the life and times of deep_thought

“And yeah, I need these extra components also installed along with the basic configuration” said the lanky freshman undergraduate to the computer technician. The student was busy clearing his desk from the piles of books and paper on it, while the technician was working his magic. After having a first look at the components, the technician started small talk about how much did the freshman get those components from and from where. A few screws later, the computer technician whose name plate read ‘Viresh’ said that its all done, we need to power up now. With trembling fingers, the undergrad flipped the power switch; and thus deep_thought was born.

Those same fingers trembled while flipping the same switch back, in fond remembrance of the story narrated in the earlier paragraph. The fingers were not a lanky freshman’s fingers; instead they belonged to a (still lanky) junior undergraduate who was trembling as he went through his first serious parting in years. The hum of the cpu fan as it went slow and then stopped brought back lots of memories of deep_thought, as it was powered down for the last time.

Incidentally, it was the first time ever that deep_thought was given the shut down command, on any one of its more than 15 different hosted operating systems. For just over two years, deep_thought performed under the most adverse conditions that computers like him can possibly face. The owner, who we can clearly recognize as the author of this ridiculous story, must have been the worst and possibly the best thing that deep_thought was ever put through. Although for the better part of his life, deep_thought was subject to uber 50% cpu usage, it was one of the few computers of its kind who must have had a myriad of adventures as it did some of the most bizzare things imaginable.

One might feel that deep_thought was the best-in-his-league type computer, but well, a computer is just as good as their owner is. So, well deep_thought was very happy at its standing, performing to his own satisfaction. Only those who knew deep_thought well, could truly appreciate what he could do. Those high end operations of playing the latest game could never be relished by the owner, as deep_thought was a bit handicapped there. But what he lacked for in absolute configuration, he more than made up in the enthusiasm department.

The hope that I had in IBM when I bought my 8776a27 in my freshman year was more than fulfilled by deep_thought, and that is what made me believe in the brand. As deep_thought is officially out of commission, blue_gene shall enter my life  in the next 6 hours.

Notes:

deep_thought: my 8776a27

deep thought: world’s second most brilliant computer, in Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

deep throat: world’s first ever released adult movie.

URSA_minor: the computer from which I am writing this blog post.

blue_gene: my new t400

On the uneventful mornings in hostels

I was giving my closing argument in front of what seemed to be like faculty members sitting in front of me. I think the whole idea of having to defend myself in front of the disco was making me sweat, and then suddenly I heard a noise of something vibrating near me. I turned around to see Denny Crane sitting behind me, and then I actually thought it was the “blood-flow” meter of his that was on vibrate mode. It was then that I reasoned that all this can’t be true, and then I opened my eyes to see the blinking lights of my phone next to my bed.
I lunged for it and a few snooze commands later, I was no longer sprawled on my bed. Sitting up on my bed I looked up to see the fan switched off, which explained my “tension” in the disco scene. While making sense of what was going on, I involuntarily grabbed the handkerchief placed conveniently near my right hand and sneezed in it two times with ghastly force, leaving my chest heaving, and me thinking whether life is worth all this trouble. At that point of time, I remembered that I have a cold currently, and well, whatever grumpy perception I had about the day to come, just became a hundred times worse. Fortunately light was not a problem as I had gotten up almost at noon, which is what typically happens when you sleep at 4 or 5 in the morning.
After sitting on my bed for around 10 min trying to gather my thoughts and making my head stop spinning, I decided its about time I moved my ass of my bed. So, well that is precisely what I did. After checking mail and other yada yada stuff, I headed for the door. Even though it was noon, the sunlight still irritated my eyes, so making them small, I walked across the corridor to the bathroom, swaying laterally as I went. I heard some voices as I went to the urinals. What I find interesting in retrospect is that my mind blocked out all those voices while I was taking a leak. Heading to the wash basins, I noticed water on the floor, but I did not give it much thought.
This is where the reason for this post becomes clear. The basin is very short for a guy like me, and when I looked up from the basin and straightened up, I froze for a second. Right there, behind me were two ecoclean ladies mopping the floor. It was then that blood suddenly rushed to my brain and I realized I was standing in front of a wash basin wearing a t-shirt and boxers in front of two ecoclean ladies. These two ladies who stopped mopping the floor when I turned around and gave me a look that said “what the hell do you think you are doing in a ladies’ bathroom?”.
I was a bit angry at the system for sometime, but then I realized that in all probability, they would have thought I was wearing proper shorts that were just, well short. I have no idea what is up with ecoclean and why they have this sudden shortage of male employees. All I can say is that if these ecoclean ladies can barge into our toilets, students should at least be allowed to come inside the damn hostel.

