2009 Archives

I discovered Vimperator about 3 months ago and I fell in love with it. Browsing with Firefox suddenly became so powerful and efficient. But a couple of days back, the status bar disappeared. Without the status bar, I felt crippled. Tried reading the help pages, asked around for tips, updated the extension, downgraded and what not? Nothing helped. Unfortunately, search did not help too. And finally I stumbled upon this tip in the mailing list. The status bar was disabled from the menu. How dumb? Interestingly, more than one person had faced the same problem but none had a solution. Looks like the mailing list is not archived and that is the reason why search did not help. Let us hope this blog post shows up soon in the indexes.

The title looked interesting and I picked this book from the library. Idli - okay, but what has orchid and will power got to do with it?

The book is an English translation of the autobiography by Vithal Venkatesh Kamat. It is about taking an idea, a dream to fruition. No matter what obstacles comes, what ever be the struggle, use them as stepping stones and move forward. The book is bubbling with his drive and energy to get things done. His presence of mind seems to have bailed him out more than once. He has also used his networking skills effectively to generate more business.

The book is not without its pitfall. The size of the book is awkward and I did not find it comfortable holding it. The language is not all that great. This could have been because of the translation from Marathi to English. There is no clear flow in the book. I felt as if I was jumping back and forth with little coherence. But those few points should not take away some of the great learnings from the book.

Interestingly this book was published by a so called "Orchid publications" and I could not find any information about this book online. I stumbled across Swaroop's post about this book and he also indicates the same. I am not sure if it is a marketing gimmick to garner attention.

--
Where there's a will, there's a way.

A reader was kind enough to point to me that my Greasemonkey script for BSNL Cellone bill payment no longer works. This is due to the fact that the BSNL site changed the site URLs earlier this month. He had also pointed out the fix. It is updated now and available for download. Enjoy!

As an aspiring runner, it is always the motivation factor that keeping me going. I always think I am mentally strong to accept and face challenges. But running is a different ballgame altogether. As in any other group activity, people draw energy from one another and motivate one another. Hence, while running at the Nike Run Club, there is no dearth of motivation. But there are times when I don’t have company. One of the biggest problems when running alone is the boredom that creeps in. I still have the energy to do another couple of KM but feel like stopping. Like last week, when I started off planning for a 15K, I had all the enthusiasm but into the second KM, I wanted to stop. The music player in my phone complained of corrupt files and stopped. I had no inclination to continue. I was figuring out ways of keeping my mind busy and the idea for this blog post was born.

When I used to run on the treadmill, usually my goal was to run as much as the person next to me runs. If the person started running before me, I will try to do the same distance he/she does in a minute or two less. If the person starts running after me, I usually try to run as long as he runs. I remember an incident that occurred a while back in Fitness One. Another guy and me started running around the same time. We had completed around 22 minutes at a decent pace. I did not want to give up until the other guy stopped but I was unable to go any further. After another couple of minutes, I pressed the emergency stop button and stopped. The other guy also did the same almost around the same time. After he stopped, I told him that I was trying to run until he stopped, but could not and he said he also usually does the same thing and he was waiting for me to stop :-)

Another trick I do is to find someone who runs at a decent pace and try to maintain the same distance. A friend once said that, he clocks his runs by the number of songs that play in the gym. One song is normally 4 minutes, so on an average he does about 5 songs for 20 minutes.

My wife has just started cycling and her biggest challenges are the uphill paths. She pants and puffs her way through them. She says, when she sees an uphill, she diverts her mind by thinking philosophy or tries to recollect lyrics of songs she learnt as a child. Sometimes, she says, she also sings aloud or smiles or waves at strangers. This diverts her mind, and she gets through easily.

--
Unless you're not pushing yourself, you're not living to the fullest. You can't be afraid to fail, but unless you fail, you haven't pushed hard enough.
          -- Dean Karnazes

It was the usual, "You look familiar" dialogue that started the conversation and after a few minutes, I asked him, "What do you do?". Coolly he said, "I run a chain of beauty salon and spa in Bangalore". I was taken aback and did not expect this from someone who passed out of IIT 20 years ago and just returned back to Bangalore. Another interesting conversation was with a gentleman showing some magic tracks. I first thought he was an assistant helping out with the sound system in the room. I was pleasantly surprised when he said he used to work as a traffic constable attached to the Indirinagar Police station and he has taken leave of absence from work.

