season the way it should be celebrated, we went about decking out the apartment as best we (cash-strapped grad students :P ) could. The blog's been taking care of itself in the meanwhile with 47,000+ pageviews but I thought it was time I freshened it up with a new post.<br />
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Christmas lights, a little tree and plenty of cheer brought to this otherwise gloomy exam season. With a DSLR, a cooperative roommate and no tripod (a roll of cleaning paper would be my best replacement) I took to the task of taking a bunch of photos that I could hopefully compile into a veritable high resolution panorama.<br />
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Took me 23 pictures at 24 megapixels each using a brand-new Nikon D3200. Following that I mucked around with a bunch of Panorama-making programs that would either run out of memory or threaten to blow my laptop up. Hugin finally worked (though it did take a good amount of time when it finally did), but then Facebook wouldn't accept a panorama that's 21719 pixels wide and 4149 pixels high. Surprisingly, Google+ does take such large pictures. Strike 1 for Google, I guess.<br />
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Still, the only way to create a panorama that you could spin 360 degrees around was to put this picture on 360cities. And here's the result:<br />
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<a href="http://www.360cities.net/image/christmas-lights-at-tenth-and-home" title="panorama photos of Christmas Lights at Tenth and Home on 360cities.net">Christmas Lights at Tenth and Home</a> in <a href="http://www.360cities.net/area/atlanta-georgia-usa" title="panoramic images from Atlanta">Atlanta</a>
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Now that Christmas is taken care of, there's a few more days before the end of my formal academic studies for the near future. The words "insanely hard" would be understatement when used to describe engineering grad school at Georgia Tech, but I'm better off for it. Less than 2 weeks to graduation with just a few exams in my way and I'm off into the 'real world' to work. Of course, there's a bit of travel involved before the latter happens.<br />
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After Tech's been through with me, I doubt anything else will be too hard to handle. 2 years of ups and downs, the lowest of lows and the highest of highs, through which the closest of family and a few friends have been my best source of support - both moral and material - and in 2 weeks when I walk - literally on that stage to receive my graduate degree and figuratively to a new beginning - I'll have those people to thank, to different extents, for helping me get through this.<br />
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Hope everyone reading this has a wonderful holiday season!
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-17846436695749633892012-06-29T06:30:00.000-04:002012-06-29T06:30:00.074-04:00An Evening of Music<div style="text-align: justify;">
Québécois music is something I've never heard before. So I went in with no expectations when a friend of mine from work invited me to an open-air concert in the neighboring city of Lowell, Massachusetts.</div>
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<a href="http://www.herschelfreemanagency.com/genticorum/Genti_stairs_PhotoAffiche%20HR300dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.herschelfreemanagency.com/genticorum/Genti_stairs_PhotoAffiche%20HR300dpi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Genticorum (pronounced Jean-tee-corum, Jean as in Jean-Luc Picard for you geeks) is a Quebecois band with three members:</div>
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1. Pascal Gemme - whose feet simply work magic to provide the beat the band plays to, plus his skill with the fiddle</div>
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2. Yann Falquet - who works wonders with the guitar and jaw-harp.</div>
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3. Alexandre - whose skills are aplenty with the bass, fiddle and wooden flute.</div>
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The trio do indeed shine on the stage with their music which, to me, sounded a lot like Irish folk music. In any case, it was an evening well worth the long drive to see the concert.</div>
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The videos below are from my cellphone (surprisingly they came out pretty well - both audio and video). Take a chance and listen, it's safe to assume you won't be disappointed.</div>
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We had an emergency storm warning earlier on during the day but it didn't deter us heading out here. The skies were pretty clear too. The band's name, by the way, means "Of The National Men" in Latin. The venue you see here is Lowell's National Historic Park which had all the old mills from centuries ago - some of which run to this day while the rest have been converted into different buildings.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7M095mZnPwnEgGJCsr5RrteVlMbVoTMos_fhhtHQeKaM0sJYbLGPz5tuE3oOgRrktbVYVtSxDsQuEcaCQdSy_1MlR2AkwjAztcZUG-XZGmiPK41pY5A4Z_nKek5fg2nrHeKkVswDtNXH/s1600/2012-06-23+20.41.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ7M095mZnPwnEgGJCsr5RrteVlMbVoTMos_fhhtHQeKaM0sJYbLGPz5tuE3oOgRrktbVYVtSxDsQuEcaCQdSy_1MlR2AkwjAztcZUG-XZGmiPK41pY5A4Z_nKek5fg2nrHeKkVswDtNXH/s320/2012-06-23+20.41.22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com3Lowell, MA, USA42.6334247 -71.316171842.586697199999996 -71.3951358 42.6801522 -71.237207800000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-31923362572316871512012-06-27T09:48:00.000-04:002012-06-27T09:48:58.898-04:00Words of Wisdom (No, not really)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I'm not quite sure these are words of wisdom. But these not-so-zen teachings can lighten your day ;) There are a few gems within.<br />
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1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow. In fact, just leave me the Hell alone.<br />
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2. Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any.<br />
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3. No one is listening until you fart.<br />
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4. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.<br />
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5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.<br />
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6. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of payments.<br />
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7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.<br />
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8. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.<br />
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9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.<br />
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10. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.<br />
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11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.<br />
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12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree.<br />
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13. Don't worry, it only seems kinky the first time.<br />
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14. Good judgment comes from bad experience ... and most of that comes from bad judgment.<br />
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15. A closed mouth gathers no foot.<br />
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16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither one works.<br />
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17. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.<br />
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18. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.<br />
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19. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our ass... then things just keep getting worse.<br />
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20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-60428932736393150842012-06-25T04:05:00.005-04:002012-06-25T04:09:29.161-04:00A Jolly Jaunt around Boston<div style="text-align: justify;">
After last week's misadventure, I'd understood the need to plan stuff out a bit better. The weekend before this one, I'd decided to take a walk into history.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLozVZe4m8TdeXDccsoTK10bF4d0CLhJ4zLtWGh3zEpzDneICfCq41TmC64ZPuY5far0psA14EpkdSEMQ_wFHIxW1KkthWIHwodKITLH4YHOcB9V4T5gQkhVf8wcALnM460y-2f7Q4-Jt/s1600/2012-06-16+12.54.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLozVZe4m8TdeXDccsoTK10bF4d0CLhJ4zLtWGh3zEpzDneICfCq41TmC64ZPuY5far0psA14EpkdSEMQ_wFHIxW1KkthWIHwodKITLH4YHOcB9V4T5gQkhVf8wcALnM460y-2f7Q4-Jt/s400/2012-06-16+12.54.24.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Now, as most of you know, Boston and its inhabitants played a significant role in the American Revolution. The Boston 'Massacre' (more on this later) and the Boston Tea Party were both important events in spurring on the start of the Revolutionary War. So I took a bus and then a train (the red line) to Boston Commons (the big garden right in the middle) - the starting point for the "Walk into History" tour. Now this tour takes a route known as the "Freedom Trail" - stopping at sites where events significant to the revolution occurred.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfUFYDvo5c_t1f2Mxu9DVdaNrh8Mtr-q3ojTMyZKsFFSfVnM2EaY5jmyyl0MXcEvq_zp3l6afrSeJtz0ZbYhDXD-dagbRi63IfztB9lgLqkSQXSBMpZjlpKStOqV6VaGTrsNpbLc-xtpf/s1600/2012-06-16+13.28.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfUFYDvo5c_t1f2Mxu9DVdaNrh8Mtr-q3ojTMyZKsFFSfVnM2EaY5jmyyl0MXcEvq_zp3l6afrSeJtz0ZbYhDXD-dagbRi63IfztB9lgLqkSQXSBMpZjlpKStOqV6VaGTrsNpbLc-xtpf/s400/2012-06-16+13.28.39.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Park Street Church</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWw5rhqGV14avTd9E0AnnpvZ8ipoDwjVZRiQY8IZ470-Zm0WpSF5awhoGLbMyRh6CWNsCCO7AI0VlHb5rWhYr5lGB_Fx-hNPHweavFJ5dC5tG9LGX-W5iMqW8q2GgFaGKMLPkL2H4Pcn2/s1600/2012-06-16+13.30.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWw5rhqGV14avTd9E0AnnpvZ8ipoDwjVZRiQY8IZ470-Zm0WpSF5awhoGLbMyRh6CWNsCCO7AI0VlHb5rWhYr5lGB_Fx-hNPHweavFJ5dC5tG9LGX-W5iMqW8q2GgFaGKMLPkL2H4Pcn2/s400/2012-06-16+13.30.58.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boston Commons, across from New State House</td></tr>
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Don't be fooled by the Boston Commons' placid appearance though, this place is where they hung folks from trees around the Frog Pond for their supposed crimes. Witchcraft was a crime too and, mind you, they hung even animals for witchcraft. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlK1NtNduUWPJzBj8EbeMycSPtj7MqG-PHrvASpIEraDU5CNZrDZjNGNthikCuzuJO32NOFbn27NrLkpMITw2uo9brjhRD5Sles2AN7hHQv3eI5Wlwy_E6OM6JEf_7N5BPwrSCtVVMQ79/s1600/2012-06-16+13.34.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlK1NtNduUWPJzBj8EbeMycSPtj7MqG-PHrvASpIEraDU5CNZrDZjNGNthikCuzuJO32NOFbn27NrLkpMITw2uo9brjhRD5Sles2AN7hHQv3eI5Wlwy_E6OM6JEf_7N5BPwrSCtVVMQ79/s400/2012-06-16+13.34.29.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Frog Pond (currently drained)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8tygFaFCp-y_BUEDIDNa3yzSSTTlg36slXN_ijJJrlVLAf3NDBkrqKQ-RVu9A0eVYO4WLnsHKKAnmfcW05rglD6WqC1YAXl_CeTBGTi0KY6iCvUSQ3xgW57i3GUVBN3nwFO4hfuArwA7/s1600/2012-06-16+13.38.03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn8tygFaFCp-y_BUEDIDNa3yzSSTTlg36slXN_ijJJrlVLAf3NDBkrqKQ-RVu9A0eVYO4WLnsHKKAnmfcW05rglD6WqC1YAXl_CeTBGTi0KY6iCvUSQ3xgW57i3GUVBN3nwFO4hfuArwA7/s400/2012-06-16+13.38.03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from Boston Commons</td></tr>
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Our tour guide for the day was Barzillai Lew. "Zeal" - that's what we called him. Of course, that's an assumed name from the 1800s. As you can see, he's all decked out in the attire of two centuries ago. So too the way he spoke, peppered of course by a few present-day political jokes and satire.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ey2nTFXExjT4UUYHRDEdRqMJeubKdBSWRM9M0XXy_cP3UBNDSu1f6l3bTYfXeJ-EY_Tggf3yfWlIJeASpU7AMkFWX0z7VhAeBt0FCrr4Md41FSuFsL90hCN0J8NvFDucB-ozHdkvKCjZ/s1600/2012-06-16+14.14.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ey2nTFXExjT4UUYHRDEdRqMJeubKdBSWRM9M0XXy_cP3UBNDSu1f6l3bTYfXeJ-EY_Tggf3yfWlIJeASpU7AMkFWX0z7VhAeBt0FCrr4Md41FSuFsL90hCN0J8NvFDucB-ozHdkvKCjZ/s400/2012-06-16+14.14.43.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New State House</td></tr>
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Our first stop was the New State House on Beacon Hill. It isn't really new, but it was back at the time that they built it. The dome is actually gold plated (with 23K gold leaf) and takes a lot to maintain it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CftDfRgj_EsOGju0qPSBjpftgbvUjeQ0z5Rc2xXRwIawF2EdSKicny3PBy1OvtIclW1H9PRVt-2Ou6-3W6TlmWsvxTVVrsWCyuP3Z7rNesPRhKaRfxkv-mEHKsMMNYGOwhsRHtJJTASZ/s1600/2012-06-16+14.19.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CftDfRgj_EsOGju0qPSBjpftgbvUjeQ0z5Rc2xXRwIawF2EdSKicny3PBy1OvtIclW1H9PRVt-2Ou6-3W6TlmWsvxTVVrsWCyuP3Z7rNesPRhKaRfxkv-mEHKsMMNYGOwhsRHtJJTASZ/s400/2012-06-16+14.19.42.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Park Street Church</td></tr>
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The Park Street Church, during the War of 1812, served as a storage for gunpowder. This is why it's called "Brimstone Corner". I bet the pastors there have had fires in their hearts alongside the ones that might possibly have erupted under their bottoms for quite a long time.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLeTiKv73VwOhdlv4b71Ran01BTpJEIFO14KfkoFLEB2QPn8DzcOtl6xn_Pj9l49d-ySQTvZyuM8lfNtoApdcIEr5ohHyq4_n77MBEHaCt2CSW9hhm3PV1IAn1SIVd0C2vYKHuYxQCROQ/s1600/2012-06-16+14.25.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGLeTiKv73VwOhdlv4b71Ran01BTpJEIFO14KfkoFLEB2QPn8DzcOtl6xn_Pj9l49d-ySQTvZyuM8lfNtoApdcIEr5ohHyq4_n77MBEHaCt2CSW9hhm3PV1IAn1SIVd0C2vYKHuYxQCROQ/s400/2012-06-16+14.25.12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Granary Burying Ground</td></tr>
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The next stop was the Granary Burying Ground. This place has seen several patriots buried here. Among them, there are three signers of the Declaration of Independence (Robert Paine, John Hancock, Samuel Adams). These three were brave men, in their time signing such a declaration was tantamount to treason - a sure way to get yourself executed back in the time when all Americans were Englishmen and expected to swear allegiance to the King of England. In addition, you'll also find the graves of several other notable statesmen of the time, the victims of the Boston Massacre and Paul Revere here.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_M6ndzmoL1YrLNrFpSg1itf1j0pqB2KFm-EGAuzrigxmFf1T6nf6gw2kuNUBrAc8_5C2n5hMLJFDmOmt1YL4eOKSjQtDuk90X1k6pdjXO-J0DyPXQzV9iVy7PtmdOXROSa0tRMS0A6Ahp/s1600/2012-06-16+14.29.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_M6ndzmoL1YrLNrFpSg1itf1j0pqB2KFm-EGAuzrigxmFf1T6nf6gw2kuNUBrAc8_5C2n5hMLJFDmOmt1YL4eOKSjQtDuk90X1k6pdjXO-J0DyPXQzV9iVy7PtmdOXROSa0tRMS0A6Ahp/s400/2012-06-16+14.29.22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Otis's grave</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3djVCVUaLigI4oUV-jP1NBeJLo4HXQtkd6VGO8nhyk_U94EXhcBmBYUuJMk0lnIutL1YMODZnxuYRoYlWwrSAlj7WccpEn6DxMOEVE1IxJmO3RFomkWeROM99Em-YEqmRerBblhP2Pal/s1600/2012-06-16+14.34.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3djVCVUaLigI4oUV-jP1NBeJLo4HXQtkd6VGO8nhyk_U94EXhcBmBYUuJMk0lnIutL1YMODZnxuYRoYlWwrSAlj7WccpEn6DxMOEVE1IxJmO3RFomkWeROM99Em-YEqmRerBblhP2Pal/s400/2012-06-16+14.34.04.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Hancock's grave</td></tr>
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John Hancock (no, not the lame Will Smith superhero character) was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War. He could have been content with all he had, but the man was willing to put his neck out and sign the Declaration of Independence. He even had a grave assigned (pictured below) for his faithful slave. This was at a time when colored people were slaves (until freed at the payment of a large sum or by their masters) and slaves weren't given graves or headstones. Thing is, he kinda forgot to put Frank's last name on there.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj620GTKBmlYYeGWHrNqOG48bkW8QKroCebVH92Cg6qvNc7jxQJPNYqezx5-CCS6djndxyP6v4RSZVMG2-iXOGI8hqH4ni80Ap7_euzB2AXUWzSJ82Z64SJ5m1qRkN7upprHgkY5HhhSNge/s1600/2012-06-16+14.37.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj620GTKBmlYYeGWHrNqOG48bkW8QKroCebVH92Cg6qvNc7jxQJPNYqezx5-CCS6djndxyP6v4RSZVMG2-iXOGI8hqH4ni80Ap7_euzB2AXUWzSJ82Z64SJ5m1qRkN7upprHgkY5HhhSNge/s400/2012-06-16+14.37.09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frank's grave</td></tr>
