Vega Point

Movie Making

2010-08-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Today I watched a movie. I mean, i watched it again today. I had watched it yesterday. But when I was watching it today, I looked at it with a different angle; angle of direction. I carefully payed attention to focus and closeness and frame of camera, number of changes in the camera, background music, etc. This only tells that direction is an art. I think, a director must first make movie in his mind and then he should be shooting it. He must be clear in his mind about how his movie is gonna look like. From what I saw, I think when they shoot a scene, they use number of cameras, simultaneously and when they edit the movie, they use best shots from these cameras. These cameras are time synchronized. By the way, the name of the movie was 'The Uninvited". It's worth a watch.

I wanted to become...

2010-04-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I liked watching movies. Later when I understood how they are made, I wanted to become a film director. I used to think, how fantastic it would be to create a film of your own, the way you want.

Later, after some years, I wanted to become a tourist's guide for foreign tourists. I liked speaking English and I liked travelling a lot. I thought this job would help me earn money and pursue my likings.

I also wanted to become a teacher. I liked understanding things thoroughly and explaining them to others. Such great is the satisfaction when you see that someone has understood what you taught him.

I ended up becoming an Engineer.

Is it really that hard to know a person?

2010-03-27T03:04:00.000-07:00

I have been watching this show, 'Emotional Atyachar'. For those who don't know about it, the producers of this show perform a kind of spying operation and show us its footage. The operation is carried out to check the fidelity of a BF/GF, upon the request of doubting partner. It is a reality show. Due to its subject and shooting style(with hidden camera) and many other reasons, I liked it. Now bollywood has made a film on similar subject, 'Love Sex aur Dhoka'. Keeping its entertainment part aside, one question is nagging me all the time. Is it really that hard to know a person? Do you really need to do a spying operation to check one's fidelity?

Human Style of Evolution

2010-03-23T04:58:00.000-07:00

Dr. Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution of species. In it, he described how different species have undergone changes in their genetic structure for adopting themselves to changing conditions of nature. He also described how nature picks up best individuals in a same species who are fit to go ahead in the race of time. He calls it ' Natural Selection'. Theory says, "in mammals there will be many cubs born out of which very few will live to their adulthood. Others will be eliminated." This elimination happens purely based on competition. The cubs who can compete against their siblings and cubs of other parents will survive. They also have to sustain cruel and brutal natural conditions. In this process, incompetent individuals are eliminated. This way nature ensures that only best genes are passed ahead and the population of that species remains in control.

Today's human society behaves exactly opposite to this theory. Because of the use of technology, medicines and rules of society, incompetent individuals can easily survive. Technology has helped human reduce the blow of unfavorable natural conditions. eg. one can use heater in the house when its snowing outside. Medicine has helped human fight against nature when nature tries to eliminate incompetent individuals using various diseases. eg. malaria. The rules of human society interfere greatly in nature's ways of putting competition. In nature, one has to procure one's food himself, which is not an easy task. In humans, an incompetent may inherit huge currency which he can convert into food whereas a competent individual may not have skills "desired in human society" to earn his bread and butter. These all are very few examples that depict the opposite styles of human and nature.

Also controlling the birth of off springs may lead to restriction of generation of good genes. eg. A genetically perfect couple may use contraceptives to regulate their number of off springs. This way they disallow best genes from going ahead.

In nature there is a competition between males to woo a meeting female. Due to the rules of human society, this competition has become murky with introduction of parameters like money. So in humans meeting pair may contain an incompetent individual with competent one. This way a competent individual is kept away from a competent meeting partner. It's a kind of wastage of good genes.

This 'human style of living' has caused incompetent genes to survive and pass themselves to next generation. It has also caused the rise in human population which is unnatural. This has severely disturbed our ecosystem. Many species have already become extinct and many are on a verge of becoming. But we still haven't found a permanent solution on it. The styles of human and nature are completely conflicting. To me, technology seems to be the point of origin from where it all started. Before human tried to control the things, nature was perfect, a perfectly balanced ecosystem. But now it has been damaged severely. We surely don't know what is the purpose of our existence in this universe or what nature wants from us. But one thing is clear that we are a part of this mother nature. We have been born by nature and hence we must live in accordance with nature.

IPL Fever

2010-03-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

Within just 2 days of its start, the third season of IPL has caught its fever over Indian cricket spectators. Today, MI beat RR in what can be called as a thrilling contest. Every year, IPL is becoming business friendly. Some old fellas who love cricket are not liking this commercialization of the game. I look little differently toward it. Spectators who watch the game on TV don't pay except a fee for watching 'MAX' channel. In return they get to watch a huge entertainment, sitting at home. The money is taken from advertisers who earn it back when their products are sold. We, the spectators, purchase those products and in turn pay for the entertainment that we watched. But here is a trick. Not all of us purchase products of same worth though we all see same entertainment. So we pay different for seeing same things. This system enables poor (and those who don't want to purchase those products) to get access to quality entertainment. Distribution of wealth!

I wonder if IPL can help in spreading hockey in India. They can have same teams for hockey also. and Instead of 2 cricket matches every day, they can have one cricket and one hockey match, instead. Or completely different tournament for hockey, same as IPL. Governing body of Indian hockey must give a thought to this idea.

America is NOT the world

2010-03-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

Today I read an article in 'Times of India' about hollywood actress Megan Fox. In America she is called as the sexiest lady in the world. Americans think America is the world. Surely baby Megan may be saxiest lady in America, but that doesn't make her saxiest of all the world. I am sure, there are better women than her in the 'actual' world.

Reserved over Reservation

2010-03-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

Finally Rajya Sabha passed the bill of women's reservation amid all acrimonious debates and ruckus. Some MPs surely protested against it. Opposing the bill, just because bill lacks the quota for backward group, is not acceptable. If the bill is not passed, how are these backward class women gonna get their quota. and those parties who protested it on this issue can themselves keep reserved seats for backward class women in their party.

