Caricature

There was an event @ my office yesterday. There was also a caricature artist and here is the result.



So does it resemble me ? What do you feel ?

a providential escape

For the past few months I had been busily looking out to buy a land in Coimbatore for my NRI brother ;-).

I had decided on particular site and was in talks with the broker, George Aldrien of Quality Houses(aka www.kovairealestate.com). Let me warn you that, although this guy behaves like real gentleman, do not ever go by his words. He almost managed to dupe us in a big way.

Even the lawyer I consulted, advocate Mr.Venkatesan(office at Arogyaswamy road, Coimbatore) had given a clean chit to the site. Just 2 days before the sale, we had a misunderstanding with the broker about the amount to be declared in the sale deed (which should be based on the government guideline value).

So my dad had gone to the sub-registrar office to ascertain the guideline value. Luckily for us, that proved to be our savior. We found out from the sub-registrar office that the land is under litigation and has in-fact been attached by the court. I called off the deal immediately.

If I had bought the land, I would be in a major soup now.
Phew, that was a real close shave and we were saved by God's grace.

Probably one good thing that I can take from this incident is that now I know what are the things to be verified when buying a land and also where I can get proper information.
So be careful when you buy a land. There are one too many people eager to dupe you. ;-)

Particularly, if you are buying from George Aldrien of Quality Houses(aka www.kovailrealestate.com) be really careful. If you are consulting advocate Mr.Venkatesan(office at Arogyaswamy road, Coimbatore) for legal verification, let me tell you that you would be better off looking out for a better lawyer.

Happy Vishu

After a long time I was at home for Vishu. Vishu is the celebration ushering in the start of a new year ( based on the lunar year) for the malayalees. So here is wishing you all a very happy vishu.

KPN dupes again

This has almost become a daily happening to passengers on KPN Travels. Although KPN's motto says Keep People's Needs, that is probably which they would never do even in their dreams.

I had booked tickets for yesterday's travel on an A/c volvo bus from Bangalore to Coimbatore ( 11:30 pm ). The troubles started off from Bommanahalli, Bangalore itself. The bus which was scheduled to leave at 11:30 pm, started off sedately at 12:10 am.

At around 2:00 am the driver and the cleaner jolted the passengers off their deep slumber announcing that the vehicle has broken down. As a result everybody was asked to get onto another bus which was a Non-A/c semi-sleeper bus. The Volvo A/c bus is a 34 seater and the semi-sleeper is a 30 seater. Now that left 4 people in the lurch of which I was a victim. On being questioned, the driver gave me the cleaner's seat with a nonchalance. With no other option at 2:00 am in the night, I had to bear the pain. But the driver said that we would be reimbursed for the inconvenience once we reach coimbatore.

Throughout the travel I was juggling between the seat and the bus floor unable to sleep. And by the time the bus slowly reached Coimbatore at 9:00 am in the morning, I was bleary eyed, totally tired and frustrated.

All the passengers got down at the KPN office in coimbatore and demanded a compensation. The staff displayed a callous attitude. And finally after 20 minutes of haggling and fight, the staff promised areimbursement of Rs.100/- which was the difference between the cost of Volvo A/c bus and Non-A/c semi sleeper.

But the staff as well as the GM failed to understand the point of contention. We were not fighting the excess money. Rather our point was the inconvenience and pain caused by the indifferent attitude. Hence we demanded a full refund as a penalty and compensation for the grievance.

Even though we took up the matter with the B3 police station, we failed to reach any conclusion. The KPN manager was adamant that only Rs.100/- (the difference in the ticket amount) can be reimbursed.

So finally we decided not to accept the refund and promised the KPN manager that we will approach the consumer court. Now I am looking into ways of approaching the consumer court regarding this issue. Will keep this post updated about the proceedings in this matter.

It is high time that we consumers woke up and teach these guys a few things about consumer oriented services. The consumer experience will improve only if service providers understand that consumers will no longer suffer silently. This begs the consumer to stand up united against such perpetrators of atrocity.

Based on my experiences with consumer court, I will also post about how to get your problems redressed from this forum.

Arise, Awake and Stop not till the goal is reached !

Map of my home using wikimapia

I just marked my home @ coimbatore using wikimapia. Just scroll down and checkout my location on google maps.

WOW ! I love Web 2.0 !

If you wanna try out some similar mashup just visit how to add google map to any web page.

Initially I tried using Google Maps API. But somehow it didn't work for me. Yet to figure it out. But hey wikimapia is so much more simple for this purpose.

buggy ticket kiosk @ PVR

Last week I had booked tickets for a show in PVR(Forum Mall) using the kiosk available near the ticket counters. I generally prefer to use the kiosks since it is less crowded and easy to use.