Random Stuff

Long time it seems since I have written anything here. Thought i’d unsettle the dust a bit. Also, with impending exams, I am pretty jobless. This post actually was started off in the summer, after a particularly unique experience at a party at my friend’s weekend house. I don’t really have anything much to say today, except for cribbing about heavy schedules brought on by being in junior year. So, I thought I’d just pen down (rather type down) a few random things going on, or random observations, or conclusions, or whatever.

1. Boston Legal is the best thing that ever came out on television.
2. Most girls in college get into relationships by junior year. (with reference to my thermo prof, I don’t mean to say wrong relationships)
3. Ambience and company regulates how much you get drunk more than the alcohol, or the rate of ingestion of it.
4. Too much electronics can’t kill you, unfortunately. Even if you wish so :P
5. I get to see my new Lenovo T400 within a month :D
6. Boxers are the best form of underwear ever invented.
7. JAM magazine is utterly ridiculous.
8. I think I have asperger’s syndrome.
9. I have never to date given the Shut Down command to my current computer. (aka deep_thought)
10. My new computer’s name is yet undecided :(
11. Funny as it may sound, I always end up chasing girls who are committed, or unavailable due to whatever reasons.
12. Dogs don’t like my alarm tone.
13. I hate using the multimeter in the continuity mode.
14. I got an A in PS-I. Surprise Surprise.
15. I like to make word counts on posts odd numbers, if possible prime.
16. I really would like to try a case someday, just to feel like a Thakar one day.
17. I took a whole of three hours to write this post (was watching Boston Legal side by side)

Its good to write something on the blog after all this time. Hopefully next post will have some intelligible content. Cheers till then.

Global Worldwide Internet Speed Test

Check this site out:

http://global.speedtest.pl

Sexy website gives the strength of your internet connection.

Here are the results of my shitty internet provider:

Algorithms in Life

00. Call out.
01. Make a silent gesture to indicate the direction.
02. Make a run for it.
03. Run and lunge to reach it.
04. Make a clean first touch.
05. Control.
06. Beat man.
07. Look up and around.
08. Spot free guy.
09. Read the direction.
10. Take a swing.
11. Make the pass.
12. Get to a free position.
13. GOTO Step #00

Seemingly simple algorithm, really hard to implement; Specially with the given hardware :)

Primitive Observation:
Repeated trials give increasingly closer approximations to accurate implementation.

*Will keep adding observations to this post
**Variants to this algorithm will also be posted

Addiction

It’s hard to wean off one’s addiction, I had heard. Almost everyone is confident that he/she can pull off from their addiction whenever they please. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about addiction:

Addiction is a state in which the body relies on a substance for normal functioning. When this substance is removed, it can cause withdrawal. It was first used in 1906, in reference to opium (there is an isolated instance from 1779, with ref. to tobacco). The first use of the adjective addict (with the meaning of “delivered, devoted”) was in 1529 and comes from Latin addictus, pp. of addicere (“deliver, yield, devote,” from ad-, “to” + dicere, “say, declare”).

Addiction was a term used to describe a devotion, attachment, dedication, inclination, etc. Nowadays, however, the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences to the individual’s health, mental state or social life.

I believe that the definitions given over here are a bit too constricted. They are a product of a peephole effect in the writer’s vision. The term addiction in a broader sense, might not be necessarily associated with a substance as such. I believe that addiction of any kind is repetetion of any act to pacify some kind of insecurity that a person has. It might lead into a state where the body relies on that act for its normal functioning. Now this dependence of the body on the act might just be psychological in nature and not biological. This psychological dependence is more often than not the cause of addictions all around us; This is the part of the definition or the meaning of the term that most people miss out on.

