Type 0 Civilizations

A few days ago, I was watching an exciting documentary on Nat Geo about extra terrestrials (ET) . Here are some of the facts discussed in the doc
Physicists have defined different types of civilizations
Type 1 - This civilization is capable of utilizing all available natural resources on its planet like the oceans and winds.
Type 2 - This civilization not only uses the available natural resources but can also harness energy from its stars.
Type 3 - This civilization is so advanced that it can even manipulate the surrounding space and thus create stars, black holes etc.
Now, of course the immediate question is where do we (we as in human civilization) fit in? Well, we are categorized as Type 0 civilization and we belong to this category because we use the energy from dead plants and animals in form of fossil fuels. We are yet to harness the wind and water effectively.
The thing I find interesting is a creature from a type 0 civilization can think of type 3 civilization and that signifies the power of our imagination!!!
Moving on to another exciting fact.. there is a possibility that we ourselves are ET landed from some planet like Mars. This is possible because a few experiments have proved that bacteria can sustain the tremendous heat and pressure that a meteorite faces while it crashes on Earth. So some billion years ago a meteorite landed on our Earth and thus life evolved from the bacteria it carried.
Start searching for ETs ................


I had initially planned to finish 100 posts by end of 2008 with Year review on 31st Dec, 08 being my 100th post. But due to various reasons I couldn't.
I hope to maintain a more active blog in 2009 :)

My Nerd Test Score :P

Blog Action Day 2008

Tech blogs

I was going through the NY Times and found an exciting article on this tech blog "tech tips for the basic computer user." It is one of the interesting blogs I have come across recently.It gives a very good description about current technologies. The article on tips is a very enlightening one (do not believe me check out the tips, many of which you may not know)
I dream of a day when I will blog about the latest ghizmos and gadgets. That would actually be my dream job. I envy the guys who present the latest gadgets on television shows like Cell guru, tech2.0 etc. It must be an awesome experience for those guys (the so called "reviewers of technology"). Imagine handling the latest G1 phone with Google's Android and the next moment you are playing the newest game by EA sports on a PS 3. Just unbelievanle experience!!!!
And if I am able to get such a job I would justify the sobriquet - "Indian Techie Guy" given by inos (people are wondering who this guy is???)
Now this post is slowly turning into a post on my dream jobs. Anyways I won't change the title. Any change in title would take the credits away from David Pogue's blog (the one given above)
Another dream job would be something like the Man vs. Wild anchor-Bear Grylls ( didn't knew his name just googled it) does. Or for that matter Lonely Planet's Ian Wright. These guys travel a lot and I just want that kind of life. Although there is a quite a lot I have to work on before replacing those guys ;) (esp learning the survival tecniques). But I wouldn't mind working out to get that kind of life.
One more of my dream jobs would be an astronaut. I want to see the Earth from the above and I am not rich (crazy if u want) enough to hire SpaceShipOne's services. So the right thing here would be being an astronaut and work for ISRO, NASA or some other space agency.... that way I can earn as well as enjoy the benefits!!!

I hope some day (at least for a day) I am able to get one of the dream jobs..... the future is bright :)

The Indo-US Nuclear Deal

This is a widely debated topic these days. It is almost covered daily on all news channel (though I am currently not watching any news, it is easy to guess when it comes to news channels). The topic was quite common in the group discussion rounds of the recruitment procedure. Then why am I writing about it? Well two reasons

1. No other topic 

2. My friend inos (read reverse) suggested it 

         So lets get started......

I'll first put down the benefits of the deal and then obviously comes the disadvantages

Benefits :

The main reasoning given by the governemnt is the power shortage we are facing. Yes definitely we can improve the power scenario by importing nuclear technologies from the developed countries. It is the best possible short term solution for India and it is friendly to the environment (does not emit the green house gases)

