Posts in Category: Yours Truly

All about me, me and more me :-D

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Flying and Photography

Clouds above Pacific. The picture also shows a...
Image via Wikipedia

(This was meant for posting on the 10th of July. Somehow I never got around to posting it till today)

Sitting at the windows seat of an aeroplane after years has been a fun experience since I normally choose the aisle seat or fly in the dark when not much is visible outside.

But flying in daytime, sitting at the window has been a gorgeous treat. A literal visual feast for the eyes.

White clouds all around me, patches of blue sky above and the sun making occasional appearances through the cloud had me constantly wishing for my camera. Not that it would make any difference since it is literally impossible to take half a decent pic from a commercial aeroplane.

Anyway, that got me thinking – perhaps go in an open aircraft/glider (do they even exist? Is it even possible?) and get some photography done. But it would probably be shit expensive. Ah well one can dream can he not.

Anyway, I digress. So watching the clouds fly by made me want to see how they behave when they get near the plane’s turbines and when the exit (probably the geek in me thinking) and I thought it would be so cool to have two aircrafts flying at slightly different altitudes and photograph the effect of the turbines of the lower craft (you know, you can’t really make out the effect from inside the aeroplane because there is no point of reference) and of course photograph the scenery as is, flying on a floor of clouds, walled by clouds under a cloudy roof.. BEAutiful.. :)

All these musings made my childhood dream of flying planes resurface making me feel so terribly underachieving in life. Ah, I digress again so I’ll stop here.

(written on my phone a few thousand feet above the ground while blasting through empty space (thank god for that. Wouldn’t want the space to be non-empty ;) ) in a pressurised metal tube)

Who art thou 2009?

Yep, 2009 has come and gone, for good. Not a particularly good year, both professionally (in part) and personally.

No major highlights except growing older. And…

Left GE Healthcare. I think the team is imploding literally, almost like a repeat of Applibase. Heh
Joined SPML-Semitech, with responsibilities in an entirely different industry and segment. Heck, I don’t even code for a living anymore. Don’t know if that is good or bad…
Work has been a killer in my new job (which does not have Saturdays and also some questionable policies but then the company is managed by my uncle and cousins so can’t complain :) )

Traveled a LOT. Visited Xi’an (Sian), Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong (All in China), Bhopal, Mumbai, Jaipur, Delhi (about 4 times this year) Pondicherry, Assam, Calcutta.

My Grandmother died this year and I was really close to her. That was the worst of the year. I miss her.

Well 2010 is here now and I have a lot of hopes for this year. Hopefully a lot of change in my outlook, life and work, a lot more travel and clarity about myself, future and my thoughts.

Here’s to a new year and bye bye to the year past :)

So…

A lot of updates.. Quickly

  1. Changed jobs in September. So I’m not with GE Healthcare anymore. I’m with an organization called SPML-Semitech and a different profile. No more into development (at least for a living)
  2. 4 trips after changing jobs. More trips possibly in the pipeline
  3. Just completed THE MOST intense task I’ve worked on professionally. And to think it was preparing a document. (I wanted to use just a document but then it really wasn’t *just* a document)
  4. A lot of other stuff that I need to remember ;-)

More coming.. This time for real..

Quick Trip

View of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon from Tai ...
Image via Wikipedia

Just returned from a quick trip to Hong Kong and China (Visited Xi’An, Guangzhou and Shenzhen). Very hectic and busy trip. Did not get too much time for sightseeing or shopping but for half a day in HK.

China is a very nice country with pretty good infrastructure but very clean cities but food is a HUGE problem for people like me. There is barely any vegetarian food available at all and that also is quite rare and usually fixed (like a cheese pizza or white rice etc..)

The people in China are exceptionally polite and nice to talk to. Almost every is very courteous and more than ready to help. It really was a different experience from the Europeans (experienced during my visit to Paris). In a way the culture is similar to India since the people are very friendly and homely. Overall a very nice experience and an enjoyable trip.

Retardry

SAN FRANCISCO - MARCH 20:  The Wells Fargo log...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Wells Fargo sues itself… Incredible!

No seriously. This is retardry at a level that cannot even be measured. Where did Darwin go wrong? It’s act like these that it makes the recession less of a wonder. And to boot, they hired two, yes TWO, law firms to represent themselves, sued themselves and then answered themselves for the suit.. 8-|

And this is possible only in America. As I read on Bash.org why don’t they just remove all safety labels and the world will be so much for the better.

Perhaps America will one day sue itself to bankruptcy and we will be free of such morons!

id Software Sold

id Software, the legendary makers of Doom, Wolfestein 3D (Wolf 3D), Quake has been sold to Zenimax Media, owners of Bethesda Softworks, creators of games like Oblivion, Elder Scrolls IV.

Wolfenstein 3D screenshot
Image via Wikipedia

id Software holds a special place in my heart for the countless hours of entertainment they gave me through Wolf, Doom and Quake. Wolf was the first FPS I ever player and absolutely loved it. I played it to death, in all modes, without and with cheat codes.

Episode I: Knee-Deep in the Dead takes place i...
Image via Wikipedia

Then came Doom and Doom 2, absolute classics, amazing games. And then came the kings, Quake and Quake 3. Somehow I missed playing Quake II but the others more than filled up my time to allow me to miss it.

And of course, John Carmack was my childhood hero, always seeing his name whenever I started Doom up.
I’m glad that with this deal, id will live on and produce new games. Hopefully I will be able to make more time and play those new games as well ;)

Bonus: A nice interview with John Carmack after the sale of id Software

Tempus Fugit

Oh yes it does.. It was just sometime ago that I was going through the whole application process. And now it seems to be that time again.

Work had been hectic the past few weeks. Completed a major task at work so things are better now and seem to be slowing down now.

Got a new MP3 player, a SanDisk Sansa Fuze. It’s flash based and really cool. My colleague thinks it is very cute (yes she is a girl ;) )

I’ll soon be joining a short course called Social Entrepreneurship Outreach Program (SEOP) by a group known as Center for Social Initiatives and Management (CSIM).

Oh and I’ve been reading quite a few books as usual. Quick list of books I’ve read recently:

Oh and I think there were a few more but I don’t remember. I’m sure you can imagine why ;)
These are in the past 4-5 months (except the Watchmen Graphic novel)
More later.. Hopefully..