Me Microblogging

Have you heard about Twitter, Plurk or Jaiku? Some of you must have heard about at least one of them. Everyone is aware of blogs. Everyone has a blog these days… no matter how lazy or  moody (like me) they are.

Well Microblog is a just like your normal blog but the length of the messages posted on microblog is limited to 140 characters. Yup just 140 characters thats even less than a SMS you send out on your cell phone. Twitter, Plurk and Jaiku are providers for microblogs. Microblogs are used to usually give status updates like “Out for a coffee” or if you find an interesting article on the net just post it on your microblog or just friendly banter.

You can create a group and send out post to everyone in the group akin to a group sms. So the next time you need to plan that weekend party or outing trying using Twitter. In fact many companies use Twitter for means of Internal Communications. Go thru this article from Apple on Twitter.

The most widely used microblogging service is Twitter. A post on Twitter is called a Tweet – reminds of the Tweety bird . And users are known as Twitterers. I am a twitterer too.. you can follow my tweets here http://twitter.com/aadilkhan

Though I am not very much active on Twitter… but I do Tweet as n when possible or in a mood to. Like I’ll tweet about this blog.

P.S: Its funny… On my Blog I am writing about Microblog and on my Microblog I’ll post about my Blog…

Follow me on Twitter:http://twitter.com/aadilkhan

Extreme Socializing

Who does not want to catch up with freinds. With such erratic work hours I find it difficult to pick a call from a friend or reply to an sms that one of my friends. Some times its only while I am in the bus on my way back from office that I see all the missed calls and sms received.

Weekends… I look forward to catch up with pals for some time and sleep my ass off the rest of the time. But the past couple of weekends have been very very hectic for me. Hectic not work wise tough. I was so busy socializing with all my dear friends that I did not have time to take care of my own little things that I had been pushing for the weekend.

From meeting up a friend whose back from the US to celebrating a another’s birthday to meeting a newly married couple-friend to shopping for a friend.

Last weekend I met a friend whose back from the US after 2 and 1/2 years. He’s a college time close pal of mine. I met him over the lunch. Next I celebrated a friend’s birthday. He once told me that he has never cut a cake in his life. I said to myself… chalo lets make his day. So off I went along with my room-mate… half way around Bangalore to celebrate his Birthday. The celebrations went on till 11 pm. It was close to mid-nite that I could come n rest. Whole of the day I was driving my bike in the sultry Bangalore heat. This was on a Saturday.

The next day, a friend who had just got married calls up and invites us (a few of common friends) over for lunch. So I was there and the gathering went on till late evening.

This weekend I was looking forward to a relatively quite one. But again it was not to be.. Saturday started off on a very disappointing note tough. I was supposed to meet a very very close friend of mine who was leaving for Australia. But we were not destined to meet. Well anyways All The Very Best, my best wishes are always with you dear friend.

Next I was supposed to check out a few electronic stores for a Microwave. A group of us is giving the newly wed couple (the one who called me for lunch last sunday) a Microwave as a wedding gift. Again the Bangalore heat got to me. After resting for  a while I was off again. This time to meet a pal whose back from Germany. So group of us were sitting in a pub, listening to very loud music (which I found tasteless), watching IPL T20 matches (which dont interest me) and drinking cola while watching others get drunk. I had a severe head ache that nite.

Sunday was reserved for a friend from Belgaum. I was supposed to meet his and his better half on Sunday. But Sunday began with a hangover. The loud music previous nite had taken its toll. But after fixing up a meeting time and place I was off on my bike again in the head to meet him. After having lunches at Empire and KFC (hmmm…) we parted ways. Next we headed to the marriage of another friend. We timed our arrival such that we could miss lunch. But to our surprise the groom was just about to go for lunch as we arrived. So there I was, having my 3rd lunch in 2 hours. Its was a grand meal…nearly about 12 courses… Which I had to swallow forcefully. As I left the convention hall another friend calls me up and asks me to come along for shopping.