A strategic partnership with the United States will always boost trade. So we will see close to 3 billion USD of investment. The deal will also bring in nuclear technologies that were banned in India because of the existing restrictions by the NSG. I had read it in a Times of India article about how the deal would benefit all the different industrial sectors.  The article was a real eye opener. Before reading that I had assumed the deal would only help to ameliorate the starving power sector. But it shows how the deal will benefit the overall Indian economy. It states the import of nuclear technologies will greatly benefit the medical and health care sector. The modern scanning equipments require radioactive isotopes which until now were not allowed in India. The use of nuclear technologies will also enable the different manufacturing sectors to expand rapidly. Another important advantage is India can gain access to super computers(there was some reason mentioned, which i cant recall now). The deal will also give a major boost to the electronics industry. Then of course it will create umpteen empolyment opportunities. Also to use nuclear technology skilled man power is essential and so there will be newer institutes for nuclear technology which would inturn require faculties and thus creating more employment.  Well I got the article from times archives, check it out here

   Now moving on to the potential problems 

Using nuclear power to meet India's enrgy demands is a myopic solution. It does not create the problems arising from a thermal power plant but certainly the problems associated with nuclear waste must be pondered over. Nuclear waste can be hazardous and requires utmost care in disposing. Then there is the problem of a nuclear disaster something like a Chernobyl. Though the possibility of such events has gone down considerably but it is something which cannot be neglected altogether. And if such a disaster occurs it may be the worst event in history of mankind after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. This problem would be even more complicated for India because of its high population density. Then again there are military related issues which are required to be sorted out. I am not aware of what exactly will happen if India tests a nuclear weapon. But I guess it will definitely create bitter relation between India and the NSG. 

So as far as the economic perspective is kept in mind the deal will be beneficial for the Indian economy. Environmentalist will have different views(they usually have :) ). But what I feel irritating is the government's explanation- it will help in meeting our energy demands.  One needs to be far sighted when it comes to energy. We cannot develop solutions only for 3-4 decades. We need to invest in renewable sources and venture out into non conventional energy. Nuclear power is good but it comes at a cost. 

Anyways the deal is almost done......lets hope we see more good!!! 

Thats all guys if you have any more points "for" or "against" please put it up in the comments. 

inos u should atleast comment... ;)

The power of a power engineer

It is truly said "People understand the importance of a particular thing only when they are kept away from it." I came across this photo and it had a great impact on me. It shows the power of a power engineer. Imagine the pic without the tiny specs of light.....looks DARK!!!
The advances in electronics and associated fields have kind of over shadowed power engineering. It is almost always assumed that electric current exists everywhere and we just have to plug n play!!! This creates problems especially in power deprived countries like India. I hate when there is load shedding ...everyone hates it. But we never respect power when it is being supplied by the utilities. Like all other resources it is also scarce and needs to be utilized judiciously and in a planned manner. I always try to convince people how much (both power and money) they can save by using CFLs, switching off lights and fans when not in use, turning off their computers etc. But it seems of no use, hardly few people follow. And sometimes I become a hypocrite by wasting power.....

This post is not one more in the series of stop pollution and global warming but it is about asking to respect continuous electric supply and remember the poor power engineer who toils hard to provide you the continuous power......



No post for 1 month that is quite abnormal considering that we have 24 hour net in F Hostel. But I was busy for the first half of September with GRE and in latter half was a bit lazy to post. Hopefully I have recovered from the indolence and would continue posting at a faster pace ;)

Random Musings

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

In my last post I said I would blog everyday. But that is too Utopian.

The last few days were like complete dry days (not in the sense of alcohol but with respect to ideas). It was like one of those few patches where ideas were hard to find. And whatever I could think to blog was too personal. Well, I am kind of coy person and many would feel I am shy when you have a conversation with me. But the best part is I can blog about "What to blog?" and so I move from my physical introvert character to a complete extrovert online being.

I have started the post by one of my favorite poems. I don't remember when I had first seen this poem in school, but I do remember that I understood nothing from it the first time. Now when I understand the power of choice the poem has much more significance. A song which is in tune with the theme and also one of my favorites "The boulevard of broken dreams" by Green Day.

Now with the continuous net connectivity in F Hostel (except when there is a power cut for a few minutes) many of my friends have taken up blogging. And some of my friends always wonder about my persistent online availability on GTalk/Yahoo Messenger. The past two weeks was complete addiction to www surfing sites like tfd.com, freerice.com, NY Times, WSJ, TOI, looking for bloggers with same interests as mine, watching olympics on You Tube, ad infinitum. That has now been under check and with the sessional test coming up next week I hope it remains so.