I think, reservations should not be encouraged in an ideal society. But as we are far away from an ideal society, we can take their help to walk the path toward it. Reservations are unnatural adjustments to correct the mistakes that we made in the history. We underestimated women, denied their rights of equality with men. For me women were equally nay little more than men, responsible for their own disaster. In nature, one has to strive continuously for freedom. Even today, it can be seen that women give up their freedom themselves and prefer slavery of men. Educated women are also not behind in this. Under the cause of taking care of family and children, many women today give up to earn money and sit at home. Though the cause is acceptable, the way adopted doesn't seem very good to me. What do I say about highly educated women who go to 'States' with their husband just to cook for him.

Reservation to women will not change the condition of women in a day. But surely it's a remarkable first step toward a change. Further I think, the reservation should not be for indefinite period. The 'effective time' of reservation should be mentioned in the bill itself, so that at the end of that period, they become void. If at the end of the stipulated period, reservation is still required, then it should be extended by passing a new bill. In India, withdrawing a reservation after its purpose is over, is a sensitive issue and political parties do not dare to do so to protect their vote bank.

Beyond reservation, I think, a huge work is required to be done in women education. Reservation gives opportunity, whereas education gives capability. Without making women capable, reservation is of zero use. With this bill, society will also debate about women rights and 'look and think' freshly about women's position in society.

But in the end, its women who have to fight and strive for their own freedom and equal rights. It's in their hand to make the best use of opportunities offered to them by this bill of reservations.

Bharatratna to Sachin

2010-03-04T22:22:00.000-08:00

Certainly. Yeah, sure. Why not? He completely deserves it. I strongly recommend Sachin Tendulkar be awarded with the highest award of the nation, 'Bharatratna'. He is the topmost cricketer in the world. He currently holds large no of records in cricket. He holds the record largest no of runs in ODIs and tests. He holds the record of highest no of centuries in ODIs and tests. He recently conquered the record of highest no of runs in a inning in ODI. He is first and only man uptill now to have double ton in an ODI. He has been playing for his country more than last two decades. He surely is the greatest cricketer this planet has ever seen. He has given pure pleasure to the eyes of billions of cricket lovers worldwide. He has his fans not only in India but all over the world.

But his contribution is not limited to field of cricket only. Cricket is very small part of what Sachin Tendulkar has to offer to the world. His actions off the ground, his behaviour in society and his temperament teaches us a lot. He is very humble person. He is very much down to earth. He is always considerate and sensitive towards society and people of his country. Be it dedicating his great knock to Mumbai martyrs and people of Mumbai or be it dedicating his double ton to his fans. It shows how much modest, considerate and sensitive he is!

His simple action of carrying label of Indian flag on his helmet would have generated spark of patriotism in million hearts. How many hearts would have been touched by his simple action of looking toward sky and remembering his father after smashing a century? A simple action that teaches us love, affection, respect. A simple action that depicts a link to Indian culture and tradition.

The qualities he carries are immortal and universal. His passion for cricket teaches us how to love our work and be passionate about it. The way he pracises in net even today, inspires us to work hard in our life. Doesn't it also teach us how one should polish one's skills all the time? The way he dived to save 1 run on second last ball in first match against SA! We won that match just by the margin of 1 run. Doesn't he tell us how team comes first? Isn't he telling us age doesn't matter when you have strong desire to work? In his knock of double ton he scored 56 singles. Doesn't it tell us about what persistency is?

Sachin never replied his critics with words, instead he preferred to concentrate on his game. He showed to them what a great class he carries. Didn't he tell us then that bad patch comes in almost everyone's life but what matters is how you overcome it without losing your patience. He humbly acknowledges the efforts of his family, friends, relatives and his coach. He has expressed his gratefulness to them.

Sachin is very much active in social work as well. Be it donating money for education, be it saving water campaign for Mumbai. There are thousand of tales that could be told about this great man. Everything Sachin touches turns into gold. He is simply great. He has truly become 'Bharatratna' in the hearts of billion Indians. Awarding it to him is just a formality.

Moonroof

2010-03-04T10:24:00.000-08:00

Original Writer: Sampada Mhalagi-Adkar
Translator: Vega
All rights reserved with the writer of the story.
For writer's blog and reading original story in Marathi, head over to here.
http://shabdankit.wordpress.com

Manasi....Darling, are you done? I'm getting late." Milind repeated his every morning chatter.
"Yes honey. I am just packing our tiffins." Manasi replied her part of set conversation. They were newly married, just two months before.

Milind and Manasi, both worked in the field of Information Technology. They were one of those IT park lovebirds. Both were handsome and intelligent, perfect for each other. They got married, after their families agreed. Marraige was made hastily as Milind's father had sustained a heart attach, five months before. "Manasi dear, lets go. We might miss the bus." Milind called from the door.

Milind's father had gone to Nashik to visit his daughter. He was a retired man. When he was home, he got entertained by daily morning chatters of his son and daughter-in-law. He remembered his young days. After death of Milind's mother when he was 13, his father and elder sister had brought him up. They never let Milind feel absence of his mother.

Milind and Manasi lived with Milind's father, in his old banglow. The family was a tenant of that bunglow. Milind's father was anticipating that someday owner would construct a building in the place of that house and he would get his own house in it. But he also suggested Milind to buy his own apartment elsewhere. Milind had thought about it and postponed the idea. He had spent a big deal of money for his father's bypass operation. Also he had to keep some money ready if house owner decided to construct a building. Manasi also had agreed to him.

***

Late that evening, Milind and Manasi returned home from a party. After a long time, Milind had taken his bike out. He liked ridding his bike very much. He didn't get many chances of ridding it though. Manasi loathed bikes as she was afraid of accidents. They commuted in office bus.

