Abhishek's Blog

Patent Absurdity - My two cents

2010-04-19T06:34:00.001+01:00

Just watched this film, Patent Absurdity. Well, let me brief you a little bit about it.

Every week, more than 3000 patents are granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Of these, more than 50% are software patents. And this has been going on for a good few years now. The point here is, after the patent is granted, the company/person/owner of the patent has full rights to sue any other person/company if it tries to infringe on the patent. All well and good so far.

Now, here's the problem with the system. Imagine the tech scenario 10 years later when the patents are everywhere and everything. Imagine how much the programmer has to go through to write the software just to make sure that he doesn't infringe any patent in the process. Even if someone has a genuinely good idea, he would be wary of introducing it because of the fear of getting sued because he has infringed on a patent without any intention to do so.

All this does is make money for the patent lawyers and other companies who are only looking to sue other people/company to make a quick buck.

Imagine the impact it will have on the true innovations that are made at the grassroots level by the programmers.

And this is what the movie is trying to convey. Patent system has been a failure and it will do more harm than good in the future.

Just my two cents.

My computer shuts down reaaally fast!!

2010-03-23T11:38:00.001Z

Everybody sort of keeps on discussing the bootup time of their PCs in the forums. The technical tests are conducted thoroughly to find exactly how much time (in micro-seconds) it takes to boot the system.

According to a relevant source, Windows 7 boots up in about almost a minute from the start time, when you assume that you take approx 5 secs to login as the relevant user. Now, if you check the article, it is soo bloody full of facts and results and the type of PCs they have used and what not.

Well, I do not see any such study conducted about the shutdown time. Well, why not I ask? I like to sit at my computer until the laaast minute and then rush out the door to do the other chores. And when I leave, I want my computer to shutdown FAST.

Now, I had XP installed in my computer, and then I had Vista and then Windows 7. All of them take a loong time to shutdown and I am there staring at the BLUE screen (I hope it would be blue screen of death, then I can just press the power button and turn it off for good ) waiting for it to shutdown. I want my shutdowns fast.

Well, now that I have switched to Linux Mint 8 – Helena, I find my bootups as well as shutdowns to be exceedingly fast. My boot up time has gone down to almost 30 secs while shutdown is 5 secs. I think this is acceptable for me. Linux Rocks!

Anyway, on my same machine, Windows 7 dragged and dragged me with it shutting down and I am here drooling and waiting and *&^”%”*.

Anyway, I noticed that Windows 7 also slowed down a bit after the initial month (exactly like XP and Vista) and once I had a few apps running in my taskbar, opening a Word doc took me more than 10 secs, which is really unacceptable, right?

On this same machine, in Mint, I have more than 6 apps running (opera, firefox, twitter app for opera, multiple pidgin windows, rhythmbox and this openoffice writer on which I write my blogs) and I open up Thunderbird to check my emails, and Viola!, it only takes 2 secs to load, if even that!!!

I used to love Windows, used Linux from time to time but then eventually came back to Windows due to drivers and functionality and other issues. But now, I must say, everything I can do in Windows I can do it in Linux with more customizations and faster! I love my desktop right now (it has a cool Orange fire theme that I created myself, its that easy ! And the best part, it is ALL FREE!!!

Opensource is the way of the future, and sooner the people adopt it, the better.

GO LINUX!!! PENGUIN RULES!

Ricoh webcam on HP Pavilion dv6000 series laptops work with Linux!!

2010-03-20T06:03:00.002Z

I have been trying to setup my Linux system to recognise my webcam for a long time now, but somehow, was never successful. And this one time when I was successful, I rejoiced and removed my Windows completely and installed Kubuntu alone to test if I can survive without Windows altogether.

However, after the re-installation, the webcam never did come up in Kubuntu again (after some very rigorous efforts). And I ended up installing Windows again only because of the webcam (I need the webcam. I talk to my family regularly from Skype.).

Then, I tried out LinuxMint 8, which is bloody awesome! Below is a screenshot of my Mint OS:

I know ! It does look awesome, doesn't it? ;)

Anyway, coming to the point. Well, I looked at a lot of forums and but could not get my webcam to work. And then, I found this website

http://linux.softpedia.com/progDownload/ricoh-webcam-r5u870-Download-30296.html

I was able to download the Deb package for my webcam and installed XAWTV (sudo apt-get install xawtv) and voila! , it worked!!