As I was about to end this post this is what I find on my Orkut home page........

Today's fortune: You and your partner will be happy in your life together

The Independence Day Post

A very Happy Independence Day (Indian Independence Day 15th August) to one and all.
2008-1947 = 61 years of political independence for India and how much we have progressed in these years?? Let's do a quick check and enumerate the things India accomplished during these years:

• India became an independent country in 1947 and it's constitution came into force on 26th January 1950. Thus India became republic and also the BIGGEST DEMOCRACY in the world, which in fact was an audacious move.
  
• India is the second most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent and sustaining 61 years of such diversity itself is a monumental achievement.
  
• Although being a young country India was the co-founder of Non-Alignment Movement and maintained friendly relations with both USA and USSR during the cold war.
  
• During this period India has fought four wars against Pakistan (feel very sorry for that) and one against China.
• Indira Gandhi became the prime minister in 1960s and 1970s the first female to do so in India and USA is still hopeful for their Mrs. President.
• India demonstrated it's scientific and technological might by conducting Nuclear tests in 1974 and also around this time Green revolution and operation flood made India self reliant in food and grains.
• Also India was one of the very few countries to possess satellites and plan for space programs.
  
• Then came in the era(1990-91) of economic reforms the benefits of which we are still reaping. India was benefited by the emergence of IT and Software based industries.
• The 21st century saw the emergence of India as an economic giant with GDP growing at around 8%.

This seems a long enough list for the day. There are many more events that make every Indian proud. But we must not be complacent with 61 happy years, we have newer challenges cropping up.

"Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?" Mohandas Gandhi.

My next post will be "My vision for India...." an assignment we have for economics.

UMPPs..... a chimera

The net is back in our hostels and its awesome. So beginning this August I plan to write atleast 1 post every day (just joking guys ;) maybe every week
Ok now moving on to the title UMPP is Ultra Mega Power Projects. People who are not aware what this means click here. If you are lazy to redirect, UMPPs are power plants with capacity greater than 4000 MW (MegaWatts of electricity). The honorable Government of India plans to ameliorate the starving power scenario in India by starting up such humongous projects. Now if I look at this from a perspective of a common man I am very happy. Atleast the ever lasting problem of load shedding will be over. We will have access to electricity continuous without any disturbances (except in some cases like rains and floods) But wait a minute...... being an engineer esp. electrical :) I cannot just look at the jolly side of the scene.
These projects would be coal fired and will be located throughout India to provide power to all states. But what about Global Warming? I find it hard to understand why go for thermal when the entire world is venturing out into Non-Conventional energy resources. An official document (found here) says the UMPP will attract investment to the tune of Rs. 15,000 Cr each. That means people (the industries) will be investing 15k * 9 cr for puffing out more CO2 That amount will be equivalent to something China invests in Wind and Solar Power.....great going Indians!!!!
What I feel is we are wasting capital on something which is not at all worth investing. With due to respect to the policy makers, I feel this amount could have been used for development of non-conventional resources (wind, solar, fuel cells, tidal, geothermal). This kind of short term planning (in sense that it will provide power for the current population without any regard to the environment) is seriously anti-engineering and is deterimental to the future population.
Being an electrical engineer (a quarter of engineering days are still left!!!) I understand developing such high scale projects is good considering the "Economics of Scale". But people it's high time we give a serious thought to the problem of global warming and climate change.
Instead of focussing on UMPP we could have tried for solar and wind (more info on solar here)
People all over the world are going for micro grids and distributed generation and we are scaling up!!!
Anyways the bidding has started and around 3 projects have already been awarded (1-Tata Power, 2-Reliance Power) This post was meant not to criticize any of the policy makers but just to make people realize there are other options available and more importantly these are under-utilised in India. May be I' ll talk about micro grids and distributed generation in my upcoming posts.

People from non-engineering background I am sorry for the engineering verbiage. But you must remember electric power is indispensible from any one and we all have a part to play in our endeavour of mitigating the climate changes. My post on that can be found here

And now about final year in NITC: may be some other time and some other post......(".....time and space are related..." did Einstein say this?)

