So finally I told my mom why I used to come so late these days. I didnt tell my mom about MAM and Genesis Film Project till yesterday because I knew what would be her reaction. Anyways I had to tell her about this.
When I used to come late home I just gave her one reason that "I am working". Thats it. She didnt asked further and I didnt say further. Yesterday while I was telling her about Genesis she said, "I thought you were earning?". I said, "No ma I told you I was working. Its an NGO and I ve volunteered for it". "But you could ve worked for some company and earned enough to buy books for your next semester". "I thought you were earning".
Now that really hurts and didnt know how to convince her. But I managed to assure her that the time and energy I an devoting to this huge project will be paid off in future someway or the other. But as soon as I said the word "future" she got kind of pissed off and told me, "Son I know your future is bright. You got a job and that too you ve got an option to choose, but what about the present?"....
I really didnt want to hear anything further and get lost at that moment. But I had to go through all this. Its funny although, because I am glad I listened to her. Now I feel she dumped all that was inside her mind yesterday and probably she must be feeling alright now.
I always had this feeling that I should ve an alternate or backup skill that I can use in case of fucked-up times or just to earn some extra bucks. Anything that I ve learned has helped me somehow or the other directly or indirectly. I ve met so many interesting people through the Genesis film project which wouldnt have been possible atall if I had decided not to work for it. This experience is so invaluable and I feel lucky to be associated with this project. This is the only thing that drives me to do new things in life. But also at the same time, life has taught me one of the greatest things- DO NOT EXPECT ANYTHING FROM ANYONE. Its kind of contradicting but I guess no one can deny the fact!
And yes at the end of conversation I told my mom that do not expect me to be successful always...just dont have huge expectations.... My mom chuckled and said," I am glad you are learning about life, son." Phew
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The Genesis Film Project
So finally people have noticed the hardwork put up by youths bringing together 101 filmmakers from all over India!. The Genesis Film Project 2007 has recieved more than 125 entries from all over India. This really came as surprise since we had recieved only 75 entries uptil day before yesterday. Phones have been constantly ringing since two days at MAM office and the inbox is flooded with queries from aspiring filmmakers. The coming days are going to be busiest days at MAM office and the entire team is very excited to be part of such event. I am glad that I am working for such a noble cause and using my skills for the good of others.
I am really excited beacuse I had never thought that I would be working with such great talented people. Madhusudan(-the big boss and chaiwala ;) constantly encourages/appreciates our work. I feel good when I am around these people....a different kind of energy flows through MAM office that instantly makes you energised. Then there's Akash whos never out of any ideas and can write poems/anecdotes, sing... for any thing under the sun. One more interesting character is our "bhai of vile parle"- Sachi :p. Full of energy and ideas and sweet smile. Ajesh-the dude-the massager- keeps the atmosphere very alive. Rahul-the energetic/writer/poet/filmmaker/engineer ;)..the list goes on- is the one who drives the train and keeps everyone busy ;)
I wish I could be with them all day. But anyways every second at MAM is a treasure in itself.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Microsoft Vista....*yawn*
0-day flaws are floating around the web and offered at an hefty price too.
I am glad I dont have a very high-end desktop. Otherwise I would have been tempted to use Vista. Anyways I am happy with my Ubuntu desktop. And also XGL beats Vista's GUI anyday. I havent found a single reason to install Vista and havent even recommended any of my friends unless they are Windows fanatics. I was laughing as hell when one of my friend bought a 512 MB Nvidia gfx card and 2GB RAM just to see how Vista 'looks'. Needless to say he was impressed with vista. But then I showed him a video of XGL desktop in action and he is happily using it alongwith(dualboot) good old WinXP!
Monday, December 18, 2006
MAM Movies
My friend Zainab told me about this initiative founded by young Indians known as MAM Movies. Its basically a forum where Independent Film makers can Produce, Exhibit and Distribute innovative Independent South Asian Films.
Zainab told me to join the team which even she is a part of. They need a visualizer/artwork developer for various events that they are coming up with. Today I met them to speak about the upcoming event Genesis
Well its a huge event where 101 filmmakers will be called and each one has to make a documentary about anyone of the 101 NGOs of Mumbai within a time slot of 101 hours. Pretty interesting and unique huh!
I am gonna be working with them for this project because its too interesting and dont want to miss the oppurtunity. My work profile is to develope posters, artwork, website artwork, etc. I have restricted myself to just a few options as I am very much busy with my FSAE project. I get involved more and more as and when I get free from my usual work(read: engineering).
This is so interesting to work with such talented, young individuals who are full of energy and dreams. They are about to create a cultural revolution by helping/inspiring independent film makers at grassroot level. With the evolution of YouTube, Vimeo, etc broadcasting has became so easy and cheap! Anyone can reach millions n millions of people at almost no cost. MAM Movies are also into distribution so that filmmakers can sell their DVDs to the masses.