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Below you'll see the tomb of one Samuel Adams. Yes, that beer you may have had in his name is indeed inspired by the beer he used to make. Apparently his beer was so terrible that it ran him out of business a few times. Still, a signer of the Declaration, staunch opponent of "Taxation without representation", and a patriot. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qdYfBy2Q6tfCJgu2PwQX2GAROC6JND1KnpKyn__WN3m-XZrGbqjeFZofJ0vEU_p5zmQz-gOVtixdXZllwzsIpj9S0jAYOtstc8XRvbAUdmcGQDxmSvf7YTjmoxc7wvuG9bzZ0jRgsvDp/s1600/2012-06-16+14.50.29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qdYfBy2Q6tfCJgu2PwQX2GAROC6JND1KnpKyn__WN3m-XZrGbqjeFZofJ0vEU_p5zmQz-gOVtixdXZllwzsIpj9S0jAYOtstc8XRvbAUdmcGQDxmSvf7YTjmoxc7wvuG9bzZ0jRgsvDp/s400/2012-06-16+14.50.29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VMid47ezVq_1xK_LXK3I0w8TJMz3tFuiGuNkHcIqa8LpF8fA7b6TLhXr1gw0cvSUPm7vfihbE0Gt_vS5BeQfVonwd5qD7CJcSHooNSAiG8z9ySsX5Jc03BRHnlCjCgO4R3xcbN3exHFN/s1600/2012-06-16+14.58.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VMid47ezVq_1xK_LXK3I0w8TJMz3tFuiGuNkHcIqa8LpF8fA7b6TLhXr1gw0cvSUPm7vfihbE0Gt_vS5BeQfVonwd5qD7CJcSHooNSAiG8z9ySsX5Jc03BRHnlCjCgO4R3xcbN3exHFN/s400/2012-06-16+14.58.51.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now, this bar above (it's an old bar) - right across the street from the burial ground - serves Sam Adams' beer. So,<b> it's the only place where you can have a cold Sam Adams in front of a cold Sam Adams. </b>See what I did there :P </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hd0VqEfvhV7ROmC07kMQ_d-5WvcMVeUvwVtrIPEiBhyphenhyphencRmw8mSDmu1Vk5QFTcdWIAKEw64BywCsULXoZ8JacxjO2DykkmNuZor2bSDljusa0QzbQS4KTUsdl-ojivpYY-5-DcZZe9GAI/s1600/2012-06-16+15.00.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0hd0VqEfvhV7ROmC07kMQ_d-5WvcMVeUvwVtrIPEiBhyphenhyphencRmw8mSDmu1Vk5QFTcdWIAKEw64BywCsULXoZ8JacxjO2DykkmNuZor2bSDljusa0QzbQS4KTUsdl-ojivpYY-5-DcZZe9GAI/s400/2012-06-16+15.00.34.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King's Chapel</td></tr>
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What you see here is King's Chapel. It was a non-Puritan church (still following the old British ways) built atop a burial ground. The building looks bigger from the side, and the reason it doesn't have a steeple on it is that they allegedly ran out of money during construction.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8gF6YqLmVz9pkirHfxIpIwaGL8gYNmKHpPZxkgsuPkCEvpF128GrB5Bu_8SjbcPmhTR0fNlNf9ZRB1aBsztX7mP6yfQbXHiQwp6zonh86iqY07TBPXKnnQ-g3uBODdUhqq64mshhyphenhyphengNN/s1600/2012-06-16+15.02.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM8gF6YqLmVz9pkirHfxIpIwaGL8gYNmKHpPZxkgsuPkCEvpF128GrB5Bu_8SjbcPmhTR0fNlNf9ZRB1aBsztX7mP6yfQbXHiQwp6zonh86iqY07TBPXKnnQ-g3uBODdUhqq64mshhyphenhyphengNN/s400/2012-06-16+15.02.55.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Omni Parker House is a fully functioning hotel to this day. It was the place where Boston's dessert "The Boston Cream Pie" was invented. Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh worked here at one time or the other, so ye with revolutionary intent, you folks know where to start. This institution has also seen guests like Charles Dickens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.</div>
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The infamous John Wilkes Booth (yes, the guy that shot Abraham Lincoln) also stayed at this acclaimed hotel.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ5nGYy1ttbaGjMKDsoKY_JiUXwt47eJipHkyAUunonSALbhuNV0orwJIRpDXMfOm89q3cz3fjKQYw2wwX3GAT5jYg0A8hHkOra4tY4AAugquK655o-NUEE-g35g39zluNd-BtXvU1agE/s1600/2012-06-16+15.03.59.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ5nGYy1ttbaGjMKDsoKY_JiUXwt47eJipHkyAUunonSALbhuNV0orwJIRpDXMfOm89q3cz3fjKQYw2wwX3GAT5jYg0A8hHkOra4tY4AAugquK655o-NUEE-g35g39zluNd-BtXvU1agE/s400/2012-06-16+15.03.59.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A statue of Benjamin Franklin</td></tr>
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This was the site of the oldest public school in the US, the Boston Latin School. Ben Franklin (along with the three aforementioned signers of the declaration) were students here. Ben though had to drop out without graduating for lack of funds. The inventor actually ran off to Philadelphia to escape a tricky situation he was caught in.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda-k9_n4yROaQWn4SojOs0EyNMQeBhaxIsPuReIEZ2hy_M8GQM-45KXZ5jCz3IgVLNtrvGM7HpcOcEFa0H-puOnd-mPGgp_7hXuvHmKbEFoZq8js01cMa6PT8JNyfvnHS1vZZZAoMOFVA/s1600/2012-06-16+15.20.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhda-k9_n4yROaQWn4SojOs0EyNMQeBhaxIsPuReIEZ2hy_M8GQM-45KXZ5jCz3IgVLNtrvGM7HpcOcEFa0H-puOnd-mPGgp_7hXuvHmKbEFoZq8js01cMa6PT8JNyfvnHS1vZZZAoMOFVA/s400/2012-06-16+15.20.43.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old State House</td></tr>
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Old State House is where the Royal Governor and the representatives here would have their war of words. It's about 300 years old and was also witness to the Boston "Massacre" happen right in front of its doors. Now, the massacre itself wasn't really a massacre. Only five people were killed in the event and a large part of it was the fault of a huge mob that amassed and attacked a small bunch of soldiers who were frankly so scared that they'd die in the hands of said mob that one of them let loose a round escalating the situation. The symbols of the British throne (the lion and the unicorn) adorn the top of the building's facade. These were thrown down back when the Declaration of Independence was first read but much has been faithfully restored since then.</div>
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The last stop on the tour is Faneuil Hall. Peter Faneuil was a wealthy man whose wealth was sourced from his uncle. The uncle left one condition for the benefactor of his wealth though - "never get married". So Peter, took it upon himself to enjoy his uncle's fortune and practically ate and drank himself to death while enjoying the finer pleasures of life. The man was quite charitable though and the result of his generosity to the town is what you see below. On top of the building is a weather-vane in the shape of a grasshopper. Tradition has it that the question "What's on top of Faneuil Hall?" was used to spot spies during the War of 1812. Englishmen would say "Why of course that's a locust!". </div>
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Faneuil Hall Marketplace, sometimes known as Quincy Market, lies just behind the Hall and is a nice place to walk around, what with all the street performers there.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Faneuil Hall</td></tr>
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Once the tour itself was over, and I'd bid goodbye to our guide Zeal, I took a long walk to the Union Oyster House (apparently the oldest restaurant in the US) and then across the bridge to Charlestown, on the other side.</div>
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Charlestown Navy Yard houses a very significant vessel - the USS Constitution. The Constitution is the oldest surviving still-commissioned naval ship in the world. This frigate typically carried around 50 or 60 guns in her heyday rather than the 44 she was rated for. She was both faster and more deadly than other such frigates of her day. Some technological advances like diagonal riders running laterally towards the centerline enabled her to carry much heavier guns than other ships. She was one of the first six frigates constructed for what was then a fledgling American Navy.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8RY9os1Qr2J1EbYiT5BWAWXmTngPkwcNgIjbYgoh8vAL9di4sdfGFyxcHYtLrXPb5KToW0hGB4dp3xVqFxxzNXi8KtMXjj1EslLg41coQAMhyphenhyphenrzMYYcx99Dk99Hlb1Xb2pPga0MElagU/s1600/2012-06-16+16.36.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw8RY9os1Qr2J1EbYiT5BWAWXmTngPkwcNgIjbYgoh8vAL9di4sdfGFyxcHYtLrXPb5KToW0hGB4dp3xVqFxxzNXi8KtMXjj1EslLg41coQAMhyphenhyphenrzMYYcx99Dk99Hlb1Xb2pPga0MElagU/s400/2012-06-16+16.36.09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old Ironsides</td></tr>
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Though made of wood, in several engagements with British ships, cannonballs would either lodge themselves in the sides or bounce off - leading to her name "Old Ironsides". This was supposedly a name that came about during a particular battle with HMS Gurrierre during the War of 1812.</div>
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I did so want to take her out for a drive but I'm sure the Navy sailors on duty there wouldn't have enjoyed my driving much. The ship actually has a full crew (of around 70 for a frigate of this era) seeing as it's a commissioned vessel. Unfortunately they also have to endure the annoying task of ferrying around a group of people on tour. Be sure to wait for the guided tour if you want to go below decks.</div>
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There's yet another ship here - the USS Cassin Young - a World War 2 destroyer. Though berthed here at one time, she is now in dry dock (never stops fascinating me how a ship looks when dry docked like this). It's a magnificent site this - from right in front of the stern going down all the way to that sharp keel.</div>
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A walk from the Navy yard found me at the final site of the Freedom Trail - the Bunker Hill Monument. The site of one of the first major battles of the Revolutionary War, a small Colonial Militia held out here until they ran out of ammo against a much larger force of 3000 Redcoats. This was supposedly the place where the words "Don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes" was uttered when they noticed the shortage of ammunition. In any case, the actual site of the battle was Breed's Hill, not exactly Bunker Hill but the mix-up is one of those things you have to forgive in the midst of all that carnage. </div>
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A joke from our guide earlier while on the tour : "There were a bunch of black people on the hill too, but they ran out of ammo even earlier. Apparently all they heard was 'Don't fire till you see the whites' ". Possible, quite possible.</div>
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And thus the red brick trail ends at the final stop on the Freedom Trail. A walk into history that you folks should definitely take if you're ever in Boston. </div>
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From here, all that remained was a walk to the nearest T-Station to take the subway and then the bus (this time I got home minus any confusion or missed buses) back home. </div>
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Until next week's adventure is posted then!</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-17084376485475895792012-06-23T03:41:00.000-04:002012-06-23T03:41:09.602-04:00A Memorable Memorial-Day Misadventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When last I blogged proper, I was back in Atlanta, at Georgia Tech finishing up my second semester. Now that that's done with I'd chosen to move to Boston for my summer internship. I wasn't quite in love with Tea Parties but it's a place I've never been to, was significant in the American Revolution (yes, I'm a history buff) and thought I should have a look around when I had the chance.<br />
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It's only been a few weekends but the very first misadventure was on the very first weekend. Now, being that it was Memorial Day here in the US, we had the Monday off. Little did I expect that the bus drivers had the evening off too. But more on that later.<br />
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To get a printed subway+bus pass in Boston, you absolutely have to use a vending machine at an MBTA station, and my trip began with the singular goal of finding the same. I left my place in the one of Greater Boston's suburbs on the one (and only) bus that plods this route to the nearest station (that's Alewife Station) around 3.30pm having spent the whole of the morning on Skype with someone I'd missed talking to for quite a while. My plan was "get off the bus, run in, buy the ticket and run back out to hop on the same bus back home". Like they say, <i>no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. </i>Mine was no exception.<br />
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The moment I alighted and procured the pass, I headed back out to find that the bus had already left. With an hour to go until the next one, my only option (OK, I could have held my horses and waited) was to look at the subway map and figure out where to venture first. The name Harvard sprang out prominently on the same Red-line subway and I decided that was my first stop. So off I went to Harvard. Right outside the station, I found myself staring at - what I then assumed to be - a church campus of some sort with walls all around. It was only after I'd walked around the perimeter once that I headed in to find that this was indeed Harvard University's main campus! So I walked a while around the place, snapped a few pictures with good ol' John Harvard (his statue atleast), took in the beautiful scenery and headed back to the station. In all my infinite wisdom, I somehow concluded that I wouldn't make it back to Alewife in time for the next bus, and knowing full well that the last bus was at 6.50pm (thank you Memorial Day timetable) I headed on to MIT's T-stop (Kendall/MIT). For the uninitiated, the 'T' is how Boston's residents affectionately refer to their transport network - I'm sure that 'affection' is quite relative though.<br />
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had a decent campus, but nothing quite that awe-inspiring as I'd come to expect, and it wasn't endowed with the same architectural wonder or natural beauty as possessed by Harvard either. The one saving grace though, was the location. Right across the road on one edge of campus, you'll find the Charles River waterfront. Not that Harvard is any different in that respect. With the breeze blowing and the sails fluttering in the wind, it's quite a wonderful place to spend an evening gazing upon the water. And entranced by the entire scene I stood, not quite keeping a track of the time I'd been spending. So I ran all the way back to Kendall station and took the red line back to Alewife all the while praying to make it in time for the final bus at 6.50pm.<br />
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The timing was actually perfect, but right before Alewife, the subway train pretty much stopped in the middle of nowhere for 5 whole minutes and I was greeted by (the rather distressing sight of) the rear end of the bus speeding away right when I arrived at Alewife's bus berths.<br />
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Seeing as how there was no other bus back home, the only way I was getting back was with help from my new house-mates (who proved rather unhelpful at that time of need), or taking a taxi. Now the reason I didn't take just any taxi here was because Georgia Tech (being in Downtown Atlanta) had trained me to be paranoid about safety and the taxi stand at Alewife looked rather shady to say the least. So, following directions from my supervisor/manager at work I actually took the tube back to Harvard station and got a bus that got me to Arlington center, which shaved off a few miles. In the meanwhile, my phone's battery was on its last legs, having started off at around 60% and having served me well throughout the day over 4G and GPS. Got a taxi cab to show up all the way from another suburb and the taxi driver showed up just in the nick of time before my phone finally died ("You couldn't get a taxi in Arlington? Seriously").<br />
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During my ordeal, somehow my manager and my apartment-mates had gotten in touch with neither knowing for sure where I was (remember I was not touching my phone for fear it would switch itself off). Fortunately I arrived back home ($40 poorer) just before both parties took to their cars and began searching for poor old me. The one thing I will never again do is venture out late in a new city when I know that public transit stops early that day!<br />
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Stay tuned for my second and third weekend's sightseeing in coming posts.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0Boston, MA, USA42.3584308 -71.059773242.2645643 -71.217701699999992 42.4522973 -70.9018447tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-23728789987135359632012-06-20T16:20:00.002-04:002012-06-20T16:41:04.520-04:00A Gamer and his poetry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
So I was a little bored and decided to enter a giveaway for a game (Killing Floor) on a particular forum I frequent. Killing Floor is a co-op Zombie Survival First Person Shooter that places you in Great Britain in a fictional post-apocalyptic world where Zombies rule the roost. The giveaway was also for a modification of the game with a futuristic twist as hinted at by a part of the poem.<br />
<br />