Topping the google!!!!

We all know the might of Google. I (with many others) am extremely crazy and addictive with whatever google does be it the google docs, google pages, google reader, google desktop. Gtalk and the list continues. But lets not forget the google search engine with which it all started. The search is synonymous with google. I hope one day google could search the matter as well. Anyways I'll not move into philosophical science.
Ever since I started googling and surfing, I always wanted to top the search. And now I have been able to top the charts (try googling "Harshad Desai" to verify) Well it was possible due to 2 reasons
Naymz.com and LinkedIn.com
It is difficult to top with a search key=Harshad alone because there is one Harshad Mehta the big bull. Anyways I am more than happy to achieve this. Thanks to the above mentioned sites.

Moving on I got my first job at Areva T&D through the campus placements . The selection was done on last Sunday 6/7/08...lucky date i guess :) There were 3 rounds... the first one a written test (aptitude and electrical engg), followed by group discussion (the topic was Nuclear Energy: essential or not......one of my favourite topics) and then came the interview (was pretty easy)
Thats enough after a month long gap (ample of reasons for that) from blogging.

The Cell Phone Etiquette

The other day reading a news article, I was wondering how times have changed. I guess it was 1992-93 when we had our first BSNL Landline Telephone. Fast forward to 2008 and all four of us in my family have a cell phone plus the old landline. This link shows the astronomical figure of India's cell phone subscribers and they say every month 8 million new users are being added. This is quite a boom for the mobile communications industry and also the health care industry (the later cannot be denied completely)
*The above pic was obtained from an image search in Google.

I am getting neither into the economics nor the health problems arising out of the use of mobiles.
I am discussing the etiquettes that are found missing when we(including me) speak on our beloved cell phone.
What I'll do is type in here some of the very common and irritating things we do without paying heed to the people around us.
1. The funky ring tones: This one irritates me a lot. People play all sorts of music here. One day I was traveling through a public transport bus and I was made to believe that I was in a disco with people around me having a wide range of ring tones. Well some ring tones are great and I love to listen such ones (of course who doesn't) but there are a few which will make you go dizzy.
2. The speaking Habit: I don't know why people think the signal reception of their cell phone is always bad. People speak on their cell phones as if they are on an election campaign with all that vigor and intensity. A person may feel he is shouting at one of the passers by. A suggestion for such people please keep your conversation to yourself no one is interested in your gossip.
3. Breaking the rules habit: We, Indians follow just one rule ..... breaking the rules. So why compromise when you have a cell phone. People talk on mobiles while driving(which I think is an offence under RTO) which can be extremely dangerous. People forget (or pretend to forget for whatever reasons) to switch off their mobiles in classrooms, temples, meetings and such other places.
4. The ear piece plugged in: People you are not deaf to keep your ear phones plugged in even when not attending a call. Now with the advent of the bluetooth ear piece (or whatever technical name you have for it) some people feel they are a spy with those pieces plugged in. It can be confusing and irritating as well for the people around as to whom the person is talking to.
I think I'll stop (can't scratch my head for more ......)
The cell phone revolution has been a great boon for us but we have to remember that technology was created for man and it's not vice-versa.
Some blogs on cell phone etiquettes:
Cell Phone Etiquettes for Dummies
Cell Phone Etiquettes

What's in a name??

"What's in a name? " Shakespeare said, yet he put his name under that quote.

Well I also feel the same but there have been myriad incidences where people look extremely confused and at times ridiculous when they call out my name. Ok I know you might be baffled and not knowing where I am leading to. Well lets start from the beginning.

My name is

1. Harshad
2. Harshad Desai
3. Harshad Suresh Desai
4. Harshad S Desai
5. H S Desai
6. Desai Harshad Suresh
7. Desai Harshad S
8. Desai H S

This is not a multiple choice question. It is actually the different ways in which I am called or referred to.