Doesn't work with Cheese though (dunno why!!??). Anyway, here are my specs:

HP Pavilion dv6000 series laptop

Webcam: Ricoh 1.3M Webcam

Specific model: dv6244eu

Installation Procedure:-

The procedure is simple:-

Download the firmware first from here for x86 architechture or here for amd64 architechture.
Next, download the modules here. For x86, click here, and for amd64, click here.
Now, since it is a Deb package, your Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Mint should automatically recognise it. Install the firmware first and then install the module.
To verify, use the command below to check if the module shows up fine in the lsmod.

oem@Abhi-laptop ~ $ lsmod |grep r5u

r5u870 24132 0

usbcam 41212 1 r5u870

oem@Abhi-laptop ~ $ ^C

oem@Abhi-laptop ~ $

You should see the above two entries in your output. Once you have verified this, install XAWTV: 'sudo apt-get install xawtv'
Once done, run XAWTV and you should see your webcam recognised. If it still doesn't work, try 'xawtv /dev/video0' and check.

If the above steps do not work, let me know here.

Thanks for reading and hth.

CHEVRON/TEXACO – The great oily mess of the Amazonian Ecuador

2010-03-13T11:39:00.001Z

I was just watching an amazing documentary in regards to the Amazon forest. Now, to watch the whole documentary and the full story, you will need to watch the documentary “CRUDE” (trailer below).

Here’s the brief about what the documentary is about. In 1970’s, TEXACO setup a crude oil plant in Amazonian part of Ecuador. Now, an oil plant can generate a LOT of dump and waste. Now, this being a third world country and a poor country and TEXACO being all BIG, american company and all, this has what it has come down to. TEXACO dumped all its wastes and other things into the jungles of Amazon, without so much as a consideration to the local, indigenous people already living there. After about 20 years, the local people who washed and bathed in the local river where the waste was dumped, started to develop skin diseases and cancer.

And this is a mere sauce on the whole muddled pudding. TEXACO created pits where they dumped this waste (the number almost made me cry, more than 900) and when it rained, they also created pipes where the excess water collected in these pits would go straight in the river, polluting the core river sources.

In 1993, this cause was taken up by a local, recently graduated lawyer (Pablo Fajardo) and the case ran on for 17 years and still no decision is expected for another few years. The case was filed in the US on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadorians by this lawyer in co-ordination the local US lawyer (see video below). However, the case was then moved to Ecuador by the US court. Also, in 2000 (or around that time, I forgot the exact year), CHEVRON took over TEXACO, and in turn, this case. Once in the Ecuadorian court, and after more than 15 years of fighting for justice, the Ecuador court appointed an independent surveyor to take samples, conduct the study and assess damages that CHEVRON needs to pay. And the study conducted by the independent surveyor appointed by the Ecuadorian court put the damages that is to be paid by CHEVRON to 27 Billion.

The clip below shows the other lawyer talking about the lawsuit.

As for the CHEVRON’s stance on this, see the video below where Sylvia (CHEVRON manager) talks about how this is all BS and there is nothing CHEVRON can do and ladidahdidah…

Here’s her video below:-

Well, she’s a bitch for sure. I cannot fathom how she can go home and sleep or even face her family after lying so publicly and openly.

The litigation will go on there is nothing that is to be gained from it by the local people. In the end, the BIG company will keep on buying the judiciary process and delay the justice system. The game is now to wait-and-watch, as it has been for the last 17 years.

All the best and good luck to the lawyers fighting for justice in this case. And my heartfelt prayers to the people of Ecuadorian Amazon.

www.crudethemovie.com

If you care about the environment, please do visit the site below and sign the petition to do something about the litigation and help the people of Ecuadorian Amazon.

http://chevrontoxico.com/

Your little effort and help will go miles in winning the justice they have been long bereaved of.

Deleted all your emails from your Hotmail web account when enabled POP3?

2010-01-30T07:36:00.001Z

Did you delete all your emails when you decided to try the POP3 service of the hotmail account? Did Windows Live support tell you that once the messages have been deleted from their servers, there is no way to recover them?

Well, fear not. I have a way to recover the emails. Just follow this link and check out my reply to recover your emails :)

http://windowslivehelp.com/community/p/18055/726713.aspx#726713

Happy email-ing!!!

Like Outlook, have your Thunderbird replies sent out in Blue (or any other colour you choose)!