I made up a little poem in around 20 minutes (admittedly not my best effort) as an entry and I thought I'd post it here for all to read:<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">MY ENTRY is for KILLING FLOOR,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cos I'm quite the FPS wh*re.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm tired of third person shooters,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">or spending time at the local Hooters.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I saw a zombie game in this thread,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was thrilled at a chance to kill the undead.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'd never really heard of this game until now;</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Checked out a few videos, I was impressed and how!</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have an undying need to stop them eating my brains,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hack the limbs off these moving remains.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Surrounded by the smell of sweet decay,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'd stand sending out a cordite spray </span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I guess Britain's an undead haven,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ragtag soldiers with beards unshaven.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pouring lead into a Siren's spleen,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Singing God Save the Queen!</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Doesn't hurt that you've sweetened the deal,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With a fight from the future to grease the wheel.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Who wouldn't like a total conversion,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">what with England undergoing an undead subversion.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It all comes down to my love for the game,</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For the joy of the fight, not for honor or fame.</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I look down the scope, forever with hope...</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That every zombie spawned....</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will be another enemy pwned.</span></b></i><br />
<br />
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<b>Disclaimer:</b><i> The first line was a requirement of an entry, and no I don't spend time at Hooters, that part was made up </i>:P<br />
<br />
I've been running around Boston lately and I hope to have some time later to make a post here about my recent (mis-)adventures. Till then, have a good one!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-48689594215953649452012-01-08T18:00:00.001-05:002012-01-08T18:01:48.484-05:00A New Year!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEmbcNu_MzPdZv1L4pKEA1BNSar2fmE9O_ogBN7VD721-DkQ5M4qimZIp5x5ZoBYg8OLCkzWJtxtf095FX2GsqwFQrglm9M7vOUrnhGuJEZwsu6BgnjXGXpkYQ-mYUvwyXxOtFtzsncNl/s1600/RIMG0568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwEmbcNu_MzPdZv1L4pKEA1BNSar2fmE9O_ogBN7VD721-DkQ5M4qimZIp5x5ZoBYg8OLCkzWJtxtf095FX2GsqwFQrglm9M7vOUrnhGuJEZwsu6BgnjXGXpkYQ-mYUvwyXxOtFtzsncNl/s400/RIMG0568.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div>It's been 8 days since 2012 began and we can look forward to the world ending this December (if the Mayans are to be believed :P ). I've had a great time with my cousins in Phoenix, Arizona on New Year's Day, traveled with my parents and had much fun in 4 states of the Western United States, taken a jump off a 900ft tower, seen (and eaten ;) ) a great deal these past few weeks in Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, The Hoover Dam, The Grand Canyon, Phoenix among other places and now I'm back at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyG2Ih1FQAr_Hw2s27tP846xd00dLEd1PgD5nAs2JUSK2sQQpjDgE6VfZPb-oY-S6mfxQhLbxiYXumR6pAXiVAqghR-jR79L6yhXwmMiaBqo1R0864Tv23xBP5eMpmG3ElnkPvGosk45nE/s1600/RIMG0127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyG2Ih1FQAr_Hw2s27tP846xd00dLEd1PgD5nAs2JUSK2sQQpjDgE6VfZPb-oY-S6mfxQhLbxiYXumR6pAXiVAqghR-jR79L6yhXwmMiaBqo1R0864Tv23xBP5eMpmG3ElnkPvGosk45nE/s400/RIMG0127.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><div><br />
</div><div>I've met fellow Yellow-Jackets in many of the places I've been to on the other side of the country. I look forward to another semester of torture/education and fun and hopefully an internship at the end of it. Still finding new ways to waste time, but I guess that's gonna end real soon. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAj7A46-5q-dp0qWdm4dt7AlYDA5PbHwL74oFgzxd5WTAvXIOUGNjuKrCwZbpr9F0ZTqpZCWVlMGDRCe5dxvcIP2d1_dUgrExk7y81lDx_lW0qIc1btMQnZv3hGVW4iyOFeDRa1yztg1Fi/s1600/RIMG0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAj7A46-5q-dp0qWdm4dt7AlYDA5PbHwL74oFgzxd5WTAvXIOUGNjuKrCwZbpr9F0ZTqpZCWVlMGDRCe5dxvcIP2d1_dUgrExk7y81lDx_lW0qIc1btMQnZv3hGVW4iyOFeDRa1yztg1Fi/s400/RIMG0199.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Not quite as worried as I was now that the first semester of grad school is done with (and 'done with' well if I my say so myself). Gotta start dieting to lose all the pounds I've gained from the past few weeks of binge-eating and learn a few other things too this year. I've got myself a part-time job on campus that should give me some management experience and help pay a small part of the bills. In the meanwhile, looks like my blog's crossed 26000 hits by the end of 2011.</div></div><div><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulI1k8gIRn-epQgj1Pld8Pe71GSvXHZBkPBmmP9fcy6AUX77PFq3nhrRP3dxd5wOIBHDRwdYi8RnrhbJ8f-J_hADNWKSYuKzRTkYqF9Xi3BZAfUKjd9YOAugSccltcPThIFjefyysLWcI/s1600/RIMG0537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhulI1k8gIRn-epQgj1Pld8Pe71GSvXHZBkPBmmP9fcy6AUX77PFq3nhrRP3dxd5wOIBHDRwdYi8RnrhbJ8f-J_hADNWKSYuKzRTkYqF9Xi3BZAfUKjd9YOAugSccltcPThIFjefyysLWcI/s400/RIMG0537.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>That's me:</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/rEq1KmT40Dk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Wishing you all the best this new year!</div><div><br />
</div><div>PS: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean,_Old-Fashioned_Hate">To Hell With Georgia! </a></div><div><br />
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</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-28469750993832073542011-08-31T18:47:00.000-04:002011-08-31T18:47:05.976-04:00Updates - or the lack thereof<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I know I haven't updated the blog for quite some time now. New posts will come.... eventually... hopefully sometime soon. There's much to write and rant about. My trip to Shanghai and Hong Kong, my final semester of undergraduate engineering education, the frenetic pace of shopping, packing and finally getting shipped off to Georgia Tech, Atlanta leaving my folks, friends and Cactus behind.... and the awesomeness that is Tech itself!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4369/1314720896218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4369/1314720896218.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Just getting settled down and getting past the first week or two of class, so yeah blog updates will come someday.<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
<br />
A Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a Helluva Engineer ;)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-37425244359287122922011-05-21T20:51:00.001-04:002011-05-21T20:51:00.231-04:00An Egyptian Excursion - Day 10 (25th May 2010) and General Impressions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This was our last day in Egypt with plenty of travelling to be done. There’d be no more calls of Salaam Maleikkum, Y’allah, India India, Insha Allah, Shukran, Amitabh Bachchan etc. after today.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAq3zAQdrI/AAAAAAAAAsg/lkAxkk8JT3U/s800/24052010411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAq3zAQdrI/AAAAAAAAAsg/lkAxkk8JT3U/s400/24052010411.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
We left the resort at 6am and took the flight to Cairo. Business class was empty except for us and some Sheik who looked to be Saudi, decked in the traditional robe and headdress. Just before we took off, 2 armed forces fighter jets did a flyby and then landed. The flight was good enough and the aerial view of sights like the Pyramids was amazing. We had quite some time to waste at the Cairo Airport. The shuttle bus was a pain-in-the-rear, but we soon reached our terminal and checked in and started our tour of the duty-free sections. There was some guy on a Haj trip being very generous, handing out cash to pretty much every airport worker he met. From Cairo, we took the flight to Abu Dhabi. Some Tamil guy who’d been stopped from boarding for having way too much hand baggage and he was charged for it. Bugger must have been trying to ship way too much booze from the looks of it, from the duty free shopping in Cairo. Abu Dhabi as such seems to be a small airport terminal with never enough seating compared to a lot of other international airports that we've seen. Here, there was some Bangla guy at one of the check-in counters trying his darnedest to make the counter staff understand what he was trying to say (he really didn’t know even a modicum of English).<br />
<br />
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<br />
Anyway, we took a walk to the nearby Terminal 3 where the shopping was slightly better and we loaded up on chocolates as usual. This is one of the few international airports I’ve seen where the Indian rupee was usable. The flight to Chennai was boarding soon enough, and as always there was a big rush to get on. It’s terrible why Indians can’t ever learn to respect the queue and keep their voices down too. There were also plenty of people removing their glittering gold bangles and putting them into their bags – don’t quite know why. The flight was pretty bad though with the air-conditioning system having some problem and we finally reached Chennai at 4am local time on the 26th of May. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAdJKdqixI/AAAAAAAAAE8/OLTu0vxfpgI/s800/25052010418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAdJKdqixI/AAAAAAAAAE8/OLTu0vxfpgI/s400/25052010418.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The queues at the customs check-in counters were horribly mismanaged. People were jumping queues, and some queues were moving at a brisk pace while others were dead slow. Instead of giving preference to people who’d been standing for a while already, they’d just open a new counter when they felt like it and move people coming from the latest flight onto it. Then they’d close a counter and ask the people to go stand at the back of the queue at the new counter again. Just a whole load of bullcrap. One old man standing in front of his pointed out how this was rather unfair and poorly managed and the customs official standing there had the gall to say “We know how to manage, you don’t need to teach us” with no regard to the poor state of things there as well as any respect he should have accorded the man atleast looking at his age. Such is the hubris of some pompous government servants here. I wonder if they’ll ever be cut down to size and whether things will ever change. Probably not. And so it was back to Chennai and traffic.<br />
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<br />
<b><u>General Impressions.</u></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;"><li>People here generally start off a conversation with some sort of greeting - Salaam maleikkum, peace be upon you, how are you - before popping any sort of question, even if you’re just asking a stranger for directions.</li>
<li>Around May 2010, 8 Indian rupees equalled 1 egyptian pound. Damn rupee is always low no matter where we go. Some people called the Egyptian pound’s sub-unit Piastres.</li>
<li>The tout problem here isn’t really significant. Just say 'No thank you, la shukran' a few times and they’ll go about their business without bothering you.</li>
<li>The Police are ALWAYS around. Plainclothes policemen carry sidearms. Uniformed ones in white sport Kalashnikovs. However I've read that it isn't safe for single women to backpack alone even with police around.</li>
<li>Friday is a holiday here so plan accordingly.</li>
<li>The drivers here proudly proclaim that Cairo is the worst place to drive. They obviously haven’t driven in an Indian metro like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai or Kolkatta.</li>
<li>Taxi drivers in Cairo are pretty insistent. They may keep lining up, offering you a ride and turning it down again and again is made slightly difficult because of the language barrier.</li>
<li>There are plenty of cats around –far more so than any other pet animal.</li>
<li>Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has plenty of makeup on and a ton of hair gel for guys. Even little kids seem to sport perfect haircuts and several layers of makeup.</li>
<li>Amitabh Bachchan fans are everywhere, very few seem to know Shahrukh Khan or Aishwarya Rai. There was just that 1 guard at the museum in the Coptic Area in Cairo who took a look at us and said “India – Amir Khan I like!” and flashed us a thumbsup.</li>
<li>There are no Swensen's outlets here. No big ice cream retail chains I came across. And ice-creams don’t make an appearance at most buffets either. Only smaller shops and big bakeries have ice-cream counters.</li>
<li>10am to 4/5pm each day – that’s the only time attractions are open, so plan accordingly.</li>
<li>If you’re a college student, bring your university ID Card. They’re actually supposed to give discounts only for Egyptian students or those with an international student ID (a specific kind of ID) but even I was able to save a lot despite my major being engineering and not history.</li>
<li>Quote Amitabh (not Govindha), especially if you see a television set playing a Hindi movie in a shop. Once again everyone likes him, so you’ll get a healthy discount at some smaller shops if you do.</li>
<li>If you’re vegetarian, things are going to be a bit difficult. I think they use animal fat while cooking even rice, because the rice does have a slight flavour of the same to it.</li>
<li>People here drive on the Right side of the road like they do in the US.</li>
<li>At most times throughout the year, it’s very dry, humidity is low and the temperature is high. So take enough moisturiser, sunscreen and protective wear.</li>
<li>Remember this - my trip was half a year or more before the Arab Spring revolts that began in Egypt unseating the government of President Hosni Mubarak. Things have changed plenty in that country since then, the military is in charge, and it might not be quite the dream fantasy vacation it seems from these posts. A pity really considering all the magnificent sights Egypt has, not to mention the only surviving one of the true Seven Wonders of the World. </li>
</ol></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-91163037380850014362011-05-18T14:35:00.001-04:002011-05-18T14:35:00.604-04:00An Egyptian Excursion - Day 9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">Today, we were up by 7am. Had a pretty heavy breakfast and the nervous waiter nearly spilled his entire tray of coffee on Mum. He did apologize profusely though. The driver and guide were already waiting for us. In Aswan, the drivers don’t stop all the time and give pedestrians priority when they’re crossing, quite unlike Cairo. Here you have to be a bit more careful when you’re crossing the road. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArPdQ-n6I/AAAAAAAAAu4/Q5mgju2ccJ0/s800/21052010388.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArPdQ-n6I/AAAAAAAAAu4/Q5mgju2ccJ0/s400/21052010388.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our first stop was the old dam in Aswan. Built by the British around 1902, later seized in the revolution of 1952 and all the power dam produced was henceforth used for Aswan alone. Then we drove to the Aswan High Dam. This one was newer and supposedly built with money seized from the Suez Canal during the war. This was the dam that submerged the land of Nubia (hence the migration of the Nubian population to Sudan, and regions like the Nubian village in Egypt which we saw earlier) and several temples of Ancient Egypt. This massive dam powers pretty much the whole of Egypt. Neither of the dams have any locks (not the kind you put on your door), so boats can’t pass through either one.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAsa0iDScI/AAAAAAAAA08/QBdn-iLdXOY/s800/p5240328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAsa0iDScI/AAAAAAAAA08/QBdn-iLdXOY/s400/p5240328.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We headed to the boat dock for a ride to Philae Island. This was one of the numerous Islands that the dam had submerged. However, a coordinated effort was organized to disassemble the underwater temple and reassemble it on a nearby island that still remained above water. An amazing feat by any measure, considering how deep the water is. The Philae Temple, built in Ptolemaic times (time to dust off that old history book) is dedicated to the Goddess Isis – wife and sister of Osiris (yeah, the Egyptian Gods and Pharaohs were pretty messed up that way). The courtyards, pylons, statues and pillars were all covered with ornate designs and carefully preserved with not a hint of any mess left behind by tourists – which is, sadly, hardly the case in monuments back in India. We took our time walking through the temple and caught a boat back to the docks where the map seller followed us around saying “India India, Sholay very good, Shahrukh, Amitabh, Salaam Namaste, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, Rajesh Khanna, Amir Khan” and went on and on even when it was apparent we weren’t interested/didn’t need a map (all the regions were stored offline on my N79). He could probably named more Bollywood actors and actresses than I ever could. Then there was the souvenir seller who tried to sell us something for 12, then 11, then 10 egyptian pounds, then for the heck of it, dad said 9, then he said 8, 7…and counted down to 1 laughing all the way while waving us goodbye. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAsdLWeaAI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/xnAuPWSrLFg/s800/p5240333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAsdLWeaAI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/xnAuPWSrLFg/s400/p5240333.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Driving back from the docks, our first stop was the EgyptAir office (to check on the status of our flight back to Cairo) and then the quarry of the unfinished obelisk. Soon we were back at the resort. For these 3 hours of sightseeing inside Aswan, the cost was around Rs. 4400 (exchange rates around May 2010), by no means cheap. The previous 2 days’ trips came to about Rs. 20,000 each (no, not a joke). So be prepared to shell out a lot when touring Egypt, especially in the tourist towns of Luxor, Aswan and Edfu. If you have plenty of time, you can even take one of the cruise ships that ply the Nile and stop at the major attractions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAsnTJeZ4I/AAAAAAAAA2c/s8WdifgBdBE/s800/p5240351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAsnTJeZ4I/AAAAAAAAA2c/s8WdifgBdBE/s400/p5240351.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAs1Yeqe7I/AAAAAAAAA4A/tL89ihnZYsM/s800/p5240378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAs1Yeqe7I/AAAAAAAAA4A/tL89ihnZYsM/s400/p5240378.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was our last day in Aswan, so we took our riverside walk yet again, and stopped at the same Aswan Moon Restaurant from yesterday for lunch. The friendly old waiter was there and we had fresh mango juice and strawberry juice to go with our meal – no water, no essence, just pure and awesome juice. Once again, the food was simply marvelous. There was a bit of packing to be done back at the resort and we did that while I watched some cheesy Punisher flick from the 80s. I checked my mail after what seemed an eternity and found an IEEE Project idea of mine had been shortlisted for funding. Looking out my room’s window, I found a mother cat walking about the Nile’s banks followed by her 6 kittens and threw some cheese, butter and any other edible stuff I had in my room. The kittens were happy enough with this. Had to shave today, what with the face fungus growing rather unruly. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAs3piSbJI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/4cSP4rg4GLY/s800/p5240383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAs3piSbJI/AAAAAAAAA4Q/4cSP4rg4GLY/s400/p5240383.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Around 8.15pm we took a walk down to McDonalds, had a big combo and a KitKat McFlurry (McFlurry Ice Cream blended with bits of KitKat chocolate). There are always so many more women out at restaurants here than men. Plenty of kids too in their early teens. Everyone seems to eat so much, yet they get to maintain perfect skin and a pimple-less face. Today however McDonalds was a bit too crowded – I suppose it was some kind of holiday. Mum had an ice-cream from a nearby shop on the way back. It was apparent that he’d overpriced it at the last minute when he saw we were foreigners. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAqtHV7oKI/AAAAAAAAArA/lyEHigTTyFQ/s800/p5240406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAqtHV7oKI/AAAAAAAAArA/lyEHigTTyFQ/s400/p5240406.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And so began our last walk back to the resort along the famous Nile. Finished packing and ended the day with End Game on television (starring Cuba Gooding Jr.).</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-25625429786419170222011-05-16T16:30:00.003-04:002011-05-16T16:30:00.075-04:00An Egyptian Excursion - Day 8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">Got up at 4.30 am. The minivan and the guide were ready and it was already light outside by 5.30am. There was the usual name-taking by the police on the way out of town. The road out had plenty of greenery on either side – one side was decidedly rocky and on the other the Nile flowed. Passed Kom Ombo and Edfu (all these places I’ve only heard of till then in Egyptian legends I’ve read as a child). Stopped at Edfu briefly for a cigarette – no, not us silly, just the driver and everyone else around. Plenty of people smoke here. The route to Luxor abounds with military and police checkpoints. We made it to the ancient Pharonic town of Luxor by 9.10am, despite the traffic being heavier than the road to Abu Simbel. Then again, Abu Simbel lies near the ancient region of Nubia (and towards the border with Sudan), hence being a tourist spot in a desolate location away from other cities – so the lack of traffic was understandable. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAApvtxEUJI/AAAAAAAAAnc/OWpaWiyuwJ4/s800/p5230166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAApvtxEUJI/AAAAAAAAAnc/OWpaWiyuwJ4/s400/p5230166.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first stop was at the Colossi of Memnon (meaning Ruler of Dawn) – two large statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Both statues were affected by a large earthquake around 25-30BC. These colossi stood guard to the once-massive Mortuary temple of Amenhotep III – of which little remains today. After a brief jaunt through the Ramesseum, we headed to the Valley of the Kings – large complex of burial chambers (obviously of the Pharaohs) cut into the mountains and spread over a wide area. Several of them were pretty deep and well preserved with even the paintings retaining their color. The tomb of Thutmose III was pretty high up – a steep climb followed by a steep descent, and hence my parents opted out while I took a shot at it. Few people come here, thanks to the daunting climb and subsequent drop, but it was well worth the effort. We visited a few more tombs, with paintings and wooden sarcophagi surrounding the inner metal/stone sarcophagus containing the mummies. Photography inside isn’t allowed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArnYHovvI/AAAAAAAAAvs/BIi2eFo0Dd8/s800/p5230174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArnYHovvI/AAAAAAAAAvs/BIi2eFo0Dd8/s400/p5230174.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArw-XOwmI/AAAAAAAAAww/1GyjAkr09wA/s800/p5230193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArw-XOwmI/AAAAAAAAAww/1GyjAkr09wA/s400/p5230193.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our next stop was the Temple of Hatshepsut – erstwhile Queen of Egypt – which had 3 distinct ‘steps’ in its construction. The courts were adorned with images, statues and reliefs of Hathor and Anubis and scenes of Somalia (not quite the war-torn, impoverished country it is today). It was obvious Hatshepsut fancied herself a God and apparently, her son-in-law and stepson got fed up with her behavior, and after her death several of her cartouches and paintings had the faces chiseled off. No doubt she must have been like a certain chief minister in India whose name begins with M, has a Y in the middle and ends with an I – the one that keeps building monuments in her name ;) . </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArzVdeuMI/AAAAAAAAAxA/-D0h6XjkVak/s800/p5230201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAArzVdeuMI/AAAAAAAAAxA/-D0h6XjkVak/s400/p5230201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you ever visit Egypt, be sure to take along plenty of sunscreen, a pair of sunglasses and a cap or hat. Else you’ll be hit with a terrible headache – like the Pharaohs would have had when they had holes drilled in their skills through which their brains were extracted before embalming. Of course they were already dead at that point. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAtPFnSccI/AAAAAAAAA50/jJt6OELni34/s800/p5230215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAtPFnSccI/AAAAAAAAA50/jJt6OELni34/s400/p5230215.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAul4KvvmI/AAAAAAAAA9o/hnE-oBNfBvY/s800/p5230284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAul4KvvmI/AAAAAAAAA9o/hnE-oBNfBvY/s400/p5230284.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Loading up with quite a number of souvenirs (the sellers had a field day) we left the complex and drove to the Karnak temple complex (once the largest in the world) on the opposite bank. Here we found courts with HUGE (and I mean bloody freaking HUGE) columns supporting massive slabs of stone high up in the air. The temple had many sections expanded by different Pharaohs. The entrance itself has small sphinxes on either side. In ancient times, the temple was connected by canals (which have long since closed and disappeared) to the Nile River. The sacred/royal boat was kept in the temple and each flood season it would be able to make its way onto the river when these canals filled up. After a long walk through all the sections, we went over to the Luxor temple, similar to Karnak but smaller. We were pretty tired after all the time we’d spent in the heat and sun and left Luxor a while later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAtnU_KwRI/AAAAAAAAA64/F_QBHRL1jcw/s800/p5230236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAtnU_KwRI/AAAAAAAAA64/F_QBHRL1jcw/s400/p5230236.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAvIDtg81I/AAAAAAAAA_A/_zlhLtfEm8c/s800/p5230229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAvIDtg81I/AAAAAAAAA_A/_zlhLtfEm8c/s400/p5230229.jpg" width="300" /></a>The rule of the land here is that foreigners HAVE to be back inside Aswan (not outside the cities or on highway roads) before sunset and the police are pretty strict about enforcing this. On the drive back, we found from the guide that he had to take formal exams and such and a course of a few years before he could become one. While he was good with English (which was what we preferred), his wife was a Spanish guide. They must make a pretty penny with the tourist industry in Egypt booming even off season and the prices for tours what they are. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TcxI6jPHBvI/AAAAAAAABwo/D2qyE5_3vtM/s800/23052010403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TcxI6jPHBvI/AAAAAAAABwo/D2qyE5_3vtM/s320/23052010403.jpg" width="240" /></a>Back at the resort, we freshened up and took a walk by the riverside. We bought more bottled water from the resident Amitabh Bachchan fan (from the other day, remember?). Unlike London or Bangkok, there was no commission or tax here to change our dollars to Egyptian Pounds. We stepped into a nice restaurant by the river (literally ON the river actually) and had fresh Mango and Banana Juice. I must confess it was among the best fresh juices I’ve ever tried anywhere in the world. The resident kitty (very pregnant) was there (plenty of cats around Aswan) and we took a few pictures of her. Her man came along soon enough and sat by her. He chose to meow politely at us while she ate whatever we gave the both of them. Some damned foreigner (probably Spanish :P ) didn’t like kitty and co being around their table (where she headed next) and so the owner carefully picked them up and led them into the kitchen, all the while petting them gently. Kitty was back soon enough though :D . What I’ve noticed here is that, even the locals who are supposedly highly conservative go out and enjoy themselves much more than folks back home. The food was excellent and we headed back to the resort where I watched “The Ghost and the Darkness” (a Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas starrer about a hunt for man eating lions in Africa) and then “The Fast and the Furious” before calling it a day. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TcxIM9n6VKI/AAAAAAAABwU/KlLO-F0dUP4/s800/23052010402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TcxIM9n6VKI/AAAAAAAABwU/KlLO-F0dUP4/s320/23052010402.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-37031987749425363612011-05-12T15:41:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:46:08.850-04:00An Egyptian Excursion - Day 7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAApSrc5hiI/AAAAAAAAAm0/a1UFw1X5n5w/s800/22052010392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAApSrc5hiI/AAAAAAAAAm0/a1UFw1X5n5w/s400/22052010392.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We had to wake up pretty early today (leaving at 4am mind you) for the trip to Abu Simbel. We had a big minivan waiting to take us to the assembly point (on one of the main roads out of Aswan) where there was a police/military escort waiting along with several other minivans and buses carrying groups from other hotels. Pretty big crowd considering it was off-season. However, we had spent a good deal extra to get the minivan all to ourselves, with 2 drivers taking turns, and with breakfast packaged :) . The police noted the names of each and every driver and then began sending off the vehicles in groups with each convoy having an armed escort as well as an army man or two in each of the buses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAn_LlgzCI/AAAAAAAAAjI/6CNOwBwqx_E/s800/p5220093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAn_LlgzCI/AAAAAAAAAjI/6CNOwBwqx_E/s400/p5220093.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The security was quite tight because the road to Abu Simbel was supposed to have been dangerous once upon a time. We took off after a series of checks at a steady 120-130kph. There was a small section of bad road and then it was really smooth all the way. The road to Abu Simbel goes straight through the desolate dessert and in the darkness all you can see ahead of you is a series of red lights from the other vehicles in the convoy (spaced out pretty well) in the distance – a beautiful sight in itself, what with the plain desert on either side. To add to this wonderful scenery, the sunrise occurred by the time we reached Abu Simbel around 7.15am. Can’t say I wasn’t scared a bit on the drive though, with one driver sleeping and the other one (the one doing the driving :P ) drifting a bit too. Our guide had been dozing in the back seat all the while. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAoF6dokMI/AAAAAAAAAjY/mGv0Eoc6k5w/s800/p5220098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAoF6dokMI/AAAAAAAAAjY/mGv0Eoc6k5w/s400/p5220098.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He did wake up on arrival though and took us to the ruins of the temples of Abu Simbel. In our 2 hours there, we visited the temples (carved out of the mountainside) of Rameses the 2nd and his supposedly beautiful queen Nefertari. The temples rest on the banks of the largest artificial lake – Lake Nasser – which is also one of the water bodies frequented by the massive Nile crocodile. The temples weren’t always here though. A long time ago, the temples were 65 meters below the present location. Then, when the Aswan dam was built, Lake Nasser was formed, and a rapid effort was organized to save these monuments by relocating them piece by piece to where they are now. Quite an achievement considering how massive these temples are with their numerous inscriptions and paintings and statues. A peculiar solar phenomenon occurs here – 61 days before and 61 days after the Winter Solstice, the Sun’s rays reach the inner sanctum and illuminate the idols there, except the God of the Underworld – Ptah. Poor bugger got left in the dark hehe. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAovEKrXMI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/P0WQ1HVy5E8/s800/p5220123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAovEKrXMI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/P0WQ1HVy5E8/s400/p5220123.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We were ready to leave by 9.30am, when the sun was coming out and it was becoming scorching hot outside, but had to wait until the entire convoy was ready to leave. The drive of 280km back to Aswan (once again with the beautiful desert on either side) took under 3 hours. Back at the resort for lunch, we heard the terrible news of the plane crash in Mangalore.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAHozpnH6RI/AAAAAAAABBQ/vfXtpgSJ8X8/s800/abu3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAHozpnH6RI/AAAAAAAABBQ/vfXtpgSJ8X8/s400/abu3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A scale model showing where the temples lie now and where they would have been (under water) if they hadn't been moved .</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Spending the rest of the day watching the beautiful view on the Nile, I noticed my lips had started cracking pretty bad with the dry heat. The view however was good enough to make me forget it all. The Dark Knight was on TV, and after that we took a walk along the riverside at about 7pm. The horse taxis here in Aswan sport a Blue Angels (the American F/A-18 Aerial Display Team) theme of Blue and Yellow. They also took the liberty of frequently calling out “India, India”, “Amitabh Bachchan” and “Good Price” – evidence enough that they knew of the Indian tendency to watch a lot of movies and bargain during every purchase. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAq_b-MYBI/AAAAAAAAAs4/NKSIff7PfEo/s800/p5220149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_KCml0vCofb0/TAAq_b-MYBI/AAAAAAAAAs4/NKSIff7PfEo/s400/p5220149.