My school (St. Andrews' High School) registered me in the format Desai Harshad Suresh and that’s the way schools (under State Board) in Maharashtra register all the students (no idea how some one without a surname manage). So till 10th standard all my mark-sheets had my name in the same format and so was the format followed in the SSC Mark Sheet. This format continued without any problems till I passed out 12th from Modern College.

Now even during IIT JEE and AIEEE, the admit cards had my name written in proper format. The real problem started after I took admission in NITC. Here I met people from all over India and the format which seemed so ubiquitous in Pune totally disappeared in Calicut. Only my friends from Maharashtra and some from State Boards were compatible with this (Surname first) format. But my other friends and more importantly teachers were confused with this format and couldn't make out what my real name was. Some called Desai (with horrible pronunciations), others called Harshad Suresh, a few even called Suresh (that's my Dad's name by the way). I had to clarify that my name was Harshad and call me just that. Well some teachers adapted and there were others who were confused for the entire semester.

It continued for 5 semesters without much problems (if I may say). But then came the biggest problem when I had to apply for passport.

Now if you have seen the passport application form it clearly has different boxes for surname and your first name (given name... that’s what they call). I filled the form with great care and the surname row had DESAI while the given name had HARSHAD. Father's name was included in another row so I thought there shouldn't be any confusions here. Feeling confident I went to the Passport Office waited there for half an hour or so till I was called in with forms and documents. So I reached the counter a bit nervous but much more satisfied.

I gave the lady at the counter my form and the other documents. She was going through all of those and I was happily waiting to get the acknowledgement. But then from nowhere she springs up this question "What is your name?" and all the previous efforts of making people understand this format came rushing. I tried to explain her and then she replied your given name (in all my mark sheets) is Desai Harshad Suresh and that is what you should write. All my attempts of convincing the people in charge were in vain and finally I had to make that change in my form. After a couple of months I got my Passport but then there was a problem!!!

The surname column in my passport is left empty and the given name shows Desai Harshad Suresh. I have no idea how many more problems will this create. I feel irritated and angry at times when people cannot understand or rather do not want to understand such everyday nuances. Now because of this misunderstanding I may face problems when I apply for a visa. Changing the name in your passport costs 1000 bucks. But more precious than those 1000 bucks is the time I will have to spend on rectifying this issue. People are requested to suggest me how should I approach this issue.

By the way I prefer being called as Harshad Desai than the other formats discussed above.

And the surname first format is the international format and is followed almost everywhere except some places in India (Calicut Passport Office to be particular).

I just want to say "What's in a format of the name?" rather than "What's in a Name?"

The entrepreneurial zeal

Today in the morning when I was in Shri Harimandir I was pondering over two eternal questions
1. Who am I? 2. What is my destiny?
Well finding answer to these questions is what I call life. Hopefully I will answer these questions ( in due course of my life.
I might have succeeded in finding a partial answer to the second question. But this post is not about my destiny.....it is about the local entrepreneur. I think Pune should be one of the best places for entrepreneurs, thats why I have read (although in local newspaper) about them.
I have been reading about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs ever since I joined NITC. My motivation for entrepreneurship was the book by Robert Kiyosaki-- Rich Dad, Poor Dad and what an excellent guide it is for everyone. After that I have read news articles, books, magazines, blogs on entrepreneurs more than some of my college text books :)
But today I could actually meet an entrepreneur in person. Talk to him and learn how his life had been. He is Mr. Ramdas Mane the CMD of Mane Group of Companies. I actually visited the company for doing some project during my summer holidays. The company is more in to mechanical than electrical and so I won't be able to do any project work there. Anyways the visit to the company was worth a thousand textbooks. He was extremely friendly and his advice will certainly help me. It was good to know that their company have a record in the Limca Book of Records and they also own patents. The person's life told me one thing no entrepreneur has a rosy life. He has to make it rosy through his hardwork, determination and courage. Mr. Mane was very kind in talking to me even when he was busy with his work. I am extremely delighted to meet such a person and interact with him.
I'll have to end this post here....one of my school friends, Sadanand is online and we are planning for a get together..very excited :)