2010-01-29T22:26:00.001Z

Many of us love Thunderbird for its functionality and flexibility. But for a while now, I have been looking to change my reply to be of a different colour, just like Microsoft Outlook does. I looked around a lot, but was not able to find it. However, now I have the solution J

Note: This is applicable for Thunderbird 3.0 or later.

To do this, you will need the following add-on, SmartTemplate. This nice, little add-on allows you to set customised templates for New messages, replies as well as forwards, and all of this in HTML or normal plain text format.

Once the add-on is installed, open up the editor for the add-on by going to “Tools->Addons->SmartTemplate->Options” as shown below.

A new window opens up as below.

This is the magic window where you can do WHATEVER you want with your messages. Let me start by explaining the options we have on each tab. The text box window is where you type the plain-text or HTML code that you wish to. If you need HTML code, select the “Apply following template for the new message” and then select “Use HTML” check boxes. De-select the “replace new-line with ” option, unless you know how to use it.

The Reply tab also has the same options, with one additional option. This option “Use instead of standard quote header” when selected replaces the “XXX wrote…” quote which is placed in the replies by default. These are the same options on the “Forward” tab as well.

Now, the template for the New message is below:

<body>

<div>

Regards,

--

John Smith

Marketing Manager

Flowers Consulting

Cell: (+91) 540 781

Web: <a href=http://kharvadi.blogspot.com> http://kharvadi.blogspot.com <a>

</div>

The signature above will look something like below when starting a new message:-
Regards,
--
John Smith
Marketing Manager
Flowers Consulting
Cell: (+91) 540 781
Web: http://kharvadi.blogspot.com

You can change the colour of your new message by changing the color field in the code #000000 with any other color you wish. This is a simple signature and you can make complex signatures to suit your needs.

Now, coming to the Replies, the following code will be required:

<span lang=EN-GB style='color:#1F49A9;mso-themecolor:accent1;

mso-ansi-language:EN-GB'><o:p> </o:p>

Regards,

--

John Smith

Marketing Manager

Flowers Consulting

Cell: (+91) 540 781

Web: <a href="http://kharvadi.blogspot.com">http://kharvadi.blogspot.com</a>

</div>

</body>

--------Original Message-----------<o:p></o:p>

From: %fromname% [%frommail%]

To: %toname% [%tomail%]

{

Cc: %ccmail%

}

Date: %date%

Subject: %subject%

Here, the first part is where you change the reply colour to blue. The colour code is :#1F49A9. The next part is the signature for your outgoing mails. I have kept the colour of my signature to be the same as the colour of my email body, blue (:#1F49A9). But you can change this colour to your liking by change the color field in the line just above “Regards”.

The next part is to modify the header of the email to which you are replying. The final output of the template we have just created should look something like this:

Regards,
--
John Smith
Marketing Manager
Flowers Consulting
Cell: (+91) 540 781
Web: http://kharvadi.blogspot.com

--------Original Message-----------
From: Movies [apps+a09tztz9@facebookappmail.com]
To: John Smith [john.smith@hotmail.com]
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:52:33 -0800
Subject: Opening Movies: Gibson as Detective, Kristen Bell on a Quest For Love, and More...

You may also modify the Forward tab accordingly to make it the way you wish. Well, that’s all folks! Have fun modifying it the way you like. And you may use the templates above as you want.

Science & Religion

2009-05-23T20:37:00.001+01:00

Science and Religion seldom go hand in hand. There is a long history of Religious heads seeing science as something taking one away from the Divine. As someone said, "Science and Religion seldom look each other eye in eye." And the major reason for this comes from the fact that science has significantly eased our materialistic life. On the other hand, religion believes these materialistic gains to be secondary in nature and therefore tries to undermine the significance of science from our daily lives.

But the significance of science cannot be undermined. For one thing, everything science has done is for the sole purpose of knowing the "Truth". If you dig a bit deeper into the philosophy that science follows, it would seem that religion and science are just two sides of the same coin. One is trying to find the truth, the other is trying to take us to the truth. Just the paths are different.

Many of the world's greatest scientists have been believers in the almighty, a higher force which have guided them their entire lifetime. The most famous example is Albert Einstein. He once famously said, "The most beautiful and most profound experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their primitive forms - this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness." – Merging of Science & Spirit.

And how true it is can only be comprehended by someone who has experienced this feeling. This feeling of awe, of wonder, of a higher presence that resides somewhere in this world and inside us at the same time.

The best video ever!

