28 April 2005

Unicode posting

I gather that posting in unicode is the way to post in different languages.There are a plethora of tamil blogs available on the web.I have mailed to a few guys asking for tips to post in tamil.
Nothing like seeing a post in tamil and feeling the bottom of your spine tingling.
Oh ok dont mistake me for a tamil fanatic.Logically speaking anyone would love to write in their own mother tounge once in a while.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 10:21 AM 2 comments

27 April 2005

That time of the year

Folks if you weren't able to see the tamil text properly in the previous fret not.I shall try to get some other way of making sure the tamil text is visible properly.
Ok the Class Xth results are out.Well before i continue let me issue a disclaimer.I request the lady readers of this blog not to get angry/offended at what im going to write.Im just posing a question and you are welcome to put forth your comments on it.
Without much ado here we go.The class Xth results are out.As usual girls fare better than boys in terms of pass percentage, in terms of topping the subjects etc etc.I can wager my last t-shirt that class XIIth results will be no different.Here comes the paradox now.
When the girls have topped both class Xth and XIIth exams then why is it that almost all the top colleges in the country have just boys ? What is the root cause of this malise ? Note that i call this as a malise.That is for sure.What makes the girls fight hard to score at the school level and yet almost all the top colleges have none of them ? No im not lying.I have seen the NIT's { erstwhile REC's }, IISc, IIT.None.Total blank.
I remember reading a few years ago an article on this very issue.The author claimed that till the time girls are in school they are focussed on just one thing.To prove to their parents that they can study, if not better, as good as their male counterparts.Hence the hunger and craving to score well at school level.My take on this is that what stops them from continuing ? Strange.I find it really strange.
However this paradox keeps continuing and will for all practical purposes continue.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 11:26 AM 2 comments

26 April 2005

GooseBumps

Just when i decide to take a self imposed hiatus from blogging for a few days to sit back and relax does something come out of the blue and gives me the real goosebumps!
Baraha is a cool piece of software to create images that have text in your own language.I must applaud the authors of this piece of work.
So using that i have created the first tamil text.For all the pro-tamil guy that i am, I must confess that my tamil writing poweress is almost nil.Why even my reading poweress is no great shakes.Hence in case you feel that certain things are wrong here then do let me know then i shall try to change that.However be warned that some issues are also due to the software which i am using for the first time.Probably as i continue using it i will correct the mistakes.
test
The above text loosely reads as follows :
"long live tamil.my fellow tamilians it gives me great pleasure to meet you through this tamil text.once a while you can get to see such tamil text here in this web-page.Please forgive this humble tamilian for whatsoever errors."
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 3:05 PM 1 comments

Random thoughts

Folks i think im slightly low on the enthu side to dish our some super uber crap for my post.So shall leave things down for a few days.But then again as Arnold says in all his movies "I'll B Back!"
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 12:17 PM 0 comments

21 April 2005

Encounters & Others

I have always believed in only one thing.Meet fire with fire. Have a look at the enoucnter cops.Daya nayak etc etc.They just kill the people who are terrorists, anti-social elements. Terrorists ? Who gave them that label ? What else will you call them as ?
Ok so here we go.You see there is a bunch of people on some random spree.Killing, raping, extortion what not.The authorities decide enough is enough, bring in some hard nosed cops and squash them, yes i mean shoot them dead either in front of the public or in private.
So what happens after that ?
NHRC { National Human Rights Comission } a bunch of good for nothing armchair m***er f***ers { Excuse that will you :-) } comes in and says that human rights were voilated.I say crap.Total crap.Weren't the rights being voilated when those goondas went on that spree ? Where was NHRC when those acts were happening ? What were they doing ? So why bother now ?
And yes there are a few counter arguments to this too.
Firstly collateral does happen.I mean there will be cases when someone is shot by a stray bullet, someone is picked up by mistake.But then again consider the big picture.Isn't the city a safe place ?
Secondly the cops should not take this freedom and use it in excess.As the saying goes "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely!" so the cops should also not use it in excess.When i mean excess they should not brandish that pistol on some layman to make him toe the law.
And finally look at the cops too.Aren't they just doing their duty ? Are they doing this enocounter out of a love for it ? Won't they be afraid too to put themselves in front of a cop ?
Oh well all this ramblings because i saw that movie "Kakkha Kakkha" over the weekend. A pretty intresting and a well made movie about encounter cops and stuff.Worth seeing many times over folks.Just head over and grab the vcd.IMHO this one is much better than the other encounter flicks like "Ab thak chappan" etc.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 10:42 AM 0 comments

20 April 2005

Back on Backup !

And finally my laptop gets a new lease of life. The battery is now up & running ! Any takers for it ? Im willing to sell it for nothing less that { ok it is negotiable } . And ya before i forget it is a HP Pavilion ZE1250.You can get the specs etc from the net.
Drop me a mail if you are intrested !
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 12:36 PM 1 comments

19 April 2005

movie mania

I did manage to see the latest releases namely chandramukhi and mumbai express. chandramukhi was a total disaster except for some comedy sequences mumbai express was far better in terms of comedy and execution !
While digital movie making is yet to take off in india kamal has tried his hand at it. The end result is that at times the movie looks grainy.However since this is the first time someone is trying something like this we will forgive them ! { marappom mannippom in true tamizhan style }
Ok i know that i have been slacking up a bit on my blogging frequency but ya it will get sorted out in due course !
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 10:58 AM 0 comments

13 April 2005

Faith & God-2

Folks I think i missed out an alternative viewpoint and hence this part 2 post :-).Many a time it so happens when we feel really down & out that we seek solace in someting.It might also happen that there are somethings which are totally unexplainable.Like say for example let us think in this line.There was this plane that was bombed over the oceans.Many an innocent lives were lost.Now what would those parents feel ? It is at that time they turn to the "religious" books for recourse.I am not saying that this is good or bad.Just that sometimes people turn to these books for solace.Now I am not going to condemn that too.It is their wish and they are doing it.However on a personal view point i seek solace from only one thing.A thing i firmly believe in no matter what.That shall be put up in another post ! Oh ya those who know me well would have already guessed it what it is from this and the previous post !
And ok i agree this is all a part of the philosiphical churn that is happening in me over the past few days/weeks.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 12:40 PM 0 comments

11 April 2005

Faith & God-1

Ok i agree im not all that intelligent nor am i wordly wise to discuss on this, but then again in all the years of existence have we ever atempted to understand "God" ?
When we are young we are told that there is this all powerful god, who can create thunder, bring in rains and more importantly make us get that extra few marks in our exams when we circumlocate the diety 108 times, placing one feet after another ?
Now what beats me is why is this form of bribery ? If i offer something i get something, If i do this before God i get that.Why ? Has there been some thought process into this ?
"Faith can move mountains" so says the olden days proverb.Faith on whom ? ourselves ? The belief that we can and we must try to do the job on hand till our last breath ? Or is it faith on god ?
The wise men say god is just a facilitator.You should put in that hard work of burning that extra midnight oil and fight and yet after doing all this a prayer is what will make that 99/100 to 100/100.But doesn't chance favour the prepared mind ?
So who is god finally ? Yes many an intelligent men have walked on this planet and yet im sure none them have any sort of satisfactory answer to this question.
This is however my take on this question.I say God is a system to keep humans and particularly the society in check.Nothing more Nothing less.Every story on god is always stories of valour, courage, bravery and miracles.Why is there no story about a god who went to school, flunked his exams 10 times and then cleared it the 11th time?
Ah then comes the repartee that in god's times there were no schools ! Then isn't it true that the idea is itself not in tune with the current times ? Why can't god be a concept just like say infinity in mathematics ?
why are there almost no temples for ravana ? Didn't he fight hard to save his empire ? He is know to be an exponent in music.Why is that not highlighted ? People say he tried to snatch sita from rama and that deed will wipe out any good that he had done.How ? Then didn't rama kill sugriva {or is it vali ? } by stealth ? How is that not a bad deed ? Then comes the rejoinder that in his past life he did some wrong and was meant to be punished for that in his present life in this manner.So now that rama has done wrong in his present life how is he punished in his next life ? If a god does something like this then it is branded as doing good for humanity.Crap absolute crap.
Somehow i feel that most of this is due to the fear factor.If i dont do this for god he will take it out on me.If god is supposed to be kind and merciful then why should i do something for him out of fear of something bad happening to me ? If u dont pray to god and dont go to the temple daily you wont get a good groom say the mother's.Ok now how many mothers know that the reason behind such a belief is that, in the early days the temple was the only place where matrimonials were discussed, and going to temple was in effect, showcasing your daughter to the outside world that she is ready for marriage ? Now that we have internet and work places etc is this still relevant ? There are many a beliefs like this i can list, which to any person with a reasonable train of thought would become so very obvious, that they are pretty out of tune with the recent times.Then if not for the fear factor why are they being followed ?
And i pretty well know that if i try to tell this to any person the first rejoinder that i will get is that "you think you have learned everything is it ? That you are talking crap like this ?".The sad part is that the questioning spirit particularly in matters like this are strongly discouraged."It has been like this since my grandfather's times so it must be true".People did not use shoes in grandfather's times.Then why use it now ? People did not use mobiles in grandfather's times then why use it now ? Try asking this and you are met with a stern stare ! You say i dont eat meat because i dont like the smell or i cant digest the fact that something is dying for my plate then it makes sense.But when you say i dont because my religion forbids me, then isn't it true that in fact actually your religion preaches compassion to all other living beings and you have not understood that ? Why hide behind religion ?
Ok all this ranting is due to something which happened over at the house of someone whom i know over the weekend.Im for all obvious reasons not going to name who it is or what happened.Just that whatever happened has made me all the more convinced that we do most of things on this god issue out of fear and nothing else.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 3:21 PM 1 comments

07 April 2005

That Personal Touch

I wanted a service from a bank.So before deciding which bank to go into i called up a few banks.
A brief conversation :
Me : Hello Is this Bank A ?
{A nice sounding female voice :-) } : Yes Sir.
Me : I want some details about x,y,z etc etc
THAT voice : blah blah
{After few minutes of talk Me hangs up }

Now with another bank
Me: Is this Bank B ?
{A Male voice}: Yes Sir.
Me: I want some details about x,y,z etc etc
Voice : May i know ur full name Sir ?
Me : { Totally pissed off as to why he wants my name when that female could have asked it !} Shyam
Voice : Shyam What sir ?
Me : { Totally grumpy } Shyam Krishnaswamy
Voice : So ur from madras is it ?
Me : Slightly excited Yes
Voice : Im too. Madrasla yenga ? { Meaning where in madras ? }
Me : { Now totally enthusiastic } Im from blah blah
Voice : Oh good.Im from Blah Blah etc etc
After 5 minutes we are still not at what i want to know but we are discussing how to make it to chandramukhi's first day first show { rajinikanth's latest movie } in bangalore
Me : So what about that thing i wanted to know
Voice : Sure.Take it.Blah Blah

No prizes for guessing which bank's service im going to take.I think this is what they mean by personal touch !
Sometimes it pays to do that little bit more when you are in service sector.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 11:35 AM 0 comments

06 April 2005

this & that

Blogger was out yesterday and did not allow me to post anything ! Heh it's not that i had some international issues to post about.That is not the point too.
The point is that for the past few days i am finding myself in a very introspection mood.I dunno why and i dunno how.Have i been bitten by some bug which im trying to squash as part of my daily work ? Or have i been smitten ? I think only time can tell.
As the Oracle said to Neo in that classic called matrix "For whatever Neo you made a believer out of me !".Ok so wat did i start beliving in ? Dunno.Just that the words flashed into my mind !
And yet the familiar voice barks in the deepest recess of my mind : Get back to your books.There is lots remaining to be done and so little time left, before you sit back and analyze whether u were smitten or bitten.
Indeed so.But the thought still remains !
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 12:51 PM 0 comments

04 April 2005

50th birthday



It all began with that soul stirring "Tamizha Tamizha" from the movie Roja."God" Hariharan had announced his entry into world of film music.There have been innumerable songs after that.Sung in that deep rich and basal voice that really brought out so many emotions !
Some of my personal favourites in no particular order
1. Tamizha Tamizha from Roja
2. Minnal ooru kodi from VIP { made much more powerful by "Godess" simran's gyrations :-) }
3. Malargalae Malargalae from Mr.Romeo { i am not sure of the movie ! }
4. Yennai thalatta from Kadalukku Mariyadhai
5. Kattana ponnu from Kadhala Kadhala
6. Nee Kattru Naan Maram from Nilavae vaa

and so many more.
Wish you many more happy returns of the day "God".Your voice is now immortal !
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 11:01 AM 0 comments

03 April 2005

730 days !

So what happened during the 730 days before april 2nd of 2005 ? I found out that on an average 4.21 people every day visited This page.


I offer the above picture as a thanks to all those who visited that page.Of course this picture has a blatant mistake that the trees are visible during the long focussing shot.
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 5:17 PM 0 comments

01 April 2005

Gmail!!

Folks gmail is kicking some serious butt of its competitors.2gb of storage ? and they claim that in effect you could get infinite storage ! I dunno.Something tells me that they are using some kind of shared storage funda.Something like if X does not use his space then allow Y to use some of it ? Dunno.Im just taking a guess.
And on a totally unnecessary and unrelated note i can make 50 of you readers richer by 2 and odd GB ! and with the Gmail Drive Extensions you can get a internet hard disk worth 2gb !
So drop me a comment right away and get 2gb free !
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 5:53 PM 0 comments

??????????

I dunno why but the past few days im kind of stuck into a deep thinking mode.And im rambling about philosophy and data structures in random.total bat shit.and real deep shit.will a shot of *** do me good ? Must try it out since weekend is anyway here !
Happy weekend guys.Ya i did get a post right now which has livened me up.More on that shortly
K.Shyam

Posted by Unknown at 12:38 PM 0 comments