But I was in for a shock when the machine churned out only 1 ticket even though I had chosen and paid for 5 tickets. For a second I was even confused whether I had entered the right numbers. Luckily I didn't book 4 more tickets.

But then I should say that the support staff were helpful. They were quick enough to identify the issue and made amends for the machine's mistake. However, if I had booked those extra 4 tickets I doubt that I would have got any money back from PVR.

So the next time you book tickets through the kiosk you better be careful !

Manager wisdom

The joke below was a mail fwd.. ;-) So I am not the author...

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

A team of young budding Managers were given an assignment to measure the height of a flagpole.
So the Managers discussed and put up a project plan with roles and responsibilities. The
Manager who was responsible for organizing the resources went out and got a ladder and a tape.

The tape measure was just the ordinary tape of 6 feet.

The lead manager assigned another manager to go on top of the pole and start the measure. They
were falling off the ladders, dropping the tape measures - the whole thing was just a mess.

An Engineer came along and saw what they' were trying to do. He walked over pulled the
flagpole out of the ground, laid it flat, measured it from end to end, gave the measurement to
one of the managers and walked away.

After the Engineer went away, one manager turns head to another and laughs.

"Isn't that just like an engineer? We're looking for height and he gives the length"


Moral: No matter how good engineer you are, Manager always finds fault in you.

If looks could kill

Hmmm..... yeah I know what you are thinking... Those famous lines "If looks could kill".

But those lines really made me think, is there any one whom everybody agrees as being "good looking".. hmmm... let me think ... hmmmmm.... none. :) Suprising isn't it ?

Thatz the point. Every person has a perception about looks and beauty. Probably what looks beautiful to me may not appeal to you.

When I think of beauty my mind conjures up dark skies, lush green fields, hokkenekal falls, the statue of the court dancer in Belur, the Nandi of Brihadeshwara temple, my mom, dad, bro, sis-in-law, frenz, srihan, prince of persia, Age of Empires... and I can keep going on and on...

But as it is said beauty will forever lie in the eyes of the beholder. Every person makes his own choice of what is beauty.

நல்லா எடுக்கறாங்கயா போட்டோ

கடைசியா ஒரு வழியா நம்மலால ஒன்னும் காதலிச்சு கிழிக்க முடியதுன்னு வீட்டுல புரிஞ்சுகிட்டாங்க.. ஆனா அது வேரு ஒரு நால் deal பன்ன வேண்டிய topic.. So இப்போ matterக்கு வருவோம்.

செரி கண்ணா பொண்ணு பாக்கலாம் ஒரு ந்ல்ல போட்டோவா குடுன்னாங்க. பு இவ்ளோதானா matterன்னு இதுக்காக எடுத்து வெச்சிருந்த நம்ம archives எல்லாம் அலசி போட்டோக்கள பாத்தா ஒன்னுல கூட நாம இல்ல. எல்லாம் பூ, செடி, கொடி, கோவில் கோபுரம்ன்னு எடுத்து வெச்சிருக்கோம்.

okay.. No டென்சன் ரிலாக்ஸ்...
இருக்கவே இருக்கு நம்ம ஆபத்பாண்டவன் IAB ( இப்போ பேரு portrait gallery ). அங்க போனா நம்ம தல(photographer) இப்டி திரும்புங்க அப்டி திரும்புங்க மேலே பார் கீழே பார்ன்னு நொங்கெடுத்துட்டாரு....

கடைசியில நம்ம நெனச்சது ஒன்னு நடந்தது ஒன்னு... ஹிரோ மாதிரி வரும்னு பாத்தா நம்ம எதோ யாரு மேலயோ காண்டா இருக்கற மாதிரி போட்டோ வந்திக்கு.

So friends rather take photos when you r not looking at the camera... ;-)

Indian Cricket Team

The demi-gods have finally crashed,

And the hopes of a nation dashed,

100 crore souls scream for blood,

For it has happened what we dread,

When all that was required was 255 runs,

They sqandered playing like dunce,

“Kill them, burn them” is what you hear now,

But there is something that you all know,

Three months hence, two series later,

All this past is a forgotten disaster,

The gods will be hoisted again,

And the pedestal will they regain,

But that is the lane of cricket,

And the way it sways hearts is intricate,

But unless things are changed,

About the way cricket is managed,

The demi-gods will fall again and again,

Fall again and again.

The pace of development

Have seen it in bangalore and I am seeing it now in coimbatore.
The local panchayat authorities @ vadavalli coimbatore have finally decided to provide a ope sewage in periyar nagar area.

Although the development itself is to be welcomed, what is irritating is the lethargy shown in the implementation.