2008-12-24T14:20:00.001Z

Hi Friends,

Please check out this video below. It was uploaded by my friend!

http://www.worldsgreatestbusinessmind.com/20081220-Abhishek-Kharvadi-create.html&WT.mc_id=WGBM

You are of course welcome to leave any message you want about this crap video!

Thanks,

Abhishek

A change of perspective

2008-12-05T10:37:00.000Z

A lot has been going on the terrorism front, to contain it, to prevent it, to subdue it and to eradicate it. In short, all efforts are on to terrorize terrorism. This has become more relevant now than a few years back because of the recent rise of terrorists' attacks not only in India, but around the world and a lot has been done in U.S., U.K and India among others to stop this unbeatable spate of terrorism.
But these measures and counter-measures often were targeted at one single community, Muslims. I had a Muslim friend while I was in England, and after the 9/11 blasts, he often used to joke that having to get visa was like offering yourself as the 'sacrificial goat' to the visa officers. But recent savagery of the Malegoan blasts and the community clashes in Orissa changes everything that was thought about terrorists.
Reports that right-wing Hindu parties are involved in the blasts is definitely shocking. But even more shocking is the involvement of the 'sadhvi', Pragnya Singh in the Malegoan blast. How, I wonder, can a sadhvi even think about choosing to carry out such an act of atrocity is beyond anyone to comprehend (other than herself and the right-wingers of course).
What all these events really changes is the perspective in which terrorism was hunted. The 'community' and 'Muslim' tag no longer apply. The police and politicians can no longer 'pass' the blame straight away into the 'Muslim' camp anymore than the 'Hindu' camp. Muslim neighbourhoods are in as much risk as Hindu, which true even before.
How did this come to pass? How did the RSS fall into the right-wing mind-set? But going a bit deeper into my own history, the answer was not that hard to find.
I was a little boy of around 8-10 and my friend eagerly told me that there are a group of people who play football everyday in the garden nearby. We readily decided to go there the following morning. When we reached there, the game had already commenced and we asked the leader there if they can accommodate us. He agreed, on the condition that we salute the RSS flag which was hoisted and then he would sort us in the teams.
Now this was no problem for my friend, who readily saluted the flag and started playing. However, I refused to salute their flag and was not allowed to play. I watched my friend play football and then learn how to fight with a lathi.
Now, at the time I think was just out of ego that i refused to bow to their flag, I now feel how the seeds of extremism were planted right from the start. As the RSS organisation grew in numbers, the water was fed to the seeds and now its such a huge tree with many branches, all of different shades of colours that it is hard to distinguish the left from the extreme right.
The job for the police and politicians ahead is extremely difficult. Whichever party takes office once the elections are over will have to be truly secular in their approach. BJP's 'Hindutva' campaign has grossly backfired, not to mention their close links with the RSS and VHP, both of which have proved that they will not refrain from using force to implement their agenda.
As for Police and ATS and CBI and any other secret and not-so-secret outfits which try to curb and prevent terrorism, it is time change the perspective of investigating a terrorist act. Finding the motive of the blast is of utmost importance now as both Hindu and Muslim groups head for the supremacy of their race.
It is Mahabharat all over again, with Hindus on one side and Muslims and Christians on the other. And like the earlier one, unless a political solution is reached at with something for all the communities, this one will also end up drowning India and kalyug will start all over again.

The Gandhian way!

2008-11-09T09:58:00.001Z

I try and read as much as I can in the busy weekdays that I work. And catch up on the weekends for more. And its been a while since I actually read something which demotes the current capitalist values and accentuates the hideous policies his adapted country (USA) has followed followed throughout the last few decades. The article was published in The Hindu by an NRI and can be read here:-

http://www.hindu.com/op/2008/11/09/stories/2008110952701600.htm

The author here makes some interesting points about how 'The American Way' to go about in this world is not the way to peace. Although he starts and ends the article promoting the Gandhian way to live simply and in harmony with nature, and more importantly with your fellowmen, whether they be friend or foe, there is little other mention of the Father of the Nation.

But let us not forget the importance of his teachings in these troubled times. Desire and covetousness has seldom led men to their destruction. Similarly, the desire to earn more and to live the American way has been incorporated in todays living. People want everything from fancy beds to sleep and houses to stay to the latest and greatest in mobile phones money can buy. However, these happiness are short-lived. As Gandhi pointed out a long time ago:

Happiness does not come with things, even 20th century things. It can come from work, and pride in what you do!