It was a colleague's 15th marriage anniversary dinner. I had to coax my wife to go since she was tired after work yesterday. All I told her was that he was in interesting personality (there will be a dozen or more who will disagree to that) and is fun to chat with. The side show of pictures showcasing the couple's 15 years of life was interesting and sometimes funny. The dinner was decent and the music was very good. Naren and Jyothi did a wonderful job with the Karoke, singing old hindi songs. And Had an awesome time.

Someone asked me at the NRC this morning: What is the difference between running on a treadmill and running in a community? I blurbed along the lines of this is more fun, yada yada. I might not have said what I wanted to express and hence this post.

A few weeks before the Sunfeast 10K, when coach Beedu used to ask how many of us would run the 10k, a few hands would come up reluctantly. After a little prodding, a few more would raise their hands. Interestingly at the Nike lounge after the run, a lot of people were congratulating each other on their successful completion and timings. Contrast that with today. After Nike announced the registrations for the Human race on Oct 24th, the conversation has been completely different. Everyone is talking about completing the 10K, bettering their time. Today, I met a couple of folks who completed the Chennai half marathon in approx 2 hours and discussing about their experience and providing tips. Both of them started running less than six months ago. You will not find this companionship when you run on a treadmill. You will not find some one patting on your back and pace you up and ask you to push a bit and cheer you.

Running on treadmill is helpful when you want to time your runs properly in a controlled environment. But it is not so much fun. Get out on the streets and you will enjoy every bit of it. If you want to run with some greenery around, go to either Cubbon park or Lalbagh. Cubbon park is the best thing that could have happened to runners in Bangalore.

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"There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open."
          -- Nike

A couple of years back, my only running was from my apartment to the main road where the office cab stops. Hardly about 250 metres. I will huff and puff to reach there in 3-4 minutes. Slowly, I started running at the gym. I was able to run with great difficulty, a KM under 10 minutes. The Fitness One guys started pushing me and I did a mile under 10 minutes once. I slowly started increasing the time I could run continuously and after a while I was able to run around 30-40 minutes continuously. My best on the treadmill was 5K in 32 minutes.

But then, running on the treadmill was no fun. Late last year I started venturing out into the real world. It was a completely different experience. I was back to square one. I could hardly run a couple of kilometres. Then subbuj joined me as my running buddy. We started slowly pushing our limits. Subbu has a Nokia N95 with Sports Tracker installed and that helped us track our progress. I was planning for training with Runner's High, but then a sudden trip sent me to San Francisco. Thankfully, it also helped me continue my running and I enjoyed every bit of my stay there. I also picked up a good running shoe there.

Once I came back, we started running at the Cubbon Park. One fine day, we decided to check out the Nike Run Club. They were just beginning to ramp up their training sessions and it was a blessing. Coach Beedu and Reeth were helpful with tips and helped in the training. Nike took really good care of us during the training sessions. They did a gait analysis, arranged pep talks, provided trial shoes and finally ensured that everyone gets mentally and physically ready for the run.

The day before the event was just like the day before an exam. I was a bit nervous and was also tired. It took me a while to realise that the main reason why I started running was to have fun and if I get tensed I would miss the fun. So the next day, I went to the run with only thing in mind. Finish it and if I can finish in 90 minutes I would be happy. Subbu and I started running on the race day and after a couple of KM, I felt that I could run faster. I slowly picked up the pace and got into a nice rhythm. Went to the 5K mark in 28 minutes and I was nicely pulling along. Then came the difficult part of the run, since the road was slightly steep from Dickenson Road to Kamaraj Road to Cubbon Road. I slowed down and after a few minutes started walking. I walked for a couple of minutes and then started running again. After entering into the Cubbon Park, it was the regular trail and I picked up pace. The last KM was the fastest pace and according to my watch, I finished in 58:28 minutes. Woohoo! We then went into the Nike Lounge and were royally pampered. There was one guy handing out cold towels, another guy taking pictures, a sumptuous breakfast, a foot message and some very nice music. It turned out much better than what I had imagined. When the official timings came out the next day, I found that I had done it in 57:43 mins. Nike has also promised that they would give a specially designed T-shirt, "I'm a finisher" for everyone registered with NRC.

So what are you thinking. If you want to start running, drop in tomorrow, 13th June, at Kanteerava Stadium at 6AM and join the Nike run club.

--
Pain is temporary, Pride is permanent.
          -- Saw on poster by someone cheering for Runner's High

Some tiny bits of wisdom that I gleaned over the weekend.