For the past 1.5 months they have just dug up around 2 by lanes and I haven't really seen anybody working on it now. I guess by this time developed countries would have build a whole super highway. ;-)

ஹட்ச் கலக்க போவது சேம்பியன்ஸ் - சில துளிகள்

Non-Tamil readers please excuse. Since these are jokes, they are best explained in tamil.

இந்த வாரம் ஹட்ச் கலக்க போவது சேம்பியன்ஸ்ல நெஞமாவே கலக்கிட்டாங்க.

அதுல வந்த சில comedy-கள் இதோ

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

நீதிமன்றத்துல ஓரு குற்றவாளிய கூட்டிகிட்டு வர்ராங்க

நீதிபதி : நீ மூனாவது தடவயா நீதிமன்றத்துக்கு வந்திருக்க, வெட்கமா இல்ல ?

குற்றவாளி : ஐயா, தெனம் - தெனம் வர நீங்க வெட்கபடாத போது நான் எப்படி ... !!!!

நீதிபதி : இந்த குற்றவாளி தூக்கு தண்டண வழங்கறேன்.

குற்றவாளி : ஐயா, எவ்வளவு கிலோ தூக்கனும் !!!



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

மனைவி : நமக்கு கல்யாணம் செஞ்சு வெச்ச புரோகிதர் நேத்து எறந்துட்டாராம்.

கனவன் : செஞ்ச பாவம் சும்மாவா போகும் ....!!!

தமிழில் ஒரு உரையாடல்

ரொம்ப நாள் கழிச்சு நேத்துதான் நான் என்னோட ப்ரெண்டு அருண் கூட பேசினேன். அப்பொழுதுதான் அவனுடய ப்ளாக் ஞாபகத்துக்கு வந்தது.

அருண் கடந்த சில மாதங்களாக தமிழ்லதான் ப்ளாக் எழுதரான். அதனால தமிழ்ல போஸ்ட் செய்யறது எப்படின்னு கேட்டு தெரின்ஜுகிட்டேன்.

அது ரொம்ப சிம்பிள். www.thamizha.com லேந்து e-kalappai சாப்டுவேரை இன்ஸ்டால் சென்சா போதும்.

தலைவர் சொன்ன மதிரி
"நான் லேட்டா வந்தாலும் லேட்டஸ்ட்டா வருவேன்"...


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BTW, here is some info on e-kalappai. The e-kalappai uses Tavultesoft which actually provides the keyboard configurations for various languages around the world.

Open source tools of the day

Just was "wandering around" yersterday when I stumbled on a news item http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28560 about Songbird. Songbird is a one stop shop media player.
As the homepage says the vision is to create a media player that can combine the audio on your drives, portable devices, online music stores, online streams and provide a single interface to access them.
And here you go, it does it all in the inimitable Mozilla style. Yep it is based on mozilla code base ! Although Songbird is still in prehistoric stages, the UI offers a sneak-peek of the the things to come.
The media player is in news for the controversies it has raised by promising to provide a open source equivalent to iTunes.


Another open source tool which I would consider a really good one is a mp3 editor tool Audacity. The tool provides direct mp3 manipulation without converting it to wave format.
Audacity provides typical audio editing effects like fade-in, fade-out, cahnge tempo, pitch, speed, filters etc.
The only problem with the software is that when you want to render the mp3 track that you have edited it asks you to point to a mp3 encoder library like LAME.

This is a typical issue tha tyou find in most open source softwares. It would have beem nice if it was tightly integrated with LAME and published. Instead it expects the user to downlaod LAME and install it.

Breaking the Silence

It has been quite sometime since I stopped blogging. There wasn't any reason but sheer 100% laziness ;-)
Even as important an event as my brother's marriage, and good movies like "Rang De Basanti" and "Chronicles of Narnia" failed to wean me from my deep slumber (speaking figuratively and not literally ;-) ).
Well as the Hollywood star Arnold frequently exclaims in his movies, "I am back"

Blog Generator softwares

I just happened to stumble upon this blog entry mister snitch . The blog talks abut blog generators which can generate blog accounts and also fill them up with random entries picked up from other blogs !

Whoa ! this is plagiarism at it bests. But on second thought, it seems a very creative idea. The software in discussion is called Voodoo Blogger. And on the website it says,

"It's already well proven that you can make a ton of money using blogs. It doesn't matter if you are using the blog to generate adsense (or similar) income, or if you are using them to boost link relevancy and popularity to one or more of your other sites."

And it helps you generate good hit rates by which AdSense income can be generated. Whether it is a considerable amount or not is debatable. But still innovative financial idea !!

How a mosquito screwed my Nokia 6600

Disclaimer:
Although this might seem like a well made up story / nice read, it is not. It is my personal harrowing experience about how 2 seemingly independent harmless events can interact to screw you up.