It was a nice and perfect evening. Just Manasi and me, Milind thought. They knew each other eight months before their marraige but they had hardly got their time together after marraige. This was a good chance for romance. Milind was in a perfect mood. Lying on bed, he was waiting for Manasi. After finishing her kitchen-work, she came into bedroom.
"Milind, how did you like Anand and Sandhya?"- Manasi
"They are good......a nice couple."
"Sandy is my very old friend." Manasi said, caressing Milind's head with her soft hands.
"...."
"Are you listening to me?" She asked. "Isn't their car nice?"
"hmmmm.....Very nice."
"Hey, when do we buy a car?"-Manasi.
"hmmmm..."-Milind sighed.
"Milind............Answer me. Lets buy a car at least, if not house."
"Sure, tomorrow". He pulled her towards him.
"Yeah, I know. There will never be a tomorrow. You are just.........ummm........." His lips were locked on hers.

***

"Milind, Sandy had brought her car to office. She got her license. She even gave me a ride. We drove to a nearby lake. It felt wonderful sitting in a car."
Milind showed no expression on his face.
"Are you even listeing to me?" - Manasi
"Yups baby" Milind continued his work of checking bank statements.
"And you know........her car has a moonroof."
"Has it?.........That's great", was the reply from Milind.
"We will also have a moonroof fitted to our car. It costs a little extra, but it is worth it. and I think we can afford it."
"Sure"
"So when do we buy a car?" Manasi had no intension of diverting from subject.
"We will buy a car"- Milind
"When?" Manasi came near the table where Milind was seated. She seemed eager. Milind had no choice but to look at her.
"Sure we will buy a car honey. What's the hurry? I mean we have a bike and we commute in office bus."
"Whatever.....Lets buy a car at least, if not a house." Manasi repeated her agenda. She had never forced Milind about buying a house. She knew that Milind was brought up in this house and he liked staying there very much. He cherished his childhood memories with his mother in the house. She never forced him for their new house and Milind was also very much aware of it. But now she seemed to have taken car thing seriously. I have to tackle this issue delicately, Milind thought.
"Listen Manasi" Milind said, a serious note in his voice. "We just have had dad's bypass operation done. It did cost us a good fortune. Besides we have to repay my education loan. Also, we have spent some money on our marraige".
Manasi listened, discouraged.
"We have to put some money aside. The house owner can start construction any time. We ought to be ready with the money. Buying a car on loan doesn't seem a good option to me. We aleady have our EMIs. Let us just wait for few more months. We will buy a car, honey."-Milind.
"But why don't we use money from my bank account?"
"Darling, it has some of your own money that you have earned before our marraige."
"So what?"
"I can't take that money. and we have decided to keep the remaining amout for emergency, haven't we?" Milind tried to sooth her without offending her.
"But now I am telling you to use the money, what's the problem in it?" Manasi sounded frustrated.
"You don't seem to understand Darling"
"Then explain me, please."
"Sure....when you have calmed down yourself." Milind returned to what he was doing. Manasi walked off into kitchen, angrily. That day went by with tension filled in the air.

For the next two days, Manasi remained withdrawn and Milind tried to convince her. It's such a good time when only we two are in the house. Baba will return after some days. When we must utilize this golden chance, why is Manasi not cooperating? Milind thought. I must do something to convience her. But what?
Manasi also suffered a dilemma. Baba will return in couple of days. Should I drop my anger now? She thought.

***

Next day, Manasi was to return late from office. Her project was due for release. Milind returned home at his usual time. Though things went smoothly, and they talked to each other, there was still some awkwardness in the house. Manasi still carried the idea of buying a car in her mind.
What do I do to dissuade her from her idea? How do I soothe her anger? Baba might return soon. Milind thought, looking at the calender on the wall.
"Yes" He said loudly to himself as though he discovered something. "Everything is just perfect."
Twenty minutes later, he was ridding his bike toward nearby bus stop.

Milind had gone to pick up Manasi from bus stop. She was late for home today, tired.
"My Mama called on my cellphone. She asked me to worship moon today. I think it's Kojagiri today. I didn't know it and I haven't made any preparation" Manasi said as she threw her purse on bed. "Not even Masala milk.........idiot me!"
"Oh, is it Kojagiri today? Great." - Milind sounded casual. Manasi walked into kitchen.
"Who did this?............you?" Manasi said excitedly as she saw masala milk.
"Yes Ma'm. Not covered, because it's still hot."
"You knew that it was kojagiri today?" There was a complete disbelief in her voice.
"I saw it in calender after I returned from office." - Milind clarified. "Now see what's in that pot." It had a dry bhel in it. Manasi was really touched. Ekdam Sahi, she thought.
"You did all this? You are such a great husband!. Ekdam solid", she said.
"Yes, indeed, I am" He said, a mischiveous smile on his face. "You make other arrangements and come onto terrace. I am going ahead."
"Why terrace? Moon can be seen from window also."
"Dear, are you gonna see a kojagiri moon from a small window? It's an insult to moon." He winked. "Follow me. I am taking milk and bhel with me."

Ten minutes later, Manasi walked onto terrace, dressed in a Panjabi style, carrying pujasahitya in a plate. She looked very beautiful in moonlight.
"Wow, you did all this?" She exclaimed as she looked around the terrace. Milind had turned the terrace into a beautiful place. It was cleaned, sprinked with water. There was a carpet at the center of terrace. Manasi couldn't believe her eyes.
"Yes, my moon was to return home late and tired! Don't I have to comfort her?"-Milind.
She blushed, her beautiful face turning red. God, she looks terrific, Milind thought.