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stopped by at the local riverside McDonalds and had a heavy dinner, topped it off with a McFlurry (goddamn why can’t I find these at any McDonalds in India), with a cat sitting on a nearby chair (yes, within the restaurant itself). Coming back to the resort, we were confronted with an assorted set of fruits (completely complimentary) in each of the rooms– an obvious conciliatory measure for yesterday’s horrendous Vindaloo at the attached restaurant. Found a frog running amok in my room (damn, I’d have loved it if it was my parents’ room he was in) and I had a tough time chasing him out before watching Blade Trinity and then Bayern playing against Inter before hitting the sack for an early day tomorrow.</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-80292367253228919432011-05-04T16:49:00.001-04:002011-05-16T15:56:28.804-04:00Could India have pulled it off? A Special Forces Analysis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">The world woke up to the news of Osama Bin Laden being killed by American operatives deep within Pakistan, in the affluent suburb of Abbottabad, barely 2 days ago. Operation Neptune's Spear (some say it's Operation Geronimo) was executed clinically on President Obama's orders with no reported casualties on the attacking force's side. I was on a particular forum I frequent and people were bandying about the idea that India (especially India's Naval MARCOS commandos) could have pulled off a similar raid. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden.jpg/800px-Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden.jpg/800px-Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Well here's a little excerpt from the rather lengthy reply/analysis I wrote comparing the structure of the USA's special forces unit-organisation to India's. Note that I'm merely analyzing with whatever information is available publicly, not commenting on an individual soldier's ability. Feel free to point out mistakes or give your opinion (as long as it's kept civil) in the comments section below. Just putting it out here since plenty of readers thought it well-reasoned. If nothing else, here's hoping it provides you an interesting read. </div><br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">""</span></b><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">While I'm patriotic, calling the MARCOS the "best" out there would be fallacy. Especially against DEVGRU/SEAL Team Six which was sent in with CIA operatives to get Bin Laden. But they are certainly one of the best if not as good as the SEALs. They don't have access to the same training methods or level of secret facilities or weaponry. The MARCOS are good. But they don't have a specialized Spec Ops air insertion unit like the 160th SOAR (a.k.a the Night Stalkers who I'm pretty sure were involved in the raid a day or two ago) who get the best of the best equipment and practice in the worst weather possible flying at low level. It's not the Navy's fault that MARCOS doesn't have such support but just that they don't have the money or will to develop such an inter-services special ops support force. </div><br />
</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Two_UH-60M,_160th_SOAR_on_USS_Bataan_on_10_Feb._2006.jpg/800px-Two_UH-60M,_160th_SOAR_on_USS_Bataan_on_10_Feb._2006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Two_UH-60M,_160th_SOAR_on_USS_Bataan_on_10_Feb._2006.jpg/800px-Two_UH-60M,_160th_SOAR_on_USS_Bataan_on_10_Feb._2006.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<blockquote><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Again, there's no reconnaissance unit always around with Indian forces unlike the US which has innumerable spy satellites and Predator drones. Lastly, not enough air support either with the state our Air Force is in. Certainly no AC-130 gunships or attack helicopters. The Indian Air Force doesn't have enough planes for normal sanctioned force strength (hence the current purchasing spree) let alone to spare for a special division. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also see how our supposedly-elite forces like the NSG are mostly used for VIP protection (unlike the US which uses the Secret Service for protecting high value targets). Instead of using just the Special Rangers Group, often even the elite Special Action Group members are put to this task. Nice way to pull them off their vital training regimens and make them guard politicians instead. Further, they come under command of a police DG, even though their members may be drawn from the Army, unlike the Marcos which is under the Navy. </div><br />
</blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Indian_Navy_MARCOS.jpg/800px-Indian_Navy_MARCOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Indian_Navy_MARCOS.jpg/800px-Indian_Navy_MARCOS.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;"> Indian navy sailor B.K. Gurung holds his position on the flight deck of USS Mustin (DDG 89) during a visit, board, search and seizure drill April 7, 2007, while under way in the Philippine Sea. The drill is part of exercise Malabar 07-01, a U.S. and Indian naval exercise held off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<blockquote style="text-align: justify;">The US however organizes their forces differently. The Spec Ops portion is handled by the SEALs and Delta Force out of Fort Bragg abroad. They probably used Delta Force (SFOD-Delta now ACE) too but they'll never say it because officially the name "Delta Force" doesn't exist even if Chuck Norris plays them :P . On domestic soil, though these operators may be involved, the primary task of such ops goes to the FBI's HRT. Apart from this, to handle emergencies such as terrorist attacks within each city, there's a SWAT Team on hand too. All well equipped.</blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The CIA in addition to its own Special Operations Group has its "contractors", and I don't mean Blackwater, I mean the kind that are officially not working for the CIA but are usually former operatives of some of the above mentioned units unofficially sanctioned to "do what must be done". So you see, there just isn't anything to match this kinda structure. It's not the Navy MARCOS commandos' fault, it's just that, despite cross-training with the SEALs and the British SAS on several occasions, there is no single JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) here to take care of the requirements of all these guys or political will-power to give them free rein and an increased budget.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sad part is they keep increasing the salaries of politicians and giving tax breaks to the BCCI instead of using the money to pay these soldiers who actually sacrifice plenty so that we can stay safe or augment the defense institutions. But no, we forget each terrorist attack after a small candle lighting ceremony. Nothing much is done. The reduction in usage of Black Cats for mere VIP security was marginal, made just in reaction to the public uproar following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The NSG (National Security Guards) received equipment upgrades like Non-Skid Shoes and training from Germany's elite GSG-9 only after these attacks, and still doesn't have enough planes and helicopters to achieve the anywhere-in-the-country-within-4-hours mobility that the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team boasts. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Coming to the question of whether a country like Pakistan would take kindly to a strategic commando strike by India, it would probably end up escalating things to an almost war-like state. They'll use that "intrusion" as an excuse if India tries it. The Americans are kinda expected to take shots within the country so unless the Pakistanis got tipped off about them going after OsamaCO's head. Plus they're throwing billions of dollars worth of aid at Pakistan which no one else is doing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Navy_SEALs_comming_out_of_water.JPEG/800px-Navy_SEALs_comming_out_of_water.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Navy_SEALs_comming_out_of_water.JPEG/800px-Navy_SEALs_comming_out_of_water.JPEG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was some reporter on TV quizzing the Air Chief Marshal PV Naik whether India has the capability to carry out such surgical strikes against terrorists. From the way the Marshal thought about it and paused while saying "India.... has the capability" it seemed like he was himself doubtful. The Russian Spetnaz, the Americans, Israel (with its Sayeret Matkal Unit 269 and Mossad) have shown time and again that they can take out who they want - whether legally or not - if said individual is a thorn in their rear ends. Examples include the terrorists who carried out the inhuman slaughter of Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics. Sadly, India doesn't have too many cases of such proven counter-terrorist action. Here, commandos put their lives on the line to capture a single terrorist and kill the rest and instead of interrogating him brutally, then shooting him and dumping his body in the sea, the government keeps each terrorist safe and sound, gives them books to read, lets them spit at magistrates and "respect their human rights". Sad, but true.</div></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">By no means are the Indian Special Forces less formidable or less motivated, it's just that there is much that needs to be done to modernize them and support them, the way a soldier, who puts his life at risk so that we can sleep peacefully in our homes, should be aided. </blockquote><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">""</span></b></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-67476029476709083632011-03-06T04:50:00.000-05:002011-03-06T04:50:06.541-05:00An Article on Yours Truly :)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Well, I found an article in the IEEE India Newsletter about my paper presentation in Shanghai, China. Here's a snap:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5369/26022011410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5369/26022011410.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
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:D<br />
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Click through if you want to see the full picture.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-83145375508261459462011-02-20T15:17:00.001-05:002011-02-20T15:26:10.905-05:00Fifth-Gen Fighter Jets: Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">No, this isn't about that Chinese martial arts flick where everyone and their uncle soared through the air effortlessly, this is about a different kind of flyer. A man made one. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The means to control any theater of war lies in first securing air superiority over the battlefield. With stealth and weapons technology advancing by the day, air forces the world over are putting vast resources into either procuring or developing the best of fighter aircraft. Fifth-gen fighter aircraft are characterized by the ability to use information from a wide range of sources to correlate events in realtime, provide an enhanced situational awareness, air frames that can withstand insane high-G maneuvers, and LPIR (Low Probability of Intercept Radar) which can use radar to scan for enemies in the sky without giving away the aircraft's position. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Two_F-22A_Raptor_in_column_flight_-_(Noise_reduced).jpg/750px-Two_F-22A_Raptor_in_column_flight_-_(Noise_reduced).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Two_F-22A_Raptor_in_column_flight_-_(Noise_reduced).jpg/750px-Two_F-22A_Raptor_in_column_flight_-_(Noise_reduced).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F-22</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The F-22 was the first of this kind and, as of 2011, the only actively operating Fifth-Gen Fighter Jet. Lockheed Martin's F-22A Raptor while providing the US Air Force with the best there is in air superiority fighters, can also attack ground targets. Designed to replace fourth-gen fighters like the F-15, every single F-22 costs a cool $150 million dollars to make. The technology used is so bleeding edge and secret that any export or sale of the F-22 outside the US is banned, not even to close allies like the Israelis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/Pak_fa_in_flight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/Pak_fa_in_flight.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PAK-FA Prototype</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">While the F-22 held sway for quite a while, there are challengers in the design/prototype phase being developed by a few other nations. India and Russia have jointly been developing the PAK-FA (<i>Perspektivny aviatsionny kompleks frontovoy aviatsii</i>, that is "Prospective Airborne Complex - Frontline Aviation") . Otherwise known as the T-50, what initially began as a project headed by Sukhoi later roped in India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to create a supersonic-cruise capable fifth gen fighter jet that is apparently a bit less stealthy than an F-22 but much cheaper at an estimated $100 million each. 250 machines are expected to be built each for the Russian and Indian air forces. The Indian variant - christened the FGFA - adds another pilot, calling for slightly different wing surfaces, capability to carry a different array of weapons (including nuclear armament) and avionics that might be sourced from multiple nations, as opposed to only Russian technology.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/HAL_Tejas.jpg/800px-HAL_Tejas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/HAL_Tejas.jpg/800px-HAL_Tejas.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LCA - HAL Tejas</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Indians meanwhile are busy with their own plans, following the successful completion of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project with the production of the HAL Tejas, which of course wasn't a fifth-generation aircraft but a single seater multirole jet fighter. The Indian Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is now designing the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a proposed fifth generation aircraft in the 25 ton category. The ADA was even ready to develop a whole new prototype Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA)radar to complement the aircraft. Only a scale wind-tunnel model of the plane has yet been seen in public though. The AMCA is expected to use 2 GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri engines designed and built by the DRDO's Gas Turbine Research Establishment Labs, with thrust vectoring and supercruise capabilities. The Indian Navy has also thrown in a significant amount of funding, so it's obvious that there'll be a naval variant of the AMCA too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/MediumCombatAircraft1.JPG/800px-MediumCombatAircraft1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/MediumCombatAircraft1.JPG/800px-MediumCombatAircraft1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AMCA Model</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The FGFA will only be ready by around 2018 and the AMCA by 2025. This will cause the force strength of the Indian air force to deplete massively till then (despite the addition of a few Su-30 planes) and is also the reason you've been seeing the "126 aircraft bid offer" left open by the Indian Air Force in the news infrequently. That bid is currently being led by the Eurofighter Typhoon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Typhoon_f2_zj910_arp.jpg/800px-Typhoon_f2_zj910_arp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Typhoon_f2_zj910_arp.jpg/800px-Typhoon_f2_zj910_arp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eurofighter Typhoon</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Americans meanwhile have been collaborating with a few other nations to develop another stealth fighter project - Lockheed Martin's F35 Lightning II. This was in the news too, albeit because funding for an alternate engine for this aircraft was cut recently by the House. The F35 will be significantly cheaper per unit than the F-22 while also having a VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) variant. The aircraft has been in the "testing" phase for the last 4 years or so. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/F35A_Prototyp_AA1_2.jpg/800px-F35A_Prototyp_AA1_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/F35A_Prototyp_AA1_2.jpg/800px-F35A_Prototyp_AA1_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">F35 Lightning II</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Japanese have the Mitsubishi ATD-X Shinshin in the works, and the South Koreans are tinkering with the Korea Aerospace Industries KF-X, both expected to take quite a while to achieve "production" status.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">While these tigers of the aviation world have at it, the dragon hasn't quite been asleep. The Chinese have their jack-in-the-box in the form of the Chengdu J-20. It's a less-agile, but much larger design (in comparison with F22s and PAK-FAs) that will supposedly have greater range too. This jet, being built by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for China's People's Liberation Army Air Force, has been the centre of much controversy. Initially, it was reported that the J-20 used elements copied from a Russian stealth jet, followed by an accusation that reverse engineering had been done from an American F-117 Nighthawk that had been shot down in Serbia. Later, it was also alleged that cyber-espionage of the F-22 and F-35 project files had significantly aided the Chinese in putting together the J-20. Indeed, the front does look like an F-22 and the tail fins slightly resemble those of the PAK</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhBxifqMcjyr6J5Scl8upGDmXJanq4mAknKZe-zVYnS4vM7Xj8HpD77fHDy0lp6l9sL725iCDw6f2aayfPeYfYi-1tsS93PxZOORaopSoKQ1RahEegVHCWaHQv99EYiEyEWgEagVgsKc/s1600/1293601723_90032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhBxifqMcjyr6J5Scl8upGDmXJanq4mAknKZe-zVYnS4vM7Xj8HpD77fHDy0lp6l9sL725iCDw6f2aayfPeYfYi-1tsS93PxZOORaopSoKQ1RahEegVHCWaHQv99EYiEyEWgEagVgsKc/s400/1293601723_90032.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chengdu J-20</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The timing aside, the US is still confident it will way more stealth fifth-gen fighters several years on than any competing air force in the world and that the J-20 hence poses no real threat to it. Still, the rising Asian power deserves credit for the way in which they've pulled their socks up and gone about putting together a stealth jet real quick.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">With all this military tech being churned out, one thing is clear - the skies will be a very different place 10 years on, with both what we can "see" and what we can't.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Photo Source: Wikimedia</div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-62351230964863605912010-12-31T13:31:00.004-05:002010-12-31T13:31:00.369-05:00Happy New Year MMXISo yet another year draws to its close, in fact it's curtains for the first decade of the new millennium.<br />