On the lighter side, I am just glad that I realized that I was slowly getting addicted to web socialization; a thing that comprises overuse of social networking websites and also overindulgence in chatting via the internet. It feels good that I have been able to use these tools only when required, and not as a passive entertainment, as before. I have generated a lot of free time because of that; Which is spent on doing something constructive at least, like trying to get kde working on Windows*, planning the school reunion, watching complete Star Wars series back-to-back during the weekend…

*I have been stuck with Windows XP on my home box as my two awesome drives refuse to work, which sucks royally. To rub it in, the Ubuntu 8.04 disk sits right here in front of me.

Bordering Anti Social Freak

I have been called that name many many times. Its time I lived upto it. No more web socialization. It takes up too much time for my comfort, and as I have recently realized; it leads nowhere. I was not, and never will be cut out for socialization. I am what we can call, a social disaster. Instead of wasting time trying to do something I was not supposed to, I’d rather waste my time trying to do something I was supposed to. Lets see how that works out for me.

The strange feeling

The strange feeling as the title suggests is quite strange indeed. I am a big fan of it, and I experience it quite a lot. The familiar sensation of your eyes burning while they become blood red due to lack of sleep, and the momentary lapses of concentration are the fun parts of the strange feeling. As against common belief that this occurs only when a person does not sleep for long hours; the feeling creeps in even if you have had terribly low amount of sleep.

As an example, I was up till almost 6 am yesterday night working on my internship homework [Yes, I do pile up my work till the very end :P ]. I had to get up at 8 and push off for work after that. The feeling had crept in once I got up from bed. The following data is what I have collected from all my strange feeling experiences. The times that are given are approximately after 20-22 hours of lack of sleep, followed by a maximum of 2 hours of sleep.

0-2 hours: During this time, a bath or the simple act of washing your face can make u forget the feeling, although the burning eyes are hard to get rid of :). Interestingly, your calves start hurting a bit, I have never understood why.

2-4 hours: This time is the best, the feeling does not interfere in your normal work.

4-8 hours: The feeling starts returning, and a nice lunch can solve the issue; considering in my time table this is lunch time. The lunch gives you intense satisfaction, but then leads to a strong pull to sleep.

8-12 hours: This a generally lazy time. It is hard to do anything productive in this time, and there is a slight risk of going off to sleep.

12-14 hours: This is the toughest part. You will feel sleep overcoming you so strongly, that most novices can’t get past this point. Even veterans sleep for sometime at this point if they have nothing interesting to do :)

14-18 hours: Once you are past the 14 hour mark, its a easy ride for sometime, a good meal [not too heavy, too heavy meals are dangerous :P ] can help you concentrate here.

18-24 hours: This is the fun part. You start feeling you are in a dream sometimes. Your mind slips in and out of reality as it plays games with you while you work. The lapses in concentration widen, and it takes some time to get used to this. I would not suggest driving past this point, unless you are taking strong help from caffeine :)

24-30 hours: This is where you can work, but this is where I start thinking “why the hell am I awake for so long? Nothing is this important” My limit is reached somewhere around here, and I collapse, and give in to the strange feeling.

Right now I am at the 15 hour mark, and relaxing, writing my blog, listening to music, as I prepare myself for the ride ahead. As and when I reach new points, I shall release a new version of this post, with my new experiences.

PS: Anyone who has reached further, which I am sure most of you must have, kindly let me know of the dangerous points of time to stay alert :P

Firefox 3 Download Day 2008

Help set a world record for the most software downloads in 24 hours for firefox 3. It’s gonna be awesome \m/

click here: http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/

Celebrations

“Wake up, its 12 now! You have wasted half the day!” said my mother, as I was trying to get the world in focus. After collecting some energy, I finally managed to get up and sit on my chair and switch on my monitor. It is then that I saw Abhishek’s status message “Its Towel Day! I’m celebrating, are you?”. Then it hit me. The world just got into focus, as I remembered this day last year. Sitting on my computer at Oneirix Labs, I was chatting with some girl telling her that Towel day and The Universal Day of the Jedi fall on the very same day.

Today, I gained another weird piece of information. It seems the “Nerd Pride Day” is also today.  Although the title says Nerds, it is applicable to Geeks as well. So let us all celebrate for our respective causes.

Fortunately, I always throw my towel on my chair, so I have my towel, do you have yours?