They prayed as they worshiped moon. Then they sat on the carpet with glass of milk in their hands. It was a kojagiri full moon night. The sky was decorated with starts and moon seemed their decorator. The cold breeze carried a scent with it. All in all it was a romantic night. Milind and Manasi sat there drinking in the beauty of nature.
"Manasi, you wanted a moonroof, didn't you? Now, where we are sitting is a moonroof, isn't it? A moonroof without roof and boundry to it. An infinite moonroof. Liked it?"
"Milind, you are great. Thanks dear. I love you"-Manasi leaned on his chest.
"Well, I am no great. Someday we will surely buy a car, fitted with a moonroof. As you liked. But are we not to see moon till then?"-Milind.
"hmmmm............." She looked into his eyes.
"and you know what Manasi, this is our honeymoon phase. Now that I gave you a moon, I deserve my honey." He said as his lips reached for hers.
"Sure, you do" She blushed, pushed him away and ran toward the staircase. "Come, get your honey" she winked as she saw Milind running after her.

-End

Subjectivity of Need

2010-03-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

The other day I sparred with my sister about her increasing use of cellphone. She is persuing her degree in engineering and staying at hostel. I had let her use a cellphone to communicate with family. Now she uses it too much to talk to family, friends and relatives. This is affecting her studies. So I asked her stop using it completely to which she replied she needed it. She claims that she can communicate with family whenever required, with friends quickly and vice a versa. Maybe she is right. What I say is she may use cellphone for various purposes and it might help her in SOME things. But surely she doesn't NEED it. She didn't understand what I was saying, we closed the topic and she continued using a cellphone.

Need is subjective. Sometimes it is very difficuilt to find out if one REALLY NEEDS something. I can use a fleet of private jets if it is at my disposal. But do I NEED it? No. I think when we use some kind of service, it brings two things. Benefits and losses. Thease two play a game of seesaw. Sometimes benefits win, sometimes losses. One needs to use that service only if, using it makes benefits win. While considering benefits and losses, it is difficuilt to rate them on points. eg. in a peculiar case, there might be several benefits and just one loss. But the magnitude of loss could be bigger than combined magnitude of benefits. An individual has to carefully weigh his benefits and losses, though they are completely subjective. One has to decide their weightage. The weightage of same benefit/loss could be different for diff people. eg. choosing a train service over plane would cause a time loss. But the weightage of this loss is much bigger to a businessman who was to meet an important client than to a tourist.

Turning back to my sister's case, she has many benefits of using cellphone as I already told. The only loss this cellphone is causing is that it's affecting her studies seriously. It eats her time in conversations which I think are useless otherwise. It disturbs the concentration. and those useless SMSes!! I think, in her case, losses are winning the game of seesaw over benefits. She has to understand it.

Superbatsman

2010-03-04T09:15:00.001-08:00

You have got Superman. You have got Batman. We have got Superbatsman; that too real. His name is Sachin Tendulkar.

What a miraculous inning it was from Sachin against SA in Gwalher! He played almost all kinds of shots, all of them gracefully. He was hardly beaten in that inning. He was never dropped. Only once he was close to runout, which he survived. What a perfect inning, beautifully carved. It came from Master Blaster after his 20 years in International cricket. He played thru entire inning of India without taking a runner and stood notout. What a marvelleous performance! unbelievable and fabulous! It was a feast to eyes to watch Sachin play that day. A magnificient double ton. I was so excited when he broke the highest score record that I watched his remaining inning standing. Hats off to Sachin.

Hockey Failure

2010-03-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

India lost their third match of hockey world cup 2010 against Spain. I think, they cannot reach to semifinals now. I watched all the matches of India in this tournament. Except against Pakistan, I couldn't see Indian team in form. Against Australia, before India could really begin their game they were hit with the goal against them; just in third minute of game. Now, I am not a hockey expert, neither I have ever taken hockey stick in my hand, but from today's match (against Spain) I have couple of questions to ask. Anyone who watched the game can try to answer them.
1) Why were Indian players standing behind the Spain players for 1-to-1 marking. Aren't they supposed to stand alongside? Even commenter said this point. By standing behind them, do you expect Spain players to miss the ball and then you would get it?
2) Every time an Indian player gets a pass, why does he have to stop and look above to see where his fellow team players are? Can't he just have judgement of it from jersey colour or from corner of an eye or looking around before he actually gets a pass. Stopping for looking around, gives enough time for opponent players to align their positions, I guess. Along with tactics, hockey is also a game of pace, isn't it?
3) My observation was that Indian players weren't giving quick passes. They retained the ball with them till opponent player came very close to them. This makes very easy for opponents to take the ball away. Many times today, the ball was literally snatched away from Indians. Weren't other players in proper locations to receive the pass? If yes, why?

Indian hockey team has lot of potential. There game was not bad, but they need to perform better. I am sure in near future they will work to make themselves better and please Indian hockey lovers. There were times, when Indian cricket team was going thru bad patch. But today, they have achieved first position in test ranking and retained it. Lets hope hockey team does the same and we get to watch better games from them. All the best.

Are you crazy enough to join us?

2010-02-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

This is an adventurous story of how a boy named Kaustubh created his venture. Kaustubh, after completing his engineering, joined a software firm like many others. But he didn't work like many others. He was innovative and intelligent. He was fascinated with engineering mega-projects in the world. He wanted to interact with engineers who worked on such projects. So he searched the internet for a common platform of engineers. He didn't find one. Instead of getting disappointed, he thought, why shouldn't I start one? And on 26th November, 2005 Crazyengineers.com was born.

It initially started as a hobby. The word about it spread thru friends and colleagues. They liked the website and appreciated his efforts. Soon many engineers and engineering students across the world with similar needs and passion joined the website. Kaustubh decided to quit his job and devote his full-time to his venture. Many people ridiculed him for his decision of quitting job but his family stood firmly behind him. Also his friend Mayur helped and supported him.

Today CrazyEngineers Technologies Private Limited is a pvt ltd company which runs a website www.crazyengineers.com It has around 70 thousand members joined across the world. I am also a proud member of crazyengineers. Crazyengineers is popularly known as CE. CE website contains some others areas such as CE forum, Small Talk, VoiCE.