So here I go again. Driving around Bangalore I reach to his place and from there we are off to Shoppers Stop. Spending 5 hours and shopping for clothes worth thousands I am back at my room at 10:45 and have dinner.

What a day… tiring… total atyachar… physical, mental, intestinal atyachar… my body is cursing me as I write this post. Its been a few weekends of kuch zyada sociallizing… or as I’d put it extreme socializing.

But when I remember the valueable time spent with all my dear friends, listening to their banter, pulling anothers leg, the smile on their faces… its an over whelming feeling. A refreshing feeling which re-vitalizes my body and I say to myself, “Damn, why are there only 24 hours in a day? Why does a weekend have to get over so soon?? Why?”

I am just Software Engineer…

Received this cartoon as a forwarded mail a few days ago from a friend. This is such a common thing here in Bangalore… Autowallas, maids, everyone are just here to rip you off. Evern the room rents are spiked for a Software Engineer. It has become a bane to be a Software Engineer.

Listen To The Rhythm of The Falling Rain…

All drenched in rain

Its been raining here in Bangalore for past few days now. Everytime I see the rain coming down from the heavens above I feel like getting all wet in it. But everytime I am held back. Held back from getting wet just because now I have a hundered and one things to take care of before I get wet.

Every time I have to think, “My leather shoes would get soggy in the rain”.   “What about the money wallet I am carry or my mobile phone”. Every thing would be rendered useless once I get wet. More over I’ll have to go to office, how can I sit in the office with all my clothes wet. All this khich-khich, always changes my mind.

I’m surprised when I see my self in flash back. Just 3-4 years ago,  I would have not given getting wet another thought. If it rained I’d have to get wet. Then it did not matter if I was walking, I was on a bike, I was going to college, coming from college… did not make a difference.

Well that is what they call change I suppose, but I dont want to change… I still want to be that stubborn little kid that I’ve always been.

But tonite when it rained in Bangalore while I was on my way back from dinner… I just could not help my self. I kept the wallet n mobile phone, pens etc in a plastic bag n started walking… geting drenched in the heavenly shower.. enjoying every drop landing on my body.

A happy little grown up child.

Ah.. It felt great to be a child again.. Automatically my mind started reciting the following lines from the poem “Mera Naya Bachpan” by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan

बार-बार आती है मुझको मधुर याद बचपन तेरी।
गया ले गया तू जीवन की सबसे मस्त खुशी मेरी॥

चिंता-रहित खेलना-खाना वह फिरना निर्भय स्वच्छंद।
कैसे भूला जा सकता है बचपन का अतुलित आनंद?

ऊँच-नीच का ज्ञान नहीं था छुआछूत किसने जानी?
बनी हुई थी वहाँ झोंपड़ी और चीथड़ों में रानी॥

Why Men Love UNIX

This was mail forward I got a couple of years ago…

Reason why men love UNIX:
$ touch;
$ finger;
$ unzip;
$ strip;
$ mount;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ mv;
$ halt;
$ core dump;
$ unmount;
$ sleep;
$ ..
and the best thing is.. NO VIRUS!!
Thats why for anything u want to understand in UNIX u have to type
$ man
at the prompt.

Aadil’s Bloggin REDUX

I am back.. back at another attempt of Blogging.. Starting a blog is the easiest thing to do.. but constantly updating is very difficult.. At least I find it to be. When I am in the right mood, I write.. else for months (like the last few month) I just don’t feel like writing..
So here’s to another begining… phir se.. Hello World..
Cheerz.

Have you heard about OpenID?

A few weeks ago I stumbled up a website called www.myopenid.com. It provided something called openIDs. Immidiately I got intrigued by the concept. Imagine I could a single ID to log in to all the websites. As it is I have to signup for most of websites and remember the usernames and passwords. But openID is a solution to this.

OpenID is a relatively new concept and has been around for a couple of years only. Its picked up some momentum just recently with many of the Internet giants annoucing their support for the upcoming technology.