Blogging 4m Flock

A new experience...... blogging from flock and its awesome
Flock was like love at first site. They call it the social browser and it is exactly that. There are so many things embedded in it and it makes social networking all the more easy!!! You can find it here
Meanwhile I am going through sites of few universities and with the help from edulix I think I am doing a good job.
Wanted to write about a few i's, but flock took its place.
 Anyways I 'll just mention about the "few i's "
I-- Individualism... thats pretty much what the current century and/or generation is. Thats why u have igoogle and myyahoo like things
I-- Internationalization or (I18n) ... I feel its similar to globalization i where everyone is going global. The other day I read an article in Pune Times about people going abroad for shopping. Thats going global
I-- Indianization ...may not be a word recognized by any of the dictionaries  :) , but it means people are accepting India and outsiders are coming here for reasons other than exploring its culture  (ie travel and tourism). You can also say this I may be Indian Premier League...:-)
and people are requested to append their i's to this list....

Blogged with Flock

Out of Calicut

This would be my one of the few early morning blogs. Well actually the first one.
Its good to be back in Pune, enjoying the heat!!!!
This semester seemed longer than all the others and was eventful for me atleast. Our mini project evaluation was on Monday and was upto the mark.
I am short of words right now. Have so much to write that I can't figure it out from where to start. I'll definitely bring out each and every thought but it will require some time.
I've been doing lots of publicity about my blog these days. New visitors please make it a point to comment so that I understand someone is their to read except of course my dear friend Gopalakrishnan.

FOSSMeet@NITC 2008

So I am finally blogging again. The occasion is th end of fossmeet 08. I have been very busy this semester with nanotech and foss. But I have enjoyed being a part of the team which worked day and night to make these two events a great success.
I will stop it here, the valedictory function has just started.

A new look

Finally my blog gets a new look....the post is meant only for that...
I am too busy with the Nanotechnology Workshop.....
Hope to start regular posting from March....

Apple and Google

These two are the giants of the modern era. One keeps on developing exciting technologies on the web and the other is coming up with great hardwares and the required softwares for the same. And in some cases Google Maps on iPhone ...they have worked together and produced great results....

A for Apple, /\|0|0!3
The first time I came across this company was when I was going through Guiness Book of World Records। After that the I came across the greatest invention that I have witnessed....iPod..... It has redefined music and has conquered the imagination of old and young alike. After iPod was a hit Apple came out with a "revolutionary phone" the iPhone. It was then followed by the MAC OS X Leopard. The fantastic thing about this OS was the "Time Machine". And the latest one they have is the "MacBook Air" which has caught my imagination. Except for the iPod I haven't used any of the other products. The other day I found a blog mentioning top 10 failures of Apple. It was interesting to go through the list which included products I had never heard of. But somehow I feel all the products were not failures. Some may be but I strongly feel many of those were developed earlier in time. Steve Jobs is one person who continues to influence me. I like the speech he gave at Stanford University....whenever I am in a dilemma I think of his interview and try to implement his advices. Hats off to Steve and his creative, innovative, energetic and highly talented team at Apple.....!!!!

Go for Google, 9009|3
Whenever you say search the first name that occurs to any one's mind is Google. It is so common to google anything and everything that is to be searched that I am waiting for the logical Google {or the virtual Google on the net} to tun into real world search engine.
But Google has not confined itself to search it has widened to domains that I never imagined including this one the Blogger. There is calendar, docs, videos, reader and much more. I find each of these very interesting and extremely useful. The power of internet, I feel is really unleashed by Google and its wide range of Applications.
A few days back Anand and I were discussing about the greatest Ph D thesis. He being a total tronix guy was completely in favor of Shanon, DSP related. I then thought for a moment and my reply was the best Ph D thesis must be Google. However the Google guys, Larry Page and Serge Brian have yet not received their Ph D degrees, as far as I know। So I could not argue any further. But Google is definitely the best business from any Ph D thesis that I know. Great work guys and I'll keep thanking you.....!!!!!!!!!!


This blog does not intend to advertise either of the companies. It is just an act of appreciation from my side.

The Mysore Trip....