And how true this is can be evident once you let go of things. Peace comes automatically.

My point here is happiness is not the eventuality of things. Peace is. The mistake most of us make is mistaking happiness for peace whereas happiness can be bought, peace cannot. Happiness is short-lived, peace is long-lasting. Happiness is being with others, peace is being oneself. Happiness creates more desires, peace gives satisfaction.

The periods of testing and suffering bring you near to peace once they are over, makes you realise your mettle. Makes you stronger. The idea is to develop this feeling of peace at all times.

Gandhi was one of the modernest thinkers of all in the whole of past century. His ideas of peace, non-violence and truth are not only the deliverables for peace, but are increasingly relevant during the turning and twisting times we are seeing today. As the author in the above article points out, the goal should be to realise that even as globalisation putatively improves the standards of living of vast swathes of the rural population today, it would be foolish to depend on materialistic things and monetary benefits as the bringers of peace to you, or the world.

Two of the V.V.Worst group to have come up in India in the recent years!

2008-09-16T09:36:00.001+01:00

Although technically, Bajrang Dal (BD) was the first one to come into existence, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is the first one to climb the ladder of worstness, quickly followed by Bajrang Dal.

The recent violent communal clashes in the states are in Orissa and Karnataka. And the most recent one, Vadodara, Gujarat which prompted me into writing this post. Gujarat has a bitter history of communal clashes in the last 2 decades, in 1993 & then again 2002. And at the centre of it all were three parties, BD, VHP and ofcourse, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

Although I won't stress on the obviousness of the futility of such violence, I would like to point out its political implications.

BJP today is close ally of BD and VHP. And although Congress is doing a less than mediocre job of their duties as the government in power, at least they are high in moral values. What I mean to say is, they have always promoted inter-communal harmony and the way forward as the mingling of people from all factions of the society. And one cannot ignore the fact that Orissa, Karnataka and Gujarat are all BJP ruled states. Unless the BJP takes some steps to prevent them from being branded as the hardcore extremist violence-oriented, minority-hating party, they won't last long on the political arena. Because no matter what their stand in these matters, Indians are normally peace-loving people who have accepted all people, no matter what their background, race, colour, religion throughout its history.

I say this because I sincerely believe that BJP has the capabilities (better than Congress) to bring this country into prosperity, and world power indeed. But not in the traditional sense as America is. No way, far from it. On the other hand, I would like India to be power in a sense such that brokers peace between warring countries, and supporting what is right no matter what the consequences.

But to do that, they would really have to break the cord of allegiance to BD and VHP, esp. VHP because of its highly eccentric view about the minority communities in India. Pravin Togadia is one of the worst person to be born in India, and worse still is he is the leader of a party. When you see this man speaking, the only thing that oozes from his mouth is hatred and vengeance. Something India has never harnessed in its long history even after being a victim of imperialism and ruling by foreign powers.

India has always been a tolerant state and will be. And sooner Pravin Togadia and his gang of violent rowdies understand this, the better we can come out of miseries and poverty and make this country a prosperous one.

Jai Hind!

Yankee hegemony finished? Really?

2008-09-12T11:39:00.002+01:00

Today, a report in the Hindu quotes Hugo Chavez as saying,

Yankee Hegemony finished!

And in the same paper,on the same page just below the article I see the following,

Gilani backs Kayani's salvo against US operations.

Before you ask (in case there's any American reading this), Gilani is the new President of Pakistan and Kayani is the General of Pakistan's army. And the report said that Bush had approved the movement of US troops into Pakistan for "strategic operations", WITHOUT the approval of Islamabad. And the raison d'être? Strategically clearing the Pakistan militant outposts is the only way to win the war in Afghanistan.

Now clearly, has the hegemony really ended?

Technically, no. Since US still is a major power in the world today (economically and militarily-wise). But I would say today more countries support US because they are afraid of their over-developed trigger finger. And they like to prove it now and then by bombing a few nations every once-in-a-while. Guess it gives them some kind of assurance that 'Okay, we are still cool!'

But in a global scale, I would say the hegemony is actually coming to its end. Recent events if you see, the world is increasingly becoming a bi-polar partisan where on one side we see Russia (who is I believe morally correct even after Georgia invasion because it was Georgia which attached South Ossetia - which has big Russian population - in the first place) who now enjoys support of not only the Republic of China, but also other South American countries (see recent war games of Russia and Venezuela). And as far as we know, South American countries share excellent rapport between them. So, if they feel any threat from the Americans (which I believe they do, and the reason for their ties with Russia), it won't be long before we see the Latin America united under one banner, support loud and clear in favour of Russia.