Check out more about openID on my blog page

Of Windows and Numbering

The other night, while chatting with Aadil and Muzaffar, we started discussing about Windows Operating System. You can be sure there was absolutely no praise for the OS but the criticism was very strong.

We talked about the variety of Windows dished out and our horrid experience with them. We’ve had so many dead fishes thrown at us by MS and each one of them stinks more than the other. We’ve had Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows Millenium etc etc and the latest one Vista.

Soon Vista will go down the drain coz Windows 7 will be replacing it.

Hold on a sec… XP, Vista and now 7. Whats with the MS guys? What naming convention are they following?

I found the answer to the above questions in one of the blogs written by a member of the Windows Vista Team. I found the blog hilarious, look at the following quote from the blog.

So we decided to ship the Windows 7 code as Windows 6.1 – which is what you will see in the actual version of the product in cmd.exe or computer properties

Why not name the damn thing Windows 7 everywhere. Why these two numbering schemes. Ah!! To hell with it.

You can get the complete blog here

Diwali Dhamaka – Surprising Mysore Trip

I was supposed to be in belgaum since I had 4 days off. But the trip had to be cancelled at the nth moment. All my plans went down the drain. I would have been visiting belguam after about an year, I would have met my friends, catch up with them. But no. As they say, “Plans never work out”.. so very true.

But they also say, “Everything that happens, happens for the good”. So instead of going to Belgaum I decided to go to Mysore, may be for a day or two. Its been more than 10 years since I have visited Mysore. So late nite I called up Muzaffar and asked him would he be willing to tag along, for which he readily agreed.

So we were off to Mysore at 7 am in the morning. Reached Srirangapatnam by 11 am. After visiting all the historical places in Srirangapatnam we left for Myore. By 4:30 we were in Mysore. On the way I was telling Muzaffar how I was planning to meet up with Aadil Bandukwala, as it has been ages since we have cought up. But now I was in Mysore. I dont know when I will meet Aadil.

After reaching Mysore we headed straight to Mysore Palace, took an express tour of the grand palace (yeah.. we finished roaming around the huge place in 45 mins flat). Our plan was to head back to Bangalore by 8:30 pm. As we were having dinner, I picked up my mobile and called Aadil. I said to Aadil, “We are having dinner in your sasural(in-laws place)”. Yes she is from Mysore.

Surprise!! Surprise!!! Aadil Bandukwala too was in Mysore. And I do not need to elaborate as to why he was in Mysore (pssst.. becoz of her). All through the day Muzaffar n myself have been mentioning about Aadil at some point or the other.. and now he was in Mysore and we were in Mysore.

So without wasting much time, we packed the dinner we ordered and headed straight to the hotel where Aadil had checked in. Phir kya tha!!! The three of us met after a gap of more than a year so we had a lot of things to catch up on.

Had second round of dinner, Aadil’s favourite Butter chicken, Hot Chocolate Fudge at Corner House. We sat chatting till 2:30 am. Had the packed dinner at midnight since both Aadil n me were hungry and talked, talked and talked.

It was too good to be true.. time and again Muzaffar and me were telling how we almost called the Mysore trip off, how we almost left without calling Aadil and how we had never imagined to meet Aadil in Mysore. And to top it all off, we did get to meet Saniya, which was icing on the cake.

In the end, what was supposed to be a boring and extremely long weeked turned out be the one of the most adventurous one and filled with surprises. As I said earlier, plans never workout and yet everything that happens, happens for the good.

Check out snaps of our trip here

Recording music – Capturing that eluding melody.

It happens a lot with me. I hear a song playing somewhere and take a liking to it. Later on at some point in time I remember and hummm this tune and download it from the internet so that I can listen to it at leisure.

But what happens if your favorite tune is on a tape record or available on one of the online radio websites. For sure I do not have a tape recorder with me and I may not be connected to the internet always (like when I am traveling). And add to this, this particular song is not available on any of the P2P softwares that I use. What to do?????