I hope I ll be associated with MAM movies for a loooooooong time unless engineering kills me ;-)
I ll keep updating about Genesis project in the mean time or you can directly view their blog
Zainab told me to join the team which even she is a part of. They need a visualizer/artwork developer for various events that they are coming up with. Today I met them to speak about the upcoming event Genesis
Well its a huge event where 101 filmmakers will be called and each one has to make a documentary about anyone of the 101 NGOs of Mumbai within a time slot of 101 hours. Pretty interesting and unique huh!
I am gonna be working with them for this project because its too interesting and dont want to miss the oppurtunity. My work profile is to develope posters, artwork, website artwork, etc. I have restricted myself to just a few options as I am very much busy with my FSAE project. I get involved more and more as and when I get free from my usual work(read: engineering).
This is so interesting to work with such talented, young individuals who are full of energy and dreams. They are about to create a cultural revolution by helping/inspiring independent film makers at grassroot level. With the evolution of YouTube, Vimeo, etc broadcasting has became so easy and cheap! Anyone can reach millions n millions of people at almost no cost. MAM Movies are also into distribution so that filmmakers can sell their DVDs to the masses.
I hope I ll be associated with MAM movies for a loooooooong time unless engineering kills me ;-)
I ll keep updating about Genesis project in the mean time or you can directly view their blog
Friday, December 15, 2006
Yipee....my passport is coming
After 3 days of running around passport office, my application was accepted. The first day they didnt accept because I didnt have xerox copy of the application. When I finally got, it was too late.
The next day again it was rejected because I didnt have a copy of electricity bill which was a year old. Finally on the third day it was accepted. Now I have to wait 45-60 days to get my passport. I hope everything goes smooth and get it asap.
For those who havent applied here's the official site giving details about everything you need to apply for passport.
The next day again it was rejected because I didnt have a copy of electricity bill which was a year old. Finally on the third day it was accepted. Now I have to wait 45-60 days to get my passport. I hope everything goes smooth and get it asap.
For those who havent applied here's the official site giving details about everything you need to apply for passport.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
End of another semester
Just got up from 7 hour sleep O_O. The occasion?? end of sleepless nights aka exams ;)
So an end of another semester (sem VII) and start of a new one with full of promises( I swear I start studying from the begining, I swear I ll do all my assignments on my own, I swear I ll do well in class tests...so on you get the idea)
Its weird now I dont remember any of those promises I made while was giving my exams. ahh anyways I ll think over it when next sem starts.
This particular semester was different than any other because of many important events that took place. First of all I got placed in Accenture. Its is a 2.7L package and I am quite happy with it. Also our protoype car Barracuda B150 was successfully realised and it now running at 50 kmph!!. Mr. Samir Somaiya also invited me and my firends to work on a project which is based on WiFi Mesh Networks.
I am looking at the long-term prospects of this project. Right now I am in a crossroads as to which company I should join after my Bachelor of Engineering degree. This is really gonna decide my future because both are different fields. Also there's a completely different option of joining automobile industry (only if our FSAE car makes it to Germany).
So far so good. I am looking forward to next semester and ofcource the end of it :p
So an end of another semester (sem VII) and start of a new one with full of promises( I swear I start studying from the begining, I swear I ll do all my assignments on my own, I swear I ll do well in class tests...so on you get the idea)
Its weird now I dont remember any of those promises I made while was giving my exams. ahh anyways I ll think over it when next sem starts.
This particular semester was different than any other because of many important events that took place. First of all I got placed in Accenture. Its is a 2.7L package and I am quite happy with it. Also our protoype car Barracuda B150 was successfully realised and it now running at 50 kmph!!. Mr. Samir Somaiya also invited me and my firends to work on a project which is based on WiFi Mesh Networks.
I am looking at the long-term prospects of this project. Right now I am in a crossroads as to which company I should join after my Bachelor of Engineering degree. This is really gonna decide my future because both are different fields. Also there's a completely different option of joining automobile industry (only if our FSAE car makes it to Germany).
So far so good. I am looking forward to next semester and ofcource the end of it :p
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Web 2.0 satire
About Supercilious
Welcome to Supr.c.ilio.us, the World's First Social Social Tagging Site Tagging Site™. This is the place to come to tag all those other tagging sites. Why would you want to do that? Good thing you asked, because we were going to tell you anyway...
With so many places to tag so many things, how could one person keep track of it all?
So, we've built supr.c.ilio.us for you to ta other tagging sites.
Also there's another site that ll help you to create your own Web2.0 company :D
Oops got caught!
I knew this would happen and it did! Well I usually depend upon library books for studying during exams. These books plus notes are my only sources. Our library contains huge number of the prescribed books but a few books have very limited copies. So naturally these are unavailable during exam times. So I usually hide the books in another stack before exams. We have open access to the library so its easy to do the job. Just before my Digital Communications exam I switched the book on Image Processing to another rack. I thought I would go to the library next day and issue the book.
When I went to the library next day, I was strolling here and there in the library and after some time i took my Image Processing book to get it issued. When the librarian saw the book he looked straight at me and asked where did I found the book! Boom I was surprised to hear this, but I knew what was coming. I knew all i had to do is deny...deny..deny....