• There is a good chance that your house keys are in your jeans pockets. Search thoroughly before panicking the rest of the world.
• Friday evening might not be the best day to clean your kitchen.
• If you don't heed to the previous point, atleast make sure that you do not have anything on the kitchen windows, before you attempt to clean it.
• If you drop something on the sunshade of the apartment below you, the easiest way to fetch it, is by using a mop to push the item down.
• There is no guarantee that the item that you pushed from the top is going to survive after the fall.
• It is okay to skip the IPL semifinals / finals and go to sleep, if you are sleep starved.
• Some kind soul will always be interested in letting their presence felt by sending an SMS close to midnight.
• If you wake up thanks to the SMS, use the opportunity to catchup on the scores before you start to snore again.
• There is a lot of chance that you will have a hang over on the Monday morning, even after three rounds of coffee. Live with it

Enjoy and have a great week ahead.

--
Don't worry. Life's too long.
          -- Vincent Sardi, Jr.

A cricket update for a long time. With Mumbai Indians refusing to put up a fight, here are my predictions for the semi finals.

• Delhi Daredevils
• Chennai Super Kings
• Deccan Chargers
• Rajasthan Royals

Delhi and Chennai will go for the finals and I expect Delhi to win. Let us see how it goes

Sometimes I wonder why am I here getting stuck with this. Big corporations makes people forget the humanness. They lose the human touch and all they are interested in flexing their muscles and showing who they are. Reality strikes and I remember that I cannot solve every problem and bring in world peace. I scream and move on.

--
But when we lose humanness we have no way of knowing we have lost it.
          -- Edward Bond

Airtel sent me this email today, with subject "Your Airtel Bill for Account XXXXXXXX, For the Period 26/03/2009 to 26/04/2009, Airtel Number 080XXXXXXXX"

Dear Customer,

Please find attached your Airtel Bill for,

Airtel Number: 080XXXXXXXX
Account Number: XXXXXXXX
Bill Number: XXXXXXXX
Bill Period:26/03/2009 to 26/04/2009

Please save it for your future reference. You need Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view this bill.

Further down the email, I see this.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your Airtel e-bill is protected by a unique password, please enter your account number as password to open your e-bill. Password remains the same for every e- bill sent month on month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who are they trying to fool? What is the point in password protecting the bill, when the password is provided in the email? How does one deal with such morons?

Over the last four weeks, I watched eight movies. Here is a twitter style review of seven of them. I forgot the name of the eighth :-)

• Delhi 6 - Spent 3 hours watching a movie and came out unable to understand what the movie was all about. I am starting to love the Masakali song though.
• Slumdog Millionaire - I have no clue what is there in this movie to go gaga over it. An average movie
• Max Payne - Had heard about the game and decided to watch this movie. Crap.
• Eagle Eye - Slept through it
• Dasvidaniya - Indian version of The Bucket List
• Rock On!! - Started watching this since I had heard a lot about this movie. Turned out to be an average one.
• Jab We Met - Finally a decent one. Enjoyed it. Geet sometimes reminds me of someone special :-)

The concert schedule for the 71st Sree Ramanavami Celebrations at Fort High School is available on the mandali's website. As usual it is a star studded list. Be there and enjoy.

Upcoming Link.

Most of February, I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the next few months. I had signed up for a training program for a 10K run in May. I egged a few friends to find out some place for a trek or a tour. I was asking my wife if she wanted to go anywhere. Suddenly during the last week of Feb, everything changed. I was asked to travel to San Francisco for a couple of weeks. I came here with a mixed bag of reactions and a lot of apprehension.

I landed in San Francisco on the first of March. The first couple of days passed by and then I discovered _the city_. This has been an amazing place and I have enjoyed every day here. Sometimes when I am completely upset or bogged down, be it due to work or otherwise, all I do is take a walk or a jog. And then I feel as if I am in heaven. I forget everything. All I feel is the chill air and the noise of the speeding cars around. This city is a jogger's paradise. The other day, I was really hungry and went down to get some breakfast. When I saw people running, I started running. I ran till Fisherman's Wharf and came back to the apartment without even having breakfast. Today I went to the airport to see a friend's wife off to India. He and a couple of others came back to my apartment and we went for a walk. We came to the apartment around 6 and they left around 8. I finished my dinner and was planning to go to bed. I am scheduled to go to Sunnyvale tomorrow and after a week back to Bangalore. So, I decided to take a walk one last time during this trip. I went down and I started running. I ran till the Gandhi statue at the Ferry Building. I spent about 15 minutes there listening to the sounds from the water, watching the Bay Bridge, thinking how much things have changed in the two weeks.

SF, I am going to miss you. Good bye until I come back again.

The 8th edition of Bangalore Barcamp happens at Yahoo! on 7th and 8th March. There has been enough debates about BCB8. So it will be interesting to see how it goes. I am not in town and will not be able to make it. But if you are around, you should go. It helps to connect with like minded people in town.