This happened very recently. I like this song from a hindi movie called Vijeta starring Sanjay Dutt and Raveena Tandon. It was released way back in 1996. I think it was flop but this particular song, “Shaire Main Hogaya Deewana”, I took a liking to it. Since a long time i have been hunting for this song on the websites and P2P softwares but it was just not avaiable. It was possible to hear it only thru online music websites.

But I wanted it on my laptop, so that I can listen to it whenever I want to. So how do I do this. I came across a cool software, called “Audacity”

Check it out here

Fuel Prices In India

From the past few days I have been keenly following the prices of crude oil on the NYMEX (New York Merchantile Exchange). And as its widely known and covered in the media, crude oil prices are tumbling. Oil is trading at below $70 a barrel. That is about 52% fall from the all time high of $147 in July, 2008.

But I have an itch and there is no answer which could help me scratch that itch. The thing is, why the hell are fuel prices in India not falling in line with the fall in crude oil. A liter of petrol cost around Rs. 57 and premium petrol about Rs. 61.

Well got an answer to my question yesterday when out Petroleum Minister, Mr. Murali Deora made a statement saying that there would not be any price cut immidiately. The oil companies are still bleeding and its only when oil prices fall below $61 that they could think of a price cut.

So I guess I’ll have to wait untill crude oil prices hit below $61 to see what our govt. does.

Another thougt crosses my mind. The fall in crude prices indicates a lot of things, like people have started using less fuel, the public is no longer ready to spend, the financial situation is bad.. pretty bad.

If this trend continues, we could have some difficult days ahead.

Funny Video: Trophy Breaking

Here is a funny video I came across in YouTube. Have a dekko.

GMail Labs: Mail Goggles

The title seems a bit wiered isn’t it – Mail Goggles. I just checked this out of sheer curiosity. Quoting the developer Jon,

Mail you send late night on the weekends may be useful but you may regret it the next morning

As you must have understood, just like the police prevents you from drunken driving, Gmail is trying to prevent you from drunken emailing.

What it does is, ask u to solve a series of mathematical equation just before the mail is sent and after you’ve hit the send button. And this has to be done in under 60 seconds.

Interesting message it shows in case u get the equations wrong,

Water or bed for you

Not sure how much of a help would this feature be. I am a teetotaler. So for sure its of no use to me. And the people who drink and whom I know, are absolutely in no condition to mail when they are high (friends reading this would know what I mean, I have seen a lot of “drama” ).

Good thought though.

Gmail Labs

Gmail has recently updated a pretty cool feature – Gmail Labs. Gmail Labs like Google Labs has a list of applications presently under development by the Google people.

To enable Gmail Labs you’ll have to go to Gmail Settings and there should be Labs tab sitting pretty there.

I found a few very useful apps in the Labs. Here I list the ones I have been using.

• Right Side Chat: The chat window in Gmail by default on the left hand side below the mail folders and lables. This means that every time you want to see who is online, u’ll have scroll down and check the chat window. Well no more. With Right side chat in the labs enabled, chat is now placed neatly on the Right hand side of the window. Even when u open a conversation, the ads on the right hand side a placed below the chat.
• Mark as Read Button: This option I find very useful. See the thing is I have a lot of mail conversations that I just do not bother to open (newsletters, forum updates, news updates etc). Just looking at the subject I decide should I look at it or ignore. What I do is mark all such conversations as read. But by default marking as read a involves selecting the conversations and then selecting Mark as read from the drop down More Actions menu. But some extra clicks are saved with the “Mark as read Button” as the button is placed right next to the Delete button. Good One this.
• Custom Lable Colors: This is another useful feature. My mail conversations have a lot of lables. And I do like to give each lable a different color. But I hate the colors provided by default. This feature comes in handy to add custom colors to lables.
• Pictures in Chat: Dont know much about this. I dont used the chat from Gmail when I am on my MacBook. I find iChat much much better that any other chatting software. Effects that are available in Photo Booth are available in iChat too (Have a look at the fun I have with Photo Booth here)

These were a few of the Labs apps that I use. Do leave a comment about with app u like the most or just leave a comment about anything.

