Laptop - Hunter : Part 1 - Do I need Windows?

Its been a couple of weeks now, and my 4 year old PC is starting to give up on me. I need an upgrade and, since I am at the clichéd "crossroad" of my life, it makes sense to buy a laptop - at last. Buying a laptop is a big deal.

Agreed I have been a Computer Science student for quite some time now, but I never really kept abreast of all the latest news from the computer market about prices etc. So its been a good experience learning about how things stand in the laptop market.

Since I am not counting on Windows for anything else except gaming, I don't really need to worry too much about the new Windows 7 which is said to be released fully by December this year.

I was not really interested in the netbook idea as it was going to be my substitute for a proper PC. What I was looking for was a system with

• 4GB RAM
  
• Good 2GHz + processor, Intel preferred
  
• Graphics card if its not too expensive
• not more than 3Kg weight.
  

Here's a short round-up of my findings on the roam online from an Indian base. I guess there are better deals to be had and more to found on the road but then this really is the first stop for me.

My first stop was Acer. I have to say it was a very poor advertisement for a product. Agreed they don't have an online store solution, but it is so unfriendly and even incomplete! eg. the most important part of the online search would be the prices. Here's what their "pricelist" page looked like. So as a result, sadly, I can't really say anything about their laptops or prices. I wouldn't mind taking a look around Palarivattom where there is an Acer store and asking for the prices, but I have to say I am a bit turned off.

Now, in a bid to check out some of the less popular brands, I took a glance at the HCL L(e)aptops. (Hey they are Indian after all!). The HCL Leaptop T39 seems like an amazing laptop for its price. I was mighty impressed with this one. Its loaded with Ubuntu 8.10 default and that obviously brings the price down.

The question is whether Windows is needed for anything?

I believe that Microsoft has done only 1 bit of software well and that is MS Office. Office is so good that it was the only MS software on Mac that people really appretiated. None of the other competitors (not even Apple) have been able to better it.

Another part of their ever so small arsenal of reasons-to-use-MS would be ASP.net. There are some reviews online which say that the Linux environment Mono is not without its issues.

Oh well all these issues for another day then!

Avoid Dooms Day! pretty simple really...

Are you going to flunk an exam because you slept off too early? No problemo! Just reset your memory and you'll be good to go. Reboot yourself in a parallel universe! This solution, by Saibal Mitra, pretty much defines why I am starting to like Quantum Mechanics so much.

At the root of this theory is the Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The gist is that atoms can exist in many states at the same time. So technically there are multiple realities in parallel (simultaneous) universes.

Ok. It seems like just another one of those interpretations of quantum mechanics which gave rise to sites like this. So let me explain. Think of a machine which can reset its memory to a previous (backed up) state when it encounters a glitch. Suppose, the computer learns that there is an impending asteroid strike (my favourite) which has been scaring us over and over. Now suppose the machine resets its memory.

An observer sitting next to the machine can verify that the "same machine" will still face disaster after the reset. But from the perspective of the machine's reset memory, the state of the universe in the many-worlds scenario becomes "undetermined". After all, for all the machine knows, the reset occurred for a mundane reason, such as a crash of its operating system.

Now, all the undetermined possibilities are open to the machine. So, the machine, it has been dealt a whole new set of cards. It starts afresh. So to the machine it has switched to a parallel universe. The probability (to the machine) that the reset was because of an impending asteroid strike is close to zero. So by simple probability, the chances that its in a new and free world are more.

If we had brains where quantum uncertainties were entertained, we would all be aceing our tests, getting into the top universities and scoring the most amazing girls.

Download New Scientist April 18 Edition here!

Indian Elections - Random Round-up!

The Great Indian Election is over. The smaller parties, most of whom would want to be on the winning side, are literally "Talking to the hand". In the post election Govt. forming frenzy - an unavoidable side-effect of the multi-party system - let me put a word in, on the goings on. Both good and bad.

While the Americans have had their problems with hanging chads over the years, we Indians have done remarkably well with our indigenous Electronic Voting Machines. It has increased the confidence of the people in the voting process. Though ballot-box stuffing is a thing of the past, booth capturing is still a problem in many areas. In West Bengal 5 polling stations had re-elections as alleged booth capturing or EVM malfunction took place.

Online, Twitter was alive with the reactions (and news) on the election results. Helped by the fact that it was Friday night in the US, the #indiavotes09 tag was the hottest trend on Saturday. What we must learn from that is that more than the elections themselves, the netizens are more interested in the results, with people likening it to watching a humdinger of a cricket match. The online interest was so large that the Election Comission site crawled to halt. Of course you can't attribute that just to the traffic!

Candidates updating their status online was not so common to find. While they were all trying to woo us during the campaign, quite like Obama, they faded away once the results started coming out. All except Mr.Shashi Tharoor, who was active online as he gave his reactions on Twitter. His enthusiasm was lapped up by the netizens, who have him jotted down as a favorite for the post of External Affairs Minister.