On the other hand, we have US of A, who is backed today by Western and some countries in Eastern Europe.

So we are increasingly seeing this bi-polar divide in the world, and pretty fast at that. The new cold war has begun. The countries are choosing their loyalties, and it won't be long before those countries which are neutral now (like India) will be forced to choose which side they belong to.

What about your own mess, Mr. Bush?

2008-08-16T05:01:00.002+01:00

In the article by VOA news, http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-08-16-voa1.cfm, the great Mr. Bush of the US of A states this, and I quote,

In his weekly Saturday radio address released Friday, Mr. Bush called Russia's invasion of Georgia "completely unacceptable."

Well, what can you do but laugh at such outrageous comments about someone else's mess when their own courtyard is full of mud and vomit, when they themselves have not fulfilled the promise of rebuilding Afghanistan, vacating Iraq gradually (its been more than 4 years now, you know)?

Maybe the US doesn't think so, but it is time they changed the way they think. The dirty tactics used CIA and FBI (and while we are on this cliche issue, all the Intelligence agencies of the world) and start thinking in terms of building peace measures.

And please stop using the excuse that "terrorism" doesn't believe in peace. India has been a victim of terrorism for more than 3 decades now, far longer than America. We have seen more soldiers killed on our borders just defending our country. There have been more terrorist attacks on India and more people have been killed than all the western countries put together.

And yet, India has never thought about invading other country even when we have proof that the country was responsible for the attack. Yet, I believe, our Intelligence agencies and government (no matter which one) thinks about strengthening ties with that country.

India has always believed in peace. The Indian Prime Minister yesterday expressed regret and grief about Pakistan's role in Kabul's embassy bombings. Never anger, or intent to harm the country, or its citizens. India has always believed in peace and dialogue, even in the time of greatest of crisis (think of British colonialism and India's peaceful non-cooperation movement).

I think the GREAT US of A should learn something from India. I think it is time that our great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, are made available from publicly and easily, not to spread Hinduism, mind you. Not at all. But to spread the great message of peace that these two epics convey.

Today, on the 61st Indian Independence Day, I feel proud and honoured to be born in this country. And if I ever have to reborn on this Earth, I would ask God to make me again, an INDIAN!

Jai Hind!

TATA Internet Broadband Service

2008-08-13T10:54:00.001+01:00

Well, what can I say about them, the lesser the said, the better for them. But what the heck, I am going to say it anyway. I mean, its what I started this post for, right? So here goes!

I took the TATA INTERNET BROADBAND 3-months prepaid connection on 6th August, and they had it installed on 7th. And my roommate (who also has Tata connection, but postpaid) told me that they did the install pretty fast. It took them 3 days to installation for him. Well, that made me beam from end to end, and I was a happy man.

What I didn't know was that this TATA BROADBAND INTERNET CONNECTION was going to a cause of great anxiety and tremendous fury over the next couple of days.

The first trouble started over the speed. They claimed the speed to be 384Kbps. Now, according to the International standards, the actual speed you get is:

<actual speed claimed>/8

which brings the speed I should get to around 48Kbps. But the average speed I was getting were only 35Kbps. But I let it pass. Didn't do anything about it, thinking it would go up gradually. And even it didn't, it wasn't a great problem.

But then the trouble started. 2 days in, my connection was no longer working. I called up the guy who set up the connection for me, and he told me that there is a cable problem in that area (although my flatmate's connection worked alright). I bought their story and they told me it would be working by 6:00PM in the evening. So I said, great! Not a problem.

The clock struck 6, the hour and minute hand as perfectly in sync as the cuts in a diamond. And I was as burning as black as the carbon from which it is made. The connection was not up yet.

And so, I called the guy up again to tell him that connection is not yet up, and he tells me that he will send a person tomorrow to fix it up for you. I said okay (since there was nothing else that I could actually do except agree). So, next morning, I am waiting for him to come till 12 noon (since he said he would come in the morning). Then I give him a call, and he tells me after 10 mins that a person is on the way. Now, I would not like to bore you with what happened in the net few hours, but the person managed to arrive at 6:00PM.

He did something and Voila!, my connection was up and running.