1) CE Forum: CE forum is a place to discuss anything and everything that falls under the umbrella of word 'Engineering'. CE forum has around 70K members across the world. With around 30 thousand threads and more than 1 lakh posts, CE is most preferred forum by engineers across the globe. It has project and paper presentation discussions to help engineering students. CE-Labs is a section to discuss and develop engineering projects online. CE forum has several technical discussions threads classified as per engineering trades. So visitors seeking information about particular branch of engineering can head to that section. They say 'all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'. Along with technical things CE forum also provides fun and witty knowledge in CE lounge section. Here you can ask/answer puzzles, share funny things, discuss about movies, books, blogs and what not.

Apart from all this, CE also discusses current affairs in the world. This helps CEians to get in touch with important happenings in the world and get to know views of different people on them.

New members to CE are mentored and provided with help by senior members of CE forum. CE also helps engineering students choose and build their projects. CE practices professional English as a language of forum. Kaustubh (Avatar:The_Big_K) is administrator of this forum.

'CEian of the month' is an award given to member of CE forum for his extraordinary contribution to CE in that month. I am a proud 'CEian of the month' for Jan 2010. The winners are awarded CE T-shirt and Quick-Heal antivirus.

As a CEian, one gets exclusive CE-email id with crazyengineers.net as domain name. One can put this email id in his/her CE-signature. This way it will be displayed in your posts and CEians will be able to write to you on your CE-email.

Apart from these things CE forum has advanced search facility with which one can search the threads and posts of the forum. You may find the question that you wanted to be answered, already discussed. or a subject you wanted to be discussed, already discussed.

Though CE is not a social networking site, you can still send emails, private and public messages, friend requests, etc. to members of CE. This enables easy communication between members of CE. and you can keep in touch with like-minded CEians.

CE provides a unique facility of group chatting with members who are online. This way you can have a feel of personal talk with your fellow CEians. This chat window is available at the bottom of CE forum page.

If you are a blogger, then CE can be of great benefit to you. You can place a link of your blog in your signature. That way, there will be link of your blog in every post you put on CE and you will get more traffic to your blog. Being a CEian is very special. It is a feeling of proud. You can express this feeling by putting CE badge on your blog, like I have put.

Once you become a member of CE and participate in discussion by writing a post, you get an email, every time that thread is updated. This way you can follow your important threads from your inbox. Also you can unsubscribe this service, anytime.

In a family of CE, your birthdays are remembered. On the day of your birthday, a thread dedicated to your B'day-wishes is opened. You will get plenty of b'day wishes from your fellow CEians.

As a CE member you get your own status on CE. When you join you are 'newbie'. Depending upon your participation on CE forum, you can become CE-star, CE-Addict, CE-ambassador, or even CE-moderator. This way you get recognized on CE and you really feel a belonging to CE family.

Well, enough talk about CE-forum now. If you think you are crazy enough to join us, then head over to here

2) CE Small Talk: It hosts the interviews of some of the great engineers and entrepreneurs across the world. Seth Godin, Achyut Godbole, Pamela Slim are some of them. These interviews are not only informative but also inspiring.

3) VoiCE: This is an official blog of CrazyEngineers. CE members can write posts here. This section is one of the finnest informative database. It also contains interviews of selected members of CE forum. This subsection is called as Know-your-CEian.

Couple of months ago, Crazyengineers was covered on Indian TV channel UTVi. Click here to watch it.

If you would like to know anything else about CrazyEngineers, please drop your question in Comments section below.

Mumbai belongs to whom?

2010-02-04T23:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it is not very easy to answer. The storm over this issue has engulfed the country for past 2 days. After Congress and Sena, now other parties have also joined the stormy debate. and it has become intense as Rahul is visiting Mumbai today. Government is determined to carry out Rahul's visit successfully as Shiv Sainik protest. Well, this entire issue started when some students protested in Rahul Gandhi's visit to Bihar. Disturbed Rahul spoke against Both Senas next day and that was enough for Senas to roar. Rahul had no reason to dig out this sensitive issue at this time when nothing had happened in Mumbai.

This entire debate is being carried out without understanding each other's views. and sadly it is carried out thru electronic media which has nothing to do with issue but incresse TRP. Mr. Uddhav Thakarey recently cleared that noone is expelling outsiders from Mumbai but expecting them to learn Marathi. This is a very much valid point. Mumbai is a capital of Maharashtra and Marathi is Rajbhasha of Maharashtra, so it is very much obvious for recidents of Mumbai to speak Marathi.

It is also said that, in Mumbai, first preference should be given to Marathis, which is also a constitutionally very much valid. and noone should have any problem to this as it is just a "preference". At the same time it should be considered that Mumbai is a financial capital of India. Like any other city in the world it is a cosmopolitian city. So it would have people not only from other parts of India but also from all over the world. But as long as natives are preferred and migrants decide to stay here in harmony with natives, learning the language of land, there would not be any problem. This is what happens in all Cosmopolitan Megacities of the world and Mumbai is not exception.

Save Tigers, Save Ourselves

2010-02-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

Aircel has recently launched a campaign to save tigers in India. I hereby, writing a post to do my bit. Well, there are only 1411 tigers left in India. This number is too less to keep an ecological balance. and if not protected, this number will go down soon. How much do you thing should be proportion of Tigers as to humans? Though there is no perfect answer to this, I think it is around 1:10. How did I figure it out? Well, a sheer judgement. Now some people might not agree to this proportion. For them, lets apply a factor of safety of 10. So this proportion is now, 1:100. This means there should be 1 tiger per 100 human beings in india. Now India's population is 1.1 billion (110 Crores). So there should be 1.1 Crore tigers in India. and how many have we got? One Thousand Four Hundred and Eleven. Now look at that huge difference. So we are short of 1,09,98,589 tigers. One Crore, Nine Lakhs, Ninety Eight Thousand, Five Hundred Eighty Nine. God, Where do we get those many tigers from?

Now, look carefully at the picture of cubs of tigers, above. Look at the grace on their face. This genetic gift of nature will be completely and permanently lost if tigers are not preserved. We will never be able to see that beauty again.

