Windows 7

Okay ... I f****in HATE vista... so much so that I dont mind accepting another Microsoft OS (only becoz I have no other choice).

So I decided to get the RC for Windows 7 - which is available for download (FREE).

http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/download.aspx

Here's what you should know though

- you're flying solo. Unless you've done OS installations before and can figure your way around software hitches (missing drivers, disk partitioning etc) then don't go for this.

- From the microsoft site - Starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours. Windows will notify you two weeks before the bi-hourly shutdowns start. To avoid interruption, you'll need to install a non-expired version of Windows before March 1, 2010. You'll also need to install the programs and data that you want to use

- Most of your software MAY not work, or work weirdly without OS support

- Make sure you get the right version of windows 7. If you're a 64bit, get the 64 bit version like I did.

Installing is pretty straight forward ONCE you get vista (!@#$#$*^&*) to allow a new partition. A lot of us unfortunate souls have Vista pre-installed on laptops from vendors like HP (the losers couldn't even give the Vista installation DVD, instead eat up 11GB of your hard disk as recovery).

When you have vista preinstalled, usually there's only one C: - which you now need to partition before installing 7 (unless you wanna clean sweep Vista out of C:\ and not do a dual boot). Vista being the wonderful OS that it is - has a disk partition tool that will usually refuse to partition C: - with errors like "no space available" or "space left to shrink = 0" etc.

Here's what you do (google these steps you'll find hundreds of guides)

- Disable System restore on C: . You can turn it back on after partitioning.

- Disable hibernation

- Use a 3rd party partition tool. After a lot of tries - the only one that worked (i love this tool) was EASEUS Partition Master 3.5 Home Edition. The nice people give out the home version for free. A lot of other "miracle partition managers" are 40$ or more.

Now let me warn u, the partition step IS a lil tricky. It could possibly create boot problems. Because vista (oh how wonderfully crafted it is) will recognize that someones gone around it. This is when you'd need the boot DVD/Install DVD/Restore partition on your Laptop. Usually manufacturers that are lame enough to not give you the install DVD have a restore partition - so you should be okay.

Now once you go past the "windows is f***ed, fix it" screen - it does some "restore" and get you back onto vista. Go to your "my computer" and verify that you see your new partition nice and snug there :). Once you see that, its smooth from then on.

Burn the Win7 ISO onto a DVD, write down the product key - and boot from the DVD and the install takes care of itself. All you need to watch out is to make sure win7 installs into your new partition - which is a simple, hard-to-miss step unless youre drunk...like REALLY drunk.

Happy installing - takes bout 30 minutes depending on your version and processor.

Disclaimer - if you screw up :) thats your problem. But there's a lot of help you can find on the internet in case you end up screwing up your computer - so take a chance. Get Vista out the door and into the garbage, where it really belonged to start with.

PS. If you have a NVidia driver that shipped with the Laptop, you might not find an equivalent for it in Windows7 - causing it to install a Generic driver. The generic driver makes your screen look like crap and goes to a max 1024x720 resolution (Windows 95 lol). I searched everywhere on the Nvidia site for a matching driver but couldn't find a 64-bit Windows7 driver to match my GeforceGo 7150m card.

Here was the perfect site that had an answer. They hack the existing NVidia driver INI file to have the latest driver to support your driver

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

All things done - I now have Windows7 running (faster than Vista, even with Aero enabled) - and now I need to start fiddling around it and see if it'll be worth upgrading to in October.

Yenjoy - and happy Installation !!

independence....hmm

Strange thoughts come at stranger times.

Here i am in USA, watching Gandhi - and wondering - what the hell is going on back home! If Gandhi was alive today, he would probably weep and invite the British back .... just so we have unity in the country again .

The thing he fought for first was unity, and later freedom - somehow, it seems like the rule simply shifted from a bunch of foreign powers sucking the country dry to a bunch of indian powers sucking the country dry. This is not freedom.... and worse, in the guise of freedom, we've lost unity as well... if India was under foreign rule, at least people would be united against a common enemy instead of fighting their neighbors ...

What a sad state of political system the country has.... religion is fodder, criminal background is essential and even something of a prerequisite, education is optional and even a disadvantage ... disgusting....

But with that thought in mind...please check this link out - and to all my friends in and around mangalore...if you love your city, vote for him... the ONLY guy fighting for peace apparently, among a bunch of mofos who could care shit about you.

http://election.rediff.com/interview/2009/apr/06/-from-nj-to-mangalore-a-scientist-poll-tale.htm

wokay wokay

Heh... im writing, but im not sure what to write about. Anyway... something has been on my mind since a while now - based a friend's dilemma. 

This friend of mine, has met someone online - and fallen in love with that person. They've seen each other through pics and spoken a couple of times on voicechat, but spend hours everyday talking to each other.

This got me wondering on what love really is - if someone can fall in love without even seeing someone for real - it couldn't possibly be about physical attraction. 

Maybe u can tell me?

I've been out for a while - i know. Lot of friends are mad at me - for not writing enough to them, for not calling enough, not staying in touch, not meeting up before suddenly disappearing from bangalore ! Well, now that the winds of change have started blowing in familiar directions, and it seems like a home close to heart is farther off than a house close to the brain - i think its right for me to fill everyone on whats been "up" with me....at least before I'm back to tell y'all in person!

First things first - Sorry i couldnt meet many before going. I hardly had any time. I had 3 days (yep) to pack, ship my stuff, get my tickets/travel sorted and fly !...That left me with 3 days with hardly any time to even eat....and Y'all know if i didn't get time to eat - that means i really didnt have any time at all.

Ok...now coming to the weird things that happened around the time and my realizations in life.

1. Never get lost in music, at the airport - I was supposed to go to udupi, to say bye to the beach one last time. But thankfully, after a lot (LOT - as one of you know!) of rush, i reach the frekkin airport 2 hours too early, only to find the frekin flight delayed by 1 hour. That gave me 3 hours to contemplate the meaning of life in the airport. And of course I had to listen to music, and relax. And of course, i had to watch cricket - something I've never done ..except during the 20-20s. The freakin flight (Jet airways, you suck - im no longer flying you) changed the departure gate, and announced it (which i missed thanks to the music), and the flight came and went ! I always wondered how it is to miss a flight - now i know!
Moral: Being too prepared for something can actually be worse than being not prepared at all - coz being well prepared is one step away from complacency !

2) Always complete packing a few hours before the flight - 2 days after my great adventure missing the flight, I was supposed to leave home at 3am. Thankfully my parents were around to force me to pack (well, they packed anyway hehe) well in advance. At 1030pm I get a call from British Airways that the flight is cancelled due to snow in London and that the alternate Lufthansa leaves 4 hours earlier than my scheduled flight - giving me 1 hour to pack my ass and leave home !! Thankfully I was more or less ready, and only thing I missed was dinner ! So much for my long speeches that last minute packing is best because u dont forget anything that way... :-D...
Moral of the story: Sometimes life kicks u in the ass and tells you, "you're philosophy is like pissing in the rain"

3) Never trust a brand name - I was all happy this time around that I'm not going Air India. That innate feeling that air india sucks in quality because..well...its "made in india" (no offense). I was glad to be flying Lufthansa - so glad that I even applied for a frequent flyer card (which never arrived even to date). But imagine this - for all that jazz, the economy class on the Lufthansa is like a frekkin domesting Kingfisher flight. Air india is a million times better. The journey till Amsterdam was like travelling in those TV buses from Electronics city to Jaynagar. Looking at some stupid TV hanging on the roof, playing some nonsense. No individual TV panels !! So much for Lufthansa quality. Thankfully, at least the flight from Amsterdam to Chicago had the TV panels - so I was content at least by the time I reached my destination !
Moral: Always "patafy" the girl who wears no make up. Once the make up comes off, you might end up shocked and scarred for life!

5) Staying 4 star rocks - until you see the bill :) - I ended up misunderstanding a document of reimbursements (hehe) and decided that my company will pay for my stay at a 4 star. The bill was maginificient, and it felt awesome to be pampered ! Thankfully, I found out about the REAL policy before I had to file bankruptcy and moved to a cheaper one..hehe...
Moral: Check your socks for holes before wearing sandals with socks (deep thought required here!)

6) Second/Third home - now I'm in my smaller hotel (still costing around $90 per day) - feeling like the reverse slumdog millionaire - hehe. Coming back to minneapolis feels strange...and comforting. Everything seems familiar, and "been there done that" - so its easier to lay back and enjoy the real feelings. Its so amazing how much you can miss when excitement is the only feeling you can feel ! Once you relax and see things, it just feels so much different - and amazing. Went to watch delhi 6 and ran into a bunch of friends from my ex-home (from last time's stay). Went downtown shopping and saw familiar cops/shopkeepers/busmates.... suddenly you realize that the world isn't that big when you know the world!

Ooh, one thing I must add - AR Rahman is forgiven. I had decided to quit listening to him, after getting PISSED BEYOND WORDS for ruining Beethoven's 5th Symphony by remixing it with Salman Khan blabbing shit (in Yuvraj).....the thought of hearing the idiot's voice instead of the sweet melody makes my blood boil. Anyway, thanks to Shruti - I heard delhi 6....and I was blown away. The delicate tones of Masakkali and Dil Gira Dafatan, have absolved Rahman of his sins.

Moral: You're nuts if you managed to read the whole damn thing !!!

Religion versus "Real"igion

I believe in God, and the existence of a higher power. I believe that the only message any version of God, in any part of the world has - is peace, and love. This is what I'd refer to as spirituality, or rather the knowledge and belief in a higher power, something and someone that binds all energy, and life.

Religion on the other hand, is what man came up with. This statement will get a lot of criticism - I'm sure, but I honestly believe, the world would be peaceful if not for religion. Religion is what man, through the ages, has concocted to give a "divine" justification for his own evil intentions. And this is not restricted to ANY one religion. Starting from the oldest religions - Christianity, Islam etc to the newest ones - Scientology, Kaballah....religion is the interpretation of spirituality, distorted by greed in one way or another.

Countless wars have been fought in the name of religion - crusades, jihad, ethnic-cleansing - whatever you call it. Anyone with a brain can see the malice. Does anyone, honestly believe that God wants one to kill another in the name of doing good ?

Lets look at some things through history what nonsense has been done in the name of religion

1. Crusades - bunch of kings expanding their kingdom, in the name of repossessing the "holy land". So much for following Jesus, who wouldn't even hurt someone out to kill him! So much for following a religion that specifically says - don't worship places, or things but rather that God is where you pray...so why did the kings want holy land? It was for the resources in the middle east - and they justified it using religion as a veil

2. The whole Jew-Christian nonsense that ultimately led to the holocaust. Apparently the Jews killed Jesus. But who were the rulers at that time - Romans. Who was the guy who ordered the execution - Roman. And who're the people who ultimately became the "holiest christians" on earth - Romans. Where did the Jews come from ?? OK, I'm not talking out of my ass here. Pilot was a ruler of the whole area there, he would NOT have let people decide what to do with Jesus, that would be giving up his position as a ruler. This is simple historical analysis that any historian of that era agrees to. But somehow in the Jesus story, the great governor of a province allows for common folk Jews to decide whom to kill ?? This is again a distortion of history.

3. Jihad - this is again a screwed up myth that has come up with Islam. Islam is a religion that's close to Christianity and Judaism. Lot of texts in the Bible and Quran are similar. Yet somehow these 2 religions are mortal enemies - why? Because one says Jesus rose to heaven, other says Jesus died - although both religions have step-by-step agreement on Jesus' teachings - PEACE. Quran again preaches peace, like any other religion. Taking texts out of context, and out of historical milieu - evil is being injected into innocent minds in the name of "Gods will"...

Every religion has this. I've only mentioned those I understand, but you see it everywhere. What started as a way to worship has become an industry, an empire, a hierarchy, a way to justify evil - the SOLE purpose that EVERY "God"-man has sought to fight !

Ironic isn't it?

Vacartion

This was just a natural hedge made from trees surrounding a bear enclosure at the reserve. I knew when I clicked this pic that it will appear on my blog in the exact form its here now :)

I'd like to think this coconut came from some faraway land, travelling thousands of miles across the ocean - without a Visa

Shy tiger "aw shucks"

Wild flower. Found this while walking around a nature reserve. People were wondering why i'm sticking my camera into the trees while everyone else was clicking the animals

A common indian firecracker..

No clue what this is - but found it in my garden @home

The hardest pic I've ever clicked. Super hard to get the sunlight to gleam at the right angle, with the wind blowing the web in all directions !.... and yea this web was the size of a 1 rupee coin.

SOS

I was talking to my friend today about how no one really even reads my blog anymore, except maybe 4-5 people (and they do that coz they're my friends!).... lol

So here's a open discussion (if i get less than 3 replies, im officially planning to have a funeral service to my blog hehe) - what can i or should I do, to have more people visit my blog!! I know some of my friends get major blog traffic, so I could use some free advice ...