I went to office quite happy (I work nights) thinking about what I would do tomorrow now that my connection is up again. But a shock awaited me when I would reach home.

You guessed it! The connection was down again!

Now, instead of calling the person, I checked the documents he had given me when I bought the connection, and I found the number (044) 060 7070 for Chennai customer service. I called them up and found out that my account had been de-activated because I hadn't paid the money. My cheque had bounced.

Now, I tried and explained them that I had paid CASH when I bought the account. But he insisted that I call Mr. Nazeem up as there was nothing he could do about it. But I managed to get the distributors' number from him. It was Mr. Shankar.

I hung up and called Mr. Nazeem up and explained the situation in the nicest fashion. He asked for 10 minutes to find out what's up with my account. But he never called back.

I am not exactly frustrated yet, I am a patient man. But when I tried to call him back at around 2 PM, he would not pick up my calls. Basically, ignoring me. After calling him about 20 times and getting ignored, when I was just about to give up, he answered his phone.

And instead of speaking lightly, he started shouting at me that I am harassing him! I mean, now I am laughing at it, but imagine my surprise and annoyance that he tells me that I am calling him. And now, I am pissed too. So I call him something that I now regret calling him. But even so, I think he deserved it. And hung up the phone.

I called Mr. Shankar up (whose number I had got from the tech support guy from the number 044 60607070) and explained the situation politely. He has asked me to wait another two hours because their machines are down (I wonder how many times their machines go down in a week, and the number of times it goes down, I shudder that they are actually providing the service).

And it is during this period of waiting that I am writing this post, waiting for the connection to come up, check the news, hear Osho speak about the word 'fuck' on youtube.com, in hope that I would be able to do so in two hours' time.

My suggestion, avoid TATA INTERNET BROADBAND SERVICE like the plague, for eventually you will end writing something of the kind I have just written. Un-pleasant experiences.

P.S. Would let you know how it goes after two hours, or whenever I get the chance to surf the Internet again. I am uploading this post through my mobile GPRS connection, while my friend is blissfully asleep (he works night shifts too)!

I can only say

India's New anthem!!!

2008-08-08T09:45:00.001+01:00

Hello people!!! Check this out. And don't forget to leave your comment below!!!

Tum chalo, to Hindustan chale!

‘Buddha – a story of Enlightenment’ by Deepak Chopra

2008-08-08T09:44:00.001+01:00

I recently read a book titled ‘Buddha – a story of Enlightenment’ by Deepak Chopra. Well, before I say anything about the book, I must tell you that I have never read anything about Buddha before. I had definitely heard of him, but never really knew what he promoted.

And so, with little knowledge of what was about to come, I started to read.

Beginning with the technicality, the book is divided into 3 sections, his life as a prince in the kingdom of Kapilavatsu, his life as an ascetic and then the enlightenment. I have believed in God all my life. This book changed everything. I have been intrigued.

Buddha literally means ‘The Enlightened One’. That is free from thoughts, free from any misgivings, freedom from suffering. He experiences no pain, no grief, no sadness, no anger, and no jealousy. And Deepak Chopra goes as far as saying ‘Freedom from Karma’.

Buddha also says that suffering is universal. All beings that take birth have to suffer, and eventually die. And if suffering is universal, then what purpose is served by God? Why is he intent on making people suffer? Is there really an end to all this?

Buddha says freedom from karma is really freedom from everything. The real moksh. Once the cycle of karma stops, you achieve moksh. But how do you stop your karma? This book has tried to explain it, but I think its a frugal attempt at that. Stopping karma is like stopping time itself. It’s a state of self-realisation where you are aware of nothing, and yet everything. You stop your karma, and you stop making any mistakes. Your paap and punya account stops. You are free from the life-cycle of birth and rebirth. You are one with him. You transform into Buddha!

This book opens up a great new outlook on life, new meaning to things and a throws some light on the teachings of Buddha. This book has intrigued me on his teachings, and I plan to read more books on Buddha.

Way to go, Mr. Kevin Rudd, PM of Australia...:-)

2008-06-09T08:11:00.001+01:00

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pm-to-launch-antinuke-plan/2008/06/09/1212863499726.html

Just read this news of Mr. Kevin Rudd visiting Hiroshima to pay homage to the victims of the brutal attack of America on Japan.