MacBook Features I Like

This is the first of the series of blogs I plan to write about the features I like the most in Apple MacBook.

Apart from having some great software, an excellent Operating System, Apple has given the MacBook that something extra that makes you go Hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!

MacBook Charger Plug

The first thing I like most about the MacBook is its Charger. This is one of the most important components I my view. An Apple has done some nice word with its Charger.

The charger provided by Apple is Magnetic. Yup!!! the plug and the socket are magnetic. The advantage of such a design is that if you trip over the charger cable you wont be taking your laptop for a ride [;)]. In case you do trip over, the plug is gracefully unplugged from the laptop.

Believe me, this is very much helpful… I have tripped over the cable a couple of time but Thank God, nothing  happend to my MacBook.

Here is another snap with the charger connected to my MacBook.

Fun with my iSight & Photo Booth

iSight is the built in camera that comes along with the MacBook. Photo Booth is an application that comes along with Mac OS X Leopard. Photo Booth has got some pretty cool stuff. Here are a few of the snaps that I have taken using some of the effects in Photo Booth.

Reminds me of the Hall of mirrors that was there at Military Mahadev back in Belgaum.

Photo Booth Effects

Photo Booth Effects

Photo Booth Effects

Photo Booth Effects

Photo Booth Effects

Formatting issue resolved

The issue I had with my post Leaving on a jet plane is resolved now. Turns out the HTML code for the updates had some extra tags defining the font properties for those particular section. I had to manually delete these tags so that the text could look same as the other text in the post.

Must Watch – A Wednesday

A few weeks ago, a not so big budget movie called A Wednesday was released. It has come very good actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergil etc. I found the movie worth watching. 

Its even more relevant in the current state of things. Where every other person is viewed with suspicion. 

A Wednesday. This movie shows what happens when a frustrated common man takes things in his own hands. The frustrations needs a vent to come out. This movie displays this is a a nice way.

The way the actors portray their characters be it the common man (Naseerundin Shah) or the commissioner (Anupam Kher) or the two Sub-inspectors (Jimmy Shergil, Aamir Bashir) is fantastic.

The injustice the common man faces day in and day out, they way Naseeruddin Shah explains this is the high point in the movie.

The emotions of the commissioner and the two sub inspectors are worth watching.

Especially Aamir Bashir, when he is on a very dangerous mission and his wife calls. Its fantastic acting wherein the character has to balance his work and life. This balance is portrayed in a fine manner in this scene.

And of course we have the media. How can anything be complete without the media. The director has his shot at the media too. We see Deepal Shaw as a reporter for UTV news.

All in all an excellent watch with some great performances. Don’t miss it. I would give it a 6/5

Visit to Md. Ali Road, Mumbai

Every year during Ramzan, Md. Ali Road lights up in complete glee. There is complete chaos and yet things look to be systematic.

The famous sweet mart at Md. Ali Road

The streets are filled with food stuffs. Different types of road side delights. There is
the famous Malpua, chicken tandoori, kababs, chinese food iteams, chicken fry, sweets, ragda, chana, masala aloo, fruit juices, dry fruits, nalli nehari. OMG.. I can go on and on..
have a look at the snaps that I was able to take from my N70.

The Malpua of Suleman Usman Mithaiwala is worth tasting. This sweet mart is one of the oldest on the streets. Other items served only during ramzan include phirni and sandal.

Sandal is sweet idli, got only during Ramzan and only at this place.

Look at all the people. There is hardly any space to breathe, let alone walk. All you have to do is stand at one place and you will be pushed and pulled from that place to another , thats the kind of crowd you’ll find there.

And there is the ever lasting beauty of Minara Masjid. The famous land mark on Md. Ali Road. The architecture of this Mosque is worth admiring. And during ramzan its even more breath taking.

Its a total delight for foodies like me. Here are few more. You have to be there physically to get a feel of the energy around.