Now I want you to tell the best ways and means to save tigers. Let me start here by telling one. Let them live on themselves with zero human intervention in their territory.

Save tigers, save ourselves.
What do you say?

Rahul's Swayamwar

2010-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

NTDV imagine has just launched its new imaginative reality show, 'Rahul's Swayamwar'. Mr. Rahul Mahajan will select a girl from 14 contestants and marry her. This show is second of its kind. First one was also on NDTV in which Rakhi selected her groom just not to marry him. Unlike the first show, Mr. Rahul has promised to marry the girl. Now it is very much clear that many contender-girls are model or actor. Surely they needed publicity and limelight which they will get through this show. Who cares about marriage? I wonder if this show will mock the sanctity of Indian marriage. But Who cares about marriages these days. 'Live in' is the mantra of new decade. Anyway, if you can switch off your brain for sometime, this show could be a good watch. At least you will get to watch 14 beautiful girls wearing best outfits and make-up. It comes between 8 to 9 from Mon to Fri. No, they don't pay me for this advertising. Do tell me how you like it.

The Language Problem

2010-01-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

So much has been said, written and debated about the language problem in India but it is hardly seen someone saying something to rectify it. Recently I read this post about the thing which kind of motivated me to write this post. Let me explain the problem itself before we go ahead. India is a multilingual country having most of its languages derived from Sanskrit. When people migrate from one part to another in large number in short duration, the natives get feeling of insecurity. When a local guy sees number of people beyond HIS acceptable limit around him speaking another language, he feels isolated and hence insecure. His insecurity is raised by the facts like a) feeling of isolation and ignorance in his own land and b) migrants don't speak his language. When this feeling is experienced by large number of people, it turns into an issue. The acts by SOME migrants like a) arrogance when speaking to natives b) forming a groups of migrants c) adamant on not learning the native language of land, adds oil to the rage. This rage turns into
protest in many ways. Though this problem is very old and worldwide it has been observed recently in parts of India and Australia. When this happens between people of same country, it leads to serious repercussions of damaged National integrity. Unfortunately people try to find the answers on superficial level.

Here are couple of steps that I suggest to soothe the intensity of language problem occurring in different parts of the country.

a) Every student should learn at least one Indian language other than his mother-tongue and English. The education system should make the facility available and see to it that all Indian languages are available to study and are studied in proper proportion. This will create affinity in the minds of students about other Indian languages. They will be able to communicate in that language where ever possible. Also, this way all the languages will be studied across the country.

b) The serious implementation of first point will cause a new language to shape up (You may call it a modified Hindi or 'Bharatiya Bhasha') which will be closer to hearts of all Indians as their mother-tongue has contributed to it. Surely, it will take decades to happen.

c) Instead of blaming some political leaders, one must go to the roots of an issue. As long as there is this issue, there will be so many Raj. If you succeed to stop one, there will emerge another.

d) There should be balanced growth of all territories of the country. This will avoid mass migration from one part to another and hence avoid the problems rising from them.

e) Hindi is surely a widely spoken language in India and should be respected. But expecting it to be only national language is wrong. Other Indian languages should also be equally respected. It has been observed that SOME people with Hindi as their mother-tongue expect others to learn hindi and communicate with them ONLY in Hindi where ever they go. This will surely make Hindi as indomitable language of the country but at the same time KILL all other Indian languages.

f) People who migrate to another region and live their for lifelong must learn the language of the land. It is a very good way to respect the land which gives them their bread and butter.

g) Natives must not expect tourists and short-time visitors to speak the native language. Natives should observe generosity of speaking in common language to such short-time visitors, ins ted of being formidable and adamant for their mother-tongue.

h) Finally, one must understand and remember that languages are meant to join hearts and not to break them.

Comments are welcome.

Another flag

2010-01-27T05:39:00.000-08:00

I recently stumbled upon this blog post on Times of India. The post says that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has another flag than India. Well, I didn't know this. The reason behind this another flag is that J&K is a special state. I had heard that the special status had been given to this state because of the dispute of its inclusion India or Pakistan. But now when it has been included in India why should it not carry the flag of India. The flag of any nation is a matter of pride for the nationals of that country. People have died for this flag of their own nation, all over the world. Having seperate flag for a state irrespective of whatever status of it, doesn't seem good.

Santa Rocks !

2010-01-27T03:01:00.001-08:00

INTERVIEWER: WHICH IS THE FASTEST THING IN THE WORLD?

YALE guy: Its light, Nothing can travel faster than light

HARVARD Guy: It's the Thought; b'cos thought is so fast it comes instantly in your mind.

MIT guy: Its Blink, you can blink and its hard to realize you blinked

SANTA SINGH: Its Loose motion

INTERVIEWER: (Shocked to hear Santa's reply, asked) "WHY"?

SANTA SINGH: Last night after dinner, I was lying in my bed and I got the worst stomach cramps, and before I could THINK, BLINK, or TURN ON THE LIGHTS, it was over!!!!

Constitution of India

2010-01-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

Comments to my earlier post motivated me to write this post. I have always been amazed by the Constitution that governs the largets democracy in the world. Dr. B R Ambedkar played an important role in designing this constitution. Wikipedia says:

It is the longest written Constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 395 articles in 22 parts, 14 schedules and 94 amendments[5], for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version

Below is the Preamble of Constituion of India.
WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HERE BY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.

Below are the links for more reading.
On wekipedia
GOvt of India

Happy Republic Day

2010-01-26T00:59:00.000-08:00

I wish all my readers a Happy Republic Day of India. This is India's 61st Republic day. India has come a long way since the acceptance of Constitution. It has become World's bigest Democracy. The Constitution of India is considered as one of the largest in the world. Proud to be an Indian. Jai Hind.

Below are the Republic Day Parade Videos.