This is what I call a perfect Sunday Morning.

• Wake up at 6:15. That is a record.
• About 30 minutes jog at Cubbon park.
• Make breakfast.
• Assist in making custard. Dessert for lunch.
• Do some cleaning.
• Amazing two hours of music on KL Radio on Worldspace. Today's special was songs beginning with questions. Some amazing music. Before that was an interview with Kovai Sarala. The songs played were also very good.

Now that beewi is out for a couple of hours, time to catchup on random stuff over the internet and possibly a quick nap. Life like this is good. I'm loving it :-)

PS: Last night while I was driving back from Railway Station, decided to check out the Yahoo! Open Hackday happening at Taj. On the way I saw a McD on Kasturba Raod. Stopped by to get some fries and chatpatta masala. Check it out when you are there next time.

It was the first class of Computer Programming in my 3rd semester Engineering. GV, the lecturer walks into the class, introduces himself and starts talking. I believe he said this in Tamil:

"நானும் பாலாஜியும் friends-a இருக்கணும்னா, நான் மட்டும் மனசு வச்சா முடியாது. பாலாஜியும் மனசு வைக்கணும்."

For those who don't understand Tamil, it roughly translates into "If I and Balaji are to become friends, it is not enough if I think about it. Balaji also has to think about it".

He was referring to a tussle we had in the exam in the first year when he came as the exam supervisor. I was really surprised that he had looked up my name then and remembered it almost a couple of months after that, when he came as a lecture to my class.

Every time when I run into an interpersonal issue, be it at work or outside, I remember this, see if I am at fault and try whatever I can do to fix it. I would have also repeated this quote a few hundred times to folks around when such issues arises. The academic education that I received from my college was very limited but this is the place which taught me how to survive. Every time I run into an issue, I think about a similar incident that I had in college, how I worked around it and I immediately discover a solution. It is more than 10 years since I graduated out of college but the memories are ever green. Those were the best days of my life!

I was getting ready to leave for my morning jog yesterday when I read this shocking news. The third page of The Hindu routinely carries such information. The reason why it worried me was that every day when I run, I see a whole lot of people walking / jogging / running on the road. Many of these folks are more interested in carrying a conversation on the road rather than concentrate on the road. Many times I see folks completely blocking the road or walking in parallel oblivious of the surroundings.

So if you walk or jog on the road here are some tips:

• If there is a park in your area, please walk there.
• Always walk / jog on the extreme right of the road facing traffic.
• If this is a new road that you are running, first for the first couple of days focus on the road and traffic to get an idea.
• If the foot path is usable, please use it.
• Keep an eye on the traffic. There is no guarantee that the guy in the car is going to see you
• It is okay to lose a 30 seconds waiting for the car to pass, rather than risk your life.

And if you are driver, please respect the traffic rules. If a road is marked one way, _it_ _is_ _a_ _one_ _way_. This does not (atleast in Bangalore) change based on time of the day. If you are interested in racing, go to a racing track and not the road. Give space to pedestrians.

Yamini, the annual dusk to dawn musical festival, happens on the evening of 25th Jan every year. I was there last year and it was an amazing evening / night. The event is back this year again with another set of maestros.

This year's performance includes

• Carnatic Vocal by Ranjani & Gayatri


• Violin by Mysore brothers Nagaraj and Manjunath


• Bharatanatyam by Urmila Sathyanarayanan


• Flute by Pt.Ronu Mazumdar

Passes are free for download at the concert website. Be there, clothed in warm clothing and enjoy an amazing evening / night

Happy New Year. The first post of the year. However since I did not complete a round up of 2008 as promised earlier, here it is. I initially thought this is going to be individual posts but being a lazy bum, I am consolidating all into one.

• Status Change: I have been using twitter a lot lately for status updates but this one deserved a post but I never did. On Dec 4th, this year, my marital status changed to married. I got married to Vasumathi at Srirangam Trichy and then have spent the rest of the month at leisure touring Rajsathan for a week, a week in Bangalore and the last couple of weeks for a laid back vacation in Podanur, Coimbatore.
• Three years at Yahoo!: This October, I completed three years at Yahoo! I have been working for more than 10 years now and this is the longest stay in a company for me. There are enough people around to look up to, the work is fantastic and I am enjoying every bit of it. There has been ups and downs but this is a company where I have felt at home since day one.
• Travel - Visted Singapore and a few other places in India.
• Was regular in some kind of physical activity.

Let us see what 2009 has got in store for me.