There are people, people and people every where. Its like a Tsunami of human beings. You’ll find people shopping, people eating, people having a cup of tea, people buying kurtas, people buying shoes… every where you look there are people.

 I have quite a few fond memories of this place. May be I’ll share some time later in my posts.

Minara Masjid at Md. Ali Road

Tongue Soup as speciality during Ramzan

The famous sweet mart at Md. Ali Road

Leaving on a jet plane

Well with Eid-ul-Fitr just round the corner, its time for me to be with my family. So I decided to fly. Even tough the face prices are hitting the roof, I had no other option. I am fasting  (thats one thing I cannot leave). Hence it would be a tad difficult for me to travel in either bus or train. Not that I haven’t done that. There is a time for everything. So now it was time to fly, may be the last time (for now).

So here I am sitting in the Departure lounge of Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL). I left my place at 5:30 AM. Although my flight wont be departing till 09:35 AM.  I was planning to take the Volvo to the Airport (BIAS service from BMTC) but I got the Suvarna bus, which is something between a Volvo and a normal BMTC bus.

Its 07:15 AM, with atleast 2 more hours for the flight, sitting with my MacBook. Accessing the free Internet. Its just so easy. As soon as I started by MacBook, there was  prompt saying from the Airport Wifi Card “PASSENGER FREE INTERNET”. All i had to do was select it and done. But not yet,  I have to send out an sms to get the password for accessing the WIFI service.I have read on the BIAL website that the free internet service is only for 15 minutes so I’ll have to be quick.

By the way I am flying Kingfisher Red (erstwhile Deccan). I booked the ticket on Deccan tough. Cost me Rs 4174/- including taxes. I haven’t checked in yet. I wanted to roam around the terminal and explore it before the checkin.

Well my first impressions are quite good about BIAL. I dont understand what exactly are the “facilities” the politicians grumble about.

[Update]

8:30 AM

I have checkedin my baggage and now waiting for the security checkin.

The Wifi connection is excellent by the way and also its for an hour. Its mentioned on the BIAL websits its for 15 minutes. Good. I can really pass my time here.

Damn it the clock for the Internet usage does not stop after I have shutdown my MacBook. Now I have only 28 minutes left.

I was just roaming around taking some pics of the airport. Will upload it once I reach Bombay.

Thats it i guess from BIAL. Let me go for the security check. If possible I’ll blog again from the security holding area. But I can see a lot of shops to keep me busy. So lets go….

[Update]
9:40 AM Hmmm… I am flying and using my laptop. The feeling is amazing.
I could only see others using their laptops in my past journeys in a plane. But now I am also using a laptop and not just any laptop… its a MacBook.. an Apple MacBook. The Best. Many drool, dream and only dream about a Mac. But I am the one who owns one.
I have always wanted to listen to some of my favorites tracks on my laptop and being able to listen to them while flying is superb.
The thrill of flying is wonderful. The thrust that you feel at take off.. is just WOW!!! One moment you are standing still and the very next you are off at more than 300 KMPH (hmm… note to self: check out the take off speed of an airplane). And the feeling that you get when the plane lifts off the ground, is just unexplainable. You really have to feel it… experience it. Its over velming.
Then within a few minutes you are flying over the clouds. The clouds appear like small cotton balls spread across the sky to infinity. You can see the roads and cars like little toy cars.
Last nite I have slept only for 3 and 1/2 hrs but still I am wide awake. I just can miss this opportunity. This experience is unforgettable.

10:45 AM
We are descending now. I can see the beautiful Western Ghats. Somewhere on those mountains is Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Matheran. They look just as beautiful and lush green as they look up close. I can see a deep blue river running between the mountains. Oh its so breathtaking. In a couple of minutes my journey will end and I’ll be in Bombay, the city of dreams.
A fly just flew by me. I wonder how did it get in. Guess its a free passenger… enjoy ur flight mate

11:10 AM

I just flew over New Bombay (Navi Mumbai). I can see the Gopala Towers in Vashi. This is where my brother stays. Its clearly visible. I’ll be home is a couple of hours. I’ll be landing a few minutes. And so my journey will end.