Lib: Where did you find the book?(stares at me)
Z: Uhh I..I found this in another rack..I I suppose someone had switched the book to another rack(looking damn innocent)
Lib: (gets up) Show me where you found the book.
Z: (follows him) I...I found it in the opamp books rack...I was goin through the opamp books and I suddenly saw this book there....
Lib: (stares at me) How on earth you are the only one who found this book!!
Z: I dunno...as I said I ws going through the opamp books.....
Lib: You are not geting this book....six students had asked about the book and we couldnt find it here. If you want this book go get permission from Senior Lib.
I kept saying I found it accidently. But I knew he didnt believe, although he never told me So I just left the room and got the hell out of there. When I was walking home I thought about this again. I think when many students were asking for the same book, librarian must have gone through the database to see if there's any copy left. He must have definitely found one copy is still inside the lib.
Anyways I knew someday or the other this will happen (I was doing this since 2 years now...but only during exams). BTW I dont feel I was morally wrong doing this, was I??
When I went to the library next day, I was strolling here and there in the library and after some time i took my Image Processing book to get it issued. When the librarian saw the book he looked straight at me and asked where did I found the book! Boom I was surprised to hear this, but I knew what was coming. I knew all i had to do is deny...deny..deny....
Lib: Where did you find the book?(stares at me)
Z: Uhh I..I found this in another rack..I I suppose someone had switched the book to another rack(looking damn innocent)
Lib: (gets up) Show me where you found the book.
Z: (follows him) I...I found it in the opamp books rack...I was goin through the opamp books and I suddenly saw this book there....
Lib: (stares at me) How on earth you are the only one who found this book!!
Z: I dunno...as I said I ws going through the opamp books.....
Lib: You are not geting this book....six students had asked about the book and we couldnt find it here. If you want this book go get permission from Senior Lib.
I kept saying I found it accidently. But I knew he didnt believe, although he never told me So I just left the room and got the hell out of there. When I was walking home I thought about this again. I think when many students were asking for the same book, librarian must have gone through the database to see if there's any copy left. He must have definitely found one copy is still inside the lib.
Anyways I knew someday or the other this will happen (I was doing this since 2 years now...but only during exams). BTW I dont feel I was morally wrong doing this, was I??
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Web 2.0- Introduction
For all those ppl wondering what exactly is Web 2.0 and how is it going to change(revolutionize?) the internet experience, here's a good article by O'Reilly.
If you have used Flickr or wikipedia or social networks than you ve had a glimpse of Web2.0! There's a lot of debate as to whether the next-gen version be called Web2.0 or Web3.0 or Web8.0. but anyways version numbers have never made any sense, have they?
Till now only developers, webmasters, site admins had power/authority/discretion to let users access information. But now Web 2.0 emphasizes more on online collaboration and social sharing. This has already resulted in explosion of social network sites(myspace, orkut, facebook), wikipedia, weblogs, linklogs, podcasts, RSS feeds and other forms of many-to-many publishing; Web APIs, Web standards, online Web services, and many others.
A typical Web 2.0 website has following features:
- Ajax-based rich Internet application techniques
- Non-Ajax-based rich Internet application techniques
- CSS
- Semantically valid XHTML markup and/or the use of Microformats
- Syndication and aggregation of data in RSS/Atom
- Clean and meaningful URLs (eg. del.icio.us)
- Extensive use of folksonomies (in the form of tags or tagclouds, for example)
- Weblog publishing
- Mashups
- REST or XML Webservice APIs
Whatever it may be, one thing is certain that we are about to witness a change. A change that will enhance our lives further.
Reference: wiki
PS: I forgot to add one more point that Web2.0 might potentially change is...is..is aha Pr0n 2.0 :p
Monday, November 27, 2006
Zamzar- A free online file conversion website
Finally a website that allows one to convert between different file formats FOR FREE. There are softwares availble for such tasks but this is different in zillions of ways. It lets you convert document files, image files,music & video files all under the same hood. I often have felt the need to convert many files and always end up with a shitty demoware. This website is an example of Web 2.0
The max file size supported as of now is 100MB which is expected to increase in future.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Google Code Search
Great news for the uber h4x0r / r00t3r / d3f4c3r and for those who hack when they feel low, depressed or have nothing else to do. There’s new service by Google Labs called "Google code search (http://www.google.com/codesearch)" that sneaks into all open source code on the web; making exploit archives and bug track databases nearly obsolete.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Avoid annoying focus (GMAIL) in Opera
I am sure there are many ppl who are annoyed when gmail steals the focus from other tab.
We can avoid that in Opera browser by changing the Javascript preference.
1. Click |Tools|
|_
Preferences
|_
Advanced (tab)
|_
Content
2. now click on Javascript Options
3. Uncheck |Allow raising of windows|
4. Press OK
Now webpages wont steal the focus from ur current tab.
We can avoid that in Opera browser by changing the Javascript preference.
1. Click |Tools|
|_
Preferences
|_
Advanced (tab)
|_
Content
2. now click on Javascript Options
3. Uncheck |Allow raising of windows|
4. Press OK
Now webpages wont steal the focus from ur current tab.