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A year filled with scandals galore, a year that began with a massive earthquake wreaking havoc in Haiti, another in Chile that triggered a killer Tsunami, yet another in China, a year that saw a good part of the American coastline polluted by an oil spill, a year when state secrets and diplomatic cables were leaked to the public, a year that found the Korean Peninsula ever closer to the brink of war.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/main/12/36412024039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/main/12/36412024039.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br />
Of course all these mishaps were balanced by good too - a new tallest structure called the Burj Khalifa was opened, India hosted the Commonwealth games way better than anyone thought it could, the first synthetic living cell was made, the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic was declared over, researchers trapped antimatter at CERN for the first time in human history and much much more.<br />
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On the personal front, I've seen a few more foreign lands, done a few more projects and published an IEEE paper, delighted in the company of my friends more than ever before and grown wiser, if in small increments, over the course of the year. The Blog has picked up steam too, with over 1500 page visits per month consistently over the past half year at least (since I began tracking it), breaching 10000 unique page visits in total in the first half of 2010 and a new high of 2500+ visits this month of December. I've won a *few* ;-) contests and giveaways online putting my poetry writing, prose and puzzle-solving skills to the test and earned a bit writing articles for a few websites too. College has been going great and this year will determine pretty much where my life's headed. A lot hangs in the balance.<br />
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If the supposedly prescient Mayans are to be believed, we only have 2 years left before the world ends. Put that time to good use lest some not-so-extinct Mayan truly gets his opportunity to say "I told you so!" :P (though I scarcely think that'll happen). Enjoy life, but spare a modicum of thought and a helping hand to those who're less fortunate. Sure, go out and party tonight, but exercise enough restraint to avoid being too wasted to drive yourself home in the wee hours of 1-1-11.<br />
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So here's wishing you a Happy New Year! A year filled with joy, friendship and love.... A year where you make a meaningful contribution to your family and the world... A year filled with achievement. For it is in the act of achieving that any human being gives meaning to his or her life. Why lead an insipid existence content with the daguerreotype of yesteryears? Instead discard the prosaic, whet your intellect and relish in your efforts to bring light to tenebrous depths. For that is what sets you apart from an unthinking animal.<br />
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Heartiest wishes for an excellent and worry-free 2011 !Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-78648709873026092992010-12-31T09:43:00.000-05:002010-12-31T09:43:38.811-05:00An Egyptian Excursion - Day 6Breakfast today was pretty heavy, an excellent spread at the buffet. We got ready to check out, and our driver for the day, Karam (a friend of Tiger/Nemr's), was waiting for us. And so we started to the airport. On the way Karam pointed out the 6th October 1973 memorial, pretty much everyone seemed to know about it and from the way they talk it's apparent that they respect it and revere the people who gave their lives during the Yom Kippur War. Few of us would ever accord the same degree of reverence to those who laid down their lives in Kargil or the war of 1971. <br />
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He proceeded to showed us the Cairo International stadium among other sights. Our flight was leaving from Terminal 3 of the new airport. Pretty large, spacious and pleasing to the eyes. One big airport in the middle of the desert.<br />
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There was a dark-skinned African guy who got stopped at the entrance though - apparently some issue with his tickets. His companion, another negro, was let in and he proceeded to find a ticket counter where he could set things right. Meanwhile the man who got left behind (with a thick African accent) kept saying "You let white man go, but I go to America, they stop me there. I go to Europe, they stop me there. Now I come to Africa, you stop me here too. OH MY GOD!!". While I can imagine that it must have been distressing for him, his words were so funny with that accent that I couldn't help laughing at what was happening (not in front of him though). <br />
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There was another problem with our seat allotment which kept us standing at the counter for some time, though they did resolve it. Next stop - duty free. After browsing through many of the shops there, we boarded the plane. As usual, there were a few Indians laughing loudly on the flight as if it was some train compartment they'd hired exclusively, drawing looks and giving us a 'good' name :P . When we finally landed at Aswan, the tour operator from the Pyramisa Isis Corniche was there. One Mr. Abdul Rehman, who gave us a full briefing of the sights to be seen on the way to the hotel.<br />
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Soon after checking-in, tour arrangements were to be discussed. Now like I always say, we never take group tours, we prefer traveling alone - just the 3 of us - with a guide and driver too at max in a vehicle. All the prices were in dollars (they kinda prefer that to the Egyptian pound here) and they were all pretty damn expensive. Even compared to London and such high-flung places. <br />
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The view from the room itself though was just too beautiful to describe. Right on the banks of the Nile - the cradle of the Egyptian civilization, with the Tombs of the Nobles right across the river on a hill, and the sun's beautiful rays shining down on the water. We decided to take a Nile cruise on a boat from the hotel's dock.<br />
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And so we went, taking in the beautiful scenery as we watched the rich greenery and civilization on the banks on one side contrasted with the stark desert and sand dunes on the opposite bank that extended into the distance.<br />
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Mind you though, we kept our hands firmly within the limits of the boat. The Nile crocodile is the largest crocodilian in Africa (with some 20 feet plus specimens recorded) and is sometimes regarded as the second largest crocodilian after the Saltwater crocodile. A fact we were well aware of. One of the rocky little islands in the middle of the river even had an ominous "Croc warning" danger sign.<br />
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We saw Aga Khan's mausoleum (now closed to the public) on the way too. Soon the boat stopped at the Nubian village. These Nubians live in a somewhat more traditional fashion on the west banks of the Nile and on Elephantine island where they settled after being displaced to make room for Lake Nasser. Here, we had Hibiscus juice at a traditional Nubian house where they had croc skins among other weird paraphernalia hung up all over. There was even a relatively small crocodile in a makeshift tank in the middle of the hall.<br />
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Walking through the streets of this little place, we nearly got run over by 2 camels. Periodically, a camel or two run down the streets with a tourist or the owner himself on it. There are shops where you can get souvenirs made by the locals here too, and the shopkeepers call out "Hey India India" based on the color of our skin, except one dude who incorrectly called out "Hey Sri Lanka" :P . We took the same boat back with our guide to the point where we started this little journey where a car from the hotel was waiting for us.<br />
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We skipped over to the opposite side of the road (crossing the road is a slightly more perilous affair here compared to Cairo) to look for some place we could get plenty of bottled water. We did find one such shop where the shopkeeper was busy watching some old Amitabh Bachchan flick on his little TV. On seeing us, his eyes lit up like two 100W bulbs and he went "India India... Amitabh Bachchan you like??" and only after he confirmed this would he sell us the water. Even gave us a discount LOL. We had the car drop us back in front of the hotel's entrance and from there we took a walk along the road on the banks. Some tout tried to accost us saying he was a cook from the restaurant, pity we come from a land where touts are a dime a dozen. Didn't work. A little bit of shoe shopping and currency exchanging and Hostess Ho Ho buying later (I just love HoHos and I was frankly amazed to find them here in Aswan too). Had an ice cream too after many days (we'd been unable to find much in the way of ice cream during our time in Cairo).<br />
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There was no dearth of people of Sudanese origin here in Aswan. Everyone seems to like Amitabh Bachchan more than any local stars. Google it too if you don't believe me, but they kinda greet Indians here with "India India?? Amitabh Bachchan!" hahaha and they just love his movies (as we would find out during the later days). Soon it was dark and time for dinner, which we had at our resort's restaurant (they sort of messed up with a Vindaloo that wasn't quite a Vindaloo) with the dark water lapping the shore barely a few feet away. Wonderful setting with the Movenpick Hotel (yes the same folks who make that awesome ice-cream) on the opposite bank showing off its ever-changing lighting. I was beginning to miss the constant texts I'd usually keep sending a friend of mine by now. The phone had instead turned into my travel diary of sorts, keeping track of everything I did wherever I went. Stored the location I was at on the phone's GPS for memory's sake .<br />
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After dinner, I tried to turn in early (big trip next day), but to no avail. There was some crazy prom slasher film on the tube which ended with everyone else dead but the target of the obsessive slasher.<br />
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Then, quite coincidentally, The Mummy came on. Couldn't resist watching The Mummy all over again what with this being the land of the Pharaohs ;) . For the record, Hamunaptra is imaginary and Imhotep was an architect, engineer, physician and adviser of the King Djoser, and he didn't quite stab the king in the back and go about cavorting with his bride.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-21465014821368175732010-12-19T02:33:00.000-05:002010-12-19T02:33:43.117-05:00Augmented Reality, the Word (Lens) on the Street, and the (Delicious) Cloud ConundrumNow this one's about 2 tech topics, one of them part social issue, recently in the news.<br />
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Augmented reality applications are all the rage these days. What is Augmented Reality you ask? If you're one of those technologically-challenged folks, well it's a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated sensory input such as sound or graphics. Essentially, the computer adds virtual objects to your view of the world to help you gain information. <br />
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AR is commonplace in the military world with heads up displays (HUDs) showing a pilot or soldier target location, missile lock information, distance, altitude and other such details overlaid across his or her view. When they came to cellphones and mobile devices, it was first in the form of simple applications like the AR Tower defense game (you build laser towers and defend the center from invaders) on the Symbian-enabled (these days you'd be better off saying "Symbian-<i>disabled</i>") Nokia N95 smartphone. The game used the phone's camera feed as the environment, with the aid of fiduciary markers, or physical points of reference placed manually within the camera's view, and generated the "playing board".<br />
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Interest in AR was recently sparked by Star Wars : Falcon Gunner, an augmented reality game that lets you use the city (via your camera) as your background and simulate an actual window through which you can shoot at TIE fighters from the fictional Star Wars universe. Watch the video above. But it's not all fun and games.<br />
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Browsers like Wikitude brought forth a new genre of applications. Ones that let you see the world around you in more (useful) detail. Integrating itself with the GPS, accelerometer and compass on mobile devices running on Symbian, Android and iOS, the Wikitude World Browser and Wikitude Drive applications show you visually where you are, the history of the place, and what spots of interest lie around you from a ground level real-time view as you pan your camera. Feed wikitude an image of some product you find at a supermarket or department store and it'll return product details and where to find said item within your vicinity. A similar application exists by default on Samsung's Galaxy Tab too. There are others like Layar and TagWhat.<br />
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Now a new application for iOS has taken it to a whole new level. It's called Word Lens. What it does is take the video feed from your camera, recognize any foreign language words in the live video, and replace those words seamlessly with their translated version in real-time. Now that is just awesome! You don't need to take a picture and wait for it to translate. The processing is real-time. For now the app is free, but the dictionaries (right now you have only Spanish to English and English to Spanish available) are paid - the price is very reasonable though, around $5 a pop. It's not perfect, but it's a promising start in the right direction and makes you go "wow" the first time you try it.<br />
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While I'm on the topic of changing the view of the world around us, augmenting it, there's also the question of our own lives moving more into the virtual world. With facebook and orkut, picasa and flickr, dropbox and skydrive, to name a few, a good amount of our data is stored online. Enter the cloud. Wikipedia says that Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared servers provide resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand, as with the electricity grid. So all your data is not on your PC but on a server provided by a 3rd party on the internet. This offloads a great deal of stuff from your hard drive, helps you free up memory and lets you access your data from anywhere in the world. You can work on your documents on the move, collaborate with colleagues a 1000 miles away, share your vacation videos with friends without using any physical media and make backups to online services to preemptively counter any possible data loss on your hard drive. There's also a green side to things as it lets you pool computing resources.<br />