Reading this article, it reminds me how totally brutal and unprovoked the response was of the U.S. of America. If memory serves me right, and if I go by the history books, I distinctly remember reading that Japan was on the verge of losing, and was about to surrender. It has suffered heavy defeats against the Chinese and other so called 'Allied' nations.

And then, something happened that nobody thought was possible. America nuked Japan, TWICE! I for one definitely think that it should be considered as a war crime and America should also be punished for what it did to millions of people, effects of which are seen even today in Hiroshima & Nagasaki. People are born with deformities even today!

Anyway, I think this is a great step towards making world a better place to live, and peace reign. America should be the first to realise the mistake it made 50 years ago and actively start to dismember more than 1500 odd nukes that it possesses. It is time for them to put aside their fears and suspicions about other countries and start trusting them. It is America's untrusting and selfish nature which creates so much unrest in the world today.

Peace to all!

60 years since Human Rights Bill was passed, yet it is still far from achieved...

2008-05-28T12:04:00.001+01:00

Yes, that is true. There is not enough funding, nor is enough attention being given neither in countries where it is required, nor by countries who actually took up the responsibilities. In fact, those who pledged that that they will fund the countries with human rights violation are themselves violating it by attacking other countries, in the name of 'Democracy'.

Today, we have far more Human Rights violation zones than 60 years ago. The recent ones are Darfur in Sudan and Iraq (under the new tyrant called America)! China still keeps strict vigil on everything that goes in and out of the country, and how can we forget what happened at Guantanamo Bay? The ever-lasting Israel-Palestine issue, and Tony Blair, who had tied hands with Bush for attacking Iraq, is the 'Peace' Ambassador there. I have never heard of a better example of irony in World Politics.

The one country which makes the most noise when it comes to Human Rights is the Unites States of America, the one country which has constantly broken the World Peace through its "righteous" war in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Afghanistan again & Iraq again. And what has been the outcome of all these wars?

No, not loss of Human lives. That was the minor one. The outcome was profit for the politicians and world bankers. They are the ones who finance the wars, after all, and make HUMONGOUS profits from it. The Vietnam war lasted around 10 years, when it could have stopped years ago.

The leaders of America don't give a damn about people, even American people. They want nice, tidy profits. And they will go to any extent to achieve it.

With so many human rights violations committed by the sworn protectors themselves, what could be expected of the dictators in Africa? Set an example, developed countries of the world. Stop making weapons. Destroy the ones you already have. Give confidence to other nations and show your intent and resolution towards non-violence. And maybe, a day will come where the people of the world will bask in the world which is free of weapons & poverty! A world where all are treated equal.

Peace to all.

Attacking Iran is NOT off the table: Bush

2008-05-21T08:15:00.002+01:00

Bush has always supported military action, with support of other countries, or without. Despite the opposition of the world countries, UN Security Council and US citizens themselves.

Although it is a widely known fact now that main reason for attacking Afghanistan in the first place was Oil, it is less widely known that the attack had been planned for years in advance.

I recently happened to see a documentary called 'Zeitgeist' relational to the America's history, their true loyalties, the misguided public, the Federal bank, and the good-for-nothing mass media. Although some stuff in the documentary is really baseless, its hard to ignore some of the professionals involved in the investigation of 9/11 talking about the obvious ambiguity of the 9/11 Commission Report.

Then, even before this war in Afghanistan could be won, they went ahead and attacked Iraq, on the grounds of establishing 'Democracy'. Where are all the promises of re-building Afghanistan?

Even in Iraq, the main motive has always been Oil. Is it right, warring in other countries in the name of peace, but really only to fulfil their own selfish purposes?

This article here on jpost.com, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668683139&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull, has Israel's radio announcing that they are planning to attack Iran. When will this end?

I know that the President of Iran doesn't view Israel or US kindly. But even so, it really hasn't done what US has done. Attacking other countries.

And mind you, there is still no proof that it is supporting the terrorist activities of Hizbollah. And besides, it is only doing what America has always done, defending itself.

Please let me make it clear that I do not support Iran in building nuclear weapons. But I believe that if you want to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, why not destroy your own first, and then ask others not to make them. This is again like the non-proliferation treaty where it asked everyone not to make nuclear weapons, but itself went along and tested them.

I believe the only way to stop all this is through World Peace! Destroy all weapons, regard all as humans, withdraw all your armies, and manage and take care of your own people.

As Gandhiji has aptly put:

'An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.'

Non-violence at ALL costs!

JAI HIND!!!