At the end of the day, you have to say that controversies were much lesser than in other elections, though they are never really absent. The current Home Minister, P.Chidambaram (sitting as thoughtfully as Shashi Tharoor is above but probably for different reasons), won from Sivaganga (TN) after a recount. How it is possible for a candidate to gain 4000 votes on recounting when we use electronic voting machines, I will never know. It looks like this case will spend some time doing the rounds in the court.

I'm just happy that we won't be having (too much) haggling and "buying" of MPs. I never was a fan of UPA or NDA. One looks to please non-hindus while the other looks to please hindus. Both have their main leaders from lands far away. Both have a real lack of progressive ideology - the Congress ideology being "do whatever it takes to be power").

Well, this time the UPA don't have any excuses (read CPIm) to blame for any lack of progress and development.

Cheers to India and thanks for all the fun (and fish?)!

2 Harihar Nagar - Lacking originality

Before I begin: I don't normally watch the "new age" Malayalam movies. They have lost their charm, and their humour. The dubbing, in general, has become horrible as well.
I watched this movie because this is the sequel to "In Harihar Nagar" which was one of the best comedies I have seen - in any language. Of course, like any self respecting malayali, I believe that malayalam comedy is the best. Good British comedy comes in at a distant second while American comedy is mostly slapstick or stand-up and lacks the recall value that a "Thomas'kutty Vittodaaa!!!" has. What follows is less of a review and more of a solution to the "to watch or not to watch ?" question.

Firstly, comparisons to In harihar Nagar, which was released in 1990, would be unfair to the movie. Its made in a different era, and Lal's recent movies have all been similar to this - they've all been part of the cliche - youth = colourful, vibrant, lots of hair on the head, 'cool' clothes. This movie is not different as it tries to connect to the younger audience again, except the actors are all 50+ now!

To his credit, Lal has tried to make up for the lack of mobility and genuine youth with an overdose of humour. We shouldn't forget that the older movie was one with 2 distinct parts. The fun-and-laughter 1st half and a second half where a new and terrible villain, John Honai, is introduced. I felt the violence was one of IHN's strong points because you will find it in stark contrast to the first half.

In this movie though, in an attempt to keep the rating at 'U' (I presume), there are very few scenes of violence and absolutely no scenes which you will remember for too long. None of the villainous characters show any negative intent. The protagonists are not even restrained in captivity.

(All ratings are on personal parameters)

Acting: 5/10
Many scenes with great potential were wasted. These guys were never great actors, so Lal should've omitted scenes requiring such great effort. Lakshmi Rai as the girl is terrible, just terrible. Thank God she has only a small part to play.

Comedy: 9/10
This score is helped hugely by the above mentioned overdose. Lal has taken special care to disrupt all serious scenes with jokes.

Story: 8/10
The beginning is very lame but the end more than compensates. An O.Henry twist. Well done.

Picturization: 3/10
The movie suffers from the same problem as other recent malayalam movies. They are too focused on peoples faces and less on the scene. When the "acting" isn't stellar, it looks so... wrong!

Music: 5/10
No originality in the songs. The rehash of the epic "Ekanda Chandrikey!" is dissapointing, frankly. They could've used less techno and picturized it in a more realistic way.

Overall: 6/10
Its not a movie worthy of a theatre ticket, but is defenitely fun to watch.

Its a decent attempt to use older original ideas.

PS : By the way, why not rate the In Harihar Nagar movie on IMDB?

Taking Chance

There are countless war movies based on blood and gore in the name of reality. There are still more which sympathize with the grieving families of those at war. And some more about friends and foes on the battlefield. But this is definitely the first to look at it from a refreshing, if sad and respectful, angle.

Taking Chance is a simple story of a higher officer who decides to escort the body of a fallen PFC back to his home half-way across the USA. The story has no twists or turns - its very straightforward in the message it tries to convey. About how everyone respects a soldier, whether they know him or not.

Patriotism is not about infamous "acts" or torture. Its not about beating the drum and shouting out. Its about respect for fellow countrymen. T movie shows that in a very soft-spoken manner. Kevin Bacon has given a stirring performance as the senior officer.

There is absolutely no violence - the opening scene where the soldier is killed, is not shown, only audio. The emotions are all understated and many times I have to say that an elegant tear welled up in my eye.

Great movie.

Download the torrent here!

5 Centimeters per Second

I have been reading manga and watching anime for 4 years now. I thought it was about time I moved away from the famous anime's and go in search of something thats particular to my tastes.

One of the things which I have found to be very disturbing about the whole anime culture in Japan is the overwhelming leaning on the shinigami/mecha theme. Its always a death god or a robot. There are very few animes which tell a good story based on normal people.