Had a great tour to Mysore and Coorg.....gr8 work by Deepak, Gopal, Gregory and others.
We left college on Friday at about 9:30-10:00 . The masti we had in bus was comparable just to nothing. Although there were some times when I felt bored but once I got into the groove everything was rocking. We reached Mysore at 5:30 am or so. After which we had an hour to rest. However we left for Chamundi Hills only at 8:00am.
Saturday was meant for Mysore. We visited Chamundi temple, Mysore Palace, Shrirangapatnam and the beautiful Vrindavan Gardens. The food was a problem but it kind of compensates for the enjoyment we had during the entire day. After a long day we went to our rooms tired but full of enthusiasm. We had to be ready early the next day so that we could visit the places in coorg. However we left an hour or so late. After breakfast we visited CCD and were having good time there.
The journey from Mysore to Coorg was filled with laughter and taunts for each other. It was a memorable journey. In Coorg we visited the Namdroling Monastrey {also called as the Golden Temple}, the forest which was supposed to have boating and elephant ride. But we managed neither. The bus then turned towards the Waterfall which had very little water. Finally we left Coorg at about 6:00 in the evening. On our return journey we had the game of Truth & Dare which was very exciting especially to pull peoples' legs.
We reached the campus at 12:30 am. Completely exhausted we somehow managed to attend the classes on Monday.
The trip photos will be put up soon.............the problem is we have a collection of 4 GB!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 3-day 20Twenty.....

The title sounds funny....that was actually my 1st midsems for this sem. Got over in 3days...2papers per day....20 mks each..and I realized one thing this sem is not only hectic but also requires much more time for studues esp. DSA and DSP
Tonite we{S-6 EEE} will b leaving for 2 day trip to Mysore and Coorg. I was actually planning for some industrial visit but lets follow the herd...So will be off frm blogging.
The Nanotech Workshop and Saptarishi would keep Feb busy. Also the mini project needs much more devotion. I have now reserved 3 hrs/week for mini pro. Ragam and FOSS Meet would follow in March. So a completely packed sem..dont know how many times I'll say that..
I attended a talk on Characteristics of Semiconductor Technology by Shri. Shripad Karmalkar today. It was very informative. Also it kind of opened my eyes to what Scientist/Engineer/Inventor actually do. As presented in the talk
A Scientist by nature is very curious. He can relate seemingly unrelated phenomenon. He is not driven by demands of his peers. An engineer is someone who has to apply the scientific phenomenon to everyday use. An inventor is one who should study the demands of the people and provide solutions for them. It is not necessary for him to have a thorough understanding of the pricnciples he ahs to apply. But a person can be all of these....There is no second number in this. Every one is equally important, everyone has equal dignity.
That's all Folks

The hectic semester

I could not blog {except for the Steve Jobs' quotes through Google Docs} for 10 days...
The main culprit being a semester full of classes and labs{though machines lab will end by Feb first week}
However I have decided to stop complaining and start working on my plans for coming year.
Yesterday Gaurav, Abhijit, Harsh, Sunil and me had a sort of advisory presentation to first years {EEE guys}, we called it Orientation but it was in no sense academic. It was a sort of planner for those guys for their next three years in NITC. I think it was a great success. It was combined effort of EEA 2nd year execs and the 3rd year execs.
Moving on I am currently trying for various summer research programs. I have finally decided its research that I want. So accordingly I have some project ideas and trying to figure out more.
The Sydney Test would be regarded next to the Eng-Pak match which was awarded to England { I dont remember the exact date and venue}. But India must work harder for the coming matches and I feel it can still save the series.
I feel my blog sometimes becomes just a collection of my daily chores.... no plannning just random thoughts and then abrupt ending. I started off with an official blog but have not posted since December 7th. I will certainly post my updates and collection on electrical engineering in future posts there........so trical guys watch out that corner.

Steve Jobs in an iterniew:
"And, you know, one of the things I did when I got back to Apple 10 years ago was I gave the museum to Stanford and all the papers and all the old machines and kind of cleared out the cobwebs and said, let's stop looking backwards here. It's all about what happens tomorrow. Because you can't look back and say, well, gosh, you know, I wish I hadn't have gotten fired, I wish I was there, I wish this, I wish that. It doesn't matter. And so let's go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday."

Steve Jobs at Stanford

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary