Everyting Tech
My sister gave birth to baby girl last Friday. That in combination with it being my birthday on the sunday (25th) was a cause for big celebration. My mom and I decided to go and distribute home made sweets to an old age home near our house. While there, we also decided to sponsor the lunch there yesterday.
While the papers were being readied, the manager there showed me around the old age home (it was my first visit, a fact that I now regret since I think I should have gone there much earlier) and introduced me to a some of those who stay in the old age home.
One of the ladies who we spoke to (with the manager as a translator) was very happy to have company. Every smile of the lady was tinged with sadness. Why? Because while we were talking, she revealed that she had a son and two grandsons, all three of who were working in the IT industry.
I was shocked. Rather, disgusted. Here was this lady who has earning sons and grandsons but who is likely considered a burden by them. How can someone take the decision to send their mother to a place where she does not know anyone, where there isn’t anyone to love and take care of her. Why is she even considered a burden?
I felt sad when we came out of the room and left for home again. The only thought in my mind was, what had that lady done to deserve this? Was her fault to have cared for and brought up her children?
During my visit, as we walked, I met a few of the people staying there. And all of them had a smile on their face which showed happiness on seeing me. And this was simply because they had some company, that some one had come to meet them. And seeing those smiles made my day. And it was there that I decided that I must and will do something more to see those smiles again. And I think everyone else should try it too.
Update: Many people have asked me for the address of the old age home. Here it is:
Anandashram,
No. 53/7, Bannerghatta Road,
Bangalore – 560 029
Phone: 26784621
(Landmark: Just past Boyancee, opposite BP petrol Bunk)
So I recently joined the highly prolific team of Desicritics and my first article was published there last night. I am really excited because by joining there, I not only get a wider audience but also a larger platform to write about topics and subjects I do not write about here since this is mostly for stuff about my life and daily happenings. (Although I might start cross posting here with a slight delay)
I am honored to be in such good company :)
I try to update the look of my blog fairly regularly (atleast more than my posting :D ). So with the new year, I decided that I needed a new theme, a new look for my blog AND a new name (the first change in my 4 years of blogging).
I’ve always thought that Red contrasts very well with both White and Black. So this time I was looking for a theme with atleast a splash of red. But what I found exceeded my expectations. Based on the wildly popular Hemingway theme, I now present Dawn. A stunning red and black theme by Milo and some beautiful and original artwork by Milo.
I have modified the theme to suit my needs and to show my Zooomr photos and also to fix a couple of bugs which Milo very patiently went through with me to correct. I am extremely grateful for her help.
And yes, I know that the new year was over a month ago but it was not long ago that I found the theme I really liked enough to switch. So here it is :)
I received this in a mail sometime ago and I found it very funny that I left it there. Today, while cleaning up my inbox, I came across this and thought of sharing it ;)
This might or might not be true but it is a funny story nonetheless :)
The story starts (I’m shortcutting here) with an [Please control your
cussing] insulting everyone on the IRC channel. Most people there
believed it was rather funny, but it got even more funny. For
information: The dangerous hacker is called bitchchecker and the one
being hacked and original author of the comments, who is talking here,
is known as Elch. 127.0.0.1 is always the IP-adress of the computer
you’re currently using, any request there will return to your
computer.
QUOTE
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-a97f9137.dip.t-dialin.net) Quit (Ping timeout#)
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-61a2169c.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #stopHipHop
<bitchchecker> why do you kick me
<bitchchecker> can’t you discus normally
<bitchchecker> answer!
<Elch> we didn’t kick you
<Elch> you had a ping timeout: * bitchchecker
(~java@euirc-a97f9137.dip.t-dialin.net) Quit (Ping timeout#)
<bitchchecker> what ping man
<bitchchecker> the timing of my pc is right
<bitchchecker> i even have dst
<bitchchecker> you banned me
<bitchchecker> amit it you son of a bitch
<HopperHunter|afk> LOL
<HopperHunter|afk> shit you’re stupid, DST^^
<bitchchecker> shut your mouth WE HAVE DST!
<bitchchecker> for two weaks already
<bitchchecker> when you start your pc there is a message from windows
that DST is applied.
<Elch> You’re a real computer expert
<bitchchecker> shut up i hack you
<Elch> ok, i’m quiet, hope you don’t show us how good a hacker you are ^^
<bitchchecker> tell me your network number man then you’re dead
<Elch> Eh, it’s 129.0.0.1
<Elch> or maybe 127.0.0.1
<Elch> yes exactly that’s it: 127.0.0.1 I’m waiting for you great attack
<bitchchecker> in five minutes your hard drive is deleted
<Elch> Now I’m frightened
<bitchchecker> shut up you’ll be gone
<bitchchecker> i have a program where i enter your ip and you’re dead
<bitchchecker> say goodbye
<Elch> to whom?
<bitchchecker> to you man
<bitchchecker> buy buy
<Elch> I’m shivering thinking about such great Hack0rs like you
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-61a2169c.dip.t-dialin.net) Quit (Ping timeout#)
What happened is clear: That guy entered his own IP-Adress in his
mighty Hack-Tool and crashed his own PC. This way, the attack on my PC
was a failure. I was already starting to think that I did not have to
worry, but a good hacker never calls it a day. Two minutes later he
returned.
QUOTE
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-b5cd558e.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #stopHipHop
<bitchchecker> dude be happy my pc crashed otherwise you’d be gone
<Metanot> lol
<Elch> bitchchecker: Then try hacking me again… I still have the
same IP: 127.0.0.1
<bitchchecker> you’re so stupid man
<bitchchecker> say buy buy
<Metanot> ah, [Please control your cussing] off
<bitchchecker> buy buy elch
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-b5cd558e.dip.t-dialin.net) Quit (Ping timeout#)
There was a tension in the room… Would he manage, after these two
failures, to crash my PC? I waited. Nothing happened. I felt
relieve… Six minutes passed by until he prepared the next wave of
attack. Being a Hacker, who usually cracks whole data centers, he knew
what his problem was now.
QUOTE
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-9ff3c180.dip.t-dialin.net) has joined #stopHipHop
<bitchchecker> elch you son of a bitch
<Metanot> bitchchecker how old are you?
<Elch> What’s up bitchchecker?
<bitchchecker> you have a frie wal
<bitchchecker> fire wall
<Elch> maybe, i don’t know
<bitchchecker> i’m 26
<Metanot> such behaviour with 26?
<Elch> how did you find out that I have a firewall?
<Metanot> tststs this is not very nice missy
<bitchchecker> because your gay fire wall directed my turn off signal back to me
<bitchchecker> be a man turn that shit off
<Elch> cool, didn’t know this was possible.
<bitchchecker> thn my virus destroys your pc man
<Metanot> are you hacking yourselves?
<Elch> yes bitchchecker is trying to hack me
<Metanot> he bitchchecker if you’re a hacker you have to get around a
firewall even i can do that
<bitchchecker> yes man i hack the elch but the sucker has a fire wall the
<Metanot> what firewall do you have?
<bitchchecker> like a girl
<Metanot> firewall is normal a normal hacker has to be able to get
past it…you girl^^
<He> Bitch give yourself a jackson and chill you’re letting them
provoce you and give those little girls new material all the time
<bitchchecker> turn the firewall off then i send you a virus [Please
control your cussing]er
<Elch> Noo
<Metanot> he bitchchecker why turn it off, you should turn it off
<bitchchecker> you’re afraid
<bitchchecker> i don’t wanna hack like this if he hides like a girl
behind a fire wall
<bitchchecker> elch turn off your shit wall!
<Metanot> i wanted to say something about this, do you know the
definition of hacking??? if he turns of the firewall that’s an
invitation and that has nothing to do with hacking
<bitchchecker> shut up
<Metanot> lol
<bitchchecker> my grandma surfs with fire wall
<bitchchecker> and you suckers think you’re cool and don’t dare going
into the internet without a fire wall
He calls me girly and says only his grandma would use a firewall. I
know that elder people are much more intelligent then younger, but I
couldn’t let that rest. To see whether he really is a good hacker I
lie and let everything as it is. I don’t have a firewall at all, only
my router.
QUOTE
<Elch> bitchchecker, a collegue showed me how to turn the firewall
off. Now you can try again
<Metanot> bitchhacker can’t hack
<Black<TdV>> nice play on words ^^
<bitchchecker> wort man
<Elch> bitchchecker: I’m still waiting for your attack!
<Metanot> how many times again he is no hacker
<bitchchecker> man do you want a virus
<bitchchecker> tell me your ip and it deletes your hard drive
<Metanot> lol ne give it up i’m a hacker myself and i know how hackers
behave and i can tell you 100.00% you’re no hacker..^^
<Elch> 127.0.0.1
<Elch> it’s easy
<bitchchecker> lolololol you so stupid man you’ll be gone
<bitchchecker> and are the first files being deleted
<Elch> mom…
<Elch> i’ll take a look
In panic I started the Windows Explorer, my heart beating faster. Had
I under-estimated him?
QUOTE
<bitchchecker> don’t need to rescue you can’t son of a bitch
<Elch> that’s bad
<bitchchecker> elch you idiout your hard drive g: is deleted
<Elch> yes, there’s nothing i can do about it
<bitchchecker> and in 20 seconds f: is gone
Yes, true, G: and F: were gone. Did I ever have them? Doesn’t matter,
I did not have time to think, I was scared. bitchchecker was
comforting me with a music tip.
QUOTE
<bitchchecker> tupac rules
<bitchchecker> elch you son of a bitch your f: is gone and e: too
Drive E:? Oh my god… All the games are there! And the vacation
pictures! I instantly take a look. Everything still there. But the
hacker said it was deleted….
Or isn’t it happening on my computer?
QUOTE
<bitchchecker> and d: is at 45% you idiot lolololol
<He> why doesn’t meta say anything
<Elch> he’s probably rolling on the floor laughing
<Black<TdV>> ^^
<bitchchecker> your d: is gone
<He> go on BITCH
The guy is good: My CD-drive is allegedly deleted! Bitchchecker turned
my ancient disk sucker into a burner! But how did he do this? I’ll
have to ask him. Some encourage him. He himself is giving advice how
to avoid the disaster on my hard drives.
QUOTE
<bitchchecker> elch man you’re so stupid never give your ip on the internet
<bitchchecker> i’m already at c: 30 percent
Should I tell him he’s not attacking my computer?
QUOTE
* bitchchecker (~java@euirc-9ff3c180.dip.t-dialin.net) Quit (Ping timeout#)
Too late… It’s 20:22 when we get the last message of our hacker with
the alias “bitchchecker”. We see that he has a “Ping timeout”. We
haven’t seen him since then… must be the Daylight Saving Time.
Inspired by Kuksie, I went out and got myself one of these (It’s a logitech gamepad with force feedback) too!
Looks and feels awesome.. And it’s cordless too.. Will start cracking out the games now ;)
Finally I can put my relatively decent grafix card to some strain :D
I’ve been working on a redesign, a new theme for my blog for a couple of days now. It’s a nice dark and green theme based on the Foliage Mod by 5thirtyone designs. Though it’s mostly the same as the original, I’ve made a few changes and modifications, a few color changes etc.
The theme uses Ajax heavily with a shelf on top. While I’m enabling it, it is still a work in modification and changes.. So please bear with me and do tell me how it looks.
Any suggestions and critiques are always welcome :)
I have about 2, maybe 3 Google Analytics invite code available. I had signed up with a couple of email id’s since I wanted to try it out desperately at the time. Having got one a few weeks back, I got a few more yesterday which I have no use for. So I can hand them out. If anyone wants, either email me or leave a comment within the next 10 days and I’ll send you the invite code. :)
For information, Google Analytics is the statistics application which has been partly developed by Google after it’s acquisition of Urchin, at one point, one of the most hyped and expected statistics service for websites and blogs alike. For more information, visit the Google Analytics site..
Update: Sent out all the invites! None left now! Hope those who got them have fun ;)
Can and is Microsoft planning purchase a part of Yahoo!? Cnn Money seems to think so.
Everyone knows that Microsoft is running scared of Google‘s advancement in search and online advertising marketshare and the way it has leaped clear over everyone else. Microsoft’s own search engine, MSN is lagging quite a bit behind Google in terms of users. Even Hotmail is under serious threat from Gmail.
But will Microsoft be willing to join nay marry it’s longtime former rival (before Google) to take on Google? Time will tell. But if it happens, it will be a partnership of the decade.
Original Article at Cnn Money.
Thus speaketh