I started with Initial-D, which is The drifting anime. Its very old and is hugely popular and successful. But even so, its still basically the same underdog story as in Bleach and Naruto. I was distinctly unimpressed after I finished watching the first stage. After reading that the following stages are based in a big way on the same characters in Stage 1 returning with faster and better cars, I was turned off.

All this while I had ignored Japanese anime-movies (I'm not sure what else to call it). They are 1 to 2 hour long movies which are illustrated in quite the same way as the episodal animes. Well, the reason I'm saying all this is that I stumbled onto one such movie called Five Centimeters Per Second.

5 cm per second is by far the most expressively illustrated anime I have seen. The use of light & shadow, movement and stagnation, its all just brilliant. The best place to read the storyline would be the Anime News Network.

Its the story of Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow farther and farther apart as time moves on. The metaphors used to show time, space and love are amazing. A first time experience of great animation.

Go ahead and click here for the torrent download!

This is our time

I have a lot of time on my hands now. A very real need is there to use it well and have something to show for the time spent. I keep thinking, what is it that I am to do with my life?

The one sentence that comes to mind every time I have nothing to do but dream is, "The true test of a man's character is what he does when no one is watching".

I have a lot of time, now that college is over. So the main achievement to be taken out of this time should be the improvement to my self. Along the way I will gain some skill and technical knowledge since that is the medium, but the final goal is something much greater.

Over the last 4 years, I have gained a lot of unwanted things in my day-to-day routine. Taken on a lot of unwanted baggage. Never again will I get this kind of time - to improve.

But the way is full of stumbling blocks. The first is with the medium. Whenever I sit down to do anything - be it studies, reading, TV, blogging or programming - I am struck by the same question, "Is this the best way to use your time?". Once the question is posed then what follows is not productive. I end up chasing after different things in my mind without actually getting down to doing anything.

The second major stumbling block has been the moods. Bad moods. Good moods getting upset by small things which may happen - mom saying something, current cuts or headaches. All small things which have to be overcome. Addiction is another problem. Anything in moderated quantities is a good thing. When it goes beyond that, its dangerous to your life.

This is our life. This is our time. Use it. It never comes back. never.

Peer Pressure

I have been a staunch fan of The Pirate Bay. There are many reasons for that. One of the main ones is that it is free - in every sense of the word. I am free to do as I please with the torrents. There is no fear of being kicked out of any community if my ratio doesn't work out right.

As is evident, I used to remove all my torrents immediately once the download completed. Like a friend of mine put it, I had a chronic case of "Hit-and-Run". In the new web structure, one has to add content to the web since "you are the source". It just struck me, that if I don't add content, at least I shouldn't just Leech off others.

Many torrent sites have rules which make it mandatory for you to maintain a ratio of at least .3 to qualify you for membership. Of course it makes sure that all torrents are properly seeded, but at the same time it adds what I call "peer pressure". Thats the pressure to maintain your ratio above the cut-off, and its especially bad when you are competing against super-seeders. Your download speeds are way high but the uploads aren't in much demand as people would prefer the faster seeds, leaving you with a dirty Ratio.

Piratebay (et al), on the other hand, are more gracious. So,as a service to pirates and to other fellow peers (cyborgs etc are welcome), I hereby pledge to seed a majority of my torrents to a ratio of 2!

Vuze (Azureus 4.2)

Last week I decided it was time to upgrade myself from the lousy BitTransmission, light-weight client, to something considerably heavier (and better) as I was to find out.

My first reaction was to see if Mu-torrent had a Linux version, so that I could continue my pirate activities using the same ship I had used on Windows. Since it didn't I realized I'd have to use Wine, which would be too slow, my system being 4 years old. Well, I use Ubuntu but still like to be pampered a bit - sadly my computer isn't one to indulge me.

So I went about hunting, and found Vuze or Azureus 4 (as it will be better known for many years to come). Linux applications are slowly moving to the Windows way, with easy-to-install .deb files for my Ubuntu. But I could not find a .deb for Vuze - and instead did custom install with a tarball instead. Its always nice to have a tutorial, isn't it?

It looks good, and controlling the up and down loading rates is easy. Q-ing torrents in a proper order isn't as easy as in Mu-torrent, or maybe I just feel that way because of my slow computer. After a few hours of use with Firefox on the side, the computer hangs for a bit - which was never an issue with BitTransmission.

Except for the problem that Vuze isn't exactly a butterfly (it really slows me down) the features are impressive. I am, of course not in a position to rate the HDtv options thanks to my modest 256kbps connection.

All in all, from a lay-user PoV the Vuze is not too different from the other torrent clients. Its still a bit of a way away from being as good as Mu-torrent. I have to try out Deluge and a host of others before being a good judge.

Though my rating will be un-informed and irrelevant to anyone who doesn't "enjoy" my circumstances, I give it a humble 5/10. I'll use it for a while now that I've started.