IPL 3 on youtube

2010-01-21T04:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true. IPL 3 matches will be shown live over internet on youtube.com The BCCI has made an agreement with google for broadcasting live feed of 59 IPL matches over internet. So IPL fans who live outside India can easily enjoy it, that too for FREE. I think, there would be one more advantage of this that users can pasue, save the feed and watch it later. So if you miss a wicket, 'cause you had gone to pee, don't worry. just pause before you go away, come back and start from where you had left.

So IPL fever is now world wide.

The best of Dilbert

2010-01-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

Here is yet another comic strip of Dilbert.

Funny! Isn't it?

My blog's badge picture

2010-01-18T02:17:00.000-08:00

I am trying to create a badge of my blog. I have been inspired from CrazyEngineers badge. So below will be picture for my badge. I may soon edit it to add some text to it, but before that let me see how it works.

My Name is Khan

2010-01-17T22:55:00.001-08:00

No, my name is not Khan. It's a name of Shahrukh Khan's upcoming film. He is playing a role of an autistic person. What amazes me is that Shahrukh Khan is famous for his emotional drama. He portrays same emotions in his every film irrespective of the character he plays. He always gives a Shaharukh touch to the characters he plays. and now he is playing a role of emotionless person. I wonder how he does it! I can't imagine Shaharukh without emotions on his face.

Opposite to him is his favourite actress, Kajol. The film has been directed by Karan the Johar. Much of its part (or the entire movie) has been shot in United States. Let's wait for the picture to release.

Sachin hits his 44th Test Century

2010-01-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

Today morning, Sachin hit his 44th Test Century, 4th against Bangladesh, first in 2010 in Chittagong in first test match of Idea Cup 2010. He remained unbeaten on 105 taking India to 243 in their first innings. What a marvellous knock just once again when India needed it desperetely. Sachin stood on the ground like a rock when wickets were falling on the other side and build partnerships with tail end of Indian batting line.

Before that on the first day of test match, Sachin completed his 13,000 runs in test cricket reaching to yet another milestone. Surely, he is creating records every day he plays. What a player!

Fastest

2010-01-16T22:54:00.000-08:00

"........Ajit was standing before the photo of Ajinkya, his 6 year old son. Ajinkya was looking really cute, his cheeks smooth, his eyes dark black, his hairs golden and his face portraying an adorable, naughty look......"

Ajit was 32. He was very handsome, charming and talented. After completing his post graduation in engineering, he joined an automobile firm. It was one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world. Ajit was selected by that firm and was offered a very good salary. The days in firm were very excitng for Ajit. He was born-talented and this firm was a best place to nurture his talent. He got sophesticated machines to handle, exquisite labs to perform experiments, giant robots to work on his orders and what not. Surely, it was his dream job. The days passed by and Ajit climbed steps of success.

While this was happening, his personal life was also offering him happiness in compitition to his working-life. He got married to a very beautiful woman. She was from the same college as his and they loved each other very much. Couple of years after their marriage, they were blessed with a sweet baby boy. They named him Ajinkya. Ajit loved his son more than anything else in the world. Ajit's wife quit her job to take care of the child. With the arrival of their baby, the couple was plunged into the happniess. Their joys knew no bounds. Everything was better than Ajit had dreamed. He sometimes wondered if there was any unhappiness in the world. The days passed by.

The firm had undertaken a very ambitious project. The idea of project was developed by Ajit. In other words, he was the brain of the project. They were to develop a 'Super-accelerated' vehicle. A car that would reach the speed of 100 kmph in just two seconds. If succeded, it would be world's fastest accelerated car. The firm had no doubt on Ajit's talent and capabilities. They gave him everything he needed to complete the project. Ajay plunged himself in the work. He worked day and neight, stayed late in office. He worked harder than before to accomplish this project.

The heavy work-load caused Ajit to give less attention to his family. He hardly saw his son who was growing day by day. Sometimes, his wife would complain him about this. But everytime he managed to convience her with his charming and assuring words. Inside, he was also feeling a voidness lately. He missed being with his son terribly. To feel their presence around, he had framed their photos in his office. He had recorded songs in Ajinkya's voice and set as his cellphone ringtones. Everytime he got a call, his beloved son would sing a song thru his cellphone. He adored calls. He adored people who called him for he used to get a chance to hear his son sing.

Ajit assured himself that what he was doing was for the future of his son. He promised himself that once the project was over he would go on a long tour with his family.

After one and half years of hard work, the project was now over. Everything had gone as planned. The 'fastest accelerated' car had passed the factory testing successfully. Ajit was ready to present his talent to the world. The car was launched in what can be called as a fabulous launch ceremony. The world media who interviewed Ajit, made him famous in a day. The worldwide auto critics and engineers admired him for his talent. The car was a big success. Ajit was a hero among car lovers. The firm announced a bonous of millions to him. The dream had come true.

It was after couple of months when Ajit was spending a lazy afternoon, the news came over television. The fastest accelerated car in the world had hit a school child in the city. A terrible accident had happended in the same city where the most amazing car was born. Ajit glued his eyes on TV screen. In a crowded square, as the signal turned green, the driver pressed the gas. The machine did its job and car swung into speed in seconds, going ahead of others, proudly. All of a suddent, from nowhere, a schoolchild ran to cross the road. The car driver practically stood on the brake lever, locking the wheels of his car. But this time it was physics who had to do its job. The car skidded uncontrollably with its four wheels locked and hit the child throwing him into the air before he fell down on road.

Ajit switched off the television, unable to hear. He felt very uneasy. He wondered if there was a feeling of guilt begining to generate in his mind. He laughed on his own thoughts. Surely it was the driver who was responsible for the accident who should have driven more carefully. Or maybe the kid, who ran on the road. He cursed parents for not taking proper care of their kids. But he couldn't remove the nagging feeling from his mind. He opend his favourite book to divert his attension.