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This is all well and good but like some bright foresighted individual once said "No pain, no gain". Indeed, the risks are significant. All your data is on "the cloud". Your deepest personal secrets, your work details, family photos and what not. The companies hosting them don't "own" the data in a moral sense, but they do technically have control of said data. Lawfully or unlawfully this data can be accessed by them and used. All that separates your data and some creepy dude trying to get at it is a username and password in most cases.<br />
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We all know how often passwords can be leaked. The recent Gawker Media fiasco was evidence enough. The passwords, email IDs and usernames of nearly 1.5 million users of Gawker Media sites (Gawker.com, Fleshbot, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, io9, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Jezebel) were stolen by hackers who then posted the information publicly on the internet. Considering how many people use similar passwords on other accounts with similar usernames and email addresses on several other websites, you can guess how secure your data is. <br />
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Your access to cloud applications is dictated by internet connectivity. You have no real control over the bandwidth you possess and any disconnection hampers your work if you're dependent on those files in the cloud. Availability of your data and applications is a key issue, especially in the business world. <br />
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Any downtime on the service provider's end is your loss. What happens when your cloud service provider disappears altogether? A danger highlighted by Yahoo's recent disowning of "Delicious" - a social bookmarking service. With more than 5 and a half million users storing their bookmarks online, sharing them with people across the globe, it's not something you'd expect to shut shop in a jiffy. Those bookmarks could very well be built up over a few years. Yahoo, meanwhile, decided to 'sunset' Delicious and the blogosphere blew up with talk about Delicious shutting down and people losing all those bookmarks. It later turned out that Yahoo was letting go of Delicious but that the latter was looking for a new partner to pick it up. If this can happen to a bookmarking service, what happens when your favorite photo-sharing site goes down? Do you really want to be in the position of having a month to download and re-organize all 100GB worth of your files that you've racked up over 4 or 5 years? Or even worse, would you want to risk losing them all? One of the dangers of cloud storage is that you can never predict what can happen. There is also the problem of incompatibility between different cloud service providers. When one goes down, you can't just shift all your data to another without uploading each and every piece of it (provided you even have a physical copy of that information at that time).<br />
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The cloud is all the rage with people predicting that iTunes will one day offer a cloud service for your music too. All I know is, if I ever put my data on any cloud, I'll have both eyes firmly on the provider.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-26477521631615207232010-12-17T00:29:00.002-05:002010-12-17T07:30:56.631-05:00College Chronicles : Sector Seven ;)Now that I'm into the final semester of my Bachelors in Engineering, here's the customary College Chronicles post mentioning highlights of my time at college during the sem gone by.<br />
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When the 7th semester began I was juggling the work I had left at IIT Madras and all that was happening at college. The seventh semester being tight as it was didn't quite help matters. Had some friends to help out though:<br />
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Professional Ethics was one subject which we all took easy. The professor who took it had to leave for Italy on some training program for 10 months. So what he did was hold classes on Saturdays too (which I conveniently missed to continue my internship at IIT). Can't say he had too many fans though, especially with the way he corrected papers. However, this did have a positive effect on the latter part of the sem. He pretty much disappeared after mid-August leaving us with a whole day free. <br />
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The other faculty members couldn't leave well alone though, so we inevitably had classes on most days. In the midst of this, a classmate and I were working on a project sanctioned by the IEEE itself (yeah, with funding from them). That took up a lot of my time with welding, metal cutting, frequent trips to electrical and mechanical part shops and some electrical stuff to be done. I guess I was wrong to expect a "free" start to the 4th year. Once my extended internship at IIT was completed, there was the GRE to prepare for with just 2 weeks left on the clock. The kind of English the ETS tests us on is filled with words you'd rarely ever use even if you were a literature major or a lawyer. When that was done with, it was back to concentrating completely on college. Most of us were so engrossed in what was being taught that we didn't notice this dog take a walk through out class.<br />
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Now, when I say "concentrating completely" what I mean is enjoying every day to the fullest and preparing for exams on the very night before the test. Some would only study on the morning of the test. While class was on, you'd find most people looking more at their watches than at the professor teaching. When a particular teacher once asked why everyone wanted the class to finish so soon. Reply from our representative Praveen: "Ma'm, Pasikkidhu (hungry)". LOL. Yes, Thalaivar Praveen is a very hungry young man as evinced below.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8315/07092010114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/8315/07092010114.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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The next bit of comedy came as a result of a particular report we had to submit each week. Now, this was for one of the lab classes. While some of us did do it sincerely (yes, that includes me), there would always be a few groups rushing to put together a report at the last minute. Code "borrowed" from one report, theory from another, calculations from yet another. A composite report so to speak. :) Why, some reports would only differentiate themselves from others in the kind of font they used.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5269/31082010066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5269/31082010066.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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This year was also the beginning of a new phenomenon during Dr. PK's classes. Some diagrams from Petrochemical Instrumentation are, <i>strictly speaking </i>;) , just insane to say the least. And not all of us can depend on our quick rough sketches which are quite often far from accurate. So I took the initiative and asked him if he'd let me photograph the board after he'd drawn it. Contrary to popular belief, he was more than willing to oblige. Ever since, it is his wont to put forth a sly "Gaurav, don't want a photo?" every few diagrams :P <br />
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One of the staircases was declared off-limits 'officially' this semester.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3591/03112010211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3591/03112010211.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Beginning at a 019019, frequent trips to college helped me breach the 20,000km mark on the car. Besides the work on the new Metro lines in the city was creating traffic snarls all along the route to college and driving me nuts. And when it rained hard, oh my, the roads would be flooded. At such times, especially when an exam was close by, we'd resign ourselves to eagerly keeping watch for this announcement courtesy of Mr. Ramanan.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8240/25082010062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8240/25082010062.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">(It reads "Chennai schools and colleges are on leave today thanks to heavy rain")</div><br />
On the home front, Mum thought it'd be a good idea to change out the old mats and put something more..umm... colorful... there to say the least. I knew there was something fishy going on. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/2775/04102010163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/2775/04102010163.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
This hectic timetable had me tired and bored. For reasons unknown, my scratch support chief (like tech support, except you scratch him when you have a problem and you feel better) seemed much more tired than me throughout the semester. Yeah, Mr. Cactus:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4863/12112010233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4863/12112010233.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It's common to hear the expression "Padichu kizhichitten" when referring to the intensity of one's preparation. However "Padichu Chair e odachen" is a new one. Broke it and fell flat on the ground during one of my pre-exam night study sessions. Might have had something to do with the fact that I was falling asleep sitting....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3465/17112010235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/3465/17112010235.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Birthdays were celebrated with pomp and splendor as always in class. And yeah, with cake and plenty of ice-cream too. Observe how one of our daredevil class representatives spits in the face of danger and licks cream off a knife. Mr. Vigneshwaran attempts to recreate the effect albeit in his dream world with his finger. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9721/19102010194.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9721/19102010194.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/9049/12102010178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/9049/12102010178.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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This time around, we also hit a few big malls and went to the movies to celebrate the majority of us securing employment offers.<br />
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Our intra-college festivities took place as always in the form of Sivaranjini 2010 as well as the intra-college technical fest LiveBeat held by our department (hats off to my classmates who worked pretty hard to make this a success). Some posters (concerned with other events happening around campus) invited us to enhance our electromagnetic properties too, not sure that was quite what they were getting at :P<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1615/19102010195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1615/19102010195.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
There was one workshop by National Instruments conducted for our benefit. Only issues were that the class was packed and the microphone didn't work. Didn't help that the guy from NI couldn't really raise his voice either and that we were seated behind our juniors. End result - I slept through some of it despite trying my best (with my fingers even lol) to hold my eyes open. I'd imagine most others were far worse. Props to Topper Harini for capturing this snap.<br />
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I mentioned employment a few lines back. This semester we had companies coming to campus to recruit us. What this offers us, apart from a chance to write placement tests, sit for interviews and group discussions, is an opportunity to enjoy a day out with friends without fear of losing attendance. The only placement session I attended ... well the company HR Manager told me that I was "overqualified" for the job with the stuff I had in my resume. LOL. The only thing worthwhile that day was the trip to KFC with my classmates:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6315/07092010116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6315/07092010116.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4006/07092010115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4006/07092010115.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Yes, Santhosh was busy looking at the food tray in Vigneshwaran's hands)</div><br />
I'd put in a word in my last College Chronicles post, if I'm not mistaken, about a paper of mine that had been selected among the ones to be published in the conference proceedings of an IEEE conference in Shanghai. Well, it was dang in the middle of our end semester exams and that led to a drastic change in the timetable giving us pretty much 9 days worth of holidays inbetween the 3rd and 4th final exam dates. While the guys went back to their native places and the girls revised the remaining subjects' portions 10 times over (no offense meant hehe) during that respite the university afforded our department, I headed to Hong Kong first and then Shanghai where I presented the paper. It was received quite well and I got to see a lot of sights. The university didn't pick up the tab for even a portion of the (considerably large) conference registration fees (or any other expense for that matter) though because I'm not a PhD scholar or professor, and Vigneshwaran, my co-author, couldn't accompany me for lack of time to prepare for the conference and his management exams. So I turned this into a vacation with my parents. Had a wonderful time, really, and I'll be detailing all the sights seen and things we did in Hong Kong and Shanghai (with pictures mind you) in later posts on the blog. Stick around for that, or better yet subscribe for e-mail updates or the <a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/blogspot/eOEK">RSS feed </a>so you won't miss out on anything. The links are on the left hand side column. You can also get notified of articles if you're in India using <a href="http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/subscribe/TheLoneWolfBlog">Google labs free SMS notifications.</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/6269/23112010305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/6269/23112010305.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Special thanks to my friend Kaushik and his driver for picking me up on their way to college whenever I hadn't slept enough to drive myself to an end semester exam. Without him, a lot of my last-minute reading wouldn't get done because I'd have to concentrate on driving during that last one hour. Speaking of which, this was my final odometer reading:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9346/30112010325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9346/30112010325.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">21111</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And so ends this College Chronicles post. Another 5-6 months and the final part of this tale will be up. The 8th semester has started off just fine, here's hoping it goes well too - especially our final year project. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Do note that the remaining days of the Egypt trip will be up shortly on the blog, followed of course by a travelogue of the Shanghai-Hong Kong vacation + conference. Don't miss it. :) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">PS: Cheers to you if you got the Transformers reference in the title!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-12761388743907006282010-12-07T01:27:00.001-05:002010-12-07T01:28:42.564-05:00I'm BackI've been gone quite some time from my blog, I know. This has been one hectic semester at college, not to mention the onerous task of filling in and completing applications to universities for my higher education. Had to pop over to Hong Kong for a bit and to Shanghai for an IEEE conference where I presented a paper of mine. And my most annoying exams played their part in keeping me occupied too.<br />
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So now I'm back ... kinda. I still have a few days pending from my Egypt travelogue to complete. Then I'll have the customary College Chronicles post up, to be followed by a detailed description of my days in Hong Kong and Shanghai - what I saw, where I went etc. <br />
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All this will start trickling onto the blog one by one after the 11th (that's 4 days away). A little bit busy till then though. I'm happy now that I'm averaging above 1500 unique page visits each month consistently over the last few months too. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://pleasedontstare.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/rorschach1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://pleasedontstare.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/rorschach1.gif" /></a></div><br />
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Apparently, Rorschach has been running around the world - leaking his diary on the net, embarrassing some powerful people and such. Props if you get the reference. ;)<br />