I regularly go to coimbatore to see my parents. After innumerable problems of bed bugs and mosquitoes with KPN travels and No.1 travels, I moved onto Sharma travels some time back. I thought that I had almost well settled with the buses that sharma plied, till yesterday night's travel.

I was on my return journey from coimbatore to bangalore. I was comfortably seated near a window hearing songs on my IAudio U2. Coldplay was numbing my thoughts till I heard,
" Unga native coimbatore aa ?",

I looked up and found my co-passenger trying to engage me in a conversation. 'Damn. ok Coldplay off you go', I thought to myself. And I replied, "Amam vadavalli, neenga ?"

It was 10:30 pm and the chill december night wind gently brushed my face as the bus started off. ( Only 15 minutes late;-) ).
'Good atleast I can be home early and take a short nap', this was me again.

After an interesting conversation my co-passenger bid goodnight and I went back to my iAudio. Finally after sometime I had just dozed off when an insolent mosquito managed to wake me up.

And that my friends was the end of a good sleep for me ! The mosquito bitch was probably looking to start some blood bank for A1+ve. It went on feeding on my poor self.

Within no time I was scratching all over me. And the female in the front row probably thought that I has some psoriasis or something ! Well as the mosquito spread its reign to the front rows, she too found the reason for my writhing ;-). I could hear her anklet jingling every now and then. And I thought to myself, " Well, I am not the only one to suffer" ;-).

After some amount of struggle I hit up on a brain wave. Or rather I thought that I had hit a brain wave for which I was to repent later. I use my Nokia 6600 quite extensively and have quite some interesting applications. I had installed Opera for S60 phones and had my GPRS connection enabled as well. My idea was to install the Anti-Mosquito application which promised to do away with pestering mosquitoes !

And So in the middle of the night, travelling on a bus from Coimbatore to Bangalore, I was browsing on my 6600 looking for an mosquito repellant application for my mobile phone. How geeky ;-).

Finally after gr8 deal of browsing I downloaded the application. And as fate would have it, even my Airtel GPRS connection which used to break away for every fickle reason held on till I had downloaded the application.

Then I installed the application and waited for the magic to work ! "tchh... tchh..." , I was still trying to ward of the damn thing. The damn insect was probably deaf or something and my idea didn't work. Somehow I managed to doze(on and off) and reach Blore. With huge sigh of relief I arrived home and took a hasty nap.

And as for my 6600 , It was well screwed up by the Anti-mosquito application. And later as I found to my chagrin, it was a mobile trojan masquerading as an useful application.

And So I ended up losing all my installed applications, contacts and photos just because of a mosquito bitch ! ;-) "Damn my arms still itch !!"

Online RSS Aggregators

While stumbling on the Net I found a nice open source online RSS Aggregator called Bloxor . After seeing bloglines and Google Reader I have been thinking about moving to one of these online aggregators.

But Bloxor was quite amazing. It has a nice XUL based interface which blends well with my Firefox ;-) . Also it has auto feed discovery. Well what that means is that from any URL it automatically discovers RSS feeds.

For example, if I give this blog's URL , it automatically finds out the RSS feed which is a really nice feature. (It probably appends standard rss feed URL substrings like rss, atom, node etc to the base URL and checks whether the result is some ATOM feed XML file. )

Also it has nice Firefox / Mozilla bookmarklets. While ur browsing any site just click on these bookmarklets. Bingo ! The Bloxor automatically finds the RSS feed of the site (if any exists) and adds it to your Bloxor Blogroll ! Whoa ! Thats some feature !

A dull captivating dusk @ blr

A dull captivating dusk @ blr
Originally uploaded by Rajblogs.

DRM in audio Industry

Just yesterday I bought the latest album X&Y by Coldplay. Although I didn't notice it then, the CD is DRM copy-protected. DRM is the latest nuisance on the street for the average consumer.

These measures are not going to even bother the mass production piracy operations leave alone stopping them. The only result is to irritate legitimate users like me.

This particular record is by EMI. They went to the extent of updating windows media player components and disallowing accessing the audio CD from other players like Winamp.

Finally I was able to rip the whole CD from Isobuster tool. Bye bye DRM ;-)

Recent developments in DRM in the audio industry have not been healthy. There was an article in CNET about how sony has recently come up with some copy protected CDs that install rootkit on the PC. So using the particular CD in question opens your PC to attacks. This backdoor is already being exploited by a Trojan. Sony has instructions about uninstalling this rootkit at this website. CNET has an article on this sony issue at its website.

And finally the icing on the cake is the fucking immunity clause in fine print. It clearly shirks responsibility in case of any damage to the PC because of the DRM software. Shocking !!!

So will sanity ever be restored ? For now it seems like downloading mp3 is a lot better option as compared to DRM protected Audio CDs.

Atleast this has discouraged me from buying any DRM protected CDs. So what you gonna do ?