It was a voice of his son that awakened Ajit. Ajinkya was singing his favourite song. Ajit kept the book in his hands aside and picked a call. It was Ajinkya's Headmaster. The schoolchild who was hit by the 'fastest accelerated' car a short while ago had died and had been identified as Ajinkya, son of Ajit. It was impossible, Ajit thought. Surely there must have been some misunderstanding. He felt the room spinning around him. He couldn't stand. He sat down on the chair. The spinning of room was increasing: faster and faster. He wondered if it was fastest spinning room in the world, a highly accelerated one. The spinning had increased further, everything in the room moving with it, faster and faster. He was soaked in perspiration, unable to breathe. His throat was dry and he was trembling uncontrollably. He tried to speak but couldn't utter a word. He fainted.

It was first death Anniversary of Ajinkya. With his eyes filled, Ajit was standing before the photo of Ajinkya, his 6 year old son. Ajinkya was looking really cute, his cheeks smooth, his eyes dark black, his hairs golden and his face portraying an adorable, naughty look. Unaware of his surrounding, Ajit stood their for long time. Someone handed something in his hand. As he heard the most pleasent voice in the world, he looked at the cellphone in his hand. His son was singing his favourite song. "Vidyadhan de amhas, ek chand ek dhyas......pragatiche pankh de chimanpakhara.........Dnyanmandira........".

End

Guest Posts on my Blog

2010-01-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

Dearest Readers of my blog, I have opened my blog for guest posting for a while. If you would like to write something and publish it on my blog, please let me know. You can reach me on vegapoint@gmail.com or simply leave your email address in comments section. Also please do mention how do you like my blog. Criticism accepted :-)

My computer restarts again and again

2010-01-15T01:57:00.000-08:00

Couple of days ago I faced this terrible problem with my computer. While I was working, my computer used to restart again and again without giving any warning or error message. Earlier the frequency of restart was low, so I kept forcing my way thru the problem ie. simply working after it has restarted. But lately it had started restarting again and again. So I had to do something about the issue. Here is how I solved the problem.

First of all I disabled 'Automatic Restart' of computer in case of system failure. Here is a picorial step by step explanation of how to do it.

1) Right click on My Computer and click on properties.

2) Go to 'Advanced' Tab. At the bottom part of 'advanced' tab, you should be able to see 'Startup and Recovery' option. Click on the 'settings' button of 'startup and recovery' option.

3) Under the 'System Failure' option, uncheck the box 'Automatically restart'. Then click OK button.

This process stopped automatically restart of my computer in case of system failure, but the actual problem was still there. When I restarted my computer manually, after some time, I got a blue screen with error message. The message was "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". Though, there were so many other messages in greek, what I could understand was that the problem was because of file "IdechnDr.sys". I learned that this was a file required for an Intel application which was corrupted and was causing system failure. I had "Intel Application Accelerator" installed on my machine. Then I started my PC in safe mode, uninstalled this intel application and manually restarted the computer. Now my PC is working fine.

Blogger Templates

2010-01-13T22:56:00.001-08:00

I haven't even written 3 posts (this is my third post on my blog) and I have already changed the template of my blog several times. I am not satisfied with my current template as well. It's a 3 column blogger template with professional look but it has some problem with commenting. My readers are not able to comment on it. When you click on post comment button (or link whatever it is) you will be lead to bottom of the page with no place to write a comment. I don't know how to fix this. If you know it, please send me an email as you won't be able to comment.

Speaking of templates, everytime I feel other template better than mine. Just like a married man feels about his wife. Every time he sees a beautiful lady, he feels that she is just better than his (current) wife. Thhat's how I feel about template of my blog. What to do?

Which stream should I choose for my Post Graduation?

2010-01-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

This is the common question asked by students who intend to pursue their Post Graduation. Surely there are mainy specialization streams available to complete PG in. and this leads to confusion. Many time students try to go for the stream which is hot in the market. But one must understand that there is nothing like 'hot in job market' thing. All streams have their own uses. I often tell them to pursue what they like. I even tell them only to go to PG if they like to go. Some students think they will get higher salary only if they have post graduation. Well, though it's partially true, not fully. Another misconception among students is that if they have PG, they have higher chances of getting job. Well, not quite true. Companies take Graduates or Post-graduates based on their requirements. They have set quota for both. They will hire someone if they think the candidate satisfies the desired expectations. So PG candidates have higher expectations from than Graduates. So there is no direct link between rank of degree and chances of getting a job.

Choosing a college is another dilema for students. Surely IITs and IIMs are best for PG. But one must not get disappointed if he doesn't get them. A combination of several factors along with your stream of PG should be considered for selecting a colleage.

Few folks decide to go for PG after getting their work experience of 1-2 years. This is also a good idea. You get an exposure to corporate world before PG and you can use that experience to decide which stream to choose. Also job-experience helps you make most out of your PG course. But there is always a danger of sticking to job once you get used to "Sphere of Luxury" of your job. Because it's not so easy to shift to the world of studies once again.

Best. Comments awaited !

Tour to America

2010-01-10T03:01:00.000-08:00

Recently I read this post on one forum about Indians going to America and settling their and helping America grow. Lot of Indians think that if these people stay in India, instead of going to America, it will help India grow. Though there is a point in what they say, I personally do not agree completely to this thought. It's not only Indians that go to America but nationals from all over the world go to America. America is basically a land of migrants and not of natives; some migrated earlier and some later. No doubt all of these migrants have created and prospered America; but at the same time they have given so much to the world (and hence to their own nations)

Let's take an example of India. Today India is called as house of outsourcing. This wouldn't have been possible without the people who went to work in America (and other countries). They worked their, gained the confidence of American companies, transferred the knowledge to India and made outsourcing possible. ( But at the same time, I am not underestimating the hard work of people who work in India)

Finally, I would say, it's very much natural for intellectuals to go in search for better opportunities and better perks. In today's globalization era, one cannot restrict them to a country. Also, India has been doing marvellous job in recent past years. So one shouldn't worry much about brain drain. Where there's a drain, there's some gain. What do you say?

-Vega