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Here's hoping you'll be there for the upcoming posts. Happy holidays!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-55729437090582558142010-11-07T13:58:00.001-05:002010-11-07T13:59:37.041-05:00X-Ray doodle - 115th anniversaryIt was a hundred and fifteen years ago on the late afternoon of 8th November 1895 that Wilhelm Röntgen discovered and produced X-Rays with a cardboard covered Hittorf-Crookes tube. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Anna_Berthe_Roentgen.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Anna_Berthe_Roentgen.gif" width="218" /></a></div><br />
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Above is his wife Anna Bertha's hand's photo, the very first actual X-ray image ever taken, one that made her exclaim "I have seen death!". Quite ironic given the fact that this would give the medical fraternity a powerful diagnostic tool in the decades to come.<br />
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Roentgen later won the very first Nobel Prize in Physics for his work.<br />
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And to commemorate the 115th anniversary of said event, Google has put out this most wonderful doodle on their search page:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIysTnBv76YMpf64vYzEmv3a0UQObZ7somup-00zmzorMM8p_I6IDGvHnhZKO0DW4GMy0s2Ebuz_5bqhBwHBoIiJisy6rP0Q0ikv9rPcrFsQ17R36UWgFsXZ1uN3-fFMQCKB_t0K_cnUi/s1600/xraydiscovery2010-ps.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrIysTnBv76YMpf64vYzEmv3a0UQObZ7somup-00zmzorMM8p_I6IDGvHnhZKO0DW4GMy0s2Ebuz_5bqhBwHBoIiJisy6rP0Q0ikv9rPcrFsQ17R36UWgFsXZ1uN3-fFMQCKB_t0K_cnUi/s400/xraydiscovery2010-ps.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Observe this carefully crafted animated (shimmering) gif. If it doesn't shimmer for you, just click on the image and open it separately. Trust Google when you need to be reminded of an important date. :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-49095776824897695192010-11-06T13:20:00.002-04:002010-12-07T14:27:53.947-05:00TRON : Legacy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos.webridestv.com/datastore/images/user/af399b961721ecb3d8f0cab02a55b58f/Tron_Legacy_Light_Cycle_204959_20090725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://photos.webridestv.com/datastore/images/user/af399b961721ecb3d8f0cab02a55b58f/Tron_Legacy_Light_Cycle_204959_20090725.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Considered a cult success, TRON is one of those films that made a big impact among the geek crowd. Now with Disney's sequel coming to theaters real soon, the excitement is at a fever pitch again.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Tronlegacy.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Tronlegacy.jpg.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br />
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The tale of a once-wronged programmer taking his fight to a computer program will now get its sequel Tron : Legacy where Jeff Bridges reprises his role as Kevin Flynn. The stunningly electro-luminescent world of TRON comes to life this time following the exploits of Sam Flynn, when he gets pulled into the computer world of light cycles and illuminated discs trying to find his father.<br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_6Afc2uzw4g?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_6Afc2uzw4g?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x2b405b&color2=0x6b8ab6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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Slated for a December 17, 2010 release, the flick has already generated a lot of hype across the net, and Daft Punk have been busy doing the music for it.<br />
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Here are a few samples to whet your appetite while you wait.<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F7310695&secret_url=false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F7310695&secret_url=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <a href="http://soundcloud.com/joinlick/derezzed">Derezzed</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/joinlick">joinlick</a> <br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F6750396&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=0033ff"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F6750396&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=0033ff" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <a href="http://soundcloud.com/electrocorp/daft-punk-tron-legacy-original-mix-new-track-nov-2010">Daft Punk - Tron Legacy (Original Mix) (New track / Nov. 2010)</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/electrocorp">Electrocorp.fr</a><br />
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You'll definitely like the tracks if you're of a techno bent of mind.<br />
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Prepare to have the bugs in your code derezzed ;-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-47351534022978426352010-09-02T13:26:00.001-04:002010-09-02T15:21:18.204-04:00My thoughts on the IEEE<div style="text-align: justify;"> My first encounter with the acronym IEEE came when I saw it next to the numbers 1394. The more technically adept / computer-savvy among you might recognize the name Firewire - a common port available on so many PCs these days. The IEEE develops standards all over the world for technologies ranging from Firewire to USB to Wireless communication. Yes, the IEEE is ubiquitous and in a good way. Right from my school days, I've heard about the IEEE and looked upon it as this mythical group meant only for the engineering elite who are all knowing in matters of technology. The fact of the matter is that the organization comprises 395,000 members in around 150 countries, all working toward progress of any technology that is even distantly related to electricity. It was only recently, by the way, that I discovered that the logo of this organization was representative of the right-hand grip rule (a very well known rule relating to electricity and magnetism) .</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/IEEE_logo.svg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/IEEE_logo.svg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">The<b> </b><a href="http://www.ieee.org/"><b>Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers</b></a><b> </b>had its origins in the<i> American Institute of Electrical Engineers</i> which was founded way back in 1884. The latter merged with the Institute of Radio Engineers to form what we know of, today, as the IEEE. It has the most members of any technical professional organization in the world. It also publishes 30% of the world's electrical, electronics and computer science-related literature and has 38 societies that cover specialized technical domains. However, the IEEE also has different organizational units based on geography. For instance, IEEE India has 10 sections (like Madras Section, Bombay section, Calcutta section and Kharagpur section). It is almost mandatory (if your work lies in an electronic/ electrical/ computer engineering related area) to have your work published in an IEEE journal or accepted at an IEEE conference to add weight to your proposals and research these days. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Membership is available at a discounted rate to students and the benefits of the same are many. Since I took this route, I'll be looking at the IEEE more from a student's point of view. First and foremost, being an IEEE member entitles you to access to the Xplore digital library. This database contains nearly 2 million papers and full-text articles. As part of the membership, you also get IEEE Spectrum, a monthly print (and electronic if you'd rather read it online) magazine detailing the latest developments in vocations related to electrical, electronic and computer science engineering. You also get up to date notification about the latest IEEE sponsored conferences in your fields of interest, not to mention significant discounts in the conference fees for students.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <a href="http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/membership/my_ieee.html">myIEEE</a> portal is your gateway to this wonderful wealth of information once you are a member. If you do sign up, don't forget to complete your profile and state your areas of interest. Sometimes, you'll get lucky and be offered a free membership (along with digital magazine access) of societies in your field of interest. You'll also find a number of free webinar (that's an online seminar) offers coming your way - all opportunities to get up to speed on recent trends in the areas you've mentioned on your IEEE profile page. And to confirm the authenticity of an IEEE conference, just head over to the IEEE's website and click on the "<a href="http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/index.html">conferences and events</a>" link. Then use the search function to find the conference you desire. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ieee.org/ucm/groups/public/@ieee/@web/@org/@voluntr/documents/images/30002209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.ieee.org/ucm/groups/public/@ieee/@web/@org/@voluntr/documents/images/30002209.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My own experience with the IEEE has been very good. I've become a member of a few societies too in addition to the basic IEEE student membership. One of my project ideas was shortlisted within the top 27 in the country for funding from the IEEE foundation via Bangalore section. Had a very fruitful correspondence with a professor of Osaka University from IEEE Japan, where one of my papers was sent (what with it being IEEE Region-10 HQ) after being selected among the top 3 student papers at the Madras Section. Access to IEEE Xplore was also very helpful during my internship at IIT Madras. A paper of mine was accepted at an international conference of the IEEE in Shanghai, China and will be published on IEEE Xplore and in the conference proceedings at the end of the year. International IEEE Conferences are a great way to meet and interact with the best researchers and experts in the dominion of the engineering, and to present your ideas to all these scholars who come from far and wide. All this would have certainly not been possible without a membership in the IEEE and access to its services. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ieee.org/ucm/groups/public/@ieee/@web/@org/@voluntr/@trainng/documents/images/30002311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://www.ieee.org/ucm/groups/public/@ieee/@web/@org/@voluntr/@trainng/documents/images/30002311.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Why I even got to help organize and volunteer (showing my talent as a pianist/keyboardist) at IEEE India's 125th anniversary celebrations! It's not all just about academics and research. Recently, the IEEE contributed a major amount towards flood relief in Pakistan. And if you think the focus on electronics is absolute, think again. To state an example, it was from <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/">IEEE's Spectrum</a> that I learnt about Sikorsky's recent efforts to build a helicopter that could do 430km/hr+, the sole preserve of fixed wing aircraft. The IEEE even operates <a href="http://ieee.tv/">IEEE.tv</a> - an internet based television network that delivers content about engineering and technology for the benefit of IEEE's members and the general public. I'd be much obliged if you could refer any of your friends who'd like a student's view on the IEEE to this page. Do retweet these 2 tweets - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://bit.ly/aPF9NG" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0099cc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http:<wbr></wbr>//bit.ly/aPF9NG</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"> and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://bit.ly/dAZguy" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0099cc; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/dAZguy</a> -</span> on twitter if you liked the article. It would sure help convince some fence-sitters to take the plunge. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">To summarize, if you're in one of the disciplines that emphasizes a skill in electronics or electrical engineering or computer science, or if your work is vaguely related to these subjects, I think an IEEE membership would immensely benefit you. The IEEE's sphere of influence is vast. Be a part of it! </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4332062496387069281.post-27422848206962331292010-09-01T08:10:00.000-04:002010-09-01T08:10:07.628-04:00Whipping up some homemade ice-cream (banana)Contrary to the suggestive title there's no whipped cream used here ;) , but what I'll be describing is a simple way to make some banana ice-cream.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://maidon.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph/regional_consortia/images/stories/starrdec/banana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://maidon.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph/regional_consortia/images/stories/starrdec/banana.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<b>Ingredients/Things you'll need:</b><br />
<ul><li>Green Banana (Robusta - a particular variety) - 3 or 4 of these fruits. I did it with 3. </li>
<li>Sweetened Condensed milk - 1 tin (around 400g) of Nestle's Milkmaid will do fine</li>
<li>Lemon - 1 piece (1 lemon for every 3-4 bananas)</li>
<li>A few spoons and ladles, A vessel with a moderately deep but flat bottom, a Blender</li>
<li>Enough sense <b>not </b>to put your finger in the milkmaid tin to extract what's left on the walls after pouring most of it out.</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfh74Oq5zhAsw_tGIkwHuMtPL79ndpytNq2NnVhozQEadOqWzGiP9OfHcWzppvtPxnkuCpr4OLB9E4_itFk4hK6zEVOogPa246ghrF1BwJ8D5sWW5ZESDZm15zx-Cgpqn13oLSzodGvVo/s1600/milkmaid+main.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfh74Oq5zhAsw_tGIkwHuMtPL79ndpytNq2NnVhozQEadOqWzGiP9OfHcWzppvtPxnkuCpr4OLB9E4_itFk4hK6zEVOogPa246ghrF1BwJ8D5sWW5ZESDZm15zx-Cgpqn13oLSzodGvVo/s320/milkmaid+main.gif" /></a></div><div><br />
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<b>Directions:</b><br />
<div><ul><li>Empty the contents of the Milkmaid tin into a vessel.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Cut the bananas into little pieces, put them in a blender and blend them until a fine paste is obtained. You shouldn't have even a little solid piece left in that paste, if you do take it out and re-blend it.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Pour this paste into the same vessel with the Milkmaid. Mix well using a spoon/ladle.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Now, cut the lemon into 2 halves. Squeeze whatever's in both halves out into your vessel. Imagine yourself to be someone from the IRS and the lemon your prey :-P . Apparently, the lemon juice and something in robusta variety of banana work together to act as a binding agent for the ice-cream.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Once again, mix it up well with your spoon / ladle. Feel free to throw in chocolate chips while doing so if you are in a mood to gorge on some chocolate chip banana ice-cream.</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8W1P0E59lR_N8rpXMVPSIUk5LGt_-QY8-A7uYX-ovtYf8LQ7N75uS9Jo-_Xwhf6M6QLQNF1cSpehiQUPr4JBfEy2hkFvcKP6LrrBlnrLbUDIAFW19KPZbKujgMDGXZDkBH3wnpmvbFzLW/s1600/01092010073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8W1P0E59lR_N8rpXMVPSIUk5LGt_-QY8-A7uYX-ovtYf8LQ7N75uS9Jo-_Xwhf6M6QLQNF1cSpehiQUPr4JBfEy2hkFvcKP6LrrBlnrLbUDIAFW19KPZbKujgMDGXZDkBH3wnpmvbFzLW/s320/01092010073.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><ul><li>When everything's blended together, cover said vessel and put it in the freezer section of your refrigerator. set your freezer to the highest setting / lowest temperature possible.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Finally, let it chill in there for 7-8 hours. Do NOT take it out during that time.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Test it on your dog/guinea pig for safety ;) Mr. Cactus was willing to oblige.</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWUxcbL7yqTWrDOfBCK0_tj5QvMatKfXTB4AUXjZKY3Y7rAeuVbTp326l8tSlODXCvAqUqFFH1UkZq5_zjU9wtPkJuPaopX1G1bcGLVnUELaQqti0WxaBiGx8gHVVuE8kT8Lhw8iV3jhD/s1600/01092010072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWUxcbL7yqTWrDOfBCK0_tj5QvMatKfXTB4AUXjZKY3Y7rAeuVbTp326l8tSlODXCvAqUqFFH1UkZq5_zjU9wtPkJuPaopX1G1bcGLVnUELaQqti0WxaBiGx8gHVVuE8kT8Lhw8iV3jhD/s320/01092010072.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
</div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Enjoy your homemade banana ice cream. :) Note that the ingredients are almost completely natural, with no artificial binders or synthetic flavors in the mixture.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCS7LDXUNGDixO2YRjC7wE5F-3bP2S8EspEL25xLeX1Qimv_H5cKimTHMDYIgSWY-hc8-iUuAD5dQ06fTFkgT62E1fQx_kWXNVyMg6ogGRglzIuh4gy05YprC-lV6qDlMq4yy8dhcV7P84/s1600/28062010499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCS7LDXUNGDixO2YRjC7wE5F-3bP2S8EspEL25xLeX1Qimv_H5cKimTHMDYIgSWY-hc8-iUuAD5dQ06fTFkgT62E1fQx_kWXNVyMg6ogGRglzIuh4gy05YprC-lV6qDlMq4yy8dhcV7P84/s320/28062010499.jpg" /></a></div><div><br />
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</div><div>And don't you dare try contravening the last point under "ingredients". I assure you you'll be sorry if it's a Milkmaid tin. Curse you, sharped edged Milkmaid tin designer you! </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13234620876562467559noreply@blogger.com2