P.S: I have no idea why the font is messed up in my latest update. All I did was copy paste from the word doc that I had temporarily written the post in. Will sort it out sometime later.

The Idea Song

Remember the first jingle for Idea Cellular. 9 8 1 2 3 ahmm ahmm… beautiful melody. Well it has been flicked from a Kannada Movie called Palllavi Anupallavi. This was the debut film for Mani Ratnam as a director and whats more surprising is that it has Anil Kapoor as the male lead.

One of my all time favorite songs. Here is a video of the same from Youtube.

Windows BSOD

Ah… the Windows Blue Screen of Death. Its been such a long time since I have seen that. This post is just to refresh my memories. Enjoy!!!!!!

F1 Weekend – Singapore

Its another race weekend.. but this one is special. It’s the Singapore Grand Prix. The first even night race in the history of Formula One.

I am so excited. I just cant wait to watch the qualifying and race.

A lot of planning has gone into the race. According to reports the lighting that is being used is 4 times brighter than the lighting used in a football stadium.

This makes it virtually a day like atmosphere. The lights have been place in such a manner that there is no glare in the eyes of the driver.

Its going to be a first for everyone. The drivers have their own strategy for the race. Imagine driving a F1 car at the speed of 300 KMPH in the streets of Singapore.

It does not get any bigger than this.

Rains could play a spoilt sport in the race, with the weather men predicting a 50 % chance of thundershowers during the race weekend. I hope the weather just holds back so that we can have a fine race.

I don’t think headlights can be fitted on a F1 car. Since the F1 cars are aerodynamically so refined that adding headlights would or could hinder with the setup. I’ll have to wait and see how the cars are setup.

Another first for the drivers is that they are following European timings. That is, they eat, sleep, work out and race according to the time in Europe. Normally races and practice sessions are held at 1 pm in the afternoon over a race weekend in Europe. For this reason the drivers and the entire Formula One circus has not acclimatized itself to the timings in Singapore.

Doctors have come up with special time table for them. Accordingly, they sleep at 5 AM, have breakfast at lunch time, have lunch at dinner time and supper at 3 AM. I don’t know how can they get used to such a time table so fast.

Find more info here: www.formula1.com

G1 – the Google Android Phone

Google recently unveiled its much awaited mobile phone, aptly name G1. The hardware for this phone is provided by HTC and the OS is of course Google own Android. Android is an Open Source

But even so much of hype around G1 does not seem to create many waves. If you look at G1 and look at the competition i.e. iPhone 3G, the latter wins hands down in looks department and the form factor.

Some reports say that the G1 is slightly bulkier, smaller, thicker than iPhone 3G. Also the colors that the phone is available in Black, white and brown are not so exciting.

I guess, in the music playback department it wont be able to compete with the iPhone. Because the iPhone has a far superior audio output. I seriously doubt HTC can match Apple in the music department.

Although I am not a great fan of iPhone either. I consider it an expensive toy at most. With a price tag of INR 30K +, its not a real value for money. But given a choice between G1 and iPhone, it would be iPhone all the way.

Killer… Milk

Well the Chinese have done it again. First toys, then dog food and now milk. Yes, the milk you, me and everyone else drinks. Its affecting small innocent children. Atleast 3 children have been detected with kidney stones after drinking the spiked milk from some Chinese dairy product companies.

This milk is laced with melamine. Melamine is the chemical used to make plastic utensils. Apparently adding melamine to milk increases the protein content in the milk. I am shocked as to what kind of a jerk can choose to play with the lives of innocent children.

Thousands of children are taking ill in China after being fed the toxic milk.

India, EU, many countries in South East Asia, New Zealand have band Chinese Milk and Milk products. Its the policy of Chinese secrecy and greed of a few individuals that has led to this mess.

I wont be surprised if we get news of a couple of people committing suicide due to this scam.